Manitoba Hansard — 17 November 2015 (Sitting 2, 40th Legislature, 5th Session)

40-5-2

Manitoba — Debates (Hansard)

Fifth Session - Fortieth Legislature of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba DEBATES and PROCEEDINGS Official Report (Hansard) Published under the authority of The Honourable Daryl Reid Speaker Vol. LXVIII No. 2 - 1:30 p.m., Tuesday, November 17, 2015 ISSN 0542-5492

MANITOBA LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY Fortieth Legislature Member Constituency Political Affiliation ALLAN, Nancy St. Vital NDP ALLUM, James, Hon. Fort Garry-Riverview NDP ALTEMEYER, Rob Wolseley NDP ASHTON, Steve, Hon. Thompson NDP BLADY, Sharon, Hon. Kirkfield Park NDP BRAUN, Erna, Hon. Rossmere NDP BRIESE, Stuart Agassiz PC CALDWELL, Drew, Hon. Brandon East NDP CHIEF, Kevin, Hon. Point Douglas NDP CHOMIAK, Dave, Hon. Kildonan NDP CROTHERS, Deanne, Hon. St. James NDP CULLEN, Cliff Spruce Woods PC DEWAR, Greg, Hon.

Selkirk NDP DRIEDGER, Myrna Charleswood PC EICHLER, Ralph Lakeside PC EWASKO, Wayne Lac du Bonnet PC FRIESEN, Cameron Morden-Winkler PC GAUDREAU, Dave St. Norbert NDP GERRARD, Jon, Hon. River Heights Liberal GOERTZEN, Kelvin Steinbach PC GRAYDON, Cliff Emerson PC HELWER, Reg Brandon West PC HOWARD, Jennifer Fort Rouge NDP IRVIN-ROSS, Kerri, Hon. Fort Richmond NDP JHA, Bidhu Radisson NDP KOSTYSHYN, Ron, Hon. Swan River NDP LATHLIN, Amanda The Pas NDP LEMIEUX, Ron, Hon. Dawson Trail NDP MACKINTOSH, Gord, Hon. St. Johns NDP MALOWAY, Jim Elmwood NDP MARCELINO, Flor, Hon.

Logan NDP MARCELINO, Ted Tyndall Park NDP MARTIN, Shannon Morris PC MELNICK, Christine Riel NDP MITCHELSON, Bonnie River East PC NEVAKSHONOFF, Thomas, Hon. Interlake NDP OSWALD, Theresa Seine River NDP PALLISTER, Brian Fort Whyte PC PEDERSEN, Blaine Midland PC PETTERSEN, Clarence Flin Flon NDP PIWNIUK, Doyle Arthur-Virden PC REID, Daryl, Hon. Transcona NDP ROBINSON, Eric, Hon. Kewatinook NDP RONDEAU, Jim Assiniboia NDP ROWAT, Leanne Riding Mountain PC SARAN, Mohinder, Hon. The Maples NDP SCHULER, Ron St. Paul PC SELINGER, Greg, Hon. St.

Boniface NDP SMOOK, Dennis La Verendrye PC STEFANSON, Heather Tuxedo PC STRUTHERS, Stan Dauphin NDP SWAN, Andrew Minto NDP WIEBE, Matt Concordia NDP WIGHT, Melanie, Hon. Burrows NDP WISHART, Ian Portage la Prairie PC Vacant Gimli – Vacant Southdale –

9 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA Tuesday, November 17, 2015 The House met at 1:30 p.m. Mr. 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 certa inty and accomplish it perfectly for the glory and honour of Thy name and for the welfare of all our people. Amen. Good afternoon, everyone. Please be seated. ROUTINE PROCEEDINGS Mr.

Speaker: Introduction of bills? Seeing no bills, we'll move on to committee reports. Tabling of reports? Ministerial statements? MEMBERS' STATEMENTS Spring Budget 2016 Mr. Kelvin Goertzen (Steinbach): Mr. Speaker, last month I attended a prebudget consultation meeting hosted by the NDP Minister of Finance (Mr. Dewar) in Ile des Chênes, Manitoba. Together with about seven other people, we heard the MLA for Dawson Trail begin the meeting by apologizing for being part of a government that increased t he PST from 7 per cent to 8 per cent.

He apologized for not listening to Manitobans, and he assured the few people that were in the room that he and the NDP indeed now wanted to listen. It was an admission of broken trust from a broken government. Of cours e, he didn't apologize to Manitobans for referring to them as howling coyotes during the PST debate. After a presentation by the Minister of Finance, a question was asked about whether or not there actually was going to be a budget in the spring. After all, people, however few there were, were there for a prebudget meeting, presumably to give advice for a forthcoming budget.

The Minister of Finance said that they had committed to bring in a budget and they were going to fulfill that commitment, but they were keeping their options open, and maybe there would be an economic statement or maybe nothing at all. In short, Mr. Speaker, the prebudget meeting began with the MLA for Dawson Trail admitting that the government didn't listen in the past and that the Minister of Finance saying that they wanted to listen now about a budget that they may never bring in. That's a strange way to run a government.

Manitobans deserve to know just how deep the hole is from the NDP, how dig–how deep they are digging it, so that future generations can know how much they owe. The Premier (Mr. Selinger) needs to commit today to bring forward a budget in the spring before the upcoming provincial election, Mr. Speaker. Thank you very much. Shauna Collins Ms. Jennifer Howard (Fort Rouge): Mr. Speaker, joining us in the gallery today we have many friends, family, and colleagues of Shauna Collins. Among them is Corrine Ostertag, executive director of River Avenue Co -op Day Nursery, and John Coutu, Shauna's partner.

These people and many others lost Shauna when she passed away on October 24th. I attended Shauna's memorial service this past weekend and witnessed an outpouring of grief, fond and funny stories and love. Shauna's kind spirit naturally fit with her passion for quality child care. From 1986 until her passing, she served as a pillar of the River Avenue Co-op Day Nursery. Shauna served the daycare in many roles over the years, as a front -line worker, special needs co-ordinator, program supervisor and most recently as a board member.

No matter what small crisis interrupted the day, a broken dishwasher or a sick co-worker, Shauna put the kids first and reminded everyone to smile, breathe and take your time. Shauna was instrumental in the building of a new child -care centre to offer an even better experience for the children and to add more spaces for families who need them. Now, in this colourful space, kids watch movies in the Shauna Room and they play with Shauna's Playdough, the recipe she created. For the children w ho are devastated by their loss, these are ways to remember her.

10 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA Tuesday, November 17, 2015 Knowing her commitment to quality child care, I believe Shauna would have been encouraged by the commitment to create thousands of more spaces contained in yesterday's Throne Speech. And s he would have never let me forget to keep that promise. Shauna's legacy lives on through the staff she mentored to provide excellent care to the children, and her legacy lives through the generations of children and parents who fondly remember Shauna from their daycare years. These children learn to be kind, to be loving and to laugh often from Shauna.

I can think of no better evidence of a life well lived. Those with us today and the many others who are part of Shauna's life will never forget her. On behalf of all members of this Legislature, I extend our condolences to her family, friends and all who loved her. Thank you. Personal-Care-Home Beds Mrs. Myrna Driedger (Charleswood): Mr. Speaker, this NDP government has failed to build the number of personal -care-home beds that seniors in Manitoba need.

In fact, this NDP government is misleading Manitobans with false information about what they have actually done or misleading with information about what they will be doing. The Manitoba Centre for He alth Policy says we need between 5,100 and 6,200 beds by 2036. That means 250 beds must be added every year for the next 21 years. And that is not happening. In fact, it is going to be years before we see the beds appear. This is a catastrophe in the making, Mr. Speaker, and it is going to fail the old, frail, vulnerable seniors.

Since 1999, this government has only increased the number of PCH beds by 3 and a half per cent. In fact, they cut PCH beds from 2008 to 2011. A week ago, there were 81 panell ed elderly people stuck in inappropriate beds in Winnipeg, an acute-care hospital bed where they –when they needed to be in a PCH bed. And according to the most recent freedom of information request, over 400 panelled patients who should be in a PCH bed a re stuck in hospital beds throughout Manitoba because the NDP have failed to build enough beds. They have created a bed crisis and it's only going to get worse. And Mr.

Speaker, all we're getting from the NDP is news releases, but there are few shovels in the ground. All we're hearing are broken promises and broken trust. Thank you. Sikh Protest in India Hon. Mohinder Saran (Minister of Housing and Community Development): Mr. Speaker, it is with great sadness that I bring to the attention of the House a tragedy that took place recently in the district of Faridkot, India, but has also touched the lives of many Sikh families here in Manitoba.

Last month, police in India opened the fire at Sikh protesters, injuring 62 people and killing Bhai Krishan Bhagwan Singh and Bhai Gurjit Singh. Relations between the police and protesters had been tense for a while over the recent desecration of a copy of the Sikh holy book Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. Protesters demanded the arrest of those responsible, and tensions escalated to a few violent clashes.

This kind of religious intolerance is alarming, and the tragic deaths of Bhai Krishan Bhagwan Singh and Bhai Gurjit Singh were completely unnecessary. * (13:40) Here in Manitoba, we fully support the families who are spe aking out against these acts of violence and standing up for human rights. The response of the Sikh community here in our province has been touching. Recently, I joined Winnipeg Sikh families at the candlelight vigil on the steps of our Legislature to show our sympathy for the families of Bhai Krishan Bhagwan Singh and Bhai Gurjit Singh and for the global Sikh community.

I spoke at the vigil and reflected on how often religion is used by leaders as an excuse to exclude or discriminate against other groups of people. But we must reject religious fear mongering and the terrible violence it leads to. We must recognize that every family deserves to feel safe in their home and welcome in their community. I pray for the peace in Punjab, and I hope that no leader in any country, including our own, will use religion to advance his or her selfish agenda. Thank you.

Tuesday, November 17, 2015 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 11 Volunteer Firefighter Recognition Mr. Doyle Piwniuk (Arthur-Virden): Mr. Speaker, heroes amongst us, power, professionalism, passion, commitment to the volunteer fire department. On Friday, August 7th at 9:15 a.m., members of the Virden RCMP received a call about a house fire caused by an explosion from a ruptured gas line.

The first people on the scene were two Manitoba Hydro workers, Doug Voak [phonetic] and Nicholas Rawlings, [phonetic] and Constable Dave Trudeau, who selflessly tried to rescue the injured party but were pushed back by the extreme heat. When the other RCMP personnel arrived, Wallace District Fire Department was on the scene. Without r egard of their own safety upon learning someone was inside the home at the time of the explosion, three firefighters, Brett MacDonald, Ben McLean and Dugan Anderson, jumped into action amongst the rubble with the fire less than three feet from them.

They f ound the homeowner and cut him free and removed him from the scene while Austin McKee and John Davidson and Dave Ternier were manning the hoses. Constable Chris May, [phonetic] the second constable on the scene, assisted in moving neighbours out of their homes and assisted with spraying the fire to assist firefighters in the rescue. Constable Jason Lafreniere [phonetic] did crowd control and assisted in removing people from the area and also helped remove the injured male to the ambulance. Mr.

Speaker, I would be proud to recognize these courageous men who on their call came and ran towards danger and put their lives on the line for the rest of us. Please recognize our local heroes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. ORAL QUESTIONS Mr. Speaker: I have no guests to introduce, so we'll proceed directly to oral questions. Political Staff Public Financing Mr. Kelvin Goertzen (Steinbach): The NDP have a long history of taking taxpayers' dollars and using it for their political campaigns.

Of course, t here was the vote tax where millions of dollars were used to go into the NDP party because they weren't able to fundraise anymore. There's millions of dollars in political advertising happening now, thinly –thinly– veiled as government advertising, Mr. Speaker. During the leadership revolt, of course, the Premier hired individuals to work in the Premier's office by day and, of course, secure his leadership by night, Mr. Speaker.

Now we learn that since December of last year, the government, the Premier, has hired more than 30 new political staff, many in new positions, and these are all designed to be his taxpayer-funded political campaign. Why is the Premier taking money out of the pockets of hard- working individuals and front -line services and putting it into the pockets of NDP political operatives, Mr. Speaker? Hon. Greg Selinger (Premier): Mr. Speaker, I'm very proud of the people that have come to work for the government. They do a terrific job. They bring ideas. They bring experience in the community.

They bring a real passion for public service, and it's all being done within existing budgets. The member for Steinbach is, as usual, mis - leading the House with the information he puts on the record. It's within the existing budgets. People that have pr oven experience in the community, people that care passionately about the future of Manitoba and are bringing their energy and their time and their service to the public in Manitoba, I'm proud of the contribution they're making, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Goertzen: Well, of course, Mr. Speaker, there really is no budget, and the Premier hides most of the information.

We know that when it came to the $670,000 of payouts that he gave individuals who weren't sup - portive of him during the leadership, he held the details on those payouts. Now we learn, of course, that there's at least a dozen staff who received an average of 22 per cent increase in their pay in his political staff. Now, many Manitobans struggle every day – every day–with their families to ensure that th ey can pay for the increase, the record increases in taxes that were brought in by this government, by this Premier. Mr.

Speaker, why is it that NDP staff can afford to get a 22 per cent increase in their pay while average Manitobans are struggling to pa y for their tax increases? Mr. Selinger: The member may have missed it, but we actually just passed the budget. The people that are coming in are replacing people that have left. On the –in the main,

12 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA Tuesday, November 17, 2015 Mr. Speaker, they're for the most part earning less than the people that left. They're providing excellent public service to the people of Manitoba within the budget that the members opposite just voted against, a budget that provided some of the best infrastructure spending in the history of the province, created over 9,000 jobs last year, provided additional daycare spots, provided money to build personal -care homes in Manitoba, provided money for family services and support to children and families, provided money for social housing.

All those things the members opposite voted against. They're deflecting attention from their agenda of severe cuts and austerity for the people of Manitoba. Mr. Goertzen: Well, and the Premier's well aware that we voted against waste and political payouts, which were contained in that budget. Mr. Speaker, there is no limit –there is no limit– to the way that the Premier will use taxpayer -funded dollars to try to advance his political causes.

The clearest example was during the leadership when he took hundreds of thousands of dollars and used it to hire people within his office to secure his leadership, and then used hundreds of thousands of dollars to give payouts to individuals who weren't supportive of his leadership, all written –all written –with a taxpayer cheque. And it doesn't end, Mr. Speaker. On October 28th of this year the Premier appointed Heather Grant-Jury to the board of directors of Manitoba Public Insurance for a three -year term.

Presumably that's the same individual who he hired to prop up his leadership campaign, now appointed to the board of directors of Manitoba Public Insurance. Are there any parts of government where the NDP isn't going to use to benefit his friends and allies, Mr. Speaker? Mr. Selinger: Mr. Speaker, the government is well served by peo ple that come to work for us, well served by their experience, well served by their excellent reputation in the community.

It's no surprise to me that the member from Steinbach likes entering into personal attacks on people that have a record of communit y service that may exceed the record of community service he has. And I only remind him, when he was serving in government and when the former government was here, they made payouts to people that had been involved in the largest election vote -rigging scandal in the history of Manitoba. That was their record. They never put it –they never reported it to the public. They never disclosed it.

And when it comes to open government, when it comes to over–open government, just last week they did a throne speech that was invitation only, behind closed doors. What kind of an example of that–is that of open government? Political Staff Salaries Public Sector Salaries Mrs. Heather Stefanson (Tuxedo): We know the Premier's office provided raises to political staff averaging at least 22 per cent. But some of the individual numbers, Mr. Speaker, are even more alarming. In fact, the Premier's previous direc tor of issues management received a 62 per cent raise this year. That's before he left for Alberta.

How does the Premier (Mr. Selinger) justify a more than 60 per cent increase to NDP staffer when public sector employees got less than a 1 per cent increase last year? Hon. Dave Chomiak (Minister of Mineral Resources): Mr. Speaker, this is

part 2 of the Conservative reaction to a visionary Throne Speech that talks about a new Manitoba. You know, this new open opposition, when asked to provide the informa tion that they had a press conference on this morning, their researcher conveniently left the press conference before they could ask the questions, and they have not tabled or provided one bit of information about the allegations they're making in the House today. I ask the member: Table the information, provide it, or, in fact, Mr. Speaker, admit you were wrong. Mr.

Speaker: Before I recognize the honourable member for Tuxedo for the next question, I want to caution the honourable minister. When you're placing your questions and–questions by members of the opposition, responses by the government, please direct them through the Chair. Mrs. Stefanson: Well, Mr. Speaker, the information that we are discussing here is disclosed in Public Accounts. I'm sure the member opposite should be aware of where to find that. The Premier's subsequent director of issues management, the person that replaced the individual

Tuesday, November 17, 2015 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 13 who got the 62 per cent raise and left for Alberta, Mr. Speaker, he received a 33 per cent raise last year, while at the same time the public sector workers received less than a 1 per cent increase. * (13:50) I'll ask the Premier (Mr. Selinger) again: Ho w does he justify a 33 per cent increase in –raise for his political staffer when the public sector employees received less than 1 per cent increase last year, Mr. Speaker? Mr. Chomiak: Well, Mr. Speaker, you–bad research equals bad information. Mr.

Speaker, I'd like to advise the member that the specific individual that they're talking about –and I don't like talking about individuals, but they don't mind attacking people –was on maternity leave for part of the year. Therefore, the salary that's reported in Public Accounts isn't the full salary would – normally would have been received in the full year; that was maternity leave. And, Mr. Speaker, I will table documents that indicate some of the positions that they talked about today in their so-called revealing and new open way.

The director of issues management has had no change in salary; director of Cabinet communi - cations has a 5 per cent increase; director of Premier's Secretariat, 10 per cent salary reduction; director of priorities and planning, 10 per cent salary reduction; director of legislative affairs, 5 per cent salary reduction. I will table these figures for the members opposite. Mrs. Stefanson: Mr. Speaker, this Premier has billed taxpayers more than $3 million in raises, new hires and severance payouts, while at the same time public sector employees have received less than a 1 per cent increase. Mr.

Speaker, will the Premier just admit that, as his former minister of Finance the member for Fort Rouge (Ms. Howard) said, and I quote, the Premier is increasingly being driven by his desire to hold on to his leadership rather than by the best interests of Manitobans, end quote? Mr. Speaker, is that why the Premier chose to give his political staffers a massive salary increase at the expense of those public servants? Mr. Chomiak: The new by -invitation-only Leader of the Opposition who's going to be more open, Mr.

Speaker, and said this morning that the government had hired more special assistants and more executive assistants. They said that. The y provided no information. Their researcher left conveniently before it could be confirmed. I will indicate that in 2014 there were 19 special assistants; in 2015 there were 19 special assistants. In 2014 there were 19 executive assistants; in 2015 there were 19 executive assistants. Mr.

Speaker, we are tired of this tired opposition that has no ideas–it is stuck in the past; they can't see the forest for the trees–that doesn't believe in the future, that doesn't believe in Manitobans. I'm proud to be of a government that has a vision that's going to provide hope for the future, not a redundancy, not a mean-spirited, go-back-to-the-1990s government. Access to Family Doctors Government Promise Mrs. Myrna Driedger (Charleswood): Mr. Speaker, this NDP Minister of Health is a really good example of why the NDP can't be trusted.

She continues to misrepresent promises and changes them when the promise is failing. In the 2011 Throne Speech, the NDP promised a doctor for all by 2015. When they were failing to keep that promise, they changed the promise to say that they would make sure that every Manitoban had a doctor by the end of 2015. So I'd like to ask the Minister of Health to tell us: Will she keep her word? Will all Manitobans have a doctor by the end of 2015? Hon. Sharon Blady (Minister of Health): Mr. Speaker, I'd like to thank the member for the question.

I can say that our government is very proud of the fact that every year we have seen a net increase in the number of doctors in our province since 1999. I can also assure Manitobans that we have been having excellent connection between doctors and those in search of a doctor. In fact, actually had a meeting this morning with folks on the updates on the numbers, and we're on track to our targets. We have over 60 per cent of folks being matched within 24 hours. And we have high numbers, up into the 80s and 90s, of regular matching. So, yes, Mr.

Speaker, we're on track, and that's part of the reason why we keep investing in our Doctors Manitoba cont ract, investing in QuickCare clinics and nurse practitioners, because we invest on this side in primary care to look after all Manitobans.

14 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA Tuesday, November 17, 2015 Mrs. Driedger: Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Minister of Health met with a concerned group of citizens from the Yellowh ead health committee. They told the minister that they had a shortage of 37 doctors. That means that approximately 55,000 Manitobans in that area do not have a doctor. No doctor, no care. So I would like to ask the Minister of Health to tell them: Will all 55,000 of them have a doctor within the next 45 days? Ms. Blady : I'd like to thank the member for the question.

And, yes, I had an amazing meeting with those folks, and they brought a wealth of information from their community, and it's part of an ongoing series of dialogues that I have had with rural communities and that I will continue to have. In fact, I'm looking forward to AMM next week because we've been working with the communities and talking about strategies to best meet the needs. And one of the best examples has been Swan River and the five docs that have come to that community and what we're doing there. So, again, it's about a new model. It's about working with communities.

And that's one thing this side has done. We have worked with doctors. We have worked with communities. We brought nurse practitioners and physicians' assistants. These folks just cut. Mrs. Driedger: Mr. Speaker, according to our last freedom of information on the Interlake -Eastern RHA, they were short 29 doctors. That means that approximately 36,000 residents from that region do not have a doctor. And in the WRHA annual report they said that 11 per cent, or 78,000, Winnipeggers do not have a doctor. So just from these three regions, approximately 169,000 Manitobans do n ot have a doctor.

So I'd like to ask this Minister of Health to tell Manitobans: Why should anybody trust anything that she or her government says when they keep making promises and then they keep breaking those promises? They break their trust all the t ime, why should we believe her now? Ms. Blady: And, again, Mr. Speaker, thank the member for the question. And, as I said, the Family Doctor Finder has already connected over 30,000 Manitobans with a primary-care practitioner. We've already fulfilled o ur 2011 election commitment to add 200 more doctors. In fact, we added 276.

We've seen a net gain of 732 more doctors, including 250 more family docs. And, again, today more than 2,116 physicians are practising in Winnipeg, with another 632 working in Bran don, rural and northern Manitoba. Again, we've invested; we built up the com - plement of doctors and nurses. I do remember, on the other hand, back in their day, doctors fleeing, being on strike, and nurses walking away and being fired. So, again, we invest; they fear monger and fire. Food Banks Usage Increase Mr. Ian Wishart (Portage la Prairie): Mr. Speaker, food bank usage is up again in Manitoba.

According to the HungerCount report by Food Banks Canada, Manitobans' usage of food banks is up by 3.4 per cent over last year, more than 2 per cent above the Canadian average. Mr. Speaker, why does this government continue to force more and more people to use food banks regularly? Hon. Kerri Irvin-Ross (Minister of Fami ly Services): We certainly have the same concerns that the hunger report identifies. We have to reduce poverty, and that's what this government's been doing since 1999.

We have some strong examples of what we have done with the creation of the ALL Aboard strategy that assists in creating more jobs, more child care, building more affordable housing, implementing Rent Assist. And what did those guys do, the drive -by poverty activists? They slashed EIA rates. They clawed back the National Child Benefit. That's what they did, and then, on top of that, created a snitch line. Please, I don't need advice from them. Mr. Wishart: Well, Mr.

Speaker, since March 2008, when the ALL Aboard strategy came out, we have seen a staggering 58 per cent increase in food bank usage here in Manitoba, leaving 5.3 per cent of Manitobans as regular food bank users, the highest in the country. Clearly, this government is ge nerating a lot of work for food banks. Why are the only steady growth we see in the use of food banks?

Tuesday, November 17, 2015 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 15 Ms. Irvin-Ross: The best way out of poverty is jobs, and that's why we have made the investments we've had on infrastructure, creating 60,000 jobs. What did they do when they were in power? There was no infrastructure happening, no job creation at all. We have the No. 1 unemployment rate in Canada, and we don't stop there. We're building more affordable housing; 4,000 more units have been built, and we continue to refurbish the units that are existing. When they were in power, nothing happened around housing.

We're going to continue to make those invest - ments, create jobs, provide good quality housing, good quality child care. We are not going to be reckless, and we certainly will not be scrapping the ALL Aboard strategy. * (14:00) Mr. Wishart: Well, Mr. Speaker, sadly, more than 42 per cent of the food bank users last year were children. That means of the nearly 64,000 people using food banks Ma rch 2015, over 30,000 were children. With the highest child poverty rate in Canada here in Manitoba, why is this government so determined to keep Manitoba children from getting a good start in life? Ms.

Irvin-Ross: We take this information seriously. That's why we are continuing to make the reduction in poverty with all of our community partners, working with all of the partners, looking at strategies that are going to support the creation of jobs, providing more affordable housing, increasing child-care spaces. Those are significant. We have a strong record –by increasing minimum wage. You know what they did? They froze it seven years in a row. That is reckless and dangerous and creates poverty.

What we have in plan with all of our partners is improving opportunities for all Manitobans, making sure that we all have a chance to thrive and be– contribute to our economy. We're going to continue on that path. We have more work to do. We're committed to do that with all of our partners, and we will not be drive-by activists. Freshwater Fish Management 2011 Report Recommendations Mr. Shannon Martin (Morris): Seafood Watch recently urged consumers not to purchase freshwater fish from our three largest lakes, claiming that those fisheries are among the worst mana ged in the world. The minister's response, Mr.

Speaker, was, not surprisingly, to strike a task force. Has the minister even read his own 2011 report, which I'll table, the Technical Assessment of the Status, Health and Sustainable Harvest Levels of the Lake Winnipeg Fisheries Resource? Why is the minister reinventing the wheel? Hon. Thomas Nevakshonoff (Minister of Conservation and Water Stewardship): I thank the member for the question. In fact, I thank the member for any question on the environment, something that is a little strange coming from them, a government that would cut half a billion dollars from their budget.

I would imagine the department of the environment would disappear altogether under their watch. But, obviously, from the last annual general meeting their party had where there was not a discussion of one resolution on the environment at all over the two or three days that they met, to hear questions on the environment from members opposite today is a little ironic, to say the least, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. Mr. Martin: Mr.

Speaker, the 2011 report, again, commissioned by this minister, by his department, noted that data concerning our fisheries was, quote, inadequate, and that the lack of information made it impossible to determine the health of our fish stocks. Mr. Speaker, so the minister has in one hand a report recommending adequate surveys and monitoring, and on the other hand, since its release in 2011, he has cut almost $20 million from his department. Is the minister even aware that the C in his portfolio stands for conservation, not cuts and crisis? Mr.

Nevakshonoff: Well, there we have it : the member for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business standing up for the environment, and the fishery in particular, something t hat they have no interest in, judging by the fact that while I was in Estimates with the member opposite for a period of more than six hours, there was not a single question about the fishery whatsoever. So their conversion on the environmental road to Da mascus is quite astonishing, to say the least. But to speak of the fishery , it was our department, our government, working in conjunction

16 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA Tuesday, November 17, 2015 with the Skownan First Nation, which achieved eco-certification for Waterhen Lake. This is the first lake in the wes tern hemisphere, the second lake in the world, to achieve this status, Mr. Speaker. So we have nothing to apologize for when it comes to protecting and advancing– Mr. Speaker: Order, please. The minister's time on this question has elapsed. Mr. Martin: Big game, crisis; zebra mussel, crisis; now our fisheries, crisis. The NDP's own 179- page report called for the creation of a Lake Winnipeg co-management board.

Can the minister advise how many times this board has even met since the recommendation in 2011? And to save the minister time thumbing through his briefing book, I can tell you the answer is zero, because like every other recommendation made in his own 2011 report, he has ignored it, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Nevakshonoff: Well, there you have it, Mr. Speaker. Now we know what members opposite think of our fishers. Because we believe in consulting with people; we believe in engaging fishers, putting them together with our scientists on this co -management board that's been in place for years. I know t hat for a fact.

I've attended many co -management board meetings myself, personally, when I was –well, I am the MLA for the Interlake; I remain so. But when I was a backbencher, many, many times I've attended these meetings. So in terms of implementation o f our lake management plans, which was a part of our announcement last week, I want to just put on the record that a very esteemed Manitoban, Mr. Harold Westdal, has agreed to work with us toward eco-certification of more lakes in Manitoba here, Mr. Speaker. There are 100,000 lakes, many lakes involved in the commercial fishery.

We will see that these lakes are respected around the world– Mr. Speaker: Order, please. The honourable minister's time on this question has elapsed. Management Practices Government Record Mr. Brian Pallister (Leader of the Official Opposition): Mr. Speaker, I –yesterday, of course, the people of Manitoba were treated to a pre-election promise fest from a government desperate to buy support with borrowed money from our kids and our future. The question, of course, becomes, can they be believed on these promises, Mr. Speaker? Let's take a look at the record to determine that.

Number 1 promise was that they would improve health-care wait times; our wait times are 10th: broken prom ise. Improve education results; our students rank last in the country, 10th: that's another broken promise. Child poverty, they said they'd address that; we lead the country in child poverty. No tax increases, I recall the Premier making that promise; we have the largest tax increases under this government in Canada. Stable or higher credit rating, they promised that, and we had our first lowered credit rating in three decades.

When a government like this consistently breaks the trust of the people of a p rovince and breaks their word, why should Manitobans believe anything they say? Hon. Greg Selinger (Premier): Mr. Speaker, Manitobans said, make sure we have good jobs and investment in infrastructure. What is the result? Lowest unemployment rate in the country. And, as well, we have the best job creation rate in the country, Mr. Speaker, more people now working in the province than ever in the history of the province, and that's at the same time that the number of working people in Manitoba is growing.

More people living here, more people working here, higher wages, low unemployment rate: very different than the vision of the Leader of the Opposition, an agenda of shutting down growth in the economy, Mr. Speaker. No export of hydro: $10 billion gone a way, 10,000 jobs gone away. Balancing the budget on the backs of privatization and cuts to services, we've seen that movie before: higher rates of unemployment, more people on social assistance. Minimum wage, seven times he froze it; we've raised it every single year. We're lifting Manitobans up. He wants to bring them down, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Pallister: Well, Mr.

Speaker, Manitobans are honest people. What brings Manitobans down is governments that lie to them. Balancing the budget, the Premier said he w as ahead of

schedule last election campaign, and he doubled our debt. He said he'd take the gas tax and use it for roads; he didn't. He said Bipole III wouldn't

Tuesday, November 17, 2015 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 17 cost Manitobans a single cent –I remember that promise; hundreds of millions of dollars and record rate hikes. He said he'd respect the balanced budget law, Mr. Speaker, and he and his 34 cronies over there took away the right of Manitobans to vote. And he said he'd reduce wasteful spending and he continued to hand out money to his pals. Mr. Speaker , these are broken promises after broken promises after broken promises.

When a government like this consistently breaks the trust of the people of Manitoba and breaks their word, why should anybody believe a 'thingle'–a single thing that the member for St. Boniface (Mr. Selinger) says? Mr. Selinger: Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition promised everybody in Manitoba there would never be any privatization of the telephone system. And then he stayed up all night and forced people to go through public hearings in the middle of the night so he could ram that agenda through. Now we have among the highest telephone rates in the country.

Every time a person picks up their cellphone bill, they can thank him for having among the highest rates in the country. That's his promise to the people of Manitoba that he broke, Mr. Speaker. * (14:10) And now what does he want to do? He wants to privatize daycare in Manitoba, Mr. Speaker. In his alternative throne speech, he did not promise one more daycare spot in the province of Manitoba. He said before that he would privatize the ones that exist.

Lower wages for the people that work in daycare, less pensions for the people at daycare, less daycare spots that are affordable for the people of Manitoba: That's a dark vision for the future of Manitoba. Some Honourable Members: Oh, oh. Mr. Speaker: Order, please. Mr. Pallister: Well, the Premier and the pitiful actions he's just portrayed demonstrate that he seems to believe that the simple dull repetition of false statements gives them an element of truth when, in fact, such is not the case. The Premier has no trouble making promises.

In fact, out of sheer desperation, he's making more than he ever has before. Yesterday, over 50 high priorities of the government, over 50 promises, billions of dollars, all of it taken from our future, all of it destined to be paid for by those who come after us, Mr. Speaker. No problem making promises, a big problem keeping promises. He promised not to raise taxes on the people of Manitoba and imposed record tax hikes; he claimed it was ridiculous and nonsense. Mr. Speaker, what is ridiculous and what is nonsense is the proposition that anyone would believe a word that came out of his mouth. Mr. Selinger: Mr.

Speaker, same old double standard from the Leader of the Opposition. Raised the gas tax, cut the highway budget: That was his record. Cut the budget, less money f or schools, less children in schools. When we came into office, the graduation rate from school was 71 per cent. It's now 87 per cent, a dramatic improvement. More young people in school than ever before, more people graduating than ever before. We're keeping young people in school with good options for the future.

Ten thousand apprentices in Manitoba, 10,000 apprentice opportunities in the province of Manitoba, at a time when we have the lowest unemployment rate. We listened to the people of Manitoba. They said, make sure we have a future for young people in Manitoba. We're providing that future with a budget, with a Throne Speech, with a plan that moves the province forward every single day, Mr. Speaker. And he might have missed it this morning: That includes key infrastructure investments on the Perimeter which will move goods and services to our key markets and make sure there's less traffic in the neighbourhoods– Mr.

Speaker: Order, please. The honourable First Minister's time on this question has elapsed. Eating Disorder Treatment Wait Times for Services Hon. Jon Gerrard (River Heights): Mr. Speaker, for 16 years this government has failed to adequately address eating disorders, which are one of the –have one of the highest mortality rates of any mental illness. Very concerned Manitobans like Elaine Stevenson have championed this cause for many years, and yet they were completely ignored when trying to get input into the Throne Speech.

Why was there no mention of any effort to address eating disorders or the long waiting times for the treatment of eating disorders in yesterday's Throne Speech?

18 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA Tuesday, November 17, 2015 Hon. Greg Selinger (Premier): Mr. Speaker, it is a tragedy when anybody is experiencing an eating disorder. It makes their lives very, very difficult, an d we've seen some horrible outcomes of that, which is why we have a special centre, which is why we have put special resources in place to assist people with eating disorders, and we will continue to support that. I only say to the member of the Liberal P arty, just a few months ago he was advocating for prevention with respect to alcohol, Mr. Speaker.

Now he's advocating for lower prices for alcohol. He has completely abandoned his position on preventing people from having serious addiction disorders. That is not a way forward on eating disorders, on addictions. We will provide the support to people. We will ensure that our Crown corporations have 2 per cent of all their profits made available for social responsibility. We will do that with all the things that affect young people or anybody in Manitoba, Mr. Speaker, and we will protect our health- care system from a reckless program of tax cuts from the Liberals and the Conservatives in this House.

We will ensure it's there for Manitobans when they need it. Mr. Gerrard: Mr. Speaker, we have confirmed today that the waiting times for treatment for eating disorders in Manitoba are up to eight months. That's far too long. For families struggling with eating disorders, psychological help is clearly important and ne - cessary, and yet it's extraordinarily expensive for many families to get psychological treatment. Indeed, getting help for eating disorders has drained the savings of many families. Manitoba Liberals have already announced that they will address this, but the NDP have remained silent.

Why is the NDP ignoring such a desperate situation in our province and the solution which the Liberals have put forward? Mr. Selinger: Mr. Speaker, as I said earlier, we have special resources in place. If anybody' s on a waiting list for eating disorder treatment, they're offered support; they're offered additional help. We've put additional resources in the budget for health care. The member opposite has voted against it.

And I can only say that his sudden reversal of an interest in prevention and a support for lower prices for alcohol with less social responsibility, with the position being put forward that you're going to privatize the alcohol system, the liquor control system in Manitoba, will only put many more Manitobans at risk of all kinds of disorders, of all kinds of issues, of all kinds of grief and all kinds of misery.

That is not a program for the future of Manitoba, and I would like to offer the member from River Heights the opportunity in his third question to recant on that desire to lower liquor prices and privatize the liquor control system in Manitoba. Mr. Gerrard: Mr. Speaker, we have confirmed today, I repeat, that waiting times for the treatment for children and adolescents for eating disorders are, at the moment, up to eight months. The throne–Speech from the Throne was, in fact, a sign of a government which has become desperate.

The NDP government is now promising what it's shown a complete inability to deliver in 16 years. Manitobans have watched this government fail to deliver in 16 years, and they have no faith in the NDP tackling any of this province's real issues. What will the Premier actually do today to dress–to address what is really needed for children and adolescents with eating disorders and help to make sure that they can get access quickly to the treatment when they need it? Mr. Selinger: I thank the member for the question. These are important questions.

When Manitobans need assistance, we want to ensure that they have those supports available to them in the community, not just in hospital facilities and treatment facilities but in the comm unity so they can remain with their families, they can retain – remain in employment. As of October 2015, the wait -list for that pro - gram was about 25 people, down from 32 the year before. Nineteen people will begin the program in the next couple of months , Mr. Speaker. We will look for ways to expedite that, for sure.

But I say to the member opposite, if he's really concerned about prevention when it comes to people, he needs to reverse the position that the Liberal Party has taken on privatizing liquor i n Manitoba, on lowering liquor prices in a way there is no social responsibility attacked to it–attached to it.

Tuesday, November 17, 2015 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 19 We know on this side of the House that that is a very dangerous path to pursue for Manitobans. It's reckless, it's irresponsible, and it mimic s what the Conservatives are promising to do as well, which is also to privatize liquor. We know they've been doing research on that in other jurisdictions. Why do the Liberals and Conservatives think that they can buy the votes of Manitobans with cheap booze? Perimeter Highway Upgrades Interchange Development Mr. Dave Gaudreau (St. Norbert): Mr. Speaker, we're at it again.

Our government continues to invest in this province and its infrastructure at record-breaking pace. Pembina Highway, the Perimeter bridge, the Perimeter from Highway No. 1 to Pembina being repaved, and all we hear from the leader opposite in his alternate throne speech and his vision is cuts, cuts, cuts. This morning, Mr.

Speaker, I was at a press conference with the First Minister a nd the Minister of Infrastructure and Transportation, Chris Lorenc, and Terry Shaw from the Manitoba Trucking Association, and they were there to hear the wonderful news on how we're invested in the south Perimeter into four different interchanges, building this province, creating more jobs and building for a future in Manitoba. Can the Minister of Infrastructure and Transportation please tell us on this incredible announcement in the south? Hon. Steve Ashton (Minister of Infrastructure and Transportation ): Infrastructure by the numbers, Mr.

Speaker: First year we ramped up highway construction, increased 44 per cent; last year, 10 per cent over that. Last year, a record year in terms of paving, by the numbers, 30 per cent higher than any other time in his tory. And in the Throne Speech yesterday, $4.5 billion: that's how much additional money we're putting into infrastructure in this province. * (14:20) Four, Mr. Speaker, the number of interchanges the Premier (Mr. Selinger) announced this morning that we're going to replace from lights into interstate standard interchanges. And, Mr. Speaker, there's another number: It's zero.

That's how many major projects the Tories did in the '90s. It's how many of those projects would proceed if they were in government. I've said it before; I'll say it again, Mr. Speaker. It's a choice between the get -'er-done NDP and the shut-'er-down PCs. Participation in New West Partnership Impact on Craft Brewing Industry Mr. Stuart Briese (Agassiz): Mr. Speaker, the recent Alberta announcement of preferential pricing for craft beers located in provinces belonging to the New West Partnership has put Manitoba microbreweries at a marketing disadvantage.

Will this NDP government reconsider their refusal to join the New West Partnership, yes or no? Hon. Ron Lemieux (Minister responsible for Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries Corporation): Mr. Speaker, we're certainly very proud of our craft beer strategy. And taking a look at the Throne Speech yesterday, which the Lieutenant Governor mentioned about how Manitoba will be hopping, it certainly will be, Mr. Speaker, because we've seen not only craft beer being great for the citizens of this province and having alternatives with regard to the selection of beverage that they want, but also agriculture will benefit.

As a matter of fact, we grow the best barley in all the world to make beer, and also we grow a lot of hops in Manitoba as well. So, Mr. Speaker, in M anitoba, we're very proud of working with–in partnership with many of the people in that industry. And we look forward to many more microbreweries opening in the future. Mr. Briese: Mr. Speaker, the Throne Speech indeed stated that Manitobans can expect to see as many as 10 new craft breweries in the coming years. Yet this NDP government refuses to become part of a trade agreement that would be highly beneficial to the craft breweries.

They close down the trade that these breweries can do in the provinces beside us to the west of us and –by not joining the New West Partnership. Does this mean the NDP government is re - considering its refusal to join the New West Partnership? Mr. Lemieux: Mr. Speaker, we've heard many times before from the Conservatives as we ll as the leader from the Liberal Party about privatizing liquor and we understand that this is a huge mistake.

20 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA Tuesday, November 17, 2015 And the reason why, Mr. Speaker, this government put into law a 2 per cent net with regard to profits taken from alcohol sales, liquor sales in the province of Manitoba, going to Addictions Foundation of Manitoba and others. And we wouldn't see that happening, I don't believe, if the private sector owned all the liquor stores in the province of Manitoba. There's no incentive for them whatsoever to be addressing this and to putting 2 per cent of net into social responsibility.

And as a government, that's the reason why, at least one important reason why, we feel not only all the jobs that are created through Manitoba government employees but als o the social responsibility– Mr. Speaker: Order, please. The honourable minister's time on this question has elapsed. Time for oral questions has expired. PETITIONS Mr. Speaker: It is now time for petitions. Provincial Trunk Highway 206 and Cedar Avenue in Oakbank–Pedestrian Safety Mr. Ron Schuler (St. Paul): Mr. Speaker, I wish to present the following petition to the Legislative Assembly. The background to this petition is as follows:

(1) Every day, hundreds of Manitoba children walk to school in Oakbank and must cross PTH 206 at the intersection with Cedar Avenue.

(2) There have been many dangerous incidents where drivers use the right shoulder to pass vehicles that have stopped at the traffic light waiting to turn left at this intersection.

(3) Law enforcement officials have identified this intersection as a hot spot of concern for the safety of schoolchildren, drivers and emergency responders. We petition the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba as follows:

(1) To urge that the provincial govern ment improve the safety at the pedestrian corridor at the intersection of PTH 206 and Cedar Avenue in Oakbank by considering such steps as highlighting pavement markings to better indicate the location of the shoulders and crosswalk, as well as installing a lighted crosswalk structure. This is signed by T. Bax, K. Bennici, K. Forsyth and many, many other fine Manitobans. Mr. Speaker: In keeping with our rule 132(6), when petitions are read they are deemed to have been received by the House. Beausejour District Hospital– Weekend and Holiday Physician Availability Mr.

Wayne Ewasko (Lac du Bonnet): I wish to present the following petiti on to the Legislative Assembly. And these are the reasons for this petition:

(1) The Beausejour District Hospital is a 30 -bed, acute-care facility that serves the communities of Beausejour and Brokenhead.

(2) The hospital and the primary-care centre have had no doctor available on weekends and holidays for many months, jeopardizing the health and livelihoods of those in the northeast region of the Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority.

(3) During the 2011 election, the provincial government promised to provide every Manitoban with access to a family doctor by 2015.

(4) This promise is far from being realized, and Manitobans are witnessing many emergency rooms limiting services or closing temporarily, with the majority of these reductions taking place in rural Manitoba.

(5) According to the Health Council of Canada, only 25 per cent of doctors in Manitoba reported that their patients had access to care on evenings and weekends. We petition the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba as follows: To urge the provincial government and the Minister of Health to ensure that the Beausejour District Hospital and primary -care centre have a primary-care physician available on weekends and holidays to better provide area residents with this essential service. This petition is signed by A. Gordon, N. Gordon, D. Dumas and many, many more fine Manitobans, Mr. Speaker.

Tuesday, November 17, 2015 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 21 Community-Based Brain Injury Services and Supports Mr. Reg Helwer (Brandon West): I wish to present the following petition to the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba. The background to this petition is as follows:

(1) Brain Injury Canada, cited at http://braininjurycanada.ca/acquired-brain-injury/, estimates that 50,000 Canadians sustain brain injuries each year, over 1 million Canadians live with the effects of an acquired brain injury, 30 per cent of all traumatic brain injuries are sustained by children and youth, and approximately 50 per cent of brain injuries come from falls and motor vehicle collisions.

(2) Studies conducted by Manitoba Health in 2003 and 2006 and the Brandon Regional Health Authority in 2008 identified the need for community-based brain injury services.

(3) These studies recommended that Manitoba adopt the Saskatchewan model of brain injury studies–brain injury services, sorry.

(4) The treatment and coverage for Manitobans who suffer brain injuries varies greatly, resulti ng in huge inadequacies depending upon whether a person suffers the injury at work, in a motor vehicle accident, through assault or from medical issues such as a stroke, aneurysm or anoxia due to cardiac arrest or other medical reasons.

(5) Although in- patient services including acute care, short- and longer term rehabilitation are available throughout the province, brain injury patients who are discharged from hospital often experience discontinuation or great reduction of services which results in significant financial and emotional burdens being placed on family and friends. We petition the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba as follows:

(1) To urge the provincial government to develop and evolve community -based brain injury services that include but are not limited to: case management services, known also as service navigation; safe and accessible housing in the community; proctor or coac h-type assistance for community reintegration programs; improved access to community -based rehabilitation services; and improved transportation, especially for people living in rural Manitoba.

(2) To urge the provincial government to encompass financial and emotional supports for families and other caregivers in the model that is developed. Signed by K. Standeven, K. Boyd, L. Kilmury and many other fine Manitobans. ORDERS OF THE DAY GOVERNMENT BUSINESS THRONE SPEECH (First Day of Debate) Mr. Speaker: Seeing no further petitions, we'll move on to orders of the day, government business and consideration of the speech of Her Honour the Lieutenant Governor. Ms.

Amanda Lathlin (The Pas): I move, seconded by the member of Fort Rouge , that the following address be presented to H er Honour the Lieutenant Governor: We, the members of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba, thank Your Honour for the gracious speech addressed to us at this Fifth Session of the 40th Legislature of Manitoba. Motion presented. * (14:30) Ms. Lathlin: It was an honour to help build the vision that the Throne Speech lays out. I can honestly say that I feel deeply connected to this vision.

As the representative for The Pas, as an indigenous woman and as a Manitoban, I feel that this vision includes me and my community. This vision delivers on important priorities that matter to my family, friends and neighbours in OCN and The Pas and to communities across northern Manitoba. This vision provides me a sense of belonging as a Manitoban. This is recognized by the Throne Speech.

In regards to restorative justice and safety, I just wanted to say that I'm proud to be part of a government that are going to take very important steps to provide paid leave to Manitobans who are victims of domestic vio lence, and we will make legislative changes to strengthen protection orders. And I know for a fact I'm speaking on behalf of many Manitobans. As a survivor of domestic abuse, this is very important to me. Our vision for Manitoba is one where everyone can f eel safe in their homes and their communities.

We will bolster supports for victims of crime while tackling the root causes of crime with a restorative justice strategy.

22 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA Tuesday, November 17, 2015 With that, I'd like to share it is national Restorative Justice Week. My experience w ith restorative justice, one –I absolutely support this initiative. I first learned about restorative justice when I was a university student at University of Manitoba.

I was taking a course on Aboriginal people in the Canadian legal system, justice system, and with–there, we studied a book, well, restorative justice by Rupert Ross, and we learned about how communities would work with the offender and the victim together with a sharing circle that may have consisted of –with elders, community members, leadership and families as well. They found that this was an effective approach to help the victim and the offender help go back into their community in a positive way. Also, too, we do currently practise this restorative justice initiative in my constituency.

Norway House, Cross Lake, Opaskwayak Cree Nation currently have committees working together to address this. So with that, in regards to restorative justice, those who make mistakes and commit crimes need ways to move on with their lives at the same time a s they face justice for their actions. As people move through the restorative justice process, our invest - ments in jobs and training will give them more options to return to being productive members of our communities.

And with that, I'm proud to be part of a government that will partner with the University College of the North to build a new trade centre to help students take advantage of the good jobs created by Manitoba Hydro, our investments in northern infrastructure and mining. We will encourage –we will engage with northern communities through Opportunities North to support our shared vision of a strong and sustainable northern economy. I believe it was just last month our Premier (Mr. Selinger)–I was privileged to host our Premier in my home community, The Pas and OCN, and we attended the Opportunities North gathering.

It was a gathering of leadership, community members and from health, from Tolko to education, to chief and council and mayor and council. It was an excellent opportunity for us to gat her, sit in working groups and address–there was 10 questions on how to build a strong, sustainable northern economy. Those exercises were great. We got to communicate with each other and share ideas and even learn from other people as well. And that exercise was very beneficial for my community and northern Manitoba, and more opportunities for that will be coming ahead.

And also, too, with that, proud to be part of a government, too, that will provide training and job opportunities for individuals facing barriers to employment by strengthening our Social Enterprise Strategy with our partners, including BUILD, Aki Energy and Manitoba Green Retrofit. I'm also proud to be part of a government that will continue to reject calls to privatize Manitoba Hydro, calls to cancel all export sales contracts and calls to cancel development projects which would put thousands of Manitoba out of work.

In the North we will partner with the University College of the North to build a new trades training centre to help stud ents take advantage of the good jobs created by Manitoba Hydro, our investments in northern infrastructure and mining. In fact, today in The Pas UCN campus, there is a gathering of local community stakeholders. They're coming together to plan strategies, u tilizing opportunities provided by our government. I believe their theme is linkages, linking our stakeholders to help address to increase a strong northern economy.

And, again, this is happening at The Pas UCN campus, a great gathering for this initiative. And also, too, I'm also proud to be a part of a government, too, that is looking towards creating better education and job opportunities for First Nations, Metis and Inuit youth. In regards to families–and I just wanted to say our government wants to tackle some of the toughest issues with collaboration and a focus on prevention. The colonial legacy of residential schools, the '60s scoop and the child-welfare system is something we have promised to work with First Nation advocacy groups on.

We believe that indigenous communities must be full partners in our efforts to support and keep our families together. My family, Mr. Speaker, is a success story of keeping our families together. I'm a foster parent to my three nieces and I'm raising them as siste rs. My late mother was a foster parent, so I learnt. I have a very diverse family as well. We're–we still have –my foster brothers are my brothers and they're –we still consider each other family today. And, with my mother, she installed that valuable goal t hat we are all brothers and sisters.

So, with that, I'm honoured, too, to follow her legacy as a foster parent in our community. We plan to introduce customary care legislation to ensure children can grow and thrive safely in their

Tuesday, November 17, 2015 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 23 community, strengtheni ng their connection to language, culture and family, something I can really relate to as well. We know that we have a role in the reconciliation process, and we will be acting on the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. It is our –it is an honour that Manitoba is home to the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, and as a residential school is a – intergenerational survivor, this is very important to me.

I'm also proud to be part of a government that will promote a more inclus ive and celebratory perspective of indigenous culture, and we'll be introducing legislation that ensures all Manitoba students learn about the histories, languages, cultures and traditional knowledge of our indigenous people to build on our shared values of inclusion, diversity and respect. We will invest more in community schools, early childhood hubs and after -school programs in the inner city and northern Manitoba, which will expand programs that will provide healthy breakfasts, lunches and snacks in schools. Mr.

Speaker, I used to be –I used to have the honour of being the chairperson for The Pas family action centre. It was based in the Kelsey Estates in The Pas of –consists of social housing. I had the honour of hosting Minister Melanie Wight, who provided funding–oh, sorry. Mr. Speaker: I just want to ensure that the honourable member for The Pas (Ms. Lathlin), when she's referencing a minister, it's by the portfolio that the minister might hold or their constituency name, for the information of the honourable member for The Pas. * (14:40) Ms.

Lathlin: Minister of youth and children opportunities, I was honoured to host her in my community as we visited The Pas action family centre. Many children were there utilizing the after - school programs which provided nutritious snacks and activities, educational activities, and outings such as going boxing, swimming, camping, going out to the lake, many opportunities for these children who come from families that face many, many barriers. So with programs like this, I am absolutely honoured that they're provided in my constituency to help our families there as well.

Also, too, I'm proud of –to be part of a government that will continue to invest in community-based strategies to expand local production of health y foods across the North and work with producers and the agricultural sector to bring local foods to new markets. Currently, I'm honoured to say that my community, Opaskwayak Cree Nation, is currently working on a project to do that, to provide local production of healthy foods, and I know for a fact their No. 1 goal for this project is to help fight against our diabetic epidemic in our communities, Aboriginal communities.

Also, too, with northern infrastructure, our government knows that highways connect our rural and northern communities and are crucial corridors for business and trade. We will continue to make upgrades, significant upgrades, to highways all over the province, with a focus on building new roads connecting First Nation communities along the east side of Lake Winnipeg. As someone who travels the northern highways a lot, travelling to my constituencies, I just want to thank our Manitoba government for making those travels much safer for me and my family and everyone else who are travelling on there as well.

We will invest in water and sewer infrastructure, as well as recreation centres, with the goal of enhancing our rural and northern communities. I just–it was an honour to, again, to make major announcements in Norway House, Moose Lake a nd Cormorant that will address improving water and sewer infrastructure in their communities, an announcement that each community was pleased to hear and looking forward to completion.

Our government is committed to broadening the mandate of the East Sid e Road Authority, which already creates good local jobs, training and business opportunities for indigenous communities, to now include the building of the Shoal Lake's Freedom Road. Mr. Speaker, it was an honour to participate in the walk that happened over the summer. My daughters were included. They were absolutely amazed and absolutely astonished as to why we were walking; they just couldn't believe that this First Nation community had no good drinking water. So it was an honour to bring my daughters on this huge, very important initiative.

And it was amazing to be amongst all these people from all walks of life, with support. It was just amazing walking from the steps of the Legislature, hearing our leadership talk about

24 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA Tuesday, November 17, 2015 how we're going to support this initiative, making our way down past by The Forks. And it was a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon. The Throne Speech presents an inclusive vision that believes in the potential of every Manitoban, and it specifically mentions newcomers and First Nations, Metis and Inuit peoples. The history of inclusion that these groups of people have faced makes this promise of inclusion so important.

Manitobans who have experienced this exclusion and hardship will take this promise of inclusion very seriously, and I will look forward to our government to follow through. In closing, the vision for our future provided in the Throne Speech has a sense of belonging. As a woman and as a member of a First Nation, and I have a personal stake in seeing our government t o follow through, and together with my colleagues, I will make sure we do. Thank you. Ms. Jennifer Howard (Fort Rouge): It is my great honour to be able to follow the member for The Pas (Ms.

Lathlin) and seconding this Throne Speech, and I want to thank her for her words. And I just want to reflect for a moment on what a tremendous addition she is to this Legislature. As the first indigenous woman member, that is tremendously historic and something that is long overdue. But she brings to this House a personal experience as a mother, as a foster mother, as somebody who has worked so hard to improve her community and to lead her family by example. I am so honoured to sit next to her in this House and I want her to know that, how much she is appreciated here.

And I know she has a long, long career in this House, a long career of service to her community ahead of her. I want to also just begin for a moment by reflecting on the horrific events that we've all been watching unfold and watching the aftermath unfold that took place in France. And I think one of the things I've been reminded of in the past few days is that as we watched with horror, how something as simple as an evening out at a café or at a concert can be interrupted by those who would make us a fraid, who would make us afraid of each other and who would make us afraid of going about our daily lives.

That that is a reality in so –an everyday reality in so many places in this world, in so many countries in this world, parents every day live with the fear that their children on their way to school, that their older children who may be going out shopping, who may be going out to a café, who may be going out to a soccer game, that their loved ones, at any moment, that could be interrupted by the bombs a nd guns of terrorism. And so I think it was appropriate yesterday at the beginning of the Throne Speech that we took a moment to remember.

I think it's also appropriate that we think about how we can commit to changing the world that we live in. And last night I was so pleased to be able, as we are watching this horrible act of terrorism unfold and we're watching the aftermath of it and the grief that we share with our brothers and sisters in France, that last night I got to sit with a group of neighb ours in a church and talk about how we were going to commit ourselves to bring, to help, to aid refugees from Syria who may come here.

And one might expect, and one might even forgive, in the aftermath of such a horrific event that there would be a small turnout, that there would be questions from those in attendance if we still wanted to proceed. But I was so –my faith was so renewed in the human spirit that there was a large crowd, there was a tremendous turnout, and we heard the stories of someone who's trying to bring his family here from Syria.

We heard the stories of Syrians who've come here who are trying to help their sisters and brothers come here, and there was not a moment of hesitation in the people that were gathered there, that it is our call a nd our duty to help people who are refugees who are fleeing the exact violence that we see playing out in France. There was not a moment of hesitation or a moment of letting that fear and that terrorism divide us from our common cause as humanity. And I w ant to at this moment, Mr. Speaker, thank and recognize the efforts of our own Premier (Mr.

Selinger) who has been a leader in the country on talking about the need to step up our efforts to bring refugees from Syria and other countries to Manitoba. I think that that has been–his voice has not only been one of leadership in the country but of compassion. And now, as we hear, unfortunately, I think, other voices call out to divide us and call out to inspire fear in their citizens, I want to again express how appreciative I am that our Premier has been steadfast in his commitment to unity and diversity and inclusion.

Tuesday, November 17, 2015 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 25 And so, you know, I look forward to those moments when I can be part of a group in whatever way to help support refugees from Syria and other countries who come here to make their home here, because I know that as much as it is our duty, I believe, to help those in the world who live in fear, I know that the people who come to this province enrich this province, enrich it not only with their spirit and their culture but enrich it economically. That is the truth.

When we look at the story of economic growth in our province over the last 10, 15 years, a big part of that story has been our efforts to bring in more newcomers. And every member in this House knows how that has changed their home communities. * (14:50) Every member in this House knows that when people come here from other countries, they bring not only their life experiences but they bring new ideas and innovative approaches. They bring the desire to work hard and build a life for themselves and their families, and that enriches us.

And so I think anything that we can do with the new federal government to recapture what has been lost in terms of this province's commitment to being a welc oming place for immigrants and refugees, I look forward to us doing that. There was much in the Throne Speech that I know is going to be helpful to the lives of the families that I represent in Fort Rouge, and I'm going to talk about a few of those things . I'm not going to talk about all of them, but I do want to mention a few of the things that I know will be meaningful in Fort Rouge.

And certainly hearing about our commitment to continue to fund and to extend rapid transit, that has been a significant change in my constituency, which is home to most of that rapid transit line. It means people can get to work, can get to school. And in a city like ours and a climate like ours, having access to transportation is a key part of being able to participate not only in the economy but in the society.

Being able to get out to work, to school, to cultural events, to go and see friends, to go see the doctor, to go shopping, that is something that should be accessible to anyone no matter what their income level or their ability. And so building a strong public transit system is key to that, and I'm very pleased that we were able to increase the funding to the City of Winnipeg so that we can continue to make transit an accessible option for Manitobans and for Winnipeggers who need it. Yesterday in the speech we heard a bit about the renaissance that we've all seen play out in downtown Winnipeg.

When I moved to the city some 17, 18 years ago now, downtown Winnipeg was a very different place. I worked downtown, I did most of my shopping downtown, I lived close to downtown, but if anybody had told me that someday people would be building and selling condos on Portage Avenue downtown in the heart of the city, I would have thought that a foolish endeavour. But it is happening, Mr. Speaker. People are living down - town, they're buying condominiums, they're putting up hotels, they're starting businesses.

And I know that that is in some way attributed to some of the decisions that this government has made, decisions that we re criticized at the time, as all government decisions tend to be, but decisions to help see projects through, like the MTS Centre, decisions to help see through the location of the Hydro tower in downtown Winnipeg, bringing thousands and thousands of people to the downtown. That has helped to fuel the renaissance of the heart of our city. And any city, I think–and the health of any city can be in part judged by the health of its downtown and the health of its neighbourhoods.

And it's not only downtown Wi nnipeg. We have seen in so many neighbourhoods that when I arrived in Winnipeg we would commonly hear stories, there were houses in these neighbourhoods where you could not get insurance because of the state of the neighbourhood, because the fears about ar son and crime. That is no longer a story. There are houses now in those neighbourhoods that are selling, I think, for far more than anybody dreamed possible. And families are able to build a life and to reinvigorate the neighbourhoods of Winnipeg with new experiences, with new people and with renovated housing.

All over my constituency, when I go door to door, I see renovations happening, I see people improving the housing that they've bought, I see tremendous amounts of infill housing going up. And that speaks well, I think, to the renewal that our government, working with others, working with the City of Winnipeg and working with others in the community, has been able to bring about. Of course, part of the area I represent –I'm very honoured to represent what I think is one of the most fun constituencies in the province. I might get some challenges on that from my colleagues, but I will say

26 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA Tuesday, November 17, 2015 that representing both Osborne Village and the Corydon area, without a doubt I represent the most fun part of the ci ty of Winnipeg. And I know that I represent a part that hundreds of people, thousands of people come to on any night of the week to have a good time, to enjoy the fine restaurants and to enjoy a few beverages. And these are also residential neighbourhoods.

And so I have worked carefully with Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries to make sure that both those things can exist in my constituency, that we can have thriving restaurants, thriving hubs of socializing, but we can also have people who can live in their home s and live in peace. And that, I think, Mr. Speaker, is something that would be threatened if we were to follow the advice that we hear from the opposition to deregulate liquor, to privatize the Liquor & Lotteries Corporation.

I don't think, under a priv atized system, I would have been able to get in touch with the regulators, to talk to the liquor inspectors, and to say, you know, come with me to a meeting of residents who are concerned about some of the restaurants and bars in the area. Come and help me talk to both those employers and those business owners and the residents and find out if there is a solution here, where we can have a residential neighbourhood and a thriving commercial area. We're able to do that but we're able to do that because we h ave a publicly owned liquor and lotteries system where we have a stake.

We, the public, the people of Manitoba, have a stake, not only enjoying what those companies have to offer, but also making sure that we do it in a way that is responsible and where ev erybody can enjoy what those companies have to offer. A big part of our Throne Speech, of course, focused on child care, focused on education, and those are issues that, for me, are more and more present in my life. Certainly, when I was first elected in 2007, I was single; I had no children. In fact, in 2011, I still –we still had not yet had our first child.

And now, as we head into the next election, I have two children, one who is four and one who is five months old. And so, although I was always interested in child care and education, they take on a more immediate flavour for me these days, and that's why the commitment to –the ambitious commitment to create thousands and thousands of new child- care spaces is so important, and it's so important to the families who live in Fort Rouge.

Today I was honoured, of course, to be able to celebrate the life of Shauna Collins who really was a pillar and a source of strength in the child-care centre on–that used to be on River Avenue that I represent, and it was q uite the journey. When I was first elected, one of my first jobs left to me by my predecessor, Tim Sale, was to make sure I got that daycare built, and I think he called me almost weekly to find out what the progress was on doing that. And it is not an eas y journey. Oftentimes, when you're dealing with these projects, you're dealing with volunteer boards made up of parents.

Executive directors of child -care centres are also becoming construction experts and project managers while they're trying to make sure that all the kids in their care are getting fed and looked after and playing outside. But I have to say that Shauna and her colleagues at River Avenue and the parents there and the architects who worked on it and everybody came together to make that a reality. And now, every time I drive along Donald and I can see the colourful mural that's on the side of the River Avenue daycare, I remember what we were able to accomplish together.

But we would not have been able to accomplish that new child -care centre if it weren't for the work of–I think the minister at the time, the member for St. Johns (Mr. Mackintosh), the Minister of Justice now, and Tim Sale, who had put in place, for the first time, a capital funding mechanism for a child- care centre, so that th e government would give money to help build those child- care centres and renovate them. And that–we have seen child-care centres built and renovated all across this province as a result of that. And that means that people are able to offer a higher-quality early childhood education.

I am, every day, amazed at what my son comes home having learned at daycare and now at school, and I know that had we chosen to stay at home with him, hopefully I would have been able to teach him all the things that he's learning.

But I think, probably, I would not have done as full a job as I know that he is receiving when he goes to daycare, when he goes to school, because I know that he's learning not only the lessons of the alphabet and his colours and shapes and how to count but I know he's learning how to get along with others, and that is probably the lesson that is going to stand him the best in his future. And so I am –every day I'm thankful to his child-care providers, and I want that for all Manitobans. We have a saying in this party from one

Tuesday, November 17, 2015 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 27 of our founders, J. S. Woodsworth, that what I want for myself I desire for all, and that is true: I want my kids to get good quality child care, I want them to go to good schools, I want them to have a healthy future. But I want that for all kids, and that's what, for me, motivates me to keep coming to work every day and trying to find ways to continue us on that path. * (15:00) None of us in this Legislature are blind to the challenges and the problems that we face in our own constituencies.

We know that there are families who still grapple with poverty. We know that there are families who still grapple with abuse and violence in the home. And we know what the res ults of that are. When you speak to men who end up behind bars, almost to a one they will tell a story of having been exposed to violence in their homes at a young age.

And so that's why it is so important that we continue to move on the issue of preventing domestic violence, and I think as the days unfold we're going to hear a lot more about that in this Chamber and about some innovative approaches that are based on talking to people in the community, victims, people who work with victims, people who do this research, so that they can help us take the next steps to make sure that we are preventing violence and that we're also living in a community and a society that recognizes when domestic violence happens and empowers people to do something about it.

And that's why I think the commitment to bring forth employment leave for people who are dealing with domestic violence is so powerful.

It's not only needed–we know that when women experience –and it's mainly women but not only women, of course, men also experience domestic violence–but we know that when women experience domestic violence, they are far more likely to lose their job as a result, because they can't show up to work, because they've used all their sick time, because when they're at work they're not focused on their job, and because there's such, still, a tremendous stigma of being able to talk about what's happening, even though, Mr.

Speaker, in most workplaces, I would say, the employer knows that this is happening, co- workers know that this is happening, but we have–still have a challenge in talking about it with each other. And so I think the commitment to bring forward paid leave, it's not only going to be a practical help to people who are dealing with domestic violence in their life, but it's going to be something that is going to help us as a society talk about domestic violence and bring it into the light.

And, when we bring a problem like domestic violence or sexual assault into the light, it shrinks, it dies, because we're talking about i t, we're doing something about it and we're helping each other with it. And so I think that that is going to be a great initiative that we are going to bring forward, and it's going to be the first in the country. So many times when I've been part of thi s government we've been part of doing something for the first time, and that is not always easy and it is not always without mistakes when you're the first.

But a lot of the things that we have done for the first time are now part of the Manitoba way. Mr. Speaker, I think about things like The Worker Recruitment and Protection Act that was far before anybody was talking about the difficulties and the challenges with foreign workers and the way that they are so able to be exploited. We brought forward a la w to help prevent that, to deal with that, and it was the forward thinking of people like the member for St. Vital (Ms.

Allan), who was then the minister, and her staff in the department who were able to get that done, and now that's something that is seen as a model across the country. You know, I also think about our ways of dealing with presumptive coverage for illnesses that firefighters face and the workers' compensation, that was something done first here in Manitoba. I know that it was something that you, Mr. Speaker, brought forward as a private member's bill in your time here, and now that is done internationally, it's done across the world.

And all of these things remind us of the tremendous power that we have as legislators to change lives, not only the lives of the people that we represent but the lives of people across the country and across the world, if we but choose to take that power, if we but choose to do that. I want to also just say for a moment that I think, in hearing about the cove rage of the Throne Speech and hearing some of the discussion about it, the Throne Speech has laid out a choice for Manitobans, a choice that they will make in April.

And that choice is increasingly between an option to invest in the future, to use the powe r of government to try to make lives better, to work with the community, to grow the economy, to make sure that people have access to good jobs and good education, or a future that is defined by cuts to those very services.

28 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA Tuesday, November 17, 2015 And increasingly, Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, the opposition looks all the same on this front. Both opposition parties are going to lead their platforms with promises to take hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars out of the budget. And I think that is regrettable, but it will be a clear choice that Manitobans will have offered to them. In the final minutes that I'm going to speak, I just want to reflect on the time that I have been able to spend in this House as a member of the Legislature.

When I was speaking to my colleague f rom The Pas before her speech and helping her prepare for some of the arcane procedures that we use in this Chamber, I was reminded of my first speech in this House, and I was honoured to be able to move the Throne Speech right after I was elected in 2007 and I was incredibly nervous that day. I think I shook the entire time I spoke. But it was an honour. And, when I think about that day, I remember how, after we were elected, the premier at the time, Premier Doer, wanted to make clear that we had just elected a historic number of women.

And so he invited us all to come together, all the women that had been elected, and we came together and we proceeded up the Grand Staircase. And I remember that day, there were people lining the halls and lining the staircase and cheering for us. And the day that I got to stand up here and make my first speech, I was filled with so much hope for what we could accomplish. And we haven't accomplished it all. I don't think anybody would say, in their life, in their career, that they do everything that they hoped to or everything that they set out to, but we've accomplished a great deal.

And I want to say that as I stand here today making this speech, I'm still hopeful of what we can accomplish together in the future. That hope is perhaps tempered by some hard -won wisdom but I am hopeful nonetheless. And my hope now, as I was saying, moves from the abstract to the very real, and it is the hope for the future that I can be part of creating for my own children.

Of course, having a daughter, for me, has made it even more pressing to try to make the world a better and safer place for her because I know that as a young woman, she is going to be, unfortunately, still, prone to many more dangers than my son will ever know. I know tha t even though we have made tremendous progress in electing women, my daughter will not know in her lifetime a Legislature that has the same number of men and women in it if we don't move at a faster pace than we have so far.

I know that she is born into a world where young women are still too often the subject of sexual violence and sexual harassment. And I know that she lives in a world which still would seek to define us and our capabilities based on our gender, based on the colour of our skin, based on o ur sexual orientation and based on the class that we are born into and inhabit. And so when I think of what we have left to do and accomplish, it becomes very focused on the world that we're leaving our children and the children of those that we represent.

I want to take a moment now to thank the people of Fort Rouge who have sent me here to represent them. I know I haven't done that always perfectly. But I have brought, I hope, every day to this job a desire to live up to my oath. And the oath that we take when we become members is to serve without fear and to serve without favour. And I believe I have done that. But it has not been perfect by any stretch of the imagination. In my office I keep a few things that keep me inspired and motivated and I want to just share a couple of them with the members gathered here today.

One is a card that was given to me, actually, after I had lost an election, and you often learn more from losing than winning. I've always said that, and I just want to share the quote wi th members. It's a quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson and it's about success.

It says, to laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived, that is to have succeeded.

I also keep in my office a thank -you card from a young woman–I've told this story before –but when I was minister of Immigration –of Labour and Immigration, I was at an event, and a young woman came up to me after and wanted to talk to me about her father who was in a refugee camp and who they were trying to bring here. Her mother and her had been here for some years. And so I took the name and I took the number and I did try to tell her I will do what I can but these things are mostly in the hands of the federal government and they can take a long time, but I will do what I can. * (15:10)

Tuesday, November 17, 2015 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 29 And so I took t hat information and I gave it to my officials, and it was found that because of something that happened that his file was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and so they were able to right that mistake and he was able to come here and join his family. And sometime after, I got a thank-you card from her, and all it says is, thank you for reuniting me with my father. And I often feel that if I accomplished nothing else in this job, that will be enough.

And I want to end, as my time is ticking down, I just want to end with another bit of inspiration that I keep that is from Helen Keller that I think hopefully guides all of us in what we try to do in this job: I am only one but still I am one. I cannot do everything but still I can do something. And because I cannot do everything I will not refuse to do something that I can do. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I think this is a tremendous Throne Speech, a tremendous vision for this province, and I'm honoured to be a small part of it. Mr.

Brian Pallister (Leader of the Official Opposition): I want to thank the member for Fort Rouge (Ms. Howard) for her comments. I think they were heartfelt and sincere and genuine and I thought that that was a wonderful speech. One of the wonderful things about our job is that we can have great respect for one another and not necessarily agree. And, certainly, when people always agree, it's often the case that, you know, someone isn't doing much thinking.

Around here we are a lot of thinkers and we do disagree on issues of funda mental importance sometimes, but I have great appreciation for the words that the member for Fort Rouge just spoke. And also I wanted to thank the member for The Pas (Ms. Lathlin), as well, for her words, and as I have welcomed her to the Chamber previous ly, as have others, I will not add, except to say that is fascinating in our lives in politics how little things can make a difference.

And the member for The Pas knows the significance of a coin flip and understands how perilous this career may be in term s of the decisions that others make and how they impact on us. Of course, here we're all at the mercy of the people of Manitoba, as it should be in our Chamber and as it should be in political life. And so we are very much people who are conscious of the importance of listening to people, reflecting on their views and their points of view. And also, of course, we're conscious of the perilous nature and the precious nature of life itself.

Premièrement, j'aimerai s prendre un moment pour parler des actes terribles et barbares qui sont déroulés la semaine passée en Paris. Translation First of all, I would like to take a moment to talk about the terrible and barbaric attacks that occurred in Paris last week. English First of a ll, I would like to take a moment to speak just briefly about the terrible and barbaric acts that occurred last week in Paris. C'est des act es qui sont contre nos va leurs manitobaines et occidentales.

J'offre mes con - doléances aux victimes et aux survivants de ces actes terroristes, et que nos prières touchent tous ceux qui ont été affectés par ces événements. Translation These are acts that are contrary to Manitoban and Western values. I offer my condolences to the victims and the survivors of these terrorist acts, and may our prayers reach all those affected by these events. English These are acts that are against our Manitoba values. They're against Western values. And I offer our family's condolences, the condolences of our party, to the victims and the survivors of these terrorist actions.

And I hope that our prayers reach all those that have been affected by these terrible events. I also would like to add my personal con- dolences to the member for Fort Garry -Riverview (Mr. Allum) on the passing of his dad. I didn't have the privilege of getting to meet him but I know the tribute that was in the Free Press was quite beautiful, and it outlined a life well lived.

It reminds me, and it should, I think, bear remembering, that families are a precious thing, and so I would like to add that the appreciation that I feel and I know all of us feel for our families in their support of us here in these responsibilities is very great. It's immeasurable. We couldn't do the jobs that we do without the support of our families.

30 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA Tuesday, November 17, 2015 And it is these families that I bear in mind as I make my comments in respect of the speech yesterday, Mr. Speaker, because it is important to understand the impact that our decisions have on families. The impact that these decisions have is – sometimes lessen in our minds perhaps wrongly because it is incremental in nature because it seems like it's a small impact. For example, when we imposed the raising of the PST, many members opposite responded, it's only 1 per cent.

But trust is precious and trust, I was told by my grandmother, is the only thing greater than love, and when you break the trust of someone, that is a meaningful thing and hard to repair. This election coming up will be about trust; it will be about whether the people of Manitoba believe the things the government said in the Throne Speech, believes there is credibility in the promises being made. There's never been a doubt that the govern- ment opposite could make promises; the difficulty they have is in the keeping of those promis es, and when words are spoken they should be words that can be trusted.

Yet too numerous, too frequent on occasion there are words that are spoken by members opposite that are not to be trusted. Misrepresentation of our positions is, of course, becoming increasingly common, and that's sad because an honest debate about honest differences is what we should be pursuing in here. But that's not the case when the Premier (Mr. Selinger) rises repeatedly and misrepresents our views in respect of things like export power for Manitoba Hydro and any number of issues–child care–these types of things.

It saddens me that a member of this Legislature would so frequently rise in their place and mis - represent my words or the views of my party. Last election, all mem bers opposite and candidates for their party went to the doors of the people of this province and asked for support and they knocked or rang the doorbell and they looked the people who lived within those homes or apartments or condominiums and they looked them in the eye and they promised numerous things.

They promised they would not raise taxes, promised they would respect the balanced budget law, promised they would, in fact, balance the budget and, in fact, went further in the case of the Premier and sai d, we're ahead of

schedule to balance the budget and the hiking of taxes would be nonsense and ridiculous.

And so it is naturally with great distrust that Manitobans hear the promises that the member opposite makes now and his candidates make now because having come to the door, looked the person in the eye, made a solemn oath to do things which they did not do or not do things which they did, the candidates for the party opposite did, in fact, wreck the trust of the people of Manitoba and, as a consequence, experienced an internal rebellion of historic proportions which was, of course, based on a fundamental distrust within their own organization as well: broken trust, broken government, difficult to repair.

Manitobans naturally are reacting with disbel ief to the promises contained in yesterday's Throne Speech, not that the promises were not legitimate promises to make but that there is a difficulty in believing that they will be kept. They've stopped making the penny, Mr. Speaker, but the NDP hasn't stopped making a great number of promises; the difference is you can take a penny to the bank but you can't take these promises to the bank. In 16 years of broken promises on a variety of files tell us that this is a record the government cannot run on; they run from it.

It's a record they cannot run on because it is not a great record: social problems, which the government claimed it would solve years ago, persist or have worsened; education quality, which the government insisted it would raise, has lowered; child care and children waiting for child care is at record line- up lengths. And government promises now in their speech yesterday to solve all those problems. But their speech was less an outline of their targets and much more, Mr. Speaker, a litany of failures over 16 years.

Health care is a–waits are at record lengths as well, and when the Grace Hospital, Health Sciences Centre and St. Boniface hospital all lead the country in emergent waits, this is not a record that is one the government can be very proud of. And, of course, all of these broken promises were centred on the fundamental precept that the government could get its finances under control and that it certainly has not. In fact, they've given up, Mr.

Speaker, as evidenced by yesterday's sp eech which made no reference whatsoever to ever balancing the budget, to ever lowering taxes or increasing the economic potential of Manitobans. * (15:20) This Premier –it took us 109 years to get our debt to approximately $18 billion, and this

Tuesday, November 17, 2015 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 31 Premier (Mr. Selinger) just took six years to double it, and that is a record which I pray, Mr. Speaker, can never, ever be broken, but it is one which the Premier cannot run away from. It has led to the downgrading of our credit rating as a province for the fir st time in 30 years, and this is a serious concern because, of course, in a province that has seen its debt double, interest must be paid. Now, the government is quick to trumpet forecasts that look good for the province, and we're all hopeful that they' re achieved.

We like to believe in the optimism that is portrayed by those forecasts, but coming from a farm family myself, I understand that what's in the bin is more important than what's forecast to be in the bin at the end of the season. And so I hope the forecasts are correct, but I want to make it very clear that what the government does when it repeats the glowing tributes of banks is it reveals a basic misunderstanding of the fact that banks like to make glowing tributes about the people that borr ow a lot of money.

And, secondarily, they need to understand something else: The reason that we may look better than our neighbours right now – reasons, are, perhaps, threefold: One, the price of crude oil, which we do not depend on to the degree that our ne ighbours do, has dropped precipitously and historically; secondly, of course, that general borrowing rates have declined to modern- day lows; and, thirdly, as a result of –perhaps of the oil factor and others, the Canadian dollar has declined by a significant amount in the last number of months.

And each of these three factors has resulted in other provinces suffering worse than Manitoba. The Conference Board of Canada, who the Premier, of course, relies on to produce reports of the gross advantages of raising the PST and neglects to ask them to calculate what the net advantage might be, the Conference Board of Canada has admitted that there's nothing that this government did right that caused that forecast to look good. See, when a government trumpets its per- formance it should have a reason.

The government's reason is that the forecasts are nice, and the forecasts are based on things the government had nothing to do with. The government had nothing to do with lowering the prime borrowing rates. The government had nothing to do with the price of crude oil dropping. The government had absolutely nothing to do with our currency devaluing and helping our net export performance. So the government's claiming credit using $2 million of taxpayer funding for ste ady growth when, in fact, there are few signs of steady growth. There are just lots and lots of steady growth signs.

Now, when you can't run on your record, and the member for Thompson (Mr. Ashton) can't run on his, you run on fear instead, and the membe rs opposite need to understand that Manitobans are afraid already. They're afraid already. Susan [phonetic] wrote me she's waiting for health care for her mom. She said her mom went into the ER and waited nine and a half hours. Susan's [phonetic] already afraid. She doesn't need more fear. Gerald [phonetic] is concerned about crime. He's been victimized in the last year, he told me, six times by vandals and thieves.

And Edith [phonetic] is a widow who's facing serious challenges and is concerned about those financial challenges made worse incrementally by this government, by increasing her insurance. Her PST is now on her insurance on her house.

That's an 8 per cent bill: just a little bill, if you're not the one paying it, but a big bill if you're the one paying it; putting 8 per cent more on her hairdos when she goes to get her hair done; putting taxes on–more fees on her wine and beer if she wants to try to have a little top tipple now and again or her –for various other things, like the cottage that her family has now decided to sell, and the fees that she pays for that have escalated mightily. These aren't small things, not to her, not to Gerald [phonetic], not to Susan [phonetic]. They're real things.

They're real things that affect their lives and af fect the lives of their families in a real way, and the decisions that were made to make life harder for these folks are decisions the government made. And then they went to court to fight so that they could have the right to make those decisions over there, but the million Manitobans around the province didn't get a say. And that is fundamentally a breach of trust.

I would encourage all members of this House to understand that there are real people in our province who do live in fear for many different r easons and that using fear tactics makes that fear magnify and worsen. I would encourage them to understand that when they try to frighten civil servants' children with layoff notices that they aren't serving any useful purpose when our plan has nothing to do with laying off civil servants. They do not help the families of teachers who are threatened with layoffs. They do

32 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA Tuesday, November 17, 2015 not help when they follow the leaders of political parties' wives and children around during election campaigns. These are the types of t hings that demonstrate an insensitivity and a lack of com - passion for real people that is unbecoming to any member of this Chamber, including the member for Thompson (Mr. Ashton). What is needed is fresh energy. What is needed is new ideas and fresh energ y in this province. Because Manitobans value trust, they need a government that they can trust, so we will bring in Manitoba's first open government bill.

And it'll establish new and higher standards for transparency, accountability and ethical conduct, and it will also establish open contracting procedures so that things like the Tiger Dams escapades of the member for Thompson won't be repeated ever again.

We'll also give real authority to independent legislative officers to investigate and report so that the decisions that members make in spending taxpayers' money are open and transparent decisions that can be defended as opposed to the member for Thompson who hides his decision, refuses to report it, refuses to disclose it, responds with a FIPPA request with blacked -out documents and then on the other hand claims transparency and ethical conduct. What a sad misrepresentation of the truth, Mr. Speaker. Manitobans are compassionate people.

They like the idea, and we've advanced it, and I'm pleased the government's copied it, of reducing ambulance costs for families. Our ambulance fees are the highest in this country. They want us to establish a physician recruitment and retention program for Winnipeg and the entire province because they're tired of saying goodbye to their doctors or not even getting a doctor in the first place. They're looking forward to seeing the wait reductions task force come into action and actually achieve reduced wait times for them by focusing on solving the problem instead of focus ing on talking about solving the problem.

And they want us to accelerate the construction of personal -care homes, something the government has promised to do for years on end and has not done. It's lagged the country. Manitobans have certain values, and t he government that best reflects those values will best represent the people of this province. And Manitobans are common- sense people. They shop smart; they expect the government to shop smart when they take money off their kitchen table and put it on the Cabinet table. That hasn't been happening. Manitobans also expect to see a government that operates effectively and efficiently.

We'll reduce the size of Cabinet by one third, and we will save millions of dollars in doing that, and we will create the right frugal tone at the top of the organization so that the whole organization responds in a more effective manner to deliver the services it should to the people of this province. And we will restore Manitobans' right to vote on tax increases taken away fr om them un - democratically by the people opposite. And we will reduce barriers to participation in government tendering processes.

One of those barriers, it recently has emerged, is the inability of Manitoba companies to participate in tenders in Saskatchew an, eventually in Alberta and BC, as well, because we're not a member of the New West Partnership. Manitobans expect us to increase the opportunities for prosperity in our province, and this government has decreased those opportunities by creating barriers to partici pation.

It's unfortunate, also, that this government clings to an outdated practice of forcing unionization onto non- union companies to limit the effective participation within government tendering, something which is illegal in every Europe an country and most United States, barely–illegal–illegal, I emphasize, Mr.

Speaker, and has not been utilized by other provinces–it is utilized with decreasing frequency by every other province but one, this one, driving up the costs of doing infrastructure as a result. * (15:30) This is a government, after all, that claims that the PST was raised to be used for infrastructure after five years, consecutive years, of underspending in the Infrastructure Department, the only department of government that was underspent. Every other department of government overspent.

One depart - ment underinvested; the member for Thompson was in charge of it, but they pulled the money away from him and maybe in frustration he decided to use it for Tiger Dams, what was left. I'm not sure. But one thing for sure, they underspent in the Infrastructure Department for five consecutive years, revealing that that was a low priority for them, but suddenly – suddenly–decided $2.4 billion in–for infrastructure money ripped away from the heart and soul of the department, ripped away and used for other priorities.

Tuesday, November 17, 2015 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 33 In 2010, they raided the Infrastructure Department. In 2011, they raided the Infrastructure Department; 2012, they raided the Infrastructure Department. And now the member for T hompson (Mr. Ashton) likes to parade around. So it's raid, raid, raid and parade. That's the approach, yes. Manitobans value infrastructure. They want it done strategically. They want it done carefully, and they want it done right so there's value for them, not just a promotional exercise for the government.

Manitobans value inclusion, and we'll establish a read-to-succeed initiative with reading labs and mentoring so all children leaving grade 3 can read at the highest possible national level. That's cr itical to our success. We want to empower teachers so they can evaluate students accurately and fully for their work. And that includes giving a zero where zero work is done, Mr. Speaker. And we want to empower parents as well to be able to get all the information they need so they can be partners in the process of evaluating their own child's progress. We want to see more meaningful reporting mechanisms.

We also want to provide real tax relief for low - income families by increasing the basic personal exemption and eliminating bracket creep. And we will support urban Aboriginal economic development zones in partnership with First Nations because we believe strongly that creating jobs and economic opportunities together is the way to go. Teamwork is critica l to this, Mr. Speaker, not just on the indigenous issues but in every issue of government. Teamwork is key. This is a group opposite that has demonstrated what a team does not look like. We will demonstrate what a team looks like. Our plan means, Mr.

S peaker, protecting front - line services and protecting the jobs of those who deliver those fundamental services. This is key to the success of our province. Cutting waste will allow us to create wealth and jobs. Creating a comprehensive, planned, long- term strategy to get away from the bust and boom kind of approach the government's taken on infrastructure is critical to getting maximum value for every dollar we invest, as we must invest in our critical infrastructure. And fostering new business and social and community partnerships as certainly the member for Point Douglas (Mr.

Chief) and the member for Fort Richmond (Ms. Irvin- Ross) both support the idea of social inclusion. I know they do, and I know they support the idea, or used to, of using social innovation bonds as a vehicle for achieving some innovation in preventing social problems rather than simply dealing with them after they've emerged as great problems in our society. I know they used to support that concept because they put their name on a report that endorsed it. So I'm sure that they're strongly supportive of that. Now, Mr. Speaker, suddenly, however, the Premier (Mr.

Selinger) has decided that these are a bad idea despite the fact that his friends in Ontario – he–I know he went into the federal election an NDPer, but he's come out of it a Liberal. His friends in Ontario most certainly are using the social innovation bond model, and, of course, the Premier's adversaries in Saskatchewan are as well. But it's time for us–it's time for us–to work together in partnership with altruistic investors, with creative thinking, innovative Manitobans to address the social challenges we must face together as a province.

These are just some of the key issues that we must address, and many others will be, of course, issues that we will speak to as time allows in the future. But I want to conclude by simply saying that it is an honour to serve in this place, an honour I never take lightly, nor should any of us, and I want to say a thank you to you, Mr. S peaker. I think you do an impeccable job. I appreciate the work you do very, very much. And I want you to know that I have worked with Speakers in a number of Chambers, as you're aware. And I would not have said that to every Speaker just to get on their good side.

So I want you to be aware of that. I do want to say a special thank you to the people of Fort Whyte for the honour of representing them. It's an emerging and vibrant part of our city and our province and a place that offers tremendous benefits to the people who choose to live there. Not, however, a high school. The only riding in the province that does not have that benefit and something we need to seriously continue to consider as we move forward.

I want to say thank you to all the people in our province who volunteer, whether they volunteer for other political parties, whether they volunteer for our own, whether they volunteer for charitable causes or community efforts, for–whether it's to work for health care, to fundraise for preventative measures in various areas of health care. We are the leading province in the country for volunteerism, and it's something we should always hold as a special attribute of our province. Just this Sunday, I had the

34 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA Tuesday, November 17, 2015 privilege of attending, along with a number of other colleagues, including the member for Tyndall Park (Mr. Marcelino) who was there and the member for – was it Logan or Burrows was also with us? [interjection] Burrows, Melanie–I'm sorry, Burrows– were both at the event as well. It was a wonderful event, and it's a basketball league organized by a number of our friends in the Filipino community originally but now it goes right across the city.

There were over 100 teams this year, and I think it's especially important to acknowledge and thank the volunteer s who came from all over the city, actually, to support this. It's a great sport. It's passed hockey now in its participation levels in our country. I have particular affection for the sport and the people involved in it for obvious reasons, Mr. Speaker, one of which is perhaps not so obvious, is the fact that I couldn't–our family couldn't afford to buy hockey equipment for me, not that I was that great anyway. But I got the chance to play a sport, and it was basketball.

And so I appreciate very much, and I thank the volunteers who organized that league. It's tremendous. I want to also say a special thank you to any members who are here or who are absent today who are not continuing, that is to say, they are not running again or have previously resigned, as is the case with the member for Southdale, the member for Gimli. I want to –of course, because of the nature of the resignations, we didn't get the chance to say our goodbyes. I think it's important to express our thanks to all those members who are not running again.

In particular, I would like to, of course, pay special attention to the member for River East (Mrs. Mitchelson), the member for Agassiz (Mr. Briese), member for Riding Mountain (Mrs. Rowat), because they have dedicated themselves, as have other members, to this Chamber, but they dedicated themselves in the pursuit of the best interests of the people of their riding and the people of Manitoba. Thank you very much. In closing, Mr.

Speaker, one of the funniest things I've ever had the ch ance to see in politics was when we were role- playing at a communications training workshop and the member for River East was trying to act like she was an NDP member of the Legislature. It was really –it was –it just was – [interjection] No, it was bad casting, out of character for sure. It was very difficult for her. Mr. Speaker, I know, as all members do, that this is a place of disagreement, at times, and conflict.

But I do believe that we all here share a strong desire to see a better province emerge from our deliberations and from the work of all the people of this province. I know there is a level, a fairly high level, of frustration with the current government out there. But I want all members to understand that there is also, all over the province, an incredible level of optimism and d

Document details

Collection	Manitoba — Debates (Hansard)
Citation	40-5-2
Type	hansard
Volume / chapter	40th 5th hansardpdf 2.pdf
Language	en
Format	pdf
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	c9a4229cccbd987aa6fe3d4307ee3ddaba4c1107

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