March 19, 1991 Alberta Hansard 67 Legislative Assembly of Alberta of the contents of the Bill, recommends the same to the Assembly. Title: Tuesday, March 19, 1991 2:30 p.m. The purpose of this Bill is to clarify the positions and roles Date: 91/03/19 of the members of the Forest Research Advisory Council. [Mr. Speaker in the Chair] [Leave granted; Bill 2 read a first time] head: Prayers Bill 15 MR. SPEAKER: Let us pray. Alberta Foundation for the Arts Act As Canadians and as Albertans we give thanks for the precious gifts of freedom and peace which we enjoy. MR. MAIN: Mr. Speaker, I request leave to introduce Bill 15, As Members of this Legislative Assembly we rededicate the Alberta Foundation for the Arts Act. This being a money ourselves to the valued traditions of parliamentary democracy as Bill, His Honour the Honourable the Lieutenant Governor, a means of serving both our province and our country. having been informed of the contents of this Bill, recommends Amen. the same to the Assembly. This Bill will greatly simplify arts granting procedures in this head: Introduction of Visitors province and will generate administrative savings that will be passed on to artists and arts organizations. DR. WEST: Mr. Speaker, I would like to introduce to you and Members of the Legislative Assembly today some dignitaries [Leave granted; Bill 15 read a first time] from the Soviet Union. Following a memorandum of under- standing signed by the Deputy Premier, Jim Horsman, in head: Tabling Returns and Reports October of '89, Alberta and the Russian Soviet Federal Socialist Republic worked to establish a sports agreement and exchanges MR. ANDERSON: Mr. Speaker, I'm pleased to table the of peoples. Members of the delegation, including a biathlon Public Contributions Act 39th annual report for the year 1990. team who are here to participate in sporting activities in Canmore and Hinton, have been discussing that exchange today. MR. GOGO: Mr. Speaker, I wish to file the 15th annual report We look forward to continued friendship and economic develop- of the Alberta Council on Admissions and Transfer. ment with that country. I would ask the dignitaries that are here to rise as I call their MR. BOGLE: Mr. Speaker, under section 4(3) of the Election names – they are in your gallery – and remain standing until Act, I am tabling four copies of the report of the Chief this Assembly gives them their proper recognition. They are Electoral Officer on the Edmonton-Strathcona by-election held Mr. Vasili Machuga, chairman of the republic sports committee; Monday, December 17, 1990. Mr. Alexander Kuznetsov, deputy chairman of the republic sports committee; Mr. Alexander Chumakov, sports co-ordinator MR. McINNIS: Mr. Speaker, I wish to file copies of a of the Council of Ministers; Mr. Victor Kharitonov, director of discussion paper Toward A New Forest Policy for Alberta. Gorky Automobile Plant Sports Club. They are accompanied This is the background for the debate this afternoon on forestry. also by the aide to the chairman, Miss Marina Kravchenko, and interpreter, Marina Baturynskaya. Please give them the warm head: Introduction of Special Guests welcome of this House. MR. SPEAKER: The Member for Edmonton-Kingsway. head: Introduction of Bills MR. McEACHERN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's my Bill 8 pleasure today to introduce two groups of students to you and Livestock and Livestock Products to the Assembly. They are both from the Alberta Vocational Amendment Act, 1991 Centre in my riding, the Winnifred Stewart campus. There are 14 in the one group with teacher Georgia Ramos and aide MR. ISLEY: Mr. Speaker, I request leave to introduce Bill 8, Marilyn Baldwin. I would request that they stand. While we're Livestock and Livestock Products Amendment Act, 1991. This at it, we'll do the other group as well. They are with teacher being a money Bill, His Honour the Honourable the Lieutenant Roberta Brosseau. I would request that they also stand and Governor, having been informed of the contents of this Bill, receive the warm welcome of the Assembly. I'll be bringing recommends the same to the Assembly. their pictures to them in a couple of weeks time. This Bill will allow for the development of a producer- supported financial security program to protect Alberta sellers of MR. ZARUSKY: Mr. Speaker, it's my pleasure today to livestock from nonpayment. introduce to you and through you to the rest of the members of the Assembly on behalf of the Minister of the Environment and [Leave granted; Bill 8 read a first time] myself a group of young people from the International Youth for Peace and Justice. This is a nonprofit organization based on the Bill 2 premise of having young people educating young people, and Forest Development Research Trust Fund this year's theme is the environment. They are seated in the Amendment Act, 1991 members' gallery. They are Roberta Sanders, a supervisor and MR. FJORDBOTTEN: Mr. Speaker, I request leave to also a student at McGill University, Montreal; Tracee Diabo introduce Bill 2, the Forest Development Research Trust Fund from Kahnawake reserve in Quebec; Lara Patwardan from India; Amendment Act, 1991. This being a money Bill, His Honour Lori Maziarz from Kitchener, Ontario; and Marta Mekonen, the Honourable the Lieutenant Governor, having been informed originally born in Africa and living in Atlanta, U.S.A. With 68 Alberta Hansard March 19, 1991 them also is Barbara Mikulin, a guide from Lamont, and Janice MR. STEWART: Mr. Speaker, no money was handed out. Fishburne from the city of Edmonton. I ask that they rise and There are fluctuations with respect to the cash required by this receive the warm welcome of the Assembly. company as there are for any other company and particularly, I would say, in a competitive company, a competitive industry. MR. SPEAKER: Calgary-Mountain View. The umbrella was set up. It basically replaced the type of financing that was in place previously. Then on March 12 we MR. HAWKESWORTH: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's my got the statement of losses indicating the losses for 1990. pleasure to introduce to members of the Assembly this afternoon That's when we received that advice, and we made it public the a group of grade 10 honour social studies students from very next day. Crescent Heights high school in Calgary. They are seated in the public gallery, and I'd like to ask them to please rise along MR. MARTIN: I wouldn't want you running my personal with their teachers Ron Jeffery and Chris Macintosh and receive finances. the acknowledgment and welcome from the Assembly. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to direct my second question to the same minister. The last set of questions and answers shows head: Oral Question Period clearly why we need to get to the bottom of this NovAtel fiasco and get the financial statements from this company. Yesterday NovAtel Communications Ltd. the Premier bragged about how open his government is about MR. MARTIN: Mr. Speaker, to the Minister of Technology, providing information to the public. If I may quote from Research and Telecommunications. There seem to be some very Hansard, he said: large gaps in this government's story respecting its dealings with There's a tremendous amount of information available to the public NovAtel. I want to focus specifically on what this government and the members of this Legislature. We've seen it come in here knew and when it knew it. On August 10, 1989, this govern- and go in wheelbarrows full to the hon. members when they ment provided $340 million U.S., or $435 million Canadian, in request it. guarantees to NovAtel to cover the indebtedness of NovAtel. Well, my question to the Minister of Technology, Research and Then on January 11, 1991, it increased the amount of these Telecommunications is simply this: will he follow the Premier's guarantees to $525 million. Now, my question to the minister commitment and table the full financial statements of NovAtel is simply this: on what basis did the minister increase the for the last two years for this hon. member? I'll leave the guarantees to NovAtel by $90 million? There must have been choice of the particular vehicle of delivery to the minister. some rationale behind it. MR. STEWART: Mr. Speaker, there is a customary practice 2:40 in the House for information requests to be put forward, and I MR. STEWART: Mr. Speaker, the bulk of the guarantees to would merely remind the hon. member that he could do so. which the hon. member refers were to replace guarantees that Insofar as who may be there guiding the financial affairs of were previously in existence at the time AGT owned NovAtel, these matters, I would merely suggest that a party that is mired and they were basically with respect to the purchasing and in debt like the NDP should question its leadership in that financing program that the company had in place for the United regard too. States. The balance of the guarantees related to the operation line of credit for the company. MR. MARTIN: Mr. Speaker, we would have no problem if we were just part of this government. We could come to the MR. MARTIN: Well, Mr. Speaker, the minister said the other minister, and it would be over right away. day that he was not really aware of NovAtel's severe financial The minister may want to say that he's open, but the minister problems until March 12 yet in January decided to put over $90 responded to a motion for a return requesting NovAtel's million extra of taxpayers' money into this company.