Hon. Glen Cummings (Minister of Natural Resources): Madam Speaker, I wish to report on fire activity over the weekend which has increased due to several lightning storms that passed through northern Manitoba. Departmental staff have responded to 58 new starts since late Thursday afternoon and were successful in controlling 54 of those fires. Nineteen additional helicopters have been mobilized into the areas of concern.

Yesterday several fires in and adjacent to northern communities were actioned. There were two fires at Split Lake, one near Pikwitonei, and one near Oxford House. These fires were quickly contained and do not presently threaten any structures. Fire investigators have been dispatched to ascertain the cause.

Four fires are classified out of control at this time: Duval Lake, west of Kississing Lake, 360-hectare fire, lines have been established and there are 130 personnel that have been deployed; at High Rock Lake, 2,800 hectares were burned, 165 firefighters deployed; Notigi Lake, 1,500 hectares burned, 60 firefighters have been deployed; and Pikwitonei, 75-hectare fire, 55 firefighters on site and there has been little movement of this fire yesterday, having fire lines established.

Extreme burning conditions are predicted for the next two days, with a forecast for moisture in northern Manitoba by Tuesday that should assist in the suppression efforts. I think it is important that we remember that the potential fire conditions have become near extreme in some areas.

Lightning storms triggered several fires in the far north where we have no action observation zones. The activity and spread is being monitored, and suppression action is not anticipated.

We have recorded 315 fires to date, Madam Speaker, and have lost an estimated 74,200 hectares of forest land.

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Mr. Stan Struthers (Dauphin): Madam Speaker, it is quite ironic that we need to stand and talk about forest fires this of all springs when half the province is flooding and the other half of the province is way too hot. I thank the minister for bringing us an update on the forest fire situation in northern Manitoba, and of course we wish all the best for the residents and the firefighters, the volunteers and people who will be fighting fires at Duval Lake, High Rock Lake, Notigi Lake and up at Pikwitonei.

Madam Speaker, I want to encourage people living throughout the province to exercise common sense and exercise a degree of caution, because we do know that the conditions are right right now for the establishment and the sparking of fires in our province. I would think that both sides of the House would encourage people to be very careful in their activities. Now that summer has officially arrived, I know many people are hoping to get out and enjoy many of the activities that we do outside in the wilderness, and I would encourage people to be very cautious. We do not want to see what we see in some situations with evacuations and people's houses and cabins burning up and the loss of many hectares of forest in our province.

So I appreciate the update from the minister and wish all the best to the volunteers and the firefighters engaged in battling the forest fires in northern Manitoba. Thank you very much, Madam Speaker.

Flooding Compensation

Hon. Frank Pitura (Minister of Government Services): Madam Speaker, I have a statement for the House.

At this time I would like to make a brief statement on the programs and activities of my department in assistance to Manitobans in their recovery from flooding in western Manitoba this spring. As a proactive measure to assist Manitobans in the flood-affected western regions, the Manitoba Emergency Management Organization identified the need for a Disaster Financial Assistance program to assist in their recovery as a result of the flooding and has established flood recovery offices in Melita and Neepawa.

The recovery offices, which operate Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., provide advice and information on disaster financial assistance to the people affected by the flooding. The offices also serve as information centres for services of other agencies such as the Salvation Army, Canadian Red Cross trauma, stress and financial counselling services, making possible one-stop shopping for those impacted by the flood. These recovery offices are similar to those established during the 1997 Red River Valley flood and are located in the Manitoba Agriculture offices at 139 Main Street, Melita, and at 41 Main Street in Neepawa. Inquiries can be made in person or by telephone or facsimile. Since its opening on Monday, May 31, the Melita office has received over 440 telephone inquires and visits and has distributed over 300 DFA applications. The Neepawa office has been open since Monday, June 14. The Disaster Financial Assistance program provides financial assistance to private residential property, full-time farmers, full-time small businesses and nonprofit organizations when eligible costs incurred as a result of a disaster exceed an amount deemed to be reasonable.

The maximum assistance on private claims is 80 percent of eligible costs to a maximum of $100,000 each for home, farm and business. Claimants awards cannot exceed the cost of repair or replacement. In addition to these initiatives, MEMO plays a co-ordinating role in the activities of all provincial departments and nongovernment agencies through frequent meetings and consultations, including representation from the municipalities impacted by this event.

Today I wish to thank the people of all the departments and agencies whose diligent efforts are anticipating and responding to the needs of our fellow Manitobans in these very stressful times. Thank you.

Mr. Stan Struthers (Dauphin): For some time, we have been discussing the pros and cons of programs designed to help farmers and businesses in the southwest part of our province, and not just the southwest part of the province but in areas such as Gilbert Plains, Grandview, McCreary, Neepawa, Gladstone and some parts of the southeast corner of Manitoba which have received an inordinate amount of rain, an inordinate amount of snowfall last winter and have experienced all kinds of problems in seeding, getting their crops in. Today, of course, we are hopeful that a package that would be fair to producers will be announced.

I want to thank the Minister of Government Services for updating us on the steps which his department are taking to help alleviate the problems, the very real day-to-day problems that occur for people living in these affected areas. I am told by people who are responsible for providing counselling in these areas that, as we can all understand, the stress level for families, farm families, businesses and people living in the affected areas is very high. One of the things that really contributes a lot to the increased level of stress is the lack of details available to people. We know that there is a lot of stress involved in not getting your crop in on time and then wondering what the eventual impact on the local economy will be, but to add to that is the uncertainty of not knowing what the details are of a package that has been talked about a lot but not, as of yet, implemented for the betterment of these communities and these farm families.

I want to commend the minister for opening offices in Melita and in Neepawa to help in this predicament that we are in. My hope is that would speed up the conveyance of information that would be used in helping farm families and thus reduce the amount of stress that these families are under. Again, I want to stress that both farm operations and business operations in these areas are very much afflicted by the lack of information that is being given out.

Finally, I want to thank, along with the minister, the people in the departments who have worked to put together the programs that are available for farmers and business people in this area of Manitoba. Thank you very much, Madam Speaker.

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