Third Session - Fortieth Legislature of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba DEBATES and PROCEEDINGS Official Report (Hansard) Published under the authority of The Honourable Daryl Reid Speaker Vol. LXVI No. 35B - 1:30 p.m., Tuesday, March 25, 2014 ISSN 0542-5492 MANITOBA LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY Fortieth Legislature Member Constituency Political Affiliation ALLAN, Nancy St. Vital NDP ALLUM, James, Hon. Fort Garry-Riverview NDP ALTEMEYER, Rob Wolseley NDP ASHTON, Steve, Hon. Thompson NDP BJORNSON, Peter, Hon. Gimli NDP BLADY, Sharon, Hon. Kirkfield Park NDP BRAUN, Erna, Hon. Rossmere NDP BRIESE, Stuart Agassiz PC CALDWELL, Drew Brandon East NDP CHIEF, Kevin, Hon. Point Douglas NDP CHOMIAK, Dave, Hon. Kildonan NDP CROTHERS, Deanne St. James NDP CULLEN, Cliff Spruce Woods PC DEWAR, Gregory Selkirk NDP DRIEDGER, Myrna Charleswood PC EICHLER, Ralph Lakeside PC EWASKO, Wayne Lac du Bonnet PC FRIESEN, Cameron Morden-Winkler PC GAUDREAU, Dave St. Norbert NDP GERRARD, Jon, Hon. River Heights Liberal GOERTZEN, Kelvin Steinbach PC GRAYDON, Cliff Emerson PC HELWER, Reg Brandon West PC HOWARD, Jennifer, Hon. Fort Rouge NDP IRVIN-ROSS, Kerri, Hon. Fort Richmond NDP JHA, Bidhu Radisson NDP KOSTYSHYN, Ron, Hon. Swan River NDP LEMIEUX, Ron, Hon. Dawson Trail NDP MACKINTOSH, Gord, Hon. St. Johns NDP MALOWAY, Jim Elmwood NDP MARCELINO, Flor, Hon. Logan NDP MARCELINO, Ted Tyndall Park NDP MARTIN, Shannon Morris PC MELNICK, Christine Riel Ind. MITCHELSON, Bonnie River East PC NEVAKSHONOFF, Tom Interlake NDP OSWALD, Theresa, Hon. Seine River NDP PALLISTER, Brian Fort Whyte PC PEDERSEN, Blaine Midland PC PETTERSEN, Clarence Flin Flon NDP PIWNIUK, Doyle Arthur-Virden PC REID, Daryl, Hon. Transcona NDP ROBINSON, Eric, Hon. Kewatinook NDP RONDEAU, Jim Assiniboia NDP ROWAT, Leanne Riding Mountain PC SARAN, Mohinder The Maples NDP SCHULER, Ron St. Paul PC SELBY, Erin, Hon. Southdale NDP SELINGER, Greg, Hon. St. Boniface NDP SMOOK, Dennis La Verendrye PC STEFANSON, Heather Tuxedo PC STRUTHERS, Stan, Hon. Dauphin NDP SWAN, Andrew, Hon. Minto NDP WHITEHEAD, Frank The Pas NDP WIEBE, Matt Concordia NDP WIGHT, Melanie Burrows NDP WISHART, Ian Portage la Prairie PC 1381 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA Tuesday, March 25, 2014 The House met at 1:30 p.m. holidays to better provide area residents with this essential service. Mr. Speaker: Good afternoon, everyone. Please be seated. This petition is signed by T. Marciwkow, M. Marciwkow, D. Hellett and many, many more ROUTINE PROCEEDINGS fine Manitobans, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker: Introduction of bills? Mr. Speaker: In keeping with our rule 132(6), when PETITIONS petitions are read they are deemed to have been Mr. Speaker: We'll move on to petitions. received by the House. Beausejour District Hospital– Further petitions? Weekend and Holiday Physician Availability Hydro Capital Development–NFAT Review Mr. Wayne Ewasko (Lac du Bonnet): Mr. Speaker, I wish to present the following petition to Mr. Blaine Pedersen (Midland): Mr. Speaker, I the Legislative Assembly. wish to present the following petition to the Legislative Assembly. And these are the reasons for this petition: These are the reasons for this petition: (1) The Beausejour District Hospital is a 30-bed, acute-care facility that serves the communities of Manitoba Hydro was mandated by the provincial Beausejour and Brokenhead. government to commence a $21-billion capital development plan to service uncertain electricity (2) The hospital and the primary-care centre export markets. have had no doctor available on weekends and holidays for many months, jeopardizing the health In the last five years, competition from and livelihoods of those in the Interlake-Eastern alternative energy sources is decreasing the price and Regional Health Authority region. demand for Manitoba's hydroelectricity and causing the financial viability of this capital plan to be (3) During the 2011 election, the provincial questioned. government promised to provide every Manitoban with access to a family doctor by 2015. The $21-billion capital plan requires Manitoba Hydro to increase domestic electricity rates by up to (4) This promise is far from being realized, and 4 per cent annually for the next 20 years and possibly Manitobans are witnessing many emergency rooms more if export opportunities fail to materialize. limiting services or closing temporarily, with the majority of these reductions taking place in rural We petition the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba. Manitoba as follows: (5) According to the Health Council of Canada, To urge that the Minister responsible for only 25 per cent of doctors in Manitoba reported that Manitoba Hydro create a complete and transparent their patients had access to care on evenings and needs-for-and-alternatives-to review of Manitoba weekends. Hydro's total capital development plan to ensure the financial viability of Manitoba Hydro. We petition the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba as follows: And this petition is signed by T. Schindel, C. Pitura, Y. Lapointe and many more fine To urge the provincial government and the Manitobans. Minister of Health to ensure that the Beausejour District Hospital and primary-care centre have a Mr. Speaker: Any further petitions? Seeing none, primary-care physician available on weekends and we'll move on to committee reports? 1382 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA March 25, 2014 TABLING OF REPORTS We want them to be treated equitably like everybody else across this great country. Hon. Erin Selby (Minister of Health): Mr. Speaker, I'm pleased to table the 2014-2015 Mr. Pallister: This isn't a new story; it's a sequel. It's Departmental Expenditure Estimates for Manitoba Tin Cup, part 2. The NDP needs more money to Health, Healthy Living and Seniors. spend. It's Ottawa's fault. StatsCan can't count. Mr. Speaker: Any further tabling of reports? Why not come up with a new line? Even Ministerial statements? panhandlers change their signs once in a while, Mr. Speaker. This is the same story this government tried ORAL QUESTIONS on the people of Manitoba and of Canada in 2002. Mr. Speaker: There are no guests at the present time Now, still, 18,000 people missing, Mr. Speaker. to introduce, so we'll proceed directly to oral Isn't it time for this government take this problem questions. seriously? Start organizing a search party. Find these Statistics Canada Census Statistics people. Federal Transfer Payments Mr. Selinger: Mr. Speaker, it's never a surprise Mr. Brian Pallister (Leader of the Official when the Leader of the Opposition won't stand up for Opposition): Well, as we've listened to this NDP Manitobans. Whenever there's an issue, he always government's tired refrain about needing more sides–he always sides–with his federal counterparts; money from Ottawa and its story about missing whether it's Stats Canada, whether it's the federal Manitobans, it raises a powerful sense of déjà vu. It's government, he always stands with Ottawa. eerily familiar. Mr. Speaker, we stand with Manitobans. Those Which other government across this great 18,000 Manitobans, they deserve the same treatment country would embarrass itself and complain and as everybody else across this country. question the integrity of an internationally renowned Only the Leader of the Opposition would statistical agency and pursue a beggar-thy-neighbour abandon supporting Manitobans on getting their approach to governing? And the answer is–which share of proper services in this province of Manitoba. other government?–the NDP government, the NDP in 2002. Mr. Pallister: What we'll do is we'll stand with hard-working Manitobans who don't believe in Actually, they said in March 13th, 2002, they governments begging for them. said StatsCan got it wrong. They said the final census tally missed 19,000 people that time, Mr. It's the same tired government, which has the Speaker. And then he went further and said, an same tired lines. This is the same worn-out blame accurate count is important to maximize federal placing and even the same number of missing transfers. Who said that? The Finance minister of the people. This government lacks originality in its day, the Premier today. tin-cup approach. So is the reason that this government is so good Maybe these people aren't missing at all. Maybe at waving that tin cup around and begging for more these great people decided to go to another money that they've been doing it for 14 years? jurisdiction that's better governed than this one. Hon. Greg Selinger (Premier): Mr. Speaker, when Maybe they decided that they wanted a better future our Chief Statistician raises an issue about a somewhere away from this NDP government and its statistical procedure that deletes 18,000 people from tired approach to begging. Manitoba and that's going to cost us a hundred million dollars a year and a half a billion dollars over The reality is that this Premier is confusing the next five years, we take that matter seriously. banging a tin cup with real leadership. Won't he admit that today? We take that matter seriously because we think those 18,000 people who we know are in Manitoba Mr. Selinger: Mr. Speaker, when it comes to the deserve services. They deserve access to health care, band constable program being cancelled by the education, social services, labour market supports. federal government, Leader of the Opposition is Those services are important to those Manitobans. completely silent. March 25, 2014 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 1383 When it comes to 18,000 Manitobans being consequences when the Leader of the Opposition deleted from the StatsCan count in Manitoba, the sat around the Cabinet table and reversed his Leader of the Opposition, he stands up for Stats position and privatized the telephone system? No Canada, he doesn't stand up for Manitobans. consequences for that, maybe only benefits to the Leader of the Opposition.