Madam Speaker: I would like to draw the attention of all honourable members to the public gallery where we have this afternoon twenty-seven Grade 8 students from the Austin Elementary School under the direction of Mrs. Beverley Wolfe. This school is located in the constituency of the honourable member for Gladstone (Mr. Rocan).

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

Mr. Gary Doer (Leader of the Opposition): The provincial government has committed itself to a hundred-million-dollar contract to have a so-called SmartHealth organization dealing with our patient and health care records. SmartHealth has now sold, apparently, its controlling interest to EDS, a company established by Ross Perot, which will now have access to all Manitoba patient records here in the province of Manitoba. I would like to ask the Premier: Did his government, which has the right to block these sales, consult with the various stakeholders that are discussing the health information system? Did they discuss this with the various stakeholders prior to approving this sale to this Ross Perot-established company?

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Hon. Gary Filmon (Premier): Madam Speaker, you know, it is unfortunate that the member opposite operates in such political ways to try and conjure up fears in the minds of people, making up the emphasis on Ross Perot, American-based company, and all those kinds of things. It is just such cheap politics being played by the Leader of the Opposition. It is that kind of tactic that is why he remains in opposition and will be there as long as he chooses to be in government.

The fact of the matter is that we are--

Madam Speaker: Order, please.

Mr. Steve Ashton (Opposition House Leader): On a point of order, Madam Speaker, I would like to call to your attention two breaches of Beauchesne. One is in terms of the fact that the First Minister is clearly violating Beauchesne Citation 417 and that answers to questions should be as brief as possible, deal with the matter raised and not provoke debate.

Clearly, Madam Speaker, the Premier is doing anything but answering the question.

Also, I point to Beauchesne Citation 489 that the term "cheap political way," which is very similar to the term that the First Minister just used, is clearly unparliamentary and rather than allow the First Minister to continue with these kinds of personality attacks and insults, I would like to ask you to call him to order and answer a very serious question--about SmartHealth and the new sale of SmartHealth from the Royal Bank to a company established by Ross Perot--that is clearly in the public interest. Madam Speaker, the First Minister should answer that question.

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

Mr. Filmon: On the same point of order. Clearly, Madam Speaker, what the opposition House leader is doing is making my case for me because he is referring to cheap, personal attacks, and that is exactly what this individual was doing when he was talking about Ross Perot, a person who is not here to defend himself. Clearly, he is making the case that his own Leader in his preamble was attempting to play cheap politics with the issue as opposed to dealing with the substance of the issue. If the member opposite wants to deal with the substance of the issue, let him do so in a gentlemanly fashion.

Madam Speaker: The honourable Leader of the official opposition, on the same point of order.

Mr. Doer: On the same point of order, we are not dealing with the thin skin of the Premier. I asked the question of whether he consulted with the stakeholders. Simple question: Did you, yes or no, before you approved the sale? That is all I asked, and I would ask the Speaker to get control over this thin-skinned Premier to start answering in a substantive way.

Madam Speaker: Order, please. I would remind all honourable members to pick and choose their words carefully. The Chamber is not a place for personal insults or name-calling.

Madam Speaker: The honourable First Minister, to quickly complete his response.

Mr. Filmon: Madam Speaker, the point of the matter is that the member opposite is in error in his preamble when he refers to a company that will have access to the private health records of Manitobans. They will not have access to the private health records of Manitobans. They will in fact control and prevent unauthorized access to the private health records of Manitobans. In fact, that is exactly how these companies work, and this company, in particular, controls the information for Scotland Yard and prevents any unauthorized access to all the information that will be there for the protection of Manitobans.

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Mr. Doer: The Premier did not answer the question. I asked him whether he consulted with the stakeholders here in Manitoba, you know, those made-in-Manitoba stakeholders that are here in this province dealing with our health care records, our patient records. I asked the Premier whether you consulted with the MMA, the College of Physicians and Surgeons, nurses, and he did not answer the question. I do not know why he cannot answer any questions in a simple way.

I would like to ask the Premier again: Is it not appropriate that the government, who has a group of stakeholders to deal with this formerly made-in-Manitoba company which is now changed, does it not make sense for the government itself to consult with the people that are working on the front lines of this information that are the stakeholders? Did the government consult with them? If they did not, why did they not on behalf of Manitobans? Why are you so afraid to answer the question?

Mr. Filmon: Madam Speaker, the stakeholder groups have been consulted throughout the process about the design of the system that will ensure that all of the handling of the private information of Manitoba Health will be done in accordance with the act that is being passed in this Legislature. This Legislature, through its act, will control the protection of any information. This is a company contracted to design the system that will assure that protection.

I might say, Madam Speaker, that, from the narrow perspective of the Leader of the Opposition who, in his desire to be able to criticize anything that is done by this government, he ignores the fact that my colleague Premiers across western Canada, including one of New Democratic persuasion, acknowledge the leadership that Manitoba has in this field of being able to for the first time ever produce a system that will not only protect the information--instead of the private information of Manitobans on health care, unlike the new dumpster party that allowed, under their jurisdiction, records to be thrown into wastebaskets and waste bins, floating around the streets of Winnipeg for anyone to see. That is what they did with health records in Manitoba. That will not happen, because we will protect it adequately.

Mr. Gary Doer (Leader of the Opposition): Madam Speaker, at least we are proud to put our name of our political party on our party signs, unlike the members opposite who have to hide it--not that that is in order, of course. I guess the Premier is having another tough week, and he is getting more thin-skinned as he goes along.

The Manitoba Medical Association, which has been dealing with the government, said they will not co-operate with the provincial government in dealing with confidential patient records unless the government provides for a privacy commissioner to deal in a full and forthright way with the whole issue of privacy here in Manitoba. Will the Premier be listening to doctors who are calling on a much stronger piece of legislation with the privacy commissioner, or is he going to carry on in the way he has in the past, contrary to the advice of doctors here in Manitoba?

Hon. Gary Filmon (Premier): Madam Speaker, we will listen to all Manitobans when we make our decision. Indeed, the bill that we have before the Legislature will be the subject--presuming that it is able to go to committee stage--of an open public hearing process in which all Manitobans will be allowed to present their views and their concerns.

Madam Speaker, the member opposite seems to believe that it is more important to listen to the bargaining agents for the doctors than it is to listen to their professional body. That is why the College of Physicians and Surgeons are involved as stakeholders in the development of this entire process, including the legislation, to protect the interests of all Manitobans in their health care records.

Mr. Dave Chomiak (Kildonan): Madam Speaker, with respect to this deal, the Premier is wrong on two counts. Firstly, SmartHealth, now the new firm, the new 51 percent base firm, will have access to confidential information. It is in the contract. The Premier ought to read the contract. Secondly, the Premier did not consult with stakeholders before agreeing in this contract, including the college, before agreeing to sell and allow the sale which the province had the power to quash before doing that.

I would like the Minister of Health to explain how it is that somehow along the way to never-never land with this new contract, that is way behind schedule, has delivered nothing in terms of the contract and the deliverables--and we are paying a hundred million dollars of taxpayer money to put our records on file--what the justification was to sell for $50 million the SmartHealth portion to this new Ross Perot-based originally founded firm.

Hon. Darren Praznik (Minister of Health): Madam Speaker, I have never heard so much false information, so much fearmongering, so many inaccuracies from the member for Kildonan. I would need 15 minutes to correct all of the errors in the member's statement. The fundamental point here is Manitoba wants to move forward to have one of the best information systems in the world and members opposite do not want that.

Madam Speaker, we have an excellent contract in place with SmartHealth. The ownership of SmartHealth has changed. We have done our due diligence to make sure that the contract will in fact remain in place, that all aspects of it remain in place, and we were comfortable that it is in fact the case. So all the protections that have been there--and what is the criticism? What are the criticisms of the New Democratic Party? They pull names like Ross Perot. If we talked about cakes, I am sure they would invoke Betty Crocker. The bottom line is we have some of the best information people in the world working here in Manitoba to bring us into the next century and the dinosaurs across the way want to go backward.

Madam Speaker: The honourable member for Kildonan, with a supplementary question.

Mr. Chomiak: Madam Speaker, will the minister, whose government said the same thing about Connie Curran, whose government said the same thing about Holiday Haven, whose government said the same thing about not lying about MTS, explain to the members of this House why, on the way to this hundred-million-dollar deal with Royal Bank--Royal Bank was supposed to have the expertise, Royal Bank was supposed to have the technology, Royal Bank was supposed to deliver the contract. They have not, and now they have been forced to sell 51 percent of their company to EDS, an international-managed health care firm. Why did that happen? Is it because they have not been able to deliver the contract? Is that not the truth?

Mr. Praznik: Madam Speaker, that is not the truth at all. The fact is, in the context of--beginning, the Royal Bank is one of the best in the country. They have now a strategic alliance with another which is in the top category of information systems.

Some Honourable Members: Oh, oh.

Mr. Praznik: Madam Speaker, you know, the members laugh, but we have listened to their questions. We have listened to the member for Osborne (Ms. McGifford), and what underlies everything they say is not the detail, but they are opposed to moving forward into the electronic age in health information.

Madam Speaker, I ask them to look at the gallery, to those young children, because they look down on us. They are learning computers; the information that they use is in computers. They are going to be in the next century. They are leaving members opposite--

Some Honourable Members: Oh, oh.

Madam Speaker: Order, please.

Mr. Chomiak: Madam Speaker, can the Minister of Health explain to the average Manitoban who will be sitting at home tonight watching this in Question Period, or this afternoon, how it is the province would pay--[interjection]

Maybe the Premier (Mr. Filmon) would like to answer a question, if he wants to. Can the minister explain how the average Manitoba--how can he explain to them how this government would sign a hundred-million-dollar contract with Royal Bank and promise that they are a Manitoba-based company with Manitoba technology and that they are going to deliver--they have not delivered anything to this point, well after the contract--how they now allow that contract to be sold, the majority interest to a U.S.-based health management firm and how they explain the fact they did not consult about the information or the contract with the very stakeholders that are supposed to protect that information? They have not answered one of those questions yet, because they cannot because it is a lousy deal. They knew it from the beginning, and they know it now, and they cannot defend it.

Mr. Praznik: Madam Speaker, I am going to put this in very realistic terms for members opposite. I am going to put it in personal terms. When my daughter was two years old and was admitted into the Health Sciences Centre and had to have blood extracted from her for a test in the emergency admitting, with a big needle for a little two-year-old girl with a small arm, three hours later when we went up to put her into a room, a bed up in the Children's Hospital, and the nurse walked in to draw blood from a terrified little child again, and I said, she already had a test, she said, I am sorry, the information is not here.

Can members opposite explain to that two-year-old, that frightened two-year-old, why that information was not up in the nursing station? Can they explain why that has not happened? No. That is real terms; that is real people. We are going to move forward despite them.

Ms. MaryAnn Mihychuk (St. James): Madam Speaker, repeatedly this government has expanded gambling in the province while disregarding the views of the public. Even the Desjardins report has been put aside so that the Minister of Finance can act on his own. While the appointment of the Gaming Control Commission in February suggested the government might actually listen and halt expansion, the Minister of Finance on his own last month committed to expanding the bingo palaces by $50 million, closing the Crystal Casino and making other significant policy changes such as putting alcohol in the casinos.

My question to the minister responsible for the so-called Manitoba Gaming Commission: Since the major policy decisions are made by the Minister of Finance, why does the Gaming Commission need a hundred-thousand-dollar CEO and a $60,000 special assistant coming from one of the minister's offices to help the Gaming Control Commission which has not met since February? Never met.

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Hon. Eric Stefanson (Minister charged with the administration of The Manitoba Lotteries Corporation Act): Madam Speaker, I encourage the member for St. James to read all of the background information on all of these issues, to go back to the Desjardins report and look at what they recommended. They recommended the establishment of the independent Gaming Commission. We are acting on that initiative. They made recommendations relative to VLTs. We have taken action in terms of a removal of some 650 VLTs or 15 percent of the VLTs across Manitoba. They recommended that we do an independent feasibility study of the Crystal Casino and the consolidation issue of casinos in Winnipeg. That has been done, and we have acted on those recommendations.

What we have said all along is there are bodies that provide advice, do research, make recommendations to government, but at the end of the day, Madam Speaker, governments are held accountable. We are prepared to be held accountable for the decisions that we make on behalf of all Manitobans.

Ms. MaryAnn Mihychuk (St. James): Madam Speaker, my question to the minister responsible for the Manitoba Gaming Commission: Was he correct when he said on CJOB that they will be setting policies, or is it the Minister of Finance that is going to set the policies on gaming?

Hon. Mike Radcliffe (Minister responsible for The Gaming Control Act): Madam Speaker, I thank my honourable colleague across the way for that question, because that gives me the opportunity to explain to her, as she obviously was not listening to the broadcast yesterday on CBC, that there is a difference, a world of difference between the operation side, which is the Lotteries Corporation, which handles the day-to-day management and operation of the gaming function in Manitoba, and the policy management which will be the Gaming Commission. They will be--[interjection] I would beg indulgence of the honourable colleague for Thompson (Mr. Ashton) to let me finish my answer.

I would say, Madam Speaker, that the Gaming Commission is charged with the function under the Desjardins report to set policy, to be an adjudicator of disputes, to be the license authority and the regulatory authority for employees, for games and for licensing. If my honourable colleague across the way needs any further elucidation, I would be glad to give it to her in this Chamber today.

Ms. Mihychuk: Madam Speaker, if this government hopes to have any integrity, the Minister responsible for the Gaming Control Commission--

Madam Speaker: Question, please.

Ms. Mihychuk: My question to the Minister responsible for the Gaming Control Commission: If he is to have any credibility and if the people of Manitoba are to believe you that this is an independent commission to oversee gaming policies, refer the recommendations from the Price Waterhouse report to that commission and allow public review and an open consultation on those policy matters.

Mr. Radcliffe: The world has to keep turning, and the Lotteries Corporation has to keep functioning. Decisions have to be made. We cannot grind government and government functions to a standstill as my honourable colleague across the way would suggest. There will be a plethora of problems that the Gaming Commission will be glad to assume, and I have the greatest confidence in the expertise of the Gaming Commission, of the staff that is being hired, and they will not be bereft of tasks to do. So, Madam Speaker, it has been very appropriate that the management of the Lotteries Corporation has been functioning and carrying on in an appropriate fashion and a consultative fashion. The people of Manitoba will be well served by the steps that have been taken to date, as they will by the work of the Gaming Commission that we can look forward to anticipating.

Mr. Daryl Reid (Transcona): Madam Speaker, in Judge Minuk's inquest report on Andrew Kuryk and the Canadian Corrosion Control company, it was made clear that the company had a long history of violations of The Workplace Safety and Health Act. In response to my questions about Canadian Corrosion Control, the Minister of Labour has stated four times in this House that the stop-work warning issued to Canadian Corrosion Control in 1991 was complied with. Yet the chronological sequence of events attached to the inquest--of which I have a copy here--clearly indicates that that 1991 stop-work warning was not complied with by the company owners because they said they were a small company and did not have the money necessary to provide the safety equipment for their workers.

I want to ask the Minister of Labour: Who is telling the truth in this matter, the Minister of Labour, who says that the company immediately complied with the stop-work warning, or Judge Minuk who said that the company did not? Who is telling the truth?

Hon. Harold Gilleshammer (Minister of Labour): Madam Speaker, I certainly would not accept the comments made by my honourable friend. My staff have informed me that improvement orders were put in place on the company and these were complied with. Also, that a stop-work warning was put in place and that this was complied with.

Mr. Daryl Reid (Transcona): Madam Speaker, then I will table a copy of Appendix F of the Canadian Corrosion chronological report that was appendixed to Judge Minuk's report, and I will table that, showing that the order was not complied with.

I want to ask the minister: What direction did this Minister of Labour send, what direction did his department send to the Department of Justice, who prosecutes in these matters, with respect to the Canadian Corrosion Control fatality when Andrew Kuryk was killed as a result of a workplace accident? What recommendations did his department send to Justice with regard to the prosecution of the company and the owners?

Hon. Harold Gilleshammer (Minister of Labour): Madam Speaker, my department compiled the facts and all of the issues to do with this case and forwarded it to the Department of Justice, indicating that they recommended a prosecution.

Mr. Daryl Reid (Transcona): Madam Speaker, then I want to ask the Minister of Labour, who did not answer that second question, because he did not talk about the owners being named in that prosecution as well. We know the charges were stayed against the company, so no one has been charged as a result of this accident.

Will this minister--since there had been 27 Workers Compensation claims for deaths last year alone--agree to recommend that company owners be prosecuted, in addition to naming the companies, when they make recommendations to the Department of Justice for prosecution in these matters?

Hon. Vic Toews (Minister of Justice and Attorney General): Madam Speaker, I think that there is a close working relationship between the staff at Workplace Safety and Health and the departmental people in my department, the Prosecutions branch. The cases that are sent over by Workplace Safety and Health are, from my experience, done in a very thorough way. I believe the Department of Justice responds in a similarly thorough manner, determining what are the appropriate charges, and if appropriate charges are there and it is in the public interest to do so, as they must make that determination, those charges are laid.

Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Inkster): Madam Speaker, when the government moved toward SmartHealth, the Liberal Party actually applauded the government on its action with respect to moving toward the future. When I met with representatives from SmartHealth, there was a great deal of optimism in the sense that Manitoba was going to have the head office. Manitoba was going to be on the leading edge of providing this sort of technology which would transpire into many jobs for the province.

My question to the Minister of Health is: Given that we have seen the sale of SmartHealth, a significant percentage of shares, will Manitoba still see those benefits, such as the head office remain in the province of Manitoba?

Hon. Darren Praznik (Minister of Health): Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Inkster for this question. The contract is in place exactly as it was yesterday with that organization. The only difference is there has been a change in its ownership. [interjection]

Well, members opposite laugh, but any first-year contract student would understand that, but that may be asking too much from members opposite. I know in the Free Press article there was some reference to the head office being here for another three and a half months. That was incorrect; it was three and a half years, which is the life of the contract. Their intention of course is, with the experience they garner in Manitoba with how they build an information system, one of the best in the world, they are hoping that becomes a product that is sold around the world--not the information, but the system.

Members opposite in the New Democratic Party do not understand it. I know the member for Inkster does.

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Mr. Lamoureux: Madam Speaker, I would seek the assurances then from the government that this sale will have no impact on the promises and the types of guarantees that were in fact being committed. Even when the contract expires, when I had raised the issue with SmartHealth, they said that they had anticipated that Manitoba was in fact going to lead throughout not only Canada but in North America. Does this minister still feel as confident today as the Minister of Health no doubt would have felt back when this was initially signed?

Mr. Praznik: The member for Inkster, I think, in his question, demonstrates a very in-depth knowledge of what this is about. [interjection]

Members laugh in the New Democratic Party, but they could learn a few things from the member for Inkster about this particular matter. The guarantees and promises, I have said, remain intact today, as they were yesterday and as they have been in the past. In fact, I would suspect that, given the involvement of MDS and their greater experience in this area as a company, the Royal Bank taking their experience in finance and moving into new markets, I am even more hopeful today that we will see the realization of those provinces in even a greater way, even greater benefit for the people of Manitoba.

Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Inkster): I am wondering if the minister can indicate when he first learned about the sale and if in fact he has met with representatives from EDS.

Hon. Darren Praznik (Minister of Health): I do not recall the exact date. It was some weeks ago that the SmartHealth people, with Royal Bank representatives and representatives of EDS, met with myself and some others and indicated that this purchase was in the works. We conducted, through Treasury Board and Finance, our due diligence to make sure that we were in fact--all elements of our contract remain the same. That has been done, and I have met with them since, as they have concluded their arrangement. I can tell the honourable member, given their world experience, given the fact that they employ some 2,800 Canadians in their Canadian operation, given the fact that we are in a world that is moving very quickly in information technology that the member for Concordia (Mr. Doer) escapes--he will have us going back to slates and chalk, I am sure, if he ever is in government.

I am very comfortable that we are going to be and are on the leading edge of information technology in this area, and Manitobans are going to be extremely well served. My little daughter and other little children like her will not have to have two blood tests unnecessarily as long as this party is in power. The New Democrats, we cannot guarantee that.

Mr. Leonard Evans (Brandon East): I have a question for the Minister of Health. The status of the Brandon General Hospital as a regional hospital is being undermined by the loss of many specialists available in Brandon. We have lost obstetricians, pediatricians and urologists. We no longer have a dermatologist, and we now have only one part-time ophthalmologist and one part-time nose, ear and throat specialist.

Will the minister undertake to assist the Brandon General Hospital in finding the required medical staff to enable the Brandon General Hospital to continue to be a meaningful regional health facility in western Manitoba in the future?

Hon. Darren Praznik (Minister of Health): I thank the member for that question. I know the former Minister of Health and member for Brandon West (Mr. McCrae) is also very much concerned about this issue. I know that the chair and CEO of the Brandon Regional Hospital Authority were attempting to arrange a meeting to look at some options for recruitment of specialists there, but I can assure him it is our intention, to the best of our ability, as it is that board, to see Brandon be a truly regional centre.

In fact, in establishing the Brandon Regional Hospital Authority, we provide for appointments, cross-appointments to the two neighbouring rural regional health authorities, recognizing that the Brandon hospital has, I believe, at least an expanding role to play. But there is a great deal of work that has to be done in recruiting specialists, and that is a very complex issue, as the member knows, but I thank him for his question, and we make that commitment.

Mr. Leonard Evans: I thank the minister for his answer. So he is telling us today that he is going to take whatever steps are necessary to correct the situation because the hospital needs four obstetricians; it only has two. It needs four pediatricians; it only has two. It used to have two neurologists; it only has one part-time neurologist now. It used to have two urologists; it now has only one. We have lost the eye, ear, nose and throat specialist; we only have one part time. There is no dermatologist anymore. We have lost the ophthalmologist; there is only one part time. So it is a serious situation. I ask the minister if he would do everything possible in his power to correct the situation.

Mr. Praznik: The recruitment of physicians and specialists is a very complex area because it is not a matter of just willing it. Often it is not even a question of money, but there are a host of factors involved, and it involves a strategy. The member well knows we have difficulty in hosts of areas around Manitoba in recruiting necessary medical staff, but whatever we are able to do that is reasonable, we certainly intend to do in concert with the Brandon Regional Health Authority.

Mr. Leonard Evans (Brandon East): Madam Speaker, further to my previous question on the loss of emergency services at the Brandon General Hospital as of June 30, can the minister tell me today whether he will or can guarantee that the Brandon General Hospital will have sufficient funds provided to ensure that the emergency services will be available beyond June 30 on a 24-hour, seven-day-per-week basis?

Hon. Darren Praznik (Minister of Health): As the member may or may not be aware, we have a very serious issue in emergency services today across rural and northern Manitoba. We have a number of communities, including Beausejour, Steinbach and I believe Winkler, where services have already been withdrawn.

Madam Speaker, there are a host of ad hoc arrangements that have been made with a host of boards by their former boards. In taking over with the regional health authorities, we discover these things. So what we are attempting to do, as I have outlined in this House before, we did set up a 90-day process with the MMA, the college, the regional health authorities, and we are working toward that June 30 deadline with a proposal that should provide a means of solving, we think, the emergency situation on a province-wide basis. Brandon is one part of that province wide, and we recognize the importance of June 30. We are working toward that deadline now. As I have said, the parties, all parties have been at the table working very diligently through the variety of options that are available to us.

Mr. Tim Sale (Crescentwood): Madam Speaker, for the Minister of Rural Development. The Teulon Grow Bond corporation has indicated that it is prepared to pay out interest arrears that have been owing for some time, but they are saying to bondholders, according to a document received by them all, that they will only pay out interest arrears to those who agree to renew their bonds for another five-year term.

Madam Speaker, has the Minister of Rural Development approved this arrangement of creating, after the fact, a separate class of bondholders, namely, only those who will agree to extend the term of their bond will get the interest they were entitled to by the prospectus? Has he approved of this arrangement?

Hon. Leonard Derkach (Minister of Rural Development): Madam Speaker, that, I believe, is a proposal that has been sent to the bondholders by the company. That is not something that comes to my desk for approval, but indeed, as the members knows, there have been arrangements that have been negotiated back and forth between the bondholders and the Teulon company in the spirit of trying to keep the company viable and also in attempting to ensure that the jobs and that the company continues to operate in Teulon. However, it is up to the bond corporation and the bondholders to either accept or reject that proposal, and that relationship is one that we do not interfere in. However, if there is a problem, there is a regulation and legislation that we will comply with to ensure that no bondholder is left out there, but the member must understand that the interest on bonds is not a guarantee from the province or from the corporation.

Mr. Sale: Madam Speaker, I will table the document I referred to.

I would like to ask the minister whether he does not consider that in effect the Grow Bond corporation has reached back into the original prospectus and has changed the classification of the bonds so that only those who agree to a 10-year bond will have the right to have back interest paid. I would like to ask the minister if he would refer this to his legal counsel to see whether the corporation is acting properly under his act, The Grow Bond Act, and under the attendant regulations by creating two classes of bondholders, which are not provided for in the prospectus.

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Mr. Derkach: Madam Speaker, indeed my department staff do work with not only the company but also with the Grow Bond corporation, and any agreement that is put in place will not only have to be agreed to by the bondholders and by the corporation, but indeed we will try to ensure that all of the legal aspects of the agreement are in place so that the company can continue and will be in compliance with the legislation and the regulations that are set.

Ms. Rosann Wowchuk (Swan River): Madam Speaker, during the federal election we heard all kinds of promises of money for farmers who were affected by the flood. Farmers were to receive payments for unseeded acreages. I am very pleased that farmers have been able to seed and very few will have to collect payments, but there are still many farmers who have not seeded and who have been misled by the federal government. In fact, the program that we are seeing now is completely different and has nothing to do with unseeded acreages.

I want to ask the Minister of Agriculture why his government was unable to negotiate a long-term agreement with the federal government on farm assistance so that all farmers who suffer disasters are offered assistance, not just promises during federal elections.

Hon. Harry Enns (Minister of Agriculture): Madam Speaker, I believe the honourable member for Swan River is aware of the fact that one of the reasons why so much attention is being paid to the development and improvement of what we refer to as our safety net programs--in Manitoba essentially it is the crop insurance, the basic crop insurance program that was considerably enhanced in the last year--because the opportunity or the likelihood of ad hoc support programs in the future simply are not going to be there. That is why I want to take this opportunity to encourage producers throughout Manitoba to take advantage of the crop insurance program that is being offered, which includes and continues to include a program for unseeded acreage. For those farmers--and I understand there could be some in her district this year who for different reasons find themselves unable to put in a crop--they should avail themselves of the program of assistance that is available under crop insurance.

Ms. Wowchuk: Madam Speaker, since the federal government was so generous during the election and made $10 million available for assistance to farmers, and it has not been used and in all likelihood will not be used, what steps will the Minister of Agriculture take to ensure that that is in fact allocated to Manitoba farmers for safety net programs, as he indicates are very important to the producers of this province?

Mr. Enns: Madam Speaker, I must correct the honourable member. If indeed the federal government, for whatever reason, because of the election or whatever, felt the need to provide this assistance to farmers, it was the assistance of this government that that be provided to all farmers, including those on the upper Assiniboine in the Swan River. They have steadfastly refused to do that, and that was the reason why the government of Manitoba could not, in fairness to all farmers, participate in this program. I welcome, invite, particularly those farmers who feel that they ought to avail themselves of some of the federal government's support, feel free to contact the federal government, feel free to call Mr. Iftody, for instance, in the Red River Valley and ascertain for themselves what kind of support is available.

Madam Speaker: Time for Oral Questions has expired.