Mr. Leonard Evans (Brandon East): I would like to make a brief statement with regard to this budget and the lack of sustainability of this budget, because, if you read the documents themselves, they show a serious drop in investment expected in this coming year. Here it is on page 14 of the economic section of this budget. Likewise, the manufacturing investment is predicted to be down, not up but down. This is in the document itself.

Also, Madam Speaker, if you look at the figures on economic growth, they too show in the document a reduction in the rate of economic growth. So the question is: how can this minister with a straight face say that he can sustain the revenues to maintain the books in this province, to maintain a balanced budget? I would say that this is not a balanced budget; it is a major deficit budget, and anyone who thinks otherwise is really being dishonest with himself or with the public of Manitoba.

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Madam Speaker, if you did not draw over $180 million from the Fiscal Stabilization Fund, you would have a serious deficit of $163.3 million. So what we really have is a deficit budget. Talk to the Provincial Auditor. I ask the members of the government to go and sit down over a cup of coffee, which they are providing the people of Manitoba with once a week–maybe a refill as well, I am not sure–to go down and sit with the Provincial Auditor and ask him what does he think about the bottom line. And he will tell you the bottom line is a deficit, not a surplus. So I do not know how this minister can stand up and take pride in saying, again, he has given us a surplus budget. As a matter of fact, this is true of the last several budgets: not surpluses but deficits. It is analogous to a private enterprise, to a business–the member for Steinbach (Mr. Driedger) knows a lot about business–which loses money during the year, but in order to show a profit, he dips into his savings account and covers his losses and says: hey, I made a profit. Well, what nonsense. And that is exactly what we have in this budget.

Mrs. Myrna Driedger (Charleswood): Madam Speaker, I am pleased to stand in the House today and talk about a recent announcement that illustrates this government's continuing commitment to education and training. We are proud to have given $3.525 million in funding to the University of Winnipeg so that it can purchase the Salvation Army's Citadel building. This building will be renovated and will house the university's esteemed theatre and drama department. The renovated Citadel building will also provide students with improved facilities for instruction in film production and other areas of communication related to the employment needs of business, media, technology and culture.

Film production has experienced unprecedented growth in this province in recent years, and we are committed to helping this nontraditional industry succeed. Madam Speaker, this expansion will help the University of Winnipeg appeal to a broader range of students and in so doing increase its enrollment. In fact, enrollment in theatre and drama is expected to go up by 290 students as a result of this announcement. Post-secondary education facilities must continually evolve to meet changing needs in our communities, and this is exactly what the University of Winnipeg is doing.

Madam Speaker, my government is committed to helping our post-secondary facilities grow and adapt so that they can provide our young people with important skills and knowledge. I am proud to be part of a government that works in partnership with educational facilities to help all achieve success. Thank you.

Mr. Tim Sale (Crescentwood): Madam Speaker, the Fiscal Stabilization Fund was born out of deceit on the part of this government when they borrowed money to create a phoney fund. Through the whole history, the Fiscal Stabilization Fund has been used with deceit to understate deficits, to remove money that should have been kept for the period of time when everybody, even people on our side who saw the balanced budgets legislation in some different lights, even our people said: if you are going to have balanced budgets, you have to have a Fiscal Stabilization Fund. You do not take it out for one-time capital projects. You do not run the sale of MTS through the Fiscal Stabilization Fund and back in to balance your budget at election times.

The government, the Premier (Mr. Filmon), the former Finance minister, the Health minister, the current Finance minister have lied to the people of Manitoba in how they have used this fund, Madam Speaker–

Madam Speaker: Order, please.

Hon. Darren Praznik (Government House Leader): Madam Speaker, the member for Crescentwood, who is one member of this House who has no cause to call another member a liar, does that plainly on this record, and I demand, on the part of this side of the House, an apology for that.

Madam Speaker: Indeed the honourable government House leader does have a point of order. I distinctly heard the honourable member for Crescentwood refer to at least two if not three honourable members in this Chamber as liars, and I would ask that the honourable member for Crescentwood stand and withdraw his words immediately.

Mr. Doug Martindale (Burrows): Madam Speaker, I challenge the ruling of the Chair.

Madam Speaker: Order, please. The ruling of the Chair has been challenged. All those in favour of sustaining the ruling of the Chair, please say yea.

Some Honourable Members: Yea.

Madam Speaker: All those opposed, please say nay.

Some Honourable Members: Nay.

Madam Speaker: In my opinion, the Yeas have it.

Mr. Martindale: Yeas and nays, Madam Speaker.

Madam Speaker: A recorded vote has been requested. Call in the members.

Order, please. The question before the House is shall the ruling of the Chair be sustained.

Mr. Clerk (William Remnant): Yeas 27, Nays 18.

Mr. Gary Kowalski (The Maples): Madam Speaker, by prior agreement, I had been paired with the Minister of Finance (Mr. Gilleshammer). However, if I had been able to vote, I would have abstained because I did not hear the comments and neither of the parties involved chose to give me any information that would have allowed me to make an intelligent vote. Thank you.

Madam Speaker: The ruling of the Chair has accordingly been sustained. I would therefore request that the honourable member for Crescentwood withdraw the unparliamentary language used.

Mr. Sale: Madam Speaker, the words I used were intemperate and ill advised, and I apologize to the House and withdraw them unconditionally.

Madam Speaker: I thank the honourable member for Crescentwood.

Madam Speaker: We are still on Members' Statements and the honourable member for Crescentwood does have one minute, eight seconds remaining.

Mr. Sale: As I was saying, the Fiscal Stabilization Fund has been put in place with one purpose in mind, as defended by the then Minister of Finance when the legislation was being defended before committee. The purpose was to deal with a downturn in revenues from the federal, from the provincial or from other sources on which the province depends. The purpose of the fund, in other words, was to provide for the cycle that the economy still goes through. I do not think the rules have been suspended. So we have gone through, in North America now, nine years of economic expansion, following a disastrous recession in which this government ran the highest deficit in Manitoba's history, $766 million in '92-93. Now, if a government like this could run a deficit that big in one year, Madam Speaker, we need a Fiscal Stabilization Fund that would be of significant size. Instead, they have spent it on one-time capital issues, they have flushed the entire Manitoba Telephone System's sale through the Fiscal Stabilization Fund. This is unacceptable.

Mr. Peter Dyck (Pembina): Madam Speaker, I rise today to offer my congratulations to Bert Hall for his induction into the Manitoba Agriculture Hall of Fame. The induction ceremony will take place in Morden July 9. Mr. Hall is a lifelong resident of Manitou who has dedicated his life to improving the agricultural industry in Manitoba. His distinguished farming career began when he was still a teenager in the 1930s. Mr. Hall and his older brother started Manitoba's first turkey hatchery on the family farm. After returning from the second World War serving as an aircraft mechanic in the Royal Canadian Air Force, Bert built a barn just outside of Manitou and began raising broiler chickens. This worthy investment led Mr. Hall to more than 40 years of success in the business.

Mr. Hall has served on numerous boards and committees designed to promote farming in Manitoba His service includes chair of the Manitoba Broiler Industry Association; first chair of the Manitoba Broiler Chicken Marketing Board, a job he held for 15 years, active in Manitoba Farm Bureau; chair of the Western Agriculture Conference; director of the Canadian Broiler Council, which led to the creation of the Canadian Chicken Marketing Agency, which he chaired from 1981 to 1983; director of CANFARM; and was appointed to the ad hoc grains committee to ensure adequate feed grains to supply Canadian farmers.

Mr. Hall's service to the community is nearly as long. He has demonstrated his commitment to the community of Manitou and surrounding area, serving on church committees, school boards and health care committees. Mr. Hall's dedication to the farm industry and his community is admirable. Even during the busy times on the farm, Mr. Hall remembered the most important part of life, his family and the importance of family. Please join me in congratulating Mr. Hall on his induction into the Manitoba Agricultural Hall of Fame. I wish him well in the years to come.

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Mr. Gary Kowalski (The Maples): Madam Speaker, I rise to give best wishes to a group of people I spent some time with yesterday at the Cadboro Range, and this is the recruit class of the Winnipeg Police Service that did their last day of training today. They will be hitting the streets starting tomorrow.

To see in those young men and women the hopes, the aspirations they have for the police service, the dedication, the fine quality of persons that are going into the police service, it gives me great relief that I am going to be working with them as partners. They are a group of people that I am sure will take good care of me, so I know, on behalf of all members of the Assembly, that we wish them best luck, God's protection, and that they will do what is in the best interests of all Winnipeggers.

Thank you, Madam Speaker.