LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA
Tuesday, October 9, 2018
Madam Speaker: O Eternal and Almighty God, from Whom all power and wisdom come, we are assembled here before Thee to frame such laws as may tend to the welfare and prosperity of our province. Grant, O merciful God, we pray Thee, that we may desire only that which is in accordance with Thy will, that we may seek it with wisdom and know it with certainty and accomplish it perfectly for the glory and honour of Thy name and for the welfare of all our people. Amen.
Please be seated.
Hon. Kelvin Goertzen (Government House Leader): Good morning, Madam Speaker, could you–and to everyone who's here this morning–could you please call Bill 201 for debate? Is there leave to proceed to Bill 201 for debate?
Madam Speaker: Is there leave to proceed with Bill 201 this morning?
An Honourable Member: No.
Madam Speaker: I heard a no. Leave has been denied.
Is there leave to proceed to Bill 203 this morning?
An Honourable Member: No.
Madam Speaker: Leave has been denied.
Is there leave to move to Bill 204 this morning?
Some Honourable Members: No.
Madam Speaker: Leave has been denied.
Is there leave to move to Bill 206 this morning?
Some Honourable Members: No.
Madam Speaker: Leave has been denied.
Is there leave to move to Bill 207 this morning?
Some Honourable Members: No.
Madam Speaker: Leave has been denied.
Is there leave to move to Bill 209 this morning?
Some Honourable Members: No.
Madam Speaker: Leave has been denied.
Is there leave to move to Bill 210 this morning?
An Honourable Member: No.
Madam Speaker: Leave has been denied.
Is there leave to move to Bill 214 this morning?
An Honourable Member: No.
Madam Speaker: Leave has been denied.
Is there leave to move to Bill 215 this morning?
An Honourable Member: No.
Madam Speaker: Leave has been denied.
Is there leave to move to Bill 216 this morning?
An Honourable Member: No.
Madam Speaker: Leave has been denied.
Is there leave to move to Bill 227 this morning?
Some Honourable Members: No.
Madam Speaker: Leave has been denied.
Is there leave to move to Bill 230 this morning?
Some Honourable Members: Yes.
Some Honourable Members: No.
Madam Speaker: Leave has been denied.
Is there leave to move to Bill 231 this morning?
An Honourable Member: No.
Madam Speaker: Leave has been denied.
Is there leave to move to Bill 222 this morning?
An Honourable Member: No.
Madam Speaker: Leave has been denied.
Is there leave to move to Bill 200 this morning?
An Honourable Member: No.
Madam Speaker: Leave has been denied.
Is there leave to move to Bill 223 this morning?
Some Honourable Members: No.
Madam Speaker: Leave has been denied.
Is there leave to move to Bill 228 this morning?
An Honourable Member: Yes.
Some Honourable Members: No.
Madam Speaker: Leave has been denied.
Is there leave to move to Bill 225 this morning?
Some Honourable Members: No.
Madam Speaker: Leave has been denied.
Is there leave to move to Bill 224 this morning?
Some Honourable Members: No.
Madam Speaker: Leave has been denied.
Is there leave to move to Bill 228 this morning?
An Honourable Member: No.
Madam Speaker: Leave has been denied.
Is there leave to move to Bill 225 this morning?
An Honourable Member: No.
Madam Speaker: Leave has been denied.
Is there leave to move to Bill 224 this morning?
An Honourable Member: No.
Madam Speaker: Leave has been denied.
Is there willingness of the House to call it 11 o'clock, then, as there seems to be no business for bills?
Hon. Kelvin Goertzen (Government House Leader): Madam Speaker, I would certainly propose that we move to 11 o'clock and deal with the resolutions.
Madam Speaker: Is there leave to call it 11 o'clock and move to private members' resolutions?
An Honourable Member: No.
Madam Speaker: Leave has been denied.
The–as there was a denial on calling it 11 o'clock, the House will now recess until 11 o'clock at private–for private members' hour.
The House recessed at 10:06 a.m.
____________
The House resumed at 11:00 a.m.
Madam Speaker: Order, please.
Madam Speaker: The hour is now 11 a.m. and time for private members' resolutions.
The resolution before us this morning is the resolution Recognizing Lyme Disease Awareness and Prevention, brought forward by the honourable member for Emerson (Mr. Graydon), standing in the name of the honourable member for Point Douglas who has five minutes remaining.
Mrs. Bernadette Smith (Point Douglas): Well, we know Lyme disease is on the rise here in Canada. We just had a summer of, you know, warmness, and we know that that's what incubates nymphs which, you know, basically give people Lyme disease.
We support that more needs to be done, of course, to support diagnostic treatment and public awareness. And simply having an awareness and prevention day is, you know, not putting more services in place that need to be. People are suffering from this Lyme disease when they get it. I actually had a colleague who had it twice and, you know, and I spoke about this last time; he was a teacher. You know, his–and when you have a classroom of 25 kids who rely on you, that you have good relationships with, and then all of a sudden you're gone, you know, for the rest of the year, it does disrupt classrooms. And I'm sure it does as well with households, when a parent can't work because, you know, they're sick. And they have to be at home because they, you know, have contracted Lyme disease.
So we do support, you know, more needing to be done, in terms of diagnostic. We also suspect that, you know, climate change is leading to, you know, the rise in this development of infected tick populations. I have a cabin out in Belair, and, you know, we're always out in the bush, whether we're picking medicines, or we're, you know, out on our quads or we're simply just enjoying a walk in the bush. We're certainly always aware that this is a possibility and we try to protect ourselves as much as we can but, you know, as much as we do, the possibilities of someone contracting Lyme disease is high.
It's important now, more than ever, to ensure that Manitobans actually know what to do when they get Lyme disease. Often people don't even know what the symptoms are. So simply having an awareness day to say, oh, you know, Lyme disease is, you know, prevalent, we need better education in schools for kids, for parents and certainly when someone contracts it, that there's actually a response really quickly.
Mr. Doyle Piwniuk, Deputy Speaker, in the Chair
Our–when we were in government, our government invested in diagnostic tools. This government, since they've been in government in the last two years have–has–haven't put any money into this. So, you know, it's worth noting that this Department of Health hasn't taken any new action since this government was sworn in. In fact, the annual report for this year cites actions taken between 2009 and 2015 as part of the provincial government's contribution to the analysis of Lyme disease, that's sought to guide prevention and treatment of the disease. You know, simply having an awareness day is not going to prevent it. You know, it's certainly going to create awareness around this, but this Pallister government should continue, you know, to invest in disease prevention.
Families need to be educated about tick-infested areas where–whenever possible, particularly in spring and early summer when 'niff' ticks feed.
And, you know, there's a difference in ticks, right? Adult ticks are bigger and they're a bigger threat in the fall. And they favour moist, wet weather and shaded environments, especially leafy, wooded areas in overgrown grassy habitats.
You know, the month of May is a great time to invest in education. Kids are in schools. You know, kids often come home–I'm always asking my daughter, what did you learn today? What, you know, what did you do in English? What did you do in en français? So we always sit down and talk about what her day was like. And this is a great time to be doing that with our kids.
Kids are going off to camp. I know, certainly, my daughter, you know, went off to camp–maybe not this year, but in past years–and I don't really have control over, you know, what she's doing when she's at camp or where she's going, and, you know, oftentimes it was places that were remote. So, you know, if she were to contract Lyme disease out there, what would they do? Are the people who are taking care of our kids at camp educated on this?
So I certainly implore this government to do more to make sure that the education is getting out there, but also when people do contract it, that there's actual measures to prevent it from happening but also ensure that people are getting the proper medical care that they need.
So miigwech, Deputy Speaker.
Mr. Deputy Speaker: The honourable member's time is up.
House Business
Mr. Deputy Speaker: The honourable Government House Leader, on business.
Hon. Kelvin Goertzen (Government House Leader): Mr. Deputy Speaker, on House business, pursuant to rule 33(11), I'm announcing that the private member's resolution to be considered on the next Tuesday of private members’ business will be the one put forward by the honourable member for Assiniboia (Mr. Fletcher). The title of the resolution is Conflict of Interest.
Mr. Deputy Speaker: It is brought by the member and the Government House Leader on–pursuant of rule 33-dash-11, I'm announcing that the private member's resolution to be considered for the next Tuesday of private members’ business and will be one put forward by the honourable member for Assiniboia. The title of the resolution is Conflict of Interest.
* * *
Mr. Deputy Speaker: So we'll continue with the resolution. Any speakers?
Mr. Tom Lindsey (Flin Flon): Mr. Deputy Speaker, I rise today to speak a little bit about Lyme disease and a little bit about this government's inaction on most things, including Lyme disease.
You know, when I was a kid growing up down in southern Saskatchewan, my brother and I used to spend a lot of time roaming the hills and the valleys of the Qu'Appelle Valley, and there was no such thing as ticks. We were out from sun-up to sundown. Ticks were not to be seen.
By the time I was 17, 18, ready to leave home, certainly ticks had arrived. So part of that issue was global warming. People certainly didn't talk about it back in those days, but we are more aware of global warming today than what we've ever been–well, at least those of us on this side of the House. Perhaps members on the opposite side are not really aware of global warming or choose not to believe in global warming.
But this relates directly to what we're here to talk about today because, right now, where I come from up in Flin Flon, we don't have these ticks that cause Lyme disease, but I'm sure they're coming. If we continue to do nothing about global warming, they certainly will arrive in our destination in the North sooner rather than later.
And right now, I mean, people in the North spend as much or more time out in the bush than people in the south because so many communities in the North are in the middle of the bush, so having a day to recognize Lyme disease is nice.
What's going to be done with that day? What's the government plan of action on Lyme disease? I suspect their plan of action is very similar to most of their other plans, and that's a plan to have a plan to not have a plan, which is most unfortunate, but most things this government has put their fingers on have turned into not being plans unless it was attacking working people. That seems to be the only plan that they've ever had.
So the member brings forward something that is a serious, serious issue, but having a day to recognize it when that same day may recognize 25 or 30 other things, what makes this thing stand out from the crowd? And I don't see anything in the member's resolution that speaks about anything other than having a day to recognize that it's going to raise awareness.
Well, it isn't. Every day from spring until freeze‑up should be about raising awareness about Lyme disease and ticks prevention, how to recognize when someone has Lyme disease. It should be about educating doctors to recognize the signs and symptoms because many times it goes misdiagnosed, undiagnosed.
Mrs. Sarah Guillemard, Acting Speaker, in the Chair
* (11:10)
So, you know, this is all well and good to have this day, but it doesn't do anything because recognizing a day to raise awareness is not enough; and when you have a day on any given day of the month that is recognizing 15 other things, potentially, it really gets lost.
So, while we're certainly in favour of raising awareness, we're also in favour of a concrete plan to do something to–will there be advertising? Will school kids be made aware? Will their parents be made aware of what to do to check for ticks on kids?
My friend from Point Douglas brings up that a lot of kids go to summer camps. So what has the government put in place for camp counsellors and the people that run these camps to make people aware so that they can pass that message to the kids that are at camp? What's the plan for those people to be able to recognize and be aware that ticks and the certain, specific type of tick that causes Lyme disease are in their area? How do they recognize when a kid, particularly small kids, how will the camp counsellors go about recognizing that they have ticks on them?
There's nothing in here that talks about anything like that. There's nothing in here that talks about, really, a plan to do anything rather than to have another day, another day to, I guess, put an ad up that day and say watch for ticks. That's not enough.
So, while we've all brought forward days to recognize things–I look at the Leader of the Official Opposition (Mr. Kinew) that brought forward a day called Orange Shirt Day, but something came out of that. It actually did what it set out to do. Schools were made aware of Orange Shirt Day and what it meant. They had a plan to raise awareness, not just to have a day, but kids are learning about residential schools from that day.
What's the member from Emerson's plan for kids to learn about Lyme disease? Well, he doesn't really have a plan other than to have a day recognizing that Lyme disease is a serious issue, and we all recognize that Lyme disease is a serious issue. So what's the plan?
Mr. Doyle Piwniuk, Deputy Speaker, in the Chair
You know, we've asked that question any number of times about any number of things that this government has done or has introduced, and, always, this is where they fall short, is the actual plan.
Part of what I talked about at the start is their plan to address climate change, which left unaddressed will allow things like ticks carrying Lyme disease to spread to regions where traditionally it's been too cold for them to populate. But we all know that those regions now have less cold days; they have less number of cold days that–when it was 40 below for weeks at a time, it killed a lot of the diseases and bugs that are prevalent. That doesn't happen anymore, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
So, again, they kind of had a plan, but then they backed off from that plan and now nobody knows what the plan is on the plan, including, apparently, their own members opposite that were unaware that the plan that they had to have a plan had actually changed to a plan to not have a plan, which is unfortunate.
So, Mr. Deputy Speaker, this is all well and good, what the member has brought forward again, and I'm sure many of us going forward will bring forward a resolution to have a day to recognize something. But I would hope that each one of us that brings forward such a thing will also bring forward the plan of what that day will mean, what will take place on that day, what will take place to raise awareness, not just to say, well, today's tick day; today's Lyme disease day; and, like I said earlier, we need to have this plan in place so that people are aware right from the time it's warm enough for ticks to be out until such time as the ticks are frozen at freeze-up. Every day needs to be Lyme disease awareness day. Every day people need to be made aware of the importance of what to look for, how to recognize it, how to recognize the ticks, what areas they're in, what areas they aren't in, what areas they're expected to arrive at in the coming years, the coming months, so that people start to become so aware that they take it as second nature of what to look for, what to recognize, so that when someone actually is bit and has Lyme disease, the medical community actually recognizes what it is and how to treat it.
So I guess, for the member from Emerson, it's a small, little baby step that he's taken here. What's the rest of the plan? What's going to take place on that day to raise people's awareness? What's going to expand from a day to the entire period to make sure that everyone's aware of Lyme disease and the type of tick that carries it? So I look forward, I guess, to hearing more from the member from Emerson on what the whole plan is, not just to bring forward a day, like I say, a day that gets lost in the shuffle of so many other days.
So, with those very few words, I'll turn the floor to someone else.
Mr. Deputy Speaker: The honourable member's time is up.
Is–any other speakers?
An Honourable Member: Question.
Mr. Deputy Speaker: Is it will of the House to–is ready for the question? Is the House ready for the question?
Some Honourable Members: Agreed.
Mr. Deputy Speaker: Agreed. The question before the House is resolution that Lyme disease–No. 18, Lyme disease.
All those in favour of the motion, please–is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion? [Agreed]
So–okay, now with–going on to resolution business, the Minister for Crown Services.
Hon. Colleen Mayer (Minister of Crown Services): I–is it the will of the House to call it 12 o'clock?
Mr. Deputy Speaker: Is it will of the House to call it 12 o'clock? [Agreed]
The hour being 12 p.m., the House is now recessed and stands recessed 'til 1:30 p.m.
CORRIGENDUM
On October 4, 2018, page 3379, first column, the third centred heading should have read:
SECOND READINGS–PUBLIC BILLS
LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA
Tuesday, October 9, 2018
CONTENTS