Mr. Ben Sveinson (La Verendrye): Madam Speaker, last night lightning struck twice as the Lorette Scorpions won a second provincial high school hockey championship in as many years by defeating the St. John's-Ravenscourt Eagles five to one. The provincial title was decided last night in front of 1,200 enthusiastic fans at the St. James Civic Centre. The Scorpions followed the same path as they did last year in retaining their championship crown. After suffering a defeat in the city high school hockey semifinals to the team from Ravenscourt, the Scorpions rebounded to win the provincial championship.
The brilliant goal tending of Alex Haas, who made 27 saves, backstopped the Scorpions victory. Alex's championship form was recognized as he was named both Scorpions player of the game and all-star goaltender in the provincial tournament. Goals for the Scorpions were scored by Ryan St. Laurent, with Murray Carter, Martin D'Auteuil and Jason Hyde. Scorpions coach Jude Boulianne said he was very proud of his team's play.
I would like to congratulate the coaches and the players from the Lorette Scorpions as they celebrate their well-deserved victory. By refusing to allow a defeat the previous week to affect their game, they demonstrated the spirit of true champions. I would also like to extend a congratulatory note to the players and coaches of the St. John's-Ravenscourt Eagles for their tremendous effort and for winning the city championship title. Thank you.
Mr. Steve Ashton (Thompson): I wish to put on the record the very clear frustration of the people of Thompson about the continued underfunding of public education in our province, in particular in terms of the cuts that we have seen in our school district under this government. I want to put on the record, I am particularly frustrated that the minister, when asked three questions earlier, tried to duck from dealing with a bottom line of what has happened in Thompson and other school districts throughout this province, and the fact is that we are losing teachers, we are losing programs, we are losing educational assistance, support staff, and property taxes are increasing.
I have, Madam Speaker, the statistics. I know the statistics. I was at the public meeting with hundreds of parents. Their message to the provincial government and this Minister of Education (Mrs. McIntosh) is stop shafting our school district and start supporting public education. I find it absolutely incredible that the minister tried to duck any response to the substance of the question I asked earlier in Question Period.
Mr. Marcel Laurendeau, Deputy Speaker, in the Chair
I want to put on the record that the School District of Mystery Lake and the people of Thompson have difficulties with the funding formula. They have difficulties in particular with the impact on school districts such as Thompson where right now we have 200 layoffs in our community and yet our property tax bill is going to be going up because we are getting .4 percent, not the 2.1 percent that was announced for the province as a whole.
I say to the Minister of Education, who apparently will be spending half an hour to talk to each school district at the MAST convention, perhaps what she should do is invest a little bit more time in talking to school districts and a little less time in such incidents as the Chris Millar incident and the Elizabeth Carlyle incident. I suggest she might also want to take us up on our invitation in the community of Thompson, to come to Thompson, the third-largest city in Manitoba, to talk to the teachers, to talk to the parents, to talk to the school board and find out directly the impact that her cuts are having on our school district. We want support for our public education system in this province, Mr. Deputy Speaker. We want action from this minister and this government.
Mr. Mervin Tweed (Turtle Mountain): Once a year I think we are all a little bit Irish. St. Patrick's Day has become over the centuries much more than a celebration of the life of the patron saint of Ireland. It is a celebration of a culture, language and a people of distinctive character.
One of the communities that I represent, Killarney, Manitoba, is steeped in Irish culture. This past weekend the community got together and celebrated in many ways the coming of St. Patrick's Day, which is today. It starts out on Friday night with a social evening and a diamond night, another social evening on Saturday. Hockey tournaments ran throughout the weekend. The high school students served Irish stew on the streets of the community for the entire weekend. Just a note that many of the community businesses and properties have taken on the Irish flavour with names such as the Emerald Isle, the Erin Inn, Erin Drive, and many more.
The park in Killarney is appropriately named Erin Park. Inside that park you will see a leprechaun sitting close to the Blarney Stone, which I suggest some members might want to visit and make a wish.
One of the other unique features about the community of Killarney and the Irish association is the fact that we have one of the only, I believe, green fire trucks in Manitoba. It was designed specifically for that purpose. The community has a great time when they get together to celebrate this event. As I said in my opening comment, it is a day when we can all be Irish, all be proud, and get an opportunity to wear green whether we look good in it or not.
So, Mr. Deputy Speaker, I would just like to close with an Irish blessing. It states: may your blessings outnumber the shamrocks that grow and may trouble avoid you wherever you go. Thank you.
Mr. Gerard Jennissen (Flin Flon): The closure of the Lynn Lake CIBC bank branch at the end of January has caused major problems for the nearly 1,000 residents of the community. This 45-year-old branch was closed not because it was losing money, but because more money could be made elsewhere. So while CIBC made $1.55 billion last year, its directors feel that the profits are still not high enough. Lynn Lake residents are now forced to make a three-and-a-half-hour round trip in the winter over the notorious PR 391 just to deposit money or cash cheques. Some businesses are often forced to carry large sums of cash on these trips. The trip, of course, is itself an extra cost for everyone living and working at Lynn Lake and surrounding communities. It is a major hindrance for everyone, including the many small businesses that operate in the region. The Black Hawk gold mine at Lynn Lake itself has an annual payroll exceeding $6 million. Many small businesses are now being forced to keep large sums of cash on hand simply to operate.
With the local economy estimated at $15 million annually, it is a major setback that Lynn Lake no longer has banking services in the community. Tourism will be seriously hurt if action is not taken shortly. The area is well known for first-rate sport fishing. Mayor Ollie Dulewich and council are to be commended for their efforts to find another financial institution to serve Lynn Lake. Sherron Loewen and the Lynn Lake Chamber of Commerce have also been active in the campaign. One credit union has expressed serious interest in locating a branch at Lynn Lake but needs assurances that there will be enough money on deposit to make it feasible.
The provincial government can play a positive role in this matter. We encourage the province to make every effort to see that any business they have in the community and region--from the hospital to government services--makes use of local banking services. A commitment from the province could go a long way towards maintaining banking service in the community of Lynn Lake and other communities facing the loss of a bank. At this point, it all points out, Mr. Deputy Speaker, to the importance of the provincial government being active, where feasible, to prevent communities from losing their banking services.