ORAL QUESTION PERIOD
Manitoba Metis Federation
Funding
Mr. Gary Doer (Leader of the Opposition): Madam Speaker, my question is to the First Minister (Mr. Filmon).
During the Speech from the Throne and prior to the press conference of the Premier dealing with matters in the Speech from the Throne, the Premier stated that he must work in partnership with aboriginal people and First Nations people and that he promised that his government would work together with aboriginal people on jobs and training and other aspects, which we found rather cynical given the cuts in Access, New Careers and the Indian-Metis friendship centres in the past, but of course we wanted to see some progress.
I would like to ask the Premier, why was he not honest with the people of Manitoba and why did he not tell the people of Manitoba at the time of the Speech from the Throne that, on the one hand, as he was allocated funds for a campaign for First Nations people, he was cutting money from the Manitoba Metis Federation? And could he tell us what the impact of those cuts will have on the jobs of Metis people working across Manitoba?
Hon. David Newman (Minister responsible for Native Affairs): The issue of core funding of the Manitoba Metis Federation was a matter that I discussed both orally and then confirmed by letter with the then spokesperson for the Manitoba Metis Federation who attended the meeting officially representing the organization, which you know is in a state of refurbishment, an election to be held on May 15 of this year to elect a new board and new leader.
The funding which was directed at core funding was something that was discontinued, funding which has come from this government previously for core funding, a portion that has been directed to help fund the election taking place on May 15. With respect to the rationale or the discontinuation of the funding, that is done because there is really no organization in place under leadership which is democratically chosen by the Metis people.
I also would add the point that I believe having that kind of funding, that kind of core funding, contributes to the very kinds of problems that have resulted with the Manitoba Metis Federation being in the difficulty it is in now, that is, getting elected because of the pressure you can put on government to get money.
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Mr. Doer: Madam Speaker, the Premier (Mr. Filmon) never answered the question. He would be in the press conference talking about partnership and if you cut me I bleed and all these other kinds of terms that he wants to change his image with.
I asked a specific question. How can the Premier justify a $20,000 kick-off event for the Premier alone, some hundred thousand dollars in public relations and promotions at a time when he is cutting back on the core funding for Metis people, and could he tell us how many people are going to be laid off? How many Metis people are going to be laid off in Thompson, in Flin Flon, in Dauphin, The Pas and Winnipeg because of his desire to have a kick-off event and other PR activity around his cynical statement in the Speech from the Throne?
Mr. Newman: Madam Speaker, I would say unequivocally, $20,000 will not be spent on any kick-off event, although I would say that communication is going to be important to let young aboriginal graduates of high schools, community colleges and universities who are going to participate in the program be aware of what the program is all about, also that the community at large is aware of it because the business community has very extensively indicated interest in supporting this kind of program. So there is a need to have communication. That is an investment and that is for the benefit of the Metis people.
With respect to the Metis people getting the benefit of the funding, I would submit that this funding will be for the benefit of the people, and the new approach to doing funding with the Manitoba Metis Federation on a project-by-project basis will better ensure that funds are being directed at programs that are beneficial to women and children and other members of the community in ways that are mutually agreed upon.
Mr. Doer: The Premier and the minister never answered my question. How many people working at the grassroots, community-based level in the Metis organization are going to be laid off because of this callous, cynical decision of this Premier?
I would like to ask the Premier, Madam Speaker, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, in a presentation made to the government about a week ago identified that the subsidies, business subsidy costs and allocations, have gone up, up, up to $20 million in the province of Manitoba. They are calling on the government to cut totally the $20 million.
I would like to ask the Premier, why did he not maintain the funding in the Manitoba Metis Federation for people working, with some of the highest numbers of people who are unemployed? Why did he not maintain that grassroots funding and take some of this money from the business subsidies that have increased at a time when health and education funding has been cut?
Hon. Gary Filmon (Premier): Madam Speaker, it is interesting that the members opposite, who of course were in government throughout the '70s and '80s in this province and instituted countless programs for business subsidies--in fact, I recall many of the statements made by the member for Concordia when he was president at that time of the MGEU talking about all this money that went to plant daisies on the roadsides and put up signs all over the province, $200 million that went to paying for jobs and subsidizing businesses to create jobs. I recall all of that, and I contrast it to the news out today, which I am disappointed that the member chose not to talk about, which is the latest Statistics Canada information on our labour force. It says that again we reached an all-time record high. [interjection]
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Madam Speaker, this is relevant. This is relevant to the issue of businesses creating jobs in this province--all-time record high of 541,400 people working in this province, and that is relevant to, of course, job creation and businesses that are coming here.
Point of Order
Mr. Daryl Reid (Transcona): I believe, Madam Speaker, that Beauchesne’s is very clear that answers to questions should be as brief as possible and should pertain to the matter that was raised. I ask you to call this Premier to order to answer the question that was asked about the jobs that are being affected for the people that are in the Metis community of this province, not about the statistics that were released today.
Mr. Filmon: On the same point of order, the Leader of the Opposition asked about subsidies to businesses and programs for businesses to give them incentives to create jobs in this province, and the proof of the pudding is in the statistics of the all-time record high number of people employed in this province. I know that is disappointing to members opposite because they do not like to hear good news like that, but it is fact.
Madam Speaker: On the point of order raised by the honourable member for Transcona, I will take the matter under advisement and report back.
Layoffs
Mr. Gary Doer (Leader of the Opposition): Madam Speaker, on a supplementary question, we all know that First Nations people are not even included in the unemployment statistics. We know that the Manitoba Metis Federation is working in areas that are covered by the unemployment statistics but have some of the highest unemployment. In fact, the regional breakdowns for northern Manitoba used to have numbers 24, 25 percent unemployment. We do not get those breakdowns anymore.
I just asked the Premier a very simple question. How many members of the Manitoba Metis Federation staff working in communities and developing economic hope and opportunity in Thompson, Flin Flon, The Pas, Dauphin, the Interlake area and Winnipeg will be laid off? Could the Premier please answer that? Surely he considered it when he cut the money to the Manitoba Metis Federation. Just give us a straight answer for once.
Hon. Gary Filmon (Premier): Madam Speaker, as has been indicated, there was funding that had been allocated for core funding for the organization of the Manitoba Metis Federation, and that core funding, of course, was not able to be used after a court decision that essentially said that the organization no longer existed. You do not give money to an organization that does not exist. At least we do not; New Democrats might. So the minister has taken money that would ordinarily have been lapsed and put it into a new program, a new program activity for the development of Partners for Careers for aboriginal employment. That I think is a wise decision and a wise choice.
With respect to another some 40-odd thousand dollars put towards holding a new election for a new executive of the Manitoba Metis Federation, that, too, was transferred out of the money that had been allocated for core funding. In addition to that, of course, the minister has indicated that the government will be providing for program funding for future activities in the Metis Federation, which obviously will be based upon exactly what the intention is of those activities. If those activities are from matters that have been raised that would be in the best interests and improve the circumstances, employment and otherwise, of the Metis people, then there is funding that would be available for that. All of that is, I believe, the kind of decision-making that people expect of us.
Deputy Minister of Northern Affairs
Conflict of Interest
Ms. Becky Barrett (Wellington): Madam Speaker, this government has a large amount of trouble with integrity, such as appointing people to commissions such as the Council on Post-Secondary Education and the regional health boards who have no apparent qualifications for the task except belonging to and giving money to the Conservative Party, travelling with spouses at public expense, to name but a few. So it is not surprising that we learn today that the Department of Northern Affairs had hired at a half-time salary of $35,000 a year, the spouse of the Deputy Minister of Northern Affairs.
I am tabling a letter dated January 24, from the Deputy Minister of Northern Affairs, outlining the conditions of that contract hiring his own spouse.
I would like to ask the Minister responsible for the Civil Service Commission, when did he first learn of this conflict-of-interest hiring, and what did he do about it?
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Hon. David Newman (Minister of Northern Affairs): Madam Speaker, within five minutes of that particular memo coming to my attention, and that was sometime after January 24, I verified that individual in fact was the deputy minister's wife by checking two sources. I then contacted the deputy minister, who was out of the country, and I let the deputy minister explain the situation. I then made very clear that that proposed engagement would not take place, and that all took place within a period of hours on the day in question.
Ms. Barrett: Will the Minister responsible for the Civil Service Commission investigate the appropriateness of the actions of the Deputy Minister of Northern Affairs and the former Minister of Northern Affairs, who signed the contract recommending the hiring of his own deputy's spouse, and why this obvious practice of patronage has been allowed to happen again after the Minister of Rural Development was investigated for allowing the hiring of the then Minister of Health's spouse in 1992? He even had his hiring privileges suspended for a period of time.
I will table, in case the Minister responsible for the Civil Service Commission has put this particular file in the circular file because of its embarrassment for the government, a memo from the Clerk of the Executive Council and head of the Civil Service Commission outlining the problems related to the then Minister of Rural Development and again ask the Minister for the Civil Service Commission to undertake the investigation of this situation and why it has been allowed to happen again.
If the current minister were still in his position--the then minister, this would never have come to light.
Hon. Harold Gilleshammer (Minister charged with the administration of The Civil Service Act): I thank the Minister of Northern and Native Affairs, who has clearly indicated that no hiring took place.
Grow Bond Program
Woodstone Technologies
Mr. Tim Sale (Crescentwood): Madam Speaker, when the Minister of Finance finally agreed to our request for a full audit of the Woodstone Grow Bond, he stated that the audit would simply confirm that all was well. Those words were repeated, in essence, by the minister responsible for Grow Bonds.
Well, as we now know, all was far from well both with the company and with the process that led to the issuing of the Grow Bond.
Will the Minister of Finance now confirm that material facts, that is, facts which were vital to an investor's ability to make a fair judgment of the risk involved, were deliberately withheld from investors, even though the Grow Bond office had the information and there was plenty of time available to put it into the memorandum of offering in March of 1994?
Hon. Eric Stefanson (Minister of Finance): Madam Speaker, no, I will not confirm that. There have been two audits done of Woodstone Foods, the Grow Bonds Program. The first one was done a few years ago. The Department of Rural Development and the Grow Bond office instituted most of the recommendations in that report. The subsequent audit was recently done. That has been made available to the public and all members of this Legislature and does a full accounting of the entire transaction. Some recommendations have flowed from that audit, and they are also being implemented by the Department of Rural Development.
Mr. Sale: Madam Speaker, is the Finance minister then saying that he disagrees with the Provincial Auditor's words in the report on page 21, in which the Auditor states, and I quote: In addition, we found documentary evidence that government officials were aware of revisions to the expansion program well before the issuance of the offering memorandum. In our view, there was ample opportunity to ensure that the offering memorandum disclosed the revised expansion program. In our opinion, the private investors had a right to have this information disclosed in the offering memorandum. The offering memorandum did not disclose that financing in addition to the Grow Bond issue was required.
Is he then disagreeing with his own Auditor?
Mr. Stefanson: No, I am not, Madam Speaker--two different issues. I agree with the Auditor's Report and support the Auditor's Report and support the recommendations in that report, which are being implemented by the Department of Rural Development. He has raised two entirely separate issues. He talked about information being deliberately withheld, and it was that part of his comment that I disagreed with.
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Mr. Sale: Madam Speaker, a final supplementary to the same minister, who does not seem to understand that material information is what investors are owed when they make a decision of risk in terms of their capital.
Will the minister then tell the House how much money is going to be refunded to the president, vice-president and officers of Woodstone who invested in their own Grow Bond knowing full well they had misled investors, misled the public and were then going to profit from doing so by having their money protected, and now they are going to have it refunded after they bankrupted the company, including one Gary Brazzell, well-known Tory bagman?
Hon. Leonard Derkach (Minister of Rural Development): Madam Speaker, no one takes any pleasure in the fact that Woodstone Foods has indeed gone into bankruptcy and, as a result, many people in the Portage area have lost their jobs. Under the terms of the legislation that was passed with regard to Grow Bonds, there is a condition where the province does guarantee the Grow Bonds to the investors who have put the money in, and we will comply with the legislation and with the laws of this province.
Deputy Minister of Energy and Mines
Salary
Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Inkster): Madam Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Energy and Mines with respect to Deputy Minister Michael Fine. If we take a look at the Public Accounts, Supplementary Volume II for March 31, '96, on page 14 you will see that the deputy minister received $108,262, and then if you take a look again on page 53, Michael Fine was given $74,734.
My question to the Minister of Energy and Mines is: what was that particular money given to Mr. Fine for, especially if you take into consideration we have also through Freedom of Information requested expenses of this particular deputy minister, and over the last two years we have seen in excess of $35,000? I will table that particular Freedom of Information request.
Hon. David Newman (Minister of Energy and Mines): Madam Speaker, I will take as notice the comment with reference to the $74,000. The salary, I guess, is not a question but a question about the $74,000, you want particulars on that. I will take that under advisement.
With respect to the expense accounts, indeed that information has been released and the explanation for the expenditures is that a very substantial effort has been made to market Manitoba throughout the world as a place to do exploration and do mining. As a result of that, 27 new mining companies that were not active in the province in the previous year have been active in the province this year.
In addition, the mineral exploration expenditures have rebounded to $40 million in 1996 from $32.6 million in 1995. This is seen to be an investment, an investment necessary to encourage junior exploration companies and others to find mines. Mines result in Thompsons of Manitoba and result in Flin Flons, and we need more of them.
Mr. Lamoureux: Madam Speaker, the Deputy Minister of Energy and Mines, and the question is for the Minister of Energy and Mines, does he not believe, given that he meets on a daily basis with the Deputy Minister of Energy and Mines, that he should have been aware of the fact that the deputy minister was receiving some $74,734? Yet he has no idea in terms of what that money is all about, not even in his briefings. Should he not have been aware of the fact that that money was there? For whatever reasons, I would argue that he should have been aware of it. Would he not agree?
Mr. Newman: Madam Speaker, when I speak on the record, I want to make sure that I accurately respond to questions asked with details. That requires a detailed response, and I will provide that information as I indicated.
Investigation
Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Inkster): I am wondering if we can get a commitment from the minister to investigate exactly what has happened within that department over the last two years with respect to Mr. Fine and report back to the House at the soonest possible time.
Hon. David Newman (Minister of Energy and Mines): Madam Speaker, I will provide the particulars of the information requested. I can assure the House that any investigations that result from any of the issues that have been raised today, if they result in any finding of any impropriety I would urge they be dealt with strongly and quickly. I will not support any impropriety of any sort in my department.
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Manitoba Hydro
Privatization
Ms. MaryAnn Mihychuk (St. James): Recently, in the last Hydrogram published by Manitoba Hydro, the President of Hydro, Mr. Bob Brennan was quoted as talking about a concept called convergence, which is the merger of gas and electric utilities. He is quoted as saying: We realize that generally speaking governments do not want to be in the electricity business.
Can the Minister responsible for Hydro tell us whether the statement about governments not wanting to be in the electric business is a reflection of this government's attitude towards Manitoba Hydro, particularly since the third quarter results for Manitoba Hydro show again record profits in this Crown corporation?
Hon. David Newman (Minister charged with the administration of The Manitoba Hydro Act): The answer to that question is no.
With respect to Manitoba Hydro, we as a government are very proud of the achievements of Manitoba Hydro and particularly its having some of the lowest rates for water-generated power in North America. That helps Manitoba to have the proud record of providing low costs to consumers of power, both individual and commercial. Also, we should be grateful that 25 percent of the revenues generated by Manitoba Hydro are from exports to the United States. That helps us keep the rates down as well.
Ms. Mihychuk: Madam Speaker, we are indeed concerned when the comments reflect the same as those for MTS.
Does this minister believe, during this convergence of electric and gas utilities, that the shareholders of Centra Gas should be in control or the people of Manitoba?
Mr. Newman: I do not understand the question, Madam Speaker.
Ms. Mihychuk: I would be glad to clarify. Will it be the people of Manitoba that will control the electric and gas utilities or will it be the shareholders of Centra Gas, like it is the shareholders of the telephone company?
Mr. Newman: The interests of the public with respect to rates, and otherwise, are protected by the Public Utilities Board with respect to Manitoba Hydro.
Ms. Mihychuk: My final question. Clearly, the minister is not well briefed on the topic, and I hope that he will become up to date on the issue of convergence.
Will the minister clarify the real agenda of this government? Are we restructuring to meet the challenges of the energy changes in environment or are we getting ready to sell off Manitoba Hydro like we did MTS?
Mr. Newman: Madam Speaker, with respect to the, I would say, negative reflection on the people who give me briefing advice, and that would be, in many cases, people from Manitoba Hydro, I regard the briefings that I get through Manitoba Hydro through my office to be high quality, and I am very well briefed.
With respect to the future of Manitoba Hydro, I have a great deal of respect for business plans that emerge from Manitoba Hydro, and those business plans I will always examine with a great deal of conscientiousness representing the stakeholders in the province of Manitoba. We are the owners of Manitoba Hydro through our government representing the people, and we will examine any business plan very carefully, and changes that they need to be successful we will look at.
Keewatin Community College
Board of Directors
Ms. Jean Friesen (Wolseley): Madam Speaker, the Speech from the Throne claims that, I quote: "The education and training system is continuing to be more responsive to the needs and aspirations of aboriginal peoples." In this context, I am pleased to recognize again today the Minister of Education's considerable achievement in appointing an aboriginal Manitoban to the Council on Post-Secondary Education, certainly a step beyond the very narrowly conceived interim transition committee.
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I wonder if the minister could explain, however, why this government's appointments to the board of KCC have never yet managed to achieve a 25 percent representation of First Nations when the overwhelming majority of northern Manitobans they serve are indeed First Nations?
Hon. Linda McIntosh (Minister of Education and Training): Madam Speaker, I assume inherent in the preamble is an apology from the member for having said so clearly and so critically without research that we had not appointed any aboriginals to the post-secondary board and that we were taken strongly to task by the opposition for not having done that, so I accept her apology for now acknowledging that we do in fact have a good aboriginal person on that board.
Point of Order
Ms. Friesen: Madam Speaker, it is a point of order. I believe that the minister is accepting this as an apology. It is not an apology. It is indeed a recognition of the minister's considerable achievement in appointing an aboriginal person to the Council on Post-Secondary Education board, something which I said to the media yesterday and which was, I believe, mistakenly reported.
Madam Speaker: The honourable member for Wolseley does not have a point of order.
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Madam Speaker: The honourable minister, to quickly complete her response.
Mrs. McIntosh: Madam Speaker, I acknowledge for the record that the member has identified that the Free Press incorrectly reported her statements when she said that we had not appointed an aboriginal and should be taken to task, and I assume then that she will be asking for a correction from that paper. I realize she is not apologizing for the mistake she says the Free Press has made, and I would hope that she would also clarify with the Free Press that they may have also incorrectly reported her in saying we had no one with experience in high schools on that board.
Having said that--
Madam Speaker: Order, please.
Point of Order
Mr. Dave Chomiak (Kildonan): Point of order, Madam Speaker. Beauchesne's is very clear, Section 417, that answers to questions should be short and deal with the matter raised.
I know the Minister of Education is very defensive about her failure to deal with aboriginal issues, but she ought to deal with the question as addressed by the member, a very serious question that was addressed by the member for Wolseley, and not try to defend her undefendable position and should refer to Section 417 of Beauchesne.
Madam Speaker: Order, please. On the point of order raised by the honourable member for Kildonan, indeed the honourable member does have a point of order. I would remind the honourable minister that answers to questions should reply to the question asked, be brief and not contain argument or provoke debate.
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Madam Speaker: The honourable Minister of Education, to quickly complete her response.
Mrs. McIntosh: Thank you, Madam Speaker, and just as the member was wrong about the aboriginal representation and the high school representation on the council board, so too is she wrong about our feelings at Keewatin Community College. We have been moving steadily to increase aboriginal representation on that board. We have indicated to members of the aboriginal community up north, with whom we have met in my office to discuss this whole issue, that as appointments come up we will seek out qualified people of aboriginal descent to place on that board. We have discussed the number of people we require, et cetera. We also have at the KCC board, as the member knows, may not wish to acknowledge, not on the board but at the college, aboriginal elders.
We have--Madam Speaker, I see you giving me the wind-down. I will continue if the member asks another question.
Ms. Friesen: Madam Speaker, could the Minister of Education confirm that her recent appointment to the chair of the KCC board is yet another defeated Tory candidate, and could she tell us whether this was as a result of a wide search throughout the North?
Mrs. McIntosh: Madam Speaker, of course the member would not like to acknowledge that we have Tory candidates who are of aboriginal descent. I think that is something that cannot be overlooked, that we do have aboriginal people who have run in our elections for our party as well as for other parties. So, whenever she says "defeated Tory candidate," implying that defeated Tory candidates have no interest in aboriginal affairs or are not themselves aboriginal, she leaves a false impression which betrays her own prejudices.
I have to say that in the North, for aboriginal people, we have a number of programs that are geared to the success for aboriginal people. We have the Aboriginal Apprenticeship Program; we have BUNTEP; we have New Careers North. Of course, we have our accessibility for northern students. Madam Speaker, we have established in the Department of Education a native education steering committee to deal with all kinds of aspects of aboriginal education, people that I am sure the member would approve of. If she wants me to put their names into the record, I would be pleased to do that.
Coop Share Equity Loan Program
Elimination
Ms. Marianne Cerilli (Radisson): Madam Speaker, my question is to the Minister of Housing.
This government seems to be joining the federal Liberal government in abandoning its support for co-op and social housing. It is threatening the more than 43 co-ops that rely on public assistance to assure quality, affordable housing.
I want to ask the minister, can he explain why residents of Manitoba, when they phone Manitoba Housing, are being told that the Coop Share Equity Loan Program is in abeyance? Is this program, which provides interest-free loans to new co-op members, another co-op housing program that is being eliminated?
Hon. Jack Reimer (Minister of Housing): Madam Speaker, from time to time we have always pointed out there is a philosophical difference between the opposition and this government, but I would like to point out that there is an item of concern that I share with the member for Radisson, and that is the federal abandonment of social housing and public housing in Manitoba and in Canada. It started back in 1993 with the capping of funding for public housing and extended back into 1994 when they stopped funding for public housing, and last year they announced over a $250-million reduction in subsidies to public housing in Canada, and now they have come out with the statement that they are now wanting to offload their total housing program onto the province.
I share the concerns of the member for Radisson that this has been done in a very heavy and straightforth manner by the federal government. We are very, very concerned about this offloading and how it is going to affect the public housing in Manitoba. Again, I say I share that same concern with the member.
Ms. Cerilli: Madam Speaker, I asked a very specific question and hopefully will get a specific answer to my question about this Coop Share Equity Loan Program. Why is this program being eliminated, if it is being eliminated, and why were the number of co-ops that rely on this program not told that they are losing this support so that they can have new co-op members?
Mr. Reimer: As I pointed out in my first answer, with the so-called devolution of the federal offer of their public housing here in Manitoba, it has opened up a scrutiny of all components of the public housing, whether it is with co-ops or whether it is with seniors homes, whether it is with northern and native housing. These are some of the things that we have to take into consideration when we are doing the scrutiny of the federal offer of devolution. These are points that are brought forth for discussion.
We have made no decisions as to what type of directions we will take with this offer, but at the same time, we do have to look at all avenues of funding that are involved with the co-management between the two levels of government.
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Youth Gangs
Gang Co-ordinator Funding
Mr. Gary Kowalski (The Maples): My question is for the new Minister of Justice, and I will table a copy of a facsimile from Luci Grechen, manager of intergovernmental relations in Manitoba Training and Advanced Education of the Manitoba government, dated October 9, 1996, that shows copies went to, amongst others, Lawrie Barkwell from the Youth Secretariat and Wyman Sangster from the Department of Justice.
In this facsimile it talks about the Winnipeg police street gang prevention project, which included a youth gang co-ordinator, which shows that members of the Department of Justice were aware of the youth gang co-ordinator position.
Seeing as the Hughes Inquiry talked about problems of communication in the Justice department, is this an indication that those problems are persisting?
Hon. Vic Toews (Minister of Justice and Attorney General): Well, I am very glad that my friend from The Maples raised this issue once again, because it does underlie a concern.
As I stated in the House I believe, or outside in the hallway, our department since April of '94 worked with a federal official in terms of trying to develop a policy. Suddenly the federal official disappeared. There were vague rumours of things happening with the federal government but no specific programs announced in terms of involving the provincial government. We feel that if there is going to be progress made, more than has been made, it is absolutely essential that the federal government at the ministerial level come to the provincial government and say, we are interested in co-operating with you.
So I was somewhat heartened to hear the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and I find that strange that the Minister of Foreign Affairs would come and deliver money here in Manitoba as though we are not part of Canada anymore, but I guess after he gave the money to Cuba, the $20 million to Cuba, he thought he might drop $200,000 here. But, in any event, this indicates, yes, there has been working at some of the provincial departmental officials but they have never approached my office to discuss this issue.
Mr. Kowalski: Can this minister set aside partisan politics and work with the federal government for the safety of our community?
Mr. Toews: I want to say something, and that is, I respect the member for The Maples. That is a member who cares about his constituents, who works for his constituents, and that is the kind of member I believe this provincial government can work with. That is a member who comes from a police background, who understands the problems of the police, who understands the problems of the community, and I want to work with members of the opposition like the member for The Maples, but we have to understand that the primary responsibility for criminal law in this country is the federal government. We operate under a delegated authority, and if we do not receive co-operation from the federal government in that respect, we are at sea.
I was in Fredericton just on this issue and discussing it with Minister Rock, and Minister Rock, in answer to my concern that there are criminal offences being created by children under 12 years old and no mechanism to bring them within the criminal justice system, stated that there were only eight homicides committed by children under 12, and what was the big worry about that. Well, I find that disgusting.
Deloraine Chamber of Commerce
Meeting Request
Mr. Gerard Jennissen (Flin Flon): Madam Speaker, my question is to the Minister responsible for I, T and T.
Is the minister prepared, in the near future, to attend a large public gathering in Deloraine, sponsored by the Deloraine Chamber of Commerce, to explain why that community and many other rural communities are losing government jobs such as highway maintenance jobs, which is a callous action that goes totally contrary to the government's much-touted decentralization?
Hon. James Downey (Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism): Madam Speaker, I am prepared to meet with my constituents on any issue at any time.
Madam Speaker: The time for Oral Questions has expired.