Hon. Glen Cummings (Minister of Natural Resources): Mr. Deputy Speaker, I seem to not have sound.

Mr. Deputy Speaker: Let me check that mike.

Mr. Cummings: My report to the House will be very brief, followed by more detailed information from my colleague the Minister of Government Services (Mr. Pitura). I wanted to report to the House today that there appears to be stabilization of the levels at Emerson, Letellier and St. Jean, at or near the forecasted peak.

I would also like to report that the reading today at James Avenue in Winnipeg is at 22.1 and that the levels above the floodway are at 769.43 today. More detailed information will be supplied at our regular three o'clock press conference.

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Hon. Frank Pitura (Minister of Government Services): The Red River in the north end of the basin is continuing to rise and extending its flood waters in southern Manitoba. The additional height of water is flooding a much larger area than the 1979 and 1996 floods. The height and extent of the flooding is causing some problems for all local authorities in the Red River Valley.

We were saddened to hear of the villages of Aubigny and Ste. Agathe being flooded, both on the 27th. Ste. Agathe was reported by the Canadian Armed Forces at 2:45 a.m. last night as being flooded out. I am happy to report that all essential staff that were on duty at the time were evacuated safely out of the community, and I think that on behalf of all members our thoughts and our prayers are with that community today.

The province ordered the mandatory evacuation of all properties at risk by 8 p.m., April 25, 1997. That now mandatory evacuation is in effect for the R.M. of Macdonald, northern section and the part of St. Norbert that is protected by the Brunkild dike or the Z-dike as it is sometimes called. That evacuation order has to be completed by 8 p.m. tonight, and I guess I would report that I am one of those evacuees. We are now at no fixed address in the city.

In the area of agriculture, Manitoba Agriculture and their Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration, PFRA, are co-ordinating the relocation of livestock from farms that are now at risk from flooding in the R.M. of Macdonald, and they have a full list of all of the operators within the area, the flood zone area, as to what types of livestock they have and how many head they have and contingency plans with regard to evacuation.

Canada Post is adjusting postal deliveries to accommodate the needs of evacuees and since the flooding is in my backyard, I have had a chance to talk to a number of evacuees who are now receiving their mail at the central Canada Post office downtown. What happens in their case is that the postal clerk from Morris is now manning the long series of tables in the Canada Post office and looking after their mail needs because he knows the people that are there.

Natural Resources has 168 persons deployed in the flood-threatened communities and essential personnel in the ring-dike communities, primarily Natural Resources officers. Natural Resources in conjunction with the local authorities will always be determining the evacuation requirements of that community.

In the area of emergency social services, the provincial emergency social services have opened their emergency operation centre and have established reception facilities in Altona, Steinbach, Winnipeg and St. Malo. As of April 27, approximately 12,000 evacuees were entered into the Red Cross data system and 5,500 were provided accommodation, and of course this is a moving thing that is happening and changing every hour.

Also, with emergency health services, they have co-ordinated the evacuation of personal care homes and hospitals in the following flood areas of Emerson, Morris, St. Adolphe, St. Pierre and Winnipeg as well as in Rosenort.

Under the area of Labour, Workplace Safety and Health is presently responding to questions from the private sector on chemical storage and safety if they must evacuate. Mechanical and Engineering are handling issues related to hydro, gas, propane, electrical, boilers, pressure vessels and elevators in flood areas, and so the Office of the Fire Commissioner has deployed personnel in southern Manitoba to assist local fire departments on a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week basis.

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The department is developing re-entry plans that will address safety, health, electrical, gas and boiler issues. Upon notification by Natural Resources, MTS will terminate telecommunication services in flooded communities following evacuation of essential service personnel from flooded areas. The Letellier, prefix 737, and Rosenort, prefix 746 exchanges, are to be shut down at 10 a.m., April 29 to protect system equipment and safety of persons working in the area of the buildings.

The Manitoba Emergency Management Organization is continuing to staff the provincial emergency co-ordination centre on a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week basis. A lot of those staff that are working there are really going above and beyond the call of duty, and a lot of them desperately need some rest, but they keep going for their shift right on time. Meanwhile, community advisers are in the flood area providing advice and assistance to local authorities. Now the development of a re-entry committee is underway to ensure the safety of persons returning to areas which have been flooded, and this committee will be comprised of representatives from MEMO, Agriculture, Environment, Health, Family Services, Highways and Transportation, Manitoba Hydro, Manitoba Telecommunications System, Centra Gas, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the representatives of the municipality under consideration for re-entry, as well as other departments and agencies as required. An example is Education.

There is also a contingency planning team consisting of representatives of the province, the City of Winnipeg and the Canadian Armed Forces that has been developed to prepare plans in the event of dike failures, and daily information on the conditions will be provided to

local authorities of [inaudible] municipalities.

This is my update for today, Mr. Deputy Speaker.

Mr. Stan Struthers (Dauphin): To begin with, I want to wish the minister himself well with the diking plans that he has at his homestead. I want to point out though that there are a lot of people that are going to be living at the same address that he will be living at over the next several weeks, many people with no fixed address. The highest numbers of people, I am told, in the history of our province will be living at no fixed address all at one time, so I do wish the minister well in his plans to protect his own home. I also join with both the ministers in making it clear that our hearts are with the people who were evacuated from Ste. Agathe and Aubigny who eventually saw their towns inundated with the waters of the Red River in the morning hours of this morning.

I also want to be quick to point out again, as we have so many times in this House, the ingenuity and the fortitude of the people of the province of Manitoba who are working to contain the waters of the Red River and to minimize the amount of damage to people and to property over the course of this flood. An example comes to mind on the Z-dike that is being built where school buses and old vehicles have been moved in to provide a barrier to the wave action that is taking place. I think that is the kind of co-operative ingenuity and the kind of thinking that is going to help Manitobans as we prepare ourselves as the crest of the river moves ever northward.

Just with that, Mr. Deputy Speaker, I would like to thank the ministers for keeping us up to date and communicating the latest of the figures and the projections that they have and again pledge our co-operation in working towards helping the people of Manitoba affected by this flood.