Madam Speaker: I have reviewed the petition of the honourable member for Swan River (Ms. Wowchuk). It complies with the rules and the practices of the House. Is it the will of the House to have the petition read?

An Honourable Member: No.

Madam Speaker: Dispense.

WHEREAS medical authorities have stated that breast cancer in Manitoba has reached almost epidemic proportions; and

WHEREAS yearly mammograms are recommended for women over 50, and perhaps younger if a woman feels she is at risk; and

WHEREAS while improved surgical procedures and better post-operative care do improve a woman's chances if she is diagnosed, early detection plays a vital role; and

WHEREAS Manitoba currently has only three centres where mammograms can be performed, those being Winnipeg, Brandon and Thompson; and

WHEREAS a trip to and from these centres for a mammogram can cost a woman upwards of $500 which is a prohibitive cost for some women; and

WHEREAS a number of other provinces have dealt with this problem by establishing mobile screening units; and

WHEREAS the provincial government has promised to take action on this serious issue.

WHEREFORE YOUR PETITIONERS HUMBLY PRAY that the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba may be pleased to request the Minister of Health (Mr. Praznik) to consider immediately establishing a mobile screening unit for mammograms to help women across the province detect breast cancer at the earliest possible opportunity.

Madam Speaker, it is my pleasure to rise before honourable members today to express congratulations to the University of Manitoba Bison women's basketball team on winning their second consecutive Canadian Interuniversity Athletic association championship.

Our province's domination in university women's basketball continued with a 73-62 win over York in the national final in Thunder Bay on Sunday. It marked the fifth straight year that the title has gone to a team from Manitoba after the University of Winnipeg Wesmen won three straight titles between 1993 and 1995.

In winning the title, Manitoba displayed a work ethic and demonstrated the character champions are made of. While we congratulate the entire Bison team, special recognition goes to Coach Colleen Dufresne and three graduating players who undoubtedly were the team leaders, Terri-lee Johannesson, Lorissa Crellin and Vicky Neufeld. It was also a fitting end to Terri-lee Johannesson's college career. The first team all-star led the team in scoring, inspired her teammates through her leadership and for the second straight year was named the tournament MVP.

An Honourable Member: Would she be an Icelandic-Canadian?

Mr. Stefanson: I think she might be. I would ask all members to join me in congratulating the University of Manitoba women's basketball team on their second straight national championship and for the pride and distinction that they have brought to our entire province.

Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Ms. Marianne Cerilli (Radisson): Madam Speaker, I would like to join with the Minister of Sport in congratulating the University of Manitoba women's basketball team on winning their second consecutive CIAU championship.

It is true that Manitoba does have a strong history of producing championship basketball teams. This is the fifth straight year that the Canadian championship has come to Manitoba, and special congratulations are due to all the players and the coaches, as well as the other support staff and volunteers that work with university college teams.

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I think we must also remember that all these young women as well as the coaches come from high schools, and hopefully most of them come from high schools in Manitoba. The concern that we have is fewer and fewer of these Manitoba university athletes are going to be coming from high schools in Manitoba because this government continues not to support sport, extracurricular activities, high school athletics, physical education programs. I would bet that in the future there will be fewer and fewer people who come from our high school programs with the kinds of skills that these young women have, because of the effects cutbacks in education are having on the ability for high schools to conduct extracurricular activities like basketball, other sports, arts programs, music programs and the like.

So although we want to give credit and recognition to these fine university successes, we want to also put the government on notice. If they want to continue to see this kind of success, they have to put some investment into the education and opportunity of all Manitobans in the future.