Icelandic Museum

Mr. Edward Helwer (Gimli): Madam Speaker, on Saturday I had the pleasure of joining our Premier Filmon and the Honourable Eric Stefanson at Gimli for the kickoff for the fundraising campaign for the New Iceland Museum to be constructed at the Betel Waterfront Centre, and during this event the province was proud to announce support of $1 million towards this initiative. The museum will replace the first New Iceland Museum which was moved due to deterioration of the original building. Once completed, it will house a collection of artifacts from the original Icelandic settlement in the Interlake region. The Betel Waterfront Centre will also include the Icelandic Cultural Centre, dedicated to preserving and enhancing Icelandic culture in North America, as well as 55 new seniors apartments.

Also taking place on Saturday was the opening of the new Lake Winnipeg Visitors Centre. Reconstructed out of an old fish processing plant that had served as a portion of the original museum, the Visitors Centre houses displays on the history of the Lake Winnipeg fishing industry and the Gimli Chamber of Commerce tourist information booth. These initiatives will no doubt contribute to the growth of tourism in the Gimli area and will ensure that Icelandic history and heritage in Manitoba are preserved for future generations. So my congratulations to all those involved.

Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Ms. Rosann Wowchuk (Swan River): Madam Speaker, we got another report, released by the Canadian Wheat Board, showing that indeed farmers are being taken advantage of by railway companies and are paying far too much in freight costs. This is confirmed with farm organizations that have been saying for some time now that the savings that the railway companies are having because of rail line abandonment are not being passed on to the farmers.

These things could have been addressed and should be addressed. Had the government listened to farmers and implemented a full costing review and looked at some of the costs, then we could have had a fairer process with the implementation of Estey under Arthur Kruger. Unfortunately, this government did not support that process, and even though it is a federal issue, we had hoped our government would have taken a much stronger position to ensure that savings would have been passed on to farmers. Madam Speaker, $224 million taken out of the farm economy annually out of western Canada is a tremendous amount of money and would help many farmers who are facing very serious financial burdens right now.

The implementation of Estey will increase further burdens for farmers. Now the government across the way says that the implementation of Estey is going to be beneficial. However, if the whole report is implemented as Mr. Estey recommended and Mr. Kruger is saying, then farmers are going to face even further cost increases, and there will certainly not be any benefit to them. We have to look at ways to ensure that farmers get a fair return for their product and are not burdened with all the costs. So, Madam Speaker, I think that this report is very important and one which the government should–

Madam Speaker: Order, please. Time has expired.

Mr. David Faurschou (Portage la Prairie): Recently I had the pleasure of attending the third annual Heritage Days at the Fort la Reine Museum in Pioneer Village in Portage la Prairie, and I had the opportunity of bringing greetings on behalf of my colleague the Honourable Rosemary Vodrey, Minister of Culture, Heritage and Citizenship. This was a lively weekend that featured a variety of entertainment, including a parade, children's activities, flea market and of course events that recognize Manitoba's historical development. Volunteers representing heritage characters were in costume in 23 heritage venues and helped guests remember the ways of our forefathers, such as how to cook in a clay oven and how to make a rope.

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The event was a great success, with visitors and attendants from as far away as Australia. Heritage Days is a unique event that provides an opportunity for visitors to go back in time and experience a life in the early settler days. By understanding the challenges faced by our ancestors and how they overcame them, we can gain insight into the way we live today and a path that we can take in the future.

I would like to take this opportunity to recognize the secretary-manager, Mr. Vic Edwards, and the rest of the museum staff and volunteers for successfully providing the opportunity to learn about our past through celebration. It is important that we educate people about the province's past and to respect the achievements of our ancestors. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Ms. Marianne Cerilli (Radisson): Madam Speaker, in 1996 I began meeting with professionals in the housing sector who were alerting anyone who cared to listen, I believe, to problems that were arising in the home inspection field in our province. There was concern that members of the public may be hiring people to do home inspections prior and as a condition to their purchasing a home and those people had no more qualifications than, I dare say, I would to be a home inspector. In other instances, there were complaints that home inspectors were actually receiving some sort of kickbacks from some real estate agents in exchange for giving favourable home inspections, which may not be the case, and then that would jeopardize the future investment of that home purchaser.

There have been some changes related to this area, but I am concerned. In response to a letter that I sent to the current Minister of Consumer and Corporate Affairs (Mrs. Render) on April 27 of this year, I received a response from the minister basically saying that she had looked into it and her department had looked into it–I had requested that the Securities Commission investigate some of the groups involved–and she found that there was no problem and there had been no complaints.

There have been a number of news reports on this issue. The Winnipeg Real Estate Board now has a committee, and they are all recommending that the Department of Consumer and Corporate Affairs consider regulating the home inspectors' industry.

There were a few requests that I put in the letter: that all inspectors have a million dollar errors and omissions insurance coverage to be considered; they would ensure inspectors are covered by the Workers Compensation Board; they would have all inspectors have general liability insurance backing up inspectors with guarantees for payments of damages; there should be some attention to fees charged–there are some exorbitant fees charged for home inspectors; that currently there be some regulation of the association for home inspectors; and, similarly, that there be some kind of a code put in place to guarantee or govern their standards.

I hope that the minister will consider this issue again. Thank you.

Mr. Jack Penner (Emerson): Madam Speaker, about a week ago I had the pleasure of attending the opening of Golden West Broadcasting facility in Altona, which is a brand-new facility taking in the second floor of the Golden West Plaza. This Golden West facility, which takes up the entire second floor of a four-storey complex, will not only serve the radio listeners of Altona, Winkler and Steinbach areas but will also serve as the head offices for the entire Golden West operation.

Golden West was formed in 1957 with one little radio station in Altona which was called Radio Southern Manitoba, CFAM, and has grown into a conglomerate of 12 stations–

Some Honourable Members: Oh, oh.

Madam Speaker: Order, please. I am experiencing a great deal of difficulty hearing the member.

Mr. Penner: Madam Speaker, I could hardly hear myself speaking.

This has turned into a conglomerate of 12 stations from Alberta to Ontario, including four AFM and one FM station right here in Manitoba.

The driving force behind Golden West Broadcasting's success has certainly been the president and CEO, Mr. Elmer Hildebrand, who has been with Golden West from day one. Elmer has not only played a very significant role in establishing Golden West Broadcasting to the kind of corporation it is today but has certainly been front and centre in many of the developments in the town of Altona and surrounding area. He continues to play a very significant role in the broadcasting industry, both in Canada and North America, having served as president of Manitoba, Western, and the Canadian Association of Broadcasters.

I would like to ask all members of this House to join me in congratulating Mr. Hildebrand and the entire Golden West Broadcasting network and staff on a job well done, and we ask them to continue the fine job of broadcasting, indicating to Manitobans what a fine job we in Manitoba have done on the economic development of our province. Thank you.