Mr. Steve Ashton (Thompson): Madam Speaker, earlier today in Question Period I raised the situation facing Kaela Kostiuk. I would like to outline to members of the House the specific circumstances that she, a courageous four-year-old, has been faced with. Kaela has a lump on the inner or outer surface of the eyelid. It is caused by an inflammatory reaction to material trapped inside the oil-secreting gland in the eyelid. Kaela, when she was less than a year old, had her first operation for a chalazion and in fact had the surgery well before the normal time in which children have that operation. This was because Dr. Shuckett, the one pediatric ophthalmologist in this province who performed the operation, said it was one of the worst cases that he had seen and in fact that he operated considerably ahead of schedule because of that.

Kaela's mother, Miranda, has been attempting to see Dr. Shuckett, our only specialist in this province, and was told she would not be able to get an appointment until mid-December. The sad part, Madam Speaker, is that this is a procedure that is day surgery. This is day surgery, a 45-minute operation that could make a huge difference to children such as Kaela.

Now Kaela is in the position where, through other means, she is hopefully going to be able to get an operation done by an individual who is not a pediatric specialist, but it should not come down to that, and her mother, a, today when I met with her, said one of the main reasons she wanted to go public on this issue affecting her daughter directly was because this kind of thing should not happen. We need more pediatric specialists in this province, and we need the government to recognize that after 11 years we see the efforts of their mismanagement in health care specifically when it comes to waiting lists and shortage of physicians and specialists, and I say, as someone who is a parent, I think all of us feel for Miranda, for her daughter Kaela. I urge the government to please, please take action to make sure that Kaela and other children do not have to wait months and years for this kind of very basic surgery that can make a huge difference to Kaela's quality of life.

Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Whyte Ridge Community Centre

Hon. Rosemary Vodrey (Minister of Culture, Heritage and Citizenship): Madam Speaker, on Tuesday, May 25, 1999, I had the pleasure of attending the official opening of Westridge Community Centre, Whyte Ridge Satellite Site. For the past few years, many residents in the community of Whyte Ridge have spent endless hours volunteering in order to help make the Whyte Ridge Satellite Site a reality. There are two phases to the centre. Phase one consists of the community centre as well as a hockey rink. The second phase of the community club will include a regulation-size soccer field. The Whyte Ridge Community Club will truly become an important community facility. Not only will it be used for summer and winter sporting activities, but it will also be used for community gatherings.

There were many people from Whyte Ridge who were involved in the development of the centre and I would like to thank Mr. Rick MacMullan for all his hard work and the many hours that he spent co-ordinating the efforts of others in establishing the Westridge Community Centre, Whyte Ridge Satellite Site.

Thank you very much, Madam Speaker.

Health Care System–Pediatric Services

Ms. Becky Barrett (Wellington): Madam Speaker, today the issue of waiting lists for children in health care and children with major health problems was raised in the House by the opposition. We talked about the waiting lists for a number of surgeries, a number of diagnoses, a number of assessment procedures and the Minister of Health (Mr. Stefanson) in his response showed one of the major lacks in this government in their planning and their philosophy when it comes to health care.

Madam Speaker, Kaela Kostiuk's case is serious, but it is not the only case that we are dealing with here in the province of Manitoba, children who have to wait months if not years to see a doctor just to get an assessment, never mind treatment.

The Minister of Health stated today, as he has on many occasions in the past: bring the specific situation to me and I will look at the specific situation. Madam Speaker, health care is not a privilege for the people of this province, it is a right, and for the Minister of Health to stand in his spot day after day and say I will deal with this one particular issue without the recognition that it is a systemic problem that is based on 11 years of underfunding and cutbacks to the health care system in the province of Manitoba just shows how far out of touch this minister and his government is.

Madam Speaker, when the member for Thompson (Mr. Ashton) first raised this issue today, the member for Steinbach (Mr. Driedger) said from his seat that the member for Thompson was grandstanding. Now that would not hit Hansard, but I heard it, and I want to make sure it is on the record because the member for Thompson, the members of the opposition, do not grandstand in this House. We bring serious issues to this Chamber, and the issue we brought today was serious. It was serious for the young girl whose case we were talking about; it was serious for the hundreds if not thousands of other children who have had to wait weeks if not months for health care. It is not grandstanding. We are raising vital issues.

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Cervical Cancer Screening Program

Mrs. Myrna Driedger (Charleswood): Madam Speaker, I am pleased to speak about a very important initiative that was announced today at which I had the honour to attend. The Manitoba Cancer Treatment and Research Foundation will establish a Cervical Cancer Screening Program with the support of over $1.1 million this year from the Manitoba government. The Manitoba Cervical Cancer Screening Program will be phased in over the next year. The new province-wide program will identify at-risk women, encourage regular pap tests and increase follow-up with individuals who need to be retested within an appropriate time frame.

Cancer of the cervix is the 11th most common cancer in women. Sadly, in 1996, 12 Manitoba women died from cervical cancer. Cancer of the cervix is often preventable and can be treated successfully if diagnosed at an early stage. Research shows that regular pap tests and follow-up with at-risk patients has steadily reduced the death rate from cervical cancer.

This is a very important announcement and an important day for women in Manitoba. A co-ordinated screening program for cervical cancer is a priority in our comprehensive health care plan for all Manitobans. It is essential that we educate Manitoba women about cervical cancer and provide them with the appropriate care in a timely manner. Thank you very much, Madam Speaker, for the opportunity to make this wonderful announcement.

Homelessness

Ms. Marianne Cerilli (Radisson): Madam Speaker, I want to recognize the work of my federal colleagues, in particular, the M.P. for Vancouver East, Libby Davies, in their efforts to raise the question of homelessness and the government's response to homelessness and housing for low-income people across our country. They have prepared a report, after consultations across the country, called Homelessness: An Unnatural Disaster.

There are a few references to Manitoba's situation. I want to read the comment by a father from South Indian Lake who said: We live in a crowded house. My kids live here. That is what I am scared of. It will pass on. It causes a lot of mental stress.

The report goes on to make recommendations in eight areas, including such things as housing as a human right; addressing the fact that we are the only western developed country not to have a national housing strategy; beginning at the grass roots and rebuilding communities with the nonprofit sector; housing as a health issue; having national standards in housing and having a national housing plan that incorporates housing partnerships; implementing and extending the federal recommendations from the mayors' task force on homelessness; and, finally, implementing the Liberals' task force on homelessness that was chaired by the now Finance minister when he was in opposition, which reads quite differently than they now act when they are in government.

I want to emphasize that in the upcoming months, as the provinces prepare for a Housing ministers' conference from ministers from across the country, that they also adopt the motion put forward by Libby Davies to increase the spending on housing and homelessness by 1 percent of the federal budget, which would amount to, as recommended in her report, $2 billion to $3 billion over five years. This is what is needed to address the cuts that have occurred under–

Madam Speaker: Order, please. The honourable member's time has expired.