LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA
Tuesday, May 30, 2023
Madam Speaker: O Eternal and 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 prosperity of our province. Grant, O merciful God, we pray Thee, that we may desire only that which is in accordance with Thy will, that we may seek it with wisdom and know it with certainty and accomplish it perfectly for the glory and honour of Thy name and for the welfare of all our people. Amen.
We acknowledge we are gathered on Treaty 1 territory and that Manitoba is located on the treaty territories and ancestral lands of the Anishinaabeg, Anishininewuk, Dakota Oyate, Denesuline and Nehethowuk nations. We acknowledge Manitoba is located on the Homeland of the Red River Métis. We acknowledge northern Manitoba includes lands that were and are the ancestral lands of the Inuit. We respect the spirit and intent of treaties and treaty making and remain committed to working in partnership with First Nations, Inuit and Métis people in the spirit of truth, reconciliation and collaboration.
Good morning, everybody. Please be seated
Hon. Kelvin Goertzen (Government House Leader): Good morning, Madam Speaker, and good morning to members of the Assembly. Over the last couple of days, we've had a number of leave requests, which have almost become routine because we're near the end of the session. So, I have one again for this morning.
Could you please canvass the House for leave to call Bill 237 for concurrence and third reading debate this morning, despite the fact that the bill is not listed yet on the Order Paper.
Madam Speaker: Is there leave to call Bill 237 this morning, even though it is not on the Order Paper? Is there leave?
Some Honourable Members: No.
Madam Speaker: Leave has been denied.
Point of Order
Mr. Goertzen: On a point of order, and perhaps somewhat of a clarification–and I know we have a number of guests with us here this morning from Providence College–we've asked for a leave request for third reading, which has become a routine over the last couple of days, Madam Speaker.
And I thank the Liberals for, well, offering support on that leave request. I know that the member for St. Vital (Mr. Moses) indicated at committee he was looking forward to third reading, so maybe there was some misunderstanding and I want to give members that opportunity to recognize there might have been a misunderstanding.
I recognize the opposition has not indicated at any stage that they support this bill, but they have indicated that they are interested in third reading. So, I'd like to–after you advised me this isn't a point of order, I would like to again ask for leave, because maybe there's been some misunderstanding from members, particularly the member for St. Vital, who I know has indicated he's interested in hearing third reading but has not committed to passing the bill.
Madam Speaker: I would indicate to the member that it is not a point of order. And I would indicate that we cannot have a debate on whether this is a point of order or not. But I would just indicate that it is not a point of order.
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Mr. Goertzen: Thank you for your guidance, Madam Speaker. But then I would again ask for leave, if you could canvass the House for leave to call Bill 237 for concurrence and third reading debate this morning, despite the fact that the bill is not yet listed on the Order Paper.
Madam Speaker: Is there leave to call Bill 237 for concurrence and third reading debate this morning, despite the fact that the bill is not yet listed on the Order Paper?
Is there leave?
Some Honourable Members: Leave.
Some Honourable Members: No.
Madam Speaker: Leave has been denied.
The honourable–is the member standing up on a new point of order?
Hon. Jon Gerrard (River Heights): Madam Speaker, I would ask for leave of the House, given what's happened, to consider debate on Bill 214, which is on the Order Paper.
Madam Speaker: Is there leave to call Bill 214, which is not on the Order Paper?
An Honourable Member: It is on the Order Paper.
Madam Speaker: Oh, pardon me. Okay. Does the member have leave to call Bill 214?
An Honourable Member: No.
Madam Speaker: Leave has been denied.
Mr. Goertzen: Is there leave to, at this point, move to the resolution, which was up for debate this morning, to allow to be debated for one hour the previously scheduled, and then following that, move to third reading on Bill 43, The Provincial Offences Act until 12 p.m.
Madam Speaker: Can the minister just indicate the bill again?
Mr. Goertzen: Yes, just for clarity, we would do one hour of debate on the resolution that was previously scheduled. Following that one hour, which would be, I guess, around 11:10 or so, we could–[interjection]
Madam Speaker: Order.
Mr. Goertzen: Following that at around 11:10, we would then move to third reading of Bill 43, which otherwise would have been debated this afternoon as concurrence and third reading of Bill 43, The Provincial Offences Act.
Madam Speaker: Is there leave to call it 11 o'clock and move to–oh, is there leave to move to the PMR at this time for one hour to be followed by concurrence and third reading of Bill 43, following that? [Agreed]
The hour is now 11 a.m. and time–[interjection]
An Honourable Member: It's not 11 o'clock.
Madam Speaker: Oh. Order.
Madam Speaker: We will now move to private members' resolutions.
The resolution before us this morning is the resolution on Thanking Those Who have been a Part of the Forty Second Legislature. [interjection]
Order. Order. I don't know what's happening here, but order, please. I think we've resolved where the morning is going. So I would ask for everybody's co‑operation, please. We're moving into the resolution right now. And I'm going to recognize the honourable member for Selkirk.
Mr. Alan Lagimodiere (Selkirk): I move, seconded by the member from Portage la Prairie, that,
WHEREAS this is the final week of forty second legislature before the House rises; and
WHEREAS when this House is sitting the building is buzzing with activity from MLAs, Clerks, Pages, Interns, Translators, Hansard Staff, Journals, Security, Tours, Gift Shop, Art room, and many other Staff; and
WHEREAS these last four years have seen historic moment after historic moment; and
WHEREAS the first session was altered by COVID‑19 and the safety protocols that were incorporated in order to enable the first virtual sitting of the Manitoba Legislative Assembly; and
WHEREAS this Assembly has witnessed a historic moment of welcoming the first female Premier in Manitoba; and
WHEREAS none of these historic moments or the ability to overcome these challenges would be possible without the support of all those here today, who work behind the scenes to help this democratic process function; and
WHEREAS the very essence of this building as a Legislative Assembly is historic in its grandeur and this would not be preserved without the hard and dedicated work of the grounds crew and maintenance staff and everyone who helps to preserve this building and ensure its beauty is protected; and
WHEREAS there are only 57 seats in this Chamber, but countless more people are needed to help Members in this Chamber carry out their roles and duties; and
WHEREAS these countless people work diligently everyday to uphold the words of the Manitoba coat of arms "Gloriosus et Liber".
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba is united, and each member extends the utmost gratitude to all of those who have played a role in helping in the progress made within the Legislative Chamber during the last four years, the Forty Second Legislature.
Madam Speaker: Sorry, could the member just indicate who seconded that?
An Honourable Member: Portage la Prairie.
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Madam Speaker: Thank you.
Motion presented.
Mr. Lagimodiere: Well, thank you, Madam Speaker, and a copy of the resolution has been provided to all members in the House, and I hope everybody's had a chance to review it. And this is a non-partisan, as everyone should see, and I'm asking for all parties' support to adopt the resolution.
It's my honour today to sponsor this resolution, and as we wind down and reach the end of the 42nd sitting of the Legislature, we should understand clearly that there are hundreds of dedicated individuals who have worked so hard behind the scenes.
When we are sitting, this building is buzzing with activity, and it's not just the MLAs. It's clerks; it's pages, interns, translators, Hansard staff, LBIS, journalists, tourists, our gift shop, our art room, the gardeners, the groundskeepers, the janitorial staff, the maintanance crew, our security personnel, our HR department, and last but not least, our Members' Allowances.
If I have forgotten anyone, it's certainly not intentional and I sincerely apologize. I ask all of my Legislative colleagues to take the time to reflect and thank all of those who work behind the scenes. If you have a chance in the next few days, please take an opportunity, when you're seeing people in the hallways, to thank them for all the support they've given us over the years.
So now is the opportunity for us to recognize their dedication, not only to us as elected officials, but to the preservation of this magnificent historical building. I know most of us take it for granted during our busy days, but now is our opportunity to stand united in extending our appreciation and thank-yous.
There are 57 elected MLAs in the House, and everyone, I'm sure, would like to have an opportunity to thank those that supported us. We only have an hour to do this, so with that, I will cede the floor and give all those who wish to speak to this an opportunity.
Madam Speaker, I look forward to support from all members on this resolution.
So thank you, miigwech.
Questions
Madam Speaker: A question period of up to 10 minutes will be held. Questions may be addressed to the sponsoring member by any member in the following sequence: first question to be asked by a member from another party; this is to be followed by a rotation between the parties; each independent member may ask one question. And no question or answer shall exceed 45 seconds.
Are there any questions?
Madam Speaker: If not, the floor is open for debate.
MLA Nahanni Fontaine (St. Johns): It's my pleasure and honour to get up this morning to put a couple of words on the record in respect of our–a resolution that, I would submit to the House, that everybody in the Chamber can fully support and get behind.
I know that many of us in the Chamber at different intervals in our time here in the Manitoba Legislative Assembly have used opportunities to thank the clerks and the Chamber branch attendants and the Sergeant‑at‑Arms and the pages. And I think that today's resolution is an important resolution, particularly as we are only a couple of more days into this final 42nd Legislative Assembly.
I have said many, many times in this House–and actually, let me back up a little bit. I remember in 2017, when I was appointed House leader, I remember being very nervous and scared because I had no clue about the rules and the procedures of the House. I wasn't entirely sure what the House leader did, and I remember being, you know, honoured that I had been selected and appointed as House leader, but I remember being very, very nervous; and very nervous that I wasn't going to do a good job.
And I remember one of the first things that I did was I reached out to Rick Yarish, who just happened to walk in, so perfect timing. And I remember going to talk to him, and tell him that I needed help, and was there a way that I could do some training on what a House leader does and all of that.
And Rick was very, very gracious and said, absolutely. And so, we actually secured a meeting–I can't remember who was there that first time: I think it was Rick; I think it was Patricia; I think it was Monique.
And they spent about an hour, hour and a half, with me that first meeting. And I asked them so many different questions. We were going through rules and procedures. And what I would ask was, okay, I would say to Rick, okay, well, has this–he would explain something, I'd say, okay, well has this scenario happened before?
And Rick would say, well, in, you know, 1996, so‑and‑so did this and this is what happened. And so, I'd ask another question: well here's a scenario–did this happen–you know, how did this unfold? And then Rick and Patricia would say, well in, you know, in 2002, so‑and‑so did this and this is how we responded in the House.
Keep in mind that they did this with no notes. And I remember in that first meeting, being just blown away at the enormous amount of institutional knowledge that both Patricia and Rick and Greg and Monique and–I can't remember his name, the–Claude; loved Claude. André [phonetic]–oh, yes, I loved him, he was so good, yes.
We are so lucky to have folks that we have working in the Clerk's office, because I know–and I've said this many times, and let me take this opportunity to reiterate it and say it again that–let me finish my story, Madam Speaker. Let me just say this, is that I did that first hour-and-a-half training and I felt like I didn't still have a handle on it.
Most people don't know this, I haven't really shared it–we ended up doing I think, like, three separate meetings of training, just with me. And I think, like, each training session was like an hour, an hour and a half. And I have never forgotten that, and I want the clerks to know that, that I've never forgotten that.
And I appreciate you taking the time to share with me your expertise and to answer my questions and walk me through the different scenarios. I certainly came out of those three meetings with a lot more confidence than when I went in.
Since that time, Rick and I speak at least, I don't know, five times, six times a week, just on getting clarifications, and I know that my colleague, the Government House Leader (Mr. Goertzen) does the same thing as well.
I truly would not be able to execute my duties as the Opposition House Leader if it were not for Patricia and Rick and Tim and Greg and Vanessa and Katrina [phonetic] and Danielle.
Katrina [phonetic], who is one of the newest members of the team, is very, very extraordinary, and I keep asking her if she'll send me emails on updates on how many individuals have been elected since the very beginning to this Chamber, and which I can't remember–I think it's 834, something like that.
Madam Speaker, 61 women have been elected, one gender non-conforming person has ever been elected. And Katrina [phonetic] may not realize why I ask for that information. It–Katherine [phonetic]? [interjection] Kat, sorry. Katerina was the name of my little sister, so I–so, Kat may not realize why I ask for those. But I ask for those statistics because I am asked to speak all over, all over Manitoba, all over Canada and certainly in different places across North America about what it looks like, what it means to be an Indigenous woman in politics.
And I always talk about the history that has most recently been made in this Chamber, and that includes those numbers, and it includes the individuals: the number of women that have been elected; the number of Indigenous women; of course our colleague across the way who became the first Black woman to be elected; and then certainly our colleague on this side, who became the first Black, queer, gender-non-conforming person–not only elected here in Manitoba but across Canada.
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And so, I would not be able to do my job, I would not be able to do the things that I'm able to do in the community, if it were not for the expertise and the support and the help that I have gotten from the Clerk's office. I do want to give a shout‑out–and so I say, miigwech from the bottom of my heart. You know that every opportunity that I say, I just love you guys. We're so blessed to have all of you. And I really, really do mean that.
I want to shout out, you know, Leg. Counsel who does so much work for us so that we can bring forward our private members' bills and help us as we navigate, you know, standing committees and all of that. I want to shout them out.
Legislative librarians, I think, are so important for the work that they do.
All of the pages that we've had since I've been elected in 2016, I think are extraordinary. The fact that the pages have everybody names memorized, I think is quite extraordinary and I'm always in awe because, like I've said many, many times, I can barely my children's names on some days. So, I really do acknowledge all of them.
And then I want to give a shout‑out to our Sergeant-at-Arms. I really appreciate all of the work that he does and he does it in such a kind, gentle way and he really does make me feel protected in this space. I know that all of us, as legislators, are safe in his hands, and I want to acknowledge him for the work that he does, including helping with the page program.
And I don't know if people know this, but he does take time to reach out to different schools to encourage different schools to have their students apply. In fact, several years, back he encouraged me and talked to me about, maybe, my son, my youngest son applying. He didn't apply, which is another story, but I would've loved it if he would've applied, but I really appreciated that our Sergeant-at-Arms makes those efforts to have people come into our Chamber.
And then, the newest member of our team, the Deputy Sergeant-at-Arms; he's been a welcome addition to the Chamber as well. And as I said, I know that on this side of the House–and I would imagine, on both sides of the House–realize and recognize that we are safe and we are in good hands with both of those gentlemen.
And then, I just want to give a final shout-out in my couple of seconds to the Chamber Branch Attendants. They are always so welcoming and greeting us in the mornings, greeting us in the afternoons, bringing in whatever we may need and I just want to acknowledge them for the work that they do as well, keeping this Chamber in order, making it look good and also ensuring that we are good and we've got what we need as MLAs to be able to do our job.
So it is a well-oiled machine in this Chamber. And I say, miigwech to each and every one of the individuals that allows us on this side of the House and certainly across, to do our jobs as elected officials on behalf of all Manitobans.
Miigwech.
Mr. Ron Schuler (Springfield-Ritchot): Well, on the last few days of this last session, of this term, wonderful to have something positive to be talking about. And I think it's very important to have this resolution in front of us, where we understand that we don't always agree in here and we certainly disagreed this morning on Bill 237–very unfortunate we didn't have the opportunity to speak to that. The gallery was full of individuals. Would have been nice for them to have seen some unanimity, but that wasn't going to happen.
So, we'll move to this particular resolution. And I would like to take the opportunity to speak to that. I'd like to start with the clerks. In fact, when I first started here, there was a clerk by the name of Binx Remnant, and he used to have this long flowing cloak and he would walk and it would flow behind him. And he would rush about with his cloak flowing behind him and–very, very interesting, dynamic character. And serving him was a very strong junior team, who then went on to become the Clerk and the Deputy Clerk and started to become the leadership of this Chamber. And it's so neat to see, even now, under this Clerk, she's assembled a very strong team around her as well. So it's a very good precedent that's being set. But we always seem to be making sure that there's a good team coming up, not just to support the Clerk and her team, but also individuals that are prepared to step up someday, hopefully.
And so I want to thank the clerks for the leadership they show, not just today, but also for the future. And, you know, we certainly do get to know the clerks well. We end up–they see us at our best and they see us at our not-so-best. They get to see all of it, so thank you very much.
I'd also like to talk a little bit about the Chamber staff, and, in particular, I'd like to talk about Denise, who is on the outside of that door. Denise is, I think, one of the longest serving, if not the longest serving, and she is an absolutely delightful, cheerful, wonderful person, and I hope she's listening.
Little sad story. Years ago, when her husband passed away, we thought maybe we wouldn't see her anymore. We had no idea. And about three, four days later, she was back at her desk. She was sad, but she said, there's no other place I would rather be than here. And pushing the button, opening the door, greeting us–I always greet her every morning in French and she greets me back. And she's just an incredibly delightful person.
And if you want somebody who personifies the individuals who make all of this run, the Clerk's table and the Denises of the world–and I go on–it's also–we have our Sergeant-at-Arms who's sitting at the back with his eyes always scanning the Chamber, making sure everything's going okay. And I know up in the gallery, we've got individuals who are standing. And, you know, that can't be the most exciting job necessarily all the time. But they do it and they do it well and they're watching. They're making sure that we get to do our job and we do it unencumbered.
There're also individuals who don't have the exciting and high-pressure position like a clerk or a deputy clerk or even a Denise or the Sergeant-at-Arms. I actually don't even know where some of them hang out. But I would like to thank the Hansard staff. They actually have to listen to it all and they have to transcribe it. And they do an amazing job. In fact, often, if we use names, they will then send us a quick note and say, how do you spell that individual's name? I don't even know where the Hansard office is anymore in this building. It's somewhere in here. Wherever you are, I hope you share it with all your colleagues. Thank you–thank you for what you do as the Hansard staff.
I'd like to talk about the Legislative library–not used quite as much. If you ever really want to see a beautiful building in–a beautiful room in this building, go see the Legislative library. And they're so excited to see you. They will help you research or give you some insight or let you have a little tour of the place. It is a gorgeous place. I would recommend go visit. Thank you to the Legislative library staff.
I'd like to then talk about other individuals who don't have a high-profile, high-visibility job. And that is building maintenance. Who hasn't had to call up and say, there's something wrong in my office or this isn't working, that isn't working? And I'd like to start with those men and women who keep this building clean for us. And it is a challenge. On our side of the building that faces east, it's a heavy construction site. We do not have air conditioning in the building. My window is open and at any given time, I sit and work on grime. It just blows in constantly and they have to keep that clean. To all of them, to every one of those individuals who help keep this building clean, every time I see them, I make sure I greet them and I try to thank them for what they do in this building. It is currently under this construction project–it is unforgiving. And they do a great job with it.
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And to the building maintenance who come and take care of–whether it's a clock not working, or something's not functioning right, or something's dripping, or something's not working, they're there. They take care of us; they hang pictures; they take them down; they move them around. They do just a great job.
I'd like to move on to the security individuals who monitor this particular building. It seems to be daily, the configuration of how to access this parking lot; changes right now. The City of Winnipeg is doing all kinds of construction on Broadway. And it's our security that has to ensure that people enter the grounds of this building and do so safely and in a proper fashion.
They have a tough job, because they bear the brunt of individuals showing their frustration for the fact that they can't get in. There was a huge delivery truck the other day, and they were trying to explain to them, they weren't going to get their truck in, and they were blocking Broadway traffic and nobody could get in. And, you know, they have a really tough job. Would like to thank them for the work that they do.
I'd also like to just point out there is one other individual when you walk in. He's the lone police officer, man or woman, who sit at a little desk behind the security desk, painfully, kind of almost out of sight. You can easily pass over; and they sit there every day, they sit at their desk.
I don't know if any of this goes forward, but to police chief Danny Smyth, if he would thank the officers that he sends here. It is necessary to have them here. They protect us. They do a good job. They are never in the way. It's so easy to pass over them, to even know that they're there. But they are there, and it is not warm where they are sitting, and they have their vest and everything else on, and it must be extremely hot for them. We thank them for being there.
To everyone in this building, thank you for making this work. And you've made it work for four years. I remember back in 2016, Todd Miclash was still in charge of the building, and he said it was the biggest upheaval he had seen in all the years he'd been here. There were so many new members coming, so many members leaving, and office changes. It's a lot of work.
And if you notice, even downstairs on the–in the basement, in the alcoves, there's all kinds of old furniture, because furniture wears out here. We are in this building sometimes 18 hours a day, sometimes 24 hours a day. So furniture gets used here. It's not like at home, where you might use your living room once a week. There–that furniture gets used.
So there's always stuff to be done, always stuff to be cleaned, always stuff to be taken care of. So, from the Clerk right down to the cleaning staff, from Hansard to security, we would like to say thank you for the last four years, for letting us do our job by you doing your job so well, so efficiently, so effectively, and always doing it in a non-partisan fashion. We really appreciate everything everyone does. We appreciate the smiles and the kind words.
Thank you very much, and for myself personally, hope I see you after the next election.
Thank you.
Mr. Jamie Moses (St. Vital): You know, I'm fortunate enough, Madam Speaker, to have an opportunity to speak in this Chamber many times over the last four years that I've been the MLA for St. Vital, and I've been very fortunate and very blessed to have that opportunity.
But, in all those debates, it's not often that we get an opportunity to thank the people who help to run this place, to run this magnificent building, and to help to create and sustain the democracy that we all enjoy in this province. And the people who do that work are right here in our midst. We see them, we interact with them every day, and we are so grateful, and I am so grateful for the work that they do.
I'll just begin with the clerks, like Patricia, Greg, Rick, Tim, Vanessa, Kat and Danielle. They, you know, make sure that this place is running smoothly and functioning.
You know, we sign up as politicians–as partisans, right? We come as a party label: NDP, Conservative, Liberal, and, you know, we sign up for the partisan back-and-forth. We know that, going into the job, that we're going to have to have the rhetoric, or the–perhaps even the heckling across the way. We know that's part of the political landscape.
But our clerks are neutral, and it's their job to make sure that we function. And we know that they hear all of the partisan rhetoric and banter and heckling, which can, undoubtedly, be tense and undoubtedly be stressful. And, you know, it's without its stresses and it's without its difficulties to just be here and be part of this.
And they do it not just exceptionally, Madam Speaker. They do it with class and with grace and they make sure that not only are we able to function as a democracy, but they help us, as legislators, excel at our jobs. And make sure that we are able to represent our constituents to the best of our abilities. And so I thank all of the clerks from the bottom of our heart, on behalf of our team, for everything they do each and every day, in and out of session for keeping this building and this Legislature and this democracy of Manitoba running.
Thank you.
An Honourable Member: That sounded like a rhetorical flourish.
Mr. Moses: It was a rhetorical flourish. Because it's very important.
Also, Madam Speaker, I'd like to just go on and thank some other folks. And I just want to, particularly, just right after the clerks, just to thank our pages, who are often the unsung heroes of this Chamber. Who–they often interact with the MLAs more than any other folks. They help to bring us our information, our supply–our drinks or a variety, numerous variety of things; who participate in handing out the tabled documents and who have the always challenging and always difficult; but somehow I'm always impressed with their ability to conduct votes and make sure that each person who is voting yea or nay on a particular issue or bill, that they record it. They say each one's name and they know it and they can do it by heart. I'm always impressed with that. It took me–I don't know how many years it took me to learn everyone's names in this Chamber.
But it seems that the pages, who are such amazing young people, seem to nail it every time. And I know I'm grateful for the work that they do, so thank you and thank you very much. And to all the pages who are participating in the program this year and in past years since I've been an MLA, thank you so much for participating.
So I'd like to thank River, Sophia [phonetic], Kylie, Kai, Oscar, Harshnoor, Sonya, Bhavika, Chloe, Tunyeta [phonetic] and Elena for everything that they do to make sure that we are well prepared to be in this House as MLAs and represent all the communities that we do across the province.
And, of course, behind the scenes there's all the fantastic work that gets done that we don't even see, or don't even hear about. We've got people doing the digital work, like Becki, who's putting on the livestream so people can participate. Manitobans and Canadians can participate from–who can't come down to the building and can't sit in the Chamber in the gallery, they can watch online.
And thankful for all the digital staff. I know over the course of the pandemic there was so much more to that job in terms of the digital support, putting up the cameras that we–the cameras and the extra TV screens that we have here, making sure that the online calls for members when they're sitting virtually functions and runs smoothly every time that that's needed.
All that work doesn't just happen with a snap of the finger. It takes dedication, it takes commitment and I'm thankful for all the skilled people who've been able to transform our Legislative Chamber into a digital space, a virtual space, for–not just members to sit virtually, but also to Manitobans to continue to participate in democracy when they're not we're physically able to be in the Chamber.
As well, of course, our Leg. Counsel and Leg. staff who've put forward and helped us draft legislation and resolutions here. The Leg. librarians who are always in–a resource, as seemed to–the resource of information almost seems it has no end in terms of what they're able to accomplish and bring forward to aid us in deliberation and knowledge-building when it comes to crafting legislation and speaking in debate.
And also, of course, Dave and Cam, our Sergeant-at-Arms and Deputy Sergeant-at-Arms: we're thankful for the work that you do and making sure that things run smoothly and that we stay in order all–at all times, as we usually do. And, of course, the staff who dictate everything that we say, the Hansard staff, the translation team, the people around the building welcoming us in at the doors and the security around the Leg. Building and the Leg. grounds.
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We're so thankful for everything you do: making sure that people function and can come and enjoy the people's House of Manitoba. The fact that we can run a democracy and a government out of this building, that we can have a passionate and tense debate, but still do it in good order; and that we're able to represent our individual communities but represent as a whole, the greater Manitoba population; we can do it all in this building.
But we can't do it without any of these amazing people who I've mentioned today, and so many more, who keep this place running and functioning each and every day. So, thank you on behalf of myself and the entire team on this side of the House; we are thankful and we're grateful for everything you've done in the–all the legislative sessions, especially the 42nd legislative session.
Thank you.
Mr. Dougald Lamont (St. Boniface): Yes, it's a real pleasure to rise to this and speak to this, because we do work in a very unique environment. I think the experiences that we have are sometimes hard to express to people sort of outside of this, because the work we do is so unique.
And part of that is that I think and we need to recognize that we make decisions in this place that directly impact people's lives. And the pandemic made that very clear; it was an extraordinarily difficult time. The amount of change and adaptation that we all had to go through during the pandemic was–look, it was one of the worst national–natural disasters to affect us in a century.
We've had security issues, we've had historic challenge on historic challenge piled upon us. And I think, I have to say, the one thing that is so important–unique and important about this motion, for which I thank the member from Selkirk, is that it recognizes the work of all the people who make our work possible, and actually make our work much better, because you represent the best of this place.
Whatever the public perception of politics and government, of political theatre and of performance and the conflict we see, beneath all of that are the people who have to listen to it, who have to write it down, correct us, keep us safe, make sure we can use email, translate our words, literally keep the lights on and the water running, and take care, I will say, of our basic human needs.
The work we do in this House is incredibly important, and it did save lives. And it did protect people, and that is something that everyone played a part in. Every party, every person can and did make a contribution to the safety of Manitobans, and that is true of every person in this House and every person referred to in this.
There was no road map, there was no clear path, and people had to rise to the occasion, and sometimes take extraordinary measures to do so, and you did. You know, I'm very proud of the work we've done. We've seen a few of our policies and bills make their way into law, but we only get our bills and resolutions in this House passed with the support of others. We can't take it for granted.
And so, I'm very proud that we received unanimous support to help 16,000 retired teachers to get a seat on their own pension plan. We're very proud we introduced a private member's resolution to recognize the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of anti-Semitism.
We were able to work together with everybody, including government, to help hundreds of individuals with issues during the pandemic: those on social assistance who could no longer volunteer and who lost income as a result. And there were many times when our policies and our ideas were taken up; sometimes they'd find their way into a legislation, sometimes their–they'd find their way into policy.
And that was incredibly important. I'm very proud of the fact that we made sure that school-aged children are included in early education plans and we worked with the federal government to buy and distribute $10.8 million worth of freshwater fish to every family in 75 First Nations communities, and ensured that 2,000 Manitoba fishers were able to earn a living in 2020.
And there is very important critical work that's done here. And often as opposition politicians, we're in the position of, let's say, trying to recommend corrective action when the government errs. We were the first party to have Bill 64 signed, which I think, whatever that was, I think it's important to say that that was part of an extraordinary reflection of grassroots and local democracy at every level.
And I know that when we are thanked personally for the work we've done helping people get health care or keeping their home or getting medication, it's not us alone; we never did this alone. None of us do this alone; it's only because of the work of others that we are able to help others.
And I do want to say, of course, there were losses, some of them very hard. We can and should acknowledge that it was a hard time, and there's a–still a shared grief, I think, that we should acknowledge. But even when we have ideas that are completely the opposite–completely the opposite–we are still opponents and not enemies. We still all face our own struggles, and some are personal and private and just a reflection of our shared humanity.
But at the end of the day, we're all Manitobans; we're all human beings. And that–this shared experience that we have is unique. Madam Speaker, you will know this as well as anyone: there is no other place like this; for good and for bad, but I think especially for good.
So I want to just thank you for this opportunity to put these few words on the record.
Merci, miigwech, and thank you to the minister.
Mr. Shannon Martin (McPhillips): It's always a pleasure to rise in the House.
Madam Speaker, before I get into the crux of my comments and thanking staff, I think I just want to say to the family of Usaid Habib, who drowned this past weekend, a young man of 12 years old. He was from my own community of La Salle, originally from Pakistan. The community has rallied behind them; I know there's a GoFund page with original target I believe $10,000; last I saw this morning I think it was above $20,000 to help cover, unfortunately, what no parent wants to cover, and that's funeral costs for this young man.
But I just want to put on the record, our heart and our love goes out to this family. On behalf of all parents, and on behalf of all legislators here in the Chamber.
So, Madam Speaker, with those comments, it's important that we're cognizant, and, you know, we've said it before, I mean, everything that we say here in Hansard is part of that public record, and we take it for granted to a certain extent that as I speak, literally, the words are being transcribed. They'll be put in–bound and printed, as well as emailed by staff–staff that ensure that the historical relevance and the historical record of this building, and the words of this building and its elected officials are part of that permanent record of–and part of Manitoba's history.
And so we often–and all of us, we take for granted the people that are around us, whether it's our friends or family all too often. But I've had a very unique path in this building, Madam Speaker, and I've been a staff person. I've done almost every job that there is to do, and I know full well that this is a place that easily and often chews up and spits out staff.
It is not–I'll be honest, it–at times, this is not a healthy place to work for staff. We see it all this time; we see it on all sides of the House. We see young people come into this place, and it is a very, very intense building, an intense environment to work in. And yet we, again, we all MLAs, we find ourselves surrounded by any number of young people who want to be part of the democratic process and, more importantly, want to be something–be part of something larger than themselves.
And we demand so much of them, often without real recognition. We forget the fact, and most of us do, that, you know, oftentimes when MLAs come to this House, they have notes prepared for them. Who did that, Madam Speaker? The staff. And so, while I thank my member–or my colleague for Springfield‑Ritchot who spent a great deal of time; the member for St. Johns (MLA Fontaine) has spent a great deal of time thanking, you know, obviously, the clerks and a lot of those staff within the building and the pages, as well, that ensure the functionality of this building, I want to focus mainly and more so on, like I said, on the political staff.
Because I've said, you know, that these individuals put in a tremendous, tremendous amount of work. They've put their heart and soul into the job, often with relatively low pay, no long-term benefits. And, Madam Speaker, no guarantees. We see it, you know, every election comes and goes, and sometimes with those elections we can see, and we have seen historically, sometimes create upheaval. And I remember being part of one of those great upheavals back in '99, Madam Speaker, in actually being in the caucus room and it was full of political staff at the time just after the '99 election after Mr. Filmon, former premier Filmon had lost.
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And so, there was that look around the room as to, you know, suddenly, you have a room of very talented individuals who have literally dedicated the better part of the last four years to make this Legislature function to the very best of their ability. And suddenly, every single one of them finds themselves unemployed and looking for work.
This isn't said for sympathy or anything, Madam Speaker. It's just reality of getting involved in political life. And obviously there's some staff and to–myself back in the day that obviously thrived on the intensity and sometimes the stress of the position and used that to drive ourselves forward.
But we need to always make sure–and some of my colleagues have said that–that take a moment and thank the people that are in our offices that ensure that, you know, we open our doors in the morning and our mail–it's not magically there. It's there because one of the staff actually went and did that. And while it may not seem in the relative big picture a large act, it is still an important function of this building, and sharing of that communication.
But more importantly, again, back to the political staff and the need to thank them. Because we often call upon them to do things for obviously reasons that we don't ask, you know, the non-partisan staff to do. There are demands and requirements put on political staff that simply don't exist among other staff in the bureaucracy that work within this building. We will often ask them to–you know, whether or not to be campaign managers, and in some instances to be candidates and in some instances simply just to lend a helping hand. And we see individuals and those political staff in many, many instances being so very, very dedicated to the belief in what we're trying to accomplish here, Madam Speaker, that they will give of themselves tirelessly–[interjection]
Madam Speaker: Order.
Mr. Martin: –especially within that framework of an election, Madam Speaker. And in many instances, they have almost no background and it is a tremendous, tremendous learning experience: this environment, for any individual. And so while I did and I will repeat that this can be a very ugly place at times for staff.
And there is a reason why, again, under all governments, you see those OICs constantly flowing through. Because it is, at times, just not a healthy environment for a whole variety of reasons, Madam Speaker. And one of the big ones, again, for political staff is the time requirement. It just–it obviously doesn't align with, say, more traditional jobs. There's very few jobs where, you know, suddenly, you know, the–you know, your employers decided to not see the clock and you'll sit 'til two or three o'clock in the morning–that you are required to be here. Those kind of requests made of these political staff that serve all of us are undertaken without complaint and always to the very, very best of their ability.
And again, I know, some of the other members have spoken about that as they take on new roles in how staff have helped them as elected officials prepare for those roles. I know, obviously, in my own role as taking over as whip for caucus in my own bank, I've got a young man, Tyler Stilwell, who has been literally a godsend to make sure that I've got things lined up in my day as best I can. And obviously despite his very best of his abilities and efforts, I do slip up on occasion. But rest assured, I will say for the public record that it is not as a result of any failings on his part, but on my own, Madam Speaker.
But for those comments, and I'm–I'll sit down and allow some other of my colleagues and members across the way to share their perspective and thank you for the people that also work in their office, Madam Speaker. But again, I just wanted to take a few moments, to all the political staff on all sides of this House, to express my appreciation and thank you for the role that they serve in not only serving us, but in democracy, here in the province of Manitoba.
Thank you.
Mr. Nello Altomare (Transcona): I want to thank the member for Selkirk (Mr. Lagimodiere) for bringing this PMR forward. I will say there's a particular part of this PMR that really resonates with myself as the MLA for Transcona; it means a lot where he points out in his PMR, Madam Speaker, Whereas the very essence of this building as the Legislative Assembly is historic in its grandeur.
I remember as a six-year-old, Madam Speaker, in 1970, coming here on a field trip because it was the 100th anniversary of Manitoba and being on those very same front steps with my grade 1 teacher. So what do I do every day when I come here as the MLA for Transcona? I walk up those stairs every day. I don't take the back roads. I take, what I call, the main drag to come up into this Chamber and then to caucus because it means a lot. It means a lot to my family because my dad and my mom aren't from here. They came here so that they can search and be part of something bigger, and be part of something important. They came to Canada, Manitoba, Transcona. I even see myself sitting up here in the north-east corner of the Leg. here, just like Transcona is, up in the north-east corner.
And one thing I learned early on from my grade 1 teacher, Madam Speaker, was learn how to tell a story. So I'll be very brief because the clerks are very important. I will tell you this particular clerk and that particular clerk and that particular clerk and the other particular clerks, were very welcoming to a very raw rookie, here. And that means a lot. One of these clerks is also connected to Transcona because they play in Transcona every once in a while when they have a gig, right next to the 'constit' office in Transcona.
I also want to point out the pages. Got to know the pages really, really well. I'll tell you, I'm glad they've learned a lot from this experience. Tunteya and Oscar are here today. There are two Transcona people that are pages here. I won't point them out. They do a great job and they do come from Murdoch Mackay Collegiate institute which is in the 'constit' of Transcona which I always remain very, very humbled to represent.
And with those few words, Madam Speaker, I will sit down and allow others.
Thank you.
Hon. Kelvin Goertzen (Minister of Justice and Attorney General): It is a real pleasure to thank all of those who've been involved in this session. You know, democracy is a bit of a mysterious thing, I would say, to probably 98 per cent of Canadians. And I don't mean that in the sense of they don't understand their voting privileges, they don't understand how the broad strokes of democracy work. I meant that in the sense that they don't see the inner workings of a democratic system. They don't generally come and watch what happens in the Legislature.
They might have something of a sense of what their members of Parliament or their MLAs do, but they certainly wouldn't, looking at the table that's in front of me, in the middle of the Assembly, know those individuals do, or the young people who are our pages here, or those who are working in the committee rooms, or security folks and all the people who make this place work.
And I've learned over the last 20 years that this place doesn't work without those individuals because we, as politicians, we come in and we come in with, of course, political agendas and we come in with ideas, we come in with hopes and we come in with dreams. But none of those get formed or can actually function unless there's people who know how to run the vehicle, who are the engine of this Assembly.
And that is not us, actually. As the House leader on and off, for about 15 years in total, I've relied significantly on all of those in the Clerk's office, more broadly, in the Assembly to make sure that we could get things done. And we actually do get things done. This is an example, this session, of 15 private members' bills that are passing. I think it's historic. I don't know of another time this happened. That's partly because of the work with opposition, but it is greatly because of the work with those at the Clerk's office and others who make these things come together and make them happen. And I wish that the public would understand broadly the work that our officers do. I wish they understood how critical and important it was to the system.
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Because I think if they don't always have confidence, maybe, in elected officials, it might give them more confidence in the system as a whole, knowing that there are all of these people who are working to build trust within the democratic system.
I would then maybe conclude by saying, sometimes those–I almost call them the innocents in our political system, those who are working in our Legislature are the innocents to some of the things we do. Some of that has played out by having to sit through the summer, some of that sits out by working late at night and not knowing when the session is always going to end with certainty. We have more certainty now, but not perfect certainty always.
Not knowing if you're going to miss a Jets game because we're sitting a little bit later. These are the individuals who are the innocents of our actions, sometimes, as political actors and as political officials. But I've never heard them complain, not strongly. I've never heard anybody feel that they're being put out.
They recognize that they are serving a greater cause, they're not just serving us as elected officials. They're serving the democratic system. And long after we're all gone and all of us will pass through, some of us more sooner than others in the Legislature.
But within a number of years–I mean all of us will have moved on to other things, but those who continue to work here and serve all elected officials equally, regardless of party, regardless of political motivation, are really the stalwarts to our political system.
So, thank you to each of you, thank you to all of those in the Assembly. You make this place work, you make democracy work and you make our country and our province stronger because of it.
Thank you very much.
Madam Speaker: Are there any further members wishing to speak to the resolution?
If not, is the House ready for the question?
Some Honourable Members: Question.
Madam Speaker: Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the resolution? Agreed? [Agreed]
Hon. Kelvin Goertzen (Minister of Justice and Attorney General): Moving on, as agreed, to Bill 43.
Madam Speaker: Okay, the honourable Minister of Justice.
Mr. Goertzen: I move, seconded by the Minister of Education, that Bill 43, the provincial offences amendment act, reported from the Standing Committee on Legislative Affairs, be concurred in and be now read for a third time and passed.
Madam Speaker: It has been moved by the honourable Minister of Justice, seconded by the honourable Minister of Education, that Bill 43, The Provincial Offences Amendment Act (2), reported from the Standing Committee on Legislative Affairs, be concurred in and be now read for a third time and passed.
Mr. Goertzen: So, before my friends on the other side of the House stand up in rebuttal and say that things weren't fast enough, far enough and all those sort of things, I want to simply put those things aside. Because I don't think that this is really a political issue.
It's an issue that is both about safety–it's about reconciliation. It is about doing the right thing, regardless of what time it is. And so, all the criticisms that the opposition feels they have to give because they're in opposition, that's fine. I'm not immune to that, and I'm not really actually that concerned about it at this moment.
I am concerned about the reality that we have on First Nations communities, in many cases expressed to me by grand chiefs and others: a significant, significant drug problem, addictions problem, other issues and challenges.
And make no mistake, this particular bill isn't going to solve all of those problems. Nobody should suggest it's going to solve all those problems. But in my discussions, particularly with MKO Grand Chief, Garrison Settee, who I want to say I've now had the opportunity to interact with–the grand chiefs for several years on different files. And he's always been very gracious to me and I really, really appreciate the communication that we've built up.
And I think it's because of that and because of the trust that was established when he came to me again in the last few months and said, you know, we want to try this one more time to get this bill through. When it comes to provincial offences, to allow for tickets to be issued on First Nations communities and then administered through the provincial court system because it's easier, it's more effective, there's more follow-through in terms of the–ensuring that those tickets are paid. Because, I think, of the relationship that we've established over the last few years, we were able to get to this point.
And I say that not, you know, as any reflection on me. More of a reflection of him. But I'll also think it's a challenge for all of us, right? To be able to build those relationships and in that relationship becomes trust and in that relationship comes understanding. So I'm very grateful for Grand Chief Garrison Settee, in particular, for advancing this. I don't believe this would be happening today if not for him and those that advise him, some of whom spoke at committee.
So now that this bill will pass third reading, we will then work towards the regulations to get this bill proclaimed. I know they've recently done this in Saskatchewan so we'll have some learning in Saskatchewan as well.
But again, this is really about doing the right thing. We want to ensure we're going to do it the right way. But it's certainly for the right reasons. We know that–and it's the grand chiefs and the others–the chiefs on the First Nations communities who are expressing that they need support and they need help. And this is one way to provide it.
There are others, of course. Opposition and others might use this as a political talking point today. It's not a political talking point for me today. It's about getting the right thing done. Doing it because we have established a relationship of trust. Doing it because we think that's it's going to make a difference among the different differences that have to happen in the future as well.
So just want to conclude by again thanking the Grand Chief for MKO. I personally appreciate the–I'll call it a friendship that we've been able to establish that's been meaningful to me. I've learned a lot from that understanding or that relationship with him. He's taken time to discuss things with my family as well and I know that they've benefited from his reflections and his insight. And so I'm grateful for that. I'm grateful this bill is passing third reading.
Madam Speaker: Are there any further members wishing to debate?
Mr. Ian Bushie (Keewatinook): Thank you, Madam Speaker, for a chance to share a few words on Bill 43. And as much as this isn't a–as the minister referred to a political talking point, it in fact is, especially when we talk about jurisdictional issues, enforcement of various things on First Nation communities. It is a talking point. It is a political talking point. And as much as we don't want it to be, it inevitably becomes that because of jurisdictional issues that arise in the communities, whether it be federal responsibility, provincial responsibility, there is that bounce back and forth. So it inevitably becomes a talking point, a political talking point, mind you, for that simple reason.
Mr. Andrew Micklefield, Deputy Speaker, in the Chair
And as I mentioned at a previous reading as well, the issue is a step in the right direction. It is not the be-all-end-all solution. But it is a step in the right direction. The Q and A part of debate on Bill 43 also spoke about the fact of consultation and who was consulted on this. And I applaud the minister for having those engagements with Grand Chief Settee, who I also applaud for being a prominent part of this legislation and kind of bringing the issues forward.
But it also encompasses so much more than northern Manitoba. It also–central and southern Manitoba as well. So I did ask the question about whether those consultations also continued on. I didn't really get a clear answer as to who was consulted on the drafting of the bill. But I'm hoping that the minister–has he mentioned the relationship that he's established with Grand Chief Settee continues on with other jurisdictions, other communities, other chiefs, other grand chiefs and other political organizations in Manitoba on pieces of legislation such as this.
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It is very important that they are at the table, because when it comes time to First Nations communities dealing with provincial governments and federal governments, a lot of times it's more of a dictator kind of approach that governments take, rather than one of collaboration.
So the minister had spoken about, you know, collaboration on this piece of legislation, which is, again, a step in the right direction. But there is also more to this as well, and I'm hoping as this comes into play and this becomes into law, there will be some things that will arise. There will be some issues that arise; there will be some gaps that will be kind of shown and will be more prominent.
I'm hoping that when that arises, there's a mechanism then in place to actually help to close those gaps, so there is no falling through the cracks of any kind of issues that may arise in First Nations versus on-reserve and off-reserve kind of issues that arise. Because that is something that is quite prominent day in and day out in the communities. And we've seen that time and time again, and we're talking about a justice issue here, but it is also prominent in health care and education, conservation, those kind of things as well.
So those gaps need to be closed. Those gaps need to be–and they close best in collaboration. Those gaps are recognized. I'm sure they're recognized by federal government and provincial government, but they're also recognized by the First Nations communities.
So, when we talk about Bill 43 and the ability of using the words like enforcement, that, again, is–I almost want to call it a flag in First Nations communities when it comes time to deal with government–is it comes down to enforcement, is how are things enforced.
And it's not so much enforcement as it should be a collaboration and a working together. So, with this legislation brings those kind of ideas, those kind of words to mind, and we need to have that in place for all aspects. But, in particular, when we're talking about Bill 43 and kind of enforcement of fines and applicable things versus provincial law, federal law, versus on-reserve bylaws that are created by the community, by leadership in the community, that are development-drafted and passed within the community, how does that come into play in the provincial system, in the federal system?
So those things need to be also taken care of and taken into consideration when we talk about bringing forward any kind of legislation from a provincial government into First Nations communities and on-reserve, and those kind of enforcement interactions that come into place. So we do need to have the question: How does this work together? How does it work together or does it work against each other?
So, again, a step in the right direction, but I'm hoping that it then leads to something that's more collaborative, more kind of in-depth into exactly how those gaps get closed. Because sometimes when it comes time to dealing with both levels of government for First Nations communities, is there's kind of an approach that's brought forward by government that says, this is what we're going to do; we're going to implement this.
But many times there's also no funds attached to those kind of directives that are given. So, in this piece of legislation, when it comes time to working together, working in collaboration with First Nations bylaws within the communities and First Nations constitutional laws that they have within their own community, are there then funds attached to help a community develop that?
And I understand there is an opt-in, opt-out approach here as well. So, again, that needs to be crystal clear for communities, exactly what that entails. How do–how does a community opt in? And if they find that it's not working, how do they opt out? And is there something then to help develop within their own community bylaws that may work hand in hand with provincial legislation? And if that's the case, then are they then going to be referred to–oh, that's federal responsibility, go see the federal government to help fund the financing of implementation and development of your own bylaws?
So there is a, again, even just in talking here I'm basically talking about another gap that's been created, a gap that's been long-standing within First Nations communities. So how does this then close that gap? How do these collaborations then close that gap?
And, again, I applaud the minister for bringing forward this legislation as a step in the right direction, as a step towards working towards reconciliation. And, again, it can't just be a buzzword that governments of the day use time and time again to say, every time we have an issue or a legislation that has the words First Nations community attached to it, then we say, oh, it's reconciliation.
Well, let's truly put that in play and say, this is what we're going to do. So, again, a step in the right direction; and I've said that phrase many times here, because I believe it is. I truly believe it's a step in the right direction, and I'm sure the minister would agree. I'm sure Grand Chief Settee would agree, as well as other communities who may not have been a part of the initial discussions, but will see this as a step in the right direction. But they will have those questions about collaboration, closing the gaps, funding to help develop their own bylaws, enforce some of those bylaws. What does that mean?
The RCMP versus municipalities versus safety officers and community. How does that work together, how does that all gel as one? Because we would like to see a consistent level of discussion, a consistent interaction that everybody is on the same page with what's happening in communities.
And there's not a federal responsibility, a provincial responsibility, an on-reserve responsibility, a municipality responsibility. And they all may differ. How do they work together and how do they work collaboratively?
So, bringing this forward, a step in the right direction, but there is those gaps that need to be addressed, and I'm sure over the course of time when this comes into play and this comes into effect, there will be other questions.
So, I'm hoping that the minister is open to those kind of–whether it be an amendment, or whether it be a new piece of legislation to help kind of work side-by-side with Bill 43 to help close some of those gaps that may arise. Or maybe there's something that's kind of redundant; this doesn't need to be there because it is something that is already in place.
Again, bringing forth something new–there's always that period of growth to see exactly, what does this mean in real world? How does this implement? As much as we like to think we've thought about all the situations and all the scenarios that may arise with legislation, there's always inevitably going to be something that's kind of out there that we never thought of.
And not to say that everybody's responsible and has to think of everything from day one. That's just a reality of how society is and how we need to adjust to new things put in place. And in particular, kind of the implementation of new laws and legislations in First Nations communities from non-First Nations entities and non-First Nations governments.
So, there is that interaction that needs to for sure happen. So, we do ask that the minister is open to those discussions and those issues that may arise, and how can we best close those gaps.
Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
Mr. Dougald Lamont (St. Boniface): I'll just make a–put a few words on the record in support of the bill. I know that Grand Chief Settee and MKO supported this legislation and have worked to–with the Province to develop these amendments.
It is important to note that last November, MKO held a chiefs assembly on justice and policing. Part of the issue revolved around local police enforcement of First Nations bylaws, including some of the issues the minister touched on.
It is also important to note that MKO also discussed the chronic underfunding of their First Nation Safety Officer Program. And I just want to mention that when we look at the history of First Nations policing in Manitoba, it's been extremely successful; they've been able to manage arrests and do their work in a way which has seen a minimum of violence, really, between police and offenders.
And so it's incredibly important to step up. I see this as part of reconciliation, it also is part of the importance–the implementation of the recommendations to MMIWG2S+ report into how policing should work and how policing can be improved in Manitoba.
And in the resolution passed in November, MKO called on Manitoba to step up to commit its 48 per cent share of the funding to increase funding for the FNSO program that's been approved by Public Safety Canada.
And just as a note, we've talked about this a few times: we are all Manitobans. The Province of Manitoba receives funding, receives transfers from the federal government based on a per capita basis, and that includes folks on–who are First Nations living on-reserve.
So, we are getting that money for First Nations from the federal government. It is, can and should be used for policing and for supporting that–those police efforts. So, this is a bill that–it's important we'll see it pass, but ultimately we need to make sure that people have the resources to make sure it actually gets enforced.
Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
Mr. Deputy Speaker: Are there any other speakers?
Is the House ready for the question?
Some Honourable Members: Question.
Mr. Deputy Speaker: The question before the House is Bill 43, The Provincial Offences Amendment Act (2), concurrence and third reading of.
Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion? [Agreed]
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Hon. Kelvin Goertzen (Government House Leader): Can you canvass the House, Mr. Deputy Speaker, to see if it's the will of members to call it 12 p.m.
Mr. Deputy Speaker: Is it the will of members to call it 12 p.m.? [Agreed]
If I may, I do want to welcome the students in the gallery. And you came just in time to see us all leave, so I apologize for that. But certainly, we welcome you to the Manitoba Legislature.
The hour being 12 noon, this House then is recessed and stands recessed until 1:30 p.m. this afternoon.
LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA
Tuesday, May 30, 2023
CONTENTS