LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA
Tuesday, June 7, 2016
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.
Please be seated.
Madam Speaker: Introduction of bills? Committee reports? Tabling of reports?
Madam Speaker: The required 90 minutes' notice prior to routine proceedings was provided in accordance with rule 26(2).
So would the honourable Minister for Sport, Culture and Heritage please proceed with her statement.
Hon. Rochelle Squires (Minister of Sport, Culture and Heritage): Madam Speaker, it gives me great pleasure as the Minister of Sport, Culture and Heritage to rise before the House to recognize the Manitobans who are members of Team Canada men's volleyball that have qualified this past weekend to compete at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro this summer.
Today we recognize Manitoba athletes Toon van Lankvelt, Justin Duff, along with Manitoba assistant coach Larry McKay. Manitoba now has the honour of having these two athletes, along with assistant coach Larry McKay, with Team Canada volleyball representing our great province at the Summer Olympics.
Manitobans should be proud of these world-class athletes that will represent our country at the two‑week Olympic event in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on August 5th to the 21st, 2016. Many athletes participate in sport in Manitoba and across Canada, but only a select few have the opportunity to compete at sport's highest level. There is great dedication, sacrifice, many hours of intense training and a lot of hard work to get to this level.
It also requires patience, as it has been 24 years since the Canadian men's volleyball team qualified for the Olympics.
Madam Speaker, Manitoba is proud of our sports delivery system which develops many well-respected, high‑performance athletes. These sports and the athletes that excel in them provide role models that encourage and motivate participation of young people at the grassroots level.
I ask all members to join me in recognizing the achievement of these fine Manitobans and in extending our best wishes as they prepare to compete this summer. Manitoba will be watching and cheering them on.
Mr. Tom Lindsey (Flin Flon): Madam Speaker, I'd like to congratulate the Canadian men's national volleyball team on the recent qualification for the Rio Summer Olympics.
Special congratulations to the two Manitoba members, Dustin Schneider of Brandon and Justin Duff of Winnipeg.
While not all Manitoba athletes will get the chance to participate in an event as big as the Olympics, being involved in sport at any level can have tremendous influence, especially on young people. We have always believed in the importance of supporting sport and recreation opportunities across Manitoba, especially in northern, rural and inner-city communities.
In many of our northern communities, young people feel like there are no opportunities for them in the places that they live. Support for local sport recreation programming is a positive way that people can be active, engaged in their communities.
For example, Madam Speaker, just last year, two young people from Hapnot Collegiate in Flin Flon competed in the Juvenile Canadian National Wrestling Championships. Both of them placed silver in their categories.
Whether young athletes make it to the Olympics or not, they still learn the importance of co‑operation, teamwork, building leadership skills and get the chance to be part of something bigger than themselves.
That's why in a city like Flin Flon needs funding for its aging infrastructure such as pools. I hope the new government will continue to provide funding for local sport and community organizations–
Madam Speaker: The member's time has expired.
Ms. Cindy Lamoureux (Burrows): Madam Speaker, I ask for leave to speak to the ministerial statement.
Madam Speaker: Does the member have leave? [Agreed]
Ms. Lamoureux: Madam Speaker, please allow me to begin by offering my sincere condolences to the family of a wonderful man, Senator Rod Zimmer.
Rod, which he always insisted we call him, was a great teacher and a friend to many of us. He worked hard for our province and helped people from all across Canada. He was an exceptional man, full of class.
I have known Rod my entire life. He even gave me my first job working on Parliament Hill.
There are many life lessons he taught me, but one I will never forget is–he used to say, we all put on our pants in the morning the same way. What he meant by this is that we are all human. And we must remain humble.
You will be missed, Rod.
In response to the ministerial statement, Madam Speaker, I rise today to speak about the excitement we are feeling as a nation as our Canadian men's volleyball team qualified for the Olympics for the first time since 1992.
It has been a 24-year wait but this past Sunday, Canadian men's volleyball beat China in five sets. This gives Canada a final spot at the Summer Games in Rio.
In order to compete with the best in the world, volleyball athletes need both world-class training as well as competition opportunities. It is a road of hard work for many people involved that make us Canadians very proud.
I would like to thank Volleyball Canada for the work they put in in preparing our athletes and ensuring they have the support and resources that they need.
I ask all members of this House to join me in congratulating head coach Glenn Hoag and our national men's indoor volleyball team for reaching this point in their journey–
Madam Speaker: The member's time has expired.
Mr. Len Isleifson (Brandon East): Madam Speaker, as we know, the Kiwanis Club of Brandon received its charter from Kiwanis International on February 7th, 1919, and was only the second club formed in Manitoba.
The bond of fellowship is cemented by the fundraisers used in the community to support a variety of community service projects.
For example, in 1919, the Kiwanis Club of Brandon built the largest cash register in the world. They mounted it on a truck and collected funds for the Kiwanis Thrift Stamp and war stamp savings drive. For many years the club sold baskets of apples, followed by cans of peanuts, door to door, to raise funds. It was a special time when you knew your neighbours and your neighbour was expecting you.
This past Saturday, on Rideau Street in Brandon East, one could witness their favourite young driver, age eight to 14, race their homemade 'kar' down a hilly street. This particular fundraiser started in 1986 and has grown to be a special event for adults, parents and grandparents alike.
Kar Kits are purchased by businesses and individuals and includes a first-year registration for one child. Trophies are presented to the winners and the runners-up in each age category and are awarded for the best design, most original and best decorated.
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It is a fun-filled day where you can visit the Kiwanis Kitchen to enjoy a hot dog, a smokie, a cold drink and other tasty goods.
Madam Speaker, funds raised from this event are used to support community projects such as the Learn Not to Burn program in conjunction with the Brandon Fire Department, also support for the school division's Food for Thought program, supporting the Helping Hands Soup Kitchen, the Westman Kiwanis Court and many more. Kiwanis's new centennial project is the design and construction of a new family picnic, wedding and event pavilion for Rideau Park.
I would like to acknowledge and have everyone join me today as we have in the gallery this year's representative of the Kiwanis Club of Brandon, Mr. Keith Scott, Mr. Ray Poole, as well as Kiwanis International Western Canada District Governor Sam Sekhon and Division 2 Lt. Governor Terry Sekhon, and thank the Kiwanis for the great work that they do for Brandon and all of Manitoba.
Thank you.
Mr. Ted Marcelino (Tyndall Park): Madam Speaker, this week many Manitobans are celebrating Philippine Heritage Week. This year's theme is Magkakaiba, Nagkakaisa: Embracing Diversity.
The Philippine Heritage Council of Manitoba has organized an incredible series of events around the theme of mutual respect and acceptance for all. The values they are promoting are a perfect fit for Manitoba. They include harmonious workspaces, multiculturalism and religious diversity.
The events happening around Winnipeg encourage the public to discover and appreciate Philippine traditions, customs and languages. Tonight there's a cultural exchange with the Panjab Foundation of Manitoba at the Philippine Canadian Centre of Manitoba. Tomorrow there's a language and culture appreciation night at Maples Collegiate.
Madam Speaker, the Filipino contribution to Manitoba is obvious. More people come to Manitoba from the Philippines than from anywhere else. Whether it's nursing, business or amazing food and music, there's no part of our province that Filipino culture is not connecting with. Manitoba's Filipino community is now over 60,000 strong, and their continuing contribution to our cultural diversity and economy is boundless.
Thank you to the Philippine Heritage Council of Manitoba and the Filipino community for an incredible celebration of Filipino heritage in Manitoba.
Mr. Greg Nesbitt (Riding Mountain): Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 317 Squadron of the Royal Canadian Air Cadets, which has been continuously operating in the community of Strathclair since 1943.
The Royal Canadian Air Cadets is a Canadian national youth program for persons aged 12 to 18. Under the authority of the National Defence Act, the program is administered by the Canadian Forces and funded through the Department of National Defence. Additional support is provided by the civilian Air Cadet League of Canada. Together with the Royal Canadian Sea Cadets and the Royal Canadian Army Cadets, it forms the largest federally funded youth program in the country. Cadets are not members of the military and are not obliged to join the Canadian Forces.
The first squadrons were established in 1941 to train young men for duties during World War II. The purpose has since changed to focus on citizenship, leadership, physical fitness, general aviation and stimulating an interest in the activities of the Canadian Forces.
The majority of cadet training takes place at the local squadron during the regular school year with a percentage of cadets selected for summer training courses at various cadet training centres located across Canada. Central to the air cadet program are the gliding and flying scholarships offered to air cadets who qualify. One in five private pilots in Canada is an ex-air cadet, and 67 per cent of commercial and airline pilots began as air cadets. There are 456 squadrons located across the country with an approximate enrolment of 23,000 young people.
Madam Speaker, I ask all members of the House to join me in paying tribute to all the volunteer instructors and air cadets who have been a part of 317 Squadron in Strathclair over the past 72 years.
Mr. Dennis Smook (La Verendrye): The summer season has arrived and with the summer weather Manitobans begin to light their barbecues and grill their favourite meats and vegetables. Cooking on the barbecue has always been one of my favourite parts of summer.
Having a great experience barbecuing can change to a very tragic event in a hurry. Each year there are hundreds of accidents related to barbecues. Around the world, tens of thousands of people are injured from burns, and a large number are killed as a result of barbecue-related incidents. We all say, ah, that will never happen to me. Well, it can. This past weekend it happened to me. I had a barbecue fire on my deck, destroying the barbecue, a number of planks of the deck, part of the railing and damaging my grandson's four-wheeler.
We are very lucky that we only experienced the damage we did. I keep my barbecue at the end of the deck, about 12 feet from the cabin. If the barbecue would've been three or four feet away from the cabin, we would probably not have a cabin today. There were some pretty scary moments as we watched the fire burn itself out.
I would just like to remind all members how serious a barbecue fire can be and to follow some of the simple barbecue safety tips that are out there. Summer is just beginning. So please be careful when you are barbecuing; these are things that can happen to you.
Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Hon. Jon Gerrard (River Heights): Madam Speaker, February 6, 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada said, in its Carter decision, that the section of the Criminal Code of Canada which prohibited physician-assisted death for competent adults suffering from grievous and irremediable medical conditions was unconstitutional. The Parliament of Canada was given until June the 6th, yesterday, to put in place new constitutionally accepted legislation.
As it may be some time before the legislation is passed, in the interim, it is important to have clarity for where and how physician-assisted death can occur. Quebec has passed legislation, but legislation, of course, can take some time. Alberta has proceeded with an alternative, a declaration from the Department of Justice and the Solicitor General, dealing with the investigation and prosecution of offences in relation to physician-assisted death, and I table this.
The Alberta directive deals with the fact that physician-assisted death requires the skills and collaboration of an interdisciplinary team of health‑care providers. The declaration says there is no reasonable likelihood of a conviction for charges against physicians or any member of the health-care team in aiding a physician with a physician-assisted death where it is done in compliance with the Supreme Court of Canada's guidance in its ruling in Carter 2015. The declaration also says that no prosecution will be commenced or continued against a physician or a member of the health-care team in a physician-assisted death that falls within the parameters described by the Supreme Court of Canada in Carter 2015.
This directive provides clarity to the situation in Alberta where physician-assisted death occurs. Manitoba should have similar clarity, and I call on our Attorney General (Mrs. Stefanson) to make a directive similar to Alberta's to provide that clarity.
Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Introduction of Guests
Madam Speaker: In the gallery today I am pleased to welcome members of the RCMP "D" Division who were earlier today inducted into the Order of the Buffalo Hunt for their exemplary conduct exhibited while recently deployed to Fort McMurray at the height of the terrible fire that shocked the world. Despite the unprecedented intensity of the fire, no lives were lost during the evacuation and aftermath. That is due in no small part to the outstanding work of emergency responders who risked their own lives in order to save the lives of thousands of their fellow Canadians.
On behalf of all honourable members here, we welcome all of you here today.
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Government Position
Ms. Flor Marcelino (Leader of the Official Opposition): Thank you, Madam Speaker, and we'd like to repeat your–our profuse thanks to the RCMP officers for their service each and every day to Canadians.
Madam Speaker, Manitobans are finding out what the Premier's agenda is really all about. When he is asked substantive questions he dismisses or ignores them. We have asked thoughtful questions about his lack of transparency and honesty, the lack of diversity in his Cabinet, the lack of diversity in the Treasury Board and board appointments, status of two schools in Brandon and many more.
We have concerning issues like his failure to raise minimum wage while the Premier and his ministers take a nearly 40 per cent pay raise, and we have serious questions to ask about the simply unexplainable position this Premier is taking by supporting the proposed sale of MTS to Bell.
Does the Premier not realize how heavy-handed he has become in such a brief period of time?
Hon. Brian Pallister (Premier): Well, quite the contrary. I thank my colleague for the question, Madam Speaker, and quite the contrary.
I am growing in my realization of how consultative and how strong I am as a believer in deliberative democracy that is open and transparent, with every passing day, and I'll continue to observe those [inaudible]
Thank you.
Madam Speaker: The honourable interim Official Opposition Leader, on a supplementary question.
Ms. Marcelino: The Premier has stated that he not only supports the sale of MTS to Bell, but that rates will go up and, quote, you get what you pay for, unquote.
A poll released just this morning shows again that Manitobans oppose this sale and, in fact, rural Manitobans don't believe that a takeover would improve rural high-speed Internet.
Why won't this Premier listen to Manitobans and oppose the sellout of MTS to Bell?
Mr. Pallister: Well, Madam Speaker, I understand the member's concerns, and I know that Manitobans are also concerned after years of paying more and getting less from the NDP.
They would expect to get more if they're paying more, and I think that improved service is something that many Manitobans have told us they want and they are excited about. In fact, with the new terminal–with the new towers going up and the ability to be able to actually access cellphone service in many parts of rural Manitoba, where it was not possible before, many Manitobans are tremendously excited about the prospect of actually entering into that opportunity for better service which they didn't get under the previous government where they continually were expected to pay more and get less.
Madam Speaker: The honourable interim Official Opposition Leader, on a final supplementary.
Ms. Marcelino: Madam Speaker, paying at least $40 a month extra is not exciting.
Madam Speaker, the poll clearly shows that Manitobans do agree with the Premier on one thing: Five times as many Manitobans believe that rates will go up rather than down. Manitobans don't believe Bell and the Premier that investments will be greater than under the–than under MTS, and for good reason: Bell has not committed to spend one single cent more than what MTS is already investing.
Why does the Premier refuse to listen to Manitobans and speak out against this sale that could lead to an increase of $40 a month or more? [interjection]
Madam Speaker: The honourable First Minister.
Mr. Pallister: I'm sorry, Madam Speaker. Thank you very much from–to my colleague for raising the issue of paying more and getting less yet again.
Of course, Manitoba families were forced, under the previous administration, to pay higher taxes on their benefits at work, and what did they get as a result? Poorer quality education in their schools. Manitoba seniors were forced to pay the highest increase in taxes on their dividends, and what did they get? Longer waits in health care from the previous administration.
Paying more and getting less was actually a theme of the previous government, and so I appreciate the member raising this question because it allows me to say that we're committed to helping Manitobans get more–get better services and get to keep more of their hard-earned money in their own homes and businesses so they can create better job opportunities and a stronger economy right here in Manitoba.
Madam Speaker: The honourable interim Official Opposition Leader, on a new question.
Impact on Manitobans
Ms. Flor Marcelino (Leader of the Official Opposition): Perhaps the Premier with his nearly 40 per cent pay raise can afford to pay more, but everyday Manitobans can't.
There's no other way to explain the Premier's approach to governing other than random: a budget with no fiscal projections, no affordability section, unsubstantiated talk of savings, no answers on what will be cut and when.
Will the Premier admit that it has become clear that his version of budget due diligence doesn't go beyond the notes he can write on the back of an envelope?
Hon. Brian Pallister (Premier): Well, I appreciate the member very much raising the issue of credibility and integrity. It allows me to remind the member opposite that she and her party sought election on a solemn vow to Manitobans that they would not raise taxes and proceeded to give Manitobans the highest tax hikes in modern Manitoba history and combined with that to give them the lowest health care, combined with that to give them the lowest quality education and combined with that to give them zero progress on dealing with poverty and children in care.
So Manitobans know which political organization causes them to pay more and get less and they know which political organization will give them better results, and that will be the PC Party of Manitoba as the new government of Manitoba, Madam Speaker.
Madam Speaker: The honourable interim Official Opposition Leader, on a supplementary question.
Ms. Marcelino: Madam Speaker, Manitobans will see in due time who really has raised taxes.
What is also clear is that whether it is on MTS or this budget, Manitobans are worse off under the Premier, this Premier. Just ask the many seniors who had the Premier claw back their tax credit or those who had their minimum wage frozen.
Why has this Premier become so out of touch and dismissive of everyday Manitobans?
Mr. Pallister: Well, Madam Speaker, I appreciate the member's question because it allows me to remind her that her members, all her candidates, walked, they knocked on the doors of homes in Manitoba, made a solemn promise they would not raise taxes and proceeded, within weeks, to jack up the PST on the insurance on those very homes by 7 per cent and then, a year later, by 8 per cent.
Now, that's disrespectful, Madam Speaker, to look at Manitobans, to look them right in the eye, make a solemn promise to them that you wouldn't raise the taxes and then within weeks to jack up the taxes on their home insurance. The very homes that the members walked to, knocked on the doors of, were the homes that were impacted. So right at the kitchen tables of Manitobans, there was money taken away by the very people who promised, solemn vow: Give me your vote; I promise I won't raise your taxes. And they did.
Those same people, Madam Speaker, were hit with many other taxes too: taxes on their car, on their beer, on their benefits at work, you name it, and then a PST hike on 1,000 other items. And that's why under the NDP Manitobans lost ground to other provinces where people are actually getting more money and paying lower taxes.
Madam Speaker: The honourable interim Official Opposition Leader, on a final supplementary.
Ms. Marcelino: Madam Speaker, if the 1 per cent PST increase is so detestable, why is the Premier keeping it?
The Premier's budget keeps virtually everything that the Premier opposed in opposition but claws back money from seniors, low-income Manitobans, and prepares the way for Harper-style cuts. The Premier gives himself a nearly 40 per cent raise and then trumpets giving people as little as a $16-a-year tax break.
Why has the Premier turned his back on everyday Manitobans?
Mr. Pallister: Well, I appreciate the member, and I thank the member, for raising the issue of trust because it is one, of course, that Manitobans concerned themselves with increasingly as their trust was broken by the previous administration in so many ways. So much money taken off the kitchen tables of Manitobans and given to the NDP Cabinet to spend, so much money hidden in secret contracts to pals, so much money given away in untendered contracts, so much money spent on self-promotional advertising campaigns promoting the government and so little spent on promoting Manitoba, Madam Speaker.
And what was the first measure they adopted when they got in after the election when they promised to look after Manitobans? A vote tax to give themselves a subsidy so they wouldn't even have to go out and ask those same Manitobans who they had broken the promises of, to ask them for support at the polls and to ask them to support with a donation because they knew the answer would be no, and now they know the answer was no and it'll continue to be no.
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Cellphone Rate Increase
Mr. Jim Maloway (Elmwood): My question is to the Premier.
On April 21st, just two days after the provincial election, executives from Bell and MTS met in Los Angeles to iron out the details of selling MTS to Bell. The deal will lead to increases in cellphone rates of $40 or more. It'll also result in a stunning payout of as much as $9 million to the current MTS CEO and nearly $65 million in fees to make the deal.
Why is this Premier (Mr. Pallister) not speaking out against this outrageous corporate greed at–that will be paid for by everyday Manitoba consumers?
Hon. Cliff Cullen (Minister of Growth, Enterprise and Trade): I appreciate the member's question and his new-found interest in business in Manitoba.
And I don't know why the members opposite are so negative in a $1-billion investment in Manitoba.
We will stand with people who want to invest in Manitoba. We will work with them in partnership to develop Manitoba. We are the party that will get things done, if they just get out of the road.
Madam Speaker: The honourable member for Elmwood, on a supplementary question.
Mr. Maloway: My supplementary to the Premier is the people don't believe this Premier on MTS. They don't agree that it'll lead to improved investments.
And, in fact, an Environics poll released today shows that the only thing that Manitobans agree on with the Premier is that rates are going to go up.
Why won't this Premier admit that his real agenda is to support lining the pockets of his PC insider friends?
Mr. Cullen: I do appreciate the question.
In respect to the poll that was released, 40 per cent of the respondents had actually no opinion on this particular sale.
Now, we feel that once Manitobans understand what's going on in this particular deal, they will realize the benefits, the benefits in terms of improved service, increased reliability, increased speed. We think Manitobans will buy into that sort of a deal when they recognize the terms of this deal and this over $1-billion investment in Manitoba.
Madam Speaker: The honourable member for Elmwood, on a final supplementary.
Mr. Maloway: Madam Speaker, my question to the Premier, of course, in–is that people are going to find out very soon that their rates are going to go up and their unlimited data plans are going to disappear. The rates are even going to be higher than that.
Madam Speaker, I would like to table today a copy of a letter that I have sent to the Competition Bureau opposing the deal with Bell and MTS.
And I'd like to ask the Premier, the sale of MTS to Bell will dramatically reduce competition. It'll increase rates by $40 a month or more and eliminate unlimited data plans. Independent research has shown that it will not lead to increased investments.
Why won't the Premier join with Manitobans to tell the Competition Bureau to stop the sale? Why–
Madam Speaker: The member's time has expired.
Mr. Cullen: It's interesting the member would send a letter to the Competition Bureau. We've had 17 years of untendered contracts with this government. They don't believe in competition at all.
And, Madam Speaker, in respect to the poll that was released today, 60 per cent of Manitobans believe that this proposal by Bell will actually provide better service to rural Manitobans. We certainly believe that Manitobans have the right to their opinion. And, certainly, Manitobans expressed their opinion on the poll on April 19th.
Public Disclosure
Mr. Andrew Swan (Minto): We learn more every day about the problems this Premier and his government have with transparency and accountability. We've seen this new government break a promise within just weeks of the election to send hydro development to an open and public hearing. This new government couldn't even get to budget day before we learned they'd broken their promise to reduce ambulance fees by 50 per cent.
Yesterday the Premier told reporters he won't provide a detailed breakdown of the $122 million in budget cuts they claim to have found, even though the Finance Minister had promised Manitobans that information would be released on budget day.
I believe the Premier's words yesterday were, well, he could, but he probably wouldn't have time for anything else.
I ask the Finance Minister: If that's what he thinks Manitobans want, shouldn't that be his priority?
Hon. Cameron Friesen (Minister of Finance): Madam Speaker, I appreciate the question from my colleague because it gives me the opportunity to talk once again about the budget that our government brought just a few short days ago here in the province of Manitoba, a budget that was brought only six weeks after the election in which Manitobans gave us an overwhelming mandate to lead the province. And they gave us a mandate to lead in the–in respect of reducing taxation, in terms of increasing the economy and funnelling the savings we achieve into front-line services.
That is real accountability, the fact that we brought that budget within six weeks. That is a clear example to Manitobans of our commitment to accountability.
Madam Speaker: The honourable member for Minto, on a supplementary question.
Mr. Swan: No, Madam Speaker, this new government's problems of transparency and accountability continue.
Just weeks ago the Finance Minister either could not or would not explain the size of the deficit, blaming it on the former government without evidence and relying on delaying the booking of money owed by the federal government to the province and the budget cuts that he still won't reveal.
The minister either will not or cannot explain his decision to omit annual forecasts, which have been contained in provincial budgets for years and years. And late last week the Finance Minister announced he intends to conceal findings from his much-vaunted, private, value-for-money audit the government says it will buy.
Will this minister commit today to make this entire taxpayer-funded report available to Manitobans?
Mr. Friesen: I thank my colleague for the question.
The value-for-money review is something that we are proud to get under way with right away. It was our commitment to Manitobans that we would proceed within the first 100 days, and we are proud to get on the road with that already.
The member understands that we have clearly committed to Manitobans that the exercise will be incredibly open and transparent, but this member also recognizes that there are certain rules in respect of discretion. We plan to obey the rules. When they were in government they didn't do so well on that file, but we will follow the rules and keep the process open for the benefit of all Manitobans.
Madam Speaker: The honourable member for Minto, on a final supplementary.
Mr. Swan: Well, Madam Speaker, not only is this new government not improving anything, they're not even matching Ontario.
More than three years ago, Ontario publicly released the Drummond report in its entirety, illustrating in detail the kinds of cuts that its author believed would have to be made in order to balance Ontario's budget. The 668-page report called for larger school classes, closing hospitals, higher post‑secondary tuition and increased user fees.
Will this Finance Minister just admit he's refusing to commit to releasing the entire report that he'll be commissioning and paying for with public money because he wants to avoid being open with his plans to cut services and increase costs for Manitobans?
Mr. Friesen: Well, I thank the member for the question because it gives me the opportunity to respond and talk about the importance of transparency.
This member understands full well that the Scarth report, brought in just 2014, indicated clearly that when it comes to the civil service in Manitoba that whistle-blowers felt vulnerable to reprisals when they brought them. That was the culture under that government, and that is why we are being careful to also protect those individuals who, within the context of this initiative we're undertaking, may come forward. They want to feel like they will be protected. We will provide those protections, and on top of that we will still commit to Manitobans the process will be open.
We're looking forward to that process. We can't wait to get started.
Drug Coverage Funding
Mr. Matt Wiebe (Concordia): Madam Speaker, as each day passes, Manitobans are discovering more and more parts of this government's budget that just don't add up.
The Premier (Mr. Pallister) has come clean now when he says that he blames himself for their unclear position on the private, value-for-money audits, but then he adds to the confusion yesterday by saying they could be finding savings in the delivery of cancer-care medication. He stumbled when he told the media that a hypothetical request from CancerCare for an $8-million increase would only be partially met, maintaining that the–providing $4 million would then be called a savings for government.
Can this minister show the House exactly where in this budget they can show this savings of $4 million in delivering cancer care to patients?
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Hon. Kelvin Goertzen (Minister of Health, Seniors and Active Living): Well, Madam Speaker, this continues a sad pattern that was started during the election.
We know that those who are dealing with one of the most difficult diagnosises an individual can get, cancer, need to be supported. They need care. They don't need a scare. That's what they were given by the NDP during the election. That's what this member continues to give them during the House. I say shame on them.
Stand with us to support cancer patients as we did yesterday, Madam Speaker.
Madam Speaker: The honourable member for Concordia, on a supplementary question.
Mr. Wiebe: Maybe the minister is confused. I'm just asking for some clarity on this, and people just want to know that this government is as committed to this program as they say they are.
Either the minister doesn't know the answer to this question, can't find out where these supposed savings are coming from or he's not being transparent and covering it up. Either way, there just remains confusion for those who are–devoted their lives to the treatment and care of cancer patients in our province.
So I ask the Minister of Health again: How much was requested for the delivery of cancer-care drugs, and did the government actually cut $4 million from it, or was the Premier (Mr. Pallister) once again misleading Manitobans?
Mr. Goertzen: Well, Madam Speaker, the announcement was clear yesterday at CancerCare. We are providing $4 million additional funding for the supply of intravenous cancer-care drugs.
Unfortunately, this member continues a disturbing pattern. He wants to use, I think, what is one of the most difficult times for any individual, any family, any Manitoban to go through, and he wants to use it as somehow a political scare tactic.
I would ask him to not follow the pattern that his former leader and that perhaps his current interim leader decides to put forward and to actually support cancer patients in a way that is provable, supportable and sustainable, Madam Speaker.
Madam Speaker: The honourable member for Concordia, on a final supplementary.
Mr. Wiebe: Madam Speaker, this is a government that's displayed a pattern of confusion, misdirection and a lack of transparency that's just not acceptable to Manitobans.
The Premier's confusing comments yesterday were made on the same day that he failed to simply confirm ongoing support for an expansion at CancerCare Manitoba. All the people of Manitoba are asking for is some reassurances that great capital projects like this will be moving forward, especially when the CancerCare CEO says the government is well aware of the need for the expansion.
Will the Minister of Health simply clarify his Premier's comments and assure Manitobans that they'll be moving forward with a partnership with CancerCare Manitoba?
Mr. Goertzen: Well, Madam Speaker, we showed partnership yesterday when the Premier made the announcement at CancerCare Manitoba with many of those who are working within the facility there to support more money for those drugs that those who are fighting cancer need.
And I, you know, I appreciate the member opposite. I consider him not an adversary but in many ways a friend and I expect better from him. I expect better from him and all of his colleagues than to try to scare those who are dealing with one of the most difficult things that anybody can deal with. He shouldn't follow the pattern of his former leader and his new interim leader in doing this. He's better than that, Madam Speaker.
Child Apprehension Prevention
Ms. Judy Klassen (Kewatinook): Madam Speaker, years ago, I received a call from my young niece. She needed me. I rushed over. There were authorities at her home ready to apprehend the children. I looked toward my cousin, the mother. She was once again lost in her recent–her daughter's–her oldest daughter's recent suicide. So I gathered the other children and I tried to be of some comfort. Soothing words, hugs and kisses, promises of visits and candy, praying in my head that the foster parents will be good people and that my beloved nieces and nephews would not be abused.
What will the Minister of Families do today to make sure families are better supported so that children don't end up in care?
Hon. Scott Fielding (Minister of Families): Madam Speaker, this government is absolutely committed to enhancing or providing services to the children most vulnerable in our society.
We know that too many children are apprehended on a daily basis. We know that since 2005 we've seen almost a 55 per cent increase in the amount of kids that are–the children that are taken into custody, and we know we can do a better job. And that's exactly what this government is committed to doing.
Madam Speaker: The honourable member for Kewatinook, on a supplementary question.
Children's Advocate Access
Ms. Klassen: My niece was 10 years old when she was apprehended into the CFS system.
She was separated from her brothers. She suffered abuse at the hands of her foster parents. My cousin, the mother, dealt with such emotional stress. She was fighting the system, and because of that, she was deemed an unfit parent.
My little niece suffered abuse for two long years, until she reached the age of 12, before she was given access to a child advocate.
Will–what will this government do to enable the First Nations children's advocate to better help families and children?
Mr. Fielding: Well, thank you very much for the question. And, you know, it's heart-wrenching to hear a story like this, especially someone that's so close to your family.
I can tell you that our government is absolutely committed to addressing and making sure that the most vulnerable children in our society are looked after. I can tell you that one of my first outside meetings was with a First Nations child advocate, Cora Morgan.
And we want to hear exactly what the issues are from their perspective. We want to work with them. We want to work with a number of stakeholders to prevent the amount of kids in protective custody and allowing them to go back to their families.
Madam Speaker: The honourable member for Kewatinook, on a final supplementary.
Nelson House Model of Care
Ms. Klassen: I appreciate that you know Cora Morgan by name.
The Nelson House Cree Nation child and family wellness centre has demonstrated that by having CFS workers working together with mental health and wellness specialists in a single organization, they can better support family needs and dramatically reduce the number of children in care.
Will the minister be acting quickly to understand how this model works and to assist other agencies in implementing this approach?
Mr. Fielding: I appreciate the question.
And our government is absolutely committed, as mentioned, to the most vulnerable children that are there. A part of the process, what I want to spend the summer, is touring facilities, places that you're hearing good models. You hear of Nelson House that are doing some extremely important things.
Our government is also committed to a mental health strategy, which we think is extremely important for all people of our society, including people on First Nations or other avenues.
We also are committed to the protecting children act, which we think is a first step for allowing service providers, allowing stakeholder groups, law enforcement agencies, to share information which we think will make a difference in children's lives.
Government Opposition
Mr. James Teitsma (Radisson): Madam Speaker, Manitoba is home to the largest aerospace industry in western Canada. Five thousand, four hundred Manitobans, including one of my nephews, are employed either directly or indirectly in aerospace, and their work is truly second to none not only in Canada but in the world.
With that in mind, could the Minister of Justice please update the House on the efforts our government is undertaking to ensure that the Manitoba aerospace industry and the Manitoba economy are protected from proposed federal legislation that could harm our economy? Thank you.
Hon. Heather Stefanson (Minister of Justice and Attorney General): I want to thank the member for the question.
As members may know, a few weeks ago I had the opportunity to present on Bill C-10 before federal parliamentary committee along with the head of the Manitoba Federation of Labour, Kevin Rebeck, and we both stood in opposition to the bill as it stands currently, and we both stood up for Manitoba at the time, and we continue to stand up for Manitoba.
We will be bringing a motion forward before the Legislature that I hope gets support of all parties in the Legislature and a support that offers us all the opportunity to stand up once again for Manitoba to ensure that there is a net benefit to our economy and that we continue to oppose that bill until such time as we are assured by the federal government that with–there is a net benefit to the Manitoba economy.
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Meeting with Federal Minister
Mr. Mohinder Saran (The Maples): Immigration is a complex file.
I am concerned that moving immigration responsibility to the Minister of Education and Training will mean the minister had much less time to deal with immigration issues.
Has the Minister of Education and Training met in person with the federal Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship?
Hon. Ian Wishart (Minister of Education and Training): I thank the member for the question.
I certainly appreciate the fact that the immigration file is a significant one in its own right and I share his concern in terms of finding time to do it all, but we're working very hard to do that.
We have also found a number of areas, particularly in the training field, where we've found synergies in terms of working together, so we've actually made some progress already with the Syrian refugees and finding them work because of the synergy that exists in terms of training, so we will certainly follow up those opportunities to make things work better.
Madam Speaker: The honourable member for The Maples, on a supplementary question.
Elimination of Immigration Cap
Mr. Saran: I introduced a private member's resolution in 2010 to remove the federal cap on the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program. This resolution passed, but the Conservative federal government did not raise the cap. They kept it at 5,000 approvals per year.
Can the minister tell us about his discussions with his federal counterpart on this matter?
Mr. Wishart: I thank the member for the question.
I had the opportunity to raise the issue, of course, with the federal minister already in a very brief discussion. We will have–I believe it's in the early part of July we have a cross-Canada meeting, and we'll certainly be talking about the numbers in terms of allowed for immigration.
We're certainly looking for any and all opportunities to increase immigration here in Manitoba. We know that it is a substantial part of the economy, and it is really great to reunite families.
Madam Speaker: The honourable member for The Maples, on a final supplementary.
Removal of Expressions of Interest
Mr. Mohinder Saran (The Maples): When a family applies to come to Manitoba, they need a fast response so they can continue to plan their future.
Will the Minister of Education and Training consider removing the expression of interest to reduce processing time for immigration applications?
Hon. Ian Wishart (Minister of Education and Training): I thank the member for the question.
Certainly, we're always looking for ways to improve the efficiency, but, as the member well knows, we have a lot of interest in immigration to–immigrating to Manitoba, and there is a process in place that was agreed on with the federal government to make sure that it would work as efficiently as possible.
So, at this point, we will be maintaining the existing process simply because we have a lot of applications for immigration to Manitoba. But it is certainly something that we can bring up in discussions with the federal minister.
Implementation Timeline
Ms. Nahanni Fontaine (St. Johns): For generations, the rail lines have separated Winnipeg along racial and socio and economic lines north to south. Our former NDP government established a task force on rail relocation headed by former Premier Jean Charest, who noted, and I quote: The end result will be new jobs and economic development, reduced traffic congestion and a bold new vision for Manitoba's capital city. Moving the rail yards allows CP to become a part of Winnipeg's vision for success, integrating them into the community and boosting productivity.
Can the Premier (Mr. Pallister) advise Manitobans when he plans on moving forward with supporting the work of the task force?
Hon. Cliff Cullen (Minister of Growth, Enterprise and Trade): I do thank the member for the question. I know there was some work done on this particular task force. We're certainly willing to have a look at that particular task force.
Certainly, we're excited on this side to have a department that is focused on economic development, and we think that's very important to Manitobans. Previously, the economic development was spread throughout government. We believe it's right to put it under one department.
We can develop a framework moving forward in terms of job creation here in Manitoba. We think it's the right thing to do to have labour, business under the same roof so we can have discussions as we move forward and build the province.
Thank you.
Madam Speaker: The honourable member for St. Johns, on a supplementary question.
Ms. Fontaine: In the context of Lac-Mégantic rail disaster, real–rail–sorry, rail relocation fundamentally establishes stronger and safety communities.
The development of Manitoba's CentrePort allows us to reroute trains outside the city to a modern facilitating situating Winnipeg as the North American hub for transportation of goods and services.
Relocating rail lines also allows us to reconstitute the Arlington Bridge as a pedestrian bridge, as well as open up opportunities for residential and commercial development and more green space.
Will the Premier move the tracks and bridge the divide in Winnipeg?
Miigwech.
Mr. Cullen: Madam Speaker, I appreciate the question.
We have had discussions with CN and CP in terms of their proposals moving forward. Actually, I'm going to meet very shortly with CentrePort so I understand their issues and their challenges moving forward.
Just in the last couple of days I was in Churchill and had an opportunity to visit the Port of Churchill, understand the issues around Churchill.
We are engaged with the business community. And we are looking forward to moving a gateway forward involving CentrePort and Churchill.
Madam Speaker: The honourable member for St. Johns, on a final supplementary.
Ms. Fontaine: Madam Speaker, in concert with all that I previously stated, it is so important for this House to recognize the tangible and detrimental separation the rails have created in racially and socially constructing dividing the city and citizens from one another.
In an era of reconciliation it is only fitting that we are courageous and visionary in removing physical barriers between people and community. Literally, rail relocation is a game changer for our city and our relationships with one another. We need to ensure our physical space reflects inclusivity and equity.
The funds supporting the task force is already there and approved, so I ask again: Will the Premier get on with rail relocation?
Mr. Cullen: Madam Speaker, again, I do appreciate the question.
And the member raises the issue as relationships. We firmly believe that positive relationships are important for Manitoba. And we are in the process of developing relationships for Manitobans. We believe that will bring prosperity to Manitobans. And it's that prosperity as we develop Manitoba that will generate wealth for the province to pay for the social programs that Manitobans have come to expect.
We, Madam Speaker, will–are interested in results. We're not interested in excuses. But we're interested in those results, and we'll work to get those results done.
Funding Commitment Inquiry
Mr. Wab Kinew (Fort Rouge): Madam Speaker, it's interesting the minister talks about excuses when he can't answer the question about rail relocation.
The University of Manitoba's Front and Centre campaign is an unprecedented investment in the future of post-secondary education in this province. It would be a game changer for the biggest university here in Manitoba, from capital investments to scholarships and new indigenous initiatives.
I would like to know whether or not the minister will commit to following through on the previous government's $150-million commitment made to contribute to this campaign.
Hon. Ian Wishart (Minister of Education and Training): Madam Speaker, I thank the member for the question.
We have a solid commitment to funding post‑secondary education, a 2 and a half per cent commitment which we are following up on. And, certainly, we're very interested in looking at capital numbers in terms of investment.
In fact, some numbers came to our attention the other day in terms of capital spending that actually showed that during the NDP era, the last 10 years, their investment in capital spending in public schools actually dropped by 4 and a half per cent.
So I think we can do substantially better than that, Madam Speaker.
Madam Speaker: The honourable member for Fort Rouge, on a supplementary question.
Funding Commitment Inquiry
Mr. Wab Kinew (Fort Rouge): Madam Speaker, I'm glad to hear that the Minister for Education is interested in capital spending and is today complaining about the levels under the NDP, when, on budget day, they took credit for three schools that had been previously announced by the previous administration.
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Now, I also read in the minister's mandate letter about the importance of labour market outcomes. Assiniboine Community College in Brandon has a great plan to meet those labour market needs with their centre for health, energy and environment at the North Hill campus.
Will the minister also commit to contributing to ACC's bold redevelopment plan of this historic landmark?
Hon. Brian Pallister (Premier): The previous administration handed us a $1-billion deficit. There are innumerable wonderful proposals and projects that Manitobans, individuals, companies, non-profit agencies have put together for our consideration as people here, innumerable projects.
But in the run-up to the last election, there wasn't one of those the NDP wouldn't have promised to fully fund, not one. I invite them to come forward with a list of any projects they wouldn't have said yes to if it meant they got another vote in the–at the ballot box.
Manitobans voted for a responsible change. They voted for a government that would protect front-line services, invest intelligently, manage well, shop smart, exactly the way Manitobans have to manage their own money, and that's exactly what they got with their new government, Madam Speaker.
Madam Speaker: Time for oral questions has expired.
Mr. Jim Maloway (Elmwood): Madam Speaker, I wish to present the following petition to the Legislative Assembly.
The background of the petition is as follows:
Manitoba telephone system is currently a fourth cellular carrier used by Manitobans along with the big national three carriers: Telus, Rogers and Bell.
In Toronto, with only the big three national companies controlling the market, the average 5‑gigabyte unlimited monthly cellular bill is $117 as compared to Winnipeg where MTS charges $66 for the same package.
Losing MTS will mean less competition and will result in higher costs for all cellphone packages in the province.
We petition the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba as follows:
To urge the provincial government to do that all is possible to prevent the Bell takeover of MTS and to preserve a more competitive cellphone market so that cellular bills for Manitobans do not increase unnecessarily.
And, Madam Speaker, this petition is signed by many, many fine Manitobans.
Madam Speaker: In accordance with our rule 133(6), when petitions are read they are deemed to be received by the House.
Mr. Andrew Swan (Minto): I wish to present the following petition to the Legislative Assembly.
The background to this petition is as follows:
(1) Manitoba telephone system, MTS, is currently a fourth cellular carrier used by Manitobans along with the big national three carriers: Telus, Rogers and Bell.
(2) In Toronto, with only the big three national companies controlling the market, the average 5‑gigabyte unlimited monthly cellular package is $117 as compared to Winnipeg where MTS charges $66 for the same package.
(3) Losing MTS will mean less competition and will result in higher costs for all cellphone packages in the
Province.
We petition the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba as follows:
To urge the provincial government to do that all is possible to prevent the Bell takeover of MTS and preserve a more competitive cellphone market so that cellular bills for Manitobans do not increase unnecessarily.
This petition is signed by many fine Manitobans, Madam Speaker.
Mr. Matt Wiebe (Concordia): Madam Speaker, I wish to present the following petition to the Legislative Assembly.
And the background to this petition is as follows:
Manitoba telephone system, MTS, is currently a fourth cellular carrier used by Manitobans along with the big national three carriers: Telus, Rogers and Bell.
In Toronto–sorry, (2) In Toronto, with only the three–the big three national companies controlling the market, the average 5-gigabyte unlimited monthly cellular package is $117 as compared to Winnipeg where MTS charges $66 for the same package.
(3) Losing MTS will mean less competition and will result in higher costs for all cellphone packages in the province.
We petition the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba as follows:
To urge the provincial government to do all that is possible to prevent the Bell takeover of MTS and to preserve a more competitive cellphone market so that cellular bills for Manitobans do not increase unnecessarily.
And this petition is signed by many, many fine Manitobans.
Mr. Rob Altemeyer (Wolseley): I wish to present the following petition to the Legislative Assembly. It reads as follows.
These are the reasons for the petition:
(1) The Legislative Building is a public building where everyone should be welcomed and feel comfortable.
(2) Washrooms in the Manitoba Legislature and other government buildings are labelled as men and women, which do not fit the gender identities of all Manitobans.
We petition the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba as follows:
To urge the provincial government to designate one washroom in the Legislative Building and all other government of Manitoba buildings as a gender neutral washroom.
This petition has been signed by B. Lockhart, A. Firth, N. Tadeo and many other fantastic Manitobans.
House Business
Hon. Kelvin Goertzen (Government House Leader): On government–or on House business, Madam Speaker, in accordance with rule 33(7) I'd like to announce that the private member's resolution to be considered on the next Tuesday of private members' business will be Recognition of the Manitoba Filipino Business Council, brought forward by the honourable member for Arthur-Virden (Mr. Piwniuk).
Madam Speaker: For the information of the House, a private member's resolution to be considered on the next Tuesday of private members' business will be Recognition of the Manitoba Filipino Business Council, brought forward by the honourable member for Arthur-Virden.
Mr. Goertzen: On further House business, Madam Speaker, I am pleased to table, after consultation with the Opposition House Leader, the Estimates order following the passing of the budget.
Madam Speaker: Resuming debate on the budget motion of the honourable Minister of Finance (Mr. Friesen) and the amendment and subamendment thereto. The debate is open.
Mr. Kevin Chief (Point Douglas): Madam Speaker, I'm proud to be able to say a few words on the record for Budget 2016.
One of the things that jumped out to me, I did–we were able to see and hear the word poverty in the budget speech, which was good. I think people did raise concerns about not hearing that or seeing that in the Throne Speech. I do want to say when we were in government the opportunity to go out and talk to people and engage people, have discussions and listen to people is always a good thing when it comes to budgets, and I know that we were able to spend some time over at the Aboriginal Centre talking to a group of students, talking about what they felt was important to have in the budget, and they actually made it into a budget speech on how important that was to the good folks over there, and it actually made the budget better. So I do want to say to the Finance Minister, having the opportunity to go out, talk to people, making sure that you're engaging people in the community is always a really good process. It will not only make the budget better, but it engages people in how important that is.
I do want to start by recognizing that there have been concerns with some of the decisions that the members opposite have made, and one of those concerns was the elimination of the Department of Children and Youth Opportunities, particularly Healthy Child Manitoba.
And I do want to say that when I had the opportunity to do the work, I was always greeted–the work at Healthy Child Manitoba was always work that happened in a very non-partisan way, but it did tell Manitobans how important early childhood development programs were, programs for young people. The partnerships that were created through those programs at Healthy Child Manitoba has always been critical–for families, and I do want to say there is a history of all members of the Legislature being able to work together to make sure that those programs continue and they do well in all the ridings.
And one of the important aspects that Healthy Child Manitoba has always provided is good research, evidence-based research, partnerships like the–with the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy. And we've always taken the time to make sure that we have shared that information so we not only recognize those gaps, but we could close those gaps together, regardless of where you live and regardless of what political stripe that you're on.
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And, as part of that, I do want to say that, you know, I probably did see Point Douglas mentioned in the budget and I do want to recognize how important that is for not only someone who represents Point Douglas, but families who struggle every day. And Families First home visiting program was mentioned in there, and I remember when I had our first son–me and my wife, who live in Winnipeg's North End–and one of the things that we felt–we felt that we were prepared, but when we brought our baby home, Hayden, we realized how scary it was and how ill‑prepared we felt having a baby at home, and we have access to a lot of resources.
And so we did get a home visit from a nurse who came in and answered all our questions and increased our confidence, made us feel better. And part of the home visiting program and the Families First, that touch is so critically important for so many people that–particularly some of our most vulnerable people. And often they lead into ripples of other programs like the Healthy Baby program, families then realize that there's a Prenatal Benefit.
And so these programs become critically important, and when we have the opportunity to highlight Healthy Child Manitoba and the programs that exist and how we deliver those services directly in communities all throughout Manitoba, it's particularly important.
One of the first things I was able to do was to join the member from Lac du Bonnet, where I got to go up and listen to presentations on early childhood development right in his own riding. And we got to listen to how important it was to the business community, how important it was to the non-profits, to the family resource centres.
Out in Lac du Bonnet, we both sat there together and we actually learned quite a bit about how the–
Madam Speaker: Order. Order.
We do have a member that is speaking in debate, and I would ask that if there are any conversations going on, perhaps you could take those conversations to the loges or out into the hallway so that we can hear the member with respect. Thank you.
And I'll turn the floor back over to the honourable member for Point Douglas–or, sorry, Minto–sorry, Point Douglas.
Mr. Chief: And so we have parent-child coalitions all throughout Manitoba, and they're critical in terms of making sure that we're engaging the families, particularly those families that need it the most. I know I got to spend some time with the member from Portage la Prairie with a group of elders and a group of young people about the importance of early childhood development, particularly as it relates to people who struggle, that don't have a lot of wealth, people who struggle every day. And spent some time, of course, with the member from La Verendrye. So there is the opportunity for us to work together.
And, once again, I want to spend some time talking about the importance of Healthy Child Manitoba, because our services and resources work best when we can engage people. And part of engaging people is making sure that we're taking the time to work together, to talk to those families that need it the most, and with the elimination of the Department of Children and Youth Opportunities we want to make sure that there isn't momentum lost from some of that good work that has happened.
There is a program down in Point Douglas called the Abecedarian program, child care designed for families of young people that are on social assistance. And, you know, there's a little guy–there's little people out in–it's part of the Abecedarian program, one of the amazing things you see is those–often those single mothers aren't working, they're on EIA, and they see the additional support their children get, and often they become part of the child‑care centre there, then they become interested in going back to school. And many of them do go back to school. Then once they go back to school, you know, they end up getting great jobs. So there's incredible ripple effects that happen for families when we invest in things like early childhood development, and a key part of that for the government has been with Healthy Child Manitoba. So, you know, those concerns have come up, we want to make sure that the government recognizes how important those programs will continue to be.
You know, one of the things that was mentioned, and I was able to raise it in the House in question period, was the importance of Rent Assist, people wanting to make sure that we would–it was there for people on employment assistance, that the–people living with disabilities, even our low-income families. And there's going to be a lot of work to do with this government to make sure that they're reaching out, continuing to reach out with members of the community, people who really worked hard to bring the Rent Assist program to the forefront.
One of the things that we know is that the transition, particularly, can be hard. And we know that the Rent Assist program helps people transition off into–maybe they're getting their very first job or they're transitioning to get a second chance at employment. You think about how tough transition could be.
It could be when you, you know, you have a new family member. You have a baby. You're excited. And you're proud. But you're also probably the most tired you're ever going to be in your life.
I–we know that the new ministers, they're transitioning into new jobs and probably feel overwhelmed every day with the new jobs they got, the responsibilities they have. They think about all the people who helped them get that job. And you think about the support, though, they're getting in to that transition, all the people that are in place to make sure that they're going to have the support that they need to succeed.
It's no different than somebody who's on income employment assistance. It's no different than having a low-income mother or somebody getting the confidence to go back. And the Rent Assist program provides that stability within that transition.
Now, one of the things that we know, particularly around the low-income stream, is there's a lot of Manitobans right now that can benefit from the Rent Assist program. So we want to make sure that we're doing everything we possibly can to reach those Manitobans who need that support but don't even recognize that they can qualify for.
So we have to make sure that we're doing everything that we possibly can to make sure that we're getting out and talking to those families, talking to those non-profit organizations, talking to those employers, talking to those businesses, talking to those training institutions, to make sure that we're reaching the families that need the services the most.
Now, one of the things I do want to highlight is I want to highlight Abbey, a young, single mother in Winnipeg's North End. She stood proudly, talked about the Rent Assist program and what she was going to do with that little extra money. She can make her kids' lunches a little heavier, she said. She said she could get herself some nice clothes for that job interview that she was going to have. But also she talked about how she could provide a little bit of support to her mom, who was struggling every day, who was helping provide child care.
Now, we see someone like Abbey, who is working to be a counsellor right now, and that little bit of support helped her. And there's a lot of stories like Abbey's out there. And we're going to have to work hard to make sure that the services that we can provide in government reach the people like Abbey.
I do want to give a shout-out; it's always great to see the master's of social work program. I know the member from St. Boniface has got a deep history with that program. I know he was probably proud to see that that was mentioned in there. These are important programs that started with many of us working together, but we're proud to see them in there because they're important. They're going to help a lot of families.
One of the things that we've been raising on this side of the House, of course, is the east-side road, the east-side road network and how important that's going to be for families, a lifeline around jobs and economic development and health services. And we have proven that there's a lot of great work that we can do together when we work directly with our First Nations communities.
And one of the things that we know in this budget is decisions were made. But were certain leaders, were people engaged in that process? Or was a decision made, sort of, let's make a decision now and ask questions later? And when it comes to East Side Road Authority, or east-side road network and those projects up there, this is really the lifeline for many of these communities.
And there's a lot of momentum that has been built over the past number of years around that. In fact, that's why the Prime Minister, Prime Minister Trudeau said, when he came here previously, he said, the federal government will be the partner that Manitoba needs.
Those First Nations communities, those families, certainly need that partner there. And a lot of work went into making sure that the federal government was engaged in that process.
And there's a real opportunity there. We see the MKO Grand Chief Sheila North Wilson come out with her 10-point plan, and the economic benefits of the North. And what we know is that when Manitoba's North does well, Manitoba's economy does well, and making sure that we're spending the time to listen to them.
There's an incredible opportunity right now around the momentum built around truth and reconciliation and the ability of how people want to work together now, where our civic governments, the federal government, we want to continue to make sure that we can build off that.
And we know that one of the calls to action is to–that the private sector and government will work together directly with First Nations to make sure that the economic, the jobs, the health services will be there together.
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And there is a lot of economic benefits agreements, contribution agreements, in essence, between this government and those First Nations communities. And so we want to make sure that those agreements will continue to be honoured.
There's a lot of responsibility, there's a lot of momentum that has been created over the past number of years to make sure that there is health and prosperity all throughout Manitoba, driven directly by our neighbours, directly by our communities, and we know that the east-side road network, those First Nations, have worked incredibly hard for a long time to make sure that they're doing that. So there's a responsibility by this government to make sure that those community benefits agreements are held up. Those are multi-million-dollar agreements that are the lifeline to many of these First Nations.
Now, I do want to say we got to hear SkipTheDishes mentioned; we worked very closely with SkipTheDishes. In fact, we know a number of years ago–I think it was about three or four years ago–SkipTheDishes started with one employee. We were proud to stand with SkipTheDishes and support SkipTheDishes. They show incredible leadership, and within a year hired a 100 people to work for them. A year later, hired up to 200 people to work for them. It's one of the fastest start-ups not only in our country, but maybe in North America.
It's something that we were–proudly supported, and we see the–we see how important innovation, technology, the start-up community is in our province. Particularly, you know, one time, when you looked at the Exchange District, the street was called Adelaide Street. And at one time people, when they looked at Adelaide Street, they saw hardship and struggle and–but, you know, there were people in our community, there were business leaders, there were training institutions, there were local labour leaders as well as workers that said, you know, we can do more in the Exchange, we can do more in our core area.
And now there's been so much momentum built that it's not called Adelaide Street anymore, the–that momentum that we see is now called Innovation Alley. It's one of the most exciting places to come in our city. And at one time we saw, you know, storefronts going dark, businesses were closing and buildings sat empty, and now it's become one of the most exciting places in our city. And how that happens is the leadership that are being provided by young people that are doing these start-ups, you know, they are literally touching people all over the world.
One of the things that they've come to expect is that they'll provide the leadership, they will put the risk. You know, that's what entrepreneurship's all about. They understand it's a difficult path, that there's a lot of risk involved. They'll make the family sacrifices, they'll put the money that they have upfront, they'll put their name on the line, but they always recognize that there was a group of people that had their back: their family members, other entrepreneurs. One of the things we know about the business community is that when you face adversity–and this is what we know about Manitobans–is that when you face an adversity and we overcome it, we always have a willingness to help other people do the same thing. And that's why we see the momentum at Innovation Alley.
But one of the things that we know is that they always knew there was a government that would stand with them. They always knew that there was going to be somebody who had their back, and we proudly did that. And I think the–to see that in the budget is a testament to the work that was previously done, and I want to say I was proud to see that SkipTheDishes was in this budget.
You know, when you go down to Innovation Alley in the Exchange, these are start-ups, they're just getting going some of them, and they're already working with some of the major companies around the world. We know that right in our Exchange District there's a partnership with NASA where these start-ups on innovation tech are working with NASA. There's partnerships with working directly with Disney. There's partnerships and business opportunities working with the Oprah Winfrey Show. We know that there's partnerships with Nickelodeon, that our companies right here in our core area have a global reach but they continue to make the biggest impact right here in their hometown. There's momentum built there and there's a responsibility and an expectation that that government's got to maintain that kind of momentum that we've been able to see.
I do want to say that, you know, it's known that Manitoba, for the past number of years, has a strong economy, in fact, one of the strongest in economies in the nation. And we have a strong economy that creates a demand for high school jobs. In fact, BuildForce Canada came out and said that over the next 10 years there's going to be a demand for over 12,000 jobs in the construction field alone. Again, momentum that's built.
So, when you have that kind of demand, we have an opportunity to meet that demand, because we have one of the youngest and fastest growing demographics here in Manitoba than anywhere else, because we have a young, fast-growing indigenous population. We have a new Canadian and immigrant refugee population, and, if we want to meet that demand, women, particularly young women and girls, need to know there isn't any job that they can't get. And one of the things that the budget didn't mention was the importance of apprenticeship and training, and it’s not–when you look at apprenticeship, it's the business community themselves that continue to advocate to make sure that we're going to be able to train young people. In fact, Mike Moore, of the Manitoba Home Builders' Association, said there has never been a better time to start your own business right now in Manitoba than anywhere else.
What's interesting, though, is when you talk about entrepreneurship, what he found and what people are finding, that in Manitoba you can start on the tools. You can be an electrician; you can be a plumber; you can do all these different professions, but the fastest way to get to entrepreneurship–five, six, or seven years, many of those people who start on the tools start to recognize because Manitoba has such a strong economy that they can become an entrepreneur because there's so much demand for business, but we have to make sure that we are doing everything that we can to make sure that we are training these young people, this incredible demographic.
Now, I do want to say–I've only got a minute left, I want to mention Patrick [phonetic], who I met travelling up north, and, as I said, you know, when northerners succeed, we know that Manitoba succeeds and how important that is, and I got to meet Patrick [phonetic], and one of the things his dream was he wanted to become an electrician and he wanted to become an electrician because he saw that his aunty was an electrician. In fact, he didn't know any other electricians except his aunty, and he thought it would have been amazing if he could become an electrician.
He was part of a training program between a local company–and then getting training supports from our government. Now, we know that Patrick [phonetic] proudly has become an electrician and is now already thinking about the opportunity to start his own business.
And what I can tell you about many of the people that we were able to work with is that they're proud of who they are; they're proud of where they live; they're proud of their hometowns; they're proud of their home province; and they want to have the opportunity to give back.
So, you know, one of the things that we know is that we were proud to make sure that we worked with all of these companies, all of these young people, and there continues to be incredible support.
Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Mr. Derek Johnson (Interlake): Madam Speaker, I would like to congratulate you on your election–successful election to your new position.
I rise in the House to speak on the budget. I would like to start with a bit of background, of course. This is my inaugural speech.
As many of you know, I'm a fourth generation living in the Interlake. As my forefathers have, I live near Oak Point on the shores of Lake Manitoba with my lovely wife, Tara, and two children, Skyler and Charmaine.
I grew up humble. I have the school pictures to prove it. As any farm boy can tell you, working on the family farm starts at a very early age. Actually, nowadays, I'm pretty sure there'll be some–child labour is frowned upon, but I do have to say, though, these are some of the best days of my life.
My father, Wayne Johnson, taught us life skills. These lessons are invaluable, and I carry them with me to this very day.
My father taught us how to stretch a dollar. Being a farmer in the Interlake, we were at the bottom of the income-earning spectrum.
Work ethic: There is no passing the buck on the farm. If a job needed to be done, no matter how long it took, from sunrise to sunset, you better get 'er done or it will still be there tomorrow.
Humour: We may not have had much money and things may not have been easy, but we always had a laugh.
Compassion: As anyone who has raised livestock knows, compassion is instilled in you as a child, not only for your animals that you're responsible for, but for your family, your neighbours, and your community.
Creativity: We solved many a problems with very little means and built numerous go-carts from leftover parts lying around the farm.
Mrs. Colleen Mayer, Acting Speaker, in the Chair
Honesty and integrity: On a small farm in a rural setting, you quickly learn you need to bank on your name and make deals with a handshake.
Wisdom: All of my father's lessons, along with many others wrapped up in life, creates wisdom.
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Madam Assistant Deputy Speaker, I guess, I feel our new Progressive Conservative team has all of these characteristics and many, many more learned through diverse life lessons.
Fast-forward to high school, my brother and myself would spend three hours a day on a school bus seeking a better education as, in the country, it is sometimes a monumental task to find a path to a better education.
Remember the humour I mentioned earlier.
University of Manitoba, still to this day, I love a good science and math challenge.
As many of our youth do today, I chase the almighty dollar. Thompson, Manitoba was my first of many underground mining contracts.
So on that note, I would like to take a brief pause and congratulate a specific member of our PC team on winning. He is the member for Thompson (Mr. Bindle). Please.
From Thompson, I worked in Ontario, Saskatchewan and BC; 34 different mines across Canada and as far away as Indonesia.
During the slower periods, utilizing life lessons learned on the farm, and not one to sit around at home idle, I worked pipeline and other construction jobs. Working in all these trades enabled me to see first-hand how meaningful of an economic benefit these sectors have on our province.
Madam Speaker, I stand here today to proudly support our Throne Speech and our budget for initiating economic development in the North. Yes! North.
After 15 years of underground mining and other things, I went back to school. At this point, I chose the path of educating people on how money works. Nine years of being a financial adviser; this, in conjunction with serving a full term from 2010 to 2014 as a municipal councillor in the RM of St. Laurent, I was responsible for many portfolios, including finance, planning, drainage and emergency services. These, of course, coincided with serving the community to meet the challenges resulting from the unprecedented flood of 2011.
My experience with the NDP government during the flood demonstrated the need for change in my constituency. So I decided that a change for the better was coming with the new Progressive Conservative Party.
The PC nomination for Interlake was on November 8th, 2014. This was fortunate, as it gave me a year and a half to prepare for the 41st provincial election.
Since my nomination, I have covered many square miles and lineal miles as well. One vehicle in particular we put on 64,787 kilometres. So to put that into perspective, that's equivalent to 1.6 times around the earth at the equator.
This win in the Interlake is a historic win. The riding of the Interlake has never been held by a Progressive Conservative MLA before.
Madam Speaker, the lessons my father has taught me I still carry. And these lessons have prepared me for this monumental task of serving the Interlake constituency.
I need to be very clear here. By no means do I profess to have done this by myself. There are hundreds of people to thank for helping with this accomplishment. I will take a minute to name a few key individuals that were monumental in the success of our team.
But I think all 57 of us in this room need to acknowledge all volunteers for being so giving of their time, not just for us, but all volunteers in general as a silent gratitude is not much use to anyone.
Well over 100 volunteers were out for us on the Interlake on election day. So I would not name them all here at this point, but some volunteers need special note.
So before I start with my volunteers, Madam Chair, I would firstly like to congratulate all the newly elected MLAs on both sides of the House, as well as our independent friends.
I would like to show my utmost appreciation, at the following, starting with the ones in the gallery today: Larry Brandt, president of our Interlake constituency. He also held the prestigious title of election readiness chair. His duties were vast. Mark Eyolfson–fine to wave–my campaign manager, is proof that those who can, do; those who can do more, volunteer. And Mark did prove he can do more. Thanks, Mark. Riley Eyolfson, our youth volunteer, spent a many of hours doing phone calls and voter ID'ing. Abe Reimer, my official agent–Abe has spent many, many hours crunching numbers and raising money. Chris Scott–he got us on the right track very early and taught us a valuable lesson: Nobody can do everything, but everyone can do something. Duncan Hamilton–he is a man who believes in all work and no pay. No matter the hour, that lonely text sent out into the night was not lonely for long.
So, to continue, Moe Orlowski, our poll captain extraordinaire. I would also like to thank both Broad Valley and Marble Ridge Hutterite colonies for their support. Volunteers do not necessarily have the time; they just have the heart. Volunteers do not get paid because they are worthless but because they are priceless, Madam Speaker.
I would also like to thank our former minister of Conservation and MLA for the Interlake, Tom Nevashkonoff [phonetic], for dedicating 17 years of serving the people of the Interlake the best way he knew how.
Madam Speaker, I also want to put on the record that both Tom and my Liberal opponent, Jamal Abas, called and offered their congratulations, a very commendable thought from both of them.
Esther Pallister, and, of course, her husband. I hear he's fairly high up in the political world as well, and I'm not just saying that because he's six-eight. Esther is so kind and caring. A room fills with smiles as she enters which, coincidentally, is exactly how her volunteering was reimbursed from all of us in the Interlake: with smiles.
James and Kelly Bezan, for their help, more than I could imagine. James has been a huge inspiration and mentor. I am inspired to fill my MLA shoes as he has filled his MP shoes.
Member for Lakeside (Mr. Eichler)–not only has he been an encouragement and a motivator, but he has also been my MLA prior to our boundary changes in 2008, and I would like to thank him for his service. Member for Lac du Bonnet (Mr. Ewasko)–no matter the hour, if I called, he would answer and his words were always wise. Thank you.
Buddy, or Lorne, Bergner, my father-in-law–I would not be standing here today without Bud's help; I appreciate it beyond words. Charlotte Craig, our behind-the-scenes guru, coming all the way from BC, doing more because she wanted to. The list is far too long to go through for everything that Charlotte has done on the campaign trailer–trail.
My children, Skyler and Charmaine–as we all know, most teenagers would like to be out and about rather than driving their parents around to door knock or putting up signs, taking down signs or helping at fundraisers.
Now, saving the best for the last, my beautiful wife, Tara, also in the gallery. She has not once stood behind me during this marathon but either beside me and, more often, in front of me. She taught me if you want to touch the past, touch a rock. If you want to touch the present, touch a flower. If you want to touch the future, touch a life. Together, our hearts have been touched by many people, and we hope to have touched various lives as well.
Madam Speaker, I would also like to thank the voters for entrusting me with this huge responsibility, as they have spoken very loud in this election.
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Having lived in the Interlake my entire life, I know the area well. I feel I have been elected to bring our vast area, including our nine First Nations, together as one. I have met a lot of new and stimulating people during my campaign. I have an even–I have even met an 80–near 80 year old, Madam Speaker, that has voted for just the first time for a better Manitoba. So thank you, Lloyd.
Madam Speaker, I chose to run because I'm committed to a positive change for the people of the Interlake. Budget 2016 delivers this positive change for all of Manitoba. We have made commitments to protect front-line services while eliminating wasteful government spending and putting Manitoba back on track–on a responsible fiscal track. We recognize the need for a plan to return the Province to a fiscal balance to avoid further downgrades in the Province's credit rating. Budget 2016 pursues measures which will responsibly restore Manitoba to a fiscal balance within eight years.
Budget 2016 pursues measures which will responsibly–I'll say that again because it's so important–restore Manitoba to a fiscal balance within eight years.
We are moving towards–forward on tourism. After all, we are the land of 100,000 lakes. Our provincial growth should not be strangled by red tape and excessive tax.
Budget 2016 'enclodes'–includes no new taxes–tax increases and will not draw from the financial stabilization fund. We will index the basic personal exemption as of January 1st, 2017. This budget demonstrates indexing of income tax brackets to the rate of inflation.
Our seniors will experience continued education tax relief through the Seniors' School Tax Rebate.
We have committed to making Manitoba the most improved province in Canada. Quite frankly, Madam Speaker, Manitobans were tired of paying more and getting less. This budget addresses those concerns.
I would like to thank our entire PC team for all the hard work that has been put into this budget to make Manitoba great again.
And thank you, Madam Speaker.
Ms. Amanda Lathlin (The Pas): Thank you, Acting Speaker–Madam Speaker, for this opportunity to speak on Budget 2016. I have many concerns with the Conservatives' budget speech which failed to signal any action on many important issues that matter to northern Manitobans, and I hope 20 minutes allow me to express my concerns.
One example is–one of the examples I want to talk about here today is health care.
Does this budget include investments in the health of our people living in northern Manitoba? Is there a strategy in place to work with northern Manitobans and to have a strategy to recruit and retain doctors in northern Manitoba?
For example, right now, we have a walk-in clinic that is only open on a few selected hours of the day, and it's my goal to work with the new government to ensure that is corrected so that my family and I can actually obtain medical treatment within our region and also to help to keep our northern Manitobans at home to receive medical treatment as well, and to also work with the northern health transportation policy as well.
Also, I–while reading the Speech from the Throne and our budget, I wanted to talk about the comprehensive mental health strategy that includes mental health and addictions services. Again, will these services be expanded in northern Manitoba? As I shared a week ago, I believe, about my personal issues dealing with mental health and also speaking on behalf of many Manitoban families, especially the constituents that I represent in Cross Lake, were–I was there first-hand to talk with leadership, talk with youth, in how they want to have mental-health services to be at–within reach within their home without having to be medevac'd out, without having to struggle to find an escort, which I have been–have done several times to escort my daughter here to the city where I can meet her at the Health Sciences Centre.
While I was sitting there again, I want to share again I was just going by play by play, wondering how our families went and how they were doing afterwards, and the assessments and their recovery plans afterwards when they arrived at home. I can tell you first-hand, Acting Speaker, that my journey with my daughter is still continuing and my journey with my own anxiety and depression is still continuing, and I can tell you, sometimes, you know, that can be a barrier that I need to overcome, especially with this kind of job. Both you and I know that very well.
Also, too, I attended the Northern Health Summit in Flin Flon, and we had many community partners there, leadership from all over northern Manitoba, and the focus was on mental health, and basically we had working groups and we discussed on ways we can improve access to mental health, ways that we can communicate with each other better to expand our resources. And one particular story that came to my mind in regarding accessing mental health was a community leader who lives in an isolated First Nation in northern Manitoba. And he told me that since there's a lack of mental health services in his community, his therapist was the school bus driver for the community, and he shared, many, many times when he needed somebody to talk to, he would simply sit in the school bus with the school bus driver and that was his therapy. So I think this individual deserves much more services than that, and I'd like to thank that individual for offering and going beyond his job description and helping out his fellow community member.
Also, too, persons living with disabilities, would this budget allow for our northern people to have more resources available to them as well? I have a brother named Douglas Marles. My mom and dad adopted him when he was only five years old. He was diagnosed with FASD and, at that time, he was told by the social workers to my family that he wouldn't live past–beyond 10 years old. He was still in Pampers; he wasn't able to talk or walk yet and, with that, you know, my mom and dad overcame those barriers, taught him everything that he needed to know, and, as he grew up–in fact, he's the most famous citizen in Saskatoon–Google him, I guess, you know, Facebook him; he'll be on there, but he's the most well-known citizen in Saskatoon, and when I was a young child, you know, I would always defend him when people would treat him differently because of his disabilities. I remember being nine years old and, you know, treating adults–giving them that eye stare, you know, like for him to stop staring at him because, you know, because of his differences, if you will.
But one story that really sticks to my mind is that when he was applying for a job, there was this one section there to say, do you have a disability? He put his head down and he said, um. I asked him what was the problem and he says, I don't think I have a disability. So that really–I said, well, don't. You know, if you don't think you have, you know, by all means, you know, apply for this job for who you are, and guess what? He got the job and, like I said, that's my brother Douglas' story.
Also, too, what–persons living with disabilities in northern Manitoba, there's lack of resources, especially on First Nations, you know. It's my goal to see one day to have e-services provided on reserve for our First Nations people because, after all, we're all Manitobans and jurisdictional issues shouldn't be an issue that eventually leads to Jordan's Principle.
When I was a health policy analyst with the Cree Nation Tribal Health Centre, I had the honour to work with our communities and a jurisdictional round table, if you will, to discuss these issues that need to be erased one day, and we worked in spirit of Jordan's Principle.
In regards to education I just wanted to talk about, you know, does this budget include investments in education in northern Manitoba? I just wanted to share with our new MLAs who are not aware about my community, but I'm very proud to be from the community, from the University College of the North and, with that, does the budget speak about increased funding for scholarships and bursaries for Manitobans seeking higher education and operating increases for universities and colleges?
Now, will this investment include the students attending the University College of the North?
As a northerner, I believe in UCN's mission statement. The mission statement of the University College of the North is to ensure northern communities and people will have access to educational opportunities, knowledge and skills while being inclusive and respectful of diverse northern and Aboriginal values and beliefs.
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UCN is the only post-secondary facility in northern Manitoba. This is a proud achievement that was made by the NDP government which was led by my late father, our former MLA for The Pas, the late Oscar Lathlin. His achievement is actually marked by the name, you know, the library at the university college, The Pas campus's library, the Oscar Lathlin Research Library, an event–grand-opening event that I was very honoured to attend on behalf of my family.
His dream was to provide education opportunities in the North rather than having them leave their home. And, with that, I believe it's my goal to inherit, to continue that, that that continues for northern Manitobans. The goal was to make sure that education was provided so they don't have to leave their home, families, friends, support systems and community in order to obtain that post-secondary education.
And let me talk about a childhood friend of mine, Melissa Constant. Both her and I attended university at U of M. I had a little bit more support systems than she did here. She left her family. I had my father here at the time. And so basically her first attempt at the–you know, leaving her home, going to school here at U of M, was not successful, so she went back home.
When University College of the North was developed, with that opportunity to get that bachelor of education, she jumped right on it. And so with her family, her children, easier access to child care, she was able to reach her goal.
And, in fact, she said: The University College of the North gave me the opportunity to receive an education, a university degree, while staying closer to home. Smaller classes and more interaction with instructors allowed me to succeed.
And I'm also proud to announce that I'm looking forward to attending the University College of the North graduation, and Melissa will be part of that graduation class on June 16th.
So it gives me pride that I follow our students' journey through school at the University College of the North. I became friends with many while I worked there as a representative workforce co-ordinator. I follow their journey through social media, and, to me, just watching their goals come true is a–more of a reason why I want this budget to speak to the University College of the North.
Also, too, child care–I spoke about child care in regards to my friend. In order to achieve her goal, child care–I just want to include that does this investment include our families in the North as well so they can access education, training and employment while their children are being well looked after?
Again, my family and I depend on child welfare. In fact, right now, while I'm standing here, six hours away from my home, I depend on child care and support systems from the CFS, while I'm also a foster parent to my nieces.
And also, too, as an employment counsellor for Employment Manitoba before, that was one of the biggest barriers that we had to overcome in order to outline a action plan to get somebody from EIA to eventually to full-time employment or training opportunities. Like I said, child care is that foundation that we need to build that workforce that we want to see.
Also, too, children in care–I had the honour to emcee the event at the Thunderbird House, which I thought was important, especially to our leaders and especially to my community, where they had a meeting with elders and youth regarding child care. This is a monumental system change that indigenous leaders and families across the province called for and support.
So again with our–you know, with our concerns about children in care, I think this is a well-developed idea to help our indigenous communities to work towards keeping our children at home, such as mine. I'm regarded under kinship, but customary care is just as important with our indigenous communities. So I would like to have–see that happen in our future as well.
Also, too, truth and reconciliation recommendations–I was reminded by the member of Kewatinook about–when she talked about a five‑year-old who was taken away to a residential school, like my mother. This morning while I was getting ready, I put on her ring and I was reminded about one of the very few stories that she shared with me about her experience, is that some of her knuckles were missing just because she was strapped for speaking her own language. So thank you for reminding me to share and educate our members everywhere here and in Manitoba the experiences that our communities went through, which is why I'm disappointed that this budget did not include resources needed in order to address the calls to action from the TRC.
This Canada-wide initiative was absent from this budget, and this lack of commitment fails my three generations of women in my family who attended residential school and many more families in Manitoba. The calls of action should be inherited by this new government with much more respect and recognition. And, by all means, the calls to action addresses child welfare, education, health, language and culture and justice.
Also, too, missing and murdered indigenous women and girls: Will this budget include resources needed as well for this? I was proud to see that the–our AFN National Chief Perry Bellegarde was in Winnipeg and told–regarding a reconciliation-inspired gathering of Canadian police chiefs, justice officials and indigenous leaders at the Winnipeg's Fairmont hotel. I liked his message because it follows what I had to go through when I had one time tried to report my younger sister missing, and I really felt that the Winnipeg Police Service representative didn't really give any more care about it as soon as I described her as Aboriginal and leading a high-risk lifestyle.
So, with that, I'm proud that he was there to give that–by saying to the Canadian police services that all levels of government can start tackling the socio-economic divide between Canada's indigenous and non-indigenous citizens now, as a means of preventing more violence.
And I just want to quote him quickly, please, when he started talking about these root causes. These root causes, we know, it's poverty. It's always the gap in education, the housing, the wellness centres, the detox centres, all these things we need, transportation issues. You don't have to wait two years to deal with these things; things can happen now.
So with that, I agree with him, and I, you know, wish that our new government follows through and–on the same mindset as that as well.
Also, to Yes! North, just quickly, this strategy is of–kind of alarming because I've spoken to leadership and community members in my constituency, and I just find that some of them didn't know what the strategy was. Some of them only had maybe a couple of meetings about it. But there was no real meaningful conversations, any formal consultations, and so with that–like, for example, Yes! North–obviously northern Manitoba consists of a lot of indigenous, traditional territory. In fact, an executive council member from Pimicikamak Cree Nation was upset that there was no formal consultations made with his nation. They're a proud nation, and they're very proud of their traditional territory. And he said, as original keepers of the land, as indigenous people of the land, within their own traditional territory, much more respect should be given to that community to get their input regarding Yes! North.
So with that, also, too, with–I kind of lost my place–infrastructure. Does this budget include investments in the North with roads? Moose Lake Road is a highway that has a long spreadsheet of many fatalities on that road, and it's been their goal to have that road paved. It's a high–condensed road with traffic. People go there for work; people leave there for work; people leave there just to get basic supplies just to live off rather than the high food prices at the Northern Store in their community.
So with that, I, too, my family–we lost a family friend of ours on that road last year. I, too, was almost in an accident due to the high dust density that happens when people cross each other on that road. So I think that should be given priority, east-side roads as well. Roads are our lifelines in northern Manitoba to access health care, cheaper food, economic development issues and jobs. So Cross Lake and Norway House were given that respect by our former government to pave those roads so they can have safer and–journeys to–in and out to access these crucial needs that we need to survive.
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Northern Healthy Foods Initiative, I'm glad that my member–the member of Kewatinook brings that up. That's always going to be an issue. And I just want to congratulate OCN and Cross Lake for being under this program that now–the OCN LED plant project, which we're producing our own produce within a turnaround of 25 days, so imagine when that
So, speaking of kitchen tables, I was sad to hear and heartbroken and disappointed about the pay raises that the Premier (Mr. Pallister) and the Cabinet ministers gave to themselves. You know, I would like them to maybe, you know, speak and, you know, look in to the eyes of our northern Manitobans who will not see that minimum wage and–increase, which is very important to me, because I currently have two brothers who are living on that minimum wage. And, in fact, I almost feel guilty sometimes, you know, as to where I'm at. And all I want to see is–for the best for them and for them to increase their quality of life as well.
So, as indigenous people, and as a northerner, we deserve much more respect and much more acknowledgement in this budget. The Throne Speech, mandate letters and this budget were very disappointed. I wish this government budget was just as ambitious as the federal government to work with Manitoba's indigenous people. This new government's goal is to, as I read, is to replace doubt with 'optism', disharmony with unity, to replace fear and anxiety with hope and opportunity for all Manitobans.
In fact, I feel different; this should be the opposite of how I feel as an indigenous person and as a northerner. I absolutely feel doubt, disharmony, fear and anxiety with this new government. And I believe this collective future of Manitoba should include indigenous people and northern Manitobans. Thank you.
Mr. Doyle Piwniuk (Arthur-Virden): I just want to congratulate you for your position that you got–received that'd be honoured to work with you, as me–myself, being a Deputy Speaker, and yourself, as assistant deputy Speaker, and I'm going to be honoured to work with you. We've also worked on a number of projects and also helped out with when it came to the election. I've been very honoured to walk with you, in your 'constitensy', that you've greatly earned and deserve, and you worked very hard. And congratulations on your win.
I also want to congratulate the Madam Speaker. This is the first time I had the opportunity to get up to actually speak in the House and–besides being on as Deputy Speaker. And she is so deserving for her role as Speaker of the House. She worked so hard throughout the years of being an MLA for the–for think it's Charleswood. And she's worked many years, and she's been on many committees, and she's been a very good diplomat for our province, for the Commonwealth-Parliament association. She's done all those different roles, and she is well respected within North America and abroad, and she'd be a great person for the job. And I'm very honoured to work side by side with her. We'll still have a great relationship, working relationship, in which she's really good, because of now that she's a Speaker; she has less to do with the party and less to do with the caucus. So I'm going to be honoured to work with her, and she's going to create good things that happen, in the future, when it comes to the Manitoba Legislative Assembly to promote that internationally and Canadian.
I just want to congratulate all the new winners of–all MLAs from both sides of the House. You've all worked so hard to be here, and you all deserve it. And there's a lot of many faces, as many as almost 30, and you should be all proud of yourself–and great and it's going to be great working with you.
On this side of the House, a lot of the MLAs, I was able to–I had the honour to walk with them in their constituencies and, 'agrain,' it was great to get to get to know yourselves and it was–no matter what the weather was like, you guys worked very, very hard to get to where you are today, and you should be very proud of what you've accomplished.
Again, I'd also want to congratulate all the hard-working individuals who worked on everybody's campaigns and the success that they had. And, also–I also wanted to wish all the best to the ones that didn't win in the last election. You know, some colleagues that were on the opposite side, you know, they worked hard and put a lot of time in–and effort into their constituencies and they, basically, you know, they were the voice for their constituencies. And they should be very honoured for all the hard work that they have. And, again, this is an election, and there's winners and losers. And I feel that they're all winners because they worked really hard for what they did.
I also want to thank all my volunteers and my–on my campaign, all the supporters. They all worked very hard. They worked hard in my constituency. Sometimes I wasn't there when I was helping out other constituencies. They were there right at the campaign office. They were at different parts–in different places in the community. I feel really honoured that they were there to support me.
And many of them came to Brandon, Brandon East, to help door knock. They, after work, they would come in with vehicles, and we'd go door knocking. It was great to have a team, the Westman team. Member from Brandon East, got to know him quite well, and was very–it was always great to go to the campaign office where his volunteers were. And we worked as a team, all the individuals from the Westman, including Brandon–member from Brandon West and member from Spruce Woods, we worked great as a team. And it showed.
And we want to congratulate the member from Brandon East for all the work he's done and all the work he's done in the city of Brandon as a councillor.
I want to also thank my family. My family, if it wasn't for them, I don't know if I would be doing this, because they're so supportive. You know, they were always there for going to door-knock. My son, who is only–almost 16, he loves it. I think I've created an individual who–
An Honourable Member: A monster.
Mr. Piwniuk: A monster, maybe–a political monster. No, he really, like, enjoys going door knocking and talking to people, meeting people.
And I know we went to St. James. We were in Assiniboia. We were in Southdale and Fort Richmond. And, again, it was just amazing how many different parts of the city you meet individuals, different walks of life. And that was what's an eye‑opener. And this is what is nice about the job, is meeting the people, working and meeting and becoming a team and a very strong team–40 members on this side of the House. And I'm honoured to be part of that, those members.
And, again, I just want to thank the constituents of Arthur-Virden for believing in me and re-electing me for another four-year term. I have huge predecessors that I have to–big shoes to fill. I have Jim Downey, deputy premier at one time for the Filmon government, and also Larry Maguire, who has been in the opposition for 14 years and worked really hard to get where we are today. He contributed for that.
And between the three of them–you know, Arthur-Virden is basically a newer constituency; again, it was probably incorporated about 1981. And I'm so honoured to be the third member from that constituency.
You know, the thing is, Madam Deputy Speaker, when I was–when I'm living in the constituency of Arthur-Virden, we're very close to the Saskatchewan border. And now this budget that's been established, it's going to help for competition with our neighbour to the west.
You know, I'm in a constituency that we–again, since 2014, when I got re-elected, I got elected in a by-election–we had the worst flood in history. We had a lot of bridges washed out. We had roads, infrastructure destroyed from the flood. Mind you, the infrastructure wasn't in great shape to begin with because of the almost 16 years of neglect of being information–investment coming back to my constituency.
Arthur-Virden, as many of you know, is–has a lot of oil. And it has a lot of natural resources. It even has potash reserves too in the northern part of it. And the southern part has a lot of oil.
In the last 10 years especially we had a lot of exploration and development of our oil industry. And it's created a lot of revenue for the Province of Manitoba, such that I was told that we have a 5‑point-billion-dollar oil industry in this–in Manitoba and about 95 per cent of it is actually in Arthur-Virden. Probably about 5 per cent is in Riding Mountain, which is being more developed there that way.
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And it's a very important industry, even though that we've been hit really hard with the oil prices. It goes in cycles. And oil has–was in cycles for the last many decades. And we know that it's going to come back again, and especially the oil that's in Arthur-Virden is a very light crude, and it's very–it's closer to the surface than, let's say, in Alberta where it's a little thicker and it's easier–it's harder to get. In Arthur-Virden it's a light crude, premium crude, it's actually–they like to use it to blend with the oil that comes from Fort McMurray, and so there's a premium that was paid on that. So we believe that when prices will start climbing back, we'll see a benefit back here in southwestern Manitoba again.
But when it came the last, you know, 10 years we've seen that highways in the Arthur-Virden constituency has deteriorated very muchly because of huge equipment now. Before at one time the agriculture industry used to have more elevators within–closer to each town, now they're inland terminals and you have to travel a lot further to get to these inland terminals, and so now farmers are using bigger trucks, semi trucks, to transport their grain and their supplies to market. And also on top of it we have a big oil industry that also has big heavy equipment and these roads were never made for that equipment.
And like I said before, since I started–when I ran for my by-election, we were in real lot of trouble when it came to potholes, to dangerous road conditions, specially when we had problems with health care that in the last 15 years, ER closures, bad condition of roads, ER–and so ambulances had to take the patients further and further away to get to the actual–an ER that was open, and with the road conditions, it was really hard–it was putting a lot of–ambulance drivers and the patient in jeopardy. And we, as a government now that we've formed government here, we want to change that. We want to make sure that in the budget that we have for this year that we've actually–now have money going for doctor retention and recruitment. That is so important to rural Manitoba.
Again, rural Manitoba is so important to the province of Manitoba because a lot of the revenue, besides the oil industry and the mining industry up north, we also have a lot–a huge agriculture industry, and agriculture is what the city of Winnipeg was created by, was a service centre for the eastern prairies for agriculture and energy and resources. And, if the rural areas don't grow and prosper and continue to grow with the services like health care and infrastructure, then rural Manitoba becomes–starts shrinking, and it's less services for the city of Winnipeg to look after.
We see the opposite effect in Saskatchewan when you–in Saskatchewan they look after their rural areas. They're prospering in the oil industry, the mining industries up north in Saskatchewan, uranium, potash, and right now their economy is very healthy in rural areas, and when they–when it's healthy in rural areas then the cities like–such as service industry assets–service cities such as Regina, Saskatoon, will prosper and grow.
And I really believe that this budget is for all of Manitoba, and it's a budget that's going to help the northern parts to 'explorate' new money in exploration. It's going to be for agriculture in rural Manitoba. It's going to be for cities, for health care, and the fishing industry too that we can–we also have a big industry too in the Interlake with Lake Winnipeg, Lake Manitoba. We really need to look at those industries to make sure that we grow, and we have to get rid of red tape. Right now the red tape in this–in the 16 years of NDP government has created a backlog of, you know, services that need to be provided to get the economy going again.
In my constituency, there was a hotel that was built in Melita, Manitoba, and that hotel was a person who built a number of hotels in Saskatchewan, so he decided to come to Melita to build, and when he came to Melita he found out that the cost of building that same hotel the same size was $250,000 more just because of red tape.
And what this budget does is also eliminate–eliminates red tape, and we have to make sure that we have more front-line services to provide processing of licences, permits, because one of the things, even when it comes to local government, they're saying that there's always delays when it comes to getting permits and to fix infrastructure, because of the backlog in licensing of–and permits that can be–that our front-line services are needed to make sure that they get processed quicker and more efficiency was happening–within the economy.
Right now, in Arthur-Virden, we're also looking at the number of ER closures that we've had in our communities. And, with the doctor retention and recruitment program that we're going to be creating with this side of the House here, it's going to make opportunities for more doctors in our rural areas. One of the things–I talked to somebody in Melita, Manitoba, was–who's a real estate agent, and his biggest concern was if we don't have good health care in rural areas, when someone asks looking for a new house, they ask, how is the health care? And, when they find out the health care is not–is–the ER closures are–happen on a regular basis, they tend to go to a community where there's better–where there's health care, that ERs are opened and there's doctors that they can actually–to visit and for medical reasons.
Madam Deputy–the assistant Speaker, again, the other good news that's happening in my constituency is our First Nations. We have three reserves that are in our constituency. One is Sioux Valley Dakota First Nation, and the other one's Birdtail, and one in south of me is Oak Lake Pipestone reserve.
And we have some great chiefs in those three reserves, and two of them, for instance, in Sioux Valley and Birdtail, they have actually–are creating new business opportunities for their people. The first one is 'octually' located on the junction of Highway 1 and Highway 21. New construction's happening right now, and what they're planning is putting a Petro‑Canada service station, along with a convenience store, and eventually a gaming centre and possibly a hotel. The other, in Birdtail, they're actually going up to Riding Mountain and a town called Foxwarren–is the old school that was closed down. The students actually have now gotten to Binscarth or Birtle now. So the school has closed down in Foxwarren. So now the old school is now going to be used for also the same thing, for a gas station, convenience store, gaming centre, community centre, just for the First Nations, and offices and eventually a hotel too.
And this is where we have to do it. Like, when it comes to rights and reconciliation with our First Nation people, I'm very proud to be in my constituency where they're very progressive. They want a hand up, not a handout. They want opportunities for their people. They want to make sure that there's jobs for them. And, when I went to visit lot of the chiefs at the First Nation reserves in my constituency, the biggest three–the biggest concerns that they had was housing, jobs and health care. And it's also social economics, and, if you give them opportunities for–work opportunities to–for careers, to build careers and training and education, it empowers every–all the individuals in these First Nation communities. And it gives them opportunity to grow, and it's a snowball effect.
And, once business starts, it creates other businesses and, once there's a growing population in these reserves, there's also services that need to be provided. And there's so much opportunity to–you get health-care workers to educators, teachers, also tradespeople. We need tradespeople to look after housing in these communities. And this is the first step for these First Nation communities to create this business opportunities, and I think this budget has given the opportunity to work together to make sure that we spend money where there's going to be a payback. And a payback is not just when it comes to just economic payback but also social payback.
And we want to make sure that, with this budget that we've brought out this year, it's going to increase–continue with educating our students. It's also going to help scholarships for universities. It's also going to have health care for our seniors. And, like I said, it didn't show, pacifically, which area of the province that it was focused on. It was all focused on all of Manitoba.
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And, even if you're in the North or if you're in the southwest or in the southeast of the province or if you're in the city of Winnipeg or in Churchill or in the Interlake, this budget was for everyone.
And this also–the bright side of this budget, too, and it really affects my situation on the west side of the province, was the new western partnership agreement that we wanted, we're going to be signing up.
Right now our neighbours to the west are as prosper, even with the oil industry sort of been affected with low oil prices. Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia is one of the fastest growing regions in North America, and we've got to be part of that. We've got to be part of that agreement.
And some of the individuals' businesses that were in my constituency, one was T.L. Penner Construction. They came to me, and when the members opposite did not want to be part of this agreement they were really concerned because when it came to the Saskatchewan government, when it came to hospitals and schools and government buildings, they were going to be excluded from putting bids on there. And being that their business is right on the border, half of their business is in Saskatchewan. And they came to me and they were very concerned that they were going to have to move their corporate office to the other side of the border just to get those contracts.
And now–we assure them now that now with being part of that New West Partnership, they don't have to move their corporate office. They get to keep the jobs in my constituency.
And there's also Leech Printing, too, from Brandon, who also has a location in Yorkton. But, again, they were concerned that they would have to move their operations, their headquarters to Saskatchewan.
And so, Madam Deputy Assistant Speaker, I just want to make sure–like, this–put a few words on the–that this budget is important and it's also going to create economic growth in our economy. It's going to open up–it's going to show that we're open for business again here in Manitoba after 17 years of roadblocks.
Thank you.
Mr. Jim Maloway (Elmwood): I'm very pleased to rise to speak to the budget today, which I think might be–I'm not sure a hundred per cent, but might be my 30th budget in this Legislature.
And I have to say that it's–I think if you are looking at it from a perspective of being a Conservative, it's got to be a very confusing experience because I think the members here–and once again I want to congratulate them for winning the election, but I think they must be pretty confused by what they're seeing here because they've spent the last couple of years, by their own admission, a lot of them, knocking on doors, telling people how bad the deficit is and the debt's high and the spending is out of control, and now they come here and in short order they are about to pass, in another 40 minutes or so, a budget which has a deficit of $911 million. And, you know, not since the days of Clayton Manness, when he was Finance minister in the Filmon government back in '92, have we seen numbers such as that.
Madam Acting Speaker, it's got to be very confusing for Conservatives too. They must be wondering what exactly they're doing here when they're running a deficit like that. And not only that, Madam Deputy Speaker, I have heard several members stand in this House and basically think it's a positive thing that the government is going to balance its budget in–what is it? Did I hear right? Was it eight years? Eight years? I remember the previous government, you know, after running surplus budgets from 1999 all the way through to 2008 when we had a financial collapse and pretty well every government everywhere was running a deficit at that point–as a matter of fact, the federal House of Commons, I think it was like a 56 or 58‑billion-dollar deficit. That was under Stephen Harper, who I think is a Conservative or was a Conservative.
And so–and that's the point where we started looking at deficits and we've been trying to come back from that, and we have projected that we would be in balance never more than two or three years in the future, and the members opposite would be very loud in their denunciation of those projections. And, of course, we, too, were missing those projections.
Well, what have they done? They're–they have no pretence whatsoever to balancing this budget. They're saying eight years. You know, Madam Deputy Speaker, in eight years, they won't even be here. They won't even be the government anymore. I mean, that's–if the NDP had made that promise in the last election, oh, we're going to balance the budget in eight years, they would have–we would have been laughed at by the Conservatives, who would've said the same thing: You aren't going to be here in eight years. Well, you aren't going to be here in eight years either. And, by the looks of it, you're not going to have the balance–budget balanced then either.
Now, let's look at some of the elements to the budget. I'm very surprised to find that this Premier (Mr. Pallister) actually gave Cabinet ministers salary increases. I mean, we have a 39 to 40 per cent increase in salary to the Premier. We have a 36 per cent increase in salary to the other Cabinet ministers here. And that is just giving the wrong signal to the voters that elected them. I mean, you know, I'm glad they did it because they are going to have to pay the price with the voters out there who are going to be asking the question: How can a new government, just newly elected, give its members increases like that and expect that they are going to be able to get away with it?
Other elements to this budget that are kind of, you know, questionable in my mind were the promise to reduce ambulance fees. The government promised, during the election, to reduce the ambulance fees, I think, what, in half? That was their promise. The Liberals, I might add, had the poorest promise on the ambulance fees. They were promising to reduce it for a very select group of, I think, seniors below a certain income level. But at least the NDP and the Conservatives were looking at a very broad, much broader approach to ambulance fees.
And the government promised that it was going to reduce the ambulance fees by half, 50 per cent, in this term. Well, what have we seen come out of the government in the last few weeks? A promise to give a 5 per cent reduction. Now, I don't think any voters in this last election signed on to the Conservative promise to cut ambulance fees in half expecting that they were going to wait how many years to see results. Five per cent in the first year on $500 is about 25 bucks. So, in other words, if you're taking an ambulance in the near future, your bill is going to come in not at $500; it's going to be, what, $475. And what was the Premier (Mr. Pallister) saying in his ads? His ads were, ah, he wanted people to expect a caregiver at the door and not a bill in the mail. Well, Madam Deputy Speaker, they're still going to get the bill in the mail. It's just rather than it being $500; it's going to be $475. Now, they're going to be real happy when they hear about that.
And so I don't know how long they expect that they're going to phase in this reduction because, at 5 per cent, how many years–[interjection] It'd take 10 years. So now they're going to balance the books in eight years when they're not going to be here anymore; they're going to reduce the ambulance fees in, what, 10 years. They aren't going to be here for that either.
And, by the way, and now they're promising to get rid of the PST hike of 1 per cent, but they're careful to say they're not going to do that until the end of the term. So they're going to collect it, $300 million per year, for another four years. Okay, that's about, what, over $1 billion, keep collecting it, and at the end of the day, the tax was going to expire in 10 years anyway. Do any of those new members, Madam Deputy Speaker, know that? Do they know that? Do they realize that when that tax was brought in, it was a 10-year tax, 1 per cent for 10 years to build infrastructure? Right, and we collected it for three years; you're collecting it, the Conservative government's going to elect it, for four years. And if they, in fact, get–
Some Honourable Members: Oh, oh.
The Acting Speaker (Colleen Mayer): Order. Let's try that. The member for Elmwood (Mr. Maloway) has the floor.
Mr. Maloway: Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. And so, at the end of the day, Madam Speaker, they're going to have–been collecting it actually longer than we did. We collected it for three years, $300 million, put it into infrastructure. They're going to collect more PST on–more than we did. They're going to collect it for four years, after making all that fuss about the 1 per cent.
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And at the end of the day, they're going to get rid of it–if they do. I don't know that we have any guarantees that they will but they're going to get rid of it with only three years. So you would think that if they were that concerned about the tax and the detrimental increase that it had to the economy, you would think they would want to reduce it right now, just like they would want to reduce the ambulance fees that they–[interjection]–no, you did not. You are reducing it by 5 per cent, 5 per cent.
Like, we've–I have to let the minister know that we are–we've done the calculation kind of before he was listening to this particular point, that it was going to take 10 years, 10 years, to bring in this much-vaunted decrease in the ambulance fees from $500 to half of $500.
So there were many more confusing parts to this budget, I have to say, Madam Speaker, over and above the ambulance fees. We noted, too, that, you know, speaking of doing less with more, which is the mantra of this government, and I mentioned about the increases in salary, the Minister in charge of Infrastructure, you know, is getting a 36 per cent increase in his pay and they cut his budget. They cut his budget by $48 million. So here is a perfect example of how this government, this supposed new government, is really operating–not what they said they would do, but how they're really operating. They took the Minister in charge of Infrastructure, they gave him a 36 per cent increase in his pay and they cut his budget, cut $48 million out of his highways budget.
So that is not, Madam Deputy Speaker, a very good beginning for this government, not to mention the fact that there has been a lot of confusion about what they are planning to do with their cuts that haven't materialized yet. I look back to the Sterling Lyon days and where they had a similar plan. You see, in the Gary Filmon days, we had a minority government, so he didn't get around to doing much in the way of cuts in civil servants or otherwise because we were the balance in that government. We were the people that kept him in power for a year–well, actually, two years. And–but this government has the majority and they are able to do what Gary Filmon wasn't able to do in his period here in the House.
Madam Speaker in the Chair
So my guess is that these value-for-money audits that the Minister of Health is launching, the government is launching, are going to produce similar results to what Sterling Lyon got back in his day here. And, you know, we wish them well in their exercises, but we want to make certain that this is a transparent process and that people will know, the public will know just what is going on, that they're not just enriching a bunch of consultants and accounting firms here to–in a make-work project, to cut government expenditures or, more to the point, perhaps privatize some parts of the government, because perhaps that's where they will be planning to go. And, you know, we'll see–[interjection]
Well, you know, the Health Minister wants to talk about, you know, conspiracies and the grassy knoll. But the reality is that the–we know the government needs money. They know need–they know they need money. And they're a little reluctant to get in the weeds here on too many tax increases. So, you know, it's just–it's not a–it's not too much of a conspiracy theory to come to the conclusion that they may be trying to divest themselves of some government resources, government entities.
But we will have to, you know, give some time on that. And the time frame is pretty clear that, by this time next year, we should have a much better idea of just where this government is going.
However, they have given some initial indications. I mean, a smart government, I would have thought, brand new government, given the takeover of MTS by Bell, the 3.9, I believe it is, billion takeover which is in the preapproval stages right now, you would have thought that the First Minister, that the Premier (Mr. Pallister) would have done a study to see what the benefits would be of this deal. In Saskatchewan right now, as we speak, Premier Wall, in Saskatchewan, is actually doing a study, which this government should have done, on the effects of this deal on SaskTel. But this government–it's the province where MTS is headquartered. It's the province where MTS has, like, 50 per cent of the market. And they–he's trying to tell me that he hasn't done a study, hasn't done any kind of analysis of whether it's a good deal or a bad deal? And, if he does the analysis and he finds that it's a good deal, then let's see the study. Let's find out what the arguments are.
So what does he do? He becomes a cheerleader for the deal. He shows up at their big announcement. He buys, hook, line and sinker, all their arguments for why it should be a deal. And each and every argument has just fallen apart. And then we read today, in the Free Press, that if this deal is approved by the shareholders on the 23rd of June this year–at, by the way, the Fort Garry Hotel–if this deal is approved, the CEO of MTS, Jay Forbes, will receive $8.9 million. Now, folks, that is million–$8.9 million that all comes out of the cellphone rates and the unlimited data plan rates that MTS is currently charging, which it will not be charging much longer, because to pay this kind of money to the CEO, it's going to have to jack up those rates. It's going to have to limit the unlimited data plan that it's got. It's going to put caps on them.
You're going to be getting bills. The Minister of Health is going to be getting a bill in the not-too-distant future, doubling his cellphone rates, and then he's going to have all these extra surcharges for all the extra talk time he's got on his cellphone, right?
An Honourable Member: Talking to you every day.
Mr. Maloway: He says he's talking to me every day. So, you know, that's what's going to happen. And then he can complain to the Premier about why did this deal go through, why didn't he file an intervention? That's, I guess, what our question is. You know, they should (a) have done a study to see the benefits of the deal, understand the benefits of the deal, (2) file an intervention with the authorities in Ottawa, the three different–Competition Bureau and the CRTC and the industry in Canada–Industry Canada. They should be filing interventions with these bodies.
Now, another $8.4 million, Madam Speaker–$8.4 million in this deal is going to deferred compensation to non-management board members. What in the world is that? Can somebody explain to me what a–what deferred compensation to non-management board members could be? Who are these board members? Who are these board members that are getting this $8.4 million? All this money, every cent, is going to come out of Manitobans who are subscribers to the MTS plans right now, the unlimited data plans and the good prices that Manitobans have been enjoying with MTS.
And, by the way, Madam Speaker, the rates are going to double. Based on what we've seen so far, there was a study done for the CRTC by a company, I think, by the name of Wall, and they have shown that Bell themselves–Bell themselves–are charging almost double in Toronto for five-gigabyte capacity, almost double what they're charging here in Manitoba. And that's because Manitoba has competition. Manitoba has four carriers.
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And, by the way, their own federal government, the Stephen Harper government, worked very hard to establish a fourth carrier in the country to the extent that when they sold off the spectrum rights, when they sold off spectrum rights, they made sure that WIND– the WIND company got a very good amount of new spectrum.
And this is what the federal Conservatives have done, is they have tried to promote competition in this field, and this government–this government–is going the absolute opposite–absolute opposite in competition.
But, Madam Speaker, just to end my comments on the MTS deal, I have to tell you that even worse than $8 million going to the CEO, Jay Forbes, and another $8 million going to the non-management board members, we have this deal costing upwards of $65 million–$65 million–in professional and banking fees to get the deal done.
Now, who are all these people? Sixty-five million dollars going to CIBC, I believe it is, yes. I wonder who works over there. TD Securities, who is over there? These are people that are going to be sharing–sharing in $65 million to effect this deal, all of which is going to be paid for by the hard-working Manitobans who have been loyal to MTS and enjoying the best cellphone rates in the country, are going to now have their rates doubled and their data plans are going to be capped. They're going to be paying a lot of excess fees thanks to this Premier and this government.
Thank you.
Hon. Brian Pallister (Premier): Thank you, Madam Speaker, and thank you to the member for the Louise Bridge for putting his comments on the record today. I appreciate that.
Budget 2016 sets a new course for our province, one that is needed, a new course that will lead to lower taxes, better services and a stronger economy.
Le budget 2016 établit un nouveau cours, un nouveau cours qui conduira à une base des impôts, des meilleurs services et une économie plus forte.
Translation
Budget 2016 sets a new course, a new course that will lead to lower taxes, better services and a stronger economy.
English
For too long, the previous government spent beyond its means, resulting in higher and higher accumulated debt, ever-increasing taxes, and eroded Manitoba's confidence and trust in its government. It negatively impacted the incomes of hard-working Manitobans. It jeopardized our ability as people to provide the services that Manitoba families depend upon.
This budget protects front-line services for all Manitobans. It moves our province in a safer and more prosperous direction. The challenges facing our province are enormous. In the past fiscal year, in 2015-16, provincial spending exceeded revenues by over $1 billion. That is more than double the $421‑million deficit that was originally projected when the previous government tabled its budget just last year.
Over the past decade projected budget expenditures rose rapidly each year, far beyond the rate of inflation, and those massive increases in projected expenditures were exceeded every single year by the actual spending of the previous government.
It's been said by many inside this House and outside as well that the previous government did not have a revenue problem, but it definitely had a spending problem. And, as a result of that spending, Manitoba's summary net debt doubled from $10 billion to $21 billion in less than eight years.
A deficit that large puts our province net debt–[interjection] I invite the member to look it up. A deficit that large puts our province in a precarious position, vulnerable to an interest-rate hike, even though–either through a general increase in rates or through a credit-rating downgrade, and, if that happens, our borrowing costs will increase significantly. High taxation rates make it difficult for Manitoba to compete for investments that create jobs and pay for front-line services. The depletion of the Fiscal Stabilization Fund by the previous government impairs our ability to address emergencies, such as floods or forest fires. Our increased reliance on revenues from the federal government and other provinces make us vulnerable to reductions in federal transfers as well.
Manitobans expect responsible fiscal management from their government. They have not received that for a long time. They want a better approach than spending more year after year and getting less and less each passing year. They have given their new government a strong mandate to chart a better and safer course, and that is exactly what Budget 2016 does.
As I've indicated, Madam Speaker, the challenges facing us are truly significant. We have unreasonable ER wait times in too many of our hospitals, as you well know. Too many Manitobans waiting far too long for surgical procedures. We have the highest child poverty rate in the country and far too many children in the care of child welfare agencies. The performance of our school students on national tests has worsened over the past several years to the point where the results now rank lowest in the country in English, in math and in science as well. This is an outcome that robs our children of their future. It makes it harder for them to compete for jobs. It makes it harder for them to keep the jobs that they get when they get them.
Manitoba seniors languish for far too long on wait-lists for health care. Our ambulance fees are the highest in the country forcing too many of our citizens, the poor, the elderly living on fixed incomes, to make life-threatening choices when they desperately need medical assistance. When a senior calls for an ambulance, they need an ambulance at the door; they don't need a $500 bill in the mail.
Our taxation rates are the highest among provinces west of Quebec, including the highest provincial sales tax rates, the highest general corporate tax rates. Low-income earners pay tax at a much lower threshold than in other provinces and in every province west of New Brunswick, because our basic personal exemption for personal income taxes is one of the lowest in Canada.
It's about repairing the damage, Madam Speaker, Manitobans have suffered through a decade of dysfunction, debt and deterioration.
Les Manitobains et Manitobaines ont souffert une décennie de dysfonctionnement, de la dette et de la détérioration.
Translation
Manitobans have suffered through a decade of dysfunction, debt and deterioration.
English
Budget 2016 begins the process of repairing more than a decade of damage. It includes indexing of the basic personal exemption in all tax brackets as of January 1st, 2017. We are doing this, Madam Speaker, because we believe in tax fairness for Manitobans. Our budget provides a substantial increase in funding for health care over the current 2015-16 projection. We are doing this because we believe that Manitobans must rely on their new government to provide the medical care they need when they need it.
Budget 2016 takes the first step toward reducing ambulance fees by half during our government's first term. We're doing this because Manitobans should never be forced to choose between paying high ambulance fees and receiving the emergency medical attention that they want.
Our government will appoint a wait-time's task force that will consult with front-line health-care providers to develop a plan to reduce wait times in our health-care system. We're doing this because Manitobans should not be forced to wait longer than necessary for medical care and longer than all other Canadians for many aspects of medical care.
* (16:20)
And our government will address our province's shortage of personal-care-home beds by designing a funding model that will fast-track the construction of those beds in all regions of Manitoba, and we are doing this because seniors in our province should not be forced to spend weeks in hospitals waiting for a bed in a personal-care home at great suffering to them and their families and at great additional cost to the taxpayers of our province as well.
Our failures in child education are failing our children. It's robbing them of their futures. It is ultimately threatening the productivity, competitiveness and economic future of this province as well. Education is important. Budget 2016 increases funding for education and training above the rate of inflation, including a 2.55 per cent increase in funding for schools. This budget provides support for new initiatives in early-years education with a focus on improving the ability of our students to read and to write. And we are doing this because an investment in the future of our children is an investment in the future of our province.
Il fournit un appui, une nouvelle initiative dans l'éducation de nos plus jeunes en mettant l'accent sur l'amélioration de leurs capacités de lire et d'écrire. Nous le faisons parce qu'un investissement dans l'avenir de nos enfants est un investissement dans l'avenir du Manitoba.
Translation
This budget provides support, a new initiative in early-years education with a focus on improving the ability of our students to read and to write. We are doing this because an investment in the future of our children is an investment in the future of our province.
English
Budget 2016 provides increased funding for the Department of Families. It increases our contribution to the Manitoba Housing and Renewal Corporation's multi-year capital program and, finally, provides full indexation to 75 per cent of median market rent through the Rent Assist program for low-income Manitobans who live in private rental housing.
Our budget will reduce wait-lists for important services needed by children and their families, and our government is making these investments because they will improve the lives of many Manitobans who need our help the most.
We need to also restore fiscal discipline to the way we run the affairs of this government on behalf of the people of this province. Manitobans have a reputation for being Canada's smartest shoppers. They have to be because they endure some of Canada's highest taxes, and they deserve a government that spends as wisely the money it takes from them in taxes as they spend the money they have left after they pay their taxes. And, on Tax Freedom Day, we should understand that it is a challenge for all Manitobans to do that, and they expect their government to use public revenues effectively and efficiently as they must do in their own lives.
A government that controls the growth of spending, a government that delivers value for money, a government that eliminates waste and duplication. We will do this, Madam Speaker, by keeping our annual spending growth below 3 per cent by eliminating waste, duplication and overlap in government services, by reducing the number of departments and shrinking the size of Cabinet and by dissolving the East Side Road Authority, by reducing the number of untendered contracts, by eliminating the subsidy for political parties and by launching a fiscal performance review of all core government programs.
We will do this by initiating a comprehensive review of health-care delivery that engages all stakeholders, including front-line workers, by establishing a red tape reduction task force, by reducing the amount of advertising that promotes governments and increasing the amount that promotes Manitoba and by modernizing the governments–governance of Crown agencies to eliminate political interference in their business operations.
Jobs and economic growth are the backbone of our government's plan to build a stronger, more prosperous Manitoba.
Les emplois et la croissance économique sont le fondement du plan de notre gouvernement pour bâtir un Manitoba plus fort et plus prospère.
Translation
Jobs and economic growth are the backbone of our government's plan to build a stronger and more prosperous Manitoba.
English
Our government will grow Manitoba's economy together with Manitobans by increasing competitiveness, by being a principled and reliable partner, by working in collaboration with the business community, and by working with indigenous Manitobans to allow them to become full partners in our society.
And we will do more, Madam Speaker. We will facilitate improved access to venture capital, a category in which we lag the nation, 10th out of 10 under the previous administration. We will negotiate membership in the New West Partnership with the other three western provinces in order to reduce trade barriers and open up new opportunities for Manitoba companies.
We will invest more than $1 billion annually in strategic infrastructure in order to address our inherited infrastructure deficit. And, I repeat, we will invest steadily, repeatedly, year after year, because that's the right way to build infrastructure, not raid the department, raid it and raid it and then have a parade to promote yourself the way the previous administration did just before the last election.
By creating a single-access point for municipalities to access programming at the provincial level, we will save them both time and money. And this is fair to say is what municipal partners want.
By developing a made-in-Manitoba climate action plan that fosters emissions reductions, retains investment capital and stimulates new innovation in clean energy, business and jobs, and by, finally, indexing our income tax brackets to the rate of inflation and ending bracket creep.
And most of all, Madam Speaker, by establishing a tone–a new tone, a new attitude, a new relationship with Manitoba and Manitobans where government is no longer above the people but is beside them, working together with them, in partnership with them every step of the way.
Our new government is committed to making Manitoba the most improved province in Canada, to undo the damage caused by a decade of deterioration and to correct the course towards a safer and more prosperous future.
Notre nouveau gouvernement a déterminé que le Manitoba deviendra la province la plus améliorée au Canada. Nous allons réparer les dommages causés par la décennie de détérioration et corriger le cap vers un avenir plus sûr et plus prospère.
Translation
Our new government has decided that Manitoba will be the most improved province in Canada. We are going to undo the damage caused by a decade of deterioration and correct the course towards a safer and more prosperous future.
English
We must replace the NDP agenda of waste and fear with foresight and hope. Achieving this objective will not be easy, nor will it be accomplished overnight. It will take time, it will take patience, it will take hard work, it will take teamwork. But the great thing about Manitobans is we aren't afraid of hard work, and we understand what a team can do.
We'll protect the vulnerable, we'll support future generations and we will emerge stronger and better together. Manitobans know that our best days are ahead of us and that the only thing better than today in Manitoba, Madam Speaker, will be tomorrow in Manitoba.
Thank you. Miigwech. Merci.
Madam Speaker: Are there any further speakers in the debate?
Is the House ready for the question?
Some Honourable Members: Question.
Madam Speaker: The question before the House is the proposed subamendment of the honourable member for River Heights (Mr. Gerrard).
Do the members wish to have the sub-amendment read?
Some Honourable Members: Yes.
Madam Speaker: The proposed motion of the honourable member for River Heights in sub-amendment thereto as follows:
THAT the amendment be amended by adding after clause (l) the following clauses:
(m) commit to addressing the root causes of prescription drugs, alcohol and street drug addiction in our communities; and
(n) commit to eliminating ambulance fees for low income seniors; and
(o) commit to establishing Youth Justice Committees; and
(p) commit to act immediately to address the long wait times in emergency rooms; and
(q) commit to helping families stay together and reduce the number of children in care of Child and Family Services; and
(r) commit to resources to directly establish the dedicated stroke unit; and
(s) commit to providing the resources and plan to eliminate the long wait times for child care in Manitoba; and
(t) commit to balancing the budget in four years; and
(u) commit adequate resources to ensure the health of Lake Winnipeg; and
(v) commit to lowering the cost of prescription drugs for seniors on low incomes; and
(w) commit to act immediately in addressing the diabetes epidemic; and
(x) commit to addressing the high cost of food in remote northern communities; and
(y) commit to the completing of the east side road of Lake Winnipeg.
Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the subamendment?
Some Honourable Members: No.
An Honourable Member: Yes.
* (16:30)
Voice Vote
Madam Speaker: All those in favour of the sub‑amendment, please say yea.
Some Honourable Members: Yea.
Madam Speaker: All those opposed, please say nay.
Some Honourable Members: Nay.
Madam Speaker: In my opinion, the Nays have it.
An Honourable Member: Recorded vote, Madam Speaker.
Madam Speaker: Does the member have support for a recorded vote?
Without the support, the subamendment is defeated.
* * *
Madam Speaker: The question before the House now is the proposed amendment, moved by the Leader of the Official Opposition (Ms. Marcelino) to the proposed motion of the honourable Minister of Finance (Mr. Friesen) that this House approve in general the budgetary policy of the government.
Do members wish to have the amendment read?
Some Honourable Members: Yes.
Madam Speaker: And the proposed motion of the honourable interim Official Opposition Leader is as follows:
THAT the motion be amended by deleting all of the words after "House" and substituting:
therefore regrets that this budget neglects the priorities of Manitobans by failing to:
(a) clarify the definition of front line worker and what services will be protected; and
(b) make the results of cross-government, private-sector spending reviews open and transparent to the public; and
(c) ensure to the hard-working people of Manitoba that the provincial government's value-for-money audit will not result in job losses; and
(d) address wage concerns of low-income Manitoba families by not increasing the minimum wage and ensuring that families living in poverty are supported; and
(e) provide any additional resources for needed early childhood education spaces for Manitoba families; and
(f) commit to a comprehensive early learning program; and
(g) address the needs of persons living with disabilities; and
(h) commit resources necessary to address the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission; and
(i) provide community and career assistance to new immigrants in the province; and
(j) advance initiatives for northern Manitoba; and
(k) preserve needed supports and relief for seniors and middle-income Manitobans; and
(l) provide any new supports for safer communities.
As a consequence, the provincial government has thereby lost the confidence of this House and the people of Manitoba.
Madam Speaker: Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the amendment?
Some Honourable Members: Agreed.
Some Honourable Members: No.
Voice Vote
Madam Speaker: All those in favour of the amendment, please say yea.
Some Honourable Members: Yea.
Madam Speaker: All those opposed, please say nay.
Some Honourable Members: Nay.
Madam Speaker: In my opinion, the Nays have it.
Recorded Vote
Madam Speaker: A recorded vote having been called, call in the members.
The question before the House now is a proposed amendment, moved by the Leader of the Official Opposition (Ms. Marcelino), to the proposed motion of the honourable Minister of Finance (Mr. Friesen), that this House approves in general the budgetary policy of the government.
Division
A RECORDED VOTE was taken, the result being as follows:
Yeas
Altemeyer, Chief, Fontaine, Gerrard, Kinew, Klassen, Lamoureux, Lathlin, Lindsey, Maloway, Marcelino (Logan), Marcelino (Tyndall Park), Saran, Selinger, Swan, Wiebe.
Nays
Bindle, Clarke, Cox, Cullen, Curry, Ewasko, Fielding, Fletcher, Friesen, Goertzen, Graydon, Guillemard, Helwer, Isleifson, Johnson, Johnston, Lagassé, Lagimodiere, Martin, Mayer, Michaleski, Micklefield, Morley-Lecomte, Nesbitt, Pallister, Pedersen, Piwniuk, Reyes, Schuler, Smith, Smook, Stefanson, Teitsma, Wharton, Wishart, Wowchuk, Yakimoski.
Clerk (Ms. Patricia Chaychuk): Yeas 16, Nays 37.
Madam Speaker: I declare the amendment lost.
* * *
Madam Speaker: The question before the House now is the proposed motion of the honourable Minister of Finance that this House approves in general the budgetary policy of the government.
Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?
Some Honourable Members: Agreed.
Some Honourable Members: No.
Voice Vote
Madam Speaker: All those in favour of the motion, please say yea.
Some Honourable Members: Yea.
Madam Speaker: All those opposed, please say nay.
Some Honourable Members: Nay.
Madam Speaker: In my opinion, the Yeas have it.
Recorded Vote
Hon. Kelvin Goertzen (Government House Leader): Recorded vote.
Madam Speaker: A recorded vote having been requested, call in the members.
The question before the House is the proposed motion of the honourable Minister of Finance that this House approves in general the budgetary policy of the government.
* (16:40)
Division
A RECORDED VOTE was taken, the result being as follows:
Yeas
Bindle, Clarke, Cox, Cullen, Curry, Eichler, Ewasko, Fielding, Fletcher, Friesen, Goertzen, Graydon, Guillemard, Helwer, Isleifson, Johnson, Johnston, Lagassé, Lagimodiere, Martin, Mayer, Michaleski, Micklefield, Morley-Lecomte, Nesbitt, Pallister, Pedersen, Piwniuk, Reyes, Schuler, Smith, Smook, Stefanson, Teitsma, Wharton, Wishart, Wowchuk, Yakimoski.
Nays
Altemeyer, Chief, Fontaine, Gerrard, Kinew, Klassen, Lamoureux, Lathlin, Lindsey, Maloway, Marcelino (Logan), Marcelino (Tyndall Park), Saran, Selinger, Swan, Wiebe.
Clerk: Yeas 38, Nays 16.
Madam Speaker: I declare the motion carried.
* * *
An Honourable Member: Madam Speaker, I believe if you–
Madam Speaker: The honourable Minister of–oh, the honourable Government House Leader.
Mr. Goertzen: Madam Speaker, I believe if you canvass the House, you'll find it's the will to call it 5 p.m.
Madam Speaker: Is it the will of the House to call it 5 p.m.? [Agreed]
The hour being 5 p.m., the House is now adjourned and stands adjourned until 1:30 p.m. tomorrow.
LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA
Tuesday, June 7, 2016
CONTENTS