Second Session - Thirty-Eighth Legislature of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba Standing Committee on Private Bills Chairperson Mr. Doug Martindale Constituency of Burrows Vol. LV No. 1 - 10 a.m., Monday, June 7, 2004 ISSN 0713-9543 MANITOBA LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY Thirty-Eighth Legislature Member Constituency Political Affiliation AGLUGUB, Cris The Maples N.D.P. ALLAN, Nancy, Hon. St. Vital N.D.P. ALTEMEYER, Rob Wolseley N.D.P. ASHTON, Steve, Hon. Thompson N.D.P. BJORNSON, Peter, Hon. Gimli N.D.P. BRICK, Marilyn St. Norbert N.D.P. CALDWELL, Drew Brandon East N.D.P. CHOMIAK, Dave, Hon. Kildonan N.D.P. CUMMINGS, Glen Ste. Rose P.C. DERKACH, Leonard Russell P.C. DEWAR, Gregory Selkirk N.D.P. DOER, Gary, Hon. Concordia N.D.P. DRIEDGER, Myrna Charleswood P.C. DYCK, Peter Pembina P.C. EICHLER, Ralph Lakeside P.C. FAURSCHOU, David Portage la Prairie P.C. GERRARD, Jon, Hon. River Heights Lib. GOERTZEN, Kelvin Steinbach P.C. HAWRANIK, Gerald Lac du Bonnet P.C. HICKES, George, Hon. Point Douglas N.D.P. IRVIN-ROSS, Kerri Fort Garry N.D.P. JENNISSEN, Gerard Flin Flon N.D.P. JHA, Bidhu Radisson N.D.P. KORZENIOWSKI, Bonnie St. James N.D.P. LAMOUREUX, Kevin Inkster Lib. LATHLIN, Oscar, Hon. The Pas N.D.P. LEMIEUX, Ron, Hon. La Verendrye N.D.P. LOEWEN, John Fort Whyte P.C. MACKINTOSH, Gord, Hon. St. Johns N.D.P. MAGUIRE, Larry Arthur-Virden P.C. MALOWAY, Jim Elmwood N.D.P. MARTINDALE, Doug Burrows N.D.P. McGIFFORD, Diane, Hon. Lord Roberts N.D.P. MELNICK, Christine, Hon Riel N.D.P. VACANT Minto MITCHELSON, Bonnie River East P.C. MURRAY, Stuart Kirkfield Park P.C. NEVAKSHONOFF, Tom Interlake N.D.P. OSWALD, Theresa Seine River N.D.P. PENNER, Jack Emerson P.C. REID, Daryl Transcona N.D.P. REIMER, Jack Southdale P.C. ROBINSON, Eric, Hon. Rupertsland N.D.P. ROCAN, Denis Carman P.C. RONDEAU, Jim, Hon. Assiniboia N.D.P. ROWAT, Leanne Minnedosa P.C. SALE, Tim, Hon. Fort Rouge N.D.P. SANTOS, Conrad Wellington N.D.P. SCHELLENBERG, Harry Rossmere N.D.P. SCHULER, Ron Springfield P.C. SELINGER, Greg, Hon. St. Boniface N.D.P. SMITH, Scott, Hon. Brandon West N.D.P. STEFANSON, Heather Tuxedo P.C. STRUTHERS, Stan, Hon. Dauphin-Roblin N.D.P. TAILLIEU, Mavis Morris P.C. VACANT Turtle Mountain WOWCHUK, Rosann, Hon. Swan River N.D.P. 1 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON PRIVATE BILLS Monday, June 7, 2004 TIME – 10 a.m. Your first order of business is the election of a Chairperson. Are there any nominations? LOCATION – Winnipeg, Manitoba Mr. Gregory Dewar (Selkirk): I nominate Mr. CHAIRPERSON – Mr. Doug Martindale Martindale. (Burrows) Clerk Assistant: Mr. Martindale has been VICE-CHAIRPERSON – Ms. Theresa Oswald nominated. Are there any other nominations? (Seine River) Seeing none, Mr. Martindale, would you please take the Chair. ATTENDANCE - 11 – QUORUM - 6 Members of the Committee present: Mr. Chairperson: Our next order of business is to fill a vacancy in the position of committee Vice- Ms. Brick, Messrs. Dewar, Dyck, Ms. Irvin- Chairperson. Are there any nominations for this Ross, Messrs. Loewen, Maloway, Martindale, position? Ms. Oswald, Messrs. Reimer, Schellenberg, Mrs. Stefanson Mr. Dewar: Mr. Chair, I nominate Ms. Oswald. APPEARING: Mr. Chairperson: Ms. Oswald has been nominated. Are there any other nominations? Hon. Jon Gerrard, MLA for River Heights Mr. Kevin Lamoureux, MLA for Inkster Hearing no other nominations, Ms. Oswald is Ms. Valeri Perry, Law Officer of the House elected Vice-Chairperson of this committee. WITNESSES: This meeting has been called to consider the Bill 301–The Jewish Foundation of Manitoba following bills: Bill 300, The Winnipeg Foundation Act Act; Bill 301, The Jewish Foundation of Manitoba Act. Mr. David Cohen, Executive Director, Jewish Foundation of Manitoba Before we proceed further, how long does the Mr. Bryan Klein, Aikins, MacAulay & committee wish to sit this morning? Thorvaldson Mr. John Loewen (Fort Whyte): I think the Bill 300 – The Winnipeg Foundation Act committee should sit until the business is taken care Mr. Rick Frost, Chief Executive Officer, The of. Winnipeg Foundation Mr. Chairperson: It has been suggested the committee sit until the bills have been passed by the MATTERS UNDER CONSIDERATION: committee. Is that agreed? [Agreed] Bill 300–The Winnipeg Foundation Act We do have presenters registered to speak this Bill 301–The Jewish Foundation of Manitoba morning as follows: Mr. David Cohen, Jewish Act Foundation of Manitoba; and Mr. Bryan Klein, Aikins, MacAulay & Thorvaldson. *** Clerk Assistant (Mr. Rick Yarish): Good morning. If there is anyone else in the audience who Will the Standing Committee on Private Bills please would like to make a presentation this morning, come to order. please register with staff at the entrance of the room. 2 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA June 7, 2004 I would like to inform presenters that in In 1964, 119 individuals came forward to the accordance with our rules, a time limit of 10 minutes community with an idea of creating an endowment has been allocated for presentations with another 5 fund, and I am happy to say that we have been very minutes allowed for questions from committee thrilled with what has taken place over the last 40 members. Also, in accordance with our rules, if a years. presenter is not in attendance when their name is called, they will be dropped to the bottom of the list. The Jewish Foundation is an endowment fund If the presenter is not in attendance when their name which takes in gifts of capital, all kinds of gifts, is called a second time, they will be removed from whether they are gifts of cash, stock, et cetera, to the presenters' list. create a permanent source of capital, whereby we take these funds in and only distribute the income Just prior to proceeding with public present- that is generated on an annual basis. I am proud to ations, I would just like to advise members of the say that in 1964, where we started with, as I say a public regarding the process for speaking in zero amount, in the first 10 years, we grew by a total committee. The proceedings of our committee are of $85,000. I am proud to say at the end of 2003, we recorded in order to provide a verbatim transcript. are sitting at $46.5 million, so, we have come a long Each time someone wishes to speak, whether it be an way. MLA or presenter, I have to say the person's name first. This is the signal for the Hansard recorder to In 2003, we distributed back into our community turn the mikes on and off. This is why I need to in excess of $2 million to all kinds of charitable recognize you by name, prior to speaking. Thank you organizations, registered charities in this community. for your patience. We are very proud of that fact. We are also very proud of the fact that the nature of our grants, and We will now proceed with public presentations. they are identified on pages 18, 19 and 20 in the report that you have in front of you, identifies the Bill 301–The Jewish Foundation of Manitoba Act nature of our grants. We have participated both within the Jewish community and in the general Mr. Chairperson: Mr. David Cohen, Jewish community, and we do receive applications for Foundation of Manitoba, please take the podium for grants and scholarships from both the Jewish and Bill 301, The Jewish Foundation of Manitoba Act. general community. Those are identified on those pages. In 2003, you have a 2002 annual report; our Mr. David Cohen (Executive Director, Jewish 2003 annual report is being published as we speak. It Foundation of Manitoba): My name is David will be available next week, but I am pleased to say Cohen. I am the Executive Director of the Jewish that our capital grew by $1,800,000 in 2003. Foundation of Manitoba. On page 16 of the report, you will notice our Mr. Chairperson: Excuse me, sir, do you have committee structure. We have a very active volunteer written copies of your presentation? base. We have in excess of about 120 volunteers currently involved, be they on our board of directors, Mr. Cohen: No, I do not. I have copies of our 2002 board of governors, our audit committee, our invest- annual report for your information, if you would like ment committee. We have a number of different that. promotional committees dealing with professional advisers, dealing with a Bar/Bat Mitzvah initiation Mr. Chairperson: We will ask the page to distribute which is talking to the fact about encouraging young those, please. people to give back to the community. That is a rite of passage in the Jewish community, and we are very Mr. Cohen: Thank you for the opportunity to speak pleased to say over the last four years, we have here this afternoon. We are pleased that this bill is generated in excess of 200 Bar/Bat Mitzvah funds. coming forward at this time. Let me briefly give you We are really trying to teach our young people the an overview of the Jewish Foundation. value of giving back into our community. In 2004, we will be celebrating our 40th I am proud that we have been able to participate anniversary, and we are very excited about that fact. in the community as much as we have. We feel as a June 7, 2004 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 3 community we are very pleased we have had the The nature of the support we have given: We opportunity to participate as we have, and I am have given to Klinic; we have given to The Pas, one happy to say that on this occasion, we are here to of The Pas treatment centres.