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 eleven Grade 1 to Grade 8 students from Prairie Blossom School under the direction of Ms. Sasch Wohlers. This school is located in the constituency of the honourable member for Gimli (Mr. Helwer).

And, dix-neuf J tudiants de la cinquiP me annJ e de l'I cole Salisbury Morse Place sous la direction de Monsieur Jean-Pierre NoN l. Cet J tablissement est situJ dans la circonscription du dJ putJ de Concordia (Mr. Doer).

Nineteen Grade 5 students from Salisbury Morse Place School under the direction of Mr. Jean-Pierre NoN l. This school is located in the constituency of the honourable member for Concordia.

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

Mr. Gary Doer (Leader of the Opposition): A number of farm organizations and farmers have had the opportunity now to be underwhelmed, to be charitable, with the announcement made by the federal government, an announcement to be, quote, more flexible with an existing program. But, Madam Speaker, an existing program that we have agreed is not farmer friendly, and it is in real pale contrast to the announcement made on May 1, 1997, dealing with the flooding in the Red River Valley. On May 1 we saw a cheque being handed over from the federal government to the provincial government to deal with the real disaster and crisis in the Red River Valley. Yesterday, I did not see or hear about any specific amount of money to deal with the contingency plan on a per-acreage basis.

I would like to ask the Premier: was there any comparable treatment to the producers in southwestern Manitoba and the central region of the province that has been hit with this flooding to the kind of disaster assistance programs and money that flowed in 1997?

Hon. Gary Filmon (Premier): I thank my honourable friend for the question. No, there has been no comparable treatment, and, no, there have been no ongoing consultations or discussions in response to letters from various ministers, the Minister of Agriculture (Mr. Enns), the Minister responsible for disaster financial assistance or myself.

In fact, with all of the various recommendations that we have made along the way, the joint news release that Premier Romanow and I put out, none of those things has received even the personal attention of Mr. Vanclief in terms of a request for a meeting. I believe that he had a very short meeting a couple of weeks ago on a Friday with the Minister of Agriculture. We have not been included in their deliberations or their discussions leading up to the announcements that he made yesterday, and certainly there is a marked contrast between that and the very rapid response that we received in 1997.

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Mr. Doer: Madam Speaker, in 1997 one could be cynical and say that there was a federal election, but there was a crisis in 1997 that had to be responded to, and there is a crisis today. All parties agree to that. Can the Premier again write the Prime Minister and demand a meeting with the Premier of Manitoba and the Premier of Saskatchewan with the Prime Minister to deal with these federal ministers who are arguing about whether Manitoba has applied or not when they clearly have applied for disaster assistance and to ask this federal government to treat people that are facing this crisis in a comparable way to 1997?

Disaster assistance should not depend on the electoral situation in the country. It should depend on the will of both the provincial government and the federal government to be specific on a contingency plan for unseeded acreage here in Manitoba.

Mr. Filmon: Madam Speaker, I have twice written the Prime Minister and then jointly sent him a news release with Premier Romanow, and Mr. Romanow has done likewise. I would be happy to pursue this matter further. Obviously, we need to gather additional information on the seeding that has not yet taken place. Weather has continued such that I am informed there is still some seeding taking place, but clearly there will be a very significant area of the province that will be without a crop planted. Clearly this is an area in which we are very, very concerned, and we are very concerned that the program that was developed unilaterally by Ottawa, the AIDA program, will not meet the needs of a great many people. We will take whatever action is necessary to bring to the attention of the federal government what we believe to be an inadequate response to a very significant economic hardship, if not disaster, in southern Manitoba.

Mr. Gary Doer (Leader of the Opposition): I thank the Premier for those answers. A new question to the Premier. Madam Speaker, the Premier is quoted as saying that it was inappropriate for the Minister of Justice (Mr. Toews) to release the name in the House last week. We are very concerned about the broken promise of this government to deal with the confidentiality of a gang hotline and its impact on public safety here in Manitoba. The confidentiality of that gang hotline has been totally destroyed by the Minister of Justice. If the confidentiality has gone, the gang hotline is dead, and your Minister of Justice regrettably killed it.

I would like to ask the Premier: what action is he going to take to restore the integrity of confidence and confidential lines here in Manitoba to deal with crime and people that may commit crime in our communities?

Hon. Vic Toews (Minister of Justice and Attorney General): As indicated last date, the disclosure of the calls made from the office of the member for St. Johns (Mr. Mackintosh), whether others made them, as the member first of all stated, or whether he in fact directly made them, as he later admitted on June 17, 1999, should not have been referenced by me in this House. I have indicated that already. As far as I am aware, all calls for assistance or information since the province took over this function on or about May 10, 1999, have been handled on an appropriately confidential basis.

Mr. Doer: This government has not responded to the fact that they sent out a hundred thousand mailouts promising people that the line would be confidential. The Premier (Mr. Filmon) has not responded to that issue. Madam Speaker, the detection of crime, the participation of citizens in the detection of crime in their neighbourhood, the identification in an anonymous way is crucial to this gang hotline, to the Crime Stoppers line, to any other source of information that allows the people of this province to participate as citizens to keep our streets safe. In fact, in the last election the Premier promised that law-abiding people would be safe and free, free from fear of being victimized.

Given that this minister has now put it into effect, has totally undermined the safety of citizens and their confidential status, what action is this Premier going to take to restore the confidence in the justice system and restore confidence in the people of Manitoba on confidential matters?

Mr. Toews: Madam Speaker, as indicated earlier, I have stated that the disclosure of the calls from the member for St. Johns, who, for political reasons, was simply calling up and hanging up, was inappropriate. We have taken the steps to correct this matter. I am advised that this technical problem with the phone system did not compromise the confidentiality of anyone seeking information or assistance.

Some Honourable Members: Oh, oh.

Madam Speaker: Order, please.

An Honourable Member: Chairman Mao.

Madam Speaker: The honourable Minister of Justice, to complete his response.

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Mr. Toews: Thank you, Madam Speaker. I understand the Leader of the Opposition was just quoting from one of his favourite political philosophers. The real reason the NDP is raising this matter again is to divert the public's attention from the issue of public safety. The NDP is out of gas; it has no ideas. Every single program that we bring forward they simply agree on and snipe on the edges in order to keep the far left of their party satisfied.

Mr. Gord Mackintosh (St. Johns): To the Minister of Justice, who is so concerned about gangs that he checked messages on the gang hotline every five months. We received a call today from a teacher whose student was living with a gang member who was involved in break and enters and so on, and having read about the confidentiality of the hotline, the teacher urged the student to call, reassuring her of her anonymity. She is now distraught, and he is worried.

My question to the minister is: to assure Winnipeggers like this student and like this teacher who believes now, and I quote, people's lives are in danger, would the government appoint an independent person to tell us as soon as possible the role of this minister, as he did nothing until he was caught, how long calls have been traced over the last five years, what calls were traced in fact, what disclosure and use was made of names, are lives in danger, and would he step aside in the meantime?

Hon. Vic Toews (Minister of Justice and Attorney General): Since the province took over the maintenance of this particular line on or about May 10, 1999, there have been a number of conversations between staff and the Winnipeg Police Service regarding the continued operation of this line. I am advised that staff will indeed come to a conclusion and make certain recommendations on this matter in due course.

The police in fact have advised that this line has been of limited use, and any emergency calls were rerouted for assistance. I understand, as far as any calls that came to the attention of the province on or about May 10 and afterwards, they have been handled on an appropriately confidential basis, and I can assure the citizens of Winnipeg, indeed the citizens of the province of Manitoba, of that fact.

Mr. Mackintosh: Does this minister not understand that his assurances are totally meaningless, the assurances by this government are totally meaningless, particularly after the seven whoppers of the last few days from this minister? Who can trust this government? Would he get out of the way of justice so we can get the real facts on this?

Mr. Toews: Madam Speaker, as I indicated earlier, the NDP is simply out of ideas. They simply agree with our programs and snipe on the edges. They have no policies. They have no programs. Indeed this is not an issue that is motivated by public safety. Public safety in fact is why we have announced the most effective Victims' Rights Act in Canada. We have passed very controversial but effective legislation regarding the seizure of motor vehicles in prostitution-related activities. We have a complete gang management strategy in our jails, including no-contact visits.

As mentioned the other day, Madam Speaker, we have a very aggressive transfer of violent youth to adult court where they pay for their actions in terms of adult consequences for adult criminal acts. So I reject the accusations of the member for St. Johns.

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Mr. Mackintosh: Does the minister not also understand that it looks like he himself has broken the law, The Privacy Act, The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act? Would he get out of the way of Justice so that this serious matter can also be looked at?

Mr. Toews: Indeed, as I have indicated earlier, the calls for assistance have in fact been appropriately answered on a confidential basis, and the province did not identify any anonymous calls made where there was simply a hang-up without any leaving of information. I, of course, note the exception of the situation where the member for St. Johns or a member of his office made in fact the calls from a specific number. As I have indicated, MTS has addressed that particular situation. In fact, I understand that the calls are being handled on an appropriately confidential basis.

Mr. Steve Ashton (Thompson): For the past 11 years we have grown used to seeing arrogance from this government, but nothing matches the arrogant behaviour of this Premier (Mr. Filmon), who yesterday and today refused to answer a single question about the behaviour and activities of the Minister of Justice, including our calls for his resignation, and instead went outside of the House and there in front of the media said that the minister's behaviour was inappropriate.

Now we have a fraudulent gang line, we have a broken promise of confidentiality, we have possible violation of privacy laws. I want to ask the Premier to explain what he meant when he said that. What did he mean when he said it was inappropriate, and what action is he going to take with his Minister of Justice who broke all those elements?

Hon. Vic Toews (Minister of Justice and Attorney General): I too am aware of those comments, and I agree with the Premier in respect of the statements that he made. Indeed, it has been something that I have stated publicly in this House and outside of this House.

Mr. Ashton: Madam Speaker, I want to ask the Premier, if we still have one in this province, what he meant by "inappropriate" and what action he is going to take with the Minister of Justice. It is totally inappropriate for the Minister of Justice to get up and say, well, I got accused of being inappropriate. When is the Premier going to take action with the Minister of Justice?

Mr. Toews: Madam Speaker, as I indicated earlier, the disclosure of the calls that were made from the office of the member for St. Johns (Mr. Mackintosh), whether others made them, as he first of all stated, or whether he made them himself, should not have been referenced by me in this House. Indeed, as a result of that, I know that certain changes have been made to this particular system that would not allow for the passive identification of any particular call. As far as I am aware, this was indeed the only call that has come to my attention where that in fact this occurred. We took up the necessary action, and what we do is to assure the public that in fact they can utilize these lines and that their calls will be treated on an appropriately confidential basis.

Mr. Ashton: Madam Speaker, my final supplementary is to the Premier, who presumably is the one responsible for appointing this minister. I would like to ask the Premier: we know this Premier is afraid of calling an election; is he now afraid of answering very serious questions about the conduct of his minister? Why will he not respond to questions in this House about behaviour by his minister which we believe should lead to that minister's removal?

Mr. Toews: Again, Madam Speaker, I wish to stress that this was a particular program that was administered by the Winnipeg Police Service, and the province as a result of certain information–

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Some Honourable Members: Oh, oh.

Madam Speaker: Order, please.

Mr. Toews: Thank you, Madam Speaker. The province took over the maintenance of this line on May 10, 1999, and there have been a number of conversations amongst staff and with the Winnipeg Police Service regarding the continued operation of this line. As I have indicated earlier, staff will be coming to a conclusion and will be making recommendations on this matter in due course. I believe that answers the question raised.

Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Inkster): Madam Speaker, yesterday during the Estimates process we had found out that the Department of Justice is not necessarily alone. There are other confidential lines, for example, through Family Services, the welfare fraud hotline; through the Department of Natural Resources, we have the poacher hotline. We found out that in fact 9-4-5 numbers in those–well, at least in the Family Services, was in fact being breached.

My question to the Premier is: what is being done to ensure that confidentiality and the integrity of these lines and others are in fact being honoured?

Hon. Bonnie Mitchelson (Minister of Family Services): I thank my honourable friend for that question. Yes, when the issue of the 9-4-5 exchange showing up in the Justice system on the hotline rose in this House, I immediately asked my staff for a briefing and some information on what happened with the welfare fraud line. Indeed, the 9-4-5 exchange did show up on the welfare fraud line. I had not been aware; none of the senior staff within the department were aware. They had to ask those that were dealing specifically with the line, and it has been rectified as of yesterday.

Mr. Lamoureux: Madam Speaker, I look to the Premier to get the assurances from the Premier: is the Premier prepared to take the actions necessary in order to protect the integrity of those confidential lines, as opposed to us having to stand up, go department by department or Crown corporation by Crown corporation that happens to provide this sort of a service? Will this Premier take action and ensure that due process is given to all of those confidential lines throughout the government and its Crown corporations?

Hon. Gary Filmon (Premier): Madam Speaker, my information is that it has already been done.

Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Inkster): Madam Speaker, on a new question I ask to the Minister of Education: is the minister willing to table today the report of the Seven Oaks School Division, a report that everyone has been waiting for? I believe that it is something in which the Minister of Education is obligated, if not to table, at the very least to call for that independent investigation. Will he do one of those two today?

Hon. James McCrae (Minister of Education and Training): Madam Speaker, in reviewing the report prepared by the Seven Oaks School Division, it is clear that there has been a breach of standards test exam security by one Brian O'Leary. The report does, however, go on to name other individuals and to deal with other issues, some of which are the subject of a grievance arbitration being underway right now for Mr. Treller, the teacher involved in this matter that made this allegation of breach. For that reason, there are a number of aspects of this report we are having reviewed by legal counsel to ensure that we would be on appropriate ground to do what the honourable member is asking.

That being said, it is very clear. It has been confirmed what Mr. O'Leary had previously acknowledged, that he broke the rules. I remind the Leader of the Opposition (Mr. Doer) what he said about that. He said that if I appoint somebody to be the campaign manager of our party and appoint him as the secretary to the chief of staff position and the secretary of cabinet–Treasury Board is responsible in these kinds of allegations–I would take responsibility under responsible government and resign. We await word from the Leader of the Opposition on this matter.

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Mr. Dave Chomiak (Kildonan): Madam Speaker, one of the tragedies of the Monnin vote-fixing scandal that we have had in this Legislature is that there is a political overlap between political staff and government staff, and this government does not know the difference between the two.

With respect to the Justice minister, I would like to ask the minister and the Premier, perhaps, who said the minister did something inappropriate: was it inappropriate for the staff to, in fact, take the name off the line, then prepare a briefing note and then provide a briefing note to the minister for, I think, political purposes? Was that appropriate action on the part of the staff of the Department of Justice, and does that not indicate this whole political climate and culture of this government who cares nothing about the public and about getting re-elected more than anything?

Hon. Gary Filmon (Premier): Madam Speaker, since the member for Kildonan has referenced the Monnin report, I want to quote for him from page 58 in which Mr. Monnin said that Sale, referring to the member for Crescentwood, by his own admission told Sorokowski: "It is my understanding that if you do not want to meet with the investigators, you don't have to." Then Mr. Monnin says: "I would have expected Mr. Sale, a member of the Legislature, to urge in the strongest possible terms cooperation with the Commission's investigators. His advice is directly contrary to what he was expounding in the Legislature–a full inquiry to get to the bottom of the matter." And Mr. Monnin goes on to say: "I note that the 1998 amendments to the two statutes in question now provide that all persons called upon either at the investigative stage or at the hearing stage must co-operate and testify fully."

In other words, the member for Crescentwood (Mr. Sale) was counselling these individuals, Sorokowski and perhaps Sigurdson, to breach the law. That is the problem here, Madam Speaker, and neither that member of the Legislature nor his Leader has the courage to say anything to their member because of that.

Mr. Steve Ashton (Opposition House Leader): Madam Speaker, 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.

After having asked questions now for a day and a half, we actually thought the Premier was going to get up and answer some of the serious questions being raised about the Minister of Justice (Mr. Toews). Madam Speaker, if you will peruse the minister's comments, he was talking about the Monnin report. We are prepared to debate the Monnin report. We are especially waiting for the prosecutor's report, but we asked about the conduct of the Minister of Justice. It is about time the Premier of this province had the guts to stand up in this House and answer our questions on the conduct of his minister.

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

Hon. Darren Praznik (Government House Leader): Madam Speaker, time and time again in this Assembly we have seen the opposition ask questions to provoke debate; we have seen the opposition House leader misuse points of order continually to be able to continue the debate, to provoke further debate.

Madam Speaker, I would ask that you call members opposite to order. If they want to live by the rules of this House, they should have to live by them in all circumstances.

Madam Speaker: On the point of order raised by the honourable member for Thompson, indeed I will take the point of order under advisement to research Hansard and report back to the Chamber.

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Mr. Chomiak: Madam Speaker, I would like to ask the Premier: last year in this Legislature we passed amendments to The Freedom of Information Act and The Personal Health Information Act where fines are rendered for breaking of those acts of $50,000 or six months in jail. If the Premier finds the conduct of a Minister of Justice inappropriate, why will he not take appropriate steps to deal with the misconduct of his Minister of Justice? Why will he not do that?

Hon. Vic Toews (Minister of Justice and Attorney General): As indicated elsewhere, I know that the province took over these calls and this particular call line as a result of certain concerns expressed on May 10 of 1999. At that time, in fact, the staff ensured that the messages were cleared from the line and indeed made any appropriate follow-up calls. As far as I am aware, any calls for assistance or information since the province took over this function on or about May 10, 1999, have, in fact, been handled on an appropriately confidential basis.

Mr. Dave Chomiak (Kildonan): Madam Speaker, I will again try to ask the Premier a question.

Will the Premier, who figures prominently in TV ads about how he is going to get tough on crime, explain how it is that violations of The Freedom of Information Act and The Personal Health Information Act, which have fines of $50,000 and six months incarceration, are considered serious enough, and yet the violation admitted by the Premier of his Minister of Justice of confidentiality on something that affects hundreds of thousands of Manitobans has not even a comment and the Premier does not even mention it in the Chamber?

How does the Premier defend that, Madam Speaker?

Hon. Gary Filmon (Premier): Madam Speaker, the member opposite, of course, as usual misrepresents and exaggerates and says things that simply are not true, when the only person who is feeling violated, as I understand it, is the member for St. Johns (Mr. Mackintosh), who was playing games with–

Some Honourable Members: Oh, oh.

Mr. Filmon: No. The minister has confirmed that others have not been identified, that there has not been a breach of confidentiality of any other point except the member for St. Johns, who, for political purposes, was continuously phoning the gang line.

Mr. Gord Mackintosh (St. Johns): The First Minister surely knows, because he has been caught more than enough times on it, that it is improper to impute motives of that type. I just draw attention of the House to this statement by the Minister of Justice, but that was of course last Tuesday where he said: "I know that he"–that is the member for St. Johns–"is checking up on the gang hotline, and that is good to see that the member of the opposition does that."

Madam Speaker: The honourable Minister of Justice, on the same point of order.

Hon. Vic Toews (Minister of Justice and Attorney General): Indeed, is that not part of our political system? He is in fact doing it for political purposes. I see that he is not denying it. It is not necessarily a wrong thing to do; I am saying that this is not an issue that he is raising for public safety matters. This is an issue that he is raising for political purposes.

Madam Speaker: Order, please. The honourable member for St. Johns did not have a point of order.

Ms. Diane McGifford (Osborne): Madam Speaker, members of my caucus, disturbed by the increasingly violent, graphic, realistic, pornographic and interactive nature of video games, were cheered when the throne speech promised a rating system for video games, but we were dismayed when this rating system turned out to be industry-based, entirely voluntary and an American-based rating system.

So I would like to ask the minister if she could confirm that any 12-year-old boy, for example, could buy Forsaken, which features animated blood, gore, violence and the ultimate death match and allows absolute control to players.

Hon. Rosemary Vodrey (Minister of Culture, Heritage and Citizenship): This government is very pleased to have brought forward an initiative which is educative to parents about the kinds of videos that their children are using. We are using an industry-based rating system, which is in fact seen to be very sensitive and very helpful to parents, which includes a rating system on the front of the video and on the back a descriptor which gives information, because the problem is often parents do not know what it is that their children are renting. We believe that it will be helpful. It is an international system so that people who want to rent videos in Ontario or Saskatchewan or in the States or wherever they may be travelling will in fact have a uniform system that will be helpful to them.

Ms. McGifford: Could the minister confirm that this same child could rent or buy Kingpin, which allows players to target body parts so that you can see the actual damage, including exit wounds, and as well talk to people the way you want from smack to cool?

Mrs. Vodrey: I am not familiar with either of those video games, so I will take that question as notice. I think it would be very unlikely many of us would be familiar with those games, but I would like to remind the member–[interjection] Well, the member seems to know about them. Lots of time on her hands.

Some Honourable Members: Oh, oh.

Madam Speaker: Order, please. The Minister of Culture, Heritage and Citizenship, to complete her response.

Mrs. Vodrey: Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. This is a tool for parents so that parents can know. It is a voluntary submission, and if parents see that there is not a rating system, then they can know that that is perhaps one that they do not want their child to watch. However, I can tell you that the voluntary submission is very high. I stand to be corrected; I believe it is at least 90 percent. It is extremely high by the industry. The rating is done by a voluntary advisory council and has been in fact quite successful.

Ms. McGifford: Madam Speaker, I would like the minister to explain to the House why films and videos are classified by the Film Classification Board, but the rating system for video games is entirely voluntary. It is also voluntary for the dealer, whether the dealer chooses to use the system or not. It is entirely voluntary; that is the problem with the system.

Mrs. Vodrey: What the member has forgotten or totally misunderstood about video games is that video games can be pulled down on the Internet on computers, an entirely unregulated system. Video games can be acquired in many other areas other than simply going to the video store. Parents have watched their children play video games occasionally in which there are so many levels to the game, certain levels can be put on while an adult is there and then the level changes when the adult is gone. So, Madam Speaker, in recognition of the fact that video games are available through a number of systems, some of them entirely unregulated such as the Internet, this government has come forward, this government has put a tool in the hands of parents to assist parents.

But, as usual, the member across the way would like to completely, as always is the case for the NDP, play Big Brother and to completely deal with this situation. In fact, the voluntary submission has been extremely helpful and useful. As I have said, the compliance rate has been extremely high. The international nature of the rating system is helpful to people because they can rent video games in any part of North America.

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Ms. Rosann Wowchuk (Swan River): Madam Speaker, on June 15 the government announced the $10-an-acre assistance for farmers for custom seeding. However, farmers are not clear as to exactly what this government is covering. Will the minister explain to farmers what is covered? Is it just seeding. Are you prepared to help them with preparation of soil? What is covered under this program, and is the program retroactive prior to June 15?

Hon. Harry Enns (Minister of Agriculture): I will make sure that the honourable member has a copy of the description of the Custom Seeding Program in a few moments when we get into the Estimates of the Department of Agriculture. But I want to assure the honourable member that it is for the preparation of putting a crop in. It involves seed bed preparation as well during this period of time from June 15 to June 25. I might report that farmers are making every effort to get as much of the crop in as I speak. There are still a few more remaining days and, the Lord willing, the weather will hold, and I am hoping that the overall scale, dimension of the problem will shrink.

Ms. Wowchuk: Well, as well as providing me with the information, the minister should get this information out to farmers, because farmers are confused as to what is covered.

Madam Speaker: Question, please.

Ms. Wowchuk: Will the minister also indicate whether his government is giving any consideration to offering farmers coverage for a Greenfeed Program as farmers in Saskatchewan are offered if they are not able to put a crop in but they are wanting to clean up their weeds by putting in greenfeed coverage after the late seeding date?

Mr. Enns: Madam Speaker, I am aware of what is being offered to farmers in similar circumstances in Saskatchewan. I have had discussions with my crop insurance chairman, Mr. Charlie Mayer, and the general manager, Mr. Neil Hamilton, and we are examining all possibilities of the kind that the honourable member mentions.

Allow me again, while I am on my feet, to in fact congratulate a private organization, Ducks Unlimited, who have put up a million dollars to plant a hundred thousand acres and offered a $10 compensation package to farmers who will plant fall varieties, winter wheat, fall rye. They are doing it from a habitat reason, but it so happens to be–not going to solve all the problems there, but it certainly is a help to those farmers who will take advantage of it.

Ms. Wowchuk: Madam Speaker, given that Minister Vanclief yesterday said that this government has not taken the necessary steps to trigger the disaster assistance, even though we have the copies of the letter that the government has written, will the government take the steps, make the phone calls to the federal government to ensure that the people who are affected by flooding this year are treated the same way as the people in the Red River Valley and that the federal government does not play games saying that the government has not contacted them? Will you take those steps?

Mr. Enns: Madam Speaker, I will repeat again and again that all those measures are in place and taking place. My department officials, department officials from other departments involved are at this time putting together the scale of some of the problems in terms of infrastructure costs, estimates of potential agricultural loss which are extremely high if the current level of unseeded acreage should remain unseeded. All of that is being packaged together.

But, in the meantime, direct contact has been made through the different federal ministries, and I am at loss. I know that the honourable member was with me in Brandon yesterday when the federal minister indicated yet again as if there was some further action that the province had to take to trigger these events. The disaster financial assistance act is in full force, and the Minister of Government Services (Mr. Pitura), who toured with myself and the Premier (Mr. Filmon) just a week ago in a number of communities throughout the southwest, made that very plain.

Madam Speaker: Time for Oral Questions has expired.