Mr. Jack Penner (Emerson): I rise today to recognize that the federal government took 700--
Madam Speaker: Order, please. We have moved on from Question Period to Members' Statements, and I am experiencing difficulty hearing the honourable member for Emerson who was recognized.
Mr. Penner: I rise today recognizing that the federal government two years ago took $750 million out of the farmers of western Canada regarding the Crow rate, and that is every year from here on hence. The federal government at the same time takes a huge amount of money out of the taxpayers and the users of the transportation system in western Canada in fuel taxes.
I think, Madam Speaker, it is high time that Ottawa started pumping gasoline tax revenue back into western Canada. While the eastern provinces cruise along on a full tank, we are running on empty. I think it is high time that we recognize that the $900 million allocated to infrastructure in eastern Canada need also to be recognized in western Canada, and I am asking today that this House would support going to Ottawa and asking Ottawa to give us some of the gasoline tax revenues to build our roads and our infrastructure. I also ask for support to ask Ottawa to give us part of the Crow benefit back, instead of transferring all this money to eastern Canada.
Chris Lorenc of the Manitoba Construction Association pointed out that the federal government is devoting less than 2 percent of its transportation investment to western Canada over the next five years but that the eastern provinces, many of them with Liberal governments, are being treated to high-octane transportation funding.
Madam Speaker, I am asking only that we in western Canada, especially in Manitoba, be given back some of our high octane, be given back some of our taxation, that we can provide transportation and transportation routing into much of our province and indeed see that value-added process continue.
Mr. Gerard Jennissen (Flin Flon): Following the 1995 provincial election, the Filmon government broke its promise and announced that the Manitoba Telephone System would be sold off. The decision outraged Manitobans in every region of the province. Prior to the sale, we had the second-lowest phone rates in North America. MTS kept local rates low as a way to both attract business and keep service affordable. Manitoba was one of just a handful of provinces in the country that had direct-dial phone service no matter where you lived. MTS had workers in every region. This is being scrapped. Flin Flon, Morden, Dauphin, Selkirk, Swan River, Steinbach, The Pas, Minnedosa and Portage la Prairie are just some of the communities that are losing jobs. MTS has increased local rates twice this year and is now requesting another increase for next month.
MTS was deliberately undervalued when it was sold to guarantee that it would do well on the stock market. As a result, Manitoba taxpayers lost as much as half a billion dollars in the sale of the company. Stockbrokers made more than $35 million. Even bigger winners were the friends of the Progressive Conservative Party. The head of MTS, Thomas Stefanson, was appointed to his job by Gary Filmon and Eric Stefanson. Thomas Stefanson is the brother of the Manitoba Finance minister. Thomas Stefanson can make $1 million if he--
Madam Speaker: Order, please. The honourable government House leader, on a point of order.
Hon. James McCrae (Government House Leader): Two points, Madam Speaker. Very recently, the honourable member for Brandon East (Mr. Leonard Evans) raised the issue of members reading their comments in members' statements, and you will recall what I said at the time: that it would have been just as well if the honourable member for Brandon East had not raised that matter.
But the reason I rise has more to do with the tendency, and today I will say especially for members of the New Democratic Party, to speak in the second person in this House. Honourable members, I respectfully suggest, need to be reminded again that comments are to be put through the Speaker. In other words, you are not to refer--we as members are not to refer to the honourable member for Concordia, for example, by his name. We are not supposed to do that, and yet members opposite are doing it daily, including the Leader of the Opposition (Mr. Doer).
I am with the honourable member for Brandon East, who cares a little bit about parliamentary tradition. I do, too, and I raise this for that reason.
Madam Speaker: Order, please. The honourable member for Thompson, on the same point of order.
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Mr. Steve Ashton (Opposition House Leader): The same point of order, Madam Speaker. I think if the government House leader were to reflect on the first part of the supposed point of order, he would notice that the member for Flin Flon was really just quoting from detailed notes.
I think, on the second score, I would say that the government House leader does have a point. It is somewhat difficult for us on this side, though, when we have a government that refuses even to run elections on its own party name and runs under the name of its Leader, the Filmon Team. I would also suggest that the government House leader may wish to make sure that some of his members, as well, do the same thing.
I would actually agree with the point of order raised by the government House leader. We should be referring to members by their ministerial title or their constituency. The government House leader is quite right.
Madam Speaker: Order, please. On the first point of order raised by the honourable government House leader, I did take that matter under advisement yesterday, and I will be reporting back to the Chamber so there is consistency.
On the second point of order raised by the honourable government House leader, as agreed to by the honourable House leader of the official opposition, indeed he did have a legitimate point of order. I would remind all honourable members to refer to members in this Chamber either by their constituency or their portfolio.
Madam Speaker: The honourable member for Flin Flon, to continue.
Mr. Jennissen: Madam Speaker, I stand corrected. The brother of the current Finance minister can stand to make $1 million if the shares that he has are sold. Other MTS executives are able to make quite a bit of money as well. At the same time, we know that 450 jobs have been cut since the sale of MTS. None of the promises made by the Filmon government have been kept. Less than 20 percent of the shares of MTS are now held in Manitoba hands. As well, we have every reason to believe that Manitoba Hydro is being slated for sale. We have the lowest residential hydro rates in North America. The Filmon government did not have a right to sell MTS or to privatize our health care system. It does not have the right to sell Hydro either. The government should ease off the pork barrel politics. This government should scrap its privatization plans.
Mr. Peter Dyck (Pembina): Madam Speaker, it is my pleasure to rise today to congratulate all of the directors and the volunteers of the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair. Once again they did a fantastic job of organizing and hosting this wonderful event.
The Winter Fair was held in the Keystone Centre in Brandon from March 30 to April 4. Last week on MLA day I had the pleasure of attending the fair, along with many of my colleagues from both sides of the House. I cannot emphasize strongly enough what a great event this is for Manitoba's producers. There was something special for everyone from seed displays and livestock sales to a petting farm showcasing young farm animals. The fair also provides valuable educational experience for individuals who are not familiar with our province's agricultural industry.
I would like to congratulate all who participated in the many horse, cattle, swine and poultry shows. Judging from the shows I was able to observe on April 1, the competition this year was as competitive as ever.
The agricultural industry is an integral part of Manitoba's economy and is responsible for the creation of one out of nine jobs in our province. For that reason, the organizers of the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair need to be applauded for giving Manitobans the opportunity to learn more about one of their most important industries. With that, I would like to congratulate the directors of the winter fair and the many volunteers who spent their spring break ensuring the fair was such a success. I wish them all good luck with the next year's fair as they try to surpass this successful year. Thank you very much.
Ms. Jean Friesen (Wolseley): I wish to make a member's statement on the issue of the Manitoba Telephone System and to draw to members' attention the shameful way in which this government has conducted itself. This was a government which came to power on an election promise that it would not sell the Manitoba Telephone System. It proceeded to do that. This was a government which road roughshod in the House over the rights of members of this House in order to sell that telephone system.
This was a government, Madam Speaker, which compromised your position in this House and continues to compromise your position by the effects of that action in the House. Anger was high in the House at that time, and no one who was here on that occasion will forget it. And deservedly it was high, because what the government was doing was taking assets from the hands of all the people out of the public and into the private, taking assets which belonged to all of us and transferring them into the hands of a few. It was a shameful betrayal of the common wealth of Manitoba.
Today, Madam Speaker, we hear about a board appointed by the government which appears to have laid the groundwork for enormous stock options for itself. I want to say the government, which claims that this is normal corporate practice, must understand that this is not the normal practice on my street. This is not the normal practice, of lining one's pocket, in my constituency. It is not normal to do this. It is not right, and the government simply cannot see this.
I want the government, when it thinks about this, to think about my constituents who have seen the loss of jobs, hard-working Manitobans, many of them who devoted their lives to the Manitoba Telephone System, hard-working Manitobans who have lost their jobs throughout rural Manitoba and within the city of Winnipeg, hard-working Manitobans who now see across the province that they have no service in the way which they used to.
Madam Speaker, I ask the House to look at the news today from the perspective of my constituents, to look at those golden stock options and to join with me in expressing my sheer disgust at what this government has done.
Mr. Tim Sale (Crescentwood): Sorry, Madam Speaker, where are you in the Order Paper?
Madam Speaker: We are still on Members' Statements, and according to our rotation, we are entitled to five and today's rotation, the official opposition is entitled to three.
Mr. Gregory Dewar (Selkirk): Madam Speaker, in 1996, when this government broke its promise to not sell the Manitoba Telephone System, the public was outraged. In fact, 78 percent of rural Manitobans opposed the sale of MTS--78 percent of rural Manitobans, and this government betrayed that trust of those Manitobans.
During the election, during that 1995 election, this government also promised to spend $600 million on health care capital, and they also promised to save the Jets. Manitobans believed them on those issues. Manitobans voted for them, and this government betrayed those Manitobans.
Now, Madam Speaker, we have a situation here in the province where, because of the actions of the government in terms of MTS, we have workers laid off all across this province, in Flin Flon, Morden, Dauphin, Selkirk, Swan River, Steinbach, The Pas, Minnedosa and Portage la Prairie. We on this side of the House will stand up for those workers and those communities. I urge the members opposite who represent those communities to stand up in this Chamber and to stand up for the jobs of those workers, stand up for those workers as well as we are doing on this side of the House.
Madam Speaker, Tom Stefanson as a chair of MTS, he laid off workers, he raised rates and he was rewarded by a million-dollar stock bonus. That stinks. It is a shameful, shameful action of this government.