Manitoba Hansard — Sitting 1 (28th Legislature, 3rd Session)

28-3-1

Manitoba — Debates (Hansard)

Legislative Assembly of Manitoba DEBATES and PROCEEDINGS Speaker The Honourable James H. Bilton Vol. XV No� 1 2:30p.m., Thursday, February 27th, 1969. Third Session, 28th Legislature. Printed by R. S. Evans - Queen's Printer for Province of Manitoba

THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 2.30o'clock, Thursday. February27, 1969 The Sergeant-at-Arms, carrying a Mace. and followed by the Speaker. Mr. James Bilton, and the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly, Mr Charland Prud'homme, Q. C., entered the House. His Honour Richard S. Bowles, Q. C., Lieutenant-Governor,e•:.tered the Chamber and seated himself on the Throne. HONOURABLE RICHARD S. BOWLES, Q. C., (Lieutenant-Governor of the Province of Manitoba): Mr. Speaker and members of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba: I welcome you to the Third Session of the Twenty-eighth Leg:lslature of the Province of Manitoba.

My Ministers inform me that since our last meeting an extensive reorganization of the departments of government has taken place; you will be asked to consider certain legislative changes to complete the revised structure of the administrative organization. The changes have been based on extensive study of present-day programs which the government must administer, the capacity of the public service to adapt readily to future changes and the most appropriate g:roupings of these programs for purposes of departmental administration.

To assist and expedite the work of government, two committees of the Executive Coun cil have been established, each consisting of six Ministers. The Planning and Priorities Committee reviews present and proposed programs of government and recommends upon the relative emphasis to be attached to each. The Planning and Priorities Committee of Cabinet, with its Secretariat, replaces and carries on the work of the Manitoba Development Authority and the Manitoba Economic Consultative Board.

The Management Committee of Cabinet monitors the spending of public funds to provide the necessary machinery for a searching review of the methods to be used and the resources required to carry out approved prog:rams. It provides a focus for the concentrated review of problems of administration as they arise in the areas of expenditure planning, personnel administration, modern management and sys tems techniques. As part of the reorganization of the various functions of the government you will be asked to consider legislation separating the audit from the accounting responsibilities of the Comptroller-General.

Legislation will deal with the new office of the Provincial Auditor. My Ministers inform me that steps are being taken to establish a Provincial-Municipal Finance Structure Committee. This will complement the action taken at the recent Consti tutional Conference to re-activate the Federal-Provincial Tax Structure Committee. The Provincial-Municipal Finance Structure Committee will be desig:ned to ensure effective communication and understanding between the government of Manitoba and the various admin istrative units of government within the province.

It will be directed to examine the powers, responsibilities and roles of the various administrative units of government within the province. You will be asked to consider some short-term measures to help the municipalities fulfill their present responsibilities. You will be asked to approve changes in the distribution of costs of the foundation pro gram to increase the percentage to be paid from provincial resources. My Ministers report that they joined in making representations to the Government of Canada which led to some modifications in the federal estates tax.

They find, however, that there is still widespread concern over the probable effects of the tax. Under the circum stances you will be asked to consider legislation to enable my government to make adjust ments to ensure better equity for estate taxpayers in Manitoba. My Ministers are g:ravely concerned about the severe problems created by the large quantity of damp g:rain on Manitoba farms. They are also disturbed by the serious effect upon farmers and all the people of Manitoba of the failure to sell g:rain produced in our province.

I am informed by my Ministers, however, that in spite of these difficult condi tions, the volume of ag:ricultural production in Manitoba in 1968 compared very favourably with that of the previous year. The prog:rams of my government desig:ned to assist the development of our most important primary industry will be maintained and in some cases expanded on a priority basis. You will be asked in particular to approve additional funds for the administration of the crop insurance prog:ram, which will permit its continuing

2 February 27, 1969 (MR. BOWLES Cont'd.) ... development in the reduction of risk in agriculture. I am informed that the services associated with a new program to increase the availability of short and inter mediate term credit to Manitoba farmers will be provided. You will also be requested to approve funds to complete the third and final phase of development of the facilities of the Agricultural Extension Centre at Brandon in order that better service may be made available to the people of western Manitoba.

In May of 1967 a ten-year agreement was signed between the government of Manitoba and the Government of Caaada to undertake a major development program in the interlake area of this province. My Ministers inform me that the programs are proceeding on schedule: you will be asked to provide funds to implement further projects for the coming year. My Ministers inform me that renewed efforts must be made to prevent loss of product ivity in our agricultural base as a result of soil and water erosion.

You will be asked to con sider legislation which will enable municipalities to deal more effectively with this matter. The revision of the Manitoba Statutes is likely to be completed in our Centennial Year. An innovation in their revision will be the adaptation of the Statutes to computer techniques to permit their continuous updating. Manitoba is the first Canadian jurisdiction to adopt this program. Legislation will be placed before you which would permit new procedures in dealing with persons found to be intoxicated in public places.

You will be asked to consider legislation providing for improved expropriation procedures for Manitoba. My Ministers report that there has been continuing growth and development in education. You will be asked to provide capital funds which will allow the continuance of construction of new educational buildings. The Department of Youth and Education has undertaken an extensive study of the develop ment of television as a means of instruction in education.

This study will include the establish ment of a committee representing the universities to explore the possibility of establishing an open university accessible to any and all who might wish to avail themselves of the opportunity to continue or expand their education through this modern method of communication. You will be asked to approve legislation to extend the powers of the Public School Finance Board to control total spending of all unitary school divisions with a view to effecting economies in school spending consistent with the maintenance of the quality of education necessary in these times.

You will be asked to make provision for increased bursary support for students at the post-secondary education level. I am informed that forty unitary divisions have been formed in the public school system out of a possible total of forty-eight. Because four of the remaining eight have requested referendums, you will be asked to approve legislation allowing them in the event of a success ful referendum to receive the added benefits of the foundation program retroactive to January 1, 1969.

My Ministers inform me that on April 1, 1969, the Manitoba Medical Plan will begin operations to provide medical services as insured benefits for all residents of the province. The Legislative Assembly will be asked to consider a bill amending The Medical Services Insurance Act to provide for certain optometric and chiropractic benefits and changing the name of the Act to The Manitoba Health Services Insurance Corporation Act. You will be asked to consider a number of bills respecting The Hospital Services Insurance Act, The Health Services Act, The Hospitals Act, as well as The Hospital Com mission Act.

Correctional institutions have been made the responsibility of the new Department of Health and Social Services in order to facilitate my Ministers' policy of emphasizing rehabilitative rather than punitive treatment for offenders. Our continuing program of renovations to mental health facilities will include in 1969/70 the third and final stage of reconstruction of the Reception Building at the Selkirk Hospital for Mental Diseases. You will be asked to provide funds for these purposes as well as for a new rehabilitation camp in Northern Manitoba.

During the current year my Ministers hope to extend to all parts of the province public health services including the extension of Home Care to serve a greater area. A Family Planning program is also to be included in our public health services this year.

February 27, 1969 3 (MR. BOWLES Cont'd.) In 1969/70 the Manitoba government will undertake in co-operation with the federal government a pro gram to provide housing in five remote, unorganized areas of Manitoba. Plans for public housing are nearing completion in certain rural centres. Propo sals for low rental full recovery housing to be made available to medium and low income families in Metropolitan Winnipeg have been invited from private contractors. It is expected that pro vincial participation will be requested in further implementation of urban renewal area No. 3 in the City of Winnipeg.

My Ministers inform me that the value of mineral production and also that mineral exploration reached an all-time high in the province in 1968. You will be informed of recent developments in these important areas of our provincial economy. My government is pleased to report that the Red River Floodway is now fully operational. Construction of the Portage Div ersion and of the Shellmouth Dam should be finished this year so that the threefold flood control pro gram on the Assiniboine and Red rivers undertaken in 19G2 will this year be completed.

Work will continue on the dyking pro[!;ram designed to protect villages and towns in the Red River Valley. You will be asked to provide funds to continue water control and conservation measures throughout the province. You will be asked to approve legislation to permit the province to participate with the federal authority in the establishment of a Freshwater Fish Marketing Board. My government will present for your consideration the new draft Local Authorities Election Act and the new draft Municipal Act.

The year 1970 will bring our province to a most important milestone in its history - the 100th anniversary of joining the Canadian Confederation. Plans are well in hand to bring every citizen of Manitoba into the celebration of this very significant anniversary. The financial estimates to be laid before you will contain provision for financial assistance to Manitoba municipalities preparing to mark the Centennial Year in 1970.

I am informed that while several hundred collective agreements between employers and employees were concluded in Manitoba during the past year, in only four cases within our jurisdiction did strikes take place in connection with agreement negotiations. My government will place before you measures designed to improve and update our legislation to protect workers and their families. You will be asked to provide funds to continue the investment in our Provincial Trunk H�ghways and provincial roads throughout the province.

Among other developments may be mentioned: construction of the Lynn Lake road, extension of Provi11cial Trunk Highway No. 6 north from Grand Rapids, the new bridge over the Saskatchewan Riv·er at The Pas, completion of the by-pass round the City of Portage la Prairie, completion of the reconstruction of Pro vincial Trunk Highway No. 59 through Metropolitan Winnipeg and continuing of the four-laning of the Trans-Canada Highway East. You will be asked to approve leg islation gran ting a license to Manitoba Hydro for the hi1�h level d�version of the Chur chill River at South Indian Lake.

You will be informed of measures to ensure that the compensation and relocation of those affected will be fair and equitable. My Ministers inform me that their efforts to increase the province's economic and in dustrial development and to expand employment opportunities for all Manitobans will be con tinued vigorously in the coming year. In pursuing the goal of accelerated economic growth in Manitoba, particular attention will be paid to encourage that growth to take place in a balanced way amongst all the regions of the province and in support of the private sector.

The "Spirit of '70" program, encouraging involvement of all our citizens in our efforts for economic development, will be continued during the coming pre-Centennial year. The work of the Targets for Economic Development Commi ssion to 1980 has been com pleted on

schedule and its :report outlining economic development objectives and programs for the coming decade will be received by the government shortly and tabled in the House during this session. It is the intention of my government to establish a Consumer Bureau with necessary personnel as a branch of the Department of Consumer and Corporate Affairs. My government proposes to submit appropriat e leg islation at this session to establish

4 February 27, 1969 (MR. BOWLES cont'

d) the office of the Ombudsman in Manitoba. This important office will serve as an independent instrument of the citizen to investigate administrative decisions, omissions or delays on the part of provincial government departments and agencies in relation to which the citizen alleges to have been aggrieved. My Ministers tell me that they will propose tourist programs designed to continue the high level of tourist activity within the province.

The great increase in revenue from the tourist industry attained in the year of Canada's Centennial has been maintained: it is antici pated that Manitoba's own Centennial will serve as a major attraction to increase tourist revenues to even higher levels. The Spruce Woods Park, one of Manitoba's three Centennial parks, will be open for public use during the coming summer season. Development work at that park and at the Asessippi Park will be continued.

For these purposes and to maintain a high level of park programs in all parts of the province you will be asked to make provision so that the public demand for park and recreational facilities may be met. The second session of the Constitutional Conference has taken place in Ottawa. My Ministers inform me that a good beginning was made in determining the procedures for ex amining the many aspects of a new or revised Constitution of Canada. I am also told by my Ministers that they anticipate wide public consideration and discussion on the constitution of Canada and its effect on each citizen.

In setting before you the program my Ministers have proposed for the year ahead, I draw to your attention the increasing concern of provincial governments over their relation ships with the Government of Canada. Under our Constitution the partnership between the provinces and the central govern ment is a vital factor in determining the level and quality of public services and their cost to the taxpayer in each jurisdiction. Today our provincial responsibilities are increasing steadily, in good measure as a result of unilateral federal policy.

At the same time the limited tax fields available to the provinces are being curtailed by federal tax policies. The necessary process of consultation and agreement between the federal and provincial governments has been made less effective by the unwillingness of the federal partner to recog nize the rights and needs of the provincial partners. The result is a failure to reach agreement on the sharing of the common tax pool in line with the constitutional allocation of government responsibilities in Canada.

This failure has caused strain in relations between the two senior levels of government In the opinion of my Ministers the essential requirements in the preservation of Canadian unity today is the effective partnership between the two senior levels of government to make the present constitution work while consultations on a new or amended constitution proceed. The recent session of the Constitutional Conference in Ottawa must be evaluated in that light. My Ministers are determined to make every possible contribution towards the restoration of proper constitutional practice in Canada.

They propose to continue discussions with the federal authorities and with the other provincial administrations with the intention of matching jurisdiction with ability to pay within the total tax revenues available. The programs of my government must of course be tailored to the limit imposed by these circumstances. Responsibility to the taxpayer which my Ministers fully accept can be served in no other way. The current limits of capital availability serve to emphasize the need for the utmost economy and efficiency in the tasks my government must perform.

The partic ular programs to which I have referred and the plans which will be laid before you for your consideration have been prepared in strict accord with the financial realities I have described. The Manitoba Telephone System and the Manitoba Hydro both report that they have given increased service and have continued to improve their facilities during the past year. My Ministers will be informing you in more detail on the progress recorded by these great public utilities.

I am informed that the Electoral Divisions Boundaries Commission, in compliance with the statutes, has submitted its report which will be tabled in the House within the statutory limitation. Legislation to implement the recommendations of the report will be submitted to you at this session. The estimates of revenues and expenditures will be placed before you for your con sideration.

February 27, 1969 (MJR. BOWLES cont'd) 5 In leaving you I pray that Divine Providence may attend your deliberations and decisions. MR . SPEAKER: Oh Eternal and Almighty God, from whom all power and wisdom come, by whom Kings rule and make equitable laws, we are assembled here before Thee to frame sueh laws as may tend to the welfare and prosperity of our province.

Grant, Oh Merciful God, we pray Thee, that we may desire onl y that which is in accordance with Thy will, that we may seek it with wisdom, 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. HON. WALTER WEIR (Premier) (Minnedosa) introduced Bill No. 1,

An Act respecting the Administration of Oaths of Office. MR . SPEAKER: It is necessary that I inform the House that in order to prevent mis takes, I have obtained a copy of the Address of His Honour which was read. At the same time, I would like to inform the honourable members that Mr. Frank Skinner has been appointed Sergeant-at-Arms for the Third Session of the Twenty-eighth Legislature. Unfortunately, Mr. Skinner slipped and fell last evening fracturing his ankle rather severely and Mr. Charles Trantor is carrying on until Mr. Skinner returns. MR . WEIR: Mr.

Speaker, I move, seconded by the Minister of Transportation, that the Votes and Proceedings of the House be printed, having first been perused by Mr. Speaker, and that he do appoint the printing thereof, and that no person but such as he shall appoint do presume to print the same. MR . SPEAKER presented the motion and after a voice vote declared the motion carried. MR . WEIR: Mr.

Speaker, I move, seconded by the Honourable the Attorney-General, that the Standing Committees of this House for the present session be appointed for the follow ing purposes: Law Amendments; Public Accounts; Municipal Affairs; Agriculture; Public Utilities and Natural Resources; Privileges and Elections; Private Bills; Standing Orders; Printing and Library; Industrial Relations; Statutory Regulations and Orders; which several committees shall be empowered to examine and enquire into all such matters and things as may be referred to them by this House, and to report from time to time their observations and opinions thereon, with power to send for persons, papers and documerts and examine witnesses under oath.

MR. SPEAKER presented the motion and after a voice vote declared the motion carried. MR . WEIR: Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Honourable the Minister of Health and Social Services, that during the present session of the Legislature, Malcolm Earl McKellar, Esquire, Member for the Electoral Division of Sour is- Lansdowne, be Deputy Speaker and Chairman of the Committees of the House. MR . SPEAKER presented the motion and after a voice vote declared the motion carried. MR . WEIR: Mr.

Speaker, I move, seconded by the Honourable Minister of Consumer and Corporate Affairs, that a special committee of seven persons be appointed to prepare and report with all convenient speed, a list of members to compose the Standing Committees ordered by this House, and that such committees shall be composed as follows: Honourable Messrs. Weir, Lyon, McLean; Messrs. Campbell, Molgat, Paulley and Stanes. MR . SPEAKER presented the motion and after a voice vote declared the motion carried. MR . WEIR: Mr.

Speaker, I move, seconded by the Minister of Labour, that the speech of His Honour the Lieutenant-Governor be taken into consideration tomorrow. MR.SPEAKER presented the motion and after a voice vote declared the motion carried. MR . WEIR: Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Minister of Municipal Affairs that the: House do now adjourn until lO o'clock tomorrow morning. MR . SPEAKER presented the motion and after a voice vote declared the motion carried and the House adjourned until lO:OO o'clock Friday morning.

Document details

Collection	Manitoba — Debates (Hansard)
Citation	28-3-1
Type	hansard
Volume / chapter	28th 3rd hansardpdf 1.pdf
Language	en
Format	pdf
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	0602d759cbc156999d5467621ac802b347c59a85

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