Hon. Gary Filmon (Premier): Madam Speaker, I have a statement with copies for members of the opposition.

Over the past several days what I have seen and all Manitobans have witnessed will remain with me for the rest of my life. I can tell you that the footage and the pictures you may have seen on your television or in your newspapers does not even begin to convey the full extent of this flood. Lifting off from within the safety of a dike, one is completely overwhelmed by the immense stretches of water beyond its protection. Even from the air, to see these flood waters reaching to the horizon makes one respect the power of nature.

During our tours I have met with the mayors, reeves, municipal officials and residents to discuss the overall flood situation in their communities. I have nothing but the highest praise for the various local officials, emergency volunteers, provincial and city officials and the military who have been working literally around the clock to make the emergency preparations go so well. The attitudes and spirit of the people I have talked to has reassured me that the people of Manitoba are not about to give up the fight.

Let me assure you, Madam Speaker, no efforts are being spared to continue to fight the flood. However, thousands of Manitobans are currently out of their homes and can only sit by daily to watch as the flood waters continue to affect what many Manitobans have spent a lifetime building. Our objective at this point is to provide them with the comfort, relief and assurance that the government of Manitoba and indeed all citizens of our province stand behind them and will continue to stand behind them when they have the opportunity to rebuild their homes, their businesses and their properties.

Under federal-provincial disaster assistance guidelines and programs, compensation is provided to homeowners and property owners. The upper limits to individual claim amounts were set some 20 years ago and have not been revised or adjusted since.

Officials have reviewed the current guidelines that exist in other provinces. Most recently, in the province of Quebec last year after the disaster of the Saguenay floods, the Province of Quebec raised the limit. Accordingly, I am announcing today that the government of Manitoba is increasing the individual property owner claim settlement limit to $100,000. This will put us on the same level that exists in the provinces of Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia. Specific details of the programming will be announced in due course.

The purpose of my rising to make this announcement today is to provide assurances to the citizens of Manitoba who have been affected or will be affected, as well as members of the opposition who raised the issue here yesterday, that we are sensitive to their concerns and will implement those changes immediately. I believe the Government of Canada concurs with these moves, and I will be seeking early confirmation from them.

Madam Speaker, my heart and my sincere thanks, as well as those of all Manitobans, goes out to those people on the front line who every day face great adversity and the biggest challenge of our generation. The flood of 1997 is a natural disaster of the highest magnitude, and I am confident that the people of Manitoba can handle this emergency if we continue to work together. Thank you.

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Mr. Gary Doer (Leader of the Opposition): I would like to thank the Premier for his statement in the House today. I, too, and all of us want to continue our praise and respect for the thousands and thousands of Manitobans that have been pulling together as one community. Whether they are directly affected in this flood or whether they are removed from the flood, we are all working as one co-operative community together to deal with the crisis that we face and the crisis that our fellow citizens face.

I also want to pay tribute to our fellow Canadians that are also initiating efforts of help and support, whether it is in schools in Alberta or communities in other provinces across Canada. This has obviously touched the value system of our country, a country that is tolerant, that is fair, and a country that cares about each other. I want to thank on behalf of all of us the people across this great nation that are also coming together on behalf of our citizens.

As the Premier has indicated, there are thousands of people working night and day on this effort to stop the river and protect their communities and protect the safety of their citizens. I will reiterate that we believe the first and No. 1 priority, as the Premier has stated before, must be the personal safety of our citizens. We have already had loss of life with this flood and the waters in our province, and we will respect any decision and have respected decisions that have been made by the government, difficult decisions, when a loss of life or injury is at stake. That must remain the No. 1 priority for all of us.

In recognition of this, I also know that there are people that are fighting for their property and for their families. I have heard, as the Premier has heard, many people say that we built our communities by being fighters; we did not build our communities by being quitters. Let us stay. Let us fight. Let us be able to fight all the water that is coming across those dikes and be able to drain that water so that we can protect the families and materials that we have built up over generation after generation.

I respect those very difficult decisions and will respect the government while they are making those decisions. We are all working as one province together in dealing with the common enemy, and that is, of course, the water and the flood that is right throughout the Red River Valley.

I want to thank the Premier for his statement today about the limits of flood compensation. We, of course, have been reviewing this matter because constituents have been calling us. When we looked at the limit of $30,000 and raised it yesterday in the Chamber and researched the material, it seemed to us that the Province of Quebec, the Province of Alberta, the Province of British Columbia had raised the levels to $100,000. They had raised those levels, and we had felt that the Province of Manitoba should similarly raise those values.

We also believe that the federal government would have to, under that formula, treat Manitobans the same way as they treated the people in the Saguenay or the people in the Alberta situation flood of two weeks ago. We are pleased the government has made this announcement. We believe today the federal lead minister has stated that it is up to the province to set the limits. I am glad they have raised it. It makes a lot more sense for the families who are going to try to rebuild from this disaster and will want to have peace of mind in that rebuilding process and some part of that peace of mind will come from knowing what actually will be in the compensation package announced today. Thank you very, very much, Madam Speaker.

Madam Speaker: Does the honourable member for Inkster have leave? [agreed]

Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Inkster): Madam Speaker, on behalf of my Liberal colleagues in the Chamber, I also wanted to say just a few short, brief words on this particular issue. We indeed do applaud the Premier and the government for taking very quick action to resolve an issue that many Manitobans were greatly concerned with, because after the flood waters recede the issue of compensation is going to be on the top of minds of Manitobans throughout the province.

It is indeed encouraging, and I listened very closely to what the Premier (Mr. Filmon) and the Leader of the New Democratic Party (Mr. Doer) were saying in terms of as we try to visualize just the significance of this particular event as we watch through cameras and so forth being first-hand on some of the dikes and participating, all the different things that are occurring, whether it is the people, it is businesses, it is levels of government, and what I wanted just to quickly make reference to is levels of government. Madam Speaker, I look at you, the member for St. Norbert (Mr. Laurendeau), other members of different political parties who are chipping in. We see gestures from different levels of government, the city, the provincial and the federal governments, working in a very co-operative fashion in order to resolve this issue in the best way in which we can.

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It is encouraging at times, when we sit inside a Chamber and we expect to see a lot of advocacy on behalf of a political party, that it shows that political parties when it comes time or when necessary, in fact, we can work together. That is really encouraging to see as an individual that people are prepared to put the politics of the day to the side so that when I, for example, saw Madam Speaker, you, with Reg Alcock and the Deputy Speaker, city councillors like John Angus, when I saw at the Scotia line individuals like Gord Mackintosh and others participating, trying to send a message that this is indeed a nonpolitical issue and let us get the issue dealt with at hand.

That is why I wanted just to, on behalf of the Liberal colleagues inside this Chamber, applaud the government on its very quick action in dealing with the compensation package.

Hon. Glen Cummings (Minister of Natural Resources): Madam Speaker, I would like to, along with my colleague the Minister of Government Services (Mr. Pitura), provide a brief update to the House on the matter surrounding the flood.

The levels at the Red River rose a quarter of a foot at Ste. Agathe and three-quarters of a foot at St. Adolphe over the last 24 hours. City of Winnipeg levels rose one foot in the downtown area to up to two feet in Fort Garry. In the Selkirk area the river rose half a foot, and levels from Morris southward are now steady. The relatively rapid rise from St. Adolphe through Winnipeg is due to a surge of water that has arrived from the record levels that are passing past Ste. Agathe. The record levels on Lake Morris have pushed through the lake's relatively narrow outlet in that area, and the roads west of Ste. Agathe have been washed out by the surge of water.

The crest of the Red River is presently at Ste. Agathe and is expected at St. Adolphe tomorrow morning and at the floodway structure and the city of Winnipeg late tomorrow. The crest will reach Lockport on May 2 and Selkirk May 3 and Breezy Point May 4. After the crest is reached at any given location, we should be reminded that these levels will remain relatively steady for the following five days or so. Crest elevations remain unchanged from St. Adolphe to Breezy Point.

In addition to the record flooding along the Red River, serious flooding is also taking place in the downstream areas of the Red River tributaries due to backup from the swollen condition of the Red River. Levels at the Grande Pointe area rose another inch since Tuesday and will likely rise another few inches before the crest late tomorrow. Severe flooding is anticipated on the lower Netley Creek in the Petersfield area.

Flows at the Portage diversion have been increased in recent days to greatly reduce Assiniboine River flows, and, in fact, Assiniboine is cut to a very marginal flow as a result of this. This will result in a slight decline of the levels of the Red River in downtown Winnipeg beginning on Friday. The crest in downtown Winnipeg is expected to be 24.5 feet above datum late on Thursday. The highest previous level since the floodway went into operation 28 years ago was 19.4. The 1950 crest was 30.3.

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Hon. Frank Pitura (Minister of Government Services): Madam Speaker, with regard to an update on the Emergency Management Organization, I just have a couple of brief comments. First, in the area of Natural Resources, the department is developing a pass system for those persons re-entering to look after their operations. The other area that I wish to inform the House about is a fact mentioned yesterday about a re-entry committee being struck having representatives from many departments and agencies. I would just like to inform the House that that committee is progressing well, and I think that in a matter of days they will have a system available for those areas that will be available to re-enter so that re-entry can be made safe for those returning to their homes.

One other thing that MEMO is now doing is assessing the inventory of sandbags in the event that we do need additional supplies as the Red River passes through the city and onwards north up to the lake, and each day daily information on conditions will be provided to all the local authorities of impacted municipalities.

There is one other thing, Madam Speaker. I just want to inform the House, as well, that within--from April 26 to yesterday, the R.M. of East St. Paul, West St. Paul and the R.M. of St. Andrews have declared states of local emergency.

That is my update for today.

Mr. Stan Struthers (Dauphin): Madam Speaker, again, thanks to the ministers for providing that information to the House and for the people of Manitoba. The Minister of Natural Resources makes a good point that I would like to reiterate concerning the crests, the level of the water that we will be facing over the next little while. I think the minister is correct in pointing out that it is not just a one-day event with a crest, that the pressure on the dikes will remain high several days after the crest has been hit. We must be absolutely ever vigilant with our diking and with our inspections of the dikes, and inspections of the dikes following the hitting the crest.

So I would encourage the minister and the government to continue that line of communication and let people be absolutely aware of what they are in for once the crests hit closer to the city. I think the lessons that we can learn are lessons that were hopefully learned by officials in areas further south where the crest has already moved through.

I also want to congratulate the Minister of Government Services on mentioning the committee that is designed to increase the amount of communication between different government levels. It is our hope that this will reduce the amount of confusion concerning some of the facts that are out there, because of course we want all Manitobans to know what the facts are so they can make appropriate decisions to protect their lives and properties and that way minimize the amount of harm that our citizens will eventually come across.

So with those few words, again I pledge our co-operation on this side of the House in working against a flood that could damage a lot in our city and in our province. Thank you.