Madam Speaker: Prior to Oral Questions, firstly, I would like to draw the attention of all honourable members to the table and ask them to assist me in welcoming Monique Grenier, our newly appointed Clerk Assistant/Journals Clerk, to the table.

Monique, who comes to us from the Legislative Counsel office, replaces JoAnn McKerlie-Korol,

who has been appointed a Clerk Assistant-Committee Clerk. Monique will be serving at the table on a regular basis if and when we get into Estimates. Welcome, Monique.

I would also like to draw the attention of all honourable members to the public gallery where we have this afternoon twenty-four Grade 11 students from Neepawa Area Collegiate under the direction of Mr. Bob Ferguson. This school is located in the constituency of the honourable Minister of Natural Resources (Mr. Cummings).

We also have thirty Grade 9 students from Sargent Park School under the direction of Ms. Ricki Syrota. This school is located in the constituency of the honourable member for Wellington (Ms. Barrett).

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

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Mr. Gary Doer (Leader of the Opposition): Madam Speaker, in 1992 the government released a report called Quality Health for Manitobans – The Action Plan on Health Care in Manitoba. That report promised a five-year strategy for nursing recruitment, training and retention here in the province of Manitoba.

I would like to ask this Premier (Mr. Filmon): could he now table the five-year plan that his government promised in 1992 to deal with nurse recruitment, training and retention here in the province of Manitoba?

Hon. Eric Stefanson (Minister of Health): Well, Madam Speaker, as we have discussed in this House on previous occasions, provinces right across Canada today need more nurses. Certainly, Manitoba is amongst those provinces, and that is why we are doing a number of things to attract and retain more nurses in the province of Manitoba.

We have established a $7-million nurse recruitment and retention fund here in the province. We continue to work with employers where we see more and more positions in our health care system being made permanent positions. That continues to be a major part of the focus on behalf of nurses. It is certainly an issue that we hear time and time again from nurses–continuing to work with our educational programs in Manitoba.

The Leader of the Opposition, I am sure is aware, just on Friday of last week, with a significant expansion of the licensed practical nursing program going from an intake of 90 nurses to 190 nurses coming up this next year through the Assiniboine Community College and Misericordia Hospital, continually working with the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Manitoba; last year alone, a 23 percent increase in their enrollment.

So there are a number of initiatives that are currently underway to continue to do just that, to bring more nurses into the profession, into health care here in the province of Manitoba.

Mr. Doer: Madam Speaker, in 1992 the government said almost the same thing. The government has been working with nursing professions and other health service systems to develop a stable long-term strategy for nursing education, to ensure that we have appropriate numbers of nurses with appropriate skills and training available.

I would like to ask this Premier (Mr. Filmon): why does he fire a thousand nurses after the election campaign, and who is going to believe him now when he says just a couple of days before a campaign he is going to rehire nurses back?

Mr. Stefanson: Well, Madam Speaker, again, the information the Leader of the Opposition provides is wrong.

But just a report recently released–because it is National Nursing Week here in Manitoba and right across Canada–and in a report just released by the Canadian Institute for Health Information–I think headed up by one Michael Decter, which I believe is a name known to individuals across the way–they talk about the number of registered nurses per hundred thousand population by province in Canada.

The Canadian average is 748 nurses per hundred thousand. Manitoba's average is 893 per hundred thousand; the highest average from Quebec west, the highest across all of the Prairies including British Columbia. In fact, to give you a couple of examples, Manitoba is 893 per hundred thousand, Saskatchewan is 823 per hundred thousand, British Columbia is 696 per hundred thousand, to give you a sense of how we compare to other provinces.

So while we do have a challenge and we are committed to bringing more nurses into our health care system, on a national basis we certainly stack up very well.

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Mr. Doer: Madam Speaker, since the last election campaign, LPN education programs have been cancelled, bedside positions were eliminated, LPNs were fired at St. Boniface, Seven Oaks, Health Sciences Centre, Concordia, Brandon, Misericordia. I would like to ask this Premier (Mr. Filmon): was he making a mistake by not having a long-term nursing strategy here in Manitoba, and did he err greatly against the patients of Manitoba by firing so many LPNs and then just Friday trying to rehire them back?

Mr. Stefanson: Well, Madam Speaker, again, the Leader of the Opposition chooses to ignore what was happening in the early '90s when you had nurses themselves, in many cases suggesting changes to the educational format for nurses, you had employers suggesting there was a need for educational changes and a change in terms of the types of services and the types of nurses that were going to be provided.

But here in the province of Manitoba, we do continue to have an excellent licensed practical nurses program. His colleague the member for Kildonan (Mr. Chomiak) was with me on Friday when we were able to announce a significant expansion to the licensed practical nursing program for the upcoming year, going from 90 to 190 entrants in the program, going from three intakes a year to six intakes a year, doing it through the Assiniboine Community College, doing it here in Winnipeg at Misericordia Hospital with two intakes, and for the first time having two rotating intakes across rural Manitoba to provide better access for people who want to become licensed practical nurses. So, again, a significant enhancement, 190 licensed practical nurses for the upcoming year as opposed to 90 last year. That is a significant commitment from this government.

Mr. Dave Chomiak (Kildonan): Madam Speaker, while we are dealing with commitments, maybe the minister could explain why, in April 1992, a report to this government recommended the expanding of the LPNs to 190 positions, a report in July 1993 recommended the expansion of LPNs to 190, a letter to all MLAs in July 1994 recommended the expansion of LPNs, and a writing to all MLAs on January 28, 1993, also called for it. How can the minister explain in the final ebbing days of this government, after having laid off a thousand nurses, the government all of a sudden has found it in its budget and its wisdom to have a nursing plan, to hire back LPNs in the dying days of the Filmon administration or the member for Tuxedo's administration?

Hon. Eric Stefanson (Minister of Health): Well, Madam Speaker, not surprisingly, the only people trying to be negative and opposing the expansion of a licensed practical nursing program to 190 are members opposite. I am really disappointed in the member for Kildonan because he was there on Friday, he heard from the Licensed Practical Nurses Association themselves who were thrilled with this expansion. He heard from the employers here in Manitoba, recognizing the needs in our personal care homes, in our Home Care program, how pleased they were with this announcement. He heard from everybody who participated, the Assiniboine Community College who were providing the program, how proud they are to expand this program, Misericordia Hospital that now has two intakes and how proud they are to be a part of the expansion. The only ones who are negative about the expansion and the additional licensed practical nurses seem to be members opposite. I am bewildered by their position.

Mr. Dave Chomiak (Kildonan): Madam Speaker, I would like to ask the minister about a question that was put to him by an LPN at Friday's announcement who had been out of work for three years, who could not find a job, and she asked the minister: will the government be paying the $2,300 fees it costs for these nurses to get their refresher courses after they have been laid off, after they have been out of work, after the government is now hiring them back before the election? Will the government see to it itself to pay the $2,300 that they have to pay, after having been fired, to go back into LPN nursing?

Hon. Eric Stefanson (Minister of Health): Well, again, I am glad the member acknowledges he was there. He did pay attention to some of what took place on Friday at that announcement. The individual that I think he is referring to also pointed out to me that she did go back and I believe received her registered nursing qualifications as well. As I did point out to her, the nurse recruitment fund, the $7-million fund, that is available in Manitoba is available for individuals who want to get recertified, retrained, any upgrading that is required. That fund is accessible and is available for just that. It is one of the many things that it will do to bring more nurses back into the health care system here in the province of Manitoba.

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Mr. Dave Chomiak (Kildonan): Madam Speaker, I guess my final question and my final supplementary to the minister is: why and how does the government expect anyone in Manitoba to believe this death-bed conversion when in fact we know at Health Sciences Centre they are closing down ICU beds because there are not enough nurses, we know in southern Manitoba they are talking about closing hospitals because there are not enough nurses, we know in the North there is–

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

Hon. Eric Stefanson (Minister of Health): Well, Madam Speaker, again the member is wrong with his preamble. Again, by obviously being able to balance our books in the Province of Manitoba, something I know that members opposite have a great deal of difficulty appreciating or understanding or recognizing the benefits of, by doing that and generating surpluses in the province of Manitoba, we do have resources to dedicate to some of the areas of greatest need, and certainly health care has consistently been our No. 1 spending priority, now taking up close to 36 percent of our provincial budget. So we have the resources to dedicate to this expansion of the licensed practical nursing program that will take it from an intake of 90 students last year to an intake of 190 students this year. That is a significant commitment to nursing and to licensed practical nurses in the province of Manitoba.

Mr. Daryl Reid (Transcona): Last month the Minister of Health stated that more doctor specialists are being attracted in high-demand fields. The current provincial budget, while listing some medical areas, makes no mention of specialties of neurology or hepatitis. Now a constituent advises that Manitobans diagnosed with hepatitis C must wait exceptional lengths of time before treatment can begin.

Will the Minister of Health explain why Manitobans diagnosed with hepatitis C have to wait more than 10 months for a consult at the viral hepatitis unit and then several more months before a biopsy can be done, making the waiting time over one year before any treatment can begin for people suffering with hepatitis C in Manitoba?

Hon. Eric Stefanson (Minister of Health): Well, Madam Speaker, without accepting any of the preamble from the member opposite, we certainly provide significant medical services to individuals right across Manitoba and certainly individuals who are ailing with hepatitis C. For certain individuals, from the period '86 to '90, there is an initiative underway between the federal and provincial governments in terms of the issue of compensation, and we are also working with the federal government for individuals who were affected both pre-'86 and post-'90. We are working with the federal government in terms of continuing to improve and expand some of the health care services that we are providing to these individuals.

Mr. Daryl Reid (Transcona): I want to ask the same minister then why his government, in the last budget, did not mention funding for doctors specializing in treatment of hepatitis C patients. Will your government be providing funding for the viral hepatitis unit since you have had that proposal in your hands since August of 1998?

Hon. Eric Stefanson (Minister of Health): Well, Madam Speaker, again I do not necessarily accept the preamble from the member opposite, but I have indicated that we are providing significant support for individuals affected with hepatitis C. We also are working with the federal government right now on a memorandum of understanding to provide some additional support for those individuals. Again, the federal government is prepared to dedicate some additional financial resources in terms of the care side of individuals affected. So we are working with them in terms of areas like some enhanced treatment, additional issues relative to the whole issue of look-back and trace-back programs and enhanced surveillance. So we do continue to look at enhancing the medical services that are provided.

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Mr. Reid: I want to ask the same minister, since there does not seem to be a commitment on his part, why, Madam Speaker, has this government neglected and ignored the high demand for services in the viral hepatitis unit, whose caseload is over 10,000 cases and growing at 60 new cases a month. Is this not a high-demand area for medical services involving patients suffering with hepatitis C?

Mr. Stefanson: Madam Speaker, again I repeat for the benefit of the member opposite that we have continued to provide services to these individuals. We are negotiating with the federal government in terms of some enhancement to some of the levels of care that are being provided. In terms of the issues of the specific elements that he brings to this House today, I will certainly look into those issues and get back to the member.

Ms. Becky Barrett (Wellington): Madam Speaker, last week a man suffering from hepatitis C went to the emergency room at Seven Oaks Hospital. Because there was no room for him, he remained in the overflow section for almost three days. This man, whose immune system is severely depleted due to his illness, was forced to stay in this quasi-public place for three days while his open wound was being periodically drained.

In light of this situation, which unfortunately is all too common, how does the Minister of Health justify his statement last Friday in Question Period: "that Manitobans are certainly satisfied with the quality of care they get in our hospitals, they get in our health care facilities."?

How does he justify that statement?

Hon. Eric Stefanson (Minister of Health): Madam Speaker, I can certainly justify that statement by listening and hearing the Manitobans who have experienced our health care system on an overall basis. I think that is a compliment to the people in our health care system, whether it be our nurses, our doctors, our health care aides, or everybody who works and provides a quality health care system in Manitoba. I am very proud of Canada's health care system, and within Canada I am very proud of Manitoba's health care system.

That is not to suggest for a minute that there are not issues that still need to be addressed, whether it be waiting lists or whether it be issues relative to hospital overcrowding or even specific incidents sometimes where a patient does not get the immediate access or the quality of care that they might want or need at a given point in time. But having said that, Madam Speaker, we have an awful lot to be proud of in terms of Canada's health care system and Manitoba's health care system, and I am certainly proud of our health care system.

Ms. Barrett: Madam Speaker, this is not a specific–

Madam Speaker: Order, please. The honourable member was recognized for a supplementary question.

Ms. Barrett: Madam Speaker, how can the Minister of Health justify this situation where, due to overcrowding, the overflow room at Seven Oaks Hospital is so hot that the ambulance doors have to remain open, thereby further exposing this very ill man and others like him to the dust and the temperature changes and all of the things that happen from the outside? How does he justify this?

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

Mr. Stefanson: Madam Speaker, I am certainly prepared to look into the individual situation that the member for Wellington is bringing to this House. We have indicated that while we have made significant progress and we do fare very well with our system compared to Canada's system, there continue to be some challenges in our health care system. We certainly have a plan to address those systems, and we have the resources to address those systems.

I will look into the specific issue that the member brought here today.

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Ms. Barrett: Madam Speaker, how can the people of Manitoba trust this Minister of Health and this government when he and they continue to say that the health care system is improving when it is not just specific instances like the minister would have us believe but hundreds if not thousands of situations day after day of people being forced to sit in Third World overcrowded conditions in our health care system?

Mr. Stefanson: Now, Madam Speaker, the member for Wellington is calling Canada's health care system Third World conditions. I say shame on her because anybody who has experienced systems anywhere in the world would acknowledge that Canada has one of the best health care systems in the entire world.

Some Honourable Members: Oh, oh.

Madam Speaker: Order, please. The honourable Minister of Health, to complete his response.

Mr. Stefanson: I will tell you, Madam Speaker, certainly within Canada I am prepared to put Manitoba's system up against any province in Canada in terms of how we compare in meeting the needs of Manitobans. Having said that, there continue to be challenges and there continue to be issues to address. We have the resources, we have the people, we have the plan in place to do just that to continue to improve what is a good health care system here in the province of Manitoba.

Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Inkster): My question is for the Minister of Environment.

Madam Speaker, in 1998 the Canadian government, in consultation with environmental ministers from across Canada, signed the Kyoto treaty on greenhouse gas emissions. According to the then Minister of Environment, Manitoba was in the process of developing a climate change action plan for the province. Since the minister is so concerned about the ozone-depleting substances, can the minister indicate if her department has in fact finished this report?

Hon. Linda McIntosh (Minister of Environment): I thank my honourable friend for the question which I know is sincerely motivated, and I do appreciate it.

Some Honourable Members: Oh, oh.

Madam Speaker: Order, please.

Mrs. McIntosh: Thank you, Madam Speaker. In answer to the question, there are two parts. First of all, as the member knows, we are bringing forward an amendment to an act here to address in part some of those concerns regarding substances and what we can replace harmful substances with. As well, we are not yet finished working with the federal government and other jurisdictions on this. We are making good progress in terms of our discussions, and we will be meeting again very shortly. In May, the ministers of Environment across the nation are meeting, and this again will be on our agenda for further conversation and dialogue.

Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Inkster): Madam Speaker, there was a commitment with that particular agreement for a 5 percent reduction in greenhouse gases by the year 2012. Can the minister indicate, in terms of the direction, since the agreement was signed, to what degree Manitoba is proceeding? Are we in fact approaching it in a positive way in achieving the 5 percent?

Hon. Linda McIntosh (Minister of Environment): Manitoba itself is a relatively small contributor to this particular problem although we hope to be a major contributor towards the solution. We are working in conjunction, as I indicated, with our federal partnership. It is a partnership. Manitoba has, I think, made some significant contributions in terms of our own provincial legislation and contribution to dialogue with those provinces that are greater contributors to the problem. We look for continued federal leadership in this initiative, and I would encourage the member, with his particular partisan connections, to encourage his counterparts in Ottawa to give this increasingly higher priority, in particular as we prepare for the meeting later this month in Alberta.

Mr. Lamoureux: Can the minister indicate whether or not Manitoba is actually seeing a reduction in greenhouse gases from last year to this time, or has there in fact been an increase in greenhouse gases?

Mrs. McIntosh: Madam Speaker, we contribute in Manitoba about 3 percent of the national total of greenhouse gases and our population is closer to 4 percent, so in that sense we have a good per capita record. We are hoping to continue to control, as I indicated, with our current amendment in The Ozone Depleting Act, that we are going to be ensuring that things we use to substitute for ozone-depleting substances are not in turn then contributors to the greenhouse gas problems. We are taking initiatives such as those to ensure that our percentage goes down rather than up. Currently it is about 3 percent of about 4 percent.

Ms. Diane McGifford (Osborne): Madam Speaker, in September 1998 the federal Health minister announced a $300-million special transfer to the provinces earmarked to provide medical care to people infected with hepatitis C through blood or blood products. I would like to ask the Minister of Health today if he will tell us whether his government has accessed this so-called care program, and if not, why not, and if so, where have or will these funds go.

Hon. Eric Stefanson (Minister of Health): Madam Speaker, we have been in contact with the federal government who have offered a national $300-million program over 20 years which would amount to about $8 million in the case of the province of Manitoba. So we have had ongoing discussions with the federal government about entering into an agreement with them and outlining how the funds would be utilized in terms of hepatitis C affected individuals in terms of enhanced treatment, additional support and so on.

We are certainly close to concluding those negotiations. The last information I had, I do not think any province–as of a few weeks ago, none of the provinces had concluded their agreements, but I know most provinces in Canada are anxious to do just that. I expect that we will be able to conclude an agreement with the federal government very shortly.

Ms. McGifford: I would like to ask this minister, because he may or may not know that his negotiations are a complete mystery to the hepatitis C community, if he will consult with members of the community and keep them advised as to what his plans are and the state of negotiations.

Mr. Stefanson: I am certainly more than prepared to do that, Madam Speaker. We have certainly done that on a number of initiatives affecting the health care of Manitobans. I am certainly prepared to have further discussions about how those funds can be best utilized in the province of Manitoba to meet the needs of hepatitis C affected individuals. As I have said, the total allocation to Manitoba is about $8 million over what amounts to 20 years, but I believe in the first year we could be looking at approximately $1 million to $1.3 million available in the province of Manitoba. We certainly want to put those funds to the best use possible.

Ms. McGifford: Madam Speaker, I would like to ask the minister today if he would follow the example set us by the Province of Quebec and confront the federal government in order to access the funds and use them to extend compensation to those who were infected before '86 or after '91.

Mr. Stefanson: Madam Speaker, I believe all provinces have reached agreement for the period 1986 to 1990, and I think a settlement is close to being concluded between the federal government and all of the provinces for that period of time. We also have the situation that we are discussing right now where the federal government is prepared to make an additional commitment of some $300 million nationally over 20 years. That is over and above all of the health care support that is provided by the individual provinces to individuals that have to deal with hepatitis C, and we certainly have an opportunity here to continue to improve and enhance the quality of care to those individuals. We certainly will be taking advantage of accessing those funds very shortly.

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Mr. Stan Struthers (Dauphin): Madam Speaker, my question is to the Minister of Natural Resources. Last year we tabled minutes of the interdepartmental elk committee that stated Natural Resources would report on the possibility of hunt farms because the agriculture industry would want them. The minister indicated at that time that he himself was against the concept, and in a recent letter to the editor stated that penned hunts were in fact illegal in Manitoba.

Can the minister table the results of his department's report on hunt farms in Manitoba?

Hon. Glen Cummings (Minister of Natural Resources): The policy is as I have stated: we do not and we are not going to have hunt farms.

Mr. Struthers: Can the minister then indicate, Madam Speaker, why an Interlake outfitter's website, which is linked to Tourism Manitoba, offers two large game compounds, 400 and 800 acres, for bison, wild boar and fallow deer bucks?

Mr. Cummings: Madam Speaker, perhaps the member would wait until we have an investigation, and I will report back.

Mr. Stan Struthers (Dauphin): Can the minister explain whether his department has investigated the number of penned hunts in Manitoba, and can he indicate whether these penned hunts are in fact considered illegal by his department?

Hon. Glen Cummings (Minister of Natural Resources): I am not sure if the member is playing with definition or words. I hope he is not, because I certainly will review the situations that he has alluded to and determine whether or not this is outside of the regulations that presently exist.

Ms. Rosann Wowchuk (Swan River): Madam Speaker, agriculture research is very important to the industry. However, the move over the past decade to have agriculture research funding dollars tied to private sources has reduced the amount of public research in this province. The result is lack of independent research and a lack of visionary research. When is the Minister of Agriculture going to recognize that, with new crops and changing agriculture, there is a need for public research rather than to have all research tied to the private sector?

Hon. Harry Enns (Minister of Agriculture): Madam Speaker, I am actually thankful for the honourable member's question because from time to time it is important to demonstrate the difference between them and us. Research is the issue, and in the last few years this administration has increased its public research by tenfold.

Ms. Wowchuk: In fact, this government has reduced–

Madam Speaker: Order, please. The honourable member for Swan River, to pose her supplementary question.

Ms. Wowchuk: I would like to ask the Minister of Agriculture whether he does not realize that private-sector research has their own focus, meets their own needs, and they are not going to work on projects, for example, that will see farmers have the ability to reduce their input costs, and that there is a real need to have public research funded by public dollars that meets the needs of all the farming community, not just the chemical companies and the seed companies. There must be proper research.

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

Mr. Enns: Madam Speaker, let me again reassure–I am rather surprised, because most of us in the agriculture community are pretty proud of what has happened at the Faculty of Agriculture in the last few years, an entire new faculty building built, research facility, a satellite station at Carman with state-of-the-art research is being built, that is all public.

Now, one other issue, an issue, regrettably, that the opposition chose to vote against and fight me with, was to allow the individual commodity groups, the canola growers, the forage growers, the cattle producers, to fund their own organizations so they could put up some of the money for the research so that that research would be specifically directed to their commodity interests. Coupled with that, of course, is the support from provincial organizations, programs like ARDI and the federal program. So we have a combination of public, private and individual commodity groups that are today funding agricultural research, and that, Madam Speaker, quite frankly, is the way it should be.

Ms. Wowchuk: Madam Speaker, I will rephrase the question so maybe the minister will understand it. I would like to ask him if he realizes that there is a lack of agronomic information, for example, on tillage practices, on rotation, seed depth on some of these new crops. The ag reps have no ability to advise farmers, and farmers are forced to go to the chemical and seed companies. What do you expect them to advise them? Do you think that they are going to advise them to use less chemicals, or are they going to advise them in the best interests of the farmers?

Mr. Enns: I invite the honourable member for Swan River, as I do the journalists from the Sun or the Free Press or anybody else, to–while they are driving through rural Manitoba this summer, they will come upon colourful tents, 50 or 60 half-ton trucks around it, and what is happening there? Seminars being conducted by my Extension department, by university people, by the chemical companies, by private seed trial-testing companies where we are constantly trying out plots. You will see these little plots where they are growing these things, that are advising the farmers precisely how to farm better in this highly competitive agricultural age. Please take advantage; you are welcome. There are usually some refreshments, doughnuts and coffee, served at these occasions, and you will find it a refresher.

Mr. George Hickes (Point Douglas): Madam Speaker, my question is to the Minister of Northern Affairs. I would like to ask the minister if these organizations, the Manitoba Metis Federation, the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, the friendship centres, were part of the consultations, and did they have any input in this government's so-called Urban Aboriginal Strategy that the minister announced last week? Were these organizations consulted, and did they have input into helping develop that strategy?

Hon. David Newman (Minister responsible for Native Affairs): Madam Speaker, the organizations that were listed were definitely included in the strategy through their memberships, in the development of this strategy which was under the auspices of the Round Table on Environment and Economy, in those days, now the Round Table for Sustainable Development, and the individuals participated in the hearing process, the listening process that went on. It was not through political leadership.

With respect to the strategy itself which has emerged through our interdepartmental working group responding to the round table for sustainability report, the involvement of those organizations hopefully will be very significant in the emergence of the filled-out blank piece of paper that I have referred to as being the way that the strategy is going to emerge in multifaceted ways through involving all different facets that departments are responsible for in government: Health, Education, Family Services and so on.

Mr. Doug Martindale (Burrows): Madam Speaker, as a result of the one-tier project, I have been getting numerous phone calls, as have my colleagues, and I am sure the Minister of Family Services' office has been getting numerous phone calls from people who are having great difficulty accessing their worker or anyone. Some people have received cheques that are late or not having cheques at all. I would like to ask the minister: in lieu of the fact that numerous people are falling through the cracks, what is her office doing to resolve these access problems as expeditiously as possible?

Hon. Bonnie Mitchelson (Minister of Family Services): I thank my honourable friend for that question. Creating a one-tier system of welfare within the city of Winnipeg will ultimately provide better service for the clients that are served and better efficiency for the taxpayers of the city of Winnipeg, the province of Manitoba.

I do want to indicate that, as a result of the change, certainly there are new case workers, new office locations that some clients will have to attend. I want to indicate very clearly, Madam Speaker, that there is not any single parent with children that would be impacted as a result of these changes, or any disabled client. The changes predominantly affect the single, employable caseload in the city of Winnipeg.

I understand that, from time to time, there have been a little longer waits for service, but that is because the caseworkers are trying to get to know the needs of their clients; that is because there is an employment focus, and there is a job plan that is attached to working with single, employable people to try to ensure that they maximize on the opportunity of the jobs that are available today.

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Mr. Martindale: Madam Speaker, I would like to table three copies of a list that someone kept of the attempts to get through to an office, 144 times before they got through to a worker. I would like to ask the Minister of Family Services what she is doing in a practical way to resolve these access problems. We know how the system works, but I would like to hear what the minister is doing to resolve these serious access problems so that people can get through.

Mrs. Mitchelson: I do want to indicate very clearly that if someone is having extreme difficulty reaching any–I look at this, and it gives me no detail or no information on the exact issue. [interjection] It is very typical of the opposition bringing information that really is not information to this House and trying to create an issue.

There is a help line available that has been widely advertised if people are having difficulties–

Some Honourable Members: Oh, oh.

Madam Speaker: Order, please. The honourable Minister of Family Services, to complete her response.

Mrs. Mitchelson: Madam Speaker, if in fact the member for Burrows is indicating that he did not intervene in some way, when somebody that he knew was having difficulty getting through the line, and called me directly, which he has done on many occasions and I have responded immediately to those kinds of issues, I think that he is bringing this to this House for purely political reasons, and he is doing nothing to serve the people that need this service through our social assistance system.

Hon. Glen Cummings (Minister of Natural Resources): Madam Speaker, a question that I took as notice, in part, earlier in this Question Period, so that there is no misinformation on the record. When the member for Dauphin (Mr. Struthers) was asking me about my consultations, I have a letter that was written to him by the Manitoba Wildlife Federation that indicates clearly the consultations were at their request because they were opposed to pen hunting, not on the part of Natural Resources.

Madam Speaker: The honourable member for Crescentwood, with one very short question.

Mr. Tim Sale (Crescentwood): Madam Speaker, on the weekend I had occasion to talk with Mr. Ed Wirth, whose wife is a patient in Riverview and has been there for just about a year. He reports to me that, contrary to what has been said by the minister, the food situation is deteriorating, not getting better, that the roast beef, the pork, the ham and the sausages are basically inedible. They cannot be chewed by anyone who has even the slightest difficulty.

What is the minister doing to resolve the serious problem with protein intake for patients who simply cannot chew the food that is being supplied?

Hon. Eric Stefanson (Minister of Health): Well, Madam Speaker, this is an interesting question from the member for Crescentwood because his Leader stands up a week or two ago, and he complains about Urban Shared Services double-blanching vegetables so that they are easier to eat and more appetizing for individuals in these facilities.

Again, I think what is important is all of these health care facilities continually do patient surveys to see what the reaction is to the quality of food. Certainly, on an overall basis, the surveys show that the patient approval rating is much higher today than it was under the old food system, and it continues to get better and better at each and every facility. The objective throughout all of this is to continue to provide quality nutritional food in the most cost-effective way to the people in our health care facilities here in Winnipeg.

Madam Speaker: Time for Oral Questions has expired.