Mr. Gerry McAlpine (Sturgeon Creek): Madam Speaker, great news looms in Manitoba and great prosperity. Last week, Transport Canada made an announcement that Manitobans have been waiting for. Winnport's air carrier partner, Kelowna Flightcraft, has been given exclusive Canadian rights to transport air cargo in and out of China under the new all-cargo bilateral agreement with China.
Winnport is an initiative to adapt the Winnipeg Airport into the international air cargo hub for Canada and maybe soon for North America. By the end of this year, Winnport will hire approximately 180 people, and once it is operating at full capacity, a total of 5,000 jobs could be created. This also means an economic impact of approximately $600 million to our economy in the province of Manitoba. Madam Speaker, this is an incredible announcement. This is a project that I am confident all members will applaud.
Opening the airways to Asia is a great benefit to our province and our economy. The Asian markets are no longer considered distant. There is a higher competition through global marketing and global industries, and Winnport will put Manitoba another step ahead of the competition. The efforts by countless individuals to see this project come to bear is beginning to pay off, and while there is still work to be done, the future of Winnport looks bright. Thank you.
Mr. Gary Kowalski (The Maples): Madam Speaker, I would like to make a statement in regard to a colleague. Since I was first elected in the by-election in '93, I have had the opportunity to work with someone who has been in this Chamber for almost 10 years. I have been amazed at his loyalty and his dedication to the parliamentary process, who has done a workload in this Chamber that I have seen surpassed by no other person in this Chamber without argument. I am talking about the member for Inkster (Mr. Lamoureux), who although running for the leadership twice, once because of a rule change at the last minute he came second, the second time although getting the most votes, because of a weighted vote system, he was not--he has continued to perform well here, and he has continued to be loyal. We have had our differences, but he will look you straight in the eye and talk to you about them.
So I wanted to take these few moments and congratulate a member of whom I am proud to be a colleague, who has shown he has respect for the parliamentary process and respect for process. Thank you.
Madam Speaker: The honourable member for Kildonan.
Mr. Dave Chomiak (Kildonan): Thank you, Madam--
Madam Speaker: I think I am being signalled that there are no further Members' Statements. Is that accurate?
Some Honourable Members: Right.
Madam Speaker: I thank the honourable members for the clarification.
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