Canadian Unity
Government Initiatives
Mr. Gary Doer (Leader of the Opposition): As the Premier has indicated in his statement, we were proud to join with him at The Forks on Sunday, and we accept any role he would have for all of us in a nonpartisan way to work on behalf of Manitoba and Canada.
Madam Speaker, I think we have all been very, very proud of the way Canadians have stood up and been counted. Canadians are saying to us and Manitobans are saying to us that the next challenge, the next set of changes, the next modernization or whatever term we want to use to keep our great country together, they want to be involved; in fact, they want to do it.
I would like to ask the Premier, Madam Speaker, what strategies or what ideas has he got for Manitoba in order to take the great energy and ideas and creativity that we saw from the people of Manitoba and make sure that that is harnessed to have success in the end.
Hon. Gary Filmon (Premier): Madam Speaker, I thank the Leader of the Opposition for that question. He has been part of what I consider to be a very productive and very honourable tradition in this province of all-party task forces with extensive public consultation leading to a consensus position on behalf of the province as we enter future discussions on the Constitution.
It may well be that some of the discussions we enter into do not require constitutional talks, are administrative arrangements. It may well be that the constitutional discussions which are scheduled to be held at least by 1997 with respect to specifically the amending formula--that being the case, I am open to recommendation. I am open to suggestion. I have already had contact from people who want to work with something such as a constituent assembly.
I intend to have some of those discussions with my colleagues the western premiers as we assemble tonight and tomorrow. Some of the agenda, of course, has been struck for quite some time, but this evening in a nonagenda discussion, I think perhaps we can talk about some of these things, and I am certainly open to suggestion.
Federal Government
Decentralization
Mr. Gary Doer (Leader of the Opposition): Madam Speaker, I believe that in the Charlottetown task force reports, prepared in Manitoba, ideas like the constituent assembly to take the place of the First Ministers' meetings and other meetings that ultimately resulted in the Charlottetown proposal were recommended by Manitobans to all of us.
I do not have a formula for it, but I would encourage the Premier to take any way of getting the public involved in a very meaningful way at the very early end of this, Madam Speaker, because I think that will be important for us.
Madam Speaker, there are comments already about one vision of Canada that includes massive decentralization of programs to provinces and another vision of Canada that believes that we must have a strong national government, a strong Canada, that provides health care, provides post-secondary education, provides standards across this country, a country worth fighting for because of the services and equity it provides through its federal government.
I would like to ask the Premier what strategy does he have in place to ensure that the recommendations in these reports that we have here in Manitoba will indeed have a strong national government as our modern national government, Madam Speaker, rather than the somewhat trend to have decentralization which I think is disastrous for this country.
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Hon. Gary Filmon (Premier): Madam Speaker, I say to the Leader of the Opposition that from my perception of our points of view in the past from the work that was done, particularly in the two constitutional task forces and from the consensus that we had on Charlottetown, I do not believe we are too far off in that view.
I am not a fan of massive decentralization. On the other hand, I recognize, as we did in Charlottetown, that there are so many areas of jurisdictional overlap that have resulted in not only duplication but people stepping on each other's toes and, in fact, making the federation terribly ineffective in its delivery of services to people.
That does not imply changing national standards in such vital services as health care or in education where I think we are moving to more common national goals and standards, so that we can say that an education in any province in Canada is at least an education to certain standards that we all can adhere to, that we all can adopt and embrace, and in many cases I am not even convinced that it is going to be a decentralization that is a rearrangement all in one direction.
I would be quite comfortable with the federal government retaining primacy in some areas that are now overlapped areas, and I say that openly. We talked about this before.
I would say to the Leader of the Opposition that I accept his comments, and I also say that from the discussions we have had in the past and the consensus views that we have developed in the past, that I do not think we are all that far off the mark.
Social Programs
Mr. Gary Doer (Leader of the Opposition): The western Premiers are indeed meeting this evening, I believe in Yorkton; meetings will take place on Wednesday and Thursday of this week.
Madam Speaker, this is the first meeting of western Premiers since the federal government's budget of February last year and their massive withdrawal from national programs such as health care, post-secondary education and income support programs across this country.
Madam Speaker, what strategies will the Premiers take to insist upon the federal government that we elect a federal government to run strong national programs, to have an investment in medicare and post-secondary education, and their reductions in these programs, in medicare and post-secondary education, which are contrary to their promises in the election, are unacceptable, and we have got to stop it so we can keep a strong national government and keep a strong united Canada?
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Hon. Gary Filmon (Premier): I believe, Madam Speaker, that one of the strategies that we will want to adopt is to be able to take a common position with respect to the opposition that we all have for the massive federal government withdrawal of funding in a whole series of programs, from farm support programs to transportation support programs to, obviously, the transfers for health and post-secondary education.
As I reviewed our own circumstances and the withdrawal of $147 million this year for health and post-secondary education by Ottawa, $220 million the following year--and what I mean by this year is the budget year that we are now preparing. I note that the Liberal member for Inkster (Mr. Lamoureux) has jumped at it, but $147 million will be withdrawn, of course, in 1996-97, $220 million the following year.
Those are massive consequences and I have been briefing myself by reading some of the things from other provinces. I note that Saskatchewan is facing very similar large withdrawals of funding in those areas. I note, as well, that their Minister of Finance, Janice MacKinnon, who I know is well known to members opposite, highly respected by us, is being criticized for the fact that during their election campaign of June, they had in place certain plans in health care, capital spending and so on, and that today they are changing all of those because of, obviously, the reality of the circumstances they have to deal with.
So these are the circumstances that all of us will collectively have to deal with, and I know that we will have common cause as we develop our positions, I am sure, in Yorkton.
Misericordia Hospital
Emergency Services
Mr. Dave Chomiak (Kildonan): Madam Speaker, first the government said they had a plan to deal with emergency ward closures; then the government was developing a plan but without the doctors; then there was confusion about what wards were open and what wards were closed, et cetera.
My question to the minister: Can the minister explain how his so-called plan functions whereby a situation can develop on the weekend when overloaded patients were sent to the Misericordia Hospital, and adequate staff were not available to adequately deal with the patients on hand, Madam Speaker?
Hon. James McCrae (Minister of Health): Adequate staff were made available, Madam Speaker, and that was according to plan.
Health Care System
Emergency Services
Mr. Dave Chomiak (Kildonan): Can the minister explain why they have closed the wards at the five community hospitals and as recently as last night, a Monday night which is not normally an overloaded night on the system, ambulances were forced to be diverted from the Health Sciences Centre to St. Boniface Hospital, Madam Speaker, when, if and only two months ago there would have been five wards available, and that overload could have been taken care of by those community hospitals?
Hon. James McCrae (Minister of Health): Before the concept of actually working together happened, Madam Speaker, that was the way things were done, that ambulances would line up and there would be long waits for ambulances at emergency rooms.
Now when you have St. Boniface Hospital and Health Sciences Centre working together, as the honourable member describes it, diversion can happen, which is something that was not happening in the past, and so we are not misunderstanding what we mean by diversion, it does not mean, like the Leader of the Opposition (Mr. Doer) suggested last week, that somebody actually waited in the line-up and then was moved. The diversion happened and the patient went to one hospital and one hospital only.
So I think it is an important improvement when you have hospitals working together, Madam Speaker.
Mr. Chomiak: Madam Speaker, is the minister saying that the closure of the five community hospitals at night and the chaos that is occurring in our emergency rooms and the line-up of ambulances and the extra diversion of ambulances is somehow an improvement in the health care system for the citizens of Winnipeg?
Mr. McCrae: Madam Speaker, instead of putting it in the way the honourable member does, I would be very mindful of the contribution made by the people who work in these emergency departments.
Madam Speaker, these are very hectic places to work. They deal with extremely serious human circumstances, and they ought to be given a lot more credit than the honourable member is giving them for the part that they are playing, not only in the provision of services but also in helping us plan for quality emergency services for the future.
The Pas Health Complex
Funding
Mr. Oscar Lathlin (The Pas): My questions are also directed to the Minister of Health.
Last week, he got up here in the House, and he blamed the board of The Pas Health Complex for his $1.3-million cut to the funding of the complex in The Pas, Madam Speaker.
I have been speaking to some of the board members. I am told that this minister turned down the board's proposals. He then dispatched his officials to The Pas about three weeks ago to berate the board for not following government policy. It is the board's belief, Madam Speaker, that to follow the government's guidelines to the T would seriously jeopardize patient care, and I am also told that six of the 13 board members have resigned.
Not only has this minister alienated voluntary board members, Madam Speaker, he has also jeopardized patient care. Now I ask the minister, will he do the right thing and reinstate the $1.3 million that he cut?
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Hon. James McCrae (Minister of Health): Madam Speaker, it would be quite a serious thing to say to one hospital in all of the dozens of hospitals in Manitoba which are working to ensure appropriate and safe compliance with staffing guidelines that, no, The Pas Health Complex, you get to be treated differently from everybody else, and you can continue to have staffing in excess of the needs that exist according to the staffing guidelines developed by people who work in the hospitals, including The Pas Health Complex.
So the honourable member, if he really thinks carefully about what he is suggesting would, I think, on reflection, understand that this would be unfair to nurses and professionals and hospital boards and communities right across this province.
Mr. Lathlin: Could the minister table any study that he has done that suggests that cutting 25 nursing positions and 18 support staff positions will have no effect upon the quality of health care at The Pas Health Complex?
Mr. McCrae: The honourable member for The Pas should have a chat with his Leader, who no more than four or five minutes ago referred to the massive withdrawal of funds to us from Ottawa in terms of their contribution. Those were the words I wrote down, Madam Speaker, "massive withdrawal." Those were the words used by the honourable member for Concordia (Mr. Doer).
I can tell the honourable member that repeatedly throughout the year-and-a-half course of the deliberations of the staffing guidelines review committee, it was made crystal clear to everyone involved that patient care is the No. 1 priority. The honourable member would be quick to be critical of any government that did nothing more than consult, and when actions are taken upon completion of those consultations, he will be critical then, too, Madam Speaker. That is not surprising, knowing the honourable member and his colleagues as I do.
Meeting Request
Mr. Oscar Lathlin (The Pas): My last question is, would this minister be willing to come to The Pas later this week as part of National Health Care Week to address local residents and officials on the issues of how these cuts will affect service at The Pas hospital, along with the effect of those jobs that are going to be lost to the economy of The Pas?
Hon. James McCrae (Minister of Health): Madam Speaker, I have discussed these issues with personnel at The Pas Health Complex on more than one occasion already. The issue of the staffing guidelines was central to those discussions.
Hog Industry
Marketing System
Ms. Rosann Wowchuk (Swan River): Madam Speaker, in 1994, the Minister of Agriculture commissioned a study on the pork industry. When that report came out, independent hog producers and processors strongly stated that they rejected the recommendation to move to a dual marketing system and supported the current single-desk selling, but he has not listened to the producers nor the processors who want single-desk selling to stay.
I want to ask the minister who he is speaking for when he went to the Manitoba Hog Marketing Board and told them that they would have to move to a dual marketing system. Who was he speaking for, because he is not speaking for the producers or the processors.
Hon. Harry Enns (Minister of Agriculture): Madam Speaker, I want to make it very plain to the honourable member for Swan River that I suppose it describes the forward-looking nature of this government. I was speaking mostly to the 7,000 or 8,000 or 9,000 potential jobs that are in the hog industry.
If we heard it from no other source than the Prime Minister of this country himself, let us get on with the business of job creation and economic opportunties that we must offer our citizens, then that is what I was speaking to when I followed the recommendations that were made to me by highly reputable Professor Clay Gilson, one of the most senior agricultural economists in the province from the University of Manitoba, Dr. David Donaghy my assistant deputy minister, and Mr. Gerry Moore with many, many years in the agribusiness world of experience.
Ms. Wowchuk: Since hog producers feel that this change to marketing is going to hurt them and they should have a say, since Keystone Agricultural Producers say that there should be a vote before any change is made to marketing, why is this minister making an arbitrary decision without first giving the farmers a vote on whether or not the marketing board should be dismantled?
Mr. Enns: Madam Speaker, I have nothing but congratulations for the job that Manitoba Pork has done for the entire pork industry. I have said so on many occasions, and I will say so again when I address them at their semiannual meeting coming up in early November.
We are not doing away with Manitoba Pork. That is not being recommended by this report, nor is it the consideration of this government. We are adding to the opportunities for the expansion of the pork industry by creating flexibility.
Madam Speaker, it ought not to go unnoticed even to our urban cousins that some of the exciting expansions that have been noted in this House in agribusiness have all occurred in the nonregulated industries--potatoes, canola, Simplot, et cetera.
On the issue that the member for Swan River raised to me, it was a Conservative administration under then Duff Roblin that introduced a voluntary hog marketing commission in 1965 because he thought it was the right thing to do without reference to a vote.
A few years later, it was a New Democratic Party Minister of Agriculture the Honourable Sam Uskiw who at that point in time changed to a monopoly single-selling desk, although 70 percent of the producers were not using the board. In other words, he enforced without reference to a vote.
Madam Speaker, I have suggested to the pork industry that I be accorded the same privilege.
Ms. Wowchuk: They are just killing the Hog Marketing--
Madam Speaker: Order, please.
Ms. Wowchuk: Madam Speaker, how can this government say that they are committed to supporting family farm operations when it is very clear that in the United States, where we have this system of vertical integration and no control of marketing, a large percentage of the family farm operations have been destroyed?
This move is going to dismantle and destroy the family farm operation, and the minister should recognize that.
Mr. Enns: Madam Speaker, I really and truly invite the honourable member for Swan River into modern agriculture and into the year 2000, along with her National Farmers Union friends and indeed the entire reactionary group of the loyal opposition.
This move in no way interferes with the kind of formation of farms that is currently out there in the landscape and that will take place. We have a very diverse make-up of farms, from the very sophisticated and very large to the middle-sized and to the small-sized, and quite frankly, Madam Speaker, it is my hope that we continue in precisely that manner.
Gull Harbour Resort
Financial Status
Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Inkster): Madam Speaker, my question is to the Minister responsible for Natural Resources, regarding our government-run resort out at Gull Harbour.
The minister has said, and I will quote what the minister says: The province is no longer looking--[interjection]
Madam Speaker: Order, please.
Mr. Lamoureux: Patience is a virtue.
Madam Speaker: It certainly is. Order, please.
Mr. Lamoureux: Madam Speaker, in regard to the publicly financed Gull Harbour Resort, the minister says the province is no longer looking for a buyer for the resort because it appears to have turned the financial corner. The Crown Corporations Council says, Venture will continue to incur losses into the future. As a result, the council has assessed the corporation's overall business risk as high.
Since 1988, this company has not made a dime, Madam Speaker. In fact, the accrued debt is now approximately $4.5 million.
Will the Minister responsible for Natural Resources indicate to this House when he would anticipate that our government-run Gull Harbour Resort will actually turn a profit?
Hon. Albert Driedger (Minister of Natural Resources): Madam Speaker, I am always an optimist and I would think in the very near future.
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Mr. Lamoureux: Madam Speaker, how much larger does the deficit have to grow?
We cut programs in education, health care and many other programs. How much further is this government going to allow Gull Harbour to continue to build a deficit before we see some leadership on this particular Crown corporation?
Mr. Driedger: Madam Speaker, I have not heard any positive suggestions come from this member as to what we should do, but let me just tell you that Venture Manitoba Tours and Gull Harbour basically have quite an economic impact on the Interlake. I am sure members opposite feel strongly about that in terms of the jobs and economic spin-off that comes from that.
Madam Speaker, it is unfortunate that the financial losses over the years have been substantive. We do not make light of it, and it is for that reason that we looked at various options, including the sale of Gull Harbour. We looked at closing it down part time. We looked at closing it down permanently. We looked at a variety of options.
That is not new news that we have been doing that, Madam Speaker. The fact is in the last year we have had good management there. Things have turned around. We feel it has been a good year. We feel a better year coming up, and we feel optimistic that, ultimately, if we work together with the board, the Venture Manitoba board, and together with the people there, that we can ultimately make this thing turn around, and I think we are on the way.
Mr. Lamoureux: Madam Speaker, this is an argument that the minister or this government would have put forward seven years ago.
Madam Speaker: Order, please. I would remind the honourable member for Inkster, this is not a time for debate.
The honourable member has been recognized to pose his final supplementary question.
Mr. Lamoureux: My question to the minister is, what steps is this government taking to ensure that next year Hecla Island will not continue to lose public tax dollars? We could have heard that response seven years ago from this government. What specific steps are they taking, Madam Speaker?
Mr. Driedger: Madam Speaker, still no suggestions in terms of options that the member could probably forward, just criticism by and large.
Madam Speaker, we are looking at a variety of options. The one thing that we feel strongly is we have to have more participation publicly out in the general area. We are looking at options there. We are working with the federal government in terms of establishing a lowlands national park in the Interlake, which we feel is going to help enhance these things. We are looking at working with the people in the community, the business community out there, to see whether we can do more things to bring people together.
The member who represents the Interlake is supportive in that direction, I would hope. I will certainly be working with that community and the communities in the Interlake to make sure that we can build up the viability and participation of all Manitobans and tourists with Gull Harbour so that ultimately we can make it viable.
No Need to Argue Program
Contest Status Report
Mr. Gord Mackintosh (St. Johns): My question is for the Minister of Justice.
When the minister is faced with embarrassing questions about all her phantom committees and her broken promises on crime, she will often say, like just two weeks ago, look at the No Need to Argue program, that contest for $2,000 and a teen dance for the school with the best antiviolence plan announced by the minister last March with big videos, pop music, stickers, glossy posters, a big media push just in time for the election, Madam Speaker, and with a deadline for entries last spring.
The minister promised this Legislature last June and I quote: "The ideas for reducing violence among youth will be considered over the next few weeks, so we can have as many of them in place as possible at the beginning of the next school year."
Madam Speaker: Does the honourable member have a question?
Mr. Mackintosh: Yes, Madam Speaker. My question for the minister is, assuming it was the 1995 school year that she was referring to, who won that contest last summer? Casper?
Hon. Rosemary Vodrey (Minister of Justice and Attorney General): Madam Speaker, the No Need to Argue program is a national first. It was a partnership between government, between private enterprise, including the music business, in partnership with the media, as well. What it did was it involved young people in their own communities, in the places where they live to, in fact, develop programs in co-operation with their community. It also operated with an advisory board as well as a separate group of people who provided the judging.
The announcement of the winner which I expect to make public next week certainly has not in any way stopped the programs from operating. Those programs have been operating and have been developed. Students worked on them from the time of the announcement, and they are, in fact, operating in the city of Winnipeg.
Mr. Mackintosh: Well, would the minister explain to the 13 now bewildered or disillusioned schools which were judged in the contest and to Melissa Nepinak, who is the only youth of the six judges, who has not heard a thing from this minister's department since she made her choice almost five months ago, why the minister cannot so much as put a teen dance together?
Mrs. Vodrey: Madam Speaker, I very--[interjection]
Madam Speaker: Order, please. The clock is running, I would remind the honourable Minister of Agriculture (Mr. Enns).
Mrs. Vodrey: Madam Speaker, I question the member's information about no contact. In fact, I know that is quite wrong, but as I have said before, it is not the first time that the member has brought information to this House, tried to state it and been wrong. He is wrong again.
Mr. Mackintosh: Would the minister, instead of suggesting that Melissa Nepinak [phonetic] is lying--has the minister considered changing the name--
Madam Speaker: Order, please. I would ask the honourable member for St. Johns to exercise caution with the choice of his words.
Mr. Mackintosh: Madam Speaker, I did so.
My final supplementary, Madam Speaker--
Madam Speaker: Order, please.
Point of Order
Hon. Jim Ernst (Government House Leader): Madam Speaker, on a point of order, the member for St. Johns clearly put words into the mouth of the Minister of Justice, words that she did not say. She indicated to the member for St. Johns his information was wrong and mentioned no slight on any person such as the member suggests. He ought to withdraw.
Mr. Steve Ashton (Opposition House Leader): On the same point of order, Madam Speaker, I am somewhat surprised that the minister would be suggesting that our member would be putting words in the minister's mouth. We have heard quite a few in the way of words coming from the minister.
All we are asking for is an answer, Madam Speaker, and what we clearly have is a dispute over the facts.
We are not satisfied with the kinds of answers we are getting from the minister on this question, and I would suggest not only is there not a point of order, I would also ask, Madam Speaker, that you call the minister to order to actually try and deal with some of the very serious questions we have been raising about the justice system in this province on a virtual daily basis.
Madam Speaker: Order, please. On the point of order, I will take the matter under advisement. I will clearly check the words that were uttered by the honourable member for St. Johns by perusing Hansard and, if necessary, report back to the Chamber.
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Madam Speaker: The honourable member for St. Johns, to pose his question now, please.
Mr. Mackintosh: I wonder if the minister has considered changing the name of this program to better reflect the message on crime from her office from No Need to Argue to no need to act.
Mrs. Vodrey: The member again minimizes the work of Manitobans, very hardworking Manitobans. He minimizes the work of the students who develop plays and have performed those plays across this city, Madam Speaker. He minimizes the work that those students have done within their communities.
If the member is so interested in a prize or a teen dance, he thinks that no work is done until that actually occurs. He is wrong again, Madam Speaker.
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Manitoba Housing Authority
Tenant Advisory Committees
Ms. Marianne Cerilli (Radisson): Madam Speaker, this government has no plan for tenant involvement in public housing across Manitoba. They have no plan for the development of tenant associations and no model for tenant management. Even though they pay lip service to community involvement in these areas, they have been ad hoc and reactionary while they centralize the management for public housing and ignore tenant involvement.
I want to table for the House the terms of reference--
Madam Speaker: Order, please.
Point of Order
Hon. Jim Ernst (Government House Leader): Madam Speaker, I draw your attention to Beauchesne's Citation 409.(2) which says that "The question must be brief." The preamble may not exceed one carefully drawn sentence.
Madam Speaker, you have been patient. We have been patient with respect to the members of the opposition in posing their questions, but at some point it has to come to a stop, and the point is now.
Mr. Steve Ashton (Opposition House Leader): I appreciate the government House leader talking about patience, because we indeed have been very patient on this side, waiting for minister after minister who--many of the ministers seem to wish to debate the questions we do raise instead of answering.
So, if the minister is concerned about Beauchesne--I am very pleased to see he is actually reading it now--I would suggest that if our members are going to be called to order in terms of our questions, the same thing happen for answers by ministers opposite.
Madam Speaker: On the government House leader's point of order, indeed the government House leader does have a point of order. I would remind the honourable member for Radisson that the preamble is to be one carefully drafted sentence.
Would she please pose her question now.
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Ms. Cerilli: I was just going to table the terms of reference for the social housing advisory groups in 1991 that the government did not set up.
I want to ask the Minister for Housing to table the terms of reference for the tenant and community relations subcommittee that was to replace the social housing advisory groups and tell us today how often this committee has met and what recommendations they have made to the Manitoba Housing Authority.
Hon. Jack Reimer (Minister of Housing): I will try to be brief in my answer as requested by members of the opposite party.
Madam Speaker, the member for Radisson is referring to the formation of tenant associations within the complexes. There are currently 65 tenant associations that have been formed, and there are others in the direction of being formed.
The member stood up yesterday and today saying that these are not part of the organization; these are not being formed. Madam Speaker, these are a vital part of the associations. They perform an advisory function. They report back through the tenant relations officers. These things are all taken into account when we are looking at the system of operation within the Manitoba Housing Authority.
To say that they are not there is not the truth. Pardon me. I am sorry, Madam Speaker, it is pretzelizing the formation.
Ms. Cerilli: Given that the government abolished the 98 local housing authorities in 1991, that there are no local housing advisory boards, can the minister explain his comments from yesterday when he said: "I would believe that almost every housing authority does have an advisory committee within their conference."
What does that mean, Madam Speaker?
Mr. Reimer: Within the framework of the formation within tenant associations, that is part of their mandate, to try to form a tenant association.
Now, the formation of it is up to the tenants themselves. We provide financial assistance on a per-head basis--I mean, as a unit basis. We also will provide the tenant relations officer to try to help and set these up.
So the availability is there for every association, Madam Speaker.
Ms. Cerilli: As much as I would like the--
Madam Speaker: Order, please. Would the honourable member for Radisson please pose a question now.
Ms. Cerilli: I would ask the minister to table this government's plan and model for tenant management and for the development of tenant organizations throughout all of Manitoba.
Mr. Reimer: If the member is asking for the rules regarding the formation of these councils, these can be made available, and I will certainly make these available to the member within the next few days.
Child and Family Services
Deficit Reduction
Mr. Doug Martindale (Burrows): Since this government centralized Winnipeg Child and Family Services, there has been a considerable increase in the number of children in care, with 2,760 children in care currently, part of a disgraceful record of this government where we have the highest child poverty rate in Canada. We have the highest number of children in care per capita in Canada, above average rates of teen pregnancy and above average rates of runaways.
Can this Minister of Family Services tell the House how she plans to solve the deficit problem of Winnipeg Child and Family Services, which is approximately $4 million at the present time, and is she going to co-operate and assist them with this deficit problem or force them to make further cuts?
Point of Order
Hon. Bonnie Mitchelson (Minister of Family Services): I would seek clarification from you on whether my honourable friend has had the opportunity to ask all three questions and whether I might have the opportunity to respond to them now.
Madam Speaker: Order, please. Was the honourable minister on a point of order?
Mrs. Mitchelson: Yes.
Madam Speaker: Yes, the honourable minister may respond to the questions posed.
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Mrs. Mitchelson: Thank you very much, Madam Speaker.
Indeed, the issue of the number of children coming into care in Manitoba is of great concern to me as the Minister of Family Services, to our government, and, I am sure, to the community out there.
We have put in place a number of opportunities for the agency to work to keep families together, and the whole focus of some of the change over the last couple of years has been on family support, family preservation and family responsibility. There are volume management initiatives underway. There is the Family Support Innovations Fund that has been provided to the agency to try to look at keeping children in families and not taking them into care.
But, Madam Speaker, I do not have all of the answers. I wish I did. I am not sitting in the luxury of opposition just being critical of what is happening, but we are trying to look at proactive ways to try to deal with the issue of family support, putting families first, putting children first and trying to ensure that we do the best within our ability to work with the community to resolve the problem.
Madam Speaker: Order, please. Time for Oral Questions has expired.