DAN VANDAL MP, SAINT BONIFACE—SAINT VITAL Constituency Office dan.vandal@parl.gc.ca 204-983-3183 /danvandalforstboniface Hill Office 613-995-0579 @stbstvdan

Manitoba’s aerospace industry is an important con-tributor to Manitoba’s economy and to the Canadi-an aerospace sector. More than 5,000 Manitobans are directly employed by the industry, the largest in Western Canada. Recently, the federal government made two im-portant announcements regarding Canada’s re-placement of aging military aircrafts: the CF-18 fighter jets, and the CC115 Buffalo and CC130 Hercules search and rescue aircraft. I want to be clear: this is great news for Manitoba’s aerospace industry. Last November, Minister of National Defense Harjit Sajjan announced the launch of an open and trans-parent process to renew the Royal Canadian Air Force’s aging legacy fleet of CF-18 fighter jets. This includes exploring the acquisition of 18 new Super Hornet aircraft, manufactured by Boeing. Boeing has a strong presence in Manitoba, with two facilities in Winnipeg. Boeing Winnipeg em-ploys 1,400 people, which represents ¾ of Boeing Canada’s workforce. In addition, Boeing Winni-peg’s aerospace composite manufacturing centre is the largest in Canada. This announcement was the result of a fair and transparent competition to replace Canada’s full fleet of fighter aircraft. Canada will remain a mem-ber of the Joint Strike Fighter Program, in partner-ship with the United States and other allies. This means that companies like Magellan Aerospace can continue to bid on contracts for parts and maintenance for Lockheed Martin’s F-35. It is important to note that, through the open and transparent competition for a full fleet, the federal government has stated a mandatory requirement for economic benefits to Canada, ensuring that our Canadian industry sees the greatest benefit in our future acquisition, and guaranteeing our Canadian companies dollar for dollar opportunities. Equally important to Manitoba is the announce-ment in December of the awarding of a contract for $2.4 billion to Airbus Defence and Space to pro-cure a new fleet of 16 C295W aircraft. These new

aircraft will replace Canada’s fleets of CC115 Buf-falo and legacy CC130 Hercules aircraft. Working closely with partners through a fair, open competition, we have selected aircraft and ad-vanced technology that will ensure the safety of Canadians from coast to coast to coast while providing good middle class jobs. The new aircraft will be based where search and rescue squadrons are currently located, including at Winnipeg’s CFB 17 Wing. Airbus Defence and Space has partnered with Newfoundland-based PAL Aerospace to create a joint venture called, “AirPro,” which will be the pri-mary In- Service Support provider for the whole fleet of 16 fixed-wing search-and-rescue aircraft. Airpro will have staff and facilities in Winnipeg.” Over the past year, Manitoba Caucus has met with leaders from Manitoba’s aerospace industry to dis-cuss a number of ongoing projects, including the new Factory of the Future facility in Winnipeg. The Factory of the Future will help Canadian manufac-turers develop and apply the state of the art tech-nologies and innovations needed to remain global-ly competitive in future markets. The new facility in Winnipeg would offer a flexible manufacturing pilot train laboratory and will support the development of advanced manufacturing sys-tems engineering, composites and bio-composites. The National Research Council is now working closely with stakeholders to identify a suitable, ser-viced, location for the construction of the new Win-nipeg facility. As a group, Manitoba Caucus continues to be a strong advocate of Manitoba’s world-class aero-space industry. The capacity for innovation and ex-cellence is a hallmark of our local industry. Whereas the previous government mismanaged military procurement, our government is investing in our Canadian Armed Forces and our Canadian aerospace sector. Manitoba’s aerospace industry will be stronger for it.

Championing Manitoba’s Aerospace Industry

Over the years, mental health organisations across Canada have done tremendous work to end the stigma around mental illness and encourage peo-ple to get the help they need. We need to make sure the services are available for those suffering from mental illness. That is why the federal government has offered to invest $5 bil-lion over 10 years, starting in 2017-18, in support of mental health initiatives. This investment is part of an additional $25 billion over the next five years offered to provincial and territorial governments, including $20 billion in ad-ditional Canada Health Transfer amounts relative to 2016-17. Improving access to mental health services has been listed as a priority in Manitoba for more than a decade. But the availability of mental health ser-vices has not kept up with the growing demand in our province and across the country. The Canadian Mental Health Association estimates that, this year, one in five Canadians (6.7 million individuals) will experience a mental health prob-lem. In their 2014-2015 annual report, Manitoba Health indicated that, between 2010-2011 and 2014-2015, approximately 25% of Manitobans age 10 and old-er received medical care for at least one of the fol-lowing mental illnesses: depression, anxiety, sub-stance abuse, personality disorder, or schizophre-nia. But that number does not reflect the total number of Manitobans suffering from mental illness, as not all individuals needing mental health services will be able to access them. Statistics Canada found that, in 2012, approximate-ly 4.9 million Canadians (17%), aged 15 and older, described having had a need for mental health care in the past 12 months. Among these individu-als, 67% had their needs met, while 12% reported needs that were unmet. The remaining 21% indi-cated they had received some mental health care,

but had a need for more. And when mental health services are not available for early intervention, a mental health problem can often deteriorate into a state of crisis. In Winnipeg each year, approximately 12,000 people visit emer-gency departments or the Crisis Response Centre with mental health concerns. We all recognize the impact that mental illness has on the health and well-being of the individual as well as their loved ones. But mental illness also has an economic impact that can’t be overlooked, in terms of absenteeism, unemployment, and healthcare expenses. It is past time for a targeted investment in mental health to increase the services available to those suffering from mental illness and to fund the many promotion and prevention strategies that have al-ready been developed by the provinces and territo-ries, but have not had the financial resources to put into action. Through collaborative partnership with the provinc-es and territories, we can make tangible progress in improving the efficiency and sustainability of our health care system and achieve even better health outcomes for Canadians.

Page 2 Dan Vandal, MP ● Saint Boniface—Saint Vital

Strengthening mental health services

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DID YOU KNOW?

In order to address key health care priorities over the long term, the federal government offered to make tar-geted investments of $11.5 billion over the next 10 years in mental health, home care, pharmaceuticals and innovation: • $5 billion over 10 years, starting in 2017-18, for bet-

ter home and palliative care; • $5 billion over 10 years, starting in 2017-18, in

support of mental health initiatives; • $1 billion over 4 years, starting in 2018-19, to ad-

dress critical home care infrastructure require-ments; and,

• $544 million over 5 years, starting in 2017-18, to support initiatives on lower the cost of prescription drugs promote health innovation.