Law Day

Mr. Mike Radcliffe (River Heights): Madam Speaker, today, April 17, is Law Day. This is an annual initiative of the Canadian Bar Association to celebrate Canada’s legal system.

As part of Law Day activities, the Manitoba bar will be holding free legal clinics, one at Eaton Place and one at the Convention Centre. Both of these clinics will be open today until 5 p.m.

In addition, from 11:30 p.m. until four o’clock on Sunday, April 21, the Bar Association and the Department of Justice will be holding a free open house at the Law Courts Building. This year’s theme is Access to Justice, and the open house will feature tours, information on justice issues, booths and displays from agencies working in the justice system, a special sitting of the Citizenship Court and mock trials conducted by elementary, junior and senior high school students in English and French.

I congratulate the Manitoba Bar Association and the Department of Justice, and encourage all Manitobans to attend. Thank you very much, Madam Speaker, for this opportunity.

Immigrant Women’s Association of Manitoba Annual Symposium

Ms. Becky Barrett (Wellington): Madam Speaker, on Saturday, April 13, the member for Osborne (Ms. McGifford) and I attended the Immigrant Women’s Association of Manitoba’s annual symposium entitled, Immigrant Families Facing the Realities of the 21st Century . Over 100 women and young people participated. Three keynote speeches were given by Dr.Ying Hoh, Rocky Gushuliak and Paula Prime.

There were four workshops addressing the impact of family violence on immigrant families, youth gangs and violence, adult education and training and youth career planning. Many specific recommendations came out of the day’s work. However, one theme threaded its way through the speeches, discussions and workshop activities. If men, women, children and families are to succeed in the 21st Century, they must have hope--hope that there will be a job for them at the end of their schooling; hope that women and children can live lives free from violence; hope that families can be reunited in Manitoba;hope that will keep young people studying their books rather than how to become a gang member. Without hope, no one will be able to face the challenges of the next millennium.

The Immigrant Women’s Association of Manitoba’s symposium gave us hope, as well as excellent ideas and suggestions. It is up to all of us to ensure that there is hope, for without hope, these ideas, suggestions and recommendations will not come to fruition. It would have provided us all with more hope if any member of the government benches had participated in this important event. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Home Care Services

Mr. Peter Dyck (Pembina): Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise in the House as the MLA for Pembina. I support home care. Like those who make up the Manitoba Government Employees’ Union, I support home care, and I support a home care that is sustainable.

Madam Speaker, this government seeks to take the monies collected through taxes and to spend them as wisely and as prudently as we can. After all, there is no money tree, and I would like to comment just briefly on that.

During the last three years that the NDP formed the government, they ran a deficit of close to half a billion dollars just on health. Imagine, they spent close to half a billion dollars on health that they did not have. This government, on the other hand, is living within its means and we are spending more on health care than the members opposite ever did.

The amount of money that we direct to home care has more than doubled since we came to office in 1988. As a result, Madam Speaker, I can stand here proudly and say that I support home care. I support a Home Care program that will be here in the future because we acted responsibly in the present.

This government is currently moving to see how efficiently taxpayers’ money is being spent on home care. To that end, 25 percent of Winnipeg’s home care services will be the subject of competition. My constituents tell me that they use their money as efficiently as they can, and they expect the government to do the same.

We have been asked by the people of Manitoba to run this province with a balanced budget while simultaneously providing services such as home care, and that is what we will do. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

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Ms. MaryAnn Mihychuk (St. James): Madam Speaker, this provincial government cannot find anyone other than the owners of We Care who donated $2,000 to the Conservative campaign, who recommended the privatization of home care in this province. Even this government’s own--

Madam Speaker: Order, please. I would like to remind all honourable members that this is the time for members’ statements and as private members every individual member deserves respect. I would ask for the co-operation, order and decorum in the Chamber to the member who has been recognized on that privilege.

Ms. Mihychuk: Madam Speaker, I appreciate that our side of the House did respect the honourable members--

Madam Speaker: Order, please. The honourable member for St. James does not need to debate. Although I appreciate her support, I would ask that she continue with her member’s statement, and she has approximately one and a half minutes remaining.

Ms. Mihychuk: Even this government’s own advisory committee’s recommendations were not taken into consideration regarding the very serious issue of privatizing an essential health care service. Connie Curran was paid $160,000 by the Tory government to do a report on home care. The Minister of Health (Mr. McCrae) does not know where or what is in the report, or if the report is even completed, Madam Speaker. The lack of consultation from the public, coupled with the Minister of Health’s blatant incompetence, must be terrifying to Manitoba residents.

A letter was written to Premier Filmon from a woman whose husband has MS and relies on home care. She wrote: Have you any idea how stressful it is for the primary caregiver to constantly have to explain to a stranger the workings of your household, how he likes his tea made, where the dishes are kept, which mug he can hold, why he cannot use a glass, what his likes and dislikes are? Have you any idea how stressful it is to go out and not know whether you will come home to find your husband still in bed because he is unable to explain what he wants?

When your government’s plans were first made known, Mr. McCrae said that the client would see no difference in service. Believe me, when a stranger walks through our door on July 1, I will immediately see the difference. I have lain awake at night worrying about the future. The quality of care cannot possibly be the same when you propose to cut salaries by 40 percent. Every report, Madam Speaker, that has been released publicly says that Manitoba has the best, cost-effective system in North America. This government is picking on the poor, the sick and the elderly in this province.

Health Care

Mr. George Hickes (Point Douglas): During the 1995 election campaign, the Tory government promised Manitobans that there would be no cuts to health care. However, according to current actions undertaken by the provincial government and as reflected in the 1995-96 provincial budget, this promise to preserve our health care system has been broken. Pharmacare has been cut by 34.4 percent in the last Tory budget which is a $20-million cut to Manitoba’s Pharmacare service. As a result, 100,000 Manitobans have lost Pharmacare coverage. In addition, under the Filmon government, Pharmacare deductibles have risen by more than 52 percent despite the Conservatives’ 1988 promise to tie deductible increases to the level of inflation. These increases impose new taxes on the poor, the sick and the elderly within this province and in particular within the core inner-city areas of Winnipeg.

This government has also eliminated subsidized eye exams for everyone who is 19 to 64 years of age. This elimination of such an essential service was done without any public consultation. This government has unilaterally targeted those who suffer the most within our society, the poor, the sick and the elderly.

It has become clear that this present government does not believe in medicare. In support of my assertions, I point to another very important issue, the privatization of home care. Once again, the government has made this decision with no consultation from the people involved. According to the Minister of Health (Mr. McCrae), there will be no savings to taxpayers by privatizing a $91-million contract. However, with the privatization of home care will come fees for so-called noncore services. The government, however, will not say what these noncore services are. Every report that has been released publicly says that the Manitoba Home Care program is the best in North America and cost-effective. So why is the government privatizing this public service? It is because this Tory government is giving favours to their friends at the expense of all Manitobans. The government wants to privatize home care so that their friends can make large profits off the sick and elderly. This government should be ashamed of itself.