Mr. Peter Dyck (Pembina): Each year in Canada, April 28 is designated as a national day of mourning for those who have been injured or who have died in workplace accidents in Canada. Life is precious and all injuries are preventable. Any workplace injury or fatality is a serious matter and of great concern. All of us are touched by workplace accidents, whether the person injured is old or young, male or female, someone who may have been working as a farmer, a logger--
Some Honourable Members: Oh, oh.
Madam Speaker: Order, please. The honourable member for Pembina was recognized for a member's statement and I would request the co-operation of all members in the House in ensuring that that member is audibly heard over the roar of the private conversations going on.
Mr. Dyck: Thank you, Madam Speaker. All of us are touched by workplace accidents whether a person injured is old or young, male or female, someone who may have been working as a farmer, a logger, a construction worker, miner, as a worker on an assembly line or in some other area of work. From each incident that occurs, whether it results in a serious injury or not, we must learn the cause so that we can prevent similar occurrences and ensure that such tragedies do not happen in the future.
In the last decade, there have been significant reductions and improvements in accident rates and traumatic fatality rates. Employers and workers have been working as partners to ensure that workplaces become safer. This partnership must continue. As long as any worker is injured or killed in a workplace accident, there is room for improvement. We must remain diligent in continuing to make Manitoba's workplaces even safer and healthier. Injury and death in the workplace brings pain and suffering to co-workers, families and friends. The day of mourning on April 28 gives all of us a chance to consider the serious nature of work and to set aside a few moments to think about those persons injured or killed and to consider how we can all work towards the goal of eliminating all workplace accidents. Thank you.
Mr. Daryl Reid (Transcona): Madam Speaker, today, April 28, is the day of mourning for those who have lost their lives or been injured in workplace accidents. On average, three Canadians lose their lives each working day as a result of workplace injuries. Each year more than 820,000 Canadians lose their lives in workplace accidents. One worker is killed or injured for every nine seconds of work time. In Manitoba last year, 43,831 workplace injury claims were filed, an increase of 2,296 over the previous year. In 1997, 60 fatalities were reported in Manitoba. The previous year there were 49. Many of these fatalities are as a result of an occupational disease, although not solely limited to that particular area, because trauma claims a large number of workers as well.
Madam Speaker, 17,306 Manitoba workplace injuries resulted in temporary or permanent disability; 506 widow/widower pensions are issued, in addition to 348 children who lost a parent in a workplace accident. April 28 has been recognized by the Parliament of Canada as the Day of Mourning. This day was brought about by former NDP Churchill MP Rod Murphy. I ask each and every member of this Legislative Assembly, in fact, all Manitobans, to rededicate ourselves to preventing workplace injuries and deaths. We mourn for the dead; we fight for the living.
Mr. David Faurschou (Portage la Prairie): Madam Speaker, this past weekend I had the opportunity to attend the 1998 Manitoba Schools Science Symposium at the University of Winnipeg. The students in attendance were from all across this great province of ours, and they had worked extremely hard to gain that opportunity in their own school and in their own division. There were 574 students in attendance, manning 503 projects. I might just mention to the honourable Minister of Education that this year there were more female students in attendance than that of male, which is indeed an interesting fact on the basis that science was once known as predominantly male-driven.
My daughter competed in the agricultural sector of this competition. I am extremely proud as a father of her accomplishments with a silver medal in environmental studies science component. Not only did the students work extremely hard, which I am very much and acutely aware of the efforts that went into their involvement in this activity; however, I also want to draw the attention of honourable members to the extreme amount of work by the co-ordinators and all those involved in the putting on of this symposium.
I would like to also recognize two participants from Portage la Prairie at the senior level. Loryssa Rossnagel and Vlad Gidzak both received gold medals and major awards from the Young Scientists of Canada. Vlad will be this province's representative to the international science symposium in London, England, in the engineering and technology category. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved, including the departments of this government that supported this symposium. Without that support, I am sure that this symposium would not have been the success that it was.
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Mr. Stan Struthers (Dauphin): Madam Speaker, it was my pleasure on Saturday evening to attend the Manitoba Heritage Federation awards banquet held in Neepawa and hosted quite admirably by the Margaret Laurence Home. Our heritage in Manitoba is something that we should really spend a lot of time teaching to the younger folks, younger Manitobans. It has always been my opinion that our heritage is something that is very important. Indeed, it was George Santayana, the historian, who once said that if we do not learn our history we are bound to make the mistakes of our history.
On Saturday night the Manitoba Heritage Federation took the time to recognize a lot of people from around the province who have made some very good contributions to preserving the heritage. I want to mention a few from the Parklands area who received awards that night, beginning with John and Kay Slabodzian of Dauphin for their work at the Trembowla Cross of Freedom--in fact, the Trembowla Cross of Freedom, as well, received an award that night--Mr. Gerald Morran for his work at the Grandview Museum; Mary Prokopowich from Dauphin; and Ken Romaniuk and Val Sirski for their work in convincing the federal government to proclaim the Ukrainian Catholic Church of the Resurrection in Dauphin a national historical site.
I want to finish up by congratulating the organizational committee in Neepawa for doing an excellent job in hosting a wonderful night and also the Margaret Laurence Home for hosting this year's annual awards banquet of the Manitoba Heritage Federation. Thank you.
Mr. Gary Kowalski (The Maples): Madam Speaker, I was not planning to make a statement, but something that happened at Question Period causes me to rise. I take strong objection when police officers are criticized and they have no avenue to respond to it.
In a murder investigation--and being a former robbery homicide detective, I know how difficult it is--emotions are running high in the community, and there is strong pressure for the police to solve the crime, and a suspect does not want to tell you that he committed a murder. So it is an abnormal situation where you are sitting down with a suspect who does not want to tell you something and you want him to put in writing what he did.
So when RCMP officers are criticized for attempting to get a statement falling within the rules, and if there was not sufficient evidence to charge him without that statement, that statement became very important. After many, many hours of interviewing a suspect, what would they have to lose? They would keep going further and further. It is an art. It is not a science in a murder investigation, nor when the Crown prosecutor takes the case. It is subjective.
So when I hear a member of this Chamber criticizing RCMP officers, criticizing Crown attorneys, it is easy to second-guess, but it is a difficult job they do. It is easy to second-guess them, and it is very subjective. Overall, we have good Crown attorneys, we have good RCMP officers, good Winnipeg police officers. It is easy to second-guess them for political purposes, but they do not deserve that, Madam Speaker.