Mr. Denis Rocan (Gladstone): It gives me great pleasure to announce that the Manitoba Public Insurance-Manitoba Society of Seniors 55 Plus Games will be held in Carman on June 15, 16 and 17. These games are very important to many seniors in Manitoba. They look forward to the friendly competition and the opportunity to socialize with seniors from across our province. In order to reach these finals, seniors must first compete in regional play-downs, with the top four winners going on to the provincial games. Last year over 1,000 seniors attended the games in Gimli.

Carman, this year's host community, has been busy organizing and planning this event for many months. The hosting of these games involves the whole community and Carman has certainly met this challenge with great enthusiasm. It does not matter whether you are one of the competitors or an enthusiastic cheerleader, you are sure to have a great time. The welcome mat is out and I know that everyone who comes to Carman this June or any time will receive a warm welcome and enjoy their friendly hospitality.

Mr. Oscar Lathlin (The Pas): Madam Speaker, I am proud to rise today to share, with you and the Assembly, experiences I had attending graduation ceremonies in Vancouver, British Columbia, on May 3, and on May 7 in Calgary, Alberta. In Vancouver, I was proud to witness the convocation of Reverends Hagar Head and Lydia Constant with degrees in the Master of Divinity program.

In Calgary, I was privileged to attend Charles Jebb's graduation from the City of Calgary Police Service training program. Indeed, I felt moved and extremely proud to see Mr. Jebb marching with the rest of the troop.

All three graduates are members of OCN, and I am sure that all of OCN is proud as I am of the accomplishments of these individuals. Job well done, Hagar, Lydia and Charles. Thank you.

Mr. Jack Penner (Emerson): Madam Speaker, it gives me a great deal of pleasure to indicate to the House today that the Manitoba Public Insurance Corporation will undertake two important new initiatives that will enhance our efforts to create a new generation of roadwise Manitobans.

First of all, fees for the highly successful High School Driver Education Program will be cut in half from $100 to $50. The drivers ed program is a wonderful program that teaches young people how to be safe and responsible drivers. It aims to create a positive driving attitude amongst young people, and in producing safe drivers, this program ultimately benefits all Manitobans. By cutting rates in half beginning of September, MPI believes that enrollment will rise to 15,000 students by the year of 2004.

MPI will also be introducing a roadwise children's traffic club starting in the fall. The program will be taught to 18,000 children in 572 days starting in September. This program will teach young Manitobans to recognize potential road hazards and instill safety habits in them at an early age. This is a joint initiative between Manitoba Public Insurance Corporation and the government's Department of Education and will comprise several modules: safety awareness, road and vehicle dangers, bus ridership and personal safety.

As an MPI board member, I am very proud that we are reducing the cost for our young people to participate in the driver ed program and increase their driving skills. It is my belief that this program has demonstrated its effectiveness in ensuring that young Manitobans can be trained to be safe drivers and therefore save the general public a huge impact on the driver costs and repairing. I believe that it is never too late to train young people and to ensure that their driving habits will be sustained and enhanced over the years.

Ms. Jean Friesen (Wolseley): I would like to ask all members of this House to join me in congratulating the residents of part of my community, West Broadway, for the very successful annual community cleanup that they held on May 1.

Madam Speaker, two weekends ago the West Broadway community swept, cleaned up the debris of a long winter, brushed the sidewalks, cleaned up the back lanes, removed all the excess material from the large garbage cans. It is a community initiative which is very well supported and organized by businesses, by the community police, and it is one that contributes certainly to the safety of the community through the rest of the year.

I particularly want to congratulate the students from Gordon Bell High School who did a lot of the back-breaking work on the day before the Saturday, on the Friday afternoon, and to congratulate the West Broadway Neighbourhood Centre and the people who organized this, as well as the residents and indeed people from outside the community, friends of West Broadway, who came to help in this regular and now much-looked-forward-to community event. Thank you.

An Honourable Member: Go ahead.

Madam Speaker: Order, please. Today is Wednesday. The rotation is two government, three official opposition.

* (1440)

Mr. George Hickes (Point Douglas): I just want to put a few comments on record, because I was on a radio program yesterday pertaining to the so-called urban aboriginal strategy that was announced. From the response of most of the panel that were there, there was a lot of disappointment. I would like to make my comments on record that I believe that this is just an election gimmick, election ploy by this desperate government, trying to get by the window of an election because every year–I have been here since 1990–I have been asking this government for an urban aboriginal strategy and just prior to an election this government announces more study, more consultation.

On that panel was the president of the Manitoba Metis Federation, David Chartrand, who says no, we were not consulted; we were only asked to make a presentation, not as a true partnership. Also, the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs–a representative was there–stated exactly the same thing. That is what I suspected all along, that the true leaders of the aboriginal community that are elected by their membership–just like every member in here is elected by our constituents to be the voice of the people who elected us. We do not get 100 percent of the votes, but we are the voice of the people who elected us to bring their issues forward.

The government should have had the decency and the respect of the elected aboriginal leadership to go and meet with the leadership and say please, we are trying to develop an urban aboriginal strategy, please go to your membership and talk to the membership and get your membership involved because we respect you as a leader, we want your true input, instead of going out and saying we are developing a true aboriginal strategy, when it is only to get by the election window.

If the government was serious, they would not have cut funding to friendship centres, BUNTEP, Access, New Careers, the northern fishers' subsidy, northern highways and no abandonment of the inner city housing programs, the emergency home repair programs. If the government was serious, they would have rectified those and put the funding back in first, then develop a true aboriginal strategy with aboriginal people. Thank you, Madam Speaker.