Mr. Gerry McAlpine (Acting Chairperson of the Committee of Supply): Mr. Deputy Speaker, the Committee of Supply has adopted certain resolutions, directs me to report the same and asks leave to sit again.

I move, seconded by the honourable member for Turtle Mountain (Mr. Tweed), that the report of the committee be received.

Motion agreed to.

Hon. Glen Cummings (Minister of Natural Resources): Mr. Deputy Speaker, I would like to give a brief update of the flood conditions, followed by a report from the Minister of Government Services (Mr. Pitura).

I am pleased to report that the river levels have declined gradually at most points. In the last 24-hour period the river fell between a quarter and a half a foot between Emerson and the floodway inlet. In Selkirk areas, the levels fell about a quarter of a foot. The level at Grande Pointe fell about an inch and is now three-quarters of a foot below its previous crest.

River levels will continue to fall during the next 10 days or so and then somewhat more rapidly, unless we get significant rainfall. A minimal rain of 10 millimetres would not have a significant effect, but if we get 25 millimetres or more during the next 10 days, we should be aware that that could slow the decline of the levels in the river. We do believe that the levels in the city of Winnipeg will remain above 20 feet until mid-May, even with favourable weather.

The 1997 crest elevation of the river in downtown Winnipeg, the Red River, has been computed to be an equivalent of 34.5 feet, the same on the crest of 1852. In 1776 and 1826, those floods would have equalled 36.5 feet. The 1950 flood crest, for interest, would have been 30 feet, or was measured at 30 feet.

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The extreme flows we have seen in the Red River combined with flood flows on the Winnipeg River are creating unusually high levels in Lake Winnipeg. I would like to point out a matter of interest, that the latest forecast of Lake Winnipeg is that it will rise to 715 and a half feet, about a half a foot higher than last year. If we receive above-average precipitation, the lake could rise to 716. The present level of this lake is 714.9, and Manitoba Hydro has been increasing outflows from the lake at maximum possible rates for the past number of months. A point of interest is that in 1974 when this lake was not yet regulated, the lake rose to 718.1.

Hon. Frank Pitura (Minister of Government Services): Mr. Deputy Speaker, I just wanted to update the House on some of the things that are happening with the Manitoba Emergency Management Organization. Much of the discussion right now is with regard to re-entry, getting back to the communities, for people to get back into their homes.

A re-entry committee has been established, and they have met with local officials throughout the flood area and have put together a re-entry format and process to be followed, and that has been agreed to by all the local authorities.

Just some of the areas that re-entry takes into consideration, Mr. Deputy Speaker: Along the provincial line, there is the restoration of roads, temporary crossings and bridges; the logistical transportation for materials and equipment that have to get into these communities and into these residences; the floodway rehabilitation; debris removal from all of these water channels; dike restoration which needs to be undertaken, and the salvage of materials, materials that may have been wet but are still salvageable. Then, of course, there is the re-entry pass system controlled through municipalities so that municipalities can still have, as their first priority, the protection of life and at the same time still allowing people to go through to their property to inspect it and to make sure that everything is working properly.

In the area of municipal government, road access and restoration of bridges is also a very major concern for them, because they lost a lot of roads and a lot of bridges as a result of this flood. Then there is the rehabilitation of the public facilities that are under their purview, the rehabilitation of institutions, such as schools and hospitals and care homes, a number of which are in water as of today. Then they also have the problem of debris removal, dike restoration, the local security that they require to ensure that the safety of their residents is uppermost and, of course, clean-up assistance to all the elderly and special needs residents within the community--they will need support and assistance there--and the assessment of the integrity of all the structures and bridges that are in their jurisdiction.

So this re-entry is moving along slowly. As of today, Dominion City and Letellier are gaining re-entry back into their communities, but the armed forces are still well deployed here in strengths of 8,000 members plus. They have been deployed throughout the entire flood area assigned to do various tasks. We had the pleasure of meeting with the armed forces this morning, and they informed us that their tasks in the Petersfield area, the Selkirk area, the R.M. of St. Andrews, R.M. of East Selkirk have more or less--they have responded to the call. They were out there in full force yesterday and have told us that today that request has been filtered down so there is not that great need anymore.

I would also like to take this opportunity, Mr. Deputy Speaker, to thank the joint forces, the army, the navy, the air force and all the reserves that are here in Manitoba helping with this effort. We have all three forces here and, as well, the reserves who have come here to volunteer to assist in this flood fighting effort.

The Manitoba Emergency Management Organization, Mr. Deputy Speaker, is still continuing to staff the emergency operation centre on a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week basis, or as the joint forces put it, 24-7. There is, however, a dramatic dropoff in calls so that the number of staff manning the emergency operation centre will probably be reduced later on this week.

The other area is the disaster financial assistance, and as I indicated yesterday, the office was opened to start business. As of today, they are having a tremendous number of telephone inquiries with regard to disaster assistance, so they are now in the process of putting additional staff into place to be able to answer all the telephone queries.

This gives us an update for today.

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Mr. Stan Struthers (Dauphin): I too wish to join with the Minister of Government Services in congratulating and thanking the Canadian forces who are working in our area. In particular, it was pointed out to me that in the St. Norbert area the reservists and Air Command have been particularly diligent and resourceful in helping fight the flood of 1997 and that we should pay particular attention to them.

I also want to encourage the government in its plans with its committee for re-entry into houses and communities that have been hit by the flood. I want to point out that a lot of attention has been paid to houses in the Red River Valley and Winnipeg and that, as we need to be vigilant in keeping our eye on what is going on in that part of the province, we also have to be fully aware that the water is still heading northward, is still affecting many people in the north of Winnipeg and the Selkirk area, and at some point now we must start to concentrate our attention on Lake Winnipeg and the communities that draw their livelihood from Lake Winnipeg and all parts of that part of our province.

Not only Lake Winnipeg will be experiencing problems, as has been pointed out by the Minister of Natural Resources (Mr. Cummings), but rivers north of Lake Winnipeg will also see an increase in water levels. That will be without doubt. Any precautions we can take to mitigate the damages that will appear in northern Manitoba will be much appreciated by this side of the House and by the people of that area, but there is no doubt that that part of our province as well, the North and the people who live in northern Manitoba, will eventually feel the effects of this flood as we have here in the southern part of our province. Along with that, I include Lake Manitoba which will also experience an increase in water levels in the very near future, and of course again that presents all kinds of problems as we have seen in the past for farmers and ranchers and people who live along Lake Manitoba.

So, with that, Mr. Deputy Speaker, I want to make sure that everybody is aware that the problems, although we hear reports that the water levels are decreasing slightly, we still need to be vigilant with waves and with the rainfall. We also have to be mindful of the effects of this water as it flows through our system to Hudson Bay and the effects that it will have on the people in northern Manitoba.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker.