Manitoba Hansard — 26 April 2001 (Sitting 20A, 37th Legislature, 2nd Session)

37-2-20a

Manitoba — Debates (Hansard)

Second Session - Thirty-Seventh Legislature of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba DEBATES and PROCEEDINGS Official Report (Hansard) Published under the authority of The Honourable George Hickes Speaker Vol. LI No. 20A- 10 a.m., Thursday, April 26, 2001

Member AGLUGUB, Cris ALLAN, Nancy ASHTON, Steve, Hon. ASPER, Linda BARRETT, Becky, Hon. CALDWELL, Drew, Hon. CERILLI, Marianne CHOMIAK, Dave, Hon. CUMMINGS, Glen DACQUA Y, Louise DERKACH, Leonard DEWAR, Gregory DOER, Gary, Hon. DRIEDGER, Myrna DYCK, Peter ENNS, Harry FAURSCHOU, David FRIESEN, Jean, Hon. GERRARD, Jon, Hon. GILLESHAMMER, Harold HEL WER, Edward HICKES, George JENNISSEN, Gerard KORZENIOWSKI, Bonnie LATHLIN, Oscar, Hon. LAURENDEAU, Marcel LEMIEUX, Ron, Hon. LOEWEN, John MACKINTOSH, Gord, Hon. MAGUIRE, Larry MALOWAY,Jim MARTINDALE, Doug McGIFFORD, Diane, Hon. MIHYCHUK, Mary Ann, Hon.

MITCHELSON, Bonnie MURRAY, Stuart NEV AKSHONOFF, Tom PENNER, Jack PENNER, Jim PITURA, Frank PRAZNIK, Darren REID, Daryl REIMER, Jack ROBINSON, Eric, Hon. ROCAN, Denis RONDEAU, Jim SALE, Tim, Hon. SANTOS, Conrad SCHELLENBERG, Harry SCHULER, Ron SELINGER, Greg, Hon. SMITH, Joy SMITH, Scott, Hon. STEFANSON, Heather STRUTHERS, Stan TWEED, Mervin WOWCHUK, Rosann, Hon. MANITOBA LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY Thirty-Seventh Legislature Constituency The Maples St. Vital Thompson Riel Inkster Brandon East Radisson Kildonan Ste.

Rose Seine River Russell Selkirk Concordia Charleswood Pembina Lakeside Portage Ia Prairie Wolseley River Heights Minnedosa Gimli Point Douglas Flin Flon St. James The Pas St. Norbert La Verendrye Fort Whyte St. Johns Arthur-Virden Elmwood Burrows Lord Roberts Minto River East Kirkfield Park Interlake Emerson Steinbach Morris Lac du Bonnet Transcona Southdale Rupertsland Carman Assiniboia Fort Rouge Wellington Rossmere Springfield St. Boniface Fort Garry Brandon West Tuxedo Dauphin-Roblin Turtle Mountain Swan River Political Affiliation N.D.P. N.D.P. N.D.P. N.D.P. N.D.P. N.D.P. N.D.P. N.D.P. P.C. P.C. P.C. N.D.P.

N.D.P. P.C. P.C. P.C. P.C. N.D.P. Lib. P.C. P.C. N.D.P. N.D.P. N.D.P. N.D.P. P.C. N.D.P. P.C. N.D.P. P.C. N.D.P. N.D.P. N.D.P. N.D.P. P.C. P.C. N.D.P. P.C. P.C. P.C. P.C. N.D.P. P.C. N.D.P. P.C. N.D.P. N.D.P. N.D.P. N.D.P. P.C. N.D.P. P.C. N.D.P. P.C. N.D.P. P.C. N.D.P.

847 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA Thursday, Apri126, 2001 The House met at 10 a.m. PRAYERS Introduction of Guests Mr. Speaker: Prior to Orders of the Day, I would like to draw the attention of all honour able members to the gallery where we have with us today from Linden Christian School I8 Grade II students under the direction of Mr. Mark Glor. This school is located in the constituency of the honourable Member for Fort Whyte (Mr. Loewen). On behalf of all honourable members, I wel come you here today. ORDERS OF THE DA Y Hon. Gord Mackintosh (Government House Leader): Mr.

Speaker, I move, seconded by the Minister of Advanced Education (Ms. McGifford), that Mr. Speaker do now leave the Chair and the House resolve itself into a com mittee to consider of the Supply to be granted to Her Majesty. Motion agreed to. COMMITTEE OF SUPPLY (Concurrent Sections) LABOUR AND IMMIGRATION Mr. Chairperson (Harry Schellenberg): Will the Comm ittee of Supply please come to order. This

section of the Committee of Supply will be considering the Estimates of the Department of Labour and Immigration. Does the honourable Minister of Labour and Imm igration have an opening statement? Hon. Becky Barrett (Minister of Labour and Immigration): Yes, Mr. Chair, I do. Mr. Chairperson: Please proceed. Ms. Barrett: Mr. Chair, it is my privilege to present the Expenditure Estimates of the Department of Labour and Imm igration for the fiscal year 200 I- 2002. I want to begin by ac knowledging the recent change of the depart ment's name.

The addition of "I mmigration" reflects the importance of immigration and multiculturalism in respect to our Government's policies and priorities. I would also like to commend the entire staff of the Department of Labour and Immigration. The dedication and hard work of approximately 300 staff members enables the department to provide effective valuable services to the citizens of Manitoba. I wish to thank them for their continuing efforts and commitment.

As a department, we believe in employment equity and are making progress in the hiring of workers from various target groups, with the ultimate goal of having the department reflect the diversity that is Manitoba. As an operating principle, the department is committed to working co-operatively with business, labour, government and other community stakeholders and to facilitating consultation and consensus building among the parties. I would like to present an overview of the Bu dget figures and any changes that have been made from last year.

The 200 I -2002 total budget request for the Department of Labour and Imm igration is $24,734,400. This request repre sents an increase of 5.6 percent from the ad justed vote of the previous year. This increase largely reflects increased funding in two areas: Workplace Safety and Health and immigration and multiculturalism initiatives. The Department of Labour and Immigration recovers a significant proportion of its annual expenditures through its various sources of rev enue, and for 200 I -2002, a revenue recovery of

848 LEGISLATIV E ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA April 26, 200 1 about 61 percent of the departmental budget is projected. External Advisory Comm ittees: I would like to acknowledge the significant contributions made by members of all the department's external advisory committees, such as the Advisory Council on Workplace Safety and Health, the Manitoba Pension Commission and the Labour Management Review Comm ittee. These individuals have contributed their val uable time and efforts to providing expert advice and assistance on important policy matters.

Last year, ministers of Labour from all jurisdictions in Canada met in Winnipeg. During this meeting, the federal and all provincial ministers confirmed their commitment to promoting the balance between work and family life. Research indicates that when employers recognize that their employees need to balance family and work responsibilities, a number of spin-off benefits can occur. It was decided that progress in this area would best be achieved through the co-operative efforts of workplace partners and governments.

We are optimistic that, in conjunction with our workplace partners, we will be able to move ahead to promote a healthy balance between work and family lif e. As an initial step, an interjurisdictional committee with representation from the federal government, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba and Nova Scotia, was formed to research the issue, and is expected to report to ministers within the next few months. The committee has been looking into existing and relevant policies, initiatives and practices, that promote a balance between work life and family life.

Current provisions in the public and private sectors for leave due to family reasons, vacation, work arrangements, employment protection prov isions and other activities in support of work-life balance will also be examined. * (10 :10 ) In the past few months, we have taken important steps to address the issue of minimum wage policy. First, we implemented the second stage of the November 19 98 recommendation by the chair of the Minimum Wage Board, Mr. Jack McJannet, to raise the provincial minimum wage to $6.25 per hour from $6, effective April 1 of this year.

We felt it was important to implement the outstanding recommendation of the Chair that followed from extensive public consul tations in 19 98. We also continue with the practice of giving employers at least four months advance notice of the adjustment. The minimum wage increase to $6.25 per hour represents a 4% change and does not affect Manitoba's provincial ranking. Manitoba remains in sixth place behind British Columbia, Yukon, Nunavut, Quebec, Ontario and the Northwest Territories.

Our Government believes that the minimum wage needs to be reviewed on a more regular basis than was the case previously, and we are committed to review the wage annually. We need better predictability and stability with the m1mmum wage. Neither employers nor employees are served well by reviews that are done on a haphazard basis or by a minimum wage that is out of touch with current economic and labour market conditions. This was a feeling in a view that was expressed by virtually every group that we met with prior to our minimum wage announcement.

New appointments to the Minimum Wage Board and a public review of the provincial minimum wage level were announced in March. The board, consisting of a chair and equal number of employee and employer represent atives, has been asked to report to me by the end of September. The board has been instructed to provide feedback on several related issues, including tip differentials, minimum wage for trainees, exclusion of certain workers from the minimum wage, and tying the minimum wage to an economic indicator.

I understand that the Minimum Wage Boa rd has already embarked on a public consultation process that includes written submissions and possible public hearings in locations across the province where a sufficient level of interest is demonstrated. It is my understanding to date that we will be having Minimum Wage Board hearings in Winnipeg and Br andon, at least, and very likely Thompson as well. I am confident that the board will be sensitive to both the needs of employees and

April 26, 200 1 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 849 employers in conducting this review and will consider the importance of balancing the needs of workers and the ability of Manitoba's econ omy to remain competitive in the national and global marketplaces. I look forward to receiving the board's findings and recommendations. There have been several recent legislative regulatory developments that I would like to comment on. The first is parental leave.

I was very pleased to be able to introduce and enact amendments to the Employment Standards Code last December for purposes of extending the period of parental leave and lowering the em ployment requirements to qualify for maternity and parental leave, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Official Opposition for their work in ensuring that we were able to enact these amendments in an expeditious fashion so that all families in Manitoba could take advantage of those new regulations.

To enable Manitoba workers to take full advantage of the federal government's revised and improved employment insurance benefits, the code was amended to provide for 37 weeks instead of 17 weeks of parental leave. This additional period of leave is available to both biological and adoptive parents and allows either or both parents the opportunity to spend more quality time with their newborn or adoptive children. In the case of a natural mother, the maximum period of leave was increased to 54 weeks, consisting of 17 weeks of maternity leave and 37 weeks of parental leave.

In addition, the qualifying for maternity and parental leave was reduced from 12 months to 7 months of employment with an employer. This provides for greater consistency with legislation in other jurisdictions and will result in more employees being eligible for leave. These changes, I believe, will prove to be very beneficial for parents and for children in the earliest and most formative stages of their lives. The second change was to the construction industry safety regulation regarding scaffolding.

I am also pleased to note that the construction safety regulation was amended for the purpose of enhancing worker as weB as public safety in the utilization of scaffolds when performing work. These changes resulted from a compre hensive review and examination of existing requirements following the collapse of a scaffold system several years ago at the Health Sciences Centre complex. It was just very fortunate that no one was seriously injured or killed in that coliapse.

The amendments were based on recommen dations made by the Advisory Council on Workplace Safety and Health and were supported by various construction associations, workers group and professional engineers. Again, this is an example of where we were able to work with various stakeholders to bring something in that will enhance and increase the public and worker safety. Generally the changes require that enclosing scaffolding built to a height in excess of 7.5 metres instead of 15 metres be erected in accord ance with the design of a professional engineer.

As well, employers are now required to have a scaffold inspected and improved by a professional engineer after it is erected and prior to its being used by workers. These changes, I am confident, will provide for safer working conditions for employees who work on scaf folding systems. The third area is the Operation of Mines regulation. I am also pleased to indicate that a number of changes were made to the Operation of Mines regulation to adopt procedures and requirements that would enhance the safety and health of workers employed a mine sites.

In general terms, the amendments relate to the use of lifelines and fall arresting devices, safety factors for devices used for attaching shaft ropes to conveyances, the approval of braking systems that are installed or altered on vehicles used underground, the use of remote controlled equipment and standards relating to the use of diesel fuel in underground mines.

These changes were developed and recommended by a committee composed of employer and employee representatives in the mining industry and were unanimously sup ported by the Advisory Council on Workplace Safety and Health, which is also a representative body appointed under The Workplace Safety and

850 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA April 26, 200 1 Health Act to advise the minister on Workplace Safety and Health matters. It includes a number of representatives from various industries as well as labour. The Operation of Mines regulation is monitored and reviewed on an ongoing basis with a view to ensuring that it is up-to-date and provides optimum protection for workers. We also supported two International Labour Organization conventions.

Recently Manitoba has indicated support to the federal government for ratification of these two significant ILO conventions, one on the elimination of the worst forms of child labour and the other on forced labour. These conventions are ILO core labour standards which have been identified as fundamental to the rights of human beings at work. The first one on child labour called the convention on the elimination of the worst forms of child labour, Convention 18 2, requires countries to take immediate and effective measures to prohibit and eliminate the worst forms of child labour.

Canada ratified Convention 18 2 in June of last year with the unanimous support of all Canadian provinces and territories. Support for this convention was a positive step toward protecting vulnerable children from exploitation around the world. The second convention, Convention 29 on forced labour, requires the suppression of forced or compulsory labour, which is defined: all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not of f ered himself voluntarily. In March of this year, Manitoba indicated support for ratification of this convention.

This ratification will clearly demonstrate Canada's and Manitoba's strong support for measures to eradicate forced labour that will ensure that fundamental worker rights are protected around the globe. Our Government is dedicated to providing public services in a timely, responsive manner and an efficient way. That involves improving our information and communication systems to the public so that we can serve them better. I would like to highlight two areas where my department is doing this. The first is the French Language Services area.

The department is completing a multi-year French Language Serv ices implementation plan as part of a provincial wide initiative. This plan outlines practical ways to improve client delivery of service by increas ing the number of desig nated staff positions, public information materials and public promotion campaigns. In order to ensure that French services are provided where requested, the department is providing cost-shared funding for an information specialist position for the St. Boniface bilingual government service centre, which is scheduled to open this September.

I would like to also mention the important role of inf ormation technology within my department in helping to provide more respon sive and efficient services to the public. Technology has become pervasive in much of our lives. We find it in our homes and work places. Our children quickly adapt to it and learn it in schools. It is a growing presence around the globe. People have come to expect improved services and faster responses to their needs. In meeting this challenge, we successfully updated our computer systems to avoid the year 2000 problem.

We improved our Internet presence and the information available. We continue to provide better tools for our employees. We maintained and upgraded our physical technology assets, and we worked to better secure and protect the information that we have been entrusted with as a department. * (1 0:20 ) My department will continue to improve on our use of technology as we seek new and innovative ways to deliver services to our citizens and to improve communications with all Manitobans.

I would now like to spend a little bit of time talking about our program overview and to provide summ ary highlights of some important developments in the program areas of the department. First, the Workplace Safety and Health Division. The mandate of Workplace Safety and Health is to prevent workplace

April 26, 200 1 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 85 1 injuries and illnesses. It is also responsible for ensuring public safety through inspections of elevators, boilers, gas and electrical equipment. All injuries are preventable. That is the key principle that guides our initiatives. Through Workplace Safety and Health Division, our Government is taking firm steps to make Mani toba workplaces safer and healthier. The eight safety and health officers we hired last year are completing their extensive training, and they are starting to work, actually effective next week.

One will be deployed in Thompson and seven in Winnipeg, focussing on the health care, manufacturing and construction sectors. There is another one of these new people actually working in Flin Flon. It is not a new position, but it is a position where that person is moving to Winnipeg, this new health and safety officer will be replacing that individual in Flin Flon.

For the upcoming fiscal year, we will be adding six new staff to Workplace Safety and Health with associated salary and operating costs of $5 1 0,000, two safety and health officers, two agronomists, a legal liaison with the Justice Department and a safety engineer. These positions will result in increased field activities, improved technical and administrative support. A new Advisory Council on Workplace Safety and Health has been appointed. The new council will consider, examine and review a number of crucial workplace issues.

These will include violence in the workplace, safety and health enforcement, safety concerns among youth workers, safety in the farming community and threshold limit values, which are guidelines to limit exposure to health hazards. The counc il will also be looking at regulations concerning safety and health committees and ergonomics. We have made considerable progress in making workplaces safer. We are moving towards a zero tolerance culture for any injury on the job. The message is clear. Our society and government wiil not tolerate acts of negligence that compromise the safety of our workers.

For example, the largest ever fines for violations of Workplace Safety and Health regulations were recently handed out to two companies. One firm was fined $27,000 for failing to provide workers with proper instruction, trammg and supervision while working on electrical equipment. A construction company was fined $75,000 for failing to provide a guard rail for an elevated work platform. In another example of our progress, safety audits and focussed inspections were conducted on 4 7 firms with the worst time loss injury records in the province followed up with regulatory enforcement.

As a result, injuries in these 4 7 firms were reduced by more than I 0 percent over a three-yea r period between 19 98 and 2000. We will continue our focussed effort this year. Workplace Safety and Health Division in partnership with the Workers Compensation Bo ard has put forward a set of eight strategic objectives for its three-year injury-reduction plan. At the top of the list is the target to lower the time loss injury rate by one percentage point or about 3000 injuries over a three-year period. This will reduce the WCB's annual compensation costs by about $25 million.

Workplace Safety and Health, in con junction with the WCB, is also developing initiatives to prevent workplace injuries to young workers under 25 years of age. Finally, we would be taking action against violence in the workplace. Our division held several public meetings with Manitoba's home care workers to discuss the situation and to lay groundwork for developing a focussed strategy for injury pre vention. The strategy calls for training initia tives, a working-alone plan and a violence prevention plan.

The Citizenship and Multiculturalism division was renamed in this past year to Immi gration and Multiculturalism, which reflects our Government's more focussed mandate on immigration. For the coming fiscal year we have increased funding to Imm igration and Multiculturalism by $505,0 00. This increase reflects the addition of 7.5 new staff years, 6.5 for Imm igration and I for Multiculturalism. Manitoba needs more skilled workers, and immigration will continue to be used to meet our province's economic and labour market needs. Our long-term goal is to double present immi-

852 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA April 26, 200 1 gration levels up to 8000 or higher annually. I am proud to announce the strong success we have already achieved. Last year, 4584 immi grants chose to come to Manitoba, an increase of 24 percent from the previous year. Also, last year we had a substantial increase in the number of skilled workers recruited through the Provincial Nominee Program; I 088 persons were nominated to the province, an increase of 16 0 percent from 19 99.

We have expanded the Provincial Nominee Program to also focus on self-employed and entrepreneurial immigrants who wish to establish their business in Manitoba. While the immigration of skilled workers is important to the provincial economy, we also strongly support immigration policies of family reunification and the protection and settlement of refugees and displaced persons. In 2000, 1017 refugees arrived in Manitoba, which was an increase of nearly 32 percent over the previous year. We will continue to work with our volunteer community of private sponsors toward integrating newcomers into our province.

The Imm igration Promotion and Recruitment Branch continues to be extremely successful in promoting Manitoba as an excellent immigration destination. In partnership with the federal government, the private sector and a variety of community groups, the Provin cial Nominee Program provides us with a direct means to select skilled workers and business persons to fill Manitoba's emerging labour markets and to contribute to the province's overall economic growth.

Last year, promotion recruitment staff travelled to a number of foreign destinations to promote the advantages and opportunities in Manitoba in settling families, finding employment and contributing to the vibrant diversity of our communities. The addition of three FTEs in 200 1 -2002 will provide additional support for promotion, assessment and selection activities. Settlement and Labour Market Services assists the settlement and integration of immigrants in the province and enhances their ability to contribute and parti cipate in Mani toba's labour market.

The branch works closely with stakeholders to co-ordinate services, including orien tation, employment services, Ian- guage and translation, wellness and credentials recognition, to help immigrants successfully integrate into our society. An increase of $1 40,200 in funding for settlement services and adult language training will ensure that we main tain a proactive response to the continued growth and diversity of needs of our newcomer population. The Adult Language Training Br anch develops and delivers English language training to new immigrants.

It also co-ordinates and provides funding support to community-based language training programs for women with child care responsibilities and for seniors. Workplace language training is also delivered with additional dollars matched by employers. We propose to add staff for Adult Language Training in response to a growing need for language assessment and placement services. The multiculturalism component of my department communicates and consults with ethnocultural community organizations, individ uals, government departments and agencies.

It is my pleasure to announce that, as a result of consultations with a number of ethno-cultural and community groups, we will be establishing a new ethnocultural organization known as the Manitoba Ethnocultural Advisory and Advocacy Council, short form MEAAC. The critic will remember his time as a part of the old Manitoba Intercultural Council, and this is our proud reconfiguring the concept of an advisory and advocacy group to the Government of Manitoba. I am pleased to say that this is the beginning of a completion of a commitment we made in the last two provincial elections.

The new council will have an advisory and advocacy role in identif ying priorities and recommendations for action to our Government on issues of importance to the multicultural community. The council will be assisted by the Multiculturalism Secretariat. An additional staff year has been added to this program to respond to the additional staff load. Over the past year, the Employment Standards Division has increased its focus on education and on ensuring that employers and employees are aware of their mutual rights and obligations in the workplace. As a result, the number of claims presented to Employment

April 26, 200 1 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 853 Standards and the number of general inquiry calls increased, yet the average time to resolve claims was reduced through the expansion of an early claim resolution service, which exceeded its projected goals in the past fiscal year. I am pleased to report that the Employment Standards poster campaign to educate employers and employees in the restaurant and hospitality industry about employment standards laws was completed in partnership with the Manitoba Restaurant Association.

Be ginning in February, information posters printed in English, French and Mandarin-Chinese were distributed to about 3000 restaurants and hospitality establishments in the province. The poster campaign is an indication of our commitment to ensure that young workers, who often find their first jobs in this industry, are aware of their rights and obligations under Employment Standards laws. It is also a demonstration of how good information and understanding on both sides can improve working relationships by eliminating misconception about basic entitlements and responsibilities of management and staff.

Also this year, a partnership has been established between Employment Standards and the Appren ticeship branch of the Department of Education to educate apprentices in 54 trades about rights and entitlements under Employment Standards laws. Over the next few months, information portf olios will be distributed to about 2000 apprentices in the construction industry. The remaining 53 trades will receive the portfolios as the awa reness program progresses.

The labour adjustment unit continues to assist workers, employers and single-industry communities in mit igating the effects of downsizing in an industry through joint consultative labour management adjustment committees. There are currently 11 of these committees affecting about 4000 workers. The unit has a completed worker adjustment handbook for workers participating on workforce adjustment committees. It showcases technological advances and modem job search tools such as Web sites for resumes, job interview techniques, labour market information, and government employment and retraining programs.

A French version of this handbook is also available. * (1 0:30) In addition the unit is involved in the ·interdepartmental working group to develop a community adjustment handbook which will outline or describe ways for local stakeholders to mitigate the impact of economic downturns. The handbook will contain tools for mobilizing community leaders, conducting impact assess ments, identifying opportunities and conducting residential community and business surveys. The Worker Advisor Office provides advice and assistance to clients in regard to workers compensation issues.

Approximately 500 clients were assisted this past year, and an additional 275 clients received assistance through the early intervention program to empower them to seek resolution of their workers compensation issues on their own. This past year the Worker Advisor Office in partnership with other branches completed a community outreach project that educated communities about safety and health rights and responsibilities in the workplace. The project also informed communities about services offered by the Worker Advisor Office and Workplace Safety and Health Division.

Information sessions were held for groups, and individual requests for information were referred to the appropriate agency for assistance. The Worker Advisor Office also began an awareness campaign within the medical com munity. Information sheets regarding worker rights under workers compensation laws as well as services available through the Worker Advisor Office were mailed to medical practi tioners and physiotherapists. The Manitoba Labour Bo ard is an independent quasi-judicial body that helps resolve a wide range of labour-related issues in a fair and equitable manner.

The board consists of an equal number of representatives from labour and management. The board recently engaged the services of a full-time vice-chairperson position to assist in dealing with an ever increasing number of complex matters before it.

854 LEGISL ATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA April 26, 200 I I would like to acknowledge the dedicated work of the chair, vice-chairs and members of the board for the challenging and important responsibilities they fulfil. Concil iation and Mediation Services Br anch plays a vital role in helping to resolve impasses in collective bargaining and labour-management disputes. I would like to mention some statistics about conciliation from our 2000-200 I year. My department was active in 213 joint application grievance mediation files with a settlement ratio of 83 percent.

We were also involved in 38 expedited mediation files with a settlement ratio of 98 percent. We had 17 4 conciliation files last year. There were I 0 strikes or lockouts and a settlement ratio of 91 percent. We assisted the parties in bargaining and established a relationship in 24 first collective agreements, and 2 bargaining units used the interest-based negotiation format. We continue to improve and upgrade the database, and we partnered with the federal conciliation mediation services in putting on an interest-based negotiations training session.

The Manitoba Pension Commission safeguards employees' rights to benefits promised under employment pension plans. This fall the Manitoba Pension Commission looks forward to hosting the 61 st meeting of the Canadian Association of Pension Supervisory Authorities which is the national association representing pension regulators in Canada. The Office of the Fire Commissioner in conjunction with the Manitoba Association of Native Firefighters signed a memorandum of understanding with the various Manitoba tribal councils.

This is the first step that will lead to the OFC providing fire and emergency training to First Nations communities at a level equivalent to that currently provided to municipalities. This initiative demonstrates our commitment to work with Aboriginal communities. With regard to fire and emergency services, the OFC, through the Manitoba Emergency Services College located in Brandon, doubled its intake of students applying for the public fire protection program. This program trains recruits for careers in fire and emergency response departments.

The OFC hosted the 15 th annual Emergency Services Conference where over 600 emergency response personnel attended a three-day hands on training conference unique to Canada. The OFC has also been approved to co-ordinate provincial resources to lost person search and rescues. The OFC in partnership with the RCMP was instrumental in the search for Marcus McKay last year. In addition the OFC signed a MOU with the RCMP to work together towards eradicating clandestine methamphetamine laboratories.

Finally with regard to community safety, another important priority for our government: The OFC participates as a key partner in the Winnipeg arson strike task force which has proved to be a deterrent to those intentionally setting fires. This partnership has resulted in a decrease of arson-related fires and an increase of arrests and conviction. This concludes my opening statements, Mr. Chair. I look forward to questions by members that will contribute to a meaningful discussion of the Department of Labour and Imm igration's 200 1 -2002 program Estimates. Mr.

Chairperson: We thank the Minister of Labour and Imm igration for those comments. Does the Official Opposition critic, the honourable Member for Springfield, have any opening comments? Mr. Ron Schuler (Springfield): First of all, I would like to welcome the minister back. It has been a year since we have had the opportunity to sit like this, and I am sure she will enjoy the six to eight weeks that we will spend together again this year. Certainly last year was a very interesting time for myself. It was the first time as a critic sitting at the table and having a chance to look at the various estimates.

Certainly I do not have the years of experience of the minister, and I still have quite a few questions on how the process works. I will be working with her on that. I certainly have a lot of questions on the financial side. I certainly would like to thank the minister for some of her comments. She touched on some key issues. On the parental leave, it shows when good legislation is brought forward and co-operation takes place. Certainly, it was an issue where Manitobans benefited. Certainly, I

April 26, 200 1 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 855 know my office got phone calls where people were saying: Is this coming into effect; when is it coming into effect? * (10: 40) I have mentioned to the minister in meetings that we had, and I certainly mentioned in the House that probably the best thing you can do is focus on the beginning years of childhood development. I think that in years gone by, that was not the case. I think a lot more effort and resource was put at the top end because that is where the feeling was that a lot of the learning takes place,

whereas I think we are finding out more and more that it is the beginning years, it is the early years that really make an impact on a child's life. I know certainly when I was on a school board, we talked about early intervention programs. They are extremely effective because if a child does not learn how to read at an early age, how do you expect that child to proceed on to the middle years and then, of course, Senior 1 to 4? So early intervention I think is very important.

Certainly for parents who choo se-it is not an obligated thing-w hether it be one or the other, to spend that year at home, I think it is very important. I think it speaks well to the province and to the nation that this is a step we have taken. I have always believed in this, and I think it was a very good move on behalf of this Legislature. Certainly as we move through the Estimates, I will have some questions in the different areas that the minister touched on. I do want to go and touch on a few issues that happened last year, as the minister had.

I do not share the minister's enthusiasm or optimism in some of the areas. I even go back to when we started Estimates, when we began last year. Certainly the minister was unco-operative in a lot of areas . We asked a lot of questions and the information was not given. I think the quote "in the fullness of time" came forward often. The minister was cagey in some respect. Certainly we as an opposition were aware that at that time the minister was planning on some substantial legislation. We had some feeling that it would probably be bad legislation.

How bad it was going to be, certainly we had no idea that it would be as bad as the likes of Bill 44. What really concerns us is that leading up to Bill 44, there had been a spin put out there, and I guess every new government will do that. They will try to set the tone of their Government. In fact, the minister's own Leader had the Manitoba Century Summit which he heralded as this great opportunity for the sheep, for the lamb to sit in the same pen with the lion. It was going to be harmony and peace.

I think that was the beginning of the betrayal that probably on both sides people felt that the Government was not forthcoming. They were not being forthright in what was being planned, and, again, as I mentioned, clearly we knew something was coming. Nobody on any side had any idea that it was going to be as severe as it was. I guess that is probably why the reaction was so severe. I would like to just quote a few things for the minister to sort of indicate to her where I am coming from and where we are coming from, why we feel that this was such a poor bill, that it was very untimely.

I would like to go back to the Premier's (Mr. Doer) ministerial statement on the Century Summit of March 15 . I quote him as saying: The Summit was an opportunity for key players in the economy to sit down together and to help give shape to a common economic vision, a vision for a better province and a brighter future, a vision that we can all support and buy into. Within a very short time, that was literally in ruins. That whole euphoria was shatt ered.

Probably like never before had the hopes been raised in the business community and probably amongst working men and women that this was going to be a non-traditional left-of-centre government, that this was going to be an NDP unlike NDP governments of the past, that they were actually going to try to work with business and labour, as the previous government had done. A vision that we can all support and buy into was certainly not what we saw during the Bill 44 debate. The press release goes on to say: Strategic partnerships were discussed with respect to three

856 LEGI SLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA April 26, 200 1 topics-workforce development, expanding m vestment and a new economy. I have said this on a lot of occasions in this House that when it comes to spend, when it comes to eloquent words, certainly this Govern ment is tops. I do not think the previous government was nearly as good at spinning something out there, and it sounds great.

Partnerships were discussed with respect to workforce development, expanding investment and the new economy, because what it indicated, or what people thought it indicated, was that this was a Government that was going to go to either the third option or was going to look at a different way of doing politics. Again, none of that, none of that was reflected in the minister's bill that came after this summit. I go on and quote: Planning has already begun on the required strategic enhancements. The upcoming Bu dget is the first step in this process.

We intend to continue dialoguing with Manitobans on these strategies as well as keeping all Manitobans informed on our progress. I wonder if the Premier (Mr. Doer) in the back of his mind was thinking that Bi ll 44 was going to be that progress that he was trying to put forward in his press release. He goes on to say: In conclusion, I would like to express my thanks to all of those who participated in the Manitoba Century Summit. I give the Government credit. Other than the humble servant of the people of Springfield, a lot of individuals were invited.

However, somehow either Canada Post lost my invitation or maybe, just maybe, I was not invited, though I am sure all of us are shocked here. I would have loved to have had been there and participated. I think it was a great opportunity. It goes on to say in the press release: Your spirit of co-operation and your ideas will serve us well as we confront the challenges of the global economy.

This is where the sense of betrayal comes in is that people who attended this conference, the groups that attended that were invited, the very groups that I will be referencing in short order, who felt that this was going to be a Tony Bla ir, third-option kind of a government. This is where the betrayal comes in. Nowhere during this conference was labour legislation discussed. In fact, at one point in time the Premier said no new labour legis lation is being planned. That was wrong. That was not the case.

The Government talks here about the global economy, and I think that is just so rich, because here they talk about the global economy and about all these kinds of things and off trots half of their NDP youth to go and do exactly the opposite and protest and march against and do whatever at the Summit of the Americas in Quebec City, going totally against the global economy. Here again is the leader of a party, the Premier of our province, preaching one direction and his party going in an absolutely different direction. The mixed messages.

I guess in the beginning people thought that it was the Premier that was leading. Clearly, he was not. Did the Premier not know that Bill 44 was forthcoming? Did the Premier not know that his party is clearly not in agreement with the global economy? I think that this was the bedrock, this was the foundation of where the business community felt that they had been misled by the Government. They felt that the Government had in ef fect used them. This conference was heralded as being an ability for a left of centre political party to try to cross the divide and deal with business.

Not its strength, given, that is probably not its strength, but the strength of the NDP would be to bring the labour movement onside to work with the business community. It was a very good opportunity for this Government to do positive things for the province and instead it was frittered away, it was squandered with Bill 44, where-I will be going into it shortly-a lot of political capital, where a lot of good will that a new government has coming in was absolutely squandered. The minister talked about the poor relationships between labour and management of the previous government. Whoa, minister.

Talk about bringing down a hailstorm. Talk about dividing the two communities, which a minister is basically supposed to keep together. It was the Manitoba Century Summit, it was how our Premier (Mr. Doer) misled the business community to believe that there was going to be something different, that this was going to be a

April 26, 200 1 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 857 different kind of a government, this was going to be a different Premier, and, yes, this was going to be a different kind of a minister. Clearly, it was not the case. So why was the mtmster unco-operative? Why was the minister edgy and cagey and all the little cutesy "in the fullness of time" and a lot of answers were not forthcoming? We had an indication. We sort of knew where something was forthcoming, but clearly the minister should have been-cagey. I give her credit.

Obviously you could not have given any indication that this kind of draconian, this kind of anti-worker, anti democracy, anti-employer, and pro-violence bill was going to come forward. The Estimates were basically a sham. We asked questions of where the direction of the department was going, because I think that is very fair. Monies are being spent, are spent on a department, and we wanted to know where their direction was going to be. Here was the Manitoba Century Summit. Was it going to be this Department of Labour's, this minister's goal, to actually bring those two groups together?

Was it to try to bring a different level of understanding between two, basically, adver saries and try to foster something different? Clearly not something that happened. What we ended up with was an ant i-worker, anti democratic, anti-employer, and definitely a pro violence bill. Certainly this member had a very long summer. It was a very taxing summer. I would like to bring to the attention some things that did come out, and I would like to reference an

article in the Winnipeg Free Press July 26: Labour law changes roll back workers' democratic rights, written by yours truly. * (10:50 ) The NDP held an economic conference this spring entitled the Century Summit which brought together government, business and labour groups. Once again, there was no talk of major changes to the province's labour laws. Mr. Chairperson, I have to say again, as the Premier (Mr. Doer) went through the province and spoke about all kinds of partnerships, nowhere was Bill 44 mentioned until we actually saw the bill presented. I can remember that date clearly.

The absolute shock of a group of business leaders that were standing in the lobby of the Manitoba Legislature, they absolutely could not believe what this Government had brought in. I think stunned was the response. I can understand why the minister was going to bring this bill in late. It was brought very late into the session. I believe this Government felt that the new Opposition was not going to be on its feet and certainly not able to challenge the Government on this bill.

I think they were counting on a very dry, hot summer, perhaps, that it would become intoler able and the Opposition would just lay down in acquiesce and give in to the Government on this bill.

I do not believe the Government ever, ever expected the kind of response it was going to get, but standing in the lobby of the Manitoba Legislature, the absolute shock from, not just the very pro-business groups, but the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce, which has taken a more even-keel approach, the Manitoba Business Council has taken more of an even-keel approach, the absolute horror of these groups of what this Government had done. There is an

article out of the Free Press of July 7: BIZ leaders call labour law changes pretty scary stuff. Labour Minister Becky Ba rrett said the Government sought a balance between labour and employers. Something, she said, was lost during the decade-long rule by the Tories. Business leaders quickly denounced the bill. This is pretty scary stuff says one business leader. It is a regressive step, says another one. It went on and on.

I think in the beginning it took a while to even get the business groups on side because nobody really believed that the Government would have gone that far in a draconian bill to the extent that the minister did. On July 7, in the Winnipeg Sun, we have got: New law attack on business, union building now easier. It is Dave Angus, President of the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce, not a radical individual. I think he is a fairly even keel. I would probably say he is more than likely liberal, if he is anything. He has been, I think, a very good spokesperson, and what does he say?

How can you argue against a democratic process of a secret ballot vote? Well, this Government, this minister and certainly this Premier (Mr. Doer) did. They felt that, for some reason, you had to strip workers of that right. The article, and

858 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA April 26, 200 1 I quote: It is important to assure that collective bargaining in Manitoba is conducted in a balanced way, something we agree with, that is productive and fair to employees and the community at large. The employers, says our current minister, and again, here is the spin. Clearly there is one thing they say; they talk about balance. They talked about being fair to all groups. Then they just absolutely hammer, and what is interesting about this particular bill is they hammered not just business, but they also hammered the rights of workers.

They hammered even on the union side, and I know, during the whole committee process, they trotted out the big wheels of the union movement, but there were a lot of workers who organized on the ground floor who said: The nice thing about the secret ballot is it gave you that moral authority. After that, there was no question. The workers had voted. The workers had spoken, and that was the end of it. The other system, it just always leaves a bitter taste, always leaves a sour taste in the mouth of people because how was it done, what kind of means were used?

Then starts the whisper campaign, did you know they used these tactics, and they used those tactics? Probably a lot of it not even being accurate, but the secret ballot gave it that legitimization. It was not just one individual. In fact, there was a radio show that was very telling. The minister was on that particular show. She did not really get a resounding, overwhelming group of people calling in supporting her. There was a union organizer called in and said exactly that, said what they liked about the secret ballot is it gave the union then the moral authority to proceed. It took away all questions.

I think it was a very poor move on behalf of this Government. I think it was certainly a poor move for the province. In an editorial on July 8, the editorial page of the Winnipeg Sun writes: Labour law, however, should not be written, or in this case unwritten, to please labour or management. It should be written for workers and here, too, it fails. The voices got louder. In this particular case do not think there are very many quarters where the minister or this Government had any support. I go on.

There was an editorial page of July 8: Doer, a former president of the Manitoba Government Employees Union, has laid to rest any hope that he is prepared to shed his union ties in favour of a more balanced approach to government. Contrary to how many times this minister and this Government went on and on about balance this, balance that, the opposite was the case. Here it is not just the Opposition saying it, it is not just the business groups, it is also the media groups. Doer's plan is not done anywhere in Canada, and it flies in the face of fair collective bargaining.

It goes on to say: We believe Doer is going down a dangerous path. Between his Pawley-style high-tax regime and his pro-union labour laws, he is poised to drive the Manitoba economy into the ground. Those are not our words, those are editorialists in the province. There is an

article from July 8 in the Winnipeg Sun that goes on to say: If people were under the impression they elected a left of centre Conser vative government last fall with Gary Doer replacing Gary Filmon, it is pretty clear they were mistaken. It is very clear we have a traditional pro-union socialist government. Again, this is what was coming out. The minister then proceeded with the bill into the House and tried to paint this picture that the LMRC had been 10 0 percent on her side; they were fully in support. I think this is where the most damaging

part came, that the very people she was trying to rely on to support her in this poor cause were the same people who were indicating to her that what she was saying was not actually the case. I read an

article from July 13: The Oppo sition released a confidential report yesterday by the Labour Management Review Committee. The committee was asked to consider 11 proposals. However, the controversial alternative dispute mechanism was not listed among them. The committee never had a chance to discuss the proposal . The minister then first went from unanimous to her new political term "partial consensus." She certainly coined a new term for all of us. What it says is that you could have one person agreeing with you and you just say: well, we have partial consensus, because certainly she did not have a very strong agreement at the

April 26, 200 1 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 859 LMRC for what she was planning, and certainly not on her alternative dispute mechanism. Later on, I believe, that is the one part of the bill that gave the minister the most grief, a poorly designed part of the legislation, very poor. The minister got caught up in it during committee and afterwards trying to explain some of the stuff that she thought it was supposed to do.

I think it was when the minister went out and tried to spin that there was this great support for what she was doing that the clear cracks, the clear divisions we saw later on, started to come to the forefront. In fact, the very groups that are supposed to sit together and hammer out these agreements and come to some kind of consensus representing a wide variety of groups, that was not the case. We saw that by letters that were sent to the minister and such. There was an

article on July 13 where it says, the minister said: The alternative resolution mechanism proposal was outlined in a separate document and given to the committee for discussion, but admitted the group could not agree on it either. Then she goes on to spin: This legislation is a balanced approach. First of all, she tried to spin that everybody had agreed to it, that they agreed to all elements. Then she had to get up in the House and say-actually, I will not even try. The minister can go into that one. She had just an incredible spin that she put together on that one.

It was really unfortunate because a bill this serious, a bill that was going to change the fundamentals, the dynamics of the way we do labour-management negotiations, at that point in time the minister should have had the courage to have withdrawn the bill and allowed more debate, allowed for it to have been put through the proper channels in a proper way. * (1 1 :00) There is an editorial from July 14.

It talks about the chaperone, that it would be the Labour Management Review Comm ittee which made 11 proposals to be considered in the drafting of the new Manitoba labour law, and, say the Tories: Glaringly absent in those proposals is the contentious alternative resolution mechanism, which permits either management or a union to bring a strike or lockout to binding arbitration after 60 days off the job. The Labour Management Review Comm ittee, I think that is very well put, is supposed to be the chaperone. It is supposed to be sort of a board that looks at it, that gives a lot of thought.

We find out later on that a lot of time was not given to the LMRC. They did not have the opportunity to really go through a lot of the issues. In fact, a lot of the issues were decided on and then this very sensitive, very divisive issue was brought forward after discussions had been made. From individuals who have worked on the LMRC, it really flies in the face of what they do there and what the attempt is that they are trying to do. There is another

article from July 16: Doer stumbles with business. There is a quote here from a business group, and they say: The pro labour legislation will all but drive capital in vestments out of the province. I think these are statements that are not made lightly and should not be taken lightly. Yes, there has been some investment, and certainly that is what we would like to see. We want to see the Province proceed. However, we have seen a lot of projects that are slowly sliding of f of the political agenda. You know, the Schneider's plant, which the Govern ment just seems to all of a sudden forget about.

There are a lot of other proposals that were coming forward that have slowed down, that will slowly slip of f the table and will be heard from no more. This bill, amongst other things, the heavy taxation load that Manitoba carries will also be part of it, but this bill certainly was the first stake that the Government put into the sand. There was an

article about July 20 that talks about: Labour bill irks business. The business community has to be heard on this issue because it has a dramatic effect on us, Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce President Dave Angus said yesterday. The whole eff ort is focussed on getting them to take a second look, he said. There is no advantage to creating an environ ment that is not conducive to growth. Again, this is what Minister of Labour (Ms. Ba rrett) and her department-that is why we spend the kind of money we do on the department. We spend money so that we see harmony, that we see the Province proceed in a proper fashion.

In fact, the minister, in her first speech last year to this committee, talked about these kinds of things

860 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA April 26, 200 1 which she was going to do, talked about the need to deal with the acrimonious debates that tend to occur between labour and management. Clearly that was not the case. There is an ar ticle out of the National Post which says: Manitoba labour leader Rob Hilliard, whose union central staff appear to have drafted Bill 44, downplays it as a small step in the right direction, even though the bill short circuits union democracy on the secret ballot clause and cuts off the allegedly sacred collec tive bargaining process.

Then what we saw was, even on the labour side, that not even labour was particularly pleased with the bill. Clearly they would have liked to have seen more. So I would like to comment to the minister and ask her: Does she believe that Bill 44 was worth the kind of divisions that happened in the province? We spend a lot of taxpayers' dollars on the Department of Labour. Is that money well spent, in light of the kind of damage that was wrought upon our community between labour and management? Was it worth it for this Government? After the debate, the Premier (Mr.

Doer)-! will be getting to that later-i ndicated it was not, but that would be my question. That would be the end of my statement for now, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairperson: We thank the critic from the Official Opposition for those remarks. Under Manitoba practice, debate of the Minister's Salary is traditionally the last item considered for the Estimates of a department. Accordingly, we shall def er consideration of this item and now proceed with consideration of the next line. Be fore we do that, we invite the minister's staff to join us at the table, and we ask that the minister introduce her staff present.

Minister, please introduce your staff. Ms. Barrett: , Yes, I would like to introduce the Deputy Minister of Labour and Imm igration, Tom Farrell, and the Assistant Deputy Minister of Labour/Management Services Division, Mr. Jim Nykoluk. Mr. Chairperson: We thank the minister. We will now proceed to line 1. Executive (

b) Exec utive Support

(1) Salaries and Employee Benefits $52 1 ,3 00, on page 12 2 of the Main Estimates book. Shall the item pass? Mr. Schuler: Mr. Chai rman, I would like to put a few comments on the record in regard to the Bu dget, and then I would like to close off with a question. Again, it deals with the kind of expenditures that have taken place over the last year, and then we are talking now about the monies that are supposed to be expended this year. I want to start by asking a question. I will ask it at the end of my comments. The Depart ment of Labour is there; that is supposed to work for both sides.

The Department of Labour is supposed to bring harmony to the province. The minister is supposed to be seen as an impartial minister, and yet Bill 44, I believe, was not that. I would like to ask the minister, and I am going to make a few comments first, and then I would like to ask her the question if she feels that this is where the department should be heading. I would like to quote out of a newspaper clipping on July 22 during the whole debate on Bill 44. This is out of the Winnipeg Free Press, an editorial which says: Back down, Mr. Doer.

National business pages have noted that Today's NDP is a lot like yesterday's NDP, the friend of big labour, defender of closed shops rather than open markets. It goes on to say: Mr. Doer is the Premier of all Manitobans, but it is not clear that he listens to Manitobans who are not members of unions. The Winnipeg Free Press goes on to say, and something that I mentioned earlier, and it comes out of the Winnipeg Free Press of July 23: There is a real sense of betrayal in the busi ness community, Kelly said, adding his group is still finalizing what tack to take.

It was not until, by the end of July, that we saw the Government starting to soften its labour standard, and in a Free Press article, we read about: NDP softens labour stand. Minister opens door to change after business launches war on bill.

April 26, 200 1 LEGISLATIV E ASS EMBLY OF MANITOBA 861 *( 11: 10 ) It goes on to say: Yesterday a confidential memo was produced. Memo sent to the minister by the province's Labour Management Review Committee that showed management groups were worried about some of the labour changes. Again, it goes back to the Estimates we are taking about. Is that really where we should be going with the province? Is that really where we should be going with this Department of Labour?

The Department of Labour certainly has a direct impact on a lot of departments within the Government, and this bill, in particular. had a big impact on the way Government was going to interact with the employers, with the groups, with the businesses, that helped to drive this economy. In the Winnipeg Free Press, an editorial on July 26 said, speaking about the minister: She could have expected a bad reaction across the country, where investors and business leaders have been anxiously watching Today's NDP to see whether it would keep the province open for business.

It goes on to say: Nor would she have acted without the advice of the Labour Management Review Comm ittee formed to vet labour legislation. One would have thought she would have given that process a lot more time. It goes on to say that the Premier, he apparently thought everyone would agree it is a good idea to strip workers of their democratic right, to re ject unionization by secret ballot and to encourage unions to launch foolish strikes, secure in the knowledge that arbitration would save them from mistakes. This is the Winnipeg Free Press I am quoting from. These are not this humble servant's words.

In fact, it is from the Winnipeg Free Press. It goes on to say that the Premier should instruct the minister that, once those complaints have been received, the legislation be shelved until the next session of the Legislature, and that is something we were calling for. Failing a positive outcome from the public education effort, he should instruct her, the Premier should instruct the minister to let the matter drop, and that is from the Winnipeg Free Press. On July 28, the Winnipeg Free Press went on to say, and it quotes one of the prof essors from the I. H.

Asper School of Business: This absolutely has the potential to seriously derail perhaps the best economy we have had in 25 years, said John McCallum, a Finance Professor at the University of Manitoba's I. H. Asper School of Business. He goes on to say: Arbitration settlements are typically more generous than through the collec tive bargaining process. Sorry, that was Mr. Kelly. George Fraser of the Manitoba Home Build ers' Association is quoted as saying: They got their agenda through in advance of business.

On July 29, we have The Winnipeg Sun reporting: If they want to make it impossible to do business in this province, then that is their prerogative. That was one of the business leaders. He goes on to say: I think that they should be very careful that they do not drive business out of the province. We then saw the whole debate, and again I bring the question back to the minister. Is that her role? Is that the role of her department? Is that why the public spends so much money to see this kind of divisive behaviour? Now, we saw what was coming out of the business community.

Then, all of a sudden, we saw the ante upped by the labour groups, and, of course, that would sort of be a natural. It would be a natural that the business groups would also then get involved into the debate. There is quote in the July 29 Winnipeg Sun

article that says, and it is from Paul Moist, President of CUPE Local 500: It borders on hysterical. It is pretty ideological. There is not a lot of fact behind them at all. That was one of the beginning shots. Again, the minister sat on the sidelines, allowed this fight to take place, allowed the divisions to take place, and it was really most unfortunate for it. Then we have Rob Hilliard who jumped into the fray, and clearly he was going to defend his interests, and the minister sitting on the sidelines allowing this all to unfold, the Government allowing these divisions.

We spend a good chunk of money on the department. We pay a lot of taxpayers' dollars for a department that is supposed to

862 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA April 26, 200 I mitigate these kinds of things. Instead, the min ister allowed them to take place, periodically taking out the jerry-can, throwing a bit of fire onto the whole thing. Here is a quote from Rob Hilliard: This is the lunatic fringe of the business community, referring to the coalition that had decided to step to the plate and deal with the Government on this particular issue, and of course dealing with all the various business groups, the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce, the Manitoba Chamber of Commerce, the Business Council and on and on.

This is now how shrill the debate was starting to get, and where was the minister? Where was the department? Where was the taxpayers' paid department that was supposed to step in and take care of this? None of it was taking place. This kind of attack against each other, this kind of divisiveness was allowed to take place and nothing was being done, the Premier wanting not to get his hands dirty on this and the minister not seeming able to deal with the issue in a proper fashion without trying to slow this down. And here we had an

article in the Winnipeg Free Press of August II: Business coalition, crazy people. Attack on proposed labour law hysterical. That is the headline. Frankly, these ads come from the lunatic fringe, said Hilliard. They are nuts, they are crazy people. This is an ad campaign that is nothing short of an ideo logical, hysterical response to nothing. The min ister sat on the sidelines and allowed this to continue. Peter Woolford, spokesman for the Retail Council of Canada, then responded: We are very concerned that this presents a reckless and very radical jump into the unknown.

There is Roy Eyjolfason of Seagram Canada from Gimli : The collective bargaining process is working. Why alter it? The debate got hotter and hotter. We saw that the ads were being run, more and more people were getting involved in this. Certainly when we got to committee it was just a disgrace how this so-called minister's bill to bring balance and harmony, the kind of damage it did. We then went into the hearings. The presentations came forward, one of them, Larry Mcintosh, president of Peak of the Market, great company.

I have heard the minister's Government praise Peak of the Market for the great stuff that is done. They said in a written statement that business opportunities will be lost that we will not even know about. Businesses who do not move here do not tell us they are not coming, he said, because of the legislation, and we warned the minister about it. Then to add insult to injury the minister and her colleagues decided to shut down the committee meetings instead of allowing at least one more opportunity where perhaps we could have listened to all sides, given them a fair opportunity.

Maybe we could have had people vent a little bit, brought them together and try to come up with some compromise. What did the Minister of Labour do, the minister who wants to bring harmony to this province, the minister who wants to see that the kind of strikes, the kind of acrimony is reduced? Instead she just stands there with her jerry-can, pours more gasoline onto the fire and calls closure. They shut down the committee. At that point in time clearly you had a government on the run, you had a government in disarray, and they wanted to crush freedom of speech.

The minister and her colleagues proudly stood up, decided to shut it down because really at that point in time it was the most politically expedient thing to do. The right thing to have done would have been to pull the bill and allowed the whole situation to cool down and maybe allowed the groups to have got together to have discussed it, to have come up with something a little bit more harmonious. What does our minister do with her department? What does the minister do, the one who is supposed to be the arbitrator? Does she intervene and try to cool things off? No, she brings in closure.

We sat till the most unbelievable hours of the morning. Clearly we could have had the committee go till midnight and allowed more groups to present, we could have scheduled them in, done the reasonable thing but no, that was not the case. In the Winnipeg Sun there is an article: Bill 44 called serious disincentive to doing business. Letters deluge NDP government. Bill 44 is a

April 26, 200 1 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 863 serious disincentive to doing business in Manitoba and will have the effect of discouraging further investment in the province, wrote Wal-Mart Canada CEO Dave Ferguson in a recent letter to Labour Minister Becky Barrett. Then again, this is not the servant to the people from Springfield, the critic of Labour. This is not the member from Springfield making these statements. These are individuals who have a stake in the province. These are individuals who invest in the province. These are individuals who employ a lot of people in the province.

Again I ask the minister, where was she? We are going through Estimates. We talk about a lot of public money. There is a reason why the public agrees to us spending money in particular on the Department of Labour, on the deputy minister, great individual. Why did the minister not instruct the deputy minister to try to find some kind of cooling-off mechanism at this point in time? [interjection} It is the minister's job. The minister is absolutely right, and the minister was not capable of doing it.

The Premier was not capable of doing it, and the issue heated up and heated up and got worse and worse until we received a letter. We received it later on in August, August 8, and it went to the Premier and the honourable minister. It comes from all people, Art DeFehr, and what is so unbelievable about this, having known the family for many, many years-and I know the honourable Member for Rossmere (Mr. Schellenberg) as well. I mean he sat at the table and broke bread with the president of Palliser, Art DeFehr, at the North Kildonan M.B. Church fundraising dinner. They sat together.

Of course at that point in time Bill 44 had not been introduced, or I am sure Mr. DeFehr would have had a few things to say to the honourable Member for Rossmere, who has a lot of the individuals who are employed by this company. * (11 :20) As I have said before to this minister, the DeFehr family is not a political family. At no point in time have they indicated to myself or anybody else that they are supporters of my party, certainly not made that indication to myself. In the past their tradition has been to stay out of politics. I do not believe they have been big contributors to political parties.

They do a lot work in the community. They are great supporters of community projects. They have the DeFehr Foundation, and they tend to shy away from politics. Again, we are talking about the Department of Labour, where clearly, clearly a lot of money that comes from business goes to it; it comes out of the common fund. Instead what does the minister do? Allows this kind of soul searching to take place on behalf of the employers of this province. I would like to quote from the letter. Just for a point of clarification, Mr.

Chairman, when we read a letter during commit tee, are we allowed to quote the names or do we have to give the position? Mr. Chairperson: You can table the letter. Mr. Schuler: The letter has already been tabled. It is a matter of record for the House. Mr. Chairperson: When you quote a letter, you have to not use the person's name but give the person's constituency, or the portfolio. Okay. Mr. Schuler: And that is even for committee? Mr. Chairperson: Yes. Mr. Schuler: Okay. Thank you. I think I have not been doing that. I will make sure that I do that from here on in.

The letter is directed to the Premier and to the Minister of Labour (Ms. Barrett). I think it is very telling and deserves to be mentioned: I would like to express my deep concern with regard to the proposed changes to labour law in Manitoba. Regardless of your intentions, as the largest private employer in Manitoba and the largest non-union employer, we are very clearly a prime target of this legislation.

As a company and as a family, we have always been supportive of the democratic process for the prosperity of our province and the community and concerned in a very personal way about the security, welfare and job satisfaction of our employees. I am personally saddened in that this legislation will undoubtedly cause us to act in a

864 LEGISLATIVE ASSE MBLY OF MANITOBA April 26, 200 1 manner that is designed to protect our business and to ensure alternatives, actions that may not be to the benefit of the province, the community or potential Manitoba employees. Current labour law is already unbalanced in that unions are permitted to use any means, including intimidation and disinformation, to gain signatures. Yet the company is at risk simply by communicating with its employees in a manner that an external party can deem to have crossed some imaginary line. The proposed changes amplify that problem.

We lived with this disparity, partially comforted by the fact that the employee had a second opportunity to vote where there was no personal intimidation. For the minister, I will quote that again: We lived with this disparity, partially comforted by the fact that the employee had a second oppor tunity to vote where there was no personal intimidation. We accept the right of employees to unionize but find the removal of the democratic right to a secret ballot totally unac ceptable, and will govern our future actions based on that view of the balance or imbalance in the law.

Palliser has never had a union vote in any of its business units, although there have been external efforts to unionize. With 3700 em ployees in the province, our company represents a great business opportunity for a union. Union fees would be between $1. 5 million to $2 million per year. There are tremendous incentives to manufacture less in Canada and use lower-cost production facilities in other countries. I personally take the view that providing a secure and meaningful job is a service to the com munity and to the individual.

We deliberately seek to employ refugees-and I am sure this is important to the minister-i mmigrants and the marginalized, not to pay lower wages but to provide opportunity as a measure of gratitude for the opportunities afforded our own families as they entered Canada. These people may be the unfortunate victims of your supposed well intentioned policy. It will not address the issues regarding the various features of Bi ll 44 since others have critiqued them eloquently. As Premier, you have the opportunity to provide leadership in a matter of policy and legislation on behalf of all citizens.

If this legisla tion is really required and will benefit the province and the majority of its citizens then the introduction and passage in a hurry and during the summer is not evidence of leadership or conviction. I add my voice to others and request that you set this legislation aside to determine if it can withstand a serious analysis and critique. Nevertheless, you are in a position of power and authority to make your own decision about legislation, and I am in a position to make decisions about Palliser, investment policy and employment.

This letter is written to prevent any false illusions regarding the future. I trust you will remember the middle word in the name of your party. Manitoba is a tough place with limited natural assets. All we have is our people, and that includes our entrepreneurs. Do not put our future at risk for the wrong reasons. Sincerely, Art DeFehr, President of Palliser Furniture.

Again, the mm1ster, with all the king's horses and all the king's men, the minister and her whole department did not foresee this kind of a division in the community, had no idea that this kind of thing might take place, had no idea the kind of shambles that were left, that that is what we would have by the time the bill went through. The Winnipeg Sun writes: DeFehr warns NDP, and it goes on to say: We now have an example of a business that is saying this affects their investment in the province. We asked the Government, we asked this minister, we asked time and time again: Who asked for this bill?

Which business came to you? Who was it that wanted this bill? Who said: For us to invest a $10 0 million in the province, $20 million in the province, we need this legisla tion? Who called for it is the question we were asking of the minister, the minister who is responsible for seeing that there is labour harmony in the province, exactly what we are talking about, the Estimates, the spending of money on a department that is supposed to do certain things in the province, not create division, not to create these kinds of harsh and strong letters.

April 26, 200 1 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 865 I ask the minister: Was it worth it? Was that really worth going through all of that? Was there not an opportunity somewhere to have said maybe we should do the right thing, step in and do a cooling-of f period, to not allow it to just step itself up further and further and further? Was the minister not prepared to do the right thing and step in and allow a cooling-off period? I suggest to the minister that it is most unfortunate that she allowed it to get to this point. * (1 1 :30 ) I understand my time has run off? I have nine minutes.

I would also like to point out to the committee on this particular bill, and I mentioned during the last Estimates period, I mean, clearly we have a minister, Master of Arts, I believe-Master of Social Work. I stand corrected. The minister is well educated. She has been in this House, well versed on the rules, knows exactly how things are to proceed.

What was so telling is after the minister had shut down democracy for the second time by putting closure on the committee, the next morning we met to finish up on the bill and the minister produced what was called the settlement of a collective agreement alternative dispute mechanism. It is a chart, and I remember clearly, I am sure the minister remembers this particular chart. The minister tried to then explain to the committee how the chart worked.

It was actually painful for members opposite, because no matter how hard she tried to explain it, she just did not quite seem to be able to explain it, and it could have been that we had been up for a lot of nights late. That is reasonable. But I think it does not speak to the minister, and I have said this before, I believe it speaks to the bill. After all of the divisions and after everything that the bill supposedly does or does not do, the bill was a poor bill. It was poorly written. It leaves an awful lot of ambiguity. Where does it begin? Where does it end? How does the flowchart work?

The minister could not even explain that. I move on. The minister then was in a media serum, and, of all things, the minister then starts to contradict her own legislation. Again, I do not believe that is a reflection on the minister. I would never state something like that. I believe it is a reflection on the poor legislation. I quote from November 11 , The Winnipeg Sun: The minister said it would be unfair for one side in a labour dispute to be forced into an arbitrated settlement against its will, a statement that is contrary to the NDP's position throughout the entire debate over Bill 44.

It is just so telling, because if you go to the July 22 Winnipeg Free Press, the minister talks about promoting solutions, and this is an ar ticle written by the minister. It was written by her. It is in the Winnipeg Free Press July 22, page A15: The law should encourage the practice of collective bargaining and the settlement of disputes. So she felt that at that time that this mechanism was the right way to go, it was the correct way to go.

She is quoted on July 17 in the Winnipeg Free Press that the Labour Minister describes the challenge as moderate adjustments that will help introduce more balance to the system. The minister says the Government is striving to build more positive industrial relations in the province by encouraging investment while at the same time helping ensure Manitoba workers are treated fairly. Then she is quoted in an

article November 11 as saying: It would be unfair for one side in a labour dispute to be forced into an arbitrated settlement against its will, a sta tement that is contrary to her position previously quoted from July 17 and other articles. Clearly the minis ter was not even quite apprised of the kind of effects that this bill would have. She was having difficulty with her own bill. The media quote goes on to say, quote: In order to go to binding arbitration, both sides would have to agree to it, Barrett, the minister, told reporters.

Binding arbitration is binding, and in order for that to work, both sides have to agree that they will go to binding arbitration. It would be unf air, she says, if only one side agreed to binding arbitration and the other side did not. The minister, with all the king's horses

866 LEGISL ATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA April 26, 200 1 and all the king's men, could not even figure out Bill 44. The taxpayer spends a lot of money on the Department of Labour. The taxpayer puts a lot in for the minister, for her staff, for advisors, communications people. Goodness knows how much is in here, and the minister puts forward, her Government put forward, a bill that she contradicts herself within months of it having been acrimoniously put through, shutting down democracy twice. Why are we spending all this money, minister? For division?

For the minister not even to have it straight-and it is a complicated bill. I remember right from the start the minister trying to explain this flow chart. I have looked over it. My goodness. If the minister does not understand, who is supposed to get it? Minister, I believe the taxpayers and certainly we in the Opposition question why we spent the kind of money-in fact there was a cost overrun from the original Estimates. Now we are looking at a substantial increase again. Why are we doing that, minister, when we have nothing but division?

We have the employers, one after another after another coming forward and saying: What is the department doing? What is the minister doing? Where is the impartiality? Where is the balance when the minister talks about balance one moment, talks about not being fair the next moment? The minister in fact is the best critic of Bill 44. When the twilight of it all is over, it is the minister that ended up being the best critic of this bill.

In fact, the Winnipeg Sun quoted your humble servant in which it says: it is nice to see that, after a little bit more than a year in government, they finally come to look at things our way, said the Tory Labour critic. Minister, I think, before we actually go into line by line, the people of Manitoba do have a right to have an answer to know what is going on. The minister came in and promised harmony. The lion and the lamb were going to eat grass on the field. It was going to be wonderful, unlike we had ever seen ever before in the history of this province. There was going to be harmony.

I hardly call what I have just laid out for this committee harmony, minister, hardly, and the bill that the minister could not even get right in a media serum. Minister, the question is: Was that worth it, spending all that money, all that political capital? Was Bill 44 really worth it? Mr. Chairperson: I thank the Member for Springfield, but I would just like to remind everyone that comments should be directed to the Chair, not to the minister. Mr. Schuler: Your humble servant has only been here about 18 months. Do you know what?

If you would just even point that out as we are going along, I will remember to learn these rules. You are absolutely right. I am supposed to speak through you. Even with addressing articles and that, I will try to make sure I stick by the rules. I appreciate that comment. Mr. Chairperson: I thank the Member for Springfield. Ms. Barrett: I would like to make a couple of comments on the member's statements, the first one being that, at the very end of his comments, he said before we get into line by line.

I want to suggest that I would like to comment on some of the things he said in his very extensive comments, but I do think it is critical that we move forward and talk about the Department of Labour and the Estimates before us. I debated whether I would even respond to some of the stuff that the member talked about because it was about things that happened almost a year ago. I would like to respond, but I also do not want this to get into just a rehash of what went on last year. I think it is critically important that we discuss the Estimates of the Department of Labour for this coming-up year.

Another thing I would like to say is that the member is inaccurate in his comments about the amount of money we spend on the Department of Labour in trying, I understand, to put that kind of money into the discussion and the debate about Bill 44. The only role of the Department of Labour staff that is in this Estimates book that we are discussing here, the whole issue around Bill 44, from its very beginnings to the con clusion of it, was to provide information to the minister, to the Government and assist in the drafting of the legislation.

That is the appropriate role of a department in dealing with any legislation.

April 26, 200 1 LEGISLATIVE ASS EMBLY OF MANITOBA 867 So I could make a comment that the entire discussion that the member engaged in, his entire statement, was inappropriate in the sense that it is a political discussion and not a discussion of the role of the department itself.

So I want to make that very clear that, from the deputy minister on down, the role that the department played in Bill 44 was providing information to the Government, to myself and to the Cabinet, and to the Caucus and to the Government as a whole, not in any way, shape or form dealing with a political process that was underway. * (1 1 :40) The member started his comments with the discussion about the Century Summit and he used words like "betrayal", that what happened after the Century Summit was a betrayal of the comments and the kind of process that was undertaken in the Century Summit.

I would like to say that I thought the Century Summit, and 1 think everybody who participated thought, it was an excellent beginning. My response in the beginning to that is that, as far as, and again some of the quotes that the member was using from the business community is that subsequent to Bill 44, I have had several series of meetings and consultations with a number of representa tives of the business com munity. People who were not pleased with Bill 44, no question about it.

Including, but not limited to the CFIB, the Manitoba Restaurant Association, both Chamber of Commerce groups, the Manitoba Chamber of Commerce and the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce, the Retail Council of Canada and the Manitoba Business Council-an d I may have left some groups out-but I had good consultations and discussions about general issues and, in particular, the minimum wage issues and the employment standards changes to the parental leave.

While we agreed to disagree over Bill 44, content and process with these groups, we have been able to, I think, establish a very positive consultative relationship since then. That has been the actual comments that have been made by these groups to myself. The member spoke about confronting the challenges of the global economy and what he thinks is a disconnect between the Premier's (Mr. Doer) comments at the Century Summit and some of the statements that have been made in the context of the Summit of the Americas, which was just held. No one denies the reality of the global economy.

I think where people disagree and legitimately can disagree is how you deal with the global economy, how you ensure that trans national corporations, some of whom are larger and have bigger assets than small countries, do not take over the agenda completely. How do you ensure that there still is a role for govern ments which are the only publicly elected, popularly elected, in democracies at any rate, organizations? How do you ensure that there remains, and one of my favourite words, a balance in that concept?

We are in a very critical period of time globally, which has impacts, not only for the global economy, the global social order, the global everything, but has effects on our lives here in Manitoba. That is not to say that we do not recognize and acknowledge the existence and the reality of the global economy. The member talked about bringing the two groups together, business and labour.

I think the reality is that it does not matter which party is in government in the province of Manitoba or any where; there will always be differences of view and differences of opinion between business organizations, business groups, business leaders, and labour. That is by nature the situation. There is not, I think the member is inaccurate or is not being realistic when he thinks that there is any way to have unanimity on everything between business and labour.

What you need to do is you need to try and ensure that the dialogue is transparent, that the dialogue is open and frank and that you do not destroy relationships on either side after you have completed the process when it comes to legislation. I would suggest that that is the case that happened after Bill 44; that the relationship between the Government and the business community has not been destroyed.

868 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA April 26, 200 I My own example that I have shared with the member about the relationships that I have had and the open dialogue that has taken place between myself and various business groups. Very good comments and actually some changes that have been made in our looking at the, for example, the changes to the employment standards legislation relating to parental leave, and the EI harmonization. So I think that we have done a good job.

I know other ministers can share their stories of the ability they have had to relate with the busi ness community as well as to the labour community. Specifically, and as a corollary to that, the issues around the LMRC and Bill 44. Yes, there were process issues, and I have reflected on them and have taken into account for future discussio ns, the process issues that were raised by LMRC.

The concept of consensus when it is dealing with MLRC is a concept that again, when you are dealing with an organization or a group such as MLRC that is reflective of both the business community and the labour community, is that you are likely not to get consensus on every issue. You do not get consensus on the minimum wage board, you do not get consensus, sometimes you do not get consensus on the labour board- universal, unanimity consensus. You have to have a consensus on the labour board for there to be a ruling, because it is a three-party panel that deals with things. Bu t there are views that are expressed.

As far as consensus, when it comes to LMRC dealing with legislation, which is contentious, labour legislation is almost always, by its definition, contentious, because it deals with-in labour legislation-sorry, I want to narrow the focus labour legislation, when it deals with The Labour Relations Act. That is the one I am talking about here, Labour Relations Act, which deals with the relationship between employers and employees in a union setting. So, The Labour Relations Act, I want to remind the member, only relates to approximately one-third of the workforce in Manitoba.

That is the workforce that is, or is attempting to be, or has been unionized. You are not going to get consensus on everything when you are discussing labour legislation, just by its very definition. The LMRC did offer consensus on a number of the elements that were in Bi ll 44. The LMRC, in discussing Bill 26, which was the last Labour Relations Act amendments in 19 96-97, that LMRC, my understanding is, although I was not in government at the time, there was virtually no consensus out of LMRC when that former bill came forward.

So, that Bill 44 process, when it comes the LMRC consensus, has followed the same thing that others have. This did not change the fundamentals of labour relations, as I have said in the House and in discussions about this. Bill 44 virtually, in every instance, went back to pre-'96-only legislation that was in place. The alternate dis pute resolution mechanism, yes, was a change reflective of very successful first-contract legislation.

I would like to say, in the context of the committee hearings, that the process that was undertaken in dealing with Bill 44, about the continuation or not continuation of the committees-as a matter of fact, I think the bill was virtually identical to the process that was undertaken in the committee hearings on Bill 26 in 19 96-97, when the former government was in place, with one change, I believe. I have to be corrected on this. I believe that actually the people who were on the list and had not spoken and went down to the bottom were actually phoned more often than they were in I 997.

I am not talking about right or wrong. I want the member to know that. I am just saying that the member is inaccurate if he makes the comments, which he made, that we were draconian, that we were undemocratic in our processes. If we were draconian and undemocratic in our processes in Bill 44, the former government, the party that the member represents, when it was in government, was just as undemocr atic and draconian. So, you can talk about the process itself, but it is not just our Government that has undertaken it. For Bill 26, there were I 60 presenters on the list.

In the year 2000, for Bill 44, there were 15 4 presenters on the list, so very similar kinds of processes there.

April 26, 200 1 LEGISLATIVE ASS EMBLY OF MANITOBA 869 A couple of other things, just in response to the member's comments. I do not know if the member received a copy of this letter, but it was a letter sent to his Leader on December 21 of last year in response to his questions in the House with the Premier over the binding arbitration provisions in Bill 44. I will paraphrase: enclosed, a copy of the overview of the changes. It is two pages of general overview and then the infamous flow-chart. The letter is about a page and a half. I am more than happy to give the member a copy of it if he has not received it.

I start off by saying, because he was not Leader at the time we discussed Bill 44, he was probably not up to speed on all of the aspects of that legislation. * (1 1 :50 ) Then I talk about the media serum that the member referenced in some of his comments. At the end of the serum, and here I am quoting, Tom Br odbeck, the person from The Winnipeg Sun, raised the issue of binding arbitration. I did state, as was quoted in the paper, that binding arbitration could not be imposed in labour disputes unless both the employer and the union agree.

The element that appears to be missing in discussing this issue is that I was referring to the beginning of the process. If you go to the schematic, it is the A and B on the left side, where, after the Labour Boa rd has determined that the alternate dispute mechanism options can take place, then the employer and union decide on the settlement process. So it is after either side makes ref erence to the Labour Boa rd saying: We have been out for 60 days; we have had conciliations not working; we want to go to the labour board; we have got to get this thing off square one.

Then the labour board makes the determination: Yes, you are right; you have bargained in good faith; you can go ahead, using the mechanism and the good offices of the labour board wherever possible. Then, which is at the beginning of the process, both sides have to agree on what they want to do, the process they want in order for binding arbitration to take place, to be the option chosen, both sides have to agree, because it is binding. If one side, either the employer's or the employee's side says, no, we do not want binding arbitration, then binding arbitration does not take place.

Then it goes into the whole Labour Boa rd process. This is not easy, but what happened in the serum is that I was very aware of the schematic. I did not have a copy of it with me because this, by the way, was the question tacked on to the end of a serum which was on a totally different issue, so I was not prepared with the schematic in the serum, but I was referencing the beginning of the process up there in the left hand side, (

a) or (b). You cannot have that binding arbitration without both sides, and Mr. Br odbeck, I believe, was talking about a differ ent part of the process. We had a disagreement, not a disagreement but we had a difference of where we were talking about it in the process. Going back to the letter, once the beginning has happened, then the two sides have two op tions. They can jointly agree to arbitration or they can have the Labour Board become in volved. As is the case whenever arbitration is selected, both sides must agree to use the arbitration option and must agree on the arbitrator within 1 0 days.

As you can see from the schematic, the arbitrator shall then settle all outstanding issues and the arbitrator's ruling is final and binding. It would be unfair if only one side was able to choose the arbitration alternative referred to in this process. If both sides cannot agree to an arbitrator or they choose not to use an arbitrator, which is that they can both agree not to have an arbitrator, then it goes to the Labour Bo ard process. My letter goes on to say what I have just said to the member, that I believe there was a misunderstanding between myself and Mr.

Brodbeck, not that either one was right or wrong, but that we were talking about different parts of this schematic. That is the letter that I sent to the member's leader. I have not received a response, so I am under the assumption that the leader recognized the fact that this was a genuine misinterpretation on the part of the reporter of what I was saying. I am not meaning to have negative aspersions cast on the reporter but just that if we had a chance, not in the serum context, to sit down, I think we would have understood that that was a misinterpretation of one side and the other.

870 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA April 26, 200 1 A couple of other things, and I will try and conclude my response before the noon hour so we can actually, when we come back again, start on the actual Estimates. I would just like to give you some statistics. Instead of all but driving capital investment out of the province, which was a quote by the member whether his own or from a newspaper article, in 2000 our growth rate was 3.5 percent. The unemployment rate was 4.9 percent, the lowest it has been in 25 years and overall lowest in Canada. Youth unemployment rate, lowest in the country at under 10 percent.

Employment rose by 2.2 percent for the strongest annual increase in 15 years. Employment grew by 11 700 and the number of jobs continue to grow in the first two months of this year. Average weekly earnings increased by 3.5 percent, the strongest increase in a decade and stronger than the 2.3% increase for Canada as a whole. Last year, 2000, personal disposable income on average rose by 5.6 percent, the strongest annual growth in 11 years. That is the kind of money that the members opposite are talking about people having in their pockets, 5.6 percent.

For the first time since the mid-'80s more Manitobans are staying than leaving, and actually people are coming back from other parts of the country to Winnipeg and Manitoba. Never mind the strength that we have actual and potential with hydro. Finally, the member spoke in his comments about Bi ll 44, how this was going to devastate the labour climate in the province. In 2000 there were 10 work stoppages involving just under 15 00 workers and in 2000 it was loss of 88 working days per thousand workers which was down from 18 8 working days lost per thousand workers in 19 99.

We ranked sixth lowest in terms of days lost per workers across the province. Over the last I 0 years, 19 96 was the most significant year for work stoppages activity in Manitoba, with over 235 000 days lost to strikes and lockouts, and that was the year, I believe, of Bi ll 26, which was the labour legislation brought in by the former government. So I would suggest to the member a couple of things: one, as a result of Bill 44 we have not lost ground, and I would like to say another thing that is arguable, I guess, that I think labour legislation, Labour Relations Act legislation- Mr. Chai rperson: Order, please.

The time being 12 noon, I am interrupting proceedings. The Committee of Supply will resume sitting this afternoon following the conclusion of Routine Proceedings. Thank you. INDUSTRY, TRADE AND MINES Madam Chair person (Bonnie Korzeniowski): Will the Committee of Supply please come to order. This

section of the Committee of Supply will be considering the Estimates of the Department of Industry, Trade and Mines. Does the honourable minister have an opening statement? Hon. MaryAnn Mihychuk (Minister of Industry, Trade and Mines): Yes, I do. It is my pleasure to speak to you today on behalf of the Department of Industry, Trade and Mines. Over the past year, we have continued to build on our recent successes and are actively engaged in meeting the demands of the future.

We would like to talk to you about some of the advances we made in the last year in Manitoba, some of the exciting developments in store for our department and a number of areas that we will be working on in the near future. The Manitoba economy has continued to prosper in the year 2000, as it did in 19 99. Our real provincial GOP grew by 3.5 percent in 2000, up from 2.6 percent in 19 99. I am pleased to report that total employment in Manitoba reached an all-time high of 554 400 persons in the year 2000, up 11 700 jobs from 19 99.

Our overall job growth rate last year was 2.2 percent, our best performance since 19 86 when 12 900 new jobs were created, and the annual growth rate for that year was 2. 7 percent. Our employment rate, the number of Manitobans working as a percent of the popu lation 15 years and over, averaged 64.6 percent, the second highest in the country and an all-time high for us here in Manitoba. Full-time jobs provided for our employment gains in the year 2000. Manitoba's economy created 13 000 full-time positions last year,

April 26, 200 1 LEGISLATIVE ASSE MBLY OF MANITOBA 87 1 about two and a half times as many as our gain of 53 00 in 19 99. If there is any doubt as to the quality of the jobs created, we have added 6300 new manu facturing jobs in the year 2000, three and a half times the 18 00 created in 19 99. Our employment growth rate for the year was 3 percent, the biggest increase in nearly a quarter of a century. Statistics Canada only began producing estimates of full-time employ ment for the provinces back in 19 76.

Our unemployment rate last year was the lowest of any province and the lowest for Manitoba since 19 76, when the rate averaged 4.6 percent. Manitoba's unemployment rate for youth, ages 15 to 24, averaged 9.3 percent last year, the lowest in the country and our best performance since 19 77, when the rate was also 9.3 percent. Last year's performance was substantially better than the 10 .1% youth unemployment rate in 19 99 or the 10 .4% rate recorded in 19 98.

The strong economic growth of 2000 was supported by a net gain of 752 persons from all types of migration last year, following a gain of 12 72 persons in 19 99. This still marks the first period of sustained migration gains for the province since the years 19 81 through '85. A total of 459 1 immigrants entered Manitoba in 2000, the largest influx since 19 93 . * (10 :10 ) In November 2000, we introduced the Provincial Nominee Program for business.

Build ing on the success of a two-year-old Pro vincial Nominee Program, the business program is aimed at attracting people from around the world to establish small- and medium-sized businesses in Manitoba. To date, we have re ceived nearly 50 applications representing potential investments of $20 million and the creation or maintenance of 300 jobs in such areas as electronics production, metal fabrication and building products. Strong growth in labour income was an important part of Manitoba's growth story last year.

Personal disposable income rose by 5.6 percent in current dollar terms, more than twice the 19 99 gain of 2.4 percent, our biggest increase in 11 years. Business investment grew by 8.9 percent in 2000, mostly from spending on machinery and equipment and from increased non-residential construction investments. The increase in business investment in the Manitoba economy is reflected in a number of ongoing success stories. Examples such as J. R. Simplot Company's new potato processing plant near Portage Ia Prairie will see an initial company investment of $12 0 million.

The plant will be the first potato plant in Canada to use an environmentally friendly bio-gas recovery and re-use system which will significantly reduce gas emissions from the facility. The facility will result in the creation of over 230 direct jobs in the first phase. In Winnipeg, Palliser Furniture Limited will complete a $20-million five-year expansion project in 2002. Palliser currently employs 38 00 in Manitoba and is the largest furniture manufacturer in Canada. Colour-Ad Packaging Inc. is investing $6.6 million in a new advanced packaging facility, creating over 50 jobs.

The expansion plans by Warehouse One include an investment of $8 million and 60 jobs. Four Manitoba firms have made the annual list of the 50 best-managed private companies for 2000 in Canada in a survey conducted by Arthur Andersen. National Leasing Group won for the third year. Canad Inns and WGI Westman Group are second-time winners, and Kortex Computer Centre made the list for the first time. Five Winnipeg-based companies-Car gill Canada, Palliser Furniture Limited, Cangene Corporation, Wardrop Engineering, Great-West Life Assurance Company-were named to a list of Canada's top 10 0 employers.

These firms employ a total of more than 10 000 people here in Manitoba and around the world. The mining sector also continues to contribute strongly to Manitoba's economic growth, particularly in the North. The mining sector contributes nearly $1 billion in mineral production to our local economy and directly employs over 4000 workers, most of whom reside in the North, and directly contributes to another 13 000 jobs in the province. It provides

872 LEGISLATIVE ASSE MBLY OF MANITOBA April 26, 200 1 wages that are twice the provincial average and has been responsible for the development of much of northern Manitoba infrastructure. Commodities that have formed the backbone of Manitoba's mineral industry such as copper, zinc, nickel and gold have struggled over the past year. Demand and prices for all these commodities have decreased dramatically since the summer of last year, resulting in scaled back exploration and operations at Hudson Bay's Flin Flon operations.

On a brighter note, the new mine development is moving forward at the new Triple Seven mine in Flin Flon, and Hudson Bay will be celebrating the official opening of Chisel North mine in Snow Lake on June 1 of this year. Depressed gold prices have also affected operations at Harmony Gold's Bi ssett mine, although New Br itannia Mine in Snow Lake is weathering the storm well. With production costs of approximately $200 per ounce at Snow Lake, they are well positioned to continue production well into the future. Not all mineral commodities are suffering a downturn in today's markets.

Record demand and prices for commodities such as platinum, palladium, titanium, tantalum, diamonds has fuelled exploration for these non-traditional commodities in Manitoba. Most notable is the diamond rush currently taking place in the northeastern part of the province. Unprecedented levels of exploration for tantalum are taking place in southeastern Manitoba, home to Canada's only producing tantalum mine at T ANCO. Increased exploration for platinum group elements is taking place across the province.

I am delighted to indicate that the Petroleum Br anch has joined the department from the Department of Conservation. The petroleum sector has seen enhanced levels of activities and profitability related to high oil and gas prices over the past year. From January I to April 16 , 200 I, 23 wells have been drilled, compared to 6 for the same period in 2000. Direct revenue collected from the oil and gas industry exceeded estimates for the fiscal year 2000-200 1 by $1. 5 million.

I am also pleased to announce that we have made amendments to the Manitoba Drilling Incentive Program that will encourage additional oil and gas production and exploration in Manitoba's oil patch in southwestern Manitoba. We are working diligently to sustain and improve Manitoba's position as one of the best mining investment locations in the world. We continue to provide high-quality geoscience information that is vital for informed decision making, not just for exploration investment, but also for all aspects of land-use planning related to agriculture, natural hazards and environmental concerns.

Last year's increase in funding for the geological survey has resulted in increased geological support for the communities of Lynn Lake and Leaf Rapids, who are facing serious issues related to mine closure. I am pleased to announce today that the provincial funding of approximately $300,000 over the next two years will be more than matched by federal govern ment contributions of $429,000 for work in this area, bringing the committed federal-provincial expenditures to a total of approximately $729,000 over the next two years for geological work in the Lynn Lake-Leaf Rapids region.

Geoscience funding in the Flin Flon area has also been enhanced by federal funds totalling approximately $438,000 over the next two years. We have also kept our commit ment to take on the responsibility of dealing with the matter of orphaned mine sites. This past year our Government committed funding of $1. 2 million over four years to address issues related to public safety at several of our most hazardous sites. We have committed another $1 million over four years through the Department of Conservation to assess the environmental and health risks associated with these sites.

I am also proud to announce that Manitoba will host the first national multi-stakeholder workshop to address issues related to orphaned mines in Canada to be held here in Winnipeg in June of this year. Last year we raised the issue of fraudulent claim staking as a concern to the mining and exploration sector. We are pleased to announce that over the past year we have doubled the

Apri1 26, 200 1 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 873 number of claims inspectors and have inspected a record number of claims in the past 12 months. We are continuing our support for the Mani toba Mineral Exploration Assistance Program, which is designed to stimulate exploration in Manitoba. The unprecedented level of diamond exploration currently taking place in the prov ince has been directly attributed by the industry to our own geological surveys as well as to the availability of MEAP funding.

Given the current downturn in the metals market and the scarcity of investor funding for new exploration projects, it is now more important than ever that these department programs continue. Last year I talked to you about an ongoing process of review that has been taking place with regard to information technology, economic development, and the role of our department in facilitating economic growth through the strategic investments in innovation, science and technology. * (1 0:20) This year I am pleased to announce that our department has been restructured to reflect these new priorities.

Our department has created a new division called Manitoba Research, Innovation and Technology, RIT. Within this new division we have consolidated the management of our research, innovation and technology activities, reassigning staff from several areas within our department and government to resource this division: reassignments from Access Manitoba; Community Connections; Economic Innovation and Technology Council; and the Industrial Technology Centre; Industry Development Con sulting Services Branch, Research and Economic Services, and the Telecommunications Policy Br anch.

RIT will be a focus for policy development, knowledge-based industrial development and the co-ordination of innovative activities across Government. Its priorities over the next year are to develop an innovation strategy for Manitoba and develop an information technology strategy to provide a co-ordinated framework for governmental IT initiatives and the promotion and use of IT throughout Manitoba. Already we have several new and exciting initiatives underway in the innovation and tech nology sectors.

In March of 2000, in partnership with Industry Canada, we launched Community Connections, an extension of the Community Access Program, which supports the develop ment of Internet access sites across Manitoba. This jointly funded $1 1- million initiative supports the organization of community resource networks, hardware and software purchases, as well as technical support for the development of community Web sites and bulletin boards. Currently there are conditional agreements to bring Internet access to 440 sites in Manitoba by March 31, 2002.

Manitoba will soon have access to a new state-of-the-art Virtual Reality Research and Innovation Centre housed in the Industrial Tech nology Centre. This new $1 .5-million centre is jointly funded by the Manitoba and federal governments. This centre will enhance the attractiveness of the province as a leader in research training and development through the use of visualization technology to design new products. Among our ongoing Imttatives, the Manitoba Innovations Fund provides assistance to keep researchers in Manitoba and provides funding for research that enhances our economy and quality of life.

Since 19 98 the Manitoba Innovations Fund has provided over $20. 1 million to researchers for equipment and other research infrastructure. Among its many projects, the Manitoba Innovations Fund has supported Anthony Wright, a new researcher at the University of Manitoba, to esta blish a pain research facility, and has also provided support to Dr. John Wilkins and the Manitoba Centre for Proteomics to study the genetic origins of disease. In 200 I the Manitoba Innovations Fund will commit $7 million to assist world-class scientific research and technology development.

With respect to the call centre industry in Manitoba, there is a great sense of confidence in terms of future growth as call centres make the transition to customer contact centres. To seize on these new opportun ities, the Manitoba Call Centre Team will build upon the international reputation that it has created and launch Access

874 LEGISLATIVE ASS EMBLY OF MANITOBA April 26, 200 I Manitoba as a site-selection service to attract higher-end job opportunities in the customer contact service sector. Increased salaries and better opportunities for Manitobans are just two of the benefits from this new focus. Access Manitoba will focus on opportunities in areas of health care, finance, and ICT, examples, hardware, software and the Internet. It is notable I think that the Call Centre Team has recently been able to attract four customer contact centres to Manitoba, creating a total of 768 jobs, without any funding assistance from Government.

Just a few weeks ago we opened a brand-new customer call centre, CUETS, and that is a support system for bank and credit cards, MasterCard. This is a very high-paying customer service centre repre senting an additional 35 jobs to our economy. Mr. Doug Martindale, Acting Chairperson, in the Chair The mature expansion of the customer contact industry in Manitoba holds benefits for rural Manitoba as well as Winnipeg.

In speaking to the Bu dget, I indicated that the town of Dauphin has been very innovative and is conducting a labour study as one of the ways of attracting a customer contact centre to the Parkland region. We look forward with some anticipation to more good-news stories for rural communities with regard to these developments. Manitoba Trade and Investment continues to be our lead agency for international business development through Manitoba Trade and Investment Corporation and has recently assumed responsibility for industrial develop ment, manufacturing, processing and service industries.

Trade expansion, foreign direct investment and industrial developments are key drivers of job creation. Manitoba Trade and Investment assists Manitoba businesses and entrepreneurs in increasing and diversifying their export activities. Through the International Trade Development Br anch, Manitoba Trade concentrates on exporter training, market intelligence, and information, and the specific programming, including trade shows and missions, to facilitate a company's access to new markets and buyers.

Through our Industry Consulting Branch, business consultants provide sector expertise to businesses in manufacturing, proce

Document details

Collection	Manitoba — Debates (Hansard)
Citation	37-2-20a
Type	hansard
Volume / chapter	37th 2nd hansardpdf 20a.pdf
Language	en
Format	pdf
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	3f0a5c9f5832661df0ada20b88b567368366d293

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