Mr. Jack Penner (Emerson): Madam Speaker, the crop is good, a bit of frost.
I rise today to congratulate some of the farmers in the Arnaud and Lowe Farm areas, residents who are growing wheat this year for the Foodgrains project. HOPE, or Helping Other People Eat, is a project of the Arnaud and District Community Growing Project. This worthy project raises grain--
Some Honourable Members: Oh, oh.
Madam Speaker: Order, please.
Mr. Penner: Thank you. Again, HOPE, or Helping Other People Eat, is a project of the Arnaud and District Community Growing Project. This worthy project raises grain for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank and is seen as an alternative to straight grain donations from farmers. A similar growing project is also underway in the Lowe Farm area.
Projects such as HOPE enable a greater number of community members to participate and take part in these important growing projects. By banding together as a group, companies often become involved, as well as individuals, in donating money towards buying fertilizer and inputs into growing this grain. The Arnaud and District Growing Project began in 1997 with 160 acres of land seeded to flax. This year the project has expanded to 280 acres, and they are going to be growing wheat.
According to Harold Janzen of the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, more than half the cost of growing each of these acres of wheat will be covered by nonparticipating farmers and companies that otherwise would not be able to participate in this project. The remaining costs are going to be made up of individual cash donations.
Once again, I would like to congratulate those individuals who are participating throughout Manitoba in ensuring that there is going to be a greater degree of donations made to the Foodgrains Banks across this province. People such as the Janzens and others in the Lowe Farm area are going to ensure that there are going to be 2,500 people who are going to have food on their tables this year compared to what they would have had without a project such as this.
Ms. Jean Friesen (Wolseley): Madam Speaker, on behalf of my constituents, I have expressed many, many times in this House my concerns about the closure of the Misericordia. I have spoken frequently about the absence of community consultation, the unconscionable treatment of sisters, staff and patients in the decade of uncertainty to which the hospital has been subjected. Today I want to add the comments of constituents who have written to me this week.
One constituent says: If the government intended to close this as a hospital, why did they set up comprehensive breast care programs? Why did they designate it as an ophthalmology centre? Why are they closing this hospital when its cost per patient is lower than the cost per patient at each of the two major teaching hospitals? How many hospital beds are they taking out of the system that are currently used as hospital beds? Where will they replace them? The government caroms from one health care and education issue to the next, either changing policy on the fly and according to the whims of the ministers or stonewalling against public outcries and opposition attempts to address the issues, or both. Please stop, the constituent adds, the disastrous plan to close the Misericordia General Hospital.
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Another senior citizen writes: I am amazed at the thoughtless treatment of the Winnipeg Hospital Authority to convert to a long-term care facility the Misericordia General Hospital. In the last year I was taken by ambulance to this hospital for emergency treatment. There I was treated with care by the hospital staff, kept in for improvement. Please do not make the mistake of closing this hospital. It is too important. I join with the rest of the neighbourhood to give my support to the wonderful doctors and staff.
Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Mr. Gerry McAlpine (Sturgeon Creek): Madam Speaker, I want to remind all Manitobans that our government is committed to ensuring Manitoba remains the best place in Canada to live, work, invest and raise a family, and through consultation and partnership with Manitobans, we continue to work towards this goal. Therefore, it was especially gratifying to see the results of a recent Angus Reid poll indicating that seven out of 10 Manitobans give their communities high ratings. In fact, almost three-quarters scored their communities as either a four or a five out of five.
Our government, through the balanced budget, taxpayer protection, and debt retirement legislation, has ensured that the priorities of Manitobans, job creation, health care, education, family services and community safety, continue to be provided with the necessary resources both now and in the future. Unemployment in our province remains among the lowest level since the early 1980s. Our long-term debt rating has been revised from stable to positive, and our economy continues to improve in diversity and with strong export focus. As well, Manitoba continues to attract world-class events, including the 1998 Grey Cup, the 1999 World Junior Hockey Championships and the 1999 Pan American Games. These events allow Manitobans an opportunity to showcase our great province to the tens of thousands of guests anticipated.
As we move forward into the next century, our government will continue on the path we have embarked on to ensure the growth and achievements continue. We will continue to consult with Manitobans and strengthen the partnerships that have made Manitoba the great province that it is today. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Ms. Diane McGifford (Osborne): During the past weeks, I too have joined with the member for Wolseley (Ms. Friesen), the member for Crescentwood (Mr. Sale) and the Leader of the Opposition (Mr. Doer) asking questions about Misericordia Hospital.
Today I want to share with the Legislature a letter from a woman in the community who was particularly concerned about the closure of the breast care clinic.
I am writing with respect to the fate of one of the very few multifaceted breast care programs in Canada, the program at the Misericordia General Hospital. My main concern is saving the integrity of this program rather than saving the location of the program per se. This program provides comprehensive and integrated care to hundreds of women with both benign and malignant breast diseases. There were over 400 visits made to the clinic last year alone. For women with breast cancer, this program has co-ordinated all facets of their care from their first visit to their initial diagnosis and treatment as well as ongoing care as it is necessary. My question to the provincial government and the Winnipeg Hospital Authority is why would you dismantle a program with demonstrated excellence? Why would you jeopardize the physical and emotional health of the women who currently use the program and those who will need the program in the future? Surely there must be a way that this valuable asset to the health care system can be either moved in its entirety to another facility or that modifications can be made so that the program can remain at the Misericordia. This program is recognized nationally as an innovative and comprehensive approach to breast cancer care. Let us not lose it in the name of health care reform. The cost would be too great.
Madam Speaker, if I might continue, let me just say in closing that this is one of many letters that I have received in my constituency on the breast care clinic, and I would like to add my voice once again to that of women in the community who would like to see this breast care clinic remain in Misericordia Hospital open and running. Thank you.
Mr. Gregory Dewar (Selkirk): Madam Speaker, the Minister of Highways and Transportation's (Mr. Findlay) answers to my and my colleague from Rupertsland's questions regarding the future of the Coast Guard and the future of dredging services in the Selkirk and Lake Winnipeg area were less than reassuring. To the many Manitobans who use the lake, we raise the issue of concern about the safety of boaters on the lake. We also raise the issue of the concerns regarding pollution containment in the event of a spill. His answers were very vague and, again, less than reassuring.
Madam Speaker, my colleague from Rupertsland raised the issue of dredging. This is also a big concern. There are many communities along the eastern shore of the southern basin of Lake Winnipeg who rely upon water transportation for their supplies in the summer as they have no road access. Also, if the Red River at the mouth of the Red is not dredged, this could inhibit all types of vessels from entering the lake. As well, in terms of the spring breakup, there are also concerns that if in fact the river is not dredged out, this could inhibit ice from flowing from the mouth of the Red into the lake during the spring breakup. It could, as well, cause problems in terms of ice jams on that lake. Ice jams on the river and a potential for flooding has happened in 1996, so we urge the government to take some action to ensure that the Red River and Lake Winnipeg are safe for boaters this season and for future seasons. Thank you.
Mr. George Hickes (Point Douglas): I move, seconded by the member for Broadway (Mr. Santos), that the composition of Standing Committee on Law Amendments be amended as follows: Burrows (Mr. Martindale) for Wellington (Ms. Barrett); Osborne (Ms. McGifford) for Broadway (Mr. Santos) for Thursday, June 4, 1998, for 10 a.m.
Motion agreed to.
Mr. Edward Helwer (Gimli): I move, seconded by the member for Charleswood (Mrs. Driedger), that the composition of the Standing Committee on Law Amendments be amended as follows: the member for Springfield (Mr. Findlay) for the member for Lakeside (Mr. Enns); the member for Arthur-Virden (Mr. Downey) for the member for Gimli (Mr. Helwer); the member for Riel (Mr. Newman) for the member for Brandon West (Mr. McCrae).
Motion agreed to.
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