Hon. Gary Filmon (Premier): Madam Speaker, I have a ministerial statement, and I apologize for not having copies of it. I believe there are some copies that are being made available, and I can either go ahead--it is to do with the flood--and invite members to take whatever time they need for response or questions or else wait until I can get some copies in.

Madam Speaker: Does the honourable First Minister have leave to proceed with the ministerial statement prior to the receipt of the copies? [agreed]

Mr. Filmon: Madam Speaker, I want to begin by congratulating all the municipal officials, residents and most especially the volunteers of Manitoba on their united efforts to deal with the flood threat. In threatened areas throughout the Red River, I have been very impressed by the overwhelming turnout of people to deal with the flood of 1997. I also commend the government employees of Manitoba Natural Resources, Manitoba Emergency Management Organization, the Department of Highways, the Department of Health and the many other departments who are working literally around the clock to assist the affected southern communities deal with this flood. They are certainly working above and beyond the call of duty.

We cannot overlook the equally valuable support of many service organizations such as the Red Cross and the Salvation Army who have brought their much-appreciated resources into this effort. This flood, the largest of the century, will definitely be noted as one of the most substantial mobilizations of people and resources Manitoba has ever seen to address a natural disaster. The key to a successful effort, besides the spirit of the people of Manitoba, has been the co-ordinated emergency response plans our communities have in place. Working with well-prepared emergency response plans, the people in communities along the flood path have very effectively brought all our resources to bear on this situation.

Manitoba's emergency response system focuses on the needs of a community from the community's perspective. Long before we were faced with these circumstances, all affected communities in consultation with the province had their emergency plans in place and in fact ran trial runs. Under our provincial legislation, local officials, mayors, reeves and councillors take the lead role in the first emergency response with the support of the provincial government. Local governments have the authority to determine when and to what extent they will respond to any given situation. Using the discretion and authority they possess under this system, several communities have declared a state of emergency. These include the towns of Morris, Emerson, Dominion City and Ste. Anne, as well as the rural municipalities of Franklin, Morris, Taché and Montcalm.

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In some communities evacuations are underway. As of today approximately 3,200 people are leaving their homes. These are primarily from Emerson, Dominion City and the Rural Municipality of Morris. Evacuees are co-operating with their local authorities, and the evacuations are proceeding at an orderly pace. In accordance with their emergency management plans, reception centres have been established in neighbouring communities, and we appreciate their assistance at this time.

Let me make it clear, there is the potential for the entire valley to be evacuated, and we are working with all the communities in the valley. There are close to 20,000 Manitobans living in the Red River Valley. Any decision to evacuate the valley will be made in close consultation with the community officials who will implement the evacuation plan. Even with good plans in place, I can only imagine the anxiety and stress our neighbours feel when they have to leave their homes and properties. I know the stresses are immense and the people are beginning to tire, but I also know the people of these communities have no intention of giving up now. We will ensure the province spares no resource to sustain their fight.

The flood forecast status has not changed since Sunday. We are expecting the water to crest in Emerson later this week and in Winnipeg around May 2. Yesterday I went to Morris, Emerson, St. Adolphe, St. Jean Baptiste and Ste. Agathe to see the extent of the flooding. There are a number of secondary roads already closed, and many more are at risk. Numerous farms are already experiencing flooding. At the request of several communities, we have asked for and received military personnel to help with sandbagging. One hundred armed forces personnel are in the Rural Municipality of Ritchot, and over 100 armed forces personnel have been deployed in Emerson.

As you are aware, last night the gates were raised and the Winnipeg floodway was put into operation. This channel, along with the Portage diversion, the Shellmouth Dam and various dike systems, will reduce the impact of the flood waters in many areas, especially in the city of Winnipeg.

In Winnipeg local authorities are continuing their flood preparation attacks and are co-ordinating diking of vulnerable residences not protected by the primary dike system. From the air both yesterday and this morning, we observed the diking that has been completed or is underway on Kingston Row, on Scotia Street and Elmwood and St. Norbert.

This morning we went to Breezy Point where it was obvious that we are not presently faced with the same ice-jamming situation as last year. Early indications appear that the ice-drilling experiment we tried in this area had a positive effect, but no one can accurately predict how Mother Nature will treat us over the next week. She plays by her own rules. Every night as we watch the pictures of the devastation the flooding has caused in Grand Forks and other communities in North Dakota, we are reminded of her power.

Our hearts go out to our southern neighbours. I spoke yesterday with Governor Schafer, and unfortunately there is little we can do for them but to show both the empathy and the co-operation that the people of Fargo have towards us and our friends in North Dakota. The City of Fargo has offered some 75,000 filled sandbags to us, both because the peak has passed them and in fact they lost the battle in some areas, so they have these excess resources which are now being trucked to Manitoba.

We are deeply appreciative of that gesture, and even though this is the most serious flooding situation this century, I firmly believe the people of Manitoba, the communities and the city of Winnipeg and province are doing everything we can to deal effectively with the situation. As I have said many times before, we have been preparing for the worst and hoping for the best.

I wish to reassure the municipalities, towns and people along the valley and the people of Winnipeg that the province will continue to work with local and city authorities to monitor and evaluate the situation as the flooding progresses. We will share all information and deploy all resources at our disposal to fight the flood.

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Also, today, the Minister of Government Services (Mr. Pitura), under our legislation, is declaring a provincial state of emergency. This gives us additional abilities to take certain actions which may be required to fight this flood emergency. Let me be clear, however, this does not in any way suggest that we are taking any authority away from local decision makers. We have tremendous confidence in the abilities of local rural municipalities and other municipal governments to manage the situation in the best interests of their communities. They are doing a fabulous job, and this just gives them one more tool at their disposal should the crisis worsen.

I thank you very much and look forward to the comments of our colleagues, Madam Speaker.

Mr. Gary Doer (Leader of the Opposition): I would like to thank the Premier for his update and his statement in the Chamber here this afternoon. As the Premier has indicated, the work across our province and across our region has exemplified the best in our citizens, the spirit of co-operation, the spirit of community, the spirit of coming together to deal as fellow citizens in a time of potential crisis and crisis indeed in some of our communities.

I want to applaud all the volunteers that have been participating in our collective community efforts all across our communities in Manitoba. I want to congratulate the public employees that are working on behalf of all of us in the provincial government, the municipal governments and in the federal government on our collective efforts. I also want to join the Premier in congratulating many of the service organizations that have been working on the front lines of our collective efforts.

I would say, in terms of dealing with the federal government--I said it in the House yesterday, and I will say it again today--that it is our great desire to have as many members of the Armed Forces available as soon as possible. We want people from the Armed Forces available to prevent tragedies from happening not to deal with evacuations after they happen. That would be our recommendation in terms of the priority of utilizing as much as possible the Armed Forces and resources available.

We have much to celebrate in terms of the hard work that has been performed across our province, but we also have some tragedies that we have to think about today--a young boy over the weekend, a four-year-old who perished in the waters in our communities. Our condolences go out to the family and community on this death. I think that exemplifies all of our collective priorities. The material devastation that may take place with this flood and has taken place with the flood is serious, but the human tragedies that could take place and have taken place must remain our No. 1 priority. Human life is so important, and we must do everything in our power to make sure that tragedies are prevented and human tragedies are avoided.

I want to say to the Premier that I recall a couple of weeks ago listening to the people in Fargo. I remember the people in Fargo saying they were prepared for the crest of the Red River that was expected I believe about 10 days ago. Regrettably and tragically, they were wrong, and the Red River of course damaged many communities and there was again loss of life in that Fargo community. Our hearts too go out to the people of that community, our southern neighbours. Last week we heard the people of Grand Forks saying: What happened in Fargo will not happen here in Grand Forks. All of us who watched the television pictures and read the news reports again were shocked to see the absolute devastation and were shocked to see the fact that that community was off by three or four feet in their projections, with the resulting impact of a powerful river running through a community and representing one of the largest tragedies in all of the United States last year.

I am pleased to hear the Premier saying that there is no change contemplated today in terms of the flood forecast, but again, we are dealing with the change of three feet in the projections on Sunday alone from Friday, something that is challenging again all our communities, as the Premier stated.

We certainly support the Premier's call for a state of emergency, and we too will do whatever we can with all of our communities to deal with the 20,000 people that are directly impacted in our Red River Valley communities. We offer any sense of co-operation or any act of co-operation in this direct threat to the homes of those 20,000 people. We hope that evacuations can be limited, but again I reiterate that personal injury and personal safety must be the key determining factor. Madam Speaker, as I have said before, it is important that we work together in a co-operative way.

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It is also very important that we have favourable weather as the peak period develops in Emerson earlier this week and Selkirk earlier this week and next week scheduled to move right up north in the Red River Valley to the community of Winnipeg. I want to say that we are praying for good weather. We are going to be working with our neighbours as the members opposite are and all members of this House are. We will be working together with our communities, and we will pledge our co-operation and support in this time of crisis to work on behalf of all Manitobans. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Inkster): Madam Speaker, I, on behalf of my caucus colleagues, wanted to also express some concerns and our sympathies as all members inside the Chamber recognize the current crisis that is facing Manitobans. It only seems a couple of weeks ago when we had a snowstorm which shut down a good portion of the province, and once again we are facing yet another crisis. Through that crisis we have seen just a phenomenal effort from all Manitobans, young and old alike, that are participating in trying to alleviate the many concerns that are being raised as a direct result of the flood.

I would echo many of the words that the Leader of the New Democratic Party has put on the record with respect to us working together. In fact, we have seen the opposition parties in the House agree yesterday to not calling for votes in order to allow the government to be able to carry on its responsibilities with respect to the crisis that we are currently in without having to worry about its members being called to the Chamber in order to have a vote. It also allows members of the opposition to be able to be out in their communities where we can hopefully contribute to alleviating some of the concerns and crises that indeed are out there.

The member for The Maples (Mr. Kowalski) brought up this morning with me a couple of youths in The Maples area that were apparently brought into the sewer system. One I understand has been pulled. I do not know if they have pulled the second person. The Leader of the New Democratic Party expressed concern for the young boy that died yesterday because of the flood, and I think all members of this Chamber extend the condolences for that particular young man and share the concerns that this is indeed a very dangerous situation, and we need to caution all Manitobans of just what could happen. For our part, we are going to do what we can in terms of co-operating and encouraging the government to take whatever actions it can to minimize any sort of damage in as co-operative a fashion as is possible.

With those few words, again, we applaud all of the efforts and extend our sympathies to all those who have been thus far so drastically hit, in particular down in Fargo, and as it comes up to Manitoba, in particular those individuals that are being evacuated, people of the community like Emerson who are so used to extending their hands to help. No doubt it has caused a great deal of grief and we or extend our sympathies to them.

Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Hon. Rosemary Vodrey (Minister of Culture, Heritage and Citizenship): I would like to table the Supplementary Estimates Information for the Department of Culture, Heritage and Citizenship.

Hon. Mike Radcliffe (Minister of Consumer and Corporate Affairs): Madam Speaker, I would like to table the Annual Report for 1996 for the Public Utilities Board.