Will the Committee of Supply please come to order. This section of the Committee of Supply will be considering the Estimates of Emergency Expenditures. Does the honourable Minister responsible for Emergency Expenditures have an opening statement?

* (1630)

Hon. Frank Pitura (Minister of Government Services): Actually, Mr. Chairperson, I do not as such have an opening statement. It think that I will just pass it off to my critic for questions.

Mr. Chairperson: We thank the minister responsible for those comments. Does the official opposition critic, the honourable member for Elmwood, have an opening statement?

Mr. Jim Maloway (Elmwood): Mr. Chairman, I think at this point we will agree to pass this particular section, and we will deal with this matter again in the concurrence section when it comes up after Estimates are over.

Mr. Pitura: I appreciate the member's comments. I think that some information I would like to leave with the member is from the standpoint that I think we all realize that we have just come through a very major disaster within the province of Manitoba and that, in terms of the funding allotment in the tabling of Estimates for this disaster, at the present time we do feel that there is an adequate funding on that line.

However, I would like to point out to the member that, with the fact that the disaster is approximately midpoint and that the calculation of all the costs as related to this disaster are not known yet, if indeed the costs are much greater than we anticipate, then we will probably have to-our intent would be to come back to the Legislature if the House is sitting for some supplementary funding or to provide supplementary funding for Emergency Expenditures should the need arise.

So I think I have to be fair to the member to inform him about that from the standpoint of this disaster that we are presently faced with right now.

Mr. Maloway: Mr. Chairman, I would like to thank the minister for that statement.

Mr. Chairperson: 1. Emergency Expenditures $20,000,000-pass.

Resolution 27.1: RESOLVED that there be granted to Her Majesty a sum not exceeding $20,000,000 for Other Appropriations, Emergency Expenditures, for the fiscal year ending the 31st day of March, 1998.

That ends the Estimates for Emergency Expenditures. That concludes the Estimates. Thank you, Mr. Minister.

The next Estimates will be Health, and we will take a five-minute break to give the minister a chance to get in here. Thank you.

The committee recessed at 4:34 p.m.

The committee resumed at 4:43 p.m.