Does the honourable critic for the official opposition, the honourable member for Selkirk, have an opening statement?
Mr. Gregory Dewar (Selkirk): As the minister has mentioned in his opening comments, this is very important for us as Manitobans to be diligent and to work hard to preserve and safeguard our natural assets in this province. Concerning this particular fund, there have been recently some controversial issues surrounding how the fund has been proportioned or disproportionately funnelled to different constituencies throughout the province. It casts a bit of a shadow over the fund which was set up, had very worthwhile purposes. These were not just raised by members of the opposition, they were raised by the Provincial Auditor as to guidelines and criteria, the method of selection, advertising. I suggest that some of these issues require a fundamental overhaul. Currently the Auditor is investigating the fund. Although we do not know what the outcome will be, I think it is a serious issue that the department of the Provincial Auditor is even looking into how the fund is managed and how grants
