Madam Speaker: Prior to Oral Questions, first, I would like to draw the attention of all honourable members to the Speaker's Gallery where we have this afternoon Rick Borotsik, the member of Parliament for Brandon-Souris.

Also, seated in the public gallery we have fifty-four Grade 5 students from Souris School under the direction of Ms. Tressa O'Brien and Mr. Glen Wallman. This school is located in the constituency of the honourable Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism (Mr. Tweed).

Also, eighty-four Grade 5 students from Henry G. Izatt Middle School under the direction of Mrs. JoAnn Eliuk. This school is located in the constituency of the honourable Minister of Culture, Heritage and Citizenship (Mrs. Vodrey).

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

Mr. Gary Doer (Leader of the Opposition): Madam Speaker, how fortuitous to have the member from Brandon here today, because Friday of this week, June 25, marks the 30th anniversary, since 1969, of the election of Len Evans as the member for Brandon East. Thirty years. I also believe that it was 50 years before Brandon had a representative in a provincial cabinet, before Len was appointed in 1969, so it is–

An Honourable Member: Time for a change.

Mr. Doer: Well, we will not be talking about the member for Lakeside (Mr. Enns), but he has seen a lot of members come and go, I would remind the member for Arthur-Virden (Mr. Downey).

Madam Speaker, today the mayor of Brandon talked about the tough slugging, with no end in sight, for southwestern and southcentral Manitoba. This region and regions of Manitoba have been hit with horrible weather, with prices last year, with other challenges of disease on certain crops, and it is truly a crisis for some producers. As I understand it, the Antler River Equipment dealership just went down and people lost their livelihoods and their jobs in one of our communities.

I think it is regrettable and very serious that the federal government would treat the disaster in the Saguenay or the disaster of the ice storm or the disaster in the Red River Valley different than this crisis.

Cabinet met yesterday, and I would like to ask the Premier: has there been any sensitivity to the plight of these people since the minister met, and has there been any movement between the Premier and the Prime Minister that he can announce out of the federal cabinet meeting after the unfortunate announcements made earlier this week?

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Hon. Gary Filmon (Premier): As I indicated yesterday afternoon in our discussion of this matter in the Estimates debate, we are very, very concerned about the lack of response by the federal government to what is undoubtedly going to be a larger economic disaster to the province of Manitoba than was the flood of 1997. There does not seem to be an understanding of this matter in the federal cabinet. There does not seem to be an understanding of this matter by the federal Minister of Agriculture.

I can tell the member opposite that we continue to examine what alternatives we have to offer and to suggest to the federal government. The discussions, of course, have taken place even this morning, and I know that subsequently over the noon hour our Minister of Agriculture (Mr. Enns) was in contact with the Minister of Agriculture of Saskatchewan, Mr. Upshall. Mr. Romanow has continued his appeal to the federal government to do more than what they have proposed, and we will be working in concert with them. I intend to speak with Mr. Romanow as quickly as I can get hold of him and pursue the matter collectively.

There are a variety of different proposals that we believe could be viable, and it is our intention after meeting with different groups–and we are committed, I believe, to meet as early as Monday with representatives of the Association of Manitoba Municipalities who have requested a meeting. We are committed to get together with them to try and seek what may be viable solutions.

But there is no question that we believe the federal response is inadequate. We believe the federal response will not address many of the concerns, whether it be the local businesses that are being severely impacted by the loss of income from the customers, or whether it be the farmers who will face very dire prospects if they are not given more assistance, Madam Speaker.

Mr. Doer: Madam Speaker, in the early '90s, I think the former federal Leader of the Opposition and now Prime Minister was involved in rallying an attempt to get some programs changed to deal with the disaster of prices and commodity prices in the early '90s which threatened many farms. Ultimately, all political parties got together with producers and went to Ottawa to argue for and bring to the cabinet table, and to the national media centred in central Canada, the absolute dire situation.

Given the fact that Parliament is not sitting at this point, and cabinet met yesterday–and I do not know when the next meeting is, but apparently it is a retreat next time–has the Premier considered an all-party delegation to work with producers and municipal organizations to show a united voice with Ottawa to get a decent crisis relief program, consistent with the crisis relief that we had in 1997? Can we join together and bring our voices to Ottawa if we do not get sensitivity back in Manitoba?

Mr. Filmon: Madam Speaker, I certainly appreciate the offer of the Leader of the Opposition and know that we have his support in the efforts that we will be putting forward. I believe it is important for us to be working from the same page with both farm leaders and municipal leaders and even Chambers of Commerce and others. I think building a consensus and a coalition is an important aspect of where we go from here.

We have certainly put in writing and verbally our great concerns and even our suggestions to the federal government. Obviously, they have been acting unilaterally even to the extent of the announcement that was made last Friday, and that means that we have to find a better approach. I believe the better approach does include the building of a coalition or a consensus, and it is part and parcel of the discussions that we will have underway over the next five days.

Mr. Tim Sale (Crescentwood): Madam Speaker, in the fall the frozen food was supposed to go to the facilities, each facility going on one week after the other. It now becomes clear that HSC and St. Boniface cannot even receive the food that was supposed to be supplied to them, even though they are paying $110,000 a month each for food they are not getting because the renovations were never properly planned and were never costed. They are not even underway at HSC or St. Boniface.

Does the Minister of Health still believe that the frozen food facility is going to be able to provide meals to all nine facilities that signed on for this experiment which has gone so disastrously wrong?

Hon. Eric Stefanson (Minister of Health): I had an opportunity last week to meet with the board of directors of Urban Shared Services Corporation. As the member for Crescentwood knows, the board of directors consists of the CEOs of all nine urban hospitals along with four citizens at large. We discussed a number of issues, of which one of them is the coming on stream of both St. Boniface and Health Sciences Centre. Both of those facilities, both of those organizations are committed to come on stream. They are working with Urban Shared Services in terms of both the issues of the timing and the issues of the capital cost required to do some modifications at both facilities.

There are a few other peripheral issues as well, but both those facilities and the Urban Shared Services Corporation are committed to making it happen, Madam Speaker.

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Mr. Sale: Madam Speaker, why would the minister say what he has just said when the manager of a facility, one Kathleen Richardson, told the staff the same day that Joe Sheil quit that the current facility was simply not able to supply the needs of Health Sciences Centre and St. Boniface Hospital? It could not physically produce any more meals than it is right now.

Mr. Stefanson: Again, I have just indicated I had an opportunity to meet with the entire board, with the individuals who really are on both sides of this issue. They are the board of directors of the Urban Shared Services Corporation. They are also the individuals who are the CEOs of all of our urban hospitals. They are committed to having both Health Sciences Centre and St. Boniface come on stream. The Urban Shared Services Corporation supports doing that, and they are working on making that happen.

There still is additional capacity within the existing operation, and there might be some other modifications required to the facility to ultimately bring both those facilities on stream, but both organizations and the Urban Shared Services Corporation are committed to do that.

Mr. Sale: Madam Speaker, will the minister not now admit that this whole experiment is a disaster, that it is over budget, that it cannot serve the meals that it promised to serve, that the time line is out of whack, that the hospitals are spending money, millions of dollars in total for food they are not getting and cannot get? Will he not now admit that he has to spend millions and millions of dollars extra, throwing good money after bad, because the facility he planned, his government planned, does not work, cannot serve the meals? Will he not now put it on hold?

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

Mr. Stefanson: I remind the member for Crescentwood that, by consolidating this service in one facility as opposed to doing it in nine other facilities, it will save in the range of about $15 million in capital costs, less capital costs being invested in the one facility as opposed to nine facilities.

Again, you can certainly do it more economically in terms of consolidating all at one location as opposed to doing it at nine locations. The original business plan showed an annual savings of in the range of $5 million. There have been some start-up costs. There have been some transition costs, but again, the Urban Shared Services Corporation will be coming forward with a revised business plan shortly, and again, this is not a short-term investment.

This is not something that is being done for six months or one year. It is a facility that will be in place for the next many, many years in the province of Manitoba, and it will save both operational dollars and capital dollars.

Mr. Gord Mackintosh (St. Johns): To the Minister of Justice. This so-called gang hotline, where they pick up messages every five months or so, was announced before the last election at the same time as some other measures such as the military boot camps. Remember that hoax? The Youth Advisory Council was also announced that same day, before the election, to be chaired by Craig Morrissey of Thompson, and it was to provide a formal mechanism to involve youth themselves in solutions to youth crime based on the very successful B.C. model.

I ask the minister: how is that council doing?

Hon. Vic Toews (Minister of Justice and Attorney General): I am very pleased with the input of various community leaders and community organizations in respect of developing the policy for our government in respect of, I think, very successful youth programs. The member makes a passing reference to the regimented style of a youth facility–very pleased with what is happening at Agassiz Youth Centre. That program has been moving ahead very successfully, and I think many of the staff are very proud of the accomplishments that are being made, not only in terms of giving a regimented, structured atmosphere for the youth but also for ensuring that the youth are educated on a year-round basis in that particular facility. So I am very pleased with what is happening in that respect.

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Mr. Mackintosh: This is just unbelievable, Madam Speaker. Can this minister not just come clean, 'fess up, simply admit that the Youth Advisory Council announced before the election as part of their get-tough plan has never met, not once? It too was bogus.

Mr. Toews: Indeed, during the time that I have been the minister, I have been very impressed with two organizations and two groups that provide me with very direct advice in respect of the development of youth criminal law policy. The first is the Provincial Council on Youth Crime, which is headed by the former mayor of Portage la Prairie, Mr. Glenn Carlson. This group in fact is performing a very important task, not only in terms of ensuring that the youth councils generally, the youth justice committees generally are functioning appropriately, but indeed that policy is being developed for the cabinet and indeed myself to consider. I will finish the answer in the next question.

Mr. Mackintosh: Would this minister, whose government before the last election said that as part of its aggressive attack on youth crime, this Youth Advisory Council was essential to, and I quote, integrating the views of young people into the problem solving–would he and this government start integrating some truth into their fraudulent pre-election talk?

Mr. Toews: Madam Speaker, I think those comments by the member for St. Johns are uncalled for. The department in fact has been meeting with the Council on Youth Crime to ensure that we do in fact develop appropriate policies that are reflective of the concerns of our youth. The second aspect that I wanted to talk about is our youth justice committees generally, which certainly involve a community participation in youth justice and ensuring that our policies reflect what the community is looking for. I think these two organizations, then, the youth justice committees generally, which we are leaders of, leaders in Canada, are providing me with very, very important input.

Madam Speaker: Order, please.

Mr. Mackintosh: I draw your attention, Madam Speaker, to Beauchesne. Answers to questions should be direct, should address the question that was posed. The question was very simple. It was: what has happened with this council, the Youth Advisory Council? Has it ever met? We are getting yada yada yada. Would he just answer the question?

Madam Speaker: The honourable Minister of Justice, on the same point of order.

Mr. Toews: I know that, as a socialist, the member for St. Johns is more concerned about bureaucracies and the names of committees. What I am concerned about is that our policies are in fact reflective of what our communities want, that we have appropriate input into the development of our policies.

Madam Speaker: Order, please. With the greatest of respect, the honourable Minister of Justice is responding to the question and not speaking to the point of order raised by the honourable member for St. Johns.

The honourable member for St. Johns did indeed have a point of order.

Madam Speaker: The honourable minister, to quickly respond to the question asked.

Mr. Toews: As I was indicating, the importance of involving the community, in whatever form, is very important. As I have indicated, through our youth justice committees and our Provincial Council on Youth Crime, we indeed have been obtaining very important information in respect of youth policies.

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Ms. Diane McGifford (Osborne): Madam Speaker, yesterday, in response to a question about the nonclassification of video games, the minister justified her inaction by saying, and I quote: The member has forgotten or misunderstood that video games can be pulled down on the Internet on computers. But, of course, the minister's point is illogical and intellectually inconsistent because videos and movies now classified can also be pulled down, downloaded from the Internet.

So I would like to ask the minister once again if she would end the political side shuffle and if she would tell this House her real reason for not classifying video games, many of which are brutally violent, sexist and interactive and yet classifying films and videos which, by contrast, are less extreme.

Hon. Rosemary Vodrey (Minister of Culture, Heritage and Citizenship): It is because this government does believe that there is a concern around video games that this province has in fact launched the first education initiative for parents, one that is not being launched anywhere else, to my knowledge, across the country.

It is only the member opposite who is doing a political shuffle, Madam Speaker, and hers is simply the typical line of the NDP. That is simply to take a parental role, no partnership, no co-operation with the community. It is our government's position that we in fact would prefer to be a part of a partnership, a partnership of parents, a partnership of industry and a partnership within government. The members opposite have no concept of partnership whatsoever.

Ms. McGifford: I would like to ask the minister why she has not developed a partnership with video producers and the producers of films but has chosen to classify these while she has chosen not to classify video games. Where is the logic? Where is the consistency?

Mrs. Vodrey: I ask the member opposite: where is her logic? We began classifying in Manitoba in terms of movies, and I would remind the member that it is a classification system, not a censorship system. Yesterday her questions very strongly implied censorship, not classification. In our province we have a film classification system. However, the availability of these video games is available without any classification done locally. It is done, classified, but there is a classification system which is international. It is our government's position that we would like to work in partnership with parents, with the industry and with government to provide information. Information does not have to start with the piece of legislation that the member opposite wishes to do. Again, I would reinforce the difference between both sides. Their side, Madam Speaker, simply believes in being big brother, move straight to legislation, total control. This government believes in partnership, working with communities.

Ms. McGifford: Madam Speaker, she could at least get my sex right. I am big sister, not big brother.

Madam Speaker: Order, please.

An Honourable Member: Georgina Orwell.

Madam Speaker: Order, please.

Ms. McGifford: The Minister of Education is just indicating his illiteracy in that comment.

Madam Speaker: Order, please. The honourable member for Osborne, please pose her question.

Ms. McGifford: Thank you, Madam Speaker. I think it is time for this minister to admit and I ask her to admit that this public awareness push of an already existing entirely voluntary rating system is merely a plan to try to win a few votes for an election. The whole thing will disappear right after.

Mrs. Vodrey: Madam Speaker, this is an important issue. Our government has accepted it as an important issue, which is why we have in fact begun this education initiative to give parents tools to assist them so that they can assess in fact what types of video games their children are watching. It is one that we are committed to. It is not one that I have found in any other jurisdiction.

The member herself knows that in fact ratings are not done in any other province in Canada or within the United States. Technology is moving so very, very quickly that it is almost impossible to look at how things can be classified so very quickly. The important thing is then to find a mechanism to provide a classification and an information system which is able to be used wherever people are, in the province of Manitoba, in Ontario, in Saskatchewan, when people go on holidays. This is an education tool. It is there to assist parents. But we have also made it clear, if in fact this does not prove to be helpful to families, then we have permissive legislation before this House which would allow us then at a date, if we discover this is not successful, to implement further legislation if it is required.

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Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Inkster): Madam Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Health. In Manitoba there is a growing concern, as we have more and more Manitobans who suffer back injuries and injuries of that nature, that there is a growing shortage of physiotherapists. The waiting lists continue to grow as individuals with back injuries will now wait months before they can actually get their backs treated.

My question for the Minister of Health is: what is this government doing to address the need for additional physiotherapists in the province of Manitoba?

Hon. Eric Stefanson (Minister of Health): Again, Madam Speaker, as I have responded in questions from other members opposite, we have continued to dedicate additional resources in many areas of need, both in terms of attracting physicians, attracting nurses and reducing waiting lists and improving services. So, this budget, our 1999 budget, includes some $194 million, a 10 percent increase, to address a number of the issues relative to accessing additional services and providing more support for more positions and retaining and recruiting our health care professionals.

Mr. Lamoureux: Madam Speaker, can the Minister of Health indicate, when we have 30, for example, graduates coming from physiotherapy this year and you based it on last year where we had approximately 50 percent, just over 50 percent who decided to stay in Winnipeg–does the minister believe that we have enough people who are entering into this profession to ensure that Manitobans are going to be provided quality service in dealing with issues like back injuries?

Mr. Stefanson: The short answer is yes, Madam Speaker. To continue to recognize the role of physiotherapists, we are bringing in some amendments to our legislation which will be introduced very shortly, which the member for Inkster I believe is aware of. We discussed it very briefly during the Estimates process. So, yes, we will continue to address ensuring that we have an adequate number of physiotherapists in the province of Manitoba.

Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Inkster): Madam Speaker, a final question for the Minister of Education, and I ask the question: can the minister indicate if he accepts the findings in the Seven Oaks School Division report?

Hon. James McCrae (Minister of Education and Training): Madam Speaker, there are certain aspects of this report I find quite unsatisfactory indeed. However, the report does confirm that Mr. O'Leary breached exam protocol; we know that. That was previously acknowledged by Mr. O'Leary, and I notice that the Leader of the Opposition (Mr. Doer) has begun weaseling his way out of this situation or trying to at least. He initially said to Chuck Adler on the radio program that if his campaign manager did this kind of thing, he would resign. Well, he has been pretty quiet about that, but today he has engaged in some weaseling on the same radio program, and he is all over the place. The one thing the Leader of the Opposition needs to understand, I mean, if he wants to have credibility with the people, he should learn to face issues head on instead of running away and hiding from them. That is not leadership. Leadership requires courage, something the honourable member does not have, and he is not willing to ensure that his own campaign manager is above reproach.

Mr. Leonard Evans (Brandon East): The Minister of Health and the government have made many announcements about increased funding for the health care system, and yet we learn of people who are in desperate need of heart surgery and whose operations are being delayed for long periods of time while the patients' health continues to deteriorate. I have a constituent in Brandon who was told on April 21 that he needed a multiple heart by-pass and who now nine weeks later has been apparently advised that, because of recent reductions in operating room time and hospital beds at the St. Boniface Hospital, no one in the system seems to know when his operation will occur.

So my question is: why is this happening, and how can we describe our health care system in glowing terms when it is not providing the necessary lifesaving surgery?

Hon. Eric Stefanson (Minister of Health): Madam Speaker, in the whole area of cardiology, we have discussed this in previous questions from the member's colleague for Kildonan. Today in Manitoba we are doing approximately 1,100 surgical procedures annually; that is up significantly. Health Sciences Centre alone last year was doing 50 percent more surgeries. So that is all as a result of dedicating additional dollars to health care in the province of Manitoba. This budget alone dedicates an additional $194 million, a 10 percent increase, which members opposite voted for and supported in large part because those dollars are going to address these very important areas like cardiovascular surgery.

So again, there have been significant improvements in terms of access to that service, significant reductions in waiting periods. Anybody who requires it on an urgent basis is dealt with within a maximum of 48 hours. Emergent issues are still dealt with in a short period of time. When it comes to elective surgery, again those waiting times have come down very, very significantly because of the significant increase in resources dedicated. I remind the Leader of the Opposition (Mr. Doer) and his colleagues, I am sure that is one of the many reasons they voted for this 1999 budget, because of the significant commitment to health care in this budget.

Mr. L. Evans: Can the minister–he can rattle off with a lot of statistics–appreciate the anxiety and the stress that this cardiac patient and his family are having to endure on being told of the delays, while his condition continues to deteriorate?

My question supplementary to that is: what is the extent of the planned reduction of authorized cardiac surgeries this summer at the major hospitals, and what will this do to the waiting lists?

Mr. Stefanson: It is for that very reason that we recognize the concern of individuals who require this surgery, the concern to families and so on, that we have consistently dedicated more and more resources in this area, amongst other areas but certainly within this area. It is for that reason that we are now able to do over 1,100 surgical procedures annually. That is why we have been able to increase the capacity at Health Sciences Centre alone by 50 percent because it is a priority, and we have dedicated resources to do that.

Madam Speaker, there is one challenge across our health care system which is not unique to Manitoba. It applies to literally every province in Canada, one significant challenge, and that is the whole issue of recruiting more nurses. We have done a number of things that I have outlined on many occasions in this House, our $7-million fund putting in place more permanent positions, but in the area of intensive care we do require more nurses. Like many other jurisdictions, we have a graduating class this October that I believe has 32 or approximately 32 intensive care unit nurses that again will continue to enhance our ability to do more and more procedures in this area.

So it is a high priority for our government. We have dedicated the resources to deal with providing the support for cardiac surgery, and we continue to work on the issue of providing the nurses required to provide that surgery.

Mr. L. Evans: Specifically, what action can this minister take to ensure that my constituent does not die unnecessarily because of what seems to be a summer slowdown in providing services, including cardiac surgery? I mean, how can we be sure that this person does not die unnecessarily because he is being deprived of a cardiac operation?

Mr. Stefanson: Summer schedules are not unique to Manitoba. They have been the case under our government, under previous governments and so on. That is certainly common in our health care sector, and it is common in other sectors. When it comes to the urgency of the individuals' surgery, those are decisions the doctors have the expertise to make. It is done within 48 hours if it is an emergent situation. If it is an urgent situation, it is still done within a very short period of time. If it is what is described as elective, our waiting lists are still coming down and still continuing to improve in a relative sense within Canada because we have dedicated the financial resources to this very important area to provide the services, to reduce waiting lists. The money is in place, and the waiting lists do continue to reduce significantly.

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Mr. Gerard Jennissen (Flin Flon): My questions are for the Minister of Health. One of my constituents from Flin Flon is suffering from prostate cancer. He has been told that he will not be able to get radiation treatment for at least three months and perhaps for as long as six months, yet his cancer is very aggressive, and he needs the radiation treatment now.

Could the minister explain why there is such a delay when he is spending more than $675,000 on TV, radio and newspaper advertising, claiming that health care waiting lists are not a problem?

Hon. Eric Stefanson (Minister of Health): Well, the member may have seen an article in one of our daily papers just recently on the issue of radiology technicians. There were quotes from the director of the Manitoba Cancer Treatment and Research Foundation about the issue of needing to attract more radiation technicians to Manitoba. Again, that is an issue that is a challenge for provinces right across Canada. So it is not a financial issue. The money is in place to do that. The money is in place to reduce waiting lists.

The challenge for the organization is to attract more technicians to provide the service. They are committed to doing that. I can outline in detail what that organization is doing to attract more technicians. They are advertising nationally across Canada. They are aggressively recruiting individuals. They are attending a conference of technicians, I believe this week, so they are taking all of the steps to attract more technicians to the province of Manitoba to continue to reduce those waiting lists.

Mr. Jennissen: Since the cobalt machine used to treat patients at St. Boniface Hospital is being shut down from July 5 until the end of August, could the minister explain why the province is wasting money on advertising instead of speeding up the necessary treatment for cancer patients?

Mr. Stefanson: I have just explained for the member for Flin Flon, who did not seem to appreciate it or understand it, that it is not a financial issue. The money is in place for the organization. It is a staffing issue, and a staffing issue that is not unique to the province of Manitoba.

You may have read the newspaper article that you refer to where they talk about Ontario having a program and changing the program and now having no graduates. So it is a challenge not only for Manitoba, but it is a challenge for many provinces in Canada.

We put in place the financial resources to provide the support, to provide the staffing. The organization responsible, the Manitoba Cancer Treatment and Research Foundation, is aggressively recruiting individuals into that area. [interjection] Yes, they are. They are advertising nationally. They are attending a conference of these technicians. They are going after individuals on a direct basis. So they are taking all the steps to bring into Manitoba more technicians to provide the services to continue to reduce the waiting lists. So the money is in place. The issue is getting the people to provide the service, and the Cancer Treatment and Research Foundation is doing everything to do just that.

Mr. Jennissen: Meanwhile, my constituent with that problem is actually looking to going to Saskatoon. I do not think that ought to be the case.

Will the minister have his staff look into the case of the Flin Flon patient then, a case that I have sent to him this morning in fact, to ensure that this patient receives the proper radiation treatment he so urgently needs and needs right now, not six months from now?

Mr. Stefanson: Madam Speaker, the member for Flin Flon refers to Saskatchewan. Saskatchewan has shut down a treatment unit due to the very same reason that we are having a two-month slowdown in Manitoba, due to the very same reason. [interjection] Well, the member refers to Saskatchewan. They have shut down an entire unit for the same reason, access to appropriate staff.

It is not a challenge just for Manitoba. It is a challenge right across Canada to attract more of these radiation technologists. We are doing everything in Manitoba in terms of putting the money in place, having the organization aggressively recruit individuals to fill the position. I believe they will be successful because they are doing a number of things to do just that. What that will do is that will continue to reduce the waiting lists for individuals like the member is referring to and for all Manitobans.

Mr. Conrad Santos (Broadway): To the honourable Minister of Health. I have a 78-year-old constituent who wrote a letter to him and to me about his heart valve replacement need. He collapsed already, and he had undergone preparatory examinations since April. They were told he will be called for operation scheduling, but he had not been receiving anything. Whenever they called, they were told no nursing services available, no operating room available.

Will the honourable Minister of Health have time to look into this case?

Hon. Eric Stefanson (Minister of Health): Yes, I will, Madam Speaker.

Again, the member is asking a similar question to previous questions relative to cardiac surgery. This is not a financial issue. The money is in place to expand those services. This budget includes $32.5 million for 650 nursing positions. I am assuming that is one of the many reasons that members opposite supported the 1999 budget.

The Leader of the Opposition is shaking his head. They voted for our budget. I believe one of the reasons they voted for our budget is because we have $194 million more, a 10 percent increase in our health care budget, to address a number of very important issues to our government and to Manitobans. Certainly one of them is continuing to provide solid support for our cardiac surgery program. I will certainly look into the specific individual in the instance that the member brings to the House today.

Madam Speaker: Time for Oral Questions has expired.