DEBATES and PROCEEDINGS
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Third Session – Forty-Second Legislature of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba DEBATES and PROCEEDINGS Official Report (Hansard) Published under the authority of The Honourable Myrna Driedger Speaker Vol. LXXV No. 32A - 10 a.m., Tuesday, March 9, 2021 ISSN 0542-5492 MANITOBA LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY Forty-Second Legislature Member Constituency Political Affiliation ADAMS, Danielle Thompson NDP ALTOMARE, Nello Transcona NDP ASAGWARA, Uzoma Union Station NDP BRAR, Diljeet Burrows NDP BUSHIE, Ian Keewatinook NDP CLARKE, Eileen, Hon. Agassiz PC COX, Cathy, Hon. Kildonan-River East PC CULLEN, Cliff, Hon. Spruce Woods PC DRIEDGER, Myrna, Hon. Roblin PC EICHLER, Ralph, Hon. Lakeside PC EWASKO, Wayne, Hon. Lac du Bonnet PC FIELDING, Scott, Hon. Kirkfield Park PC FONTAINE, Nahanni St. Johns NDP FRIESEN, Cameron, Hon. Morden-Winkler PC GERRARD, Jon, Hon. River Heights Lib. GOERTZEN, Kelvin, Hon. Steinbach PC GORDON, Audrey, Hon. Southdale PC GUENTER, Josh Borderland PC GUILLEMARD, Sarah, Hon. Fort Richmond PC HELWER, Reg, Hon. Brandon West PC ISLEIFSON, Len Brandon East PC JOHNSON, Derek, Hon. Interlake-Gimli PC JOHNSTON, Scott Assiniboia PC KINEW, Wab Fort Rouge NDP LAGASSÉ, Bob Dawson Trail PC LAGIMODIERE, Alan Selkirk PC LAMONT, Dougald St. Boniface Lib. LAMOUREUX, Cindy Tyndall Park Lib. LATHLIN, Amanda The Pas-Kameesak NDP LINDSEY, Tom Flin Flon NDP MALOWAY, Jim Elmwood NDP MARCELINO, Malaya Notre Dame NDP MARTIN, Shannon McPhillips PC MICHALESKI, Brad Dauphin PC MICKLEFIELD, Andrew Rossmere PC MORLEY-LECOMTE, Janice Seine River PC MOSES, Jamie St. Vital NDP NAYLOR, Lisa Wolseley NDP NESBITT, Greg Riding Mountain PC PALLISTER, Brian, Hon. Fort Whyte PC PEDERSEN, Blaine, Hon. Midland PC PIWNIUK, Doyle Turtle Mountain PC REYES, Jon Waverley PC SALA, Adrien St. James NDP SANDHU, Mintu The Maples NDP SCHULER, Ron, Hon. Springfield-Ritchot PC SMITH, Andrew Lagimodière PC SMITH, Bernadette Point Douglas NDP SMOOK, Dennis La Vérendrye PC SQUIRES, Rochelle, Hon. Riel PC STEFANSON, Heather, Hon. Tuxedo PC TEITSMA, James Radisson PC WASYLIW, Mark Fort Garry NDP WHARTON, Jeff, Hon. Red River North PC WIEBE, Matt Concordia NDP WISHART, Ian Portage la Prairie PC WOWCHUK, Rick Swan River PC 1447 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA Tuesday, March 9, 2021 The House met at 10 a.m. Hon. Jon Gerrard (River Heights): I move, seconded by the MLA for St. Boniface, that Madam Speaker: O Eternal and Almighty God, from Bill 217, The Legislative Assembly Amendment Whom all power and wisdom come, we are assembled and Legislative Assembly Management Commission here before Thee to frame such laws as may tend to Amendment Act; Loi modifiant la Loi sur the welfare and prosperity of our province. Grant, O l'Assemblée législative et la Loi sur la Commission de merciful God, we pray Thee, that we may desire only régie de l'Assemblée législative, be now read a second that which is in accordance with Thy will, that we may time and be referred to a committee of this House. seek it with wisdom and know it with certainty and Motion presented. accomplish it perfectly for the glory and honour of Thy name and for the welfare of all our people. Amen. Mr. Gerrard: Madam Speaker, Bill 217 is to address a longstanding need to change the definition of what Please be seated. is a recognized opposition party in order to have better democracy, better government and better results for Speaker's Statement Manitobans. In an important sense, the current rules Madam Speaker: And I have a statement for the around official 'starty'–party status defy reality and House. depend on a fiction that MLAs who run together on the same banner, for the same party, and elected I am advising the House that I have received a together, work together and vote together are all letter from the member for River Heights and the independents. Government House Leader (Mr. Goertzen) indicating Political parties are essential in our democracy. that the member for River Heights has identified They bring people together in a common cause. Bill 217, The Legislative Assembly Amendment and Recognizing what constitutes a recognized political Legislative Assembly Management Commission party is a cornerstone of democracy in our province. Amendment Act, as his selected bill for this session. Recognized political parties have privileges, including the right to speak on ministers' statements As a reminder to the House, rule 24 permits each without leave, the right to be represented as members independent member to select one private members' on legislative committees, the ability to ensure they bill per session to proceed to a second reading vote, have a proportionate share of questions in Estimates, and requires the Government House Leader and the and many more. independent member to provide written notice as to the date and time of the debate and the vote. We have many rules and procedures in this House, many of them important, meaningful and I have been advised then that Bill 217 will be justified by past practice, but the reason for choosing debated today, Tuesday, March 19th, 2021, at 10 a.m., four seats is not known. It appears to be arbitrary, with the question to be put at 10:55 a.m. this morning. especially when compared to other provinces. It is time it is revisited in order to better reflect the current ORDERS OF THE DAY reality. PRIVATE MEMBERS' BUSINESS If we look across Canada, we see the following. SECOND READINGS–PUBLIC BILLS In British Columbia, the Green Party was granted official party status with three seats in a legislature of Bill 217–The Legislative Assembly Amendment 87 members; in Alberta, the NDP was granted official and Legislative Assembly Management party status with two seats in 1997, in 2001 and in Commission Amendment Act 2008, in a legislature of 87 MLAs; in Saskatchewan, Madam Speaker: Accordingly, I will now call official party status is provided for a party of two seats second reading of Bill 217, The Legislative Assembly in a legislature with 61; in Nova Scotia, a party with Amendment and Legislative Assembly Management two seats get–gets official party status, provided Commission Amendment Act. the party ran candidates in three-quarters of the 1448 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA March 9, 2021 constituencies and received at least 10 per cent of the Manitoba Liberals with seats in the Chamber is the overall vote, in a legislature with 51 seats; in another reason why it is appropriate for the party to Prince Edward Island, the precedent is that a party of receive official party status. one will receive official party status in a legislature * (10:10) with 27 seats; in Newfoundland and Labrador, official party status is with two seats out of 40; in New In fact, we believe that at the time this definition Brunswick, the Green Party has received official party of official party status was first created in the 1920s to status with three MLAs, and the People's Alliance the 1950s, Manitoba had a different electoral system. received official party status with two seats. We had ranked ballots. Winnipeg–in Winnipeg, people voted for their MLAs on a list, and the people This means that Manitoba has set a higher bar for with the most votes won: proportional representation. party status than other provinces. It's time to change the approach to deciding the criteria for official party The fact that we have a first-past-the-post system status in Manitoba to make it similar to what's means that the fundamental electoral system that happening in other provinces, which most commonly elected MLAs has changed since this rule was would be a party with two seats, as is present in six established, but the rule has not changed. Supporting other provinces, which is most other provinces of a this legislation is thus important for all parties and is similar size to Manitoba. important for democracy. It's also important to achieving better outcomes for all Manitobans. In Bill 217 we will also require that, for a party to It has been said, especially in politics, that there have official party status, that the party must receive are three sides to every story. We recognize, though more than 10 per cent of the votes cast in the most we disagree with the other parties, that they make recent provincial election. There is an important valuable contributions to debate, policy and distinction here. It means that two or three MLAs who legislation. We are proud of the fact that Manitoba are independents would not simply be able to declare Liberal legislative contributions, ideas and bills, themselves a party without popular support or running which the NDP and the PCs alike have chosen to adopt for election first to establish a mandate. Floor crossing and call their own. would still be allowed. There is real value in democracy, in society, in Indeed, any party in Manitoba which receives business, in government, to have more voices and 10 per cent of the vote is one which represents a large more perspectives. [interjection] number of Manitobans. In the most recent provincial Madam Speaker: Order. election, as an example, Manitoba Liberals received 14.5 per cent of the popular vote. This is just over a Mr. Gerrard: This is a Legislature where the vote percentage point less than the 15.98 per cent of the and voice of a single MLA has changed the course of vote that the NDP received at the federal level. our history. Elijah Harper is just one example. And, like the NDP at the federal level, the popular As MLAs, we all depend on our constituents to support we received is much greater than the number bring us new information and new perspectives.