Mr. Edward Helwer (Gimli): Madam Speaker, today I would like to remind all of my honourable friends about a very important event that is taking place this week. From October 6 to 12 this week is declared as Fire Prevention Week in Manitoba and this year's theme, Let's Hear it for Fire Safety, is an important reminder for all Manitobans to check smoke detectors at home and at work to ensure that they are safe.
Events are taking place around the province in support of Fire Prevention Week. On Saturday, October 12, demonstrations of fire attack equipment will be occurring at the Gimli, Stonewall and Teulon fire halls where some live hose, proper fire extinguisher use and breathing apparatus demonstrations will occur. A large number of businesses within the Gimli constituency have recognized Fire Prevention Week as being an important event through their sponsorship of the event and in the advertising done by the fire department. I hope that all members of the Legislative Assembly will take advantage of this opportunity and make an effort to participate in and support any Fire Prevention Week activities or events that take place within their constituencies.
It is important that Manitobans be aware of fire safety, especially the younger generation. The number of fires and fire-related death and injury statistics in Manitoba for 1995 are down from 1994. Smoke remains the leading cause of the majority of fire-related deaths. Careless smoking is the leading cause of home fire deaths, and children playing with fire is the second most common cause of home fire deaths. If all homes in Manitoba are equipped with smoke detectors in good working condition and are checked regularly, injuries, death and property loss can be greatly reduced. This week I hope that all Manitobans participate in Fire Prevention Week in some way and ensure that their homes are safe from the risk of fires.
Ms. Becky Barrett (Wellington): Madam Speaker, women in Manitoba are under attack. Sexual assaults on women are escalating at an alarming rate. In the last two days there were two reported vicious attacks on women by men unknown to them, but it is not just random attacks that should be of concern to us.
We have also learned that gang rapes of young girls are often part of the initiation rites for Winnipeg gangs. These girls are used as sex slaves by gang members and are terrorized by the fear of retaliation if they tell anyone of their degradation, so they are doubly assaulted, first the physical rape and then the emotional fear of retribution if they share their humiliation.
Actually these girls are triply victimized: by the rape, by the intimidation and perhaps most reprehensibly by the inaction of the Minister of Justice (Mrs. Vodrey) who also happens to be the Minister responsible for the Status of Women. She has the responsibility in both her portfolios to ensure that the women in Manitoba are protected as much as possible from violence. She has demonstrably failed despite repeated questioning by the opposition, and in the face of statistics and stories of women who have been assaulted, she has done virtually nothing.
She has done nothing to deal with the gangs that are terrorizing communities and young women. She has done nothing to provide programming for victims of violence, both random and gang related. In fact, after the Headingley riot, dangerous sex offenders were let out on temporary absences. She had the authority to deal with this terrible threat to the women of Manitoba but chose to do nothing. She has proved incapable of addressing, other than by diatribes hurled at the opposition, the terror faced by women in Winnipeg and Manitoba. She has in effect turned a blind eye to young women who are already among the most victimized in our society. She is a disgrace to her positions and must be removed immediately. The safety of our women demands no less.
Madam Speaker: Before recognizing the honourable member for Pembina (Mr. Dyck), I wonder if I might ask if those members having private conversations could do so either more quietly in the loge or outside the Chamber.
Mr. Peter Dyck (Pembina): Madam Speaker, Manitobans have a great deal to be optimistic about this year despite the negativity perpetuated by members opposite. The most recent provincial handbook published by Nesbitt Burns states that the Manitoba economy is on track for 2 percent growth this year, once more better than the national average. Farming output is set to rebound smartly led by gains of both prices and delivery. Farm incomes are poised for yet another year of double-digit growth. This year's earnings bode well for further spending on new farm equipment, of which Manitoba is a major supplier. Machinery shipments, for example, soared almost 45 percent in 1995 and early signs point to another banner year in 1996. Indeed, manufacturing now comprises 11.5 percent of the provincial economy, compared with 10 percent when the decade began. Food processing is Manitoba's largest manufacturing industry, and it is absolutely booming. Last year's termination of the Crow rate subsidy has sparked a flood of new agrifood facilities.
Nesbitt Burns stated, and I quote, the strides the province has made in diversifying its economic pace are evident in the rapid expansion of the service sector which has outstripped growth in the goods-producing sector in each of the past three years. They also praise our government for meeting the challenge posed by Ottawa's transfer squeeze head-on by, in part, streamlining government operations. They noted that Manitoba is the only province to have refrained from raising taxes over the past decade and per capita government spending is the lowest in the country. Our province's economic performance has been repeatedly recognized and I am proud to be a part of a government that has ensured Manitoba remains an excellent place to work, live, raise a family and invest. Thank you.
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Mr. Neil Gaudry (St. Boniface): Madame la Présidente, il me fait plaisir de mettre quelques mots pour un programme qui a eu lieu en fin de semaine au Collège universitaire de Saint-Boniface. C'était le Forum Ouest qui avait été organisé par l'Association des municipalités bilingues du Manitoba avec le Conseil économique de développement économique des municipalités bilingues du Manitoba. Tout le programme fut très intéressant. Nous avions des membres présents de la francophonie des quatre provinces de l'Ouest et puis du Yukon. La journée a été divisée en trois différents ateliers qui semblaient très intéressants. J'ai assisté à celui du tourisme. Et puis il y en avait un sur les nouveaux marchés et la valeur ajoutée. L'autre était un atelier Info-techno.
C'était plutôt pour avoir des partenariats avec les niveaux de gouvernement. Le ministre responsable des services en langue française, l'honorable Darren Praznik, était présent et puis l'honorable Jon Gerrard, Secrétaire d'état de la Diversification de l'économie de l'Ouest du Canada.
Alors la chose qui est très intéressante pour l'Association des municipalités bilingues est très claire lorsqu'ils ont mentionné ici : En vous aidant à réussir, nous assurons notre prospérité collective. Les municipalités bilingues du Manitoba constituent un atout provincial important qu'il faut entretenir et préserver afin d'assurer la vitalité culturelle et économique de la province. C'est dans cet état d'esprit qu'on a créé le CDEM, de façon à donner aux municipalités membres de l'Association des municipalités bilingues du Manitoba l'élan nécessaire pour qu'elles renouent avec la prospérité financière. Le CDEM regroupe des gens d'affaires chevronnés et possède le savoir-faire et les ressources qu'il faut pour que votre entreprise soit un succès. De votre succès dépend notre prospérité collective, de même que la survie à long terme et le dynamisme de nos municipalités.
Merci, Madame la Présidente.
[Translation]
Mr. Neil Gaudry (St. Boniface): Madam Speaker, I am pleased to say a few words about a program that took place at the Collège universitaire de Saint-Boniface last weekend. It was the Western Forum, which was organized by the Manitoba Association of Bilingual Municipalities with the Economic Development Council of Manitoba Bilingual Municipalities. The entire program was very interesting. We had francophone members present from the four western provinces and from the Yukon. The day was divided into three different workshops that seemed very interesting. I attended the one on tourism. There was also one on value-added and new markets. The other one was on information technology.
The purpose was to establish partnerships with the levels of government. The Minister responsible for French Language Services, the Honourable Darren Praznik, was present and so was the Honourable Jon Gerrard, Secretary of State for Western Economic Diversification Canada.
What is very significant for the Association of Bilingual Municipalities is very clear when they state here: "Helping you achieve business success for our collective prosperity. Manitoba's bilingual communities are an important provincial asset, one to be nurtured and preserved for the province's cultural and economic well-being. It was with this in mind that the CDEM was formed - to act as the spark for renewed financial prosperity in the member communities of the Manitoba Association of Bilingual Municipalities. The CDEM is staffed by experienced business professionals and has the expertise and resources to provide your business with the best opportunity to succeed and thrive. Through your success, we plant the seeds for our collective prosperity and ensure the long term survival and vibrancy of our communities."
Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Mr. Tim Sale (Crescentwood): Madam Speaker, Manitobans have all seen the image of our Premier standing in a jail slamming the door shut to emphasize just how tough this government's policy on crime would be. Over and over, he and his election co-chair, the Minister of Justice (Mrs. Vodrey), boasted about their toughness, but now Manitobans have had 18 months to see the reality of that boast. They see it in the failure of the Justice minister's policy on gangs, adult and juvenile, the failure to deal with the Headingley riot, the embarrassing aftermath of that riot when the Justice Minister boasted that those involved in the riot would clean it up--so three of them scrubbed a wall or two.
Manitobans saw the release after the riot of dangerous sexual offenders, first denied in this House and then finally confirmed. We saw press release after press release turn into the Casper initiatives, invisible to everyone except the government's spin doctors and the minister's overly active imagination.
Only yesterday, Madam Speaker, this less than forthright minister would not speak the truth that was obvious to everyone else, that over 18 months her own justice committee had never even met. Now we have the spectacle of a Justice minister that decides its serious offenders, drunk drivers, drivers with criminal records as long as your arm, need not spend any time in jail even when jail is a mandatory sentence. She subverts the court's duty to sentence. She fails to inform her own officials and the judiciary of her new policy. She defends her decision on the basis of there not being enough room when we know there is enough room.
Manitobans expect those people who are sentenced to jail for serious crimes to spend time in jail. So do judges, so do Crown attorneys. Now we have a Premier (Mr. Filmon) who will not finally do the right thing and relieve this failed minister of a burden which is clearly too heavy for her to bear. In failing to do his clear duty, the Premier impairs the integrity of the justice system, condones his minister's interference with the rightful role of the judiciary and fails all Manitobans.
Madam Speaker: The honourable member for Point Douglas, with committee changes.
Mr. George Hickes (Point Douglas): I move, seconded by the member for Broadway (Mr. Santos), that the composition of the Standing Committee on Economic Development be amended as follows: The member for Crescentwood (Mr. Sale) for the member for St. Johns (Mr. Mackintosh); the member for Interlake (Mr. Clif Evans) for the member for St. James (Ms. Mihychuk)--[interjection]
Madam Speaker: Order, please. I cannot hear the honourable member for Point Douglas, nor can the table officers.
Mr. Hickes: I move, seconded by the member for Broadway (Mr. Santos), that the composition of the Standing Committee on Economic Development be amended as follows: The member for Crescentwood (Mr. Sale) for the member for St. Johns (Mr. Mackintosh); the member for Interlake (Mr. Clif Evans) for the member for St. James (Ms. Mihychuk); the member for Broadway (Mr. Santos) for the member for Rupertsland (Mr. Robinson), for Thursday, October 10 for 2:30 p.m.
I move, seconded by the member for Broadway, that the composition of the Standing Committee on Public Utilities and Natural Resources be amended as follows: The member for Elmwood (Mr. Maloway) for the member for Selkirk (Mr. Dewar); the member for Brandon East (Mr. Leonard Evans) for the member for Interlake (Mr. Clif Evans); the member for Wolseley (Ms. Friesen) for the member for Wellington (Ms. Barrett), for Friday, October 11 for 10 a.m.
Motions agreed to.