Mr. Gary Doer (Leader of the Opposition): Madam Speaker, over the last four years hundreds of nurses have lost their jobs in Manitoba. There has also been a major change in the training for nurses in this province. The BN program exists and has been expanded, but the RN program, the hospital-based nursing program which used to train nurses in two years and then one year of practicum, has been radically changed and downsized and closed down by this provincial government.

What has been the impact of those changes on nursing shortages here in Manitoba?

Hon. Eric Stefanson (Minister of Health): Madam Speaker, I think, as the member opposite knows, changes have been made to the nursing education programs basically with the support of nurses here in Manitoba and right across Canada. The member is right that there is a Bachelor of Nursing program, a four-year program here in Manitoba, which can be taken now in three years under an accelerated program. I understand enrollment in that program this last year alone was up some 23 percent.

We also have a licensed practical nursing program which is run out of Assiniboine Community College. I believe their entrance last year was about 90 and that certainly will be significantly increased. So, again, our Faculty of Nursing and our licensed practical nursing program at Assiniboine Community College are going to be significant contributors to more nurses in Manitoba because there is absolutely no doubt that Manitoba needs more nurses, which is the case right across Canada. We have undertaken a number of initiatives that I am more than pleased to outline for the member opposite in terms of attracting and bringing more nurses back into the nursing profession here in Manitoba.

Mr. Gary Doer (Leader of the Opposition): Madam Speaker, the minister did not answer the question. I asked what was the impact of the decision the government made, and he never answered the question. As I understand it, we used to graduate about 500 nurses per year, and as I understand it we are not graduating, through any of the programs, the numbers of nurses at the speed at which we used to graduate those nurses in the past. I would like to know how many people are we graduating, how many nurses are we graduating right now, what is the expected graduation rate over the next three or four years, and what is the discrepancy in terms of need?

Hon. Eric Stefanson (Minister of Health): Madam Speaker, as I have indicated, the nursing education program was changed back in the early '90s and that was done with the support of nurses not only here in Manitoba but indeed right across Canada. In fact, it was actually at the request of nurses from across Canada to make the changes. Again, we are continuing to change the program to allow for more opportunities to take part in nursing, and that is why the four-year program can be done on an accelerated basis. A licensed practical nursing program is going to be done on a significant increase in the upcoming year in terms of the numbers of enrollments.

So we recognize, as is the case right across Canada, because of some of these changes in the educational programs right across Canada, that is one of the issues that has contributed to a shortage of nurses not only in Manitoba but in literally every province in Canada. That is why we are taking the number of steps that we are taking to lead to more enrollment at our educational facilities, additional incentives like our $7-million nurse recruitment fund to bring more nurses into the profession, creating more permanent positions in nursing, which is something that nurses tell us all the time, and we are working with employers to do that. A number of initiatives are underway to bring more nurses back into that profession in the province of Manitoba.

Mr. Gary Doer (Leader of the Opposition): The nurses' professional body did recommend the change, but a number of bedside nurses warned us about the change, and it is the government's responsibility to deal with the recruitment and retention of nurses, Madam Speaker. The minister again did not answer the question. How many are graduating? How many do we need? And what are the projections? Those are very simple questions. The minister never answered them. I would like to ask the minister: are any beds being closed or contemplated to be closed because of a shortage of nurses here in Manitoba?

Hon. Eric Stefanson (Minister of Health): Madam Speaker, the short answer to the final part of the question is no. Fortunately, in our system, we have very dedicated health care professionals, our nurses, our doctors, our other people in the health care system, and in many cases the needs of our nursing services are being met by nurses working overtime, by nurses working a longer shift than they originally would intend. So the needs are being met by nurses currently in our system, but there is a need for more nurses in the province of Manitoba. There is a need for more nurses right across Canada, and that is exactly why we have set up the number of initiatives that we have done here in the province to do just that, to bring more nurses into the profession through our educational opportunities, to bring more nurses back into the system, to bring more nurses back to Manitoba, a number of initiatives that we have introduced to create more nurses here in the province of Manitoba, recognizing that that is something that we are committed to doing.

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Mr. Dave Chomiak (Kildonan): Madam Speaker, under this government's mismanagement of our health care system, things have probably never been worse in the province of Manitoba in terms of health care. The only trauma unit in the province for trauma injuries is the Health Sciences Centre, and the Health Sciences Centre is planning to close, in May, four of the 10 surgical ICU beds and you know why they are planning to close? Because of the lack of nurses. I want to ask the minister to explain how it is after 11 years of mismanagement, we are planning to close four of the 10 beds in the surgical ICU because of lack of nurses.

Hon. Eric Stefanson (Minister of Health): Without accepting any of the preamble from the member opposite, we have continued to direct additional resources to health care here in the province of Manitoba. Our last budget, 1998-99, has $100 million more than the budget from the previous year. Over and above that, during this fiscal year, as our finances continue to perform very well, we dedicated significant resources again to health care needs.

So health care continues to be the No. 1 priority, 35 percent of our budget, close to $2 billion. We continue to dedicate resources into our health care system, and I have already outlined very clearly for the Leader of the Opposition (Mr. Doer) and members opposite, a number of strategies that we are undertaking in conjunction with our educational facilities, in conjunction with nurses, to bring more nurses back into the health care system in the province of Manitoba.

Mr. Chomiak: When the minister undertakes to confirm the information with respect–

Madam Speaker: Question, please.

Mr. Chomiak: –to the Health Sciences Centre, can the minister also check whether or not two weeks ago at St. Boniface Hospital four beds in delivery had to be closed down and a doctor had to be pressed to do nurses' services because of lack of nurses at St. Boniface Hospital?

Mr. Stefanson: I certainly will check into the issues raised, and I will undertake to determine whether or not the information is in fact accurate because again–and the member from Crescentwood (Mr. Sale) is chirping, and he is one who brings inaccurate information which has been substantiated again today by Deer Lodge hospital that the information that he brought to this House was absolutely wrong, scare tactics, fear-mongering of families.

Mr. Dave Chomiak (Kildonan): Madam Speaker, can the Minister of Health explain to members of this House and to Manitobans through this House how it is after 11 years of government's mismanagement of health care systems, after Connie Curran, after firing a thousand nurses, after closing 1,400 acute care beds, why is it that in the last month leading up to a provincial election, all of a sudden the government has a newfound $7-million program to attract nurses to Manitoba after 11 years of doing everything in their power to unattract nurses to Manitoba?

Hon. Eric Stefanson (Minister of Health): The members opposite do what they usually do, they fail to recognize that the issue of nursing shortages is not unique to the province of Manitoba; it is something happening right across Canada. In fact, when you look at nurses on a per capita basis, we have the third highest nurse to population ratio in all of Canada. That is why we are seeing provinces like NDP British Columbia with an aggressive nurse recruitment strategy.

We are seeing Ontario, we are seeing provinces right across Canada aggressively going after nurses, and that is why we have established a $7-million fund to bring more nurses into the system. That is why we are creating more permanent positions in the health care system because nurses want more permanent positions, and that is why we are undertaking a number of initiatives to bring more nurses into our health care system. We recognize that. Nurses have raised that issue. We have listened, and we are responding in the province of Manitoba.

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Mr. Gord Mackintosh (St. Johns): To the Minister of Justice. Delay, insensitivity and bungling is what describes families' experiences way too often when they seek justice when a child is raped or molested, and they come to the court system. On Friday, there was a widespread criticism about the failure of the minister's department to introduce any psychiatric or other expert evidence at the Rick Therrian trial.

My question to the minister is: can the minister possibly explain what policy or financial directive is responsible for what appears to be such a less than vigorous prosecution of a child sexual abuse case?

Hon. Vic Toews (Minister of Justice and Attorney General): Madam Speaker, I want to commend the prosecutors in my department who do an excellent job of representing the people of Manitoba. Our government has provided numerous additional resources to ensure that our prosecutors have sufficient resources to conduct their trials. If there are cases that need special evidence, those matters are considered very seriously. I am not aware of a situation where our government would deny that kind of funding in that kind of a case in order to ensure that the people's voice and the voice of victims is heard. So I do not agree with what the member is saying, and perhaps he could demonstrate some factual basis for the things that he is saying, as he usually brings very erroneous information to this House.

Mr. Gord Mackintosh (St. Johns): Is the minister then saying that he is satisfied with how child sexual abuse cases are dealt with by this government when there is a pattern of child cases weakened by backlogs of up to two years and more, including children who are only two and four years old, instances of improper questioning of child witnesses, of insufficient preparation, of cases like the bungled babysitter cases? Is he saying everything is just fine, Madam Speaker?

Hon. Vic Toews (Minister of Justice and Attorney General): Madam Speaker, that is not in fact what I am saying. Our department has been reorganizing over the last number of years in order to provide a very effective service to victims. In fact, in a recent case in Ontario, it was specifically noted that Manitoba's Victims' Rights Act is the only act across Canada that has an effective enforcement mechanism.

As for backlog, our courts are among the most efficient in the country, as opposed to the case of British Columbia, where in British Columbia the chief judge says the courts are in crisis. Thousands of cases under an NDP government are thrown out every year. We do not have that in Manitoba because this government is committed to ensuring that cases are properly prosecuted and ensuring that our prosecutors have the appropriate resources.

Mr. Gord Mackintosh (St. Johns): Would the minister whose Victims' Rights Act stripped victims of crime of rights in this province look at this matter more closely and join us in supporting the establishment of a child victim unit in the Prosecutions branch with a fast-tracked, specialized prosecution of child victim cases?

Hon. Vic Toews (Minister of Justice and Attorney General): Madam Speaker, if the member spent some time listening to the answers in Question Period and indeed if the member took up my offer of actually going to speak to my departmental staff to show how in fact our cases are being brought forward on a timely basis, he would perhaps have the answer to his question. It is interesting that it is our province that is making tremendous strides in the area of prosecuting especially sensitive cases, whereas compare British Columbia where the chief judge says criminal cases are being delayed to the point where we risk dismissal or reduction of thousands of charges because the court system is unable to meet the accused's right to a trial. That is in British Columbia, the NDP government there.

Ms. Jean Friesen (Wolseley): Madam Speaker, in 1993 the Roblin commission recommended to this government that they develop a tuition fee policy, and in 1995, an election year, the government actually did promise one. In 1996 and 1999, three ministers of Education have claimed that they are working on one. Then they had an interim transition committee which worked on one; then they had a Council on Post-Secondary Education which worked on one. But the end result has been it is 1999 and there is no tuition fee policy for Manitobans.

So I would like the Minister of Education, the present Minister of Education, to explain to us why, over six years, this has not been possible for this government.

Hon. James McCrae (Minister of Education and Training): Another recommendation of the Roblin report called Doing Things Differently was the establishment of the Council on Post-Secondary Education. The council has been working with the institutions and gathering input and consulting extensively with students, with associations and with institutions. It is a complex issue, as everybody knows, and that consultation yielded a lot of feedback and input which is being worked on as we speak by the Council on Post-Secondary Education.

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Ms. Friesen: Madam Speaker, could the minister explain why in April '98 his predecessor, the Minister of Education, told the Legislature that the tuition fee policy is, and I quote, in its final stages? Yet Brandon University board of governors were told this year that it will not be implemented until 2000.

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

Mr. McCrae: The honourable member knows full well, Madam Speaker, that what was being discussed at that time was the draft policy being put out by the Council on Post-Secondary Education which has been the subject of consultation.

The difference, I think, between the honourable member opposite and her party and honourable members on this side is that we have consistently been a consultative and a collaborative organization. We do not rule from above, as the honourable member would suggest we do.

Ms. Friesen: Madam Speaker, could the minister confirm that in fact the real tuition fee policy of this government has been hands-off, let tuition fees rise until an election? In 1995, they put a 5 percent cap on; this year, the minister is looking at a 10 percent cap. That is the real policy of this government.

Mr. McCrae: Madam Speaker, we have indeed said that we are going to review the proposals coming forward by the institutions for tuition. A year ago, the institutions were advised by government that they would be receiving at least a 2 percent increase in funding for this fiscal year, which in my view is a significant amount of time to put your house in order and address the whole issue of tuition at the institutional level.

But the honourable member who speaks as she does today–in my view, somewhat arrogantly–should be reminded of what her colleague sitting right behind her, the honourable member for Radisson (Ms. Cerilli), said to students at the U of W last fall. She said, and I quote–under the headline: NDP critic waffles on tuition freeze–You are trying to put me in a box. I will not go there. Some years there should be tuition freezes under an NDP government, she said. I would say we would freeze tuition, but, Cerilli hastily added, there probably would not be freezes.

Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Inkster): Madam Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Health. It was years ago when the community of Emerson and people living in that surrounding area were first told that they would have an Emerson health care facility, and that was years ago from this very government. More recently, they have regurgitated that commitment once again for the fourth time.

My question to the Minister of Health is: can the minister say anything more convincing to suggest that the latest announcement is anything more than another cynical pre-election ploy by this government?

Hon. Eric Stefanson (Minister of Health): Well, Madam Speaker, let us look at the point in time when there was a hold and a pause put on the capital program for health back in 1995. It was at a time that his Leader was sitting around a table in Ottawa with the federal government and significantly reducing support for health care right across Canada. From the period '94-95 to '98-99, in the case of Manitoba alone, it amounts to about $260 million every single solitary year that that funding was taken out of the system.

Now, in fairness to the federal government today, they have taken some steps to start to restore some of that funding reduction, and we do appreciate that, but it is a small first step. It is only restoring roughly one-third of what they have taken out of the system, but at least now we have an indication from the federal government over the next four years that they are going to be restoring what averages about $75 million to $90 million a year, gives us some additional certainty, and certainly we are able to continue to give more and more certainty to Manitobans which we have done throughout that entire period of time when the federal government was taking that kind of money out of health care. We continued with a significant capital program; we have done the majority of that 1995 program. You can look around Manitoba, and we certainly are committed to the hospital facility in the community of Emerson.

Mr. Lamoureux: I would ask the Minister of Health to recognize that what he just put on Hansard is about as good as could be tossed into a landfill site; it is so full of garbage in terms of what he has said.

Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Inkster): My question to the Minister of Health is: can the Minister of Health confirm that the community commitment is in place so that the Emerson health care facility construction can in fact begin? Is it, in fact, in place?

Hon. Eric Stefanson (Minister of Health): In terms of our capital programs to date, the community contribution has not been an impediment to having projects go forward, in fact quite the opposite. We had even more community contribution, community involvement in the types of projects that we are putting in place in all of our communities. What that leads to, Madam Speaker, is being absolutely certain we put in place the most appropriate facility to meet the needs of that community and the surrounding area. Certainly I will fully expect that the community of Emerson will be able to come up with their contribution, whether it is through a combination of municipal assessments, through fundraising, through any money that they might have in their capital trust funds and so on, so I do not see that being an impediment for this project to go ahead as soon as possible.

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Mr. Lamoureux: I would ask the Minister of Health to recognize that we are not questioning the commitment of the residents in the Emerson and surrounding area. What we are questioning is the government's true intent whether it believes that it needs to generate that community commitment in advance, or is this nothing more than a pre-election ploy on behalf of the government to go out and make all these capital announcements, knowing full well that it might not materialize, because that is what it has demonstrated in the past.

Mr. Stefanson: Madam Speaker, with all due respect, I would suggest to the member for Inkster, if he wants to do any questioning, he should question his Leader's commitment to health care in the province of Manitoba. Because, when it comes to standing up for health care, we do it. The Filmon government, our government does that, unlike the Leader of the Liberal Party who sat around the table while health care was significantly reduced in the province of Manitoba and indeed right across Canada. We are committed to the project in Emerson. We have hundreds of millions of dollars of capital health programs underway, and certainly the Emerson project is a key part of our health capital commitment going forward in this province.

Ms. Diane McGifford (Osborne): Madam Speaker, after years of advocacy, a group of MS patients finally were allowed to participate in a government pilot project covering the drug Betaseron. Now, one year later, this government, we understand, will soon announce a second pilot project covering Betaseron and four other drugs, that is, a second one-year pilot project. I would like to ask the Minister of Health: why, after a one-year pilot, is a second pilot going to be offered for patients who are already doing well on Betaseron and the therapy is clearly working? Why another pilot project?

Hon. Eric Stefanson (Minister of Health): Madam Speaker, it is a very important question because what was happening with the pilot project is there is an evaluation being done on that project, and it is scheduled to be completed this summer in July or August. The original pilot was scheduled to terminate in September, so it created a situation where there was a very tight time frame between the evaluation of the pilot project and a decision in terms of making Betaseron a permanent feature of our Pharmacare program.

I met with the MS Society and other individuals, and we indicated a reasonable thing to do was to extend the project through till March 31 of the year 2000 to allow that evaluation to be done. I will indicate there has been a preliminary evaluation which has shown initially positive results, but there is a commitment to do a full and complete evaluation in July of this year, so the responsible approach is to extend the program through to the end of March of 2000 to do that evaluation, to then have that data in front of all of us to make the decision on a go-forward basis with the drug Betaseron. We also at this point in time were requested to add three additional drugs to the program immediately, and we have done that again at the request of the MS Society.

Ms. McGifford: I would like to ask the minister why his government plans a pilot project using the drug Copaxone which has already proven effective. Why not simply put it on the formulary and get on with it? Why another pilot project?

Mr. Stefanson: Again, Madam Speaker, the discussion I had certainly with the MS Society was to include three additional drugs, Copaxone, Rebif and Avonex. We have done that immediately. We took steps within a matter of weeks of meeting with the organization. We did outline to them how we were going to proceed by completing the evaluation, extending the program to March, then having the kind of data we all need to make an informed decision on a go-forward basis, and that is the basis that we are going forward.

In terms of individuals currently on the program, there are 74 currently receiving Betaseron. In terms of the initial assessments, the initial assessments have been positive, but certainly a major part of the pilot was to have a project evaluation conducted by Dr. Colleen Metge of the Faculty of Pharmacy, and that is significant; that is important to do that. We are committed to doing that, and I think we have put in place an appropriate program to allow that to be done without creating any uncertainty for the individuals who are currently on Betaseron and have it covered under our Pharmacare program.

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Ms. McGifford: Madam Speaker, I thought the Minister of Family Services (Mrs. Mitchelson) was the minister of pilot projects.

Madam Speaker: Order, please. Would the honourable member please pose her question now.

Ms. McGifford: Thank you, Madam Speaker. Why will not this minister, who knows that for years people suffering–victims of MS courageously fought to get coverage for Betaseron, finally got a pilot project–why will he not make a commitment to proper, continuous coverage of yet another pilot project? We have heard his rhetoric. Why will he not just simply make the commitment? To not do so insults people with the disease, their suffering and their courageous struggle over the years.

Mr. Stefanson: Madam Speaker, the member must have had her question written out and did not listen to my answers to the first two parts. What I have indicated to her is the pilot was extended. The pilot was scheduled to end in September. The evaluation being done by Dr. Colleen Metge was going to be completed in July or August. What we have done is we have extended the program through to March of the year 2000. We have added three additional drugs. We are going to do the evaluation. I know members opposite sometimes have difficulty with the concept of actually doing an evaluation of something, determining the results and making an informed decision, but we believe in doing that.

I have met with the MS Society, outlined how we were intending to proceed. My deputy has also talked to them in terms of how we are proceeding, and they certainly accept that it is a reasonable way to proceed: to have the evaluation done, make the decision well in advance of the expiry of the program in March so that all of these individuals know with absolute certainty what is going to be taking place. I have indicated the preliminary assessment certainly is positive, and I think that is a good sign for people who are currently on the pilot program. We certainly are committed to complete the full, detailed evaluation and make an informed decision at that time.

Ms. Marianne Cerilli (Radisson): This government, two Education ministers ago, proposed to cut physical education from high school. That former Minister of Education even proposed to eliminate recess. After pressure, the government decided to eliminate by 50 percent the activity time for physical education and include health. Studies keep finding that children are less and less active and more and more obese.

I want to ask the current Minister of Education if he will acknowledge that his government has reduced physical activity time in phys ed and that, under his government, there is still a curriculum vacuum in physical education. Can he tell us if by this fall there will be a new curriculum for physical education?

Hon. James McCrae (Minister of Education and Training): Well, Madam Speaker, I simply will not accept the accusations made by the honourable member for Radisson, especially when on the issue of tuition fees, in one breath she says some years there should be tuition freezes under an NDP government: I would say we would freeze tuition. Then she takes a breath and says there probably would not be freezes. This actually does not surprise me, and maybe that accounts for the nature of the questions we are getting today, too.

Mr. Steve Ashton (Opposition House Leader): Madam Speaker, on a point of order. Beauchesne Citation 417 is very clear that answers to questions should be as brief as possible, deal with the matter raised and should not provoke debate.

The question was on physical education and physical activity in schools, and this minister is reading the same press clipping he read earlier. If I have ever seen a sign of a tired government, it is reading the same press clipping over and over again. But until we have an election, we do have Question Period in this House, and I would like to ask you to bring the Minister of Education to order and actually answer the question.

Madam Speaker: Order, please. The honourable minister, on the same point of order.

Mr. McCrae: Because the honourable member for Thompson raised this as a point of order, I would like to contribute to that by pointing out that on the same day a spokesman for the Leader of the New Democratic Party said that freezing tuition is a goal, but the New Democrats have not yet established it as a policy.

Madam Speaker: On the point of order raised by the honourable member for Thompson, indeed the honourable member did have a point of order. I would ask that the honourable minister reply to the question asked.

Madam Speaker: The honourable minister, to quickly complete his response.

Mr. McCrae: I accept your ruling, Madam Speaker, of course.

The honourable member for Radisson raises questions about physical education, and indeed I note in the news recently reference to obesity among our children. For that and lots of other reasons, the Department of Education and Training is indeed contributing $150,000 to a three-year, nation-wide fitness study. This is a concern right across Canada not simply in Manitoba, and indeed physical education is a very important part of the upbringing and education of our children.

Ms. Cerilli: Madam Speaker, I am wondering if the minister could tell the House if the study he has just made reference to will evaluate the impact of this government's reduction in the activity time for Manitoba children and the fact there has been no curriculum for health and physical education for at least three years.

Mr. McCrae: Madam Speaker, unlike the honourable member opposite and members of her party, we do not simply want to spend dollars without any hope that it is going to do any good. That is why we looked very carefully at supporting the University of Manitoba, because indeed we believe that we can establish guidelines in the future for the delivery of physical education in our schools so that our young people can be the beneficiaries and lead happy and productive lives.

Ms. Cerilli: I would like the minister, Madam Speaker, to explain how under this government there are going to be more TVs and more video games in schools and less physical education.

What strategy do you have in your government to reverse this trend of reduction in physical activity of children in Manitoba?

Mr. McCrae: Here again, Madam Speaker, I guess I would be incorrect in thinking that honourable members opposite discussed the content of the question of the honourable member for Radisson before her coming forward because, again, she wants to argue against things that I know honourable members opposite, if they were canvassed as a group, might have trouble with positions being taken today by the member for Radisson. She is saying to us, forget about technology and just put it all into physical education.

Madam Speaker, both are important. What the New Democrats are saying is that computer technology is not part of the future of our children. I could not disagree more. That is why, in our funding announcement in January, specific funding was made available for technology in our schools.

Ms. Cerilli: Madam Speaker, I wonder if you would remind the Minister of Education that Question Period is time for the minister to answer our questions, not try and interpret what we are saying. Would you call the minister to order and have him answer the question?

Madam Speaker: The honourable Minister of Education and Training, on the same point of order.

Mr. McCrae: Same point of order, Madam Speaker. I perhaps can be forgiven if I have tried to understand what is coming from the side opposite. All Manitobans are trying to figure out what it is that is coming from the NDP. I am simply making my own humble efforts.

Madam Speaker: On the point of order raised by the honourable member for Radisson, it indeed is not a point of order. It is clearly a dispute over the facts.

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Ms. Rosann Wowchuk (Swan River): Madam Speaker, last week a group of people from the Minister of Agriculture's staff went to Ottawa to begin discussions on the next round of world trade. We know that during the last round Canada's position was very weak, and as a result, Canadian farmers came out as the big losers.

Madam Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister of Agriculture if he can tell us his position and whether he can indicate whether he has directed his staff to ensure that the Wheat Board and orderly marketing are not bargained away at the next round of world trade talks.

Hon. Harry Enns (Minister of Agriculture): Madam Speaker, I can inform the honourable member and members of the House that only this morning at 10:30 I was privileged to present a position paper to the House of Commons Foreign Relations Committee that is touring the country in preparation for these important World Trade Organization discussions. All issues concerning trade, particularly agricultural trade, were talked about and certainly what is most important for Canada, most important for my farmers, who understandably feel extremely frustrated. We have met most of those conditions in the last round. We have removed the Crow. We have removed other things. We have played by the rules, while our major trading partners have not. So our No. 1 priority is to have principally the Europeans and the Americans play by the same trade rules that we agreed to in the last round.

Ms. Wowchuk: I would like to ask the minister again: can he indicate the direction he gives to his staff when they are in these negotiations or whether his position is to ensure that we do not lose more, that orderly marketing and the Canadian Wheat Board and the few supports that Canadian farmers have left will not be negotiated away as our other supports were negotiated away at the last round?

Mr. Enns: I can further indicate to the honourable member and to the House that along with me were representatives of the Canadian Wheat Board as well as the agricultural Keystone producers organization. Representations from the Manitoba dairy industry were also present. They are making their own presentations to the same committee. But I clearly stated Manitoba's position that we continue to support the Canadian Wheat Board. We have some serious concerns with respect to their domestic policies, as the impact on our ability to add value to that major commodity, namely wheat, but I have also expressed very clearly and unreservedly my ongoing support for the systems that we have in place in Canada and that, quite frankly, we were the boy scouts, if I can put in that way, Madam Speaker, in the last round. It is now for the Europeans and the Americans to start to demonstrate some good faith in these trade negotiations.

Mr. Gord Mackintosh (St. Johns): To the Minister of Justice. The minister's department retained the services of an outside prosecutor to review, presumably, the evidence adduced at the commission of inquiry into the vote-rigging issue and presumably also on the report of former Chief Justice Monnin.

I ask the minister if either now or tomorrow he could table in this House the communications between the government and Mr. Leonard Doust, the outside prosecutor, which would include and cite the terms of reference for his inquiry, as well as whether there was any opinion or direction given by the government with regard to whether the report can be made public.

Hon. Vic Toews (Minister of Justice and Attorney General): As the House is aware, the government and the executive do not get involved in the prosecution of offences. Indeed, from time to time I ask my staff to provide me briefings in particular cases, but it would be improper certainly for the government to be involved in giving any direction to a special counsel.

As you are aware, the issue of prosecutions and special counsel is a particularly sensitive one, and therefore it is important for government to remain distanced from any such communications.

Mr. Mackintosh: Well, my question I think was quite succinct. I asked the minister if he would table in this House, either now or tomorrow, the terms of reference that were established for Mr. Doust's inquiry and his opinion. Would he provide the communications now?

Mr. Toews: I thought I had made myself clear that the government did not give any direction in this case.

Madam Speaker: The time for Oral Questions has expired.