Madam Speaker: Prior to Oral Questions, I would like to draw the attention of all honourable members to the public gallery where we have this afternoon fifteen Grade 9 students from Collegial Saint-Paul under the direction of Madame Yvonne Fleury. This school is located in the constituency of the honourable Minister of Agriculture (Mr. Enns).

Also, ten Grades 8 and 9 students from Waterhen School under the direction of Mr. Ed Hill. This school is located in the constituency of the honourable member for Dauphin (Mr. Struthers).

On behalf of all honourable members, I welcome you this afternoon.

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Mr. Gary Doer (Leader of the Opposition): Madam Speaker, on February 11, 1998, the Minister of Justice (Mr. Toews) indicated to his constituents that the frozen food experiment of the government would save an annual cost savings of $7.5 million. Further, in a letter to constituents, which I have, he stated that $3 million in deficits for cafeterias would be eliminated.

I would like to ask the Premier (Mr. Filmon): in light of the former Minister of Health's words on this matter and the present Minister of Health's words on this matter, will the Premier correct the government's truth on this position to the people of Rossmere and the people of this province?

Hon. Eric Stefanson (Minister of Health): I have answered many questions for the Leader of the Opposition on the whole issue of the Urban Shared Services Corporation which, as he knows, is a corporation, in effect, created by the nine hospitals here in the city of Winnipeg. Their objective is to provide quality nutritional food and to do it as efficiently and effectively as possible.

One area where they certainly can save money is in the whole area of capital construction. The capital costs of the new facility are about $20 million. The estimated cost of improving all the existing facilities would be about $35 million.

When the initial project was started, there certainly were preliminary business plans done which showed significant savings in the range of $5 million to $6 million. That was based on a certain time frame, a certain schedule of implementation. That schedule has taken longer to implement for a number of reasons, in part because of some capital requirements at HSC and other facilities, in part to be absolutely certain that the food is appropriate when it is continually rolled out to other facilities.

So again, the USSC released their year-end report just recently. They are updating their revised business plan. As the Leader of the Opposition knows, the Provincial Auditor has also indicated that he will be going in starting in June of this year.

Ms. Becky Barrett (Wellington): In June 1994, the current Minister of Health who was then the Minister of Finance was more than willing to participate in a photo opportunity for the sod turning of the Betel personal care home. Then, in early 1995, the then Minister of Health who is now the Minister of Education (Mr. McCrae) wrote to me as the MLA for that area saying that the Betel personal care home was one of his government's top six priorities. Then, shortly thereafter, the provincial election was held and after that the Betel personal care home, along with many other capital projects, was cancelled.

I would like to ask the then Minister of Health or the current Minister of Health or the Premier (Mr. Filmon), whoever would like to answer this, how the people of Manitoba can trust anything this government says when three Health ministers and five years they have promised a Betel personal care home and they did not come through with that promise, to the exacerbation of an already stressed health care system.

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Hon. Eric Stefanson (Minister of Health): I encourage the member to drive down Erin Street and look at the site where the Betel personal care home is going to be constructed, and she will see a 120-bed personal care home project under construction by the Calgary organization. That contract was awarded in November of last year, and that facility is under construction.

She talks about the '95 capital project, uses words like "cancelled." I suggest to her that those projects were put on hold. Today, if you were to look at that 1995–[interjection] Do you want me to explain to you again why it was, which I have done on several occasions–

Madam Speaker: Order, please. The honourable Minister of Health, to complete his response.

Mr. Stefanson: I guess I should remind the Leader of the Opposition (Mr. Doer) that those projects were put on hold for at least two very good reasons. One, it was at the peak of the reduction in federal funding to the province of Manitoba, which amounted to some $260 million annually going forward from that point on. It also was at the front end of the establishment of regional health organizations, which again would make sense for them to have an opportunity for input into the facilities that are being created across our province.

Having said that, those projects were put on hold, but if the Leader of the Opposition did a little homework and went back and looked at that list of '95 projects, he would see that the vast majority of them are either completed, under construction or committed to today, and they are going forward.

Mr. Leonard Evans (Brandon East): Madam Speaker, the Brandon General Hospital is the only major hospital in Manitoba that has not been modernized. When this government was first elected in 1988, it scrapped the plans of the previous NDP government which was on the verge of constructing a new facility. The government has since promised a major renovation, modernization, several times, including a few years ago when the member, my colleague the member for Brandon West (Mr. McCrae) unveiled a huge model of a brand-new complex, front-page story in the Brandon Sun–nice picture of the member–and he had it in the foyer of the Brandon General Hospital for many months. So everybody had a beautiful view of a model, but now that model has been scrapped.

Madam Speaker: Order, please. I am sure the honourable member for Brandon East has a question.

Mr. L. Evans: I have a question for the minister because we are back to square one, and we are in the planning stages again, believe it or not, for redevelopment, but in the meantime we have still got leaky windows and a lot of other structural deficiencies in the building. So my question, Madam Speaker, is: why should the residents of Brandon and indeed the whole Westman area now believe that this government will actually build a badly needed new modern health care facility in Brandon?

Hon. Eric Stefanson (Minister of Health): Well, Madam Speaker, I will certainly take pleasure in sending the member for Brandon East an update on the Brandon Hospital situation, both in terms of what has been done and what is currently being done. I remind him that just recently a 25-bed adult acute psychiatric unit has been completed in May of last year. I remind him that a 10-bed child acute psychiatric unit was again completed in November last year. I tell him to drive by the facility and look at the construction relative to the energy centre. I tell him to look at the announcements relative to all of the other improvements and the many millions of dollars for the Brandon General Hospital.

I have certainly had an opportunity to meet with the Brandon RHA. I have had the opportunity to meet with representatives from the hospital, and they could not be more pleased with the capital commitment that this government has made to the needed improvements of the Brandon General Hospital facilities.

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Mr. Doug Martindale (Burrows): The Health Sciences redevelopment has been on the books for years, construction was to start in the fall of '93. It was highlighted in the '95 pre-election health capital plan. In '96 the Health Sciences Centre was in danger of losing its accreditation. In 1996 these health capital plans were suspended. In 1997 the government said the HSC redevelopment was going ahead. There is a scaled-back version of the plan in this year's capital announcement, but to date there has been no separate announcement of the start of construction. If they had started according to their plan, it would have been opened by now.

Madam Speaker: Order, please. Would the honourable member for Burrows please pose his question now.

Mr. Martindale: Why should Manitobans trust this government is finally going to deal with the ongoing capital problems at the Health Sciences Centre, Manitoba's only trauma centre, when the project was supposed to go ahead in '93, in '95, in '97 and now is listed again in the 1999 Health capital funds? Why should anyone–

Madam Speaker: Order, please. The question has been put.

Hon. Eric Stefanson (Minister of Health): Madam Speaker, I am not sure that this member has driven by the Health Sciences Centre to see the number of improvements, the number of additions, the number of changes that have been put in place, in a large part because of significant capital dollars contributed by this provincial government. Certainly, when it comes to the whole HSC redevelopment, the site preparation has been approved for construction and Phase 1 is about to be awarded.

More importantly, the full $108-million project already has the capital set aside and the commitment of this government to go ahead with that full development. So I encourage these members to drive by and see the many changes that are taking place on that site, whether it is the Manitoba Cancer Treatment and Research Foundation or a number of other improvements that have been put in place. I, again, have had the opportunity to meet with people from that facility, to meet with representatives of the Winnipeg Hospital Authority, and they are extremely pleased with the significant financial contribution and commitment made by this government to a major redevelopment at HSC.

Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Inkster): Madam Speaker, for a number of days last week and previously we have consistently asked about the lack of integrity in dealing with the issue of the five-year capital health plan of this government. The core of the question has to be: what has changed today from yesterday in terms of credibility with this government? Given they made the commitments prior to the last provincial election, why should Manitobans believe this government this time, leading into a provincial election?

Hon. Eric Stefanson (Minister of Health): Well, Madam Speaker, I am amazed at that question because the one most significant thing that this member and his Leader should be aware that has changed–if you go back to '94-95, '95-96, you will find that federal support from our federal government to health care and post-secondary education had been reduced by $260 million annually– a year, each and every year. We as a provincial government were backfilling that entire amount and still putting more money into health care. Finally, today, we do have a small step forward from the federal government. They have made a commitment to start to restore approximately one-third of what they took out of health care and post-secondary education. We will ultimately, in two to three years, get up to a level where they are putting back about $90 million against the $260 million that they took out. But, finally, we have a long-term commitment from the federal government not to be cutting money for health care but to finally be putting some of the money back into health care. That is what has changed, I tell him.

Madam Speaker: The honourable member for Inkster, with a supplementary question.

Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Inkster): Madam Speaker, as I indicated, it is a question of credibility. I ask the minister–and I will go to the Minister of Finance.

To the Minister of Finance: in your budget document, in the government's budget document last year, in reference to the Fiscal Stabilization Fund, it indicated that there was a target minimum balance in the Fiscal Stabilization Fund of 5 percent.

Madam Speaker, the question to the Minister of Finance: has that target changed today?

Hon. Harold Gilleshammer (Minister of Finance): No, the target has not changed. The fund certainly was above that target for some period of time, and members opposite criticized the government because we were exceeding the target. Now we are slightly under the target and the criticism seems to be coming that there is too little in the fund.

We are committed to the Stabilization Fund, and we will be building that up with future revenue that comes into government, and it still remains as our target.

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Mr. Lamoureux: Madam Speaker, I seek clarification from the Minister of Finance. The so-called target is nothing more than, I take it from what the government is saying, a hit and miss. In good times there is nothing wrong with falling under target or above target. Why even have a 5 percent target, if you have complete disregard for it?

Mr. Gilleshammer: Madam Speaker, it does not surprise me that my honourable friend from Inkster does not support a target because he does not support the Stabilization Fund, period. This fund was put in place by our government when it had revenues that could be set aside in a savings account. Just like any prudent family has a savings account, we believe very strongly that we need this fund for times when we may have disasters such as floods and fires. This fund has served us very well.

Mr. Dave Chomiak (Kildonan): Madam Speaker, we do not just drive by the Health Sciences Centre; we talk to people there, and we talk to the nurses and find out they are closing four beds of the 10-bed ICU in surgical. The head nurse in surgical ICU has quit because there are not nurses that are well trained. They cannot do the neurosurgery program that they are shifting from St. Boniface Hospital because the nurses are not available.

I would like to ask the Minister of Health how it is that they do not talk to people there to find out what is happening in terms of the Health Sciences Centre. We are short anesthetists; we are short nurses; we have the worst operating rooms in the country; and if you had done what you promised in '95, you would have a proper facility built there. Why does he not talk to people, Madam Speaker, instead of just shooting back rhetoric to members here and not dealing with the reality out there?

Hon. Eric Stefanson (Minister of Health): Madam Speaker, I do not need any lessons from the member for Kildonan for either talking to or listening to people, and that has certainly been a big part of what I have done in the last three months in terms of going to meet with organizations, go to facilities and meet with people who are working in our facilities, whether it be nurses or doctors or other health care supporters. Certainly we have acknowledged that there are some issues that have to be addressed, and we are committed to addressing them. We are committed to bringing more nurses into the system here in the province of Manitoba, and that is why we have done a number of things, like establishing a $7-million nurse recruitment pool, like working with employers to create more permanent positions in the health care system. At this point in time, we have gone through a collective bargaining process where both parties were able to reach agreement through that bargaining process at the table, and that issue is being recommended by both parties and is out for a vote by the nurses' union membership.

So, again, we do not only talk; we listen and then we act. That is what counts.

Mr. Gerard Jennissen (Flin Flon): Madam Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Health. Before the 1995 election, this government made a promise to build a new personal care home for Flin Flon. After the election, that promise was broken. Could the minister tell this House and the people of Flin Flon whether or not there are plans to build a personal care home in Flin Flon, and if there are such plans or promises, why should we believe the government this time?

Hon. Eric Stefanson (Minister of Health): Madam Speaker, again, a project has been approved for construction at the Northern Lights Manor, a 36-bed renovation project. That project will be going to tender in the next several weeks. So, again, the project is committed to, the resources are in place, and that project is moving forward.

Mr. Tim Sale (Crescentwood): Madam Speaker, any business person and most governments would be concerned about dependency on one market. Presumably that is why, in 1995, the Conservative Party promised that they would lessen the export dependence on the United States market, which was then at 72 percent.

Could the Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism explain the utter failure of his government's policy and the broken promise so that now we are in a situation where trade dependency on the United States is up to 78 percent? We are more dependent on the American market than most states are. Can he explain his government's failure and broken promise?

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Hon. Mervin Tweed (Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism): Just contrary to what the member has put on the record, when I go to the trade missions and trade meetings with other ministers from other provinces across Canada, Manitoba is continually being recognized for its strong exports into world markets. Being relatively new to this position, I am constantly amazed and astounded at the accolades that they put forward to the province. I would say that the opportunity for continued growth with the exports and the manufacturing that is going on in the province is positioning us very well to continue this growth.

Mr. George Hickes (Point Douglas): Madam Speaker, my question is to the Minister of Native Affairs. Why, after 11 years and hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars wasted on consultants, is this government even now still developing an aboriginal educational strategy? Has the minister given up pretending that an urban aboriginal strategy will be committed before the next call for the provincial election?

Hon. David Newman (Minister responsible for Native Affairs): Madam Speaker, I am very pleased that the honourable member has raised the issue of the urban aboriginal strategy because this is something that has been developed in content by the aboriginal community itself under the auspices of the–or the process which was set up by the Round Table for Sustainable Development and a task force which was operating pursuant to that body. The report was in interdepartmental working groups that reviewed all of that, and an implementation strategy is in the process of being introduced to the community itself and to all the parts of this province of Manitoba that have a concern about the implementation within the aboriginal community in Winnipeg. It has to be community based, and it has to be supported by all levels of government and by nonprofit and profit bodies in the province.

Mr. Conrad Santos (Broadway): To the honourable Minister of Health. On page 13 of Hansard issue of December 1994 the following was stated without any qualification: "A Prostate Centre will be established to provide leading-edge services to the more than 2,000 Manitoban men who have prostate disease."–1994. In 1996, two years later, the capital plans were suspended and there was not even an item in this present budget in 1999.

The question is: is it because this prostate cancer victim cannot go to the poll and vote? Why should Manitobans believe–

Madam Speaker: Order, please. The question has been put.

Hon. Eric Stefanson (Minister of Health): Madam Speaker, all health issues are extremely important, and certainly anybody experiencing cancer, prostate or any other cancer, is an issue that is extremely important to our government and I think all Manitobans. We have continued to make strides and improvements in various programs in all of those areas in terms of dealing with prostate cancer. We are also seeing a number of improvements in terms of testing, mammograms and so on. We have had discussion with one of the members in this House about the whole issue of a cervical screening program and so on, so in the whole issue of cancer we have continued to make significant improvements in terms of both early diagnosis so that it can be treated at the earliest possible opportunity but then also being sure that the care and treatments are in place if people have to be dealt with as a result of obtaining cancer.

Mr. Gord Mackintosh (St. Johns): To the Minister of Justice. Leading up to and during the last provincial election, the Conservatives made a lot of promises of provincial action on crime, but I do not know whatever happened to about two-thirds or 23 of these promises. I do not know where to start, Madam Speaker, but whatever happened to the Youth Advisory Council on youth crime or a Winnipeg Youth Crime Intervention Team, johns of child prostitutes undergo child abuser treatment, publication of names of johns of child prostitutes, Crime Prevention Council? I knew there was one of those in Ottawa but not here. How about an auto theft work program for young offenders? That would have been interesting. Whatever happened to these promises, and why should anyone believe them again?

Hon. Vic Toews (Minister of Justice and Attorney General): Well, Madam Speaker, the member puts a number of questions to me, and I will answer the first. He deals with the issue of the Provincial Council on Youth Crime. In fact, we have that council and that council–

Some Honourable Members: Oh, oh.

Madam Speaker: Order, please.

Mr. Toews: I have had a number of meetings with the Provincial Council on Youth Crime that have provided me with opinions and recommendations in respect of a number of matters. Just recently, we had met, and they provided me with their input on a specific project.

Ms. Diane McGifford (Osborne): Madam Speaker, successive ministers of Health have promised in '94, '95, '96, '97 and '98 to institute a central cervical cancer registry. We dealt with this the other day but got no answers.

So I would like to ask the minister today if he would give us the specifics on the opening of this program, or is this registry one more broken Tory promise? Why should Manitoba women trust this government?

Hon. Eric Stefanson (Minister of Health): Well, Madam Speaker, I just referred to this in response to an earlier question, that this is an initiative that we have been working on with a number of organizations, the whole introduction of a cervical cancer screening program. I expect to be coming forward shortly with further details on that very important program. I merely point to other examples where we have taken very positive steps to deal with screening programs relative to Manitobans, certainly in the case of Manitoba women, when it comes to the tripling of the whole issue of the numbers of mammograms being done now, I believe some 33,000 right across Manitoba, putting in place mobile breast cancer screening units right across Manitoba.

So, again, these are very serious issues that we are addressing, and this is an issue that we are addressing.

Mr. Steve Ashton (Thompson): Madam Speaker, there is a group called the Promise Keepers. We are seeing now that there is a new group that should be called the promise breakers, and it is the PC Party.

I want to ask the Minister of Health: when are we going to see the comprehensive strategy on physician recruitment that was promised as recently as a year ago, when in fact we have seen 1,802 physicians leave the province? In fact, more than two-thirds of our medical graduates currently leave the province. When are we going to see some action, rather than these rethermalized promises from this government on the physician shortage in this province?

Hon. Eric Stefanson (Minister of Health): Well, Madam Speaker, for the benefit of the member for Thompson, the issue of the number of physicians in Manitoba has basically remained stable over the course of the last several years at roughly about 2,020, 2,030. So, again, there have been some physicians that have left the province; there have been some physicians that have come into the province. As an example, last year there were 113 new registrants in the province of Manitoba. Again, that is an issue that is being addressed right across our province. Over the last 12 months, some 45 physicians have been recruited to rural areas throughout Manitoba to meet those very important needs.

So, again, we have been very aggressive in providing the needs, in terms of providing appropriate levels of physicians right across Manitoba.

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Mr. Stan Struthers (Dauphin): Madam Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Health.

When this government introduced legislation providing for regional health authorities, it promised to make health care more accountable. Instead, I hear from municipalities, hospitals, advisory committees and RHAs themselves that this government is simply using the regional health authorities to implement its health cuts.

When will this government provide for the election of a majority of board members to our regional health authorities to make them accountable?

Hon. Eric Stefanson (Minister of Health): Madam Speaker, I am not sure whether the member for Dauphin supports regionalization or does not support regionalization. We certainly support regionalization for the very important reasons of making the best use of our facilities, the best use of our equipment and the best use of our people throughout the regions in the province of Manitoba. That is something that makes sense, and that is something that we believe in.

Again, when you come to the issue of whether or not boards should be appointed or elected, usually elected boards have a direct relationship to revenue and fundraising abilities. In this particular case, all of the revenues for regional health authorities, and in effect the other facilities that are funded, come from provincial taxpayers through the provincial government. So, if you are going to have an elected board, there is usually a relationship to their ability to be held accountable for raising money and so on. That is not the case right now with regional health authorities.

Ms. Rosann Wowchuk (Swan River): Madam Speaker, in 1992, this government promised major renovations to the Swan River hospital. However, after the last provincial election, the promise disappeared and the pictures disappeared off the walls. But now we are in need of a new facility, and all we have promised from this government is a feasibility study for this year but no commitment to maintain services or enhance services, no commitment to the residents that they will not have to pay the 20 percent fee to have the facility built.

How can the people of the Swan River constituency trust this government to protect and enhance our services when so many of their other promises have been broken?

Hon. Eric Stefanson (Minister of Health): Madam Speaker, this is a repeat question from the member for Swan River. I indicated to her that this budget includes approximately $500,000 to do the appropriate review and design of the kind of facility that is required for Swan River and for the Swan River surrounding area.

I should also point out to the member–and I will certainly provide her with the details of work that has been done on the Swan River hospital over the years, various maintenance projects and so on, and there was not a case where any project was brought to the attention of health authorities or our provincial government that was not acted upon. Repairs have been done over the course of time.

Mould is something that went undetected, unfortunately. We are now faced with this situation where we either have to replace that facility or do a major renovation. As I said the other day, it is looking more and more like it will be a replacement of that facility. We have money in place to start that process, to start the design, and whatever it takes, whichever it ends up being, renovation or replacement, we are committed to do that.

Mr. Gregory Dewar (Selkirk): Madam Speaker, my question is to the Minister of Environment.

Madam Speaker, in 1994 when the government announced its Products Stewardship Program, it promised that the money raised by the 2-cent levy would be put directly into recycling initiatives and that the program would offer all Manitobans the opportunity to participate in recycling.

Now, Madam Speaker, my question to the minister: can the minister then explain, five years into the program, how can she justify sitting on a $7-million slush fund collected by this corporation when 90,000 apartment dwellers in Manitoba have yet to see a recycling program?

Hon. Linda McIntosh (Minister of Environment): I thank my honourable friend for his question. I indicate that we have had a very, very good response to that particular program and project, as I believe he knows and understands.

In terms of multifamily dwelling units in the city of Winnipeg, for example, there is still work to do there. They are still working to bring those dwellers on side. That involves co-operation with a lot of entities. But I thank him for the question and appreciate his interest in the topic.

Ms. Jean Friesen (Wolseley): Madam Speaker, since 1995 you could confidently predict that there would be an annual promise from this government to have a fee policy for post-secondary education students. Unfortunately, you could equally predict that they would not do anything about it. Year after year the fees have risen, in some cases by more than a hundred percent.

I would like to ask the Minister of Education whether he intends to repeat that promise this year and whether he could give us any grounds for believing that there is any intent to honour it.

Hon. James McCrae (Minister of Education and Training): The best hope for a bright future for the students of Manitoba today is–

An Honourable Member: Vote NDP.

Mr. McCrae: It is not that simple, as the honourable member well knows.

The best hope is quality education, and funding for education has been the consistent No. 2 priority for the Manitoba government, which is a reflection, I think, of the priorities of Manitobans generally. I am a little puzzled by the question put by the honourable member. Last time I was addressing this question, I made a reference to the honourable member for Radisson (Ms. Cerilli) and her musings respecting the whole matter of tuition, and I did not get to finish the answer that day. After a lot of lack of clarity from the honourable member for Radisson, the article that I read from says as follows: a spokesman for NDP Leader Gary Doer said later that freezing tuition is a goal but the New Democrats have not yet established it as a policy.

So, I guess, while we are talking about goals and policies, it would be very nice to know the position of the honourable members opposite. Meanwhile, we are putting students first and providing programs so that education for them is accessible.

Mr. Jim Maloway (Elmwood): My question is to the Minister of Health. This government continues to spend money without getting promised savings. In fact, the government has contracted to spend $100 million on SmartHealth to save $200 million.

I would like to ask the minister: would the minister outline how much of the $200-million savings have been realized as a result of the SmartHealth program?

Hon. Eric Stefanson (Minister of Health): I certainly look forward to getting into the detailed Estimates process with the members opposite in the next few weeks. But I think if the member looks at that entire issue, he will realize that the whole concept of introducing technology into the health care system is you make the investment, and then you extract the savings over a period of time as you have less duplication in the system.

Again, I know members opposite have difficulty comprehending or accepting that unfortunately there still is overlapping duplication, where we might have a patient outside of Winnipeg get a certain test done, whether it be an X-ray, that test is then duplicated here in Winnipeg. The whole objective of the SmartHealth initiative is to eliminate that overlap in duplication, to introduce technology into the health care system and to pay for that technology through future savings as a result of the introduction of the SmartHealth initiative.

Madam Speaker, it is a five-year initiative that is still underway, and I am certainly prepared to get more details for the member opposite.

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Ms. MaryAnn Mihychuk (St. James): In 1995, this government promised to implement the recommendation of the Roblin report to double the number of spaces in our community colleges in Manitoba. They broke that promise, like many others, which resulted in a skill shortage in Manitoba and our young people leaving Manitoba to find opportunities elsewhere.

Why did you break your promise?

Hon. James McCrae (Minister of Education and Training): The fact that Manitoba has the lowest unemployment rate in the country is not an accident. It is not something that was planned for, but what was planned for was to provide opportunities for those thousands of unemployed people who were getting six-week jobs out of the NDP at a time when they had an opportunity to do something. They provided short-term, make-work projects, and we are still paying for those jobs that ended a long, long time ago.

The honourable member also is aware that the colleges are poised and they have been working very hard. This particular budget year they have a $4-million growth fund. They are very enthusiastically moving towards developing the programs that are needed to put the people to work at their studies so that they can go to work in the jobs that this economy, under the Filmon administration, has generated.

Mr. Eric Robinson (Rupertsland): I would like to go back to the ministerial statement made earlier today by the Minister of Natural Resources. A situation facing several thousand Manitobans in the Island Lake region and near Lake Winnipeg right now is of concern to everyone today. There are more than 600 people from the Manigotagan, Hollow Water, Seymourville area that have been evacuated, along with 57, as I pointed out earlier, from St. Theresa Point. Simply, my question to the Minister of Natural Resources is: do we have enough equipment and also workers to contain these very serious fires?

Hon. Glen Cummings (Minister of Natural Resources): Madam Speaker, given the magnitude and the enormity of the weather conditions and the fire outbreaks that we had yesterday, I think one has to be realistic in the observation that we are doing and will continue to do everything possible and provide necessary resources to man up as quickly and in as well-equipped manner as possible, but we do need co-operation from the weather.

Seventy-kilometre winds when you have a fire that can run 40 kilometres in a day really leads to near impossible conditions. I am sure that the member is referring to issues that have been raised about whether or not equipment is getting to the communities quickly enough, and it is certainly our intention to make sure that available, necessary equipment gets to them. I have just been informed since Question Period began that, in fact, we have doubled up the crews on the water bombers to extend their hours of operation safely.

Mr. Eric Robinson (Rupertsland): It is appreciated that the minister is keeping us up to date on the current fire situation, Madam Speaker, and I wonder if he has any advance information on whether or not other communities may face evacuation.

Hon. Glen Cummings (Minister of Natural Resources): Madam Speaker, nothing of intelligence that I could add to that question except to be very aware, as I know the member is, that this is an hour-by-hour situation. When high winds are involved, with absolutely high combustible materials in the field, we need a break in the weather, and frankly we need to have every community in the area to be most mindful of their situation and be prepared to evacuate if in fact a fire begins to threaten them. As I said in my statement, one of the biggest concerns that we have had is that the vast majority of these fires are as a result of human activity. Secondly, if we get thunderstorms and we do not get a significant rainfall, it can in fact exacerbate the situation and start more fires. So I think we all have to be mindful of the situation, and our prayers are with the people in the community given the threat that they are under.

Madam Speaker: Time for Oral Questions has expired.