Mr. David Newman (Riel): Madam Speaker, I rise today in the House to speak on the issue of adolescent pregnancy. Recent media reports have quoted Manitoba as having one of the highest rates of adolescent pregnancy in single teen parents. I, being a member of the St. Boniface-St. Vital adolescent and pregnancy steering committee, do not take these statistics lightly. The reality of contemporary society is an increasing occurrence of sexual activity outside marriage. To a large extent, the adult response to this reality has been to provide various methods of contraception and sex education.

The message being communicated by schools is to encourage students to get any advice surrounding the moral issues of sex from families and religious institutions. The consequential realities of these attempts to address the issue of increased sexual activity are serious problems with adolescent pregnancy and enormous multigenerational cost to society in the form of welfare, health, education and justice costs. These kinds of realities too often result from dysfunctional single-parent families.

I believe public policy must place greater emphasis on teaching and encouraging sexual abstinence outside of marriage. I believe public policy must also place more responsibility on the biological father for support and parenting as a deterrent to sexual activity outside of marriage and as a means of better ensuring a single mother and child are supported financially and in parenting.

As an aside, and by way of my attendance at several events over the weekend, I wanted to offer congratulations to the all-Canadian Holy Trinity Ukrainian-Orthodox Metropolitan Cathedral Winnipeg for 50 years of service to the community.

I would also like to offer congratulations to Dr. Naranjan S. Dhalla for the inauguration of the Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences at the University of Manitoba and, finally, I would like to give congratulations to aboriginal youth award winners at the Thursday awards ceremony sponsored by Anishnaabe Oway-Ishi, a native youth employment agency. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Mr. Eric Robinson (Rupertsland): Madam Speaker, I want to make a statement as well on the Manitoba Aboriginal Youth Achievement Awards that were held last Thursday, and I certainly want to acknowledge the remarks made by the member for Riel (Mr. Newman), who was also in attendance, and also the member for The Maples (Mr. Kowalski), including several of my colleagues from this side of the House, including my Leader (Mr. Doer).

We had the opportunity of seeing some 66 young people from aboriginal communities in Manitoba being nominated for the awards. The winners included Robin Billy in a senior category for academics; Myles Horton, who is a constituent of the member for Thompson (Mr. Ashton), in the junior division; artistic performing arts, Kimberly Halcrow; Richard Manoakeesick for visual arts; for cultural, Kevin Brownlee and Ramona Bird, who is a constituent of the member for Interlake (Mr. Clif Evans); Rebecca Chartrand in community and volunteer activities, and Amy Carpenter. In the athletic category we had Pamela Mayo, Melissa Daniels; personal achievement: Marilyn Alcorn; and Joseph Houle and also Kelly Lee Hashemi in business and entrepreneurial activities; and also in the traditional employment category we had Kevin Cook.

I would like to congratulate all these young people, as well extend our congratulations to Anishnaabe Oway-Ishi for another year, their third annual youth achievement awards, including the fine job that was done by Allen McLeod and Lisa Monkman and I believe that this is a testament to the positive aspects of aboriginal youth, rather than the negative elements we sometimes hear about. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Mrs. Shirley Render (St. Vital): Madam Speaker, October 20 to 27 is White Ribbon Against Pornography Week and I encourage my colleagues to wear and display white ribbons this week in support of the fight against pornography. Pornography, I think all of us would agree, is all too pervasive in our society and has been shown to be a factor influencing crimes such as child sexual abuse, violence against women, sexual harassment and sexual assault. However, government cannot do everything that is needed to protect our children and families from the harm that pornography can bring. Individual families and community groups, such as the Group Against Pornography, help us to raise awareness and define where and how protection is needed.

As Legislatures, parents, citizens and as a society, we cannot afford to be complacent; however, in partnership we can help define community standards, educate our children and increase public awareness of its destructive nature. We can make it clear to those who produce these materials that we will hold them accountable to the standards we as a community set. Again, I encourage all members of the Legislature to wear your white ribbon. Thank you.

Ms. Diane McGifford (Osborne): Madam Speaker, last week the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops marked the UN International Day for the Eradication of Poverty by releasing a pastoral letter entitled Struggle Against Poverty, a Sign of Hope for our World. The bishops lamented that in Canada, one of the richest societies in world history, one child in five lives in poverty. They rightly denounce this condition as a damning indictment of our socioeconomic order. As they put it, and I quote, in our society, if a parent denies a child food, clothing and social security, it is considered child abuse, but when a government denies 1,362,000 children the same, it is simply balancing the budget.

Canadians are familiar with balancing the budget and cutting the deficit on the backs of the poor. Canadians, too, have come to see that our Prime Minister and his Minister of Finance are little better than deadbeat parents. Their dismal record is apparent in the dismantling of CAP and in a myriad of excuses for the continued abuse which we call child poverty. But when it comes to deadbeat parents, our Premier (Mr. Filmon) outshines even his federal counterparts. Manitoba has the second highest level of children living in poverty in Canada, 29 percent; only Newfoundland outdistances us. Still, when Bill 36 is proclaimed, along with other legislation which will increase poverty among Manitoba children and their families, perhaps then this provincial government will displace Newfoundland and once again claim the dubious title of child poverty capital of Canada. Two things are certain: our Premier is really struggling to lead the pack and only a few percentage points separate him from the current titleholder.

Mr. Edward Helwer (Gimli): Madam Speaker, this past weekend the Teulon Collegiate hosted the provincial high school cross-country running meet. Despite the somewhat chilly temperatures, more than 650 students participated in the annual event.

An Honourable Member: Did you run, too?

Mr. Helwer: Oh, I did, too, sure. Over 300 parents also attended the race to cheer on the students from high schools throughout the province. I had the pleasure of not only attending the meet but also participating in the awards ceremony to follow. Winners of the race in the various categories were awarded for their excellent performance with medals. All participants were commended for the successful finish, participation in the meet and the vigorous training that they did prior to the race with Manitoba pins and certificates. To also present the awards, the mayor of Teulon, school board trustees, race officials and co-ordinators and the Teulon Collegiate student council president were also in attendance.

Madam Speaker, I would just like to applaud all the students, the parents, teachers and coaches who participated in some form of this at the cross-country meet in Teulon on October 19. I am pleased with the numbers of students who came from throughout the province to participate in this event. It is encouraging to see so many students participate in school sporting events.

Madam Speaker, lastly, I would also like to congratulate all the participants who were rewarded for their outstanding performance in this race. Thank you.

* (1430)

Mr. George Hickes (Point Douglas): I move, seconded by the member for Broadway (Mr. Santos), that the composition of the Standing Committee on Economic Development be amended as follows: The Pas (Mr. Lathlin) for Wolseley (Ms. Friesen); Flin Flon (Mr. Jennissen) for Elmwood (Mr. Maloway); Thompson (Mr. Ashton) for Wellington (Ms. Barrett); Dauphin (Mr. Struthers) for Crescentwood (Mr. Sale) for Tuesday, October 22, 1996, for 10 a.m. Thank you.

Motion agreed to.

Mr. Edward Helwer (Gimli): Madam Speaker, I also have some committee changes.

I move, seconded by the member for Morris (Mr. Pitura), that the composition of the Standing Committee on Law Amendments for Monday, 7 p.m., October 21 be amended as follows: the member for Turtle Mountain (Mr. Tweed) for the member for Ste. Rose (Mr. Cummings); the member for St. Vital (Mrs. Render) for the member for Steinbach (Mr. Driedger); the member for Assiniboia (Mrs. McIntosh) for the member for Charleswood (Mr. Ernst); and the member for Pembina (Mr. Dyck) for the member for Fort Garry (Mrs. Vodrey).

Also, Madam Speaker, I move, seconded by the member for St. Vital (Mrs. Render), that the composition of the Standing Committee on Economic Development for Tuesday, October 22, at 10 a.m. be amended as follows: the member for Turtle Mountain (Mr. Tweed) for the member for Sturgeon Creek (Mr. McAlpine); the member for Lac du Bonnet (Mr. Praznik) for the member for Niakwa (Mr. Reimer), and the member for Gladstone (Mr. Rocan) for the member for St. Vital (Mrs. Render).

Motions agreed to.