May 1,

2012 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS

Vol. XLVII No. 24

The House met at 1:30 p.m.

MR. SPEAKER (Wiseman): Order, please!

Admit strangers.

Statements by Members

MR. SPEAKER: Today we have members' statements from the Member for the

District of Conception Bay East Bell Island, the Member for the District of

Bay of Islands, the Member for the District of Cape St. Francis, the Member for

the District of Bellevue, the Member for the District of Baie Verte

Springdale, and the Member for the District of St. John's Centre.

The hon. the Member for the District of Conception Bay East Bell Island.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. BRAZIL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I had the honour of attending a function yesterday in my

district that celebrated a man's life, a man larger than life with an even

bigger heart. I talk of the funeral of Tom Fitzgerald, affectionately known as

Big Tom. With over 700 in attendance, which included some of the Province's most

successful business, media, music, and comedy people, along with hundreds of

average citizens, who all came for the same reason: to give a fitting send-off

to someone who had done so much for so many.

Our community and this Province have lost a true ambassador. His parents, Tom

and Judy, both lifelong civil servants, have lost their little boy. His

daughter, Sophie, has lost the love of her life. All of us in this Province have

lost a friend. I am proud to say Tom Fitzgerald was my friend and he will be

missed.

As the last words of his eulogy read: Big Tom Forever.

I ask all members in this House to join me in celebrating the life of Tom

Fitzgerald.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of Bay of Islands.

MR. JOYCE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise in this hon. House today to recognize the wonderful contributions of

Lorraine Humber of Lark Harbour in the Bay of Islands. On March 23, 2012,

Lorraine retired after over thirty-four years of dedicated service as a nurse

serving the towns of Lark Harbour and York Harbour.

Lorraine started working as a casual nurse with the VON, taking up the

challenge of providing community nursing. She did mostly home business for the

first few years and her home became a drop-in centre. It was quite common for

her to be called upon when emergencies arose, such as car or boating accidents,

or heart or stroke victims needed assistance. She never hesitated to assist.

Mr. Speaker, Lorraine was instrumental in spearheading a campaign to obtain

funding to build a medical clinic in Lark Harbour. She lobbied both provincial

and federal governments and was successful in getting the monies, something

which Lorraine considers one of her best nursing achievements.

Lorraine's dedication, commitment, and strong sense of duty to others are for

what she will always be remembered. She provided assistance to seniors, the

disabled, and the sick in their homes and communities, a service which will

never be replaced.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all members of this House to join me in extending

congratulations to Lorraine Humber for her years of service to the residents of

Lark Harbour and York Harbour and wish her all the best in her retirement.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Cape St. Francis.

MR. K. PARSONS: I rise in this hon. House today to congratulate the Holy

Trinity Elementary School in Torbay and its Grade 6 students for successful

participating and completion of the DARE program.

This program is presently being offered to all Grade 6 students that attend

school in the RNC jurisdictions. It covers the health, legal, and social

problems encountered when involved with drugs. It gives students the skills and

tools required to take a strong stand against illegal drugs and the ability to

make healthy and wise choices.

Mr. Speaker, the RNC should be very proud of the work that its member,

Constable Kevin Foley, is doing, presenting assistance to all of the students.

I was able to attend the DARE program graduation exercise and it was very

visible how excited the students were about this program and the knowledge and

power it had given them to make a strong stand against illegal drugs and the

association with it.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all hon. members to join with me in congratulating the

Holy Trinity Elementary School, the RNC for making this available to our

students, and to Holy Trinity Grade 6 class for being eager participants and

graduating the DARE program, a tool they will carry with them for the rest of

their lives.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Bellevue.

MR. PEACH: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Last Friday, April 27, I had the great privilege of attending the graduation

ceremony of the graduating class of 2012 at the Fortune Bay East Academy in St.

Bernard's. It was a pleasure to see those young men and women dressed in their

tux and gowns and to contest a great job that they did in presenting themselves

in their last moments as graduates as they addressed their parents, teachers,

and guests.

The future is theirs, it is in their hands, and as they go out in a world of

uncertainty I suggest they choose a profession that they will enjoy.

Good luck in the future that lies ahead of them, and remember, if you can

dream it you can achieve it.

I ask all members of this hon. House to join me in congratulating the

graduates of 2012 from Fortune Bay East Academy in St. Bernard's.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Baie Verte Springdale.

MR. POLLARD: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is indeed a pleasure to rise in this hon. House to congratulate the senior

boys' ball hockey team from MSB Regional Academy, Middle Arm, for capturing the

gold medal at the provincial SSNL tournament, hosted by the Cannon Richards

Memorial Academy, Flowers Cove. The eight team tournament took place from March

29 to 31, engaging numerous volunteers from around the region, whose help and

dedication contributed to a very successful event.

Members of the victorious team include: Jasper Dicks, Zackery Goudie, Alex

Rowe, Miguel Saunders, Jordon Robinson, Zackery Penney, Grant Foster, and Avery

Austin. Coaches Zackery Lane, Lyndon Austin and Danny Dicks are to be applauded

for guiding the team to victory.

MSB Regional Academy Wildcats narrowly defeated the Cannon Richards Memorial

Academy Wildcats in the championship game with an eight to seven overtime

victory. Zackery Penney of MSB took home the prestigious sportsmanship award.

Mr. Speaker, I invite all colleagues in this hon. House to join me in

relaying congratulations to the senior boys' ball hockey team hailing from MSB

Regional Academy upon their outstanding achievement.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. John's Centre.

MS ROGERS: Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Bishops College on a

very important award that will be officially presented tomorrow.

Inclusive education is about how we develop and design our schools,

classrooms, programs and activities so that all students can learn and

participate together. Each year the Newfoundland and Labrador Association for

Community Living awards two inclusive education awards; one to a school and one

to an individual. This year, Bishops College in my District of St. John's Centre

is the winner of the 2012 award.

In a time when we hear so much about bullying and exclusion, I am so proud of

Bishops for the hard work they have put in over the last decade to earn this

award. The administration, staff and student body are so obviously committed to

the philosophy of inclusion. They embrace the importance of belonging,

acceptance, and community.

I am looking forward to telling them so in person tomorrow, when the award

will officially be presented, but for today I am asking all hon. members to join

me in congratulating everyone at Bishops College on Pennywell Road in St. John's

for being named the winner of the 2012 school inclusive education award.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Statements by Ministers.

Statements by Ministers

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KING: Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, a primary mandate of the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture

is to support and promote the development of sustainable and viable fishing and

aquaculture industries, which produce high quality and high value products. This

is achieved by providing programs and services in fisheries and aquaculture

development, quality assurance, processing and aquaculture capacity management,

and information services.

Despite the groundfish moratorium, Newfoundland and Labrador has many fish

species available to aid in the development and the diversification of our

fishing industry. The worldwide decline in fish stocks, combined with the

increasing demand for fish protein, suggest that the market outlook for seafood

products will continue to be very strong.

Through Budget 2012: People and Prosperity, we continue to invest in a suite

of programs intended to revitalize and enhance the fishing industry. The annual

budget of the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture has expanded by

approximately 400 per cent since Budget 2005-2006, to support valuable programs

and services and new initiatives. In particular, Mr. Speaker, the budget

includes new and ongoing initiatives totalling over $30 million, with an overall

budget for the department in excess of $50 million.

The funding, Mr. Speaker, will support our work in many areas, such as:

infrastructure, fisheries research and most importantly, innovation. Some

examples include: an investment of $6.5 million for the Aquaculture Capital

Equity Investment Program; $6.2 million for construction of aquaculture wharves

in the Coast of Bays region; $300,000 for the Coastal and Oceans Management

Program; $3.8 million for the Centre for Fisheries Ecosystems Research and the

Fisheries and Marine Institute; $2.2 million for the Fisheries Technology and

New Opportunities Program; $1 million to extend support for the Canadian Centre

for Fisheries Innovation; and $300,000 to the Fisheries Innovation and

Development and Sustainable Fisheries Resources and Oceans Policy.

Our suite of programs, Mr. Speaker, supported through Budget 2012 are

intended to aid the provincial fishing industry in becoming more innovative and

competitive, while building a safer and more stable foundation. Our work will

help ensure the Newfoundland and Labrador seafood industry continues to be a

major economic contributor to the provincial economy. Mr. Speaker, our

government's commitment to ensure a maximum possible benefit for this resource

will continue.

Mr. Speaker, the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador represented

approximately one-third of the landed value of the Atlantic fishery in recent

years; however, as a Province, we spend more on the fishery in this Province

than all other Atlantic Provinces combined.

The funding provided through Budget 2012, Mr. Speaker, demonstrates our

government's commitment and our resolve to foster a fishery of the future for

Newfoundland and Labrador. We are indeed committed to working with all fishing

and aquaculture industry participants to ensure our collaborative and collective

success.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for St. Barbe.

MR. BENNETT: Mr. Speaker, I thank the minister for his advance copy. I

have checked his budget numbers and he is absolutely correct; but, what can you

say about a department that in 2006-2007 budgeted $13 million and spent only $9

million, leaving $4 million on the table; in 2007-2008, budgeted $28 million and

only used $19 million; in 2008-2009, budgeted $25 million and only used $15

million, leaving $10 million unused; in 2009-2010, budgeted $27 million and only

used $21 million; in year 2010-2011, budgeted $44 million and only used $38

million; and last year, Mr. Speaker, budgeted $44 million and only used $31

million.

Mr. Speaker, I know what you can say about a department like that. I think

the department should change its name to the department of smoke and mirrors,

because it is going to do something and it does not do it. This department is

underperforming; it is not delivering. Budgeting is nice, but we need to see

performance.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for The Straits White Bay North.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. MITCHELMORE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank the minister for an advance copy of his statement. Government should

be doing more. It is a $1 billion industry, but it can be much bigger. Indeed,

the global demand for seafood will remain strong. What I see missing from all of

this today is a core marketing strategy. It is not enough to simply produce it;

the world needs to know about it. Like tourism, marketing creates awareness for

the demand. Also, I see a lot has been invested in aquaculture, which is good,

but we must not ignore the traditional fishery.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Innovation, Business and Rural

Development.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HUTCHINGS: Mr. Speaker, with almost $200 million allocated for

business and economic development in Budget 2012: People and Prosperity, this

Administration has articulated its unwavering commitment to the growth and

expansion of small and medium-sized businesses.

A key element of our business and economic development agenda is engaging

youth. We view the value of increasing the volume of youth participation in the

Province's business community as being vital to the long-term success of

Newfoundland and Labrador.

The Getting the Message Out program, which is one of several initiatives

underway to achieve that objective creates awareness of successful entrepreneurs

and career opportunities. Through the program, university work-term students

deliver presentations to high school students. This peer-to-peer model has

proven effective, as it links students with presenters they can relate to,

making information-sharing interactive and memorable.

Additionally, the Department of Innovation, Business and Rural Development,

as part of the program, recently concluded its fourth case study competition.

Through this competition, students were invited to submit profiles from

entrepreneurs whose achievements inspire them.

The winner of this year's competition is Anika Eddison of Bayview Regional

Collegiate in St. Lunaire-Griquet.

Ms Eddison profiled Marie MacDonald who is an accomplished entrepreneur and

co-owner of Northern Delight in Gunner's Cove, a restaurant that has also been

featured in MacLean's magazine. For earning this year's top prize, Ms

Eddison will receive an iPad, her classroom will receive a laptop, and her

school will receive a computer.

I would also like to acknowledge the runners-up: Emily Bland of Exploits

Valley High School in Grand Falls-Windsor and Jessica Ryan of Menihek High

School in Labrador City as well as all those who made submissions.

Mr. Speaker, the future of youth is filled with optimism. They envision a

future of exciting and progressive careers. Initiatives such as the case study

competition allow us to engage youth and connect them to vibrant businesses. By

preparing them for a future here in Newfoundland and Labrador, we are securing

our future success as a Province.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. Barbe.

MR. BENNETT: Mr. Speaker, I thank the minister for an advance copy first

of all. This is indeed good news from this department and from this minister.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. BENNETT: No ifs, ands, or buts, and no qualifications, this is good

news; this is a good program.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. BENNETT: Mr. Speaker, I handle it much better when they are mean to

me than when they are nice to me. When they are nice to me, I do not know what

to say but (inaudible)

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. BENNETT: This is great news, and I want to go on to congratulate the

winner Anika Eddison of Bayview Regional Collegiate in St. Lunaire-Griquet and

also the other runners-up: Emily Bland and Jessica Ryan. This is a great program

and it encourages young people. Any money invested in young people and, even

more, invested in young people so they would go into business has to be money

well-spent in our Province.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for The Straits White Bay North.

MR. MITCHELMORE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I, too, thank the minister for an advance copy of his statement. I can attest

to the value of this program, as a former intern myself of the Getting the

Message Out program. It certainly does provide entrepreneurs, businesses, and

career opportunities for people across the Province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. MITCHELMORE: I commend Anika Eddison who is a constituent in my

district and for profiling the owners of Northern Delight restaurant and all the

other students who participated. Another great initiative of this department is

the Young Entrepreneurs and Innovators Program, which also helps encourage youth

and provides them with avenues to get loans to get into business and partner

with other agencies. I encourage, as a past entrepreneur myself, to get youth to

participate in the program.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Oral Questions.

Oral Questions

MR. SPEAKER: The Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Financial reports indicate that the SNC-Lavalin payment scandal drags on and

its depressed stock makes it ripe for a takeover. Since 28,000 people work at

SNC, these uncertainties can result in problems and slow down production.

I ask the minister: To protect the interests of Newfoundlanders and

Labradorians in this situation, has Nalcor required SNC-Lavalin to post a

performance bond related to the Muskrat Falls Project?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Natural Resources.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENNEDY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I indicated to the member opposite that I would find out yesterday the value

of the contract. The value of the contract was $60 million. It was done through

a request for proposals process and there were two other bidders, Mr. Speaker.

SNC-Lavalin, Mr. Speaker, is the biggest construction company in Canada. It

has headquarters or offices in forty countries. It operates in more than 100

countries and has 28,000 employees.

Mr. Speaker, I have read the internal review that was done up on what

happened in this case. There were two instances of the improper transfer of

money. There is nothing to indicate, Mr. Speaker, at this point that there is

any impact or effect on the Muskrat Falls Project. As I indicated yesterday, Mr.

Ed Martin at Nalcor is monitoring the situation as it evolves.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Will performance bonds protect the purchaser if the contractor is unable to

complete the work that is planned? On a $60 million contract these are very

important, especially given the situation with SNC-Lavalin. I understand it is a

big company, but obviously all we need to do is look back and we can see what

has happened to some companies larger than SNC.

So I ask the minister: Given the effect that this situation could have on

SNC-Lavalin, are you expecting any more slowdowns or missed deadlines related to

the DG3 numbers?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Natural Resources.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENNEDY: Yes, Mr. Speaker, another point I should make is that Nalcor

also has an owner team working with SNC-Lavalin on the project. They are

monitoring on a daily basis the work.

Mr. Speaker, I am not aware of any slowdowns or delays as a result of the

work of SNC-Lavalin, nor am I aware of any delays at this point in relation to

the provision of the Decision Gate 3 numbers. At this point, Mr. Speaker, we

expect those numbers to be provided around the middle of July. They will be then

reviewed by Manitoba Hydro International. As we indicated, we will provide those

numbers to the Opposition and to members of the public so there can be plenty of

review prior to a debate in the fall.

From our perspective as a government, Mr. Speaker, we welcome the debate. We

welcome the input of the Opposition and members of the public. We look forward

to a full debate in the fall.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL: Mr. Speaker, the contract for ambulance services for the

Province expired on March 31, 2012. There have been some early meetings, but no

official negotiations have yet started. There are a number of outstanding issues

that ambulance providers want to resolve, including unregistered dispatchers and

standards.

I ask the minister: Why hasn't government started negotiations, given the

contract has already expired and there are issues that need to be addressed?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, we are certainly committed to the ambulance review. In fact, we

have done the preliminary work to get that review started, and I expect that we

will be in a position to move forward with an RFP very, very soon. Very

important to us the standards around ambulances and the operations of

ambulances in this Province are of the utmost importance. It is something we

keep an eye on, on a regular basis and as I said, we have committed to the

review; we will get started very soon.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL: Minister, the question was more about the round of negotiations

that expired in March, but I will be right back to you now.

All subsidizing training for paramedics in the Province is done through the

College of the North Atlantic, so recruitment and retention remains a problem.

Ambulances are still shorthanded and the Province is not training enough people

to meet the standards.

I ask the minister: What are you going to do to increase the number of

paramedics in this Province?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS BURKE: Mr. Speaker, the College of the North Atlantic creates an

academic plan based on labour markets and skill sets and what may be needed.

They have a paramedic program that is based in Stephenville and from that

program they are able to graduate people who move into jobs, as the Leader of

the Opposition has indicated.

Mr. Speaker, the college monitors these programs, monitors the labour market,

and then based on that determines the number of seats that they need at any

given year, or how they continue programs. Like any program, this is one that

they would continue to monitor to ensure that there are a sufficient number of

paramedics in the Province. I can certainly bring it to their attention that

there are some concerns being expressed but, Mr. Speaker, we do have that

program and it is an ongoing program.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I will remind the minister that even today we are bringing in paramedics from

Ontario. I know in my own district we have two that are in from Ontario already.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday Parks Canada has estimated that between seventy and

100 jobs will be eliminated or reduced across the Province.

I ask the minister: What can you tell us about the specific impact these cuts

will have on tourist operations and what is the department doing to ensure that

tourist operators run smoothly in the face of these cuts?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Recreation.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. DALLEY: Mr. Speaker, we too got the information on potential job

losses in the national parks from Parks Canada. Any time there is job losses it

raises concerns; obviously, we are immediately concerned about job losses. As we

get further into the numbers and get a further assessment on the impact and

potential impact for our tourism, Mr. Speaker, we will obviously be taking a

closer look and refocusing within our own department and to continue the

investments that we made in tourism in the Province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL: Mr. Speaker, federal cuts are having a disproportionate impact

on this Province. Over the past few weeks we have heard a number of

announcements, yesterday it was Parks Canada.

I ask the minister: Are you aware of any other federal cuts that will affect

the programs and services that we have not heard of yet which will impact

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury

Board.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. MARSHALL: No, Mr. Speaker. We have seen the cuts that have been

announced in the media. We have not been advised of any further job elimination

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Burgeo La Poile.

MR. A. PARSONS: Mr. Speaker, since the Province took over administration

of the labour market development funds from the federal government there have

been many issues. First, the contracts for organizations that provide

counselling services were not renewed in a timely manner. Now we are having

issues with JCP.

I ask the minister: Can she explain the delays that have occurred and the

lack of explanation being given to organizations that were rejected?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS BURKE: Mr. Speaker, the job creation projects that we have in

Newfoundland and Labrador total $13.9 million. We are in the process right now

for holding out $6.1 million in JCPs, and this week there will be more

applications coming in.

Mr. Speaker, all applications that come in will be reviewed and assessed and

due diligence will be done, and we will certainly make the decisions to decide

which ones get funded. In saying that, Mr. Speaker, the applications that came

in at this time total $17 million. The Budget was $6 million. So, Mr. Speaker,

due diligence is necessary so that we look at the applications for quality and

ensure that we are able to fund ones that meet the needs of the labour market.

Also, in saying that, Mr. Speaker, we approved, in Newfoundland and Labrador,

115 projects under this round of JCPs.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Burgeo La Poile.

MR. A. PARSONS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The problem I have is that these organizations are not being told why they

have been turned down.

Mr. Speaker, the community organizations applying for funding under JCP often

provide critical support for many tourism related facilities in this Province.

I ask the minister: Is she concerned that while the Province is spending

millions to invite people to our Province, is, at the same time, cutting the

legs out from under these local groups that provide a positive experience for

these visitors when they arrive?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS BURKE: Mr. Speaker, I do not doubt for a second that the tourism

operators, whether for profit or non profit, offer very valuable experience to

people who visit this Province or people within this Province who take the time

to visit these sites.

Mr. Speaker, the job creation program is a program that comes under the

Labour Market Development Agreement, and the JCP program is all about enabling

and ensuring that people in this Province have the ability to have the work

experience necessary that will assist them to attach to the labour market.

Although I hear the concerns, this program has helped, and will continue to help

some tourism operators basically in the non-profit area, but, Mr. Speaker, the

program itself is not there fully to fund tourism operations.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Burgeo La Poile.

MR. A. PARSONS: Mr. Speaker, again, we are getting reports of problems

with JCP from all over the Province.

So, I ask the minister again, as I have asked her staff: Will she provide a

list of funding that has been approved and rejected, broken down by provincial

district?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Chair has recognized the hon. Minister of Advanced Education and Skills.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS BURKE: Mr. Speaker, the information is certainly available, and we

will make it available. What is interesting, though if the hon. member thinks

it is based on a political basis. In this House of Assembly, the Liberal

Opposition take 12.5 per cent of the seats, the JCP funding for the Liberal

districts was 12.7 per cent, and, in addition to that, the entire JCP budget

that we allotted this round, 10 per cent went to the District of Burgeo La

Poile.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Member for Torngat Mountains.

MR. EDMUNDS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We have asked in the past about increasing the coyote bounty to help contend

with the coyote problem. Mr. Speaker, in St. John's alone today, coyotes have

been spotted in Bannerman Park and on Pennywell Road.

I ask the Minister of Environment and Conservation: What kind of coyote

monitoring program is the department conducting throughout the Province? What is

your department prepared to do to prevent coyote-human interactions?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Environment and Conservation.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. FRENCH: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As the hon. member would know, certainly being from a district familiar with

wildlife and so on, Mr. Speaker, there are coyotes, I can assure the hon.

member, in every major city in the country. The onus is upon us now; the coyote

is here, and we have to live with the coyote. There are a number of things that

we have put out advisories on, to allow the general public to be careful of,

particularly when it comes to their garbage disposal, keeping their pets on

leashes and so on, Mr. Speaker.

I say to the hon. member to educate the people in his own district about

coyotes, and I ought to remind the hon. member of one thing: never cry wolf, Mr.

Speaker.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Opposition House Leader.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

My question is for the Minister of Health, and it is regarding the family

caregiver program. In the election this fall, the government committed to making

family caregiver allowances available to people in the Province. I have asked

the question three times. I have gotten three different answers.

Mr. Speaker, in March when I asked the minister, she said there was a fair

bit of planning that was still needed and that there was no model anywhere in

Canada or in North America. However, this morning in interviews with CBC Corner

Brook, she is leading people to believe that they are just going to make the

program a little bit easier to access and the work is already done.

I ask the minister to give some clarification on where they are going with

this program.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I am not intending to mislead or lead anyone in any direction.

What we have committed to doing here is developing policy. We have stated quite

clearly that policy is nonexistent in jurisdictions where we have scanned. We

are trying our best to put in place a policy that is going to meet the needs of

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, and that is going to respond as well to our

Blue Book commitment.

Mr. Speaker, there are challenges around doing that. We are not in a rush to

do this to get it done. We are in a rush to do this to get it done properly to

best suit the needs of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. That is our commitment,

Mr. Speaker, and we will abide by that.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Opposition House Leader.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

In the House of Assembly in March, and I have Hansard in front of me, the

minister did not talk about policy. She talked about a new model and she talked

about developing a model for Newfoundland and Labrador. Mr. Speaker, people in

this Province today are expecting to be paid caregivers for family care because

that was the commitment made by the PC government.

I ask the minister today: Is she going to make good on that commitment? Are

you going to pay out allowances for family caregivers in Newfoundland and

Labrador?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: Mr. Speaker, I am not sure which of the four questions she

wants answered first. Let me tell you, we have made a commitment. We are going

to see that commitment happen.

In the Blue Book, Mr. Speaker, we committed to doing a review around breast

cancer screening and we did that within the ninety days. In the Blue Book, Mr.

Speaker, we committed to doing a review around wait times within 120 days and we

delivered on that commitment.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: We will continue to deliver on our commitments. This one

will be no different. We will deliver.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. Barbe.

MR. BENNETT: Mr. Speaker, recently the managing director of the Canadian

Centre for Fisheries Innovation stated that our processors are

under-capitalized, with no bargaining power. This forces them to sell huge

quantities of seafood at low prices.

I ask the minister: Now that government has established a precedent by

lending millions to Carino for seal inventory, is he prepared to establish a

fund to help processors finance their inventory to maximize value and prevent

distress selling?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KING: Mr. Speaker, not long ago the member opposite stood in this

House and said that we would make $50 million on kippers, too, but I do not take

that to be factual. Because a gentleman gave a presentation across the Province

and made a statement, I do not take it in this House to mean that it is factual

nor that it ought to be the direction that this government or this industry will

take for the future.

I can say to the member opposite, in spite of some of rhetoric that he put

out a few moments ago around lapse spending which I am going to talk to him

about tomorrow this government has invested significantly in the fishing

industry. We have invested significantly in programs and services to support

harvesters and processors across the Province. We are investing in safety in the

industry and we are investing in marketing, Mr. Speaker, because we recognize

that while the fishing industry is important in Newfoundland, it is a small

piece of the world stage and we have to support it.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. Barbe.

MR. BENNETT: Mr. Speaker, the managing director of the Canadian Centre

for Fisheries Innovation, which is funded by this minister, revealed that we

dump 100,000 tonnes of landed seafood as waste, adding that there is no place in

the world that would do that. The director also suggested if we properly

utilized this valuable wastage, we would have $150 million in provincial

fisheries revenue.

I ask the minister: What is he doing to develop this potential for our

Province, or is he wasting this opportunity?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KING: For the record, Mr. Speaker, let us be clear: I do not

personally fund that particular organization. That organization is funded, as is

every other program of the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture, through a

vote of the Budget in this House on behalf of the government which of course,

in last year's Budget, the Opposition party did not support, I remind the

member; did not support the investment in technology in the Province to the tune

of millions of dollars, nor did they support, Mr. Speaker, nor did they support

the investment in moving forward with a marketing initiative that was wanted by

industry, was recognized in the MOU as being extremely important to developing

further markets for the fishing industry in Newfoundland. I remind the minister

opposite that his party did not support that and voted against that here in the

House.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Leader of the Third Party.

MS MICHAEL: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, government has eliminated the requirement that income support

recipients were forced to apply for and lock in to Canada Pension Plan benefits

at a reduced rate at age sixty.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills: When will

this new policy come into effect?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS BURKE: Mr. Speaker, as part of our Poverty Reduction Strategy, one of

the initiatives that we undertook this year was that up to this point people who

are receiving Income Support were required to apply for their CPP at the age of

sixty. In this Budget, Mr. Speaker, we have changed that so that people who are

receiving Income Support are no longer required to apply for CPP when they turn

sixty.

What that would do, Mr. Speaker, from that point on, they would be on a

reduced income. Particularly after sixty-five, they would lose 30 per cent of

their CPP. We have made an investment of $500,000 to ensure that people, when

they turn sixty, if they are receiving Income Support, it would be their

decision whether or not they apply for CPP. It will no longer be a requirement

in order to receive Income Support. Mr. Speaker, that policy will come into

effect (inaudible)

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Leader of the Third Party.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS MICHAEL: Mr. Speaker, maybe the minister will get to tell me when it

comes into effect the next time she stands.

Right now, I want to point out that although the elimination of this policy

is good, unfortunately, there are people between the ages of sixty and

sixty-five whom government have already forced on to CPP at a reduced rate,

through no fault of their own. We have received calls from people who are in

that situation right now.

I am asking the minister: What can government offer to these people who have

just applied for CPP and when can all of them see the change?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS BURKE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

That policy will come into effect very shortly. For people who have applied

for CPP and would like to rescind that, there is a procedure that they would go

through the federal government; because we do not approve the applications for

CPP, nor do we pay out that money. If anybody in that category between sixty and

sixty-five who are receiving CPP would prefer to stop it and delay the process,

they can do that through the federal government. There is a process laid out

through the federal government that they would have to go through. That would

not be something that they would do through the Income Support Program; that

would be something they would do through the federal side.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Leader of the Third Party.

MS MICHAEL: Mr. Speaker, I will look into that program.

I want to ask the minister: If there is a penalty that has to be paid for

rescinding, will the provincial government step in and help?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS BURKE: Mr. Speaker, I am not aware of any penalty; however, what I can

say is that the Department of Advanced Education and Skills does provide an

Income Support Program. We deal with thousands of people in the run of a year

and on a daily basis we certainly have caseworkers who deal with many

individuals. If there are any financial hardships while they are receiving

Income Support, we do due diligence in doing that assessment and we help

individuals wherever we can.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Leader of the Third Party.

MS MICHAEL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Seniors run into problems and are facing major financial challenges because

their eligibility for the 65Plus drug card is tied to the federal Guaranteed

Income Supplement. If a senior's income goes a bit higher than $16,000, they are

no longer eligible for the GIS and without warning they lose their seniors' drug

card.

So, Mr. Speaker: Will the Minister of Health and Community Services

immediately stop tying the 65Plus eligibility to a federal program in which the

income ceiling is below the poverty line?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, as a result of recent work that we did here in this House of

Assembly, and as a result of work that we have done around generics, and as a

result of the attention that we have paid to seniors in this Province,

particularly in terms of our drug plan, I think we have one of the best drug

plans that exists anywhere.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: Mr. Speaker, when we are talking about looking out to our

seniors, one of the primary efforts of our generic drug plan was to ensure that

seniors would have to pay no more than $6 on the cost of a dispensing fee. Mr.

Speaker, that does not exist anywhere else in this Province. We are very proud

of the work that we are doing in regard to provision of care for seniors, in

terms of the NLPDP.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Leader of the Third Party.

MS MICHAEL: Mr. Speaker, in our constituency offices we are hearing from

seniors who do not qualify for a 65Plus card because they are just above the

threshold and they have many problems paying for medicine.

I ask the minister: When will this government create a universal seniors'

drug program out of fairness to all seniors who are living on tight budgets?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: Mr. Speaker, we have five different drug programs in this

Province. If a senior has bills that are in access of what she or he is able to

pay, then we have another program that is able to help them out.

In the meantime, Mr. Speaker and we discussed this last night, as well, in

Estimates when we are talking about pharmacare, which is what I think the

member opposite is alluding to, we are ready to come to the table. It is a

matter of trying to get the federal government to come to the table. At this

point, they have not, but we have certainly stepped up to the tune of $159

million annually.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Leader of the Third Party.

MS MICHAEL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

No, I am not talking about pharmacare; I am talking about drug cards for all

seniors. The minister, herself, last night acknowledged the difficulty of having

a threshold.

I am asking her: Will she follow through and see that those thresholds for

seniors are ended?

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, once again, whenever we deliver programs of this nature there is

criticism from the opposite side of the House. Mr. Speaker, our programs are

allotted right throughout this country in terms of the Newfoundland and Labrador

Prescription Drug Program; $159 million annually is spent, Mr. Speaker. We have

just made agreements now to reinvest $29 million back into the 65Plus program.

We are doing, I think, a very good job at addressing the needs of seniors in

this Province and of addressing the needs with regard to prescription drugs in

this Province, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for The Straits White Bay North.

MR. MITCHELMORE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, approximately two years ago when the Grand Falls-Windsor paper

mill was vacated by AbititiBowater, the provincial government paid for around

the clock security. The Acting Premier at the time said this was to ensure that

the assets are secure and do not become a risk to public safety or the

environment. Mr. Speaker, the crumbling Englee fish plant has been closed for

nearly eight years and is certainly a public safety risk and a hazard to the

environment.

Mr. Speaker, why did the government remove the recently added security on

April 6 at the Englee plant, and when will they move to have the property

secured again?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HEDDERSON: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

When the mill closed down and came into our possession we, of course, took

responsibility for the security. At that particular time, Mr. Speaker, the

electricity was running through the mill. There were all sorts of concerns that

we wanted to make sure that we had the site secured. We went back and we hired

on some of the previous plant workers to come in and do the security. They have

been taking care of that since the last two years, but it has come to a time now

where Nalcor certainly is there in presence in the daytime. We have scaled back

the security for the most vulnerable times, which is in the nighttime and on the

weekends.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for The Straits White Bay North.

MR. MITCHELMORE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, a simple pen stroke by the minister to order the now defunct

company took nearly eight years. These years of inaction by the PC government

has created a major risk to public safety and the environment. Mr. Speaker,

government has requested the Town of Englee to pay 10 per cent of the security

cost to secure the deteriorating property. No such request was made to the Town

of Grand Falls-Windsor when the Province secured the old mill property nearly

two years ago.

Mr. Speaker, why is this government asking the town to pay for part of the

security costs when the precedent is that the Province pays for this absolutely

necessary service? Furthermore, Mr. Speaker, will the government refund the

amount already paid by the town?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Municipal Affairs.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. O'BRIEN: Mr. Speaker, I cannot believe that we just heard a member in

this House complaining about paying 10 per cent for a project in Newfoundland

and Labrador. We did provide security to the Englee plant. I sat with you on a

couple of occasions and explained the issues surrounding that.

Getting back to the Abitibi issue, there were important assets within that

building when we provided that security. There are no assets in that particular

building. There was a life and safety issue. We addressed that issue in regard

to security. That is now taken care of. We do not need it and then we do not

have to pay for it. That is absolutely what this is all about, fiscal

responsibility, I say to the hon. member.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. John's East.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. MURPHY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, roads in this Province recently came under scrutiny with a

ranking amongst the worst roads in Atlantic Canada. Congratulations on the other

side. Five provincial roads out of a possible ten made this list. It is not

something they should be proud of.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the minister: How does he determine what roads need proper

maintenance and where is the road strategy for the Province?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HEDDERSON: Mr. Speaker, I know when we look at the roads in our

Province, as a government we have made sure that we have addressed the roads in

a manner which gives priority to those that are most travelled, most in need.

When you look at the strategy, I am certainly not going to alter the strategy

simply because of some online voting about the worst roads in the Province. What

I will say is we will look at the roads, the condition of the roads, and make

decisions that will move us further along in taking care of the tremendous

deficit that was left to us by a previous Administration.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. John's East.

MR. MURPHY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is okay, I guess, for the minister to blame previous Administrations when

they have been there nine years.

Mr. Speaker, again, we have had problems with the provincial park campsite

reservation system. Some users are not able to get in online to register or fail

to get in on the site, in spite of the use of computers or even via the

telephone.

Mr. Speaker, what corrective measures will this government put into place so

that the system is going to be fair and equitable for everyone?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Environment and Conservation.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. FRENCH: Mr. Speaker, before I get into the details on how well this

system has worked this year, we always have problems, especially in Butter Pot,

because of the demand. In the first two minutes that the site opened, at 7:00

a.m. there were sixty applications actively being worked on. In the first ten

minutes, Mr. Speaker, there were 324 registrations made and booked for the

summer. By 11:00 o'clock that very same morning there was one site left at

Butter Pot Provincial Park for the May 24 weekend.

I suggest to the hon. member to take his pup tent I will give him a Coleman

stove, Mr. Speaker and enjoy his May 24 in that one campsite that is left.

Thank you very much.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The time for Question Period has expired.

Presenting Reports by Standing and Select Committees.

Tabling of Documents.

Notices of Motion.

Answers to Questions for which Notice has been Given.

Petitions.

Petitions

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of the Bay of Islands.

MR. JOYCE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise again today on the Animal Protection Act. I will read the petition,

Mr. Speaker:

WHEREAS the current Animal Protection Act was enacted in 1978 and is woefully

inadequate; and

WHEREAS it has been two years since the Animal Protection Act was passed in

the House of Assembly

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. JOYCE: but has not yet been proclaimed; and

WHEREAS the inaccuracy of the current animal protection law is of grave and

immediate concern to the SPCA; and

WHEREAS a new Animal Protection Act would ensure much more severe punishment

and ultimately reduce instances of these crimes;

WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly pray and call upon the

House of Assembly to urge the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to

immediately proclaim the new Animal Protection Act.

And in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr. Speaker, this has been an ongoing issue for a number of years. I

understand, Mr. Speaker, that there was a meeting with some groups and the

minister. I am not sure what happened out of that, but I just know that this act

was not proclaimed yet.

As we hear more and more every day, there is more cruelty to animals in

Newfoundland and Labrador. I am sure every member in this House would like to

see not one case brought forward, but that is not going to happen. We do need

protection and we do need tighter controls; we do need more restrictions and we

do need severe punishments to deter people from abusing animals, Mr. Speaker.

This has been ongoing now for about over two years. I am not sure what the

delay is. There are a lot of people in Newfoundland and Labrador wondering why

the delay, as it was committed to. I heard the Minister of Health say whatever

they commit to they are going to do; two years later, we are still waiting to

get this done, Mr. Speaker.

I ask the minister to help with all this, and I ask the House to urge all

members of the House of Assembly to put pressure on the government wherever we

can to have this act done. As we know, Mr. Speaker, and we are all aware that

the animals cannot speak for themselves, so we need to do it. Us as legislators

who create the law, form the law, we must ensure that we are going to enact the

law so that we can give the people, the providers of animals in our Province,

the proper tools to protect animals.

Mr. Speaker, I once again stand here, and I urge the House to ask the

government to proclaim this bill so that the people who are doing their duties

to take care of the animals in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador can do

it with some teeth, do it with some vigour, and know that the Government of

Newfoundland and Labrador is standing behind them.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for The Straits White Bay North.

MR. MITCHELMORE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I present a petition to the hon. House of Assembly in the Province of

Newfoundland and Labrador in Parliament Assembled, the petition of the

undersigned residents of Newfoundland and Labrador humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS the provincial government has not acknowledged that they have a role

to play in the removal of the condemned Englee fish plant; and

WHEREAS the Town of Englee has exhausted all avenues over the past seven

years, lobbying government for removal; and

WHEREAS inaction has resulted in economic loss for the town, delay of new

infrastructure and has become a concern of public safety as large debris has

fallen into the major shipping route.

We the undersigned petition the House of Assembly to urge the government to

immediately order full removal and environmental cleanup of this condemned

property, a former fish plant, in order to restore public confidence in the

system and settle land issues to permit new wharf development providing

residents of Englee with a mechanism to revitalize the presently devitalized

economy.

As in duty bound your petitioners will ever pray.

It is quite disappointing to hear the protection of assets verses the

important protection of increasing the public safety and in making sure that

public life is put as the greatest precedent.

I was in Englee on Friday, April 27, on this very issue. A little girl was

bicycling up through the main road, and she said: I am scared.

AN HON. MEMBER: Oh, yes, boy.

MR. MITCHELMORE: She certainly did, minister; she said: I am scared, Mr.

Speaker the fact that she lives on the other side and the road is right next

to it; the fact that there were parts, there were pieces of the building on the

other side of the road. People are greatly concerned. There is no protective

barrier. There is a piece of police tape that has been broken there. There has

been no wall or a fence. The security has been removed that was there. This is

not something that is the town's responsibility and I have no idea why they

would be forced to pay 10 per cent.

The provincial government today have released that they are investing

$765,000 to remediate old mine sites that have cost hundreds of millions of

dollars to this Province, as did the AbitibiBowater mill expropriation; the

cleanup has cost not only the provincial government, but it is costing the

federal government. This is something where we really need to press for stronger

legislation for fish companies and producers there to ensure that they pay and

they clean up their mess. This is something right now that is dilapidated, it is

endangering public life, and I certainly ask the government here and ask the

House to make sure that this matter gets taken care of.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for St. Barbe.

MR. BENNETT: Mr. Speaker, I bring this petition to the hon. House of

Assembly of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador in Parliament assembled.

The petition of the undersigned residents humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS home care allows the elderly and people with disabilities to remain

within the comfort and security of their homes, home care also allows people to

be discharged from hospital earlier;

WHEREAS many families find it difficult to recruit and retain home care

workers for their loved ones;

WHEREAS the PC Blue Book 2011, as well as the 2012 Speech from the Throne,

committed that government would develop a new model of home care and give people

the option of receiving that care from family members;

WHEREAS government has given no time commitment for when government plans to

implement paying family caregivers;

WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly pray and call upon the

House of Assembly to urge the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to

implement a new home care model to cover family caregivers.

As duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr. Speaker, home care for family members is something which, if it has not

or does not affect everybody in this House, clearly it will at some point,

either for ourselves, for parents, or other loved ones. This is an absolutely

critical issue.

The importance of petitions in the House was never as clear to me as earlier

today when I received a response from individuals in the Province. These

individuals in the Province really are our employers, they are our bosses, they

are the voters, and they are the people who send us here. Their response was: We

saw you with the petition for home care. Can you send out some petitions for us

to sign so you can bring a petition for us?

So, this is an absolutely critical issue that affects everybody personally,

and everybody at home. So, I bring this petition on behalf of these twelve other

people from my district, and I expect many more to come.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for St. John's East.

MR. MURPHY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Again, I present a petition on behalf of the people of the Burin Peninsula,

and I guess, in fact from Newfoundland and Labrador. The petition asks for

highway cameras. I will just read the prayer:

To the hon. House of Assembly of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador in

Parliament assembled. The petition of the undersigned residents of Newfoundland

and Labrador humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS the Burin Peninsula Highway is long and desolate, varying in

elevation, with highway conditions that are often difficult; and

WHEREAS this stretch of highway does not have adequate cellphone coverage to

allow for quick response times for people in distress who need help; and

WHEREAS this highway has innumerable hazards that have led to the death of

travellers in this area; and

WHEREAS no highway cameras are currently operating to let travellers know

about road conditions and warn of possible hazards;

We, the undersigned, petition the House of Assembly to urge the government to

install cameras on the Burin Peninsula Highway that will allow travellers to

check on the road conditions.

As in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr. Speaker, I think this has been a couple of times now I have presented

these names on behalf of this particular issue. This is a very important issue

and government will be doing an immense service to the people of not only the

Burin Peninsula, but the travelling, motoring public out there who use that

Burin Peninsula Highway both for trade, commerce, and in general just travel.

Sometimes people are out for a drive and they want to know exactly what the road

conditions are like. I think having a camera out there on one of Newfoundland

and Labrador's more desolate highways would probably do these people an immense

service.

I hope the government will consider this petition and the government will

show interest in potentially looking at other areas of the Province to institute

such an important safety measure.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. John's North.

MR. KIRBY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am happy to present the anti-replacement worker petition.

To the hon. House of Assembly of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador in

Parliament assembled. The petition of the undersigned residents of Newfoundland

and Labrador humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS strikes and lockouts are rare, and on average 97 per cent of

collective agreements are negotiated without work disruption; and

WHEREAS anti-temporary replacement workers laws have existed in Quebec in

since 1978; in British Columbia since 1993; and successive governments in those

provinces have never repealed those laws; and

WHEREAS anti-temporary replacement workers legislation has reduced the length

and divisiveness of labour disputes; and

WHEREAS the use of temporary replacement workers during a strike or lockout

is damaging to the social fabric of a community, the local economy, and the

well-being of residents, as evident in the recent use of temporary replacement

workers by both Ocean Choice International and Vale in Voisey's Bay;

We, the undersigned, petition the House of Assembly to urge government to

enact legislation banning the use of temporary replacement workers during a

strike or lockout.

As in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr. Speaker, this petition has been circulated across the Province. I have

received thousands of signatures in return to the petition. We had an incident a

while back where Vale workers were off work for some eighteen months because of

the use of scab labour. Most recently, OCI had its trawlermen from the

Newfoundland Lynx out for ten weeks. I believe going forward with increased

industrial activity that is proposed for the Province on various projects going

forward, I think it would be useful for us to enact this anti-replacement worker

legislation so that other workers do not have to endure what it is that other

workers have endured as a result of the absence of this legislation in the

Province. I urge the House of Assembly to heed the call of these petitioners and

enact this legislation as soon as possible.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Orders of the Day

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Government House Leader.

MR. KENNEDY: Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I call from the Order Paper, Order 3, third reading of Bill 3,

An Act To Amend The Enduring Powers Of Attorney Act.

MR. SPEAKER: Third reading of Bill 3.

It is moved and seconded that the said bill be now read a third time.

Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion that Bill 3 be read for

the third time?

All those in favour, aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

MR. SPEAKER: All those against, nay'.

Carried.

CLERK: A bill,

An Act To Amend The Enduring Powers Of Attorney Act. (Bill

MR. SPEAKER: This bill is now read a third time and it is ordered that

the bill do pass and that the title be as on the Order Paper.

On motion, a bill, "An Act To Amend The Enduring Powers Of Attorney Act",

read a third time, ordered passed and its title be as on the Order Paper. (Bill

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Government House Leader.

MR. KENNEDY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I call from the Order Paper, Order 4, third reading of a bill,

An Act To

Amend The Revenue Administration Act. (Bill 5)

MR. SPEAKER: It is moved and seconded that the said bill be now read a

third time.

Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion that Bill 5 be read a

third time?

All those in favour, aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

MR. SPEAKER: All those against, nay'.

Carried.

CLERK: A bill,

An Act To Amend The Revenue Administration Act. (Bill 5)

MR. SPEAKER: This bill is now read a third time and it is ordered that

the bill do pass and its title be as on the Order Paper.

On motion, a bill,

An Act To Amend The Revenue Administration Act", read a

third time, ordered passed and its title be as on the Order Paper. (Bill 5)

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Government House Leader.

MR. KENNEDY: Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I call from the Order Paper, Order 5, third reading of a bill,

An Act To Amend The Municipalities Act, 1999 and The Urban And Rural Planning

Act, 2000. (Bill 9)

MR. SPEAKER: It is moved and seconded that the said bill be now read a

third time.

Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion that Bill 9 be read a

third time?

All those in favour, aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

MR. SPEAKER: All those against, nay'.

Motion carried.

CLERK: A bill,

An Act To Amend The Municipalities Act, 1999 and The Urban

And Rural Planning Act, 2000. (Bill 9)

MR. SPEAKER: This bill is now read a third time and it is ordered that

the bill do pass and that its title be as on the Order Paper.

On motion, a bill, "An Act To Amend The Municipalities Act, 1999 and The

Urban And Rural Planning Act, 2000". (Bill 9)

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Government House Leader.

MR. KENNEDY: Yes, Mr. Speaker.

I call from the Order Paper, Motion 1, relating in General the Budgetary

Policy of the Government, the Budget Speech. We will pick up where we left off

yesterday, with the Minister of Child, Youth and Family Services.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Child, Youth and Family Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS JOHNSON: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is a pleasure to rise again and continue speaking about this wonderful

Budget, a wonderful Budget for all people in the Province when it comes to

health care, education, transportation and works, tourism, business and so on.

Of course, the focus for me has been on children and in particular, in the

Department of CYFS.

I started yesterday on our two major strategies, the first one being the

10-Year Child Care Strategy. I have about twenty minutes left out of my hour, so

I ask that people bear with me hopefully because this is really great stuff for

not only the children, but for the economy as a whole. Yesterday, I finished up

speaking about the sufficiency key component in our ten-year strategy in that we

will increase spaces by 70 per cent over ten years. This is with an investment

of $457 million over ten years, Mr. Speaker, so quite the significant

investment.

Around sufficiency, I also neglected to point out that we will be determining

the need for spaces based on needs assessments in different regions and

communities throughout the Province. One thing that you often hear from the

Third Party is build a universal system. I guess their focus is building it

without any real strategic thinking, without realizing that child care is not

mandatory, without recognizing that parents have a choice and not all parents

want to put their child into a child care centre. Some parents want to put their

children into a family child care home, and others rely on family members and

friends. Again, that is their choice.

This strategy is very strategic in that we look at a needs assessment in

different parts of the Province to see where the need is greatest and to focus

our efforts there. The other thing with this strategy where the Third Party

fails miserably is in the area of private operators. Our goal is to create more

spaces and more quality spaces, and we see a role for private operators in that.

We heard loud and clear from the Third Party that they do not. I know at our

stakeholders' briefing with the Budget, they were quite pleased to see that this

government recognizes the importance of private operators in the system that we

have and are willing to work with them on a go-forward basis.

The other thing with the system that the Third Party proposes, the universal

system, is that we have a real issue in this Province with attracting, finding,

recruiting, and retaining early childhood educators, or ECEs, so their plan of

going out tomorrow and building this huge system really would not work anyway.

It comes back to that strategic thinking, because you can build all the spaces

you want; if you do not have the qualified staff to go in and work in those

spaces then you are really throwing your money out the window. This plan has

vision, it is strategic, it is comprehensive, and it looks at all of the key

components including sufficiency, quality, and affordability.

Mr. Speaker, I spoke yesterday around the quality piece. I talked about the

various ways that ECEs now could get their Level I either through on-the-job

training, prior experience for prior work, and through the new Level I ECE

certificate program that will be introduced at the colleges and the private

institutions. We have all confidence that will be in place by this September. We

have developed the standards.

That is where I ended yesterday. The other key component of our strategy

around quality certainly getting the training is really important and getting

the training in a timely manner the other component is the compensation. This

government increased the educational supplement to early childhood educators

back in 2006. The early childhood education supplement for a Level I is $3,300

and if you have a Level II, it is $6,600. One of the things that we announced

last Tuesday in the Budget is that we would be enhancing that educational

supplement. The details of that enhancement will roll out in the very near

future; I certainly suspect it will be somewhere around ECE Week, Mr. Speaker,

which is the end of May, early June.

The other component really important, critical component in our Child

Care Strategy is affordability. Going around the Province and hearing the

stories from the parents because when we did our consultations we spoke with

early childhood educators, child care operators, parents, AECENL, Family and

Child Care Connections, any and every stakeholder that had a role in child care,

including businesses, Mr. Speaker, because for the labour market this is

certainly a critical component. One of the things that we heard was

affordability is an issue. Many people said it is often more expensive to put

your child through child care than it is to pay tuition for a person attending

university.

As part of our strategy, we looked around the country. Operating grants are

something that is used nationally and it is something that we are proposing to

do in this strategy. We expect that the operating grant system will come on

board in 2014-2015; there will be more details on this rolled out in the future.

In the interim, we will continue with our capacity initiative, which we

introduced in 2006. It does not mean that there will not be any new spaces; it

does not mean that there will not be operating grants in the interim, it is just

there is a huge piece of work to do with the 182 centres that we currently have

in the system, consulting with them.

We have done a lot of work around looking at the different configurations of

child care centres: forty-eight spaces versus sixty spaces, part-time versus

full-time did all kinds of modelling in terms of the costs around that. In

fairness to the child care centres, we need to do a more focused consultation

piece with the 182 centres to see what that operating grant will look like. It

will include costs in terms of compensation for the ECEs and so on.

This system will be voluntary, and I think that is a really important part

and comes back to the private operators. After hearing the NDP, the Third Party,

continuously talking about a universal child care system run by government, they

feared that there was not a role for them to play. Mr. Speaker, we are at a

place where we have 10 per cent coverage of all children aged zero to twelve. We

do not want to chew off our nose to spite our face; we want to work with the

child care centres that are currently there or else we will be going backwards

if there is no room for them.

This system is voluntary. We want to recognize and appreciate that some

centres may want to choose not to opt in to this system, and that is certainly

their right. They will still be regulated by us, they will still be monitored,

and they will still have to follow all of the occupational health and safety

guidelines and so on and so forth.

Under this system, if they choose to come in and operate, they will receive

an operating grant. For that operating grant or for that investment in public

funds, we will require that the child care centre, whether it be private or

not-for-profit, will have to cap their fees, and they will have to cap their

fees at the current subsidy rates. The other thing that we have heard loud and

clear, and we have heard it in this House from the Opposition Party and the

Third Party, and heard it throughout our consultations, is that while we have

one of the best subsidy programs in the country, it often gets eroded. Right now

the subsidy rate for a three to five-year-old is $30 a day. When you take that

subsidy to a child care centre, if they are charging $36 or $38 a day, then you

have to pay the additional $6 or $8 a day.

Just by the sheer nature of the fact that a family or a parent needs a

subsidy in the first place means they do not necessarily have the income and

cannot afford to pay for child care. Here we are trying to make it better and

more affordable for families to put their children in child care, but it is

eroded on the other end. A key component of this is the operating grant. It is

voluntary, but you will have to cap the fees at the subsidy rates. I am sure

many parents listening out there now are going to be very relieved to hear that.

We have 2,200 children on our subsidy system now and the majority of them are

being charged over the subsidy rates, so again, a huge, key component of the

Child Care Strategy.

So that about sums up the 10-Year Child Care Strategy. It will be released in

the very near future and more details will follow. Mr. Speaker, I can tell you

that staff in my department, stakeholders in the industry, parents, and anyone

and everyone involved worked very hard on this strategy. We went around in

circles many times and wondered: Should we cap fees? Should we not cap fees? We

explored every option inside out. We are very, very proud of the product we have

produced. The Premier, the Cabinet, and the caucus have been so supportive

because this, first and foremost, is critically important for children and

families. Also, from an economic perspective, a business perspective, this is

certainly a welcome announcement to all involved. We are all touched in one way

or another with child care.

Mr. Speaker, in the ten or eleven minutes I have and before I go on to the

next strategy, this is just a little bit of proof of the endorsement we received

on Budget Day. I mentioned it yesterday, briefly. The lady, Mary Walsh, from

AECENL, the Association of Early Childhood Educators Newfoundland and Labrador

had talked to the Premier, talked about the list she had that she wanted to see

in the Budget, and how government addressed every single thing in that list. I

heard her on a CBC show later in the evening. She came out and said that AECENL

is very much in support of our investments. She said AECENL, in their recent

consultations, have raised many issues; they have been heard, they have been

understood, and they have been addressed. Mr. Speaker, that certainly is a

wonderful endorsement to have. It just goes to show what can be done when you

work together with stakeholders.

On to the next piece, I just want to get into our final strategy, the

continuum of care strategy. This is an investment in our foster care system. It

is $4.1 million in year one and $14.3 million in year two, Mr. Speaker. I have

had many consultations with foster families and this will go a long way in

creating a level system, it will go a long way in letting our foster parents do

what it is they want to do. There will be a lot more details to come on this in

the very near future and certainly at the foster families' Canadian symposium in

June. What I will say, again a third party endorsement from the Foster Families

Association, they said, This is "an excellent example of what can be achieved

when stakeholders work together..." "The need for additional supports and

services has long been identified by our foster families and it is so good to

see that their voices have been heard and a response has been received."

We have worked really hard on these strategies. I am really pleased that the

investments were made into children in the Department of CYFS, and I certainly

hope that the Opposition will support this in the Budget.

Thank you very much.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Opposition House Leader.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am pleased today to rise and speak to the Budget. There are a number of

pieces that we want to speak about. First of all I will speak to the

non-confidence motion that was put forward by the Member for Humber Valley. Mr.

Speaker, it talked about the responsibility of government to address some of the

immediate economic problems of rural areas of the Province, as well as some of

the serious social needs which exist in the Province itself. I am going to speak

to some of those particular issues today in my comments. I know I do not have a

lot of time so I will try to get to as many of those issues as I possibly can.

Because I know that there are so many of them out there and so many of them that

are important to people in the Province.

Mr. Speaker, first of all I am going to start by addressing some of the

issues in Labrador. As the critic for Labrador as well as the critic for Natural

Resources, a lot of the things that I deal with falls directly within the

Labrador jurisdiction. First of all I want to talk about the pressing need that

was out there, and still remains today, for an inquiry into the Burton Winters

tragedy in Northern Labrador. Mr. Speaker, in Makkovik on January 29, the

community was shocked as to what happened. In the days subsequent to that, there

was a search. There were flaws that took place with how that particular search

was conducted, and therefore the people of that area, along with people

throughout Labrador and throughout Newfoundland, and in many parts of the

country that had a connection to Northern Labrador, to this Province, called

upon both the provincial and federal government, Mr. Speaker, to do an inquiry

into the death of Burton Winters and to look at where the system may have failed

in their ability to respond effectively to an emergency. Mr. Speaker, the

fifth estate did a full expos or documentary around this particular

tragedy, and they themselves looked for answers in which they did not get. They

surfaced with even more questions about what was happening.

Now, Mr. Speaker, the government has said that they have undertaken an

internal review, and I am sure they have undertaken that internal review;

however, I have never seen a copy of what that internal review outlined in terms

of what the Province's responsibility was but we know there was a responsibility

by the Province through Emergency Measures to respond and to forward for further

help and to call for further backup at particular times. It is our

understanding, in direct meetings that I had with both the Department of

National Defence Chief of Staff and also with the federal Minister MacKay that

those particular calls did not come in a timely fashion from Emergency Measures

in Newfoundland and Labrador. Therefore, Mr. Speaker, we have been asking the

Province to undertake to do an inquiry into this particular loss in Northern

Labrador.

To date, the government has not committed to do the inquiry; however, in this

Province we have seen many, many inquiries over the years. In fact, Mr. Speaker,

I have a complete list of them and if time permitted I could actually read every

single one of the inquiries that have been done in Newfoundland and Labrador at

a particular time, and those inquiries were triggered because the loss had

direct impact upon the Province. That was what triggered the inquiry. This is an

inquiry that could be triggered in exactly the same way, and, Mr. Speaker, to

date the government has failed to do that. We know that the family will meet

with the Premier this week and will be asking the Premier to do this inquiry. We

are hoping the government will respond to the direct request of the Winters

family, Mr. Speaker, and of the Burton family.

In addition to that, Mr. Speaker, very briefly, with regard to the closure of

the search and rescue centre; while it is not causing a great deal of concern

for the government opposite, it is certainly causing a great deal of concern for

people in the Province. It is like playing Russian roulette with people's lives

when you say that we are going to have the calls directed to another province in

Canada, in hopes of responding effectively and timely to the people of

Newfoundland and Labrador.

The Premier has said time and time again, and Hansard will show, that we are

not downsizing equipment or the assets that we have available for deployment but

we are changing in terms of how we make the calls, and how response mechanisms

are delegated the same answer we have heard from the federal minister, Peter

Penashue. Mr. Speaker, that does not carry any weight with me, because I already

know from the Burton Winters case that it was the mechanisms of how calls were

made and how help was asked for that resulted in a huge delay in response time.

Mr. Speaker, that was combined with the fact that there were assets available

that were not working effectively. So, Mr. Speaker, when you look at both of

these things, you know that both of them go hand in hand.

Now, that is why I am so concerned about what is happening with the Marine

Rescue Sub-Centre in this Province. I know there is going to be a period time

when they will look at how the transition is working, and if it can work, and

what their response times will be; however, in thirty days we may not get the

answers that we need. Those answers may not come for sixty days, ninety days, or

even a year and a half out, but when it does come, there will also come a

realization that a tragedy could have probably been prevented. You need to

remember that when these search and rescue centres in this Province were

established, it was done as a response mechanism to another tragedy that

occurred in Newfoundland and Labrador, and it was put there for a reason. That

reason, Mr. Speaker, was the loss of life, and now today it has been taken out

of it.

So, Mr. Speaker, that is the first issue that I wanted to address, and I

would encourage the government to make movement on those issues, they are very

important, and especially to do the inquiry into the Burton Winters case. With

regard to the search and rescue centre closure, they failed to act on that

particular issue over the last year and a half. They did not launch any kind of

a campaign against the federal government with regard to it, and now that office

is closed.

Mr. Speaker, I want to talk about a number of issues in my own district and

throughout Labrador. First of all, it is with regard to the federal cuts that

are coming. They are impacting communities right throughout Labrador. We are

seeing funding cut for basic programs like Community Access Programs, which are

community-based computer labs that are set up where the community has access to

that kind of technology. They exist in a lot of small communities around the

Province and many of them are in my own district. We are going to see those cut.

We are going to see self-employment offices, or outreach offices, being cut

throughout Labrador. These are offices that provide very essential programs to

communities, because the main office is in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, and therefore

their subsidiary offices throughout Labrador have workers which help people with

federal government programs like Old Age Security, Canada Pension programs,

rebate programs, and things like this. Now, we are seeing those offices cut as

well.

In addition, Mr. Speaker, we do not know what this means for 5 Wing Goose

Bay. We know that there are cuts on the horizon for the Department of National

Defence. We know that there has been no new mandate for 5 Wing Goose Bay other

than to continue with its operations as they have been. We know that the

contract with Serco is up for renewal and renegotiation.

There is always a concern around 5 Wing Goose Bay because there has been no

real commitment to the longevity of that particular DND base by the federal

government in the last ten years. There has been, Mr. Speaker, no new activity.

In fact, they have just been harnessing a workforce. I have no problems with

that, but how long can that continue? I think there has to be some real purpose

and meaning given to the base in Goose Bay if it is going to continue into the

foreseeable future and be able to operate as one of Canada's key national bases.

I think one of the ways that could happen is by establishing an Arctic

gateway in Labrador, to be based in Goose Bay. Back about two years ago, or

maybe a little longer, the federal government talked about putting an Arctic

gateway in New Brunswick to service the Arctic, which makes absolutely no sense.

If there is any place in the country that is well positioned and strategically

located, with the appropriate infrastructure to be able to operate as an Arctic

gateway, it would be Happy Valley-Goose Bay, not just with the Department of

National Defence facilities that they have available there, but also with the

port facilities that are available there as well. Today, we are running freight

still out of Montreal into Northern Nunavut, into all of Nunavut actually, right

across the three particular regions, including the Baffin region. All of that,

Mr. Speaker, could be done out of Labrador.

We have been asking the government opposite for six years now to carefully

look at that as an opportunity, because we see it as an opportunity in Labrador.

Government has still not done it and it makes no sense as to why. I think the

private sector have already proven to us that it can be done. If you look at the

Woodward Group of Companies, who is a strong partner affiliate with the

Government of Newfoundland and Labrador in delivering marine services currently,

they are also delivering services to people right across the three Arctic

regions of Canada. In particular, Mr. Speaker, they are delivering all the fuel

cash right across the northern Arctic region. They are doing it by ship. They

are the sole supplier. They not only are delivering, but they are owning and

operating in the Nunavut Territory a number of these retail and wholesale

outlets for petroleum products. They are doing it all right from Labrador, Mr.

Speaker, which is their main base of operation.

They have already shown us the way to do this. There is a way, and I think it

needs to be a partnership with the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador and

the Government of Nunavut to look at how we become that Arctic gateway for

shipping to the Arctic region. It has to be a government-to-government

partnership if this to going to work.

We have engaged with the Arctic region on a number of fronts, Mr. Speaker; we

have partnered with them to do the Northern Lights Conference every two years,

which we showcased this year in Ottawa and two years ago in Montreal. We also

partnered with them through our Chambers of Commerce in Labrador in doing what

we call the Nunavut Trade Show and Expo, along with the Expo Labrador, which

will be occurring around the end of June. We have a lot of partnerships already

with the Arctic region, and transportation is the next logical one which creates

a new economy for Labrador and for the people there.

In addition, Mr. Speaker, we would like to see the Government of Newfoundland

and Labrador look at doing a feasibility study to have a railway built in

Labrador. I say that, Mr. Speaker, because one of the key pieces that is

happening across Labrador today is the development of the mining industry. We

are seeing a lot of new mines; we are seeing a lot of investment by the mining

companies. There are two great barriers that mining companies in Labrador are

facing today. One is the availability of electricity, good hydro power

SOME HON. MEMBERS : Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS JONES: to be able to run their mining operations, because the

Government of Newfoundland despite the fact that it touts Muskrat Falls as the

big hydro development project, that power is not being made available to the

mining industry in Labrador. That has become a significant challenge in

developing new mines. In fact, many of them have reverted to diesel generation,

which is what we are seeing today: four mines in particular that I know of right

now there are probably more that are currently existing and operating today

on diesel-generated power in Labrador. In addition to that, Mr. Speaker, they

are negotiating with the Government of Quebec to look at how they can bring

power across the border from Quebec into Labrador to be able to feed their

mining operation. One of the biggest mines that are currently looking at that is

Alderon resources, of which the current and former Premier is a board member. It

is very ironic that the same proponent of Muskrat Falls who left out the mining

sector all along is now part of a company that is negotiating, as I understand,

with Quebec to bring that power from Quebec into Labrador.

That is the tangle that we are into in Labrador when it comes to power, Mr.

Speaker. I think for these mining companies to actually thrive and develop in

the way that they need to and bring the real economic returns to the people of

the Province because you need to realize that outside of oil and gas, which we

know oil and gas is on a downward swing in terms of the revenues that it will

generate and its contribution to GDP in the Province over the next twelve to

nineteen years, because of that, we know that it is the mining sector that is

going to start picking up the slack and become the next major contributor, next

to oil and gas as it is today, in a far greater way. Most of those mines are

based in Labrador.

industry today. If I was part of a government today that was looking at

developing Muskrat Falls, my primary focus would be to provide power for the

mining industry in Labrador, as well as the communities across Labrador. It can

be done.

One of the things, Mr. Speaker, that the Minister of Natural Resources said

to me in a side conversation at one point was: How do we do this and build the

transmission capacity? It is a good question a very good question because it

is not going to be cheap to build the transmission capacity; however, it can be

done. The way it can be done is that there has to be a buy in and a partnership

with the mining companies. I know every mining company out there is going to

say: Listen, we are not going to pay twenty-eight cents a kilowatt for power and

invest in a transmission line and you cannot expect them to. If you are going

to expect them to invest in the long-term infrastructure in Labrador to transmit

that power, then you need to be able to negotiate with them at a rate that is

fair and reasonable so that they are getting the power for a rate that is

feasible for their mines to continue to operate, but also feasible for the

government to see a return for the people of the Province.

What we are seeing today is Muskrat Falls being developed primarily to bring

power to the Island portion of the Province where we have not really established

a tremendous demand for that power and to do so at great financial risk to the

people of the Province for the next five decades; however, what we are saying,

look to where the demand is first and meet that demand first. That exists in

Labrador and that is not the direction that the government has been taking.

In addition, Mr. Speaker, the other challenge, of course, for the mining

companies is the access to railway. Right now, the only port for shipping ore

happens to be in Sept-les. Sept-les is right across the border from Labrador

on the Quebec side. Right now, all of the iron ore that is coming out of Wabush,

coming out of IOC, coming out of New Millennium, coming out of Labrador Iron

Mines, all of that ore is currently going across the border to Quebec by railway

and being shipped through Sept-les. I know my colleague, the Member for

Labrador West, will know this very well. He grew up in the mining industry and

the railway tracks are on his doorstep. So, he knows exactly what I am talking

about. When the iron ore industry was established in Labrador, there was no

transportation mechanism to get that ore out. Sept- les, at the time, was a

port that was identified jointly with the companies and, of course, with the

mining operations that were ongoing as well on the Quebec border, on the Quebec

side.

Mr. Speaker, before I get into all of that part of it, because I do want to

examine it a little bit, first, I need to move a sub-amendment. I would like to

do that now before my time runs out.

Mr. Speaker, I want to move, seconded by the Member for St. Barbe, that the

amendment that was previously presented, the non-confidence motion, be amended

by changing the period at the end of thereof to a comma and by adding

immediately thereafter the following words: and that this House also commends

the government for its failure to present a budget that reflects the

possibilities which exist in terms of addressing the needs of the people of this

Province.

That is my sub-amendment, Mr. Speaker, and I will table it now.

MR. SPEAKER (Kent): Order, please!

A sub-amendment has been moved by the hon. the Opposition House Leader,

seconded by the Member for St. Barbe. I wish to consider the amendment. The

House will now take a brief recess to consider the amendment and we will resume

shortly.

Recess

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I have had an opportunity to review the sub-amendment, and I have determined

that it is indeed in order.

The hon. the Opposition House Leader.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I appreciate your ruling.

Just to finish my comments with regard to the railway piece in Labrador, and

the needs of the mining industry. Mr. Speaker, I was speaking about all of the

ore right now that is being mined in Labrador is being shipped out of Sept-Iles

in Quebec. Mr. Speaker, we know the current railway that exists today is not

able to handle the capacity of ore that is going to come out of Labrador over

the next five to ten years. As we see the expansion of IOC to 50 million tons,

and then we see the further expansion of the other mines, the new mines that are

coming on stream, some of which today we are only seeing at 2 million tons, that

over the next few years will continue to grow and grow up to 6 to 7 million tons

of ore, and others that will be even bigger than that, such as the second mine

by New Millennium and Alderon and those companies.

Anyway, to get to my point; in order to get that ore out, they need to have a

transportation mechanism. What is being looked at today is extending and

upgrading the railway, although it has already just gone through an upgrading

project, but also looking at expanding the Port of Sept-Iles even further,

although it was currently expanded in the last couple of years. They are also

looking at a second railway.

That brings me to the point that it is time for the Government of

Newfoundland and Labrador to start looking very seriously at ore shipments in

Labrador and the iron ore industry. We are not talking about a ten-year project

here. We are talking about 100 years of industry that is going to continue in

Labrador. Unless we do something to ensure that we can capitalize on the

benefits in Labrador, we are going to continue to see all of that ore going out

of Labrador to Quebec and being shipped out of Quebec.

I will give you an example. When the iron ore companies started in Labrador

West and the railway went through to Sept-Iles, Sept-Iles was a fishing

community just like any other community on the South Coast or North Coast of

Labrador today. It had a few hundred people, Mr. Speaker, and it was dependent

upon one industry. Today, Sept-Iles has 40,000, 50,000 people in population. It

has expanded industry around the mining sector alone. They have capitalized on

the industry and the mining wealth of Labrador.

What I am saying to the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador today, have a

little bit of vision for where we are going in the next 100 years in Labrador,

the next twenty-five years in Labrador. Have some vision for that and start

looking at, one, how we bring power to these companies through Muskrat Falls.

Secondly, is the potential there to finally build a railway across Labrador? Is

it, or is it not? I cannot answer the question. All I see is an opportunity. I

see an opportunity today to see ore processed and shipped from Labrador. There

are lots of ports that are available. Goose Bay could be a port. Cartwright

could be a port. The Straits could be a port. Rigolet could be a port. There is

any number of communities that could be ports. If Voisey's Bay could actually be

a port for ore shipping, almost any port in Labrador could probably be a port if

you wanted to look at it in that capacity.

Mr. Speaker, we will not know unless there is a feasibility study. I am

asking the government to do just that, to do a feasibility study to see if it is

worth the investment in Labrador. Can we partner with the mining sector to build

a railway? It is my understanding that even though the federal government is

putting $55 million into the first phase now in Quebec, that money is going to

be also matched by the Province of Quebec, but there are also going to be

investments. A third of that money they are expecting to come from the mining

sector alone. They are going to be asking mining companies that are taking ore

out of Labrador, processing it in Labrador, to put money in to build the

infrastructure in Quebec. That is what is being asked of them. That money is not

going to come for infrastructure in Labrador or Newfoundland or benefits for our

people, it is going to go to benefit Quebec. I find it very frustrating in

Labrador, because I found over the last eight years there has not been the kind

of vision for Labrador by the government opposite that should be there for an

area of this Province that is contributing so much to everyone in Newfoundland

and Labrador and has the potential to grow at a far greater pace than any other

region in probably Eastern Canada at this stage.

Mr. Speaker, on that note, I want to talk as well about the highway. One of

the areas where they have invested, they have invested to complete Phase III of

the Trans-Labrador Highway and they have invested monies to complete the paving

between Labrador West and Happy Valley-Goose Bay; however, so far this year we

have received no commitment whatsoever on any funds for Phase II and Phase III

of that particular highway.

Mr. Speaker, we already know that the cost estimates to widen and pave Phase

II of the highway is around $147.2 million. We also know that the estimate cost

to widen and pave Phase III of the highway is around $152.3 million. Mr.

Speaker, what we want to know is what is going to be done this summer? How much

of it is going to be started? How much are we going to see done?

I just drove the entire highway from L'Anse au Clair right to Cartwright in

the last couple of weeks and the road is absolutely shocking. In fact, I hate to

get up and talk about it because I do not want it to be a deterrent to people in

the Province from using that road. I do not want it to be a deterrent for the

tourism industry because there are times when that road, although it is a gravel

road it is a good gravel road. There are times when it is bad; it is a very bad

gravel road. I am always hesitant, Mr. Speaker, about bringing it up; however,

in the last few weeks I have travelled that road and I can tell you it needs

work. It needs work today. Not just a grader, Mr. Speaker, because in many

sections of the road there is nothing left to grade. There needs to be crushed

stone. Some of those sections of road are ten and twelve years old now and they

have not had any crushed stone put on it, and it needs to be done.

We are waiting for the minister now to make his announcement with regard to

what he is going to do on Phase II and III this year and what kind of stone we

are going to see on the road, how much widening we could see done, if the survey

work for the widening is going to be completed and so on. Those things need to

happen. How can you develop industry and promote it to people to use if you are

not going to do the work on it?

The other

section of road is the

section through the Labrador Straits where

the pavement is very, very, very - and if I could say, very, again - old, Mr.

Speaker, and very well worn. That particular

section of highway, to resurface it

you are looking at $30 million to $35 million to resurface the entire section.

You have to realize that you are looking at pavement that is forty years old

here, that has never had anything only cold patch, so you can imagine what it is

like.

There were 3,000 people using that particular piece of road for most of those

forty years; however, in the last ten years and in the last five years, the

usage on that road went from 3,000 people to nearly 30,000 people using the same

section of highway. It was already forty years old with very little maintenance,

a bit of cold patch here and there.

If you take the amount of traffic that is now on that road and the number of

tractor-trailers - we were lucky at one point, Mr. Speaker, if I was driving

that road in the Labrador Straits before the highway opened, I might pass a

tractor-trailer, I might pass a couple of cube vans. Today, Mr. Speaker, I am

passing dozens of tractor-trailers. I am passing, every time I am on the road,

twenty and thirty cube vans in a day. That is the kind of traffic that is being

generated, a completely different ball game; however, Mr. Speaker, there has

been no work done on it. People are damaging their vehicles every day. There is

nothing only constant complaints that I get from people right from L'Anse au

Clair to Labrador City, and all across the Island portion of the Province who

have to use that road. It is the major highway in Labrador. Again, we are

waiting for the government to tell us what work they are going to do on that

particular road this year.

In addition, Mr. Speaker, the ferry service continues to be a problem for the

users in Labrador. Not a problem for a lot of people in the House of Assembly

because you do not have to use the ferry services across the Strait of Belle

Isle or in Northern Labrador. For the people who do have to use it, it is a

problem, a significant problem.

Mr. Speaker, we have a ferry service that needs to be replaced. We have the

Apollo on the Strait of Belle Isle, which when the Apollo was put

there it was a good ship. It was far superior to anything we had ever had before

in our lives and we welcomed it. It served the people of the area; at the time

it was 3,000 people it was serving. Then the highway opened up a little further

up the road, Mr. Speaker, and we served a few more thousand. Now that ferry

services every person in Labrador, and every bit of traffic between Labrador and

the Island portion of the Province. In doing so, we have seen the capacity on it

quadruple over the years. In fact, we are carrying 100,000 people on that boat

every year. We are no longer carrying the 2,000 or 3,000 people that we normally

would.

While the ferry is going and trying, through its best efforts, to operate on

a year-round basis and we appreciate that the reality is neither the ship

nor the ports are equipped to handle a year-round service. When the government

did that, they did it as a pilot and they saw what the demand was for the

service, and it was hard to take it out of it when that demand was already

there. What we have not seen is any vision, any idea of how they are going to

fix that on a go-forward basis.

What we have been asking for, Mr. Speaker, is the government to call tenders

for a new ferry for that service, to make it a twenty-year contract to go out

and have a proper ship built to go on that service that can operate year round,

can operate in the ice, can operate with the amount of tractor trailers and

passenger traffic that is there, and put that boat on there to service the

people in that part of the Province and they deserve that. That would cost

very little to the government. Because if they were looking for a twenty or

twenty-five year contract then, whoever is bidding on that, they would have the

time to build the vessel, deliver the vessel, but also to pay for the contract

and the vessel. So you are not looking at a five-year contract or even a

ten-year contract where it becomes front-end loaded for the government in terms

of what they have to pay out.

This way, Mr. Speaker, they can rationalize the costs over a longer period of

time, make it easier on the taxpayer, and still deliver a quality, first-class

service to the people of Labrador. I do not know how many times I have to ask,

Mr. Speaker, but I have been asking and asking and asking. For the last three or

four years I have been writing I have a file in my office this thick from not

just letters and proposals from me, but from people all over Labrador

encouraging the government, requesting the government, and begging them to deal

with the ferry problem on the Strait of Belle Isle.

Mr. Speaker, a couple of other issues I want to talk about in the very short

time that I have left and I am hoping, in my remarks today, that I am giving

the government some good ideas that they are prepared to work on, on behalf of

the people of Labrador. One of the other areas I want to deal with is with

regard to cellphone coverage and Internet connection. I know the government did

announce some work that they are going to do around high-speed Internet in the

Province, but you cannot ignore the fact that technology is the real tool for

the twenty-first century for any kind of progress, whether it be social or

economic. Without the technology infrastructure available in our communities, we

are going to be stagnant. We are not going to be able to move forward. Companies

are not, organizations are not, towns are not, and people are not. That is what

happens. When you shut people in and you close them off from the centre of

information and their ability to be able to tap into the entire world, what you

are doing is you are isolating them in terms of their thoughts and their ideas

and you are isolating them in terms of their ability to be able to go forward

and do some of the magnificent things we have seen done as a result of people

having access to technology in their communities.

In my district, many of the communities that have high-speed Internet are

running out. I cannot even get Internet in my home community. I have to pick it

up on wireless from my neighbour. I cannot get high-speed Internet. It is not

available to me any more. Everything is to capacity. You go a couple of

communities down the road, this is in Mary's Harbour, you go to St. Lewis and it

is no different. Go down The Straits, it is no different; it is the same right

across the district. We have used up all of our capacity; therefore, that needs

to be upgraded. There are still communities that do not have high-speed

Internet.

My brother lives in Lodge Bay in a tiny community with no Internet access,

only dial-up. He went out and he bought his own system; he put in a wireless

Internet service for himself. Yet the government cannot respond. I have friends

who have cottages with wireless Internet, out in the middle of the wilderness

away from everything, like my brother is in Lodge Bay. Yet the government has

not been able to deliver quality Internet access to the people in the Province.

That just amazes me. It does amaze me because information technology today is no

different than having electricity to your house, or having a telephone to your

house, or having a highway to your house. Information technology is one of the

major pieces of infrastructure that we need today.

Cellphone coverage is important for the people in Labrador. You are driving

over 1,000 kilometres of highway with no access to the outside world. Where else

in the country are you going to see that? I have been on that highway. I have

been there in the day; I have been there in the night. I have been broken down.

I have been stuck in snowstorms. I have had car accidents. I have been stranded

on the side of the road for tire problems, all the rest of it, Mr. Speaker. I

have been there in every way, shape, or form that you can be, broken down and

stranded on a road in Labrador over the last sixteen years. That is because I am

a frequent user of the highway. Now, people who do not use the highway too much,

I am sure they do not have too many incidents. I seem to have had a lot of them

but only because I am on the road a lot, so the incident rate is going to be

higher.

I am not alone in that. There is a sense of security, Mr. Speaker, in knowing

you can make a cellphone call or you can access someone if you run into trouble,

as opposed to just sitting there in the middle of a wilderness and not being

able to get hold of people. This day and age, cellphone access has to be a part

of the essential services. We want to encourage the government to partner with

the private sector to deliver those services.

When you look at people like Aliant I have had many conversations with

them; they want to do something. They want to invest in these communities, but

they cannot do it alone because they will not get a return on their money. They

are like every other private company. You are not going to put money in when you

are not getting money out, but they are prepared to put a certain amount in.

They are prepared to operate the service and be a provider, but they need

government to help them with the infrastructure . We

are encouraging government to partner with the private companies to do just

that.

Mr. Speaker, I am dealing with some very critical issues in my district these

days. One in St. Lewis, I think, is probably the biggest challenge I have had

since I have been in politics. I have had a plant close down in this community,

which has been the sole employer. It impacts about fifty or sixty workers, which

in essence affects the whole community.

I was in there on Saturday and I had a public meeting with them. I had an

opportunity to meet with the Minister of Fisheries a couple of times last week

prior to that meeting. I have to say, Mr. Speaker, he was very helpful to me and

very helpful to my constituents in outlining the programs that the government

does have available. We will continue to deal with them and that community over

the course of the next little while as we work through that particular

transition.

I know it is not easy for the people in that community any more than it is

easy for the people on the Burin Peninsula, people on the Bonavista Peninsula,

or anywhere else in the Province. Mr. Speaker, we cannot control what private

sector companies often do. Like I said, it is all about the bottom line. When

they cannot make money, they often have a tendency to pull out. Then it is left

up to the government and to people who are elected like myself to try to pick up

the pieces and help the community forward. That is exactly what we are going to

do in this case. I will do so in co-operation with the Minister of Fisheries and

with the provincial government to try to do whatever we can to look after the

people in this community.

In addition, Mr. Speaker, I am dealing with issues around the school in

Charlottetown. I know I am starting to run out of time, but I do want to mention

it. Mr. Speaker, I walked in to what they now have as a classroom. They are in a

gymnasium. They do not even have a window in this gymnasium. That is where these

children are now being educated. I know the school had to be closed because of

mould. I know there are other complications.

I know there is a report on the structure now being sent to the Department of

Education; we met with the minister last week and he did assure us that we would

get a decision in a very timely fashion with regard to this school, and I can

only impress upon him today the need to be able to move forward as quickly as

possible and, Mr. Speaker, to move forward with a new school, because that is

what the children in this community are looking for, that is what they deserve.

They do not deserve to have an old school that is mouldy, forty-odd years old,

falling down, where pieces of it now have to be taken off because the structure

is so bad, to have that upgraded and refurbished for them. They deserve a new

school; that is what we will be lobbying the government for, and we hope that

will be the decision that they will make.

Now, Mr. Speaker, I know I am running out of time. I have some more issues,

and I

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I remind the hon. member that her time for speaking has expired.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

By leave?

MR. SPEAKER: Does the hon. member have leave?

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MS JONES: Oh, just a couple of minutes, yes.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. member, by leave.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I have been able to cover a number of issues today in my debate. There is a

whole list of them I have here that I certainly wanted to get to, especially

with regard to home care, which is a very essential program, not just in my

district but all over the Province. People out there today expecting something

as family caregivers, and I want to say to them that we are not going to give up

on you; we are going to continue to push for the family caregiver program to

meet the needs of the people that are out there who need this service.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Chair is having difficulty hearing the hon. member. I ask members for

their co-operation.

The hon. the Opposition House Leader, by leave.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Just to clue up my remarks, I just want to say that all of the issues that I

touched on are very critical and crucial issues. Unfortunately, none of them

were in the Budget; however, I think there are major pieces of infrastructure

and programs that the government needs to look at on a go-forward basis. I would

encourage them to do so as soon as possible, because it will not only improve

the lives of people when you are talking about servicing the mining industry, or

bringing the roads up to standard, or putting in new ferries, and installing

cell services and those kinds of things, but it will also contribute to the

long-term wealth and return of wealth to the Province, and that is very

important.

Mr. Speaker, there are a number of other issues which I will talk about in

the days to come with regard to animal protection and with regard to family care

givers in the Province, as well as housing programs, because all of these things

are imperative to the people of the Province, and they do need to be considered

by their government.

Thank you very much.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HEDDERSON: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am absolutely delighted, Mr. Speaker, to be standing here today on this,

probably my fourteenth or fifteenth Budget in the sense of responding to it, and

responding to the Opposition in their claims that this Budget is not the budget

for these particular times. I can say to the members of the Opposition, as well

as to the general public, Mr. Speaker, that this is indeed a Budget of the

times. It does get to a lot of the challenges that are out there with regard to

infrastructure, with regard to our health care, with regard to our education.

I was very interested in listening to the Opposition House Leader. She stood

on her feet and talked about what is not in the Budget, and also lamenting about

a lack of investment of this government in the area which she claims to

represent in a very forceful way, that being the Labrador portion of our

Province. I would say to the people of the Province, that there is nothing

further from the truth. This government, under very capable leadership of our

Premier, has - this government over the past eight years has made significant

investments in not only the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador but in

Labrador itself.

Mr. Speaker, in order for you to understand the significance of our

investment, you have to look at the situation when we took over government in

2003. We were presented with tremendous challenges in Labrador, of projects not

completed, of projects that were in place that were not adequate. I will go on

and talk about in particular the roads, as well as the ferry connections, as

well as the infrastructure with regard to works, buildings in particular.

Let's start with the ferries. In the mid-90s there was a deal made with the

former Administration and the federal government to take over the ferry services

in The Straits, as well as the freight service and passenger service to the

North Coast. To quote the press releases of the day, Mr. Speaker, the money that

was given - hundreds of millions of dollars that was given - was to ensure that

these ferry services would go on in perpetuity, and there would be enough money

that, placed in trust, could ensure that there could be adequate services to the

North Coast of Labrador, as well as across The Straits.

Well, Mr. Speaker, the ferry services saw very little of that money. The

Apollo was placed in service for The Straits. T