I am pleased to have this opportunity to invite all members of this House to join with me in celebrating Manitoba's 127th birthday today. Manitoba Day is a time to reflect on who we are, where we have come from and what we have achieved. We are people with tremendous perseverance. We do not waver from our goals, and we do not give up in the face of adversity. Nothing in recent memory has tested the strength of these characteristics more than the flood of 1997. In the face of this tremendous hardship, Manitobans have excelled. Eighty-five hundred families across southern Manitoba were forced out of their homes. Over 28,000 people were evacuated in what is our worst flood in over a century.

The eyes of the world have been upon us for the last few weeks. People have responded in unprecedented ways. Thousands of Manitobans continue to volunteer. Where once they spent countless hours sandbagging, making meals, answering phones and countless other unheralded tasks, they are now helping evacuated families get back into their homes. They are helping provide emergency and victim services 24 hours a day. They are feeding and giving shelter to evacuees.

* (1335)

Throughout the hardship of the flood we have felt strongly the deep bonds that unite us as Manitobans. The last few weeks have proven without a doubt that Manitobans share a deep commitment to keep our communities as places where compassion, caring, volunteerism and community action will never be a thing of the past but a beacon to lead us into the future.

With the passing of the Red River's crest in most places in Manitoba, our struggle is far from over. Severe weather conditions may create more difficult scenarios for us to cope with in the days ahead, and we must be prepared to respond. However, we all have every confidence that the fierce pride of the people of Manitoba will not allow us to give up after we have achieved so much. Dry or wet, this is our home and we are proud of it. We are vigilant, we are organized and we are united. We are many cultures and heritages with a wide variety of languages and customs, but we are all proud to be Manitobans. Manitobans living, working and achieving together side by side have always been an integral part of our identity.

Today, on Manitoba Day, it is especially important that we salute all Manitobans. It is our combined strength, determination and hard work that has given us our greatest successes, our greatest achievements. It is also the source from which we will continue to build a stronger Manitoba, a Manitoba rich in new potential and achievement. Happy Manitoba Day.

Ms. Diane McGifford (Osborne): Madam Speaker, I rise today to reply to the First Minister in his recognition of Manitoba Day and the 127th anniversary of our province. First, I want to commend the government for continuing the tradition which the New Democratic Party initiated in government, that is, recognizing and celebrating Manitoba Day.

Manitoba Day remembers that on May 12, 1870, the Manitoba Act created the province of Manitoba, and on May 12, 1966, Manitoba's official flag was dedicated and unfurled for the first time. Consequently, the former Premier, Premier Howard Pawley, designated May 12 as Manitoba Day in recognition of the importance of this date in the history of our province.

At the same time as we celebrate Manitoba's birthday, we need to recognize that this birthday is an invented tradition which dates from 1870, but the aboriginal members of this Legislature and the aboriginal people of our province have at least 12,000 years of Manitoba history. The birthday we celebrate is a construction foisted on the history of our province, so we would do well to remember that what we call the birthday and the way in which we determine the age of our province are artifices which tell only a minute part of the story. The real story is ancient, fuller and alive with the history of aboriginal people.

We would do well today also to reflect on the ways in which the present modifies the past, deconstructs and recasts our history. Living in the present we have a duty to learn aboriginal history, bring this knowledge to the official version and take this version to our schools and universities. We have a duty, too, to understand the ethnic diversity and multicultural richness of our province and to honour the contributions that all immigrants have made and continue to make to Manitoba's economic, social and cultural life.

I want to mention a recent defining moment in Manitoba's history. I refer, of course, to the flood of the century, an event which ties us both to our predecessors who in 1826 suffered trial by water without our technology and to the people of the '50s who fought to save our city and the lands along the Red River and did it, though, with some serious loss. What characterizes the people of 1826, 1850 and 1997 is the determination to endure. If we were to move back through the history of our aboriginal people and hear their stories of floods, that will to endure would be there, too. In short, the human spirit meets in Manitoba, and we are tied together by our common humanity.

* (1340)

In conclusion, celebrating Manitoba's birthday is really celebrating Manitoba's people and honouring what William Faulkner called, and I quote, the old truths and verities of the heart without which no story is complete. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Hon. Harold Gilleshammer (Minister of Labour): Madam Speaker, I would like to table an additional page for the supplementary information for the Department of Labour.