Manitoba Oil Museum Hall of Fame Inductees

Hon. James Downey (Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism): Madam Speaker, I have a member's statement that I would like the opportunity to present to the House at this particular time.

Last night in Virden, Manitoba, my colleague the Minister of Energy and Mines (Mr. Praznik) and I had the opportunity to be at a very special event. The Manitoba Oil Museum honoured eight individuals for their special contributions to the petroleum industry in Manitoba. These eight individuals will be inducted into the Manitoba Oil Museum's Hall of Fame in its inaugural year. The following were selected: Mr. Howard Armstrong, Tom Browning, John Clarke, Jack Hall, Steve Hegion, Grady Johnson and another individual who is with us this afternoon, Mr. Walter Kucharczyk and Lyle Lee.

These individuals were selected for various reasons. They have served in the petroleum industry in Manitoba with distinction for a number of years. They are well known and have earned the respect and recognition of their peers in the petroleum industry. They have made an outstanding contribution to the discovery, development or production of Manitoba's petroleum resources for their long-term dedication and leadership in promoting and developing the province's petroleum resources. They are key contributors to the community and the public's understanding of the petroleum industry and its importance and value to the economy of Manitoba.

As a member of the Legislature for the Arthur-Virden constituency, I am very pleased to congratulate these inductees.

Home Care

Mr. Steve Ashton (Thompson): Madam Speaker, I want to pay tribute today to the many Manitobans who have been taking a stand in this province for a very important issue, and that is home care. I particularly want to pay tribute to the many people who have been speaking out on this issue, whether it be the home care clients or whether it be the home care workers or whether it be the many members of the public who have been involved in what, to my mind, has probably been a classic case of democracy in this province.

I want to reflect on the fact today of how much the rhetoric has changed from the government now that there is a tentative settlement, because we have heard, day in and day out, the kind of inflammatory rhetoric that has been made by members of this government, including the Minister of Health (Mr. McCrae), about many of the people who have been doing nothing more than expressing their democratic right. Indeed, whether it has been the home care workers who made a democratic decision and took a stand for the home care system of this province or whether it be the clients who have come out, who came to the hearings last week or whether it be the thousands of Manitobans who have joined a grassroots campaign to save our home care system, I pay tribute to them and their courage in the face of many of the kinds of attacks we have seen from members of this government.

I hope members of this government will learn from their experience. The bottom line in democracy is, you cannot ignore the people. This government made no reference in the last election to privatizing home care; they then announced it. Now I hope that with the tentative settlement, and hopefully with the chance that this government will have to reflect, that they will do the right thing and go one step further and listen to the people of Manitoba and stop any privatization of the home care system. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

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Morden Elementary School--Medieval Fest

Garden Valley Collegiate Choir

Mr. Peter Dyck (Pembina): Five days ago I was invited to a very unique event at the Morden Elementary School. The Grade 8 class decided that they would hold a banquet but they wanted to do something just a little different. So, instead of borscht and zwieback, they decided to put on a medieval fest. It was held on May 10, and it was an authentic medieval fest in every sense of the word. They had gone to the work of researching what the dress of the day was; as a result, they were wearing the appropriate clothing. To complement their garb, they also spoke in the language of the time. They served a meal befitting the time, namely bread and stew. They had two sittings for this dinner and, in all, approximately 500 people were served not only a culinary delight, but also a cultural feast.

I attended this event, and I was thoroughly impressed with how hard the students and the staff had worked. Accordingly, it is my pleasure to stand in the House today and recognize those efforts.

I would also like to recognize Garden Valley Collegiate and the choir that has assembled, a choir which is currently on an extensive tour of the northern states of the U.S. On Monday, they sang at the Underwood High School and yesterday they sang in the Twin Cities of Minnesota. In fact, they sang O Canada! for the opening ceremony at the American League baseball game between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Minnesota Twins. Today they will be singing at a dinner theatre.

I want to thank the staff who prepared this trip well in advance and who ensured that the students would have a good time en route. I also take my hat off to all those involved, be they the staff or students who have practised so diligently. I thank the choir from Garden Valley Collegiate. Thank you for being such wonderful ambassadors for our province, and we wish you a safe trip home. Thank you.

Madam Speaker: Order, please. I wonder if I could ask the co-operation of all honourable members who are having private meetings at the back of the Chamber to do so in the loge or outside the Chamber?

Home Care Program

Privatization

Ms. MaryAnn Mihychuk (St. James): Madam Speaker, this government has broken their promises on health care, home care, MTS, along with many others. In regard to the home care situation, this is not a question of competition versus monopoly. Unlike consumers, the individual patient will have no say in who delivers the service. They will receive care from a private monopoly instead of a public monopoly. The only people who stand to gain from this move to privatize are the owners of the home care companies, not the patients, not the workers and not the provincial coffers. This move by government created the home care dispute. When will this government listen to the needs of Manitobans, not just to the needs of their friends?

In the St. James area we have over 16,500 seniors, and we are proud of the number of seniors that we honour and respect, which is the largest concentration of seniors in Manitoba. Seniors are the largest group of people that will be affected by the privatization of home care, Madam Speaker. Many seniors rely on this service daily, on this publicly run operation which they are completely satisfied with. It has been recognized as the best home care service in North America and the most cost-effective. This is a service which was originally introduced by the NDP government, and we are proud of that service. It is now being torn apart by the present Tory government. This government is giving favours to their friends at the expense of all Manitobans. This government wants to privatize home care so that their friends can make large profits off the sick and elderly of this province, and we are ashamed. We ask them to reverse their stand on the privatization of home care.

Mr. Clif Evans (Interlake): Madam Speaker, home care is for the people, not for profit. The Premier (Mr. Filmon) and the Health minister have rightly faced a daily barrage of criticism for this government's plan to privatize the delivery of all home care. Even Connie Curran, the American health consultant who this government spent public money to hire, advised against privatization, warning that contracting all service delivery among multiple providers is not advisable due to difficulty ensuring quality of service and difficulty co-ordinating across multiple services.

The Health minister's plan will make a few millionaires while reducing wages of low-paid workers by 30 percent to 40 percent. The Manitoba NDP was the founder of provincially funded home care in Canada, and outside experts still point to Manitoba as having one of the best systems in the world. However, this present provincial government did not listen to the advice of others, acknowledge that the rest of Canada envies our home care system or even consult with the public when making this decision.

The fact that home care is not protected by the Canada Health Act gives this government an excuse to shift cost in a major way to consumers. This government would burden sick Manitobans financially without breaking the law. Patients who could not afford to pay for home care will wind up being admitted to hospital, needing a higher level of care and more expensive care than would be otherwise required. The private company that will be administering health care has no incentive to give proper care at a low cost.

It has taken a month of public support for the current system to force the government to negotiate with the workers. The unprecedented support for the workers by the users and the public has forced the government to negotiate. No one should be fooled on what this dispute is about. Manitobans have shown their strong opposition to using tax dollars for private profit from health care.