Province Législature Session Type de discours Date du discours Locuteur Fonction du locuteur Parti politique Manitoba 29e 1ère Discours du trône 14 août 1969 William John McKeag Lieutenant-gouverneur NPD Mr. Speaker and members of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba: In welcoming you to the First Session of the Twenty-ninth Legislature I ask all our people to consider the historical perspective of the development of our province. We are now concluding our first century of existence and will soon be embarking on the second century of our growth. For 100 years the people of Manitoba have applied themselves to pushing back unexplored frontiers, to developing trade, to playing a major role in supplying food to a sometimes hungry world, to building our great cities and to gaining access into a northland rich in minerals and other natural resources. These economic advances were achieved concurrently with the development of institutions designed to provide for human betterment - our schools, universities and many cultural organizations. Manitoba's first 100 years have been characterized by the development of a highly complex society capable of producing great industrial wealth and of making available to all our great natural resources. My Ministers believe that the challenge of the next century of Confederation will be to ensure that our great capacity is used to achieve the goal which alone can give society any positive meaning - the protection and enhancement of the freedom and dignity of each individual citizen. My Ministers inform me that they consider it their responsibility to discharge their duties in such a way that each citizen will possess the means of achieving the realization of his or her natural talents and qualities. In this way each individual will best be able to serve himself and the world community of which he is a member. My Ministers ask that the measure of their success or failure be judged by this standard of according his fullest development to each citizen, and they report that they enthusiastically face the challenge this places before them. I am informed by my Ministers that only a modest portion of their legislative program will be introduced at this first session of the Legislature. They consider the session necessary in order to deal with emergency matters left uncompleted by the abrupt termination of the previous session. In particular my Government is required to obtain legislative approval for the estimates of revenue and expenditure which were laid before the House at the preceding session and which were not approved before the dissolution of that Assembly. My Ministers inform me that arrangements for marking the Centennial of our province in the Canadian Confederation are going forward in a manner that will dignify this important event. Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh have been invited to visit our province in 1970. It is also hoped that the Government of Canada will in some formal way join in helping us to observe particularly the celebration of Canada's national day next year. Other distinguished visitors are also being invited to join us in marking our Centennial year. My Government expects that all Manitobans will be involved in planning celebrations at the local levels which will culminate in a number of ceremonies in our provincial capital during the summer months of 1970. My Ministers report that since taking office they have found that an extensive reorganization of departments of government was begun last year, but that the legislative changes required to complete the revised structure of the administrative organization had not been approved when the last House was dissolved. My Ministers consider it necessary to review the reports on which the proposed administrative changes were based in order to assess their value and feasibility. Concurrently they inform me of their opinion that because problems of urban growth in Manitoba have achieved particular and complex significance they will be proposing a revised approach for the future in terms of strengthening government administrative machinery to enable it to deal more effectively with that area. My Ministers consider this reassessment of government structure an essential prelude to the plans they have for re-evaluating all programs of government in order to place greater emphasis on the responsibility that they feel government has to all the people of Manitoba. For this reason my Ministers believe it is important to take care of those matters which are of high priority and which must be dealt with as quickly as possible in order to carry on their plans for the long range developments of Manitoba. It is my Government's intention to seek your approval to certain amendments to The Natural Products Marketing Act designed to ensure that producers will be able to work and plan for the orderly marketing of their products. You will be informed of other plans which my Government has to increase and improve facilities to serve the Manitoba agricultural industry. In particular the overall program will ensure the proper relationship between research and applied projects which will result in the most effective services being available to the farmers of the province. It is desirable to increase further our efforts to stimulate the economic development of our province and to reduce regional economic disparities. This task requires greater involvement of the Members of the Legislature in the appraisal of Manitoba's economic potential. It also requires more information and review of economic development transactions past and present. Accordingly my Ministers will submit for your approval certain changes affecting the operation of the programs of economic development and of the Manitoba Development Fund in particular. My Ministers are now reviewing the taxation of transactions under The Revenue Tax Act, examining those elements of tax coverage which might best be altered to reduce anomalies and to clarify as far as possible any existing provisions of the Act whose applicability may have given rise to certain doubts or uncertainties. You will be asked to consider amendments to The Public Schools Act which will enable people of Indian ancestry to vote for and to be elected to the board of trustees of school districts and school divisions, where on request from the Council of an Indian band an Indian reservation is included in a school division. My Ministers inform me that you will be asked to approve funds to adjust the professional training fees for teacher trainees who are completing the second half of the one year elementary teachers' course, as well as those who are completing the second year of the two year course. My Government informs me that it intends to take measures to reduce substantially the medical care portion of the combined health care premium. My Ministers expect that in order to provide funds from consolidated revenue for this purpose there will have to be increases in revenue estimates at the present session or for the next fiscal year. Legislation will also be placed before you designed to amend The Health Services Insurance Act in order to shorten the waiting period required for a doctor electing to practise under the Medical Plan. You will be asked to appoint a committee of the House to consider the interim report and recommendations of the former committee on denturists submitted in 1965 and to present a full report for the next legislative session. You will be asked to agree to an amendment to The Metropolitan Act to empower the Metropolitan Council to offer reduced transit fares to senior citizens. Legislation will also be introduced to amend The Municipal Act in order to streamline municipal audit procedures and to extend the authority of municipalities to expend money and create debt for the financing of projects they have chosen to commemorate the province's Centennial year. In addition consideration of the proposed revision of The Municipal Act will continue in the expectation that it will be introduced at the next session. My Ministers inform me that legislation will be submitted for your approval to authorize an increase in subsidies payable to urban transit systems. They will also explain the program of the Department of Transportation for construction and maintenance of the provincial trunk highway and provincial road systems throughout Manitoba, placing greater emphasis on northern roads needed to accelerate resource development. In addition the report of the Commission on Northern Transportation will be tabled at the present session. My Ministers propose to establish a consultative body to make early recommendations for legislation to provide the people of Manitoba with an automobile insurance program based upon maximum service at minimum cost to the motorist. Legislation will be placed before you to enable and to expedite provincial participation with the Government of Canada in the operation of the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation. You will be asked to approve the provision of funds to continue the operation of a residential school for training fishermen at Hnausa, and to establish the Wilderness Corps in which 17-year old youths may be taught resource conservation skills. Changes in The Workmen's Compensation Act will be placed before you for approval with the object of increasing benefits for injured workmen and their dependents and of improving the administration of workmen's compensation in the province. My Ministers inform me that the Minimum Wage Board has been reconstituted and requested by them to consider forthwith the matter of minimum wages in Manitoba with a report and recommendations on the subject to be submitted not later than the end of 1969 and an interim report to be made available so that an increase may be authorized before the end of the present session. Consideration is being given to amendments to The Labour Relations Act. It is intended to place before you at the present session a Consumers' Protection Act to consolidate the provisions of The Time Sales Agreement Act and The Consumers' Credit Act, as well as to regulate disclosure in borrowing costs, pre-payment privileges, forfeitures, assignments of credit sale contracts, door-to-door sales and related matters of direct concern to the consumer. The proposed legislation will provide for the establishment of a consumer bureau as an agency of the Department of Consumer and Corporate Affairs which will be charged with investigation of complaints of breach of consumer legislation and with the furnishing of information and related educational assistance and services to consumers. You will be asked to refer The Landlord and Tenant Act to a Committee of the House for a detailed study, review and recommendations designed to secure its increased effectiveness. You will also be asked to approve legislation designed to establish the office of the Ombudsman in Manitoba. I am informed that work has been commenced on legislation to provide compensation for victims of crime and for the provision of a Human Rights Commission. You will be asked to approve legislation designed to make the voting age consistent with the age of legal responsibility in other aspects of life. My Government is of the opinion that the operation of the Legislature has not realized its full potential in the past, that in particular the committee system has been less useful than it should have been and that the elected Member can serve an expanded role in fact finding and report evaluation. My Government proposes, therefore, to establish an all-party committee on parliamentary reform, the purpose of which would be to propose measures to improve the efficiency of government, to strengthen the role of the Legislature in regard to the executive arm of government, and to increase public involvement in the affairs of government. As part of this process, and because of the expected increase in activity relating to Dominion-Provincial relations, constitutional revision and economic development, it is proposed to appoint two Members of the Legislative Assembly to assist my Ministers in their duties. It is my Ministers' advice that there should be established a secretariat on Dominion-Provincial relations for better co-ordination of Manitoba's policy making in this regard. You will be asked to establish a Special Committee of the House to proceed with the study of the status of professional associations in Manitoba. In proposing these and other measures for your approval my Ministers design to make Manitoba an attractive home for our people. They believe it essential that the social and natural resources of the province be geared in a co-ordinated manner to produce that standard of life and that quality of life which we desire for ourselves and which by natural extension we wish for all mankind. It is therefore my Government's objective to work untiringly towards a greater equality of the human condition. My Ministers assure me that their principal motivation is to strengthen the concept and the practice of civil liberty in our province. It is my Ministers' views that by working toward more equitable distribution of those things necessary for economic well-being, it will become possible for increasing numbers of our people to exercise their civil rights and their freedom of choice in a more meaningful way. Consequently, my Ministers are formulating policy on a wide range of social and economic problems that will be submitted for your consideration at future sessions of this Legislative Assembly. In leaving you I pray that Divine Providence may attend your deliberations and decisions.