VLT Revenues
Information Release
Mr. Gary Doer (Leader of the Opposition): Madam Speaker, my question is to the First Minister (Mr. Filmon).
Yesterday, the Minister responsible for Lotteries released some information dealing with revenues from VLTs, revenues from lottery functions in communities and an arithmetic calculation of both the specific grants and the deficit calculations based on those grants to those communities.
Madam Speaker, we have been asking for a community-by-community breakdown for some time now, as all Manitobans have been doing.
I would like to ask the Premier, when did the cabinet and the Premier receive a community-by-community breakdown of VLT revenues in the province of Manitoba?
Hon. Eric Stefanson (Minister charged with the administration of The Manitoba Lotteries Corporation Act): Madam Speaker, the information that was released yesterday was received in my office this week.
Mr. Doer: Madam Speaker, I want to table a letter from the Ombudsman dated December 19, 1994, which clearly states that cabinet received this information, and I had better be precise, on November 30, 1994. Cabinet received the breakdown of VLT revenues community by community and had available to it a submission from the Lotteries Corporation on November 30, 1994.
Why did this Premier choose to mislead the public of Manitoba and not release this information and lottery information to the people of Manitoba prior to the election campaign?
Madam Speaker: Order, please. I would ask the Leader of the official opposition to withdraw the word "mislead." It is an unparliamentary word.
Mr. Doer: Why did the Premier allege that this information was not available to the people of Manitoba?
I withdraw the word "mislead."
Madam Speaker: I thank the honourable Leader of the official opposition.
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Hon. Gary Filmon (Premier): Madam Speaker, I have said publicly to the media and to other people that it was not a matter of the community-by-community breakdown of revenue that was missing. It was the distribution and we had to wait for the distribution, because that was the question that was asked by everybody, by the Free Press, by members opposite--show us how much you are taking in and how much you are distributing to the communities--and until we had that, we could not release the package.
Mr. Doer: The government had the information at cabinet on November 30, 1994. The government also had the Public Accounts breakdown of the grants by communities. They simply took a deficit number and calculated it against the grants.
Is the Premier saying to the people of Manitoba that they could not do this simple calculation with the Public Accounts that was released last fall, Madam Speaker, that they could not do that calculation to release it for the people of Manitoba for the last seven months before the election campaign?
Mr. Filmon: Madam Speaker, the questions were asked by members opposite and the media about both the revenues on a community-by-community basis and the distribution on a community-by-community basis, and until we had that information, we could not release it.
We did not have it all together until this week. It was released yesterday. If it was as simple as the Leader of the Opposition said it was, then we would have given it to him to do.
Mr. Doer: Madam Speaker, I have a new question to the Premier.
The Premier who has dodged this issue for months and months and months, along with his former Minister of Lotteries and the present Minister of Lotteries (Mr. Stefanson), has stated for months that this information was not available community by community.
We now have information that the VLT revenue--and, of course, we have tabled that in the House; it was machine by machine, community by community, Madam Speaker--was available in November.
Madam Speaker, when did the government read their own Public Accounts and their own Orders-in-Council that deal with the grants made community by community? Did they not have that information in the fall of 1994, along with the revenues from those VLT machines?
Mr. Stefanson: I am pleased to see that the Leader of the Opposition is finally reading the Public Accounts, because a great deal of information about lotteries and gaming revenue has been in those documents for several years, and it is good to see he is finally paying some attention to it.
For the specific information in terms of the program breakdown, I would encourage him to look at the additional attachment that was with yesterday's press release that shows the receipts and disbursements of Lotteries Funded Programs, Madam Speaker, and he will see a very extensive list.
Within that, it means going into individual departments and individual department breakdown to get the breakdown of where Community Places supports go, where the REDI, Rural Economic Development Initiative supports go, where the Agricultural Society grants assistance go, where the arts grants assistance go, where the Community Places go, where the cultural organization grants, where Historic Resources grants, where Manitoba Community Services Council, multicultural grants, advisory councils, Public Library Services grants assistance--I could go on and on, Madam Speaker, but it involves many different departments.
It involves in some cases external organizations, and to get the detailed community-by-community breakdown is a major undertaking.
That is the information that was concluded this week, and the document was released as soon as all the information, both in terms of funding and in terms of disbursements, was available, Madam Speaker.
Mr. Doer: Madam Speaker, my question is to the Premier (Mr. Filmon).
These numbers that were released this week were numbers for the '93-94 year. They were numbers available to the government in August of 1994, available to the public in the Public Accounts in the fall of 1994. We now have confirmation that the government had the VLT revenues on November 30 of 1994.
Why did the Premier not release these numbers prior to the election campaign, so all the public could have the numbers that the government had and would have to have in order to authorize the grants to those communities?
How can the government possibly say that they did not have this information, when it was contained in the Public Accounts released in the fall of 1994, seven months before the election campaign?
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Mr. Stefanson: Madam Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition has served in government for a short period of time, and he should know that when you have to go into individual departments, you have to go into individual programs and you have to break it down into individual communities.
That is a massive undertaking involving almost every department of government and many external organizations, Madam Speaker. That is what took the time. That information had to be done precisely, because we know that each individual community will want to know with absolute certainty what is going back into their communities, and that is what took the time. As soon as that process was concluded, the entire summary was put together, and it was released this week.
On the whole issue of information around gaming, there is all kinds of information on gaming, as I mentioned yesterday, from the annual report to the information provided by the Lotteries Corporation to the information that is in the Public Accounts, and I repeat, it is encouraging to see that the Leader of the Opposition is finally taking that document seriously and looking at it for a change.
Mr. Doer: Madam Speaker, it is because we have been in government that we know that Orders-in-Council and grants that are in the Public Accounts were available months and months and months ago, along with the revenue from VLT machines that we now have had confirmed. Let there be no mistake about that.
I have a final question to the Premier (Mr. Filmon).
The Premier is responsible for hiring the chief executive officers of corporations like the Lotteries Corporation. In the letter from the Ombudsman, the Ombudsman indicates that the corporation told the Ombudsman, told an independent person of this Legislature, that the information for VLT revenues was not available community by community.
Madam Speaker, we have tabled information in this House on Monday that indicates they were not only available community by community but machine by machine.
Madam Speaker, the corporation, it seems to us, has misled the Ombudsman. Is the Premier taking any disciplinary action on the CEO of the corporation, or was the CEO of the corporation working under the instructions of the cabinet and the Premier not to provide that information?
Mr. Stefanson: Madam Speaker, without accepting any of the preamble of the Leader of the Opposition, as I indicated in this House yesterday, the Ombudsman, I am told, is very satisfied with the information that was released yesterday.
It meets his requirements. It meets the requirements under The Freedom of Information Act. It also meets the standards applied by Statistics Canada, Madam Speaker, and that is how the information has been provided.
VLT Revenues
Deficit Reduction
Mr. Steve Ashton (Thompson): Yesterday we indicated in the House just how concerned we are about the lack of integrity of this Conservative Party in dealing with matters of importance to Manitobans, and nothing could be clearer than in the way they have dealt with this important issue.
Throughout Manitoba communities are reacting today to this supposed set of books, and I would like to ask a number of questions, because there are some very serious questions being asked even now, after this long wait, about the kind of information we are receiving.
I would like to ask the Premier (Mr. Filmon)--[interjection] Yes, I have a question for the Premier, and, indeed, I would like to ask the Premier how he can justify, after conveniently waiting as long as he has, two months after the election, releasing information yesterday that indicates, according to this, that, for example, residents of Pembina pay $5.20 per capita towards the deficit--this is according to these calculations--but communities such as The Pas pay $204.74 per capita. In fact, and this may be interesting for the member for Gimli (Mr. Helwer), according to these calculations, in Gimli it is $390 per capita.
How did the government come up with these statistics?
Hon. Eric Stefanson (Minister charged with the administration of The Manitoba Lotteries Corporation Act): Well, Madam Speaker, I am not sure where the member for Thompson is heading with this kind of questioning, whether it relates to lottery and gaming revenue or whether it relates to all of our taxation, what is generated from different communities, different individuals and so on.
In terms of the allocation of the deficit, if he looks at the chart, the gross revenue from gaming is provided in the chart. Various programs were then funded in individual communities, either direct programs or the communities' per-capita share of province-wide programs.
After those programs were funded, there was an amount available to be applied against the deficit, approximately $65 million, and that residual, Madam Speaker, was applied on a proportionate basis.
I do not want to have to give the member for Thompson a lesson in accounting, but when there was $65 million available to be distributed, $60 million of it was distributed, and it was done on a proportionate basis, and I would welcome the opportunity to give the member an accounting lesson at any time.
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Mr. Ashton: Well, will the minister perhaps give all of Manitobans a lesson in his creative accounting by indicating how, if you look at these numbers, essentially what has happened is--can he confirm that if communities did not get programming money, what has essentially happened is that, according to these numbers, they get the benefit, as the people of Gimli or The Pas or Thompson have, of having a magic number attached next to them for deficit reduction.
Is that the minister's version of creative accounting?
Mr. Stefanson: Madam Speaker, many of the programs that I referred to are programs that are province-wide. They are available to all communities to apply for, whether it is the REDI program or other programs. Some communities have accessed those programs in a more significant way for the year ending March 31, 1994.
We will see what happens in 1995. Those programs are there and some communities use them in a given year. Other communities will use them in the next year.
I guess what the member for Thompson is telling us is that he does not take the deficit seriously. I think he is out of step with Manitobans, because Manitobans have told us one of the single greatest priorities is to stop deficits, start accumulating surpluses, and every time you eliminate the deficit you are putting funding to the highest priorities here in Manitoba. You are putting funding to health care, education and family services, Madam Speaker.
Information Release
Mr. Steve Ashton (Thompson): My final supplementary is to the Premier (Mr. Filmon) whom I wanted to question earlier.
I would like to ask the Premier, will he finally admit that this list, the supposed list of only 27 communities out of the many communities in Manitoba, is nothing more than a bogus list, a cover-up? Will the Premier finally give the information to Manitobans that they have been asking for in terms of VLTs?
Madam Speaker: Order, please. I would request that the honourable member for Thompson please pick and choose his words very carefully. At this time, I would request that the word "bogus" be withdrawn.
Mr. Ashton: Yes, I withdraw that and substitute the word "phoney."
Madam Speaker: Order, please. I am certain that the honourable member for Thompson knows that when he is requested to withdraw a word, it is an unequivocal withdrawal.
Point of Order
Mr. Ashton: Madam Speaker, on a point of order, I substituted a word that is parliamentary. I totally withdraw the word "cover-up" if that is considered unparliamentary.
Madam Speaker: Order, please. The honourable member for Thompson was requested to withdraw the word "bogus."
Would the honourable member please withdraw the word "bogus" unequivocally?
Mr. Ashton: Madam Speaker, I withdrew it and I substituted a word which is parliamentary, which I believe is the procedure. I withdraw the word "cover-up." [interjection]
Madam Speaker, the Premier seems to be wanting to chair. If you wish me to withdraw the word "cover-up" unequivocally, I have done that. I repeat that.
Madam Speaker: And "bogus?"
Order, please. To the honourable member for Thompson, the Speaker has not heard you withdraw the word "bogus" unequivocally without substituting a supplementary word, and I would request that the honourable member for Thompson withdraw the word "bogus" unequivocally.
Mr. Ashton: Madam Speaker, can I ask for your ruling? Are you ruling that the word "bogus" is unparliamentary?
Madam Speaker: Yes.
Mr. Ashton: Madam Speaker, I want to indicate that the word does not appear in any of our lists as being unparliamentary. However, if that is your ruling, I accept your ruling.
Madam Speaker: I thank the honourable member for Thompson.
The honourable member for Thompson accepted my ruling that the word indeed was unparliamentary but has still not withdrawn the word "bogus" unequivocally.
Mr. Ashton: Madam Speaker, my understanding is you have ruled that the word was unparliamentary. If the word was unparliamentary and that is your ruling, then I withdraw the word.
Madam Speaker: I appreciate that. I thank the honourable member for Thompson.
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Hon. Gary Filmon (Premier): Madam Speaker, the information that is provided there is in accordance with the advice that has been accepted from the Ombudsman, and that is that any communities in which there were three or fewer locations would not be identified separately, so that commercial confidentiality of the income revenue of those individual sites would not be in jeopardy.
That is something that is consistent with what Statistics Canada does, so that they do not identify individual siteholders for things such as revenue on sales tax or revenue on retail sales or any of those things.
This information was provided consistent with Statistics Canada's principles and consistent with The Freedom of Information Act and consistent with what the Ombudsman has advised the government to do, and it is those circumstances on which we have provided the information, and we are confident that it meets all the tests, Madam Speaker.
Mr. Ashton: On a new question, I would like to ask the Premier, will he look at the fact that, currently, every single municipal leader in this province is looking at these figures today and saying what they have been saying for a long time, and even in this inaccurate document, it is finally being shown to be true, and the fact is this government has been draining rural and northern communities through VLTs and other revenues?
Will this First Minister finally sit down with the municipal leaders and other leaders throughout rural and northern Manitoba and listen to the concerns that have been expressed--they are now confirmed in this document--that his government has been draining rural and northern Manitoba through VLTs?
Mr. Filmon: Madam Speaker, what I will confirm is that this government is the only government in Canada that gives direct revenues from VLTs to all municipal governments in this province, 10 percent, that provides an additional 25 percent in support that is directed by the provincial government into the municipal governments.
No other government in Canada does that, and this would not be an issue in any other area in Canada because they do not provide any direct revenues to the municipal governments. We do. We are the most generous government in Canada in providing revenues to municipal governments, and now he is saying that is not good enough, Madam Speaker.
The fact of the matter is the only reason we are into this discussion is because this government does make a commitment to give some of the revenues to municipal governments in our province.
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Forest Fires--Evacuees
Centennial Arena
Mr. Eric Robinson (Rupertsland): Madam Speaker, as you know, we are currently in a very serious situation in northern Manitoba, particularly with forest fires.
I would like to begin by commending the men and women on the front lines and the men and women who are involved with helping the evacuees throughout Manitoba at Lynn Lake, Thompson, The Pas and also at Portage la Prairie.
During the last couple of nights, I have had an opportunity to meet with the evacuees at Portage la Prairie, and last night the member for Dauphin (Mr. Struthers) and I had the opportunity to meet with the evacuees. We certainly were impressed by the efforts of the friendship centre, EMO, Red Cross and the other many volunteers who are involved, including the RCMP.
However, we did find a problem, Madam Speaker, and that is the conditions in which some of the people, the evacuees, have to live in, in Portage la Prairie, particularly the ones at the Centennial Arena, and that is, these people are sleeping on floors which are soaked with moisture.
I would like to ask the Minister of Government Services whether or not these people will have an opportunity to move to a more suitable location and a more comfortable location.
Hon. Brian Pallister (Minister of Government Services): Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Rupertsland for his positive comments concerning the great work that is being done by a great many Manitobans in assisting these people who have been evacuated, over 3,000 thus far, I understand, in total, who unfortunately have had to be moved from their normal places of residence to other communities that have been gracious enough to accept the responsibility of providing for those people in need.
Certainly yesterday, we, too, the Premier (Mr. Filmon), the Minister of Northern and Native Affairs (Mr. Praznik) and myself had the opportunity to visit with these folks, to talk with them and to also congratulate, as the member opposite has, the great many people who have been involved in doing their very best, their very utmost, to make accommodation, to make food available, to make other provisions available as would accommodate the needs of these people.
It is a difficult task, certainly, and one that I must personally thank the people of the communities of The Pas, Thompson and Portage la Prairie for for taking on that task. It is not easy to satisfy all the needs of the people of these communities, but we are certainly doing our utmost to do just that.
Mr. Robinson: Madam Speaker, I know the staff of EMO meet daily to discuss matters like this.
I would like to ask the minister if he would instruct his representatives to ensure that the evacuees' needs are being met, and I would like to ask the minister, again, whether or not the people who are in Portage la Prairie at the arena could look forward to a more suitable location tonight.
Mr. Pallister: The member for Rupertsland is quite correct. Regular consultation takes place, not only with the host community and government officials from EMO and other departments but also with representatives of the people who have been displaced from their communities, including the councillors, in this case in Portage la Prairie, from Gods Lake Narrows, and we, in fact, met with those people yesterday, and they had the opportunity and did express some concerns. This was not among the concerns they expressed to us yesterday at our meeting.
I appreciate the member expressing the concern today in the House. I would encourage him, however, in future, if something like this comes to his attention, that he bring it to my attention immediately when it comes to his attention, not just when it is politically expedient however, Madam Speaker, to do it in front of the cameras today in the Chamber, but when the concern is brought, it should be brought directly to my attention.
I appreciate that happening and I ask the member to do just that. Thank you.
Point of Order
Mr. Gary Doer (Leader of the Opposition): Madam Speaker, on a point of order, the minister was imputing motives after the member went out and was there till two, three o'clock in the morning last evening.
To say it is made for any other purpose except representing the people of this province, I believe is unparliamentary. You cannot impugn motives, and I think we should deal with the substance which is very important to those people rather than politics.
Madam Speaker: Order, please. On the point of order by the Leader of the official opposition, I believe, indeed, that it is a point of order.
Imputing motives, indeed, is a point of order, and I would request the honourable member for Portage to rephrase his words and apologize to the member for Rupertsland.
Mr. Pallister: I am very sorry.
Madam Speaker: I thank the honourable Minister of Government Services.
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Mr. Robinson: Madam Speaker, I do thank the minister for his apology.
I would also like to ask the minister whether this government will discuss with EMO, chiefs and councils, mayors and councils, on any possible future happenings as we are experiencing currently, so that we can ensure that there will be an orderly course of action taken in the event that these things occur in a time to come.
Mr. Pallister: I thank the member for his question. I do thank the member for his personal interest in this situation. I appreciate that interest very much.
I believe that we have adopted, and very successfully so, according to all reports based on comparisons with the 1989 situation, a very effective teamwork approach that is involving the councils, members of the communities that have been evacuated, as well as the host communities.
I know from talking to those people personally that they are working very, very diligently to do their utmost to make sure that this temporary home that these people have been forced to take up is as comfortable as is possible and that it does provide the services and provide for the needs of those people while they are unfortunately away from their homes.
Forest Fires
Evacuation Process
Hon. Brian Pallister (Minister of Government Services): If I may respond to a question taken as notice yesterday by the Deputy Premier (Mr. Downey) from the member for Flin Flon (Mr. Jennissen), the member asked if the minister would allow those evacuated from Leaf Rapids to The Pas to remain in Thompson.
I am pleased to report to the House that this morning, in fact as we speak, the people who have been displaced from Leaf Rapids are now in the process of returning to their homes.
I know they are appreciative of the great work that was done by the host communities of The Pas and Thompson in hosting them. They will be returning home shortly and I know will be appreciative of that opportunity. Thank you.
Gaming Commission
VLT Revenues
Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Inkster): Madam Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Finance.
After a great deal of time, we finally did receive the government's news release yesterday with the community-by-community breakdown, but it should be pointed out that, in fact, this information is out of date. It is 15 months old, if you like, and it is quite incomplete. We take a look at those sites where there was less than four which made up to $24 million of revenue, Madam Speaker.
My question to the minister is, did the gambling committee receive a more detailed breakdown than what the minister has provided to the legislative Chamber?
Hon. Eric Stefanson (Minister charged with the administration of The Manitoba Lotteries Corporation Act): Madam Speaker, the member for Inkster refers to not providing the individual breakdown for communities that have three sites or fewer, and I will only remind the member that the releasing of site-by-site revenue figures would contravene The Freedom of Information Act by jeopardizing the financial confidentiality interests of individual siteholders.
As I have indicated, this information will certainly be made available to the Desjardins commission.
Mr. Lamoureux: Madam Speaker, is the same community-by-community breakdown being provided to the gambling committee, when in terms of reference, its major goal was to assess the social and economic impacts of the current level of gaming in the community, including financial implications through the orders of this government? This is what this government had mandated the committee to do.
Mr. Stefanson: Again, I can only reiterate that this information will be made available to the Desjardins commission.
The feedback I am getting from the commission is that they are very satisfied with the types of information they are receiving, whether it is from the Lotteries Corporation, whether it is from government, whether it is from the Addictions Foundation and certainly from the public.
They have not indicated any problems with lack of co-operation, lack of information, lack of data, and this information in this report will certainly be made available to them.
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Mr. Lamoureux: Will the Minister of Finance not acknowledge that in order for this committee to achieve the goal that this government has set for it, it needs more detail in terms of where the community revenue is coming from and more up-to-date information?
Mr. Stefanson: No, Madam Speaker, I will not confirm that.
As I indicated, the feedback I am getting is that the commission is very satisfied with the quantity and the quality of information they are receiving from all sources, Madam Speaker. I certainly accept their view of that issue, that they are satisfied.
Forest Fires--Evacuees
Centennial Arena
Mr. Stan Struthers (Dauphin): I want to ask my question to the Minister of Government Services and add my voice to my colleague from Rupertsland on the conditions that we found in the arena at Portage la Prairie last night.
I think it would be helpful for the minister and everyone in the House to realize that yesterday, at some point in the day, the well-intentioned people turned the brine on in the Portage Centennial Arena to cool the floor, and what happened was that with the humidity, a whole lot of water formed on the cement. That may be after the minister had visited the arena.
Will the minister request his staff to consider moving the evacuees from the Portage arena to the drier, smaller air-conditioned halls that are in Portage la Prairie?
Hon. Brian Pallister (Minister of Government Services): I thank the member for the question, and, as well, congratulate him on his interest in this important issue.
I will inquire with the department and departmental staff to find out more about the concerns he has expressed in the House today.
Mr. Struthers: There is no 24-hour nursing available--
Madam Speaker: Order, please. I would ask the honourable member to pose a supplementary question now with no preamble.
Mr. Struthers: Will the minister assure the House that 24-hour nursing will be undertaken to provide nursing services for people in the arena at Portage?
Mr. Pallister: I thank the member for the question. I am told by departmental staff that there is nursing staff available throughout the day for the people who are evacuated.
I think it is important for the members opposite and all of us to understand that these are very, very difficult circumstances for all concerned and, whenever possible, to express support for those who are evacuated but also to recognize that those in the host communities, people from the Indian and Metis Friendship Centre, whom I spoke with yesterday, and many others are volunteering a lot of hours. They are becoming tired, naturally, frustrated, given the heat and the circumstances, and they need every word of encouragement that they can get.
We need to understand here that whatever conditions are provided, and we are doing our best to provide more than adequate conditions in these host communities, they are far superior to the dangerous circumstances that these folks faced when they were in their homes, and we need to understand that we have to work together and co-operate with one another to provide the kind of service that accommodates these people effectively as best as we can, given the limitations of our resources.
That is precisely what our department is trying to do and is doing very successfully according to most accounts.
Mr. Struthers: Can the minister explain the formula used in determining the amount of income-security emergency money made available to each evacuated family?
Mr. Pallister: I apologize to the member. I did not catch his question. If he could repeat it, please.
Madam Speaker: Would the honourable member for Dauphin repeat his question, please.
Mr. Struthers: Given that there is some confusion over the income- security emergency money, can the minister explain the formula used in determining the amount of income security made available to each evacuated family?
Mr. Pallister: There is a program in place which provides for additional funds to be made available to those who are absent from funds, for whatever reason, that provides, at the discretion of the people in the host communities who work in conjunction with the Emergency Measures Organization, funds for incidental costs that they may incur, for example, for toiletries, for laundry costs and so on.
That amount, if it is deemed to be appropriate to provide it, is $5 per adult and $3 for adolescents per day.
Fire Protection Fund
First Nations Communities
Hon. Vic Toews (Minister of Labour): Yesterday, Madam Speaker, I took a question as notice from the member for Rupertsland (Mr. Robinson). I made inquiries in the department, and I was advised that fire-related concerns of First Nations communities are under the direction of the Manitoba Association of Native Firefighters.
Certain First Nations communities claim not to be represented by that organization, and therefore it does not speak for all the First Nations communities. However, I am advised by the officials in my department that the First Nations communities are eligible for the same services as any municipalities, and this includes training, investigation and emergency response.
If there are specific concerns as to how to access, those organizations are encouraged to contact the appropriate officials in my department to ensure that they can access these services.
Norrie Commission
Deadline
Ms. MaryAnn Mihychuk (St. James): Madam Speaker, in May, the Minister of Education released Norrie's boundary report for further consultation and reaction to that report. In June, during Estimates, the minister stated that she did not want to prevent people of Manitoba from making their representations. However, we now learn that the deadline has been moved from September to August 1.
Given that St. James-Assiniboia School Division and many others, I am sure, have asked the minister to extend the deadline to December in the case of St. James, does the minister not feel the input of divisions is needed before decisions are made?
Hon. Linda McIntosh (Minister of Education and Training): Madam Speaker, yes, indeed, I do feel that input is needed and desired and wanted before decisions are made. Decisions, of course, will be made by government. Recommendations will be brought forward by the Norrie commission.
We had asked the Norrie commission to receive written submissions from any interested parties, particularly school divisions which might be faced with implementation, should any decisions to amalgamate be made. We asked them to report back to us by September. They, in turn then, have asked people to have submissions to them by August because they wanted a month on their own to go through those reactions.
Many people, of course, since all divisions had the reports by February, have already sent in their reactions. Indeed, the very people the member refers to have already indicated their reactions to government.
The member knows that originally the report was going to come in without further feedback. Those I have talked to have appreciated the further feedback, and the decision will be made by government. The commission will simply be bringing forward recommendations and feedback for us.
Ms. Mihychuk: It is not only school divisions that I am sure the minister wants to hear from. School advisory committees are very interested in responding.
Madam Speaker: Order, please. I would ask the honourable member for St. James to observe the rules for supplementary questions, no postamble. Please put your question now.
Ms. Mihychuk: Will the minister at least allow school advisory committees, which directly represent over 43,000 students in St. James and Winnipeg No. 1, to respond in the fall when they reconvene?
Mrs. McIntosh: Madam Speaker, the member knows that MLAs on this side and I hope on that side continue to hear representations from constituents of theirs and other members right up until decision-making time occurs. We know here in the Legislature, for example, a perfect example, that there are public hearings right up until the vote is taken.
The member needs to understand the difference between a recommendation coming forward and a decision being made. We will not be making any decisions on any recommendations coming forward--[interjection] I wonder if the members opposite would care to please be quiet.
Madam Speaker: Order, please.
Mrs. McIntosh: It is extremely annoying to have questions--
Madam Speaker: Order, please. I would ask the honourable Minister of Education to quickly complete her response.
Mrs. McIntosh: Madam Speaker, the decision that will be made will not be taking place the day after the commission sends in its report. It will take a long time after that for us to decide, based upon everything people are telling not just the commission but also us as decision makers.
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Ms. Mihychuk: Madam Speaker, given that the minister has indicated that there is time, will she move the deadline from August 1 to later in the fall? That is all we are asking.
Mrs. McIntosh: Madam Speaker, the Norrie commission has graciously agreed to go back out and receive written submissions, which was not part of their original mandate. People have said they appreciate having some opportunity to react to the report which was not there before.
I will be talking to the Norrie commission members. I will indicate that the member for St. James would like to see that August deadline moved. I will pass that on to them.
In the meantime, I wish to stress that MLAs are quite willing to receive representation over and above the report and that the decision will not be made the day after the report comes.
Canadian Wheat Board
Government Support
Ms. Rosann Wowchuk (Swan River): Madam Speaker, actions taken by the federal government with changes to the Crow benefit and various farm supports have been devastating to the farm community. Now we have recommendations that are going to destroy the Canadian Wheat Board.
I want to ask this government if they will join with other provinces and go to Ottawa and speak up for farmers to defend the Canadian Wheat Board which has served farmers for many years and which they want to see retained.
Hon. Harry Enns (Minister of Agriculture): Madam Speaker, unaccustomed as I am to public speaking, I will attempt to provide the honourable member for Swan River with a fulsome answer.
I appreciate the member's ongoing concern, but what she is concerned about is the possibility of any change. This is a changing world and agriculture is changing.
Let me simply say that agriculture has enjoyed an unprecedented 65 percent increase in trade with our biggest trading partner, the United States--65 percent. Furthermore, let me say that while we buy $1.4 billion worth of grains from the United States, we sell $1.8 billion to the United States.
So what is happening is that we are attempting, understandably, to work out glitches that occur from time to time with the biggest bilateral trading agreement in the world; that is Canada and the U.S.
Madam Speaker: Order, please. Time for Oral Questions has expired.