Manitoba Hansard — 21 June 2018 (Sitting 68A, 41st Legislature, 3rd Session)

41-3-68a

Manitoba — Debates (Hansard)

Third Session – Forty-First Legislature of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba DEBATES and PROCEEDINGS Official Report (Hansard) Published under the authority of The Honourable Myrna Driedger Speaker Vol. LXXI No. 68A - 10 a.m., Thursday, June 21, 2018 ISSN 0542-5492

MANITOBA LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY Forty-First Legislature Member Constituency Political Affiliation ALLUM, James Fort Garry-Riverview NDP ALTEMEYER, Rob Wolseley NDP BINDLE, Kelly Thompson PC CLARKE, Eileen, Hon. Agassiz PC COX, Cathy, Hon. River East PC CULLEN, Cliff, Hon. Spruce Woods PC CURRY, Nic Kildonan PC DRIEDGER, Myrna, Hon. Charleswood PC EICHLER, Ralph, Hon. Lakeside PC EWASKO, Wayne Lac du Bonnet PC FIELDING, Scott, Hon. Kirkfield Park PC FLETCHER, Steven, Hon. Assiniboia Ind. FONTAINE, Nahanni St. Johns NDP FRIESEN, Cameron, Hon. Morden-Winkler PC GERRARD, Jon, Hon. River Heights Lib.

GOERTZEN, Kelvin, Hon. Steinbach PC GRAYDON, Clifford Emerson PC GUILLEMARD, Sarah Fort Richmond PC HELWER, Reg Brandon West PC ISLEIFSON, Len Brandon East PC JOHNSON, Derek Interlake PC JOHNSTON, Scott St. James PC KINEW, Wab Fort Rouge NDP KLASSEN, Judy Kewatinook Lib. LAGASSÉ, Bob Dawson Trail PC LAGIMODIERE, Alan Selkirk PC LAMOUREUX, Cindy Burrows Lib. LATHLIN, Amanda The Pas NDP LINDSEY, Tom Flin Flon NDP MALOWAY, Jim Elmwood NDP MARCELINO, Flor Logan NDP MARCELINO, Ted Tyndall Park NDP MARTIN, Shannon Morris PC MAYER, Colleen St.

Vital PC MICHALESKI, Brad Dauphin PC MICKLEFIELD, Andrew Rossmere PC MORLEY-LECOMTE, Janice Seine River PC NESBITT, Greg Riding Mountain PC PALLISTER, Brian, Hon. Fort Whyte PC PEDERSEN, Blaine, Hon. Midland PC PIWNIUK, Doyle Arthur-Virden PC REYES, Jon St. Norbert PC SARAN, Mohinder The Maples Ind. SCHULER, Ron, Hon. St. Paul PC SMITH, Andrew Southdale PC SMITH, Bernadette Point Douglas NDP SMOOK, Dennis La Verendrye PC SQUIRES, Rochelle, Hon. Riel PC STEFANSON, Heather, Hon. Tuxedo PC SWAN, Andrew Minto NDP TEITSMA, James Radisson PC WHARTON, Jeff, Hon. Gimli PC WIEBE, Matt Concordia NDP WISHART, Ian, Hon.

Portage la Prairie PC WOWCHUK, Rick Swan River PC YAKIMOSKI, Blair Transcona PC Vacant St. Boniface

3245 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA Thursday, June 21, 2018 The House met at 10 a.m. Madam Speaker: O Eternal and Almighty God, from Whom all power and wisdom come, we are assembled here before Thee to frame such laws as may tend to the welfare and prosperity of our province. Grant, O merciful God, we pray Thee, that we may desire only that which is in accordance with Thy will, that we may seek it with wisdom and know it with certainty and accomplish it perfectly for the glory and honour of Thy name and for the welfar e of all our people. Amen. Please be seated. Good morning, everybody.

ORDERS OF THE DAY PRIVATE MEMBERS' BUSINESS Mr. Matt Wiebe (Concordia): Morning, Madam Speaker. I would like to ask if there is leave to proceed to Bill 225 this morning. Madam Speaker: Is there leave to consider Bill 225 this morning? [Agreed] DEBATE ON SECOND READINGS– PUBLIC BILLS Bill 225–The Human Rights Code Amendment Act (Genetic Characteristics) Madam Speaker: We will now move to second reading–debate on second reading on Bill 225, The Human Rights Code Amendment Act (Genetic Characteristics), standing in the name of the honourable member for Lac du Bonnet, who has six minutes remaining. Mr.

Wayne Ewasko (Lac du Bonnet): It gives me great pleasure today to rise and put a few more words on the record in regards to Bill 225 brought forward by our –by the member from Minto, Human Rights Code Amendment Act.

As we were chatting about just last week, Madam Speaker, it's interesting that the member 's bringing forward this type of legislation here in the House after, you know, I know that he sat–he had the fortunate–the good fortune of being in Cabinet in his NDP government for quite a few years, and as he sat as the Attorney General as well, I know that he potentially had the opportunity for quite a few years to bring forward this piece of legislation.

But that being said, we know that the federal government at this time is also looking at the various different degrees in where this is being considered, Madam Deputy Speaker. This act basically prohibits any person from requiring another to undergo genetic testing or disclose results of genetic tests for the purposes of providing goods, services, entering a contract or agreement or continuing the terms of a contract or agreement with that person. Non- compliance is a serious offence with fines up to $1 million and up to five years in prison.

This, of course, Madam Speaker, in May of 2017, was the federal Genetic Non -Discrimination Act, which received royal assent. The Quebec government viewed the Genetic Non -Discrimination Act as unconstitutional, and in June 2017, they initiated a reference at the Quebec Court of Appeal. Additional intervenors in a reference are BC, the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association, the federal government, the Canadian Coalition for Genetic Fairness and the Canadian Human Rights Commission.

I know that if the Quebec reference is not successful, Quebec will most likely appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada and, in the meantime, the legislation is not in force. So I think there's a few things that are under way, Madam Speaker, that we have to make sure that we're doing our due diligence here in Manitoba to make sure that we're complying as well. And I know that many members on the opposition side probably would like an opportunity to have a conversation or put a few words on the record in regards to this.

So I know that today is, you know, the 21st of June, and I know that the member f rom Minto brought this forward, and I'm not sure exactly how many members of the opposition party had stood up to put a few words on the record. I know that last week when we were also discussing a resolution in regards to French language services, which I do believe is going to be coming up again today, I know that I had spoken to that and spoken at great lengths about how the opposition members were not, basically, standing up and

3246 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA June 21, 2018 speaking in favour of the legislation brought forward by their own member s. And then about two or three speakers later, after, I guess, they felt the guilt of not standing up for their own legislation, I know the member from Wolseley finally stood up and put a few major partisan words on the record, as usual. I mean, that's to be expected from the member from Wolseley that instead of standing up and speaking towards the legislation, he would take that time to be partisan and put those words on the record. So I am encouraging other members.

I know that the member from Flin Flon is just mentioning that he possibly wants to get up and put a few words on the records in regards to Bill 225. And, once again, Madam Speaker, I know that on our side of the House as well, there are people who would like to put a few words on the record in regards to the member from Minto's bill here as well.

So, as I see that my time is winding down, Madam Speaker, I know that the previous NDP government did not take the opportunities whilst they were in government for 17 years to make some of those har d decisions, to make changes within this great province of ours to make it better. What they constantly did was they checked their own poll stats and various different constituencies, and they basically played politics and played favouritism and sent various amounts of money and made various promises to different constituencies, but not necessarily for the good of all Manitobans.

And that's the difference between the previous NDP government and our PC government, is the fact that we're here t o make lives f or Manitoba that much – Manitobans that much better. So we're here to make the tough decisions. So I thank Madam Speaker for the opportunity this morning to put a few words on the record. Hon. Blaine Pedersen (Minister of Growth, Enterprise and Trade): Thank you, Madam Speaker, and good morning. Another –first day of summer today, June 21st, longest day of the year.

In some ways, it's a bit sad because this is the longest day of sunshine in Manitoba for this year, but –and– but, however, lots of summer still to enjoy. * (10:10) So, Bill 225 aims to address any discrimination one could face regarding the DNA and any genetic dispositions. The NDP are always good about talking about issues that–for specific groups, but never really very good at dealing with th e issues that Manitobans face each and every day, such as finances.

We know that they did their very best to drive this province into debt in a very unsustainable manner, so as a government we are focused on fixing the finances and repairing our services a nd rebuilding the economy, and we will continue to focus on that. And how did –the NDP were always good , and continue to be , at looking at politically motivated quick fixes, trying to bolster their waning popularity, but however they choose to do it that' s their problem and not ours. We will choose to focus on what really matters to Manitobans.

And so –but as a government we're –we are opposed to discrimination of any kind, and I'm sure we've all seen it in some form or another and it's sad when you see that. And we as Manitobans and as Canadians we have to stand up for those who are being discriminated against to make sure that their voices are heard, and that's what everyone has that obligation to do and we'll continue to do that as a government as well.

And we do have the Human Rights Code here in Manitoba and this –even though this bill is trying to separate out some of this, it's still–these –everyone is still covered under the Human Rights Commission and they continue to monitor any alleged or a suspected discrimination, and that's what the Human Rights Commission is there for and they continue to do a good job on that. And as a government we'll continue to monitor the federal situation because this is a matter that needs to be dealt with federally before –and make sure that it's uniform across the country before anything can be done on a provincial basis.

And I realize–I would suspect that the NDP realize this, but they're just trying to do wedge politics which is what their specialty is. It's not about looking after Manitobans, and so these are complex issues and a constitutional review is currently under way and we need to respect that process.

I know that within my own department here, was the parental leave issue, the federal government brought out extended parental leave and the NDP thought that they could just jump out there and bring in a private member's bill even though they knew that the proper way to do this was to send it to the legislative management review committee, the LMRC as it's known as. And it did go to LMRC and it came back, and they've now put that into legislation which was approved here in the last week

June 21, 2018 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 3247 or so. So it is in force now and that's the way things should be done. The NDP are always good at trying to do politically m otivated rather than doing the right things, and that's what our government will continue to focus on is doing the right things for Manitobans, and we will always ensure that Manitobans' rights are first and foremost and all Manitobans' rights are first and foremost with all of us.

And we will, as I said, we're watching the federal government review on this one and they are –once that review is done then we can determine what our next course of action is based on federal government doing it, whatever they decide to do with this. There's further consultations need to incur –to ensure this legislation does not overshadow other pieces of our Human Rights Code within our province. That work needs to be done before you can pass any legislation.

It's –the use of ge netics for personal or business gain has been a matter of concern to various industries, consumers, privacy groups, international public policy groups and watchdogs. So we need to make sure that we're – when something is –legislation is brought forward that you've done the due diligence on this and make sure that –are–other groups are –other groups' concerns are addressed because that's the proper way to do legislation.

And it's important to find a balance for what constitutes reasonableness and what constitute s fairness when entering a contract with respect to privacy, and we know that privacy legislation has become much more important in the last number of years with the amount of information that's out there on electronic form, and we need to make sure that the privacy of individuals is respected at all times. The nature of insurance is to protect against risk, but if one party has an advantage in the contract, there ought to be full disclosure. It's the–it's this balance of fairness and good faith that is so important.

The–we agree that insurance companies ought not to be able to force potential clients to take genetic tests. There is some reasonableness in disclosing a health condition or a predisposition which may be identified by–diagnosed by diagnostic genetic tests. So this is what the concern is on–in terms of privacy. This is not addressed in this bill. The member should have known that, but it's –instead, he continues to push for this.

There's a fairness issue at stake regarding risk and appropriate dis closure that needs to consider what reasonable expectation of consumer privacy is and what reasonable expectation of consumer privacy, what it is not. And we'll work collaboratively with all our stakeholders. We can–and by doing that, we can find real solutions that will lead to positive, lasting results for all Manitobans. And there is –so there's much more work to do on this before this can even be considered being brought forth in legislation.

That's– again, it's just unfortunate that the NDP doesn't seem to want to do that outreach and do that proper due diligence before bringing a bill before the Assembly. And I guess that's one of the values we have in Manitoba is the–our democratic system. So this –even though someone has brought forward this particul ar legislation, we are able to debate it and bring forward those concerns that come from other individuals, from businesses, from Manitobans of all walks of life across our province.

And that is what a –the Province, the provincial government should be doing , is looking after all the interests of Manitobans, of all Manitobans from all walks of life. And so we'll continue to do that. Again, I just want to sum up by, again, reiterating that discrimination is –should be opposed in any form, and as legislators a nd as Manitobans, we–I think we have a duty to do that, and I think as Manitobans we've been doing that.

We know that , certainly through my department and other departments, we've been working very closely with our indigenous communities who have been just treated somewhat less than fairly in past years, and we will continue to address that, continue to work on that. And it's about building respect and relationships, building relationships, really, that are based on trust and respect. And our government has continued to do that all the time, and it's been very rewarding to build that trust and respect with groups that have felt somewhat disenfranchised– Madam Speaker: The member's time has expired. * (10:20) Mr.

Andrew Smith (Southdale): Well, thank you, Madam Speaker. It's an honour to rise today in the Legislature to speak to Bill 225. You know, it's a beautiful Thursday morning. The sun is shining and the skies are blue and the Tories are in power. What else could we ask for in this wonderful province of Manitoba, Madam Speaker? It's–no, again, it is–[interjection] Madam Speaker: Order.

3248 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA June 21, 2018 Mr. Smith: Like I said, it's an honour to not only rise in the Legislature here, but it is an honour to continue to serve the good constituents of Southdale. You know, it's –every time we walk into this Assembly we –it's–reminds me of the reason why we're here: to represent the people that actually voted for us and the people who put us into this position of representing them in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba. I know that I do want to thank the member from Minto to–for putting forward Bill 225 here.

I know that as as every legislator has the right to do so, bringing forward member's resolutions and private member's bills are the inherent right of any legislature–legislator, sorry. But it's –I do want to, you know, raise a few points on the bill and maybe we can get some clarification on some of these points that are being brought up by this side of the House, Madam Speaker.

Now, Madam Speaker, it–the Manitoba Human Rights Commission has actually reviewed and assessed this issue and it was determined that there is sufficient authority within the Human Rights Code to address this manner of discrimination, if required. So I think that perhaps it would be best if we had further consultation on the issue and that might, you know, bring to light some more issues that t his legislation may not address or might have overlooked in the writing of this legislation.

You know, I see the use of genetics for personal and business gain has been a matter of concern for various industries, consumer, privacy and inter - national publ ic policy groups and watchdogs. It's important to find a balance with what constitutes reasonableness and what constitutes fairness when entering a contract with respect to privacy. So the nature of insurance, as we know, is to protect against risk, Madam Speaker, and if one party has an advantage in that contract there ought to be full disclosure so the bounds of fairness and good faith is important.

And I don't think anyone would disagree here in this House that insurance companies ought not to be able to force potential clients to take genetic tests. There are some reasonableness in disclosing a health condition or predisposition which may be identified by a diagnostic genetic test, Madam Speaker. There may be a fairness issue at stake regarding risk and appropriate disclosure that needs to consider what a reasonable expectation of consumer privacy is and what it is not.

By working collaboratively with all stakeholders we can find real solutions that will lead to positive lasting results for everybody in this province, Madam Speaker. Now, we know in May of last year the federal Genetic Non -Discrimination Act received royal assent. The act prohibited any person from requiring another to undergo genetic testing or disclose the results of genetic tests f or the purposes of providing goods, services, or entering a contract or agreement, or continuing the terms of a contract or agreement with that person.

So, non-compliance is a serious offence with fines up to $1 million and up to five years in prison. The Quebec government views the Genetic Non-Discrimination Act as unconstitutional and in June of 2017 they initiated a reference at the Quebec Court of Appeal. Additionally, interveners in the reference are BC, the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Assocat ion, the federal government, the Canadian Coalition for Genetic Fairness and the Canadian Human Rights Commission. If the Quebec reference is not successful the province will likely appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.

In the meantime the legislation is not enforced. While Quebec's reference to courts is under way, the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association is consulting and preparing a code of acceptable business practice related to genetics. The draft code includes capping life insurance poli cies to $1 million; changing and capping critical illness, long-term care and disability insurance policies; and insurers will not be able to ask for or use the results of any predictive genetic tests that an individual has taken for underwriting.

Caps would only apply to genetic tests that are predictive and taken prior to the appearance of symptoms. Now, Madam Speaker, at –the Manitoba Human Rights Commission understands that this type of discrimination may exist. They've always been in particularly mind ful of the amendment to the

section 9(2) of the Manitoba Human Rights Code that lists the groups of persons against whom discrimination is prohibited. This is because that risk captures groups of people who have been historically disadvantaged in the workplace and in accessing housing or services available to the public. MHRC is not aware of any consultation the public–with the public to determine the extent of this kind of discrimination, nor does MHRC have any experience as a commission with these kinds of complaints. The MHRC has reviewed and assessed

June 21, 2018 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 3249 this issue, and it has determined that there is sufficient authority with the Human Rights Code currently to address this matter of discrimination if required. Further, they assessed whether or not persons with genetic characteristics may constitute a discrete and identifiable group worthy of protection under the code based on the application of the law, applying the 'anagolous' grounds

section of the Charter. In particular, the proposed

section 2.2 may be caused– or may cause difficulty because it legislates what is discrimination and erodes the concept of providing a bona fide and reasonable cause for discrimination. The MHRC is aware that the Canadian Human Rights Commission has supported a bill to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act to add genetic discrimination but notes that was part of a comprehensive set of amendments to the Canada Labour Code, the Canadian Human Rights Act and also a new Genetic Non -Discrimination Act, Madam Speaker.

Now, both fede ral and provincial jurisdictions license and regulate life and health insurance companies. But in Manitoba, this is through the Financial Institutions Regulation branch. Now, currently, no other province has genetic discrimination in its H uman Rights Code at this current time. Ontario, though, has introduced legislation twice, but it's not made it through their committee stage. However, all provincial Human Rights Codes currently prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability.

So life and health insurers in Canada do not require or initiate genetic testing for life or health insurance applicants. Where genetic testing has been undertaken and a person is aware of the results and applies for insurance, insurers require this relevant and material inf ormation from the test in order to properly assess the risk. However, access to these tests is only with the applicant's consent for the doctor's office to provide that information.

In January of 2017, the Canadian life and health insurance industry announced that they would not seek or use genetic testing results for life insurance policies up to and including $250,000. This commit - ment would have become part of the existing industry code on genetic testing, and all insurers that are members of the Canadi an Life and Health Insurance Association would have been required to adhere to and attest to it annually. So, Madam Speaker, I know that, again, this is an important piece of legislation for the member from Minto, but I do believe that perhaps more consultation is in order here.

I know that there has been inadequate consultation, and that –could say that, yes, that there was no –inadequate consultation and that we would like to see a little bit more input from not only Manitobans but perhaps members of the insurance industry as well. I referenced this earlier in the –in this debate, but insurance is about risk, and if the insurance companies should be aware–if you're applying for insurance, they definitely should be aware of any pre -existing conditions such a s a health condition or genetic disposition that perhaps might cause later health issues.

When it comes down to asking for genetic tests, I can understand why there'd be some concerns there, and I know that the member has raised those concerns, and I don' t think anyone in this House would disagree. However, having said that, I do believe that there is some reasonable amount of information that an insurance company would need to require from the applicant before they actually successfully become an insurance holder from that particular portfolio, Madam Speaker.

I think that it would benefit all Manitobans if we had just a little bit more time to look at this legislation, review it, talk to some stakeholders that perhaps would have more input. I know as legislators we–we're tasked with the responsibility of representing our constituents, governing this province, and often, we need the input from folks from the community and people who are experts in their field. And, of course, that would certainly lend itself a lot more credibility to any legislation or resolution that comes forward in this House– * (10:30) Madam Speaker: The member's time has expired. Mr.

Blair Yakimoski (Transcona): I'm looking forward to putting some words on the record regarding Bill 225. I thank the member from Minto for bringing this forward, The Human Rights Code Amendment Act regarding genetic characteristics. We had a discussion, him and I, a little while ago about it, and the member from Minto really knew that this is an important thing that he wanted to bring forward to have the discussion, to have the important discussion here in this Chamber and I thank him for that.

3250 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA June 21, 2018 I think we're hearing a lot of concerns about the fact that it's already kind of been protected within the Human Rights Commission viewing it already as being protected, and we do know that last year in May the federal government had the Genetic Non-Discrimination Act which received royal assent. I, myself, impacted –am impacted by this because I suffer from a rare genetic disorder. I've spoke about it in the House here that I have hereditary angioedema or otherwise known as HAE. HAE is –I'll explain to you, Mr. Martin.

HAE is a very rare genetic condition that I inherited from my mother who inherited it from her father, my gido, Nick Kobylka–proud to put his name on the record here. But it is a rare disorder that I have a non - functioning enzyme that causes localized fluid accumulation or swelling. It might be in my hands. It might be in my feet. It might be in my face. It's quite disfiguring when it hits my face. When it hits my intestines it's horribly painful. You really would be happy to end your life at that point, but it is also life-threatening when my throat swells. So, this is something that I live with.

I actually have a treatment for it. The treatment is quite expensive, so we'll talk about that a little bit more later, but I have to undergo this. It's an infusion. I actually had an infusion not long ago. Let's see, at about 8:30 my wife , who is a nurse , was able to provide me with that, and this allows me to function, really. Through much of my life I had a different medication. It was an anabolic steroid, and in the long run we know that's not really good for my health, my liver.

I would–that's one of the reasons I was proud to serve on the organ donation, tissue donation committee because the medication I was taking could impact my liver. But so this is a rare disease. My family has it. I'm very proud and–not so much proud, I'm happy. I have my mot her who has it. I have several cousins who have it. I have some uncles who have it, all on my mother's side, and it stops in my generation. Some of my cousins either through adoption, not having children or the luck of the draw haven't passed the genetic–this gene onto their children.

And I, myself, with my three children, they've all been tested to see if we have to deal with this, and I’m very happy that they don't have the disease. So I can continue to be –[interjection]–thank you. I can continue to be an advocate for rare diseases while my disease is managed and be aware of it and make sure that other people –I can work towards them and that's why this is important. When it deals with other companies or –we shouldn't be discriminated. I shouldn't be dis - criminated because I have this. When it comes to life insurance or anything like that, I believe the protection is there.

The life insurance companies and–they already ask interview questions regarding your history. They will ask questions regarding your smoking history, your family cancer history. They have to measure their risk, but within insurance companies there are certain things that would be very low risk and certain things would be very high risk. I am happy. My medication–I was –as I had referenced, is very expensive. It is a Canadian Blood Services product. There's a couple of products.

One is a plasma protein infusion and the other one is a sub-q for an on- demand treatment if I ever need it, and that happens occasionally, the on- demand, when I'm in an emergency. But it's quite expensive. And making sure that insurance companies know that this is part of the risk. We have to make sure that they don't discriminate against us. I had my children tested because I wanted to be aware of it, because I wanted to know in advance in case we were camping and they had an episode. There are quite a few different illnesses. My wife also deals with one, but at the research level.

My wife works at Manitoba Institute of Child Health, worked for–I'm very proud–a new Order of Manitoba recipient, Dr. Cheryl Rockman -Greenberg, dealing with a condition called –research on a drug for a condition called hypophosphatasia. It's basically a soft bones disease. And my wife co- ordinates visits and the testing of the patients. This drug has now been approved in Canada. I believe most governments across the country are now kind of in negotiation to see if it'll be paid for. And it's a very, very expensive drug and it'll impact the financials of many governments.

My wife, every once in a while, gets the phone call regarding a–an ill child that's on the study that may have passed. And it's unfortunate. And through all the treatments that they've gone through, unfortunately, sometimes, they can't save the child. And my wife is very sad. But in this job, I think about–part of it is , how do we find a way to make sure that we can continue to pay for these medications? And in a case like that, the medication might be, perhaps, upwards of $750,000 to perhaps $1 million per year.

June 21, 2018 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 3251 It's quite expensive. And if you're diagnosed at birth, it can help you live a life, live a normal life. There's some children here in Manitoba, some wonderful family from France who came to Manitoba because they were part of it and they live here. And their son is now a fairly normal child. His growth was a little stunted because of it. But before, he couldn't skateboard, he couldn't run, and he can do that now. He can live a life like a small child.

So I'm very proud of the work that she does, and there's so ma ny different illnesses and diseases that I'm becoming more aware of. I was asked to speak last year at the Network of Rare Blood Disorders, a conference in Toronto. And they asked–my –the question they asked me was, what makes a case for government to fund things? Well, most governments have a fiscal pressure on them. And I was –said it's about building the relationship, building the relationship with myself or whoever's in your government and bringing your issue to the forefront. And continue to ask.

So I thank the member on –for bringing forth Bill 225. This is an important discussion that we have in here, that we have to ensure that discrimination of any form is unacceptable, and I'm very happy that I believe from what we've understood that according to the Human Rights Commission, we should be good. My wife actually did one of those genetic tests because, even though her father was from Sicily –not Italy, but Sicily; it's different–she wanted to know how much of her genetic material was Italian, which would–might be responsible for her passion in our discussions, shall we say.

And when she got that test and it came back, there was a substantial part of southern European blood in here. There were no other markers or no–she didn't do the extra testing to see if there's any other genetic markers for any other illnesses. And I'm very glad that it appears that we're moving in the right direction, and we're waiting for the federal commission on this to make sure that private information like that stays private, that you're not forced to disclose it within privacy laws.

And there are certain things we want to know about ourselves, and that's why we choose to do this. * (10:40) I see my time is running very short. I could speak quite at length. But thank you for the time to speak about this for a while. Mr. Mohinder Saran (The Maples): I would like to put a few words on this act. Normally I am always in favour of improving human rights, and since my childhood I worked for the human rights. Madam Speaker, let me tell you the story. I was going on 9 and 10 grade.

We did not have any priest in our gurdwara, and at that time I knew how to recite our holy book; therefore, I took responsibility to go every morning over there and do all the work needed. But one of my classmates, he was from the lower caste. He was called untouchable. And there is four [inaudible] in–according to the Hindu religion. And same–somehow, the bigger culture affected the smaller culture and –in Sikhism there is no such thing, but still they used to exercise that.

So what happened, one day we were distributing holy food to the congregation and some people refused to take that food from that guy because he's from the lower caste, untouchable caste. And so they told, you are [inaudible]. You are destroying our religion. They told me that. I said no, I’m really non-caste who are teaching you to –how to be Sikh. So, after that we put that food on the plate. We went house to house. We said, Aunty, this food will be wasted, it will be not good– because in that way we are doing something against our religion–would you take it? So they had to take it.

After two or three times when I did it they accepted it and so that's what happened. When I came over here, I gone through all those hurdles, but I st ood up every time. So I think, every time if you speak up, if you stand up, something will come out of that, and because of that every time it's improved. Now we are at the stage where we are talking about genetic characteristics test. People should not be discriminated on that basis. And so, genetic tests might reveal that a person has inherited a condition that will increase the risk one day of needing advanced health care or being unable to work.

This information can affect the decision made about a person, such as whether they should be hired or qualify for life or disability insurance [inaudible]. And the bill, therefore, amends the Human Rights Code to prohibit discrimination on the grounds of genetic characteristics. This includes the discrimination in circumstances where a person refuses to –request to undergo a genetic test or to

3252 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA June 21, 2018 disclose or authorize the disclosure of the results of a genetic test. So, Madam Speaker, I am in this –favour. This amendment should be passed, but also, I am –also remind the same people and the same party and the same caucus who –think about that. Do they discriminate o r not? On one hand, they will say, women don't lie. On the other hand, the same people say, yes, she lied. Why the double standard, to treat one cultural person differently than the other culture differently? Madam Speaker, I fought through–about human rights throughout my life.

And somehow, I have to fight it again, because your reputation, by dis - crimination, is put down by the people who, by not giving full information, become –come on the top, and then bully against you, discriminate against you. And s o I think, is that something genetic: Indo-Canadian MLA could be treated differently than some other visible minority groups? I don't know whether that's genetic or it comes due to some other reasons. So how we can improve these really important things, health- wise, when we cannot improve on socially–social side? On the social side, we treat people, different groups, differently.

And so I understand I should stick to the topic, but it's a topic of hum an rights. And sometimes, when you are–you got hurt by violating your human rights and you don't have –even if you don't have a right to have your own speechwriter when all the other MLAs have –all the other –sorry about that, Madam Speaker. So overall, I support this act –amendment to this act. And I think we need to introduce new series of offences and penalties for genetic discrimination in order to ensure that Canadians can make–use their right to health care without fear.

We believe that all Canadians deserve the best possible health care they can have access to. Our workers, families and seniors deserve access to improved health -care planning and treatment options for genetic diseases without the risk of having it used against them by insurance agencies. I strongly believe that genetic discrimination wrongfully attacks Manitobans. We live in a wonderful, diverse mosaic people.

I stand proudly with the –our province's health- care providers, community of genetic privacy –sorry–health-care providers, communit y organizations and the vast majority of Canadians who are in support of genetic privacy and in opposition to discrimination based on one's genetic information. I understand that genetic information is deeply personal, and it should not be used against us .

Privacy, protection of our genes, our DNA, of our heredity and the cells that make up our bodies needs to be a right and is therefore an essential element of maintaining public trust and –as the field of genetic testing and treatment expands dramatically. Genetic testing and the science of genetics provides amazing opportunities for our society but, therefore, there are also potential dangers of misuse. We need to protect against those dangers. Thank you, Madam Speaker, for giving me this chance because, normally, I don't get this kind of chance because of discrimination in this House. * (10:50) Mr.

Tom Lindsey (Flin Flon): It gives me great pleasure to stand up and support this act, really. I mean, we've listened to some members opposite talk about, well, somebody else should do it. We should let somebody else do it. That's really this whole government's mantra unless it comes to cutting a service, actually showing some leadership and doing the right thing. It's always let somebody else do it, but cutt ing service and hurting Manitobans, then they're all in favour of that. So this particular piece of legislation, Madam Speaker, would be a good thing for Manitobans.

We've already–know that some people have had their genetic information out there. Kids, young people in particular, sign on to these things online and send in their sample, and they do it in great fun to learn that, well, they had some Scottish ancestry and they had some Italian ancestry. But what they don't know is where that information goes and what it's going to be used for, and right now there is no protection for those people. This bill would fix that. We've heard from the members opposite, well, this has to be balanced and reasonable.

You have to take the concerns of the insurance in dustry into consideration, never mind the concerns of Manitobans, but the concerns of the insurance industry and, you know, heaven forbid that they should insure somebody that gets a disease. And that's part of the problem with this whole genetic thing is it's moving rapidly. Just because a person has a genetic test that shows they have markers that they may get a disease doesn't mean they will,

June 21, 2018 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 3253 Madam Speaker, doesn't mean at all that they're definitely going to get that. So now they get denied insurance . Something else happens to them, no insurance. Insurance companies, of course, are always about making sure that the insurance company is looked after and making as much money as possible and, really, that's what this government is about is looking after their friends in the insurance industry –and I have nothing against the insurance industry.

Some of our own members have a long history of being involved in the insurance industry and so, you know, I’m certainly not opposed to the insurance industry. But the reasonableness of this, Madam Speaker, comes in to make sure that average people are protected and that's what this bill does. It ensures that the average Manitoban has the protection under the Human Rights Code that they should have that they have that they for everything else –well, not everything else, but most other things.

This new field right now is wide open without the protections and the members that talked opposite about, well, it's already covered. It isn't, really. That's why the member fro m Minto brought this forward, right? Because it isn't exactly covered off as it should be. It's not clear and it needs to be very clear that people can't be denied a service because of something that shows up in a genetic test, whether it's a health servi ce, whether it's an opportunity at employment because they may or may not get a disease at some point in time.

Really, it becomes the ultimate tool of discri - mination, if you will, if this kind of protection isn't very specifically built into the Human R ights Code that ensures that Manitobans are protected, Madam Speaker. So I encourage all members of this House to vote in favour of this and let's get going. Let's not just sit around waiting for somebody else to do something. Let's show some leadership and actually do it ourselves, Madam Speaker. Mr. Reg Helwer (Brandon West): Pleased to rise today to speak to Bill 225 brought by the member for Minto (Mr. Swan). I think it is a very important discussion that we have.

The MLA for Minto was a good part, a very important part , of our recent task force on organ and tissue donation and I thank him for his contributions, as we had contributions from all members of the Legislature here and many great presentations here, Madam Speaker. It is something that it is critical that we get right not just for Manitobans, but for Canadians, and, indeed, there are implications worldwide, Madam Speaker, because data doesn't necessarily know borders and when you have a genetic test that becomes part of the data flow.

You could imagine when you go on a search engine now and you might look for a toaster of – something of that nature, the next time you go on that search engine, it might pop up and say, you know, that this toaster is available at this pa rticular area because it knows your history and what you searched for. Could you imagine, Madam Speaker, if your data was available, and your genetic makeup–and we might regulate this in Manitoba, we might regulate it in Canada, but it might not be regula ted worldwide on who owns that data.

So if you go on a search engine, and you're looking for something, you might get a message saying, hey, you know, Sam in Orlando is looking for a kidney, and your genetic makeup is the same as Sam's. Would you be inte rested in donating your kidney to Sam? And that might be a great thing for organ donation, but it's a little intrusive, I think most people would find. So there is a question there of who owns the data and how it can remain confidential. Much discussion here about discrimination and what that might mean.

Our family has a history of addictions –alcohol–my– I'm–I was always told that my one grandfather died of cirrhosis of the liver from –mostly from overconsumption of alcohol, and as we learn more about it, we find that you can go through genetic testing to find if you have that particular gene that would make you more susceptible to addictions. And, you know, it's kind of –I don't want to equate it to Huntington's, but many people don't want to be tested for Huntington's disease because they don't want to know.

I don't want to know, necessarily, that I might have that genetic disposition for addictions, but probably do in terms of that. And that would have implications for what I do and what people know about me, Madam Speaker. You know, so it's how you own that data and where it goes. I've been very fortunate in some of my careers to spend some time with some of the major agrochemical companies that started many years ago on inserting particular genes or turning genes on and off and finding new ways to do that. We have had,

3254 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA June 21, 2018 you know, breeding for wheat for many, many years, Madam Speaker, and other crops. In fact, Baldur Stefansson was one of the leaders in the world in creating canola. We're very proud of that. And it's something that has become our Cinderella crop in Canada that we're well known for. So without those types of researchers, we couldn't move ahead.

But, you know, I've been at major –most of the major research facilities and seen what they're d oing and how they're looking at enhancing crops, enhancing varieties, and early on, somewhat around 20 years ago, I remember being there, and the scientists do a very good job at their science. But, you know, we've seen that the public perhaps now has a distrust of science, unfortunately, and some of the repercussions that have come out of that. People are fearful. The scientists think that, obviously, well, if we increase yields, if we increase the attributes of a particular crop, everybody will love that.

Everybody will be on favour of that. But, of course, people fear things that they don't know, Madam Speaker, and there was a–has been a pushback on what became known as GMOs, genetically modified organisms, worldwide. And it's taken a long time to cre ate more confidence in the public that this can enhance everybody's life and, in fact, may be better for the world in terms of less pesticide use and better attributes. But there–still, the fear exists. So, again, there's fears on the side of who owns the data here, Madam Speaker. We do have to be consistent across Canada, and as we know, Minister of Justice (Mrs.

Stefanson) has spoken about how there is work being done across Canada make sure that we would be consistent with other jurisdictions so that ev erybody's genetic data would be treated similarly and that we would not see discrimination, but there is also that fear of outside the border.

If you think of –if you've ever gone online to register your phone number on the do- not-call list, you know that for a while, it does work, but then, somehow, we do see those lists purchased by call centres outside of Canada, and suddenly, your number pops up in a call centre, and we get calls coming in from all over the US or other parts of the world. So who owns the data and how can we restrict that usage of it, I think, becomes an– * (11:00) Madam Speaker: Order, please. When this matter is again before the House, the honourable member will have four minutes remaining.

DEBATE ON RESOLUTIONS Res. 15–Protecting and Promoting French Language Services Madam Speaker: The hour is now 11 a.m. and the time for private members' resolutions. The resolution before us this morning is the resolution on Protecting and Promoting French Language Services, brought forward by th e honourable member for St. Johns (Ms. Fontaine), standing in the name of the honourable member for Radisson, who has eight minutes remaining. Mr.

James Teitsma (Radisson): It's a pleasure to again continue to speak to this resolution and to also continue to express my appreciation for the francophone community in Manitoba and also for the francophone community within my constituency. Certainly, they are a unique part of the mosaic of Manitoba and they've made significant contributions throughout our history to the success of our province, and it's something for which we can certainly be grateful. Mr.

Doyle Piwniuk, Deputy Speaker, in the Chair Le gouvernement progressiste conservateur et mes collègues, nous apprécions les contributions que les Franco -Manitobains apportent au Manitoba. Comme tous les Manitobains, les francophones ont subi une hausse de leurs impôts et une dégradation des services de première ligne, en raison de la mauvaise gestion de le NPD. Les gouvernements responsables prennent des décisions qui sont à la fois difficiles et nécessaires pour assurer la protection des services de qualité et ainsi durables pour leurs citoyens.

Translation This Progressive Conservative government and my colleagues appreciate the contributions Franco- Manitobans have made to Manitoba. Like all

June 21, 2018 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 3255 Manitobans, francophones have suffered an increase of their taxes and a degradation of front-line services because of NDP bad management. Responsible governments make decisions that are both difficult and necessary in order to insure the protection, and thus sustainability, of quality services for all their citizens. English Good governments make difficult decisions that are necessary to ensure the protection of sustainable quality services for their citizens, and that's what our government is doing.

I know there's been efforts by those members opposite to speak poorly about their – the–and for political motivations, of course, to speak poorly about our relationship with the francophone community, but it is –nothing could be further from the truth. Certainly, there is a deep appreciation with–from us towards the francophone community, but in my finding or in my dealings with our francophone community within my constituency and without–throughout Winnipeg as well, there is an appreciation for the work that our government is doing.

L'histoire de la francophonie manitobaine est fortement liée à cell e de notre province en entier, e t cette communauté se caractérise d' une manière dynamique et résolue. Translation The history of Manitoba’s francophone community is closely linked to that of the province as a whole, and this community is vibrant and committed. English The francophone community is strong, it's vibrant and certainly a vital part of our community. I think in

part icular about the work of Centre Flavie - Laurent within –or nearby my constituency at least. Their main office is just up the road from my constituency. And they do work throughout Winnipeg that is helpful and certainly provides for an avenue, I would say, for all Manitobans to be able to contribute to those who are less fortunate within our province, to be able to donate everything from clothing to furniture and various household items. Centre Flavie -Laurent does an excellent job of collecting those resources and then distributing them, also for free.

And some of the other services, I think, that you might find within the city –I think of, you know, Value Village and the work that they do with diabetes–is it Canadian Diabetes Association? You know, certainly there's some–there's good being done there as well; however, there is still a cost to the goods that they're providing. But with Centre Flavie -Laurent, they refuse to accept money for the goods that they are giving and, more importantly, I think, they do a phenomenal job of tracking where these goods go and to ensure that their goodwill is not being abused by those who are coming to their store.

That –and I think that provides an example and a model for government, quite frankly, and for other agencies as well, to take diligent care to ensure that without necessarily a heavy bureaucracy but, you know, a light and clean approach towards managing the resources. This key part of our francophone community is able to provide assurance, also, to their supporters, to their donors that they are, in fact, doing a good job in helping those low -income Manitobans within our province and providing significant assistance, especially to newcomer Manitobans, as well.

Many of the refugees that are new to Manitoba have taken the opportunity to use the services of Centre Flavie - Laurent, and for that I am very grateful. Les services qui sont offerts par le Centre Flavie-Laurent sont un bénéfice pour la société, et notre gouvernement est heureux de les appuyer par le maintien d'un versement annuel de 86 000 dollars. Translation The services provided by Centre Flavie- Laurent are a benefit to society, and our government is happy to support them by maintaining the provision of $86,000 in annual support.

English I want to thank our Finance Minister, as well, for continuing to provide funding and through, also, the– I believe the Minister of Families (Mr. Fielding) is the one who's really making the call there as to the funding support that Centre Flavie -Laurent is receiving. And they certainly appreciate the funding. Of course, like many other agencies, they would love for it to be more. And, you know, if that was possible within our government, I certainly would support that as well.

But I think what –you know, bringing this all together, what we can see is that the services that are offered to our francophone Manitobans and the efforts of this government to ensure that they, too, are considered as an important part of our society are sincere, and that the efforts of this governme nt to return to balance, to fix the finances of this province and repair the services –it's

3256 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA June 21, 2018 an important task and it's one that I believe we are doing well and that there's an appreciation for, also, among the francophone community in Manitoba. Now, certainly, when we're talking about this resolution, I think there's a subtext of –that there is a by-election. I believe it's been called now and we're well under way. So, you know, I want to also reflect briefly on that. I did have the opportunity at a recent event to meet with many of the candidates there. I believe –well, certainly, our –the Progressive Conservative candidate was there, Mamadou Ka.

And we certainly wish him well in his campaign. And we believe that he is the best choice for St. Boniface. And I think the –it's my hope, I –certainly, that the citizens of St. Boniface will agree with that. He's a strong voice for the francophone community and he makes no bones about that, and nor should he. Also at that same event, I did manage to meet the NDP candidate; I think they have Blandine Tona. I've met her on a number of occasions and, you know, I understand that she's campaigning. And also at my table, the Leader of the Liberals was there as well, Dougald Lamont.

So in a sense, there was –it was, you know, almost a pre-election opportunity for these people who–these candidates, who each had an opportunity to have the microphone and speak to the community. It was good to have that done. And there were even other members of this House that were there. And so I was grateful for that opportunity, and I thank you for the– Mr. Deputy Speaker: The honourable member's time has expired. The honourable minister –the honourable member for Assiniboia. Hon. Steven Fletcher (Assiniboia): Merci. C’est le plaisir–un plaisir de discuter les deux langues officielles ici dans la Chambre.

Je voudrais d’abord féliciter chacun des candidats qui participent à l’élection à Saint- Boniface. La langue française est une

partie importante du tissu canadien, donc j’ai quelques commentaires pour le complet retour à le débat sur la langue française, qui a eu lieu dans les années 1980 –à reporter les attentes que les gens pourront avoir concernant des affaires de langue et en français. * (11:10) En 1985, la Cour suprême a statué qui–qu'une loi promulguée au Manitoba doit être dans les deux langues officielles. La décision n'a pas indiqué à qui les projets de loi devaient être présentés dans les deux langues officielles.

Il n'est dit nulle part dans les règles de cette Chambre que les projets de loi doivent être présentés dans les deux langues officielles. Cependant, c'est la coutume que, lorsque les projets de loi sont présentés, ils sont présentés en français et en anglais. Lors de la dernière session, j'ai été obligé de traduire un projet de loi en français en utilisant mes propres ressources. C'est parce qu'on m'a dit que la traduction du projet de loi ne pouvait pas avoir lieu pendant six mois, même si c'était déjà prêt en anglais.

Le projet de loi était une loi s ur les conflits d'intérêt, et attendre six mois pour la traduction est complètement inacceptable. Mais il n'y avait aucun moyen de l'introduire à moins qu'il ne soit traduit. Cela m'a coûté 1 005 dollars, mais le fait que le projet de loi a été traduit pro fessionnellement a forcé les pouvoirs en place à permettre l'adoption de la

loi sur les conflits d'intérêt–ce que j'ai fait. Il est clair que le gouvernement n'a pas voulu et ne veut pas faire face à la législation pathétique et terriblement inadéquate qui existe présentement. Le fait de retarder l'adoption d’une loi par un député en raison du fait qu'elle ne peut pas être traduite en temps opportun est totalement inacceptable. Et cela va à la motion qui est devant nous. L'accès aux services de traduction et aux autres services approuvés par la loi doit être fourni en temps opportun. La motion aujourd'hui souligne simplement de nombreuses lacunes qui existent.

Afin de respecter notre histoire, nos lois et tous les Manitobaines et Manitobains, les ressourc es appropriées devraient être fournies à tous ceux et celles qui souhaitent dire leur affaire en français au Manitoba. Enfin, M adame Présidente, en tant que premier parlementaire canadien né au Brésil, je suis désolé de vous dire que la France ne réussira pas la Coupe du monde de la FIFA, puisque le Brésil va éventuellement gagner. À tous mes amis francophones, je m'excuse pour mon accent, qui va de Charleswood. Merci, Madame Présidente.

June 21, 2018 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 3257 Translation Thank you. It is a pleasure to discuss the two official languages here in this Chamber. First, I would like to congratulate each of the candidates participating in the St. Boniface election. The French language is an important part of the Canadian fabric, so I have a few comments that go back to the debate on French that occurred during the 1980s, in order to answer the expectations people could have in regards to language issues and French. In 1985, the Supreme Court ruled that laws enacted in Manitoba must be in the two official languages.

The decision did not specify where bills were to be introduced in the two official languages. Nowhere in the rules of this Chamber is it indicated that bills must be introduced in the two official languages. However, it is the custom that, when a bill is introduced, it is introduced in French and in English. During last session, I was forced to translate a bill in French using my own resources. That was because I was told the translation would not be available for six months, even though the bill was already ready in English.

The bill dealt with conflict of interest, and having to wait six months for the translation is completely unacceptable. But there was no way to introduce the bill unless it was first translated. The translation cost me $1,005, but the bill having been translated professionally forced the powers in place to allow the enactment of the conflict of interest legislation–something I did. It is clear that the government did not want and does not want to review the pathetic and inadequate legislation that currently exists.

Delaying the adoption of a member' s bill because it cannot be translated in a timely manner is completely unacceptable. This goes straight to the motion in front of us. Timely access to translation services and other legally approved ser vices must be provided . The motion in front of us today simply highlights the many existing gaps. In order to respect our history, our laws and all Manitobans, appropriate resources must be granted to all those who wish to express themselves in French in Manitoba.

And finally, Madam Speaker, as the first Canadian parliamentarian born in Brazil, I am sorry to have to say that France will not succeed in winning the FIFA World Cup, since Brazil will eventually win. To all my f rancophone friends, I apologize f or my accent, which comes from Charleswood. Thank you, Madam Speaker. Hon. Cameron Friesen (Minister of Finance): C’est mon plaisir de parler aujourd’hui un peu au sujet de l’importance de la français et l’importance, ici au Manitoba, sur la communauté francophone ici. Je voudrais dire que, avant mon élection comme député, j’ai passé douze ans en tant que professeur.

Et j’ai été d’abord professeur de musique. On dit en anglais band teacher –je ne suis pas sûr comment on dit en français wind band, brass band et jazz band. Mais aussi, et mes collègues ne le savent peut -être pas, pendant six ans j’ai été aussi professeur de français en septième année. Et c’est toujours intéressant à enseigner les septièmes à l’école publique. J’ai remarqué aussi que, la semaine passée, il y avait ici dans le Palais législatif un groupe de Hanover School Division, qui était avec nous ici –et de Blumenort School.

Et j’ai remarqué cela parce que c’est la première école où j’ai enseigné comme professeur. Et puis c’est un p eu intéressant, à moi, que, à Blumenort School, j ’ai enseigné aussi le français. Translation Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is my pleasure to stand today and say a few words about the importance of French, and its importance for the f rancophone community here in Manitoba. I would like to point out that, before becoming an elected member of the Legislative Assembly, I worked for twelve years as a teacher. First, I was a band teacher.

In English, you say band teacher–I am not sure how t o say in French –wind band, brass band and jazz band. Also, and my colleagues may not know that, I was a grade 7 teacher for six years. It’s always interesting teaching grade 7 in a public school. I noticed last week that there was a group from the Hanover School Division here with us, in the Legislative Building, from Blumenort School, and I noticed that because that is the first school where I taught. And what is somewhat interesting is that I also taught French at Blumenort School.

English It's always interesting to teach a bunch of German and Menno nite kids to speak French, but I

3258 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA June 21, 2018 would say also that the quality and the –of French language instruction in that school division, I know, continues to this day to be very strong. Many people think that in that area of the province, it will be predominantly a German population, but many times people do not realize that Hanover School Division borders on so many French communities, and many of those students, coming from communities like Ste.

Anne and Dufresne and St-Georges and others, they are –many of them seek their high school experience in schools like the Steinbach Regional Secondary school. * (11:20) En tant que professeur de français moi -même, il est évidemment important d'enseigner la conversation, la grammaire et les aspects techniques de la langue, mais clairement il est important d'enseigner aussi le contexte d'une deuxième langue. Cela signifie qu'en tant que professeur de français, j'ai enseigné la langue et la culture.

Et cet aspect de l'instruction est très riche dans un contexte manitobain, parce que nous sommes la deuxième plus grande population francophone du Canada, la plus grande à l'extérieur de Québec. Et je rappelle aux membres que la culture et l'histoire française prospèrent certainemen t ici au Manitoba, à Saint - Boniface et dans autres quartiers de Winnipeg, mais aussi la culture et l'histoire de la Francophonie est forte dans les régions rurales du Manitoba. Dans ma région, nous avons des communautés comme Saint -Léon, Notre -Dame-de-Lourdes, Saint - Claude, Letellier et autres aussi.

Ces communautés ont été fondées par des personnes de langue française dont l'histoire, la culture et la tradition se perpétuent à ce jour. Ces familles franco -manitobaines continuent d' éduquer leurs enfants e n français, tout comme leurs droits et leurs responsabilités. Les personnes plus âgées m'ont dit qu'il devient de plus en plus difficile à préserver leur langue avec les influences maintenant de la télévision, de l'Internet, de Facebook, de Twitter, de tout cela. Et ça, c'est la même chose pour toutes les familles qui espèrent conserver une langue seconde dans la famille, dans la maison, dans le contexte.

Et c' est important à moi aussi. Je remarque que –je pense que Michelle Obama–on–elle a dit une fois : Translation As a French teacher myself, it is obviously important to teach conversational French, grammar, as well as the technical aspects of the language, but clearly, it is also important to teach the context of a second language. This means that as a French teacher, I had to teach the language as well as the culture. And this aspect of instruction is very rich in a Manitoba context, because we are the second largest francophone population in Canada, and the largest outside of Que bec.

And I want to remind members that French culture and French history certainly flourish right here in Manitoba, in St. Boniface as well as in other areas of Winnipeg, and the culture and history of the French community are also strong in rural areas of Manitoba. In my riding, we have communities such St. Leon, Notre Dame de Lourdes, St. Claude, Letellier as well as others. These com munities were founded by French-speaking people whose history, culture and tradition remain to this day. These Franco- Manitoban families continue t o e ducate their children in French and teach them their rights and responsibilities.

Older people have told me that it is becoming more and more difficult to preserve their language because of the current influence of television, the Internet, Facebook, Tw itter and all of this. The situation is the same for all families hoping to keep a second language in the family, in the home, in the context. It is important for me too. I noticed that–I think that Michelle Obama once said: English There was only three things that we insisted on in our family with our children growing up– because people were asking her about the rules in her home.

She said, three main things for the girls growing up: one team sport, un sport d'équipe ; one musical instrument, un instrument de musique; and one other language, une autre langue. Et on a demandé –on lui a demandé pourquoi? [And she was asked, why?] Pourquoi une deuxième langue? Why a second language? I think her response went something like this: because the world is too big of a place to only know one language. I wish I would have had that knowledge when my students–when my kids got into high school and some elected to not study, to continue on with a second language.

I'm happy to say my daughter continues to speak French. I believe she just won a French language award for grade 11 in her school last week, so that was really interesting. And she takes a real interest in second languages. So that's important to us.

June 21, 2018 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 3259 Nous valorisons et continuerons, comme gouvernement, à défendre ces droits. La force du Manitoba provient en

partie de notre diversité culturelle. Nous continuons à accueillir tant de personnes de pays francophones et des pays divers, qui viennent au Manitoba pour de meilleures possibilités, pour la liberté, pour une nouvelle vie, pour les emplois. Nous leur souhaitons la bienvenue pour célébrer leur culture et pour les encourager à faire

partie de ce qui rend le Manitoba formidable. Monsieur le P résident, le budget de 2018 garde le cap sur un avenir plus stable, plus sûr et plus prospère pour le Manitoba. Nous retirons l'argent de la table du Cabinet et le remettons plutôt sur la table de cuisine de tous les foyers manitobains. Notre gouvernement est résolu à protéger les femmes contre la violence et le harcèlement. Il y a deux ans, nous avons présenté un plan pour redresser notre situation financière, restaurer nos services et rebâtir notre économie. Notre plan est mesuré, il est responsable et il fonctionne.

Je voudrais dire aussi que maintenant, ici aujourd'hui, l'histoire de la francophonie manitobaine est fortement liée à celle de notre province en entier, et cette communauté se caractérise d’une manière dynamique et résolue. Nous avons élargi la capacité bilingue de notre gouvernement par l'embauche d'un total de 805 positions en 2018– en 2017, comparé à 744 l'année précédée–précédente. Monsieur le P résident, il n'y a pas de réduction de financement au Bureau de l'éducation française. Notre gouvernement continue à faire du progrès. Merci beaucoup.

Translation As a government, we value and continue to defend these rights. The strength of Manitoba comes in part from our cultural diversity. We continue to welcome from French -speaking countries and a variety of other countries so many people who come to Manitoba to find better opportunities, freedom, a new life, jobs. We wish them a warm welcome to celebrate their cultures and to encourage them to become a part of what makes Manitoba great. Mr. Speaker, the 2018 budget stays the course towards a future that is more stable, more secure and more prosperous for our province.

We are taking the money off the Cabinet table and putting it back on the kitchen table of all Manitoba homes. Our government is also committed to protecting women against violence and harassment. Two years ago, we presented a plan to repair our finances, restore our services and rebuild our economy. Our plan is measured, it is responsible and it works. I would also like to say that now, here today, the history of Manitoba’s Francophone community is strongly tied to that of our province as a whole. And that community is dynamic and committed.

We have increased the bilingual capacity of our government by hiring a total of 805 staff in 2018–in 2017, compared to 744 the year before. Mr. Speaker, there is no cut to the funding allocated to the Bureau de l'éducation française. Our government continues to make progress. Thank you very much. Hon.

Ian Wishart (Minister of Education and Training): I am pleased to rides to put a few words on the record regarding this resolution on promoting and protecting French language services in Manitoba, something that we have been working very hard with the francophone community to make sure that they feel that we are accomplishing that goal and that we are, in fact, accomplishing that goal and we're doing that on a number of fronts. I mean, some of which is in, of course, the Department of Education where we continue to offer–and it's been expanding year after year –in terms of enrolment –French immersion.

Number of people actually taking French in the English K -to-12 system, but also the enrolment in DSFM, the francophone school division has been growing at a fairly steady pace across the province. And as has been mentioned already, that certainly incurs within the city of Winnipeg but also in other parts of Manitoba as well. Many rural areas, it was mentioned that Notre Dame and St. Claude which is adjacent to my home comm unity, part of Midlands constituency at the moment.

Certainly, very French communities, very strong and very proud of their heritage and are very determined to maintain not only the ability to speak in French, but have a French culture. And we are certainly working very positively with them on that. We have had quite a lot of meetings with the francophone community of late. They've been concerned about some changes we have made in the Department of Education. They, in particular, are

3260 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA June 21, 2018 concerned about the A DM position that has been changed in its structure, and it's very much reflective of the fact that the whole Department of Education has been changing. Previous government, the francophone portion of Department of Education, the BEF portion, was focused on the K-to-12 system. Now our Department of Education has expanded its focus quite a bit. We call it the cradled careers approach where we talk about the support for early years, but also support beyond the K -to-12 system, whether it's post-secondary.

And in particular, one of the areas that they are very interested in, we have been working very closely on, the whole area of trades and training beyond the K -to-12 system. We have already put in place a number of programs that provide the opportunity for s tudents to get training in the trades area in French, something that is new and that we're very pleased to work to continue to expand that.

We believe then –and they believe as well that that will lead to more workplaces that are franco - phone in nature, a nd that builds and strengths – strengthens their culture an awful lot and so we're very pleased to work with them on that. And they have and have had for some time, I would say, a –it certainly sells better than our cradled careers. They call their version cr adle to rocking chair which includes more of the senior years approach, which I think is very valuable because it strengthens –it's part of any culture to–you learn a lot from the seniors that are in the community.

I know the Aboriginal community honours their elders in a major way and have a special role for them and the francophone community follows that same model to a high degree. * (11:30) And the French community has been part of the– one of the founding nations in Manitoba in our provincial history, and they have a very unique and a very important role, and we're very pleased to continue working with them and to make sure that we are able to work with them to expand the services and make sure that they feel that they are being heard in the Department of Education.

We have a structure to accommodate that with direct reporting lines right through to the minister, and I think that's very important as part of that and we are prepared to work with them on an ongoing basis to strengthen their role and so that the French culture continues to grow here in Manitoba. One of the other areas that we've been working very closely with them, and it's also a branch of the Department of Education, is the –on the immigration side.

There have been, and we have attended, o n one occasion myself and one occasion the Minister for Sustainable Development in her role representing the francophone community, have attended special francophone immigration summits across Canada.

It doesn't bring in every province; not every province is equally engaged in that process, but in western Canada, Manitoba has a major leadership role in regards to this and we have been very happy to step up and work with them very closely to make sure that the range of services is available on the immigration side and that there are, in fact, opportunities under the Provincial Nominee Program that are unique to the francophone community and can help build that community moving–now and moving forward, and we've been very successful in doing that.

Our numbers here in Manitoba in–under the Provincial Nominee Program have always been very robust and they are usually above the average required across Canada in terms of francophone immigration. We're really the destination in western Canada when it comes to the fr ancophone community. You know, Quebec, of course, is the No. 1 destination for francophones coming to Canada, but we're right up there as well, and we are continuing to build on that strength and actually change the stature a little bit and when –in regards to that because it was a separate meeting now moving forward.

The next federal -provincial immigration ministers meeting will include a special

section on the francophone community and francophone immigration, and we were certainly very pleased to be instr umental in pushing for that so that we can actually build and be more inclusive with other provinces. And I'm hopeful, actually, that we'll get better engagement with some of our sister provinces who have been a little less enthused about the francophone immigration side of things than we have been, and so certainly we hope that this will strengthen as part of the whole process.

And, in fact, I had a conversation with the federal Immigration Minister in regards to this just the other day because we're working towards a federal-provincial-territorial meeting which will be held here in Manitoba, actually in the latter part of July, to make sure that we have the francophone issue as part of that meeting, and we –he certainly agreed, and we would

June 21, 2018 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 3261 be able to talk a little bit about the model as has been working in Manitoba. And it also will be noteworthy in that Quebec, who have control over their own issues of immigration based on the constitution, will be actually attending the meeting for the first time in many, many years because we are showing more engagement on the area of the francophone community and we're very pleased to have them there. I think it's been a gap. Certainly, we all are affected by the immigration as it affects each other's provinces.

These days we're seeing a flow of asylum seekers that–coming into Manitoba, for instance, that originally came through Quebec and are now moving laterally, and so we want to have Quebec at the table and I think that this will be a major step in the right direction. And we're very much looking forward to having the ability to discuss not only francophone immigration, but also the lateral movement of asylum seekers across Canada. So, with a few words like that on record, we continue to build very positively wit h the francophone community.

I know we've been able to resolve some of the French education issues by working with other school districts to make sure that the francophone school district now has access to better services.

I know one of the areas that they've always felt that they needed more capacity was in vocational, and we've linked them in with surrounding school districts who've had better capacity in vocational so that they can make better use and have better access of community facilities and adjoining communities and not have to have the kids transported large distances, because they were doing that in some cases, all the way from Notre Dame de Lourdes all the way to MITT here in Winnipeg, which is a long ways to bring students during the day and takes quite a bit of time, and it does add cost as well.

And we have found places in surrounding school districts that are prepared to work with them on that and, actually, in some cases, already had francophone teachers in place. So there are great opportunities to work together, and we're very pleased to continue to do that. Thank you for the opportunity to put a few words on this resolution. Mr. James Allum (Fort Garry -Riverview): I'm very pleased to get up today and support the resolution put forward, I believe, by my friend and colleague from St.

Johns, which calls on the Legislative Assembly to urge the provincial government to reverse its cuts to French language health care, ed ucation and community services and to make real investments that support and strengthen Manitoba's francophone communities for now and the future. And who would not support a resolution of that kind to embrace the French -speaking community in our provinc e and to try to expand and enhance, at every opportunity, community and educational and health-care services? And so I would expect that in short order, we'll be voting on this resolution.

I know all members of the House will be enthusiastically endorsing it. I see the Government House Leader (Mr. Cullen) looking over at me now , enthusiastically hoping that I'll end in time so that we can have a good and proper unanimous consent for this resolution. I want to, of course, wish everyone a happy National Ind igenous Peoples Day . I think that's a very important thing to acknowledge, eh? And I would say, Mr. Deputy Speaker, that's not unrelated to the resolution that we're debating here this morning.

After all, it was the French who were the first to make cont act with indigenous peoples in Canada's West many, many generations ago. It was the French who established the first commercial relationships with indigenous peoples; first missions were created by French peoples in Canada's West, and of course that had a sizable impact on indigenous peoples.

And so, in addition to those of us who belong to an English heritage, in fact, there is a closer and more profound relationship between indigenous peoples and French-speaking peoples is –in the West and here in Manitoba, and so we need to acknowledge that fact and to embrace it and to recognize, then, how important this particular resolution is. And, Mr. Deputy Speaker, you'll know that we've come a long way since Lord Durham set foot in Upper Canada in 1838 after the rebellion of 1837 in Upper Canada and the rebellion in 1837 in Lower Canada.

And Durham came over as Governor General, and what he found, he said, was two nations warring within the bosom of a single nation, and so went on to do–recommend two things. One was responsible government in which the executive would be

3262 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA June 21, 2018 responsible to the Legislature, and I'm proud to say that we are inheritors of that tradition. It took another 10 years after Durham left the country to get there. The other side of Durham's lega cy, of course, is something quite different. It was to commit to trying to unite Upper and Lower Canada, which was a simple plan for assimilation of the French fact in Canada at that point. That didn't work out so well. Assimilations never work out very we ll, Mr.

Deputy Speaker, whether it's in relation to French -speaking people, whether it's in relation to immigrants and newcomers or whether it's in relation to indigenous peoples. And so we have an obligation here in this province especially given the hist orical French fact here in Manitoba and across the West, to ensure tha t we embrace and enhance French language services, be they in education or health care or community service, in every possible way.

That's the obligation of this Legislature, and that's why I'm sure every member of this House will want to vote in favour of this resolution in just a few minutes' time. * (11:40) Now, I heard a number of platitudes coming from the government side about the role of the French–of French -speaking peoples in their communities. The member from Transcona certainly member–mentioned it; the Minister of Finance (Mr.

Friesen), I think, did a fine job in trying to speak in Canada's second official language or other official language in his remarks to the House this morning, and I appreciate the words of the leader–the Minister of Education in talking about the elements of what his department is doing, especially in relation to the French immigration, those coming from French -speaking countries to Canada and to Manitoba. And I think these are all important things, but the fact of the matter is, Mr. Deputy Speaker, that always, always in our business, especially, actions speak louder than words.

And so, while the government members have put any number of platitudes on the record this morning, when you cut the bilingual St. Boniface QuickCare Clinic, which offered essential health-care services in French to the residents of St. Boniface, that speaks volumes about what the priorities of this government are in relating to promoting French language services in this province. When the government cut nearly $60,000 in funding for the Actionmarguerite personal -care home, cutting supports for quality care for St. Boniface seniors, I would argue, Mr.

Deputy Speaker, that that spea ks volumes about what the government's priorities are and what their interest is in protecting and promoting French language services. When they –and the Education Minister men- tioned this and as a –it's a really unfortunate decision made by his department, I'm sure at the behest of the Finance Minister, to cut the assistant deputy minister's position in the Bureau de l'éducation française or BEF, for those of us whose French skills aren't that great, it certainly undermines the BEF's ability to provide str ong French language education supports.

And as my friend from Concordia has pointed out, thousands of people signed a petition protesting that very move. And it suggests –speaks volumes about the government that they didn't and refuse to listen to those vo ices and to those people who spoke out and to respond accordingly. And it wouldn't have been hard for the Minister of Education to say, well, we made a mistake here. Our interest in only the bottom line was, perhaps, missing the point here and that we need to restore that position an d so that we can enhance French language education to the very best of our ability.

And I'm pleased to say, during my time as Education minister, I had a great relationship with DSFM. I think they're an extraordinary group of people. And just in my short time–I was just thinking about this –I had the chance to go to, indeed, a number of DSFM schools. Of course, my friend from Lac du Bonnet will remember the wonderful time we had at École communautaire Saint-Georges after our gov ernment had built a beautiful new gym and community space. He and I were colleagues that day and comrades as we celebrated that important institution in St -Georges and the construction of that.

I remember going to the announcement for École Noël-Ritchot, which was a huge expansion of that particular school: five new classrooms, if memory serves, new child -care centre and many other amenities as well. Of course, École Taché; I remember being at the completion of that renovation of that very important school right in the middle of St. Boniface that our government took on in partnership with DSFM. It was fantastic. And, of course, maybe the most exciting thing for me during my time as Education minister was to open a brand new school in Thompson, La Voie du

June 21, 2018 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 3263 Nord, which is a fantastic, fantastic school and a real community asset in Thompson. And while jobs and–are leaving Thompson by the boatload and the Premier (Mr. Pallister) puts his hands in his pockets, as he always does, and said, well, there's nothing he can do, our record shows that we were actually quite invested in ensuring the promotion and enhancement of French- language services all across Manitoba, not only in St. Boniface, which is understandable, Mr. Deputy Speaker, but all across this great province of ours.

I think it's incumbent upon every member of this House to take seriously this resolution to reach out to the French fact in Manitoba and show that this Legislature is one with the strength of many. And on that basis, Mr. Deputy Speaker, I' ll sit down and hope that the government calls the question and we'll get on with supporting this very important resolution. Mr. Reg Helwer (Brandon West): Merci, Monsieur le Président. [Thank you, Mr. Speaker.] I think that'll be the extent of my French today. I know some of you heard me –yes, I won't disabuse the language.

You've heard me do a member's statement here previously when I lost a wager to a friend in Alberta, and I knew he didn't understand French, so I did it in French. And he said after, he should have asked for Ukrainian, and probably would have made it –as much sense to many people anyway, the way that my French language is. It's been quite a journey for me learning French, and–long and winding roads, several off -ramps. Not necessarily continuous. So, lots of gravel roads in that route. Some discussion about the resolution here promoting French language. And there's been much discussion–or I've heard St.

Boniface mentioned quite a bit. You know, the way that the current NDP treated their former leader, the former premier of Manitoba, Greg Selinger, was very disrespectful in my mind, and caused the by-election, of course, in the way that they managed that. And it's kind of typical of what we've seen from them. So it–you know, we have a by -election there in St. Boniface and a very good candidate for the PC Party, Dr. Mamadou Ka, of course, a resident of St. Boniface and a professor at the college there. It's good to see that we're going to have quite the race there, I believe.

But, you know, in learning French in Manitoba, it's been an interesting challenge. And there are supports, and there are maybe sometimes better supports in Winnipeg than outside of Winnipeg. I, indeed, took six years of French courses through high school and junior high school and variety of different teachers. And, of course, we learned at that time in Manitoba that we were being taught the Parisian French, not the Quebec French. And then maybe we wouldn't be able to communicate with others in Canada. And that's the way that it was taught at that time.

You know, some of my friends did go on to French immersion opportunities, but as I was always working in the summer from an early age, that wasn't an option for me. I had to make some money to make things move ahead. So, they did go to French language immersion, and it worked very well for many of them. But I thought I would have that opportunity when I was ski racing. I did go to France for several weeks, racing. And I thought this is a great time to practise my French and that I will be immersed in the French culture and the French language.

I remember–if you think of bilingualism at time, there was lots of debate in the early , late '70s, and you would go into a grocery store, and t hose of us that are lazy would pick up a cup or whatever, a soft drink. And you'd see the French on one side, so you'd turn it in your hand to read the English in the other side. I found that when I went into a supermarket in France, I would do that. I would pick up the soft drink; I'd see the French, and I'd turn it around, and it's French on the other side. So had to learn a little more French to make things work.

But I also found that –well, I thought I would be immersed in the French language in France while we were racing over there. And we did to a certain extent. I also found that many of the people that I was interacting with wanted to practise their English. So they would want to talk–speak to me in English, and I'd want to speak to them in French, and their English was much better than my French, they told me several times. So sometimes we would have that conversation in English. And it's–it was disconcerting to me that all of the French teachers at that time in 'franch' –France came from England.

So they taught French–or, they taught English in France with a Cambridge accent, a very English accent. And you would be speaking French to this individual, and then they'd switch to English

3264 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA June 21, 2018 with this very strong English accent. And it was very disconcerting at that time, to put you off your game anyway. But that was, you know, a useful exercise for me to learn French a little bit better. And, of course, university courses added to my knowledge. And we tried to learn things along the way. I do remember then–I think when I was around 18, was somehow chosen with a couple of friends from Brandon– John Kelleher was –who was a very successful business person there now, and his family was always a big supporter of the Liberal Party – federally, anyway.

And there was a federal gathering of youth. The federal government had a youth–I can't even remember what it was all about, it's so long ago. * (11:50) But we did travel to St. John's, Newfoundland, John and myself and, in fact, another former MLA from the House here, Drew Caldwell, was on that trip because we're all friends together growing up in Brandon. And youth from all across the country were gathered in St.

John's, and I'm not even quite sure what the point of the whole exercise was, but there was a lot of money being spent in federal–the federal realm there to try to create relationships throughout Canada, especially with the French and English communities. And I do remember one young woman that was with us from St. Boniface , who was fluently bilingual, as opposed to those of us that were, you know, trying to work our way through the French language, that she would help us along the way.

And there was–I was trying to recall this morning who the federal minister was, and I cannot recall who spoke to us, but at that time it was in the late time of the Trudeau administration there. And I remember her remarks, saying that, you know, he's obviously learned French later in his life; he did not grow up with French, and I said, well, how you can tell?

And she said he's using words that I would not use in the normal course of discussion and it's obviously something he's learned, not only his position that he's using words that, while they're all very fine, fine words, it's not something that someone who is bilingual uses in the normal course of their discussion. So, again, I'm not sure if you want to look at that as a prejudice or not, but certainly people that I –are bilingual look at different–at things differently. So we keep on trying to learn, Mr. Deputy Speaker, and, you know I've tried several times. I am not one that French language comes to easily.

Have many friends that speak many languages; I'm envious of that. And some people have that skill set that they can pick up languages easily, and we do have supports in place for some of that, for much of that and, again, sometimes easier in Winnipeg than elsewhere. I know that when we were first –when I was first elected here in 2011 the offer was made to have French language courses, and I kept meaning to take up that offer and make things work that way and–but as you know, there's a lot of things to learn as a new legislator, and it was one of those things that kept getting put on the shelf.

So as I do travel back and forth to Brandon, I do try to listen to French language CDs to learn a little bit more of the language and even some Spanish now because we have a large Spanish population in Brandon from very –lots of different countries. But, you know, sometimes the mind doesn't always work when you're travelling back after a day here or on the way here early in the morning, and it is difficult, I find, to keep focused on that French language CD and try to remind and remember the words and try to get the discussion going. Always a challenge, Mr.

Deputy Speaker, and I applaud those that find it easy to speak in French. I do try to listen to several of the members in the Legislature here when they are speaking French to learn what they're talking about rather than listening to the translation. I think it's a useful approach to try to learn more of the language. You think of the huge debates that were held over, you know, bilingualism in Canada, and now it's pretty much common. We have French langua ge schools in Brandon. We have bilingual schools in Brandon.

We have French immersion schools in Brandon and we have English schools, of course, there as well, and it is something that many individuals choose for their children, that they want to see that they know both languages –or more than one language, even. And when you travel around the world, Mr. Deputy Speaker, you can see that many of these countries, people know four or five languages or more and are fluent in those languages and may know many, many more than that.

So but that is the character of those particular countries that you may travel only a few miles and have to speak a different language, and as you know, I'm sure it is a challenge.

June 21, 2018 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 3265 Even in Manitoba, though we are a unique province in Canada with the bilingualism that we have. It is a challenge to find everyday opportunities to speak in French and to listen to French. So you have to work pretty hard at making it work, and I look at the services that are available now as opposed to when I was growing up and I'm quite thrilled that we have these many and talk of many more that might be made available. Mr. Deputy Speaker: The honourable member's time is up. Hon.

Blaine Pedersen (Minister of Growth, Enterprise and Trade): I–very pleased to stand up and put a few words on the record for this resolution promoting French language services. I have grown up beside some French communities, French- speaking communities. I work beside them. I have dealt with a number of those people in business over the years and have many friends within the –within these communities. And I will name these communities, namely: Haywood, St. Claude, Notre Dame de Lourdes, St. Leon, Somerset.

And while you–I will also promote these communities for people to take a day trip out there, as part of my department is –also has tourism. If you go to St. Claude, they have the dairy museum there, just a really tremendous museum – [interjection]–and as–you're right, St. Claude has got the big pipe there. Many of the– An Honourable Member: Pipe? Mr. Pedersen : It's a smoking pipe, for those who don't know, because that was tradition back in the French community, was for people who smoke pipes. The–many of the French settlers who came to the Haywood, St.

Claude, Notre Dame de Lourdes area were from farming communities and they started the dairy business in that area. The dairy business has been very successful throughout that area and continues to be successful. And the museum in St. Claude commemorates that, the ea rly days of dairying, which is much different than today's highly mechanized industry. But they have a lot of artifacts and displays in St. Claude. If you go to Notre Dame de Lourdes, there is a museum in the Franco centre there that, again, showcases the early life of the people who came to Notre Dame de Lourdes.

It was –the country looked much different back in–when it was first settled. Very heavily forested, which a lot of those trees have been removed over the years, but apparently it reminded the ear ly settlers in that Notre Dame area of their home, of the community they came from in France, and so they felt somewhat at home, but it was a difficult life for those early settlers in that area. St. Leon and Somerset also has a vibrant French community. I have many friends there who are fully bilingual. And St. Leon, of course, has got the wind farm, and also stop in St.

Leon to see the museum there that features not only the wind farm but also the salamander pond. If you are into those creepy little guy s, they've got a display of the –because they're right beside a small lake there that has lots of salamanders in it.

So again, through the tourism side, we have so many great displays and tourism sites within our local communities, and we certainly encourage those Manitobans who are looking for a day trip, just something to do with the family and get outside the perimeter for many of them, and to see the sights and–the sights, the sounds, and all year -round, but especially this time of year, the smells that –you will see the canola is starting to bloom. The alfalfa is being cut these days. And it is just such a wonderful time of the year to see the growth of the field, crops growing.

And we have so much in this province to be thankful for. And the f ranco community has been those that have really helped promote Manitoba too, for our cultural diversity, and I have –as I said, I have many friends that are in those bilingual communities who carry on that tradition of the Franco community. They are very passionate about making sure that they continue that tradition, and it is great to see as they continue to– * (12:00) Mr. Deputy Speaker: Order. When this matter's before the House, the honourable Minister for Growth, Enterprise and Trade will have five minutes remaining.

The hour being 12 p.m., the House is recessed and stands recessed until 1:30 p.m.

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA Thursday, June 21, 2018 CONTENTS ORDERS OF THE DAY PRIVATE MEMBERS' BUSINESS Debate on Second Readings–Public Bills Bill 225–The Human Rights Code Amendment Act (Genetic Characteristics) Ewasko 3245 Pedersen 3246 A. Smith 3247 Yakimoski 3249 Saran 3251 Lindsey 3252 Helwer 3253 Debate on Resolutions Res. 15–Protecting and Promoting French Language Services Teitsma 3254 Fletcher 3256 Friesen 3257 Wishart 3259 Allum 3261 Helwer 3263 Pedersen 3265

The Legislative Assembly of Manitoba Debates and Proceedings are also available on the Internet at the following address: http://www.gov.mb.ca/legislature/hansard/hansard.html

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Collection	Manitoba — Debates (Hansard)
Citation	41-3-68a
Type	hansard
Volume / chapter	41st 3rd hansardpdf 68a.pdf
Language	en
Format	pdf
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	9c651170b7276edf6b0bad09cc1c70f2c2a0ff47

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