LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA

Thursday, April 18, 2024


The House met at 1:30 p.m.

The Speaker: Please be seated.

ROUTINE PROCEEDINGS

The Speaker: Intro­duction of bills? Com­mit­tee reports?

Tabling of Reports

Hon. Matt Wiebe (Minister of Justice and Attorney General): Pleased to table the following annual reports for Manitoba Justice.

      The '22‑23 annual report for the Victims' Bill of Rights, section 31(1) victim services complaints and the 2023 annual report for The Fatality Inquiries Act under section 43(1).

Ministerial Statements

Sikh Heritage Month

Hon. Glen Simard (Minister of Sport, Culture, Heritage and Tourism): I rise today to recognize Sikh Heritage Month in Manitoba.

      For more than a century, members of the Sikh com­munity have called this province home. This month, we remember all the pioneers of the Sikh community in Manitoba. This distinguished list includes individuals like John Baboo and John Singh, two Sikh men who served the Canadian Army in World War I, a time when they were not even allowed to obtain Canadian citizenship.

      In the generations since their service, many Sikh community members have paved paths in a vast range of sectors, often guided by common principles of faith, equality, justice and service. From military service to public service, from education to the arts and sciences, and from business to health care, Sikh Manitobans have broken down barriers and helped many others along the way.

      Honourable Speaker, today Manitoba is home to over 35,000 Sikhs. As the community grows, we have seen families reunited, eager students exploring new thoughts and ideas and creative and innovative workers joining our shared path toward economic and social growth. Manitobans of all backgrounds can appreciate this opportunity to diversify our thoughts and traditions.

      The designation of April as Sikh Heritage Month by both the Province of Manitoba and the Government of Canada is a testament to the important role that the Sikh diaspora has played in shaping our collective provincial and national identities.

      Increasingly, political service is also becoming more representative of all who live in our com­mu­ni­ties. Today, I am proud to serve alongside three MLAs of Sikh heritage: the MLA for Burrows, the MLA for Maples and the MLA for McPhillips.

      In addition to public service, the community's mem­­bers have made valuable contribution to fields such as the arts, medicine and science, social services, busi­­ness, agricultural and sport. We value and ap­pre­ciate efforts, both small and large, that are helping to hold Manitoba into a national leader, while promoting our rich and diverse cultural heritage.

      Honourable Speaker, there is strong commitment to the value of service through volunteerism within the Sikh faith that mirrors one held by Manitobans of all backgrounds. For so many organizations, volun­teers are the drivers of their community impact, build­ing community connections and impacting change wherever they live.

      I would like to specifically recognize the efforts by women of the Sikh community who recently volun­teered to assemble Valentine's Day care kits for women in local shelters. The thoughtful parcels for individuals that have experienced domestic violence and economic challenges were a gesture of kindness that went a long way for the recipients and their supporters.

      I would like to take this opportunity to recognize the work of Sikh Heritage Manitoba, which works to preserve and celebrate Sikh history and culture in our province. Their efforts include programs and events that highlight the impact of the community.

      I would encourage all Manitobans to celebrate the diversity of perspectives, traditions and cultural practices of our Sikh friends and neighbours. There are a range of activities hosted by the community throughout the year, but April is a month of special significance. It includes Vaisakhi, which celebrates the spring har­vest, as well as Khalsa Day, which commemorates the Vaisakhi celebration of 1699, when Guru Gobind Singh identified the new practices for baptized Sikhs.

      Our province continues to evolve, welcoming a diverse range of faiths, traditions and cultures. By respecting and celebrating our differences, we create innovate–inviting spaces for our shared beliefs to flourish and grow.

      I invite all members of this House and all Manitobans to join me in celebrating Sikh Heritage Month.

      Thank you.

Mr. Wayne Ewasko (Leader of the Official Opposition): It gives me extreme honour to be able to stand today and respond to the min­is­terial state­ment. Hon­our­able Speaker, April is annually cele­brated as Sikh Heritage Month, and I rise today in recognition of it.

      Sikh Heritage Month is an important celebration because Sikhs are among the pioneers of Canada, as are many of the communities we see today, and this month allows us the opportunity to recognize, pro­mote and learn about this strong history.

      With centuries-old roots in Canada, the Sikh com­munity's Seva enreached every comer of our country, including right here in the great province of Manitoba.

      Sikhs have continuously demonstrated leadership across every sector, including in this very Chamber as elected officials, contributing to the further prosperity of Manitoba.

      The population of Sikhs living in Canada has more than doubled in the past 20 years. In Manitoba alone, there are approximately 35,000 Sikhs living here in our wonderful province, and brings home to the fourth largest Sikh population in all of Canada.

      Honesty, compassion, equality and Chardi Kala, are–or high spirits, are some of the many foundational tenants of the Sikh faith. These are values that I think all Manitobans can support and learn from.

      Last April, the Legislature proudly opened its doors to the public to celebrate Sikh Heritage Month for the very first time.

      This month, myself and our PC team and mem­bers of other political stripes had the honour of attend­ing several events to celebrate Sikh Heritage Month, including the inaugural Ardas and Turban Day right here in the Manitoba Legislature, as well as Vaisakhi Mela at the Punjab Cultural Centre just this past Sunday.

      This year was an especially historic celebration for Sikh Manitobans, who not only marked the 325th anniversary of the establishment of the Khalsa, which means the pure, but also the 55th anniversary of the building of Manitoba's oldest and largest gurdwara. On top of that, Brandon's Sikh community also open­ed its first gurdwara this past January.

      I look forward to continuing to celebrate Sikh heritage and culture in Manitoba, and I encourage all Manitobans to attend events and celebrate Sikh Heritage Month with Sikh Manitobans.

MLA Cindy Lamoureux (Tyndall Park): I ask for leave to respond to the minister's statement.

The Speaker: Does the member have leave? [Agreed]

MLA Lamoureux: I rise this afternoon as April is a very special month that we all recognize as Sikh Heritage Month. And I'd like to welcome our guests here who have joined us in the gallery, Sat Sri Akal. [Truth is God.]

      Sikh Heritage Month here in Manitoba continues to grow rapidly. In fact, Canada is home to one of the largest Sikh populations globally. And I am so grate­ful for what Sikhism, in our case, has brought here to Manitoba.

      You know, Honourable Speaker, over the past couple of weeks I, along with my colleagues, have had the opportunity to speak at our Sikh Heritage Month here at the Legislature, at events in our communities and at local gurdwaras.

* (13:40)

      And this year, I've used these occasions as oppor­tunities to dive into what Sikhism means to me. Honourable Speaker, Sikhism is all about love, kind­ness, fairness, taking care of one another. It's about equality, treating each other as equals, and this truly is reflected in our communities.

      When we celebrated here at the Legislature just a couple of weeks ago, I was able to recognize Khalsa Aid and their organi­zation, as they highlight and prac­tise these important teachings. They are also cele­brating 25 years as an organization this year.

      Honourable Speaker, I also associate Sikhism with slowing down and taking the time to recognize what is important. I've had the real honour of visiting the Golden Temple on multiple occasions, and it truly is an incredibly surreal experience. I like to describe it as feeling pure peace, a sensation of being blanketed in truth and protection. And for me it was almost a sense of overwhelming freedom and service all at once.

      Honourable Speaker, on April 13 we celebrated Vaisakhi, and it's important to recognize that we do this in honour of the birth of the Khalsa. And what is neat is, last time I was in India, just over a year ago, I had the opportunity to visit Anandpur Sahib. This is where the 10th guru, Guru Gobind Singh, founded the Khalsa in front of thousands of people in 1699.

      So, Honourable Speaker, whether it be Sikhism being practised here in Manitoba, servicehood, the Golden Temple in all of its truth or the birthplace of the Khalsa, we are so fortunate to be exposed to and have the opportunity to learn more about Sikhism.

      In closing, I want to wish everyone a happy Sikh Heritage Month. Waheguru ji ka Khalsa, Waheguru ji ki Fateh. [The Khalsa belongs to God, Victory belongs to God.]

      Thank you.

Members' Statements

Mitzi's Restaurant

Hon. Uzoma Asagwara (Deputy Premier): Food brings us together. Whether at the dinner table or your local restaurant, food can start conversations across differences and lift up communities. And today I'd like to acknowledge experts in food and com­mu­nity, the founders of Mitzi's Restaurant, Shirley Eng, her family and her late husband, Peter. They've been serving downtown Winnipeg for over 46 years.

      Folks might know Mitzi's from their notably red roof to their famous menu of chicken fingers and Chinese cuisine. The restaurant's story is one of crea­tive perseverance. Shirley moved from Hong Kong to Winnipeg in the 1970s. She met Peter in Winnipeg where he was working as a tailor and she was working at a bank.

      Despite neither of them having a background in cooking, they mutually agreed to buy an existing restaurant at 250 St. Mary Ave., which later became Mitzi's Restaurant in 1978. For 10 years, Mitzi's served Chinese cuisine to downtown commuters. While the business thrived for those years, in the '80s, Shirley and Peter took time off to care for their second child and also to revamp their menu.

      Peter came to love chicken fingers, and he was eating them at other restaurants and was convinced he could make them even better. He created his own chicken finger recipe and later invented the honey dill sauce we all know and love. Ever since, customers have flocked to Mitzi's for their fresh chicken fingers and house-made honey dill.

      Shirley and Peter built an incredible business together that reflects their love for family and the Winnipeg community. Shirley has kept Peter's dream alive and thriving for 22 years since his passing. The restaurant was featured in many culinary magazines, received multiple awards, is in a favourite–and is a favourite of many in the downtown area.

      After decades in the business, Shirley was ready to move on to new endeavours and Mitzi's final day was this past April 13. Our province, and especially down­town Winnipeg, is indebted to people like Shirley. Her story is an example of the perseverance and deter­mination it takes to overcome barriers and achieve success.

      Please join me in thanking Shirley and the Eng family for their service, their food and the legacy they've left in Manitoba. We're going to miss you.

      Thank you.

The Speaker: The hon­our­able member for–the hon­our­able Minister of Health, Seniors and active–long-term care.

MLA Asagwara: I'd just like to make sure that the names of Liang Li, Wing Minj Collins, or Ali, Irene Wallin, David Eng, David–Daniel Collins, rather, and Helen Labustro are also included in Hansard.

Miniota-Elkhorn C-Hawks

Mr. Greg Nesbitt (Riding Mountain): The Miniota-Elkhorn C-Hawks are certainly a dynasty in the world of senior hockey in Manitoba. The C-Hawks won the Hockey Manitoba Senior A title for the second straight year, defeating the Ste. Anne Aces in the best-of-three series.

      The C-Hawks were formed in 2012 when the Elkhorn Canadians and Miniota Night Hawks were both short of players and made to the decision to com­bine teams. The result was instant success, as the C‑Hawks won the North Central Hockey League title six out of the next nine years.

      When the North Central couldn't muster enough teams to operate in the '22-23 season, the C-Hawks made the jump to the Tiger Hills Hockey League. Despite a higher calibre of hockey, the team won the league title in their first year and repeated in '23-24.

      The C-Hawks are made up of players who live and work in the area. Many of the players went to school together and played minor hockey together, before moving on to junior and professional ranks.

      There are four sets of brothers on the team. Perhaps the most famous are the Bowles boys, Brad, Jason and Shawn. The three are nightmares for oppo­sing goalies with their offensive abilities combined with their physical play. The trio amassed 137 points in 18 regular-season games, and another 85 points in 12 playoff games.

      The other brothers include Bryce and Tanner Kyle, Bray and Cody Rookes and Cory and Curtis Gardham. A team is nothing without leadership. Garth Mitchell has been behind the bench for the past seven years, after coaching many of the players through their minor and AAA hockey years.

      His philosophy has obviously rubbed off on the players: be focused and play the game the same way; share the puck and have a team approach–play right, and you'll have success.

      Honourable Speaker, the citizens of Elkhorn and Miniota areas are extremely proud of their hockey team. Today I ask all honourable members to join me in congratulating the players and staff on their many years of success.

Habitat for Humanity and Habitat ReStores

MLA Robert Loiselle (St. Boniface): Our govern­ment believes that everyone deserves a safe space to call home. The vision of Habitat for Humanity Manitoba is no different; this organization is committed to mobilizing community partners and volunteers to build affordable housing for low-income families.

      Habitat for Humanity has been serving Manitobans for 37 years. They provide families with their first-ever home, giving parents and young children a new beginning in our province. Since 1987, Habitat Manitoba has, in fact, helped over 500 families and 1,400 children find stability through affordable home ownership. In 2024 alone, Habitat estimates the completion of 23 homes in Manitoba and Kenora, Ontario.

      Winnipeg is also home to the Habitat ReStore, the first of its kind in the world. To be more self-sufficient, Habitat ventured into a small-business model that would provide a reliable source of income while rescuing salvageable building materials. So, the ReStore was born.

The success of the first-ever ReStore in Winnipeg has inspired the expansion of nearly 160 stores in North America. ReStores depend on the donation of new and gently used items, so I highly encourage my colleagues to visit a ReStore and donate unwanted appliances, building materials and home furnishings.

      The legacy of Habitat for Humanity is astounding, but none of it could be possible without the incredible leadership of the Habitat Manitoba team and the tremendous dedication of their volunteers. I ask my colleagues to join me in thanking Habitat Manitoba for nearly 40 years of service to our province.

      In the gallery, please help me honour Jamie Hall, CEO; vice-presidents, Steve Krahn, Rob Barkel; Habitat board chair, Bradley Kopp and specialist, Bela Gyarmati.

      Thank you.

RSR Wastewater Cooperative

Mr. Konrad Narth (La Vérendrye): Thank you, Honourable Speaker, for the opportunity to speak about an amazing project that has far-reaching environmental and economic benefits in southeast Manitoba. The Red-Seine-Rat Wastewater Cooperative, also known as RSR, is a partnership between the RMs  of Hanover, Taché, Ritchot and the town of Niverville.

      The project is not only moving my constituency forward, but the entire province. RSR will be a state-of-the-art regional waste water treatment facility that has been a tremendous example of collaboration between neighbours, municipalities, the province and the federal government.

* (13:50)

      This co‑operative started back in 2019 when the four partners developed the idea of a regional waste water collection system and facility that would e­nhance waste water management in the region as well as ensuring affordable utility rates for its residents. It was at this time that the four rapidly growing munici­pal­ities realized that a plan for long‑term growth included taking steps to protect our environment.

      This project is going to allow for over 90 kilometres of waste water pipeline to connect com­munities across the southeast, eliminating the impact of earth lagoons that–have on the environment. In addition, this project will provide capacity for 13,000 new housing units in the member municipalities, investment into the local economy of nearly $1.9 billion in new capital and con­struction and approximately 3,400 new jobs.

      I was honoured to be present at the announce­ment made a few weeks ago by the Canada Infrastructure Bank, which committed a $51‑million investment. This loan commitment was the final piece needed to start construction. I am proud of my region of Manitoba–

The Speaker: The hon­our­able member's time has expired.

Some Honourable Members: Leave.

The Speaker: Is there leave for the member to finish his member's statement? [Agreed]

      Okay.

Mr. Narth: I am proud of–in closing, I am proud of my region of Manitoba, and I look forward to seeing all the construction begin.

Thank you.

Starting Strong Program

Mr. Logan Oxenham (Kirkfield Park): Today, I rise in recognition of Starting Strong, an incredible program for families with children one to four years old supporting play and healthy child development in Kirkfield Park and right across west Winnipeg.

      Through the Starting Strong program, parents and kids collaborate on skills like literacy, numeracy and physical activity alongside other young families from their community.

      Starting Strong offers programs like Book & Cook, which helps kids learn about nutrition, Move & Groove where families work on their co‑ordination and fine motor skills and Bookworms Book Club, where staff use interactive puppet shows and other creative mediums to explore stories.

      Starting Strong offers many other drop‑in pro­grams, meaning that there is something for every family.

      I wish to spotlight the unwavering dedication of Sandra Doell, a pivotal figure and family resource co‑ordinator at Starting Strong.

      My first encounter with Sandra was six years ago during a playgroup session at the Westwood Community Church. Her warm and genuine demeanour instantly made us feel at home in the group.

      I've seen Sandra welcome in countless families to Starting Strong. Her ability to connect with young kids through play and to support young parents through the first years of parenthood have helped many find a footing in a new and exciting phase of life.

      The Starting Strong program was an in­cred­ible, indelible way for me, my wife and my daughter to not only learn new skills but make connections with other young families–families that I ran into on the doorstep over the past year, families that I am so honoured to now serve.

      Honourable Speaker, I ask that my colleagues join me in congratulating and thanking Sandra, who joins us virtually, and all the staff at the Starting Strong program.

      Thank you.

Oral Questions

Prov­incial Nominee Program
Timeline for Next Draw

Mr. Wayne Ewasko (Leader of the Official Opposition): Hon­our­able Speaker, members on this side of the House had heard from students, workers, anxiously waiting the next Manitoba Prov­incial Nominee Program draw.

      When is the next scheduled draw for the Skilled Worker Stream and the Inter­national Edu­ca­tion Stream?

Hon. Uzoma Asagwara (Deputy Premier): I welcome the question from the member opposite. Our gov­ern­ment takes very seriously matters of immigration, supporting students to be able to get an edu­ca­tion here in our province. The diversity of our province, the diversity of Manitoba, is our greatest strength.

      Our team has been hard at work. The minister's been hard at work making sure that we address the concerns in terms of what's been handed down from the federal gov­ern­ment and com­muni­cating with families all across the province to provide reassurance.

      We're going to continue to do the work of clean­ing up the mess left by the previous gov­ern­ment, the cuts to the de­part­ment that have caused a lot of harm and strengthen this area of immigration edu­ca­tion for Manitobans across the province.

The Speaker: The honourable Leader of the Official Opposition, on a supplementary question.

Mr. Ewasko: It's obvious that the Deputy Premier is learning quite well from the Premier (Mr. Kinew) on the not answering any questions.

      So I'm going to make this one pretty straight­for­ward: the clock is ticking for the inter­national com­mu­nity with limited work permit time. We're looking for answers on their behalf.

      Is there anything that would prevent a draw for hopeful Manitobans from happening?

MLA Asagwara: Certainly recog­nize on this side of the  House the importance of com­muni­cating with Manitobans–internationally educated Manitobans, folks who are immigrating here and who want to immigrate here, who are here and uncertain about their future due to the federal gov­ern­ment's decisions and actions.

      What our gov­ern­ment is doing: Our gov­ern­ment has been advocating con­sistently on this issue. The minis­ter is doing an outstanding job advocating for folks across the province, and I want to commend her for her leadership on that.

      This is an issue that I know the minister has met directly with com­mu­nity members on and is actively engaged with the federal gov­ern­ment to ensure that we have a plan that meets the needs of Manitobans.

The Speaker: The honourable Leader of the Official Opposition, on a final sup­ple­mentary question.

Mr. Ewasko: We have heard credible and troubling fears from the inter­national com­mu­nity, who have requested that we protect their identity to save them from retribution.

      Inter­national com­mu­nity have informed us that they have been threatened by the Minister of Labour and Immigration (MLA Marcelino). The Labour Minister, the MLA for Notre Dame, told the Prov­incial Nominee Program people that any protests on the failures of this NDP gov­ern­ment would result in another four-month suspension of draws under the MPNP.

      Freedom of peaceful assembly is a fun­da­mental Charter right and violating that right through threats and inti­mida­tion by this NDP gov­ern­ment is an absolute abuse of power and is wrong, Hon­our­able Speaker.

      Will the Premier (Mr. Kinew) do the right thing and ask his failing, vindictive minister to resign?

MLA Asagwara: Our Minister of Immigration has a long history of advocacy for the immigrant com­mu­nity, being a part of the immigrant com­mu­nity here in Manitoba.

      The Leader of the Op­posi­tion continues to show that nothing has changed with their failed admin­is­tra­tion. Sowing seeds of division and reaping fear is their practice. On this side of the House, our gov­ern­ment is hard at work standing up for families. The Minister of Immigration is standing up for families, dealing with the cuts the previous gov­ern­ment made that didn't allow for us to process 2,000 applications.

      Our minister is going to continue to meet with families, advocate for families and move this province in a direction that allows for all those who want to be a part of our larger Manitoba family–

The Speaker: The member's time has expired.

Prov­incial Nominee Program Draw
Skilled Worker and Edu­ca­tion Stream

Ms. Jodie Byram (Agassiz): You just heard from our leader some deeply disturbing infor­ma­tion.

      I am going to table the cor­res­pon­dence I received, and I will keep my question brief and ask the minister to inform the House: On what day will the next draw be held for the International Edu­ca­tion Stream and the Skilled Worker Stream?

Hon. Malaya Marcelino (Minister of Labour and Immigration): Thank you to member opposite for your question.

      Currently, we are ex­per­iencing of a huge backlog due to un­pre­cedented levels of applications through­out Manitoba Prov­incial Nominee Program, in part due to the cuts of the previous admin­is­tra­tion and in part due to the federal gov­ern­ment's very recent decision in December 2023 and January 2024 to suddenly not ex­tend work permits anymore.

* (14:00)

      Our de­part­ment is diligently working to prioritize those who have already received their letters of advice to apply and prioritize those whose work permits are expiring.

      In addition to that, in February–and I continue to meet with the federal minister of Immigration–

The Speaker: Member's time has expired.

Respon­si­bility for and Frequency of Draws

Ms. Byram: Hon­our­able Speaker, can the minister ex­plain to the House how the frequency of draws is deter­mined, and who is respon­si­ble for making the decision of which draw to call and when?

MLA Marcelino: Thank you to members opposite for their concern about this very, very im­por­tant priority that we have here as an NDP gov­ern­ment regarding immigration and fulfilling our economic needs and productivity for our busi­ness com­mu­nity, and filling the needs for our–for all our com­mu­nities, especially in rural and northern com­mu­nities in Manitoba.

      Immigration is so im­por­tant, and that's why in Budget 2024, our Finance Minister and Treasury Board allowed us to have a very high number of budget so that we can have more people processing. Because of the previous PC gov­ern­ment, they cut one third of the pro­ces­sors in the previous de­part­ment, and we are slowly building that back up.

The Speaker: Member's time has expired.

      The hon­our­able member for Agassiz, on a final sup­ple­mentary question.

Min­is­terial Inter­ference Concerns

Ms. Byram: I have one final question for the minister: Why did she threaten to inter­fere in the draws of the Prov­incial Nominee Program to prohibit individuals from gathering peacefully here at the Manitoba Legislative Building?

MLA Marcelino: Thank you to member opposite for that question.

      I do not inter­fere in any of the draws. These draws are suggested by the de­part­ment based on overarching priorities that we give to the de­part­ment.

       I do not have any access to individual files or individual types of identifiers because that would be inter­ference, and that's not some­thing that we do on this side of the House.

      We are working towards revamping this MPNP program once again to make it a national leader across Canada, like it was before members opposite pretty much ruined it.

      Thank you, Hon­our­able Speaker.

Minister of Justice
Conduct Concerns

Mr. Richard Perchotte (Selkirk): Hon­our­able Speaker, Manitoba is a symbol of hope and dreams for those all over the world who are looking for a better life. Many are trying to escape gov­ern­ment-forced control over their lives.

      We witnessed yesterday the Minister of Justice trying to dominate his control over this Chamber, time and time again. Isn't that just the opposite of justice?

      Why does the NDP gov­ern­ment use inti­mida­tion and coercion to try and control those who disagree against them?

The Speaker: Order, please. Order, please. Order.

      I would advise members that that parti­cular topic is under review by the Speaker. It's under ad­vise­ment. So therefore, it cannot be raised in the House.

Hon. Matt Wiebe (Minister of Justice and Attorney General): I think what we just heard in this Chamber was a minister of gov­ern­ment who answered pretty serious allegations and some pretty in­flam­ma­tory language in a very pro­fes­sional and measured way. And it speaks to the way that we want to com­muni­cate with Manitobans, that we are one Manitoba, that we listen; we listen to the people of Manitoba and we ensure that their voices are heard in this Legislature.

      This gov­ern­ment's going to continue to do that work. Budget 2024 lays out our plan to make that happen. And we invite questions from the op­posi­tion on the im­por­tant work that we're doing. We're happy to answer them here in the Legislature each and every day.

Minister of Labour and PNP Program
Call for In­de­pen­dent Investigation

Mr. Richard Perchotte (Selkirk): The people of Manitoba and the world need to know that their civil liberties will not be trampled on by this NDP gov­ern­ment. Threats of retaliation are immoral and illegal. Manitobans are extremely concerned this gov­ern­ment is trying to control them through force and inti­mida­tion with this blatant attack on human rights.

      Will the Premier (Mr. Kinew) call for an in­de­pen­dent in­vesti­gation into the extremely serious matter?

Hon. Matt Wiebe (Minister of Justice and Attorney General): Well, again, Hon­our­able Speaker, you know, this gov­ern­ment spends time out talking to Manitobans to–listening to Manitobans, the voices of Manitobans. And what we're bringing forward is a vision of a positive, unified future.

      Now, when I go out and I knock on doors in, say, the con­stit­uency of Tuxedo, and I talk to the people in the con­stit­uency of Tuxedo, the fine people there tell me they want a gov­ern­ment that listens. They want a gov­ern­ment that responds and reacts to the good, positive things that are happening in this province.

      That's why, I guess, our Premier is–been con­sidered the most popular premier all across the country, because of his good work. We're going to continue to do that as a gov­ern­ment.

Mr. Perchotte: It is unbelievable that the NDP gov­ern­ment and their minister would threaten the future of people who dare to disagree with them. The rights of the people to protest against this gov­ern­ment is enshrined in our con­sti­tu­tion and laws.

      Will the NDP gov­ern­ment and their Premier denounce this minister and imme­diately call for a full and trans­par­ent, in­de­pen­dent in­vesti­gation?

Mr. Wiebe: Well, again, it's unfor­tunate that the mem­bers opposite would continue in this line of questioning.

      Again, an op­por­tun­ity for members to ask minis­ters of the gov­ern­ment im­por­tant questions, and in this case, to have good answers given back: answers about impartiality and about how we work together, the unity that we want to bring, not only as a caucus, but as all Manitobans.

      That–you know, that's the kind of work that we're doing on this side of the House. The members oppo­site want to ask questions of ministers, we're happy to answer them. But we're just confused by their con­tinual adherence to this campaign of division, which we saw in the election campaign, we continue to see–

The Speaker: Minister's time has expired.

Provincial Nominee Program Protest
Ministerial Interference Concerns

Mr. Derek Johnson (Interlake-Gimli): Hon­our­able Speaker, we've con­sistently heard from members opposite that if individuals wished to protest, they were welcome to do so right here at the Manitoba Legis­lative Building. They've said that protesting to change policy and legis­lation is a demo­cratic right and is essential to the healthy functioning of a demo­cratic society.

      I table the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms for the minister to read. And I ask: Why is the Minister of Labour interfering with Manitobans' demo­cratic rights?

Hon. Uzoma Asagwara (Deputy Premier): Hon­our­able Speaker, our gov­ern­ment is focused on a message that brings Manitobans together. Manitobans affirmed that message, that vision, on October 3, by electing a gov­ern­ment whose priority is to bring Manitobans together as one province, one people with one future.

      Our 2024 budget does just that. It makes invest­ments that benefit Manitobans across the province and strengthens health care, edu­ca­tion, the economy, brings jobs. This is a budget that reflects the needs of Manitobans, and our gov­ern­ment is focused on that: people.

The Speaker: The honourable member for Interlake-Gimli, on a supplementary question.

Mr. Johnson: Hon­our­able Speaker, it is deeply disturbing that we have individuals fearing that they will–if they exercise their 'democatic' rights that the minister will take away their op­por­tun­ity to stay in Manitoba.

      These are individuals who have invested, studied and worked in our province that are now fearful of con­se­quences from the NDP gov­ern­ment that they will afflict upon them.

      Why is the minister so blatantly abusing her power and threatening individuals?

* (14:10)

MLA Asagwara: Hon­our­able Speaker, for seven and a half years, Manitobans watched the previous PC gov­ern­ment fight to legis­late away the rights–the con­sti­tu­tional rights of children in care.

      Manitobans watched as members opposite, during their campaign, shamed Manitobans for coming together–20,000 Manitobans coming together to say that all Manitobans deserve to be safe and affirmed and uplifted in our province; Black Manitobans and Black people across the globe.

      Manitobans watched for seven and a half years a PC caucus that was focused only on division. That's why Manitobans made a choice on October  3rd to vote for an NDP gov­ern­ment that brings people together. We're focused on Manitobans each and every day. We're going to keep investing to make our province stronger–

The Speaker: Member's time has expired.

      The honourable member for Interlake-Gimli, on a final sup­ple­mentary question.

Mr. Johnson: Hon­our­able Speaker, it is a great privi­lege to live in Canada, and we enjoy many rights and freedoms. Under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, we have the fun­da­mental freedom–

Some Honourable Members: Oh, oh.

The Speaker: Order, please. Order, please.

      I can't hear what the member's saying. He's sitting 10 feet from me. So I'm going to call all members to order that they need to listen to the questions, listen to the answer and stop hollering back and forth at each other.

Mr. Johnson: Under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, we have the fun­da­mental freedom to meet with anyone we wish and partici­pate in peaceful demon­stra­tion. This includes the right to protest against a gov­ern­ment action or inaction.

      So I ask why the Minister of Labour and Immigration (MLA Marcelino), why are they infringing on the Charter of Rights and using tactics to prohibit the peaceful gathering of individuals here at the Manitoba Legislature?

MLA Asagwara: Hon­our­able Speaker, our gov­ern­ment is investing in bringing people together. Our gov­ern­ment is investing, the Minister of Immigration has invested, in making sure that immigration in Manitoba is strong, that diversity being our strength is a big part of a brighter future here in our province. Our Minister of Immigration has a long history in this province of standing up for those who want to call Manitoba home.

      And on this side of the House, we stand with our minister. We back up her efforts. She is going to con­tinue, as we all do, to meet and listen to Manitobans and, again, focus on one thing, one future, one pro­vince, one Manitoba for all.

Minister of Labour
Resig­na­tion Request

Mr. Obby Khan (Fort Whyte): Hon­our­able Speaker, a letter was tabled that shows this Minister of Labour and Immigration (MLA Marcelino) using manipulation, coercion, threats of deportation. Now this minister refuses to even acknowl­edge this letter.

      As a proud Canadian Pakistani from an immigrant family, my mother and father came here with nothing more than two suitcases and two kids in arm. And we are blessed to come here to Canada. And I believe we are better for it, and so is Canada.

      This behaviour and action as the Minister of Labour and Immigration is fun­da­mentally wrong, and she knows that.

      Why won't this minister even acknowl­edge the letter that's been tabled today?

Hon. Jamie Moses (Minister of Economic Development, Investment, Trade and Natural Resources): Hon­our­able Speaker, we're very pleased to stand up in this gov­ern­ment to welcome people to Manitoba.

      We know that this is a home for many Manitobans, and we want more people to call Manitoba home. And while they're here, we also want to welcome them here by ensuring that they have settlement services that our gov­ern­ment is investing in; that they have job op­por­tun­ities that our gov­ern­ment is investing in; that they have edu­ca­tional op­por­tun­ities that our gov­ern­ment is investing in.

      These are initiatives–how we take the immigra­tion and new­comers to Manitobans, how we take their issues very seriously, some­thing the former gov­ern­ment never did.

The Speaker: The honourable member for Fort Whyte, on a sup­ple­mentary question.

Mr. Khan: Hon­our­able Speaker, the minister cannot run and hide and avoid that letter forever. It outlines manipulation, coercion, threats of deportation.

      This is the new NDP–now deporting party–Labour Minister. Prov­incial nominees, inter­national students and skilled workers that are dreaming of coming to Manitoba have now had those dreams shattered. Doctors, nurses, engineers, trades­people are all now afraid of retaliation from this minister and this NDP gov­ern­ment.

      No one feels comfortable now applying for perma­nent residency in Manitoba due to threats by this NDP Labour Minister and NDP gov­ern­ment threats.

      Will the minister today do the right thing and resign?

Mr. Moses: Hon­our­able Speaker, not only do we want to welcome new­comers to Manitoba, but we're in­vesting in their future. We're investing in them by ensuring that we have more educational op­por­tun­ities.

      That's why we invested more in our K‑to‑12 system. We invested more in our post-secondary system, so that new­comers have op­por­tun­ities to get the skills they need to work and grow in our economy. Not only that, Hon­our­able Speaker, but we invested in their health care, so that when new­comers come here and have health‑care services, they can be assured that they have a top–and expect the best health care that can be provided.

      Those were all services that were not prioritized by the former gov­ern­ment. These are actions that we're taking to make the lives of Manitobans and new Manitobans better each and every day.

The Speaker: The honourable member for Fort Whyte, on a supplementary question.

Mr. Khan: Hon­our­able Speaker, these questions are not for the Minister of Economic Dev­elop­ment. I know he wants to protect–and the Minister of Immigration wants to hide from the letter that's been tabled today.

      Why won't the Minister of Labour and Immigration stand up and answer the question? They have threat­ened, 'coherced' and manipulated hopeful new­comers–[interjection]

The Speaker: Order.

Mr. Khan: –all due to what? Negative media stories for this NDP party? There's no way of sugar-coating this, Hon­our­able Speaker. The minister has abused her power of office. This NDP gov­ern­ment has abused their power of gov­ern­ment.

      This is against our fun­da­mental rights and con­sti­tu­tion. The minister needs to apologize, and once she's done that, she needs to resign–[interjection]

The Speaker: Order.

Mr. Khan: –as the Minister of Immigration and Labour.

      Will the minister resign today, yes or no?

The Speaker: The–[interjection] Order, please. Order, please. Order, please. Order.

      Stop the clock, please.

      I was going to save this warning for another day, but I think today and now is the ideal time to remind members that there are rules in this Chamber. I've given quite a bit of leeway in members, because I believe in the healthy back and forth of debate. What we're witnessing here today, and what we witnessed yesterday, is not healthy back and forth of debate.

      I cannot shirk my respon­si­bilities as the Speaker to allow this to continue. There are rules that talk about naming members. There are rules that talk about expelling members. I don't want to do that. I don't want to get there. That is up to you folks. You have the power to decide whether I have to enforce the rules strictly. You have the right to decide; you have the ability to decide how you conduct yourselves in this Chamber.

      And I expect better from everyone. So be warned that the rules will be followed, whether you like them or not. I don't plan to stop heckling; it's been a part of the tradition of this type of gov­ern­ment since the Westminster type of gov­ern­ment came into being. But we have to be respectful of each other. We have to respect that people have different opinions. We have to realize that people outside of this Chamber are watch­ing us, people outside of this Chamber are listening to us.

      And it's about time that we showed the people of Manitoba some­thing better than what we've shown in the last few days. Nothing less is acceptable.

      So keep that in mind as we finish the busi­ness before us here today, that the rules will come into play and somebody isn't going to be very happy with the outcome.

* (14:20)

Mr. Moses: I thank you for those words. You know, we get elected into this place to represent our con­stit­uents and Manitobans, and it's im­por­tant for us to keep in mind that we are putting our–forward our best foot in this space to represent their best interests.

      So, Hon­our­able Speaker, we will not buy into the member opposite's narrative. We won't feed into the narrative and believe the seeds of division, which the members opposite are trying to sow.

      We instead will forge ahead on a path that puts Manitobans at the forefront of our decision making, one that ensures that we're investing in their health care, that we're investing in affordability, we're investing in their edu­ca­tion.

      And, Hon­our­able Speaker, we will continue to do that for Manitobans–

The Speaker: Member's time is expired.

Internationally Trained Health-Care Workers
Permanent Residency Draw

Mrs. Kathleen Cook (Roblin): First, this NDP gov­ern­ment ripped up job offers to Filipino nurses. Now they're actively threatening hopeful new­comers eager to work and build their lives here.

      The MPNP in‑demand occupation list lists over 30 types of health‑care professions as a priority. This NDP Labour Minister is now threatening new­comer nurses, physicians, pharmacists, psychologists, physio­­thera­pists, right out of Manitoba and potentially right out of Canada.

      To suc­cess­fully attract internationally trained health­care workers, they need to trust Manitoba's permanent residency system.

      Will this minister imme­diately reinstate a timely and con­sistent system for permanent residency draws?

Hon. Uzoma Asagwara (Deputy Premier): Hon­our­able Speaker, there is a con­sistent process in place for the draws.

      Our minister is doing a tre­men­dous job working tirelessly every single day advocating to the federal gov­ern­ment to make sure that we have strong immi­gration pathways here in Manitoba. This minister has been working tirelessly from day one to do what the previous gov­ern­ment refused to do, which is treat this file with the care and attention it deserves.

      This minister is working each and every day, meeting with protestors, as the Premier (Mr. Kinew) has done twice, meeting with folks in com­mu­nity, sup­porting meetings that I can have, as the Minister of Health, with new­comers in the province to strengthen our health‑care system.

The Speaker: Member's time has expired.

      The hon­our­able member for Roblin, on a sup­ple­mentary question.

Mrs. Cook: Adding to the list of already-broken pro­mises from this NDP gov­ern­ment, no action has been taken on their five‑point plan for internationally educated health-care workers. In fact, so far, the NDP have cut funding for the Filipino nurse recruitment program, fired health-care recruiters, and now they're purposely delaying permanent residency draws for hopeful new­comers.

      Was the sixth point of their plan to drive out any hopeful health-care workers dreaming of living here? New­comers need to trust that they can invest in Manitoba.

      Can health-care workers looking for permanent residency trust that no further draws will be in­ten­tionally delayed by this Labour Minister?

MLA Asagwara: Hon­our­able Speaker, what our amazing minister does, with the greatest in­ten­tion, is work every single day to make sure that our province's strength, that is diversity, is supported by the Immigration de­part­ment in this province.

      She works tirelessly each and every day to advo­cate to the federal gov­ern­ment, is meeting with new­comers across the province to make sure that their voices are heard and our policies and invest­ments in 2024's budget reflect their needs and concerns.

      But you don't have to take my word for it, Honour­able Speaker. I'm going to table a document that makes very clear that the Minister of Immigration, who met with a leader of the protest–is in full support of her work, and that she, in fact, is listening to their voices and they ap­pre­ciate that each and every day.

The Speaker: The hon­our­able member for Roblin, on a final sup­ple­mentary question.

Mrs. Cook: Health-care workers will go to other pro­vinces when all this NDP gov­ern­ment can offer is higher taxes, threats and broken promises.

      In the media, the Labour Minister says that attract­ing inter­national workers is key to staffing our health‑care system. But behind closed doors, they're threatening to delay or close the process for these workers trying to become permanent residents. This is just another example of how the NDP is making Manitoba the least attractive province in Canada for health‑care workers.

      Will this Labour Minister imme­diately reinstate a fair, trustworthy and honest permanent residency draw?

MLA Asagwara: Hon­our­able Speaker, Manitobans rejected division and harmful rhetoric on October 3rd and elected a gov­ern­ment that, for the first time in Manitoba's history, looks like the con­stit­uents that we serve, and that is some­thing that Manitobans can be proud of.

      Our budget invests in making sure that all Manitobans have the op­por­tun­ity to have a better health‑care system, a stronger health‑care system, a diverse health‑care workforce. Our gov­ern­ment is com­mitted to continuing to invest in relationships, a culture in health care that is one where people want to be a part of our broader health-care team. That's a big change.

      Seven and a half years of cuts, closures, disrespect of health‑care workers, but we're doing that work because Manitobans deserve a gov­ern­ment and a health‑care system that works for them.

Drugs Given to Children in Group Home
Profit Facilities–Review Request

MLA Cindy Lamoureux (Tyndall Park): Media has reported that several Spirit Rising homes have been raided by police following allegations that workers were provi­ding cannabis to youth daily.

      We cannot assume that this is just a one‑off case from a singular group home.

      Can the minister confirm to the House today whether she has under­taken a com­pre­hen­sive review, parti­cularly of for‑profit homes, to confirm that no other homes have been provi­ding drugs to kids?

Hon. Nahanni Fontaine (Minister of Families): I want to say–or, thank my colleague across the way for a very im­por­tant question that she poses today.

      I want to assure the House and I want to assure Manitobans that when we became aware of some of the concerns with Spirit Rising House, I, as minister respon­si­ble, took imme­diate action, followed by our de­part­ment.

      And I also just want to also stress out there and acknowl­edge all of the folks that came together in an imme­diate fashion to be able to ensure that the chil­dren that were housed at Spirit Rising House were well taken care of–

The Speaker: Member's time has expired.

      The hon­our­able member for Tyndall Park, on a sup­ple­mentary question.

Group Home Accountability
Funding for Agency Respon­si­ble for Oversight

MLA Cindy Lamoureux (Tyndall Park): Account­ability of group homes has been a continual issue. For example, a group home in Brandon was shut down due to the misappropriation of funds meant for kids in their care.

      That is why it is surprising that the minister cut funding to the unit in her de­part­ment in charge of account­ability for de­part­mentally funded agencies.

      Con­sid­ering these concerns, can the minister ex­plain why she wants to reduce account­ability for group homes? And I table these numbers now.

Hon. Nahanni Fontaine (Minister of Families): Miigwech to the member opposite for the question.

      Again, I want to reiterate that, as minister respon­si­ble, I take very seriously the safety and pro­tec­tion of children that are in care across the province.

      I do want to also say that, in fact, we are reviewing our relationships with all for-profit providers here in Manitoba to ensure that we don't see another situation like Spirit Rising House, which I would imagine that all of us in the Chamber can agree is an unacceptable form of practice of giving unauthorized, unprescribed drugs to children, some of the most vul­ner­able and marginalized–

The Speaker: Member's time is expired.

      The hon­our­able member for Tyndall Park, on a final sup­ple­mentary question.

Youth Mental Health Strategy
Funding Concerns in Budget 2024

MLA Cindy Lamoureux (Tyndall Park): The situa­tion is so horrific because leadership at these group homes are often looked up to as mentors. However, now we are learning these mentors have been provi­ding drugs to our most vul­ner­able kids.

      News about Spirit Rising first broke months ago, yet we fail to see any concrete solutions from this gov­ern­ment on preventing some­thing like this from hap­pening again.

      Con­sid­ering the serious news, why was there no mention of a com­pre­hen­sive youth mental health strategy in the gov­ern­ment's first budget?

Hon. Nahanni Fontaine (Minister of Families): I want to disabuse the member opposite for the erroneous commentary that she's just put on the record.

      Let me be explicitly clear: I, as minister, take this issue very seriously. Our de­part­ment takes this issue very seriously. Our author­ities takes this issue very seriously, as well as our agencies. And in responding to Spirit Rising House, all of us came together to work collectively and comprehensively to ensure that chil­dren are protected and taken care of.

* (14:30)

      And so I would disabuse what the member is putting forward, and I would–I just want to take this quick moment to acknowl­edge and lift up all of the folks that did the heavy lifting–

The Speaker: The member's time has expired.

Em­ploy­ment Standards Code
Legis­lative Timeline for Bill 9

MLA Jelynn Dela Cruz (Radisson): Manitobans know that the PCs ran a campaign of division to try and save their tired gov­ern­ment. They are still doing this in op­posi­tion by preventing Bill 9, which protects workers and extends sick leave to be in line with federal EI sickness benefits.

      On this side of the House, we know where we stand–that is, protecting the health and safety of workers in this province and protecting good jobs for all Manitobans.

      Can the Minister of Labour and Immigration please update the House on how they continue to play politics of division, and what they are denying Manitobans by delaying Bill 9?

Hon. Malaya Marcelino (Minister of Labour and Immigration): Shameful, uncaring behaviour on this PC caucus's part to hold up Bill 9. This bill would grant up to 26 weeks of unpaid job‑protected leave to workers with serious illness and injury and match that unpaid job‑protected leave with EI benefits from the federal gov­ern­ment.

      In 2023 both busi­ness and labour groups made a joint, unanimous LMRC recommendation for this unpaid leave. We have heard from doctors, from cancer society of Manitoba, that patients are facing financial stress, job insecurity and that patients are being forced to choose between treatment and em­ploy­ment.

      Doctors have even reported of cases where patients died because they couldn't take time off work from cancer treatment–

The Speaker: The member's time has expired.

Minister of Labour and PNP Program
Call for In­de­pen­dent Investigation

Mrs. Lauren Stone (Midland): The NDP has tabled a text with no name, no nothing. They are hiding from account­ability to Manitobans and misrepresenting the serious issue from the inter­national com­mu­nity.

      Why are they hiding from account­ability?

Hon. Uzoma Asagwara (Deputy Premier): This coming from the member opposite who tables Facebook posts? I mean, I don't know, Hon­our­able Speaker.

      Listen, on this side of the House, we not only stand with our Minister of Immigration; on this side of the House we not only stand with new­comers; on this side of the House not only do we stand with health-care workers, on this side of the House we stand with all Manitobans.

      All Manitobans. Our team is focused on one future, one vision, one Manitoba. Members opposite would do well to get on board with that vision because their approach of division is exactly why they're on that side of the House.

The Speaker: The honourable member for Midland, on a supplementary question.

Mrs. Stone: Hiding account­ability is becoming a pattern with this NDP gov­ern­ment. First the Families Minister refused to call a public inquiry into CFS mismanage­ment under her watch. Then she hid from the media in New York during a crisis.

      Now the Premier (Mr. Kinew) is refusing to call an imme­diate in­de­pen­dent in­vesti­gation into the abuse of power on display from this Labour Minister. This is a pattern with the NDP, hiding in New York from account­ability to the public. This situation is unaccept­able and fun­da­mentally wrong.

      Is New York where NDP account­ability goes to hide?

Hon. Nahanni Fontaine (Minister of Families): The member opposite seems to be a little bit obsessed with New York and those of us on this side as gov­ern­ment, doing our job as gov­ern­ment. That's what a good, listening, caring gov­ern­ment does. We do our job even if it takes us to New York.

      Now, the member opposite, if she's so obsessed with New York and what we do in New York, you know, maybe they should have, when they were in their failed gov­ern­ment, offered the op­por­tun­ity for their former Status of Women minister to go. But then again, what would they have reported on? Nothing. [interjection]

The Speaker: Order.

      The honourable member for Midland, on a final sup­ple­mentary question.

Mrs. Stone: If this gov­ern­ment is so caring, then why are they manipulating, coercing and threatening the inter­national com­mu­nity?

      The Labour Minister has chosen to actively infringe on the Charter of Rights of Manitobans. The public deserves clear and trans­par­ent answers as to what is happening behind the closed doors of this NDP gov­ern­ment. The Labour Minister has actively smeared Manitobans' reputation across the inter­national scale.

      Will the NDP commit to a publicly released in­de­pen­dent review on the abuse of power displayed by this NDP minister? [interjection]

The Speaker: Order.

MLA Fontaine: So again, I just want to remind members opposite that this is supposed to be a Chamber of truth and re­peat­edly what we are hearing is erroneous facts being put on the record.

      I want to remind every single member opposite there of the detrimental impact that they had to PNP with their cuts, trying to do gov­ern­ment on the cheap and then actually forcing new­comers to pay a $500 head tax.

      That's what you all did. [interjection]

The Speaker: Order, please.

      The hon­our­able member for Midland, on a new question.

Mrs. Stone: New­comers dream of coming to Manitoba. They invest their time, money and hope into our province. They come to build and raise their own families here.

      Now the Labour Minister has decided she can pick and choose when and how 'resonsees' draws can or cannot happen. This will permanently damage Manitoba and break the trust of new­comers who des­per­ately want to come here. Manitobans and hopeful Manitobans deserve answers and account­ability from this NDP gov­ern­ment.

      Will the NDP imme­diately call an in­de­pen­dent in­vesti­gation–it's a simple yes or no question–yes or no?

MLA Fontaine: No. And also, we support our minister. Our minister is doing a phenomenal job. It's a job that she takes seriously. It's a job that she has the capacity and the commit­ment and the dedi­cation to fixing the mess that you all left us and left Manitobans.

      We're proud of the province that we're moving forward to get together again. One Manitoba that is a welcoming province led by an–[interjection]

The Speaker: Order.

MLA Fontaine: –amazing minister that we have full con­fi­dence in.

The Speaker: The time for oral questions has expired.

Mr. Doyle Piwniuk (Turtle Mountain): Point of order.

Point of Order

The Speaker: The hon­our­able member for Turtle Mountain, on a point of order.

Mr. Doyle Piwniuk (Turtle Mountain): I demand an apology from the member from Union Station about accusing of our party, our members here, of being racist when it comes to Black Lives Matter.

      I don't know if anybody understands this, but I'm a father of a Black man in this–in Canada and I want to make sure that I need apology from that member from Union Station. Because the fact is, my son, during that whole time when George Floyd got killed, my son was locked up in a–because of–he had to do isolation because of COVID.

      And he had to go through that all alone. It deva­stated him. He's a–he has an uncle that he used to–[interjection] Hey. Can I talk?

Some Honourable Members: Oh, oh.

The Speaker: Order. I would call all members to order.

      When a member's speaking on a point of order, there should be silence from other members. You may not like what the member has to say and there will be the op­por­tun­ity for someone to respond, but sitting there hollering will not be acceptable.

Mr. Piwniuk: Hon­our­able Speaker, I don't know if a lot of members know this, but some of them were–one of them was at the funeral of my mother-in-law, who actually immigrated here to Canada from Jamaica to be–to work as a domestic housekeeper. She came here–since she came here, there was a gov­ern­ment that gave her the op­por­tun­ity–was a PC Party gov­ern­ment. To–from the day that she got here, she sup­ported the PC Party.

      My wife, who is also half-Jamaican, supports the PC Party. And my son, who is also–supports the PC Party, and has never once, in this side, has ever been threatened about what the member from Union Station has accused us to be. My son actually went door knock­ing in Brandon, Manitoba, to help the chief of–the former chief of police to come and actually win an election here to be repre­sen­ting Brandon West, Honour­able Speaker.

      So I demand an apology. And my son also used to go to hockey school with my brother-in-law; he used to be an NHL hockey coach. He actually coached–he actually had a–worked at the hockey school at–with Bob Hartley in York, Pennsylvania. And I remember one time when my son was driving with him from Dallas, Texas, where he used to coach to go to York, Pennsylvania, he told my son, you got to watch; if we ever get stopped by the police, you got to keep–show that you have your hands showing, because the fact is, you don't know when if some­thing ever happens. Not once does my son ever feel that way in Canada.

      And the thing is, when we–when they talked about defunding the police, it's im­por­tant more than ever before that we need the police, because with our crime, the rate it's going, we need them more than ever.

      So I just want to make sure that I want the mem­ber from Union Station to give us an apology.

The Speaker: Are there any other members wishing to speak to the point of order?

MLA Asagwara: Hon­our­able Speaker, I will not apologize to that member. I will not apologize to any member of that caucus.

      Hon­our­able Speaker, I'm very proud to be one of the first three Black MLAs elected to this Legislature. I recog­nize that when I'm in this Chamber, when I'm out in our com­mu­nities, I represent all Manitobans, quite frankly. Because all Manitobans, I believe at the heart of hearts, want our province to be a place for every­one, Black Manitobans included.

      I'll admit it was difficult–not so much for me, but for my family–to, during the campaign, open up news­papers, to see literature, of a picture of me at a Black Lives Matter rally that members opposite used to try to imply that somehow I was a threat to safety of people in this province.

      I am very proud to be someone who has long advocated for justice, equity and equality for all people in Manitoba. I will never, ever apologize for that.

      And I will never apologize for making it very clear that when anyone uses their position of power or plat­form to target folks who are already vul­ner­able, that when anyone uses their plat­form to target those who deserve to be treated with respect, dignity and affirmation, I will never apologize for simply recog­nizing that that does real harm.

      And I'm proud to be part of a team that recognizes that all Manitobans deserve a place here in our pro­vince where they know we are one province.

The Speaker: Order, please. Order, please.

      I would advise the member that he does not have a point of order. However, I will advise all members, as I just said a few minutes ago, words are im­por­tant. How they are interpreted by others are just as im­por­tant. We need to, in this place in parti­cular, always be cognizant of the words we use and how they're perceived.

      Many members in this Chamber come from dif­ferent back­grounds, have different thoughts, different processes and interpret what's being said and what's being done differently. I've asked us all to do better, and I will ask us all to do better in this regard also.

      Thank you.

* * *

The Speaker: Petitions? Grievances? House busi­ness.

ORDERS OF THE DAY

GOVERNMENT BUSINESS

House Business

Hon. Nahanni Fontaine (Government House Leader): What was–where was–who had some­thing else for me? You–what was the thing you had for me? You took it.

      Hon­our­able Speaker, I'm going to do a couple of things.

      First, I am announcing–[interjection] Miigwech.

      I am announcing that the following bills will be those classified as specified bills for this First Session of the 43rd Legislature: Bill 5, The Adult Literacy Act; Bill 6, The Manitoba Assist­ance Amend­ment Act; Bill 8, The Safe Access to Abortion Services Act; Bill 10, The Advanced Edu­ca­tion Admin­is­tra­tion Amend­ment Act; Bill 11, The Statutes and Regula­tions Amend­ment and Inter­pre­ta­tion Amend­ment Act; Bill 13, The Emergency Medical Response and Stretcher Trans­por­tation Amend­ment Act; Bill 14, The Minor Amend­ments and Corrections Act, 2024; Bill 15, The Credit Unions and Caisses Populaires Amend­ment Act; Bill 17, The Work­place Safety and Health Amend­ment Act; Bill 18, The Com­mu­nity Child Care Standards Amend­ment Act; Bill 19, The  Drivers and Vehicles Amend­ment Act; Bill 20, The Highway Traffic Amend­ment Act; Bill 22, the celebration of Nigerian in­de­pen­dence act, commemo­ra­tion of days, weeks and months act amend­ment; Bill 23, The Name Change Amend­ment Act (2); Bill 24, The Intimate Image Pro­tec­tion Amend­ment Act (Dis­tri­bu­tion of Fake Intimate Images). [interjection]

      Does he have this? He does?

The Speaker: It has been announced by the Gov­ern­ment House Leader that the following bills will be those classified as specified bills for this First Session of the 43rd Legislature: Bill 5, Bill 6, Bill 8, Bill 10, Bill 11, Bill 13, Bill 14, Bill 15, Bill 17, Bill 18, Bill 19, Bill 20, Bill 22, Bill 23 and Bill 24.

* * *

MLA Fontaine: Could you please canvass the House to see if there is leave to amend debate–the debate pro­visions agreed to on April 17, 2024, in the following ways: (1) to consider only the following specified bills for debate today, in this order: Bill 22, Bill 10, Bill 23, Bill 15, Bill 14, Bill 5, Bill 6; (2) for the House to rise either following the question being put and resolved on second reading of Bill 6, or 7 p.m., whichever is earlier, unless unanimous consent is granted to rise earlier or later.

The Speaker: Is there leave to amend the debate pro­visions agreed to on April 17, 2024, in the following ways: (1) to consider only the following specified bills for debate today, in this order: Bill 22, Bill 10, Bill 23, Bill 15, Bill 14, Bill 5, Bill 6; (2) for the House to rise either following the question being put and resolved on second reading of Bill 6, or 7 p.m., whichever is earlier, unless unanimous consent is granted to rise earlier or later.

* (14:50)

      Is there leave? [Agreed]

      As per the agree­ment in the House yesterday, the House will consider second reading of specified bills under the provisions set out in subrule 2(10). Today is the 14th sitting day after first reading completion day. All gov­ern­ment bills that had first reading moved within 20 sitting days of the Throne Speech and have been designated by the gov­ern­ment as specified but not designated by the op­posi­tion as designated bills are eligible to have a second reading moved today.

      For each such bill, the minister can speak for a maximum of 10 minutes, followed by up to 15 minute question and answer period. Critics of recog­nized parties and in­de­pen­dent members may then speak for a maximum of 10 minutes per bill, following which, I will put the question on second reading of the bill.

      If such a bill had been previously called for de­bate, all remaining actions just identified with–will be dealt with before the question will be put.

      As agreed, the House 'sall' ship–'sallsh'–my apolo­gies. As agreed, the House shall sit until the question has been put and resolved on second reading of Bill 6, The Manitoba Systems Amend­ment Act, or 7 o'clock p.m., whichever is earlier, unless unanimous consent is granted to rise earlier or later.

      As agreed, the list of bills that will follow this process today will be the following: Bill 22, The Celebration of Nigerian In­de­pen­dence Day Act (Commemo­ra­tion of Days, Weeks and Months Act Amended); Bill 10, The Advanced Edu­ca­tion Admin­is­tra­tion Amend­ment Act; Bill 23, The Change of Name Amend­ment Act (2); Bill 15, The Credit Unions and Caisses Populaires Amend­ment Act; Bill 14, The Minor Amend­ments and Corrections Act, 2024; Bill 5, The Adult Literacy Act; Bill 6, The Manitoba Assist­ance Amend­ment Act.

      Accordingly, I will now call Bill 22, The Celebration of Nigerian In­de­pen­dence Day Act (Com­memo­ra­tion of Days, Weeks and Months Act Amended).

Second Readings

Bill 22–The Celebration of Nigerian Independence Day Act
(Commemoration of Days, Weeks and Months Act Amended)

Hon. Uzoma Asagwara (Deputy Premier): I move, seconded by the Minister for Environ­ment and Climate Change, that Bill 22, The Celebration of Nigerian Indepen­dence Day Act, be now read a second time and referred to a com­mit­tee of this House.

The Speaker: It has been moved by the hon­our­able Minister of Health, Seniors and Long-Term Care, seconded by the Minister of Environ­ment and Climate Change (MLA Schmidt), that Bill 22, The Celebration of Nigerian In­de­pen­dence Day Act (Commemoration of Days, Weeks and Months Act Amended), be now read a second time and be referred to a com­mit­tee of this House.

MLA Asagwara: Hon­our­able Speaker, I am so proud to have intro­duced Bill 22, The Celebration of Nigerian In­de­pen­dence Day Act. It just so happens that 22 is also my favourite number and so I have been very, very excited about this–[interjection]

      Yes, I wore number 22, that was my jersey number as a basketball player. So I've been very excited about this legis­lation for a number of reasons, but it just feels a little bit more extra special because of that.

      This is a bill that reflects what's been talked about in our com­mu­nity, the Nigerian com­mu­nity, for quite some time. It recognizes the importance of having Nigerian in­de­pen­dence day formally recog­nized here in Manitoba through legis­lation. It's a step that makes Nigerians feel seen and our history as a people valued in a province that has welcomed our com­mu­nity for decades.

      This act would designate October 1 as the cele­bration of Nigerian in­de­pen­dence day, a day that many Nigerians in this province have been celebrating for a long time. Certainly, I remember the celebrations as a kid growing up in Manitoba, where every October 1, we'd find a way–or around that date–to gather as a com­mu­nity and reflect on what our in­de­pen­dence means as a people. And it was wonderful that we were able to find spaces to do that here in Manitoba.

      The day in 1960, October 1, is the day that Nigeria freed itself from decades of British colonial rule, exploit­ive and violent rule. This day is deeply sig­ni­fi­cant, not just to Nigeria, but certainly globally. It sends a signal about what achieving in­de­pen­dence and freedom from colonial rule means.

      With this bill I think of all the elders in our com­mu­nity who sacrificed so that gen­era­tions could thrive in Manitoba, myself included. This bill uplifts all of those in the com­mu­nity who advocated so that we can be where we are today; who went without so we could be where we are today; and to inspire future gen­era­tions to be proud of who they are.

      There are more than 7,000 Nigerians living through­­out Manitoba. I have to say that after being elected in the most recent election, the first trip to Brandon I saw Nigerians everywhere, and I thought that was amazing. I was surprised; I see Nigerians everywhere, and it really showed me, like, wow, our people are not only here in Winnipeg but we are all across the province, calling Manitoba home.

      Now this bill would create awareness for all Manitobans to learn about Nigerian in­de­pen­dence day, what Nigerians have overcome and the significant con­tri­bu­tions Nigerians have made to our province as a whole: the con­tri­bu­tions we've made economically, socially, art, culture, et cetera. We are interwoven into the fabric of this beautiful province.

      What I'd like to do now is acknowl­edge some com­­mu­nity organi­zations and elders who have spent the past several decades fostering com­mu­nity and ensuring gen­era­tions of Nigerian Canadians would not only be proud Canadians, but deeply connected to their roots, and understand the importance of never losing their identity as Nigerians who are diverse, beautiful, resilient, spiritual and an innovative people.

      First I'd like to thank my parents: Doris Asagwara, my mother, immigrated here a few short years after my father, Dr. K.C. Asagwara. I don't know why my father didn't tell her how cold it was. She arrived here and didn't have a proper winter jacket and was pretty shocked at just how cold it was. But the warmth of this province embraced her very quickly.

      And my parents instilled an under­standing and an ap­pre­cia­tion in us of how fortunate we were to be Canadians, on how blessed we were to be Nigerians–Igbo Nigerians. Their commit­ment not only to their kids but to our com­mu­nities has resulted–has con­tri­bu­ted to a really tight-knit and growing com­mu­nity here in the province, and I'm really proud. I'm really proud of the work that my parents did; I'm really proud of the work that my mother did and continues to do as a leader, as a matriarch in our com­mu­nity, who has worked in early child­hood edu­ca­tion for my entire life, and who will be retiring from early child­hood edu­ca­tion on her birthday this coming fall and has made it a point of being somebody who also ex­tends a warm welcome to Nigerians and all new­comers, when they arrive in Winnipeg. She ends up being that warm blanket that she benefited from many years ago.

      It is so im­por­tant, the work that elders have done, elders like Chief Jim Ogunnioki, Dr. Ed Onyebuchi, Titi Tijani, Dr. Anyadike, Yisa Akinbolaji and more. There are so many people that I intend to recog­nize and uplift as this bill makes its way, hopefully unanimously, through the House in order to recog­nize and thank them for their con­tri­bu­tions to our com­mu­nity and province.

      Organi­zations like ACOMI, the Umunna Association of Manitoba, NAMI, have been leading the way for decades, bringing people together, provi­ding edu­ca­tion and awareness, advocacy and support, which has helped our com­mu­nity to grow and continues to do so.

* (15:00)

      I'm very proud of the ways in which our com­mu­nity has grown, fostered connection and has expanded the ways in which we navigate our society. Kids of all identities in the Nigerian com­mu­nity are being raised to be authentic, to know that they'll be loved by their elders, to know that they'll be held by their broader Manitoban com­mu­nity, and this bill recognizes not only how long we've been in Manitoba, how long we've been free in Nigeria, but how far we've come as a people and where we're headed together.

      And so while there's much more I look forward to saying, for right now I just want to express my thanks, not only to the elders and leaders and families, but also to the First Peoples of these lands, the First Peoples of these lands who welcomed our com­mu­nities, our Nigerian com­mu­nities, here in Manitoba. We have a shared history of colonization, which is a painful thread, but it's im­por­tant to acknowl­edge. And we have also, I believe, a shared future which is very bright.

      Thank you.

Questions

The Speaker: A question period of up to 15 minutes will be held. Questions may be addressed to the minister by any op­posi­tion or in­de­pen­dent member in the following sequence: first question by the official opposition critic or designate; subsequent questions asked by critics or designates from other recognized opposition parties; subsequent questions asked by each independent member; remaining questions to be asked by any opposition members. And no question or answer shall exceed 45 seconds.

      The floor is now open for questions.

MLA Bob Lagassé (Dawson Trail): I would like to ask the member who they consulted on on this im­por­tant bill to yourself.

Hon. Uzoma Asagwara (Deputy Premier): I thank the member for that question.

      I had the op­por­tun­ity, thankfully, to be able to meet with almost 100 members of our com­mu­nity on a couple of occasions–elders pre­domi­nantly, youth, as well, and organi­zations–in order to get ideas and thoughts about, you know, what does it mean to be a Nigerian in Manitoba and to understand the historical landscape in doing the work to bringing this bill forward. And a lot of those organi­zations represent literally thousands of Manitoba–or Nigerian Manitobans across the province, and their voices are reflected in the bill.

Mr. Obby Khan (Fort Whyte): I want to thank the member for Union Station (MLA Asagwara) for bringing this forward.

      We might not agree on a lot, if anything, in this House, and it does get very heated. But on this Bill 22, I'm very happy to see this come forward, and I want to con­gratu­late the member for that. So, at times, we can come together to recog­nize great things that are happening, the celebration of the Nigerian com­mu­nity in this province. So on that I want to say congratulations.

      I also, quickly–you mentioned your parents quickly. How proud are your parents of you for getting this through today?

MLA Asagwara: I thank the member for that ques­tion and for the support of this legis­lation.

      It is very difficult to talk about my parents, my mom especially, and not get emotional. Because my mom has had a hard, hard journey–hard journey–and yet, has always put people first and has really modelled what it means to be in com­mu­nity in a good way. And I know that my parents are proud, I know my mom is proud, but honestly, I am so exceedingly proud of her. I'm proud of the person that she is. I'm proud of the role that she has in com­mu­nity, and this is like a very small thing that I can do to recog­nize the elders in our com­mu­nity who've done so much.

Mr. Trevor King (Lakeside): I, too, want to con­gratu­late the member on this bill that's been brought forward here. I'm quite positive it's going to pass unanimously today.

      But I'd just like–a curious question: if the member could speak about some of the different Nigerian com­mu­nity associations in our province of Manitoba and if they support this bill, which I'm sure they do.

MLA Asagwara: I thank the member for that question, and I ap­pre­ciate his support for this legis­lation.

      There are, I mean, so many different Nigerian com­­­mu­nities. There are many–I'm Igbo, myself, so our people come from the south southeastern region of Nigeria. And I consulted with com­mu­nity organiza­tions across the spectrum of identities of Nigerians. So, across faiths, we have a lot of Nigerians who are Christian, Catholic, Muslim faith back­ground.

      We have folks who come from all regions who are reflected in this legis­lation. It was really im­por­tant to get a good capture of the com­mu­nity organi­zations and the diversity of them, and they are reflected in this legis­lation, which I think is a really im­por­tant thing.

Mr. Khan: You know, one of the greatest honours I had was been the former minister of sport, culture and heritage, getting out to a lot of com­mu­nity events.

      And the Nigerian com­mu­nity was welcoming. They were so amazing–their food, the festivities, their music, their stories, all of it. It was an honour for me to–and our previous gov­ern­ment, and I'm sure this gov­ern­ment now–to support the diversity in com­mu­nities; Nigerian com­mu­nity is one of them.

      I'm just curious–and I'm sure the minister, the member from Union Station, will do this–just curious on if they have any plans on how they want to con­tinue to support the Nigerian com­mu­nity, because it is an amazing com­mu­nity.

MLA Asagwara: I ap­pre­ciate that question from the member opposite. Again, he has already acknowl­edged that we don't agree on every­thing, and some­times there's a little bit of tension. But where we certainly do agree is that the Nigerian com­mu­nity is amazing.

      Nigerian com­mu­nity is amazing. We are a wel­coming, loving, proud, loud, com­mu­nity and there's going to be a big, big, big celebration, you know. This bill will become law, hopefully, and the com­mu­nity will, in a new way, be able to celebrate in­de­pen­dence day knowing that they've got the backing of the Province behind them, you know, the unanimous sup­port of their elected officials behind them, and I think that's really special.

      So next October 1, I'm going to extend the invita­tion in advance for all folks–the clerks, the pages, bring your families and let's celebrate Nigerian Indepen­dence Day together.

Mr. Khan: I want to the member for Union Station for that one.

      And on the last question from this side of the House, I guess, is the member and I have gone to–the last two years, I believe, the African and Canadian cup, where Nigeria, I believe, won last year or the year before–I think we're one and one in that bet so far.

      So I'm just wondering if the member from Union Station wants to go double or nothing this year on the third year of the Afro‑Canadian cup.

      Thank you, Hon­our­able Speaker.

MLA Asagwara: Well, I ap­pre­ciate that question from the member opposite.

      I personally do not make bets of any kind, but if I were a betting person, I would put all the money I have on Nigeria for the African Cup of Nations this coming summer. It's a great event put on by some wonderful folks–Nigerians, West Africans, East Africans. It's a great effort. I want to shout out Gode and Seigon [phonetic] for their efforts to pull that together.

      And it speaks to the heart of this legis­lation, that Nigerians and Africans bring people together, and that speaks to our gov­ern­ment's approach to leading. Bringing people together means you get the best results.

      So I'm proud that this bill is bringing folks together in this House, and I hope we continue to see more of that as we move forward in this session.

      Thanks.

The Speaker: There are no further questions?

Debate

The Speaker: Floor is open for debate.

MLA Bob Lagassé (Dawson Trail): I'm really pleased to get up and speak to Bill 22, The Celebration of Nigerian In­de­pen­dence Day Act, brought forward by the member for Union Station (MLA Asagwara). After today's question period, I love that we can start on some­thing that's going to unify us and keep us on a calmer note.

      I would also like to thank the member for Union Station for bringing forward this bill to the House today.

      Bill 22, The Celebration of the Nigerian In­de­pen­dence Day Act, holds a sig­ni­fi­cant value for many reasons. Hon­our­able Speaker, com­memo­ra­tion days are both sombre and inspirational. Sombre, because they usually signify a time when sacrifices were made for a cause or a fight for equal rights, for justice. Inspirational, because it signifies a time of unity and solidarity, a time of peace and equity–equality. October 1 will always remain an emotionally memorable day for Nigerians around the world.

      Com­memo­ra­tion days should inspire us all to advocate for human rights, to step up and act when needed, and work together towards a just, com­pas­sion­ate society. It is im­por­tant that we, as people, foster a sense of unity, that we stand together and support one another.

* (15:10)

      The celebration of Nigerian In­de­pen­dence Day is an acknowl­edgement of the history and the resilience of the Nigerian people. History is the knowledge of the study of the past. It is the story of the past and a form of collective memory. History is the story of who we are, where we come from and where we are going.

      When we remember and reflect on past history, we gain insightful infor­ma­tion into ideologies and actions that can lead to positive change in the future.

      It is im­por­tant that we stand together and raise awareness about issues and historical events. We have a duty to learn about the past and to do every­thing we can to ensure certain things do not happen again. This is why I would like to thank the many Nigerian as­socia­tions of the province for the great work they do.

      And with those words, Hon­our­able Speaker, I will let the floor go to someone else.

MLA Cindy Lamoureux (Tyndall Park): I'm very happy to be able to rise and just put a few words here on record.

      I'd like to thank the minister for bringing forward this piece of legis­lation, and through their description of the legis­lation and listening to them speak, you can tell they hold it very, very close to heart, and that makes such a profound impact here in the Manitoba Legislature.

      And I love that the bill number is also their favourite number. I think that just makes it extra special, Hon­our­able Speaker.

      Nigerian Manitobans are so in­cred­ibly im­por­tant to the fabric of Manitoba's multicultural society. In fact, they make up one of the largest groups of racialized people here in Canada, and you can tell this through every­thing that they've con­tri­bu­ted through our country as a whole and right here in Manitoba,

      The member made mention to this, but no matter where you go in Manitoba, even out in Brandon, we are seeing larger and larger groups and popu­la­tions from the Nigerian com­mu­nity continue to grow, and this is some­thing that makes all of us here, I am sure, exceptionally proud to be living here in Manitoba.

      I learnt a lot through the debate and stories shared from the member who brought forward this legis­lation, just about Nigerian history, and it was very informative and helpful and really motivates us to have a better under­standing of our history, of Nigerian history, of what really makes Canada and the world what it is today.

      So I'm very pleased to see this bill continue on with unanimous support from the House, and looking forward to com­mit­tee.

      Thank you, Hon­our­able Speaker.

The Speaker: If there are no more members wishing to speak, is the House ready for the question?

Some Honourable Members: Question.

The Speaker: The question before the House is second reading of Bill 22, The Celebration of Nigerian Indepen­dence Day Act (Com­memo­ra­tion of Days, Weeks and Months Act Amended).

      Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion? [Agreed]

      The hon­our­able–I declare the motion carried.

Mr. Derek Johnson (Official Opposition House Leader): Is there a will to call it unanimous?

The Speaker: Is there a will to call it unanimous? [Agreed]

      The bill is passed unanimously.

Bill 10–The Advanced Edu­ca­tion Administration Amendment Act

The Speaker: We now move into second reading debate of Bill 10, The Advanced Edu­ca­tion Admin­is­tra­tion Amend­ment Act.

Hon. Renée Cable (Minister of Advanced Education and Training): I move, seconded by the Minister of Trans­por­tation and Infra­structure, Gov­ern­ment Services and Consumer Pro­tec­tion, that Bill 10, The Advanced Edu­ca­tion Admin­is­tra­tion Amend­ment Act, be now read a second time and referred to a com­mit­tee of this House.

Motion presented.

MLA Cable: I am so pleased to rise again to provide some comments on Bill 10.

      This bill will amend The Advanced Edu­ca­tion Admin­is­tra­tion Act and intro­duce changes that allow gov­ern­ment to take steps to protect students, staff and faculty against sexual violence in our post-secondary in­sti­tutions.

      Hon­our­able Speaker, student safety is a top priority of our gov­ern­ment. These changes ensure all post-secondary in­sti­tutions in Manitoba are accountable and equipped with the tools to respond to and prompt­ly address incidents of sexual violence on campus.

      Furthermore, this bill will help with addressing and preventing sexual violence and this bill will ensure staff–students, staff and faculty in our post-secondary in­sti­tutions are safe both in on- and off-campus activities.

      Now, Hon­our­able Speaker, we know that most of our in­sti­tutions are responsive and respon­si­ble partners that share the same values and priorities as our gov­ern­ment. However, in the event an in­sti­tution fails to uphold or appropriately take action, our gov­ern­ment will now have the ability to act.

      Post-secondary in­sti­tutions in Manitoba are required to adopt and implement sexual violence policies in their in­sti­tutions. However, there are currently no pro­visions in the act to encourage them to act in accordance with their policies or recourse when they fail to do so. The proposed bill will ensure that post-secondary in­sti­tutions remain accountable and respond with ap­pro­priate policies and procedures whenever there is a disclosure of sexual violence.

      Also, in­sti­tutions are required to regularly review their sexual violence policies. The proposed changes would ensure that the result of their review is made publicly available for proper account­ability and trans­par­ency.

      The proposed amend­ment would also give recourse to the minister to reduce funding of in­sti­tutions who fail to adhere to their own sexual violence policies in accordance with the act. The intent is to strengthen compliance and ensure that in­sti­tutions work alongside students, faculty, staff and com­mu­nity organi­zations to collectively build a safer environ­ment for teaching and learning.

      I look forward to the bill proceeding to the com­mit­tee stage and I am now prepared to answer your questions.

      Thank you, Hon­our­able Speaker.

Questions

The Speaker: A question period of up to 15 minutes will be held. Questions may be addressed to the minister by any op­posi­tion or in­de­pen­dent member in the following sequence: first question by the official opposition critic or designate; subsequent questions may be asked by critics or designates from other recognized opposition parties; subsequent questions asked by each independent member; remaining question to be asked by any opposition member. And no ques­tion or answer shall exceed 45 seconds.

      The floor is open for questions.

Mr. Richard Perchotte (Selkirk): I would just like to ask if the Minister is aware of any post-secondary school in the province of Manitoba without a sexual violence policy?

Hon. Renée Cable (Minister of Advanced Education and Training): I thank the hon­our­able member for the question. This really is a proactive policy to ensure that there is compliance. I am currently not aware of any in­sti­tutions that do not have a policy in place.

MLA Cindy Lamoureux (Tyndall Park): I'd like to thank the member for bringing forward this piece of legis­lation. I asked this question during the bill brief­ing and there was no direct response there, so I'm hoping she's had the op­por­tun­ity to do some further con­sul­ta­tion.

      But my question is: Can the minister explain which in­sti­tutions spe­cific­ally she consulted with when drafting this bill?

MLA Cable: So we meet regularly with all public in­sti­tutions and all funded in­sti­tutions, along with the students' associations and the faculty there, so we meet regularly. And again, this is our work being–this is us being proactive to help ensure that there is compliance.

Mr. Ron Schuler (Springfield-Ritchot): Can the minister share a recent incident in which she believes a Manitoba post-secondary school has failed to take ap­pro­priate action in response to sexual violence on campus?

MLA Cable: I ap­pre­ciate the member's question, and you know, I am sure that he, like all members in this Chamber, respect the privacy of folks who are victims of sexual violence, survivors of sexual violence. So it is not ap­pro­priate for me to name a specific incident in this Chamber.

Mrs. Kathleen Cook (Roblin): Is the minister aware of any post-secondary schools in Manitoba that have not conducted a statutory review of their sexual vio­lence policy as required by the current legis­lation?

* (15:20)

MLA Cable: Again, I thank the hon­our­able member for the question.

      The current act, which was imple­mented in 2018, lacks mechanisms that encourage self-compliance. So, really, this will ensure that when in­sti­tutions are not in compliance that we have the tools to ensure that they are.

Mr. Perchotte: Can the minister share how many incidents of sexual violence occurred in Manitoba post-secondary schools over the last five years?

MLA Cable: I thank the honourable member for the question, and this legis­lation will help ensure that we can answer that question in a meaningful way and that in­sti­tutions are bound to report what's happening there and that when I send my son or daughter to post-secondary in Manitoba that I can be assured that they are safe, that their friends are safe and that if there were incidences where they were not kept safe, that it would be known.

Mr. Schuler: So if the minister can't answer the question about the last five years, perhaps can the minister share how many incidents of sexual violence occurred at Manitoba post-secondary schools in 2023?

MLA Cable: Thank you to the hon­our­able member. I didn't–I understood this to be questions about the bill, not on the failed operations of the former gov­ern­ment. I–again, this legis­lation will ensure that we have recourse if some­thing does happen and that in­sti­tutions are held to account whent they're not adhering to their own sexual violence policies.

The Speaker: Just before we proceed, I would remind members that reading questions from your electronic device, your phone, can't be done; it has to be kept out of sight at all times when you're asking questions.

Mrs. Cook: Have any students come forward to the minister to express concerns with the current sexual violence policies on their campus?

MLA Cable: I'm proud to stand in this Chamber as, you know, half of the female part of the Cabinet here.

      Yes, official complaints? Not directly to me. I'm sure that the member opposite has many experiences, the same as I do with having anecdotal expressions of things not being great, and there is a culture of secrecy around sexual violence. There is fear of retribution, and there is absolutely still a culture around sexual violence and rape culture that really doesn't encourage folks to come forward.

The Speaker: Member's time has expired.

Mr. Perchotte: In con­sul­ta­tion with the schools, did you directly speak on this bill? Did you talk to the people at the Uni­ver­sity of Manitoba, Winnipeg, BU, uni­ver­sity of the North, St. Boniface in the specifics of this bill or did they receive a letter with the direction of your de­part­ment?

MLA Cable: I thank the hon­our­able member for the question.

      As I said before, we meet regularly with all of our post-secondaries, and this work is us being proactive, and we have met with experts in this field, and we take their findings seriously. There are numer­ous organi­zations across the country who are under­taking this work, and we know that post-secondary in­sti­tutions are one of the places where con­sistently, year over year, there are folks who find them­selves in terrible situations and really have a difficult time continuing pursuing their edu­ca­tion because of incidences that happen on campus.

      So we want to ensure that we're doing every­thing we can to help change the culture not only on campuses but in the broader com­mu­nity.

Mr. Schuler: So if the minister has not met with those institutions on this bill, could she tell us has she met with Red River Com­mu­nity College, Assiniboine Com­mu­nity College, Manitoba In­sti­tute of Trades and Tech­no­lo­gy, Providence Uni­ver­sity College, Booth Uni­ver­sity College, Steinbach Bible College? Did she meet with them directly on this legis­lation?

MLA Cable: I thank the hon­our­able member for the question. And I know it's difficult sometimes when the way that things have always been done are not the way that they're going to be done anymore.

      And while I–as I said, I speak with the post-secondary in­sti­tutions regularly. In a case–in this parti­cular case, it's incumbent upon all of us to recog­nize that there are–continue to be challenges in post-secondary in­sti­tutions around sexual violence and that it's up to us, as leaders, to put in the ap­pro­priate measures to ensure that that doesn't happen anymore.

Mrs. Cook: Will the minister be making more funding available for sexual assault edu­ca­tion initia­tives and specialized training for school staff and students to comply with the new legis­lations?

MLA Cable: I thank the hon­our­able member for the question.

      As I expressed before, this is really a mechanism that will allow us to withhold the grant if an in­sti­tution isn't in compliance. There is ongoing edu­ca­tion efforts, not only through the individual post-secondaries but through WAGE as well. And again, it's incumbent upon all of us to help educate ourselves and to help demystify and debunk some of the myths around rape.

Mr. Perchotte: I'd like to know from the minister, when the minister spoke of experts, spe­cific­ally who are your experts that you consulted with?

MLA Cable: I thank the hon­our­able member for the question.

      The experts in post-secondary and spe­cific­ally, individuals who work across the country on sexual violence policy in post-secondary in­sti­tutions.

Mr. Schuler: Well it's very con­cern­ing that the minis­ter says the new approach to legis­lation is that one doesn't consult at all. So, she hasn't consulted with the Uni­ver­sity of Manitoba, the Uni­ver­sity of Winnipeg, Brandon Uni­ver­sity, uni­ver­sity of the north, St. Boniface, Red River and so on and so forth.

      So then how does she get feedback with them if under her new program, one does not consult with these organi­zations because evidently that was the old way of doing things?

MLA Cable: With the proposed amend­ment, in­sti­tutions will be required to make publicly available the results of the review of their policies. These reviews are already required to be conducted every four years. This will re-crate–create more account­ability, provide oversight and tell us whether the policies are having the intended impact.

      The policy already exists. This will allow us the op­por­tun­ity when it is not complied with to peel back the grant allocation to the in­sti­tutions.

      And I just want to take a moment to talk about what it is to live in this world in a female body and to have a daughter and to be concerned about her posi­tion in the world and whether or not she is cared for. And I know it's hard sometimes to empathize with folks who don't share.

The Speaker: The member's time is expired.

Mrs. Cook: What would be the minimum fine for a post-secondary school that has failed to meet the require­ments of the new legis­lation?

MLA Cable: That is a wonderful question and I will say, in an ideal world, there will never be a fine. In an ideal world, we will never have a situation where we have to claw back the grant allocated to an in­sti­tution because in­sti­tutions will do the right thing and do the right thing by students.

      The legis­lation says that it's under the purview of this office, but again, in an ideal world, it–we wouldn't do it at all.

Mr. Derek Johnson (Interlake-Gimli): I need to check Hansard, but I believe the minister stated in their preamble that post-secondary schools must share their values.

      Can the member state who is the judge and jury of whether the post-secondary schools meet compliance? Who determines compliance?

MLA Cable: I'll invite the member to read Hansard. That wasn't what I said at all.

* (15:30)

Mr. Johnson: Who determines compliance?

MLA Cable: The de­part­ment would deter­mine compliance.

Mr. Perchotte: Can the minister explain if the Depart­ment of Advanced Edu­ca­tion and Training has ever had legis­lation in front of them before where they gave them the op­por­tun­ity to fine schools directly?

MLA Cable: I thank the hon­our­able member for the question. That's a very good question. I'm not sure. I do know that there are–you know, in this case, I wouldn't call it a fine. We would claw back the grant. Again, in an ideal world, we are never having to impose this, but it is an added incentive for folks to be in compliance.

The Speaker: No further–oh, sorry.

Mr. Schuler: Could the minister tell us, then, who is that designated person within the de­part­ment who would assess who would be able to go and give a ruling on compliance? Is there someone that's been designated within the de­part­ment?

MLA Cable: I thank the hon­our­able member for the question.

      At this moment, I can't name that person.

Mr. Schuler: Is it a position, then, rather than–the minister says she can't name the individual, but is it, then, a position that she will designate that that person who holds that position then does the assessment?

MLA Cable: I thank the hon­our­able member for the question.

      Yes, it would be part of the regular processes. It will be assigned to an individual in a regula­tory way.

Mrs. Cook: I can ap­pre­ciate that in an ideal world, no fines would be levied, but I still think it's a valid ques­tion as to what the minimum fines would be, what the maximum fines would be, and who is making that deter­min­ation.

MLA Cable: I thank the hon­our­able member for the question.

      Those details are yet to be deter­mined, and I'm sure that you can ap­pre­ciate that the grant allocation to individual in­sti­tutions varies. Some of our larger public in­sti­tutions receive a large grant; some of the smaller ones receive a small grant, could be a percentage, could be a dollar value. Again, ideally, we don't have to enforce it.

The Speaker: The time for questions has expired.

Debate

The Speaker: The floor is open for debate.

Mr. Richard Perchotte (Selkirk): The importance of keeping students safe from sexual violence of any sort has to be taken extremely seriously.

Mr. Tyler Blashko, Deputy Speaker, in the Chair

      Under the current legis­lation, the mandate for the school systems is to review their policy every four years and to make it public. With children of my own attending schools–my daughter attended the Uni­ver­sity of Winnipeg for several years–her safety was of utmost importance to our family.

      We want our children to go out into the edu­ca­tion system full of excitement and hope and dreams for the future. We want them to gather an edu­ca­tion in a safe environ­ment, and we want to ensure that legis­lation is put forward to protect them at all times.

      Every school that I have spoken to has a policy. Every member that I have spoken to at those schools is aware of the policies that are at hand. I agree that we have to ensure that schools are following their policies that protect our most vul­ner­able. We need to do better as a society to stand up for those around us.

      I do have concern of gov­ern­ment overreach with the schools. A part of the role of the minister is to promote excellence but also respects the ap­pro­priate autonomy of the edu­ca­tional in­sti­tutions and recog­nize the principles of academic freedom.

      The fact that there has been zero instances of this being brought to the minister's office–the students' unions have not brought this forward, the parents have not brought this forward at all–makes me wonder the true intent of this bill.

      I have seen already in the edu­ca­tion system where schools have been 'dramastically'–dramatically harmed by losing their inter­national students and those being given to the schools of choice, under this gov­ern­ment.

      The ability to take from a school funding to fine some in­sti­tution because we feel it's ap­pro­priate is con­cern­ing without any oversight. The legis­lation brought forward, we would all agree, is im­por­tant to protect the students at those schools, but the troubling part of this legis­lation is how far reach does this gov­ern­ment have?

      We do not know of any other instance where this de­part­ment has been–had the ability to fine. They have lots of abilities to contact the school boards, to make recom­men­dations, to move forward, to discuss at length the require­ments of the edu­ca­tion system, but at no time have they been forced to face a fine.

      Now, it may be a good thing if they don't comply to be fined. I think it's im­por­tant that we ensure that people do comply, and that may be one of the op­por­tun­ities there. But now we have a de­part­ment that becomes judge, jury and executioner with no op­por­tun­ity for appeal, or a process. We don't know what the fines are. This is very troubling and con­cern­ing that we're moving forward on legis­lation, we don't even know what it's going to look like. It is a: trust us, and hopefully, we do the right the thing.

      Those are just the items that I've been wanting to get on the record for this bill. We are a hundred per cent in favour of protecting every one of our students and making sure that nobody ever faces sexual harassment at any form, what­so­ever.

      Thank you, Hon­our­able Deputy Speaker.

MLA Cindy Lamoureux (Tyndall Park): I'm happy to have the op­por­tun­ity just to rise and put a few words on record here, this afternoon.

      It's a very interesting piece of legis­lation and I'm curious to see and learn more as the legis­lation goes through com­mit­tee. It is a little bit con­cern­ing. There are some red flags, and that's why, again, we'll see what happens at com­mit­tee and through pre­sen­ta­tions. We'll learn a little bit more about it on the other side of things, Hon­our­able Deputy Speaker.

      During the bill briefing, and again, just 20 minutes ago, here, in the question and answer portion, we asked the minister about which specific schools were consulted in the creation of this legis­lation and the minister says, all groups were consulted with, but will not name any specific groups.

      I know that I would like to hear, was the Uni­ver­sity of Manitoba consulted? Was the Uni­ver­sity of Winnipeg consulted? Was CMU consulted? Was the Uni­ver­sity of Brandon consulted? I think that there are major in­sti­tutional facilities that at least should have some say or awareness in what this legis­lation is before it passes through the House.

      I want to make sure that our edu­ca­tional in­sti­tutions are not nervous about their funding being pulled, especially because this legis­lation, the way that it has been described, is really allowing the minis­ter to have her hand in the pot. We need to make sure that any gov­ern­ment of any level, of any party are not the ones overseeing the pot. We want to make sure that it is done fairly and justly and our in­sti­tutions are not afraid to bring things forward at the risk of losing their funding or their grants, Hon­our­able Deputy Speaker.

      I think that the hope behind this legis­lation is to look at stan­dard­izing sexual violence policies, and I think that there are many ways we could be doing this. And I think that our post-secondary in­sti­tutions would very much be in favour of this. So let's have a con­ver­sa­tion with them. Let's formulate this policy with them. We can bring forward legis­lation, whether it be through the edu­ca­tion de­part­ment, through the justice de­part­ment, to make sure that we're doing every­thing we can at a prov­incial level to protect those involved with our post-secondary in­sti­tutions.

      With those few words, Hon­our­able Deputy Speaker, again, I do want to reiterate, I think this will be a very interesting com­mit­tee and I'm looking forward to learning and hearing more there.

* (15:40)

      Thank you.

The Deputy Speaker: The question before the House is second reading of Bill 10, The Advanced Edu­ca­tion Admin­is­tra­tion Amend­ment Act.

      Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion? [Agreed]

      I declare the motion carried.

Bill 23–The Change of Name Amendment Act (2)

The Deputy Speaker: We'll now move on to second reading of Bill 23, The Change of Name Amend­ment Act (2).

Hon. Lisa Naylor (Minister of Consumer Protection and Government Services): I move, seconded by the Minister of Advanced Edu­ca­tion and Training (MLA Cable), that Bill 23, The Change of Name Amend­ment Act (2), now–be read now a second time and be referred to a com­mit­tee of this House.

Motion presented.

MLA Naylor: I am pleased to speak to the House today about Bill 23, The Change of Name Amend­ment Act.

      This bill will prohibit persons who are convicted of designated criminal offences, including sex-related offences, from legally changing their name in Manitoba. It addresses concerns raised from victims and advocates and aligns Manitoba with other provinces who have similar legis­lation in place.

      Currently, people who have resided in Manitoba for at least three months imme­diately before the date of the application and who are 18 years of age or older are eligible to make an application to the Vital Statistics Branch for a legal name change in accordance with The Change of Name Act.

      As part of the current application process, all adult applicants are required to obtain a fingerprinting report from an authorized third-party agency to link the name change to the national repository of criminal record infor­ma­tion if there is a record in the system. However, Vital Statistics Branch does not receive a copy of the results of the fingerprinting.

      If this bill is approved, a certified criminal record check, which includes fingerprinting as part of the application process, would be required in order for the Vital Statistics Branch to deter­mine if an applicant is ineligible for a legal name change because they have been convicted of a designated criminal offence including sex-related offences.

      The Vital Statistics Branch currently charges a fee of $120.07 to process a legal change of name ap­plication. This does not include the costs associated with the current fingerprinting require­ment and the proposed criminal record check require­ment, which are at the expense of the applicant. Vital Statistics Branch has no control over those fees, as they are set by authorized third-party agencies.

      The bill also includes a ministerial discretion clause to allow for the minister or delegate to exercise discretion in certain circum­stances to be prescribed. There may be limited circum­stances where a legal change of name should be granted to a person who would otherwise be prohibited from doing so, and this clause enables such action.

      If approved, the bill will take effect upon pro­clamation. This will allow the de­part­ment time to develop regula­tory changes to the existing change of name regula­tion to include ad­di­tional detail necessary to operationalize the prohibition of convicted sex offenders from legally changing their names. This will include identifying the designated sex-related offences, which will trigger the change of name prohibition.

      Dev­elop­ment of regula­tions will include con­sul­ta­tion and en­gage­ment with police agencies, Indigenous gov­ern­ance organi­zations, the De­part­ment of Justice, Women and Gender Equity Manitoba and other stakeholders.

      I believe that the amend­ments we are proposing here today will benefit all of Manitoba as this is another step this gov­ern­ment is taking to enhance public safety, and for Manitobans, especially victims and their families, to feel safer in their com­mu­nities.

      I look forward to the op­por­tun­ity to hear from Manitobans on these changes during com­mit­tee, after the second–after the passing of the second reading of this bill.

      Thank you, Hon­our­able Speaker.

Questions

The Deputy Speaker: A question period of up to 15 minutes will be held. Questions may be addressed to the minister by any op­posi­tion or in­de­pen­dent member in the following sequence: first question by the official op­posi­tion critic or designate; subsequent questions asked by critics or designates from other recog­nized op­posi­tion parties; subsequent questions asked by each in­de­pen­dent member; remaining questions asked by any op­posi­tion members. And no question or answer shall exceed 45 seconds.

Mr. Josh Guenter (Borderland): Hon­our­able Speaker, the bill provides the op­por­tun­ity for the dev­elop­ment of regula­tions in con­sul­ta­tion with stake­holders.

      I'd like to ask the minister what the stake­holder–what is the stake­holder en­gage­ment plan?

Hon. Lisa Naylor (Minister of Consumer Protection and Government Services): That's a terrific question. I really ap­pre­ciate that question from the member opposite.

      And, as I did state originally in my notes, that there will be op­por­tun­ity to engage with police ser­vices as well as organi­zations that represent victims and their families. So that will include places like the Child Pro­tec­tion Centre. And you know, I know there's a number of other organi­zations prov­incially that represent people who are survivors of violence.

      It also means engaging with–internally within our justice de­part­ment, as well as the–with the Minister of Families (MLA Fontaine) and to look at some of the issues in there, as well as–

The Deputy Speaker: The minister's time has expired.

MLA Cindy Lamoureux (Tyndall Park): I'd like to thank the member for bringing forward this really im­por­tant and good piece of legis­lation.

      My question for the member is: In other pro­vinces, is it also at the discretion of the minister to make an exception for change of name?

MLA Naylor: That's a very good question. I actually can't speak to that. I can tell you a lot about the policies in other provinces. I'm not certain about that, but I'm happy to explain why.

      The reason for that has to do with programs referred to as the admin­is­tra­tion of justice. So there are times when, for example, you know, the law–there may be some reason under the law that someone needs to have their name changed.

      And so, you know–there–I–there's a term, kind of a colloquial term that isn't the real term, but when we talk about, like, victim–oh sorry, like, the kind of informant-type people that–I forget what the term is. But when people–when legal–

The Deputy Speaker: The minister's time has expired.

Mr. Rick Wowchuk (Swan River): I'd like to thank the minister for bringing this forward.

      If regula­tions will be developed, what's the expected timeline for this bill to come into force?

MLA Naylor: I ap­pre­ciate that question. We're looking to bring this bill into force in the fall.

      And one of the reasons why it won't be in the spring is that we do–within the regula­tions, we will be–and with all that con­sul­ta­tion process, to deter­mine which crimes will prevent someone from being able to change their name.

Mr. Konrad Narth (La Vérendrye): I know that the PCs had called for this type of legis­lation.

      So I was just–therefore I was wanting to ask: Is that what has inspired this minister?

      Thank you.

* (15:50)

MLA Naylor: Thank you for that question.

      You know, actually, I'm inspired by, well, my own career. I started my career working with victims of violence 30 years–more than 30 years ago. I've spent decades working with mostly women and girls who've been sexually abused and worked in a program for teen survivors of sexual ex­ploit­ation. And spent my whole life in that space, listening to and supporting folks who've been affected by this type–these types of crimes.

Mr. Guenter: I'm wondering if the minister has an exhaustive list or an idea of where she may like to see this legis­lation go when it comes to the regula­tions in terms of the serious offences this bill would encompass.

MLA Naylor: I ap­pre­ciate the question from the member. We did have the op­por­tun­ity during the bill briefing to talk about this a little bit, so I ap­pre­ciate him giving me the op­por­tun­ity to share that with the House.

      In a couple of provinces, two–the first two pro­vinces who passed this legis­lation, they used–I believe it's called part A; it's the first part of the Criminal Code. So it's very specific to sexual crimes.

      In Newfoundland, they approached it a little bit differently and chose specific crimes, and that–I want to do that. And the reason I want to do that is in part B of the Criminal Code, there are some very specific crimes that I think many of us in this room–you know, things like there's a very notorious case going on in Manitoba right now. The women who are buried in the landfill, the man who has been charged with–

The Deputy Speaker: The hon­our­able minister's time has expired.

MLA Lamoureux: Hon­our­able Deputy Speaker, I know our minister is saying to allow her a little bit more time to finish answering those questions.

      So I'd like to ask if she could have a bit more time for that.

MLA Naylor: I ap­pre­ciate the member for that opportun­ity.

      What I wanted to say is there's this very notorious crime in our province right now, and that person hasn't been charged with sex crimes, but I think everyone in this room can agree that we would not want him to be able to change his name and to–you know, and right now, someone can change their name from jail, even if they have committed multiple murders.

      So we're looking at those and, as I said, consulting with Victim Services and many other justice organi­zations to make sure we have the right crimes on the list.

Mr. Wowchuk: Yes, and I know the minister talked about reaching out to stake­holder con­sul­ta­tions.

      Has any thought been put into expanding to public con­sul­ta­tion?

MLA Naylor: I ap­pre­ciate that. Because the list of crimes to be included will be done as part of regula­tions, there's an automatic public con­sul­ta­tion process that's involved for any regula­tory changes in the province.

      So the initial work will be done with the groups repre­sen­ting the public, repre­sen­ting victims as well as folks working in Justice, but then there will be the con­sul­ta­tion process that comes along with any regula­tory changes.

Debate

The Deputy Speaker: Seeing no further questions, we'll move on to debate.

Mr. Josh Guenter (Borderland): Hon­our­able Speaker, I thank you for the op­por­tun­ity to just put some brief comments on the record with regard to Bill 23. I believe it's an im­por­tant bill, and I want to thank the minister for bringing it forward.

      And I also want to recog­nize my colleague, the member for Brandon West (Mr. Balcaen), for his work in put–calling for this legis­lation and working with the drafters here at the Legislature to develop legis­lation like this. And it is encouraging to see the gov­ern­ment take this legis­lation up and that we have the op­por­tun­ity to pass it here today.

      You know, it seems pretty clear as to why this legis­lation is necessary. We here in Manitoba are aware that in December, the Free Press reported that four Manitobans on the Sex Offender Registry had changed their legal names since April 2021. And so that is very con­cern­ing and undermines the ex­pect­a­tion of the public that criminals should be held to account, and so this legis­lation will address that.

      And we've also seen in neighbouring provinces con­cern­ing headlines involv­ing individuals changing their name after being paroled for serious offences and then taking up residence in a com­mu­nity and hiding their identity from the public. And no one wants to see that; that should not happen.

      For example, in Saskatchewan there were docu­mented cases of sex offenders changing their name in the province. And, currently, a criminal can move to our province of Manitoba and apply for a legal name change, which threatens the safety of their–of our com­­mu­nities. These are dangerous and long-term offenders that pose a threat to public safety, and we recog­nize these very serious concerns.

      And as I said, we're proud to bring forward a bill to address this with our change-of-name amend­ment act that was put on notice at the begin­ning of this–of the sitting. And we recog­nize, as well, that juris­dic­tions across Canada are taking the necessary steps to keep individuals safe by intro­ducing and passing legis­lation to prevent name changes for serious offenders and making criminal record checks mandatory.

      So again, as I said, I thank the minister for bring­ing this forward. I want to recog­nize as well and thank my colleague for Brandon West, not only for his many years as the–with the police force in Brandon but for his work as a legislator here in Manitoba in, again, calling for this legis­lation. So I–we will be supporting this legis­lation.

      Thank you, Speaker.

MLA Cindy Lamoureux (Tyndall Park): I'm happy to rise this afternoon and just put a few words on record about Bill 23, The Change of Name Amend­ment Act. I very much ap­pre­ciate that the member brought this im­por­tant legis­lation forward, and we are very much in favour of the legis­lation. I believe that it's a great tool for pro­tec­tion, and it will, in fact, protect many Manitobans.

      We agree that people shouldn't be able to hide their identity behind a wall if they're–if they have committed acts such as sexual violence or sexual assault or rape, Hon­our­able Deputy Speaker. Con­se­quences of these decisions should be faced; you shouldn't be allowed to pretend that you did not do these crimes, commit these actions upon people. And by being allowed to just change your name, it sort of defaults you from the con­se­quences. And that's why I do think it's–very im­por­tant piece of legis­lation.

      And I can reference a media report just on December 21st of 2023 which outlined that a con­victed sex offender who stalked someone was able to legally change his name and hide his identity from people. I believe that this is a disservice to Manitobans, Hon­our­able Deputy Speaker, so I'd like to thank the member for bringing forward this piece of legis­lation.

      I am interested and curious to learn more about it at com­mit­tee, Hon­our­able Deputy Speaker. I would like to thank the minister for just taking the time to answer our questions as well.

      Thank you.

The Deputy Speaker: The question before the House is second reading of Bill 23, The Change of Name Amend­ment Act (2).

      Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion? [Agreed]

      I declare the motion carried.

Mr. Derek Johnson (Official Opposition House Leader): Is there will of the House to call it unanimous?

The Deputy Speaker: Is there will of the House to call it unanimous? [Agreed]

      The motion is accordingly passed unanimously.

Bill 15–The Credit Unions and Caisses Populaires Amendment Act

The Deputy Speaker: Moving on to second reading of Bill 15, The Credit Unions and Caisses Populaires Amend­ment Act.

Hon. Jamie Moses (Acting Minister of Finance): I move, seconded by the Minister of Environ­ment and Climate Change (MLA Schmidt), that Bill 15, The Credit Unions and Caisses Populaires Amend­ment Act, be now read a second time and be referred to a com­mit­tee of this House.

* (16:00)

The Deputy Speaker: The–it has been moved by the Minister of Environ­ment–oh, sorry–it has been moved by the Minister of Environ­ment and Climate Change–apologies.

      It has been moved by the Minister of Economic Dev­elop­ment, Invest­ment, Trade and Natural Resources, and seconded by the Minister of Environ­ment and Climate Change, that Bill 15, The Credit Union and Caisses Populaires Amend­ment Act, be now read a second time and be referred to a com­mit­tee of this House.

Mr. Moses: Manitoba's credit unions and caisses populaires are a crucial part of Manitoba's economy. With over $43.3 billion in assets, our credit union sector has a bigger share of deposits than in any other province or territory in Canada.

      Since Manitoba's first credit union was esta­blished in 1937 in St. Malo, the sector has grown exponentially. Today, when–there are 16 credit unions and one caisse populaire serving more than 737,000 members. They are located in almost every locale in Manitoba, with 181 branches, 125 of which are located outside of Winnipeg. Our credit unions and caisses populaires are also key employers right across Manitoba, collectively employing roughly 3,400 people.

      Hon­our­able Speaker, although Manitoba's credit unions and caisses populaires are a success story, this does not mean that they do not face challenges. Canada's financial services sector is in the midst of major change as the industry faces challenges from new, disruptive entrants, parti­cularly the so-called fintechs, who have made major invest­ments to improve and expand their digital offerings.

      One of the con­se­quences of these changing land­scapes has been the consolidation of the credit union sector in Manitoba. As recently as the year 2000, there were 65 credit unions and caisses populaires. Today, there are only one quarter as many. Many smaller firms have merged with larger ones to attain the size they need to compete and innovate.

      We should be deeply proud as a province of what this sector has created, and our gov­ern­ment celebrates the role our credit unions, caisses populaires will continue to play as we grow Manitoba's economy into the future.

      Part of ensuring the continued success of Manitoba's credit unions and caisses populaires is listening to the sector and responding to changing con­­di­tions. This bill is one of those responses, and it was drafted after con­sul­ta­tion with Credit Union Central of Manitoba.

      This bill will update several sections in the existing legis­lation to address issues that have arisen as the operation of credit unions and caisses populaires have evolved, parti­cularly in the connection with its members' meetings.

      In parti­cular, the amend­ments will permit credit unions to submit proposed bylaw amend­ments to the prov­incial registrar in advance for confirmation that they are con­sistent with the legislation. This would avoid situations where credit unions and caisses populaires submit a bylaw amend­ment to its members for approval, only to learn after obtaining such an approval that the registrar determines the amend­ment is inconsistent with legislation.

      Additionally, no longer permit members to put forward proposals, including the nomination of a director, at a meeting of members, in which case such nominations would need to be submitted prior to the date for the com­mence­ments of voting on items to be considered at the meeting.

      Most credit unions now allow voting members in advance of a meeting–a members' meeting, rendering the current provision allowing proposals to be sub­mitted at the meeting impractical.

      Additionally, to eliminate the ability of members of a credit union to access the register of members, with certain exceptions. There is no reason to allow such a general access, which creates a sig­ni­fi­cant privacy con­cern and has the potential to create security concerns as well. Additionally, to clarify that voting at a meeting of members can be done by electronic means.

      Also, it would allow manage­ment of a credit union to deter­mine the member­ship of a member who is engaging in contact that is abusive, discriminatory or threatens the health or safety of others, coupled with a right of that member to have the termination reviewed by the credit union's board of directors.

      Termination of a member­ship of a member for any reason will require a passage of a reso­lu­tion to this effect by a super-majority of the credit union's board.

      Hon­our­able Speaker, in closing, Manitoba credit unions and caisses populaires are a crucial part of Manitoba's financial services sector. We applaud the con­tri­bu­tions to Manitoba's economy and we cele­brate their work. These amend­ments in this bill will help ensure that the governing legis­lation is up to date, and that the sector can continue to make an outsized con­tri­bu­tion to growing Manitoba's economy well into the future.

      Hon­our­able Speaker, I'm so pleased to have this bill presented for the House's con­sid­era­tion.

      Thank you.

Questions

The Deputy Speaker: A question period of up to 15 minutes will be held. Questions may be addressed to the minister by any op­posi­tion or in­de­pen­dent member in the following sequence: first question by the official opposition critic or designate; subsequent questions asked by critics or designates from other recognized opposition parties; subsequent questions asked by each independent member; remaining ques­tions asked by any opposition members. And no question or answer shall exceed 45 seconds.

Mr. Obby Khan (Fort Whyte): I want to thank the Minister of Finance for bringing this bill forward and speaking on that briefly, and being here to answer these very im­por­tant questions.

      So I guess the question, very simple, is, you know, who did the minister consult with in bringing this bill forward? Very simple one to start.

Hon. Adrien Sala (Minister of Finance): Thank you for the question.

      I want to start out by thanking my colleague for doing some im­por­tant work there, delivering those comments in my absence. I am rushing back from Brandon, from a Chamber speech there, state of the city–

The Deputy Speaker: Order. Order.

      Even if it's referring to your own absence from the Chamber, you can't refer to the presence or absence of members in the Chamber.

MLA Sala: So the Credit Union Central of Manitoba really drove the recom­men­dations in this bill. Of course, they represent credit unions across the pro­vince. We're proud to be bringing forward these changes that'll help to support a strong credit union sector here in Manitoba.

Mr. Grant Jackson (Spruce Woods): Can the minister outline just a little bit further for us when he began his con­sul­ta­tions with the credit unions on this parti­cular piece of legis­lation?

MLA Sala: Sure. We've had many con­ver­sa­tions with the Credit Union Central of Manitoba, again, as the body that represents credit unions across the province. They're in a great position to bring forward the voice of the many credit unions in Manitoba.

* (16:10)

      So we've had many con­ver­sa­tions going back many months.

Mr. Doyle Piwniuk (Turtle Mountain): Can the minister be able to explain if there's any major economic downturns, how prepared is the credit unions to handle it and is the minister prepared to backstop our credit unions?

MLA Sala: I ap­pre­ciate the question.

      There's no question that credit unions are facing increasing headwinds from increasing competition from fintechs and other financial services organi­zations and, of course, larger banks who are much better heeled than they are. We want to do what we can to support them with these measures.

      This will help to ensure that they can remain financially healthy and continue to serve Manitobans for the future–for the long future.

MLA Cindy Lamoureux (Tyndall Park): I'd like to thank the minister for bringing forward this piece of legis­lation.

      I understand that the minister has met with some credit unions. I was just hoping that the minister could share with us if he has met with any members spe­cific­ally of credit unions.

MLA Sala: No, we've met with, again, the Credit Union Central of Manitoba who, again, represent credit unions across the province.

      I am fortunate to have been somebody who worked in the credit union system before. Really honoured to be bringing this forward to help ensure a healthy credit union system here in Manitoba. I think this represents some really im­por­tant changes that will help to sup­port their ability to succeed here in our province.

Mr. Khan: The Minister of Finance (MLA Sala) alluded to that he used to work at the Assiniboine Credit Union, I believe while or maybe prior to when he was a rock star.

      But when he worked at Assiniboine Credit Union, did he ex­per­ience any of the violence or threats that this bill is looking to protect employees from?

MLA Sala: No, I really ap­pre­ciate the question. I worked in a back office function, so I didn't have a straight consumer, customer-facing role.

      But I do know that having worked there that we did hear at times where there were challenges for some of the customer-facing individuals working in branches, and I know that's the case for many credit unions across the province.

      My under­standing is that through­out the pan­demic, there was some­what of an increase and some challenging experiences for folks working in our credit union environments, and I think that one aspect to this bill certainly seeks to respond to that challenge.

Mr. Jackson: Thank you, Hon­our­able Speaker, and just–or, Deputy Speaker–and a question for the minister.

      Does this bill do anything to protect or backstop credit unions in this province should there be a serious situation or economic downturn in Manitoba?

MLA Sala: This bill does not seek to respond to those concerns that have been raised by the member and also by a couple members in the op­posi­tion. This bill seeks to respond to a number of concerns that were identified by our credit union sector here in Manitoba.

      That is a bigger concern that we'd like to continue discussing but, again, this bill is focused on some specific recom­men­dations that we know will go towards helping to make credit union employees safer and as well as putting in some measures that will help to reflect the modern environ­ment that we're in–spe­cific­ally, one where there is electronic voting.

Mr. Piwniuk: The minister give us some examples of random abuse and discriminary behaviour that the front-line staff in credit unions do ex­per­ience time and time again in making sure that people are safe within their–in–at every branch around Manitoba?

MLA Sala: That's a great question. What I'd say is that we know–and, again, we heard stories in some con­ver­sa­tions with CUCM about concerns about some staff within credit unions dealing with, perhaps, mem­bers who were aggravated, frustrated, and them being left in a very challenging position in terms of how to respond to those situations and how to respond to those members.

      We–you know, this is certainly some­thing that I think we can all agree, we want folks working in credit unions to be safe. This bill will help to ensure that we can do that.

Mr. Khan: The minister did allude–or did mention that he used to work at a credit union and he was in the back office of one of the credit unions.

      Does the minister think that with his ex­per­ience in working with a credit union and having friends and relationships with credit union, that this poses any sort of conflict of interest when he's bringing this bill forward?

MLA Sala: No, I ap­pre­ciate the question. I don't believe there is any conflict of interest here. In my role as the Minsiter of Finance, I'm proud to be in this function where I get to work with the credit union sector in Manitoba and have this op­por­tun­ity to bring these im­por­tant changes forward that, frankly, again, will help to keep employees safer and help to ensure that our proud credit union sector here in Manitoba can continue to grow and serve Manitobans in a good way.

Mr. Jackson: A question for the minister: Does the appeal process in this legis­lation allow for members to have the right to appeal a decision, and how does that compare to what happens in our banking in­sti­tutions? Is there parity or an equal nature in this legis­lation–proposed legis­lation? And how does that react to how credit unions serve our com­mu­nities and meet some of the gaps that, perhaps, other financial in­sti­tutions are leaving in different areas of the province?

MLA Sala: That's a good question. I would say, you know, first and foremost, of course, we know that credit unions–no credit union ever wants to terminate the member­ship of a member. This is their folks that they serve; this is a very–you know, extreme situations that we're talking about here where we would see a credit union want to proceed with terminating a member­ship.

      But to the question that was asked, in those situa­tions where member­ship is terminated, a member may request that the board of directors of the credit union review the decision, so there is a provision here that would allow the board to review any decision, as long as that request is made in writing within 14 days after notice of termination of the member­ship was given to a member.

Mr. Piwniuk: Well, with–thank you, Hon­our­able Deputy Speaker. And I was just wanting to know, with the minister being actually an employee of the credit union at one time, is there–is he concerned about what's going to be happening now when the–now that mortgage rates are starting to increase and a lot of renewals are coming up with a low interest rate being renewed at a higher interest rate?

      And we saw that the economic crisis of 2008 put a lot of foreclosures on properties and mortgages through­out the United States. Is he concerned about what's going forward here when it comes to the possi­bility of being able to have customers be able to con­tinue paying for their mortgages?

MLA Sala: I ap­pre­ciate the broader question about affordability. Doesn't necessarily have relevance to the bill, but I do ap­pre­ciate that we have a lot of Manitobans that are struggling with mortgage refinancing as they're coming up. We know that those Bank of Canada interest rates are creating a lot of financial stress for Manitobans. I think that's one of the reasons why our $1,500 homeowner affordability tax credit is going to go so far in helping Manitobans to deal with those elevated financial challenges that they're facing in this high-interest-rate environ­ment.

      So it's certainly a big concern. Our gov­ern­ment is focused on improving affordability and proud that we brought forward measures in Budget 2024 that respond directly to those challenges.

Ms. Jodie Byram (Agassiz): Can the minister tell us more about why a director nomination proposal must be submitted before a meeting of members in order to be considered at the meeting, as the bill proposes?

MLA Sala: The reason for that is that CUCM clarified that this allows for folks who are voting electronically at a meeting to ensure that they have visibility on those proposals in advance of a meeting.

Mr. Khan: The member from Spruce Woods had brought up a question about appeal for decisions based–and the Minister of Finance (MLA Sala) has, I believe, responded that they would be reviewed by the board.

      Does the minister believe that having the board review an appeal decision, or an appeal by a member is the best way to do this, or does the minister believe that it should be a third party that reviews this appeal decision or appeal request?

MLA Sala: You know, again, this bill contemplates giving credit unions the ability to do some­thing that would only occur in extreme circum­stances. No credit union wants to terminate a member­ship unnecessarily. These are folks that we know credit unions are there to serve. Credit unions love their member­ship. These are the folks that, you know, that ultimately help to contribute to their busi­ness and are really im­por­tant to every single credit union across the province.

      So it's only in extreme circum­stances that we would imagine this type of termination clause would be utilized, and having that op­por­tun­ity for that member to have recourse to going to a process where their board is able to review the concerns, I think that provides–

The Deputy Speaker: The minister's time is expired.

* (16:20)

Mr. Khan: And I want to thank the minister for that answer, and, I mean, within that answer itself, it kind of lays it out. I mean, no one wants to see anything bad happen. I don't think any credit union wants to kick a member out. Nobody wants to see a crime happen. No one wants to see an offence happen. But these things do happen, and that's why there's rules and laws set in place.

      With that being said, does the minister think it's fair that the credit union that has removed a member or kicked a member out for extreme situations and that member wants to appeal that process, that that appeal actually goes through the board that just kicked the member out? Does the minister think that that's fair, or it should go to a third party for an unbiased review of the situation at hand to see if that member can then be reinstated to the credit union?

MLA Sala: Again, ap­pre­ciate the questioning, and again, what we say, credit unions do not want to be terminating members. These are extreme situations. We have trust in credit unions that they will be proceeding responsibly with the provisions that would be put forward here in this legis­lation.

      Again, credit union boards make very im­por­tant decisions every day, focused on supporting the best interests of their busi­ness; this would be no different. They do not want to terminate members un­neces­sarily. That would be a last-course decision. We're confident that this is not some­thing that would put member­ship at risk or unduly put Manitobans' banking services at risk.

Ms. Byram: Can the minister tell us the reason for no longer requiring a members' register to be made avail­able at meetings related to protect the privacy of the members' infor­ma­tion? Is that the rationale for the change?

MLA Sala: I apologize, I'm not totally quite clear on what's being referenced, but I do know that the bill seeks to ensure that there's a limitation placed on the ability for members to access the lists of members within credit unions. That's being brought forward and was recom­mended by CUCM for reasons related to protecting privacy and protecting security. So there's just, at this point, from the perspective of CUCM, no reason for members to be able to see the entire list of member­ship within a credit union, so this seeks to respond to that concern.

Mr. Piwniuk: Can the minister outline a bit about the director's respon­si­bilities for the manage­ment of the credit union and their duties and the fiduciary respon­si­bilities for all the members?

MLA Sala: Well, credit union board directors provide broad strategic oversight for credit unions. They pro­vide im­por­tant services and ultimately are there to ensure the best interests of credit union members are served.

      These are, you know, just to take this op­por­tun­ity to high­light; one of the great things about credit unions are these are Manitoba-based organi­zations that keep profits in our province. Their boards are made up of folks who are from Manitoba, who have our best interests at heart. You know, really, this is honestly a phenomenal area of our economy. I thank folks who are working within our credit union sector for all the im­por­tant work they do in provi­ding Manitobans with very low-cost financial services across the province.

Mr. Khan: I believe the member from Spruce Woods had touched on this question a little bit earlier, and I'll just ask the minister for a little bit of further clari­fi­ca­tion on that. I mean, being how the credit unions in Manitoba, I believe, have the highest prov­incial market share of any other province in Canada, 720,000 members with, I believe, $34 billion or $42 billion in assets, does the Minister of Finance (MLA Sala) have any proposal or plan that if there is a bank run on credit unions, what is the minister's plan to deal with that and support credit unions?

MLA Sala: Ap­pre­ciate the question. Again, it does touch on an im­por­tant concern. This bill isn't seeking to respond to those concerns. I do think that those are concerns that, of course, as gov­ern­ment we should be thinking about, and I would suggest that this bill, here, is focused on responding to some key priorities or areas that our credit union sector wants to see us move forward on.

      This is a great op­por­tun­ity for everyone in this House to help support our credit unions, show that we understand their needs, show that we're here to sup­port their success. Really looking forward to seeing support from all members of this House for this im­por­tant bill.

The Deputy Speaker: And with that, the question period has expired.

Debate

The Deputy Speaker: The floor is now open for debate.

Mr. Obby Khan (Fort Whyte): I want to thank the Minister of Finance for his clear and concise answers and actually answering questions that were brought forward in the bill. It's nice to have healthy dialogue in question period when you actually get responses to those answers, so I want to thank the minister for that.

      I also want to thank the minister for his bill briefing that he did with myself and the member from the Liberal party as well. And it was nice to sit in a room and talk about the vital importance of credit unions play in this province.

      I think today there must be a full moon or an eclipse–I guess we had that a few weeks ago–where we actually–members in this House agree on a lot of things today. That is nice to see, that we agree on the importance of credit unions. We agree on the vital role they play.

      Earlier today, Bill 22 was passed unanimously in the House as well. This is another bill that looks to strengthen credit unions in Manitoba and we're ex­cited to discuss that. I'm excited to talk about the importance of credit unions and what they do in this province.

      And it's actually kind of surprising. Myself born and raised in Ontario, I never really–I had never heard of a credit union, really. There was a co-op credit union, which, I believe, went to Altea [phonetic] credit union. My father used to work for the federal gov­ern­ment, so he banked at there. Never really heard of it.

      And then went to school in Vancouver; moved to Winnipeg, and credit unions were everywhere. It seemed like the big five banks didn't really exist here. They had a place with credit union–Steinbach Credit Union and various others were everywhere, and I remember when I said, hey, what is a credit union? How does it work? And the idea of what a credit union is, is actually one that I think Manitobans take a lot of pride in. I think it really speaks to what Manitoba is in its core existence of Manitoba.

      Everyone knows Manitobans are very charitable. We love to give back. We love to help. We love to support. Credit unions, in that same vein, are very similar. Over 720,000 members; largest credit union member­ship per capita in any province in Canada; they have the highest prov­incial market share with 40 per cent of assets. They are the primary financial in­sti­tution for 33 per cent of Manitobans. You can't say that anywhere else in Canada.

      Fifty thousand busi­ness members. I know, after discussions with various credit unions, that they want to increase that number and they are looking at in­creasing their busi­ness offerings and the robust system of what they have because, you know, that is really a market here in Manitoba that can grow for credit unions.

      And I hope that the Minister of Finance (MLA Sala), I would be happy to sit down with him and work with the credit unions on how maybe there's an op­por­tun­ity to support credit unions in growing that sector of their busi­ness, because, at the end of the day, that's a win for Manitoba; it's a win for the credit unions; it's a win for all the owners and members of this credit union.

      Credit unions are non-profits so, you know, they offer a wide range in products that all the large banks offer at lower rates. And the money stays right here in Manitoba, which is really im­por­tant for an economy like Manitoba, for a province like Manitoba, where we don't have the popu­la­tion of an Ontario or a Vancouver, where we are looking to continually grow our economy and sector here, to keep that money here is some­thing vital.

      So, you know, the member for bringing Bill 15 forward, I commend him for it. I commend him for that it was a solar eclipse–lunar eclipse–one of the two the other day–and that's why I think the House is aligning to move forward on these bills.

      After speaking to members of–on this side of the House–that it was nice to hear that this was actually in the works as well previously, and it's nice to see that this gets across, because this is what the credit unions are wanting. This is what they've asked. The member said in his con­sul­ta­tions have also met with them as well and had con­ver­sa­tions, and this is where the credit unions want to go.

      Now, is this bill perfect? No. There are some concerns that if–we do have in this bill, and we brought those up in question period that just happened. And I hope that the minister would take some of those com­ments away, like the bank run issue, which the minister addresses not in this bill–I understand that, but I think it's some­thing that needs to be addressed with the $43.3 billion of assets holdings within this credit union.

      I think it's also really im­por­tant that we look at what this bill goes through, and I'll touch on that in a few minutes. But credit unions are integral part of what happens here in Manitoba. So any way we can support them, any way we can make them stronger for the people of Manitoba, I think you'll have a very receptive side to that.

      You know, it's im­por­tant in rural Manitoba. A lot of my colleagues on this side of the House are from rural Manitoba, and after speaking with almost all of them, they all have–either bank–actually I think you guys all bank at credit unions, which is fantastic to see the support of credit unions, and, you know, I, myself, actually, after doing a deep dive on this bill, I believe I'm probably going to leave the big five and join a credit union, too. Maybe the member opposite has a recom­men­dation on where I should go, but, you know, when you can support Manitoba, when you can support the people of Manitoba, when you can make things better, I think that's what we are elected here to do.

* (16:30)

      Members on this side of the House are in full sup­port of that. As I mentioned, we were working on this previously; our members on this side were working on it previously, so it's nice to see it get done.

      There is, again, the concern that I did bring up with the Finance Minister, and I really hope–we brought this up in the bill briefing and bringing it up again today, that I really hope he does give it some serious thought of having a third-party appeal process. I understand the unions don't want to kick members out; no one is saying–agree with you. But a lot of bad things happen in this world. Some things need to have an in­de­pen­dent body to look at it. Whatever those circum­stances may be, you know, I'd really urge the Finance Minister–I'm having ongoing discussions with credit unions as well–to look at the process of having a third party in there.

      These instances happen very rarely, but in the one time that it does happen, it would be a real shame–a real tragedy–if that member is wrongfully removed and cannot get back into that credit union. I don't want the Minister of Finance (MLA Sala) to wear that. I don't want the Province of Manitoba to wear that. So I hope that there is some common ground where we can come to on that.

      You know, and this bill addresses, you know, issues that are brought up–advance notice of members wishing to run as a director–that's a good thing. Advance notice is good so we don't go through the process of all that time, due diligence and resources. The privacy of the members of credit unions, this bill addresses as well, and the well-being of safety of front line in credit unions. Of utmost importance is always the safety of employees in all industry and all sectors. Not only employees; all Manitobans.

      This bill takes a step forward in protecting workers of credit unions. You know, I would hope that the Minister of Justice (Mr. Wiebe) would take a page from the Minister of Finance and do some­thing to protect Manitobans, not just credit union workers. It would be nice to see them do things to actually protect Manitobans.

      This is a step forward that works on that, and I can see the Minister of Justice is nodding his head and agreeing with what I'm saying, so maybe he can get together with the Minister of Finance and they can share some ideas on that.

The Speaker in the Chair

      It was nice to talk to the Canadian Credit Union Association, the Manitoba credit union association and various other credit unions in this province, get their feedback on this, get their support. They are in favour of this, so on this side of the House, we will be speaking in favour of this.

      There are some serious concerns–and I've brought two of those up, one of them being the bank runs, one of them being the appeal process–for this minister and that I would hope he would take that away. Now in closing, I will also–I don't know if the Minister of Finance–you know, I can already see that the Minister of Justice and Finance are already getting together to maybe work on crime pre­ven­tion and others and you know, incidences in this province to work, so that's great to see. It's great to see us all coming together to make Manitoba better.

      I will also leave this Minister of Finance with this, and I'm sure he's probably read the budget–Ontario budget page to page. I don't know if he has. He may be giving me a head nod. I don't know if I–but on page 111, it actually references the issue of having a bank run–of support of the gov­ern­ment for guaranteeing the load–the assets of the credit unions. So page 111, I would encourage the Minister of Finance to take a look.

      You know, they have $95 billion of managing assets and 9,000 employees, so, you know, it goes on to: the prov­incial gov­ern­ment is 'concouraged' by the proposal; you know, it talks about protecting them from liquidity and emergency measures. That's really im­por­tant for credit unions. I know the minister agrees with that.

      In conclusion, I will say, credit unions, keep up the great work. We're happy on this side of the House to support credit unions, and I thank the member for–the Minister of Finance for bringing this bill forward.

      Thank you, Hon­our­able Speaker.

MLA Cindy Lamoureux (Tyndall Park): I'm happy to rise this afternoon and just put a few words on record about Bill 15, the credit unions popularities amend­ment act.

      Hon­our­able Speaker, I want to thank the minister for bringing forward this piece of legis­lation as well as just for the bill briefing that he provided. It was a very informative bill briefing. I know I learned a lot through the bill briefing just about credit unions.

      But it is an interesting piece of legis­lation, and I'm curious and eager to want to learn more through the com­mit­tee stage. I actually had a person reach out to me after the bill had been intro­duced expressing con­cern that the bill is enabling only internal reso­lu­tion to occur when there could be a type of situation that should be arbitrated by a third party.

      I recog­nize my colleague from Fort Whyte spoke about this quite a bit, so I won't echo every­thing that he has shared, but I do think that it's very im­por­tant that we are putting procedures in place, not only for the credit unions, for–but for the members of the credit unions, and I'm hoping to learn more about this at the com­mit­tee stage, Hon­our­able Speaker.

      I do think it's really im­por­tant, though, that we're protecting our credit unions and the staff at credit unions, and doing everything that we can to have the measures in place the way that we do at some of the major banks here in Manitoba, Hon­our­able Speaker, and I think that there are ways to, in fact, do this, and I think perhaps this legis­lation could be a way for this.

      Again, I would just like to hear a little bit more from the members if there are concerns on their half. I think that we as parliamentarians have an obligation to protect all Manitobans, and while I think this is–very, very positive step for credit unions, and my hope is that this legis­lation will, in fact, go through com­mit­tee and there will be very positive response at com­mit­tee, I'd still like to hear just a little bit more to reinforce that con­fi­dence, Hon­our­able Speaker.

      But I'm happy to support it through to com­mit­tee at this point. Thank you.

The Speaker: Is the House ready for the question?

An Honourable Member: Question.

The Speaker: Question before the House is–the ques­tion before the House is second reading of Bill 15, The Credit Unions and Caisses Populaires Amend­ment Act.

      Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion? [Agreed]

      The motion is accordingly passed.

Hon. Matt Wiebe (Minister of Justice and Attorney General): Thank you very much, Hon­our­able Speaker–[interjection]

The Speaker: Sorry.

Bill 14–The Minor Amend­ments and Corrections Act, 2024

The Speaker: Next, we'll progress to the second reading of Bill 14.

Hon. Matt Wiebe (Minister of Justice and Attorney General): I move by the–I move, seconded by the member for–the Minister for Advanced Edu­ca­tion, that Bill 14, The Minor Amend­ments and Corrections Act, 2024, be now read a second time and referred to a com­mit­tee of this House.

Motion presented.

Mr. Wiebe: We can hear the excitement in the House for this annual omnibus bill, known this year as Bill 14, but always known as The Minor Amend­ments and Corrections Act.

      This bill is an annual omnibus bill, as I said, that is primarily concerned with correcting typographical, numbering and minor drafting and translation errors in Manitoba's statutes book. This bill also contains minor amend­ments to several acts.

      This year, The Minor Amend­ments and Corrections Act deals with amend­ments in three main areas. Part 1 makes French-language im­prove­ments, updates cross references, citations and terminology, and cor­­rects draft­­ing errors to provide clarity and consistency across Manitoba's statute book.

      Part 2 contains amend­ments related to the term associate judge. On May 30, 2023, An Act respecting the Title "Associate Judge" (Various Acts Amended) received royal assent. This legis­lation amended several acts to change the designation of judicial officials appointed under The Court of King's Bench Act from master to associate judge. The majority of amend­ments found in part 2 of The Minor Amend­ments and Corrections Act change the French version of the term from juge puîné to juge adjoint in response to a request made from the judiciary.

      Part 3 contains amend­ments that change the French name of the Law Society of Manitoba from La Société du Barreau du Manitoba to Barreau du Manitoba. These amend­ments fulfil a request made by the Law Society.

      Last month I was proud to join my colleagues to celebrate Inter­national Francophonie Day in–on March 20 here in the province, and we were ac­companied at that time by members of the legal com­mu­nity to announce an expansion of French-language legal services.

* (16:40)

      These amend­ments, requested by the legal com­mu­nity, reflect our gov­ern­ment's ongoing commit­ment to support the French language, ensuring that French terms used in our prov­incial laws are up to date. As a bilingual Legislature, it is critical for all our legis­lation to assign equal weight and value to both French and English. By updating multiple laws with more precise and accurate French terminology, this bill does exactly that.

      I want to take a quick moment, Hon­our­able Speaker, to thank the drafters of this bill. These are folks who work in our de­part­ment, in the Legis­lative Counsel office, who do tireless work, not only to pre­pare all the legis­lation that's prepared and presented here in the Legislature, but also do this kind of work that is more behind the scenes, so to speak, in the sense that it takes a tre­men­dous amount of effort to go through all of the bills and statutes to ensure that they are current and up to date.

      And so I want to thank them. And I ap­pre­ciate their work, of course, as public servants here in the province of Manitoba, but also because of their work as impartial employees and civil servants here in the province. You know, we see other juris­dic­tions around the world that have a different way of doing things. Here in Manitoba, we have a great, pro­fes­sional public service. They do this kind of work, and we were–ap­pre­ciate it every single day.

      With that, Hon­our­able Speaker, this concludes my remarks on Bill 14, and I'm pleased to answer any questions, even from the member from St. Johns, or any others in the Legislature who might have ques­tions. Thank you, Hon­our­able Speaker.

Questions

The Speaker: A question period of up to 15 minutes will be held. Questions may be addressed to the minis­ter by any op­posi­tion or in­de­pen­dent member in the following sequence: first question by the official oppo­­sition critic or 'denalig'–designate; subsequent ques­­tions asked by critics or designates from other recog­nized opposition parties; subsequent questions asked by each independent member; remaining questions asked by any opposition member. No question or answer shall exceed 45 seconds.

      The floor is open for questions.

Mr. Wayne Balcaen (Brandon West): I'd like to thank the Minister of Justice for the bill briefing on this, and the fact that this is truly a non-partisan bill that looks at changes through­out the act.

      But my question is, notwithstanding the language corrections and updates, does the minister see any amend­­ments or corrections resulting in a sub­stan­tial change in the inter­pre­ta­tion or imple­men­ta­tion of any of the 54 bills that this omnibus bill will seek?

Hon. Matt Wiebe (Minister of Justice and Attorney General): No, I really don't. And, in fact, it's my under­standing that in drafting this legis­lation it really would be improper or not following in the spirit of how this legis­lation is generally brought forward for us to bring in any con­se­quen­tial changes.

      Again, im­por­tant changes; changes that will, I think, properly recog­nize, in this case, the legal com­mu­nity and improve the French-language translation. So it is im­por­tant, but not con­se­quen­tial, I think, in the way that the member may be asking.

MLA Jeff Bereza (Portage la Prairie): Thank you to the Minister of Justice for the briefing on this. What measures are in place to ensure account­ability and trans­par­ency in the imple­men­ta­tion of Bill 14?

Mr. Wiebe: Well, it's interesting to me, anyway, that I would imagine that this could be a bill that–or a process–that could be removed from the Legislature in the sense, as the member for Brandon West just said, non-partisan; these are sort of admin­is­tra­tive changes.

      That being said, it does come to the Legislature. It does come to the floor of the House. We're able to answer questions here, it will come–I believe–to a com­­mit­tee; it goes through the regular legis­lative process. And so if there are any specific questions I do encourage the members opposite–I–as the member said, we had the bill briefing. But at any point during the process, if there's any clari­fi­ca­tion, I hope that we can offer that, and it, hopefully, will pass in the Legislature.

Mr. Richard Perchotte (Selkirk): Can the minister clarify to me, are the changes a result of ongoing reviews of the legis­lation or external stake­holders or both?

Mr. Wiebe: Yes, that's a really good question because, as a new minister, I'd say it is part of the process of learning, and I think the member hit the nail on the head when he said both, both external and internal.

      So had a chance to go over to visit the Leg. Counsel office, meet all the amazing drafters that we have over there, thank them personally for the work they do. But this is an ongoing, year-round process that they're cleaning up our legis­lation and old statutes. But then, as the member rightly points out, there was also a con­sul­ta­tion, within this case, the legal com­mu­nity, who are saying, we would like this change. And so we're responsive to them, but the work is ongoing on a regular basis within the de­part­ment as well.

Mr. Balcaen: Again, to the Minister of Justice, more specific, page 10, under The Police Services Act of this bill, hon­our­able Minister, it talks about en­force­ment of First Nation laws. And I'm just wondering if you can speak a little bit further on that regarding the ability of First Nations to enforce laws on their land, and will this, in fact, free up local police of juris­dic­tion from enforcing on First Nations land?

Mr. Wiebe: I'm, you know, I think I've got the section that the member's referring to; if I don't, he can correct me on the next question. But this amend­ment authorizes First Nation safety officers to enforce land manage­ment laws made by a First Nation as well as laws made by a First Nation under self-gov­ern­ment agree­ment.

      First Nations did not have the ability to make such laws when The Police Services Act was passed. First Nations safety officers are already authorized to en­force bylaws made by a First Nation under the Indian Act. So this is sort of a, if I can maybe phrase it this way, chicken and the egg situation where you have an act that now needs to be updated because of the changes with self-governing bodies.

MLA Bereza: Question to the minister: what feedback has been received from the public regarding Bill 14?

Mr. Wiebe: Well, this is a real barnburner, Hon­our­able Speaker. We get calls day and night in my office, wanting to discuss the contents of Bill 14, I'm sure–maybe not.

      But I will say that, as I said before, the legal com­mu­nity–to be perfectly serious, the legal com­mu­nity has asked and has made reference–repre­sen­tation, again, not at the direction so much as–of our de­part­ment that we've instituted these changes. But once that request came in, Leg. Counsel was very good about responding to that and being very responsive to that. So we do expect that there'll be full support for the work that was done in this bill.

Mr. Perchotte: As I understand what we're hearing in the Chamber today–I wasn't a part of the bill briefing–but this is mainly a housekeeping-type process that reflects what's happening today. What de­part­ments parti­cularly work on this?

Mr. Wiebe: Yes, that's a good question, Hon­our­able Speaker, because, as I said, our legis­lative drafters do a ton of work to prepare this bill and go through and be very responsive. But they do hear from de­part­ments because again, you know, if you can imagine all the statutes that we have, all the regula­tions, all of the bills that have passed this Legislature, you know, since the province of Manitoba began, there's a lot to go through to ensure that we make sure we get it right. So we do listen to de­part­ments, and when they bring forward a concern about a change that needs to be made, at that point, Leg. Counsel will decide if it's deemed ap­pro­priate to be included in this annual bill.

The Speaker: No further–hon­our­able member for Portage la Prairie.

MLA Bereza: My last question to the Minister of Justice: how does this Bill 14 align with existing laws and regula­tions in Manitoba?

* (16:50)

Mr. Wiebe: Well, again, Hon­our­able Speaker, because the way that this bill is presented, on a yearly basis, precludes any kind of con­se­quen­tial changes that might, you know, might exist. It really is very narrow in scope. I mean, it–really, if you go through the bill, there are actual instances of just, you know, cor­rections in the terms of grammar and other simple changes like that. But, really, any con­se­quen­tial changes would have to come in a different format, in a different bill.

      And so we trust our public servants who do this work. They do amazing work. I'm so proud that in a province like Manitoba we have impartial and pro­fes­sional civil servants. We lean on them a lot, and they've brought–

The Speaker: Member's time is expired.

      No further questions?

Debate

The Speaker: The floor is open for debate. No? Seeing there–oh, the hon­our­able member for Brandon West.

Mr. Wayne Balcaen (Brandon West): Hon­our­able Speaker, just gives me an op­por­tun­ity to put a few words on the record. I'll make this very short because, again, this is a non-partisan bill and it is housekeeping.

      I did find it interesting during our bill briefing to talk with the minister and the staff and learn that a lot of the changes from French language comes from people listening in on either the legal proceedings or listening in on parts of our processes here in the Legislature and finding that there is sig­ni­fi­cant worded–wording differences between the French language and the translation from English to French.

      So I do ap­pre­ciate the work of Legis­lative Counsel that does the work on these bills and doing the drafting. It must be tedious work and it must be very difficult to constantly be switching between the 54 different bills and regula­tions that this act targets.

      So it continues to ensure that Manitoba and nation­wide–to pursue gender-neutral and updated language in legis­lation, and I think that's im­por­tant for every­body in the House to make sure that we follow that trend that's both here in Manitoba and national.

      The act also, as I stated, corrects language errors in the bills and it attempts to rectify, in a variety of different statutes and amend­ments, things that are no longer applicable to law or do not make sense based on changing laws, including French translations, to ensure that we have the proper French translation within our Manitoba statutes and amend­ments.

      And with that, Hon­our­able Speaker, thank you for the op­por­tun­ity to put a few words on the record.

The Speaker: Is the House ready for the question?

Some Honourable Members: Question.

The Speaker: Question before the House is second reading of Bill 14, The Minor Amend­ments and Corrections Act, 2024.

      Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion? [Agreed]

      I declare the motion carried.

Debate on Second Readings

Bill 5–The Adult Literacy Act

The Speaker: We'll now move on to debate on second reading of Bill 5, The Adult Literacy Act.

      As there are no speakers, is the House ready for the question?

Some Honourable Members: Question.

The Speaker: Question before the House is second reading of Bill 5, The Adult Literacy Act.

      Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion? [Agreed]

      I declare the motion carried.

Bill 6–The Manitoba Assistance Amendment Act

The Speaker: We will now move on to debate and second readings of Bill 6, The Manitoba Assist­ance Amend­ment Act.

      There are no members wishing to debate? Is the House ready for the question?

Some Honourable Members: Question.

The Speaker: Question before the House is the second reading of Bill 6, The Manitoba Assist­ance Amend­ment Act.

      Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion? [Agreed]

      I declare the motion carried.

* * *

The Speaker: As this concludes the busi­ness previous­ly agreed to for the House to consider today, this House is now adjourned and stands adjourned until Monday at 1:30.

 



 

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA

Thursday, April 18, 2024

CONTENTS


Vol. 46b

ROUTINE PROCEEDINGS

Tabling of Reports

Wiebe  1401

Ministerial Statements

Sikh Heritage Month

Simard  1401

Ewasko  1402

Lamoureux  1402

Members' Statements

Mitzi's Restaurant

Asagwara  1403

Miniota-Elkhorn C-Hawks

Nesbitt 1403

Habitat for Humanity and Habitat ReStores

Loiselle  1404

RSR Wastewater Cooperative

Narth  1404

Starting Strong Program

Oxenham   1405

Oral Questions

Provincial Nominee Program

Ewasko  1405

Asagwara  1405

Provincial Nominee Program Draw

Byram   1406

Marcelino  1406

Minister of Justice

Perchotte  1407

Wiebe  1407

Minister of Labour and PNP Program

Perchotte  1407

Wiebe  1407

Provincial Nominee Program Protest

Johnson  1408

Asagwara  1408

Minister of Labour

Khan  1409

Moses 1409

Internationally Trained Health-Care Workers

Cook  1410

Asagwara  1410

Drugs Given to Children in Group Home

Lamoureux  1411

Fontaine  1411

Group Home Accountability

Lamoureux  1412

Fontaine  1412

Youth Mental Health Strategy

Lamoureux  1412

Fontaine  1412

Employment Standards Code

Dela Cruz  1412

Marcelino  1412

Minister of Labour and PNP Program

Stone  1413

Asagwara  1413

Fontaine  1413

ORDERS OF THE DAY

GOVERNMENT BUSINESS

Second Readings

Bill 22–The Celebration of Nigerian Independence Day Act (Commemoration of Days, Weeks and Months Act Amended)

Asagwara  1416

Questions

Lagassé  1417

Asagwara  1417

Khan  1418

King  1418

Debate

Lagassé  1419

Lamoureux  1419

Bill 10–The Advanced Education Administration Amendment Act

Cable  1420

Questions

Perchotte  1421

Cable  1421

Lamoureux  1421

Schuler 1421

Cook  1421

Johnson  1423

Debate

Perchotte  1423

Lamoureux  1424

Bill 23–The Change of Name Amendment Act (2)

Naylor 1425

Questions

Guenter 1425

Naylor 1425

Lamoureux  1426

Wowchuk  1426

Narth  1426

Debate

Guenter 1427

Lamoureux  1427

Bill 15–The Credit Unions and Caisses Populaires Amendment Act

Moses 1428

Questions

Khan  1429

Sala  1429

Jackson  1429

Piwniuk  1429

Lamoureux  1430

Byram   1431

Debate

Khan  1432

Lamoureux  1434

Bill 14–The Minor Amendments and Corrections Act, 2024

Wiebe  1435

Questions

Balcaen  1436

Wiebe  1436

Bereza  1436

Perchotte  1436

Debate

Balcaen  1437

Debate on Second Readings

Bill 5–The Adult Literacy Act 1438

Bill 6–The Manitoba Assistance Amendment Act 1438