Mr. Gerry McAlpine (Sturgeon Creek): It is a pleasure to rise this afternoon to inform the House about a growing Manitoba business located in the Sturgeon Creek constituency. National Healthcare Manufacturing Corporation held an open house and ribbon-cutting ceremony this morning to introduce the company's newly installed state-of-the-art robotic technology.

The National Healthcare Manufacturing facility produces prepackaged medical and surgical trays for hospitals, dental offices and clinics in North America. The use of this robotic packaging technology will allow the company to produce these trays in a cost-effective and efficient manner, establishing the company as a market leader.

Along with my colleagues the Minister of Health (Mr. Praznik), the Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism (Mr. Downey), the member for Gladstone (Mr. Rocan), and the member for Pembina (Mr. Dyck), we had an opportunity to view this technology first-hand and to see the economic and employment benefits provided to Manitoba. This venture serves as an excellent example of how governments can work with local businesses to create jobs and use technology to expand businesses, making them more competitive in the global economy.

As I indicated this morning, Madam Speaker, at this event, it is indeed an honour and a privilege to work with a growing business in the constituency of Sturgeon Creek. National Healthcare is a company that offers integrity and unprecedented energy in their will to grow and prosper in our province.

We as a government have a role to ensure that we create an environment in this province to enable them to achieve that. As the MLA for the area, I commit to do everything in my power to help them achieve their success. I congratulate the staff at National Healthcare, in particular the president and CEO Mac Shahsavar for their continued efforts in keeping Manitoba strong. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

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Ms. Marianne Cerilli (Radisson): I rise on a member's statement to explain some of our concerns shared by many Manitobans about the current Speaker, where there are differences of opinion in this regard and why specifically we want an elected Speaker, which I believe everyone on all sides of the House agrees would be a good thing.

The move to an elected Speaker has been made by seven out of 10 provincial legislatures, by the House of Commons in Ottawa, and the House of Commons in Britain. That leaves only Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and Manitoba with the old method of appointing the Speaker. The NDP has been urging the Manitoba Legislature to catch up with the practices of other jurisdictions and move to an elected speakership.

We made this point most insistently two years ago following the replacement of the Speaker, and all parties of the House regarded this as fairminded. Then again last year we made this point after the government used the Speaker's rulings and authority to cut off debate on the MTS bill.

The Premier (Mr. Filmon) has not rebutted our arguments to modernize the practice of the Legislature and to restore the respect of all to the impartiality that should be attached to the office of the Speaker by making the position elected. The Premier has never argued, as has the member for Riel (Mr. Newman) yesterday, that the idea of an impartial, nonpartisan Speaker was conceived by people no longer living, and therefore out of date. What the Premier has said is that an elected Speaker will be granted to this Chamber, but not yet. Wait a couple of years. Wait until the next election and perhaps we will see an elected Speaker. If the MTS debate and more recent events in the House, including the last few days, have not shown anything, it is that there is an urgent need to renew the office of Speaker and restore the respect and reputation for impartiality to that which is necessary, as Beauchesne tells us, to the proper functioning of the Legislature.

This House and Manitobans need and deserve a Speaker who will spend more time making speedy, fair rulings and less time attending cabinet policy committees. We should not wait until we are the last Legislature in Canada to make that change. To make a fresh start, to move beyond the debates over events and decisions that have led to the situation, let us make the change now, let us elect a Speaker and in so doing revitalize our Legislature and bring Manitoba up to date. The Premier can be assured that all parties in the House would give support and grant swift passage to a bill that would provide for an elected Speaker.

Mr. Edward Helwer (Gimli): Madam Speaker, our government continually seeks to create an environment that allows for expanded economic and employment opportunities for all Manitobans, and our success in this effort is clear. I would like to quote the Winnipeg Sun, dated January 16, 1997, which stated: The provincial outlook is positive. It is not just political hype. Manitoba is a place to be and a place to grow.

If you look at the list of some of the announcements occurring throughout Manitoba recently, one can see that our economy is growing and Manitobans have expanded job opportunities. For example, Simplot, the chemical fertilizer company in Brandon, which employs some 265 people, undertook a $25-million expansion in July of 1993, and after the opening of that expansion in October of '94, they announced plans to invest $150 million for another expansion that would triple the plant's capacity. The new Royal Bank call centre, opening in May of '98, will be hiring approximately 300 people, and as we heard on Tuesday, thanks to the tremendous efforts of many of my colleagues, there are well over 1,000 jobs coming to Brandon, an area with a new Maple Leaf Foods plant being built there.

Bristol Aerospace also was awarded a $98.8-million contract from Boeing Canada Technology Ltd. This will involve an expansion to the Berry Street location and an additional 200 jobs in the next three years.

Madam Speaker, I have only touched on the tip of our economic iceberg as local companies expand their operations and new companies locate here. Manitobans continue to have the opportunity to live, work, invest and raise a family in the best place anywhere. Thank you.

Mr. Stan Struthers (Dauphin): Madam Speaker, earlier this fall a great deal of attention was paid to the problems at the emergency department of the Portage la Prairie hospital by the provincial government. It was, no doubt, just a coincidence that at the time there was a by-election going on in Portage. Indeed, when I talked to residents of Portage la Prairie on visits, the crisis at the hospital was frequently raised. Sadly, many people told me they were very cynical as to whether the government had a long-term plan or just one to see it through the by-election. Now we learn that, like many of his other solutions to problems caused by this provincial government, the Health minister has simply announced a temporary plan that expired. It is part of a pattern repeated regularly by this minister. The government creates a funding crisis, says the RHA has the responsibility in the matter, and then defers any action until the community is threatened with the loss of medical staff.

Communities like Snow Lake, Grandview, The Pas, Leaf Rapids and others know all too well how often this pattern is repeated. As the report today noted, hospital authorities in Portage la Prairie are once again scrambling to staff the emergency ward after an interim deal reached with local doctors earlier this year expired over the weekend.

Unfortunately for Portage, the province has no upcoming by-election in the community which could put pressure on this minister to deal with this latest crisis, so the community will have to live with uncertainty for some time. As always, the Health minister is relying on his tried-and-tested formula: if something is wrong, talk to the RHA; if there is an opportunity for a photo appearance, call my office and I will bring a camera. Health reform under this minister has become even more cynical than under his predecessor. Small wonder that there are so few opportunities for him to make photo appearances.

Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Inkster): Madam Speaker, I thought maybe I would take this particular opportunity to give a bit better of a response in terms of when earlier I had asked the question about lotteries to the Minister of Finance (Mr. Stefanson), expecting and hoping that the Minister of Finance would indicate to the House a little bit more detail in terms of what plan, if any, the government actually has.

To the very best I can tell, I still believe that they do not have any sort of a plan with respect to a gaming policy for the province of Manitoba. I would like very much to see something happen, some sort of indication from the government that in fact the government is committed to addressing the whole lotteries issue, even if it means having to give up on some of the revenue that has been generated in favour of our communities and getting rid of some of those negative social factors that are out there as a result.

With those few words, Madam Speaker, I will end it at that.

Mr. Steve Ashton (Thompson): I have a Hansard correction, Madam Speaker. Yesterday, Hansard, page 143, it states, "The Speaker is above sexual interests". I realize I have a cold, and Hansard may have misunderstood me, but I said "sectional," not "sexual."

Madam Speaker: I thank the honourable member for Thompson for that clarification.