4th-36th Vol. 34-Oral Questions

Mr. Deputy Speaker: Before moving on to Question Period, may I bring to the attention of the House that we have seated with us in the public gallery from Robert Andrews School forty-one Grade 9 students under the direction of Ms. Sandy Copp. This school is located in the constituency of the honourable Minister of Highways and Transportation (Mr. Findlay).

We also have seated in the public gallery from Springs Christian Academy thirty-eight Grades 9 and 11 students under the direction of Mr. Brad Dowler. This school is located in the constituency of the honourable member for St. Boniface (Mr. Gaudry).

We welcome all of you here today.

Mr. Gary Doer (Leader of the Opposition): Mr. Deputy Speaker, the International Joint Commission in December of 1997 stated that some residents feel the stress of dealing with the claims with the government, and that process was equal to or greater than the stress that they endured during the flood. We had written the government last year. We invited them to a public meeting last September in this House, and we wrote them after that on November 12 to ask for the status of the dike at Ste. Agathe. The government wrote back a month later, and there is still a great deal of confusion about this dike and its impact on flood victims in the Ste. Agathe area. In fact, there is even more concern in that some residents are being told that they will have to pay $10,000 as a contribution towards the dike even though their houses are proposed to be expropriated to build the dike.

I would like to ask the minister if he could clarify the status of the situation which I think all of us would agree is very, very unfair.

Hon. Glen Cummings (Minister of Natural Resources): Mr. Deputy Speaker, I do not know where the Leader of the Opposition would have received that information. The status of the dike is that we have general agreement on the location of the dike. One of the troublesome parts about that is that there are some houses that will be on the wrong side of the dike. There are probably some properties that may in fact have to be removed during the construction of the dike.

I met, along with the Minister of Government Services (Mr. Pitura), last week with representatives of the municipality and of some of the owners who found themselves waiting for an answer in regard to the issue I just mentioned, and we assured them that, between the municipality and the province, we will have a resolution to the issue in terms of moving forward with the construction, because, Mr. Deputy Speaker, technically what we want to do is to have a written agreement between the federal government, the province and the municipality. That is imminent, and then the decisions will flow very quickly from that.

Mr. Doer: Mr. Deputy Speaker, Doris Koczera, a person who attended a public meeting at this Legislative Building, a meeting that none of the Conservatives attended unfortunately after being invited through their House leader, has been informed of this. I would just like the minister then to say that this is not being proposed by the government. I certainly would be absolutely delighted if he would inform the residents today through this Legislature that the $10,000 would not be required for people obviously that are having their houses expropriated as part of the Ste. Agathe dike. I think if he can clarify that today, a lot of the stresses built up over the last year and the stress that still will remain about the location of the dike and the payment of the dike will still be there, but one piece of stress could be removed here today in this Legislature on behalf of those flood victims one year later.

Mr. Cummings: Mr. Deputy Speaker, I want to be very careful about the context in which the Leader of the Opposition is asking the question. The way he has just stated the question, I see no reason why those same people would have to pay, but let us remember that there is a community cost share to any proposed community dike. If the people with whom he is discussing the issue are intending to relocate within a ring-dike community, and depending on what agreement the municipality makes regarding some co-payment towards that community share of that dike, then there might be some truth to what he says. But the way the question was stated, that does not automatically flow.

So, Mr. Deputy Speaker, I certainly want to, as I did in my meeting last week, assure all of the residents of Ste. Agathe that the municipality and the province are working very closely to bring a quick and speedy end to this issue. Very much part of that is that we in fact have had the land value appraisal representatives in the community last week making sure that they have their work up to date, and then we will be able to present figures to the people involved. That is the first step in bringing finality to this issue.

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Mr. Gary Doer (Leader of the Opposition): Mr. Deputy Speaker, again the devil can be in the detail for a lot of the flood victims, and the words "quick and speedy response" one year later for the residents of Ste. Agathe I regret to say ring rather hollow.

I would like to ask the government to be very specific in writing with these people who are concerned about the $10,000 fee on top of the expropriation, very clear in writing, because these people are quite concerned about what they are being told verbally out in the Ste. Agathe community. Further, I would like the minister, who promised in this House a week ago to table the interim report from the Water Commission--he said it would be only a matter of a few days. He has had that interim report for three weeks now. Victims in the area, the Red River flood area want that report, and I would ask the minister to also follow through on his word of last week where he said it would be tabled in a few days.

Hon. Glen Cummings (Minister of Natural Resources): Mr. Deputy Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition is correct that the devil may well be in the details. He also knows that the devil may be in Hansard if he or I put on the record misleading information that would then be directly taken by the residents that he is referring to. I want to be very, very careful that I do not add to the pain that these people are already experiencing by responding a simple yes or no to the question that he asked.

The way he asked the question, the answer is no, but we should remember that this is a 45-45-10 arrangement, a tripartite agreement between the municipality, the province and the federal government. Depending on where those residents may relocate to, then there might be some element of truth to what the member is asking, and I am certainly willing and willing in the nth degree to subscribe the detail of the program that we are going through. I resent very much, however, that the Leader of the Opposition would characterize the response to the flood-proofing programs to be anything less than expeditious, because previous experiences with the '79 flood, we were talking about a five-year agreement and it took Year 2 before the program even kicked in.

We have 17 communities that have asked us for additional ring-dike protection this coming couple of years. Out of that, I believe five of them are in the design-to-construction stage, and we are very close to signing agreements with those communities so that the dirt can start to move. That compared to what response has occurred in previous flood events is light speed.

Ms. Rosann Wowchuk (Swan River): Mr. Deputy Speaker, when the government made its way into elk ranching, people were very concerned about the illegal movement and illegal capture of elk in this province. We raised the issue with the Minister of Agriculture and he said, I quote, we now "believe that there will be a far better measure of control exercised on the illegal trade and business with respect to elk as a result of the introduction of legislation."

I wrote to the minister asking him questions about illegal movement of elk, and he gave me his assurance that there was none. I would like to ask the minister if he can now indicate whether or not animals that are not properly registered in this province under the legislation are in fact illegally moving out of this province.

Hon. Harry Enns (Minister of Agriculture): Very directly to the honourable member, no. I believe that there are no animals that I am aware of that are moving. I hasten to indicate to the honourable member that there is a situation where continuing investigation is looking into the fact of whether or not some specific animals moved illegally, and that investigation is being pursued vigorously.

Ms. Wowchuk: I would like to ask the minister whether he has followed up and whether steps have been taken with respect to Mr. Phil Houde who, in fact, put ads in two papers in 1997 indicating that he had elk out of Riding Mountain National Park that were for sale, whether those activities have been followed up, whether they have been brought under control, or whether Mr. Houde's elk are still leaving the province.

Mr. Enns: Mr. Deputy Speaker, I think I should remind the honourable member that it is important, when specific charges are made like that, that at least the name is correct. But two aspects to that answer: there is nothing specifically prohibiting anybody, any one of the 72 elk ranchers that we now have in the province of Manitoba--I might add, a very successful start to that new and innovative livestock alternative to producers in Manitoba--that prevents any one of them from placing ads in any farm publication for the sale of their animals. That has been legal since the bill was passed here in this Chamber. There is a specific issue that is under investigation with respect to a Mr. Patrick Houde of the Elm Creek area that is being investigated. We are aware of that situation and officials are investigating that situation.

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Mr. Deputy Speaker: The honourable member for Swan River, with her final supplementary question.

Ms. Rosann Wowchuk (Swan River): Mr. Deputy Speaker, I would like to correct the record. I did say Phillip Houde; I meant to say Mr. Patrick Houde.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, I would like to ask the minister whether or not there are other herds in the province where elk are being held in captivity for the purposes of ranching that do not comply with the legislation law--mainly the livestock diversification legislation. Are all people who have wild animals in their possession in compliance with that legislation?

Hon. Harry Enns (Minister of Agriculture): Mr. Deputy Speaker, certainly those animals that have been correctly, under the act, registered with the Department of Agriculture as appropriate licensees or permanent holders of domestic elk farming in the province of Manitoba are all inclusive with respect to animals held in captivity.

There are, in my opinion, no more licences issued by the Department of Natural Resources, although I will let the Minister of Natural Resources (Mr. Cummings) speak for his department, of the kind that there used to be prior to the legalization of elk farming in the province of Manitoba.

Again, it is not appropriate for me to comment on it. I am aware that every effort is being made to work with our aboriginal communities who see an opportunity in elk farming, and one that I encourage very much as an opportunity, that they are working with the officials of the Department of Natural Resources to in effect establish an aboriginal herd of elk from which aboriginal communities wishing to get into elk ranching could obtain their seed stock.

Mr. Stan Struthers (Dauphin): To the Minister of Agriculture (Mr. Enns). Penned hunts or hunt farms are a disgusting concept that should not be allowed in Manitoba. Releasing an elk into a pen and then charging a fee for a so-called hunter to kill as a trophy is a vile practice. According to Natural Resources staff, this government is in fact considering this practice. Does this government support this disgusting concept?

Hon. Glen Cummings (Minister of Natural Resources): Mr. Deputy Speaker, I will have to choose my words carefully or Hansard will ask me to withdraw them. I think the member knows better than to put that kind of crap on the record.

Mr. Deputy Speaker: The honourable member for Thompson, on a point of order.

Mr. Steve Ashton (Opposition House Leader): Mr. Deputy Speaker, I would suggest that the comments by the minister are out of order. I have not checked Beauchesne, but I suspect if it is not in Beauchesne it is because there are other words that do not even make Beauchesne because they are so far out of order. I would ask if the minister might withdraw that comment.

Mr. Deputy Speaker: The honourable Minister of Natural Resources, on the same point of order.

Mr. Cummings: Mr. Deputy Speaker, I apologize for my choice of vernacular, perhaps garbage would be a better word.

Mr. Deputy Speaker: I thank the honourable members for their advice on that. I do believe the matter has been concluded, but I would ask members to choose their words carefully during the debate.

Mr. Deputy Speaker: The honourable member for Dauphin, with his second supplementary question.

Mr. Struthers: The question is very simple. Has this government taken any steps to consideration of hunt farms? Yes or no.

Mr. Cummings: The reason I take strong objection to the nature in which the question is asked is that if that member for Dauphin knows anything about standards, knows anything about the true nature of sportsman hunting and the fraternity in this province, then it is he who should be apologizing for raising that spectre in this House. The answer is--

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Mr. Deputy Speaker: Order, please. Hansard was shut off at the moment when the minister answered. Could I just ask the minister to conclude his response.

Mr. Cummings: Mr. Deputy Speaker, as I said, the reason I am so annoyed and disappointed in the member for Dauphin for asking the question in the manner that he did is that if he understands the true sportsmanship and the nature of the hunting fraternity in this province, he knows the answer is no.

Mr. Deputy Speaker: The honourable member for Dauphin, with his final supplementary question.

Mr. Struthers: Mr. Deputy Speaker, has the department consulted with the Manitoba Wildlife Federation to obtain their position on hunt farms?

Mr. Cummings: Mr. Deputy Speaker, you know my feelings about it. The member should now understand my feelings about it, and do I have any intention of consulting about it, the answer is no.

Mr. Dave Chomiak (Kildonan): We have now learned that over a hundred kitchen jobs at St. Boniface Hospital have been notified that they are going to lose their jobs because of the frozen food fiasco of the provincial government--Filmon's frozen food. Mr. Deputy Speaker, pardon me, the frozen food of the province. My question to the Minister of Health is: given the fact that in Estimates last week where the chairman of the USSC and the minister concurred that the major business plan and the premise upon which the business plan for the frozen food was developed has changed significantly and the so-called $5 million in savings has been reduced by over $2 million in savings, will the government put the frozen food plan on hold and allow for an appropriate investigation by an independent body of this idea of frozen food in our hospitals and nursing homes in Winnipeg?

Hon. Darren Praznik (Minister of Health): I always enjoy a factual debate on any matter of public policy. Let us for a moment listen to the comments of the question of the member for Kildonan. He seems to leave some kind of impression that patients in hospital are going to be served the old traditional TV dinner or frozen food. He sat through a discussion on the process in Estimates and knows that is not to be the case but perpetuate the myth seems to be in his purview. I notice he flags only St. Boniface Hospital, so I can assume his information is coming from United Food and Commercial Workers, and I do not accept it, without investigation, as being accurate.

Madam Speaker in the Chair

Mr. Chomiak: Will the minister not confirm that, in Hansard last week, the chairman of the USSC confirmed that of the nine hospitals that were supposed to be part of the cafeteria services for USSC, seven of the nine are not participating in the plan, which means that $2 million in so-called savings that this government is planning and which all those members wrote letters to their constituents saying we are going to save money in cafeterias is not going to be materialized? The business plan is changed significantly, Madam Speaker, and it justifies an investigation, just like the $10 million that was going to be saved in home care justified an investigation.

Mr. Praznik: Madam Speaker, again the member for Kildonan forgets to work into his equation some $35 million in capital need the existing kitchens would need to upgrade their facilities.

As well, what is very interesting, I have just received a note from my staff, and they tell me that the chief executive officer, Mr. Sheil, was on the radio and that there are no job losses--this, again, was part of the UFCW propaganda campaign--and we indicated to him, many of those people are being moved into other positions within the system, which is absolutely consistent with what we are talking about.

My only advice to the member for Kildonan was not to look at United Food and Commercial Workers for anything resembling accurate information.

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Mr. Chomiak: Madam Speaker, will the minister who could not duck the question in Hansard, in fact confirmed that seven of the nine facilities will not be participating in the cafeteria food services, therefore, $2 million in so-called savings will not be realized and was confirmed by his own chairperson, Mr. Sheil, that hundreds of jobs will be lost as a result of food services, and it is confirmed that 90 percent of Manitobans are not in favour of this, will the minister consider sending this deal to the Provincial Auditor for review by the Provincial Auditor of the financial figures with respect to this so-called food deal that has been entered into by the provincial government?

Mr. Praznik: Madam Speaker, this is a very instructive, to me, line of questioning, because for one thing, we talked about the cafeteria, the public cafeteria food and, yes, many of those hospitals want to keep them. These are the same hospitals that a year or so ago collectively lost $2.5 million of health care money that we needed for hip and knee replacements--who lost it in subsidizing cafeteria food.

I am pleased to indicate today that we have instructed the WHA to take that $2.5 million out of their budget--

Some Honourable Members: Oh, oh.

Madam Speaker: Order, please. The honourable Minister of Health, to complete his response.

Mr. Praznik: Thank you. Madam Speaker, we have heard the Leader of the Opposition (Mr. Doer) support the system of independent boards, which means he supports $2.5 million of health care money that we needed for oncology, for nurses, for a host of patient care issues that the New Democrats would rather waste on cafeteria subsidy, and that really is the issue.

Mr. Neil Gaudry (St. Boniface): Madam Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Health.

I have received a number of questions and concerns from the citizens of Winkler with regard to the Winkler hospital and the fact that they no longer have the services that they used to have. They are requesting that Winkler Bethel Hospital services be reinstated and the hospital be upgraded to higher standards.

Can the minister tell this House: what are the chances of having the Winkler hospital emergency ward reopened?

Hon. Darren Praznik (Minister of Health): Madam Speaker, I appreciate the question from the member for St. Boniface, but if my memory serves me well, both Winkler and Morden currently share emergency services, that they have effectively been combined into a Boundary Trails hospital organization that shares services between the two facilities. That was done as a prelude to--the beginning of their planning for the creation of a new Boundary Trails hospital on a site between the two communities.

Madam Speaker, that has been approved. The details now are being finalized, and I look to the member for Pembina (Mr. Dyck); I imagine we will be in the ground on that hospital, we expect, in this calendar year.

Mr. Gaudry: Given there are still concerns as late as this morning, is the minister going to direct the RHA to look into this matter expediently?

Mr. Praznik: Madam Speaker, the regional health authority has the responsibility for administering health care in that particular area. I know that you have two existing hospitals that have been combining their services over the last number of years as a prelude to building one hospital between the two facilities. If I remember correctly, this time last year when we had a withdrawal of emergency services, I believe the doctors from Winkler withdrew their services to the people of that community while the doctors from Morden continued to provide them. So there may be some differences of opinion within that community, that maybe the member is only hearing one side of that.

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Mr. Neil Gaudry (St. Boniface): Madam Speaker, to the same minister: in regard to the layoffs at St. Boniface Hospital--we know that it is a done deal with the food services--what does he intend to do for the employees that will be laid off in the near future?

Hon. Darren Praznik (Minister of Health): I thank the member very much for that question, because despite the New Democrats raising the issue, they really stay away from the real critical issues, and the member for St. Boniface has raised this.

Last year, Madam Speaker, when the member for Kildonan (Mr. Chomiak), along with CUPE, brought a group to this building, I asked for a pause in that particular project to ensure that the labour relations issues could be worked out. I have met with CUPE since. The objective that everyone in those facilities is working towards is ensuring that a proper, a voluntary separation plan--I think 30 weeks has been offered to those who want to leave the system. The jobs in the new system have been posted for those who currently work in it. Thirdly, those who do not fit into either category are being retrained for other positions within the system.

I know at Concordia, for example, they have been so successful in placing people in the new system, I think they actually have to hire some new staff in their food services area. Regrettably, from all reports I have had of United Food and Commercial Workers, they have not been encouraging their members to work through that process, so they have to accept responsibility if it does not work out for their members.

Mr. Steve Ashton (Thompson): Madam Speaker, there was a time that governments and ministers were not afraid to face the public, but in the space of one week alone we have seen the tough-talking minister of today talk about staying away from debates--stay away. In fact, he ducked a meeting on frozen food on Tuesday, a health care forum on Thursday and the unveiling of the nurses' report this Monday. I would like to ask the Minister of Health if he will now correct the record and indicate that, for example, when it came to the health care forum, that he actually arrived at the forum after the health care forum sponsored by CBC was held, that he actually could have spoken much later at the fundraiser, and in fact, he ducked the meeting.

Hon. Darren Praznik (Minister of Health): Madam Speaker, I feel somewhat like the bear who has chosen a different course and escaped the trap of the hunters who are now angry that the bear did not walk into it. The member for Thompson should be somewhat shamed by his involvement in a particular forum this week that he referenced. That particular organization, and I do not have it to table but I will, sent me a letter, an invitation under a name of some organization that sort of was put up for the purpose, on blank stationary, sent it to my office on Thursday afternoon before a long weekend to invite me to attend a forum in St. Boniface on the Tuesday night, never said who they were, and the only thing we learned is reading in the paper that it was United Food and Commercial Workers. So if people are not going to be honest in setting up a forum, then it speaks greatly about them.

Madam Speaker, we have spoken much about the way that the CBC structured this forum. To basically ask and hand-pick an audience, it is evident of what it was about. It was not really in the interests of good public debate.

Madam Speaker: The honourable member for Thompson, with a supplementary question.

Mr. Steve Ashton (Thompson): Madam Speaker, the minister referenced that he felt like a bear. Chicken would be more appropriate.

I would like to ask as a follow-up: is the minister somehow suggesting that the CBC and the Free Press handpicked this forum, this audience? Is he then essentially agreeing with his Premier (Mr. Filmon) who suggested it was a political setup, and is that how far he has sunk when he will not go to a public forum open to all members of the public, sponsored by the Free Press and the CBC? Is that how paranoid he is as a minister?

Hon. Darren Praznik (Minister of Health): Madam Speaker, I table now the copy of the letter I have from one Christine Martel, for the so-called public service project, which members will note is on a totally blank piece of paper in terms of identifying who they are. I notice in the story that the member for Thompson was involved with those United Food and Commercial Workers. At least people should have the honesty to identify who they are.

Madam Speaker, from the few clips I have seen of the forum, and if one canvasses the audience and some of the people reported as speaking, they were a hand-picked audience. CBC advertises for only people with problems, not for people who have general comments, good or bad. The CBC is noted for forums such as this. They did what they normally do, and the only beef they have is that this minister did not get caught in their trap. I make no apologies for that.

Mr. Ashton: Madam Speaker, I realize the government is getting paranoid, but does the minister seriously expect the people of Manitoba to believe that there is something suspicious about having Tony Quaglia, the former director of St. Boniface Hospital; Brian Postl, the Canada centre for policy health alternatives and Department of Health representatives at a forum sponsored by the Free Press and the CBC? Is that a setup or is it a fact that this government is absolutely afraid of facing the public on its disastrous health care policies?

Mr. Praznik: Madam Speaker, I have spoken in many forums across this province. I have participated in many debates. I have been in forums with the member for Kildonan (Mr. Chomiak). Every day in this House I rise to defend our policies in front of this television camera and speak to Manitobans. I have spent hours and hours in committee being questioned by members opposite. I have brought even the planners and the administrators within the system to that committee to be questioned by members opposite. We have had interesting debate.

Regrettably, I did not see the CBC come to legislative committee to follow this. I rarely see the Free Press, and when I scan that audience and I see people who have been out of the health care system for many years, when I see people who had their issues in certain hospitals, now living out of province being brought back, and I see a Free Press ad that does not say tell us your good and bad stories about health care but only the bad ones, you have to be pretty foolish not to see what the CBC was attempting to do.

Mr. Oscar Lathlin (The Pas): My question is to the Minister of Health. Madam Speaker, ever since this government embarked on this health reform trip I have consistently pleaded with the Minister of Health to consider the general state of health amongst our people. To abandon the treatment aspect almost overnight and switch everything to prevention, education and community-based health would place our people in an untenable position. Many of our people would die during the transition phase because they are simply not receiving the treatment and the care that they should be receiving today.

My question to the minister is: what plans does he have today that would address the Third World health care conditions that exist that are being faced by our people today and being exacerbated by this government's health reform plans and being confirmed by the latest health report by the nurses yesterday?

Hon. Darren Praznik (Minister of Health): Madam Speaker, I am not sure who the member for The Pas is referring to with respect to certain people, because surely to goodness he is not arguing that our health care delivery mechanism in Manitoba is Third World. That would be absurd. If he is referring to the fact of inadequate services in many First Nations communities in northern Manitoba, I would agree that they are far from adequate, and that is why I am very supportive of the process of transferring those dollars and authority from the national government to those First Nations. We discussed in Estimates last week how that could be accomplished respecting our different jurisdictions, and I am fully supportive of that.

Madam Speaker, if he is making that accusation of Manitoba, we had a physician visit us yesterday from South Africa who spoke about our delivery mechanisms in Canada and spoke highly favourably of our system. When you compare our delivery system in terms of what is happening in the rest of the world, I think the member for The Pas' statement would not stand the scrutiny of fact.

Madam Speaker: The honourable member for The Pas, with a supplementary question.

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Mr. Oscar Lathlin (The Pas): Madam Speaker, my second question to the same minister is: given the nursing shortages, the increased amount of time nurses have to spend on paperwork and denying patients the service, the necessary medical trips that are required to come to Winnipeg and compromising nursing standards, which is the mandate of MARN whose existence, I believe, and whose mandate is based on The Registered Nurses Act, could I ask the minister what priority he places on ensuring that standards are not compromised, and lastly, who is monitoring what nowadays?

Hon. Darren Praznik (Minister of Health): Madam Speaker, I have never denied in any public statement in this House or at any debate that there are not pressures on the system. I think the member is referring to the Manitoba Nurses' Union and not MARN. The report that was put out yesterday was by the Manitoba Nurses' Union. If one goes back to 1983, many of the same kinds of statements they were making in that report, they made at that particular time--but not to make light of an important issue in any way.

I know discussions that I have had with the Manitoba Nurses' Union with respect to working conditions, burnout, need for more hands in many of those circumstances, the high use of overtime--which we do not have an accurate assessment of, but I have no reason to doubt is not taking place--many of these particular issues require the general employing authority of the Winnipeg Hospital Authority, which New Democrats, I gather, have opposed. We would expect that if we can get the tools that we need to better manage the system, many of these areas can be addressed.

As I have indicated, Vera Chernecki and I meet regularly, and we wish to pursue many of these areas. As well, nurses are now involved in the program development in each of the 13 teams within the Winnipeg Hospital Authority.

Mr. Lathlin: Madam Speaker, I am going to ask the minister the same question, because I think he may not have heard me and he may have misunderstood me, or he deliberately did not want to answer my question, and that is the mandate and purpose of MARN, M-A-R-N, Manitoba Association of Registered Nurses, the licensing body in Manitoba for registered nurses, I believe exists on a piece of provincial legislation, Manitoba legislation called The Manitoba Registered Nurses Act.

My question to the minister is: what standards are being compromised, and who is monitoring if standards are being compromised in the health care delivery, especially in the remote northern nursing stations?

Mr. Praznik: Madam Speaker, first of all, many of those remote nursing stations that the member references are not within provincial jurisdiction. Some of them are, some of them are not. Some of them are federal. The Manitoba Association of Registered Nurses is the licensing and professional body for nurses. Their job is to ensure that they are properly trained and educated and that in the course of their practice they maintain the proper professional standards that are required of their profession. They operate like every other professional body in the province, as a complaint-driven organization, that if people file complaints about the performance of particular nurses, they are filed with that body and that body has the power, I understand, to revoke their licensing.

The administrators of each health delivery facility have the responsibility to ensure that its facility is meeting acceptable standards in the delivery of care; otherwise, they are liable to lawsuits.

Madam Speaker: Time for Oral Questions has expired.