Newfoundland and Labrador Hansard — Statements by Ministers — 23 March 2006 (45th General Assembly, 3rd Session, Vol. XLV No. 2)
2006-03-23
Newfoundland and Labrador — Debates (Hansard)
March 23, 2006 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY
PROCEEDINGS Vol. XLV No. 2
The House met at 1.30 p.m.
MR. SPEAKER (Hodder): Order, please!
Admit strangers.
This afternoon we are pleased to welcome to the visitors' gallery, forty
grade eight students and their teachers, Dale Parsons and Darrell Lafosse. These
students are from John Burke High School in the District of Grand Bank.
Welcome to our House.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
Statements by Members
MR. SPEAKER: This afternoon we have member statements as follows: the
hon. the Member for the District of St. John's North; the hon. the Member for
the District of Grand Bank; the hon. the Member for the District of Bonavista
North; the hon. the Member for the District of Bay of Islands; the hon. the
Member for the District of Trinity-Bay de Verde; and the hon. the Member for the
District of Carbonear-Harbour Grace.
The Chair recognizes the Member for the District of St. John's North.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. RIDGLEY: Mr. Speaker, today I would like to pay tribute to two of the
many people in our Province who perform volunteer activities. In this case, the
two people are a husband and wife team, Basil and Rose Vokey; and, although they
are presently living in Mount Pearl, their volunteer activity centres on a group
of seniors who live in St. John's North and Kelly's Brook apartments.
Actually, Mr. Speaker, Basil and Rose, who are now eighty-four and eighty-six
respectively, were residents of Kelly's Brook for a two-year period, from
1994-1996, when they were only youngsters - in their seventies.
One evening during that period they were among a small group of residents,
and Basil and Rose were more or less responsible for a spontaneous sing-a-long
breaking out. That evening was basically the birth of their present volunteer
activities because, even though Basil and Rose left Kelly's Brook, for the
past ten years they have gone there every Friday evening from September to June
to conduct an hour-and-a-half session of inspirational singing and readings for
the benefit of the residents.
Mr. Speaker, during any one of those Friday evening sessions, there will be
up to as many as seventy residents of Kelly's Brook who join together to enjoy
the activities that are guided by Basil and Rose. Along with the whole group
singing, there will be singing by the men's choir and the ladies' choir, as
well as the enthusiastic piano playing of Eleanor Bowering and her sister, Jean
Mercer.
Mr. Speaker, Basil and Rose Vokey are two people who give unselfishly of
their time for the benefit and enjoyment of others. They are making a valuable
contribution, and I ask all members of the House to recognize them for that
contribution.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of Grand Bank.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MS FOOTE: Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Stephanie Crowley of
Grand Bank. Stephanie, who attends the College of the North Atlantic here in St.
John's, is the winner of the Newfoundland and Labrador 2006 CIBC Student
Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Stephanie was nominated by ACE Cabot. ACE is a
national, not-for-profit organization that is encouraging young Canadians to
create brighter futures for themselves and their communities.
This Student Entrepreneur Award celebrates the commitment, determination and
achievements of student entrepreneurs across Canada. This year marks the tenth
anniversary of the award and, in honour of this milestone, the program has been
expanded to include ten provincial winners and a grand prize of $10,000 for the
national winner. Each winner will be given the opportunity to showcase their
business at the 2006 ACE National Exposition in Toronto in May. Stephanie will
receive a $1000 cash prize, round trip airfare to Toronto, and three nights'
accommodations to attend the 2006 ACE National Exposition.
Realizing she was limited to the type of physical work she could perform,
because of a car accident in 1993 which left her with chronic pain and
Fibromyalgia, Stephanie decided to supplement her income by focusing her efforts
on the gift she was given - her artistic abilities.
Stephanie is now an established, self-taught Newfoundland artist who sells
artwork to consumers across the Province, country and abroad. Her road to
entrepreneurship was a challenging but successful one. In 1999, Stephanie sold
her first piece of original artwork. Since that time, her business has grown
rapidly. To date, she has produced six limited edition prints, thirty-three
originals, and has expanded her product line to include ornaments, assorted
framed collections, and greeting cards. Stephanie envisions one day having her
own home-based art and framing gallery. I encourage all Members of the House of
Assembly to help Stephanie realize her goal.
Mr. Speaker, I take a special interest and pride in Stephanie. She is the
daughter of my cousin Rex Crowley and his wife Emily. I ask all members of this
House to join me in congratulating Stephanie Crowley and wishing her success at
the National Competition in May.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Bonavista North.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. HARDING: Mr. Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge the athletic
achievements of two groups of young students from the Bonavista North area. This
past December proved to be golden for volleyball teams from Musgrave Harbour and
Carmanville.
The girls' team from Gill Memorial Academy, Musgrave Harbour, captured a
provincial volleyball title in dominating fashion. Led by coach Gerald Wheeler,
the girls outscored their opponents 250-112 as they swept each of their five
matches on their way to claiming the Provincial 2A High School Girls'
Volleyball Championship.
Mr. Speaker, in similar fashion, the boys' team from Carmanville mastered
their competition and went undefeated in claiming the Provincial 4A Boys' High
School Volleyball Championship. This squad dominated the provincial scene in
2005 by also winning Volleyfest 2005 in St. John's, the Papermaking Classic
Invitational in Grand Falls-Windsor, and the Gander Collegiate/ Pepsi
Invitational. Coach Heather Beaton and the entire team should be extremely proud
of their accomplishments.
Mr. Speaker, the students from Musgrave Harbour and Carmanville have learned
the value of team work, perseverance and the importance of adopting a healthy
lifestyle. These lessons have served them well on the volleyball court and they
will continue to contribute to their future success in all aspects of their
personal and professional lives.
I ask all hon. members to join me in congratulating the impressive student
athletes of Musgrave Harbour and Carmanville.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Bay of Islands.
MR. JOYCE: Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and extend
congratulations to Mr. Everett Hann of Meadows.
On Monday, February 27, Mr. Hann was honoured by the Royal Canadian Mounted
Police of the Deer Lake-Corner Brook detachment for his thirty-five years of
volunteer service with the detachment as an auxiliary officer. Mr. Hann has
dedicated more than 20,000 hours to the force since joining the auxiliary
program in November, 1970. At that time, the force had eighteen auxiliary
officers, but today Mr. Hann is one of only five who aid the uniform officers.
Mr. Speaker, over the years, Mr. Hann has experienced many situations during
his service with the force, each one interesting in its own way. He has received
various commendations over the years, including recognition in the 2001 during
International Year of the Volunteer.
On a personal note, I have known Mr. Hann for a number of years and I am very
familiar with the hard work and service he has provided to the RCMP and his
community.
Mr. Speaker, individuals, such as Mr. Hann, are to be commended for their
service to society and I ask all members of this House to join me in extending
congratulations to Mr. Hann on his continued dedication and commitment to the
Province.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Trinity-Bay de Verde.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MS JOHNSON: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to advise the House of Assembly today of a very
exciting project and partnership presently underway in our district that
provides students a hands-on opportunity to experience the scientific and
business focus of agriculture.
Economic students from Baccalieu Collegiate in Old Perlican have partnered
with Junior Achievement Newfoundland & Labrador, Spruce Hill Farms Inc., and
the Eastern School District, utilizing the greenhouse at St. Francis School to
grow herbs.
Mr. Speaker, there is more to this program, however, than the growing of
herbs. The skills developed are real life skills that our future entrepreneurs
will benefit from throughout their lives.
In fact, this program is so detailed that the students have established their
own business, Superb Herbs, and must research their product in detail. As well,
students are requiring in-depth entrepreneurial skills that include research on
the product itself, to marketing and advertising strategies, budgets and
consumer cost.
Mr. Speaker, what is also very interesting about this program is the
innovative concept of providing the herbs in consumer friendly containers
enabling the public to continuously enjoy a fresh product.
Mr. Speaker, I would ask that you join with me today in extending
congratulations to the students, teachers, and all partners involved with this
innovative and exciting program.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Carbonear-Harbour Grace.
MR. SWEENEY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I rise today to congratulate Duane Andrews, a Carbonear native who won the
2006 East Coast Music Awards Instrumental Recording Artist of the Year.
Andrews was nominated for both male artist of the year and instrumental
recording of the year, which he won for his first self titled album. His mix of
jazz and folk music, along with traditional Newfoundland music and some of his
own compositions also landed him an East Coast Music Award for jazz recording of
the year for the same album last year.
Mr. Speaker, I ask all members of this House to join with me in
congratulating Duane Andrews, the 2006 East Coast Music Awards Instrumental
Recording Artist of the Year.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: Statements by Ministers.
Statements by Ministers
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to share with hon. members and read for the record
the contents of a letter that government has received from the leaders of five
unions that represent many of our public service employees.
The letter states: Dear Premier Williams: As you are aware, the Supreme Court
of Canada ruled in NAPE v. Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Newfoundland that
in 1991 the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador discriminated against
persons in female dominated job classes when the Legislature enacted the Public
Sector Restraint Act. However, the Court also held that this infringement was
justified in light of the Province's financial position at that time.
We recognize, therefore, that the Supreme Court of Canada decision
extinguishes all legal rights to the pay equity wage adjustments for the period
1988-1991, which were eliminated by the legislation - remembering now, Mr.
Speaker, this is a letter from the five union leaders to the government.
That said, despite the extinguishment of the legal rights of those entitled
to pay equity, we were pleased to hear that your Government recognizes the need
to now find a means to redress the situation. On December 5, 2005 you rose in
the House of Assembly to say: - and they quote me at that time - "Now, I
know you cannot put a price on doing something that is right, and I accept that
fully, but by the same token we have to come up with something that is
affordable so that it doesn't compromise other social initiatives that this
government wants to do."
It is in that spirit that we write to you today.
We ask that in keeping with your public comments, that you consider making an
ex gratia payment of $24 million to the Association of Allied Health
Professionals, the Canadian Union of Public Employees, the International
Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of
Public and Private Employees and the Newfoundland and Labrador Nurses' Union
in recognition of the value of the sacrifices made by our Province's public
servants in 1988 to 1991.
Their sacrifice improved Newfoundland and Labrador's financial situation
and now, as our economy flourishes, we are reaping the fruits of their labours.
Such a gesture would heal the long festering wound which exists between the
government and its public servants and permit the forging of a new relationship
based on mutual respect and recognition of the value of the work of our public
servants. It is time for all parties to put the past behind us.
That is the end of the letter, Mr. Speaker. That letter is signed by: Sharon
King on behalf of the Association of Allied Health Professionals; Dave Reynolds
for the Canadian Union of Public Employees; Bob Clarke for the International
Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1615; Carol Ann Furlong, Newfoundland
and Labrador Association of Public and Private Employees and Debbie Forward,
Newfoundland and Labrador Nurses' Union.
Mr. Speaker, what an ex gratia payment would amount to is a tangible measure
of solace for those whom the Province considers to have suffered more than
others by the necessary action that it took in meeting the financial crisis of
Today, I am very proud and extremely pleased to announce in this hon. House,
that our government will be fulfilling this request by union leadership and
making that ex gratia payment.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: Before I call upon the Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au
Clair to respond, I would like to welcome members of the collective bargaining
units to the visitors' gallery. Some of them have just arrived. We welcome you
to our House. Visitors are always welcome here, especially today, so we welcome
you sincerely.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair.
MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
This is definitely good news, I say to the Premier and to members opposite.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MS JONES: It is not only good news, Mr. Speaker, but it is an honourable
effort towards women who work in our public service in Newfoundland and
Labrador.
The financial situation of government today does allow us to correct the
wrongs of the past and to make them right, and I think it is only fitting that
it be done. I am hopeful, Mr. Speaker, that such inequity within our public
service never will ever exist again. I hope that women will always work on an
equal footing with men in the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, and
indeed in all of our Province.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MS JONES: Mr. Speaker, while I commend the government today and I applaud
them for the efforts they have made on this particular issue, as I think it is
more than noteworthy, I also want to commend them for listening to the
leadership of the unions of this Province that represent the many thousands of
men and women who work in our public service. I also ask government to continue
to listen to the union leaders of our Province, listen when they plead to you
that we can no longer tolerate thousands of workers in our public service being
laid off, many of which are women as well. I hope that those measures and those
pleas of union leaders will also reach the ears of government so that we can
maintain a healthy public service in Newfoundland and Labrador.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi.
MR. HARRIS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
First of all let me say that it is a very welcome announcement today to hear
that the Premier and his government have shown the willingness to redress this
long outstanding wrong that amounted to discrimination against women in the
public sector of Newfoundland and Labrador. I commend the Premier and his
government for taking this step.
I understand that there are certain legal constraints which may have
determined the kind of statement that we heard today. I don't have such
constraints, Mr. Speaker, and let me say that I don't think it was necessary
in 1991 that the action to discriminate against women in the public sector was a
necessary action, and I do not agree with the Supreme Court of Canada when they
said that gave an excuse - that the financial circumstances gave an excuse - for
the government to discriminate against the women of Newfoundland and Labrador.
I will say, Mr. Speaker, that I do want to congratulate the women of
Newfoundland and Labrador, the public sector workers and their organization,
NAPE, for taking this battle for many, many years, for now fifteen years, all
the way to the Supreme Court of Canada and beyond. Because, even though they
lost in the Supreme Court of Canada, Mr. Speaker, NAPE and the women of
Newfoundland and Labrador made it clear in the public, and through this
government, that they were not prepared to accept the fact that their government
was allowed to discriminate against them in pay and public sector values.
I want to congratulate them for that, and I know, Mr. Speaker, they gave the
message loud and clear that they were not going to forget this issue and leave
it alone. I acknowledge that the Premier and his government have recognized that
and they have taken this step in order to redress this wrong. I congratulate
them for it, and I think that the women of Newfoundland and Labrador have
something important to celebrate today.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: Further statements by ministers?
Oral Questions.
Oral Questions
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
My questions are for the Minister of Fisheries.
For over a year now we have heard fish plant workers and trawlermen on the
Burin Peninsula talking about how the fish that was traditionally processed in
the plants there is being exported to China for processing. It has been talked
about on open line shows for that amount of time, and it has also been reported
in the media.
On Tuesday, the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture stood in the pan of a
truck on O'Leary Avenue, and again in the House of Assembly here that
afternoon, and said that FPI was doing this without the permission of government
- shipping fish to China - and, in essence, breaking the laws of this Province.
Mr. Speaker, I want to ask the minister: Why did you sit back for such a long
period of time before letting that be known to the people and acting on it?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, I believed that - first of all, there had been
a request for an exemption. I was told, in briefings, that an exemption for
about a million pounds - actually, it was a million pounds - had been given to
FPI. Subsequently, Mr. Speaker, after I did more investigations, I concluded, or
came to the conclusion, that particular information was incorrect. As I kept
asking more and more questions about what was happening, in particular at
Marystown and the shipment of unprocessed fish, I gave instructions in January,
I believe it was, that there was not to be another fish shipped out of the
Province. Actually, I remember calling from Vancouver and giving the deputy
those instructions. I subsequently ordered a full audit of FPI and, in the
process of having the audit completed, Mr. Speaker, I was informed by my
officials, only a few days ago, that, while there had been a request from FPI to
ship 4 million pounds of unprocessed fish out of the Province, the request had
never been signed off by the minister in the department.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MR. REID: A good question, Mr. Minister. You say that they did not have
permission. FPI said publicly, in the last day or two, that they did have
permission. Which is true?
Believe me, I do not have a lot of faith in anything that comes from the
board of directors or any official in FPI, but I would like to know who is
telling the truth here, you or the officials at FPI.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, I suppose, in one way, I should take some kind
of offence of that type of question. I have been in this House for thirty years
and I have never said anything in this House other than the truth, knowingly or
unknowingly. The truth, as I know it, is this, Mr. Speaker - and my reputation
and my word, hopefully, you can go to the bank with.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, the truth, as I know it, is this: FPI requested
an exemption from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to ship 4 million
pounds of small, what they call, commercial yellowtail out of the Province. The
request was never approved by the department.
I have asked the questions of senior officials in the department: Now, you
are sure - there were no winks and nods or anything like that from anybody? No,
Minister, the letter of approval - there was never a letter went out from the
department.
Officials of FPI were actually called by the previous minister and told that
it wasn't going to be approved, Mr. Speaker. So, no, there was no approval and
FPI should not be concerned about scandalous statements coming from me. They are
coming from me, Mr. Speaker, because they are the truth and it is a scandalous
action of FPI in breaking the laws of this Province -
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. RIDEOUT: It is a scandalous action of FPI in breaking the laws of
this Province that people should be shaking their heads at, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I say to the minister, I am not questioning your credibility and I am
certainly not saying that you didn't tell the truth. I apologize if I offended
you, but let me tell you the reason I asked you the question.
On June 10, 2005, six months into the year 2005, into the year that you said
FPI didn't have permission to ship out fish, your predecessor, the Minister of
Transportation and Works, stood in this House, this very House, in response to a
question asked by my colleague, the Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair,
about FPI shipping fish out of the Province unprocessed, and responded at that
time by saying that FPI had authorization to ship undersized yellowtail flounder
and redfish from 3N0 out of this Province for processing.
All I am asking is: Who is telling the truth, you, your predecessor of FPI?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, the hon. Leader of the Opposition is wrapping
two separate issues together here now in trying to come up with a magic potion
of some sort. There was, with the blessing of the FFAW, approval given to ship
some unprocessed redfish out of the Province, not only to FPI but to other
operators, for example Gaultois.
MR. TAYLOR: Janes.
MR. RIDEOUT: Janes, and there are a number of others. There was a
committee put in place, FPI processors and the unions, to make recommendations
to the minister, because there were requests coming from everywhere. That
committee made some recommendations to the minister that the minister of the day
acted on.
In terms of yellowtail, Mr. Speaker, FPI requested an exemption for 4 million
pounds and the exemption was never given. They had an exemption for 1.25 million
pounds in 2004, I believe. That was given but there was no exemption given for
yellowtail in 2005.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MR. REID: It is obvious that your predecessor when he made that statement
in June, and he made it in May as well, didn't know what he was talking about.
That is not surprising.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
MR. REID: Mr. Speaker, my next question for the Premier.
FPI has broken its commitments to the people of this Province. It has
violated the spirit and the intent of the Act. We have FPI out there saying that
they didn't break the law, we have one minister saying that they did, and we
had another minister saying that they didn't, and it appears that nobody has
been keeping an eye on what FPI has been doing in this Province since this
government took control in 2003.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
MR. REID: Don't you think it is about time that you did what we have
already asked for, appoint an independent public enquiry into the workings of
FPI?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: It never ceases to amaze me how the hon. gentleman can
get up here when he sat over here as the Minister of Fisheries and stood back
and allowed FPI to run roughshod all over this Province. Your own Premier at the
time never bothered to ask the questions. They rolled over and just let this
thing go on through. He admitted that he did not know what was going on when he
got in the House of Assembly. Now, all of a sudden, he is on his big, high horse
and that he has all the answers. Well, this is a very, very complex problem and
you know it. You should not be playing politics with it. We had the people from
these communities in the galleries here. Their lives, their futures were at
stake, and we are taking the obligation and the responsibility for their lives
and their futures very, very seriously.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: What I would like to have from you, and the other
members of the Opposition and the Leader of the New Democratic Party, is your
co-operation to try and work through this problem and to try and find solutions
for these people because our minister said in the House, two days ago, that we
would stand shoulder to shoulder, side by side with the people of these
communities. Well, we will stand on one shoulder and you stand on the other
shoulder and we will work together to find solutions.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I would say to the Premier, you can get on with all the rhetoric you want
shoulder to shoulder. I will tell you one thing, no people with FPI lost their
jobs while I was the minister and no FPI fish plants closed in the Province
while I was the minister.
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Fisheries.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
MR. REID: The question is for the Minister of Fisheries.
FPI has a quota of 13,292 tons of yellowtail flounder, or approximately 26
million pounds. Can you tell us today how much of that FPI shipped out last
year, against the law, as you said the other day, and how much of it was
processed in this Province?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. RIDEOUT: In terms of how much of it was processed in the Province,
Mr. Speaker, I will undertake to get the figure and provide it to the House. I
do not have it in the top of my head.
In terms of how much was shipped out of the Province, we will have to - I
know it is substantial. I know it was substantially more than the 4 million
pounds they requested but I think it would be inappropriate for me to put a firm
number on it today because there is an investigation underway to gather evidence
with the intent of having charges laid against the company. So, until that
investigation is complete and tells us whatever it will tell us, I think it
would be kind of unfair and inappropriate for me to put a public number on it,
suffice it to say that they requested a 4 million pound exemption but they
shipped out more than that.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, in the years preceding the closure of the plant in Harbour
Breton, the employees of FPI processed FPI's redfish quota. Mr. Speaker, when
FPI closed that plant the officials of that company told the people of this
Province, along with the government, that that fish would go to the Burin
Peninsula for processing - the redfish. It is my understanding that FPI has a
quota of some 4,100 tons of redfish, or approximately 8 million pounds. Can you
tell me where FPI's quota of redfish was processed last year, because it was
not processed on the Burin Peninsula?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. RIDEOUT: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, unit 2 redfish, which was the redfish that would be normally and
traditionally processed in Harbour Breton, was left in the water last year; it
was not taken. The exemption that FPI had to ship redfish out of the Province
was for 3O redfish.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MR. REID: Mr. Speaker, my question again is for the Premier.
Mr. Speaker, FPI has broken its commitments to the people of the Province. It
has broken the law, according to your minister, at least one of them. Either FPI
does not know - either the minister doesn't know where the quotas were being
processed or he refuses to give us a straight answer on it.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!
MR. REID: Mr. Speaker, FPI -
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
The Chair recognizes the Leader of the Opposition, and he is asking his
question.
MR. REID: Mr. Speaker, I fail to see the humour in this, as the people
opposite see it, where we have people on the Burin Peninsula who do not know
their futures today.
Mr. Speaker, another thing is that FPI will not release financial documents
pertaining to all of its operations in the Province, yet it continues to reap
devastation on our rural communities.
Again, I ask the Premier: When will you establish an independent public
inquiry into the workings of FPI, or are you going to sit on your duff until
they move out of every town in this Province?
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: I am not even going to respond to that comment, but the
question, Mr. Speaker, is this. We are going to do whatever it takes to deal
with FPI, I can guarantee you that. You can rest assured of that. But we are
going to do it in an orderly manner, we are going to do it in a proper manner,
we are going to work through it. FPI are meeting with the federal Minister of
Fisheries. He has to be part of the solution, the communities have to be part of
the solution, the MHAs have to be part of the solution, and we will be part of
the solution, but we are not just going to run roughshod and start an inquiry
that lasts two or three years. What are the people in Grand Bank, Fortune and
Marystown going to do while that inquiry goes on for two or three years? Do you
know what is going to happen? They are going to go into the ground.
We are going to take action but we are going to do it in a proper manner,
like we do with everything else in this Province. We will develop a strategy, we
will follow that strategy, we will get results at the end of the day, like we
are going to get for Harbour Breton, like we are going to get for Stephenville,
and like we got for Arnold's Cove, your MHA's community! That is what we
will get!
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
The Chair recognizes the Member for Grand Bank.
MS FOOTE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
If the situation wasn't so serious, I guess we would all be thumping our
desks over here and laughing, but this is a serious matter, what is happening,
particularly in rural Newfoundland and Labrador.
This government's approach to rural development is simply: when all else
fails, roll out Plan B. Plan B for the fish plant in Fortune is, bring in Cooke
Aquaculture. The problem is that Cooke Aquaculture has stated publicly that
nothing will happen in Fortune for at least two years without a fish quota.
I ask the Minister of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development: Does your Plan
B include a fish quota for Fortune? If so, where is that quota coming from and
what is it?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Innovation, Trade and Rural
Development.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MS DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Fisheries and myself met with a committee of
concerned citizens representing the municipality in Fortune yesterday, who are
very excited about the thought of Cooke Aquaculture coming in and setting up
operations in Fortune. They want to work co-operatively with Cooke Aquaculture.
Having a company in their town that wants to be there is a huge plus.
We are going to do everything to work with them and to work with Cooke
Aquaculture to secure a future in the fishery of Newfoundland and Labrador for
the people of Fortune and surrounding communities.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Grand Bank.
MS FOOTE: So at this point we do not know, and the minister cannot
confirm, if there is a fish quota for Cooke Aquaculture or where it is coming
from, so nothing happening with Cooke Aquaculture in Fortune for at least two
years.
Mr. Speaker, when is the minister responsible for helping to revitalize the
rural areas of the Province going to realize that if jobs aren't available
soon there will be no one of working age left to take advantage of a venture by
a company like Cooke Aquaculture?
Minister, FPI closed the fish plant in Harbour Breton in 2004, and today,
despite the government's plan for Harbour Breton, people who live there are
still waiting for something to happen with the fish plant there. Is it any
wonder the people in Fortune are wondering about your Plan B for them? Minister,
when will Cooke Aquaculture be operational in Fortune?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Innovation, Trade and Rural
Development.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MS DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
We have a number of communities, particularly on the South Coast of the
Province, who are facing difficulty in the future; and, with the pressures we
have on shrimp and crab, no doubt, more trouble is yet to come. However, this
government will continue to do the things we are doing, because the results are
in the facts.
It is important to separate fact from fiction, something they are not very
good at on the other side. Just for the record, Mr. Speaker, out-migration has
been lower in the past three years than it has been in the previous nine years.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MS DUNDERDALE: At the same time, Mr. Speaker, in-migration has been
steadily increasing and reached its highest record yet, last year, the highest
record in fourteen years, with 10,000 people coming back to the Province.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MS DUNDERDALE: In the last two years, Mr. Speaker, the employment rate in
this Province has been the highest it has been in the history of the Province.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MS DUNDERDALE: In the last two years, Mr. Speaker, unemployment has been
steadily declining and was at its lowest rate in the last twenty years.
Those are the facts, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Grand Bank.
MS FOOTE: Mr. Speaker, it is one thing for the minister to stand up and
rhyme off from her briefing book; it is another to actually answer questions
that are of interest to the people in the area that I represent. I guess that is
why you have - the most percentage of people on social assistance these days are
the young people, and that is scary for this Province. If you are going to brag
about the people who are left in this Province, maybe you should be making sure
they have jobs.
Mr. Speaker, contrary to the minister's claims that the government's Plan
B for Harbour Breton is working, currently there are twenty-nine former plant
workers being forced to move to New Brunswick to work in a crab processing
plant. Talk to them! Others have moved to Alberta, while more were being
recruited as recent as this week.
While the minister says an operator has been secured for the plant in Harbour
Breton, nothing has happened since the news conference will Bill Barry. Mr.
Barry announced he needed fish quotas in order to operate the plant. According
to the federal Minister of Fisheries, he has not received a request for such
quotas from Mr. Barry, or a letter of support from this government for quotas.
I ask the minister: When can the people who depend on the fish plant in
Harbour Breton expect to see their plant up and running, as they have been led
to believe will happen?
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Innovation, Trade and Rural
Development.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MS DUNDERDALE: Mr. Speaker, I would like to inform the Member for Grand
Bank that I speak to the people in Harbour Breton on a regular basis, at least
weekly, and this government -
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
MS DUNDERDALE: - who negotiated $1.5 million from FPI, who negotiated
with ACOA to come to the table for the people of Harbour Breton, and our own
investment of $1.25 million have ensured that the plant workers in Harbour
Breton now will have the same income, annual income, for the next year, that
they would have had, had the plant been open.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
MS DUNDERDALE: Mr. Speaker, the transfer of the plant -
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
The Chair was unable to hear the hon. the minister, so therefore I have to
intervene. There are still some seconds left if she wishes to continue her
response.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MS DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I checked with the town yesterday. The transfer of the plant is proceeding.
It is hopefully going to be completed at the end of the month. Mr. Barry is
waiting to move in. He has access to his own quota which he is going to move
into the plant to have an operation (inaudible).
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Bay of Islands.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
The Chair recognizes the hon. the Member for Bay of Islands.
MR. JOYCE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I say there are a lot of people still looking for work, Minister, as much as
you want to clap and bawl and shout.
With the closure of the Stephenville mill, there has been a major negative
economic impact on the Stephenville and the Bay St. George region. We heard of
the so-called Plan B by the Premier, which was proven useless.
I ask the Minister of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development: What concrete
steps have your government taken to assure the viability of the Bay St. George
region?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Innovation, Trade and Rural
Development.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MS DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
When our best efforts were not enough to keep Abitibi in Stephenville, we
immediately put together a task force in Stephenville made up of representation
from all levels of government and from the people of the communities who are
directly affected.
The communities are working well together. There have been over forty
initiatives launched. There is a diversification going on in agrifoods, in
tourism. We are having the establishment of a fire and emergency responder
academy. We have put $900,000 in, most recently, leveraging out another $2.5
million in investment. There is another series of projects and initiatives.
There is an active investment attraction going on in Stephenville with
considerable interest from countries all over the world in Stephenville.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Bay of Islands.
MR. JOYCE: Mr. Speaker, I say to the minister, that sounds so good, but
here is what your committee said in the Western Star : Last week, in
Alberta, mobile work force ideas were productive. In Alberta, our purpose would
be to have a single point of a contract for the companies up in Alberta. That is
your plan, move them all up to Alberta. That is what your force is saying out in
Stephenville. They are in the Abitibi - I say to the minister, that is what they
are saying out in the media. You can check with them. I have it right here, I
will show it to you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
MR. JOYCE: During the Abitibi discussions with the provincial government,
we saw again the Premier raising hopes and false expectations for the people of
the area. The Premier stated that he would expropriate the assets of Abitibi. We
now see the equipment of the Stephenville mill being prepared to be dismantled
and moved out of the region.
What steps, as lead minister, are you taking to ensure that the equipment
will stay at the Stephenville location so potential operators will have a viable
operation with all the equipment intact and guarantee the words of your own
Premier?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Natural Resources, and Government
House Leader.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. E. BYRNE: Mr. Speaker, I am going to suggest to the member opposite
that he do a little more research in terms of getting his facts straight.
First of all, Mr. Speaker, the members opposite always talk about what the
Premier said, that the mill would not close on his watch. They neglect to
mention that this government reached an agreement with Abitibi. He complains
about it today, while members of his own caucus were against the agreement that
we reached. So, first and foremost, we did reach an agreement with the company.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. E. BYRNE: Secondly, Mr. Speaker, we have been engaged on a weekly
basis with the community and with Abitibi. As a matter of fact, last week the
Deputy Minister Responsible for Forestry and other officials from within the
department were out and went through the mill. They went through the equipment
that was going out and all of the equipment that is now leaving is going
directly to Grand Falls and it is very easy to replace with respect to if
another operator were found. So, the machine itself, Mr. Speaker, the machine
itself has not left. The asset is still intact and if another operator were
interested, guess what? They would be operating tomorrow, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
The Chair recognizes the hon. the Member for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi.
MR. HARRIS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
My question is for the Minister of Finance.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
MR. HARRIS: Mr. Speaker, why does the Minister of Finance continue to
downplay the significance of VLT gambling addiction in the Province of
Newfoundland and Labrador by quoting that only 1 per cent of the population are
problem gamblers when he knows, and we know, that for VLTs 18 per cent to 24 per
cent of players are addicted and these problem gamblers contribute through their
losses one-half of VLT revenues, losing $60 million to $70 million per year? Why
will he not acknowledge that the single most effective way to reduce this
scourge is to limit access by getting rid of these VLT machines that his
government supplies to Atlantic Lotto Corporation?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury
Board.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SULLIVAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
First of all, I am not downplaying the aspect of VLTs in our Province.
Absolutely not! Your own colleague sat and asked about a prevalent study, and I
am quoting numbers that was done from a prevalent study. I am not disputing the
authenticity or the research in that study. I am taking the facts listed in that
study and using them. If you think it is wrong, the methodology is wrong, the
process is wrong, take it up with the researchers and the people who did their
work in that. Do not take it up with me. I believe -
AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible) it's your department.
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
MR. SULLIVAN: Mr. Speaker, we are very concerned, as a government, with
all forms of gambling and all forms of addictions in our Province. We invested
an additional $700,000 to assist with it. We took initiatives - in fact, over a
two-year period we will see that there will be a reduction in revenues from VLTs
of roughly $20 million. In fact, we announced a year ago today, I do believe,
that we will reduce by 15 per cent starting in April 1, 2006 - that will be a
reduction of eighty-one per year. In fact, effective April 1, we will be taking
ninety out of the system, not eighty-one as we advocated, if you take the raw
percentage. We are going to reduce it each year further until there are a
minimum of 403, possibly, more machines removed.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
The Chair recognizes the hon. the Member for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi.
MR. HARRIS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
His own study says 18 per cent of VLT users are problem gamblers. Stats
Canada says 24 per cent in this Province. Mr. Speaker, there is no indication
these measures will have any effect on problem gamblers. The suicides, the jobs
losses, the thefts, the bankruptcies, all of these will go on as a result of the
scourge of VLT gambling in our Province.
Why will he not do something to eliminate this problem that he is not only
standing by and watching, but actively engaged in the business through Atlantic
Lotto? He said today, on the radio, to help the bar owners, one half of which,
even according to industry sources, would not exist if it were not for VLT
revenue. Why was he standing by and continuing to collect $60 million or $70
million through Atlantic Lotto from problem gamblers in this Province?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury
Board.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SULLIVAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
We discussed this issue in Cabinet. We looked at all aspects of it. Cabinet
debated this thoroughly and made a decision. I will relay that decision here to
the House of Assembly and I support the decision of Cabinet on the matter.
What I indicated with bar owners - and he is misconstruing the statement.
When we announced it one day, you cannot expect to pull them out the next day.
Some have just added machines, just spent tens of thousands of dollars. We will
give a one-year leave period from the time we announced it until we take affect.
That is fair to anybody who may have spent $20,000 or $30,000. To pull the rug
out from under them the next day is unfair. We said we have a five-year plan. It
is going to be reduced down significantly there - at a time, I might add, when
other jurisdictions in this country have been increasing. We are very cognizant
of the problem. I believe that VLTs have a degree of addictiveness to certain
individuals. I personally am not a lover of VLTs, I can tell you. We have
discussed this at length, as what is an appropriate, responsible approach to
gaming in this Province and to any form of gambling. We will take the
appropriate action on behalf of the people in the Province as a Cabinet and we
will move forward (inaudible).
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
We have time for one short question.
The hon. the Opposition House Leader.
MR. PARSONS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
My question is for the Minister of Justice, I guess most appropriately.
The Premier suggested that we should stand shoulder to shoulder and work
together in solving some of these problems, and I agree with that
wholeheartedly. For example, I was shocked to hear on Tuesday, when the Minister
of Fisheries and Aquaculture spoke here, that he has run into a problem with FPI
from the perspective of they are refusing to co-operate and give him all the
information that he needs to do the job that needs to be done. He commented here
in this House that he has asked for all the information about the groundfish
industry and he was given it. Absolutely, co-operative, but when he wanted to
know about the information from the other parts of the FPI operation he did not
get it. He does not get the same co-operation.
Now, my questions to the Minister of Justice on Tuesday were geared to the
direction of: Can we, or ought we bring FPI back here to put some teeth into it
to get where we need to go? I say to the minister again: Are you prepared to
consider and have your people draft for the Premier and the Cabinet's
consideration amendments to the FPI Act whereby we can put teeth in it, so that
we can force FPI to give us the information that we need so that our minister
here can do the job that he needs to do? Are you prepared to recommend that, and
when can we see something like that? If we want to get productive and
constructive, when can we expect to see it?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, if and when the Department of Fisheries and
Aquaculture determines that we need and require any future amendments to the FPI
Act, the appropriate thing to happen is that the minister of that department
takes the paper to Cabinet, Cabinet makes the decision and then we -
MR. E. BYRNE: He knows that.
MR. RIDEOUT: Yes, the member knows that.
Then the Department of Justice instructs Legislative Council to do the
appropriate draft (inaudible). Mr. Speaker, that is the time-honoured approach
right from the day Responsible Government was granted to the people of
Newfoundland and Labrador, and that is what we will do in the future, Mr.
Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
The time allocated for Question Period has expired.
Presenting Reports by Standing and Select Committees.
Tabling of Documents.
Tabling of Documents
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury
Board.
MR. SULLIVAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Pursuant to
section 28.(4)(
e) of the Financial Administration Act, I am
tabling two special warrants related to the 2005-2006 fiscal year; and, Mr.
Speaker, pursuant to
section 26.(5)(
a) of the Financial Administration Act, I am
tabling nine Orders-in-Council relating to funding pre-commitments for the
2006-2007 to the 2010-2011 fiscal years.
MR. SPEAKER: Further tabling of documents.
Notice of Motions.
Answers to Questions for which Notices have been Given.
Petitions.
Orders of the Day.
Orders of the Day
MR. SPEAKER : The hon. the Government House Leader.
MR. E. BYRNE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The people who may be watching might have caught me having a quick chat
across the House. When you got to Answers to Questions to which Notice have been
Given, the Leader of the Opposition replied: We will never get the answers to
those, and I said: Well, you have to put them on the Order Paper first.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!
MR. JOYCE: (Inaudible).
MR. E. BYRNE: I say to the Member for Bay of Islands, contain yourself. I
was just going to also say, to tell the whole story, that my colleague, the
Opposition House Leader, said: Not to worry, they will be coming tomorrow. So, I
suspect that is exactly what is going to happen.
Anyway, contain yourself.
Mr. Speaker, in lieu of what we began on Tuesday, with the beginning of
Interim Supply debate and the motion that we moved, and then yesterday when the
House prorogued, from a parliamentary sense, that piece of legislation actually
died. The Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board yesterday moved
the motion and, with respect to that, I have to move the one now to reactivate
where we left off on Tuesday.
In explaining that, I do move, Mr. Speaker, by leave of the House, and
consent with the parties opposite, that Motion 1 on today's Order Paper should
be the Interim Supply Act, 2006, which was considered by the Committee of the
Whole on Supply during the Second Session of the Forty-Fifth General Assembly be
considered by this hon. House at the same stage during the Third Session of the
Forty-Fifth General Assembly and, at that time, the time used during the debate
on the bill in the Second Session, in addition to the time used in further
debate during the Third Session, be deducted from the seventy-five hours
allocated to the Estimates Procedure in accordance with Standing Orders 71.(1)
and 71.(2).
MR. SPEAKER: The Speaker asks whether there is leave.
The Speaker understands leave has been granted.
Is the House ready for the question?
MR. E. BYRNE: Yes.
MR. SPEAKER: All those in favour, aye'.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.
MR. SPEAKER: All those against, nay'.
The motion is carried.
Motion carried.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Finance.
MR. SULLIVAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I wish to inform the House that I have received a message from His Honour the
Lieutenant Governor.
MR. SPEAKER: All rise.
The message is dated 22 March 2006.
As Lieutenant Governor of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, I
transmit a request to appropriate sums required for the Public Service of the
Province for the year ending 31 March 2007, by way of Interim Supply, and in
accordance with the provisions of sections 54 and 90 of the Constitution Act,
1867, I recommend this request of the House of Assembly.
This message replaces that dated 15 March 2006, as the resolution moved by
the hon. the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board consequently
was nullified by my prorogation of the Second Session of the Forty-Fifth General
Assembly on 21 March 2006.
Sgd:____________________________________________________________
Edward Roberts, Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland and Labrador
The hon. the Minister of Finance.
MR. SULLIVAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I move that the message, together with a bill, be referred to a Committee of
Supply.
MR. SPEAKER: The motion is that the message, together with a bill, be
referred to a Committee of Supply.
All those in favour, aye'.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.
MR. SPEAKER: All those against, nay'.
Motion carried.
On motion, that the House resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole on
Supply, Mr. Speaker left the Chair.
Committee of the Whole on Supply
CHAIR (Fitzgerald): Order, please!
Bill 2,
An Act For Granting To Her Majesty Certain Sums Of Money For
Defraying Certain Expenses Of The Public Service For The Financial Year Ending
March 31, 2007 And For Other Purposes Relating To The Public Service.
The Committee is ready to hear debate on Bill2, and the resolution that
accompanies that bill.
The hon. the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board.
MR. SULLIVAN: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
What we are seeking here, in Interim Supply, is approval of the Legislature
for a sum of $1,509,510,800 to enable us to carry on the operations of
government, particularly over the next three months. Indicating that, there is
no huge significant deviation from the Interim Supply Bill of last year which
had slightly less money than was listed this year. Last year it was
$1,446,010,500.
I mentioned also, before the prorogation of the House, that one of the bigger
expenditure areas, of course, from one year to the next year was the Department
of Health and Community Services. There is a $34 million appropriation over and
above last year's Interim Supply because, of course, overall general operating
costs within the system have increased. Of course, we will be having a wage
increase. The salary would be a component of that increase, along with various
other aspects regarding any particular current or ongoing cost in health care.
In particular, Regional Integrated Health Authorities are a larger consumer of
services. About two-thirds of the health money that is utilized in our Province
is filtered out through the Regional Integrated Health Authorities.
Of course, there are various other departments like Transportation and Works,
for example, about $23.5 million over last year's Interim Supply. All of these
areas are to carry on the normal functioning of government. They are not
reflective, necessarily, of new initiatives. They will be rolled out in the
budget and we will be seeing them in the main Supply bill and looking at that.
We will be looking at all, the total expenditures of government that would
encompass an entire budget, in addition to what is included here in Interim
Supply.
Roughly $10 million to Municipal Affairs to carry out their operations;
Executive Council about $13 million; about $7.7 million in Natural Resources;
significant investment in education, $20.7 million more will be needed. Of
course, we have heard some of the tremendous announcements in education. The
Throne Speech making reference to, in particular: education is our future.
Investment in education is an investment in jobs and an investment in a better
economy is an investment in the future. This Interim Supply Bill has a $20.7
million request over and above last year's amount. Of course, the schedules
attached there shows for education here, there is a total amount of $284.1
million in the Interim Supply Bill dealing with that. There are no great
deviations in other departments from last year's Interim Supply to this year's
Interim Supply.
So, it enables us to be able to carry on government. Of course, the bill
needs to be passed no later than March 28 in order to be able to process cheques
and payrolls to meet certain requirements, especially in more distant parts of
our Province, in Labrador in particular, that we can meet payments on a timely
schedule.
Over the next number of weeks we will have an opportunity to debate the full
Budget, deal with the Estimates pertaining to all expenditures, new initiatives
of government here of which some have been announced, some tremendous new
initiatives of government have been announced there that -
MR. E. BYRNE: There are a few left there.
MR. SULLIVAN: There are still a few, yes. There is a considerable amount
there. I am not sure what the Opposition will have to complain about at all. It
seems like their list to Santa Claus came in. I heard some of it through the
media there and they have been getting granted there. The more we give them the
more disappointed they are. The more they get, the more they are disappointed.
They just hate to see all of this prosperity going on in Newfoundland and
Labrador.
My colleague, the Minister of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development
indicated some of the outstanding statistics here in the Province. We have the
lowest unemployment rate in our Province since 1981, twenty-five years, the
lowest unemployment rate in our Province. The in and out migration factor we
referenced to, it is the lowest in three years than all the previous nine years
that the Leader of the Opposition sat there in government. Statistics do not
lie. Statistics are (inaudible) the truth.
MR. REID: (Inaudible) GDP.
CHAIR: Order, please!
MR. SULLIVAN: Now, he is trying to drown me out and take away from my
time here in the House, Mr. Chairman. I am not going to be sidetracked to
blabbering on that side, of information that is not factual.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SULLIVAN: We are going to deal with it. I can tell you the spinoffs
from GDP, the extra jobs created, the revenue created, the education, the
health, the social programs of what were delivered in our Province are a product
of our ability to pay for those programs and if you do not have an increase - we
have had a tremendous - in fact, we are projecting that GDP growth on a real
basis next year will be 6.3 per cent, not counting inflation. So you can imagine
about a 9 per cent growth in GDP growth. Some of that reflects back on our
Province. Some of that from oil (inaudible) goes offshore. We do not get the
benefits. There is not a direct relationship between our revenues and GDP growth
from the offshore equating into taxes in our Province. It is not a direct
relationship because there is processing elsewhere and we are trying to maximize
the jobs occurring from offshore - something the former government did not do,
by the way. They allowed engineering and numerous other jobs - I think my
colleague from Natural Resources - Leatherhead, England, I think at the time. We
allowed numerous jobs in development to go out of our Province.
We are looking at building the economy of our Province. The highest workforce
- in fact, our projections over the next three or four years will show that we
will have the highest workforce increasing every single year. We will have an
unemployment rate next year that will hit close to around 15 per cent - 15.2 per
cent this year, the lowest since 1981, in twenty-five years. All we hear on the
opposite side of the House is complaining, complaining. Much craves more. On
that side of the House, they did nothing and now they want everything. You put
us in a situation we had to fix and now we are getting to the point where we are
starting to come out of that and we are going to allow the people of
Newfoundland and Labrador to be recipients of the benefits that have been worked
hard by this government here and worked hard by the Premier of our Province to
bring here to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Mr. Chair, I am sure the Interim Supply Bill - I say to my colleague, the
Government House Leader, they will probably want to pass this today because this
is a bill that allows some Interim spending to allow the wheels of government to
occur and pay the bills while we are approving the general budget. So, I cannot
see one impediment to passing this expeditiously. Let us get on to do the work
that is needed in our Province. Let's not waste time tying up valuable time
when we could be doing - and be more productive in the House of Assembly. Let's
stand up now and unanimously approve Interim Supply so we can process cheques,
pay people in the Province, while the budget is getting approved over the next
two or three weeks.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
CHAIR: Order, please!
The hon. the Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair.
MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Chair.
It is no trouble to hear the hon. Minister of Finance, but whether you
understands anything he says now is a whole different situation, let me tell you
that.
Mr. Chair, I am sitting here and I am listening to the Minister of Finance
tell me today that there is nobody moving out of Newfoundland and Labrador.
There is no one out-migrating. They are all happy. They are all home and they
are all happy and they are all sitting down today listening to the Minister of
Finance talking about how rosy everything is in the Province. Well, Mr. Chair, I
can tell him that is not the case. In fact, you can go right around this
Province, you can go district by district, and you will find that there are a
lot of people, and whether they are moved permanently or temporarily, Mr. Chair,
but people are moving. I can tell you right now, there are so many people - I
cannot even name them - that I know, who are going away to work in Ontario, in
Alberta, in British Columbia. A lot of them are fortune enough to find work that
they can come home in four months or in five months and be able to live in the
Province for so many months out of the year and be able to keep their families
here. Mr. Chair, that is a good thing.
I say to the Member for Mount Pearl - he is over there screeching his guts
out at me and I just got to my feet - he can get up right behind me. He can have
his ten minutes to say whatever he wants to say here today, but let me tell you
this: Seriously, there are a lot of people leaving this Province and they are
leaving here to find work because it is an option of last resort for them. Mr.
Chair, there are many of them who are going year after year, finding work and
they are coming home and their families are able to live here and they are able
to come back home. But that is not the case for a lot of other people and,
unfortunately, there are many of them who are moving and they are moving on a
permanent basis.
I remember just a few weeks ago, I was on a flight from St. Anthony coming
into St. John's and I sat next to a lady from Flower's Cove. This woman told
me that only a few years ago all of her family was living in that community, and
today, not only is her husband working in Fort McMurray, not only is her son
working in Fort McMurray, but her parents are living there, her sisters and
brothers have moved there. And she said to me: In a few more months, my son, who
is still in school here, and I will be leaving as well. It is very sad for us.
I am going to guarantee you, that was not the story of just one woman. That
is the story of many people in this Province today, because of the decline in
the fishery, because of the changes in the wood operations around rural areas of
this Province, that they are being forced to look for opportunities and look for
jobs in other areas of the Province, and not because they want to but because
they have to. Yet all we hear from the government is how rosy and how great and
how wonderful everything is.
I sat there yesterday and listened to the Throne Speech, and, Mr. Chairman,
it was like poetry. I heard someone on CBC quote the same thing this morning. It
was like poetry because with poetry it doesn't matter what time, what century,
what decade or what situation you are into, you can always read it and read
meaning into it. Well, this is like the Throne Speech, some day it may have some
meaning, but right now, you only have to reflect back to the Throne Speech of a
year ago.
A year ago I came in here and I heard a Throne Speech that told us we were
going to reduce gambling in the Province, we were going to take VLT machines out
of the Province, reduce the number. What happened to it? We never saw it, it
never materialized, it was never done.
We heard them talk, in the last Throne Speech, about how they were going to
have a Northern strategic plan, a Northern plan was going to be in place that
was going to be the guide for the government. Mr. Chairman, where is it? Never
saw it, never heard tell of it, never read it, nothing of the sort.
There was a strategy in the last Throne Speech: We are going to have a
strategy to define and implement towards reducing poverty in the Province. It
was in a Throne Speech over a year ago, I say to the hon. members, yet we haven't
seen one thing, not one initiative implemented, not one strategy announced, not
one thing done to define it or to implement it. Mr. Chairman, we have over
17,000 children in this Province every day going to school and accessing a food
lunch program. That is what we have, Mr. Chairman. We have over 20,000 children
in this Province living in poverty today. I think it is probably 29,000, I don't
remember the exact number. A year ago, when a Throne Speech just like this was
read by the Lieutenant-Governor in the House of Assembly, there was going to be
a large strategy, there were going to be measures implemented, it was going to
be done immediately, this was going to be counteracted, and we haven't seen
anything yet. Now, one of the members said yesterday, stay tuned because it
might come up in the Budget on the 30 th of March. It may come up in
the Budget, so we will have to wait and see. It is like the poetry, you may be
able to read something into it at one point or another.
Mr. Chairman, what else happened in the Throne Speech last year that we haven't
seen yet? The cultural plan: Yes, there was supposed to be a cultural strategy,
a cultural plan, to revive the industry in the Province. We haven't seen that
yet.
Then yesterday, Mr. Chairman, we had to sit through another Throne Speech
that talked about another ten or fifteen strategies that are being worked on by
the government that are going to solve all the woes and all the problems and all
the situations everywhere in the Province. Mr. Chairman, they announced a whole
bunch of them a year ago and we haven't see any of them yet.
Mr. Chairman, this is the reality of what is happening. Let me just start in
Labrador, because this is a letter I received a couple of days ago from a lady
in Goose Bay. Her name is Gillian Saunders and she wrote a letter, not just to
me but to a lot of people, about her mother Doris Saunders. Doris Saunders, I
have known from the time I was a child. I have known her all my life. She is one
of the greatest folklores of Labrador history. She received an honourary
doctorate degree from Memorial University for her work for Them Days
magazine, in which she single-handedly went out and took the initiative to
preserve the history and the culture and the tradition of Labrador society. A
remarkable, remarkable women who, unfortunately, in her early sixties, has been
inflicted with one of the most terrible diseases to affect our elderly in
society, and that is Alzheimer's. Unfortunately, Mrs. Saunders had to be
admitted to the Paddon Home, which is a seniors' home in Happy Valley-Goose
Bay, for care. In the recent days, her family was informed by the health
corporation that: we are sorry, we can no longer allow your mom to stay at the
Paddon Home; and, in fact, we are going to have to send her to St. John's to
the Hoyles-Escasoni Complex.
Everybody knows, Hoyles-Escasoni is a 377 bed facility, right over here in
the next street from Confederation Building, which is a long-term care facility.
It is a long ways away from Labrador, and it is a long ways away from the land
that Mrs. Saunders wrote about for many, many years.
Mr. Chairman, this is what they told her. They told her that they were unable
to provide for Mrs. Saunders any longer in the Paddon Home in Goose Bay because
they did not have the specialized workers - or the inability to cover the cost
of providing additional staff here in Labrador to look after her.
Mr. Chairman, as I understand it, this is the situation. We know that money
is announced for a new seniors' home in Goose Bay, and I think we are all
pleased about that, but we also realize, and we have to be realistic about it,
that it is probably four years away before we can see residents occupying that
facility. In the meantime, what do we do to ensure that our elderly people, like
Doris Saunders, have the privilege and have the opportunity to be able to stay
in Labrador, in the land they love so much, to be near their family in the last
years of their lives?
Mr. Chairman, I think the minister should intervene in this particular issue.
I think there is a way that she can stay in Goose Bay, in the Paddon Home. It
will require additional staffing, I realize that, but I think that can be
accommodated through the Department of Health and through the government. I
think that the minister should seriously look at that and should respond to this
family because it is only fair, it is only appropriate, that she be able to do
that in the last days of her life.
Mr. Chairman, last week, I know people in Labrador were excited, not
necessarily in my district, because there was no money announced for my
district, the great District of Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair. We did not get any
of the $47 million that was being passed out in Happy Valley-Goose Bay. I
figure, when the Budget comes down on March 30, I am not going to need a
calculator to add up what is going to go into Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair on
Budget day either, Mr. Chairman, because that is rural. That is rural, that is a
small community, can't invest in them. They have to make their way now the
best way they can, so we can't spend any money there.
Mr. Chairman, when I listened to the announcement for Labrador, I said, if
there is ever a way of buying people with their own money, this is what this is
all about. It is about buying people with your own money. This year, the
government earned almost $50 million in profit on recall power alone in Labrador
- on recall power alone, one sale right into the New England States. They
collected a cheque, a profit of almost $50 million, and then they go into
Labrador, they announce $47 million with all this fanfare. It is our money. It
is our resource. We have earned it. It should stay there. In fact, they should
have left it there last year instead of taking it out of it. I spent a full
twelve months preaching that. A full twelve months preaching that the money
should have stayed there last year. It did not happen. The government put it in
their back pocket and they came back to St. John's, so that was it. You tried.
This year, again - so now they announce the money, but it is Labrador money. It
is from a Labrador resource. It is not new revenue. It is not out of the
goodness of the heart of the government. It is coming in on a resource that is
directly in Labrador.
Am I glad that it is going to be used to address some of the needs and the
problems there? Absolutely, I am. I am really glad about it. I am glad that it
is going to be invested into health care facilities and into a home for our
seniors, and into building an auditorium which, in fact, Mr. Chairman, should
have been built two years ago. It is shameful that the government cancelled that
project two years ago. Shameful, absolutely shameful, that they cancelled that
project two years ago. In fact, Mr. Chairman, when they did -
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!
MS JONES: The Member for Lake Melville is over there now. Can you protect
me, Mr. Chairman?
CHAIR: Order, please!
The Chair is having great difficulty in hearing the Member for Cartwright-L'Anse
au Clair. I ask the members on both sides of the House if they would refrain
from shouting back and forth. Every member will get equal time to speak on this
particular debate, and I ask if members would show some respect to the person
who has been identified by the Chair.
The hon. the Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair.
MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The Member for Lake Melville will get a chance to huff, puff, spit and
everything else now in a minute, and blow off. He doesn't need to be over
there attacking me in the few minutes that I have on my feet, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Chairman, let me just say this to you, because in all of the
announcements that came for Labrador, although it was nothing more or over and
above the amount of money that they collected on the recall power last year, or
they are going to collect next year, or they are going to collect the year after
that, Mr. Chairman -
AN HON. MEMBER: That is not true.
MS JONES: Oh, yes, it is. It is a five-year agreement that is going to
bring almost $50,000 a year in new revenue to the government. It may vary by
$1,000 or $2,000 a year, but it is within that range. If you are going to spend
$47 million this year in Labrador - none of it in my district, I might add, none
of it in Northern Labrador, I might add, because we are rural, Mr. Chairman, we
are rural. We are small. We are fishing towns. We do not get that kind of
investment. Mr. Chairman, what is going to be spent, yes, it is going to spent
for a worthwhile cause, but it is nothing over and above what is being derived
on a resource right now in Labrador owned by Labradorians, I say. Therefore, it
should be invested there and it should have been invested there last year, I
say, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Chairman, let me get back to the auditorium because this needs to be
mentioned. Two years ago there was over $2 million on the table for an
auditorium in Goose Bay. The government cancelled it. It was not a priority at
the time; other things took precedence. The children there were put on hold; the
auditorium was cancelled. The federal government had money committed to that
project. They had money committed, the federal government of the day. The
federal Liberal government of the day, I might say. Do you know what they did?
When it got cancelled, they took their money back and they took their money off
the table.
Mr. Chairman, now everybody is supposed to jump for joy in Goose Bay because,
instead of the over $2 million investment towards an auditorium, the $2.5
million that was there, now they are going to get - two years later - $1.9
million. They are supposed to jump for joy. They have had to wait two years
longer to get $500,000 less money, Mr. Chairman, for this auditorium, and now
they still have to go back to the federal government and look for the rest of
the money to do the facility.
CHAIR: Order, please!
I remind the hon. Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair that her time for
speaking has expired.
MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I am just going to clue up, because I know I will have another opportunity.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: By leave.
CHAIR: By leave?
Does the member have leave?
SOME HON. MEMBERS: By leave.
CHAIR: The hon. the Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair.
MS JONES: I just going to clue up because I am sure I am going to want to
respond again, after the Member for Lake Melville finishes speaking, because I
know he is not happy these days. He got passed over for the Cabinet again. I
know he is not happy, and I know when he gets up he is going to want to thump
his chest and he is going to want to say: I might not have made the honour role
for the inner circle, but I am still doing my job. He is going to want to pat
and thump his chest and make sure they know all about it.
Mr. Chairman, I will wait until he is finished and I would be happy to get up
and respond and have a few comments. In the meantime, I will take my leave and
thank the members for their attention.
CHAIR: Order, please!
The hon. the Member for Gander.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. O'BRIEN: Mr. Chair, it gives me great pleasure to stand here today
in this House. As a matter of fact, I would like to say, before I address the
bill in question, Bill 74 on Interim Supply that I think each and every one of
the members here on both sides of the House are here to do a good job for their
district, as well as my hon. colleague, and I am sure he does. I hear him time
and time again in the caucus, and time and time again on the talk shows,
fighting for Labrador, not fighting for his district but fighting for Labrador,
and in the caucus. That is the way it is.
As a matter of fact, I just noticed that actually there is a change on the
bill; it is Bill 2 that I am going to address today, so I will have that for the
record as well, which is a normal process in Interim Supply.
I look down at my desk, actually, and I do not know where to start because I
have seen a lot of things happen over the last two years. I heard the hon.
member mention the Speech from the Throne yesterday, the Speech from the Throne
last year, in 2005. I was here in this Province as a business person for some
fifteen years when the Liberal government were in power, when the Liberals were
in power, and I have seen fifteen Throne Speeches over that period of time. I
must admit that, on a couple of occasions, there were a couple of things in
those Throne Speeches that I certainly supported, I suppose, and I was very
interested in.
One that I will reference is Enterprise Newfoundland and Labrador, a fine
program but poorly executed. I spoke in this House of Assembly in regard to that
before. I thought it was an innovative and a very, very good plan for rural
Newfoundland, and the revitalization of rural Newfoundland, but it was not
allowed to work.
I reflected yesterday, as the Speech from the Throne was read by His Honour,
on 2004, I reflected on 2005, and then I compared it to 2006. What I see, Mr.
Chair, is a continuation of a vision, I see a continuation of a foundation. We
started in 2004 in regard to getting the finances of the Province under control,
and that was one of the first things with regard to building the foundation. You
cannot build a foundation unless you have the finances to do it, and that is
absolutely the way it is. You cannot build a business unless you have the
finances to do it. If you don't have the ability to borrow, if you don't
have the assets to do it, the business will not thrive and the business will not
flourish. The same thing applies to Newfoundland and Labrador, Mr. Speaker. We
have to move forward in a very strategic and planned way.
In 2004 there were a lot of questions across Newfoundland and Labrador when
we brought in our first Budget. We had just finished up an election in 2003 and
people were expecting a lot of things, but in 2004 the Budget showed that we
were ready to take on what was needed to happen in Newfoundland and Labrador. We
didn't say, and we have never said, that there weren't challenges. There are
challenges in Newfoundland and Labrador in various areas and various places and
we will address them. As the minister said today, we will stand shoulder to
shoulder with those people and we will try to come up with solutions.
I will also say, Mr. Chair, that sometimes when you lay out a plan, a plan
that is put together over a very short period of time, it is usually not the
right plan. A plan takes time to put into place, a plan takes time to execute. I
put together a business back in 1995, and I put together various businesses, and
that particular business took me a little over a year to plan and execute and
actually bring to fruition, and have it actually open the doors to the general
public for business. That is what it took me to do it. In comparison to a small
drug store in Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador, I would think it takes a lot
longer to execute a plan and plan a plan and to lay it out and formulate it and
make sure it is actually the plan that you need to execute to cure the problem.
It takes a lot longer than one year sometimes. Sometimes you can put a plan
together in a month or two or whatever and it is actually what you want. I will
tell you right now, that it takes longer than that.
I have seen this government work diligently, the Cabinet work diligently,
over in Stephenville. They put money on the table in regard to supporting the
energy problem that Abitibi had. I heard the Opposition criticize that, and they
criticized it when it wasn't accepted, wasn't executed by Abitibi. We did
everything possible, the Cabinet did everything possible, the Premier did
everything possible, in order to execute that plan. Now we have moved on. We
have developed a task force in regards to Stephenville and I think that is going
to be a task force that is going to bring many innovative and many opportunities
to Stephenville because I hear about them and I think that there are various
people in the Stephenville area who are certainly looking forward to it and
excited by opportunity.
Also, I heard and I listened yesterday very intently to the different
addresses in regards to the Speech from the Throne. I heard today in Question
Period and I heard today after Question Period, people talk about out-migration
and whatnot. Well, listen, the bottom line of it, is that, yes, there is
out-migration and I would believe there was out-migration for as long as
Newfoundland and Labrador has existed; either as a Province or as a Colony,
out-migration has existed.
As we move in the global economy and as our children are more educated and
more aware of the global economy, well, I am telling you right now, that
out-migration will happen. But what is happening, which is really exciting to
me, is in-migration; people who are investing in this Province, people who are
coming in to start businesses, people who are seeing the opportunities. As we
educate our children in the cultural aspects, which was also mentioned in the
Speech from the Throne and continuation of our commitments last year, that our
kids will become aware of the opportunities and certainly capitalize on the
opportunities that exist in Newfoundland and Labrador. And they do exist, Mr.
Chair, they do exist. It is just that sometimes, and over a period of time - I
talked a little while ago in Caucus in regards to attitude. I believe over the
years, somewhere, we lost our attitude and our belief that there were
opportunities in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Our young see bigger opportunities in the bigger lands of Toronto, Calgary,
Edmonton, the United States, Tokyo or wherever they went to. I do not blame them
for that, I absolutely do not blame them, because when I grew up in Ferryland,
to be honest with you, when I was a teenager it was a big trip to go to St. John's,
a huge trip. There was no such thing as a computer. I had to go to St. John's,
it was a full day trip. It was a great trip, I must say, and I met some great
people there. Luckily enough, you know, I moved in. I moved into St. John's. I
continued my education. I became a pharmacist and I had the opportunity to move
to Gander.
Gander, a great district. Gander has been great to me. I think I have worked
hard as an MHA for Gander. I have seen some great things happen in the budget
for Gander. I have seen some things that have been challenges within the budget
for Gander but I think we, as a government, I, as an MHA, have addressed them
dead on and head on. I will continue to do that for my district at all times,
especially when it comes to health care, especially when it comes to education,
especially when it comes to business. I will be addressing them time and time
again in caucus and with the various ministers at every chance I get, as my hon.
colleague from Labrador does; time and time and time again, as all hon.
colleagues do, here and there every time. I mean, I have never seen a caucus
meeting yet that did not go over the allotted time. People wanted to talk and
people wanted to get their voices heard and people wanted to get their opinions
viewed by the various ministers, by the Premier, and I can say also, they were
well listened to. I will be honest, because the proof is in the pudding right
now because things are happening in the districts.
We have things and pre-Budget stuff that has been announced in regards to
provincial roads. This whole two years is about building foundation, building
the framework for a brighter future and that is what I believe in, and I have
seen it time and time again. We started out in regards to addressing some health
care problems, which is very vital to building a framework, good health,
wellness; you know, taking care of our seniors. It even affects your morale and
your attitude in regards to what can happen in Newfoundland and Labrador. That
is exactly what that is all about.
Then we moved into our infrastructure, our direct infrastructure. We have
been making great inroads and huge investments in provincial roads. You know,
time and time again - I think I counted around $34 million worth of provincial
roads, pre-Budget announcements, and most of them, I think, have already been
tendered and been awarded and ready to go by the spring. This is the kind of
stuff that we see happening in the Province.
I have seen things happening in the health care system. I have seen, and I
have often said that in James Paton Memorial Hospital, in reflection of the
redevelopment - and I reflect back on that and I would have been the first one
to be there to have it finished, but we hit the financial state of the Province
that we hit and that is where we are. That was hard, cold reality, but I moved
on from there. But, then if we had moved forward in regards to the engineering
plan and the plans that were set back fifteen years ago, right now the James
Paton Memorial Hospital would not have a dialysis unit. It would not have a
cancer treatment centre.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. O'BRIEN: It would not have an endoscopy. It would not have a
digital mammography. The James Paton Memorial Hospital just got a digital
mammography unit in Gander, which is one of six in the country, which will
reduce wait times by 50 per cent and improve its capacity, you know, ten,
fifteen, twenty-fold. That is what we are talking about. That is well-laid
plans.
Now we see that we are moved into education in regards to building that
framework. We have seen an announcement by the Minister of Education today, a
skilled task force. How important that is in this Province, Mr. Chair. How
important that is. How often have I heard over the last couple of years about
the possibility, not the possibility, the reality of the lack of a skilled
labour force. We need people, and that is a fact. We are all talking about the
lack of jobs and whatnot, but we are laying the foundation for our young to
become skilled labourers, to excel in their fields, to take advantage of the
projects that are on the horizon, such as the Lower Churchill, in mining,
agriculture, marine, technology. That is the kind of stuff that we are doing. We
are laying and laying and laying a foundation for a bright future. That is what
we are doing. Maybe at our age -
CHAIR: Order, please!
I remind the hon. member that his time for speaking has expired.
MR. O'BRIEN: By leave?
SOME HON. MEMBERS: By leave.
CHAIR: By leave?
The hon. the Member for Gander.
MR. O'BRIEN: What I see, Mr. Chair, is that we will be moving and maybe
- I was going to reflect that at my age, and some of my other hon. colleagues
ages here and on the other side of the House, that maybe we will not see the
full fruition of that foundation, because that foundation was torn down over a
period of time. It was ignored but now we are building that foundation. Maybe,
hopefully, I will live a long life. It is on my side of the family, so hopefully
I will be there, because it takes time for that foundation to show its fruits.
That is exactly what it takes.
If anybody thinks, or you, or my hon. colleagues, or the Opposition believes
that you are going to see fruition in regards to well-laid plans in the matter
of a day or month or year, it is not going to happen. That is the way it is, but
I am telling you right now, as the hon. minister said, we will be there shoulder
to shoulder with the people who need it and we will be there day in, day out.
That is it!
With that, Mr. Chair, I will sit down and take my leave. Hopefully I will get
back at another day.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
CHAIR: Order, please!
The hon. the Opposition House Leader.
MR. PARSONS: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I appreciate an opportunity to have a few words. This being an Interim Supply
money bill, of course, you pretty well have a wide latitude as to what one might
wish to speak about. There is lots to speak about when it comes to Newfoundland
and Labrador, particularly rural Newfoundland and Labrador. For example, we have
a lot of current problems, it might be the Burin Peninsula here one day because
of the FPI situation, Fortune, Marystown, Grand Bank. We have had the Harbour
Breton piece that has been on the radar in this Province for quite some time. We
had problems in the Stephenville area last fall. We have problems, for example,
in the Northern Peninsula. Although government tries, as they should, to react
to these problems as they arise, we cannot forget that it cannot be a piecemeal
solution to a current day problem.
The Minister of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development made a statement
yesterday, a very truthful statement. This Province, rural Newfoundland, is
undergoing - I believe the word she used was - a massive, social and economic
change, transformation. That is true, and it has been going on for quite some
years, and the problem, the fear that a lot of people have, is: Where is it
going to end?
Now, it is easy to stand up as a critic and say, it is your fault or someone
else's fault, and try to place blame, but I don't get into that blame game.
To me, it is not a case of who caused it necessarily. Yes, if it is a continuing
cause, or it is being caused by someone, you would remove it if you potentially
can, but this is about trying to find solutions, as the Premier said, working
shoulder to shoulder, one person on one, and one on the other.
I agree with this government; it is not going to be an easy task about what
is required for rural Newfoundland, but I do say, whatever you do, don't be so
narrow in your focus that we deal only with the current day issues. We cannot
have, for example, a retirement plan that only addresses the Harbour Breton
issue. You cannot have only Fortune being dealt with.
I represent a district in Southwestern Newfoundland, Burgeo & LaPoile.
Don't anybody in this House or anywhere in this Province think that I have
forgotten about Burgeo & LaPoile, and I hope when we come to designing these
solutions we think about everybody.
We have not done much fishing in Burgeo since 1991. I have a lot of people
working on those seismic projects out in Alberta: 200 who pack up every year in
October and go away, and pack up again in January and February. A lot of those
did not click in under the old schemes, under the TAGS and NCARPs of the days of
the early 1990s and take advantage of it, but they are still there and they
still need help. So I urge government, in whatever you are doing, stay focused,
yes, but not only on the current day issue. A retirement package in the fishery
is urgent for everybody.
I had a community - still have a community, partially - called Rose Blanche.
Most of us have our famous traditional communities, and we are very proud of
them. I do not have a plant in Rose Blanche any more. I have a community called
Isle aux Morts. I do not have a fish plant in Isle aux Morts any more. I have a
community called Fox Roost-Margaree. We are down to the bare bones in Fox
Roost-Margaree, producing a bit of grey sole a few months a year. People do not
get enough work.
I have been back to successive Ministers of Municipal Affairs in the fall
looking for money year after year because I have a lot of people in my district
who cannot make it, and they need to get these grants and stuff in the fall to
help them out. Port aux Basques had a plant. Mr. Barry is in Port aux Basques.
Thank God, he converted from the plant that he had. He switched over to pelagic
and we are going a little bit, but he would be the first one to tell you, they
are not doing as much as they would like to do there. A bit of farmed salmon
that comes up from down in the aquaculture farm that he cuts there as well -
trying to make some work for the people in that area, but very tenuous, does not
know from one day to the next what is going to happen.
People in my town, Port aux Basques, in my district, they get wary when they
hear stuff. For example, Bill Barry is going to go to Harbour Breton. They say:
Oh, my God, Kelvin, the government is focused on Harbour Breton and they are
going to give a quota for Bill Barry to go down and get Harbour Breton going.
What about us? Does that mean Bill Barry is going to take our pelagic out of
Port aux Basques and take it down the coast? They are legitimate concerns.
I just say to government, we have to stay focused. When we come to trying to
solve a problem, we do not solve a problem in one area at the expense of
another. We have to be very general in what we speak of, and very - not only
regional, but we have to be provincial in trying to address the problems.
The FPI thing, a very, very crucial issue. I say to the Minister of Fisheries
as well, he talked about leadership on Tuesday, about FPI, or the lack of
leadership in FPI. I just got a copy of an FPI press release handed to me. I
have asked a couple of questions this week about the FPI situation and I am
still confused, and people out here are confused. We have our minister up in the
back of a truck talking about investigations of FPI. We have the minister who
came in here on Tuesday and, just to quote him, there is no plan. They do not
know where they are going. They have no plan for long-term commitment.
I have FPI putting out a press release within the last couple of hours saying
the minister further alleged in a news release that FPI has been less than
co-operative with the second phase of the provincial government's independent
accounting review, which I referred to in my question today, the failure of FPI
to give the information. Their response today - this is simply wrong.
You might ask why people are confused. We asked the questions, and we have to
be confused if we are getting two answers. We have FPI here saying, he is wrong;
and, we have the minister standing up and saying that he did not get the
information that he wanted. Which way is it?
If he cannot get the answers that he wants - we are quick to come back here
to this House to do the income trust for FPI, a special session. Everybody was
gone home last spring, a special session, a free vote in the House, brought
everybody back two days and we all had a big debate, voted for FPI. Well, if we
can vote in a free vote here last spring for FPI, we can bring back the FPI Act
again, and, whatever teeth are not in the act, we can put in there.
Mr. Chair, I will take my leave. I have something in my throat, so I will
take my leave and come back later.
Thank you.
CHAIR: Order, please!
The hon. the Member for Lake Melville.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. HICKEY: Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
It is indeed a great pleasure, Mr. Chairman, to stand again in this House
today. I am bit amused when I listen to my good friend, the Member for
Cartwright-L-Anse au Clair, and some of the comments that she made over there. I
want to say that I can understand why she is a little sour. I can understand why
she is a little bit disgruntled. Why wouldn't she be, Mr. Chairman? Why wouldn't
she be? You know, we see an Opposition that is basically in a state of disarray,
leaderless, or basically, I guess, from the leader's perspective, operating
the party from a remote control from some Ontario government airplane. I can
understand why the Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair is a little sour. I
can understand, you know, when you have your leader going up to Ontario, wanting
to ask his wife to raise some money for the Liberal Party in the Province
because there is not enough support here for them. I can understand why the
Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair is a little disgruntled.
I can also understand, Mr. Chairman, that she is not feeling very well these
days when it comes to the good news that has come to this Province, and indeed
the goods news that is coming to Labrador. I want to talk about some of the
facts because, when we listen to the doom and gloom across the way, it really,
really makes you wonder. It really would make you wonder.
I can understand why my good friends, the Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au
Clair and the Member for Torngat Mountains, are a little disillusioned, a little
sour, but let me say this: they had every opportunity, when they were in
government, to do the things that our government and our Premier and our
ministers and this caucus are doing for the Province of Newfoundland and
Labrador today.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. HICKEY: The Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair tries to show
that she has compassion for the people of Labrador, and I am sure she does, Mr.
Chairman, but I can tell you, when she raises the issue about my good friend,
Dr. Doris Saunders - and I can tell the Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair,
I am engaged with her daughter Gillian and her family - I can tell you, if she
had done the right thing five years ago, when the Town of Happy Valley-Goose Bay
and the people of the Labrador wanted a long-term health care facility, Dr.
Saunders today would not have to come to St. John's because that facility
would have been built there at that time.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
AN HON. MEMBER: The truth is coming out.
MR. HICKEY: Absolutely!
We are going to work with Dr. Saunders's family, and I can tell you that
this MHA is going to give her whatever support she needs and this government
will try our best to ensure that she gets the care that she needs.
Mr. Chair, I want to talk about some of the mistruths' that have been
basically passed around here today in this hon. House when we talk about
out-migration, when we talk about economic growth and we talk about all of those
things that the members across the way have been saying, the doom and gloom.
Well, let me give you some facts, Mr. Chair. Let's give them some facts. This
really what is going on in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador today.
When we talk about economic growth and the GDP, Newfoundland and Labrador has
continued to lead the country in the average annual rate real GDP growth. This
is a seven-year trend that has been continuing in the past three years. We are
expected to lead the country in real GDP in 2006 with a growth of 8.3 per cent,
due to increasing mining and oil production. Let me say, Mr. Chair, that
opportunities in the mining industry and the oil industry are coming into the
foreplay. I can tell you, our government is not giving those resources away. We
saw that very clearly last week up in Labrador when the Minister of Natural
Resources said to a company out of Quebec: You will not ship that ore to
Sept-Iles. That ore will be processed in Newfoundland and Labrador. The
giveaways are over, Mr. Chair! The giveaways are over!
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. HICKEY: When we talk about out-migration, out-migration has been
going on in this Province for a long, long time. Not only in this Province, Mr.
Chair, but throughout the country. The only province that does not have
out-migration is Alberta, and out-migration has been lower in the last three
years than in the nine previous years. That is the facts, Mr. Chair. At the same
time, in-migration has been steadily increasing in 2004-2005 reaching its
highest level in fourteen years. If they want to know the figures, 10,007
in-migration.
Let's talk about some of the other economic performance factors that
(inaudible) employment. In the last two years, Mr. Chair, the employment rate
has been at its highest level in the history of the Province. In the last two
years the unemployment rate is steadily declining and in 2005, I am happy to
report, Mr. Chair, that it was at its lowest rate in over twenty years, at 15.2
per cent. Last year the employment reached a record high level of 214,300. That
is the facts, Mr. Chair, and it has remained constant this year.
In 2006, employment is expected to grow by a further .6 per cent. Employment
gains have been realized throughout the entire Province, and not just in St.
John's, Mr. Chair. In 2005, the largest gains occurred on the West Coast and
in Labrador, up 2.3 per cent, and Central and Northeastern Coast up 1.2 per
cent. One of the issues that is affecting a lot of this, Mr. Chair, is the
declining birthrate is often overlooked. It is often overlooked as a major
contributor to the population decline.
Out-migration has been an issue in the Province dating back to the 1900s, Mr.
Chair. Out-migration of younger working aged persons is not unique to this
Province. Between 2001 and 2004 every province, except Alberta, as I said
earlier, Mr. Chair, reported net out-migration of workers between the ages of
twenty and forty.
Let's talk for a few minutes about small business. I can tell you, this
government and our Premier is steadily working to ensure the survival of small
business. Fifty-two point five percent of small businesses were located outside
the Avalon Peninsula in 2004. Consequently, small business remains a vital
economic contributor to both rural and urban parts of our Province. Those are
the facts, Mr. Chair. This is not innuendo. These are the actual facts and they
speak for themselves.
When it comes to income, Mr. Chair, in 1997 earned income per person was at
66 per cent of the national average. In 2004, earned income per person increased
by 76 per cent of the national average and personal income grew up to a further
3.4 per cent in 2005 as wage gains were realized.
When we talk about investment, in 2005 capital investment in this Province of
Newfoundland and Labrador rose by 1.8 per cent to a record, and I say to this
honourable House, to a record of $4.3 billion; an incredible feat. A positive
sign of building the economy of our Province.
When it comes to industries, Mr. Chair, retail trade has been steadily
increasing over the last number of years. Retail sales increased by 2.2 per cent
to $5.9 billion and are expected to increase by a further 2.3 per cent in 2006.
The value of manufacturing shipments exceeded $3 billion for the second
consecutive year in 2005. Real mineral exports, Mr. Chair, are estimated to have
grown from 40 per cent in 2005, due to the increase of iron ore shipments from
Labrador West and the first ore from Voisey's Bay in the fourth quarter of
Mr. Chair, Voisey's Bay mineral shipments are expected to approximate $860
million this year. Newsprint shipments are estimated to have increased 4.7 per
cent in 2005 to 766,000 tons. White Rose is expected to ramp up to peak
production, almost 34 million barrels, and total oil production in 2006 is
expected to exceed $140 million. This is not a time for doom and gloom, Mr.
Chair, this is a time for us to look towards our future, with a good strategy,
as the Premier said yesterday, to work our strategy and to make the right
decisions for the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, and indeed, to make the
right decisions for the future of our children and our grandchildren because
that is why each and every member on this side of the House is here, Mr. Chair,
and I can tell you, that is what we are going to accomplish over the course of
the next little while.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. HICKEY: So, I can understand why my good friend, the Member for
Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair, is a little sour these days. She can throw all the
rhetoric over across the way she likes, Mr. Chair, but I can tell you, at the
end of my four year term I will have no trouble of racking up my accomplishments
as an MHA and a Parliamentary Secretary on this side of the House, and I will
put it up against hers and the Member for Torngat Mountains any day of the week
because we are not talking about it, we are doing - and I said this many times
before, Mr. Chair, this government will not be judged by our words, it will be
judged by our actions and we have seen that over the course of the last two
weeks.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
CHAIR: Order, please!
I remind the hon. member that his time for speaking has expired.
MR. HICKEY: By leave, Mr. Chair?
CHAIR: Does the hon member have leave?
AN HON. MEMBER: By leave.
CHAIR: By leave.
MR. HICKEY: Just a few closing comments, Mr. Chair.
The future of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador has never been so
bright, and as we continue to invest in education, and as we continue to invest
in education, as we continue to invest in health care - and we have made
significant investments - and as we invest in infrastructure and training, we
will be the bright light. I have no doubt that we will be the bright light of
this country, and indeed Atlantic Canada. All the indicators are showing it.
I say to my hon. members across the way, you can try to spread doom and gloom
but I can tell you what: this government, this Premier, this caucus, are going
to do the right things, just as we did today.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. HICKEY: When we went and basically said there has been an injustice
to our female public servants in this Province, we rectified that today. I can
tell you, we are going to do more of this in the future.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
CHAIR: Order, please!
The hon. the Member for Port de Grave.
MR. BUTLER: Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
It is a pleasure to stand and take a few moments to, I guess, relate to Bill
2, in some degree, and try to respond to some of the comments that you hear
across the way throughout the afternoon.
I want to say to my hon. colleague from Lake Melville, I hope the people in a
lot of the communities around this Province - by the way, I am not one who
stands for doom and gloom. There have been many good things announced for this
Province over the last few weeks, and I congratulate whoever was involved to see
that came to reality, the whole works, but I also want to say, with all
sincerity, if everybody thinks that everything is all fine right around this
Province, especially in rural Newfoundland, I say to my hon. colleague from Lake
Melville, he had better smell the roses once again. Because I am going to tell
you, there are people in many communities - Harbour Breton, Fortune and
Stephenville - who are wondering, I guess, where he is coming from, with the
comments that he made, even though there are many nice announcements, good
announcements, and good initiatives being made.
Mr. Chairman, I want to just use, I guess, the theme that the Member for
Gander used when he was up speaking a little while ago. He said, a good plan
takes time to implement. I want to spend my few moments that I have this
afternoon on two areas for which I am the critic: Human Resources, Labour and
Employment; and Education, the area from K-12. I agree with the comment that he
made but, Mr. Chairman, I have to say that a plan was not thoroughly thought out
when some changes took place in that department, as well as some of the changes
that are being considered for the Department of Education.
I will go with the Department of Human Resources, Labour and Employment
first. Mr. Chairman, I can go right back to my own district. There was an office
in Bay Roberts. The office closed and everything was moved to Carbonear. I, as
well as the other people in that area, felt that wasn't all that bad of a move
- a ten-minute drive, inconvenient for some people who did not have a vehicle,
but it was manageable - but, lo and behold, what was the next move? You have
constituents calling you and saying, my case worker now is in Placentia, quite a
distance for people to travel. With a new system of the telephone technology,
which the former minister spoke about, it was very difficult for those people to
correspond back and forth with their worker.
Then, a little while after that, I get another call from constituents, our
office now is moved from Carbonear to Placentia and, lo and behold, we hit home
base; it is all administered now in St. John's. Quite a distance for people to
travel, quite an inconvenience.
Why I am bringing those things up, I know next Thursday is Budget Day.
Probably the Minister of Finance has the final T's crossed and the I's
dotted, but I would like for him to consider some of those things. I mean, now
we are flushed with money to the degree that we can do wonderful things around
this Province, and I congratulate you and your government for that, but I think
the ordinary people have lost a lot by the services being taken away from them.
I will give you an example. One gentleman called me last week with regard to
transportation to the hospital. He had to be in here on Monday and again on
Tuesday. He called his worker on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and unable to
make contact at the office in Carbonear. He called me on Saturday and said:
Roland, I am unable to get in touch with my worker. I have called the on-call
worker, and the response that I got back: You have to call your worker Monday
morning. The man had to be into the Health Sciences at 8:30 in the morning to be
admitted.
Anyway, I got on the phone and called the on-call worker and she told me the
same story. I said: I am sorry, that is not reasonable. The man cannot call his
worker for transportation 8:30 in the morning when he is supposed to be at the
Health Sciences. Eventually, over a period of time, that issue had been
resolved.
That is the type of thing we are finding with the new changes. We had to get
involved. If I didn't get involved, that gentleman would not have made his
appointment that day.
We talk about appeals. Many people apply for drug cards and services through
social services and they are rejected for whatever reasons. They are given the
option to appeal. Mr. Chair, the appeal process now, at one time it could be
dealt with in the regional office and in a faster period of time for turnaround.
I had one gentleman call me the other day with a transportation issue which
had been rejected. When I checked it out for him he said: I cannot believe that
I do not have a response back from my first level of appeal. I checked the
regional office in Carbonear, I had to call in here to St. John's, and after
five weeks his appeal only reached the level of the first stages for that appeal
to be considered. Those are the changes that took place. At the time we said:
Look, why don't you go slower, move a bit slower and see what is happening
here?
Many things are happening like that. The application process: people now
cannot go in and see their workers. They have to fill it out, mail it in. There
is a major turnaround and it is very inconvenient for those people. What I said
when those changes took place - and I believe, as the hon. member said, that a
plan has to take time to be implemented. This is a prime example where this did
not happen. The people are losing out and services are being taken from them.
Madam Chair, the other issue is with the Department of Education. We saw the
draft of the Multi-Year School Organization and Capital Works Plan. The
consultants report was the first thing that came down and then the people in the
various areas, who had concerns on what was recommended, went and made their
comments to the boards at various levels. I went and made a ten minute
presentation. That was what we are allowed to do. When the report came back we
met at Amalgamated Academy in Bay Roberts, when the Eastern School District
brought back their Draft Multi-year School Organization and Capital Works Plan
and so on. The Chair of the Board stated very clearly - I asked government to
intervene on this, and I know the boards are who run the system, but the Chair
stood that day in the auditorium and said: The information that we are releasing
here tonight is based solely on what we heard from the presentations, not from
the consultant's report or anybody else. I can tell you the report that was
read out for my area, there wasn't one recommendation that came from the
reports that they received from the people. I do not know where they came from.
The boards are not saying what they received from the people when they went
around and heard their meetings.
The other day we heard again about 151 teachers staying in the system. Good
news! But if there are problems in the schools prior to, with the 151 in the
system, surely that is not going to correct the problems. I know there were two
other announcements made, $250,000 for the teacher allocation model, another
$150,000 to look at the assessment and the study on pathways model. I would
venture to say, Madam Chair, that when those studies are done it will all come
down to the one item again, shortage of staff, where it is regular teachers in
the system, whether it is those who are with special education students or those
who deal with children with disabilities. You can study it to death, but the
bottom line is, that extra people have to be put into the system to work with
and further the education of our children.
MR. DENINE: You should have thought of that many years ago.
MR. BUTLER: Madam Chair, my hon. colleague for Mount Pearl says we should
have thought about that years ago. I can tell you, your government should have
thought about it before 500 teachers came out in the last two years. Five
hundred teachers came out of the system over the last two years and you are
going to leave 151 in there and are going to solve all of the problems. It just
cannot happen.
I say, Madam Chair, when this system is looked into properly and the teachers
- we hear about how you went around and consulted with all the stakeholders.
Well the Premier, not too long ago, came back, when the teachers were being
dismissed for speaking out, and said he knew nothing about it. Surely goodness,
if they were consulted over the last twelve months teachers would not have to be
disciplined and removed from the classrooms for speaking out on what now you are
trying to correct. It comes down to the bottom line; more teachers in the
system, Madam Chair.
MADAM CHAIR (S. Osborne): Order, please!
I remind the hon. member that his speaking time has expired.
MR. BUTLER: Leave to clue up, Madam Chair?
MADAM CHAIR: Does the hon. member have leave?
AN HON. MEMBER: Leave.
MADAM CHAIR: By leave.
MR. BUTLER: Just to clue up, Madam Chair, and I thank you for leave: The
bottom line is, I will call upon the Minister of Finance and this government to
just reconsider, even though there are wonderful things happening, implementing
some of the services that have been taken away from those who are the most
vulnerable in our society, and to see that this wrong has been corrected.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
MADAM CHAIR: The hon. the Member for Bonavista South.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. FITZGERALD: Thank you, Madam Chair.
I would just like to stand today to say a few words on the resolution,
Interim Supply, which is something that always happens this time of the year,
where we look for an expenditure of money in order to be able to pay those who
do a great job for the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. That is what
this debate is all about, and I am sure that before the end of March people on
both sides of the House will see that that will happen. In the process, a debate
will take place and it is a great opportunity to talk about some things that are
happening in our districts and in Newfoundland and Labrador in general.
Madam Chair, when I hear people from both sides - I think I can relate to
both sides of the House