Madam Speaker, we have reviewed the last annual reports available to us from the Department of Health dealing with funding in personal care homes. In the Winnipeg personal care homes the for-profit increase in funding from the Filmon government in the last available year is 4.1 percent. The nonprofit personal care homes were decreased in their funding by a half a percent.

I would like to ask the Premier, why is the government funding the profit homes at a rate of over 4 percent at the same time they are cutting back in the funding support to the nonprofit personal care homes in the province of Manitoba?

Hon. Darren Praznik (Minister of Health): Madam Speaker, I certainly will endeavour to seek information on the point that the member for Concordia raises, because it certainly does not seem to make logical sense unless there was inclusion of capital.

Madam Speaker, my experience in this House is often the information that is brought to the House by the Leader of the Opposition does not quite match with the facts, but I will endeavour to check that on his behalf and report back.

Mr. Doer: The numbers are there in the annual reports.

Madam Speaker, over the last five years the Premier (Mr. Filmon) shrugged his shoulders when we asked the question and just threw it off to his Minister of Health. Over the last five fiscal years the government has increased funding to private, profit nursing homes through three different cabinet ministers by some 21 percent while it has decreased funding for the nonprofit personal care homes. Part of that, of course, is an increase in beds, and part of that is just a basic increase in funding as we saw last year with the same amount of beds.

I would like to ask the Premier, did he consider Dr. Shapiro's report dealing with personal care homes dealing with assessing quality of personal care homes, when she indicated to the government that profit homes would have an increased risk for elderly in the homes, increased falls, increased fractures, increased dehydration, more unfortunate opportunity to have pneumonia, and being older and a female resident in a profit home increased the risk of serious fall?

Did the government, did the Premier consider that in the funding priorities of the government for profit homes versus the nonprofit public homes?

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Mr. Praznik: I am not going to accept the analysis of the Leader of the Opposition without an opportunity to check the facts, because there are a host of reasons why different numbers could be shown. There could be change in the level of care which would require an increase in funding; there could be particular capital initiatives in particular to those facilities.

So I would like the opportunity obviously to check on that, because the funding mechanism should be, to my understanding, the same whether it is a proprietary home or a nonproprietary facility. I will endeavour to check those particular numbers for the Leader of the Opposition.

Mr. Doer: Again to the Premier, who has been in charge while this extra funding went to the profit homes: In the last fiscal year available in annual reports, the funding for profit homes went from $51.8 million to $53.9 million, and the nonprofit homes went down from $90 million to $89 million. I would like to ask the Premier, in light of the fact that they are increasing the profit homes and they are decreasing the nonprofit homes, is this the reason why he has refused to have a public inquiry about the injuries and deaths in the nursing homes, Madam Speaker, because he is afraid that the truth will come out about their funding priorities for profit homes and the kind of service that provides versus the nonprofit nursing homes here in the province of Manitoba?

Mr. Praznik: Madam Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition again takes information and tries to stretch it into a case that he is trying to make without having the facts. Well, the member references the annual reports. Yes, the numbers are there, but what do those numbers--what are they made of? Are they because of a change in function that required a higher level of care in the specific circumstance? Is there capital involved with that? Are there renovations? He quotes a budget line that is increased. Have there been additional beds in the system? Those are the kinds of facts, if the Leader of the Opposition was truly interested in them, that he would want to have before coming to the conclusion that he is making here today.

Let us not forget all governments in this province, his party included, because they were in power throughout the '70s and part of the '80s, we have a mixed system of personal care homes in this province. We have had that mixed system through the Schreyer administration and through the Pawley administration. But it is incumbent upon any Minister of Health and any government to ensure that, whoever runs the facility, there is proper care for our citizens who are residents and that is what we intend to do and have tried to do in the past.

Hon. Gary Filmon (Premier): Madam Speaker, I cannot confirm that any more than I can confirm whether or not the New Democratic Party received hundreds of millions of dollars of contributions from unions. Sorry, I will correct myself and say whether they received hundreds of thousands of dollars from the unions who have bought and paid for them, but these are matters that are public record. They are available in the information that is filed under The Election Finances Act, and they are available to all to be able to examine. He can examine it as well as anybody else.

Mr. Ashton: Well, speaking of "bought and paid for," will the Premier confirm that one personal care home operator gave $3,000 directly to the Premier's campaign?

Mr. Filmon: Madam Speaker, no, I cannot because I do not examine the origins of those funds, and I can tell you that many, many people, thousands of people make contributions to our party because they believe in the work that our party is doing, they believe in the principles that our party stands for, they believe in having good government in this province, and we do not ask them what job they have or what business they are in.

The New Democrats may be beholden to the union bosses of this province because hundreds of thousands of dollars are transferred over to them. I remember when Bernie Christophe of the UFCW or Manitoba Food and Commercial Workers said on the night of the election of the member for Concordia (Mr. Doer) as the Leader of that party, "the machine works." His machine had made sure that they had in place the person whose strings they could pull so that they could do the things they want, and that is the kind of thing that fascinates New Democrats, Madam Speaker, but we believe that people of Manitoba who support us do so because they believe in good government.

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Will the Premier confirm what is obvious from the facts, that the reason the private personal care home operators have been donating the money to the Conservative government is because it has favoured the private system and that even at this date with the problems in the private system refuses to call a public inquiry to get to the bottom of the problems with our private and increasingly privatized health care system in this province?

Hon. Gary Filmon (Premier): No, Madam Speaker.

Does the Premier not understand that this is wrong for people to put their families in homes where that money is going directly to the pockets, to the government? Does the Premier not understand that that is wrong?

Hon. Gary Filmon (Premier): Madam Speaker, I believe that it is wrong for people who have a check-off system, a government authorized system, to have to have their money go to have ads to support only certain candidates during an election campaign, ads that are forced upon them by their union leadership, ads that are paid for by checkoffs that are dictated by governments, that were put in place as a result of legislation by the New Democrats and their predecessor administrations. These are the kinds of things that New Democrats believe in. I do not. I believe in free will--

Some Honourable Members: Oh, oh.

Madam Speaker: Order, please. The honourable First Minister, to complete his response.

Mr. Filmon: I believe in a democratic process, and I believe that individuals who want to support good government and of their own free will donate money to our party, that is the way a democratic system works, Madam Speaker.

Mr. Chomiak: Madam Speaker, perhaps the Premier can explain why the Nursing Home Association of Manitoba, a private association of Tory who-who contributors--is the person who investigated Holiday Haven where Roland Vazinet as president, where his personal care home, Heritage Lodge, gave $6,300. Perhaps that will explain why the government is refusing to call a public inquiry into the ramifications and the dealings between this government and personal care homes in the province of Manitoba.

Hon. Darren Praznik (Minister of Health): Madam Speaker, I have seen some leaps of logic in questions in this House, but that one is certainly there because the member is trying to insinuate, because the association was used to do the investigation, that there is some collusion with the personal care home. In fact, my understanding is he brought this information to the House and their recommendation was that management be changed, and that is exactly what happened. So you cannot have it both ways, which is what the member for Kildonan would like us to believe.

Madam Speaker, we have always had a mix of personal care homes in this province. We have had some for profit. We have a large number of community-based organizations that sponsor personal care homes and of course some that are within the government realm. We have always had that mix. New Democrats have maintained and supported that mix when they were in power. The real critical issue, of course, is what kind of supervision and support we provide to ensure adequate care for the residents of those personal care homes and ensuring the best possible care that we can in a situation where care is coming at a higher level, is the challenge that we face.

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Mr. Chomiak: Madam Speaker, can the Premier explain why the government has been reluctant to investigate private nursing homes in light of the fact that Maples, that Kildonan gave $8,000 to the Tory campaign, that Bonfam Management gave $2,000 directly to the Attorney General, that Maples, Ed Pollock gave a thousand dollars to Gary Filmon, the Kildonan Personal Care home gave $3,000 directly to Filmon? Does not the Premier admit it is wrong for these personal care homes where the rates have doubled for residents since 1992-93 to be putting money into the pockets of the Conservative governing party?

Mr. Praznik: By using that same logic, is it not a conflict of interest when the Manitoba Government Employees' Union, who takes by legislation money from the pockets of its members and gives it to the New Democratic Party, faces the New Democratic Party when they are in government on the bargaining table to bargain on behalf of the people of this province for wages and benefits? Is that not a conflict of interest?

To be blunt, the accusations and insinuations that the members opposite are trying to stretch to put on the floor of this House are really irrelevant to the debate. We have always had a mix of personal care home services in this province. If I take the commentary of the member, I would suggest that they are saying to us today we should be nationalizing them all throughout this province. As well, when the member says we do not want an inquiry, the Chief Medical Officer of the province has ordered an inquest, and part of that mandate is to determine any concerns regarding safety of elderly persons in personal care homes. I hope that would include all personal care homes, not just private ones. We need that information in order to regulate them.

Ms. Jean Friesen (Wolseley): Madam Speaker, there are serious concerns about the fairness of the Grade 12, 40S math exam. It is not an issue of the principle of assessment but one of the fairness on an exam which counts for 30 percent of the final grade. Students in several divisions did not write the exam because of weather conditions, and they will be marked on their class work while those students who write in June will have the advantage of knowing in advance the new criteria.

Yet all these students must compete for the same places in universities and colleges and for scholarships. I would like to ask the Minister of Education to tell us what steps she intends to take to rectify the unfairness which directly affects the future of several hundred of Manitoba's young people.

Hon. Linda McIntosh (Minister of Education and Training): I should indicate to the member that I do recognize it is important to get an apples-to-apples comparison, and that is what our goal is.

Last year we had devised a means of dealing with those few students that could not write exams with two vehicles which seemed to be acceptable to divisions at the time. This year, however, we did have, because of extreme conditions that were unusual--they do happen from time to time in Manitoba but not on an annual basis--conditions such that there were a large number of students that could not write, and so my department began work and is continuing work on devising a way of indicating the apples-to-apples comparison that is inherent in a good standards examination.

So we are aware of the issue. We are working on the issue. It does not negate the worth or the worthiness of standards exams. As we come into the implementation of exams, we know we have short-term concerns that will rise that we can address, long-term solutions as well. We will be moving to back-up examinations in the future, and we will have a solution to this dilemma very shortly.

Ms. Jean Friesen (Wolseley): Could the minister tell the House what her response is to the resolution passed last night by the Brandon school board to discount the results of the provincial math exam in their students' final records?

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Hon. Linda McIntosh (Minister of Education and Training): I should indicate that my response to the Brandon school board will be given to the school board first before it is given to others, but I would indicate, Madam Speaker, that--out of courtesy, it is a very serious matter--Brandon School Division had several concerns. The one concern the member has identified I feel was a legitimate concern as we were already aware of it and seeking to address it both in the short and the long term.

The other concerns that the Brandon School Division had were, unfortunately, inaccurate. They had indicated that the examination was not curriculum congruent; it was. It was composed by teachers who are teaching that curriculum, was sent to a review committee for extensive review. More than that, school divisions were notified early in the fall that, because last year's examination had revealed problems with problem solving, this exam would deal with problem solving, and that they should be very conscious of that in the teaching of the curriculum. Their concerns I think came about when their students did not do very well. That flies in the face of the fact that other divisions did do well.

Ms. Friesen: Madam Speaker, could the minister tell the House whether a school division in fact has the authority to take such an action or whether this action is in fact in contravention of the educational laws of Manitoba?

Mrs. McIntosh: Madam Speaker, the Brandon school board cannot act upon any motions made that violate provincial law. I believe they know that, but if the member is wanting to know was the motion legal or illegal, my opinion would be that it is an illegal motion because it does not deal with provincial law in a co-operative fashion.

Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Inkster): Madam Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Energy and Mines. I think a vast majority of Manitobans would be disappointed when in fact government over the last couple of years has been cutting back on expenditures dealing with health care, with expenditures dealing with public education, while at the same time we have an expenditure in excess of $70,000 for a moving allocation for a civil servant who is being paid $108,000. In going through the document that the minister tabled yesterday, it is a bit confusing in the sense that the document that he tabled, that $74,734, is that entire document related to the relocation?

Hon. David Newman (Minister of Energy and Mines): Madam Speaker, with respect to the quantum, the portion that was related to relocation I believe was $69,000 and change. Another portion related to expense account matters. With respect to the devotion of this amount to this particular individual, a highly skilled, experienced individual in international trade with the foreign service, brought in here to try and market mining in the province, amongst other responsibilities, and also to help with the development of our energy reserves, we have been rewarded as a province partly to that contribution in the form of $3.9 million in terms of our recent oil lease sales which went right into general revenue. We have 27 new mining companies exploring in Manitoba. The results of that kind of exploration hopefully will lead to another Flin Flon or Thompson in this province.

Mr. Lamoureux: Madam Speaker, understanding that the minister is saying that the travel portion of the paper that he tabled had nothing to do with the relocation, then why is it in the '95-96 expense account for out of province it is in excess of $17,000, and he claims that it is only $4,000, or your department claims that it is only $4,700? Why the discretion there? Why were we not provided the full details when we requested it through Freedom of Information?

Mr. Newman: The information provided yesterday was in direct response to the question that the honourable member for Inkster had asked. The information requested under Freedom of Information was provided I believe in accordance with that request. To the extent that the information contained in the disclosure yesterday has somehow caused some confusion, I would have to have more information shed by my honourable friend on that so I could pursue it.

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Mr. Lamoureux: I will provide that further information to the minister immediately following Question Period.

Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Inkster): My final question to the Minister of Energy and Mines is, can he indicate to this House just what qualifications did Mr. Fine have that he could not find in someone else throughout the province of Manitoba? Why did he feel it was necessary to go beyond Manitoba's borders? Does he not have the confidence from within his own department, or is there not anyone else in the province that could have done the job that this government was hoping to be able to achieve? Can the minister tell us what qualifications does Mr. Fine bring to this particular department?

Hon. Gary Filmon (Premier): Madam Speaker, I suppose we should ask the member for Inkster why his party went outside the Legislature to find its Leader when they had members of the Legislature who would normally be able to take that.

Madam Speaker, although for the most part this administration has been able to promote from within for its deputy roles, in looking at that particular responsibility we felt that in marketing energy and mines, in particular, and some of the negotiations that had to be carried out with respect to the major negotiations on treaty land entitlement, Northern Flood Agreement and so on, we needed someone who brought a broad range of skills to the table, who perhaps had some understanding of the federal system of government, which is the major partner in the negotiations that we were undertaking, and who also had a very strong background in international marketing and trade.

I think, on all counts, as the Minister of Energy and Mines has indicated, there have been quite a number of successes, whether a framework agreement on treaty land entitlement, the progress towards a successful conclusion of the Northern Flood Agreement, a major, major expansion of the number of companies coming in here to do exploration, some 27 new companies, mineral exploration, and some very significant accomplishments in the area of oil exploration. So on all counts we believe that the leadership that has been shown was worth the effort.

Mr. Gerard Jennissen (Flin Flon): My questions are to the Minister of Northern Affairs.

Last Thursday at South Indian Lake, once again the water treatment plant broke down. Yesterday morning, as the minister knows, I asked his office to send people to South Indian Lake to fix the plant. Unfortunately, they were unsuccessful and left leaving the community of nearly 1,000 people without a source of drinking water.

Given that the water treatment plant may not be back in operation for another few days at best, what emergency measures is he taking to ensure adequate and safe water supplies for the population in the meantime?

Hon. David Newman (Minister of Northern Affairs): Madam Speaker, I am informed that that situation is under control, that there are people who have been at that site over the weekend from the Department of Northern Affairs and that they hope to achieve a resolution of the problem tomorrow. My understanding is there have been communications today with the community and that there is not any need for any additional measures to be taken to provide their needs for the day in question, and the matter hopefully will be resolved tomorrow.

Mr. Jennissen: Nobody from Northern Affairs was there today, Madam Speaker.

Since the school is closed since now there is no fire protection available and there are serious sanitation and health risks, what action will the minister undertake immediately to protect the health and safety of the people of South Indian Lake?

Mr. Newman: Madam Speaker, with respect to safety measures being taken, my understanding again is that that is in the hands of the community, the public works people in the community who are working very co-operatively with our people to try and arrive at a solution, and that just as every community that has an emergency situation like this, it requires the co-operation of the members to be prepared for this kind of situation.

We are trying to develop healthy and sustainable communities that are more autonomous up there, and we believe that the community itself through its leadership is coming up with solutions to look after itself in this respect.

Mr. Jennissen: When is this government prepared to replace the old and inadequate water treatment plant and upgrade the sewage system, both of which, as the minister knows, do not meet the requirements of the community at South Indian Lake?

Mr. Newman: Madam Speaker, my information is that this 24-year-old plant, the water treatment plant, is in good condition and is well maintained by the local public works staff. Money has been put into this particular plant in the quantum of $20,000, '95-96; $20,000, '93-94; $2,497 in '92-93 and a structural repair component of $80,000 is committed to for '97-98. This unforeseen situation which has arisen recently is hopefully going to be resolved tomorrow.

Mr. Oscar Lathlin (The Pas): Madam Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Northern Affairs.

Last week, in defending the closure of the Northern Affairs office in The Pas, the minister said that having civil servants in northern Manitoba really goes against the pioneering spirit of the North. We in the North view that move as cold and heartless, because it is throwing six or seven people out of work in an area where the unemployment rate is 25 percent or higher.

I want to ask the minister as to how he can reconcile logically closing that office, throwing people out of work, with his deputy minister trying to hire his spouse or charging the department $799 for dry cleaning amongst other charges totalling nearly $70,000.

Hon. David Newman (Minister of Northern Affairs): Madam Speaker, the preamble is inaccurate. I will not respond to every point, but the fact is no one is being thrown out of work. In fact, one of the people who is moving in the transfers that I described earlier from The Pas to Thompson will be receiving a promotion in that process, and she is a dedicated civil servant and an aboriginal woman whom I have a great deal of respect for.

Two other individuals are subject to being transferred. A process may be worked out to try and accommodate their personal situations if that transfer is going to cause too great a hardship for their families, and they may very well have an opportunity to continue to work in The Pas on a newly negotiated basis which is in the public interests of the province of Manitoba but also is able to accommodate those particular individuals. Another individual has been placed with the Department of Natural Resources in a job which she is very happy with in The Pas. The other individual who is affected by this, who is not from The Pas office, is being trained as an entrepreneur. This is all part of the transition process towards sustainable, healthy, autonomous communities in the North.

Mr. Lathlin: My second question to the Minister of Northern Affairs is, would he agree to put the closure of the Northern Affairs office in The Pas on hold until such things as the future of his Deputy Minister of Northern Affairs has been cleared up and decided upon?

Mr. Newman: Madam Speaker, the answer to that question is no. That office will come to closure at the expiration of the lease on March 31.

With respect to the deputy minister, that is an unrelated issue. That will come to closure when the Clerk of the Executive Council decides what is the appropriate discipline, if any, to impose. I expect that to happen shortly. In the meantime, it is business as normal in the department, and the deputy minister continues to function conscientiously and well in the service of the province of Manitoba.

Mr. Doug Martindale (Burrows): Last year, on March 12, the Minister of Family Services (Mrs. Mitchelson) made a series of announcements about welfare reform, and one of them was that single parents with children ages six to 18 were now deemed employable and that single parents with children under six were not deemed employable.

Since then, many single parents have approached me with horror stories, parents with children under six, as young as 10-months-old, about the pressure being put on them to get into the paid workforce.

I would like to ask the Premier, since he is responsible for every policy of his government, if he could confirm that it is his government's policy after all to have a work expectation on single parents with children under six.

Hon. Gary Filmon (Premier): No, Madam Speaker, it is not. Indeed, our government went over very carefully the expectations and requirements. There are some provinces in which there is an expectation for people to go to work, with children one-year-old and two-years-old. From Day One, sometimes after birth, there is an expectation of people having to go to work.

That was not the policy, and the policy was made very clear to be only after the children reached six years of age. That is the policy. If it is not being implemented properly by those who have the responsibility, then that will be corrected.

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Mr. Martindale: Madam Speaker, I would like to table a page from the administrative manual for income assistance which says that these obligations apply to single parents. The only exception is if they have taken any kind of training.

I would like to ask the Premier if he could verify what the manual says, contrary to what he said, because this is what the workers in income security are following, and indicate that, yes, they do have an employment expectation if they have taken any kind of training or upgrading which includes the vast majority of single parents.

Mr. Filmon: I will take that as notice on behalf of the Minister of Family Services (Mrs. Mitchelson).

Ms. Rosann Wowchuk (Swan River): In the throne speech the government said that there is a need for industrial development and applied research--the need has never been greater--so urgent the government will now support development and research in all aspects of the agricultural industry.

I want to ask the Minister of Agriculture, given that his government has finally recognized the importance of agriculture research, is this government prepared to commit the surplus from GRIP that is now available from the federal-provincial government into agriculture research in Manitoba?

Hon. Harry Enns (Minister of Agriculture): I can indicate to the honourable member that under the terms and conditions of the GRIP program that were entered into by the province and other provinces with the Government of Canada, it was the responsibility of senior governments, both federal and provincial, to accept any potential deficits that might have been in place at the conclusion of these programs and to return to the respective treasuries any surpluses. That has happened here in Manitoba as it has happened in other provinces.

Ms. Wowchuk: I want to ask this government why they are so weak when it comes to negotiating with the federal government in getting money for this province. We have seen it in other areas, and now we see that the federal government and provincial government in Saskatchewan have put their money towards the agriculture industry.

Why have you not been able to negotiate the federal money to stay here in Manitoba for agriculture research?

Mr. Enns: Known to the vast majority of our producers, we had to begin with a far superior program that paid out benefits in excess of $800 million to the producers when they needed it in Manitoba. That is why Saskatchewan producers opted out of the program a year or two earlier, because the design of the program was not fulfilling the need.

Secondly, Madam Speaker, with respect to dedication to agriculture, I am very pleased that I am part of a cabinet and government that maintained a very significant portion of that provincial share of the GRIP premium to put towards an enhanced crop insurance program that has been very well accepted by Manitoba farmers. To that extent, the federal government contributed its equivalent share to that enhanced crop insurance program in the multimillions of dollars.

Madam Speaker, that was our choice in Manitoba. In Saskatchewan, they chose to use similar monies for different purposes: development and diversification programs. We had already dedicated some efforts to diversification, and those programs are well underway.

Mr. Tim Sale (Crescentwood): Madam Speaker, last night some 26 employees of Woodstone Enterprises--Technologies now--met in Portage la Prairie with Labour Canada, facing losses of about $110,000 in their wages, something over $4,000 each family. That may not seem like a lot to some members opposite, but to working people who are making $10, $11 an hour, it is an awful lot of money.

Will the Minister of Finance (Mr. Stefanson), who knows that these people are justly owed wages, that there is now an order against the former directors of the company for the payment of these wages, also knows that these directors are basically eluding their responsibilities in terms of payment, will he ensure that the first charge against the refunds from the Grow Bonds, which he is now going to send out to those directors, will go to the payment of the wages for those workers and their families who are out of work and need their income?

Hon. Leonard Derkach (Minister of Rural Development): Madam Speaker, I would like to tell the member opposite that our concern has always been for the workers who were at Woodstone when Woodstone was operating. As a matter of fact, we put every effort possible to ensure that Woodstone could continue when the member opposite was sending out letters indicating that perhaps we should move Woodstone to Winnipeg, and in that way the jobs would be lost in Portage a long time ago. I do not know how now he comes forward and says how great an interest he has in the workers at Woodstone.

Madam Speaker, let me say with regard to Grow Bonds, we have to comply with the legislation that has been put in place, and we will conduct ourselves in accordance with that legislation and in accordance with the law.

Madam Speaker: Time for Oral Questions has expired.