LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA
Tuesday, April 16, 2019
Deputy Clerk (Mr. Rick Yarish): It is my duty to inform the House that Madam Speaker is unavoidably absent.
Therefore, in accordance with the statutes, I would ask Mr. Deputy Speaker to please take the Chair.
Mr. Deputy Speaker (Doyle Piwniuk): Please bow your heads.
O Eternal Almighty God, from Whom all power and wisdom come, we are assembled here before Thee to frame such laws as may tend to the welfare and the prosperity of our province. Grant, O merciful God, our–pray Thee, that we may desire only with which the accordance with Thy will, that we may seek it with wisdom, know it with certainty and accomplish it perfectly for the glory of our name and for the welfare of all our people. Amen.
Mr. Deputy Speaker: Oh. The honourable member for The Maples.
Mr. Mohinder Saran (The Maples): Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Deputy Speaker: Okay.
Mr. Deputy Speaker: As previously announced, we will now consider second reading of the selected bill sponsored by the honourable member for The Maples, Bill 229, the Sikh heritage (creation of the 'koheli') month act.
As reminder that accordance to the rule 24 and previously announced, I will now–interrupting the debate–no. Sorry.
The honourable member for the–sorry. Okay.
As a reminder, in accordance with rule 24 and as previously announced, I will then be interrupting debate at 10:55 to put the question forward.
Mr. Mohinder Saran (The Maples): I move that Bill 229, The Sikh Heritage (Creation of the Khalsa) Month Act, be now read a second time and be referred to a committee of the House.
Motion presented.
Mr. Saran: First of all, I thank the Manitoba Sikh heritage committee to put effort for The Sikh Heritage Month Act. All credit goes to them. I am not here for credit. I'm simply here to help the community.
I also thank MP Sukh Dhaliwal who pursued passing of the Sikh Heritage Month Act federally. This act has been enacted stand-alone and I'm not sure is capable to be implemented throughout Canada. That's why we are pursuing the act to be fully enacted in Manitoba as well.
Members of the organization who are newcomers only put on an exhibition what was guided by the older members of the community, but I want to advise further.
Those advisers were selective. They did not guide them about the history of Manitoba Sikh heritage. Dr. Gulzar Cheema was an MLA in Manitoba. He was the first Sikh ever-elected official all over Canada. They also forgot to tell the organizers that the member of The Maples was president of the Sikh Society of Manitoba when the first gurdwara at 221 Cathcart Street in 1978 was established in Manitoba.
Regarding Komagata Maru incident, the member for The Maples introduced a resolution to ask the Canadian government to apologize the Indo-Canadian community. I think that was–resolution was the first one all over Canada before any other province put it. To get funeral regulations to clarify how remains to put in the Crown waters or spray on the Crown land was the effort of The Maples MLA.
Also, Mr. Speaker, I am part of the heritage. There are only 50 or 60 Sikhs in Manitoba–in Winnipeg and I came in 1971. In 1970, I came in Vancouver; in 1971 I came over here. And you may not believe, I used to recite holy book Sri Guru Granth Sahibji. I think I was the only Sikh at that time who was properly trained to recite that holy book, Sri Guru Granth Sahibji, and every weekend I used to spend about eight hours because the continuous recital and everybody had two hours and I used to have four turns every weekend. So I never tried to get any credit, and I am not here to any–get any credit. I do whatever I do for my own satisfaction.
So I will now explain a little bit about the Sikh religion. The Sikh religion emerged as a social movement to bring peace, unity, brotherhood, compassion and dignity of humans in any corner of the world.
Again, I remembered one other thing. When I was president of the Sikh Society, at that time I made sure we put in the constitution anybody who become president once, he won't become president another four years, because when people stick too long over there, they become a friend of the politicians and they take a personal advantage. So I was–second year they asked me would you like to be president again, we want you to be president. I said no. I asked that once who was the president, he should not be president for another full term, so that proves that I was never there to get any credit for myself. I just want to satisfy–work for my community.
* (10:10)
Two most important features of the Sikh religion are, first, human rights and, second, women's equality. The first Guru Nanak spread the message of human rights to everyone. He preached that rights to dignity of all human beings are the apex principle of mankind. Caste, class, status, sects, groups and divisions are not humane practices and we must get rid of these divisive practices.
Women are equal to men; they deserve equal rights in every sphere of life. The groups maintained the principles all along the emergence and establishment of the Sikh religion.
More than 500 years ago, the founder of the Sikh religion, Sri Guru Nanak Devji, challenged the inequalities in the Indian society. This–why–the time when Indian society–why–divided four–in four castes according to the Hindu religion. The people of the lower caste were called Sudras and were not allowed to maintain livelihood as like–as the higher castes. They were no–not allowed to enter the kitchens of higher classes or touch their plates or food. They were not allowed to recite religious holy books.
Women were considered inferior to men. Actually, they were so disrespected that they were termed as shoes off of the feet. They were considered men's property, that men can use and abuse any way they wanted. Guru Nanak said, why women should be inferior to men when they give birth to kings and leaders? Nobody should be considered inferior or superior on the basis of which caste or race, he/she is born in. Men and women should be treated on the basis of good or bad deeds. The both teasings–both teachings that the guru taught us was established by the tenth guru, and Sikh religion became a complete religion.
In final words: the Sikh religion is a social movement. It is not only a faith but a universal philosophy. More importantly, it is a guideline for human actions.
I would expect the organization to be active for Sikh heritage month and make the Manitobans aware of the principles and history of the Sikh religion and its followers. Mr. Speaker, you don't know, after this life in politics, maybe I will be helping and joining them too. It will depend upon what happens.
The organization should also spread the message of Sikhism that it also emphasized for humans to remember God, have honest earnings by hard work and share earnings with the needy people.
In Canada, we see a kind of Sikhism practiced, how here people pay tax according to their income and tax revenues are utilized to serve the needy people in the form of health care, education and social assistance. So, in other ways, we have more Sikhism over here as compared to where Sikh religion was established.
And also I want to make aware, like, we have to be very careful that–how religion is used in the politics, because back in India, people use religion for politics and people of different faiths are fighting with each other. We have to be very careful how we proceed. Politicians always want to take advantage of these kinds of emotions.
And I will also ask my community as well, let us be careful they don't use us.
Thank you very much.
Mr. Deputy Speaker: A question period up to 10 minutes will be held and the questions may be addressed in the following sequence: the first question may be asked by a member from another party, any subsequent questions are–will follow at rotation between parties, each independent member may ask one question and no question or answer shall exceed 45 seconds.
Mr. Matt Wiebe (Concordia): Mr. Speaker, I had the opportunity this weekend to spend time in the local gurdwaras in my community. Of course, Vaisakhi was this weekend, was a great celebration.
Well, the message I heard coming loud and clear from the community was that they supported Bill 228.
I'm wondering why the member is bringing forward Bill 229, which is essentially almost the same bill, but makes it more difficult for Bill 228 to just get passed in this House as the community has asked us over and over again to do.
Mr. Mohinder Saran (The Maples): Well, as I said, I respect and I give full credit to the organizers. And the only thing I think there is a–it does not matter Bill 228 is passed or Bill 229 is passed; that credit goes to the organizers and not to me. And so I think the main reason is this: that we can explain more about, not selectively explain a little bit over here and those older people who selectively advise the committee. And I want to explain it fully so this House can understand what the real–
Mr. Deputy Speaker: The honourable member's time is up.
Mr. Andrew Smith (Southdale): Thank you to the member for Maples for introducing this. Just a question: so maybe the member for Maples could recap some of the fine contributions that the Sikh community has made to not only Manitoba, but to the country as a whole.
Mr. Saran: Well, the country as a whole, I don't think I will have that much time to explain it, but as far as in Manitoba, and–we are very active in politics and that's why–we were not that many people the first time Dr. Gulzar Singh Cheema got elected MLA. And you will also see so many politicians that come through the gurdwaras, started to understanding because Sikh religion is a movement, and this movement is to give equal rights to all the people. And that's why this contribution itself is a great contribution and you can base on this movement, the whole society over here, as well.
Mr. Deputy Speaker: The honourable member's time is up.
Hon. Jon Gerrard (River Heights): Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for bringing this forward.
I would ask, what would the member suggest, if this becomes Sikh month from whatever bill, what would you suggest is done during Sikh month to improve an understanding of Sikh contributions to Manitoba for all Manitobans during that month?
Mr. Saran: I thank the member.
Yes, I think when–during this month, like, the committee is doing a great job and they have some exhibitions, and explain what–especially if people know about the tenth guru's sons; one was 7 years, the other was 9 years. They were forced to change their religion and they were given many kinds of incentives–change your religion; we will give you this–but they stood up and they did not bow down. They sacrificed their life.
So Sikh tell the people for the betterment of the society–
Mr. Deputy Speaker: The honourable member's time is up.
Mr. Wiebe: The member suggests that it doesn't matter which bill comes forward, but I would counter that; I would argue that, Mr. Speaker, because now the government is trying to muddy the waters about which bill to pass. And I think that that really does a disservice to the work that's been done by the committee, and the committee has been incredibly clear with members in this Chamber. I know members opposite have heard loud and clear from the committee. I know I have.
I'd like to ask the member from The Maples, has he heard from the committee and are they telling him that Bill 228 is a priority and that that should be passed before this Legislature?
Mr. Saran: Yes, I think this is a very complicated question and perhaps I should not go into detail. The committee members met me. I told them it does not matter–Bill 229 passed, Bill 228 passed. April will be established the month for Sikh heritage.
So I don't think it really matters one way or other. It will be–I would appreciate if 228 passed and I will appreciate if Bill 229 passed, because this is not–purpose to just–
Mr. Deputy Speaker: The honourable member's time is up.
Mr. Andrew Micklefield (Rossmere): The question I have for the member this morning pertains to the wording of his bill, which references the Khalsa, and I'm wondering if he could explain something about the Khalsa, its significance, its meaning.
Why are those words part of his bill and could he help us understand more about the Khalsa?
* (10:20)
Mr. Saran: Yes, as I said, there used to be a caste system and different castes have different levels of respect and with–the tenth guru, Guru Gobind Singh, said he will make a casteless society. Everybody will be equal–and that's why is–the creation of Khalsa, it is so important. That's why I specifically put that word in the brackets so that people can understand why there was a movement, why it's changed from inequality to quality–equality.
So that's important and people should understand the Sikh religion always go for–
Mr. Deputy Speaker: The honourable member's time is up.
Mr. Wiebe: Well, once again, Mr. Speaker, the member keeps saying that this doesn't matter–and, you know, I do think that in his–from his perspective–and I know the member very well and I know his support of the community going back decades and really being one of those builders of the province–that he is probably coming to this–I'll give him the benefit of the doubt that he is coming to this in an honest way.
But what's not straightforward and honest is that the government is now trying to muddy the waters and cloud this debate when, in fact, this was supposed to be a non-partisan issue and a bill that was coming forward from the community, and we just want to support that and move this forward.
Will the member admit that the Conservative Party–
Mr. Deputy Speaker: The honourable member's time is up.
Mr. Saran: I think the member should understand that's not my intention. My main reason is that I–when I designate first I was thinking to withdraw this bill, but then I seen that NDP caucus did not designate that bill. It means they are not serious about it. They wanted to postpone, postpone, talk about, talk about–and I wanted to make sure there was voting and that voting only can be done with a designated bill, and that's why I designated it. That's why I want to, put the PC on–
Mr. Deputy Speaker: The honourable member's time is up.
Mr. Gerrard: Mr. Speaker, I'd like to pursue the question that I asked earlier a little bit more.
Do–does the member believe that we should make sure that the education curriculum throughout Manitoba has some recognition of the Sikh contribution to Manitoba and Sikh history?
Mr. Saran: Yes, I thank the member.
One thing, like, Komagata Maru have happened over in the–on this land, that should be part of the history, and I think, also, that it should be part of the history, these kinds of moments which advance the equality. And Sikh religion is a–I won't say it's a religion, I say it's a movement. This movement should–if is taught in the history or taught in the school, people will have a better understanding of equality and the role of the woman, role of the men, how they are supposed to be equal to each other and how there should not be any–
Mr. Shannon Martin (Morris): I appreciate the member's introduction of this bill.
I've heard the NDP opposite talk about the commonality with their bill and your indication that, fortunately, you wanted to see this bill pass. Do you see any reason why this bill could not be supported in a non-partisan, collective way, unanimously by this House?
Mr. Saran: No, I don't see any reason why this bill should not be passed. And what I did, I added to Bill 228, I–in the–so it could be better understood. And it does not matter, 228, 229, which one is passed. But I was able to–I am able to make this House understand why it's important, why it should be passed.
Mr. Deputy Speaker: The time for question period has expired.
Mr. Deputy Speaker: The debate is open. Any speakers?
Mr. Andrew Smith (Southdale): I appreciate the opportunity to rise in the Chamber today to speak very positively in our government's support for Sikh heritage month–and we understand that, you know, actually, the member for Maples, I want to thank him for his service to the community not only here in the Chamber, but, of course, of the larger community. I know–and I stand to be corrected on these facts here. But in 1978 he was the president of the Sikh Society of Manitoba. That's interesting and that was before I was born, so I do thank the member from The Maples for his service here. I know he was instrumental in some–one of the first gurdwaras in Winnipeg, and established one of the first gurdwaras in Winnipeg, so I do appreciate what he has done in the community and I do appreciate him bringing this bill forward.
You know, back in this weekend on Sunday, April 14th, it was the celebration–course it was the 50th anniversary of Sikh Society of Manitoba but it was also the celebration of Vaisakhi, which is celebrating the establishment of the Khalsa so that ties in very nicely with the title of this bill.
But, you know, I was very honoured to be there with the member–number of members from our side of the House, and I know that the Minister of Sport, Culture and Heritage (Mrs. Cox) had a proclamation, a Sikh heritage month proclamation, and it was handed to the folks at the Sikh Society of Manitoba in front of the entire congregation and it was quite a nice event.
I know a lot of my colleagues–most of them were able–were returning members or returning to that gurdwara. Some were the first time in that gurdwara and I know that they had quite a good–great time. It was good to see so much representation from our side of the House and to see the support that our caucus shows for the Sikh community here in Winnipeg and of course across the province of Manitoba.
Just in April 1st of this month it was–we had a wonderful display of the Sikh Society of Manitoba having the historical significance in displays of the contributions from the Sikh Society of Manitoba going back over a century. It's interesting to think of that. I know most Manitobans may not be aware that the Sikh community has such a long and deep history in the province of Manitoba, going back over 100 years.
We typically–or we do know as a province we are built on immigration and the values of pluralism and that, of course, would be–would remiss if I didn't thank the Sikh community for their contributions in being some of the, I would say the first immigrants to this province, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
But on April 1st, our–again, our Minister of Sport, Culture and Heritage proclaimed the month of April as Sikh heritage month and I know that there was a–quite a big event in the Rotunda, here at the Legislative Building. It was, I think, an appropriate setting for it, here in the people's House and to recognize the great community and the growing community of the Sikh community here in the province.
You know, Winnipeg has had a long-standing tradition with the Sikh community, but rural Manitoba, as I understand, is starting to see more and more members of the Sikh community move into those areas. I know, having travelled to Punjab myself, seeing it was quite an agriculture-based economy, certainly traditionally that was the case. That's starting to change now with the advance of technology, but it was a agricultural province and region of the country and, of course, that's very fitting to come to Manitoba here which, again, we are very much based on agriculture in our economics and, of course, many of our ancestors and grandparents, parents and that have been directly or indirectly involved in agriculture here in the province of Manitoba.
You know, Mr. Deputy Speaker, I had mentioned that Manitoba is built on immigration. It is built by the great number of groups coming to–not only to Canada, but to Manitoba specifically over the years and, of course, my family is one of those groups that did come in.
My grandparents fled the Soviet Union during the Second World War after Nazi Germany invaded Ukraine, and they left and ended up in Nazi Germany themselves living there for a while. They had to see some of the worst regimes the world has ever seen, both the socialist Soviet Union and Nazi Germany.
Coming to Canada was a blessing. Settling here in Manitoba was the greatest thing that ever happened to our family, and I think that's a story of many immigrants, whether they're from the eastern Europe or the South Asian continent.
So, Mr. Deputy Speaker, I know that one thing they do have in common is that everyone comes here to build a better life for their family, but in doing so, they also make Manitoba a better place and bring with them an entrepreneurial spirit, hard work ethic and a good value system that's allowed them and their children and their grandchildren to prosper.
And we see that Manitoba is built on that very foundation and I appreciate the good–the hard work that all the different culture groups that immigrate to this province have established in our–here in Manitoba.
When I was in Punjab–I say about four years ago now–I had the opportunity to travel up to Amritsar which is–houses the Golden Temple. I know the member for Maples for sure–I would imagine he's had a chance to–he's been up to Golden Temple having been from Punjab himself but you know, it was very interesting to visit, coming from a western perspective and living–growing up here in Manitoba.
You know, going to a very new and exciting culture, and in Amritsar, right in the middle there's the Golden Temple, and the Golden Temple is basically the holy site, and the most holiest gurdwara of the Sikh religion.
* (10:30)
And, you know, I had the chance to see it twice, once at night and once during the day. And of course, at night it's quite beautiful, surrounded by water–the temple, that is. And of course the crowds are fairly small at that time, so you can have quite a relaxing environment to appreciate the peace that comes with visiting the Golden Temple.
So I do encourage everyone here in the Chamber to have that opportunity to visit Punjab itself. I know that Punjab has a wonderful town on the border of Pakistan called the Wagah border and there's a military demonstration that goes on on a daily basis.
And I was surprised by the crowd size at that particular event. Must have been hundreds of people: looks like a soccer game. On one side was the Indian side, the Punjab side, and the other side was the Pakistan side and each side was cheering for their own country. And it did feel much like a soccer game or a hockey game and you felt that–the energy.
It's, of course, friendly energy at the time, anyway. It–I felt very safe there and it was a very interesting experience, being Canadian and basically sitting in the crowd with many people from India but a lot of people visiting India as well and a lot of Europeans, Americans. I think there's a few people from Russia that were sitting in our region.
And it was quite an honour to be able to do that. And I do look forward to an opportunity to go back to India, hope to maybe see southern part of India. I know there's less–the Sikh representation in southern India but there are still the Sikh community. There's a diaspora Sikh community right across the world.
A few friends of mine, in fact, they were born in Africa from the Sikh community. And I know there's some members from the Punjab had moved and immigrated to parts of Africa and around the world, and so it's–I think a lot of people would be surprised to know that there are a lot of African nationals who are Sikh.
And it's quite interesting to see the cultural mix, yet that the Sikh community is able to maintain their religious convictions and, of course, their traditions, as they have spread out throughout the entire world.
Mr. Deputy Speaker–and I think my colleague from Rossmere had referenced this in his last discussion here in the Chamber about Sikh heritage. And he talked about some of the different, I guess, the beliefs of the Sikh religion.
And, well, Sikhism is the ninth largest religion in the world. And its–one of its fundamentals is based on what they call the Five Ks: so the Kesh, which is the uncut hair; the Kanga, so, the wooden comb for their hair; the Kara, which is an iron bracelet, and it's pretty obvious, a lot of people who–you see someone wearing an iron bracelet that typically means they're from the Sikh faith; the Kachera, which is 100 per cent cotton tie-able undergarment; and the Kirpan, which is an iron dagger and it sits on the belt of the person wearing it.
I know, actually I–when I was in Amritsar, I purchased one myself. I've got a Kirpan at home, myself. And it was, you know, I went in there and there's this nice store, right there in the–in Amritsar. And they had a whole selection of these different 'daiggers'. And I did, kind of, concern myself that I was going to be able to bring it back on the airplane but I did–able to get it through customs and there was no issue with that, of course.
But, again, it does speak to the pride that the Sikh religion has and the Punjab community has for their faith and not only faith of the community and their wonderful family values that I know that have been some of the very values that made this province what it is, the Sikh community has contributed that very–some of those very values to us.
And I thank the members of the Sikh communities for choosing Manitoba and Winnipeg as their home.
I know, Mr. Deputy Speaker, I want to reference that the–this bill does reference the Khalsa. And I know that that is a–it's–refers to a special group of initiated Sikhs, as well as a community that considers Sikhism as its faith. The Khalsa was a tradition that was initiated in 1699 by the last living guru, guru of Sikhism, guru–
Mr. Deputy Speaker: The honourable member's time is up.
Mr. Matt Wiebe (Concordia): I appreciate the applause from members in this House. I know that members appreciate hearing me put some words on the record, so I'll try not to disappoint.
I wanted to start this morning, Mr. Speaker, by just once again thanking the members of the Sikh heritage committee, who have done so much work on this bill. And I know they have, you know, not only spoken to us as members and spoken to our leader and tried to move Bill 228 forward, but they've also been very active on Bill 229.
And so, I just–I know that they've been very active in trying to get the information out there in a clear, straightforward way, because to them this isn't a game. This isn't politics. This is just talking about how important the Sikh tradition is in our province and how they are truly nation builders of this great country.
I did have the opportunity to spend some time this past Sunday at the temples in my community. It was a busy day, Mr. Speaker, because not only was it Vaisakhi–and you could tell it was Vaisakhi because the neighbourhood was alive with people from far and wide coming to those gurdwaras to celebrate. But it was also Palm Sunday, and so I had the double duty of trying to make sure that I spent as much time as I could with the community in celebrating Sikh heritage and the Sikh faith, and also attending my church and seeing my kids up front and participated–participating in our own tradition.
But, you know, and that really speaks to just how important a bill like this is and how much we value that kind of diversity. Because, as I said, not only were my kids out there with the palm leaves and celebrating in our faith tradition, but they also came with me to the gurdwara and they spent time with their friends from school–and they knew lots of people in the gurdwara, of course–but just learning and understanding more about the other cultures that are in our community. And that's a unique privilege that, you know, I have as an MLA, of course, being invited into the gurdwara along with my family. But it's also something we as Canadians can appreciate and as Manitobans stand steadfastly with the community in their desire to see the Sikh heritage Bill 228 move forward.
And this is why this morning is so frustrating. To me as a legislator, as somebody who, you know, I went the temple and I asked. You know, I asked and I listened, rather than, you know, telling–that I think members opposite maybe are engaging in around this issue. I said, you know, maybe there is some confusion. Maybe there's–you know, I don't understand all of the ins and outs of, you know, Bill 228 versus 229. Is there something I'm missing? Which bill is it? Would it be okay if 229 went forward? Would it be okay if 228? What are you looking for?
And the community was crystal clear. Every person that I talked to, members of the community, you know, not as a monolithic body–because I think, you know, sometimes there is a tendency to say, well the community wants this or they want that. But individuals within that community came to me completely unprompted out of the blue, to ask me, can we get Bill 228 passed in this Legislature?
I explained to them, well we've actually brought it forward twice as the NDP caucus. This is not the normal, you know, normal thing that happens in this Legislature. Normally, a bill is called forward once and then, of course, we have a whole slate of other bills we would love to be calling and be moving on forward–moving forward with.
But we called it forward twice because the–there was confusion. That's what the government said, well we are confused. So we went back to the community. We went back to the Sikh heritage group and we said, apparently, there's confusion. Apparently, the government is having trouble understanding this.
So that did they do? Well they sprung to action. As I said, they talked to us as a caucus. We said we are a hundred per cent with you, whatever your wishes are we will move forward.
But we also know they did, is they started calling individual MLAs, individual MLAs on the other side of the Chamber. And I'm looking around at the other members of the Legislature and I'm seeing who's going to raise up their eyes and meet my gaze right now and accept and–[interjection]–yes, exactly–and admit to this Chamber that they got a phone call from not only the Sikh heritage committee, but other members in their neighbourhoods, in their communities, in different temples across this province, from everybody asking them to stop with the political games and move forward on Bill 228.
* (10:40)
There's no confusion, Mr. Speaker. There's no ambiguity here. They are asking us very clearly and, you know, I was surprised I–as I said, I was at the temple, both temples in my community and, you know, I mean it's an important day for the–for–you know, being Vaisakhi, it's an important day for the community. I'm looking around; I'm looking for the members of the Conservative Party. I'm looking for them in the crowd. I'm asking people, well, where are they? Who's coming here today? Well, were they invited? Were they asked to come? I don't know. Did they come? They didn't come. They didn't attend those temples.
And I want to know why. I'd like maybe all of them to stand up. We had the member for Rossmere (Mr. Micklefield) stand up earlier, ask some questions; we have the member for Southdale (Mr. Smith) stand up and ask some questions. I'd like them to put on the record exactly what their constituents told them–what their constituents and what their members of their community told them, and put on the record here very clearly for the Legislature what their position is on Bill 228.
Likewise, the member for Morris (Mr. Martin), you know, somebody who maybe needs to get to know the community a little bit better–right now, I'm not sure how many gurdwaras are in the constituency of Morris, but I can tell you in the constituency of McPhillips, where he's hoping to parachute in, I'm sure the members of the community there would be very, very curious as to how he stands on this bill, and ask him clearly why he's playing politics with such a clear and important bill that's coming forward from the community.
So, once again, Mr. Speaker, I think, you know, we've put it on the record before; I'll do it once again. This is a bill–Bill 228 that came directly from the Sikh heritage committee. They asked us to bring it forward but not in a partisan way. I–you know, if you had to ask members of that committee where their political alliances fall, I would imagine that they're probably all over the map. There's not–it's not an NDP group or a PC group or a Liberal group. In fact, I would say they probably have a variety of different opinions when it comes to the big-P politics in this province, but when it comes to the petty political maneuvering that happens in this Legislature, well, they are being galvanized in their opinion on that.
Every single day they come down to this Legislature, they fill the gallery, they stand with us and they phone their–the members opposite, they beg and they plead with them, and they ask them why aren't you standing with us on Bill 228. You are–the members opposite are clearly galvanizing that community and showing which party will stand with them, will make this a priority and will make the issues of that community a priority. It is this party, Mr. Speaker, that will continue to do that.
Now, before I–my time runs out here, I did want to acknowledge the member for The Maples (Mr. Saran). As I said, I've known the member for The Maples now since–well, I guess since I was elected. I knew him before but I really have gotten to know him since. The member for The Maples has been nothing but generous to me. I do believe he's coming to this in an honest way. I'm–I think he's bringing this bill forward because he sees this as a priority for his community and he's made that clear in his statements here today. He wants nothing but an opportunity to talk about the importance of Sikh heritage in this province.
And, again, I–you know, I'm actually–I welcome the opportunity to rise once again and put some words on the record with regards to the importance of the Sikh community for my neighbourhood and for this province and for the country.
But I guess what is 'disconcerning' here, Mr. Speaker, is that again the members of the government have used this as an opportunity to play games. They understand how clear this is about which bill is a priority for the community. They understand, you know, what the direction has been given on this, and I don't know who they think they're fooling because, you know, I would venture to say that most Manitobans would be in support of this bill, but they wouldn't know the ins and outs of who introduced what or how it came to be, but I can tell you this: the members of the community of the Sikh faith and the community in this province are paying very close attention to where members opposite stand on this bill and on Bill 228.
And so whether or not the member for The Maples has brought forward this bill in good faith, whether he is simply just in the middle of this debate, I believe that the members opposite and the government know exactly what they're doing. They should support Bill 228.
Mr. Deputy Speaker: The honourable member's time is up.
Mr. Jon Reyes (St. Norbert): First of all, I want to thank the member from The Maples who is bringing forward this bill, thanking him for his service and representing the Sikh community and his community in The Maples where I used to live for six years before joining the Canadian Forces.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, Manitoba is a province that has been built on and by different ethnicities migrating here for hundreds of years. As a person of colour and son of immigrants, I can respect the member for The Maples (Mr. Saran) for where he's coming from, being proud of his roots and his community's contributions, the Sikh community's important contribution when it comes to the multiculturalism that defines our province. We should all be proud as Manitobans for the contributions of the many who have immigrated to our province.
The Sikh community has contributed to innovation and economic growth in Manitoba. They have contributed by small-business ownership, the labour market and in their own communities where they reside to contribute to the mainstream community.
Diversity has contributed to innovation and economic growth in Manitoba. What is the definition of diversity, Mr. Deputy Speaker? It means understanding that each individual is unique and recognizing our individual differences. These can be along the dimensions of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, age, physical abilities, religious beliefs, political beliefs, or other ideologies. Our government believes in freedom, opportunity and equality for all Manitobans.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, I'm very proud to be on a diversity on this side of the House–business owners, educators, farmers, social services background, even a veterinarian–where we can use our professional diverse backgrounds to make Manitoba the most improved province in Canada. The Sikh community should be proud of what it has accomplished and contributed to Manitoba and to Canada.
They are diverse within their own community; notable politicians such as former Member of Parliament, Tim Uppal; the former MLA of The Maples, Dr. Gulzar Cheema, who used to be my mother's personal physician in The Maples and used to be a former MLA in BC. Canadians throughout history have done so much to make Manitoba the cultural, diverse, compassionate and positive province we are today, and there are many firsts in Manitoba with regards to our Sikh community.
Speaking of firsts, this is the first ever that Manitoba's officially recognized Sikh heritage month. Our government was pleased to officially proclaim the month of April Sikh heritage month in Manitoba for the first time in Manitoba history.
Our government understands the importance of recognizing Sikh community for the contributions they made to Manitoba culturally and economically, but now, Madam Speaker, we can come together to support this bill from the member from The Maples to show our support for his community, the Sikh community, which has made and continues to make important contributions when it comes to multiculturalism that defines our province.
Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Ms. Cindy Lamoureux (Burrows): It's an honour to be able to rise today and speak again for I think this is my fourth or fifth time, Mr. Deputy Speaker, to–recognizing Sikh heritage month here in Manitoba.
You know, I think it's terrific that our national government recognized it last month, and now it's being celebrated from coast to coast to coast. And I think that our province is taking great initiative by following that because we want to recognize it all throughout Canada. The contributions that the Sikh community has played here are enormous and is something that should be recognized not only here in the House, but throughout the province, throughout the country, inside of our school districts as well.
You know, over the course of the month of April, my father and I, we've made the decision to go to a gurdwara every single Sunday. So, actually, we've done two and we've got two more to go, and this past Sunday we went to Kalgidhar which is actually the member from The Maples gurdwara. It's his home gurdwara–and it was a great experience and it's one of the gurdwaras I've been attending since I was just a young girl. And I enjoy going there. It is so–you feel like you are at home when you go to the gurdwara. People are so welcoming and they're so hospitable and it's such a wonderful experience. And I know many of my colleagues here in the House have visited gurdwaras as well and I'm sure they can attest to the wonderful experience too.
You know, Mr. Deputy Speaker, there are many things that the Sikh community has done and contributed to our province, and when I reflect I–one of the first things that comes to mind, too, is walking in the Nagar Kirtan here in downtown Winnipeg. It's growing every single year and, again, I see many of my colleagues getting involved and I think it's a great way to be educating Manitobans about Sikhism and Sikh heritage.
I spoke about this the other day, Mr. Deputy Speaker. It's a proud moment of mine, but the Sikh motorcycle community group from Ontario, they actually made me an honourary member of their motorcycle group, and it's a real honour for me because it's something we should, throughout Canada, be very, very proud of–and, you know, I even have their patch on the back of my leather jacket and I'm looking forward to pulling it out in just a couple of weeks.
* (10:50)
The Sikh community is something that has been instilled in me since a very young age. And I'm very fortunate; my father has taught me the importance of Sikhism and the community has taught me the importance and members across the House and the member from The Maples, he's taken the time to really educate me on many of the things, whether that be the Komagata Maru, the differences within the gurdwaras and just understanding the purpose of Sikhism and how it's all about social justice and kindness and compassion, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
So really at the end of the day, our caucus, we want to support Sikh heritage month here in Manitoba. There are many ways that we can be doing this and we just want to see it happen, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
Thank you.
Mr. Andrew Micklefield (Rossmere): It's always a privilege to speak in this House. This morning is no different.
I'd like to draw attention to my colleagues for something that I'm not sure if many of us know and that is that one of the pages of this House, Ravneet Brar, recently received the Premier's award for volunteering.
Ravneet comes from a 'seekh' family–Sikh family and has done many, many things for her community. She has helped spearhead and run initiatives and events, gathering donations for organizations like Winnipeg Harvest, Siloam Mission and for women's shelters across Manitoba. She's raised funds for shoes for Kicks for Kids, west youth outreach and also at Christmastime for toys for kids, a donation drive for children who are in women's shelters. She's done various initiatives in her community on Valentine's Day. Ravneet is also the chair of the student council mental health initiative where she also runs donation drives for various organizations and charities.
So right in this Chamber, I just wanted to honour Ravneet for her work. Of course, we thank all the pages for their service to us every day but we have–as we talk about Sikh heritage month, Ravneet has contributed to not only her own community but the wider Manitoba community as well. And maybe we can show our appreciation for her in that regard.
I also want to acknowledge that the member for The Maples (Mr. Saran) was president of the Sikh Society in 1978. He helped found one of Winnipeg's first gurdwaras and that certainly is not something we should gloss over.
I want to speak though about the Sikh faith. I want to speak about Sikh heritage and Sikhism does find its roots about–well, arguably its roots come from other faiths that predate its own founding but Sikhism took root in the Punjabi area of India in about 1500 CE when a gentleman who came to be known as Guru Nanak began to introduce teachings which were distinct from Hinduism and Islam.
The guru famously said there is no Muslim, there is no Hindu and that, of course, was not pretending that Muslims or Hindus didn't exist, but what he was doing was attempting for forge a third path that would emphasize the oneness of humanity, the oneness of God and eventually would give birth to the Sikh faith.
He was the first of what would become 10 gurus who followed him, built on his teachings. And Guru Nanak was born in 1469 and the final and tenth guru, Gobind Singh, passed away in 1708. He died from complications from stab wounds because people tried to take his life and I suppose, ultimately, that was–they were successful in that endeavour.
The line of gurus spanned then about 239 years but with an unexpected conclusion. The last guru, Gobind Singh, stated that there would be an 11th guru, a final, last and eternal guru called Guru Granth Sahib. And, of course, having 10 gurus already, you would expect a person to be the 11th guru but that's actually not what Guru Gobind Singh said. He said that the 11th guru would be the collected writings of the 10 gurus leading up to that time–
Mr. Deputy Speaker: Order.
In accordance to the rule 24, in the previously announced, I am now interrupting this debate to put the question of this bill.
The question before the House, then, is the second reading of Bill 229, the Sikh heritage (creation of 'khalsae') month act.
Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?
Some Honourable Members: Agreed.
Some Honourable Members: No.
Mr. Deputy Speaker: I hear a no.
Voice Vote
Mr. Deputy Speaker: All those in favour, please say yea.
Some Honourable Members: Yea.
Mr. Deputy Speaker: All those opposed, please say nay.
Some Honourable Members: Nay.
Mr. Deputy Speaker: In my opinion, the Yeas have it.
Recorded Vote
Ms. Nahanni Fontaine (Official Opposition House Leader): A recorded vote, please.
Mr. Deputy Speaker: A recorded vote has been requested.
I must advise the House that, according to rule twenty-three dash seven, the division during the private members' hour on Tuesday must be deferred to private members' hour the following Thursday, and, according, this is–deferred vote shall be taken place on 11:55 a.m. on Thursday, April 18th.
Ms. Fontaine: Would you canvass the House to see if there's leave to call it 11.
Mr. Deputy Speaker: Is it the will of the House to call it 11? [Agreed]
Mr. Deputy Speaker: So we'll go on to now to–probably member's resolution business, and the honourable member for Dauphin, on livestock education.
Mr. Brad Michaleski (Dauphin): I move, seconded by the member from Brandon East,
WHEREAS lifestyles and communities are changing, leading to a more urbanized Manitoba, which creates a greater disconnect between Manitobans and their food; and
WHEREAS market demand for protein is increasing, allowing for more production in Manitoba; and
WHEREAS hardworking farmers and producers deserve support and recognition for their contributions to this province; and
WHEREAS there is value added to the Manitoba economy due to the province's diversified supply chain, allowing for livestock to be fed by Manitoba grain; and
WHEREAS Manitoba's major agri-food exports in 2017 included canola ($1.72 billion), wheat ($991 million) and potatoes ($460 million); and
WHEREAS the Provincial Government has continued to support and invest in the livestock industry in Manitoba, leading to growing employment opportunities in the agriculture sector; and
WHEREAS the agriculture industry in Manitoba creates many supporting jobs such as veterinary technicians, researchers and land management workers; and
WHEREAS agricultural land management and research into best practices in farming protects the natural environment and will help sustain farming operations for generations to come; and
WHEREAS Manitobans have traditionally understood the connection to their food and where it comes from, taking pride in the farming process and leading to more responsible and respectful consumption; and
WHEREAS the Provincial Government is committed to promoting agriculture through supporting various initiatives including Open Farm Day, Agriculture in the Classroom and Ag More Than Ever; and
WHEREAS educational resources from community based organizations, such as 4H clubs, have done a great job of connecting Manitobans to their food and creating greater appreciation for the farming process.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba encourage the provincial government to continue to support livestock education for Manitobans, highlighting the essential education and appreciation of the diverse agricultural supply chain that feeds people around the world.
Mr. Deputy Speaker: It has been moved by the member for Dauphin, seconded by the member for Brandon East, that:
WHEREAS lifestyles and communities of the changeling to the more 'urbanizaitize' Manitoba which creates a greater connection between Manitoba and their foods; and
WHEREAS the market–[interjection] Okay. So it's honourable member for Dauphin. [interjection]
Okay. [interjection] Oh, there, sorry.
It was–sorry. It has been moved by the member for Dauphin (Mr. Michaleski), on–seconded by the honourable member for Brandon East (Mr. Isleifson), that
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba encourage the provincial government to continue the support of livestock education for Manitobans highlighting the diverse education supply chain for feeds peep–around the world.
Mr. Michaleski: It's always get up–it's always great to get up and talk about livestock in the province and the importance of livestock education production and the value chains here in Manitoba.
There is a need to continue to educate everyone on the economic and environmental importance of livestock in Manitoba's value chains, and it's important to educate and expose our children to the exciting world of agriculture.
There's primary production of grains, oil, seeds, pulses, special crops, vegetables, fruit and livestock. There's value-add processes for all of these, like french fries, protein powders, ethanol, fibres and CBD, manure, meal and oil. There's specific business and technical support requirements for each of these and each offers direct and indirect jobs, careers and investment and participation opportunities across Manitoba.
My focus is going to be on livestock education. Protein demand is on the rise and Manitoba can produce to meet the growing demand for meat protein. Manitoban's quality meats are second to none. Producers always strived towards improved management and care. Livestock is one of the greatest opportunities to value add our resource economy and help our environment at the same time.
Increasing livestock production is the best way to improve our environmental footprint and build on our sustainability or climate change objectives and goals.
Madam–Mr. Speaker, agriculture is a dynamic industry, but my main point today is livestock is important to the economy and better for the environment, and Manitobans need to continue to support livestock education for Manitobans, highlighting both the essential education and appreciation of our diverse agricultural supply chains that feeds people all over the world. Our Manitoba producers are trying to meet today's and tomorrow's global market demands and we should all be proud and appreciate their efforts.
* (11:00)
Livestock education has multilateral benefits to Manitoba's economy and because of urbanization there is a greater disconnect between Manitobans and their food, in particular, the diverse and positive values of livestock production. Livestock and meat production has always been a big part of the Manitoba economy, and Manitoba agrifood exports are and will continue to be important to Manitoba. Manitoba's ag land base characteristics in climate I–are ideally suited to wide range of farming but all Manitoba ag zones have livestock as either the primary or secondary engine, and all have room to expand to meet global meat demand.
When we're talking about sustainable management, beef, sheep, goats and dairy–they have an ad–they have a–an edge, a natural edge when we talk about value-adding marginal farmlands or sustainable production systems, and improving and preserving natural environment on farmlands. Livestock production plays a significant part in value-adding Manitoba grass and marginal lands at Manitoba's primary production level by converting grass, which we don't eat, into things that we do, like meat and dairy. Feeding more livestock to finish weights adds value to Manitoba crops and creates a bigger demand for forages, but it also creates many jobs in the feed and livestock industry.
Manitoba, also with the addition–with the livestock industry is–has another very valuable resource, and that is the manure, and it's a rich, nutrient-rich, natural fertilizer that adds value and improve production to Manitoba crops and forage production. Manitoba farmers are adopting new application technology in standards of manure management and Manitobans need to know this.
Hard-working farmers, when we're talking about land use and water management, hard-working farmers and producers try their best to produce the best, most sustainable food in the world, and they deserve support and recognition for the contributions that they make to this province. They are responsible stewards of the land, water and livestock. They are sensitive to marketer demand and sensitive to environment and nature. Livestock production and demand is directly linked to feed and forage demand, which is directly linked to land use overall.
Nature and natural spaces are great; Manitoba has an abundance of natural spaces that need our protection and everybody will agree with that but, Madam Speaker, that doesn't pay the bills. It doesn't generate the revenues or the jobs like Manitoba agriculture does, nor does it provide the qualities and the necessity of life that we've all grown to–grown accustomed to here in Manitoba. What we need is a balance between nature and the economy, and livestock is the best industry that works between both worlds.
My point being, Manitoba agriculture works closely with nature and environment. Manitobans need to know and be educated that if they're concerned about the Manitoba economy and jobs, the environment, preserving nature, or carbon and environmental footprint, or sustainability of soil-water quality, supporting Manitoba livestock production and its diverse agricultural supply chains and eating Manitoba beef is a great place to start.
Manitoba pork is another great value-add story. We have companies like Maple Leaf and HyLife, processors that contribute significantly to a very positive image and reputation of Manitoba pork around the world. A lot of pork producers around the province value-add the grains in their local barns. They're able to retain the manure to apply locally, but again it–they do support two main processors here in the province that create a lot of jobs here and value-add in the province.
So, just some of the broader challenges that facing agriculture: when we look at the canola–the recent canola market, it reminds us of that need to be a diversified economy, and livestock is that industry that provides an alternative market for canola meal, and why would we not be producing and raising pork with our own raw products instead of shipping our grains out of the province for somebody else to value. I don't–why aren't we doing it here?
So the recent canola and trade disruptions that are going on in the world–you know, it has a huge effect over the western Canadian economy when you start talking about the canola market. Again, I think, as producers, as business leaders in my community and municipalities, we're looking for a tax bases. We need those tax bases and we need those value-add industries and, again, increasing the livestock production is a huge part of that.
So education is key when we're talking about livestock. Lots of noise out there, competing interest for protein–advocates and activists are out there; lobbyists, alarmists are out there, and then there's the truth. So, Manitobans are confused and concerned. We know that and I hear that, and programs like 4-H, Ag in the classroom, Open Farm Day and Ag more than ever do a great job of exposing Manitobans to Manitoba's diverse agricultural industry. They provide hands-on production to the–and showcasing the latest technologies. These organizations do a great job of educating Manitobans.
In closing, livestock production in Manitoba value chains are diverse, and they are good for the economy and the environment. It's a very important part of sustainable land and water-management strategies and it's something we as Manitobans, with the help of our hard-working, responsible producers, do well already.
As Manitoba's looking for ways to address our economic and social challenges as we face the issues of economic, environmental sustainability, Manitobans need to know and understand just how important livestock is to successfully building a stronger, sustainable and greener future for Manitoba. Livestock education is essential education that needs our continued support. 4-H, ag in the classroom, again, Open Farm Day and Ag More Than Ever are excellent agriculture-related youth-development programs that do a very good job of not only explaining livestock production, but also the various environmental and economic aspects of Manitoba's agriculture value chains.
At the very least, these programs need our continued endorsement and our support, and I would suggest, when we're talking about the livestock industry impact on Manitoba, there is much, much more that we can be telling, much more we should be proud of and much more we should be saying on behalf of the hard-working producers in this province that are really doing their best to produce, to meet demands. And they are always conscious of their environment; they're conscious of working with nature and they do the best, and we should be proud of them.
I ask this House to support this very important Manitoba–
Mr. Deputy Speaker: The honourable member's time is up.
Mr. Deputy Speaker: A question period up to 10 minutes will be held and questions will be addressed in the following sequence: the first question may be asked by a member of another party. Any subsequent questions are at–followed by rotation between parties. Each independent member may ask one question and no questions or answers shall exceed 45 seconds.
Mr. James Allum (Fort Garry-Riverview): This is a very oddly named resolution; it's called Livestock Education.
Can the member tell us why the government is putting a priority on educating livestock in Manitoba and how many animals he expects to graduate from the program?
Mr. Brad Michaleski (Dauphin): Of course, that's a good question from that side of the House.
And, of course, this is about educating Manitobans about the importance of the livestock industry and production systems that are in the province, and it's too bad that the member for Fort Garry-Riverview misunderstood what I was trying to accomplish here, but he should know, he should know and he should be very, very proud of the work that Manitoba producers do on behalf of the province, across this province for all Manitobans.
Mr. Ian Wishart (Portage la Prairie): I'd like to ask the member for Dauphin–he certainly recalls some of the investment that has been made here in Manitoba, both in the livestock industry and other forms of protein that are becoming increasingly important.
I wonder if the member for Dauphin would like to reflect on why our government seems to be much more successful in attracting these types of private investments than any previous administration.
Mr. Michaleski: I want to thank that member from Portage for that great question.
* (11:10)
Our government really does understand the importance of the resource sector and value-adding the resource sectors in this province, and we have a lot of respect for the investments that are made by producers, by agribusiness, and the enormous contribution that they make to our province's economy. Not only are they producing a great product for consumption here and around the world, but they really are improving the brand of Manitoba. When you're talking to people from around the world, Manitoba is recognized for quality, and our government understands the important investments that are made by producers and business in this province and the importance it has on everybody's lives.
Hon. Jon Gerrard (River Heights): I thank the member for bringing this resolution forward, which we certainly will support as an aside for the member for Fort Garry-Riverview. You know, it is interesting having visited dairy farms in the last six months that the cows are actually learning to use the new technology. So there is–[interjection]–educated cows. My question relates close–close–in hand with education clearly is research to improve our knowledge.
I would ask the member why he didn't include research in his resolution.
Mr. Deputy Speaker: The honourable member's time is up.
Mr. Michaleski: I thank the member from River Heights for that good question and I just–I would say I didn't have enough time to talk about all the good things that producers are doing and their reliance and their investment in research and using those latest technologies in whether it's in production, whether it's in management of the resources. I didn't have enough time to talk about the important research that is going on all over the province that's helping Manitoba, Manitoba producers, Manitoba agribusiness to create some of the greatest products for the export market–
Mr. Deputy Speaker: The honourable member's time is up.
Mr. Rob Altemeyer (Wolseley): I appreciate this resolution coming forward. If I heard the member from Dauphin correctly, he said something roughly along the lines of increasing livestock numbers would be the best way to address climate change. I'm honestly interested in how that would work.
Right now, every year when the federal government releases the national inventory on greenhouse gas emissions, over 1 million tons of CO2 equivalent is attributed to enteric fermentation from livestock happening in Manitoba. So how would more animals, more livestock reduce our emissions?
Mr. Michaleski: I want to thank the member for that question, and there's two things that are at play here: livestock use forage and grasslands versus a traditional crop producer like myself, is–which is a high-energy type of farming. If the demand is there for livestock, the demand is there for forages; that has a positive effect on what is being produced, the decision making that's being made on the land. Then we're increasing grasslands–lands that are at risk; those are things that we can invest in for carbon sequestration, which is an important puzzle to progress.
Mr. Deputy Speaker: The honourable member's time is up.
Mr. Wishart: I'd like to ask the member because he represents Dauphin and he would recall the previous administration was very keen to put a beef-processing plant and Dauphin was one of the primary locations. And, to do that, they actually took $2 from every animal that was marketed that–$2 that would have been the farmer's produce–or farmer's income and ended up with a $5.7 million pool of money, much of which just disappeared in the whole process. The member will remember that they actually went out and bought hardware to put in a plant before they ever had a plant. And what happened to–
Mr. Deputy Speaker: The honourable member's time is up.
Mr. Michaleski: I want to thank the member for the question, and I remember quite vividly because I was on rural council at the time and I remember the previous government talking about this and running out and buying a processing plant. So I'm pretty sure somebody got a pretty sweet deal on this equipment. I remember that equipment sitting in the grass for nearly two years and, quite honestly, I don't know where that equipment ended up.
Mr. Ted Marcelino (Tyndall Park): The canola industry is in trouble considering the current political situation we find ourselves in.
Why are we not talking about it and instead we're talking about something that's off tangent?
Mr. Michaleski: I want to thank the member for the question.
And, of course, when we talk about value-adding, we look at a crop like canola, and Manitoba and a lot of western Canada exports–raw canola outside the province. We also have a number of crushed plants that are within the province and outside the province that create a lot of jobs, and those products are crushed into different ingredients: oil and meal. Meal is something that we can be feeding to livestock quite easily and it's an ingredient that we could be using; rather than shipping the meal out, we can be putting it through livestock.
So, there's really a couple of different streams when you're talking about canola.
Mr. Gerrard: I'd like to give the member an opportunity to talk about the areas of research that he thinks are important in terms of the livestock industry in Manitoba.
Mr. Michaleski: Well, thank you–thank the member for that question.
Of course, I think right now as the producers are dealing with the new realities of energy, the energy market is changing around the globe, so I think when you're talking about livestock, the–lot of the parts–the huge component of livestock production is the food that goes in them.
So I think there needs to be a lot of research, more targeted research towards the forage production, intercropping. Those things are adding value on the grain side as well, where you can have sort of a holistic approach to grain producers, livestock producers and using the–
Mr. Deputy Speaker: The honourable member's time is up.
Mr. Cliff Graydon (Emerson): I'd like to thank the member for Dauphin for bringing this resolution forward.
Besides the advantages of livestock production, such as food production where we have the highest quality food and the healthiest food produced pretty well anywhere in the world, after listening to a presentation at Manitoba Beef Producers' AGM recently in Brandon, could the member explain some of the other advantages to the livestock production in the province that many, many people don't understand take place?
Mr. Michaleski: Well, I want to thank that member for that really, really good question because it–what it does do is it does showcase the important work that agriculture works with nature. And I know the Manitoba Beef Producers and the member is a founding member of that group. They're talking–they were recognized for the habitat that they're creating for birds, burrowing owls, different varieties of birds in nature by changing land use, by pastures and creating increasing forage grounds. I see that on my farms and in my area where wildlife is finding those forage fields, finding those pastures, and they're utilizing them in co-existence with the–
Mr. Deputy Speaker: The honourable member's time is up.
The time for question period has expired.
Mr. Deputy Speaker: The debate is open. Any speakers?
Mr. Ted Marcelino (Tyndall Park): I thank the member for presenting this PMR, and it speaks to the nature of the attitude of the members opposite regarding agriculture and how best to approach it. We–the immediacy of the problem and in the urgency of the canola situation where China has refused to take in our production over the last so many months should have been at the forefront instead of this.
* (11:20)
I don't mean to belittle the need for livestock education, and I think it would have been labelled a little bit better if it were education for the care of livestock instead of livestock education. I don't begrudge the one who did the title or put the title to this.
Anyway, Manitoba has always been a proud farming community. We have always produced our goods with that in mind–of exporting it to the world. We feed the world and in abundance. We usually always take our farmers and celebrate them. They are the backbone of our economy and it's not to say that–or to patronize them; they are the same people who will secure our future–the farmers of Manitoba–and the variety of products that we have and the production side of everything that's exported, say, to China or to the US or to Japan. Our pork goes to Japan and our chicken usually goes to Saudi Arabia. The eggs we produce–we consume a lot here, but we also have a lot of exports to the US.
The members from this side, we support our farmers and we want to encourage and support young people to pursue a career in the agricultural sector. And I have known of some who have hog barns and some cattle farms, and we usually end up with pieces of steaks from friends who are delighted to just share the tasteful morsels of meat that we get. And I remember having received ham which is not cured yet, the–that part of the pig that was reserved to be processed as ham, and we usually smoke them.
And I want to make the point that canola in its–in the urgent nature of our problem with the export being in danger of being, well, refused by the Chinese, should have been at the forefront of our attempts at speaking about it and doing something about it and the canola is not the only one that will get hit, because there have been some trickle-down damage to the current crisis that we face. And, with that, I will be yielding my time to others who want to speak to this.
Mr. Ian Wishart (Portage la Prairie): I'd like to thank the member for Dauphin (Mr. Michaleski) for this great resolution, talk about the importance of the livestock industry here in Manitoba and the need for increasing awareness. More and more people are a longer distance away from primary agriculture, in terms of where they are in their lives and some–for some people, our only real contact with primary agriculture is when we go to supermarket and see what's there and understand the product that's there, hopefully. But now you need to know more and more about the production techniques that are used to produce those products and which ones are friendly to Manitoba.
The member for Tyndall Park just commented on the canola situation with export products, and, of course, I'm sure he's very aware that it's the federal government that negotiates trade deals, or most trade deals. And, certainly, we're in an ongoing difficulty with China, and the raw product, in particular, is suffering because of that.
Of course, it does tend to push you towards more value-added agriculture because then you're dealing–sending them a product that is processed and usually in a package that is of satisfactory quality and be able to enter their marketplace.
We've actually had some success in Manitoba in recent history in getting more value-added agriculture to come to Manitoba. In fact, just between 2017 and 2016, we had an increase of $4.7 billion in food processing. That's up 11 per cent in a single year. That's a huge increase, and we're seeing a lot of industry come to Manitoba and take place there.
I'd just give you–take a moment to mention HyLife Foods, which has been a great success story, Manitoba-based success story, a Manitoba company, that has a huge processing facility that has recently been expanded in Neepawa, Manitoba, processing hogs. And, of course, you have to produce those hogs before you can process them, so it's important that we think about the production side of things.
But most people in this room would not be familiar with the product that comes out of that plant because you never see it. They process specifically for the Asian market, most particularly the Japanese and Korean markets. They cut their product, which is pork, differently than any other plant here in Canada.
So the products that come out of that plant are not something that we, as average consumers, ever see in our retail space or would even recognize if we saw them as such. But it is cut in a format that is designed for the Asian market, and they've had considerable success in penetrating that market to such as a great degree that they actually had one of the major supermarket chains buy an interest in their company just so that they could guarantee supply in the long term.
So these are all very positive signs. On top of that, of course, we are in the process of building Roquette pea processing, protein-processing facility in the Portage la Prairie, and that's something new for us in North America.
There hasn't been a plant like this. In fact, when it's done, it'll be the biggest pea processing facility in the world, and not only are they processing existing known crops like peas but they're looking to do other value-added pulse crops, which western Canada is becoming an increasingly large player in.
But we've been–historically been shipping the raw product. Clearly, based on what's happening with canola, we're a little bit vulnerable to be in the situation where you just send the raw product, but the value-added product, which is a fractionated product, will be more acceptable and of greater purity for those marketplaces.
So it reduces some of the risk for primary producers and us as country and us as a province in terms of producing this, so that we know that we have a product moving forward.
And, of course, I'd be remiss being from Portage la Prairie, to not mention the potato processing industry and french fries here in Manitoba. Manitoba's recently moved up into the No. 1 position in terms of french fry processing in Canada, passing Prince Edward Island.
And we're in the process of building an expansion at Simplot in Portage la Prairie as well, which will double the capacity of that plant and add another 12 to 15 thousand acres of potato production in Manitoba.
And, of course, these generate a significant number of jobs for my home community, and it's a very positive message in terms of the french fry industry. Ten years ago we were worried about the declines in the french fry consumption, particularly in North America. Now we're building plants to try and keep up with the production. I think it–this is a very positive sign, and I think it means that consumption in many marketplaces has turned around and is actually in–on the increase.
* (11:30)
I was at an announcement yesterday in Portage la Prairie from McCain Foods, one of the plants that's been in Manitoba the longest. They have a facility in Carberry and they have a facility in Portage. The one in Portage has been there 40 years. That's what one of the things we were celebrating yesterday, plus they are making an additional $45‑million investment in their plant there to modernize so that it's competitive moving forward into the future.
At one point in time, when I was in primary agriculture, I actually grew potatoes for that plant. It's only a few miles from my home farm and so I'm very familiar with that plant. But it's certainly been modernized and moving forward, and it's a sign of the times and sign of a change in production.
They were quite honest yesterday saying that it's actually really good news that our American friends have discovered a wonderful Canadian product called poutine that has increased consumptions, particularly on the eastern seaboard. Now it may not be good for every American's figure, but it's certainly good for potato production here in Manitoba and potato processing. So, certainly, that is one of the positives in terms of consumption.
But we have a number of different plants. We also have a milk processing facility that has expanded here in Winnipeg that is very good news for the dairy industry here in Manitoba. We were talking about educating cows. I'm sure the member for Fort Garry-Riverview (Mr. Allum) is more than qualified to help in that area, and some of these dairy cows could, you know, benefit from some of the experience. But I think it's more important that we understand the nature of primary production.
One of the things that I think is overlooked by many people is that even though we are really well known, particularly all across Canada for our grain production, you have to have the other side of the cycle. You have to have livestock to help with the sustainability of good grain-producing industry. It's been that way ever since agriculture became part of the civilization process in the world. There was two sides to the coin: the grain production and the livestocks production that was behind it. And it allowed us to recycle the nutrients in the community.
And I know that many members here are probably familiar with peak-oil concept that was, certainly, very much talked about for a lot of years. Well, there is actually a similar concern on–when it comes to phosphates. There's a peak-phosphate concern. Phosphate comes from only a very limited number of places in the world, and one of the major places that we actually import phosphate fertilizer from here for western Canada are our good friends in China.
So we're–you know, they're giving us a hard time on one side but, yes, really keen to help sell the product on the other side that makes that grow. So it–there's got to be a little balance in that.
But, certainly, we can recycle phosphorus and, of course, Manitoba has–is in a position of perennially being short on phosphorus.
So it is something that our farmers buy every year, but, if we build our livestock industry to recycle the existing phosphate as much as possible, we can actually reduce that and become a more sustainable production model in terms of our grain side of things while increasing our livestock side of it. And so you do nitrogen, but you also do phosphorus which is one of the key nutrients that Manitoba farmers always end up buying.
So there's, certainly, a lot of positives in looking at an expansion of the livestock industry here in Manitoba, but we all need to understand the whole cycle better. So we need to continue working towards that and, to do, that people have to be well educated about it, to understand it.
So it's really great that Agriculture in the Classroom and a number of other organizations bring–go to kids, speak to them about the nature of agricultural industry, there's farm tours that are arranged now that I know the Ministry of Agriculture is very active in.
These are all positive experiences and I know having done a few farm tours back in the day with students from middle school or elementary schools, that they certainly appreciate and benefit from it. It, certainly, causes some grief or caused some concern amongst the teachers, because I remember the students just tearing around the–
Mr. Deputy Speaker: The honourable member's time is up.
Hon. Jon Gerrard (River Heights): Mr. Speaker, I'll speak to this resolution and in support of the resolution for enhanced education for Manitobans relative to livestock. I would point out, right at the beginning, that the 4-H movement has done an incredible job of helping many young people learn about livestock, raising livestock and about the importance of the animals themselves, as well as the industry.
We have federal trade agreements, which have been negotiated in the last few years, which are now, from what I hear, increasing our livestock markets around the world and that certainly is a positive, and people should have an understanding in this whole educational process about what is happening and where the markets are and why these trade agreements are so important.
It is important that people have an understanding, not only about livestock, but about value-added process and the importance of us moving in Manitoba to more value-added, including things like nutraceuticals. We have a lot of nutraceutical research.
It's important that we have–and recognize that the industry is changing. Many people have a view of the agriculture and farming as it was 20 or 30 or 40 years ago, and we need, in this educational process, to make sure that people's views are seeing and learning about what is happening today.
We need education in livestock production, about what is happening. We need information that will support farmers, salute farmers for the role that they're playing in producing our food and supporting our environment and making sure we have a sustainable industry and a sustainable province.
We need education which recognizes that animals are not just food; they are, in fact, our friends; that the animals which we are raising have lived for thousands of years together with humans and that they are and have been our friends, and we need to recognize that and that history.
This comes home to me daily when I look at the art that my wife Naomi produces, and she does amazing artwork of pigs and horses and cattle. And when you look at the art, you can see the individual animal and recognize that the animal, which is looking back at you from the piece of art, is important and is our friend.
We need to recognize that there are changing agricultural policies. As I've talked about, these are important for increasing food productions, but they're also a lot of work going on, in terms of how we build agriculture, which uses more humane approaches. There's pressure to do this from around the world and if you get out into rural Manitoba, you will see this, day by day, month by month, the changes that people are making in equipment, in technology and in their approach to animals.
We need to have education related to changing agricultural policies; related, for example, to dealing with climate change. I was recently on a dairy farm where they were taking the manure and producing methane that they would then use to heat and to provide support for the farm.
We need education about stewardship of the land, keeping the land healthy, keeping it–incorporating carbon and storing carbon, keeping the land productive, keeping it healthy in terms of having that balance of diversity, trees as well as pasture, of recognizing biodiversity and understanding how important it is, as has already been mentioned.
And we need to have education so that young people know that there are a vast array of careers in agriculture, in food processing and in the food industry generally and that young people need to know what these opportunities are.
* (11:40)
As a base and closely tied to the efforts in education, we need major efforts in agricultural research, at a time we are, at the moment, a time of change. Research in agriculture has never been more important. This research may be, as the member has mentioned, into forage production and intercropping, new ways of growing crops that can be important and healthy for the crops themselves and for the land.
We need research dealing with improving the quality of our food products, addressing infectious diseases. BSE, of course, was a major problem. There are swine diseases which are important. In fact, in China, at the moment, they are having a major problem with a swine infectious disease, and that may be that the culling of their herd has something to do with their cutback on the imports of canola, because they are using a lot of the canola for feed, and when their pork industry has cut back, their demand for canola may be going down. And if we could address the problem of the infectious disease, we might be able to improve the market.
Research into phosphorus management has been mentioned important in terms of conserving the phosphorus but also in making sure we're not polluting our waterways.
Research into the treatment of animals, research into value-added and nutraceuticals, the food impacts, the way that beef are raised has a profound effect on the content of the omega-3 fatty acids, which are being recognized as very important for human health and for brain health. And so the understanding what makes the difference and being able to have an impact on this is important.
The research into climate change and greenhouse gas productions in agriculture–agriculture makes up about 40 per cent of greenhouse gas production in Manitoba, about 15 per cent in nitrous oxide, 15 per cent in methane and about 10 per cent in the fossil fuels used in agriculture. And we need to understand better about this production how we can improve agriculture and at the same time improve the–decrease the greenhouse gases that are being produced by agriculture.
We need research into biodiversity, how we support community pastures in a way that in fact enhances the biodiversity–an important issue, an important contribution that is coming from agriculture.
It is curious that, at a time when research is so important and such a broad array of research is needed, that this government has cut research funding for Research Manitoba from about $19 million down to $12 million at a time when it has never been more needed, at a time of change.
One of the things that you need to do to move society forward, to move industries forward, to move people forward in terms of our social conditions is to invest more in the research that can help show the way, help show the path into the future and help light the candle that will show a better way. And so it is a constant effort to improve in many different areas that is being made.
It is important when we are talking about education in agriculture, making sure that people learn more and know more about the agricultural industry, that the investment in research is there, that people need to understand where this investment is being made and how it is making a difference–making a difference for us as humans but also a different for the animals themselves, which is a very important part of this education that should be happening.
Thank you. Merci. Miigwech.
Mr. Rob Altemeyer (Wolseley): I have a few comments to add to this resolution that we're considering this morning.
Before I get into the more detailed part of my policy contribution, I do want to just start by acknowledging the crucial importance of everyone having an opportunity to connect and reconnect with the land that gives us life.
And, obviously, indigenous people and agricultural producers, be they on the crop side, be they on the livestock side, are already very, very closely connected to the land. That is, you know, for any of us who live inside the city or elsewhere, it is important, I believe, for us to make an effort to educate ourselves and to remain informed citizens on issues that relate to agricultural practices and livestock, obviously, is part of that.
I also would like to acknowledge that there are a lot of people in urban centres, not just in Winnipeg or Brandon or elsewhere, but around the world who are making very deliberate efforts to do exactly that and I could give a shout-out to the Good Food Club, which exists in West Broadway, the West Broadway neighbourhood, and this is a wonderful program that enables low-income people, many of whom have lived or are living with mental health challenges, some of them were what is commonly referred to living a shut-in lifestyle where they just did not feel comfortable leaving their apartment, and the Good Food Club has given them a safe place to come and form community and go out to a farm just outside of the Perimeter Highway and help grow food.
The Good Food Club volunteers head out there on a regular basis right from the start of the season to the end of harvest. And I'm always reminded of that famous quote by–well, one of the famous quotes by Henry David Thoreau, which I won't try to repeat verbatim here, but he speaks to the importance of everyone having the opportunity to reconnect with the land and when I can go out and help with the weeding and help with the harvesting or with anything else that is needed at the Good Food Club farm, those are some of the most grounding hours of my week, for sure.
There's also, of course, the small farm movement, there's the local food movement on the consumer side striving to purchase as much food that is grown locally here as possible. And, again, I want to give a local shout-out to an institution in my constituency at the University of Winnipeg where the cafeteria there makes a deliberate effort through Diversity Foods, which is itself a co-op, to purchase one third of all of the food that they use to make sure that it is local and organic, to make sure that the next third is locally produced and that the final third is imported organic food.
If more institutions and businesses, organizations were to make the same commitment, we would be able to offer so much amazing support here in the city to rural producers because, of course, transportation costs are greatly reduced and when producers know there's a guaranteed market, they will fill that gap as quickly as possible.
And, of course, the community-supported agriculture movement is just exploding throughout the Western world and probably beyond. This is where individuals living in a non-agricultural environment will get together and form a partnership with an agricultural producer.
They will buy shares in the farm in advance so the producer has the ability, whether they're producing livestock or producing crop food, or fruits and vegetables, whatever the case may be, the farmer has the money that they need at the beginning of the season to pay for their seed, to provide for inputs and then the people in the city reap the benefits of a regular basis of being able to walk down the street to their community centre where the farmer who grows the food will be right there to provide them with their share of the bounty that has been harvested.
So there's a lot of very positive things going on and I think if the government were to be directing the money behind livestock education into those types of efforts to nurture those positive connections between city dwellers and rural producers, that would be a very positive thing. If this money is being used to just make sure that school kids understand where food comes from, that could be a very positive thing.
* (11:50)
If, on the other hand, this resolution is talking about trying to maintain the status quo on all fronts, that's not going to be sustainable. The status quo is changing, whether this government or any other government wants to admit it. For climate reasons alone, everything is going to change.
We are already engaged in the next great extinction on our planet and all but one of the previous ones that have occurred, occurred because of rising CO2 levels in our atmosphere; one exception was the asteroid which arrived and wiped out the dinosaur.
Our own behaviour has so fundamentally changed the atmospheric conditions that everything that we do is going to have to conform to what the earth can sustain, environmentally, on a climate change front, and this was why with the one question that I had earlier to ask my colleague from Dauphin to comment upon was related to climate change. And his answer, if I understood it correctly, was he believes that increasing livestock numbers is one of the best ways to address climate change emissions in Manitoba, and his rationale was that livestock, on a per-acre basis, emits less than cropland agriculture does.
I'm not sure that's accurate. I would be interested to see what the net benefit is on a per-acre basis, if he has that information available. When you look at the climate emissions, the National Inventory Report that the federal government puts out each year, cropland is very emissions intensive and livestock is, as well. That doesn't mean that they have to stay that way and indeed, for climate science reasons alone, we know that they can't stay that way.
And I would like to–if the member isn't already aware, I would like to draw his attention and all of his colleagues' attention to a fundamental book, a foundational book called Project Drawdown. And what it does is it articulates, not just in agriculture but in energy and every other sector, where the opportunities are for us to not only save ourselves and our kids' future but also to strengthen our local economies, to reduce the inputs that farmers and producers have to deal with, to reduce the costs that they are facing by moving to a more sustainable form of agriculture.
And this is not a new topic. Indeed, the Manitoba Forage and Grassland Association held a conference on regenerative agriculture–my only regret is I couldn't attend in person–but there are ideas out there already showing us how it is that we can benefit economically and benefit environmentally.
I would also have to point out to the member from Dauphin that if his argument is that livestock emits less emissions than cropland does, his colleague from Portage la Prairie in his comments got up and just undermined his exact argument from Dauphin, because the member for Portage was talking about the positive aspects of 12 to 15 thousand more acres going into potato production. So that would be more cropland either at the expense of existing cropland or replacing livestock pasture.
So the government has dropped the ball and missed the opportunities here on a number of fronts. They've failed to acknowledge that climate change is bringing in real constraints and requires real change, and they're also failing to recognize that climate change, rather than being a problem that they want to resist and deny any action on, it actually provides the starting point for a fundamental rethink and a capturing of massive opportunities that would benefit all of us in our province.
Instead, we're left with resolutions which say that educating people on livestock issues is the most important thing to do. I really hope that any money that goes into this initiative starts helping all of us better understand the scale, the immense scale of the challenge ahead of us. According to the United Nations and the world's leading climate scientists, emissions from agriculture and everywhere else has to be cut in half in a decade and has to become carbon neutral in 2050.
Does this resolution get us towards that? I'm not convinced.
Mr. Deputy Speaker: The honourable member's time is up.
Mr. Cliff Graydon (Emerson): I'd just like to put a few words on the record supporting this particular resolution.
First, I would like to start with–the member from Fort Garry-Riverview made a comment about the heading of the resolution and was making fun of it but it–actually, it reminded me of how uneducated the NDP were when they attempted and did shut down the expansion of the hog industry a number of years ago in the province. And today we find that Manitoba Pork actually contributes as much to the economy, or more to the economy, than Manitoba Hydro does. They were uneducated at the time and I hope that they have learned something from the past. The disconnect of the majority of Manitobans–residents from agriculture actually demonstrates the need for livestock education, and I would say, Mr. Deputy Speaker, that it's very important. Programs like the 4-H program needs to be–[interjection]
Mr. Deputy Speaker: Order.
When this matter is before the House, the honourable member for Emerson will have nine minutes remaining.
The hour being 12 p.m., the House is recessed and stands recessed until 1:30 p.m.
LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA
Tuesday, April 16, 2019
CONTENTS