Hon. David Newman (Minister of Energy and Mines): Madam Speaker, I have a ministerial statement for the House on provincial mining.

Members of the House will have noticed the packages of rock that were on their desks when they took their seats this afternoon. They are samples of mineral ores taken from Manitoba mining sites and are the gift of the Mining Association of Manitoba. For the information of the House, the packages have the following: nickel ore and market nickel from Inco; copper zinc ore as well as anode copper and refined zinc, all from Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting; spodumene, pollucite and tantalum from Tantalum Mining Corporation and a diamond-drilled core used for exploring for gold from New Britannia Mine.

The ores have been contributed to demonstrate the rich variety of ores that are mined in our province. They also serve as an introduction to a brief statement I would like to make about Provincial Mining Week in Manitoba.

I would also like to take a moment to welcome several guests in the public gallery this afternoon: Ed Huebert of the Mining Association of Manitoba, Jim Campbell of Gossan Resources and Brian Gordon and John Knowles of Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting.

Madam Speaker, as Minister of Energy and Mines, I am pleased to proclaim the week of May 28 to June 3, 1999, as Provincial Mining Week. Mining and exploration together are significant contributors to our economy, our everyday life and the sustainability of many Manitoba communities, particularly in the North. It surely is no accident that Thompson, the hub of our mining industry and the largest city in the North, ranks third in community size in Manitoba. Mining is our second-largest primary resource industry with a production value of more than $900 million and spinoff value of many times that amount, and employs more than 4,000 workers.

In Manitoba, for most of this century, Madam Speaker, our mining communities have developed a rich history and community life. They have been built and sustained by generations of strong-willed, self-reliant people, many from other parts of Canada and dozens of other countries. They have been the backbone of the industry in their communities and have taken on and overcome the challenges of work and community involved in the mining industry in our province.

Madam Speaker, we want to make Manitobans aware of the benefits and major impacts of mining for our economy. Increasing citizen awareness will help give Manitobans an appreciation of the improvements the mining industry has made in environmental management, preparedness for emergency responses, occupational health and safety, and the need for sustainability of mining operations. By encouraging a variety of productive partnerships between government, the industry and communities, we hope to make Manitoba the most effective technologically advanced and socially and environmentally responsible jurisdiction for mining in Canada.

Madam Speaker, I look on Provincial Mining Week as an opportunity to celebrate the vital role of mining in our province. I would like to invite members of this House to the major event of the week which the Mining Association of Manitoba is co-sponsoring with the Mines Accident Prevention Association of Manitoba. This is the Meet the Miners Reception which will take place at the Winnipeg Art Gallery on May 31, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. and will offer an opportunity to meet many members of Manitoba's mining and exploration community. I ask all honourable members to join me in support of Provincial Mining Week. Thank you.

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Ms. MaryAnn Mihychuk (St. James): Madam Speaker, it is my pleasure to rise to put a few comments in response to the minister's statement and welcome colleagues who are here from the mining industry and the Mining Association. I am very pleased that they took me up on the idea of providing members of this House with a little sample of the rocks that we collect in Manitoba and produce many important minerals and end products that sustain many of the jobs that we have in Manitoba.

Unfortunately, we have seen metal prices in a low situation in many, many commodities, one of the most critical situations in the mineral industry that we have seen for many years. The consequences have been indeed felt in mining communities in Thompson, in Bissett, in Flin Flon, in Lynn Lake and in other mining communities where we have seen the loss of perhaps about a thousand jobs in Manitoba already.

Madam Speaker, it is a time to celebrate and learn about minerals and mining, and it is a time to understand how important mining is to all people of Manitoba. Not only is it important to the workers and the families who live in the North or mining communities, but it affects every single one of us here in the south, those living in St. Vital, those in the inner city and those in rural Manitoba. Mining is a fundamental key economic resource for Manitoba. That is why it is important to have a government that cares about mining, that is willing to work with the partners and willing to sustain mining in Manitoba.

I wish to congratulate the Mining Association for working so hard to bring awareness of mining and minerals to Manitobans, and thank the minister for his statement.