Mr. Steve Ashton (Thompson): I would like people to picture today what happens to, for example, a single pea on its journey from the farm to the table under the frozen food system because I think, if you see its twisted journey, you will see why it is such an issue for many of the patients.

That pea is picked. It is then shipped off. It is then blanched for a first time and it is frozen. Now you might think that is pretty well the end of it, Madam Speaker. But then it is, in the case of Deer Lodge, shipped off cooked to Deer Lodge. It is then recooked. It is taken back to the distribution centre. It is then portioned out, and then it is transferred to the other facilities. Now is that the end of it? No, it is not the end of the journey for our little pea, because it gets reheated one more time and then it gets taken out on the plates to the patients. Now I feel sorry for our poor little pea in this picture, because many of these peas end up going from the plates right into the garbage because they are, quite frankly, inedible.

What I would recommend to the minister tonight, I want him to go home–it is a bit early in the growing season to pick peas–but if he can get some fresh peas at a market, I want him to do this at home. I want him to blanche it, freeze it, bring it to work with him, put it in his fridge, take it back to his home. I want him then to apportion it out, bring it back to the Legislature, stick it in a microwave, serve it to–well, if you get enough peas–the rest of the caucus and see whether he would like to eat that.

In the end, let us have our peas go fresh to the table, and we will get much better reception for our poor little pea. They might even get eaten by the patients. Thank you.

Mr. Jack Penner (Emerson): Madam Speaker, just one slight comment–and I know this is not a debate–but I would like to say to Mr. Ashton he missed the pea story entirely.

Last month I had the honour of chairing a government panel asking Manitobans for their ideas on how to improve the Young Offenders Act. Our panel held meetings in Winnipeg, Portage la Prairie, Dominion City, Brandon, Swan River and Thompson, and I was impressed with the number of Manitobans who turned out at each of these meetings. They came very prepared to express their ideas and views on the current legislation and the changes that the federal government should make as it revises the Young Offenders Act.

I also wrote to my constituents and asked for their input on the provincial government's recommendations for improving the Young Offenders Act, and I have received a great many responses from the people of the constituency of Emerson. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of those who contributed their ideas, either in writing or by attending one of the town meetings. Many individuals shared very personal experiences with our panel, and we appreciate their openness and their frankness.

What our work with the panel demonstrated to me is that the citizens of our province are very interested in the actions of governments and appreciate the opportunity to have direct input into the legislative process. We are currently in the process of writing the report as we have received all the presentations, and it will show how important the issue of youth crime is to Manitobans. Any changes made to the Young Offenders Act will have a direct impact on our citizens, and I hope that the federal government will take the opinions of our people of Manitoba into consideration in their efforts to improve the Young Offenders Act. We in the province of Manitoba truly support many of the changes that Manitobans recommended to our panel, and those views will be voiced to the federal minister.

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Mr. Gerard Jennissen (Flin Flon): Madam Speaker, northern Manitoba is blessed with many ideal recreational settings. Sadly, the steady increase in fish licence fees and park fees by the provincial government, along with their bungled park reservation booking program, have for some people been a deterrent to using the parks. As well, many have found that, despite the increased revenues to the government, park maintenance is often cut back.

Northern Manitoba is considered to be one of the best fishing areas in North America, if not the world. We have a number of world-class fishing lodges and our canoeing, hiking, camping facilities are second to none in this country. This is true almost everywhere in the North but especially so in the Snow Lake and the Flin Flon regions.

One of the most beautiful picnic sites was located at Mistik Creek along Highway No. 10. It was well known and has been well known for many years as a great place for family gatherings, for picnics, for people to catch suckers in the spring, and so on. Regrettably, as part of the routine review of what more cuts could be made by the province, the Mistik Creek site was closed to the public last year with very little consultation. Now it is impossible to park there. People have to park along Highway No. 10, and it is very narrow and very dangerous there. We find this to be a most regrettable move, and it is just one more example of the disdain that northerners feel this government aims at them. We seem to pay more, and we seem to get less every year. Northern Manitobans are fed up with this state of affairs, Madam Speaker.

Mr. David Faurschou (Portage la Prairie): Madam Speaker, Friday last I had the pleasure of being at Stevenson Aviation Technical Training Centre, located at Southport in the constituency of Portage la Prairie. Stevenson Aviation was the proud recipient of this government's additional funding as announced by the Minister of Education and Training (Mr. McCrae) in the amount of $280,000. This funding announcement will go towards the purchase of two new aircraft, one being the 1970 Mitsubishi MU2G, a fixed-wing aircraft, as well as a helicopter for the training of apprentices in the aircraft maintenance engineering program.

Indeed, Stevenson Aviation is a success story. When located in Southport, south of Portage la Prairie, in 1992, Stevenson Aviation had less than 20 students. Today I am proud to say there are more than 100 students attending Stevenson Aviation, coming from all areas of our nation, from B.C. to Newfoundland, and our newest student arrived just two weeks ago from Nunavut.

This particular funding which was announced last Friday involves partnership with Manitoba's aerospace human resource co-ordination committee, so truly is a partnership with industry. Stevenson Aviation is an entity which has enhanced our aerospace industry here in Manitoba, and I am very proud to say Stevenson Aviation is located in our constituency of Portage la Prairie. Thank you.

Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Inkster): Madam Speaker, I just want to make a special note today that in fact yesterday inside the Chamber all parties supported the resolution, which is to be commended. It was for a great cause, that being volunteers from one corner of the province to the next, and it is interesting on that very same day in Question Period I had asked the Premier on, I believe, an equally important issue in trying to garner support for an all-party resolution in support of Manitoba Hydro remaining as a public Crown corporation and was quite disappointed that the Premier did not understand the benefits of passing a resolution of this nature.

I think that there is a great deal of merit where we put things in perspective with the resolution that we passed yesterday in private members' hour and the resolution that was being suggested of the government to pass earlier that day that there is indeed a great deal of merit for the government to acknowledge the importance and to allow for a passage of a resolution that would give strength to the public corporation of Manitoba Hydro.

It is with disappointment that I do not see the government and its members recognizing the importance of a resolution of that nature, but I am an eternal optimist. I hope that the government will in fact reconsider at some point in time the benefits of giving this sort of an endorsation from all members of this Chamber.