Manitoba Hansard — Sitting 56B (43rd Legislature, 2nd Session)

43-2-56b

Manitoba — Debates (Hansard)

Second Session – Forty-Third Legislature of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba DEBATES and PROCEEDINGS Official Report (Hansard) Published under the authority of The Honourable Tom Lindsey Speaker Vol. LXXIX No. 56B - 1:30 p.m., Tuesday, May 20, 2025 ISSN 0542-5492

MANITOBA LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY Forty-Third Legislature Member Constituency Political Affiliation ASAGWARA, Uzoma, Hon. Union Station NDP BALCAEN, Wayne Brandon West PC BEREZA, Jeff Portage la Prairie PC BLASHKO, Tyler Lagimodière NDP BRAR, Diljeet Burrows NDP BUSHIE, Ian, Hon. Keewatinook NDP BYRAM, Jodie Agassiz PC CABLE, Renée, Hon. Southdale NDP CHEN, Jennifer Fort Richmond NDP COMPTON, Carla Tuxedo NDP COOK, Kathleen Roblin PC CORBETT, Shannon Transcona NDP CROSS, Billie Seine River NDP DELA CRUZ, Jelynn Radisson NDP DEVGAN, JD McPhillips NDP EWASKO, Wayne Lac du Bonnet PC FONTAINE, Nahanni, Hon. St.

Johns NDP GOERTZEN, Kelvin Steinbach PC GUENTER, Josh Borderland PC HIEBERT, Carrie Morden-Winkler PC JOHNSON, Derek Interlake-Gimli PC KENNEDY, Nellie, Hon. Assiniboia NDP KHAN, Obby Fort Whyte PC KINEW, Wab, Hon. Fort Rouge NDP KING, Trevor Lakeside PC KOSTYSHYN, Ron, Hon. Dauphin NDP LAGASSÉ, Bob Dawson Trail PC LAMOUREUX, Cindy Tyndall Park Lib. LATHLIN, Amanda The Pas-Kameesak NDP LINDSEY, Tom, Hon. Flin Flon NDP LOISELLE, Robert St. Boniface NDP MALOWAY, Jim Elmwood NDP MARCELINO, Malaya, Hon. Notre Dame NDP MOROZ, Mike, Hon. River Heights NDP MOSES, Jamie, Hon. St. Vital NDP MOYES, Mike, Hon.

Riel NDP NARTH, Konrad La Vérendrye PC NAYLOR, Lisa, Hon. Wolseley NDP NESBITT, Greg Riding Mountain PC OXENHAM, Logan Kirkfield Park NDP PANKRATZ, David Waverley NDP PERCHOTTE, Richard Selkirk PC PIWNIUK, Doyle Turtle Mountain PC REDHEAD, Eric Thompson NDP SALA, Adrien, Hon. St. James NDP SANDHU, Mintu, Hon. The Maples NDP SCHMIDT, Tracy, Hon. Rossmere NDP SCHOTT, Rachelle Kildonan-River East NDP SCHULER, Ron Springfield-Ritchot PC SIMARD, Glen, Hon. Brandon East NDP SMITH, Bernadette, Hon. Point Douglas NDP STONE, Lauren Midland PC WASYLIW, Mark Fort Garry Ind. WHARTON, Jeff Red River North PC WIEBE, Matt, Hon.

Concordia NDP WOWCHUK, Rick Swan River PC Vacant Spruce Woods

2187 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA Tuesday, May 20, 2025 The House met at 1:30 p.m. The Speaker: Good afternoon. Please be seated. ROUTINE PROCEEDINGS The Speaker: Introduction of bills? Committee reports? TABLING OF REPORTS Hon. Nahanni Fontaine (Government House Leader): Honourable Speaker, I'd like to table the sequence for consideration of departmental Estimates in the Com- mittee of Supply, for today only. MINISTERIAL STATEMENTS Jewish Heritage Month Hon.

Mike Moroz (Minister of Innovation and New Technology): Honourable Speaker, I rise today to recognize and celebrate Jewish Heritage Month, the time to honour the rich history, enduring contributions and vibrant culture of Jewish communities across Manitoba and Canada. The Jewish presence in our province dates back to the 1870s, when Jewish immigrants first arrived seeking freedom, opportunity and safety from pros - ecution. They brought with them strong values of family, education, faith and com munity, and they helped build this province, brick by brick, business by business, generation by generation.

From establishing early congregations in Winnipeg's North End, to opening shops, clinics, schools, theatres and shelters, Jewish Manitobans have long been woven into the very fabric of our province. They have contributed as teachers, doctors, artists, entrepreneurs, jurists and public servants, shaping our cultural, economic and civic life. Jewish Manitobans have played a pivotal role here in the people 's building as well, serving as members of this Assembly: members such as David Orlikow, Saul Cherniack, Maitland Steinkopf, Sidney Spivak, Izzy Asper and Jim Carr all served with distinction.

The Honourable Anita Neville, the first Jewish Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba, continues to do so. Jewish Heritage Month is also a time to reflect on the importance of standing against anti -Semitism in all its forms. The Jewish community continues to face threats, discrimination and hateful rhetoric, here and around the world. It 's our collective responsibility as legislators, and as citizens, to ensure that Manitoba remains a place of safety, inclusion and respect for all people of faith and from all backgrounds. Honourable Speaker, we recognize that so many came to Canada seeking a better life.

They came to Canada to escape generational persecution and, in many cases, came as survivors of the Holocaust. Our government is committed to preserving and honouring that history. And we are proud to work with experts to mandate Holocaust education at our K-to-12 system. The fight against all forms of racism and intoler- ance begins in the education system. By teaching today's young people about the wrongs through the past, we can ensure that our future generations are well equipped to push back against racism, hate and discrimination wherever they see it.

Let us also take this time to celebrate the joys of Jewish life: from the wisdom of the Torah to the beauty of Hebrew music and dance; from the tradi - tions of Passover and Hanukkah to the simple blessing of the challah shared with family and friends. These are gifts that enrich our shared culture and deepen our understanding of one another. Honourable Speaker, today, throughout the month of May and beyond, let us say thank you to Manitoba's Jewish community for their resilience, their leadership and for their continued contribution to this province we all call home. Mazel tov. Mr.

Richard Perchotte (Selkirk): I rise today to celebrate Jewish Heritage Month as an opportunity to honour the rich history and invaluable contributions of Jewish Manitobans in our province. It was in the 1870s when Manitoba's first known Jewish residents settled in the province. Shortly after, 300 Jews arrived in Winnipeg after fleeing perse cu- tion from the Russian Empire. In just a few short decades, more Jews would begin fleeing persecution in Europe and, ultimately, the Holocaust.

Since these beginnings, Jewish communities have been able to establish deep roots in Manitoba, helping to build our province and see future generations thrive.

2188 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA May 20, 2025 However, it cannot go without saying that Manitobans are deeply concerned with the increasing rise in anti- Semitism within our communities and across the country. While we recognize Jewish communities for their resilience, we must do more than expect people to be resilient in the face of hate. We must combat hate itself. Let us all work together to ensure safety and security for everyone. May we continue to honour the centuries' worth of contributions that Jewish Canadians made to our beautiful province and country.

And may we strive for respect, peace and understanding of all Manitobans. Thank you. MLA Cindy Lamoureux (Tyndall Park): Honour- able Speaker, I ask to for leave to respond to the minister's statement. The Speaker: Does the honour able member for Tyndall Park have leave? [Agreed] Leave has been granted. MLA Lamoureux: May is Jewish Heritage Month. During the month, we are given opportunities to learn about and recognize the contributions of Jewish Canadians to Canada's social, economic, political and cultural fabric.

Let us be grateful for the information shared with us throughout the year from organizations including the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg, the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, The Winnipeg School Division, Red River College Polytech, plus the uni - versities of Manitoba and Winnipeg. For those who may not know, there are many events throughout the month. Some include the Winnipeg International Jewish Film Festival, a women's circle hosted by Chabad Winnipeg, Gray Academy student art exhibits and many others at the Rady Jewish Community Centre and temples throughout our city.

I encourage everyone to check out these events and don' t forget to support one of the many local Jewish-owned businesses. In closing, Honourable Speaker, I echo many of the thoughts that have been shared here this after - noon, and we need to make sure we continue to raise awareness and spread education about the anti-Semitic crimes that continue to happen. We are friends, allies and we stand with the Jewish people of Manitoba. Thank you. The Speaker: Further ministerial statements? Family Doctor Day Hon.

Uzoma Asagwara (Minister of Health, Seniors and Long-Term Care): It is my pleasure to proclaim May 19, 2025, Family Doctor Day. Our government is thrilled to celebrate the family doctors working in our province. They are the found- ation of primary care in our communities and are often the first point of contact in our health -care system, providing compassionate, com prehensive and con- tinuous care to Manitobans throughout all stages of their lives.

Family doctors diagnose and treat illnesses and injuries, promote disease prevention and good health and co-ordinate quality patient care and wellness for Manitobans. They don't just treat symptoms; they build relation- ships, often relationships that span many life's–of life's milestones. They know their patients; they know their stories; they celebrated births or cancer remissions and have comforted grieving patients as they face difficult losses. They don't just serve as physicians, but as trusted advisers, advocates and champions of community well-being.

Family doctors are foundational to Manitoba 's health-care system. The ongoing relationship between a family doctor and their patients and com munities is consistently associated with lower hospitalization rates, emergency department use and rehospitalization.

We are actively, as a government, working towards improving timely access to family physicians in our province, no matter where Manitobans live, to reduce administrative burdens that they face and to create sustainable models that allow for doctors to do what they do best and what they love to do: care for people. * (13:40) And we're making it easier for Manitobans to see a family doctor. We have added over 168 net -new doctors to the front lines of our health- care system. And by working with local amazing family prac ti- tioners like Dr.

Amanda Condon, we've taken steps to open new minor injury and illness clinics.

May 20, 2025 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 2189 We've opened extended hours primary- care clinics, making it easier for Manitobans to get access to primary care. Manitobans now even have access to online booking for same-day appointments, walk-ins, along with those extended hours during evenings, weekends and holidays. We 've created flexibility to increase access for Manitobans and for family practi- tioners to provide care.

These investments will help ensure more timely access to care for patients, reduce pressure on emer - gency departments and support family doctors in delivering high-quality, patient-centred care. At the same time, Hon ourable Speaker, we are focused on building the next generation of health-care providers. Our govern ment's investing $13.4 million to train 20 additional doctors by expanding residency seats, helping more medical grads complete their training right here in Manitoba, including in Brandon.

We're grateful for the work that family doctors do across our great province, and we're working to ensure that new doctors are supported right from the start. In partnership with Doctors Manitoba, we've started the New to Practice Program. It builds strong mentorship networks and fosters collaboration among physicians in their first five years of practice. Now these are just some of the initiatives that we are taking to support family doctors in Manitoba because we know how vital they are to Manitobans. We value their knowledge, expertise and their ability to create connections with our communities.

We're grateful for the care and compassion they bring every single day of the year, so the least we can do, Honourable Speaker, is celebrate them on Family Doctor Day and lift them up for everything that they do. Today, I'd like to take a special moment in the Chamber here to welcome some guests. For the first time ever in the college 's history, they' re here with us to celebrate Family Doctor Day. The Manitoba College of Family Physicians, thank you for joining us. We appreciate you folks. We have Dr.

Karen Appel, assistant professor in the department of family medicine and president of the Manitoba College of Family Physicians; Dr. Ashley Bhullar Rehsia, chief medical officer at Deer Lodge Centre and secretary of the Manitoba College of Family Physicians; Dr. Mandy Buss, the Indigenous health lead for the department of family medicine and a member of the College of Family Physicians of Canada's Indigenous health com mittee; Lisa Goss, CEO of the Manitoba College of Family Physicians; and Staci Bailey, the director of operations at the Manitoba College of Family Physicians.

Honourable Speaker, let's make sure that we cele- brate family physicians every single day of the year because every single day, they' re working to make sure that Manitobans have the best outcomes and the best health-care system in our great province. Thank you. Mrs. Kathleen Cook (Roblin): Yesterday, May 19, was Family Doctor Day, and on behalf of all of my colleagues in the Progressive Conservative caucus, I just want to say thank you to family doctors practising across Manitoba for everything you do for our communities and for your patients.

We know that our family doctors are the first person that we go to most of the time, and they are the beginning of our health -care journeys and our strongest advocates as we navigate different parts of the health-care system. Dr. Nichelle Desilets, the incoming president of Doctors Manitoba, is herself a family doctor, and she made a really im portant comment a couple of weeks ago at Doctors Manitoba's annual awards gala.

She said–she was speaking to those just starting their academic journey towards a career in medicine, and she made the comment that family medicine is not just a backup plan; it is, in fact, a great first choice for medical students planning their careers. Family doctors are at the forefront of calls to move to more team-based approaches to primary care. They work alongside nurses, pharmacists and allied health professionals to deliver com prehensive care to their patients. And they practice in a variety of settings.

Some of those settings are in credibly challenging: remote fly-in communities, in rural towns, in clinics through- out our com munities and yes, some family doctors will even still make house calls. Family doctors also come to the table with impor- tant solutions to help our health-care system improve. For example, family doctors have long called for a reduction in physician adminis trative burden. They know that there are better ways to be spending their time than on paperwork. They know they need to be spending time doing what they do best, and that 's caring for their patients.

And that's why the previous PC government worked with Doctors Manitoba and other stake holders to

2190 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA May 20, 2025 establish a taskforce to reduce physician admin istra- tive burden, that issued its final report and recommen- dations late last year. So on behalf of my colleagues and the opposition caucus, I want to once again say thank you to family doctors for playing such a pivotal role in our health-care system and for being the bedrock of many of our com- munities and the first point of contact for so many of us when we need help. Thank you. MLA Cindy Lamoureux (Tyndall Park): I ask for leave to respond to the minister's statement.

The Speaker: Does the honour able member for Tyndall Park have leave? [Agreed] Leave has been granted. MLA Lamoureux: Yesterday, May 19, is known as Family Doctor Day. Family physicians are the foundation of our health- care system. Without them, our ERs, walk- in clinics, they would be very–even more so–overrun with patients seeking care for health needs that could be prevented or treated in a doctor 's office or by a pharmacist. Family doctors are a trusted partner in a patient's life.

All people, especially persons with chronic con- ditions and seniors, with access to a family doctor have better health care– health outcomes and fewer hospital izations, with–which results in lower health-care costs for everyone. Now, sadly, many Manitobans do not have regular access to a family physician. Family medicine needs to be supported and sustained through invest ment, recruitment and retention.

And by supporting them with team -based care, which includes social workers, occupational therapists, knowledge keepers and other health- care professionals, through this we will build equitable, accessible, wraparound, team-supported primary care here in Manitoba. In closing, Honourable Speaker, I'd like to thank those who have joined us today in the gallery and all family physicians throughout our province. We appreciate your compassion and dedication to your patients and all your advocacy work. Thank you. * * * The Speaker: Prior to members' statements, I have a couple of things to take care of.

First, I would like to ask that members direct their attention to the table where our hard-working Journals clerk, Vanessa Gregg is celebrating 20 years of dedi - cated service to this Assembly, officially starting with the Legislative Assembly on May 17, 2005. Vanessa, with her encyclopedic knowledge of all the art in this Chamber and her infectious positive attitude, quickly became a fixture in this building. She became a manager of the visitors ' tour program in 2007 before joining the clerks as Journals clerk in 2022.

Vanessa is universally respected in the Assembly and has built strong, lasting relationships with every single office she works with. We thank her for 20 years of dedi cated service and look forward to many more. Congratulations, Vanessa. And now, on a somewhat sadder note, it's another last day for one of our pages, Ayla Embury- Hyatt. Ayla just graduated from the University of Winnipeg Collegiate and is looking ahead to an exciting new chapter. This fall, she will be attending the University of Manitoba to pursue a degree in forensic psychology, with the hopes of minoring in political science.

She is incredibly grateful for the opportunity to have served as a page. Before joining the page program, she was uncertain about what direction she wanted to take her future. But through her experience in the Chamber and beyond, she found clarity and purpose. One evening, while working a law committee shift, she listened to presenters and MLAs speak passionately about the issues affecting Manitobans. That moment touched her deeply and inspired her to one day help mothers and children through family law, using the insight she gained here to create meaningful change in her community.

Throughout her time at the Legislature, she was constantly learning. Every single day brought something new. She is thankful to everyone who has supported her journey, especially the Chamber staff who always brightened her day with smiles and good humour, and to her fellow pages, whose thoughtfulness and fun spirit made every shift enjoyable. * (13:50)

May 20, 2025 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 2191 As she reflects on this past year, she feels proud of how far she has come. She leaves with valuable skills, unforgettable memories and a heart full of gratitude. She hopes to cross paths with everyone again in the future. And Madelaine Bayly: Madelaine will graduate from the Dauphin Regional Comprehensive Secondary School this June. She is now set to attend the Univer- sity of Victoria in the fall where she will be part of the faculty of social sciences.

She hopes to obtain her bachelor's degree in political science and plans to pursue a career in law, which means she spent more time debating with her dad than the average person. Turns out that that was just early training. Madelaine is always been passionate about the law, politics and justice issues during her time as a Legislative page. She has been inspired by all of you, listening to your debates, asking questions and observing your committee work, which demonstrates to her that you are all motivated by your dedication to Manitoba and our democracy.

From this exper ience, she has developed a deep understanding of how our provincial government works and how it shapes our society. She would like to give heartfelt thanks to every- one at the Legislature who's supported her throughout this year. Thank you, everyone. Introduction of Guests The Speaker: I also have some introductions in the public gallery.

We have with us from the Down Under Club of Winnipeg on their 75th anniversary: executive team members Peter Munn, Margaret Munn, Charlie Powell, Sam Dawson, Jenny Gates, Brian Hydesmith, and regular members Jacqueline Cassel-Cramer, Arthur Cassel-Cramer, Dennis Woodford, Janet Woodford, Judy Powell, Elizabeth Hydesmith, Pam Sabourin, Henry Lemanski, Leon Badali and Brad Robertson, Manitoba's chief of protocol, who are guests for the honourable member for Kildonan-River East (Mrs. Schott). And we welcome you all here today.

And we have seated in the public gallery from Pine Creek Christian School, 20 students under the direction of Eric Martin. The group is located in the constituency of the honour able member for Agassiz (Ms. Byram). We welcome you all here today. And we have seated in the public gallery from a home-school group, 30 students under the direction of Kaitlyn Einerson. And we welcome you here today. MEMBERS' STATEMENTS The Speaker: We will now move on to members ' statements. The honour able member for Tuxedo (MLA Compton). An Honourable Member: Transcona. The Speaker: Transcona.

Brett Enns MLA Shannon Corbett (Transcona): Honourable Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to come before you today to recognize the exemplary work of Brett Enns, the Transcona Legion Branch No. 7. Brett is born and raised in Transcona and still lives in the commu nity. Growing up, Brett had an uncle who was in the military and was at Juno Beach. Brett heard about the stories of his uncle going through France with the military. The more stories he heard, the more stories he wanted to hear. It made him want to join the military.

When Brett tried to enlist in the military when he was younger, he was unable to as flat feet are a real thing. Brett joined the Transcona Legion Branch No. 7 five years ago because he wanted to give back to the community. He wanted to help veterans and their families. His respon sibilities are many, and he is currently the Sergeant-at-Arms and oversees the float and memorials. Part of his role is to inform the community about events happening at the Legion, but he also posts about the various days to remember our veterans and important dates. Brett shares poems that were written to honour our fallen heroes.

He takes the tim e to honour the veterans who have been killed in action. He shares their stories. He ensures that they will never be forgotten. Brett, along with another Transconian, Peter Martin, helps to arrange No Stone Left Alone. This is a ceremony at the Transcona Cemetery where students place a poppy on a veteran 's grave. Last November, there were over 615 students who participated. One thing Brad [phonetic] is–Brett is passionate about is Homes for Heroes, a comprehensive sup- portive housing program that provides wrap- around

2192 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA May 20, 2025 support for veterans. Brett is part of the group who is advocating for a housing village near the Transcona Library. You will see Brett wearing red on Fridays for Remember Everyone Deployed to remember our warriors so far away. Brett is the guy that everyone calls to help. With the support of his family, he gets to be that guy. That is who he is: a person who wants to get the job done and leave the world a better place. Honourable Speaker, I would ask that we please rise and honour Brett Enns for his dedication and commitment to the Transcona Legion Branch No. 7.

Sue and Rich Nowell Mr. Wayne Ewasko (Lac du Bonnet): Today, I rise with a heavy heart to speak about the profound loss felt in my constituency of Lac du Bonnet. As wildfires tore through our region, they brought devastation, fear and heartbreak. In the midst of this, we tragically lost two beloved members of our community, Sue and Rich Nowell. They returned to their home in an attempt to rescue their pet but were overtaken by the fast-moving flames. Mr. Tyler Blashko, Deputy Speaker, in the Chair Their final moments were filled with love and selflessness, true to the lives they have lived.

They were devoted to their family, animals and, of course, the community. Sue and Rich leave behind their sons Ryland and Emmett, as well as Sue's older son who lives out of province. To their children, family and friends, I offer my deepest condolences on behalf of the entire constituency of Lac du Bonnet. And our entire com - munity grieves with you.

I want to take this moment to recognize and thank the first responders, firefighters, volunteers, municipal leaders, specifically Reeve Loren Schinkel, Mayor Jack Brisco, their councils, the emergency response teams, Parks branch and EMO who have worked tire- lessly around the clock to protect lives, homes and livelihoods. Your dedication, bravery and selflessness have not gone unnoticed.

To our community volunteers from near and far, people who continue to show extraordinary kindness, stepped forward to care for those forced to flee, offering warmth, shelter, food and the reassurance that no one was alone: You are the very best of us. Thanks to these incredible efforts, some of the evacuations have now ended. Families have returned, but many have not. As we step back into our homes, we do so knowing that home is more than walls and a roof; it's the people who stand together in hardship, who lift each other up when the weight of loss feels too great. The Lac du Bonnet constituency is strong.

We grieve, we heal and we move forward, together. We thank you with all our hearts. Down Under Club of Winnipeg Mrs. Rachelle Schott (Kildonan-River East): Honourable Speaker, I am proud to rise today to recognize the 75th anniversary of the Down Under Club of Winnipeg. One of my Kildonan- River East constituents is a member of the Down Under Club, and he and other members join us today in the gallery. I request that their names be entered into Hansard.

The genesis of the Down Under Club of Winnipeg goes back to World War II, where after the war, many of the Australian and New Zealand air crew who trained in Manitoba returned to marry their Canadian sweethearts, which led to the formation of the club. From unexpected and uncertain beginnings, the Down Under Club of Winnipeg has become an active, long-standing and popular group here in Winnipeg and throughout Manitoba. They make wooden toys for children, donate them to the Salvation Army and fundraise for local charities.

The club has also raised and donated more than $40,000 to international disease –disaster release–oh, my goodness –$40,000 to inter national disaster relief for causes close to our collective hearts. The lifeblood of the Down Under Club of Winnipeg is its members, and the club is committed to providing a welcoming social hub for expat Aussies, Kiwis and their Canadian families and friends, and we are proud of their efforts to foster Australian, New Zealand and Canadian relations.

I invite all of my colleagues in the Chamber to rise and join me in acknowledging this huge milestone for the 75th anniversary of the Down Under Club of Winnipeg. * (14:00)

May 20, 2025 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 2193 Janine Lodder Mrs. Lauren Stone (Midland): I am pleased to rise in the House today to recognize a remarkable community leader from my constituency. I would like to welcome Janine Lodder, who has joined us here today. Janine has been an active volunteer, supporter and champion for the community of Carman. Among her many efforts, most notably, is Janine's 10 years serving as the chair of the Carman and–Area Foundation. In a decade of her involvement, she has helped the foundation grow significantly, totalling over $4 million since its inception.

This year alone, the foundation handed out over $194,000 in grants to 49 local community organizations. Through her work with the foundation, Janine has been involved with local fundraising efforts, such as golf tournaments and the annual spring gala. I attended the gala event this year, and I was incredibly moved when the Clearwater Memorial Playground received special recognition, and you could see and feel the reaction from over 400 attendees, as this project is a place of recognition and remembrance to the terrible tragedy that occurred in Carman 15 months ago.

Janine is now retiring after a decade of serving as chair of the foundation. But knowing Janine, I know she will continue to be an active cheerleader of the foundation and the amazing Carman community. You can't mention Janine's name in town without someone talking about how incredible she is and how lucky the town is to have her. Thank you, Janine, for everything you have done for the foundation and for the community of Carman. Corydon Community Centre Hon.

Mike Moroz (Minister of Innovation and New Technology): Honourable Deputy Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the hard work and dedication of the many volunteers who work to keep the Corydon Community Centre at the very heart of River Heights. Established in 2011, as an amalgamation of the Sir John Franklin, River Heights and Crescentwood community centres, the Corydon Community Centre is constantly changing and adapting to the needs of the surrounding neighbourhoods.

Formed in 1922, the Sir John Franklin Com - munity Centre has been hosting recreation and sporting events for over 100 years, in spite of having to relocate several times within the community. The River Heights Community Centre was founded in 1946 as nothing more than a little hockey shack, before growing into its present form through crowd-funding and city and provincial grants.

The creation of the Crescentwood Community Centre in 1945 would not have been possible without the many generous volunteers, who not only raised the necessary funds, but built the first official building almost entirely with volunteer labour. Honourable Deputy Speaker, today the Corydon Community Centre carries on the proud legacy of volunteerism that has served our com munity over many years. Under the strong leadership of a dedicated volun- teer board and a handful of determined staff, the Corydon Community Centre provides a wide range of well-being, recreation and sporting activities for people of all ages.

And sports like baseball, basket - ball, gymnastics, hockey, soccer, softball and tennis provide the Corydon Comets with ample opportunity to bring champion–bring home championship hard- ware. And they do. Honourable Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me now in thanking the centre's many volunteers, their board of directors and their dedicated staff for their ongoing efforts to bring our community together. ORAL QUESTIONS Education Property Taxes Increase Concerns Mr. Obby Khan (Leader of the Official Opposition): I want to start off with recognizing the Winnipeg Jets on a great season and great playoff run.

Didn' t way– end the way we wanted, but we love you and we thank you. On that note, we and all Manitobans are sending their–our thoughts and prayers to Mark Scheifele and his family on the passing of his father, Brad. Also, sadly, this weekend, there was another passing in Manitoba sport community as the Oak Park Raiders coach and Pembina Trails trustee Stu Nixon passed away. Our hearts go out to the family and the entire community. Honourable Speaker, as the official opposition, it is our job to ask questions, and Manitobans have the right to know.

However, last week the NDP govern - ment did not do their job, and they did not answer any questions. We have presented evidence over and over again in this House showing that Manitobans are

2194 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA May 20, 2025 paying more on their educa tion and property taxes under this NDP. Will the Premier finally admit today that he was wrong and he misled Manitobans when he falsely claimed, and I quote: one hundred per cent– The Deputy Speaker: The member 's time has expired. Hon. Wab Kinew (Premier): The Winnipeg Jets accomplished something remarkable this year. They came in first place in the NHL, cementing something that we've always known: they're the best team in the league. And I think everybody watching the game was just blown away by Mark Scheifele 's performance.

Your province is behind you, and we join you in grieving your late father. I also send my condol ences to the family of Stu Nixon as well as, you know, the folks in Lac du Bonnet, who I had the oppor tunity to speak to, who are grieving a loss there, as well. When it comes to folks across Manitoba, a hundred per cent of Manitobans are better off today because you 've got a govern ment that adequately funds education. On top of that, we 've also taken – we've brought inflation down by cutting the gas tax, and now we 're taking a further step by ensuring that you get a $1,500 tax credit off of your property taxes.

The good news, Deputy Speaker, is that's going to go up to $1,600 next year. Mr. Khan: Once again, Manitobans, you heard it here. This Premier believes you are better paying more taxes under his NDP. The province is better when you pay more taxes under this NDP. We've seen it over and over again, that families have tabled evidence where their property taxes have gone through the roof under this NDP. Yet, this Premier doubles down by –with his false talking points. Clearly, the truth and facts do not matter for this Premier, nor his NDP government. Facts do not lie, honourable Deputy Speaker.

Will the Premier admit today that following in the footsteps of his mentor, Greg Selinger, and increasing taxes is not the right thing to do for Manitobans? Will this Premier reverse his decision and lower education property taxes? Mr. Kinew: The member opposite was part of the Heather Stefanson gov ernment that Manitobans shudder when they think back to. One of the big reasons why is because edu cation was cut year after year–teachers leaving. We've, under this great Education Minister, improved funding. That makes everybody–a hundred per cent of Manitobans–better off. And the numbers speak for themselves.

There 's more than 600 additional edu- cators in the classrooms with your kids and grandkids right now, because of those investments. Now, when it comes to affordability, $1,500–way more than the members opposite ever saw–the biggest tax refunds and tax credits in history have happened under this govern ment. It' s the school trustees who set the taxation rates. You have the opportunity to go to the ballot box next year if you' re unhappy what's happening this year. But when it comes to the members opposite, we'll do our part and beat them at the ballot box every single chance we get.

The Deputy Speaker: I would caution the Leader of the Opposition. The truth and facts–when we say that truth and facts do not matter to the Premier, that implies that someone could be lying. So I 'd just caution the use of language. Mr. Khan: Manitobans, once again, you heard it. Under this NDP govern ment, this Premier believes that a $3-billion deficit under his NDP is a good thing. That this Premier believes if you pay more education property taxes, that 's a good thing. And now he is blaming the school trustees and not himself or his failed Finance Minister.

The Premier has budgeted to steal hundreds of millions of dollars from you hard-working Manitobans. He can deny it all he wants, but the devil is in the details and, clearly, this devil is the NDP. Speaking of details and numbers, the NDP, on page 8, clearly state that they are taking $182 million from hard -working Manitobans by increasing their education property taxes. * (14:10) Does the Premier have the audacity to stand here and falsely tell Manitobans that he 's not increasing their education property taxes? Mr. Kinew: Honourable Speaker, it's pretty clear that the member opposite can't read a budget.

Nothing he just said there bears any semblance to what's going on in the books this year. What happened with the deficit? They, in a des - perate bid to try and get re -elected, made all sorts of

May 20, 2025 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 2195 promises and ballooned the deficit to $2 billion. Manitobans saw through that and handed them their walking papers. We came into office and we started saving you money right away by cutting the gas tax. Now we 've brought in a $1,500 tax credit. If Manitobans want to understand further confusion from the member opposite, just look at what he said there. We don't set the property taxes; the school divisions do. So, again, if he wants to run for school trustee, go ahead and do so.

But the only person in this House who ever stole anything is the member opposite, who stole the PC leadership from Wally Daudrich, who actually got more votes. The Deputy Speaker: The honourable Leader of the Official Opposition, on a new question. Mr. Khan: Honourable Deputy Speaker, the Premier obviously has not read his own budget. On page 8, it clearly says a $182 -million increase. And his own members in Public Accounts just passed last week that $300-million surplus was left for him to spend when the PC govern ment left–$300 million. His own members passed that at Public Accounts.

The Premier is getting mad, it' s clear to see that. And when the Premier gets mad, he bullies everyone, just like he bullied the member from Fort Garry. If the Premier won't say it's wrong and reverse his decision, will the member for Lagimodière (Mr. Blashko) stand up and defend his constituents? His constituents are seeing double-digit increases in the property edu- cation tax. Will the member for Lagimodière stand up and do the right thing today? Mr. Kinew: Again, you know, the PCs are the only party in the world who would say that the person who got less votes actually won their leadership contest.

I know that Wally Daudrich, the person who emerged on the wrong side of that fiasco–imbroglio, you might like to say– was a little surprised that he wouldn't get the nod as a consolation prize to run in Spruce Woods, the upcoming by- election. He said, and I quote, I was hoping– referring to the member opposite–that because I got more votes than he did, it would've gone a long way to help bring the party together again, end quote. Makes sense to most people who voted in the PC leadership, too. But when it comes to affordability, we 're taking real steps to make you better off.

When it comes to health care, there are more people working on the bedside today. The only place where we see less and less is when it comes to the common sense department of the PC caucus. Introduction of Guests The Deputy Speaker: If we can stop the clock, I would just like to direct all honourable members to the public gallery where we have seated from a home - school group, 30 students under the direction of Kaitlyn Einerson. Thank you for being here. * * * The Deputy Speaker: And before we go back to the Leader of the Official Op position, I would caution him from drawing the Deputy Speaker into debate. Mr.

Khan: Honourable Deputy Speaker, when we talk about common sense, let 's look at some simple numbers. In 2024, education property taxes for a family that was living in Lagimodière was paying $1,000. In 2025, under this NDP, this same family living in the constituency of Lagimodière is paying $1,700. That's an increase of $700 under this NDP government. Will the member for Lagimodière stand up and defend his constituents, or will the Premier continue to add false narratives to this Chamber here today? The Deputy Speaker: Could we stop the clock?

So I 'd just like to point out to the Leader of the Official Op position that, while he may want to ask members from the opposite side to comment when the members are in the Chair, that is drawing the Speaker into debate. So I would ask that he not draw the Deputy Speaker into the debate while I am in the Chair. So, with 19 seconds, the Leader of the Official Opposition. Mr. Khan: I was merely asking the Premier if he could comment on why he thinks it 's fair to increase the taxes of the people living in Lagimodière. Mr.

Kinew: You know, the majority of PC Party members would agree that Wally Daudrich would have figured it out by now. But when it comes to the PCs coming here and talking about your taxpayer dollars, why don' t they address the very shameful

chapter of those ads about the landfill. Like, who in the PC Party of these elected officials thought it was a good idea to run ads attacking the families of the victims of a serial killer?

2196 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA May 20, 2025 It's, like, one of the worst crimes that's ever been done in Manitoba history, and they tried to take advantage by running ads. And here 's the thing, Manitobans: You actually paid for those ads. Because of the $650,000 the PCs spent on those ads, they applied for a rebate and they got about 160 grand of your taxpayer dollars back.

So, with the final question he clearly does not understand he 's about to pose, would the member instead switch, stand up and explain if he 's going to return 160 grand of your taxpayer dollars that were spent on those disgusting advertisements. The Deputy Speaker: The honourable Leader of the Official Opposition, on a final sup plementary question. Mr. Khan: I'm asking questions about this NDP gov- ernment and how this government has increased edu- cation property taxes in Manitoba; how this Premier is making life harder for Manitobans.

The Premier wants to dodge, duck and deflect any questions and any accountability. So I'll ask him here today: Will the Premier stand up and tell Manitobans how much–how much did he and his NDP govern ment increase edu cation and property taxes the last two years? Spoiler alert, hon- ourable Deputy Speaker: it's $330 million. That's the increase under this NDP government. So I'll give the Premier one last chance: Will he stand up and apologize to Manitobans for increasing their taxes by $330 million? Mr. Kinew: See, I'm so happy to come to work every day and to explain the good work that we're doing.

We cut the gas tax; they charged it every single day. We've staffed up more than 1,500 workers on the front lines of our health-care system, after they fired them. We've added dozens of police officers after 55 cops left the front lines under their watch. So I 'll give the member opposite one more chance, because he' s on thin ice if he has to face a leadership review in the next PC convention. Again, 160 grand of your hard- earned money. On this side, we're giving it back: $1,500 this year; $1,600 next year. His party is keeping a hundred times more of your taxpayer dollars for those landfill ads.

Will he return that money? They' ve said that they 're sorry for the ads, but apologies are empty words without restitution. Will they return the money to you, the taxpaying public, and maybe compensate the families who they attacked with those terrible ads? Education Property Taxes Increase Concerns Mrs. Lauren Stone (Midland): A hard -working family living in a 1,600- square-foot house in the Winnipeg School Division reached out to share their NDP tax hike bill. This family is now paying $3,300 in education property taxes. They are watching today.

What does this minister have to say to the family that has seen a 55 per cent increase in their education property tax bill this year? Hon. Adrien Sala (Minister of Finance): We're proud to share that we're making life more affordable for Manitobans. We did that in our last budget and in this budget.

Though it started out, of course, with our gas tax cut–the entire year, we offered that gas tax holiday– we also brought in personal income tax cuts that are saving money for Manitobans across the province. * (14:20) Our last budget, we brought in a $1,500 education property tax but–credit; it's going to lower your costs of education property taxes –and our recent budget raised that to 1,600 bucks. We are doing the work of making life more affordable for hard-working Manitobans. The Deputy Speaker: The honourable member for Midland, with a supplementary question. Mrs.

Stone: This family also shared their 2024 tax bill, which they paid $1,100 in 2025. With the rebate, they'd be paying $1,800 in education property taxes. That's a 55 per cent tax increase. However, adding insult to injury, there was no $1,500 rebate added to the bill. This NDP was sloppy with their rollout, and now this family, along with many other Winnipeggers, are missing the rebate from their bills. How many other homeowners are missing their rebate from this NDP government? MLA Sala: Well, we 're doing that impor tant work of making life more affordable for Manitobans.

We brought in that $1,500 rebate; we increased it to $1,600. And while we 're doing that, of course, we 're properly funding our education system for the first time in many, many years. We're doing that important work. We brought in, of course, the uni versal school nutrition program. And, of course, that 's part of our

May 20, 2025 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 2197 work of doing the im portant work of funding educa- tion and supporting our kids. What did the members opposite do with education dollars? They wrote cheques for billionaires. They gave out million-dollar cheques to folks on Bay Street. So while they gave out cheques to folks working on Bay Street, we're going to do that work of handing out food to those kids who need it in our province; we're supporting them. We're funding education while we make life more affordable. The Deputy Speaker: The honourable member for Midland, with a final supplementary question.

Mrs. Stone: This wasn't only sloppy, but this minister should be embarrassed, because to add even more insult to injury, this family received an NDP insert claiming the government was saving them money. A three–$3,300 education tax bill, a 55 per cent increase and no tax re bate is not saving this family any more dollars. This minister should be embarrassed with the sloppy rollouts on education property taxes. Why is he targeting hard-working families in the Winnipeg School Division with his tax hikes? MLA Sala: One of the biggest tax threats Manitobans face is the Trump tariff tax.

And guess who supports the Trump tariff tax, honourable Speaker? The leader of the members opposite. That is by far the biggest fiscal threat Manitoba, Canada faces. And we know that the leader of the members opposite champions those tariff taxes on Manitobans and Canadians. That's shameful. To my critic, what I would offer–the main city in their riding, Carman: 97 per cent of taxpayers are going to be better off in Carman. Will the member go back to her com munity members and apologize for fighting against their best interests? Property Taxes–Increase Concerns Homeowners Affordability Tax Rebate Mrs.

Kathleen Cook (Roblin): As Manitobans receive their property tax bills, they 're noticing a trend: what the NDP government says and then what happens are two different things. The Premier (Mr. Kinew) and his ministers talk and talk and talk, but tax bills are going up and up and up. Why is this Minister of Finance misleading Manitobans when Manitobans are paying higher property taxes than ever before? Hon. Adrien Sala (Minister of Finance): Honour- able Speaker, as the Premier stated earlier, we do not set divisional tax increases; that happens at the school division level.

But we are respon sible for making life more affordable, and that 's exactly what we' re doing with our $1,500 rebate, now a $1,600 rebate, that is lowering the costs of those education taxes, because that's what this team is focused on: reducing costs for Manitobans. And, of course, we're not only reducing the costs of your education property taxes, we're also reducing the costs of your energy. We brought in a fuel tax holiday, now a 10 per cent permanent cut to your fuel taxes. Pair that with our hydro rate freeze. This team's doing the work of making life more affordable.

The Deputy Speaker: The honourable member for Roblin, with a supplementary question. Mrs. Cook: No member of the NDP seems willing to stand up and represent their constituents. We've heard from constituents of the member for Waverley (MLA Pankratz) reaching out to share that their tax bills have gone up dramatically. Why is the Minister of Finance hiking property taxes by thousands of dollars for constituents of the member for Waverley? MLA Sala: Honourable Speaker, jacking up hydro rates on Manitobans in BITSA bills, doing it in new and creative ways that Manitobans have never seen.

That was their approach: they raised costs on Manitobans in ways that weren' t transparent, weren't clear. That's their MO. They also, of course, increased costs on renters, Manitobans who need help more than anyone else. They jacked up taxes on renters by $175. That's their record. Their record is one of making life more expensive for Manitobans; ours is one of making costs go down. That's some thing we 're going to keep focusing on every day because we' re working for hard- working Manitobans. The Deputy Speaker: The honourable member for Roblin, with a final supplementary question. Mrs.

Cook: This morning one of my own constituents reached out to me, near tears, because the Home- owners Affordability Tax Credit is missing from her bill, and the only solution this NDP govern ment can

2198 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA May 20, 2025 offer is that she has to claim it at tax time. But, in the meantime, she needs to pay this full amount. How did the Finance Minister botch this rollout so badly, and what is he doing to ensure that Winnipeg taxpayers get the tax credit they're entitled to today? MLA Sala: Honourable Speaker, again we' re con - tinuing to do that im portant work of making life more affordable. Our last budget brought in 25 ways to save in 2025.

We know how im portant it is that we continue to do the work of lowering costs for Manitobans, and that 's some thing we 've done, of course, when it comes to energy, when it comes to school taxes, and on and on and on. The members opposite made life more expensive. Now, I know that the leader of the members opposite might not think that a $1,500 cheque is a lot, and that's because he got a $500,000 cheque from the former leader. That's a lot bigger. But for the average Manitoban, $1,500 is a lot of money. We know that means a lot, and we're going to keep doing the work of lowering costs in Manitoba.

Education Property Taxes Increase Concerns Mr. Wayne Ewasko (Lac du Bonnet): It's unfor - tunate that the Finance Minister to –is too busy standing on two sets of books in order to answer any of the questions coming from our side of the House today. Honourable Deputy Speaker, I have heard from the River Heights families that the NDP tax hikes are making it hard to plan for their own finances. Will the Minister of Innovation and New Techno- logy (MLA Moroz) break the silence from his NDP colleagues and stand up for his constituents? Has the minister shared his concerns with his Cabinet colleagues? Hon.

Adrien Sala (Minister of Finance): Admittedly having a hard time sussing out what the question was there, but I 'm really grateful for the op portunity to keep talking about the important work we're doing to make life more affordable. Which is very different from what we saw after seven and a half years under the members opposite, when they made life more expensive for almost everybody–renters, everybody on their energy bills was paying more, and, of course, farmers. We had producers' costs going up because, what did they do? They jacked up the cost of Crown leases.

There were no Manitobans that were spared their work of making life more expensive. What are we doing in every corner of the province? We're working to make life more afford - able. The Deputy Speaker: The honourable member for Lac du Bonnet, with a supplementary question. Mr. Ewasko: I see the seatbelt light is on again in the rest of the Cabinet on the NDP side, Deputy Speaker. One River Heights family shared with me that they are being charged hundreds of dollars more.

They're being charged hundreds of dollars more, yet this NDP Cabinet call that affordability and hope, by gaslighting Manitobans, that Manitobans are going to start to believe it, honourable Deputy Speaker. Why is the member for River Heights, a minister, letting his Cabinet colleagues tax his con stituents so aggressively? MLA Sala: Honourable Speaker, again, it 's great to get up here and be able to talk about the long list of things we're doing to make life more affordable for Manitobans.

Whether it's our Homeowner Affordability Tax Credit, it's our 10 per cent permanent cuts–cut to the gas tax, whether it's the fact that we keep making life more affordable for renters who, again, had their taxes increased by $175 by the members opposite. What Manitobans can have confi dence in every single day is that they chose to send us a government to this building that was going to focus on making their costs lower, and that's exactly what we're going to keep doing every single day. * (14:30) The Deputy Speaker: And with a final sup ple- mentary question, the honour able member for Lac du Bonnet. Mr.

Ewasko: Deputy Speaker, Jon Gerrard is listening at home today. Another family that was better off under the 50 per cent PC rebate, on the road to equitably funding education. Why is that member, the member for River Heights (MLA Moroz), putting party before constit- uents and talking points before facts? Hon. Wab Kinew (Premier): With the member for Lac du Bonnet asking a question in question period, I figured I 'd stand and address the most im portant issue in his constituency today.

May 20, 2025 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 2199 I want to issue a thanks for all the folks who helped with the evacuation in Lac du Bonnet RM, the town, the RM of Alexander. Our hearts are with those who lost the family members. And being there in the community was really something: to be able to speak to that family directly, to be able to speak to evacuees directly, to be able to go to the Wildfire Service and thank the fire fighters, to thank the people flying the planes, to be able to thank the COs who were offering trauma supports to those people who are dealing with what they've seen on the front lines.

I even met the person who rescued the black bear. There's one thing I didn't see in Lac du Bonnet last weekend that I 'm very, very happy to update the House on. One thing we didn' t see in Lac du Bonnet was anyone playing politics. Government's Buy Canadian Policy Contracts Issued to American Businesses Mr. Josh Guenter (Borderland): While the Minister of Public Service Delivery talked about a buy Canada plan, his Cabinet colleagues were negotiating to send millions of dollars to Texas and California.

Why is this NDP govern ment sending taxpayer dollars south, and when will they finally get on board, do the right thing and support Canadian busi nesses and jobs? Hon. Mintu Sandhu (Minister of Public Service Delivery): Our government care about our businesses here in Manitoba. We care about Manitobans. We are listening to Manitobans, and we are listening to busi- nesses here in Manitoba, unlike members opposite who want to be the first –51st state. That will not– never going to happen. The member from Midland, only thing–her concern was the budget is good, but why are not we giving money to Elon Musk?

And, on the other side, the Opposition House Leader only thanked Trump for the tariffs. So, again, we will take no lessons from them. Thanks. The Deputy Speaker: The– Some Honourable Members: Oh, oh. The Deputy Speaker: Order. Mr. Guenter: Yes, unfortunately, for the minister and for Manitobans, there was no answer there. The only ones in this Manitoba Legislature who have given govern ment contracts to American com - panies in the middle of a trade war is this NDP gov - ernment.

We have now learned that the Minister of Innovation and New Technolo gy was signing multi - million-dollar deals with American tech firms just days after Donald Trump applied tariffs on Canada. I table just two to show the hypocrisy of the Kinew government. How many millions of untendered dollars has this NDP government sent south of the border? MLA Sandhu: Our government is reviewing all the contracts and govern ment policies to make sure we are getting the most benefit for Manitobans. I have heard from many people who are looking for a way to help.

Manitobans can look online at our support local, buy local website to find local busi - nesses in Manitoba here. Honourable Speaker, as I said earlier, we are reviewing every single contract that we have with the United States. Thank you, honourable Speaker. The Deputy Speaker: And with a final sup ple- mentary question, the honour able member for Borderland. Mr. Guenter: Not good enough, Speaker, absolutely not good enough. This NDP government gave multi-million-dollar untendered contracts to American firms in the middle of a trade war. This is an absolute betrayal of the Manitoba taxpayer.

Where is this government's buy Canadian policy? MLA Sandhu: The member of Borderland thinks Canada should be 51 state, which is not going to happen, okay? The member from Midland thought Budget 2025 was so amazing, her only complaint was we aren't giving a rebate on Tesla to Elon Musk. And worst of all, the Leader of the Op position said thank you to Donald Trump for bringing this horrible tax. Luckily, Manitobans have rejected the PC–failed PC government and elected a team that will always stand up for our people, our jobs and our economy. Thank you, honourable Speaker.

2200 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA May 20, 2025 Universal Screening for Learning Disabilities Request for Government to Support Bill 225 MLA Cindy Lamoureux (Tyndall Park): The government's recent policy directive on literacy screening does not go far enough. Unlike Bill 225, it does not require that parents be notified of screening results. During second reading, members of this govern - ment agreed with Bill 225, em phasizing that it' s im- portant to engage parents in the education process and that it is crucial for identifying and addressing learning challenges. I table this.

Does the minister agree with the bill and her gov- ernment colleague, and if so, why is the Minister of Education refusing to adopt this idea? Hon. Tracy Schmidt (Minister of Education and Early Childhood Learning): Thank you to the member opposite for the question and the opportunity to get up and speak about the very exciting announce- ment that we made just a few weeks ago about intro - ducing uni versal early screening tools into schools across all of Manitoba.

And to correct the record, it actually is the case that in working with school divisions in implementing this fantastic new announcement, part of that directive is absolutely going to be for schools to com municate with parents in developing the plan to address whatever needs are identified during the use of that tool. So I couldn' t agree more with the member opposite that com munication with parents is at the forefront of our educa tion policy. Very excited to work with her further on this exciting announcement.

MLA Lamoureux: Experts in child dev elopment recommended that students be screened for literacy challenges at least twice per year, a standard clearly outlined in Bill 225. The government's directive falls short, and it only offers vague commit ments with no require ment for ongoing screening. This has been noted by school divisions and teachers who consulted on Bill 225. I'd like to ask the minister: Who did this gov- ernment consult with to deter mine that only one screening is required? MLA Schmidt: Again, I thank the member opposite for the opportunity to get up and to clarify the record.

It was clear in our news release and it's been clear in our de partment's com munication with school divisions that, in fact, students will be screened not once but twice a year for at least three years between the period of kindergarten to grade 4. And when it 's–when–and the member is correct that we did a very comprehensive and wide consulta- tion on this bill. I would like to table for the House comments by –from Dyslexia Canada in supporting our announcement. Dyslexia Canada says: Dyslexia Canada applauds the govern ment of Manitoba for announcing universal early reading screening.

This is a 'signeficant'–significant step forward ensuring that all children, especially those at risk for dyslexia, receive the support that they need to become confident and capable leaders– The Deputy Speaker: Minister's time has expired. MLA Lamoureux: This govern ment is being anti- democratic. The bill, Bill 225, unanimously passed second reading on April 15 here in the House.

Since then, individuals, including doctors, speech-language path- ologists, teachers and parents –even members of this very govern ment–they have signed up to speak at committee in support of this legislation and to have their voices heard. Will this gov ernment do the right thing–the democratic move–allow for Manitobans to contribute towards this legis lation and send Bill 225 to com - mittee? MLA Schmidt: Again, I thank the member for the question. Very excited to work with her on improving literacy outcomes here in Manitoba.

Our government chose not to wait for Bill 225, and we knew that we could do this im portant work with a policy directive which we were excited to announce.

But I think it' s impor tant to think –the member opposite spoke about being anti -democratic, and I take great exception to that comment, hon ourable Speaker. * (14:40) And if she is concerned about anti -democracy, she should confer with the members that she regularly sits with and confers with about why they are delaying important bills that have been intro duced in this Legislature in this session, bills that would –this is what the members opposite stand for. They stand against bills that would remove hateful and divisive campaigns; they stand against bills that–

May 20, 2025 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 2201 The Deputy Speaker: The minister 's time has expired. Removal of Interprovincial Trade Barriers MOU Signed with Ontario MLA JD Devgan (McPhillips): Last week our gov- ernment signed a memorandum of understanding with the govern ment of Ontario, taking another step to breaking down interprovincial trade barriers. We know that for seven and a half years, the opposition sat on their hands and did nothing to improve interprovincial trade barriers, and today they profusely thanked Trump for attacking Manitoban families with tariffs.

Can the Premier please share with the House the details of the MOU and what we 're doing to unlock free trade across Canada? Hon. Wab Kinew (Premier): I want to thank our colleague from McPhillips. He's somebody with real- world business expertise and a good understanding of the economy, unlike the members opposite, who' ve never worked a day in their lives and they're all lined up at the public trough. Now when it comes to building up this country that we love so much, we 're knocking down trade barriers. We will never be the 51st state, and we will always be the true north strong and free.

We signed this MOU so that we could advance the project of having free trade in Canada by Canada Day. The members opposite, still chirping, can do their part by making sure that this bill passes before the House rises. And, you know, Premier Ford and I, we always have a good back and forth. He says, you know, I don't think you're really NDP, and I say, well I don' t think you're really PC, because in Manitoba, the PCs are broke; they lose elections; and they love Donald Trump. Watercraft Ban for Clear Lake Government Knowledge of Ban Mr.

Greg Nesbitt (Riding Mountain): Just hours before the start of the May long weekend, Parks Canada announced they would ban motorized watercraft from Clear Lake for the 2025 season. This was a complete reversal of the decision in January to return to the one boat-one lake system. Can the minister share when they were first notified of this change by Parks Canada? Hon. Mike Moyes (Minister of Environment and Climate Change): Well, let me just say that we recognize, on this side of the House, the magnificent beauty and value that Clear Lake is to our province.

We understand that it is a great recreational spot; it's a great economic driver for our province. We want to ensure that Clear Lake remains that for time to come. To answer the question directly, I found out on Friday. Request to Remove Ban Mr. Nesbitt: Besides affecting the manage–cottage owners with boats, this last -minute boat ban directly affects the Clear Lake marina, which offers lake cruises and watercraft rentals. Will the minister pick up the phone today and tell the federal government to reverse this decision? Hon.

Jamie Moses (Minister of Business, Mining, Trade and Job Creation): I thank the member opposite for the question. We know Clear Lake, Manitoba, is a very beautiful spot that a lot of Manitobans care about deeply, and we want to make sure that there's a lot of economic activity that can happen as a result of the beautiful assets we have in Manitoba.

And that's why we 've already reached out to the federal environment minister with a letter to ensure that we advocate for businesses in the community and that they know that we have their back: supporting the economic activity in the Clear Lake region and for the use of all Manitobans. And I'll table that letter today. The Deputy Speaker: And with a final sup ple- mentary question, the honourable member for Riding Mountain. Support for Business Community Mr. Nesbitt: Last year, the minister promised finan - cial support for businesses affected by the closure of Clear Lake to boating.

Can the minister tell the House how much money they allocated in 2024 to supporting the business com- munity of the Clear Lake area? Mr. Moses: I ap preciate the members opposite reminding Manitobans how we 've been consistent in our advocacy for the economic activity around Clear Lake and the busi ness com munity there. I 've had pleasure of having great con versations with business leaders there and advocating for their support from the

2202 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA May 20, 2025 federal gov ernment to help them during this challenging economic time. We know that closure to motorized boats on Clear Lake will have an economic impact but we're here, as a provincial gov ernment, to advocate for those busi - ness owners to the federal government and that's why we've written a letter to the Minister of Environment. This is real work, real action that our government is taking to support economic activity and the business community right across Manitoba and parti cularly at Clear Lake.

Constituent in Springfield Constituency Request for Mental Health Assessment Mr. Ron Schuler (Springfield-Ritchot): I have a constituent in Springfield who is suffering terrible mental health issues. Unfortunately, his house went up for auction because of tax arrears. The end of this month, the house is to be demolished and he has nowhere to go. Approached the Minister of Housing, Addictions and Homelessness (Ms. Smith), the file was transferred to Families and then to the Minister of Health. This man needs help. He needs an assessment. The community is trying their best.

I would ask anyone on the other side if they would please reach out, get this individual an assessment before his house is demolished and he has nowhere to go. Hon. Uzoma Asagwara (Minister of Health, Seniors and Long-Term Care): Certainly, the member opposite knows that we take casework very, very seriously and certainly if there's a level of urgency to any casework that any member of this House has, I always encourage folks to bring it to myself or the ap- propriate person directly.

So, of course, I'm more than happy to meet with that member imme diately after question period and have a conver sation about this and see what support we can offer this constituent. I would say, you know, honourable Speaker–hon- ourable Deputy Speaker, it is so im portant that we work across party lines and have those direct conver- sations. I think that not politicizing these really impor- tant issues that Manitobans face is an impor tant approach, one that our government takes seriously. The Deputy Speaker: And with that, time for oral questions has expired.

PETITIONS Death of Jordyn Reimer–Judicial Review Request Mr. Wayne Balcaen (Brandon West): I wish to present the following petition to the Legis lative Assembly of Manitoba. The background to this petition is as follows:

(1) On May 1, 2022, Jordyn Reimer, 24 years of age, was killed by an impaired driver while she was acting as a designated driver.

(2) There are two people legally culpable for her death: the impaired driver and the accomplice. The driver was charged, but the second criminal, the accomplice, has not been held accountable.

(3) A concerned citizen took the keys from the impaired driver earlier in the evening to ensure he could not drive impaired. The accomplice retrieved the keys from this citizen under false pretenses and knowingly provided the impaired driver with access to the vehicle.

(4) The Winnipeg Police Service's, WPS, investi- gation provided adequate evidence to meet the charging standards and recom mended charges be laid against the accomplice. The Crown prosecutors declined to prosecute the accomplice.

(5) The family of Jordyn Reimer has called for the prosecution of the accomplice and that the decision to not prosecute be reviewed independently.

(6) As recently as 2022, there is precedent to refer criminal files of decisions to not proceed with prosecution to extra-provincial departments of justice for review. This was done with the Peter Nygård file, which ultimately led to a reversal in this decision to not prosecute, and charges were laid. * (14:50)

(7) An out -of-province review is supported by MADD Canada, MADD Winnipeg and by Manitobans.

(8) The family has exhausted every avenue within the existing system, and, in the absence of a prescribed process when a disagreement exists on charging standards, the only option is to request an independent out-of-province review.

(9) In December 2024, the WPS reported an alarming number of impaired drivers in the holiday Check Stop program. Extending criminal culpability beyond the driver to those who engage in overt actions to facilitate impaired driving will save lives.

May 20, 2025 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 2203

(10) Manitobans deserve to have confi dence in the provincial gov ernment and justice systems to make decisions that achieve true justice for victims and their families. We petition the Legis lative Assembly of Manitoba as follows: To urge the provincial gov ernment to order an out-of-province review of the prosecutor's decision to not prosecute the accomplice in the death of Jordyn Reimer. Honourable deputy Speaker, this petition was signed by Larsen Nelson, Kim Skoc, Linda MacDonald and many, many other fine Manitobans. Opposition to Releasing Repeat Offenders Mr.

Trevor King (Lakeside): I wish to present the following petition to the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba. The background to this petition is as follows:

(1) Kellie Verwey, a beloved young woman from Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, was tragically killed in a car crash caused by a repeat violent offender with a long criminal history.

(2) Despite repeated violations of his bail conditions, the offender was free to roam the streets and to ultimately claim Kellie's life. This tragedy was entirely preventable.

(3) While the Criminal Code falls under federal jurisdiction, provinces have been given the respon- sibility for the administration of justice, allowing for meaningful provincial action on bail reform to ensure public safety.

(4) Other provinces have taken proactive steps to strengthen bail enforcement, but Manitoba has not used all the available tools to address this issue effectively.

(5) The provincial government has the ability and the responsibility to advocate for and implement measures that protect its citizens by ensuring that repeat violent offenders are not released into our communities without proper safeguards.

(6) Immediate action is required to close gaps in the justice system that allow dangerous criminals to remain free, which puts innocent Manitobans at risk. We petition the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba as follows:

(1) To urge the provincial government to take immediate and decisive action on bail reform to address the serious deficits in enforcement by utilizing all available provincial mechanisms to strengthen warrant enforcement, increasing bail supervision and opposing release of offenders, thus ensuring that repeat violent offenders are held accountable and that public safety is prioritized over leniency; and

(2) To urge the provincial government to lobby the federal government to immediately repeal provisions of the Criminal Code that allow for the continued victimization of law -abiding Manitobans while granting repeat offenders additional rights. This petition has been signed by Simeran [phonetic] Nanda, McKenzie Schnell and Nicole Fontaine, along with many, many Manitobans. Thank you, honourable Speaker. The Deputy Speaker: Seeing no further petitions , grievances?

GRIEVANCES Remembering Jason Schreyer MLA Jim Maloway (Elmwood): Honourable Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to my long-time great friend and colleague, Jason Schreyer, who left us suddenly on April 29, 2025. Like to express my heartfelt con- dolences to Jason 's wife Sarah and sons Ramzi and Jared. My heartfelt condolences also go to Jason's father and mother, right hon ourable Edward and Lily Schreyer, sisters Karmel and Lisa and brother Toben and to the entire Tena family.

Jason was the son of a former Manitoba premier, Ed Schreyer, and Lily Schreyer, and the grandson of Jake Schulz, Lily' s father, who was a founding member of the National Farmer's Union in Manitoba and became an MP for the CCF in 1957. Jason accomplished a big upset by defeating incumbent city counsellor Thomas Steen in 2014, a feat that rarely happens. And re- elected in 2018 and 2022 in the Elmwood-East Kildonan ward. Jason had politics in his blood.

During the 1988 provincial NDP leadership cam- paign, Jason officially joined the Manitoba NDP, and we were both active in the Maureen Hemphill leadership campaign, and he acted as our ambassador to the Len Harapiuk campaign and made his first run for public office in the 1993 federal election in the riding of Selkirk-Red River.

2204 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA May 20, 2025 Jason later worked for his progressive pre - decessor at City Hall, counsellor Lillian Thomas. Jason had a talent for producing political leaflets. He went from appearing in our leaflet in 1988 to producing them when I was MP for Elmwood - Transcona. Between 2008 and 2011, Jason was in charge of my leaflets for my MP 's office. He had an eye for design and a great talent for putting together an exceptional product. Being a perfectionist, however, had its draw - backs, especially with the time frames of election campaigns.

But Jason could square the circle and – when it counted –and would then become the person who distributed the leaflets with Sarah, Jared and other family members, often until late at night. Jason was a veteran of the Elmwood sign wars from 1988 and on. Before that, Russ Johnston, the uncle of our long-time Elmwood president Ed Innes, was the sign chair. And who was then joined by Pablo Herrera and then Jason adopted the Ed Innes method of perfection in signs.

Now, these signs were all the same size and they're all the same height and they're all facing in the same direction, which you would expect from the pro- fessional engineer that Ed Innes is. Jason adopted the same system; he could erect a full large sign by himself in record time, which is impossible for the average person to do. Jason always had a vision to win. The logistical answer was to be on the street full time, living in my truck until late at night, starting months before the election even began.

Election nights were always spent attaching special thank -you signs onto our regular signs on Main Street locations, a job that always lasted way too long, 'til 2 or 3 in the morning. The next day, the removal of, the teardown and the storage of the signs began, and that would last another week, minimum. Jason and I and Randy Schulz and Ed Innes logged hundreds of hours in the truck during the elections, almost non- stop, through our provincial, federal and municipal campaigns.

As a result of this campaigning method, our efficiency skyrocketed, and so Jason, Randy Schulz and I probably ran the cheapest campaigns with the most visibility and proven results. And that 's hard to beat. Jason loved working with people; he worked for my colleague Steve Ashton when he was Infra - structure minister. And during the 2011 federal election, we were able to arrange provincial funding for the Plessis Road underpass in less than a week, and this project wasn't even on anybody' s priority list.

Together, Jason and I would work on issues on issues like local crime. * (15:00) This was especially true in the last municipal election of October 2022, where Jason and I ran into many people who had garages broken into and catalytic converter thefts, which helped us focus on issues that involved–that evolved eventually into the current provincial security camera rebates and the provincial catalytic converter legislation.

We also supported city councillor Brian Mayes, who has worked to speed up the separation of our combined sewer system to stop the problem of sewer backup into our basements, and sewer overflow into the Red River. This should not take an extra 50 years. We also demanded assistance from homeowners who have lead water pipes running from the street to the basement, which should all be replaced as soon as possible according to Health Canada. Another long overdue issue is the re placement of the second oldest bridge in Winnipeg, the Louise Bridge. Built at the time of the shoot -out at the O.K.

Corral in 1881, we spent countless hours distributing leaflets and collecting signatures in a long-standing effort to replace the bridge with a–three lanes in each direction, and keeping the old bridge as local access and an active transportation link. Jason even insisted on publishing pictures of the underside of the Louise Bridge, featuring numer ous plywood patches covering many holes still on the old two-lane, functionally obsolete bridge. And those patches are still there today. We go there on –by the boat, take pictures of them.

Jason was always–also responsible for restarting the Elmwood seed campaign, which had stopped in 2011. Jason had the great idea of restarting the seed distribution during the COVID -19 pandemic, and while I was buying McKenzie seed packets, Jason went back to where we got the original idea, and that was in 1966. Burrows MLA Ben Hanuschak came up with the idea –former Speaker, by the way –with the idea of buying seeds in bulk, filling bags by hand and stapling a label on the seeds.

Jason, as the councillor, briefly became one of the largest seed wholesalers in Winnipeg, and he, Sarah and Jared spent an enormous chunk of the pandemic producing bags of seeds which they distributed to every house in the Elmwood- East Kildonan ward,

May 20, 2025 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 2205 with a printed planting instructions carefully inserted in each package. Another great idea Jason had was the big yellow keep Concordia ER sign campaign to get the Pallister government to back down on the closure of the Concordia ER. Originally, the Pallister Conservatives decided to close the ER totally in 2016, and after w e had, like, 700 yellow signs up on main streets and corner lots, a year later the gov ernment relented and they proposed a clinic, which really satisfied no one. And it wasn 't until June of 2019 the govern ment backed down.

They agreed to an urgent -care facility just months before the provincial election. Jason was an animal lover, and when in late 2020 we lost both our dog Lola and cat Chica, both of kidney failure, once again Jason came to the rescue. And we drove up to Arborg during the pandemic to see Ed Schreyer 's long- time friend Ed Dern and adopted two cats, Taco and Chico, who are still with us today. Jason referred us to his old school classmate Kareena Grywinski, who is the founder of a dog wel- fare organi zation called Feed the Furbabies Canada organization. We got our great rescue dog Chola, who is still with us.

These are just a handful of the great experiences we got to share with the best friend a person could have. Jason was a good father who spent an enormous amount of time with his son Jared, including men- toring him on every aspect of political campaigning from leaflet dropping with dad, beginning at age five, to all the fine details of sign campaigning. We find it hard to believe that Jason is gone. We keep expecting doorbell to ring and Jason will be there. Thank you for being the best friend ever. Rest in peace, Jason. Honourable Speaker, I'd like to ask for a moment of silence.

The Deputy Speaker: Is there leave for a moment of silence? [Agreed] A moment of silence was observed. ORDERS OF THE DAY (Continued) GOVERNMENT BUSINESS House Business Hon. Nahanni Fontaine (Government House Leader): Two things: pursuant to rule 34(7), I am announcing the private member 's resolution to be considered on the next Tuesday of private members' business will be one put forward by the honour able member for Burrows (Mr. Brar). The title of the reso lution is supporting the agricultural industry–agri culture industry in Manitoba.

And also, can you please resolve the House into the Committee of Supply for the consideration of de- partmental Estimates. The Deputy Speaker: It has been announced, pursuant to rule 34(7), the private members' resolution to be considered on the next Tuesday of private members' business will be one put forward by the honourable member for Burrows. The title of the reso- lution is Supporting the Agri cultural Industry in Manitoba. * * * The Deputy Speaker: And as announced, we will resolve into Committee of Supply for departmental Estimates. Deputy Speaker, take the Chair.

COMMITTEE OF SUPPLY (Concurrent Sections) ROOM 254 EDUCATION AND EARLY CHILDHOOD LEARNING * (15:10) The Acting Chairperson (Shannon Corbett): Will the Committee of Supply please come to order. This

section of the Committee of the Supply will now consider the Estimates of the Department of Edu- cation and Early Childhood Learning. Does the honour able minister have an opening statement? Hon. Tracy Schmidt (Minister of Education and Early Childhood Learning): I do. On behalf of the Department of Edu cation and Early Child hood Learning, I am so pleased to be here today for this committee meeting to discuss the Estimates for the '25-26 fiscal year. Before I get started with my opening statement, I just want to say a quick thank you to all of the com- mittee room support staff that are here today helping us.

It's important work that you all do, and we appre - ciate you keeping us on time and on task and watered and Hansard and all the rest. So thank you very much for your work, and also thank you so much to the department staff.

2206 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA May 20, 2025 We have some amazing staff from the department here assisting and supporting us today, but also to all of the staff that work in the Department of Education and Early Childhood Learning, thank you so much for all of the work that you did in putting together this year's budget Estimates, and there's something we can really be proud of. So thank you so much for your work. I value and thank each and every one of you. So when it comes to education, our government is turning the page.

We are making record invest ments in education funding so that students can receive the supports they need in the classroom. Over the past two years, we've increased funding by over $170 million, and that includes $30 million for our uni versal nutri- tion program. This year alone, we announced another robust and healthy funding increase of $67 million, or a 3.6 per cent lift.

We understand the importance of quality educa- tion for all Manitoba students and its impact on the province overall, and we will continue to strive to provide school divisions with predictable and stable funding that keeps pace with enrolment and addresses students' needs. As our Premier (Mr. Kinew) has said many times, and others have said before him, the best economic plan is an education plan.

And that 's why Budget 2025 continues with the invest ments we 've made into our students. * (15:20) After the former PC gov ernment cut the small class size cap, we' ve invested $3 million towards bringing back small class sizes. And in one school year alone, our investments have helped school divisions hire more than 630 educators back into the classroom so children can get that critical one-on-one support. And there are other ways we're helping our youngest learners.

Starting in fall 2025, we will be rolling out and piloting our uni versal early reading screeners to help identify students who may be at risk for future reading difficulties, including reading disabilities like dyslexia. And the full rollout of that program will take place in the fall of 2026. All Manitoba students will be screened for early reading skills for at least three years during their kindergarten-to-grade-4 years, ensuring that no student falls behind and all students have the necessary sup- ports in place to become successful readers and writers.

We're also taking actions to strengthen math outcomes for students. We 're imple menting a financial literacy unit into grade 9 to prepare students for their lives after school. And we 've recently announced that we are doubling the amount of time that students spend in grade 9 math, which will help all students across Manitoba succeed in future years. We are also excited to be piloting a renewed science curriculum in schools, grounded in Indigenous knowledge of the natural world within the context of contemporary science education.

And that curriculum redevelopment was developed in collaboration with a group of science education experts from around the world. The renewed curriculum equips learner s with the skills and competencies necessary to become scientifically literate citizens who understand how science works, are curious and care about the wor ld around them, who think critically about issues and make informed, sustainable decisions. We are helping children learn through our historic $30-million universal nutrition program, which ensures that no child will have to learn on an empty stomach.

We are already hearing about increased attendance from school divisions, better engagement in the class- room and stronger community building. We are also happy to partner with the federal gov- ernment, as they followed in Manitoba's footsteps by rolling out a national school food program. We know these investments will continue to pay dividends in terms not only of these individual successes of stu- dents and improved educa tional outcomes in our province but also into our provincial economy for generations to come.

Indigenous language education is also a priority of our gov ernment, led by the vision of the Premier who recently made history by delivering his speech in the Chamber on Spirit Bear Day in Cree. To support Indigenous language revitalization and preser vation, some key initiatives we're working on include Indigenous language curriculum framework development, teacher recruitment strategies, commu nity program funding and post -secondary part nerships. We 've also intro - duced Bill 18, which will allow for Indigenous lan- guage immersion programming in Manitoba, finally.

For the '25–pardon me–for the '24-25 school year, our government increased funding for the Treaty Rela- tions Commission of Manitoba to a total of $350,000 to support treaty education training. This funding will continue in '25-26 to help ensure that all teachers and school staff are trained in treaty education.

May 20, 2025 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 2207 French spoken Notre gouvernement appuie l'éducation en français avec des investissements importants. Translation Our government supports French-language education with major investments. English This includes re-establishing the assistant deputy minister position for le Bureau de l'éducation française after it was cut by the previous PC government.

We're also partnering with key French education partners, including l'Université de Saint-Boniface, the Manitoba Association of School Superintendents, the Manitoba School Boards Association and the Manitoba Teachers' Society to recruit and retain more French language teachers. We're also building two DSFM schools, one in Brandon and the other in St. Boniface. This is part of our government's plan to build 11 new schools to sup- port growing enrolment across our province.

These schools include a K -to-8 school in River East Transcona School Division, Devonshire Park; a K-to-8 school in Pem bina Trails School Division at Prairie Pointe; a K-to-8 school in Brandon–in Brandon southwest; a K -to-8 school in Seven Oaks in Meadowlands; a new Ste.

Anne high school in the Seine River School Division; a new K -to-8 school in Bridgwater Lakes as part of the Pembina Trails School Division; a new school –new high school in Neepawa, part of the Beautiful Plains School Division; a new K -to-8 school in Seven Oaks at Highland Pointe; and a Winnipeg northwest high school in the Winnipeg School Division. And unlike the previous government, these schools are all properly budgeted for and will be delivered to Manitobans on time and on budget. But the good news does not end there. There 's also many good things to talk about in early learning and child care.

Just a couple of months ago, we announced that we successfully negotiated a five-year extension with the federal govern ment, provi ding Manitoba with over $1.9 billion to continue building on the progress we have made in ensuring the sustain- ability of child care for families across our province. Through federal and provincial investments, we are increasing the availability of affordable, high-quality child care and investing in our workforce of early learning and child-care professionals.

Last year, together with Canada, we increased the wage grid for ECEs by 2.75 per cent and provided an additional $10.9 million to facilities to support those wage increases. We continue to expand training oppor tunities, creating more pathways to becoming an early child - hood educator in Manitoba. We 've made some huge strides, but we absolutely know that there is much more work to do, which is why this year we are going to launch a provincial workforce strategy to help us recruit and retain more professionals into this impor- tant and valued and rewarding career.

Manitoba is committed to expanding our child- care system with a space-expansion plan that already includes over 16,000 new spaces for children aged zero to 12 across our province. There are so many exciting projects that we can look forward to announcing in the near future. These announcements are going to build off of the growing number of projects we already have and part nerships that we have with schools, school divisions, in hospitals and post-secondary institutions and beyond. So, honourable Chair, and to the committee, there are a lot of great things happening in educa tion.

I am so proud of the work that our gov ernment is doing with many of our great partners across this province, with the many school divisions, with t he child-care centres, with our First Nations partners, with teachers and educators and students across this province. I very much look forward to the discussion here today at committee, and with that I will conclude my opening statements. Thank you very much. The Acting Chairperson (Shannon Corbett): We thank the minister for those comments. Does the critic from the official op position have an opening statement? Mr.

Wayne Ewasko (Lac du Bonnet): Thank you, Madam Chairperson, or –yes, Madam Chairperson. Thank you for everyone– An Honourable Member: Honourable Chairperson. Mr. Ewasko: Okay, I sit corrected, honour able Chairperson, by the Justice Minister already. So we'll get going on the conversation today. We're–it gives me great pleasure to be here today to ask some questions on behalf of Manitobans in regards to a very im portant topic of high priority is education here in Manitoba.

2208 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA May 20, 2025 I, too, would like to commend and thank the committee room support staff, everyone involved, of course, those that are working in behind the scenes to make sure that we're running a tight ship here in com- mittee during Estimates. Look forward to many, many days ahead of us, having questions and that taken forward to the Education and Early Child hood Learning Minister.

And at this time I'd also like to thank the de part- ment staff and the many individuals that work behind the scenes, that definitely work tirelessly to make sure that the govern ment in Manitoba, in their edu cation field, is trying to put the best foot forward even though, at times, I know that the current NDP govern- ment throws a few wrenches into the system.

And with that, honour able Chairperson, I 'm–I'd also like to make mention of the grievance/announce- ment that the member for Elmwood (MLA Maloway) brought forward on our way out of the Chamber today, and that was to not really grieve, but it was sort of a grieve.

He commemorated and talked about our recently passing of Councillor Jason Schreyer. * (15:30) And so our heartfelt condolences go out to Jason's family and, of course, his son Jared, of course, that I know, spent many times with Jason and, of course, to the honourable Ed Schreyer and his wonderful wife Lily and–who I've had the pleasure of getting to know for many, many years, considering that Mr. Schreyer was a teacher in the Brokenhead-Beausejour area back in the day, and there's been quite a few Ewaskos that have been taught by Mr. Schreyer. And so with that, I know that it's been a tough go.

I know the member for Elmwood brought forward a very compassionate speech today commemorating his good friend Jason. I take a look at the–and I listened to the Education and Early Childhood Learning Minister today on what they're brought forward in regards to their opening speech, and I see many things that we agree on, con- sidering many of the things that the Education Minister is now trying to have her Premier (Mr. Kinew) take credit for were a lot of Progressive Conservative initiatives–not only ones that were well under way, but ones that were under way but yet paused or stopped by the Kinew govern ment.

And it' s nice to hear when the Education Minister rattles off some of the projects and some of the initiatives coming forward, either that have been unpaused or continue to go on; it's nice to see them going forward. One of the things that we do not see eye to eye on is the fact on raising taxes on you, the hard- working Manitobans, property owners and renters in this province of ours.

As we heard today, we heard the Premier and the Finance Minister point fingers at th e school boards and blame them for the fact that this government has cut edu cation funding, but I 'm sure we will look to many days ahead of us in regards to some questions, and try to get some answers on behalf of Manitobans. So with that, honourable Chairperson, I'll concede the floor and we 'll move on with the 2025- 2026 Estimates. The Acting Chairperson (Shannon Corbett): We thank the member. Under Manitoba practice, debate on the minister's salary is the last item considered for a de partment in this Committee of Supply.

Accordingly, we shall now defer consideration of line item 16.1.(

a) contained in resolution 16.1. At this time we invite the minister 's staff to join us at the table, and we ask that the minister introduce the staff in attendance. At this time we ask that the minister introduce the staff in attendance. MLA Schmidt: It's my pleasure to introduce some of the many department staff that we are so lucky to have in Education and Early Childhood Learning.

All of them contribute to a team that has just produced in- credible results for students and for Manitobans, and I'm so very grateful for the chance to get to work with all of them, and to learn from them; and for all the help that they have given me in these first few months since I've taken on the role of minister of the department. So imme diately to my left we have our deputy minister, Brian O'Leary. To his left we have Andrew Henry, who is our executive financial officer. I believe that's the right–EFO? That's the right title?

Beside Andrew we have Sarah Whiteford, who is our assistant deputy minister for Early Learning and Child Care. And beside Sarah we have our acting assistant deputy minister of –[interjection] No longer acting. Congratulations. I apologize. This is news to me. We have our formal appointed assist ant deputy minister of System Performance & Accountability, Jeff Kehler. So welcome to the role officially now, Jeff. And Jeff has being doing an absolutely fantastic job in his acting capacity, and I am absolutely thrilled that

May 20, 2025 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 2209 he has joined– or, he has filled that position on a permanent basis. The Acting Chairperson (Shannon Corbett ): Thank you, Honourable Minister. According to our rule 78(16), during the consid - eration of de partmental Estimates, questioning for each department shall proceed in a global manner with questions put separately on all resolu tions once the official opposition critic indicates that questioning has concluded. The floor is now open for questions. Mr. Ewasko: Welcome, of course, to the staff; and congratulations, Mr.

Kehler, on being permanent deputy minister–or assistant deputy minister of System Performance & Accountability. So –and welcome everybody here this afternoon. So I'm going to start off by asking the Educa tion Minister almost a Estimates question one-oh-one. Can she provide more of the organizational structure in addition to what is shown on page 15 of the Estimates document? MLA Schmidt: Thank you to the critic for the question. I'm happy to put more information on the record about the organizational structure of the de partment and some of the functions that they perform.

So, again, we have with us today our deputy minister. Below the deputy minister we have two different sort of de partment services branches. We have the Financial and Administrative Services branch, which is headed by Andrew Henry who is here with us today, who is our EFO. Another department service that we have is our Cor porate Services, and the executive director of the Corporate Services branch is Rebecca Johnston. There are five main divisions in the De partment of Education and Early Childhood Learning, being Student Achievement & Inclusion, whose assist ant deputy minister's name is Janet Tomy.

We have–thank goodness, now, since our govern ment has been elected, we have reinstated the division of the Bureau de l 'education francaise, and that is headed by the assistant deputy minister by the name of René Déquier, and we 're very proud to have added that position back into the public service, some thing that is very needed. * (15:40) Manitoba is so proud to be a bilingual prov- ince, and it was a real shame that the previous PC government didn't see the value of bilingualism, didn't see the value of supporting French- language education in our province and cut the bureau.

And so we have–again, our government, the NDP government, has reinstated the Bureau de l 'éducation française division and has hired a new assistant deputy minister in Mr. Déquier. Another division of the department is the division of Indigenous Excellence in Education, headed by the assistant deputy minister, Jackie Connell. Jackie has an impressive career as an educator and as –and an administrator, and our department is so very lucky to have Jackie have joined the team. She has done some incredible work already.

Much of her work can be seen in our legislative agenda that we put forward this session, many incredible bills that will certainly move Indigenous edu cation f orward in this province and also see Indigenous excellence–further Indigenous excellence attained in our province. Another division of the de partment is System Performance and Accountability, headed by our newly minted assistant deputy minister, Jeff Kehler.

And, finally, what is also a division of the depart- ment but really occupies about 50 per cent of our mandate and our time and effort and attention, and that's the division of Early Learning and Child Care, headed by the assist ant deputy minister, Sarah Whiteford, who, again, also has done incredible work. Her leadership across Canada is noted. Manitoba is currently the co- chair of the FPT of ministers most responsible for child care.

And when I had the pleasure of attending that conference late last year, I got to meet many of the ministers from across Canada and also many of the deputy minis ters and assistant deputy ministers across Canada that are working on child care.

And each and every one of the people that I ran into and spoke with, in what was at the time an acting role for myself, some thing I was just starting to sink into and learn about, everyone I spoke to at that national conference–again, a gathering of all of the federal, provincial and territorial ministers most responsible for child care, including their deputy ministers and assist ant deputy ministers –everyone had really fantastic things to say about Sarah.

And Sarah and her team, with the support of our govern - ment, really led the charge in getting Canada back to the table to renegotiate the Canada- wide early child- hood program.

2210 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA May 20, 2025 I may have missed–most of the time–I may have missed the Student Achievement and Inclusion, headed by the assist ant deputy minister, Janet Tomy. If I failed to mention her already, I apologize. She also does incredible work on assessment and curriculum. Incredible folks working in our department. The Acting Chairperson (Shannon Corbett): Thank you. Mr. Ewasko: So what I had asked the minister was, in addition to what's on page 15 of the Estimates book, if she could go through some additional –of the posi- tions and also the names attached to each.

And at this time, I would also like to congratulate Assistant Deputy Minister Déquier on her appointment. I'd also like to say that in addition to what the minister–or, to correct the record, I guess, a little bit, is the fact that we did have –you know, under our previous government, we still had Assistant Deputy Minister Janet Tomy, who is proficient in Fren ch language and had still worked with the francophone school divisions and, of course, everything in regards to the French immersion and francophonie sections of Manitoba Education. So back to the original question.

I would like the minister to talk about the organizational structure that is in addition to –on what is in page 15, with those names as well. MLA Schmidt: Something I failed to mention in my opening statement, perhaps, something I think is im- portant in spaces like this when we 're having meet - ings, when we're identifying ourselves, is pronouns. So I use the pronouns she/her. I think pronouns are im portant for individuals; they' re impor tant for respectful dialogue.

And I don't believe that the mem- ber opposite did this intentionally, but they did, as a– in the interest of correcting the record, for accuracy and for respect: René Déquier, who is the assist ant deputy minister in the bureau, uses he/him pronouns, not she/her pronouns. So, just for ac curacy. And, again, I don' t suspect that the member opposite did that with any intent. That being said, I think it's also very important, so just to correct the record.

So, again, it gives me great pleasure to further highlight some of the incredible folks that work in the Department of Education and Early Childhood Learning and to read their names and their roles onto the perma- nent record forever and all time. So, again, there are five main divisions in the Department of Education and Early Childhood Learn- ing. We can start with–as it appears, sort of, from left to right in the organizational chart that' s printed at page 15 of the Estimates book–so we'll start with the division of Student Achievement and Inclusion, again, headed by Assistant Deputy Minister Janet Tomy.

So one of the other executive staff –some of the other executive that work with Janet in Student Achievement and Inclusion include: we have Rhonda Shaw, who is the executive director of the Learning and Outcomes branch; we also have Allan Hawkins, who is the executive director of Inclusion Support and Services Branch. And we know that the work that they do is so important in learning and outcomes.

They do the work of developing curriculum, of working on assessments which are so im portant for students and for families. * (15:50) And, again, Allan's work is also very important in the role of inclusion; inclusion is some thing that we think about every day in the department, with the ideal of having every student in class all day, every day is the goal. Of course, we know that inclusion means different things for different students and different families and different schools. But again, we're guided by the underlying principle that every child matters.

So next, we can work on the Bureau d' éducation française, again, headed by the ADM René Déquier. I can highlight the executive director of the bureau, whose name is Kassy Assié. And again–oh, yes, sorry, yes –and again, in that branch, they do such incredible and important work of promoting French language education here in Manitoba, something that is somewhat unique to Manitoba, some- thing that we should be so proud of, of both French language education and also French immersion edu- cation. We have such a proud tradition in our province. I, myself, am a benefactor of French immersion edu - cation.

I know many members of our caucus and many members of the Assembly have also benefited from French language instruction here in our province. So moving on to Indigenous Excellence in Edu- cation, headed by the Assistant Deputy Minister Jackie Connell. We do have a director that works with Jackie and that is someone by the name of Sarah Gazan. And again, the work that they are producing out of the Indigenous Excellence division is absolutely trans - formational, and really, work that 's leading the way across Canada.

May 20, 2025 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 2211 Moving on to System Performance and Account- ability, I'd like to highlight Tina Choy- Pohl, who is the director of Educa tion Funding branch. I 'd like to highlight Faisal Islam, who is the acting executive director of the Governance and Policy branch. I'd like to highlight Stacey Hay, who is the executive director of Teacher Certification and Standards. And from the Early Learning and Child Care division, I 'd love to highlight Jennifer Faulder– The Acting Chairperson (Shannon Corbett): The minister's time has expired. Mr.

Ewasko: Absolutely, I'll start off by apologizing to the minister for using incorrect pronouns for her, and, again, apologizing to Monsieur Déquier who is now the assist ant deputy minister in the de partment for using the wrong pronouns for him. So–but again, congratulations on your appointment. I will ask the minister to continue on listing the different positions and the names, but I'd also like her to list off how many political staff she has in the Department of Education as well. The Acting Chairperson (Shannon Corbett): Would the member for Lac du Bonnet (Mr.

Ewasko) please repeat the last part of the question? Just there was a– yes. An Honourable Member: Sure. Yes. The Acting Chairperson (Shannon Corbett): Member for Lac du Bonnet. Mr. Ewasko: Okay, so I can go? Okay. So last part of the question–so, first of all, was for the minister to continue on the positions and the names that she was going down; she just ran out of time. And the second part was: How many political staff does she have in the Department of Education?

MLA Schmidt: Thank you to the member opposite for allowing me the time to, again, read some of the names and positions of some of the incred ible folks that work in our department. I really appreciate the op- portunity to finish where we had left off. So, again, we were– where we had left off was listing some additional positions in the division of Early Learning and Child Care, headed by the assist - ant deputy minister of–Sarah Whiteford. So, again, where I had left off was I spoke about Jennifer Fauldner, who is the executive director of the Policy and Planning branch.

I 'd love to acknowledge Susan Emerson, who's the director of our Provincial Operations branch. And I would love to highlight Nneka Anyaoku- Onyenekwu and, again, I apologize if I fail to pro- nounce that properly. Nneka is the executive director of Funding and Financial Assistance. She 's also an incredibly warm and upbeat person, and so I apologize to her directly if I have failed to pronounce her name correctly; I'm embarrassed about that.

I will just say very briefly, just two weeks ago, three weeks ago, a month ago–I'm not sure; time flies in this space –very recently, it was the Week of the Early Child hood Educator here in Manitoba, and during that week, I was very lucky to accompany ADM Whiteford to the early childhood learning divi- sion offices downtown here and get to meet some of the incredible folks that work in that division of the department.

So many of the folks that work in the department, as fantastic public servants, have the lived experience of working as early childhood educators and have worked i n the sector, some of them for decades.

And it was just such a privilege and an honour to get to share space with them and to get to celebrate not just–again, not just what they do as public servants working within the de partment to expand access to affordable, high-quality child care for families here in Manitoba, which is really important work, but also to really acknowledge the fact of, again, their –the work that they've done in this sector directly working with children as early child hood educators here in our system, and then they bring that knowledge and that passion that they have for kids into our department to allow and to support the work that we're doing as gov- ernment to really quite rapidly and, I –dare I say, radically expand child-care space here in Manitoba in partnership with the federal govern ment.

Their work is so valued, and it was, again, such a privilege to get to go visit with them in their place of work. So I am going to go back to–I would like to mention one other political staff–I'm sorry, not political staff– department staff that I failed to mention from the Student Achievement and Inclusion division, and that is Allison Potter, who works on Continuous Improve- ment. Her work is also very, very important. So those are just some of the further–some further information on the organizational structure. Happy to follow up with the member if he has further questions.

Oh, I didn't get to everyone; I missed one person. I'm all over the place here today. Thank you to the committee for your patience.

2212 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA May 20, 2025 I did fail to read out the name of one of our other executive directors in the Early Learning and Child Care division, and that 's the executive director of Capital and Space Expansion, Signe Hanson, and it 's very important, and I thank my–the support staff that I have with me here today because, again, all of the roles–every person and department performs a impor- tant and pivotal role.

Signe, in parti cular, as the executive director of Capital and Space Expansion, has a very, very impor- tant job and she leads an excellent team, and I cannot– and Manitobans cannot –thank them enough for the work that they are doing in–again, in partnership with the federal gov ernment in rapidly and radically ex- panding access to child care here in our province and really developing, analyzing and getting off the ground the many, many capital space expansion projects that we have right across our province.

So thank you to the staff for reminding me about Signe, and thank you very much to Signe, herself, for the work that she does. Running out of time here to answer the second part of the member's question and again thank him for repeating the question for us. I currently have four political staff in the office. Mr. Ewasko: I'm going to concede some time to the member for Tyndall Park (MLA Lamoureux) 'til 4:15.

MLA Cindy Lamoureux (Tyndall Park): I'd like to thank my colleague from Lac du Bonnet for allowing me some time here this afternoon, as well as the minister and all the de partmental staff for being here this afternoon and answering our questions. After I intro duced Bill 225, there was a policy directive that the minister had announced on the exact same lines–I would argue quite vague; doesn' t have everything in writing that she shares in the House, she explains as similar to the bill.

The policy directive does not include very specific details such as inform- ing parents, such as ensuring that the schools follow up with the findings of universal screening. Now, on April 15, the legis lation passed second reading unanimously. Many members of the govern - ment, in fact, spoke in favour of the legislation. * (16:00) Since then, I've had many people reach out to me; we're talking doctors, speech pathologists, teachers, parents of students, some from Dyslexia Canada. I know the member–minister mentioned Dyslexia Canada earlier. They would like to see Bill 225 go to committee.

I am more than happy to share some of these cor- respondence with the minister, if she would like. I 'm more than happy to help arrange some of these meetings so she can hear directly from them, if she would prefer. There are currently 26 people signed up to speak at committee, and members around this table know that's a high number of people who tend to come out to speak at committee.

I am asking the minister to call Bill 225 to com - mittee to ensure that the voices of those who helped contribute towards this legis lation–again, that came out before the policy directive –have the oppor tunity to share their thoughts, their ideas, their concerns with MLAs. And I, too, like the minister said earlier, I would love to be able to work col laboratively on this. I actually had the oppor tunity to do this with my col- league from Concordia here as well. I 'd love the opportunity, but she has to include me in the con ver- sation then. Will she bring the bill to committee?

The Acting Chairperson (Shannon Corbett): Just as a point of order, Bill 225 is currently before the House and we can't speak about things that are in the House during Estimates. So could the member from Tyndall Park please rephrase your question to tie it into the Estimates. MLA Lamoureux: I can certainly try my best to bring it back to Estimates here. I think a big part of why we hold Estimates is so that MLAs can ask questions of the minister and the departmental staff to ensure that, in this case, edu ca- tion across the province is widely understood.

And I think that's what a big part of what all the work is that we're doing in the House. So I guess the bottom line of the question to the minister and the department is: Does she believe that committee is an impor tant step of legis lation–we'll keep it very vague–and, if so, would she send–would she recommend that legislation that has quite a few – in this case, 26 members –signed up to speak, should go to committee because that's the democratic thing to do?

The Acting Chairperson (Shannon Corbett): While we do appre ciate the member from Tyndall Park trying to bring it back, unfor tunately we really need you to frame it in terms of the Estimates.

May 20, 2025 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 2213 MLA Lamoureux: I'd like to ask the minister if it is costing her money to send Bill 225 to committee. MLA Schmidt: Thank you to the member opposite for the question. There is no budget line in Estimates to send bills to committee. So, no, there is no cost to the de part- ment, I suppose, to send bills to com mittee. I can assure the member and all Manitobans that, certainly, the cost of running a committee would never be a con- sideration for whether or not we would move a bill through committee or not.

Committee–the com mittee process is an im por- tant one, as the member noted, and it's somewhat unique to our process here in Manitoba. And it is an important opportunity to speak to stakeholders and to Manitobans and to hear voices that contribute to or are concerned about the particular issue at hand. I'm always happy to meet with those affected. Very happy to have very recently attended the Manitoba Reading Association conference, where the announcement about our uni versal reader screener was given a resounding applause.

And it's work that, despite the member 's sugges- tion, was initiated by the department well in advance of the introduction of her bill–again, which is not the subject of Estimates here today. But the work of the department began as late– I'm sorry, as early as October of 2024, so well in advance of Bill 225. Again, I applaud the member for her work that she does on behalf of her constituents. It was also a com- mitment that was made in our Throne Speech. So any suggestion that this is piggybacking off of the member's bill is simply inaccurate.

It's interesting timing; it's certainly coincidence and coincidences do happen, but that 's certainly –the timing of the an - nouncements was certainly nothing more than coincidental. And again, you know, there 's certainly ample of evidence through the de partment to prove what I'm suggesting here at committee today. Again, always happy to hear from those that are advocates on this matter. I 've met recently with the department, with Dyslexia Canada –with repre sen- tatives from Dyslexia Canada, both local repre sen- tatives and national repre sentatives, and we met on May 6.

And I know the department has met with them previously and on many oc casions. And we applaud their work and we thank their work, their advocacy work that they do in supporting learners across Canada and certainly here in Manitoba. We all want the same things, which is improved outcomes for students here in Manitoba, for greater success and achievement when it comes to reading, which is so foundational to all learning going forward. So, again, really ap preciate the work of Dyslexia Can

Document details

Collection	Manitoba — Debates (Hansard)
Citation	43-2-56b
Type	hansard
Volume / chapter	43rd 2nd hansardpdf 56b.pdf
Language	en
Format	pdf
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	ed1cffc6a58c809bbe22250c22b5e8dd5f196256

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