4th 36th Vol. 21B--Oral Questions

Madam Speaker: Prior to Oral Questions, I would like to draw the attention of all honourable members to the public gallery where we have this afternoon twenty-three Grades 5 and 6 students from Maple Leaf School under the direction of Mrs. Sally Metcalfe. This school is located in the constituency of the honourable Minister of Family Services (Mrs. Mitchelson).

We also have five Grade 12 students from Upward Bound Adult Education under the direction of Ms. Bonnie Clarke. This school is located in the constituency of the honourable member for Wolseley (Ms. Friesen).

Also, ten Grade 10 students from Transcona Collegiate under the direction of Mrs. Colleen Maindonald, Mrs. Linda Wagner, and Mr. Phil Rehberg. This school is located in the constituency of the honourable member for Transcona (Mr. Reid).

On behalf of all honourable members, I welcome you this afternoon.

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Mr. Gary Doer (Leader of the Opposition): Yesterday, in answers to questions dealing with the breach of agreement with the interfaith hospitals here in Manitoba and in Winnipeg, the Minister of Health indicated that the WHA would have to be the employing authority for staff. Yet, on page 4 of the agreement that the government signed on October 18, 1996, 18 months ago, the government gave the responsibility for hiring and dealing with human resources to the faith-based institutions. I would like to ask the Premier (Mr. Filmon): why did he mislead the faith-based institutions 18 months ago when he authorized his former Minister of Health to sign that agreement that articulates those rights?

Hon. Darren Praznik (Minister of Health): First of all, within the faith-based agreement, even with the consolidation of employing authority under the WHA, the ability to designate responsibility for hiring, firing and management of staff in facilities certainly exists. That is the way the plan has evolved and one that, I think, will be able to do the things that have to be done and respect the principles of the faith-based agreement. Surely to goodness, Madam Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition would want us to take the steps that are necessary to ensure that when we have significant staff changes, such as we will have at the Misericordia Hospital, that we can move those acute care nurses to jobs we have in the system where we need them rather than lay them off and re-post positions in other facilities.

Mr. Doer: On June 2, 1997, the present Minister of Health said: the deficit issue will have to be dealt with, but is not going to be used to the facilities as part of an agreement to sign and evolve into the WHA. We will not pick up your deficit; I say that, clearly today, will not be our position.

In a letter of February 5, 1998, the Department of Health states that approval has been received to provide for deficit support subject to entering into an acceptable agreement with the WHA. Again, why did you mislead this House last June, and why do you continue to mislead the faith-based institutions?

Hon. James McCrae (Government House Leader): Madam Speaker, on a point of order, it is inappropriate for the Leader of the Opposition to suggest that there has been any misleading going on. The implication in the question is that this misleading of the House was deliberate, and that being the implication, the honourable member ought to use different language.

Mr. Doer: On the same point of order, yes, this is not a dispute of the facts. The minister said in Hansard on June 2 that the deficit issue would not be used as part of the evolution to the WHA for the faith-based institutions. The letter that we tabled in this House, which is available to the Clerk and to the Speaker, says that it is condition one of evolving into the WHA. So, clearly, this government has either misled the House on June 2--this minister has either misled the House on June 2, or the letter that they are sending to facilities now is inaccurate. We suggest that this is not a dispute of the facts, because the facts are there in Hansard on June 2, and the facts are in the letter that we tabled two days ago in this Chamber.

Madam Speaker: I believe, if I understand the government House leader's point of order correctly, he was disputing the use of the word "mislead" and claiming that the word "mislead" has been ruled unparliamentary. The word "mislead" in itself is not deemed to be unparliamentary. It is when it is prefixed with the word "deliberately" mislead. The honourable government House leader therefore does not have a point of order.

Mr. Praznik: Madam Speaker, over the course of this transition year, as relationships have been developing with the WHA and the various facilities, as issues and how we need to handle them in order to get the best result have developed, it has become very, very clear, in fact it becomes more clear every day about the necessity, the absolute need to ensure that there is a common employing authority to be able to make the movements of staff that allow us to deliver better patient care.

With respect to the deficit letter, when that letter did go out later on, it was decided that the same conditions that were imposed on facilities in rural Manitoba should also be imposed on urban facilities, and I say to the member that this has been an issue that has evolved over the course of the last year.

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Mr. Doer: Madam Speaker, when you say one thing to the members of this Chamber on June 2 and say another thing to the members of the faith-based institutions in February, the word "evolve" is not the word that we would use on this side of the House. We would have "changing and breaking your word" as the words that we would use. No wonder the interfaith and the faith institutions, the Mennonites, the Salvation Army, the Catholic church and the other institutions are having such a great deal of difficulty. They have had their Premier (Mr. Filmon) sign an agreement 18 months ago. They have had their minister--

An Honourable Member: Did not sign it.

Mr. Doer: The Minister of Health signed it on your behalf, so if you want to stand up and answer why you broke your word to those facilities, Madam Speaker.

Mr. McCrae: Madam Speaker, honourable members opposite and especially the Leader of the Opposition have got into the habit of addressing honourable members directly. It is a well-known and very old rule that members ought to address their comments through the Chair.

Madam Speaker: On the point of order raised by the honourable government House leader, indeed the honourable government House leader does have a point of order. All questions and comments should be addressed through the Chair. Now I am not certain if the honourable Leader had posed--

Mr. Doer: On a new point of order, Madam Speaker.

Madam Speaker: On a new point of order?

Mr. Doer: On a new point of order, Madam Speaker, perhaps the House and the Premier (Mr. Filmon) will stop heckling while I am asking my questions that require--if he wants to answer questions, he could stand up and have the backbone to answer on behalf of the signature of his Minister of Health (Mr. Praznik), but if he does not have the courage of his convictions, perhaps you should call him to order when he heckles in this Chamber.

Madam Speaker: Order, please. The honourable government House leader, on the same point of order.

Mr. McCrae: Madam Speaker, the rhetoric just displayed by the honourable Leader of the Opposition in no way amounts to a point of order.

Madam Speaker: The honourable Leader of the official opposition did not have a point of order. I am concerned though that the honourable member did not pose a question.

Madam Speaker, today there are 16 people in the hallway of St. Boniface Hospital. Today there are 67 patients waiting for beds in the Winnipeg hospitals. Instead of this government negotiating in bad faith, breaking their word, breaking their agreement, changing their word, changing their agreements with our facilities, will the government develop a long-term and a short-term plan to deal with the real crisis in patient care, and will it stop fighting everybody in health care and start working in partnership with proper resources to deal with the patients that are in the hallways as we speak here today?

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Hon. Darren Praznik (Minister of Health): Madam Speaker, there are also thousands of doctors on strike in British Columbia today, too, where a great deal of money has been put in with no avail.

Madam Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition does ask a very serious question. When we met with various faith-based boards last year and we talked about the concept of a common employing authority and delegation of authority, it was my sense at the time and my staff that we would be able to have that accommodation as we move forward. Some of the faith-based facilities, and despite the letter the member refers to and discussions we are having with them, there are different points of view and a different sense of realization of what needs to happen.

The member asks for a plan. We have the plan. We are implementing. The difficulty with any major change in a system is that you are going to have people who oppose it, because it is a different way of providing services. We have provided additional resources. Dr. Blake McClarty, for example, points out the fact that he has a commitment for additional resources to bring down waiting lists, but more importantly, he needs the ability to reorganize the system to be more efficient. That requires the ability to move staff and hence a common employer. We need these tools, Madam Speaker, to do the job the member asks us to do.

Mr. Dave Chomiak (Kildonan): Madam Speaker, my question is to the Premier. The Minister of Health is fighting with the doctors. He is fighting with the faith-based institutions. They have broken their word. Will the Premier acknowledge and step in and recognize that this Minister of Health cannot negotiate, and I take and cite as an example--will the Premier ask the Minister of Health to apologize for his comments, when the Minister of Health recently attended at the opening for the LPN for the Brandon Clinic, and the Minister of Health compared the situations of nurses in Manitoba with warfare in Northern Ireland and warfare in the Middle East? Does the Premier have confidence in this Minister of Health to carry on negotiations in these times?

Hon. Darren Praznik (Minister of Health): Madam Speaker, the member for Kildonan, when we have very serious issues to discuss here, flags a discussion that was held in Brandon in an attempt to find a solution to the ongoing dispute between two organizations in nursing that has been going on in this province for 20 years, and it has never been resolved. The kind of talent and skill to bring a resolution is quite a serious one. It was taken in good humour. It was part of the event, and I think the member makes far more out of that statement than was ever intended.

With respect specifically to the faith-based facilities, the member says we are not able to negotiate. We have just managed to achieve a negotiation for a change of function at the Misericordia Hospital that governments I believe in this province have been attempting to achieve for over 20 years. We managed to do that, a fundamental change in the system. We need to get on with the task of regionalizing to deliver better health services, and we need to make sure the tools are in place to do that.

Mr. Dave Chomiak (Kildonan): Will the Minister of Health, who today said they started on a plan last year--and I heard it from the previous minister and the previous minister about their plan--explain to the 65 Manitobans who are today in the hospital hallways of our urban hospitals waiting for beds--these are admitted patients, Madam Speaker. Will the Minister of Health explain what he and this government will finally do, given that this crisis has been looming for years and the government has held their noses, not approach a situation and it continues? What is he going to say to those families?

Hon. Darren Praznik (Minister of Health): The member for Kildonan is right, and right in many of the issues in our health care system that need to be resolved have not been able to be resolved in the past. I recall listening to ministers of Health, going back even to the Pawley administration, talking about the need to getting our seven or nine hospitals in Winnipeg working together co-operatively, co-ordinating services. And you know what? We relied on those boards, both New Democratic Party and Conservative governments, to see that happen. And you know how much we got out of it? Very little, very little, because the nature of that system does not allow change to take place. It does not allow the changes to take place that deliver better care.

We made a commitment as a government that we had to get into regionalization. That is the most revolutionary change in the delivery of health care since probably medical insurance in the 1960s. It does not happen overnight, but I can guarantee Manitobans this, that it will produce a much better health care system.

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Mr. Chomiak: Can the minister explain to this House how their superboard, where the golf buddy of the Premier (Mr. Filmon) is the chair, that is going to be set up is going to improve everything in Winnipeg, when the superboard in Brandon that has been in operation cannot deal with the pediatrics issue, when superboards across the province in regional health authorities are doing nothing, like in the minister's own region where they are hiring over a dozen vice-presidents, where line-ups continue, and they ask us today to accept on faith what their superboard is going to do, when they are the ones who cancelled the personal care home beds, when they are the ones who closed Misericordia Hospital? Give us a break, Madam Speaker.

Mr. Praznik: I have always viewed the member for Kildonan as an individual who wanted to discuss the facts and we have done that on many occasions, but what we see today is the member for Kildonan stretching the facts, maybe not wanting to know the facts in order to paint a picture that is inaccurate. He flagged my own region of North Eastman. I spoke to the chair of the board the other day. They have three staff. They have not hired any vice-presidents, but they have assigned additional operating authorities and additional responsibilities to existing staff. The chair informed me that at the end of the day, they will have less administration than they have had in the past. I spoke to the chair of the board, and this is what he tells me.

They speak about Misericordia. In all of the planning that has been discussed by planners in our system over the years, no matter who has been in power, the need to find a new role for the Misericordia has been found. We have found it; they have criticized it. We are adding 280 brand-new beds to the system.

Mr. Gord Mackintosh (St. Johns): My question to the Premier (Mr. Filmon). Following the Headingley riot, the Premier and the past Minister of Justice in this House said over and over again that the individuals released after the riot had served the necessary time, were released on humanitarian, rehabilitative, medical grounds and that conditions and supervision would be placed on their release. Then along comes Justice Ted Hughes and reports that in fact inmates were released that did not meet the standards of eligibility. He said, and I will just quote: I have reflected on why that information was not communicated to the public once it must have become known to ministry officials towards the end of May. It would have been preferable for the minister to have made a public pronouncement refuting her earlier statements. It is unfortunate that was not done.

My question to the Premier is: now, today, would the Premier finally acknowledge the government's responsibility and correct the record, correct the untrue statements made up to 22 times in this House alone by the government?

Hon. Vic Toews (Minister of Justice and Attorney General): Madam Speaker, I note that the member is quoting from the report that Mr. Justice Hughes made in respect of the incidents that occurred a little over two years ago now.

This government has taken the words, the comments and the advice of Mr. Justice Hughes very, very carefully, has considered them very, very carefully and has taken very proactive steps in order to ensure that the safety of Manitobans is paramount.

We will continue to deal in that manner in respect of our correctional institutes. I know the member for St. Johns wishes to turn our prisons, particularly the Brandon Correctional Institute and The Pas, into open correctional, open-door prisons. We have specifically rejected that recommendation from the member for St. Johns, because we feel that the security of Manitobans is more important than that kind of an ideological position.

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Mr. Mackintosh: Would the minister, rather than engaging in some fantasy, now at least apologize and accept responsibility for, first, releasing Donald Rouire following the riot, and second, releasing him without any supervision, without any conditions, without him even starting his anger management programming, and contrary to his risk assessment and procedures? Would the minister, the government just acknowledge that it made mistakes, or will it continue this callous treatment of the victims in the Futch family, victims that this government itself created?

Mr. Toews: Madam Speaker, this side of the House, all members here--our heart goes out to the Futch family. We are deeply concerned when anyone is the victim of a crime. That is why we have taken very proactive and effective steps to ensure at all times and review on a continuous basis that our correctional facilities meet the needs of Manitobans, that first of all the guards working in those prisons have good conditions, safe conditions, because we know if that is the case then the people of Manitoba are also safe and secure. So we want to reject the type of position of the member for St. Johns that we should simply be opening the doors of our prisons and letting them out. That is a recommendation that they have urged we follow, and we have consistently said that is not an appropriate way to deal with prisoners in Manitoba.

Mr. Mackintosh: Would the minister get beyond these silly politics? Because the Futch family says sympathy is not enough. Would your government now show at least some, at least an ounce of sense of responsibility and caring and acknowledge its false statements, its mistakes? Would this government at least apologize, just apologize to the Futch family?

Mr. Toews: Madam Speaker, I have made our position very clear, that our sympathies, our hearts go out to the Futch family, that we are deeply concerned about this matter. The family has chosen to bring this matter before the courts in order that there be a full discussion of all the facts, and I, for one, welcome that development. Not only have we had Mr. Justice Hughes thoroughly review the situation with our correctional institutions, but in fact, the Futch family feels that it is necessary to proceed into the courts to have a full airing. We agree. All Manitobans should know exactly what occurred, and so I am very supportive of that kind of a process. I know they have commenced an action, and I know that all the facts will be delivered in a dispassionate and an appropriate form.

Mr. Doug Martindale (Burrows): Madam Speaker, in this year's budget tabled by the Minister of Finance (Mr. Stefanson), there were many smoke and mirrors, the biggest one of which was the alleged increase in the health budget of a hundred million dollars, which by the time the smoke cleared turned out to be a $1-million increase. Similarly, in the budget of the Minister of Family Services there was an alleged increase in benefits to children and families; however, at the same time this government cut social assistance by $21 million. I would like to ask the Minister of Family Services to confirm that in fact there was no new money in this budget for children and families.

Hon. Bonnie Mitchelson (Minister of Family Services): I thank my honourable friend for that question, because I really would like to inform him that there certainly was not a $21-million cut in supports to families on welfare. Indeed, Madam Speaker, as a result of the economy in Manitoba, the jobs that have been created, many, many people are no longer on the welfare rolls but they are working. So I make no apologies for the taxpayers of Manitoba that no longer have to support welfare payments to the tune of $21 million, because those people are now employed and earning money and paying taxes.

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Mr. Doug Martindale (Burrows): Madam Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister of Family Services why she is clawing back a hundred percent of the child tax benefit for families on social assistance in Manitoba when David Northcott, the executive director of Winnipeg Harvest, says people do not need more government programs, they need access to more money in their pockets. People cannot eat programs.

Why is she not giving money to the poorest of the poor to enable them to buy groceries?

Hon. Bonnie Mitchelson (Minister of Family Services): Again, I thank my honourable friend for the question, because it allows me to indicate on the record for all Manitobans to hear that indeed there is more money in this budget. As a result of more people working and less welfare needing to be paid, we are able to reinvest dollars into additional child care so that people who are now on the welfare rolls will be assured of a space when they become employed, because there are so many more job opportunities today than there were in years past.

Madam Speaker, I am really pleased, because we believe in Manitoba that the best form of social security is a job, and we are working aggressively to ensure that the tools are there and the resources are there so that people can move into the workforce, off welfare, become independent and self-sufficient and feel much, much better about themselves as a result.

Mr. Martindale: Would the Minister of Family Services tell us, and more importantly, tell the 25,000 cases on provincial assistance and over 14,000 City of Winnipeg cases why she and her government did nothing, in spite of very good advice from people like David Northcott, who criticized the government for doing nothing to improve the minimum wage and improve welfare benefits--what is she going to tell these people about her budget and the fact that there is nothing in there for them?

Mrs. Mitchelson: I have to repeat again that the best form of social security is a job, and we are working aggressively to try to ensure that the jobs, No. 1, are available and that people who are on welfare have the opportunity to be trained to fill those jobs. I make no apologies for that direction.

I would like my honourable friend just to think a little bit about what provinces right across the country are doing as a result of the National Child Benefit. One of the key focuses of the National Child Benefit is to ensure that people are better off working than on welfare. Madam Speaker, there is not any province across the country, including New Democratic provinces, that is increasing welfare rates, but indeed what they are doing is taking-- as the federal government puts more money into children through the tax benefit, we are dollar for dollar investing in children in other ways in the province of Manitoba, and I make no apologies for that.

Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Inkster): Madam Speaker, by government decree back on November 7, 1988, this government stated in regulation: at the close of a school on each day on which the school is in regular operation for instruction or at the close of any opening exercises that the school may conduct, the pupils shall sing the first verse of God Save the Queen.

My question to the Premier: does he still believe today that that is necessary, that in each and every school day, at the end of the day, that God Save the Queen needs to be sung?

Hon. Gary Filmon (Premier): Madam Speaker, the member, I believe, is not quoting the letter in its entirety. When I looked at it a couple of days ago--[interjection]

An Honourable Member: It is in regulation.

Mr. Filmon: Yes. When I looked at it a couple of days ago, the regulation calls for patriotic exercises to be held in all the schools in this province, and it includes of course opening exercises that involve the singing of O Canada! and God Save the Queen.

You know, we were just talking about national unity in the House--there is a resolution before the House today--and I have often said, you know, there are not a lot of things in the United States that I agree with--there are a lot of things I do, some that I do not--but one of the things that I think the Americans do well is that they instill a sense of patriotism and commitment to their country. They get up every morning in school, and the first thing they do is the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States. They have ceremonies and symbols to try and ensure that people respect their country and grow up as patriotic citizens. That is why we have the flags on either side of you, Madam Speaker. That is why, I think, it is important that people should be taught patriotism in our schools, that they should have that sense of patriotism, and they should be proud of their country. The way in which you do that is by having them practise the symbols of good citizenship, which include singing O Canada! and God Save the Queen, and I am absolutely shocked that the member opposite would take this negative attitude towards that.

Mr. Lamoureux: Madam Speaker, in our schools we sing O Canada! in the morning, and that is not necessarily what I am questioning the Premier. We have principals, because of the Minister of Education, that are going out now and being told that they have to start revisiting this whole issue. What we are seeking is direction from the Premier. Is the Premier now saying that all of our public schools in Manitoba have to sing God Save the Queen at the end of the school day? That is the specific question. I do not question about singing O Canada! in the morning.

Mr. Filmon: Again, I question the confusion in the mind of the member for Inkster, because I believe this is the same person who has stood up in this House and advocated for our students to be taught more history. He has berated the Minister of Education (Mrs. McIntosh) for downplaying our history as a country. We are a constitutional monarchy. The head of government is the Queen, Madam Speaker. We have a Lieutenant Governor who represents the Queen as the titular head of government in our province. In all those cases, it is part of the understanding of what makes us different from the United States and from every other country in the world. For him to belittle that, for him to suggest that that ought to be wiped out of the record and that we should not promote unity and a sense of nationhood by not singing O Canada! or not singing God Save the Queen quite honestly is ridiculous, and he should be ashamed about that.

Mr. Lamoureux: A touch of reality for the Premier, I think, is needed. My question to the Premier is: how many public schools do you think today are actually singing God Save the Queen at the end of the school day? If you listen to the Premier, you would think every school in the province is doing that.

Madam Speaker: Order, please. The question has been put.

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Mr. Filmon: Again, it is very frustrating to deal with someone who is so inconsistent that he wants to, on one hand, have more history and more sense of country being taught to our children; on the other hand, wipe out all the symbols of that history, including our existence as a constitutional monarchy.

Just last Monday, I believe it was, we celebrated Commonwealth Day here in this Legislature. We brought in two of the high commissioners, one from the U.K., one from the Bahamas to help us to understand. We had in representatives of school divisions throughout the province, as well as leaders from our academic community, so that people knew and understood that we are still very much a constitutional monarchy. We are not a republican state like the Americans or so many places in the world. Having our children learn O Canada! and be willing to stand up patriotically and sing it, to understand the symbolism of our flags, to sing God Save the Queen is part of all of that.

That story was shopped around to the media by whoever it was. One of the bits of advice I give gratuitously to the member for Inkster is he should not take his political advice and his political lead from CBC Radio.

Mr. Leonard Evans (Brandon East): A pregnant woman in a high-risk category because of an anticipated premature birth had to be airlifted yesterday from Brandon to the Health Sciences Centre because of the lack of on-call pediatric services at the Brandon General Hospital. Today I spoke to a woman from Brandon who is very worried because she is expecting her first child around April 22, and she has been told that she cannot be assured that pediatric services will be available at the Brandon General Hospital. She wants to know what will happen if she has unexpected problems in the delivery. There is a great deal of concern in the community in western Manitoba. I ask the Minister of Health: when is the minister going to bring pediatric services back to the Brandon General Hospital?

Hon. Darren Praznik (Minister of Health): Madam Speaker, this is certainly a very important matter that the member raises today, and it is one that is of concern to all of us. The issue fundamentally is one of recruitment, of finding additional pediatricians to come to Brandon to practise. It cannot really be one of money because if the issue is overwork, as the physicians have indicated that they are just too busy, providing additional money to them is not going to solve that problem.

I am pleased to inform the House that we have authorized resources to be able to obtain contract pediatric services, I think in the neighbourhood of about $175,000 a year. That would be not including expenses, so it is a significant amount of money. I understand that the Brandon Regional Health Authority has spoken, I believe, to some three pediatricians that they are attempting to recruit.

Mr. Leonard Evans: Madam Speaker, will the minister acknowledge that the minimum number of pediatricians required in Brandon is four, and can he assure us that he will make it a priority to reinstate pediatric services at the Brandon General Hospital at this required level, a hospital that is serving our second-largest city in this province as well as a large portion of western Manitoba?

Mr. Praznik: Madam Speaker, I understand from all the conversations and discussions that have gone on between the ministry staff and the Brandon Regional Health Authority that four is the number that is required and that we are prepared to ensure that the financial resources are available, whether on a contract or fee for service to do that. The fundamental issue is identifying pediatricians who are prepared to come to work in Brandon, and that is the work that is ongoing now by the Brandon Regional Health Authority.

Mr. Gerard Jennissen (Flin Flon): Madam Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Highways. With unseasonably warm weather continuing to plague winter roads in northern and remote Manitoba, essential foodstuffs, fuel and building materials are not reaching their destination. Have the federal and provincial governments put forward contingency plans for communities such as Tadoule Lake, Lac Brochet and Brochet?

Hon. Glen Findlay (Minister of Highways and Transportation): Madam Speaker, because of the unseasonably warm temperatures, clearly winter roads, particularly on the east side of Lake Winnipeg, were in jeopardy about three weeks ago. Officials of the provincial government, federal government and the communities that the member mentions have been working together to find ways and means of getting essential food, fuel, dry goods and nonessential items to those communities.

A combination of airlift, which involved up to 16 planes, was moving fuel in. There were no emergencies. Colder weather in the last 10 days allowed some of the winter road activity to resume, albeit at lower weights than might be desired, but there are many, many trucks involved in getting the goods in while the roads are still passable. I have staff out there on a continuous basis to be sure the roads are safe, and we will keep them open as long as possible to deliver the goods on the winter roads. Following that, the emergency plan of using airplanes and occasionally our helicopters will supplement getting the supply to the communities.

Mr. Jennissen: Madam Speaker, supplementary. Given the unfortunate fact that winter roads from Gods Lake Narrows to Gods River, Split Lake to York Landing, York Landing to Ilford, Pikwitonei and Thicket Portage are all closing at midnight and Shamattawa is closing tomorrow, I want to ask the minister whether the federal commitment to have essential goods shipped to these communities remains in place, since only a fraction of the normal bulk material has been shipped this year.

Mr. Findlay: Madam Speaker, it is absolutely my understanding that the federal commitment that was previously negotiated is still in place.

Mr. Eric Robinson (Rupertsland): Madam Speaker, it has been about three months now, in December, that the tragic accident occurred in Little Grand Rapids, something that the minister is quite familiar with, so my questions are for the Minister of Highways and Transportation. On December 11, he said that the only realistic option left would be to construct a new airport at the community of Little Grand Rapids. I would like to ask the minister: how much money has been committed in this fiscal year for such a project?

Hon. Glen Findlay (Minister of Highways and Transportation): The issue on hand is safety at airports, some 22 airports in northern Manitoba. In that context, I held a meeting in my office, I believe it was in January, where I had numerous community representatives who were concerned about safety, plus individuals from the aircraft industry that fly planes into those airports. Coming out of that meeting, a group was struck, a task force was struck to discuss how we could maximize safety at those airports. The committee consisted of four department people or four government people, four people from the aircraft industry and four chiefs representing the communities. That committee has met twice and is looking forward to making the kinds of recommendations to improve safety at all the airports in the North.

Madam Speaker: Time for Oral Questions has expired.

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