Manitoba Hansard — 13 March 2019 (Sitting 24, 41st Legislature, 4th Session)

41-4-24

Manitoba — Debates (Hansard)

Fourth Session – Forty-First Legislature of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba DEBATES and PROCEEDINGS Official Report (Hansard) Published under the authority of The Honourable Myrna Driedger Speaker Vol. LXXII No. 24 - 1:30 p.m., Wednesday, March 13, 2019 ISSN 0542-5492

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

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

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

Gimli PC WIEBE, Matt Concordia NDP WISHART, Ian Portage la Prairie PC WOWCHUK, Rick Swan River PC YAKIMOSKI, Blair Transcona PC

657 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA Wednesday, March 13, 2019 The House met at 1:30 a.m. Madam Speaker: O Eternal and Almighty God, from Whom all power and wisdom come, we are assembled here before Thee to frame such laws as may tend to the welfare and prosperity of our province. Grant, O merciful God, we pray Thee, that we may desire only that which is in accordance with Thy will, that we may seek it with wisdom and know it with cer tainty and accomplish it perfectly for the glory and honour of Thy name and for the welfare of all our people. Amen. Please be seated. MATTER OF PRIVILEGE Hon.

Jon Gerrard (River Heights): Madam Speaker, I rise on a matter of privilege. I will speak to the fact that this was raised at the earliest possible time and is a prima facie case of a matter of privilege. Yesterday, during his member's statement, the member for St. Boniface (Mr. Lamont) spoke to recognize the passing of Evelyne Anderson, a remarkable woman and a legend in Winnipeg theatre. In the middle of his remarks on Evelyne Anderson's life, the MLA for Lac du Bonnet was heckling the MLA for St. Boniface. I table a 'frash' – flash drive which includes a video of this event.

Madam Speaker , it is rude, insensitive and inappropriate for one MLA to heckle another MLA when they're commenting on the death of a person and paying a tribute to their life. I am raising this matter at the first possible opportunity as I needed to review the video and to check Marleau and Montpetit and O'Brien and Bosc with respect to this matter. This is a matter of privilege because heckling in this fashion is not just rude, insensitive and inappropriate, it is an attempt by the MLA for Lac du Bonnet to intimidat e the MLA for St. Boniface.

Marleau and Montpetit have certainly found cases where such intimidation of a member is sufficient grounds for a prima facie case of privilege, as illustrated on pages 83 to 95 of Marleau and Montpetit and on pages 108 to 118 in O'Brien and Bosc. I would also refer to the Speaker to page 97 of O'Brien and Bosc. What the MLA for Lac du Bonnet said in heckling the MLA for St. Boniface when he was speaking about the death of a relative cannot be defended on the grounds that the MLA for Lac du Bonnet has the ability to exercise his right to freedom of speech in such occasions as this.

Page 87 and the following pages in O'Brien and Bosc show that this would be a misuse of the member's right to freedom of speech. Members do not ha ve the freedom of speech to intimidate other members and particularly to do it in such a disrespectful way. I therefore move, seconded by the MLA for Burrows, that this matter be referred to a legislative committee to be addressed. Thank you.

Madam Sp eaker: Before recognizing any other members to speak, I would remind the House that remarks at this time by honourable members are limited to strictly relevant comments about whether the alleged matter of privilege has been raised at the earliest opportunity and whether a prima facie case has been established. Hon. Blaine Pedersen (Deputy Government House Leader): You know, we have no doubt that there's been a matter of privilege raised; however, I would think that between the members and yourself, Madam Speaker, that this issue could be resolved and we can move forward in a constructive manner. Mr.

Wayne Ewasko (Lac du Bonnet): On the case of the matter of privilege, I was listening 'intentively' and –to the private member's statement by the member for St. Boniface. He mentioned how his aunt was an actress and my comment was: So that's where you get your acting skills. And so with that, if that offends the member from St. Boniface or he feels in timidated by that, I offer up my apology today. That was not my intent, and those are my comments. Thank you. Madam Speaker: I trust that with the apology from the member that this should conclude the matter. Moving forward, then.

658 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA March 13, 2019 ROUTINE PROCEEDINGS INTRODUCTION OF BILLS Bill 13–The Private Vocational Institutions Act Hon. Colleen Mayer (Minister of Crown Services): I move, seconded by the Minister for Growth, Enterprise and Trade, that Bill 13, The Private Vocational Institutions Act, now be re ad a first time. Motion presented. Mrs. Mayer: Private vocational institutions are an important part of the post -secondary education system and play a critical role in Manitoba's labour market by offering convenient, flexible and career-focused training.

The Private Vocational Institutions Act has not been updated in over 15 years. This bill will modernize the sector by focusing on transparency and outcomes, informed choices for students and reduced red tape. This modernized approach will provide PVIs with the ability to focus on delivering results as opposed to unnecessary paperwork. This new approach will ensure that we are outcomes -oriented, reducing administrative burden while still providing consumers with the information that they need to make informed decisions. Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker: Is it the pleasure to adopt the motion?

Agreed? [Agreed] Bill 19–The Residential Tenancies Amendment Act Hon. Cliff Cullen (Minister of Justice and Attorney General): I move, seconded by the Minister for the Status of Women, that Bill 19, The Residential Tenancies Amendment Act, be now read a first time. Motion presented. Mr. Cullen: This bill is further evidence of our government's commitment to stand up for victims of domestic and sexual violence. Currently, a tenant can only end a tenancy agreement early if they experience domestic violence or stalking. This legislation will expand those protections to victims of sexual violence.

The legislation also simplifies the process for establishing that violence or stalking has occurred by no longer requiring a police report or no- contact order to end a tenancy agreement. Instead, victims will be able to access a range of professional services to establish that violence has occurred. Madam Speaker, I'd like to acknowledge representatives from Willow Place, Survivor's Hope Crisis Centre, Klinic Community Health Centre and the Health Sciences Centre hospital who have joined us in the gallery today for the introduction of this important bill.

Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. * (13:40) Madam Speaker: Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion? Agreed? [Agreed] Committee reports? TABLING OF REPORTS Hon. Blaine Pedersen (Minister of Growth, Enterprise and Trade): Madam Speaker , I am pleased to table the quarterly report for the Communities Economic Development Fund. And, as well, Madam Speaker, I wish–I am pleased to table the 2017-2018 Annual Report for the Office of the Fire Commissioner. Madam Speaker: Ministerial statements? MEMBERS' STATEMENTS Astro Jimmies Mr. Scott Johnston (St.

James): Today I have the privilege to recognize a group of outstanding high school students representing St. James Collegiate. They are the Astro Jimmies. The students are here today, accompanied by their physics teacher, Heidi Werner, and principal, Lorelei Steffler. They are a physics club that recently won an engineering award at the Manitoba Association of Physics Teachers' High Altitude Balloon Sym - posium. These students designed a Styrofoam droid resembling R2- D2 from Star Wars. It contained multiple HD ca meras and an electronic tracking system.

The droid was launched in April 2018 in Alonso [phonetic], Manitoba, along with 13 other competing schools. Balloons are designed to burst at a certain altitude and would make their way back to the ground in a predictable area. Their balloon travelled 30,000 meters above sea level and landed near Portage la Prairie two hours

March 13, 2019 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 659 after it was launched. The HD cameras and tracking device captured footage of their balloons' movement, as well as most of the clouds. Please join me as I congratulate the St. James Collegiate Astro Jimmies, who recently won the best engineering and design award at the High Altitude Balloon Symposium. Way to go, Jimmies. Madam Speaker: The honourable member for St. James? Mr. Johnston: Madam Speaker, I would ask that the students' names be included in Hansard. Madam Speaker: Is there leave to include those names in Hansard? [Agreed] St.

James Collegiate Astro Jimmies: Daud Frotan, Jacob Funk -Froese, Cristy Lozano, Tyler Poolie, Aidan Santos. Ham Sandwich Theatre Group Mr. Tom Lindsey (Flin Flon): The coming fall marks the 20th anniversary of the Ham Sandwich, one of Flin Flon's foremost theatrical groups. Since its establishment decades ago, the group has produced dozens of plays, ranging from pantomimes to more serious works. Generally, Ham Sandwich does two perfor - mances every year. The fall show is for a family audience and usually has a holiday theme in which youth actors are cast.

The spring show, on the other hand, typically focuses on more sophisticated subject matter. This past weekend, the group presented their production of 1984, based on George Orwell's dystopian novel. Director Thomas Heine, assisted by his spouse Beth, did a wonderful job of showing how relevant the materia l is today, given the commodification of our personal information and general lack of privacy in the digital age. The actors fully embraced their characters, making for an impressive theatre experience, and the use of multimedia effects helped to enh ance the storytelling.

This group relies entirely on volunteers who organize all aspects of production, and dedicate their time to bringing the most outstanding performances to the Flin Flon community. Because of this, they have established a devoted gro up of community members. Ham Sandwich is an integral part of the cultural fabric of Flin Flon, and their productions allow for creative engagement in the community. Next time you're in Flin Flon, I encourage you to come and see one of their productions. You won't regret it. Thank you, Madam Speaker. Cassidy and Johanna's Cake Boutique Mr.

Andrew Micklefield (Rossmere): When we hear that Manitoba leads the country in private capital investment, we often think of large com - panies with many employees. But there are many smaller businesses starting in neighbourhoods across our province, and I encourage all of us to support them. One such business in Rossmere is Cassidy and Johanna's Cake Boutique, recently started by Rossmere resident Cassidy Kasdorf and Johanna Dyck at the corner of Lagimodiere Boulevard and Grassie Boulevard in Rossmere.

Cassidy and Johanna are childhood friends who graduated from high school together and then went to college, where they spent evenings ba king to destress. Along with her love for creating pastry, Johanna's Asper education sharpened her keen eye for numbers. Cassidy, having studied with some of New York's most renowned bakery chefs, now creates designer cakes while marketing and managing the business as well.

Although Cassidy and Johanna are not yet 21 years old, their business is making an impact, has a vibrant social media presence and is gaining popularity from family, friends and a growing fan base in Rossmere and across Winnipeg. Cassidy and Johanna produce, daily, fresh cakes and cookies, and samples put aside in preparation for my member's statement were eaten by my children before I had a chance to try them.

Although the demands of running their business have kept them from joining us here today –they had more cake orders–I, nonetheless, invite my colleague members of this Chamber to join me in con- gratulating and wishing these young female entrepreneurs every success in the future. St. John's Tigers Basketball Champions Ms. Nahanni Fontaine (St. Johns): I'm so pleased to have in the gallery today the St. John's High School Tigers, who, last Friday, won the Winnipeg varsity boys two tier basketball championships. The Tigers went undefeated in the two tier division all

660 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA March 13, 2019 season, culminating in a final game against Grant Park Pirates. St. John's Tigers got off to an amazing start, scoring the first 10 points. Grant Park's Pirates battled back, trying–tying the score 15-15 in the first quarter. St. John's scored seven straight points at end of the quarter. The third quarter saw St. John's pull away and cruise into the fourth quarter with a final score of 87-67.

The game saw two players dominate offensively: No. 10, Tommy [phonetic] Ali, scoring fast break points with No. 11, Prince Shema, repeatedly making three-point breaks –baskets, pardon me, Madam Speaker. It is quite evident, watching the boys play, the whole team works together supporting one another on and off the court, and if it had not been for their teamwork and defence, the game would have been a lot closer. I want to give out a particular shout-out to No. 7, Lewin Francois, whose game did not go unnoticed by me. 'Truler' –truly, the Tigers are a joy to watch on and off the court.

I would be remiss, Madam Spe aker, if I didn't acknowledge the St. John's supporters in the crowd, dressed in orange and black, with their electric and respectful chants. St. John's fans were like having a sixth player on the court. Both the crowd and players fed off one another, highlighting the positive energy of the collective St. John's family. Finally, congratulations to the coaching team under the leadership of Head Coach Russ Patterson. I look forward to next year's season and, finally, congratulations, Tigers.

Introduction of Guests Madam Speaker: Prior to the next member's statement, I would like to introduce to you some students that are in the gallery, and I understand they're going to be leaving the gallery in a couple of minutes so I'd like to get that introduction done now. We have seated in the public gallery, from Maples Collegiate, 20 grade 10 students under the direction of Saul Henteleff. This group is located in the constituency of the honourable member for Burrows (Ms. Lamoureux). On behalf of all members here, we welcome you to the Manitoba Legislature. Dr. Alan Rich Mr.

Kelly Bindle (Thompson): Madam Speaker, this past January, northerners gathered in Thompson to celebrate the life of Dr. Alan Rich, who had recently passed away January 21st, 2019, in Swan River, Manitoba. We shared hundreds of stories of the profoundly personal and positive impact the legendary Dr. Rich had on the lives of many us in the North. Alan Douglas Rich was born February 28th, 1945, in Brighton, Engla nd. His father was a Canadian soldier and his mother a war bride. Alan was an infant when they came to Canada after the Second World War and he grew up on a farm in rural Saskatchewan.

Although Alan came from a very poor family, he had a very strong work ethic and very strong values. As a university student he worked in the food services industry to make ends meet, and after earning degrees in liberal arts and sciences, Alan graduated from the University of Saskatchewan, College of Medicine, in 1971. While completing his residency at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Montreal, on summer breaks Dr. Rich would travel by motorcycle to Thompson to work at the mine to earn as much money as he could to fund his education. After completing his internship in 1972, Dr.

Rich returned to Thompson, where he would practise medicine for more than four decades, making him the longest -serving and most beloved doctor in the history of Thompson. * (13:50) Over the course of his career, Dr. Rich worked as a general practitioner; he worked in CancerCare, was an anesthetist, oversaw dialysis, worked as a medical examiner, served as team physician for the Thompson Hawks hockey team and was a judo instructor. Dr. Rich moved to Swan River to practise medicine in 2011, while continuing to travel to Thompson to see patients monthly.

In 2013, he was presented with the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, and in 2014, in recognition of his commitment to northerners, Dr. Alan Rich was bestowed–key to the city of Thompson. To many, D r. Rich was the most unorthodox doctor they had ever met and the most loyal to his patients. If they missed an appointment, he would

March 13, 2019 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 661 show up at their door later the same evening, roaring up the driveway on his motorcycle, clad in leather boots, leather jac ket, jeans, coming to check on them. His motto was to do more good than harm. Madam Speaker: The member's time has expired. Some Honourable Members: Leave. Madam Speaker: Is there leave to allow the member to complete his statement? [Agreed] Mr. Bindl e: Dr. Rich was a plain -spoken, humble and caring big man with big hands and a big heart.

He knew that wounds would heal faster and better without anesthetic, and if he said to you, what's your pain threshold, and you said pretty good; then you, too, were guaranteed to never forget Dr. Rich. He was truly remarkable and he will be missed. ORAL QUESTIONS Children in Care Safety Risk Government Response Mr.

Wab Kinew (Leader of the Official Opposition): Madam Speaker, the life and death of Tina Fontaine has galvanized attention across our country and in our province to the issue of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls, as well as the need to address many of the systems overseen by government t o ensure that no more kids fall through the cracks. There was, however, a pretty alarming sentence in yesterday's report that we did touch on yesterday, but I think is important to revisit today, and that is a warning that there are kids continuing to fa ll through the cracks today.

In particular, the Manitoba Advocate for Children and Youth said that there are currently 17 young people –17 children–that they are advocating for who are at imminent risk of death or harm. So I'd like to return to that questi on today, and ask the Premier: What sort of actions is he taking? What sort of specific steps is the Premier taking to respond to ensure the safety of these 17 kids and to make sure that they don't fall through the cracks? Hon.

Brian Pallister (Premier): It's with tremendous sadness in my heart, and I know in the hearts of colleagues who know this news, to let our friends around the House understand that we've lost Stu Briese, who was a fine member of the Legislative Assembly for close to a decade who served the people of Manitoba in various roles for many, many years at the municipal level.

A tremendous leader, a community man, great sense of humour and a wonderful human being who advocated strongly for Jordan's Principle and the support for children in need, who did so many other things –and I know it's not the place to give condolences today, but I thought members of the House would want to know of that. I'll–I know the member will wish for an answer to his question; I will give him that in my seco nd response with the time available to give so. Madam Speaker: The honourable Leader of the Official Opposition, on a supplementary question. Mr.

Kinew: I do offer my condolences to the Premier as well as to all those affected by the loss. Again, the li ne in the children's advocate report is quite stark. It's quite clear. There are 17 kids in Manitoba right now who are at imminent risk of death or harm, and I think it would bear in mind– that we ought to bear in mind that these are merely the 17 youth that the children's advocate is working for right now. There are likely others out there in the streets, perhaps in homes around the province, who are also at risk, and we should not forget them.

But being as the Manitoba advocate has so clearly highlighted these 17 children, I think we would all be remiss in this Chamber if we did not personally inquire as to the well-being and the safety of these kids. So with that in mind, I would like to ask the Premier: What specific steps, which actions are being taken by this government to ensure that these 17 youth who are at risk of imminent harm or death are being cared for and will be kept safe? Mr. Pallister: I'm very concerned about the advocate's reference specifically to 17 kids. I'm concerned about the larger issues, obviously, as we all are as well.

The–we followed up upon learning of this assertion and I am told the director of CFS has followed up with the advocate by email already to ascertain exactly who these children are that were referenced in yesterday's commentary, and whether or not they've been reported or not, because, obviously, they have not. We would need to have the

662 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA March 13, 2019 information reported so that appropriate action can be taken immediately. On the larger issues, of course, that were raised yesterday–important ones –we're excited to review the report and act as we have already on previous reports with significant interest and focus in making better lives for our children a reality in Manitoba. Madam Speaker: The honourable Leader of the Official Opposition, on a final supplementary. Children's Advocate Report Implementation of Recommendations Mr.

Wab Kinew (Leader of the Official Opposition): So in addition to the 17 youth who were specifically referenced by the Manitoba advocate in their report yesterday, there is the larger question of systems changes that need to be undertaken to ensure that no other young person has to go down the same lif e experience and tragic end that Tina Fontaine did experience. To that end, the Manitoba advocate laid out five specific recommendations under provincial juris - diction that the government is to undertake.

And so I would like to know from the Premier whether he will commit specifically to enacting all five recommendations laid out by the Manitoba Advocate for Children and Youth in the Tina Fontaine report yesterday. Hon. Brian Pallister (Premier): Well, I think, Madam Speaker, assertions, of course, of follow-up are fine and we have made those and will continue to, but the evidence would be in our actions. Past actions are the best indicator of future performance, and the reality is that we have followed up on over 90 per cent of the recommendations tha t emanated from the Phoenix Sinclair inquiry.

We have followed up on the significant majority and are continuing to make progress on those that came from the TRC report, the truth and reconciliation report. Our government has demonstrated its focus. We have seen just over the last year some encouraging news: largest reduction in the number of children in care in 15 years; reunifications increasing by almost 9 per cent; apprehensions decreasing by 9 per cent. We'll continue, Madam Speaker, as a government, to focus on making this province a safer place for all our children. Madam Speaker: The honourable Leader of the Official Opposition, on a new question.

Addiction Treatment Services Harm Reduction Resources Mr. Wab Kinew (Leader of the Official Opposition): Again, further action could be preceded by a verbal commitment to implement all five recommendations by the Manitoba advocate. We know that some of the details revealed in the report yesterday also highlight the nature to which the ongoing addict ions and methamphetamine crisis in our province played in–to the ultimate death of Tina Fontaine, but also into the –many of the tragic circumstances which surrounded her life.

We know that the chief of police of Winnipeg, for instance, has been speaking about this issue for well over a year. At one point, he said that he felt like a broken record because he's been raising the issue of meth and addictions so many times here in the city of Winnipeg. We know that the real human cost that goes beyond just a n issue of crime and safety, those – though those are very important. We're also seeing an outbreak of STBBIs –blood-borne illnesses –here in the province as a result of this addictions crisis. Now, I 'sympasize' with the chief of police, but we still need h im to play that record.

We still need him– Madam Speaker: The member's time has expired. Hon. Brian Pallister (Premier): Well, Madam Speaker, we've taken numerous steps, as had been repeatedly enunciated here in the Chamber by myself, the Health Minister and others, in respect of the meth issue. I'm not sure if the member is drawing a link to Tina Fontaine and meth. I'm not sure there is such a link, but there certainly is, I suppose, relatively speaking, a vulnerability that needs to be addressed and that is exactly what we're focused on doing. The vulnerability of our young people is critical to that.

I'm not sure how gi ving Tina safe access to meth injection sites would make her life any better in hindsight, Madam Speaker. I doubt that that would be the case. That being said, I do think it's critical that we continue to make progress in making this province safer for c hildren, and that is exactly what we're focused on doing. Madam Speaker: The honourable Leader of the Official Opposition, on a supplementary question.

March 13, 2019 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 663 Mr. Kinew: Madam Speaker, the report lays out that Tina Fontaine did test for having amphetamines in her system, and that the person who was accused– though ultimately acquitted –in her death was also a methamphetamine user. So certainly a full -throated response on the part of this government would create a safer space for children and youth in the city of Winnipeg. We know that one of the impacts on children and youth is the fact that there are now congenital cases of syphilis going on in the city and in the province.

We know that other blood- borne illnesses, other STIs, are also on the increase. All of the se could be addressed by harm -reduction steps, by increased access to clean supplies and, yes, by the creation of a safe consumption site in Winnipeg. * (14:00) So will the Premier recommit to combating the addictions crisis in Winnipeg, beginning with t he creation of a safe consumption site but also expanded treatment and harm-reduction resources? Mr. Pallister: I'm not going to accept the premise of the member that somehow Tina Fontaine's passing is a cause célѐbre for introducing a site for safe inj ection of meth.

Madam Speaker, I can't accept that. I can accept that the things that we're doing to help those who have never taken meth not take it are good. I can accept the idea that we need to help those who want to get off meth, get off meth, and w e are doing many things to address those folks' needs too. But as far as facilitating the use of meth by Tina Fontaine, as the member is advocating, I'm not sure how facilitation of the use of meth by anyone is a way to help them in their lives.

Now, the member is using–is attempting to use Tina Fontaine's passing as a lever to advocate for what he calls safe injection sites, and most others do not call safe, Madam Speaker. So, again, I accept and I appreciate his concerns about giving vulnerable chil dren better supports and help, but–and on that we can certainly agree. But on this aspect of what he is attempting to advocate, I would take exception and disagree. Madam Speaker: The honourable Leader of the Official Opposition, on a final supplementary. Mr.

Kinew: Well, it would be a pretty strong and direct intervention, Madam Speaker, if you could reduce the chance that sexually exploited youth and women in the city have of contracting sexually transmitted infections or blood- borne illnesses. That would not only improve their lives, it would also have a significant public health benefit. Conversely, or consequentially, we also know that it would have a very good impact on the delivery of health care in our system if we are able to arrest the current outbreak that is going on in the city.

Beyond that, we know that a safe consumption site can also function as an on -ramp to treatment and deliver more people to be able to get off meth, to get off opioids, to get off other drugs. So again, the evidence i s clear, the experts are onside. Will the Premier commit to a safe consumption site in Winnipeg, as well as to real action to end the addictions crisis once and for all by focusing on root causes like poverty, systemic barriers and mental health challenges? Mr. Pallister: Well, Madam Speaker, we are addressing a number of those directly and effec - tively.

We are, of course, facilitating the safer use by those–by making–who choose to use by making needles available. We're doing a number of other things to assist those who wish to enter detoxification facilities. We've added the number of beds. We've done a number of things. One thing that we do disagree on is the idea that we should facilitate or aid and abet an injection site. That is the one thing we dis agree on and, of course, that would be the thing the member is now promoting.

But I would say that the worst potential con- sequence of what he's recommending is the normal - ization of serious drug use, and I would say that having a state sponsor and aid a nd abet illegal drug use is one of the least effective ways, according to many experts, of addressing the problem. So we'll continue to use the expert advice that we've obtained. The member will continue to cite – [interjection] Madam Speaker: Order. Mr. Pallister: The member will continue – [interjection] Madam Speaker: Order.

664 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA March 13, 2019 Mr. Pallister: –to cite–[interjection] Madam Speaker: Order. Mr. Pallister: The member will continue to cite anonymous sources and expertise that he has yet to put a name to, Madam Speaker. [interjection] Madam Speaker: Order, please. Cancellation of Home Repair Programs Impact on Low-Income Manitobans Mr. Ted Marcelino (Tyndall Park): Budget 2019 cancels all of the home repair programs for low-income Manitobans. And maybe we could agree on this: these programs support hundreds of elderly Manitobans and those with disabilities.

It's cruel and it's short -sighted, as this will force people into public housing or personal-care homes. Why is the minister doing this? Hon. Scott Fielding (Minister of Finance): Making important investments in housing and family -related items is extremely important to our government. That's why we've invested more than $236 million in the Families Department since coming to office, more–the NDP ever did. We've invested in the Rent Assist program that's allowed more than 3,000 Manitobans to have more supports that are there –[interjection]–and under this government–[interjection] Madam Speaker: Order. Mr.

Fielding: –the amount of children that are living in poverty has been reduced by 42 per cent. Manitoba is no longer the child poverty –of Canada, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker: The honourable m ember for Tyndall Park, on a supplementary question. Mr. Marcelino: Let me quote from the minister’s own website: Effective immediately, renovation and repair programs will no longer be available. Manitoba Housing does not have any programs available at t his time to financially assist you with repairs or renovations to your home/property. Why is the minister making such a foolish cut? Mr.

Fielding: This government is very proud of the fact that we’ve built more than 750 new social and affordable housing units in the province of Manitoba. We’ve supported more than 3,000 people on the Rent Assist program, which has been clearly identified as one of the main driving reasons why Manitoba is no longer the child poverty capital. That was the case under the former NDP government. Very proud of these investments. We’ll continue to make investments to support vulnerable Manitobans. Madam Speaker: The honour able member for Tyndall Park, on a final supplementary. Mr. Marcelino: Let me try again.

Madam Speaker, these programs provided $5 million annually to hundreds of low -income Manitobans. This cut is foolish, as many will have to move into public housing or residential care if they lose their homes, and it’s just cruel. Why is the minister trying to balance the books on the backs of the poor? Mr. Fielding: I hardly think of $230 million additional budget appropriation, more than the NDP ever did, in things like housing is something that is a negative thing for Manitobans. We’ve made important investments. We’ve signed onto the National Housing Strategy–[interjection] Madam Speaker: Order. Mr.

Fielding: –that will bring $300 million from the federal government, as well as $300 million from the provincial government, in terms of housing. We built more housing. We’re supporting things like the Rent Assist. That’s going to help real Manitobans in a real, positive way, Madam Speaker. Child-Care Services Access to Affordable Services Ms. Amanda Lathlin (The Pas): Manitoba parents need access to affordable, high- quality child care, but Budget 2019 appears to be putting child care further out of reach for Manitoba parents.

Page 50 in their budget clearl y indicates an over-1.4-million-dollar cut from child care. That means less support for kids in daycare and early childhood educators. The wait -list for child care continues to grow under this government. There are nearly 18,000 kids on the wait-list right now. How–why has the minister cut over $1.4 million from our kids? Hon. Scott Fielding (Minister of Finance): Ensuring that Manitobans have affordable child care is important to our government. In fact, since April of 2016 we have created more than 1,656 spots from school and home child–community child -care

March 13, 2019 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 665 locations. Over 280 new home-based child-care spots have been created. We’re making important invest - ments. We’re working with the federal government, investing more than $47 million in a bilate ral agreement to make sure that Manitoba families have affordable child care, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker: The honourable member for The Pas, on a supplementary question. Ms. Lathlin: It’s an honour to put this on record here. We have FIPPA'd documents that I table for the House today that show that this government is looking at increasing parent fees.

Child care continues to be put out of reach of parents because of inadequate spaces and costs, forcing them to delay their return to work or not return at all. * (14:10) Will the minister guarantee today that parents won’t pay more for having their kids in daycare? Mr. Fielding: Our government is very proud of our investments in child care. We made important investments, more than 1,600 child- care spaces have been created. We've also done something a little bit creative, and I know the–[interjection] Madam Speaker: Order. Mr. Fielding: –NDP don't want to hear about creative, innovative things in government.

But we created a child -care tax credit, Madam Speaker, and it's creating real spots. We are happy to be with – [interjection] Madam Speaker: Order. Mr. Fielding: –members of the government to introduce a –new child care spaces in the Qualico development in Sage Creek, which I think is extremely important to members from Southdale and other areas. We're extremely excited in terms of our investments. We want to continue to do that for Manitoba families. [interjection] Madam Speaker: Order. Order. The honourable member for The Pas, on a final supplementary. Ms.

Lathlin: The FIPPA documents that are currently in front of our minister clearly show that they are proposing to increase parent fees. To date, this government has not committed a single provincial dollar of their own for funding new child-care spaces. The federal funds are supposed to enhance investments in child care, not backfill the lack of provincial funding. Will the minister guarantee today that parent fees will not increase and they –and make child care cheaper for families, not more expensive? Mr. Fielding: We like to work with other levels of government to get things done.

This is a perfect example of where our government has worked well with the federal government in terms of providing more–[interjection] Madam Speaker: Order. Mr. Fielding: –supports for child care, a $47-million agreement. What this did, Madam Speaker, not only did it build new spaces, over 1,600 new spaces, it also provided operating grant funding for additional seven-hundred-and-fifty–fifteen existing spaces that was not funded under the NDP government. We're making important investments for Manitoba families. [interjection] Madam Speaker: Order.

Premier's Grand Bargain Proposal Internal Trade and Health Funding Mr. Dougald Lamont (Leader of the Second Opposition): The Premier has proposed a so- called grand bargain, co- written with Brian Lee Crowley of the Macdonald- Laurier Institute, a right- wing propaganda shop dedicated to dragging Canada back to the 1870s. The proposal is simple. The federal government would give up any role in health care in exchange for provinces giving up any trade barriers, real or imagined.

In his proposal, the Premier complained about the federal government's insistence on funding boutique programs, apparently a reference to the $400 million in funding for mental health and home care he has refused to sign off on. What this looks like to m e is a scheme to scrap national medicare, Madam Speaker, and the Canada Health Act, so that the Premier and Doug Ford can privatize health care as much as they want. When the Premier says the federal government would get out of health care, does that mea n scrapping the Canada Health Act and ending medicare as we know it?

666 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA March 13, 2019 Hon. Brian Pallister (Premier): Well, no, but members of the respected, internationally renowned Macdonald-Laurier research institute would be pleased to know that the member thinks they're a right-wing think thank. Mind you, the state of the federal Liberals currently–and it's affecting the member's thinking, I guess–is that the rule of law should be supplanted by jobs for Lavalin in Quebec, regardless of their record of corruption, intimidation and bribery. So, Madam Speaker, the member's value system is put on display today by his comments.

Now, we're for lower taxes for Manitobans; he's for higher. We're for a level playing field for all political parties and not subsidizing his or anyone else's, and the member would rather he got a break than Manitobans. These are clear now. These points are clear to Manitobans, and I encourage the member to make them even more clear in his subsequent comments. Madam Speaker: The honourable Le ader of the Second Opposition, on a supplementary question. Mr.

Lamont: There is a second side to this supposed grand bargain, to the Premier's big deal, which is the questionable claim that total free trade within Canada will have incredible benefits for everyone. But that is not what the experts say. Two years ago RBC said that free trade in Canada would add, quote, only minutely to growth, end quote. The Bank of Canada projected 0.2 per cent of growth, and the Senate report by Senator Dave Tkachuk –whose idea of political discourse is calling for his opponents to be run over by a semi–the benefits were projected between 0.05 per cent and 7 per cent.

Why should Manitobans be snookered into giving up national medicare for a 0.05 per cent drop in the price of t-shirts and wine? [interjection] Madam Speaker: Order. Mr. Pallister: Well, Madam Speaker, I'm pleased to know the member's moved so extremely to the left that he is now opposed to free trade. He's joined the ranks of the NDP. The Leader of the NDP signed a deal–[interjection] Madam Speaker: Order. Mr. Pallister: –saying he was opposed to all trade deals. Now the member doesn't even want us to trade with each other within our country, my goodness. Let's not trade with each other, Madam Speake r.

It's $1,500; that's the estimate from the Bank of Canada, $1,500 on every Manitoba family and every Canadian family's kitchen table per year if we just knock down these silly barriers we have among our provinces. The member advocates for less money on the kitchen table yet again, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker: The honourable Leader of the Second Opposition, on a final supplementary. Mr. Lamont: It's clear that this so -called grand bargain is the Premier's vision for the country as a whole.

It's one tha t he shares with Maxime Bernier, the leader of the some People's Party of Canada that the federal government would get entirely out of health care. Madam Speaker, we've heard that this Premier is something of a one -man government. Some deals sit on his desks for months awaiting approval, and he's been micromanaging Crown corporations, makes major announcements without consulting his own MLAs and Cabinet, to say nothing of stakeholders or the public.

Are all of his ministers and MLAs on board with the ide a of dismantling our national health- care system and prepared to defend it at the doors of this election, or is the Premier once again only speaking for himself? Mr. Pallister: I can only hope for more of these, Madam Speaker. All I can suggest to the m ember is if anybody's dismantling our health- care system, it's a federal Liberal government that's dropped us down below, not 50 per cent support, not 25; we're now about 18 per cent and going lower.

And this member sits here and talks about how to be wis e for us to have barriers among all our provinces so we could all do each other's laundry, I guess, internally and not trade with anybody else. It's a ridiculous assertion, Madam Speaker. I'm glad he's making it, but it's not going to help his party's fortunes. He's running against his own statements of his own colleagues in eastern Canada because the Prime Minister himself has said that reducing interprovincial barriers to trade's a good thing, and finally –finally–the member's taken a position different from Justin Trudeau.

March 13, 2019 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 667 Unfortunately, in this case, Madam Speaker, the Prime Minister's right and he's wrong. Some Honourable Members: Oh, oh. Madam Speaker: Order. Health-Care Services Government Record Mrs. Bernadette Smith (Point Douglas): The numbers don't lie. This government cut a quarter of a million dollars from health care this past year and $150 million the year before, and now Manitobans are going to have to face more and more cuts to critical health-care services that they rely on because this Premier (Mr.

Pallister) is cutting $120 million from health care in his new budget. The minister says otherwise, but, Madam Speaker, I have taken the liberty to do the math for the minister, which I will table here today. Budget 2018-19 minus Budget 2019-20 equals $120- million cut. Will the minister stop these unprecedented cuts to our health- care system and keep Seven Oaks and Concordia ER open? Hon.

Cameron Friesen (Minister of Health, Seniors and Active Living): Well, Madam Speaker, last week, in a attempt to be helpful, I tried to illustrate for the member how from –measured from the forecast this year to the budget of this next year, health-care spending is $118 million up.

But because that was ineffective, I will now table for the me mber a helpful graph that shows that health-care spending has been up every year under this PC government–every year up, up, up; more and more and more for Manitoba health care, for Manitoba citizens to get better care sooner. * (14:20) Madam Speaker: The honourable member for Point Douglas, on a supplementary question. Mrs. Smith: Manitobans are not all fortunate to be able to go out of the country to get health care like we know some of the ministers across are.

Manitobans want to be able to access qua lity health care here in Manitoba, just like everybody else, but this government keeps making it more difficult. The Premier's millions of dollars in cuts means closures to Concordia, to Seven Oaks, to closing more clinics like the Family Medical Centre, increasing wait times when they say they've gone down–not true–and cancelling services. This all adds up to bad health care for Manitobans from this government. Will the Premier today commit to not closing Concordia ER and Seven Oaks ER? Mr.

Friesen: Well, Madam Speaker, I was wrong about one thing: it was I Love to Read Month, but she's stuck in the fiction section. Madam Speaker, that member knows that the NDP's inability or lack of desire to actually improve metrics and drive down wait times did more to drive Manitobans out of this province to get their health care other places than at any other point in Manitoba history. That member also knows that when she is quarrelling with ER wait time statistics that clearly show that Manitoba is improving, she's quarrelling with the Canadian institute of health information.

Madam Speaker: The honourable member for Point Douglas, on a final supplementary. Mrs. Smith: Manitobans' No. 1 priority is health care and this government is getting a failing grade from Manitobans, and in every front the Premier is making it worse. He's making cuts to a system and causing chaos in hospitals; even staff have written letters to this government. Do they listen? No. Madam Speaker, $120 million cut from the health-care budget this year, and who knows how much worse that that's going to get?

If this minister was good at math he would know that $100 million would actually keep Concor dia ER open for 15 years, Madam Speaker. That would mean real access to health care for tens of thousands of Winnipeggers in northeast Winnipeg. Will the minister do the math and listen– Madam Speaker: The member's time has expired. Mr. Friesen: Madam Speaker, old approaches by the NDP, same failing grade not only by the experts by – but by Manitobans, who knew only too well the failure of the NDP to improve the system. What Manitobans want is results.

Under this government what Manitobans are getting a re better results: better results on ER wait times, bucking a national trend, falling where all other jurisdictions are seeing those rates rise; also, the highest number of doctors retained in this province in the last 10 years. I could go on and on: more nurses working, nurse overtime continuing to fall, bucking trends.

668 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA March 13, 2019 Madam Speaker, results, wait times and better increases to spending for this government. We're getting more results for Manitobans. Provincial Finances Progress Update Mrs. Sarah Guillemard (Fort Richmond): For 17 years the NDP mismanaged Manitoba's finances, doubling the Province's debt and leaving millions of Manitobas with a billion-dollar deficit and billions in interest payments. I do need to clarify there is a difference between million and billion –they may rhyme, but they're different numbers –just for the benefit of the members opposite.

The NDP missed their budget targets year after year after year, resulting in three credit downgrades. Can the Minister of Finance please tell us what these credit rating agencies are now saying about the PC government's fiscal track record? Hon. Scott Fielding (Minister of Finance): I want to thank the member from Fort Richmond for this important question. We've been making great progres s not just in our deficit reduction, but putting more money in Manitoba's pockets and the bond rating agencies are starting to recognize this. What did they say, Madam Speaker? What did they say?

Well, they said the government's commitment to deficit red uction appears to be genuine and credible. The outlook for provincial finances continues to improve. They truly recognize that it's a historic – historically, we've outperformed our budgets for three years in a row, Madam Speaker, above and beyond, making–[interjection] Madam Speaker: Order. Mr. Fielding: –major progress in terms of deficit reduction. We're keeping more money on the kitchen table for Manitobans, which is so important. Thank you, Madam Speaker. Fatal Home Invasion Minister's Update Ms.

Cindy Lamoureux (Burrows): On March 3rd there was a horrific, random home invasion which resulted with a young, thriving man who was only 17 years of age losing his life. This extremely stupid and senseless crime has shaken our community and we all offer our deepest prayers to the victim's family, in particular, his mother and father. Madam Speaker, is there anything the minister can share with the House about the history of the attacker for the friends and the family of the community? Hon.

Cliff Cullen (Minister of Justice and Attorney General): I do appreciate the question from the member and, certainly, our thoughts and prayers go out with the family and certainly the community. And, Madam Speaker, we are seeing too many of these inci dents on our streets, and this time in a home and it certainly is troubling and it's troubling for all of us. Certainly, for those involved in police services, those involved in emergency services, they all take these incidents to heart and, certainly, we' re thinking about them as –in these very challenging incidents when they do occur.

Madam Speaker: The honourable member for Burrows, on a supplementary question. Community Concerns Ms. Lamoureux: I'd like to thank the minister for his response. The tragic death of this young man, who was going to graduate this June, has his family, friends and many in the community searching for answers to how an incident of this nature can take place. Many of the questions that are being asked are related to our police force, the issue of repeat offenders and Manitoba's meth crisis. Can the minister please respond to these concerns? Mr.

Cullen: Madam Speaker, we certainly take policing and justice very seriously on this side of House. I will indicate to the me mber opposite we take it very seriously. In fact, we just hired a new associate deputy minister by the name of Scott Kolody. He was the previous commissioner, the head of "D" Division RCMP. We've brought him onside for his expertise. We also have a ver y ex -senior member of the Winnipeg Police Service who is heading our Strategic Innovation Unit here within the Department of Justice. We take justice very seriously.

Just last budget, we increased our budget to $6.8 million to help police across the province.

March 13, 2019 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 669 Madam Speaker: The honourable member for Burrows, on a final supplementary. Meth Addiction and Crime Ms. Lamoureux: Madam Speaker, we understand that the attacker had a lengthy criminal record and was a known meth user. What preventative measur es is this government taking to deal with Manitoba's growing meth crisis and the many crimes that are taking place in our communities because of this very addictive drug? Thank you. Mr. Cullen: I will speak to the victims of these criminal activities. We recognize that victims have very challenging times in front of them.

We have a victims branch within Justice. We've actually, this year, increased the Victim Services supports to the tune of $325,000. This year's budget additionally sets aside $2.3 million for provincial policing, specifically to target illicit drug trades. So we are taking steps in Justice to deal with these–this very serious issue. Curriculum Support Centre Elimination of Library Services Mr. Matt Wiebe (Concordia): Madam Speaker, teachers and librarians continue to speak out against this government's arbitrary cut to the Curriculum Support Centre.

When faced with this backlash from educators, the minister has doubled down and continues to refuse to listen. His plan continues to be, as we understand it, to close the library on April 1st, even before he's talked with teachers, home -school parents, before any practical alternatives or enhancements have been developed. His statements to the media so far have been cryp tic at best and have not answered the questions of parents, teachers and educators. Will he halt this closure, talk to those parents and teachers before he closes the door on such a valuable resource? * (14:30) Hon.

Colleen Mayer (Acting Minister of Education and Training): We are modernizing the approach to the Curriculum Support Centre, as every other province across Canada has done. These resources will be still be available throughout our education system. We're simply moving to an improved ser vice delivery model where all educators from across Manitoba can access those resources. Madam Speaker: The honourable member of Concordia, on a supplementary question. Mr. Wiebe: Madam Speaker, teachers and librarians say cutting this education library is foolish and short-sighted.

They know that the education library already provides a wealth of materials online, but the materials that they offer go far beyond that, far beyond t he digital, and they include a significant physical collection. Teachers, parents, librarians are telling us that this is an important resource that they use all the time in the classroom. So they have questions and, so far, as I said, this minister has been unclear about what steps have been taken to actually develop these resources. So will the minister halt the closure, talk to parents and teachers before they close the door on such a valuable resource? Mrs.

Mayer: What's foolish is being stuck in the Dark Ages and not revamping our systems, and that is exactly what we are doing. Some Honourable Members: Oh, oh. Madam Speaker: Order. Order. Mrs. Mayer: We know, Madam Speaker, the truth hurts; hence, why we are hearing all the yelling from members opposite. We are constructing new school libraries in Winkler and Niverville. We're simply modernizing our system. Would the members opposite get on board and get out of the Dark Ages? Madam Speaker: Time for oral questions has expired. PETITIONS Daylight Saving Time Mr.

Cliff Graydon (Emerson): I wish to present the following petition to the Legislative Assembly. And the background to this petition is as follows:

(1) The loss of sleep associated with the beginning of daylight savings time has serious consequences for physical and mental health and has

670 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA March 13, 2019 been linked to increases in traffic accidents and workplace injuries.

(2) According to Manitoba Public Insurance news release, collision data collected in 2014 showed that there was 20 per cent increase in collisions in Manitoba roadways following the spring daylight savings time change when compared to all other Mondays in 2014.

(3) Daylight saving time is associated with a decrease in productivity the day after the clocks are turned forward with no corresponding increase in productivity when the clocks are turned back.

(4) There is no conclusive evidence that daylight savings time is effective in reducing energy con - sumption. We petition the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba as follows: To urge the provincial government to amend The Official Time Act to abolish daylight saving time in Manitoba effective November 4, 2019, resulting in Manitoba remaining on Central Standard Time throughout the year and in perpetuity. And this petition has been signed by George Giesbrecht, Anne Hiebert, Dan Weiss [phonetic] and many more Manitobans.

Madam Speaker: In accordance with our rule 133(6), when petitions are read they are deemed to be received by the House. Flin Flon General Hospital Obstetric Services Mr. Tom Lindsey (Flin Flon): I wish to present the following petition to the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba. The background to this petition is as follows:

(1) Access to quality health care is a funda - mental right of all Manitobans no matter where they live.

(2) The Premier has slashed budgets and cancelled projects for northern communities, making it harder for families to get the primary health care they need.

(3) The budget of the northern regional health authority has been slashed by over $6 million, which has negatively affected the doctor retention programs and the Northern Patient Transportation Program.

(4) With limited services in the North, the Premier is forcing families and seniors to travel further for the health care they need.

(5) On November 6, 2018, the northern regional health authority announced that obstetric delivery services at the Flin Flon General Hospital would be suspended, with no discussion regarding when they will be reinstated.

(6) The result of this decision is that mothers in Flin Flon and surrounding area will have to travel at least an hour and a half to The Pas, creating unnecessary risk for mothers and their babies.

(7) The people of Flin Flon are concerned for the health and safety of mothers -to-be and their babies, including the extra physical and financial stress that will be placed upon them by this decision of the provincial government.

(8) There has been no commitment from this provincial government that mothers and their escorts who have to travel to The Pas will be covered by the Northern Patient Transportation Program.

(9) Flin Flon General Hospital is a regional hub that serves several communities on both sides of the Manitoba-Saskatchewan border.

(10) Because this provincial government has refused to invest in much- needed health -care services in The Pas, the hospital in The Pas may not be able to handle the extra workload created by this decision. We petition the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba as follows: To urge the provincial government to re -instate obstetric delivery services at Flin Flon General Hospital and work with the government of Saskatchewan and the federal government to ensure obstetric services continue to be available on a regional basis.

And this petition, Madam Speaker, has been signed by Brent Burke, Cody Burke, Andrew Lam and many other Manitobans. Dog Overpopulation in Northern Communities Ms. Nahanni Fontaine (St. Johns): Miigwech, Madam Speaker. [interjection] Madam Speaker: Order, please. Ms. Fontaine: I wish to present the following petition to the Legislative Assembly.

March 13, 2019 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 671 The background to this petition is as follows:

(1) Many Manitobans are deeply concerned about the safety of northern, isolated communitie s in the province owing to an exploding overpopulation rate of dogs.

(2) The current overpopulation of dogs is increasingly alarming to front -line rescuers, who witness the severe, difficult and heartbreaking conditions experienced by northern dogs, including starvation, extreme weather conditions, attacks by wild animals and acts of animal cruelty.

(3) As a result of non -existence–veterinarian services in most, if not all, northern communities, dogs are not adequately cared for, to no fault of the communities or their members.

(4) Roaming dogs are often sick, injured and alone, with no one to advocate for their care, and Manitoba's animal -welfare organizations are often the only ones sounding the alarm in this present crisis.

(5) Time and time again, front -line rescuers witness northern families who, with no access to veterinary care, watch their beloved dog perish from injuries or diseases which could–which would be easily preventable with better access to veterinarian services.

(6) This present crisis poses a serious and immediate risk to citizens, in particular children, in northern communities, with the threat of pack maulings.

(7) Many Manitobans and front -line rescuers are currently lobbying for stronger animal -welfare laws alongside provincial regulations for animal - rescue organizations in partnership with adequate veterinarian services and education for northern communities.

(8) Currently, vaccination rates for owned dogs in Winnipeg is 70 per cent, while in northern isolated communities the rate is less than 5 per cent as a direct result of this current lack of access to veterinarian services. We petition the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba as follows: To urge the provincial government to imme - diately commit to addressing the overpopulation of dogs in Manitoba, more specifically in northern communities, by humanely removing and re -homing unwanted dogs.

(2) To urge the provincial government, in partnership with animal welfare agencies, the Manitoba veterinari an medical association – the MVMA–front-line rescues and the federal government to immediately develop a provincial strategy to spay and neuter dogs, while providing access to veterinarian services for owned dogs in northern communities, ensuring the safet y of communities and their citizens. And signed by many Manitobans. ORDERS OF THE DAY GOVERNMENT BUSINESS House Business Hon. Blaine Pedersen (Deputy Government House Leader): Madam Speaker, on House business.

Madam Speaker: On House business. * (14:40) Mr. Pedersen: I would like to announce that the Standing Committee on Public Accounts will meet on Monday, March 18, 2019, at 5:15 p.m. for the purpose of electing a new Chairperson. Madam Speaker: It has been announced that the Standing Committee on P ublic Accounts will meet on Monday, March 18th, 2019, at 5:15 p.m. for the purpose of electing a new Chairperson. * * * Mr. Pedersen: Madam Speaker, will–can we resume debate on budget? BUDGET DEBATE (Fourth Day of Debate) Madam Speaker: Resuming debate on the proposed motion of the honourable Minister of Finance (Mr.

Fielding) and the amendment and sub- amendment thereto, standing in the name of the honourable member for Brandon East, who has 15 minutes remaining. Mr. Len Isleifson (Brandon East): Just before I get into continuing my dialogue from yesterday, last evening when I left the facility here and I met a friend of mine for supper, as we were leaving supper we had about 30 students coming into the restaurant. I didn’t recognize any of the students, but I did recognize a couple of the teachers that were with them and I told them that I would give them a big shout out today when I was speaking because the

672 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA March 13, 2019 Vincent Massey indoor track and field team are in Winnipeg competing. So I w ish them all the best of luck because we have some same goals in mind here, where they’re trying to do what’s best for their community, which is in their school, in performing to the expectations of what their coaches have for them and the outcomes. We’re doing the same thing in government when we look at the budget.

When we look at listening to Manitobans and taking over thousands and thousands of inputted data from people in Manitoba and putting it into our budget certainly helps us produce something that Manitobans look forward to. I ended my conversation or my comments yesterday talking about previous commitments that I had made and –when I worked with the regional health authority or that I had when I had my own small business on the forefront, and even now when I look at our constituency office, and I’m always thinking how can I better serve the constituents? How can we do things better in our office? Mr.

Dennis Smook, Acting Speaker, in the Chair And we look at that as government, too; can we shop smarter, can we eliminate duplication, can we identify deficiencies and can we enhance and build on efficiencies to make everything that much better? It not only creates opportunity to move forward with plans for better Manitobans, Mr. Deputy Speaker, but it also provides better value for each and every taxpayer in the province of Manitoba. When we look at Budget 2019, one of the things that really stands out is that it effectively reduces the

summary deficit to $360 million and it does –doing that it does, in fact, also help in the growth rate of the debt-to-GDP ratio to a practice that is much more manageable and predictable. And again it’ll help us create some orientated, outcome-based financing and ‘procrument’ strategies. So we look at the opportunity with our finances and put those in the forefront. Your government is committed to fixing our finances and I am very pleased to say that we are getting the job done.

In our province, we look at –again, we talk about budgeting and the numbers that go back and forth in this House, and I’m sure it confuses people at home when they listen to both sides of the House talking about numbers and how some say, you know, we’re cutting, and then we say, you know, we’re not. So I took the liberty of going back and do an actual apples -to-apples comparison when I look at the

summary budget details for the fiscal year ending March 31st, 2019, so, in our budget, and I compared that to the same

summary budget details from 2015. When I look at Education and Training, $3.788 billion, 2015; in this budget, four billion dollars, five hundred and sixty, an increase of $772 million. I look at Families, $1.151 billion in 2015; $2.174 billion in 2020 or '19– '19-2020. Health, Seniors and Active Living, 2015 budget, $6.088 billion; 2019- 20, $6.651 billion, an increase of 563. And debt servicing, one of interest, 2015, the debt servicing cost, $842 million; 2019- 2020, unfortunately, $1.021 billion. So we certainly look at –and when you look online, too, Mr.

Deputy Speaker, you can go way back and you can pull up every single year way back–and do the comparisons. And I know in here, you know, we say what we want to say and I've always said it's easy. I get up here and I speak on the facts that I have presented to me, and I w anted to make sure I was speaking those facts today when I was continuing my dialogue. So, again, I went online and checked those figures out to make sure I had–and I didn't look at different parts of the budgets. I looked at the

summary deficits so that I had both side by side and could look at them and compare them confidently so that I'm sure when I'm speaking, I can back up what I'm saying. And, again, as I said, Mr. Deputy Speaker, anybody can go online and pull up that information, have a look at it and see for themselves. When we look at other areas of what we've committed to do, when we're first elected and how it carries over from year to year, and we even look at this budget here.

I remember running in the election– and I even mention this in my first response to the budget in 2016–and I remember talking about a lady that I had approached at a door and asked what her concern was, and her concern was –and it really touched me closely, Mr. Deputy Speaker, because I worked in health care for 21 years –and she said to me that there was one incident where she actually called a taxi to take her to the hospital. She wasn't feeling very well and she thought she'd better get some looked at, and so she went to the emergency room by a taxi because she could not afford an ambulance.

And, unfortunately, she was having a heart attack at the time –she didn't know that. Fortunately,

March 13, 2019 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 673 she did survive, so I'm very happy, and I believe I mentioned that back in 2016 in my speech as well. Why I bring it up is we had com mitted going into that election that we would reduce ambulance fees, and when that was mentioned at the doors, it certainly got a lot of my constituents and the people that I know who know my history and my work history very excited at the opportunity to m ove forward and look at greater outcomes in health -care results. So they were very pleased with that. But, honestly, too, I heard lots of speculation.

You know, oh, you're a politician. You know, are you going to hold true on that? Politicians tell us things all the time and do the opposite. And I assured them that, no, this is a commitment that our government had made. And we heard in this budget here that as of this year our ambulance fees will be down to $250 which is 'arun', if not more than the 50 per cent reduction that we had promised. So, again, this budget that we have in front of us addresses a lot of issues. It certain responds to the challenge of the meth crisis and the addictions that we have throughout Manitoba.

I know before we had introduced RAAM clinics and different aspects, working with the federal government in partnership on committees to look further into the issues because it's–it is not just a Brandon issue. It's not just a Winnipeg issue. It is a Canada -wide issue, and we need to work with our partners to ensure that. But $1 million in new funding for the expansion of withdrawal management beds in Brandon and Winnipeg are certainly great news.

I had talked to some advocates recently who want to see us move forward in meth, and they're very excited with the fact that at one time they had said, well, at least show that you're starting to do something. And we are doing more than just starting to do things; we actually are moving quite forward. We have a total funding increase in health, again, of $47.8 million for addicti ons treatment, Pharmacare and paramedics.

It is search –and certainly, again, an opportunity for me with my contacts with the health authorities in this province and still having those relationships with folks to carry on that dialogue and keep seeking thei r input and their information. Every week when I have the opportunity, when I'm at–back in the constituency I try to stop in at the local hospital and stay in touch with the front -line staff, whether that be a nurse, whether that be someone who is cleani ng the floors.

They all have a very important role in the facility because if you don't have clean facilities, you can't do the operations and then pretty soon you're in a lot of trouble. So again, it all works together. When we talk about education fundi ng for both operations and capital, we realize that the increase in funding in this area of more than $62 million this year over last year, it sure ensures that we continue to grow the services that are available. I know there was a comment made. I can't remember which member of the House made it.

The opposition stood up and said, we on this side of the House stand up for students; and that's great, I'm glad they do. Unfortunately, when they were in power standing up for students mean–meant being 10th out of 10, being last in math and science and reading. * (14:50) Again, there's different challenges that come along and, with our government investing more money in education, it gives us the opportunity to work, as we're doing right now, in the review to ensure that we're moving forward and hearing from those in the industry on why we need to do what we do in education. This is our future.

These are the students that will be looking after us when they graduate out of high school and out of university. So I see the time is running down, but I do want to just say one really big thing: I'm so proud of the thing that our –this government holds forth. And that's when we went to the doors and we talked at the doors and we said that the PST will be reduced to 7 per cent in our first term once we are elected. And, again, I've got lots of detail to go in on that one.

But, you know, we've got to ask ourselves –and I know everybody else asks this –questions why is our government doing all these great investments and all these changes. And it's very simple, Mr. Deputy Speaker; it's because Manitobans deserve a break. Thank you very much. Ms. Nahanni Fontaine (St. Johns): I'm pleased to get up–I don't know if pleased is actually the right word in the sense that t here's nothing really positive to say on the record today in respect of this Pallister government's fourth budget.

But I'm up to put my official words on the record and to highlight for Manitobans just some of the many cuts that this

674 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA March 13, 2019 Pallister government h as undertaken since taking office and which have only been exacerbated in this last budget that we see. I mean, I guess it should be no surprise that I'm going to focus my comments on–the vast majority of my comments on what the Pallister government– what this Premier (Mr.

Pallister) has undertaken in respect of women's and girls' infrastructure in Manitoba here, in respect of our health care, because I think it's–as I said in–on international woman's day, it's important for Manitoba women to know what this Premier has directed and what his ministers have undertaken or what some of his ministers are –and certainly some of the backbench have sat by while his–while their boss–their Premier has systematically eroded the infrastructure that was in place in respe ct of women's reproductive health care.

I think that it is a right of Manitoba women and girls to know what this government is doing. And certainly I think it is the right of Manitoba women and girls, based on that knowledge, that robust and comprehensive knowledge of what this government is doing, to make informed choices when they go to the polls, whenever that may be. We know that the Premier is –has said that there might be an early election. And I don't know if the Premier did that to make people scared on this side of the House, but I – you know, if there's an early election, then bring it on, Deputy House Speaker.

It's–I think that, you know, we've seen with– you know, some of the things that the Premier has attempted to do –the public isn't buying int o it. They're not, you know, mindless voters that you do one little thing and you expect that the Manitoba voters are going to support that and just mindlessly vote for what's going on here.

Manitobans are very thoughtful, engaged individuals, and I suspec t–and from what I hear on the –when I talk with my constituents–or, no matter where I go in Manitoba, because I'm often all over, visiting and meeting and talking with all types of different Manitobans and stakeholder groups. Everyone–there's a clear mess age on what Manitobans are seeing. And, again, it is funda - mentally based on what –and it is predicated upon what the Premier is doing and what his ministers are allowing to be done or just sit idly by while it is done.

And, you know, the No. 1 thing tha t I hear consistently from everybody is that the Premier just doesn't care. The Premier doesn't care, and it's evinced in the cuts that the Premier executes supposedly on behalf of Manitobans. But I can tell the House, you know, that the women, Manitoba women, didn't ask for lactation consultants to be cut.

In fact, I think that we made it very clear in this House and certainly member – Manitobans made it very clear when they protested in front of the Leg.–which, incidentally, I don't remember any of the members opposite being outside with us as we met with mothers who were nursing or mothers who formally nursed or women that were just concerned about this cut. I don't remember any of the members opposite out there. Had members opposite been out there they would have heard how important lactation consultants are in the reproductive health of Manitoba women and certainly for their babies. So nobody voted for that.

Nobody voted for a lactation–to cut lactation consultants and then, you know, nobody voted for the Pallister government to cut the mature woman's hospital or centre. And, again, I know I've said it a couple of time in the House, but it does bear repeating again that this was a best practice across Canada in respect of having a one -stop shop for women that are dealing – mature women that are dealing with a variety of different issues in respect of our reproductive health, and it was employed by–it was staffed by experts.

You know, again, as I've shared before, there were two nurses that are the on ly ones trained in that particular expertise in all of Manitoba and, in fact, they had to go outside Manitoba to get that level of expertise to be able to staff the level that needed in the Mature Women's Centre to be able to give that care to Manitoba women. That was gone. And I don't know if any of the members opposite or any of the ministers had an opportunity to tour the woman's–the Mature Women's Centre before they dismantled it–and God knows where it is –but it was an excellent facility.

It's–everything was on one floor, but, again, I had the opportunity to meet some of the nurses there, again all women, which is, you know, in line with– it's the broader kind of context of all of these cuts towards women's health that actually you're also attacking women themselves by deleting, you know, nurse jobs or making nurses work mandatory overtime or disrupting where they're going to work and where–how long they're going to work. And so– and I've shared this a couple times –I don't know if I

March 13, 2019 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 675 shared it in the Hous e, Deputy Speaker, that I did have an opportunity to meet some of the nurse and I just said that, you know, on behalf of our caucus, you know, we really appreciate and thank you for all of your hard work and that I was sorry that this was happening, and those women were crying. And so you can imagine that, you know, for these staff, these nurses, these highly –these experts in their particular field, to be crying in front of a woman that they've never met is pretty indicative of how hurt they were by the actions of this government.

You know –and I think that we can –I can go on from there, but I don't have much time so I want to focus on a couple of other things. What else have we seen, and we've heard nothing in respect of anothe r minimum wage increase from this Premier (Mr. Pallister), and thus far what we've seen is only a raise of 25 cents, and we know that the vast majority of folks who work in minimum wage jobs are, again, also women, and we know that women have a huge responsibility as the breadwinners for their families.

And so we have women who are struggling, are balancing, trying to attempt to balance their work, which could be two or three jobs at a minimum wage employment with the responsibilities of raising children, sometimes with the responsibilities of going to school at the same time while also trying to attempt to navigate the daycare system and trying to get on at a daycare. * (15:00) And so imagine, then, from the perspective of Manitoba women who are in the midst of all of this, which I would suggest to the House is a very stressful situation–you know, the government which should have a, you know, a responsibility in lifting up folks–you know, throws at them a mere quarter to raise the minimum wage.

You know, I'm really proud to belong to a party that, when we were in government, raised the minimum wage each and every year. And that is something that is–something that we should be proud of. And, you know, I think that it is something that the Premier should take note of and, you know, as we move forward, as we get closer, you know, somewhat closer to October, you know, make up for the years that he's kind of missed and give a substantial raise to the minimum wage.

It is the least that the Premier can do –the very least the Premier can do –to help lift up Manitoba individuals and certainly Manitoba women, who are the primary breadwinners in their families.

And I think that –I would hope that most people in this Chamber would know that when you lift up women, when you have ability to create an economic or social infrastructure that lifts up women either via, you know, the ability to have employment, to be well-paid, to access education, to access health care, you don't only lift up that particular woman or that particular mom, you lift up –it becomes transformative in her family's life and their family's life.

I mean, I look at just in my own family, my own immediate family with my two sons and, you know, in the way that I grew up to the way that I am and now my sons are on this completely different path because that is the transformative effect of when we get the support as women, when we get the support to help us lift up and be the best that we can be. And so, at a very minimum –at a very minimum, the Premier can go back and make up for the years that he did not apply a substantial or an adequate raise to the minimum wage. That's the least that the Premier can do. And I would hope that the Minister of Finance (Mr.

Fielding) will take that up himself, as wel l. And if the Premier is saying, no, that he can't, I hope that the Finance Minister will find some courage and actually say, you know, no–you know, women–Manitoba women deserve that raise. So what else have we seen from this govern - ment–from this Premie r and, again, from other ministers, who have either executed the Premier's directives or who have sat idly by and said nothing at the Cabinet table? Well, we also saw a $25,000 cut to the mobile breast cancer screening unit. I'm not sure who does that.

Like, who cuts $25,000 to screen for breast cancer in a mobile unit that goes all over, to ensure that women's health is healthy–that we are healthy? And if we're not, if we have, you know –we are at the beginning stages or if there is something that actually, it's caught in time–and instead, this Premier cut $25,000 to that. As if $25,000–as if a $25,000 cut to the mobile breast cancer screening is going to help with his austerity or whatever the heck he's trying to do, as if it's really going to make a dent in all of the cuts that he's trying to do. But let's just attack women's breasts.

Let's attack women's breasts and not give that opportunity to have that screening for some Manitoba women.

676 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA March 13, 2019 What else have we seen the Premier (Mr. Pallister) done? Well, in–and again, this is kind of all in concert and coupled with one another. We've seen these kind of underhanded attacks on the birth centre. Again, instead of supporting–unequivocally supporting the birth centre, we've seen these underhanded attacks.

We've seen the Premier, under the Education Minister, the former Education minister, cut the midwifery program, when we know–and everywhere you go across Canada, if you read the statistics, everybody knows that Manitoba families are more and more wanting to have access to midwives so that they can have that as a part of their birthing plan. But in Manitoba we have cut that program, and so we have no more cohorts of midwives down the – coming down the pipe. We have what we have and we're going to have to deal with it even though it is hands-down known that people would like to be able to have midwifery services.

So you've cut the –you've attacked the birth centre. You've cut the midwifery program, and then just to, like, the cherry on the cake or the toppi ng– whatever that saying is –I never get those sayings right–they cut birthing services to Flin Flon. So instead of –and, you know, we've heard the Minister for Health repeatedly say, well, you know, that members opposite know that it was not me that did it; that it was, you know, the A, B and C that did it.

But the bottom line is that the responsibility for birthing services in Flin Flon fall under the Minister of Health, and if the Minister of Health really was all that concerned about the ability for wo men in Flin Flon and all the surrounding areas to be able to stay in their home communities or somewhat in their home communities, to have closer access, to be able to have –to labour and to birth at home or close to home, he would have made it happen. It's as simple as that.

To give us some cop-out, you know, question period after question period, or in Estimates, that his hands are tied and there's nothing that he can do, then why are you a minister? Like, why are you, honestly, the Minister of Health? I f you feel that you can't do anything as the Minister of Health even though it falls under your responsibility, go be a backbencher then, or, alternatively, do your job and open up birthing services in Flin Flon. Make it happen.

It's very simple, but we 've seen this kind of lean towards an absolute attack on women's reproductive health, but, literally, just an attack in those three that I just said on women's ability to birth how we want, where we want, and safely. So, you know, there's nothing–members opposite shouldn't be proud of that. I wouldn't understand why members opposite aren't going to Cabinet or aren't going to caucus and saying, like, what are you doing, Premier?

Premier Pallister, the Pallister government, you know, we don't want to be par t of a Pallister government that goes down in history as the government that systematically dismantled the infrastructure for women to be able to labour and birth in the way that they see fit. How is it that any member opposite wants to be a part of that history? Why wouldn't you want to stand up and say, you know what? No, we're not going to–we cannot abide by this. This is –this goes against our conscience. We want to make this right.

So let's get the Health minister to, you know, develop or put in place the infrastructure for Flin Flon. Let's support the birth centre. Let's, you know, go to the Minister of Education and say, where are we with the midwifery program? Let's get that up and running. But, no, everybody's just sitting there too scared to say anything to their Premier. So again, in that –as well –so, like, as if that wasn't enough, you have this kind of blanket attack on nurses all over Manitoba.

And I was recently speaking to a nurse–probably about a month ago, six weeks ago–and she was saying how she was so sick– and these are her words, Deputy Speaker. She was so sick and tired that every time there's a Conservative government in Manitoba the first area that they start to focus on and attack are nurses, which are predominantly women. I think that that's kind of being lost sometimes when we talk about the attack on the health care and attack on nurses, that the vast majority of nurses – absolutely there are men –absolutely. But the vast majority of nurses are women.

So why is it that this Premier thinks that it is perfectly acceptable not only to attack Manitoba women who are birthing or who want to become midwives or who want to learn how to breast feed, not only that, you attack the women who take care of the women. You're absolutely undermini ng the whole infrastructure of women's reproductive health in Manitoba.

March 13, 2019 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 677 And, again, while all of that is going on, all of the members here, you know, clap themselves on the back; they clap for their minister's responses, and all it does is just show that they don't care about women. So I don't know what they're all excited about when they clap, but it really is –just highlights how much they really don't care about women or certain women. * (15:10) So, not only –what else did this Premier (Mr. Pallister) d irect his –himself and his ministers and all his backbenchers to do?

Well, he directed all of his members, his caucus, to vote against Bill 200. Whether or not people in this Chamber agree with a woman's right, a woman or a girl's right to have an abortion, is neither here nor there. It is, at the end of the day, it is a wo man's right and a girl's right to choose what she does with her body. That is, she can choose to terminate a pregnancy, she can go ahead with a pregnancy or, alternatively, she can have many pregnancies. That's her right.

But we have members opposite –we have a Premier that is so ideologically bent and the antithesis to supporting women's and girls' right to abortion, they voted against actually protecting women and girls as they're walking into hospitals that have abortion services, not only women and girls that have abortion services so that they don't have to be inundated with all of these really gross, violent imagery and being harassed on the way to exercise their right in what they want to do with their body and access our health care, they– The Acti ng Speaker (Dennis Smook): The member's time has expired. Mr.

Doyle Piwniuk (Arthur-Virden): Mr. Deputy Chair, I just want to give my condolences out –goes out to Stu Briese's family, the passing of Stu this past Monday. Stu has been–was a great colleagu e and many of our colleagues that were here were part of the original 19 before the election and Mr. Briese was such a gentleman. He was a scholar and he knew how to deal–he was very approachable with people. And I remember very many great conversations I had with Stu over the two years that I had the honour to work with him.

And he's going to be greatly missed by our colleagues, and everybody in the House because he had the respect with everybody in the Chamber. And Mr. Briese, you know, I know he did a lot of work with Child and Family Services over the years and he also –his last critic role when I was in the Chamber was, when I got elected five years ago, he was the critic for indigenous relations and, again, he had such a great relations with the Fi rst Nation communities, especially in his constituency of Agassiz, and he'll be greatly missed by that community, too. Mr.

Deputy Chair, I just want to say that all those years that Stu Briese was in this House, I know the last year before I came here as an MLA, I know my colleagues, the 19 colleagues before me, before I got –replaced Larry Maguire as a MLA for Arthur-Virden, they spent many summers in the Chamber fighting the raise of the PST. And they spent all summer debating the PST and trying to stop the–that increase, and I'm so glad that Stu–I know he knew that what we did by lowering that PST with all the work he's done to help us battle that, and I'm happy that to say that he was able to witness it.

Being that I'm an MLA from Arthur-Virden, you know we have a kind of a unique situation there because not only do we have the border that borders Saskatchewan, but we also have the border that borders United States. And when it came to the PST increase I remember I was –well, the first year before that the Selinger government basically added PST on certain items such as, in my industry, the insurance industry. That was a big impact to a lot of households and that was taking a lot of money off the household tables, especially to lower income earners.

And then the next year they increased by 1 per cent, and that was kind of the reason I think I – like, that was one reason that I decided to run because I saw this –the inequity between doing a–running a business in Manitoba versus Saskatchewan. When Saskatchewan's PST was at 5 per cent, we increased our PST from 7 to 8 per cent, and so there was a disparity between the businesses who were going to locate in that area, especially with the oil industry.

It was really ramping up and a lot of businesses decided to start up in Moosomin, Saskatchewan, and we, actually, we could see the towns –I think our population in Virden, Manitoba, grew by 3–less than 3 per cent, and Moosomin grew by 13 per cent in the last one census between–I think it was 2011.

678 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA March 13, 2019 So also we had a lot of impact to our retail in our area. In the whole constituency of Arthur -Virden, you know, money –we have a Walmart actually just on the other side of the border from Boissevain - Deloraine in a community called Bottineau. That was a big impact for the area when the PST was raised. And so now with us lowering the PST – and, actually, what we're also doing on this –the 2019-20 budget, is that we're also increasing the tax brackets so that we compete with Saskatchewan that–you know, for people who wa nt to locate in Manitoba.

It gives us another advantage of more –than what's also with the personal exemption too. We are also increasing the personal exemptions. So we've taken about 8,000 off of paying taxes, the lower – lowest income earners paying taxes in Manitoba. So this is a budget that is good for all Manitobans. And when it comes to the advantages of the –I was–this past summer–no, actually was December. I was honoured to give a presentation to the Executive Council when it came to the Council of State Governments for the Midwest legislative division.

And my report that I gave to the other –there was, like, nine other –there–11 states and three other provinces that we gave our –what was all happening in each of our jurisdictions. And I remember in my case, I was able to–we–I heard from Alberta first and they were saying that –despair–they were really hurt by the oil prices going down. The oil industry, the vacancy rate in–I think in Calgary right now is, like, 30 per cent.

And now with the lack of oil pipelines getting their oil to market, they're actually selling their oil at a very –huge discount and it's really hurting the economy, and that–you can thank the federal Liberal government for not pushing these pipelines for completion. And so, when we also hear in Saskatchewan they have the same fight, that they're –also had problems with getting their oil to market. And, you know what? I had to honestly say, when I–it was my turn, I was saying how the –our oil industry's actually increasing now because we do have lighter crude. We do have a pipeline.

This pumping station is in Cromer, Manitoba, which is in my constituency, and the oil is right there. And so it's a light crude, so refineries would love that oil because it's light crude. And so they were able to blend it and refine it better with the heavy crude that you get from, let's say, Alberta. And so, Mr. Deputy Chair, what we found there was that it was helping out our –art–region of our economy for the province.

But what we also had with–when it came to –since we came into power in 2016, we've actually led any –all provinces in Canada for the biggest investment capital outside of our province – that came into our province. And, you know, we have examples like Roquette, the pea plant that creates pre- protein. It's a French company who is –who–I think its investment is over six million –$600 million. Then we have the expansion of Nestle Si mplot, which is a huge potato manufacturer just west of Portage. And they're doing a huge expansion, there.

I think the –like–I was told that it's going to be one of the largest potato plants in the world. And then we also had the expansion of western companies such as Maple Leaf and 'hylike', who are doing major expansions and ramping up more employees and production so that they can send their product, their pork product all across the world. And I think what –either told it was over $1.5 billion of in vestment capital that's coming into Manitoba since we took over power.

And, you know, now with the lower PST that's just going to enhance more businesses wanting to come and have an environment that they want to come to Manitoba to do business. I just had a lunch–the other day I had lunch with a colleague of mine–not a colleague but a good friend who actually now runs –he's a partner in the Pinnacle employment services company. And he was telling me that over the years when the NDP were in government he wa s always concerned on what was coming at him next. As a business owner he wanted to know what was coming at him.

If it was going to be another regulation, another, you know, inspection that was basically was a job creation to their people and –or there was also the possibility that, you know, we're going to increase taxes again. And then–he told me now, since we came into government he says now I can–not have to worry. I can sleep at night and I can actually focus on my business and run my business and not having to worry all the stuff that's coming at him. And he wanted to thank us for all the work he's done.

And he also has a lot of clients who are in the manufacturing sector, and what he's saying is that – with the lower–with the competition that we're doing

March 13, 2019 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 679 with the budget now, we actually got upgraded when it comes to our –better for our bond markets now. They say that our bond markets rating, it could increase if we continue the we ray –we're–if–the way we're going right now with the type of business that we–if–the decisions of policies that we're making. * (15:20) So this is great to hear that, even in the private sector, there's hope and people want to invest again. And again, what–investing back in the private sector, that's–creates jobs.

When it creates jobs, that also 'incrates'–increase revenue when it comes from taxation because of these new jobs, and also includes property taxes. And all those types of taxes will then be able to pay for the services that we require in Manitoba, like when it comes to health care, education; when it comes to families' situations, kids in care –those are kind of revenues that we increase that we can actually afford these types of services. And, when it came to the ot her–we've–again, we're investing more money into health care, health care that's sustainable.

And some of the decisions that we made, they were tough decisions that we made. And when it came to increase in paramedics, that's very important when it comes to being in rural Manitoba. When we look at 65 more paramedics and 65 new ambulances, you know, the days –I was told one time that the days of an ambulance attendant or a–it was the same person who drove the ambulances who was also driving a 'hearst'. And it was a funeral –sometimes it was a funeral director that actually drove the 'hearst' and the ambulance because if the person what still alive, they actually took that patient to the hospital.

If they didn't survive, they went to the morgue. And so what 's nice about this whole thing with these paramedics, even up to the time I first moved to–back to rural Manitoba in Virden, Manitoba, we all–all we had in our area was a garage, we had an ambulance, but we all relied on volunteers. And a lot of times, a lot of these volunteers got a lot of training but, at the same time, what they were there for was, basically, pick up that patient and transport that patient to the closest hospital or facility where there was a doctor who can perform, you know, a procedure on them, whatever.

So then, when the –when we started to now – hiring paramedics, now when you phone 911, as soon as you make a phone call to the Medical Transportation Co- ordination Centre in Brandon, Manitoba, you're actually getting a paramedic right on the phone. And that paramedic is actually now giving people advice to what they need to do to stabilize that patient until the ambulance gets there.

And, when that ambulance gets there, then they actually have paramedics who have been trained so well that they can actually stabilize that patient and they can triage where that patient's going to go: if that patient's going to go to the local hospital where there's an ER, or do they go to Brandon, or do they go to Winnipeg. And one of the nicest things that we've done as a government is that we've created the Health Sciences Centre as shared services. And with shared services, now that hospital's –now it's the Manitoba hospital and it's no longer part of the W–Winnipeg RHA.

And because–I know anybody t hat I know from the rural Manitoba have always been–gone–had been transported. If there was a life- threatening situation, they would always go to the Health Sciences Centre. Now with the Health Sciences Centre being focused on all the resources, most –with three ERs now in Winnipeg–I know my dad went both to the Health Sciences Centre and also to St. Boniface for procedures that he had to deal with–when he had health issues. And then I remember, anybody I talked to always went to these two hospitals.

So we know, in rural Manitoba, that the Health Sciences Centre will be now equipped with–and all the resources are going to be focused on life -threatening situations there. And I'm really –and people in rural Manitoba are very happy with that. The other thing is, too, is that, like, paramedics, they will also, you know, do procedures. Like, a lot of them are getting more and more training so that they actually can do a lot of things that maybe some of the hospitals can do that have a doctor, even, just to get that patient stabilized to go to a medical facility that they need to have emergency surgery.

I remember–I know the member from Concordia was talking about his situation where he put his arm through the glass. And I remember my young brother, who was only 4 years old, I remember we were running to the house and I –he–we were having a race and he–I gave him a head start. He did the

680 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA March 13, 2019 same thing. He put his hand right up to the window, and he didn't go through. And I said to him, I said, don't do that because you're going to– your arm–your hand's going to get – go right through that window. So, the next day, my brother challenged him on a race, and he actually ran and he actually beat my brother but, unfortunately, his hand did go through the glass. He didn't have five stitches. He had 42 stitches. And we actually lived 25 miles from the closest hospital, to the closest ER.

And I remember–I don't know if we're tougher in rural Manitoba, but I remember he hardly even cried, and I remember he said, well, just put a band -aid on it. He didn't want to go to the hospital, actually, and so my mom and dad, my mom who had some – who worked for a doctor was able to understand what there was to do. But back then there was no ambulances and you had to race your child to the ER. And I remember my mom did a tourniquet and was able to take my brother to the hospital, my mom and my dad, and he got 42 stitches. But I remember when I was five years old –four years old–no, I was actually three.

And I remember I was walking with my bro thers and we're going–my brothers, all my brothers were going to show me a fort. And I stepped on this log and it had–I got stung 13 times with hornets. And I still remember my mom and dad rushing me to the hospital in Russell, again 25 miles away, and I r emember the police stopped my dad, and he wasn't stopping him for speeding; he was stopping for purple gas, to check for purple gas.

And look at how much our education with our – all our paramedics, our police offers and our fire - fighters, they're all now working, co- ordinating together to understand emergencies of everything. So we've come a long way since the days that I grew up, and you know what? Like I said, if we have more resources than these three hospitals in Winnipeg, this is what we want becaus e we don't people waiting in waiting rooms like we had in the – with the NDP government.

So I –kudos goes out to our Minister of Health, who has done major decisions and are going to be good sustainable decisions that we're going to have in the long term. Thank you, Mr. Deputy Chair. Ms. Judy Klassen (Kewatinook): I think it's very unfair that I got a nice increase in my pay and that most of my people are struggling because they have only seen pennies, not even full pennies in theirs, and this budget does nothing to address that fact. Is it the chicken before the egg? That's the reoccurring thought that I have.

This abrupt and illogical shuttering off of our economy has caused dire impacts to many of our Manitobans. The PCs are causing so many people to declare bankruptcy – [interjection]–in small businesses throughout my constituency. And I don't appreciate the member laughing because none of my people in my constituency have actually been brave enough to come and let them know. There needs to be a balance. There needs to be investment. There needs to be spending in our province, healthy spending. You know, the NDP did spend, but it was largely unhealthy for our province.

So we can learn from that, but they did spend, and we need to make sure that th ere is a nice balance so that we're not shuttering our province. You know, I'm tired of saying that we –I come from a have -not province. Why are we always idly sitting by as other provinces are flourishing? You know, we are so heavily dependent on federal transfers. You know, I would really like to tell the PC team, you know, get our province off of the federal welfare line. Once again the Province does not allow for our First Nations to have jurisdiction over our children in care.

Why is it that there' s always, all of a sudden, so much money for foster parents? Why can't this money be found immediately to support actual parents? Why aren't we apprehending parents and placing relatives in the homes to ensure children are kept intact emotionally, physically and mentally? And, yes, I do recognize that some are – apprehensions are very well justified. When we look at the history of our province, farming was heavily invested into.

I believe if those same concepts or types –and types of capital investments w ere made into our human capacities, you know, intellectual intelligence, knowledge centres or investments into the arts and culture sector of our province, you know, we would flourish that way as well. In my riding, I don't have one single family that even has $10 on their table after getting paid, never mind the $200 to $500 that the PCs mention. You know, costs increase every single year –thank you– and this government seems to turn a blind eye to this, and quite unfair.

March 13, 2019 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 681 * (15:30) In–pot holes are only going to get bigger under this government. Under –and I mentioned this already–under the Infrastructure Canada proposal – program, for indigenous projects, the feds would have paid 75 per cent of any project. You know, this has never been done before. And, aga in, other provinces are jumping all over this, you know. I really do need my all -season east side road, so that we can grow prosperously just the same any municipality or town. You know, the PCs really need to invest in my people. They really need to inv est in the North.

We need this job creation and employment activity. I would like to talk about health care. So many people in my riding are facing quite the opposite of what the PCs are spinning. You know, cancellation after cancellation of surgeries du e to this shortage of staff. And that's one of the –that is a common theme on Facebook; I can't have my surgery today, on my wall, because the doctor said there's a shortage of staff, or the nurses come in and said there's a shortage of staff. You know, I've personally escorted many of my constituents to the ER and I've seen it first-hand.

And I would encourage that every MLA do that, to come and see what those doctors and nurses are facing at the hospital and emergency rooms, because it is unreal and it's quite shocking. And, you know, these are people that are at their most vulnerable time– when they're having a medical health crisis and they can't even be seen for anywhere from seven to 12 hours. It is quite unfortunate that they're being treated that way. And to house–and to have to sleep with your bed in a TV room –in a very public TV room at the St. Boniface general is very frustrating and should not happen to anyone.

So, with those comments, you know, I feel that this budget does not do justice to our province. We could do so much better and we need to do so much better. Miigwech. Mr. Greg Nesbitt (Riding Mountain): I'm proud to be a member of a government that keeps its promises, Mr. Speaker. Prior to the 2016 election, our Progressive Conservative government –or, our Progressive Con - servative Party promised Manitoba residents that, when elected, we would roll back the provincial sales tax to 7 per cent before the end of its first term.

Budget 2019 delivered on that promise with the announcement that the PST will drop by 1 percentage point, to 7 per cent, on July 1st of this year. It is significant that the reduction will happen on July 1st, as that is the date that, in 2013, that the previous NDP government raised the tax to 8 per cent after promising during the 2011 election they would do nothing of the kind. Of course, the increase to 8 per cent came on the heels of the NDP deciding to add the PST to more goods and services, including home insurance.

This cut in the PST will sav e Manitobans an estimated $237 million in the nine months of the 2019-20 budget year, and $325 million over a full one-year period. Mr. Speaker, this is the largest tax cut in Manitoba history and will 'benet' –benefit families, businesses and local gover nments. A single individual is expected to save $180 per year while a family of four will save approximately $500. This is more of their hard-earned money left on their kitchen table that they can make the choice on where to spend, not the government. Manitoba businesses pay PST on all their purchases.

This reduction will save them over $130 million annually. It is estimated that up to half of the business savings will be passed on to consumers, which will benefit the average family of four by an additional $170 per year. Municipalities, school divisions, post -secondary institutions, regional health authorities and other government agencies are expected to save a total of $90 million with the reduced PST. These savings will help local governments and school divisions balance their budgets without raising taxes on Manitobans.

The basic personal exemption will be increased and tax brackets indexed, saving Manitobans another $36 million in 2019- 20. Almost 8,000 low -income wage earners will be removed from the tax rolls with a higher basic personal exemption. And more good news, Mr. Speaker: Budget 2019 is forecasting a deficit of $360 million, which is $160 million less than was forecast in Budget 2018. After inheriting a deficit of nearly $1 billion– $932 million, to be exact, when we took office, our government has reduced that number each and every year due to prudent fiscal management and

682 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA March 13, 2019 shopping smarter. Left unchecked and without the promises the NDP made during the last election campaign, the deficit was forecast to rise to $1.7 billion in the 2019-20 budget year. The PST cut and deficit reduction are happening at the same time as our government is making record expenditures in Health, Education and Families. Health spending will increase by $118 million this year to $6.19 billion, which is $500 million more than the NDP spent in their last year in office.

The myth of cuts to health care being spread by the unions and the members opposite is just that. More money is being spent on health care a nd a job is available for every nurse or health -care aide who wants one in Manitoba. However, we are not just spending more, but getting much better outcomes, with lower wait times to see a doctor in emergency rooms, additional capacity for MRIs, which is –with lower wait times, more hip, knee and cataract surgeries. As well, Mr. Speaker, statistics show the total number of nurses and doctors working in Manitoba has increased year over year.

The fee to call an ambulance in Manitoba is being reduced to $250 in Budget 2019. To put this in perspective, when we formed government the basic fee to call an ambulance was $522, and we have lowered it three times since we were elected. As part of our plan for residents to access better health care sooner, the budget provides for the hiring of 35 additional full -time primary care paramedics, as well as setting aside funding to purchase 65 new replacement ambulances. Full-time paramedics have been welcomed with open arms in rural Manitoba.

These highly trained individuals provide primary care immediately upon arrival at a home or business and continue with the care while on the way to the most appropriate health- care facility. Education and Families will also get increases in Budget 2019. Primary and secondary school funding will increase by $6.6 million. As well, capital funding will be increased by $56 million to support structural repairs, roof replacements, new mechanical systems, and accessibility projects in schools across the province.

Funding of $1.4 m illion has been earmarked for operating support for an additional 496 child- care spaces across Manitoba. The community of Rivers in my constituency of Riding Mountain will benefit from this support, as later this spring they will open their first daycare facility, filling a need that has existed for many, many years. Mr. Speaker, here are a few more highlights that will directly benefit residents of my constituency: Our government will be funding 29 new positions for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Manitoba.

Twenty -seven of those positions will be for front -line officers that will bolster detachments all across the province. As this House is aware, an officer in my constituency was seriously injured after being shot while responding to a break- and-enter in progress near Onanole last year. This incident sparked many of my constituents to speak out on the need for more boots on the ground in rural areas. I am pleased that our Justice Minister has made this commitment in Budget 2019.

The Young Far mer Rebate program, which is intended to help address the rising costs of starting a farm operation, will be enhanced with a 32 per cent increase in funding, to $2 million. * (15:40) The conservation districts in my constituency have been very active in conservation projects that enhance natural areas and infrastructure, strengthen flood and drought protection and support climate change adaption. These efforts will receive a boost of $5 million from the income of our $102 million Conservation Trust that w as established in Budget 2018.

Municipalities in Manitoba will continue to receive enhanced basket funding, which allows councils to decide where the money they receive is best spent. As well, $10 million has been allocated for municipal bridges and roads, something I know our municipalities welcome. We're investing an additional $2 million more in the Manitoba Water Services Board to provide municipalities outside Winnipeg with additional support to address critical water and sewer infrastructure needs.

I'm pleased that our government is responding to our municipal partners by adding resources to the Public Utilities Board to help them clear the backlog of municipal applications for utility rate increases. I was just made aware last week at a meeting w ith the

March 13, 2019 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 683 Town of Minnedosa that they've been waiting five months to have their application returned to them. Budget 2019 calls for spending of more than $1 billion on strategic infrastructure such as roads and bridges, water and waste -water projects, floo d protection, hospitals, schools, universities and college. Mr. Speaker, I want to mention the new school our government's building in the south end of Brandon, in the constituency of the member for Brandon East (Mr. Isleifson).

This school is very near and dear to my heart, as I expect my eight - month-old granddaughter Kennedy will be attending the Maryland Park School in the fall of 2023. Of this $1 billion in infrastructure projects, $350 million is earmarked for highways, including the reconstruction and paving of Highway 21, south of my home town of Shoal Lake. A further $45 million has been allocated for highways and roads as we celebrate Manitoba's 150th birthday throughout the year of 2020.

Like many Manitobans, our government believes in saving for the future and for events such as floods that are active nature–acts of nature and cannot be predicted. That's why in Budget 2019 we are adding $50 million to further replenish the rainy day fund, which will bring the balance to $265 million. Our gov ernment knows our public service has great ideas for doing their jobs more efficiently and saving taxpayers money at the same time. That's why we are making further investments through our $50- million ideas fund that will support the implementation of a public service transformation strategy. Mr.

Speaker, today is an exciting time to live in Manitoba. Taxes are coming down. Services are being strengthened, and infrastructure is being repaired. Manitobans feel a sense of pride that their government is e nsuring their day -to-day needs are being met in a fiscally responsible and sustainable manner. Unfortunately, this was not the case for many years under the previous NDP government. In the lead -up to the 2016 election, our PC team promised to fix the finances, repair the services and rebuild the economy of Manitoba.

It's been less than three years since we received an overwhelming mandate to fulfill these promises. I am proud to say that our PZ–PC government is getting the job done. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Ted Marcelino (Tyndall Park): I just lost a dear friend. His name is Alfredo Nonoy Hermano. He died last night. He's a brother to a very good friend and fishing buddy, Lino Hermano. He's the brother-in-law of Lourdes Hermano, a retired teacher of the Brooklands School. May he rest in peace. He suffered from the joys of smoking and was killed by it. I will miss him and his jokes.

We went together, as friends, doing a pizza delivery team in 1980s, and we were making 25 cents tips on a $4-per-hour wage, and we were both happy –and our memories of yesterday. Now, I will have to come to the meat of my speech today, which is survival. In 1980, when I first arrived, everything that I did was to survive. Everything that I dreamed of went down by the sidelines. And I had to work. I had to work as a tire retreader for Quality Tire, a tire retreader, cold process, for tractor tires. I didn't realize they were big. I thought they were just tires. And I made do with what we had.

And as new immigrants, we tried keeping up with the day -to-day expenses. And I'm kind of reluctant to even say anything more about how we lived our lives because wh en I lived at 341 Keewatin, it was difficult. My neighbours were all on welfare and I didn't realize that even the bus fare was very scarce at that time. It was only 50 cents, but then they still don't have it. Two quarters, they don't have it. And they would knock on our door and ask for a dollar because that's the only way that they could come back. Most of them were indigenous, right there on Keewatin.

And they lived lives that are not that far away from now, those guys who are living on Gallagher, Alexander, Ross in the Bro

Document details

Collection	Manitoba — Debates (Hansard)
Citation	41-4-24
Type	hansard
Volume / chapter	41st 4th hansardpdf 24.pdf
Language	en
Format	pdf
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	f89118b0d1077d5064b3550fbb0c2838dcc0d806

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