Mr. Daryl Reid (Transcona): Madam Speaker, at noon today I was pleased to join with many others in our annual walk along Broadway. I joined with the Winnipeg Labour Council and the Winnipeg Boys and Girls Club in talking to many Winnipeggers about the importance of the Day of Mourning. During our walk we handed out Day of Mourning lapel stickers and spoke to members of the public about the significance of the day. Of course, as many members know, the symbol displayed on the sticker is the internationally recognized canary in a cage, which represents the emergency warning system used by 19th Century miners.

This day, April 28, was set aside to recognize the sacrifices that Canadians have made to earn a living for themselves and their families. Eighty-five years ago, in 1914, the first comprehensive Workers Compensation Act in Canada received third reading in the Ontario Legislature. Rod Murphy, the former M.P. for Churchill, was instrumental in having the Parliament of Canada recognize this day as the Day of Mourning, and we appreciate Mr. Murphy's efforts.

Each and every year of the past 10 years, over one million Canadians suffered workplace injuries. Every year 1,000 Canadians die from occupational diseases. One worker in 15 is injured on the job each year. On average, three Canadian workers are killed every single working day. Manitoba working people are a part of this statistical information. Last year 45,999 Manitobans sustained workplace injuries and filed claims with the Compensation Board, an increase of 5 percent over the previous year. Last year, 22 Manitobans unfortunately lost their lives in workplace accidents or through occupationally caused diseases.

In the last 10 years, Madam Speaker, 211 Manitobans have died in workplace accidents, and their survivors had filed claims with the Compensation Board. Many more claims were rejected by the Compensation Board over the same period. Widows of survivors continue to have their pensions terminated by this government contrary to, we believe, the Manitoba Human Rights Code and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

If as many police officers had died in the line of duty, Madam Speaker, in their daily work, there would have been a moral outrage, but when a single worker dies it gathers little more than a small column in the daily newspaper.

Madam Speaker, we mourn for the dead; we fight for the living.

Mr. Denis Rocan (Gladstone): April 28 is designated as a national Day of Mourning for those who have been injured or who have died as a result of workplace accidents in Canada. We all agree that even one injury or fatality in the workplace is too many, and we must work to prevent these tragedies from happening in the future.

Every life is precious and all injuries are preventable. Any workplace injury or fatality is a serious matter and of great concern. We have all been touched by a workplace incident, whether the person injured is old or young, male or female, worked as a farmer, a logger, a miner, on construction, on the assembly line or in some other line of work. From each incident that occurs, whether it results in serious injury or not, we must learn the cause so that we can prevent similar accidents from taking place.

In the last decade there have been significant reductions in accident rates and traumatic fatality rates in Manitoba. Employers and workers have been working in partnership 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 bring pain and suffering to co-workers, families and friends. This Day of Mourning gives all of us a chance to consider the serious nature of work and to consider how we can all work towards the goal of eliminating all workplace accidents. Thank you.

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Mr. Conrad Santos (Broadway): Madam Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to Cathy Keenan, 1999 recipient of the Exceptional Early Childhood Award given by the Manitoba Child Care Association conference last April 24 at the Ramada Marlborough Inn here in Winnipeg. The conference was also addressed by the honourable Minister of Family Services (Mrs. Mitchelson), who graciously acknowledged my presence there–

Madam Speaker: Order, please. The honourable member for Crescentwood, on a point of order.

Mr. Tim Sale (Crescentwood): Madam Speaker, I cannot hear what the member is saying on a very important statement honouring someone. I wonder if you could call the members to order.

Madam Speaker: I agree that the honourable member for Crescentwood indeed does have a point of order. I also was experiencing difficulty hearing the honourable member for Broadway.

I would ask that all those having private meetings do so in the loge or outside the Chamber.

Mr. Santos: It is written: Suffer the little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me. For such is the kingdom of Heaven.

Quality health care is an investment in our common future. Manitoba used to be a leader in child care support in the 1980s. Regrettably, this has not kept pace during the past decade under the current government. In 1989, Manitoba child care fees were, on average, the lowest in the entire country. Child care fees now have nearly doubled since then.

Today, many daycare centres are facing serious challenges. Low wages, lack of funding make it difficult to keep and find qualified daycare workers. Operating grants do not always reflect the actual cost of operations. Affordability, accessibility, quality care should be the chief aim of a good provincial government. Paying lip service to child care is not the same thing as actively supporting child care in this province.

The New Democratic Party has a much better vision for children and parents. We listen to parents; we listen to child care workers. Our task force on child care travelled across the province to see first-hand what needs to be done. We understand the importance of quality child care. We are committed to acting on this issue.

Mrs. Myrna Driedger (Charleswood): Madam Speaker, I am proud to stand in this House today and talk about a recent initiative of this government. Our government has announced $3 million in funding for the expansion of palliative care services over a two-year period. This will help the terminally ill, whether in hospital or home settings, to be eased into the final stages of life with respect and dignity. Funds will be divided between the regional health authorities and the Winnipeg Health Authority.

Here in Winnipeg, the WHA will use their funds to redevelop a 15-bed palliative care unit at St. Boniface General Hospital. The first year of the program will see Brandon, northern and rural RHAs hire a palliative care resource person who will co-ordinate the regional palliative care program. They will educate people who work with the terminally ill and provide support to palliative care workers.

In the second year of the program, a 24-hour response team will be ushered in as well as expanded home care services. This will allow patients to receive more services in their home. As a former nurse, I recognize the significance of this initiative. This announcement illustrates this government's commitment to provide appropriate health care services for all segments of this province's population. We care about the needs of Manitobans and will work hard to ensure that these needs are met.

Ms. Diane McGifford (Osborne): Vaclav Havel, the Czech philosopher, poet and statesman and current president of the Czech Republic, is in our city today. Mr. Havel is one of the great figures of our time, and it is indeed an honour for Manitobans that he has come to our province in order to receive an honorary degree. For his literary endeavours and for his political ideals and morality, Havel is internationally admired. His opposition to political totalitarianism is well known as is his willingness to be imprisoned for the causes of freedom, justice and morality.

From his activities during the Prague spring in 1968 to his leadership during the Velvet Revolution of 1989 and to his election as president of Czechoslovakia and later the Czech Republic, Havel has demonstrated the behaviour and high moral standards politicians should strive to achieve.

Events of recent months in Manitoba have altered the perception that many of our citizens have of politicians. We as politicians and as citizens would do well to hear the words that Havel wrote in 1991: "Despite the political distress that I face every day, I am still deeply convinced that politics is not essentially a disreputable business, and to the extent that it is, it is only disreputable people who make it so. I would concede that it can, more than any other sphere of human activity, tempt one to disreputable practices, and it therefore places higher demands on people, but it is simply not true that a politician must lie or intrigue. It is utter nonsense spread about by people who, for whatever reason, wish to discourage others from taking an interest in public life."

The work and life of Vaclav Havel are reminders to us all of the higher calling of politics and of how fortunate we are to have people like Vaclav Havel exist today to encourage us in our dark days. Thank you.