Mr. Steve Ashton (Thompson): Madam Speaker, this being the first members' statement of this session and being on the anniversary of the sale of the Manitoba Telephone System, a day that we will never forget as we stood in the back of this Chamber and did not vote on what we consider an absolutely illegitimate process in this House, I would like to use the rest of my members' statement as a moment of silence to express our concerns in our caucus about the death of democracy last year, November 28.

Mr. Mervin Tweed (Turtle Mountain): Madam Speaker, this past summer the city of Brandon and surrounding area did the province of Manitoba proud by hosting the 1997 Canada Summer Games. Many of us had the opportunity to see first-hand the excitement and quality of the sporting events, and after two weeks of tremendous effort by the hundreds of athletes and thousands of volunteers, the province of Manitoba is left with a strong sporting legacy.

Pelican Lake at Ninette was host to the sailing competition from August 10 to 15 and the enthusiastic crowds that gathered to watch the sailing were left with much more than memories. Thanks to the co-operation between community, local and provincial governments, Pelican Lake has been left with a world-class facility. The new facilities are a far cry from the modest beginnings of the Pelican Lake yacht clubhouse. Now the community has a quarter-mile sand beach, a 400-foot breakwater, a 24-foot docking facility, a cement launch pad for boats, and a revitalized modern clubhouse.

I had the opportunity to speak to a number of tourists and residents during the week-long event and the consensus was clear. Pelican Lake and area are destined to be a site for many more boating events. These events bring with them tourists, tourist dollars and, further, positive word of mouth of the province of Manitoba and particularly the Pelican Lake area.

My congratulations go to all community members who made the dream of a successful event a reality. Thank you to the many unsung heroes who worked behind the scenes since last fall preparing Pelican Lake for this prestigious event. We appreciate the efforts.

Mr. Stan Struthers (Dauphin): Madam Speaker, I would like to make a member's statement.

This spring Manitobans were faced with a major challenge in the flood of the century. Many Manitobans did a wonderful job of coming together and co-operating and working hard to protect their neighbours and to protect their homes and to protect their lives and their memories and everything that they have held dear for centuries in Manitoba. They were faced with a tremendous natural disaster. This natural disaster, Madam Speaker, was compounded by the heartless, uncompassionate performance of this government, heartless, uncompassionate statements by the Premier (Mr. Filmon), who today I was disappointed in when he refused to apologize or withdraw those statements at all.

The people in the Red River Valley need our help. They do not need to be singled out and blamed for their own predicaments. This government must, through some type of decency, find the decency within themselves to treat these people in a humane way. The only time this government ever did anything for the people of the Red River who are affected by these floods was when we on this side of the House pushed and pushed and pushed to get this government to do something for these people in the Red River. That is the only time this government even paid any attention to the people who are victims of this flood. The Manitoba government should be ashamed of the way it has approached these people in the Red River, and the Manitoba government needs to get its head screwed on right so that it can deal with these people in a fair, equitable way, instead of being smug and arrogant about the problems faced by fellow Manitobans. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Mr. Tim Sale (Crescentwood): Madam Speaker, a year ago in this House we had the shameful spectacle of the opposition silenced while the rules were broken and a Crown corporation was wrested away from Manitobans against their will and against the promises of a Premier (Mr. Filmon) who is a stranger to the truth on many issues in regard to the Manitoba Telephone System. The Premier indicated that Manitobans would get the full benefit of the tax ruling that he trumpeted as a way of keeping rates down. He will not now acknowledge that before the CRTC, the Manitoba Telephone System is claiming a very major portion of that tax benefit as a return to their shareholders in order to justify a 12.75 percent rate of return that they are requesting. He made those statements on May 2 and May 8. He made those statements on October 31, 1996. On May 2 and May 8, he said that privatization would have no impact on rates.

Madam Speaker, even if Saskatchewan's telephone company receives the increases that it has applied for and have not been approved by the Saskatchewan government, even if that happened, our phone rates would still be 33 percent higher in the city of Winnipeg and in rural Manitoba than under Saskatchewan telephone corporation. Those rates are well established in all of the documents that have been tabled.

This same telephone company that is supposed to serve rural and remote ratepayers has applied for a new rate group E, a rate group that would see northern and remote and rural, southern Manitoba, rural rates jacked by as much as three times their current level. That request is before the CRTC, and this Premier and this government would not appear as other governments have appeared in opposition to the kinds of rate increases that have been requested. This government should hang its head in shame for misleading Manitobans in regard to rate increases, misleading them in regard to the advanced tax ruling, misleading them in regard to the affordability of rural and remote phones.

Mr. Ben Sveinson (La Verendrye): Madam Speaker, I would like to comment briefly on the the success of Manitobans as they unselfishly worked to save their neighbours, their friends and complete strangers that share a love for this province. We all worked together to help alleviate the hardships of the people of Manitoba during the flood of 1997.

I saw first-hand the levels of water that we had to fight that arose through an act of nature. Let us count our blessings that we do not have the extent of damage to our province as Grand Forks did in losing their entire downtown to flood and fire. Although we knew the flood was coming our direction, we still felt their sorrow and unselfishly helped them in physical, emotional and fiscal ways.

We are very fortunate that there were no lives lost directly to the flood in Manitoba. Through the efforts of all levels of government, the military, families, businesses, church groups and many more quickly established organizations. We were able to protect our No. 1 concern, which was the lives of our Manitoba families. We look at the flooding in Germany this summer. They were not as fortunate as Manitobans as they lost many lives. Because everyone pulled together to work around the clock, we were able to successfully protect the lives of people in the flood area, which was our paramount concern.

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Let us hope that we never have to endure such a natural disaster again. However, let us also take heart in the knowledge that Manitobans can come together in a time of crisis. Thank you.