Manitoba Hansard — 19 February 1974 (Sitting 23, 30th Legislature, 1st Session)

30-1-23

Manitoba — Debates (Hansard)

Legislative Assembly of Manitoba DEBATES and PROCEEDINGS Speaker The Honourable Peter FoX Vol. XXI No. 23 8:00p.m., Tuesday, February 19th, 1974. First Session, 30th Legislature. Printed by R. S. Evans- Queen's Printer for Province of Manitoba

Electoral Division Name Political Address Postal Affiliation Code ARTHUR J. Douglas Watt P.C. Reston, Man. ROM 1XO ASSINIBOIA Steve Patrick Lib. 10 Red Robin PI., Winnipeg R3J 3La Bl RTLE-RUSSELL Harry E. Graham P.C. Binscarth, Man. ROJ OGO BRANDON EAST Hon. Leonard S. Evans NDP Legislative B ldg., Winnipeg R3C ova BRAN DON WEST Edward McGill P.C. 222a Princess Ave., Brandon R7B OH9 BURROWS Hon.

Ben Hanuschak NDP Legislative Bldg., Winnipeg R3c ova CHAR LESWOOD Arthur Moug P.C. 29 Willow Ridge Rd., Winnipeg R3R 1L5 CHURCHILL Les Osland NDP 66 Radisson Blvd., Churchill ROB OEO CRESCENTWOOD Harvey Patterson NDP 97a Garwood Ave., Winnipeg R3M 1N7 DAUPHIN Hon. Peter Burtniak NDP Legislative Bldg., Winnipeg R3C ova ELMWOOD Hon. Russell J. Doern NDP Legislative Bldg., Winnipeg R3C ova EMERSON Steve Derewianchuk NDP V ita, Manitoba ROA 2KO FLIN FLON Thomas Barrow NDP Cranberry Portage, Man.

ROB OHO FORT GARRY L.R. (Bud) Sherman P.C. as N iagara St., Winnipeg R3N OT9 FORT ROUGE Lloyd Axworthy Lib. 132 Osborne St. S., Winnipeg R3L 1Y5 GIMLI John C. Gottfried NDP 44- 3rd Ave., Gimli, Man. ROC 1BO GLADSTONE James R. Ferguson P.C. Gladstone, Man. ROJ OTO INKSTER Hon. Sidney Green, Q.C. NDP Legislative Bldg., Winnipeg R3C ova KILDONAN Hon. Peter Fox NDP Legislative Bldg., Winnipeg R3C OVB LAC DU BONNET Hon. Sam Uskiw NDP Legislative Bldg., Winnipeg R3C ova LAKESIDE Harry J. Enns P.C. Woodlands, Man. ROC 3HO LA VERENDRYE Bob Banman P.c, Steinbach, Man.

ROA 2AO LOGAN William Jenkins NDP 1294 Erin St., Winnipeg R3E 2S6 MINNEDOSA David Blake P.C. Minnedosa, Man. ROJ 1EO MORRIS Warner H. Jorgenson P.C. Morris, Man. ROG 1KO OSBORNE Hon. I an Tu rnbull NDP Legislative Bldg., Winnipeg R3C ova PEMBINA George Henderson P.C. Manitou, Man. ROG 1GO POINT DOUGLAS Donald Malinowski NDP 23 Coral berry Ave., Winnipeg R2V 2P2 PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE Gordon E. Johnston Lib. 135- 16th St. S.W., Portage la Prairie, Man. R1N 2W5 RADISSON Harry Shafransky NDP 4 Maplehurst Rd., Winnipeg R2J 1WB RHINELAND Arnold Brown P.C. Winkler, Man. ROG 2XO RI EL Donald W.

Craik P.C. 3 River Lane, Winnipeg R2M 3Ya RIVER HEIGHTS Sidney Spivak, Q.C. P.C. Legislative Bldg., Winnipeg R3C OVB ROBLIN J. Wally McKenzie P.C. lnglis, Man. ROJ OXO ROCK LAKE Henry J. Einarson P.C. Glenboro, Man. ROK OXO ROSSMERE Hon. Ed. Schreyer NDP Legislative Bldg., Winnipeg R3C ova RUPERTSLAND H arvey Bostrom NDP Manigotagan, Manitoba ROE 1EO ST. BONI FACE J. Paul Marion Lib. 394 Gaboury Place, Winnipeg R2H OL4 ST. GEORGE Hon. Bill Uruski NDP 10th fir., 330 Portage Ave.,Wpg. R3C OC4 ST. JAMES George Minaker P.C. 31a Ronald St., Winnipeg R3J 3Ja ST. JOHNS Hon. Saul Cherniack, Q.C.

NDP Legislative Bldg., Winnipeg R3C OVB ST. MATTHEWS Wally Johannson NDP 418 Home St., Winnipeg R3G 1X4 ST. VITAL D.J. Walding NDP 26 Hemlock Place, Winnipeg R2H 1L7 STE. ROSE A.R. (Pete) Adam NDP Ste. Rose du Lac, Man. ROL 1SO SELKIRK Hon. Howard Pawley NDP Legislative Bldg., Winnipeg R3C ova SEVEN OAKS Hon. Saul A. Miller NDP Legislative Bldg., Winnipeg R3C ova SOUR IS KILLARNEY Earl McKellar P.C. Nesbitt, Man. ROK 1PO SPRINGFIELD Hon. Rene E. Toupin NDP Legislative Bldg., Winnipeg R3C ova STURGEON CREEK J. Frank Johnston P.C. 310 Overdale St., Winnipeg RJJ 2G3 SWAN RIVER James H. Bilton P.C. Swan River, Man.

ROL 1ZO THE PAS Hon. Ron McBryde NDP Legislative Bldg., Winnipeg R3C ova THOMPSON Ken Dillen NDP 1171 Westwood Dr.,Th ompson RaN OGa TRANSCONA Hon. Russell Paulley NDP Legislative Bldg., Winnipeg R3C ova VIR DEN Morris McGregor P.C. Kenton, Man. ROM OZO WELLINGTON Philip M. Petursson NDP 6a1 Banning St., Winnipeg R3G 2G3 WINNIPEG CENTRE J.R. (Bud) Boyce NDP 777 Winnipeg Ave., Winnipeg R3E OR5 WOLSELEY I.H. Asper Lib. Legislative Bldg., Winnipeg R3C ova

579 THE LEGISLATIVE ASS EMBLY OF MANITOBA 8:00 o'clock, Tuesday, February 19, 1974 SUPPLY- NORTHERN AFFAIRS MR, CHAIRMAN: Resolution 97(c)(1) . The Honourable Minister of Northern Affairs, MR, McBRYDE: Mr. Chairman, I can't remember exactly where I was when we adjourned, but there were a couple of questions that I've got answers to that were asked before the adjournment period, The total value of the construction, new town centre development at South Indian Lake, is $2,280, 505, 00.

That question was asked in relation to what percent the ar chitect's fees were or what was the total of that contract when we look at the architect's fee, The Member for Birtle-Russell asked a question about location of staff of the Central Administration staff of Northern Affairs, and when I read him the answer I omitted a page, There are 31 staff, administrative staff, and nine of those are located in Thompson; that includes secretarial staff, administration, secretarial, clerk, etc., and 22 staff in the City of Winnipeg, There was also a question from the member, from one of the members in regard to the salary range in administrative salaries and I think the range is from a clerk's salary, yearly salary of $4,332, to the high pay of the man who sits in front of me of $7,000, how much?

Five hundred. Seventeen thousand five hundred. It was $17,553- it doesn't have the cents in there . The other question was in regard to the social and economic study done in relation to the Churchill housing project, and I think that probably just a brief

summary of the agreement will give the nature of that study that has not been completed in final form as :ret. The con tractor agrees to provide the desired information as follows: What is the difference between normal industrial cost per housing unit in the north and the production with the training of native people? What income and employment benefits have been received by the trainees to date? What social benefits have resulted from the Churchill Pre-Fab located housing project including training, training family and community? What changes in training skilled levels and work attitudes have occurred?

What ongoing record system: is most useful? Degree of achievement relative to the original objectives at different levels, -Factors in the process that were determinants. Supervisory attitudes which are the best; comparison with other similar projects. History of the development, Test of the original assumptions and the results thereof. Determinants of social and economical benefits of special work environment versus the clas& room environment, and what work environment modifications were practiced and what should have been practiced.

These were some of the things in our study that is covered in the exter nal contracts in terms of the Department of Northern Affairs at the Churchill Housing Plant. I would also like to give to the members opposite at this point, thot1gh I'll have to admit it's a tiny bit off the subject, material I agreed to get to them in regard to the tonnage of freight on northern winter roads.

I'll have to point out to members that this is a very very rough estimate, Basically, we've listed the tonnage into the various communities last year; we've listed the tons that we know have gone in earlier as of yesterday, and we've made a very rough guess as to what still needs to go in and these will vary somewhat with the 1972-73 figures in cases where we know where the amount to be hauled is up, In some cases the figures are identical with 1972-73 and I think that's because we don't know for sure the exact total for those communities this year, So perhaps one of the pages could hand these out to members.

MR, CHAIRMAN: Does the honourable member have a point of order? MR, GRAHAM: No, a question for the Minister on the figures. MR. CHAIRMAN: The Honourable Member for Birtle-Russell. MR, GRAHAM: Are any of the figures included in this year's tonnage, are those ton nages that were supposed to be delivered last year and were not delivered last year? Are those figures included in this year's tonnage?

MR, McBRYDE: The amount of tons that were supposed to go in last year is listed, The amount of tonnage that has gone in already this year is listed, The amount of tons estimated to go in, which is very very ro ugh, (I want to keep reminding members of that; these are very very rough figures) but I think if you'll check with the leader on that white report from Gardewine dated last year, they record what tonnages they did not deliver by winter road last year and those figures are available in there.

But I am not sure, you know, how much of last year's is going in this year, I know there's some. and some of it of course was air freighted in last year.

580 February 19, 1974 SUPPLY - NORTHERN AFFAIRS MR. CHAlliMAN: Resolution 97 -- the Honourable Member for Riel. MR. DONALD w. CRAIK (Riel): Mr. Chairman, yes. I have a short question here I want to ask the Minister. Can he tell me what a poli.cy analyst is, and I referto two that are listed presumably in this item as well, one at $12,348 and one at $10, 164. 00, My question would be: don't MLAs really come cheaper at $7,200 and isn't this the role of an MLA to be a policy analyst and has not his backbench already got four MLAs to advise him? MR. CHAlliMAN: The Honourable Minister of Northern Affairs. MR.

McBRYDE: Mr. Chairman, they certainly do come cheaper and they certainly do provide a good effort for the amount of money they get for worthwhile information. Do you want me to read you the description? This is a full working level analyst where incumbent is required to assume responsibility for major projects under very limited direction. This level differs from Planning and Research Analyst I- I'm talking about the Analyst IT now--primarily on the basis of the experience required, the more limited supervision and generally the more complex nature of the projects assigned.

He will be required to supervise and instruct junior analysts. Researchers--typical duties: Researcher reviews, evaluates and advises on the feasibility of major program activities affecting a program. Formulates policy alternatives and develops a means to achieve pre-determined policy objectives of the Manitoba Government. Reviews pro grams to ensure they are consistent with intended policy. Carries out special studies and pro jects as assigned. Performs other duties as assigned.

Qualifications, knowledgeabilities and skills: Good working knowledge of the principles and techniques of economic and statistical analyses. Ability to determine whether department program is consistent with government policy and to develop alternative policy recommendations. Ability to prepare detailed statistical and cost analyses. Ability to work with minimal direction. Ability to plan and supervise the work of junior analysts. Education training and experience: University graduation in Economic Social Science or relevant specialized discipline, and three to five years related experience. MR.

CHAlliMAN: The Honourable Member for Riel. MR. CRAIK: Mr. Chairman, might I just say that I felt that the key words in there that the Minister gave us were "review policy objectives of the government" and although there were other qualifications in there--not qualifications but job specifications--! seriously question whether he requires social scientists from the university to do this when really policy objectives of the Provincial Government should be assessed and set by the members of the government backbench whenever they're available for that purpose.

I would seriously question whether the government should set as a priority the hiring of people at the $12,000 range to do this sort of job when they're already well staffed for doing that, considering the fact that the Northern Affairs Department was virtually a non-existent department, and in a matter of two or three years, four years, has gone from virtually a zero department to a staff of thirty one fifty six- three hundred and fifty- six at this point. MR. CHAlliMAN: The Honourable Minister of Northern Affairs. MR. McBRYDE: Mr.

Chairman, I hope that the member didn't misunderstand my read ing of the description as not to review what the government policy is but to review programs and recommend programs that would fit in with the policy direction of government, so the in dividual involved is not determining policy but only evaluating programs in relation to the policy. There are 13 positions in the planning and research

section that relate actually to planning and research. There are also 9 town planning and positions relating to actual physical planning in the communities. The real emphasis has had to be in terms of--maybe the member heard my comments the other night in relation to negotiation-- preparing program proposals and negotiating with the Federal Government in terms of a DREE agreement for northern Manitoba. That's one of the main activities that the research and planning

section will be involved in in the up coming year. MR. CHAIRMAN: The Honourable Member for St. James. MR. GEORGE MINAKER (St. James): Mr. Chairman, through you to the Minister. A copy of your description of the job specifications for the policy analyst will be made available to the opposite side here, will it? We can have a copy of that? MR. CHAIRMAN: The Honourable Member for Swan River. , MR. BILTON: Mr. Chairman, it seems as though we're taking care of everything under the Minister's Salary and maybe that's not too bad an idea, and I'm taking advantage of the opportunity to ask the Minister a question of what I've already related, and I want to ask him

February 19, 1974 581 SUPPLY- NORTHERN AFFAIRS (MR. BILTON cont'd) • now if he would give us a short smnmary as to this Information Communication program. I want to know whetrer or not this is a satellite of the information office here in the building that is perpetuated by the government, and is it true that this setup is costing something in the neighbourhood of a million dollars?

And is it true that it is a joint effort by the Provincial and Federal Governments, and how many of :i staff are there there, and are they fully equipped with probably hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of equipment, that is cameras and what have you? And do they have carte blanche authority to go to any point throughout northern Manitoba in order to develop material for this thing we're--I've got here; there are many of them? And while I have no objection whatsoever, Mr.

Minister, to information being passed along to our Canadian people for their edificatl.on, I believe jokes and cookery things and this sort of thing that is in this material is spending money, public money unnec essarily, and I want to know too> Sir, whether or not every settlement and community in northern Manitoba is going to have its own publication printed and distributed from The Pas, and I'd like to know the cost factor insofar as material is concerned and just how far this is going.

Because it is my understanding that the contribution made by the Federa l Government expires in 1975, and when that happens is it the intention of the government to carry on this network of propaganda� and that's all it is, government propaganda- to the native people througnout Manitoba and northern Manitoba, some of which, Sir, is good and I appreciate it and my party appreciates it, but a lot of it, Sir is to create an image for yourself, and I think this is the sort of thing that you should avoid at all costs. And I say that sincerely as a friend, a friend of the people in the north.

Please put a halt to releases from your office over your name as though you're King Kong in northern Manitoba, because you're not. And I would like to know just where we're going with this sort of thing. MR. CHAIRMAN: The Honourable Minister of Northern Affairs. MR. McBRYDE: Mr. Chairman, I would very much like to deal-with the comments of the Member for Swan River, but I think it would be more appropriate if we waited until

Section 101 (5)( c), that's the

section that he's really talking to, and not the

section we're on at this moment. MR. CHAIRMAN: The Honourable Member for Riel. MR. CRAIK: Before we leave this item, the information provided with regards to policy analyst job description that he provided with for planning and research analyst. I wonder if the Minister is indicating that a policy analyst description is the same, or is there a job descript ion for a policy analyst? MR. McBRYDE: The same, Mr. Chairman. MR. CHAIRMAN: Resolution.. The Honourable Member for St. James. MR. MINAKER: Mr. Chairman, through you to the Minister.

Then why do we under the contract list show two separate listings, one for a policy analyst and one for a research and planning analyst? Why the difference in that particular listing of contracts if they ar e the same? MR. CHAIRMAN: The Honourable Minister of Northern Affairs. MR. McBRYDE: A rose by any other name would smell as sweet. I think it's two names for the same type of function, MR. MINAKER: Then, Mr. Chairman, through you to the Minister, why are there different salary levels fer the two classifications? MR. McBRYDE: Based on, as even as in this job description, Mr.

Chairman, based on the responsibility and experience. MR. CHAIRMAN: Resolution 97. The Honourable Member for RieL MR. CRAIK: I want to indic.ate here that the description, I think the Minister indicated that I misinterpreted his remarks, but the description indicated here is that these people are to formulate policy alternatives. This person formulates policy alternatives and develops the means to achieve predetermined policy objectives of the Manitoba Government. Well, Mr.

Chairman, I ask again if the primary responsibility for this sort of thing does not lie with the elected people rather than with the appointed civil servants. MR. McBRYDE Well, Mr.

Chairman, I think it's - you know, general policy direction lies with the elected people and certainly civil servants in all as pecfs of the government carry out the direction of their Ministers and of their seniors in that department, and this particular case I can say to the people in Research and Planning that we have to insure that northern people get employment in this particular type of industry; and they might come forward with three or four different programs that would achieve that same objective, which then gives me and the

582 February 19, 1974 SUPPLY - NORT HERN AFFAIRS (MR, McBRYD E cont'd) ••.. senior officials some chance to evaluate, you know, which of these alternatives is the be st way to proceed to assist people get employment in that particular industry. That's an example of the kind s of discus sion that they would be in volved in. MR . CHAIRMAN: Resolution 97 (c)( 1)--passed, (2) --pas sed. Resolved that there be granted to Her Majes ty a sum not exceeding $1, 68 2, 80 0 for Northern Affairs. Passe d. Res olution 98 (a)(1). The Honourable Lea der of the Opposition. The Honourable Member for La Verendrye.

MR, BANMAN: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I feel very much like most of my other colleagues dc\.1 question what is going on in the north, and I tend to agree with the Honourable Fir st Minis ter that when he stated that the system of winter road construction is 'somewhat in the nature of an experiment, and I would like to sort of relate that to the Air Force and I sort of wonder when the experiment will have a conclusion.

The Manitoba Government Air Service particularly arouses my curiosity and it is incredible to note that thi s agency has a 50 percent increase in miles travelled over the last year. --(Interjection )-- No, no, no, not yet, we're not up to there yet, The Mini ster stated on Frid ay that a flight c<r-ordinator for the Government Air Force was helping reduce duplicate flights and yet we have a 50 percent incr ease. The Northern Affair s people seem to have stepped up their flying and some seem to be spending a lot more time in the air.

They jump from 242 ,4 99 miles the year before to 569 ,0 85 mile s, an in crease of 326 , 536 miles. Over 100 percent inc rease in the air miles, There seems to be somewhat of a competitive spirit between the departments·.to see who can spend the most time in the air. Three weeks ago when I was up in the north-- (Interjection)- - ho.I must admit by TransAir. After spending an evening in The Pas I woke up the next morning and went to pay my motel bill and found a curious pack of matches l;;ing on the counter there, and they aroused my curio sity. Manitoba Government Air Division, plan your flight, share it.

For flights, call Winnipeg , Thompson or The Pas. I begin to wonder how many people are sharing flights; from the in crease it looks like quite a few. I seriously question if we are either running an air servi ce, commercial air line, or a political flying machine.

The other point I would like to raise is that the revenue seems to have doubled; the Northern Affairs people are charging other departments double what they were the year pre vious , and yet they account for over two-thirds of the miles - in crease in mileage, I wonder if the Minister could explain why the reco verable appropriations rose from $989, 200 to $1, 730 , 200, with the majority of the flight incr ease being taken up by the Department of Nortlr ern Affairs. MR . CHAill MAN: The Honourable Mi ni ster of Northern Affairs. MR . McBRYDE: Mr.

Chairman, I am quite pleased to see that the new member is travelling in northern Manitoba although I would hope he doesn't fall into that trap of becoming an expert on his short trip up there. It' s probably quite fortunate that he didn't go to Bri tain on that trip, because had he got up in the morning and found a match cover on the motel desk it might have said "Share your bathtub" instead of share your airplane, Mr.

Chairman, I think I explained the other day, but it 's probably worth saying again, that the previous system with Government Air Services was that any civil servant would call a commercial carrier or call the Government Air Services and charter a flight, and I also poin t out the example of Moose Lake near The Pas, Manitoba, where you might have three or four civil servants coming in on three or four different flights. In order to avoid that kind of extra expense to the people of Manitoba, a Flight Co-ordinator system was established.

Now all civil servants call Government Air Services if they wish to use a charter air servic e, then the co-ordinator tries to put together members from various departments who might be going to the same location and in the same area.

I don't know how effective the advertising means that the member mentioned is, but that is ) the goal is to attempt to make sure that ci vil servants get ahold of Government Air Services and maybe even instead of one phoning and saying he' s going to go Wednesday and the other phoning and saying he wants to go Thurs day, that in fact they even get together before that and say they'll both go the same day in order to lessen the number of flights that particular aircraft has to make in order to take people to the same community. Mr.

Chairman, there is an increase in the total number of pas senger miles flown by Government Air Service and this is for two reasons; I think the main reason would be by the

February 19, 1974 583 SUPPLY - NORTHERN AFFAIRS (MR. McBRYDE cont'd) . . increase in getting into the communities by staff of all depart- ments of government and I say that's about time.

It's about time that we started getting into those communities and if it's going to mean aircraft to get into those communities, then that's the way we're going to have to do it- and the member for Swan River might recall it costs a considerable amount for a legislative committee to travel around northern Manitoba in terms of the Northern Task Force, but I didn't hear any members opposite argue that that wasn't a worthwhile expenditure in order to have them get into the communities, see things first hand, talk to people first hand to understand the situation.

Well the same thing is required in terms of all departments of government and the civil servants working in those departments to get into the communities they are supposed to serve and not try to do things from Winnipeg or Thompson or from outside the area they are serving. I don't know if- I think that pretty well covers the questions. Maybe the member has . . MR. CHAIRMAN: The Honourable Member from Sturgeon Creek. MR. FRANK JOHNSTON (Sturgeon Creek): Mr.

Chairman, I have a question to ask but I'm - the Minister was just talking about experience in the north and that's rather strange coming from a Minister who by his own admission last year, says you never really know the north until you are sitting in an outhouse in the winter with a cold wind blowing and if that's the way he learned the north, and that was by his own statement last year, I don't know why he would criticise anybody else wanting to get some experience. Mr.

Chairman, the question I would like to ask - the Minister earlier in this debate mentioned the rates that some of the private carriers charged per mile for the airplanes; I wonder if he could give us the rates per mile charged by the Government Air Services, and also after he had the rates if he'd be kind enough to give us a breakdown of the income to the Government Air Services, what part of this 1, 73 0,000 comes from other government depart ments.

In other words I would like to know how much Public Works has paid to the Air Service; I'd like to know how much Industry and Commerce has paid to the Air Services, and the breakc down on that income as to how much percentage of it is government and how much is private. MR. CHAIRMAN: The Honourable Minister of Northern Affairs. MR. McBRYDE: It might be quickest and easiest for us to deal with the last question first. The charter that Manitoba Government Air Services has is to fly, to service the Pr<r vince of Manitoba, that is, to fly on behalf of the Province of Manitoba.

The charter does not allow us to go into competition in private passenger carrying with the private charter companies. So if that figure, that is all recovered from departments of the Provincial Government 100 per cent, there is no recovery from private companies or private individuals because our charter does not allow us to carry private companies or private individuals.

However, the member is probably aware that a considerable amount of government's flying on the part of the Manitoba Government is still done by private carriers - and I had the figure in front of me yesterday but I think about 42 percent is still done by private air carriers in the Province of Manitoba. In answer to the first question that the honourable member mentioned, what are the charter rates? These following char11er rates became effective May 3, 1973.

The Cessna Skymaster is 55 cents per mile, or $9 9,00 per hour; the Piper Aztec is 60 cents per mile, or $1 08. 00 per hour; the Otter is $1 . 25 per mile, or $1 35. 00 per hour; the Turbo Beaver is 110 cent per mile, or $1. 10 per mile, or $1 25. 00 per hour; the Piston Beaver is 80 cents per mile, or $85 . 00 per hour; the Cessna 180 is 55 cents per mile, or $66. 00 per hour; the MU2 is $1 . 00 per mile, or $3 00.00 per hour. I don't have in front of me, Mr.

Chairman, comparable statistics for private carriers but I understand that these rates for similar service by private carriers, that the Government Air Service rates are slightly lower than rates that we would pay if we chartered through private air carriers. MR. CHAIRMAN: The Honourable Member for La Verendrye. MR. BANMAN: The other question I was wondering about was that last year there was a $9 89,200 recoverable, and this year it's $1 ,730 ,200.

It seems like a fairly substantial increase in rates charged to the different departments, which brings the net total that is charged to the NorthernAffaiis Department from $6 16,200 last year to an estimated $37 7 , 900, with an increase of flights to the Northern Affairs Department. MR. CHAIRMAN: The Honourable Member for Minnedosa. MR. DAVID BLAKE (Minnedosa): Mr. Chairman, I just have one question, while the

584 February 19, 1974 SUPPLY- NORTHERN AFFAIRS (MR. BLAKE cont'd) .Minister is answering, he may answer at the same time. I wonder if he might inform us if government aircraft have been used on any occasions in flying fish out of remote northern lakes? MR. CHAIRMAN: The Honourable Minister of Northern Affairs. MR. McBRYDE: Yes, Mr. Chairman, there have been occasions on which government aircraft were used to fly fish out of remote communities and I'm not sure -there was negoti ation going on with co-operatives in the Department of Co-operative Development.

In terms of our charter we would be hired by the Department of Co-operative Development to carry fish. I advised the assistant deputy minister responsible for air services that if we could do that at a cost basis, that is that we would have to recover everything from the department, the total cost of the fish haul would be recoverable and Government Air Services would have to break even from such an operation. MR. CHAIRMAN: The Honourable Member for La Verendrye. MR. BANMAN: Is the Minister working on an answer to my question? MR. McBRYDE: I'm sorry, that's the second time I've forgotten that question.

I think that that figure really reflects the increased use of government aircraft by other departments I don't think it reflects much more than that. MR. BANMAN: The increased use by the other departments seems to be about 200,000 miles, and yet the recoverable has jumped almost double, and yet your department will be using the airplanes more in the coming year and it will cost you substantially less. MR. McBRYDE: Mr. Chairman, the Department of Northern Affairs is billed for use of Manitoba Government Air Services' planes, so if someone flies from the administrative section, the administrative

section is sent the bill for his flying; if somebody flies from the northern co-ordinators, they are billed for the flying; if I fly, the Minister's office is billed for the flying. MR, BANMAN: Could you give me the projected amount of flying to be done by the Northern Affairs people in dollars and cents? MR. McBRYDE: Approximately half a million dollars. MR. CHAIRMAN: The Honourable Member for St. James. MR. MINAKER: Mr.

Speaker, when the Minister answered the question with regards to the matchbook cover, it was my understanding with his answer that this only applied to government employees for their information. I believe that is correct, is it not? Then, Mr. Chairman, I suggest that either the Minister is creating a false impression in the north, or the government is, by distributing these matchbooks throughout the north, stating that, ''Manitoba Government Air Division, Plan Your Flight, Share It." You know, it's creating an impression that anybody in the north can fly on the Manitoba Government Air Division.

If this is not the case, then I suggest that you're false advertising; and I would suggest, Mr. Chairman, that it would be far more sensible, if it only applies to government employees, to put out an inter department bulletin stating that this is available, and I'm sure they must have done it by now hopefully, rather than pass around this free propaganda, and I would like to know if the North ern Affairs Department authorized the printing of this book light, endorsed it, and also how many have been printed, and also where they have been distributed? MR. McBRYDE: Mr.

Chairman, in order for such a match cover to be printed, some one in Northern Affairs would have to authorize it. I must assume that the Assistant Deputy Minister, Mr. John McDonald, would have authorized that; it never came through my office or the Deputy Minister's office, but certainly we are responsible for what all staff has printed.

I'm not sure -you know, I don't think we've done a sort of a cost-benefit analysis of the match cover in terms of getting people to share their flights; you know, you could say it doesn't have any effect, and I suppose you could argue that it in fact does remind civil servants to do that because they pull it out to look at the phone number, at the same time they remem ber that the guy down the hall was going and they make arrangements to share that flight. I'd have to find out how many covers were printed, because I don't know.

The other thing that- my understanding is that the distribution of those is limited with in the government, but I am not aware that it was being distributed outside of the--(Interjec tions)--the only place I've seen them distributed is in the Co-ordinators' offices of the Air Division in the communities. A MEMBER: Would you table that please?

February 19, 1974 SUPPLY - NORTHERN AFFAIR S MR. CHAIRMAN: The Honourable Member for St. James. MR. MINAKER: Mr. Chairman, I might ask the Minister why the department didn't 585 have the knowledge to print on it so there would not be any false advertising," applies to govern ment employees only", rather than to t:ry and create a false impression that it was for all the citizens of the north to enjoy. Further, I would like to ask, Mr. Chairman, through you to the Minister, how many of the 58 NDP organizers travelled on the Government Air Division during the election campaign?

I would presume that you kept a log of the different passengers on the different flights, because I believe most Air Divisions. whether they be private or government would keep this kind of a record, and I would ask how many of the 58 NDP organizers have travelled on the Government Air Division Servic es during the last election? MR. CHAIRMAN: Resolution 97. -- (Interjection s)-- Resolution 97. The Honourable Member for St. James. MR. MINAKER: Mr.

Chairman, I don't believe the Opposition considers it a silly question, because it is a government operated airline, and it is money being spent for political gains, and if in fact the government refuses to answer this question, one can only assume that in fact there was travel taken by the organizers, and I would expect to receive an answer to this question from the Minister, MR. CHAIRMAN: The Honourable Minister of Northern Affairs. MR. McBRYDE: If the new member wants to get down in the gutter with his leader, let him go ahead. MR. SPIV AK: Mr.

Speaker, I take it that the Minister is not prepared to answer the · question. Well, Mr. Chairman, the Minister says it's a stupid question, The question put to the Minister, and I think implicit in the 58 , that's a number that I think is known to the NDP as official organizers, is really whether the Government Air Services was allowed to transport members who were working, either as paid workers or voluntary workers, for the New Democratic Party either prior to the election or during the election, and that Mr. Chair·· man, is a legitimate question to be asked of the government.

If the government doesn't want to answer it, that's up to them; that's not a gutter question; that's a question that has to be answered by the government; that's a question that not only the members of the Opposition are asking, but many people in the north are asking; and I must say, Mr. Speaker, for the benefit of the Minister, many members of the New Democratic Party are asking it. MR. CHAIRMAN: Order please. The Honourable Minister of Northern Affairs. MR. McBRYDE: Mr.

Chairman, the Leader of the Official Opposition started out his presession tactics or campaign from the gutter by making certain allegations about patronage in northern Manitoba, and now he's had the opportunity to prove it, and he hasn't proved a bloodything, He makes accusations and then he forgets about them, as if somehow these accusations --(I nterjection)-- Yes, he can smear, he can tarnish the image of this govern-· ment, but, Mr. Chairman, I would assume that he has some responsibility if he's going to make allegations to go ahead and substantiate those allegations. A MEMBER: That's right.

MR, McBRYDE: Mr. Chairman, unlike previous to 1969, the Government Air Services were not used to -- (Interjections) .,-- transport any organizers -- (Interjectio ns)-- or anyone for political purposes. MR. CHAIRNIAN:. Order. Order. A MEMBER: Get out of the gutter. MR. CHAIRMAN: ORDER! ORDER! And I think that the Honourable Minister of Labour is one that has been in this House long enough that he should know the rules • • . A MEMBER: That's right, and I ••. MR. CHAIRMAN: ORDER PLEASE! ORDER!

I would refer honourable members to Rule 41, or Rule 42 of our House rules, when a member is speaking, no member shall inter rupt him except to raise a point of privilege or a point of order. The Honourable Minister of Northern Affairs. The Honourable Leader of the Opposition. J)ilR. SPIV AK: I think I indicated earlier to the Honour ab le Minister, and I want to repeat myself again, that I was prepared to give him the opportunity to review the statements that he made with respect to some of the people who are under contract --(Interjec tion)-- Yes. Well, I maybe- I think I am generous.

I've asked him to review it and to make a decision

586 February 19, 1974 SUPPLY -NORTHERN AF FAIRS (MR. SPIVAK cont'd) • . whether he is still going to maintain the position. I've also indicated, Mr. Chairman, and I intend to follow through on this, that there are many oppor tunities, and will be in this House before it is completed, to in fact I think basically prove the position of the patronage and politicizing that has taken place. Mr.

Chairman, I must tell the honourable Minister I am not in any way concerned about his allegations now; I think he should be more concerned about what may be forthcoming, and I say that to him directly --(Inter jections) --I say that to him directly in the hope that he would reconsider the position that he took. Having said that, and leaving that for the moment, because I am quite prepared to deal with this, and I will be deal ing with this, I would now then put the question to the Minister, that the Honourable Member for St.

James has put, has anyone used the government services with respect to transportation by any of the New Democratic organizers, either paid or volun tary? And I don't think that that question is an unfair one to be placed before the government. If the answer is no, let him say no, but surely at this point the position that he takes now is that he's not going to answer that, and that in itself is more affirmative than negative. --(Interjections)- MR, CHAIRMAN: The Honourable Minister of Northern Affairs. MR .

McBRYDE: I answered that question, but there's so much noise coming from opposite that apparently they didn't hear the answer. No government aircraft were used to transport politi cal organizers for any party to the best of my knowledge, and government aircraft have not been used for political purposes. Mr. Chairman, the Leader of the Opposition Party is now promising us that he's going to prove all these allegations that he's making? He came up, Mr. Chairman, with the evidence this afternoon, two names, Mr. Ben Thompson, Mr. Ben Thompson. Mr.

Chairman, maybe the pages would like to hand out copies of the advertising through which Mr. Thompson was hired, This position was advertised, the contract position located with the Local Services Division, Community Service Branch in Thompson; the positions were advertised as in the advertisement. The applicants numbered one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. The board that selected Mr. Ben Thompson was held on October 16, 1973; the board members were Mr. L. Curran, Mr. J, Reiter, Mr. B. F .• , Municipal Affairs, and Mr. Birch, Northern Affairs personnel officer. Mr.

Chairman, as ll. result of that competition, Mr. Thompson was hired and a Mr. Basson were hired. Mr. Chairman, those are the facts that the member opp osite has laid on the table to prove his ridiculous allegation and now he's promising us more facts. Could he either put up or shut up? --(Interjections) -- MR. SPIVAK: Mr.

Chairman, the Honourable House Leader I think can inform the Honourable Minister that with respect to court, the evidence that's submitted is presented, when one is questioned one is asked to answer those questions truthfully, and that in itself can become evidence, The only thing that happened this morning, or this afternoon is that the Minister was asked certain questions --(Interjections)--Well, Sir, answers and questions. The Minister has given his answers at this point. When, Mr.

Chairman, evidence will be submitted, and I suggest it will, I think that the Minister then can reply to the evidence that will be submitted; but at this present time what we are doing, and what I'm doing, and what I'm entitled to do, is to ask questions of the Minister, and the Minister is to give answers, and that to the extent that there are answers is evidence, but the evidence is his evidence not my evidence, or not the evidence that I'm going to be presenting, and if you'll understand that then he can bide his time as to when we will furnish it.

Now I want to ask him another question based on the information he just gave us. The position that's advertised here is not a civil service position. This position is for a contract a term contract for a year, and the Minister is suggesting that he actually followed a civil service procedure for boarding for a contract, for a position that was not approved by Manage ment Commiteee. Now who gave him the authority to do this? MR . McBRYDE: Mr. Chairman, the other day I stood in my place and I outlined the procedures of hiri ng.

I don't know if the honourable member was not here, whether he was not listening, or whether he didn't want to listen. At that time I explained to him the method used for hiring a contract position and said that quite frequently the regular full civil service procedure was used for hiring people in contract positions. But in regard to the earlier comments of the member opposite, Mr. Chairman, the

February 19, 1974 587 SUPPLY- NORTHERN AF FAIRS (MR. McBRYDE cont'� . member's right, I am not a lawyer. I have had occasion to be in the courtroom but I'm not a lawyer. But maybe I don't understand the full procedure in a courtroom but, Mr.

Chairman, we are in a courtroom here, in effect the courtroom of public opinion, and the member keeps making allegations and if he's not going to provide the evidence to those allegations, then I think it will happen, and I think it's right that it happens, that he'll be judged in that courtroom of public opinion for making allegations with no facts and being un willing to produce any facts to back up those allegations. MR. SPIV AK: Mr. Chairman, for the benefit of the Honour able Minister, I've been in the court of public opinion for some time - a little longer than he has.

Well the individual - the person says not so successfully but I think I've won more elections than he has, and I think I've been involved in winning more elections than he has; so, Mr.

Chairman I'm quite prepared to respect the court of public opinion and I also have to tell the Minister, the purpose of the estimates, as I understand it, is for the opposition to be able to ask questions of government --(Interjection)-- Yes, you can do twq things: you can stand up and make an allegation without even asking any questions of the government; or you in fact can ask questions of the govern ment and on the basis of the answers make a determination of how you are going to present a position. I have already indicated, Mr.

Chairman, and so I don't want to keep the Honourable Minister, you know, to sense or feel any unease, but at the appropriate time with respect to the questions that I've asked, there I think will be some evidence to support my position pre sented. And I say that, Mr. Chairman, and the Honourable Minister can harangue all he wants about it, he's just going to have to wait until I'm prepared to do it. Having said that, he still has to subjugate himself as a minister to questions from the members on this side.

He may or may not want to answer them- and again I cannot understand the rationale or the reasoning of the Minister. The Minister went to Management Committee, and he indicated that, for firm positions which were not authorized, and he admitted that of the 44 or 45 contracts he had last year, eight were allowed to become permanent positions by Management Commiteee which is in effect Treasury Board of the government.

Having been given that authority he still took it upon himself, and I gather he has authority to do this without any approval from anyone, to go out and hire another 45 people on contracts, and he in turn has advertised and followed a procedure which would normally be followed if a position had in fact been approved by Management committee, had been advertised and been boarded in a normal way. Now I find that procedure a bit strange and I find that a bit strange, and I wonder on what basis and on what authority he had been given the authority to give this- did Management Committee then say to him, well Mr.

Minister even though we're not going to allow permanent positions, we are going to allow you 45 positions, and I have indicated that based on the last year those positions amount in salary to over$ 307,000. 00. They are not included in public accounts; they are not included to the extent --(Interje ctions)-- No they will not, they will not be in public accounts, because they are not in public accounts. I want the Honourable Minister to know they are not in public accounts. They are not listed, they are not listed, they are not listed as people to whom cheques have been payable.

They are on contracts. --(Interjection)- It' s an expenditure that is not- well I ask the Honourable Minister to see whether in fact they are in public accounts. -- (Interjection)-- No I'm talking, about last year because he not only included this year, he included last year --(Interjec tion)-- Well they are below- but they are $307,000, and if we take the attendant expenses and say that they were $200,000, because I think that would be two thirds of it, and I think it usually runs dollar for dollar in overall expense and operation, we are talking approximately of five percent of the Department of Northern Affairs operation that really is not accounted for.

And sol- I don't think the Minister can get that uptight or can criticise our asking the question; nor do I think that he can in any way suggest that there is not, you know, some answers to be given. The Honourable Member for Riel stood up and asked for an explanation of a position, and asked why it was necessary for that position to be taken.

The Honourable Minister has in dicated that with respect to negotations with DREE with respect to a new ARDA agreement, he has set up another group, I think under 9 or 13 people, who are going to be working on it, and it's very obvious that many of these people are hired under contract. Is it because the people within the civil service are not capable of doing it? Is it because they have too much work and surely if that's the case, if they have too much work Management Committee would have

588 February 19, 1974 SUPPLY- NORTHERN AFFAIRS (MR. SPIV AK cont'd) •... at least made the determination that those positions should have been added to. So there is something, Mr. Chairman, very strange, it is very strange, this is not normal.

When you talk in terms of 45 people, which represent approximately about 11 percent or 12 percent of the members of the department who in effect are really hired by way of con tract, and obviously in this case, who have been boarded whatever the procedure that the Minister said, then one has to be concerned, concerned about the operation of government and about the control, and the control of expenses, because, you know, is this something that can be increased to 75 if the Minister ,so decides; is there any control on him; who gives him authority on this; who allows him to do this; is the deputy allowed to do this, without any re flection on the deputy, but has he the authority to go out and hire whoever he wants, under what conditions?

I think these questions have to be asked with respect to this department and its activities. MR . McBRYDE: The positions I listed for members previously, but I'll list them again, the breakdown of staff in the Department of Northern Affairs: managerial positions 1973- 74, 25; 1974- 75, 33; professional positions 1973-74, 37; for the upcoming year 46; technical, 103 to 125; administrative support, 70 to 86; service, 8 to 6; temporary 8 to 8; departmental casual, 0 to 6; contract positions, 48 to 45. Conversions from contract to permanent status from the 1973-74 fiscal year to the 1974-75 fiscal year, J.

Wallace, Northern Co-ordinator, J. Perchaluk, Northern Co-ordinator; J. Campbell, Northern Co-ordinator; R. B. Chernier, Assistant to the Director; P. Williams, Training Officer; D. Moose, Training Officer; J. Moriceau, Program Co-ordinator; J. Lyons, Program Co-ordinator, Now the way the process has worked, Mr.

Chairman, and maybe it's a strange process, but the way the process is worked is that the total number of positions within the Department of Northern Affairs are approved by Cabinet with advice from Management Committee; the total number of positions appr oved are 355, of those 45 will be contract positions, At the last estimate review- excuse me - The transfer of those eight positions from contract to perman ent or contracts recommended and approved, those conversions by the department approved by Cabinet at estimates time.

At that time Cabinet said that the 45 positions under contract should all be reviewed by Management Committee to see if a number of those positions should not in fact be converted to permanent positions within the civil service. The member raised questions about hiring procedures, so maybe I'm going to have to review- refresh his memory once again. Permanent Civil Service appointments: lower level method, lower level - lower entry level positions are not bulletined or advertised- clerk steno Il, clerk general 11, etc., as per Civil Service Commission procedures.

Promotional opportunity positions are bulletined and advertised locally, provincially, nationally based on recruitment market. A competition board is held including a CivilSe rviceCommission repre sentative and the respective supervisor and director and the departmental personnel admin istrator. Note: Information Communication Extension Program- a member, a board of directors or consulting committee is a member of the competition board. Applicants appear before the community, recommendations are then ratified by the Minister and approved by the Civil Service Commission.

Note: Promotional boards are not usually held for pilots, airmen, maintenance engineer positions in air radio division. Reasons basically would be an internal competition as all pilots and air maintenance engineer positions are in air radio division. (

b) Market conditions: Advertisements for these positions have been failures due to lack of response from suitable qualified and experienced candidates. Pilots and air maintenance engineer are personally employed on a term or casual basis; their performance is very care fully modified and reviewed; depending on performance they are recommended to the Civil Service Commission for permanent appointment- the reason being, Mr. Chairman, that we believe that the chief pilot is the one that has the competence to judge the competence of pilot as opposed to someone in the Commission. MR.

CHAIRMAN: The hour being 9:00 o'clock, the last hour of every day being Private Member's Hour, committee rise and report. Agreed? Call in the Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Committee of Supply has adopted certain resolutions and has directed me to report the same and asks leave to sit again.

February 19, 1974 IN SESSION MR. SPEAKER: Order please. The Honourable Member for Logan. MR, WILLIAM JENKINS (Logan): Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, seconded by the Honourable Member for Point Douglas, that the report of the committee be received, MOTION presented and carried. • • . . continued on next page 589

590 February 19, 1974 PRIVATE MEM BERS' HOUR MR. SP EAKER: The Honoura ble Member for Wolseley, the Leader of the Liberal Party. MR. ASPER: Mr.

Speaker, I beg to move, seconded by the Honoura ble Member from Ass iniboia, as follows: WHER EAS the family farm and the family-owned bus iness are important elements in the social and economic fabric of Manitoba; AND WHER EAS national and multi -national takeovers of these independently-owned farms and businesse s are occurring at a rate which is undesir able; AND WHER EAS last year, in response to repres entations made to the Federal Gover nment, the capital gains tax was removed in respect of the transfer of farms within a family unit whether during the lifetime or at the death of the owner, as an incentive for retaining ownership within the family unit; AND WHE REAS similar provisi ons and support are required in Manitoba to facilitate the retention of small business operations by permitting them to pass from father to son, or other wise within the family unit, without the imposition of capital gains tax;

NOW THEREFORE

BE IT RESOLVED that the government consider the advisability of: (

a) Making representations to the Federal Governm ent to afford the same capital gains tax exemption to transfers of small businesses when they are transferred within the family unit, as is now the c ase with family farms, namely, that no capital gains tax is payable when such transfers of property occur; and, (

b) Until shch time as the Federal Government is prepared to enact such sm all bus iness capital gains tax exemption legislation, the Province of Manitoba establish a capital gains tax rebate system whereby the provincial share of the cap ital gains tax, namely 42. 5 per cent there of will be rebated in respect of transfers of sm all businesses within the family unit. MOTION presented. MR. SPEAKER: The Honoura ble Leader of the Liberal Party. MR. ASP ER: Mr. Speaker, the object of the resolution is very clear, very str aight for ward, and one which I hope will gain support from all sides of the House.

I say that remember ing and calling to the members ' attention the remarks of the First Minister when I put this ques tion to him last year in this Ch amber and received his support in principle that this kind of legis lation is desi rable in the province. What we see k is to bring relief to a si tuation which creates a disincentive to entrepreneur ship to the beginning of sm all business ; and secondly, to create a tax incentive which will see the maintenance of ownership of family busi ness retained within family units in the province. Mr.

Speaker, I don't wish to sound as though I'm trumpeting gloom but if the present trend, and I don't lay the finger of blame on any particular level of government but rather on all governments, but if the trend that we are in continues, if it's not checked, then three undesir able but distinct events will occur in this province, as are occurring now.

First, there will be a diminishing number of new private busi ness star t-ups ; se cond, there will be a continuance of the rush for sm all busi ness to sell out to the national and multi -national concerns ; third, Manitoba will progress inexorably but unmistakably along the lines towards the completion of a branch office economy, a depersonalized and uninvolved entrepreneur ship which has no real personal concern over the events that take place in this province. Mr.

Speaker, I don't know that I'll have time to outline the very very seri ous and adverse social and economic events that occur as we move to a branch office economy and if time per mits I will document that. Mr. Speaker, I don't cons ider this a par tisan resolution becaus e - as a matter of fact I will mention now, a se lect committee or a standing committee rather of this Legislature looked into this question a year ago. Mr. Speaker, I'm happy to say that com mittee was an all-Party committee dominated by government; and Mr.

Speaker, the conclu sions found by that committee are sufficient to caus e concern even amongst the most placid of us . There are over 30 discovered takeovers of Manitoba small business by non-re sidents in a very short period of a few years . Those are the discover ed group, Mr. Speaker. As I look through it I find at least 20 more that are so -called undiscovered; whether it's Triangle Auto, Auto Wrecking, Chic ago Kosher, Canada's Manitoba Distillery, Car ter Motors, Weidman Brothers , 0. K. Packers, R. C.

Baxter, Northwes t Fabricators, BACM, they - or with one or two exceptions aren't even discovered in our own committee's report. --( Interjection) -- Mr. Speaker, the ludicrous observation by the Minister who could do something about that indicates exactly the level of concern that he in his buffoonery sho ws for this problem.

February 19, 1974 591 PRIVATE MEMBERS' HOUR (MR. ASPER cont'd) ..... Mr. Speaker, I call on the Minister of Finance who has the power to do something about the problem, if he has one scintilla of concern, to read the report, read it again and let him be concerned as all of Canada is concerned; but we in Manitoba are darn concerned, because if the Minister of Finance doesn't understand what a branch office economy is, then his successors will understand and will damn his administration for having contributed to it. Mr. Speaker-- (Interjection) --M r.

Speaker if the lack of knowledge by the Minister of Fina nce, that BACM prior to the takeov er was a Winnipeg controlled company, if that informa tion escapes him, as so much of the vital economic inform ation of this province escapes him, I can do nothing more than ignore his ludicrous comments from his seat. Mr. Speaker, the trend is accele rating. Let him - let all members read this one document that was generated by this House. Let them look at the takeover by U. S. interests of building products with its 200 employees, of M ....

Manufacturing, of Copp Clark Publishing , of Charles Frosst, the drug company, of Marshall Wells, of International Laboratories, of Universal Distributors, of A & W Driv e-ins, of General Paint, McKenzie-Stevenson, all with dozens, if not hundreds in some cases, of employees who now work in branch office operations ; Canadian Trailmobile, Turnbull Elevators, Rayman Company, Melrose Food, Winnipeg Pants and Sportswear, Building Products, which was a subsidiary of BACM, Concrete Placers, Tallman Paving , Portage Concrete, Western Concrete, Tallcrete; Provincial Concrete, Model Homes, B. A.

Construction, Tallman Gravel and Supply, Creko Concrete, Con-Force; Bell Foundry Company, Canadian Breweries, Carling Breweries, O'Keefe Brewery, McCabe Grain, National Grain, Kane Equip ment, Peerless Ca rbon and Ribbon, Stewart Brothers, Canadian Motorola Electro nics, Salada Foods, Canada Cem ent, ... Provincial Lines, Modern Dairies, with about eight or nine subsidiaries ,- Webster Air Equipm ent, Stanley Brock, James B. Carter, Winnipeg Supply, A & W Food, Precision Plati ng. Mr.

Speaker, the committee then looked to determine whether there was so mething that caused these takeovers- -just as a committee of the Ontario Economic Council looked in 1968 to 197 0. Mr. Speaker, in all cases that are documented in the committee report, as well as the Ontario Economic Council Report, indicate a desire for liquidity, a desire to escape tax penalty, a desire to protect against inability to pay death taxes when one transfers within the family unit. Mr.

Speaker, those are not opinions, those are universally known truths, and accepted facts by all economists , all provincial governments who have any sense of awareness of this dimension, this trend. Now, Mr.

Speaker, it's been examined and found that there are three key ingredi ents that these sales : One, the fear of death tax, the requirement to liquida te, to have cash for death tax, which is a provincial tax; Second, the inabi lity to transfer those assets within the family unit because of the barrier of provincial gift tax; and third, the inability to transfer within the family unit of those businesses as a result of the combined federal and provincial capital gains tax. Mr.

Speaker, I regret and I'm sure most people in this province seeing the result of the last five years must regret the role the present government had in influencing and encouraging and exhorting the adoption of some of the Carter Report Commission recommendations on tax ation. And it's interesting to see, it's interesting to see how these courageous, fearless purists could bring themselves to back off when it came to the Family Farm, because they were seeking to gain popularity and support from the Family Farm owners. But, Mr.

Speaker, that same thing when put to the First Minister in this House must apply to small business, and he said yes, because he thought that was a good idea. Mr. Speaker, we now give him and his govern ment the opportunity to do som ething about it. I urge that the government look at a royal com mission report that 30 years ago warned where we were going to wind up if we didn't do som e thing about it, and has been proven frighteningly correct. I am referring to the Ives Commis sion report on taxation of 194 5 to 148. Because, Mr.

Speaker, the words that were phrophetic in those days have become a nightmare of truth today. Mr. Speaker, I quote some of the

section s from the report: "We'r e strongly imp ressed by the evidence of the value and the necessity of these private companies in the Canadian econo my. Their im portance is not only in the matter of employment, but the ... of their activities is found chiefly in more or less widely scattered communities across Canada and so serve to

592 February 19, 197 4 PRIVATE MEMBERS' HOUR (MR. ASPER cont'd) ..... decentralize employment. A very great percentage of the popu lation of Canada depends directly or indirectly upon the healthy condition of private compani es. " And further, the report says: "The problem with which we have to deal relates to the com bined effect, " which is what I'm speaking of, Mr. Speaker, "the combined effect of income taxes and succe ss ion duties arising on the death of any of the principal sha reholders of closely held corporations with accumulative surpluses. " Mr.

Speaker, there are so many quotations from this report which are relevant today. The current levels of income tax create for many companies an imposs ible situation. Mr. Speaker, that is the situ ation in Manitoba. Mr. Speaker, I could-- (Interj ection) --the Minister of idiocy, the Minister in charge of the Manitoba Develop ment Cor poration, suggests that I should read more. If the Minister would be so gracious as to give leave when I run out of time, I'll be glad to read more. Mr. Speaker, I wish to cite the ludicrous position that small business - the impossible position that sm all business is in.

The founder of a small business who begins today with zero, with borrowed capital, he accumulates on the basis of $30, 000 a year of after tax profit, ten years from today has a 300, 000-d ollar value in a sm all business. Mr. Speaker, he now wishes to transfer that small business to his son who has been working for the preceding period with him. The Provincial Gift Tax is $11 4, 000; the Federal and Provincial Capital Gains Tax is $80, 000; the total is $193 , 000, 65 percent of his total accumul ated capital. Mr.

Speaker, it's true, and the Minister of Finance may be quick to point this out, there are certain credits that go with that, but fundamentally that is the cash drain that he faces in order to go through the simple economic chemistry of transfering the business from himself to his son who helped build it. The provincial share of that capital gains tax is approximately $35, 000, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, suppose he doesn't do that. MR. SPE AKER: Order please. MR. ASPER: The Minister in charge of the Manitoba Development Cor poration suggests a tax avoidance scheme. Mr.

Speaker, let's take the man, let's take the man ... MR. SPEAKER: Order please. MR. ASPER: Mr. Speaker, I hope, I hope in calculating the time limit that you will take into account the interruptions from the Minister of Mines and Natural Resources . Mr. Speaker, if that same man continues to operate his business and then dies, wishing to pass that farm or rather the small business to his son, if he has an estate consisting of the business plus $200, 000 of ho mes and life insurance, her e's his position.

The 300, 000-dollar business will face a death tax of $91, 000 plus the death capital gains tax of $80, 000, totalling 171, 000, 57 per cent, payable in cash. Mr. Speaker, there is no way that the ordinary sm all business owner can find the cash with which to pay that tax. --( lnterjection) -- Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance says he has five years to pay it. At 12 percent interest, he has to borrow the money. Yes, that's the rate, 10-1 /2 to 12 percent is what the banks are charging. Mr. Speaker, we'll have the opportunity for debate on this on the Finance Minister's time.

Fifty-seven percent tax when there's no cash with which to pay it. Now, Mr. Speaker, if he engages in some other planning whereby he transfers the business, se lls the business to his son and takes some sort. of an au ction to buy it back should the son default in order to protect his wife, then, Mr. Speaker, he's in the position where if the son defaults at a time when the business is worth $100 , 000 more, in order to abort the sale he pays another $25, 000 in provincial and federal capital gains tax. Mr. Speaker, one could run through dozens of more extreme examples. The best example, Mr.

Speaker, is to compare the Manitoba situation with a Minnesota situation, and under the exact sam e circumstances I've described where a Manitoba family in order. to move the family business to the son where he would pay 17 0 some thousand dollars in taxes, in Minnesota the comparable situation yields a 75, 000-dollar tax. Mr. Speaker, if this situation isn't checked there will be a concentration of wealth in fewer and fewer hands, a concentration of economic control in lesser numbers of owners, lesser entrepreneurs ; and Mr.

Speaker, I'll be prepared if this debate progresses to catalogue the concentration of capital that's developing as a result of this. Mr. Speaker, the re's a bias in the marketplace now against sm all business; the difficulty in obtaining management; the difficulty in obtaining financing; the difficulty in converting to public support in the marketplace; the difficulty in attracting technology; and the difficulty in

February 19, 1974 593 PRIVATE MEMBERS' HOUR (MR. ASPER cont'd) ..... access to markets. I am urging the Provincial Government to enact legislation to remove one of those biases, that is, Mr. Speaker, as we did for the farmers of Manitoba and for Canada, remove the capital gains tax when they transfer property from father to family unit; and until the Feder al Government will do it, the Provincial Government rebates the 42 percent of that tax that is collected by the Provincial Government. Mr. Speaker, we have a choice ... MR. SPEAKER: The honourable member's time is up. MR. ASPER: ...

I ask this House to act on it. MR. SPEAKER: The Honourable Member for St. Matthews. MR. JO HANNSO N: Mr. Speaker, I almost hesitate to speak on a Liberal taxation resolu tion. The last time, or one of the last times I spoke on one, in 1971 I spoke on a Liberal reso lution on the Inheritance Tax, I found that peculiar things happened to the wor ds I spoke. They were continually distorted by members of the Liberal Party, and Mr.

Speaker, rather amusing results occu rred during the last election campaign, and in fact prior to the election campaign, the Liberal candidate in my constituency, a gentleman named Curtain, began - well I'll name him now because the election is over and he fared ver y disastrously. But this gentleman began running a ser ies of ads long before the election campaign and well into the election campaign - yes, they were very expensive ads, a great many of them. This par ticular ad, Mr. Speaker, states among other things that the St. Matthews' member wants your home for that lO O-dollar rebate. You know, Mr.

Speaker, in 197 1 I made a speech in which I defended the principle on inher itance tax, a tax on the transfer of wealth at death; I made that defence of that principle in 1971 and I made a remark--(l nterject ion) -- MR. SPEAKER: Order please. MR. JO HANNSON: ... and I added a phrase which indicated that I believed in a far more steeply progressive tax rate than that prevai ling under the Federal Inheritance Tax at the time. --(Interje ction)--That's ri ght, a virtual confiscatory tax rate - in heritance--(I nterjec tion)--That's right, that's right.

But within the context of what I said, I saw defending a prin ciple and urging a more steeply progressive tax rate. And if the honourable member had ever read John Stewart Mill, one of the stalwarts of Bri tish Liberalis m, John Stewart Mill defended the principle of total confiscation of estates beyond a certain level. --(In terjection )--I'm not defending that principle at this time, because of what might happen to my remarks when they pass beyond this House. But my particular remark was twisted by the Liberal candidate in St.

Matthews into a statement, and this was repeated many times on many pieces of literature in many ads, that I believed in confiscation of homes, the homes of the people, and it's in black and white here. If the members wish to read it, they're welcome to do so. Now, Mr. Speaker, that wasn't bad enough; this remark of mine also happened to filter out into St. George constituency and ther e I am informed the Liberal suppor ters were spreading the word that I was a Communist. --(I nterjectio n)--Mr.

Speaker, a businessman in Arborg, yes, who was supporting the Liberal candidate--(In terjection)--a Tory businessman in fact. Now. MR. SPEAKER: Order please. MR. JO HANNS ON : Now Mr. Speaker, I really didn't object to that too much because I expect, I expect that sor t of thing from the Liberal Party, over the last four years I've grown to expect that sor t of distortion. But, Mr. Speaker, the final insult occurred, the Liberals in my constituency in an

article in the local rag, the local paper, and also in a pamphlet accused the Conservative candidate Einar Einarsson, a very fine upstanding gentleman of being a Communist, not only of being a Communist - Mr. Speaker, not only was he accused of being a Communist but because he happened to be the chairman of the Board of Directors of Mount Carmel Clinic he was also a pro- abortionist. Mr. Speaker, I don't object when honourable members of the Liberal Party indulge in a bit of smear on myself, but I really think it's being a bit nasty when they start calling the Conservative candidates Communists.

You know when the members opposite, whe� the mem bers opposite entered into their cozy little deal in running single candidates in ten constituencies and through the GGG little deals in other constituencies, I really don't think they realized what strange bedfellows they were going into partner ship with. Mr. Speaker, the honourable members opposite belabour us repeatedly with the statement that there are few businessmen or farmers in our group . There is a turkey farmer, yes, in the Cabinet, but there are a few farmers and a few businessmen in our group. Now

594 February 19, 1974 PRIVATE MEMBERS' HOUR (MR. JOHANNSON cont'd) ..... -- (Interjection)--I'm losing my time, yes, so I'll have to be careful. Mr. Speaker I wouldn't claim to be a business man, I wouldn't claim to be a farmer; I am. a country boy by origin, so I must have a little bit of merit in the eyes of the members opposite - my father is a sm all business man, my grandparents were farmers. One thing I noticed, Mr.

Speaker, in my years in a sm all country town, and observing the local sm all busi nesses, these were family businesses in a sm all country town - and these are the days long before capital gains tax - one thing I observed was that these family businesses were very fleeting in nature; they lasted for a certain period of time and then they disappeared. And in no way did the capital gains tax cause this dis appeara nce. In fact, the period I'm talking about occurred decades ago - this was going on.

So the concern the honourable member expresses was occurring a long time ago, long before the capital gains tax ever entered the picture. I would like to deal with the second - I really don't think it's terribly relevant to the resolve. The 4th indicates that Manitoba should facilitate the retention of small business opera tions by permitting them to pass from father to son, or otherwise within the family unit without the imposition of capital gains tax. It's very strange, Mr. Speaker, that this very proposition was put to the Federal Liberal Government in power in ottawa last year, and what happened, Mr.

Speaker, they declined to act on it ? They declined-- (Interjection)--this proposition was put to the Honourable John Turner and he-- (lnterjection)-- that I would have to check, the pers on who put it, but Turner argued against it, and I'll quote his argument to you if you doubt this point. John Turner a year ago, John Turner one year ago in the House of Commons argued that the family farm should be given exemption from capital gains taxation on transfers within the family unit, and he argued that this could be done because there were sp ecial reasons for it, and I'll quote.

This is from the House of Commons Address, April 9, 1973 , Page 3119 of Hansa rq, and I quote: John Turner: "The distinction between the family farm and an y other sort of business is that a farm by its very nature tends to be highly capitalized in terms of land and equipment. Second ly, there is a predominantly non-liquid situa tion in that most of the assets of the farm are tied upin land and equipment.

Thirdly, th.e value of the land is highly volatile, it depends on market conditions prevailing at the time in the area and on other market conditions that need be quite irrelevant apart from the essential worth of the farm as a going concern. " And Turner proceeded on Page 3120 of Hans ard to argue against the extension of this exemption to small businesses and to corporate family farm s, and he argued on a number of grounds; the main argu ment was that there was administrative difficulty and he foresaw a lot of administrative problems in trying to proceed beyond the exemption to the family farm.

He also argued that there was much more liquidity within a corporate family farm and that through the device of share-holding trans fer of ownership could be facilitated over a period of time and therefore it didn't deserve the same kind of exemption. Now the honourable member has spoken as if the Manitoba Government has sh own no concern for taxation reform and no concern for sm all business, and I would point out that I think our record in the field of taxation reform is one of the things of which we are most proud.

We have carried through major redistribution of income through the Manitoba property tax credit plan and through the elimination of the inequitous health premium - this is a maj or shift within the tax field. But we have also shown concern for small business - now coming from ravening Socialists this may shock the member, and if he would care to read back to the Budget Speech delivered by the Minister. of Finance in 1970 prior to his entry into this House, appendix (

b) The Minister of Finance made representation to the Federal Government requesting reforms, requesting changes in federal tax legislation, which would have given far greater benefit to sm all business than the proposal now put forward by the Li beral leader. --(Interjection)--Just a moment. The Minister in his -i n the Manitoba Government position Paper in respect to the Federal Ta x Reform, made a couple of points. One was that depletion allowances and other resource industry incentives, etc. , are still going to operate, and these may well be wrong in principle, whatever the basis for computing them.

Depletion allowances benefit large corporations and they give them a very unfair adva ntage over sm all corporations. Another point made by this Finance Minister; capital cost allowances must be fully re-examined before setting any final corporate tax policy - an unlimit ed advertising expenditure offset against tax liability remains a maj or inequity and an economic weakness which the White Paper ignored. These items again

February 19, 1974 595 PRIVATE MEMBERS' HOUR (MR. JOHANNSON cont'd) ..... are major competitive advantages that large corporati ons enjoy over sm all business and we agreed that the Federal Gover nment should eliminate these unfair advantages given to large corporations. --( Interjection)- -l'm running short of time. MR . SP EAKER: Five minutes . MR . JOHANNSON: No. I'll answer questions when I've completed. And the Minister of Finance argued that there must be alternative provisions for truly small and innovative business as the Car ter Co mmission recommended.

These new and small scale ope rations need aid in finding and holding capita l ; they are entitled to vari ous special in centives with offsetting incentives to large operators, who si mply use tax advantages to wipe out small competitors. Manitoba propose s tax deferral for small business for a specified period of start-up. So we did make major recomm endations to the Federal Government which would have been of benefit to small businesse s and of cours e the Federal Gover nment didn't accept these recommendations.

One of the difficulties is that my concept of sm all business se ems to be a bit different from that of the honourable member. He has given as examples of small busi ness corporati ons that no one else would define as small business, BAC M, A & W- what else did he - James B. Car ter, Salada Foods, small family businesse s . Only the Liberal Leader would define these as small family businesse s . Now the validity of his arguments are very questionable. He claims that the capital gains tax is harsh on small business - and of course he gives an example of a $300, 000. 00 ... MR.

CH ERNIAC K: Maybe he doesn't believe in capital gains tax. MR . JOHANNSON: I don't know if he does or not. It sounds highly questionable whether he does or not. But, Mr. Speaker, I did some calcul ations on the basis of what I thought was a typical small family business, a grocery store worth $60, 000 at the end of 1971, $80, 000 at the end of 19 73. In other words , a capital gain of $20, 000.

I calculated or I had calcul ations done to find out how much this gentleman would pay in capital gains on this sm all family busi ness, what I thought was a small family business - now the Leader of the Liberal Party se ems to have a very different concept - and I found, Mr. Speaker, that if this gentleman took advan tage of the general averaging provisi ons under the federal legislation, the provincial capital gains tax payable over a two year period would amount to a little over $1, 000 - that's on a $20, 000 capital gain, a little over a 1, 000.

Now cap ital gain of course is unearned income. $1, 000 provincial tax payable if he took advantage of the forward averaging provisi ons which permit him to sp read that capita l gain over a 15 year period ... MR . SP EAKER: Order pleas e. MR. JOHANNSON: Mr. Chairm an, if someone has an asset worth $80, 000 they can very readily obtain $1, 000 cash on that ass et of $80, 000, very, very easily. The sec ond point I would make is that the second resolved of his resol ution is incorrect.

He implies that the provincial tax payable is 42 perce nt of the total - in fact the provincial tax is 42 percent of the federal tax, which means that the provincial portion is about 30 percent. One further point , Mr.

Speaker, Manitoba at pres ent could not legally proceed to imple ment his suggestion, becaus e we are locked into the present system by a federal-provin cial tax collection agreement, and if we were to want to end this agreement, we would have to give a year's notice; we couldn't get out of the agreeme nt until the end of 19 75, and at that point the implication of his proposal is that we would have to set up our own bureaucracy to start collecting taxes. -- (Interjecti on) --No, we could use unemployed Liberals ; there are a lot around after the last election. In conclus ion, Mr.

Speaker, I would think that first of all there is no proof that capital gains taxation on the transfers of small businesses within family units is burdensome. Mind you the honourable member defines sm all businesse s as BAC M, so we can't agree on that. Secondly, a provincial rebate as he suggests is now legally impossi ble under the present federal-provincia l tax collection agreement ; and finally, even if it could be implemented, what significant benefit is this to the sm all busi nessman. In the case that I mentioned, he has a benefit of $1, 000. 00. MR . SPEAKER: The honourab le gentleman's time is up.

Order please. No questions unless by unani mous consent since the member's time is up.

596 February 19, 1974 PRIVATE MEMBERS' HOUR (MR. SPEAKER cont'

d) Are you ready for tne question ? The Honour able Member for Sturgeon Creek. MR . FRANK JOHNSTON (Sturgeon Creek) : Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member from St. Matthews just leaves me cold. It leaves me to presume that capital gain is unearned income when a person buys a busine ss, owns a busine ss worth, say, $20, 000, $1 , 000, and builds it up to be worth $1 0, 000, you say that's unearned inc ome ? Good heavens, Mr. Speaker, You know _ _;(Interjection)-- Yes, I'l l let you ask me a question. MR . SPEAKER: The Honourable Member for Wolseley. MR . ASP ER: Thank you.

I wonder if the Minis ter, rather the speaker from, the Hon oura ble Member from Sturgeon Creek would comment on hi s digr ession ..• MR . SPEAKER: Order please. Order please. May I remind the honourable gentleman about our rules; rules in respect to questions are for clarificati on, not to expand debate or to alter debate. So would the honourable gentleman wait until the Member for Sturgeon Creek has said a few words. The Honourable Member for Sturgeon Creek. MR. F. JOHNSTON: I'll allow a question and answer, Mr.

Speaker, Then he takes the grocery store, you know, the small grocery store , and I had a lot of re spect for small grocery stores; I spent a lot of the first part of my busin ess life calling on small busin ess grocery stores, they're the backbone of the province these types of small busine sses. But to say that James B. Carter was not a family busin ess started in Manitoba, that grew - of course the members on the other side don't want busi ne sses to grow in this province. As I said in my speech from the Throne, Mr.

Speaker, thi s government does not like small busine ss; they can't flourish with a bunch of free enterprisers around; they can legisla te against big busin ess, and every bit of legisla tion that they have put through at the present time is to gradually put the small businessman out of busin ess. You know, Mr. Speaker, the Member from St. Matthews ought to put a bag over his head when he starts talking busin ess. He goes down to the libr ary and gets a bunch of statistic s that he loves to read in books and his practicality of business is something to be desired, And I would say this, Mr.

Speaker, the Member for Wolseley at many times, the Honourable Leader of the Li beral Party does have some problems at times, but I'll tell you that he's very knowledgeable on tax, I think that he could argue with the Member from St. Matthews any given time, and what the Member for Wolseley just finished saying in his resolution and in his presentation, is that we have a problem in Manitoba. .And what did we get from the usual over there, the laughing back row, the smiling centre row, and the smug front row, you know.

You see, what really goes on over there is the fellows on that front row, that government has reduced itself from a 31-man government to a 5-man government, and the honourable gentlemen on the front bench really don't tell anyone what' s going on over there; even the Ministers on the Tre asury Ben ch in the second row don't know what' s going, and the fellows in the back row know less, Mr.

Speaker, let me tell you about one that I know of personally, a busine ss started in Manitoba from about a size of a buil ding the size of that chesterfield, grew up to a head office in Manitoba, branches across western Canada, and the man, Sir, had to sell out. He couldn't pos sibly die, that busine ss, owning that business. He had to sell out. And when he finally sold out to a very large corporation he got out of this province , Sir. He could not afford to die owning the business he started in Manitoba. There was just no way.

All the people that advised him said, look at your age you've just got to, got to make this move, So what usually happened - what' s happening now ? We have small busine ss in Manitoba that gets whacked at daily; even the Minister of Autopac has decided that they're going to hit at the small business more than anybody; they think that the - not all small busine sses are grocery stores, there are small business that have fleets of cars.

We have the succession duties, we have the taxes th'at the Mini ster of Finance continually seems to go out of his way to find to put on the people in this provinc e, and when we get a presentation that' s very factual, very factual, except that maybe they do have five years to pay, and the Minis ter wants to prove that in his little book that he' s got over there - that's fine. If he wants to prove those insignific ant little things, why doesn't he stand up and speak instead of hiding behind the back benches on that side. They pass out the resolutions, Mr. Speaker, and what do we do ?

You pass them out to the back benchers. But the Treasury Bench has a resolution put in for this government- and the Treasury bench has a re solution put in front of them with a problem described by a person

Februar y 19, 1974 597 PRIVATE MEMBERS' HOUR (MR. F. JOHNSTON cont'd) ...• who's knowledgeable in tax, knowledgeable in tax -- (Inter jection)-- I'll stack him up to those fellows any time. And anyway, what do they do, they laugh about it. They laugh about it. And the Minister says to the fellow in the back bench, go down to the library, dig up some figure s, talk about something you know nothing about, and he hides behind them and doesn't answer that question- does absolutely nothing about it. Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, we've got it again. We've got the laughter from the government. Mr.

Speaker, just for a second to you, Sir, doesn't it bother you that you get that continual laughing and cackling from that government? You know, it's, you know, the smug, smooth, pious comments of the Minister of Finance only when you speak. You know, it's rather ridiculous, you know, it's rather ridiculous that the seriousness that this government takes on a situation that's a problem in Manitoba. The nothing attitude of the Minister of Industry and Commerce when we talk about small businesses going out of this province , and nothing is said. Nobody cares. You know, if you want to, Mr.

Speaker, document the argu ment the Member from Wolseley made; if you want to sit down, or as they should on the other side and really discuss it sometime; I'm not saying that he's completely right but he's certainly not very far off base of what is happening. And they would find, Mr. Speaker, that they still wouldn't admit it because they still keep putting the taxes on. But it's rather nice for a Conservative to get up and speak on this resolution, because we didn't put any of these taxes on. A MEMBER: Hear hear. MR. F.

JOHNSTON: All they did is when the NDP and the Li beral Party got together, we found taxes keep coming out that would harm small businesses. And what do we hear the Member of St. Matthews say? The Member from St. Matthews says, we have made recom mendations to the Federal Government. Recommendations? We've been recommending things; this government recommends and recommends and recommends and does nothing about it and says, we're going to let you all go out. We're going to lose you all because the Federal Government won't do anything about it.

You know, and they are the ones that helped the Federal Government do it. -- (Interj ection)-- Right. Right. They are the ones that won't take a look at the Manitoba problem. You know, Mr. Speaker --(Int erjection)- - it's there. The problem is there.

The taxes, because you can't transfer within the family in business, which to me is something for the what do you call it , the human rights, or whatever you want to - something like that --(Inter jection)-- They tell you you can't transfer to your family or your sons, or anything like that without it costing you an arm and a leg, and then they give you the example about the small grocery stores , because while the Member from St. Matthews was a little boy in the country, he noticed that small grocery stores changed hands, and they had a way of going , you know. Mr.

Speaker, I was a salesman for Paulin Chambers biscuits when I was 19 years old, through the country area, and I saw small businesses change hands: I saw communities that would grow where the business would grow , and then the community might not, and they had a bad time, the business would go down. But there was a free enterpriser that was willing to take that gamble every time he went in there, and he says that that's the criteria of small business, and that's why he doesn't like the small business. And that's why the opinion that he gives that we shouldn't have a James B.

Carter started in Manitoba, a family business grow. Well, they have them, but they don't want to keep them because most of those men or people that own them can't afford to die owning those busineoses in this province, so they sell out. And, Mr. Speaker, these men smugly sit there and say there's no problem. When they walk around this province themselves daily; they walk around this city, they meet people, they see the problem, and they still won't do anything about it. In fact, they think it's humourous. MR. SPEAKER: The Honourable Minister of Industry and Commerce. MR. EVANS: Mr.

Speaker, in the very few minutes that are left to me, I'd like to make a very few brief remarks. I appreciate the description of the problem posed by the Honourable Leader of the Liberal Party. He read off a great list of the companies that have moved out or whose head offices have been moved out of Manitoba to eastern Canada. But I would like to ask the honourable member and all honourable members to take a look at the record a few years back, in fact a few years back beyond that, and I can tell you for a fact

598 February 19, 1974 PRIVATE MEMBERS' HOUR (MR . EVANS cont'd) ..•. that this trend of takeover of head offices, of moving out of head offices , is something that has gone on in the Province of Manitoba for three or four or five decades, if not longer. That is a fact, and it has nothing to do with the tax situation, it has nothing to do with the tax situation, Mr. Speaker.

I agree with the Honourable Member from Wolseley on his description of the problem , of the trend, I agree with some of his descriptio ns , but I disagree with his diagnosis of the cause of the problem, because the cause of the problem is not tax. I know the honourable member's an expert in taxation, and he seems to think that everything that happens in the economic world is dependent upon taxation. Well, Mr. Speaker, that is utter ruddy nonsense.

It is utter ruddy nonsense to say, for the'M ember for Wolseley, the Member who leads the Liberal Party, to tell the people of Manitoba and the members of thi s Legisla ture that this is happening because of a particular tax law or because of a particular set of tax regulations. Be cause that is not the reason, that is not the reason why, why any trend towards concentration in eastern Canada is happening , There are a lot of very very good reasons and they're not the reasons that the Honourable Member from Wolseley has stated. And the point is, Mr.

Spea ker, he doesn't know a damn thing about economics and he gets up - he doesn't know a damn thing about economics, and everything - he can only see, he can only see busine13s in terms of tax laws , and getting around tax laws perhaps, I don't know but he can only envisage, he can only envi sage the busin ess world in terms of the tax structure. And, Mr.

Speaker, I' m afraid therefore that the Honourable Member from Wolseley is looking at the busine ss world through a veil , through a very clouded, through a very clouded glass, because he doesn't see the actual situation, There are various reasons why there are trends towards concentration of busin ess in Canada, some very fundamental economic reasons, The national tariff; look at the national tariff of Canada and you tell me if that does not have an influence on con centration in industry in eastern Canada.

It damn well does, and it 's sponsored by the Federal Government of Canada, What about the railw ay rates, the freight rate situation? If anything that causes the concentration of indu stry in Ontario. and Quebec, it's the railway rates, and it's sponsored by the Federal Ottawa Government, not the tax situation.

The tax - what the honourable member refers to in te rms of taxes is peanuts, it has really no -- (Interjection)-- really no, it esse ntially it has very li ttle influence, it has very little impact, The railway freight structure in this country is desi gned to enhance and to concentrate industry in Ontario and Quebec , and there' s no getting away from that.

That is the fact, and all the western provinc es of Canada came to Calgary last summer and we said together in a unison, to all the people of Canada, the the freight rates, the national freight rate system in thi s country was geared against industrializa tion in western Canada. And that is a fundamental reason why you do have this continuing takeover by head office organizations, thi s continuing concentration of industry in eastern Canada, And let me give you another reason, Mr. Speaker.

I'l l give you another reason, You take, Mr, Speaker, take a look, I want the honourable tax expert in this House to look at the Department of Industry, Trade and Commerce in Ottawa, He' s babbling from his seat because he knows damn well I'm telli ng the truth. You look at the - you look at the Federal Department of Industry, Trade and Commerce, the Federal Department of Industry, Trade and Commerce, and look at their budget, Where is their money going ? --(Interjectio n)-- MR. SPEAKER: Order please, MR. EVANS: Well, I am looking at it. MR. SPEAKER: Order please. Order please. MR, EV ANS: I am looking at it.

MR, SPEAKER: Order please. MR. EVANS: I am looking at it, and 85 percent of the federal budget, the Federal Department of Industry, Trade and Commerce goes towards enhancing the growth of industry in Ontario and Quebec. And I told Alli ster Gillespie, the Federal Minis ter, this and he couldn't deny it, and all you have to do is look at the budget, look at the estimates of that department and see where they' re spending it, They can put $80 million in De Havilland; they won't put one penny into Saunders; they' ll support De Havilland in Ontario, but nothing in Manitoba, MR. SPEAKER: Order please. Order please.

Order please. MR. G. JOHNSTON: Would the Honourable Min ister entertain one question before 10:00 o'cl ock?

February 19 , 1974 599 PRIVATE MEMBERS' HOUR MR . EVANS: Mr. Speaker, two more points. A few weeks ago we had the Federal Minis ter of Supply and Services here. This is the department that buys hundreds of millions of dollars of goods and services from busin ess in Canada; and the Mi nister came here to Winnipeg and he was on a televison interview with myself, and he said, ye s, Ottawa does not buy a fair share of goods and services from industry in Manitoba. And that' s another damn good reason why we don't have the rate of industry that we should have, industrializ ation in Manitoba.

And let me make one final poin t because time is going . The last poin t I would make . A MEMBER: Ke ep going. Keep going. MR. EVANS: Okay. Another poin t, Mr. Speaker, I would make is that there is such a thing as an economic system. There's such --(Interjections)-- Okay. Everybody' s all excited on that side, because I'm telling it as it is, that that is what the situation is, not this minor taxation, not this minor taxation . • • MR . SPEAKER: Order please. MR . EV ANS: • • • the Member for Wolseley is talking about. MR . SPEAKER: ORDER !

I had intended to give the honourable gentleman another 30 seconds, Would he • • • -- (Interjections)-- The honourable gentlemen just make it imposs ible to hear; pos sibly next time when the question comes up the honourable gentleman can fini sh his remarks. The hour being 10:0 0 o'cl ock, the House is now adjourned and stands adjourned until 2:30 Wednesday afternoon.

Document details

Collection	Manitoba — Debates (Hansard)
Citation	30-1-23
Type	hansard
Volume / chapter	30th 1st hansardpdf 23.pdf
Language	en
Format	pdf
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	8730323213b01152146a9ae0b7568f4b96309207

Source file is stored in the law ingest library (pdf).