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June

17, 2015

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS

Vol. XLVII No. 33

The House met at 2:00 p.m.

MR. SPEAKER (Verge):

Order, please!

Admit strangers.

I would like to welcome to the public gallery today Ms

Nellie Burke, daughter of Eva Blake.

Ms Blake is being mentioned in a member's statement today by the

Member for Bonavista North. Ms

Burke is here with some friends and family, Smita Joshi and Linda Crocker.

Welcome to the House of Assembly.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

Statements by Members

MR. SPEAKER:

Today we will hear members' statements from members representing the

Districts of Conception Bay South, Carbonear Harbour Grace, Bonavista

North, Port au Port, Labrador West, and Signal Hill Quidi Vidi.

The hon. the Member for Conception Bay South.

MR. HILLIER:

Mr. Speaker, many of our communities has people or groups who are stewards

of our environment. Today I

stand in this hon. House to recognize a group in the District of Conception

Bay South that goes by the acronym, KEEP.

The Kelligrews Ecological Enhancement Program is a volunteer group of

citizens who are concerned for the protection, conservation, and enhancement

of the flora and fauna of Farrell's Grove, Kelligrews Pond and River, Gully

Pond and River, and the Kelligrews wetlands, forests, and beaches.

Founded in 1999 by my good friend, the late Neil

Tilley, KEEP has been a leader in environmental advocacy and education in

our town. KEEP has spearheaded

the development of boardwalks, rest areas, and an outdoor classroom around

Kelligrews Pond. They have also

developed several field guides that provide young students of our Province

with visuals and practical information to identify common flora and fauna

near and on our rivers, streams, coastlines, and wetlands.

KEEP also monitors the ever encroaching urban sprawl

and subsequent industrialization that threaten the ecology of the two river

systems which are their primary focus.

Please join me in recognizing the work of the

Kelligrews Ecological Enhancement Program and all those who work to maintain

the pristine condition of our Province.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Carbonear Harbour Grace.

MR. SLADE:

Mr. Speaker, I rise in this hon. House today to congratulate Shalyn Case,

who is graduating from Carbonear Collegiate with a perfect attendance record

having not missed a single day of school since she started kindergarten

thirteen years ago.

After completing Grade 5 at Davis Elementary School,

Shalyn was awarded a medal for her perfect attendance from kindergarten to

5. It was then she committed to

keeping that record intact until completion of high school.

She has succeeded. That

means 2,535 straight school days in attendance.

Perfect attendance for a single year is nothing new

there are even students who can string together a couple of years, but to do

it for thirteen years is nothing short of phenomenal.

Shalyn has also proven her determination and commitment

with 589 Royal Canadian Air Cadet Squadron, where she has not missed a

training night, parade night, or outing.

Shalyn is planning to continue her studies at the

College of the North Atlantic, where she is determined to continue her

perfect attendance discipline.

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

congratulating Shalyn on her perfect K to 12 attendance, and wish her the

very best in her post-secondary studies.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Bonavista North.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. CROSS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We are all familiar with the jingle, We Hope You Live

to be 100. Tomorrow, Thursday,

June 18, 2015, Eva Blake, born Eva King at Victoria Cove in Gander Bay will

receive Happy Birthday to you for the 100 th time.

A great-great-great grandmother, Eva Blake, while

raising seven children through a century of wars, depressions,

confederation, rising and falling of iron curtains and the dawn of all our

current technologies, has maintained a very positive attitude and a zest for

life.

Eva also strongly focused on education for her family;

viewing it as the means to escape poverty.

She is admired by all who know her, and has been photographed in the

Guinness Book of Records in

recognition of her mother.

Local people remember Eva, a lady of monologues, filled

with energy, excitement, and passion for family, for church for community.

She possessed a great industrious spirit bottling preserves, raising

animals, growing vegetables, and selling door-to-door mail-order products to

provide for her family's every necessity and comfort.

She sewed, baked, hooked, knitted and entertained for family and for

the community at large.

Eva Blake looked not for recognition, nor accolades;

she did what she did because it was right and of necessity.

Let us stand, Mr. Speaker, to honour her for her

milestone. Happy Birthday, Eva.

We are glad you reached 100, and tomorrow you are the honorary queen

of Bonavista North.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Port au Port.

MR. CORNECT:

I rise today in this House to congratulate Jillian Forsey of Kippens for

being named the 2014 Provincial Senior Female Athlete of the Year by Sport

Newfoundland and Labrador.

Earlier this month, Jillian was the youngest competitor

at the annual Portland Track Festival in Portland, Oregon.

She placed thirteenth in her event and this result moved her into

ninth in Canada at the 5,000-metre distance.

In addition, Jillian Forsey was the first woman from

Newfoundland and Labrador to be chosen to race at the International

Association of Athletics Federations World Track and Field event, which was

held in Oregon in July of 2014.

On her quest for the Worlds, Jillian ran the 8

kilometre senior race at the National Cross Country Championships, where she

placed sixth out of sixty-four.

At the North American, Central American, and Caribbean

Cross Country Championships, she placed second, helping her team win a gold

medal.

Mr. Speaker, Jillian Forsey is an exceptional athlete

and student with a tremendous work ethic.

She is an honours student at the University of West Virginia.

I ask all hon. members to join me in congratulating

Jillian for her successes and to wish her the very best with her athletic

and academic pursuits.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Labrador West.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. MCGRATH:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

On February 21, 2015 Shelley Kelly, the 911 dispatcher

for Labrador West, received a call from Brandie Crant who was at her cabin

with her son Max and husband Terry.

Brandie had stated that Max and Terry had passed out

and they were all feeling sick.

Immediately Shelley recognized symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning and

instructed Brandie to get some fresh air into the cabin.

For seventeen minutes Shelley talked to Brandie until

she finally broke open the patio door letting fresh air into the cabin.

Brandie managed to drag her husband and then returned again a second

time for her nine-year-old son to the door so they could breathe fresh air.

Shelley remained on the phone with Brandie until the first responders

arrived at the cabin thirty-eight minutes later.

On June 11, 2015 Brandie and Shelley were both honoured

by St. John Ambulance at a ceremony here in St. John's.

Brandie received the Gold Life-Saving Award, risking your own life to

save a life of another, for saving herself and her family.

Shelley received a Provincial Certificate of Commendation for her

role as dispatcher.

If not for the heroic efforts of both these

individuals, this story would have a much different and sadder impact.

I ask all hon. members to join me in recognizing these

heroic ladies.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Signal Hill Quidi Vidi.

MS MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

All of us here in the House know what an impact an

extraordinary teacher can have on a young life.

Today, I rise to honour Margaret Rowe, who has been a

music and band teacher for thirty incredible years.

Margaret has spent her last five years at Bishop Field Elementary and

her work, according to all hands, has been exemplary.

She has taught hundreds of Grade 5s and 6s to read,

play, and love music. Her final

concert had 200 Grade 5s and 6s from four schools perform together in an

amazing harmony.

School staff were kind enough to share with me some

comments her students made about Margaret, or Ms Rowe as they call her.

She is so encouraging, the best of the best, said

one. Others said, She told me I

could do it, and I did. She is

so patient and one of a kind. She doesn't give up on you, and my

favourite, as a musician myself Music without Ms Rowe would B flat.

With that little touch of music humour from a student,

I ask all hon. members to join me in wishing Margaret Rowe a wonderful

retirement.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Statements by Ministers.

Statements by Ministers

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Justice and Public Safety.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KING:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Last summer while on patrol along the shorelines of the

Merasheen Islands and the Burin Peninsula, several Fish and Wildlife

Enforcement Officers came across a dilapidated monument in the resettled

community of Little Bona. Upon

closer examination, the officers discovered that the monument was in

commemoration of Private Michael John White of the Royal Newfoundland

Regiment.

Private White was the son of Joseph and Evangeline

White of South East Bight.

During the First World War, he enlisted with the Royal Newfoundland Regiment

and was on the front lines early in the fall of 1918 near a town in Belgium

called Ledeghem.

Between September 28 and October 26, when the Regiment

was relieved of duty, ninety-three members were killed, including Private

White who died on October 3 when he was just seventeen years old.

The war ended several weeks later on November 11.

After paying the ultimate sacrifice, Private Michael John White was

buried in the New British Cemetery in Dadizele, Belgium.

Mr. Speaker, the 1921 census shows that Little Bona had

a population of twenty-five residents.

One can only imagine the devastating impact that Private White's

death must have had on that community.

Almost 100 years later, after coming across the

monument laid in memory of Private White, Officers Doug Hayes, Joseph Janes,

and Gary Edwards notified officials of the Canadian Armed Forces who asked

the officers to bring the monument to St. John's for repair.

Mr. Speaker, those repairs were completed and a few

days ago, on June 14, representatives from the Canadian Armed Forces and the

Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Division boarded a boat and left North Harbour

in Placentia Bay, in possession of the refurbished monument to re-erect it.

On June 15, a wreath-laying and repatriation ceremony

was led by Captain Glen Eagleson, the padre for the Canadian Armed Forces

base in St. John's. The monument

was respectfully placed again in the community along with a flag pole flying

the Royal Newfoundland Regiment banner.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to acknowledge the initiative

shown by Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Officers Hayes, Janes, and Edwards

and their effort to ultimately determine the importance of that weather-worn

monument from the community so that it could be properly restored.

As well, acknowledgment is due to Officers Travis McDonald and

Bradley Sparkes who helped with its reinstallation.

Private Michael John White now has a monument that is a

fitting tribute to the important role he played in our history.

A role that was so commonly filled by more than 6,000 young men from

communities throughout Newfoundland and Labrador during the First World War.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Burgeo La Poile.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank the minister for the advance copy of his

statement. The story of Michael

John White is a compelling one and unfortunately all too common.

Like thousands of others, Michael John White paid the supreme price

for the freedoms that we enjoy today.

The Wildlife and Fisheries Officers who found this abandoned monument

and then did something about it are to be congratulated for taking this kind

of an initiative.

Mr. Speaker, we are just one year away from the 100 th

anniversary of a singular war tragedy that touched every cove and inlet in

this Province. The loss of young

lives at Beaumont Hamel is one we will never forget and which is why our

Canada Day celebrations always follow our commemoration of those who gave

their lives during the First World War.

I am sure there are such other monuments across this

land which pays tribute to individuals who served their country so well, and

I am equally sure that some of them are also in need of repair and renewal.

I hope that as we approach this 100 anniversary of Beaumont Hamel

that other people who may be aware of these monuments, like the one for Mr.

White, will do as these officers did and restore these sites and honour the

men who were brave beyond belief.

Mr. Speaker, Mr. White is one of the many local heroes

deserving of our respect and honour.

We are proud of them and the men and women who revitalized this

monument.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St. John's East.

MR. MURPHY:

I thank the minister for the advance copy of his statement here today.

Far and near and low and louder

On the roads of earth go by,

Dear to friends and food for powder,

Soldiers marching, all to die.

Congratulations, Mr. Speaker, to these fish and

wildlife officers who took it upon themselves to remember in a community

that lay almost forgotten to history.

Many a community in this Province has a small monument

to our lost soldiers buried in faraway lands.

Sometimes taking the time to remember and restore a monument restores

your faith in human kind.

I know all in this House today are truly touched by their efforts, and we

offer our complete thanks and gratitude for their very touching work.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.

MR. KENT:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KENT:

It was a delayed reaction, Mr. Speaker.

I am pleased to rise in this hon. House to provide an

update on the Strongest Families program.

This past March, the provincial government announced a new

partnership with the Strongest Families Institute to support the regional

health authorities in providing children, youth, and families with increased

access to mental health services.

The Strongest Families Institute is a not-for-profit corporation that

teaches skills and provides guidance for families through a

distance-coaching approach, over the phone and online.

The institute's programming supports children and youth

with behavioural difficulties, anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity

disorder, bullying, and other disruptive behaviours that can cause stress at

school and at home with family.

Mr. Speaker, a key benefit of this new program is that

it provides quicker access to services for families wait-listed in all

regions across our Province.

These families will now be able to connect with help in the comfort and

privacy of their homes. The

program reduces barriers to care as there is no need to travel, no cost to

the family for the program, and no lost time from work or school.

The flexible and private aspects of the program make it an excellent

solution for families who need it, and I am pleased to say that as of June

12, the Strongest Families Institute has begun contacting families

wait-listed for services in our Province.

The institute was awarded the Ernest C. Manning

Foundation Encana Principal Award in 2013.

The only service of its kind in Canada, the program is being

delivered in Alberta, Ontario, Nova Scotia, and by the Atlantic Military

Family Resource Centre.

Mr. Speaker, we are very proud to be offering this

unique program here in Newfoundland and Labrador.

This program represents a provincial government investment of

$300,000 through our E-Mental Health and Addictions Awareness Program.

We understand that many mental health issues begin in childhood and

we are committed to ensuring children, youth, and families in our Province

are supported.

No family should feel alone when they are trying to

help a child deal with mental health concerns.

That is why we have chosen to enter into this partnership with the

Strongest Families Institute.

Families in our Province deserve the most accessible, effective care we can

deliver and our partnership with the Strongest Families Institute represents

our commitment to providing just that.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Burgeo La Poile.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank the minister for an advance copy of his

statement. The Strongest

Families program provides an intervention service to families with children

diagnosed with disruptive behaviour disorders, attention deficit

hyperactivity disorder, and anxiety.

It can be incredibly daunting for families facing a mental health

crisis in their home. When wait

times to see a mental health professional are as unacceptable as they can be

here in this Province, this telephone-based intervention can help bridge the

gap.

Clinical trials have concluded that the program is

effective in treating mild to moderate pediatric mental health disorders;

however, these children with more complex mental health needs still face the

same barrier to treatment, unacceptable wait times.

Lengthy waits can have serious health consequences for these children

and their families.

The 2014 Wait Time Alliance report highlights that for

the sixth consecutive year provincial governments across this country have

made no progress in publicly releasing wait times for psychiatric care.

This is unacceptable.

We need to be a leader in mental health care so

certainly we welcome the Strongest Families program to the Province to help

bridge the gap. I do hope that

closing the gap remains a priority.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St. John's Centre.

MS ROGERS :

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I congratulate the staff of Mental Health and

Addictions for implementing innovative approaches to providing mental health

services to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

I am so impressed with the passion and compassion that they bring to

their work.

The Strongest Families program is one tool that is

pretty interesting. It can help

with wait-lists for some services; however, we still have unacceptable and

dangerously long wait-lists for psychiatric and diagnosis services for the

children of our Province.

Research has proven that early intervention is crucial

and most effective. The minister

must address this very critical problem.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Further statements by ministers?

The hon. the Minister of Service Newfoundland and

Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. CRUMMELL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, this past Friday, I had the pleasure of

joining my hon. colleague, the Member for Grand Bank, residents, municipal

leaders, school children, and representatives of the Wilderness and

Ecological Reserve Advisory Council, or WERAC, in the beautiful community of

Lord's Cove to officially announce the establishment of the Lawn Bay

Ecological Reserve, the newest addition to the Province's parks and

protected areas system.

Lawn Bay Ecological Reserve, located close to the

communities of Lawn and Lord's Cove on the Burin Peninsula, provides a

habitat for thousands of nestling seabirds.

Of particular significance are the only recorded breeding records for

Manx Shearwater in North America.

The three islands in the reserve, together with the adjacent waters,

also provide nesting habitat for at least seven other seabird species:

Leach's storm-petrels, herring gulls, great black-backed gulls, black

guillemots, black-legged kittiwakes, common murres and, from time to time,

common and arctic terns.

Mr. Speaker, Newfoundland and Labrador is home to

globally significant seabird breeding colonies, most of them already

protected as Seabird Ecological Reserves.

This reserve, along with six other existing Seabird Ecological

Reserves, protects internationally-significant seabird colonies including

approximately 152 square kilometres of marine area around those colonies.

This government, through the Department of Environment

and Conservation, remains committed to a clean, sustainable environment and

healthy, resilient ecosystems for the social, physical, cultural, biological

and economic well-being of the Province now and into the future.

We recognize the critical importance of protected areas as essential

contributors to effective ecosystems conservation.

We are also committed to protecting provincially and nationally

significant landscapes and contributing to a Canada-wide network of

protected areas. This commitment

is clearly evident through our network of eighteen Ecological Reserves, two

Wilderness Reserves, thirteen Provincial Camping Parks, seven Natural and

Scenic Attraction Parks, one Waterway Park, ten Provincial Park Reserves,

the T'Railway Provincial Park and three National Parks.

This is a very impressive network, I am proud to say

but government cannot take sole credit for it.

Rather, these achievements represent collaboration between the

Province, through the dedicated staff of the department's Parks and Natural

Areas division, residents in communities such as Lord's Cove and Lawn Bay,

and the engaged and committed members of WERAC who give freely of their time

and energy towards preserving the Province's natural heritage.

I ask all hon. members to join me now in thanking

everyone involved in the establishment of the Lawn Bay Ecological Reserve

for their dedication to protecting and preserving this incredible area for

future generations.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for The Straits White Bay North.

MR. MITCHELMORE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank the minister for an advance copy of his

statement. The Lawn Bay

Ecological Reserve is a very positive step and one that should be

celebrated. The reserve protects

the only known nesting colony of the Manx Shearwater in North America, as

well as other seabirds; but this is the same government that has let WERAC

lapse, and has an incredibly poor track record of protecting the

environment, with no area systems plan, while the rest of the world, all the

countries, have protected an amazing 15.4 per cent of the Earth's land mass,

but in our Province we have only protected 4.6 per cent.

Budget 2013 saw Cape St. Mary's Ecological Reserve

manager cut, which is responsible for 60,000 nesting seabirds; Witless Bay

Ecological Reserve manager, which was responsible for a million seabirds

nesting on four islands, cut; the Burnt Cape Ecological Reserve, which was

established in 2000, supporting over thirty rare plants, about 10 per cent

of all those on the Island, and the most significant, by sheer volume, in

the Province. The Burnt Cape

species are found in few other locations on the planet.

The real kicker here is that you could walk around

Burnt Cape all day and not notice a single one, because they are smaller

than your thumb. So that is why

the reserve staff that were cut were so important, yet Budget 2015 saw

interpreters added to Mistaken Point, but not added or put back to Burnt

Cape and that is a real problem here.

We saw that Burnt Cape on the Northern Peninsula has been forgotten

again.

Thank you.

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St. John's East.

MR. MURPHY:

I thank the minister for the advance copy of his statement here today, Mr.

Speaker. Congratulations to

everyone behind the establishment of the Lawn Bay Ecological Reserve.

That is an achievement.

It is most important to our environment that we protect nature when nature

itself needs protection.

Mr. Speaker, is this the same government that cut staff

in St. Mary's where gannets are in trouble?

Is this the same government that cut the staff in the Witless Bay

Ecological Reserve?

Unbelievable. The Lawn Bay

reserve will only be a true reserve when it is given the

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. MURPHY:

financial and the people resources to back it up and ensure its long-term

protection.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. MURPHY:

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

Oral Questions.

Oral Questions

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Burgeo La Poile.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Premier caught the oil industry off guard by

announcing a term sheet with Statoil will be finalized in the coming weeks.

It appears that the Premier did not even give the company notice that

he was going to make this announcement.

I ask the Premier: Did you let Statoil know you were

going to make this announcement before the speech yesterday, yes or no?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Natural Resources.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. DALLEY:

Mr. Speaker, I am not surprised that they would have concern with the

Premier's optimism. They are run

by a leader who believes Newfoundland and Labrador is least, last, and

lowest.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. DALLEY:

They do not want a deal on CETA.

They do not want Muskrat Falls to succeed, Mr. Speaker.

I can tell you, they are afraid that we will get a deal with Statoil.

Make no mistake about it, Mr. Speaker, we have reason

to be optimistic. We have a

valuable resource. We have a

global leader in the oil company, Statoil, focused on Newfoundland and

Labrador. We have success in

building our oil industry. We

have a fiscal regime that includes equity royalty and benefits, and we are

at the table discussing every reason to be optimistic that we will

continue to build a bright future for Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Burgeo La Poile.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It sounds like the minister was just as unaware as

everybody else, including Statoil, the oil industry, and the rest of the

Province.

I ask the minister: Did you let Statoil know before the

speech yesterday whether it was yes, or no?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Natural Resources.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. DALLEY:

Mr. Speaker, we usually do not approve our speeches through Statoil.

I can tell you, we are in negotiations.

I met with Statoil executives personally in Houston.

There have been ongoing discussions since.

The focus is to get the right deal to develop the Bay du Nord

discovery.

Let's be clear, as we go through this process, our

government does not give away resources, Mr. Speaker.

We have ten years of success in this Province.

There have been no giveaways like the Liberals did in the past.

What we have done is we have committed to a principle.

Our resources are to benefit the people of Newfoundland and Labrador,

or they will stay where they are.

Whether it is Statoil or any other oil company, we are here to be

fair and do business. Make no

mistake, Mr. Speaker, be clear, the resources belong to the people and they

will stay there if we cannot get the right deal.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Burgeo La Poile.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

There was a bit of uncertainty yesterday because most

of the people in the oil industry had no idea.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. A. PARSONS:

The paper on one day talks about an oil deal and the papers today are

putting the brakes on it.

I ask the minister: Your Premier said yesterday, coming

weeks; can you please elaborate for this House what does coming weeks mean,

next week or two months later?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The hon. the Minister of Natural Resources.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. DALLEY:

Mr. Speaker, again, I understand their concern that we might get a deal

done. I understand that purely

political but we will get a deal done that is in the best interests of the

people of the Province. We will

get a deal done where we do not give away our resources.

We will get a deal done like we have done in the past ten years,

where we make sure we get those benefits, whether it is for the government

to share with the people of the Province, whether it is for the oil

industry, whether it is for the 600 companies that we call Noia, whether it

is to benefit the seniors, whether it is to benefit our youth, we will get a

deal in the coming weeks.

Again, I have to reiterate, Mr. Speaker, so we are very

clear, if Statoil do not do a deal that benefits the people of the Province

and I can tell you one, that we will respect Statoil in the process then

the oil can stay right where it is.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Burgeo La Poile.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Mr. Speaker, what we are concerned about is this Premier making comments

that nobody else in the industry has any idea about, and placing our deal in

jeopardy and weakening our position.

The Premier has deal fever and he is rushing this

process; we have seen it before from this government.

Publicly stating your position in any negotiation weakens your

position.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. A. PARSONS:

The Premier even mandated a deal with Statoil by the end of this year,

months before the drilling process is even done.

So I ask the minister: Why are you weakening the

Province's negotiating position by publicly saying you want a deal in the

coming weeks? How is weakening

your position bettering our Province?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Natural Resources.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. DALLEY:

Mr. Speaker, the strength of this deal will be in the deal itself.

It is not about who is positioning in the media or anything else, it

is about the deal that we will deliver for the people of the Province and

if it is not the right deal, there will be no deal.

I can tell you, in the coming weeks we have an opportunity here to

advance the oil industry; we have an opportunity to further the foundation

that we have laid, to map out the next twenty-five years.

I can tell you, and I can tell the people of the

Province, the best people to do that, the government with experience, the

government with success, Mr. Speaker, is the people on this side of the

House. We look forward to

negotiating with Statoil, but Statoil is well aware that the resources

belong to the people of the Province.

They are going to get respect from the Government of Newfoundland and

Labrador, but they are going to do a deal that benefit the people of

Newfoundland and Labrador, or there will be no deal.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The hon. the Member for Burgeo La Poile.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Mr. Speaker, the minister says again, he uses that phrase, coming weeks, but

it sounds like Statoil is not exactly on the same timeline.

Their drilling will not even be done until May 2016.

So I ask the minister: How can you conclude a deal when

we do not even know how the drilling is going to go ahead and what kind of

position we are going to be in in May 2016?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Natural Resources.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. DALLEY:

Mr. Speaker, by comparison, Hibernia started twenty years ago, and not that

long ago we announced new discoveries with the Hibernia deal.

This is not a closed shop.

They are going to continue to explore.

They are going to continue to expand.

We are going to find new discoveries out there.

Hibernia started with about 500 million barrels of oil.

We are up to 1.6 billion.

We have every reason to be optimistic and believe that there is a whole lot

more oil out there, even with the Bay du Nord discovery.

Mr. Speaker, we are negotiating.

We are laying out equity, royalty, and benefits, Mr. Speaker, the

package that we have approached every other deal.

We will get the right deal.

We have experience. We

have success. We have respect

for companies, and we believe in the future of offshore Newfoundland and

Labrador, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The hon. the Member for Conception Bay South.

MR. HILLIER:

Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General sampled five of the twenty-five government

run, long-term care facilities and found a troubling lack of oversight.

Who knows what other stories remain untold in the other facilities.

The department has committed to a performance-monitoring framework.

I ask the minister: In the interest of accountability

and resident safety, will you commit to ensuring this monitoring is carried

out and that the results are made public?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KENT:

Mr. Speaker, I will commit to ensuring that the monitoring is carried out,

and I will commit to ensuring the results of that monitoring is publicly

available as well, I say to the hon. member.

We have some work to do.

We are reviewing the recommendations.

We are working closely with the regional health authorities.

We know that the regional health authorities need to improve

monitoring activities. So that

includes planning to review and revise our operational standards, which we

will do this year. We are also

looking at opportunities to strengthen these standards, which I think is

really important as well.

We have already acted on a number of issues coming out

of the Auditor General's report.

I will be asking for regular updates, and this is something I will be

watching very closely.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Conception Bay South.

MR. HILLIER:

Mr. Speaker, the operational standards for long-term care were developed in

2005. Government committed in

those standards to review them every two years.

The four reviews that should have taken place by now did not happen.

The Department of Health said in its response to the AG that they

work closely with regional health authorities to address policy or

procedural concerns on a regular basis.

I ask the minister: If you were working closely with

regional health authorities, and clearly there are gross inconsistencies in

long-term care, why did you fail to review the standards required four times

over the past years?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KENT:

Mr. Speaker, it is worth noting that what has not been done is a

comprehensive review of the operational standards governing our long-term

care homes. What have been done

are ongoing updates. Whenever

the need has arisen within the regional health authorities or provincially,

we have made updates to policies all along the way.

In many ways, these operational standards are more

current than one would think. In

fact, we have compared our standards with other jurisdictions in the country

and we found they are comparable and we may not require major revisions.

So we are making some amendments to ensure that expectations are

clearly outlined, and we will continue to do this work in the next number of

months.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Torngat Mountains.

MR. EDMUNDS:

Mr. Speaker, shipping season has begun on the North and South Coast of

Labrador. Residents of Labrador

still need a port of call connecting the South Coast and the North Coast.

Cartwright is the port of call for the

Northern Ranger yet residents are

unable to ship any goods to the North Coast and vice versa.

I ask the minister: Why do you not allow freight to be

shipped to and from Cartwright on board the

Northern Ranger ?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. BRAZIL:

Mr. Speaker, the issue about freight being shipped from Cartwright to the

North Coast came to my attention this week.

The primary policy in government right now, Mr. Speaker, is about the

service for passengers and freight to the North Coast of Labrador,

particularly around these communities, is based on isolated and remote

communities.

There is road access from Cartwright to the South

Coast, further up to Goose Bay, and then on to Labrador City and Wabush, Mr.

Speaker. What I am doing here

now, I have asked my officials and I made a commitment last week when I

was in Labrador to the Joint Councils to review how we better service the

people of Labrador. I have asked

my officials, they are sitting down with me Friday morning, to look at this

issue and see how we can address it and see what improvements can be made to

address that particular issue.

It has been brought to my attention, Mr. Speaker, and

my officials and I will look at how we better serve the people of Labrador.

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Torngat Mountains.

MR. EDMUNDS:

Mr. Speaker, this is a double standard.

Where else in this Province would communities with road and port

access be denied the privilege of using either means of transport?

Apparently, Cartwright is the only exception.

I ask the minister: Why are you treating the residents

of the Labrador Coast differently from anywhere else in this Province?

Where is your fair and open government, and will you revisit this

decision very soon?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. BRAZIL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We treat the people of Labrador no different than

anywhere else, Mr. Speaker. What

we have offered here is a service to a community that is no longer isolated

or remote, Mr. Speaker. There is

no doubt about that, we know there are some challenges there.

What we are doing, as I noted earlier, we are reviewing

the policy that has been enacted and entrusted with the proponent who offers

the service to see is there a better way, what kind of a disruption would

this be, is there additional costing, are there some infrastructure needs

that we have to put in place. To

be prudent here, to do due diligence and make sure if there is a service

that we can provide to the people it is the proper service and meets their

needs, Mr. Speaker. The best way

to do that is to have dialogue with my officials and the company that

provides the service to indeed find a service that works for the people of

Labrador.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Carbonear Harbour Grace.

MR. SLADE :

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, in 2011 this government promised a vital

seafood marketing council and failed to deliver.

It has been four years, and fish harvesters and processors have seen

no action and no intention to follow through on the PC Blue Book promise.

I ask the minister: There is evidence that cod stocks

are rebounding and now is the time to promote our cod as top quality on the

world markets, will your government finally act to establish a seafood

marketing council?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. GRANTER:

Mr. Speaker, as I have said numerous times in this House, the return of the

cod fishery in the Province is an absolutely remarkable thing that we are

going to look forward to. The

research that has been done by the

Celtic Explorer this particular year, Mr. Speaker, with the signs of the

return of the codfish on the Northeast Coast and off Labrador is absolutely

profound. We are looking forward

to a return of the codfish.

With regard to seafood marketing, we have put forth to

companies and investors in the industry in the Province, Mr. Speaker, the

ability to go out and research, put fish on the markets of the world, and we

will look at that further, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Carbonear Harbour Grace.

MR. SLADE:

Mr. Speaker, I certainly hope what the minister just said that time, that

document does not sit on the shelf for another four years.

Mr. Speaker, while the global demand for fish products

is growing, per capita seafood consumption in our Province is still unknown.

Memorial University Professor Barbara Neis recommended in her report,

Moving Forward, that the government document per capita seafood consumption

as its way to inform the seafood marketing.

I ask the minister: Will you commit to tracking seafood

consumption and use that information to form a comprehensive seafood

marketing strategy?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. GRANTER:

Mr. Speaker, as I said earlier and a number of times in the House, we are

doing a fair bit of research with regard to the Marine Institute associated

with Memorial University as well.

We are looking at the return to cod and the groundfish in the

Province. We are working with

CFER, the Marine Institute, Memorial University of Newfoundland, and the

FFAW. We are looking at industry

stakeholders, Mr. Speaker.

As we move back to a groundfish fishery, Mr. Speaker,

if that is something that we need to do, we will take the advice of those

who are involved with the industry, those who are the professionals in the

industry, including those at the Marine Institute of fisheries.

We will look at that in every possible way.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Trinity Bay de Verde.

MR. CROCKER:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the people of rural Newfoundland and

Labrador deserve cellphone coverage.

The last time this government mentioned cellphone coverage was in the

2011 Blue Book.

I ask the minister: Why does your government continue

to ignore the needs for cellphone coverage in rural Newfoundland and

Labrador?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Business, Tourism, Culture and Rural Development.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KING:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I think the hon. member has missed a few years

somewhere along the way. We have

announced millions of dollars around support for broadband cellphone

coverage on the whole strategy.

Very clearly, let me first of all establish the parameters here.

It is not the Government of Newfoundland's role to put cellphone

coverage in the Province, Mr. Speaker.

We provide financial supports to entice private

carriers like Bell Aliant, Rogers, Eastlink, and all kinds of companies, Mr.

Speaker, companies that we are working with today, by the way, through the

Connecting Canadians, which is a federal program.

We also have a fund locally that we are trying to match up to try and

double the coverage that we can find.

Very clearly, the member needs to understand that it is

not the government's role, nor responsibility, to provide the

infrastructure. We will provide

supports to entice companies to provide the infrastructure.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Trinity Bay de Verde.

MR. CROCKER:

Mr. Speaker, the minister clearly has an issue between broadband and

cellphone coverage. His

department's documents show that there is no plan from this government.

We have seen that. Yes,

government has a role to play.

Look at the model of what the BC government has done.

Mr. Speaker, we need a strategy to provide cellphone

coverage to every community along every highway in our Province.

It is a safety need and it will stimulate rural economic development.

I ask the minister: When will your government recognize

the importance of cellphone coverage and do something about it?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Business, Tourism, Culture and Rural Development.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KING:

Thank you.

Again, Mr. Speaker, I say to the member opposite: Do

your homework. It was about five

months ago that we did the latest call for broadband and cellphone coverage

in this Province. We are

currently evaluating

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. KING:

We are currently evaluating projects, Mr. Speaker, that includes pilot

projects for cellphone coverage in certain parts of the Province.

The intention is, as I said a few moments ago, that we will partner

up with the Connecting Canadians funding program, along with the provincial

government's opportunity to fund, as long as companies are prepared to

provide the service and infrastructure.

We will support them in doing it.

It is their role to step up to the plate on a business model and do

the work. We will provide the

incentives, as we did, I say to the member opposite, about four or five

months ago in our latest call.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Humber East.

MR. FLYNN:

In May, Kruger asked Corner Brook Pulp and Paper employees and retirees to

approve a proposal for extra time to pay into the company's pension plan.

The letter states that if the pension plan members support the

proposal, they do not need to vote yes; but if they object, they have to

send a notice of objection by July 8.

So, I ask the minister: Can you confirm that no action

is interpreted as a yes vote for the proposal; and if this is the case, do

our regulations support it?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Service Newfoundland and Labrador.

MR. CRUMMELL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, we are certainly very aware of the

situation with Service NL. The

Minister Responsible for Forestry and Agrifoods is also aware of it.

We have been in consultations with the union, the pensioners, and as

well the company.

Unless all parties reach an agreement, there will be no

agreement. So we are very clear

on that. So that is all that the

people out there will need to know we will take no action on this issue

without the full support of pension plan members, and also the members of

the union.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Humber East.

MR. FLYNN:

Mr. Speaker, a very straightforward, simple question: Is it under the

legislation? Yes or no.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Service Newfoundland and Labrador.

MR. CRUMMELL:

Mr. Speaker, I cannot be any clearer than what I just said.

There would be no action taken unless all parties agreed to this,

including the pensioners, including the union members, including the

company. That is the provincial

government's position on this, and that will be the position going forward.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Humber East.

MR. FLYNN:

Mr. Speaker, the letter also states that Kruger will bring its proposal to

government if more than one-third of the employees and retirees send in an

objection notice.

I ask the minister: Can you confirm that government

will assume members support this proposal if no more than one-third of the

members object to it?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Service Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. CRUMMELL:

Mr. Speaker, there are regulations and there is legislation in place that

governs circumstances like this; but once again I will reiterate, there will

be no agreement we will to participate in any agreement unless all three

parties agree to this.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St. George's Stephenville East.

MR. REID:

Mr. Speaker, I have been presenting petitions and asking questions and

advocating for improved health care in the Bay St. George area since I was

elected to this House. As most

people in the House know, Jeffrey's has not had a doctor for about a

year-and-a-half. St. George's

has not had a doctor for about half a year.

I ask the Minister of Health: Can he give us an update

on the situation at the clinic in Jeffrey's and St. George's, and how he

sees the future of health care in these areas evolving?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KENT:

Mr. Speaker, while the member opposite has been playing politics, we have

been working with Western Health and working with those communities to find

solutions for the people of Jeffrey's and St. George's.

In fact, we have found resources we have posted positions, and we

are in the process of hiring nurse practitioners to assist.

Now, it is still absolutely our goal that everybody in

the Province be connected with a family physician, and there will be family

physicians involved in these communities as well, but we know that nurse

practitioners are part of the solution.

They can diagnose, they can order and interpret lab tests, they can

prescribe medication, they can perform procedures, and they can monitor and

treat a variety of illness and injuries.

This model is working well on the Southern Shore of the

Avalon right now. It is a model

that we believe will work very well for Jeffrey's and St. George's, Mr.

Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St. George's Stephenville East.

MR. REID:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I am not playing politics with this issue;

I am just representing the interests of the constituents who sent me here.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. REID:

Many concerns are being raised about the future of health care delivery in

the Bay St. George area, including services offered at the hospital in

Stephenville. Positions remain

unfilled for a long time and, in other cases, services that were once

offered there are not being offered anymore.

I ask the Minister of Health: Does he consider the

situation in Bay St. George a crisis, and how do you justify failing to

develop and implement a health care human resource plan over the last twelve

years that your government has been in power?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KENT:

Mr. Speaker, we have developed numerous human resource plans over time, but

we live in a changing world and there is a need to continually update and

modify those plans. In fact,

over the next month or so, I will be unveiling a brand new comprehensive

health care workforce plan for Newfoundland and Labrador.

We are very committed to meeting the health care needs

of the people in the Bay St. George region.

We have a good health care facility in Stephenville, as the member

references. We are constantly

working to fill vacancies.

Now, Mr. Speaker, if he is not interested in playing

politics, why would he meet with me in that hallway right behind us and

agree that nurse practitioners are the right solution and then stand in this

House and suggest otherwise?

That is playing politics, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The hon. the Member for Bay of Islands.

MR. JOYCE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I ask the Member for Humber West this: Kruger is in

negotiations with the union on their pensions.

Part of the concern of the pensioners is that there are many people

who are away who cannot vote.

I ask the Member for Humber West: If you do not vote,

is that, under the legislation, declared a yes vote?

It is very important to the pensioners.

It is their pension we are talking about.

It is a clear question.

Is it under the legislation, yes or no?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Service Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. CRUMMELL:

Mr. Speaker, the simple answer to this is there is no legislative

requirement for what the member asked.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Signal Hill Quidi Vidi.

MS MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

We have learned today that government is cancelling its

plan for universally free flu vaccination that would include pharmacists,

along with physicians, as providers.

On October 29 past, government said more people should get the shot

to protect those who are vulnerable, but this cost-cutting measure is doing

the opposite.

I ask the minister: Why is he flip-flopping on a

universal vaccine program at the expense of public health in this Province?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KENT:

Mr. Speaker, we are maintaining our commitment to a universal flu

vaccination program that will be available in hundreds of locations

throughout Newfoundland and Labrador.

There will be clinics that are run by the regional health

authorities, as there has been in recent years.

Family doctors will have a supply of flu vaccinations available.

For clients of the Newfoundland and Labrador

Prescription Drug Program, for clients of that program, pharmacists will be

able to provide the flu vaccination free of charge to those clients through

pharmacies in Newfoundland and Labrador.

So there will be no change in 2015-2016.

We expanded the program last year. We are going to continue that in

this current fiscal year.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Signal Hill Quidi Vidi.

MS MICHAEL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I point out to the minister there are many people who

are not part of that drug plan.

An evaluation of Ontario's universally free flu

vaccination program shows a reduction of flu cases by 61 per cent and

mortality by 28 per cent. Health

care costs due to the flu dropped by 52 per cent.

It is a public health program that saves lives and makes economic

sense.

I ask the minister: Why has this government chosen this

petty short-term cut over significant savings in hospitalization costs?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KENT:

Mr. Speaker, there has been absolutely no cut made.

I will say again the program that was in place last year is the exact

same program that will be available this year.

Last year, we allowed pharmacists to provide the flu

vaccine. In addition to making

them able to provide it to anybody who wants to go in and pay a fee for that

service, we are subsidizing. We

are paying for the vaccine for any client of the Newfoundland and Labrador

Prescription Drug Program.

So we have improved access even further for those who

are most vulnerable, Mr. Speaker.

In addition to that, in every region of this Province we will

continue to run clinics, and family doctors will be providing the vaccine as

well. There is absolutely no

change in this year's program.

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Signal Hill Quidi Vidi.

MS MICHAEL:

A simple question to the minister: Is he denying that he has written a

letter to pharmacists saying that the program is changing, that what they

were promised in October is not happening?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KENT:

Mr. Speaker, it is no secret that they struggle with fine print over there.

The letter quite clearly states that we will not be able to expand

the coverage further within pharmacies this year.

The program is exactly the same.

The program is exactly

MS MICHAEL:

(Inaudible) what you promised.

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. KENT:

The heckling from the Member for Signal Hill Quidi Vidi is unreal today,

Mr. Speaker. If she will allow

me to answer her question the program is exactly the same this year.

There was no commitment to provide universal funding through

pharmacies. It is something we

would like to explore, it is something that we may do in future, and it is

something that we will continue to evaluate.

The program for this year is exactly the same as it was last year,

Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St. John's Centre.

MS ROGERS:

Mr. Speaker, the START Clinic was designed to deliver a fast, short-term

response to people needing mental health services.

Now that all mental health referrals are funnelled through adult

central intake, the backlog has grown.

It can take up to six weeks for central intake to do the mandatory

forty-five minute review referral interview.

Then once referred, the wait-list for the clinic itself can be two

months. This is way too long.

I ask the minister: What is he going to do to ensure

people get timely treatment?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KENT:

Mr. Speaker, we are very much committed to improving mental health and

addiction services for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

That is why we voted in this House unanimously, with a spirit of

co-operation, to establish an All-Party Committee on Mental Health and

Addictions.

It is unfortunate that some of the issues that are

arising through our consultations are being cherry-picked and used for

random questions from both parties, but I am happy to be accountable, I am

happy to answer whatever questions members have, even if they are choosing

to play politics within that process, Mr. Speaker.

Central intake has represented a major improvement for

our mental health services, but there are wait-lists, they need to be

addressed, and that is exactly why we are working hard to make the system

better, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The time for Question Period has expired.

Presenting Reports by Standing and Select Committees.

Tabling of Documents.

Notices of Motion.

Answers to Questions for which Notice has been Given.

Petitions.

Petitions

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Trinity Bay de Verde.

MR. CROCKER:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

To the hon. House of Assembly in the Province of

Newfoundland and Labrador in Parliament assembled, the petition of the

undersigned humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS the Cemetery Road in Grates Cove is the main

access road, servicing three cemeteries within the community; and

WHEREAS for years of neglect and disregard of routine

maintenance, the road has become deplorable; and

WHEREAS the condition of Cemetery Road in Grates Cove

has made travelling it virtually impossible;

WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly

pray and call upon the House of Assembly to urge the Government of

Newfoundland and Labrador to provide regular maintenance to the Cemetery

Road to alleviate the unacceptable conditions of the road.

As in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr. Speaker, this petition is on behalf of the

residents of Grates Cove, and I have also had a very similar issue raised by

residents of New Melbourne and also residents of Western Bay.

There are over 100 signatures on this petition from the people of

Grates Cove. The problem with

the road maintenance is when government made some changes a few years back,

one of the roads that they excluded from their inventory list was Cemetery

Road.

When you look at church groups in our communities such

as Grates Cove, Western Bay, or New Melbourne, the church groups play a very

important role. There is no

reason why church groups should have to take money that they raised from

their fundraisers to try to keep their churches going in small communities

to maintain roads to cemeteries.

I do not think these communities are asking for a lot.

Churches give a lot back to their communities in many ways in these

communities. It is very

important, I think, that government look at this issue in small rural

communities.

Again, Mr. Speaker, I call upon the department to

revisit the decision to exclude roads that lead to church cemeteries from

the inventory from the Department of Transportation and Works.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

Orders of the Day

Private Members' Day

MR. SPEAKER:

It being Private Members' Day and 3:00 p.m., I go to the Member for

Conception Bay South to begin debate on his private member's motion.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. HILLIER:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is my privilege to stand today and bring forward

this private member's motion on behalf of the Official Opposition Party, and

my colleagues here in the House.

Mr. Speaker, this motion deals with the Seniors Poverty

Reduction Strategy, and I will read the motion as I read into the record on

Monday past. It says:

WHEREAS seniors in Newfoundland and Labrador have the

lowest median income amongst all provinces; and

WHEREAS seniors in Newfoundland and Labrador have

remained at the very bottom in median after-tax income amongst provinces

since 2003 despite billions in oil revenue and a poverty reduction strategy;

THEREFORE

BE IT RESOLVED this hon. House urge

government to commit to a poverty reduction strategy designed specifically

to target seniors' poverty.

Mr. Speaker, this is the second private member's

resolution that our party has brought forward dealing with seniors, and we

are bringing forward this second one at this particular time for several

reasons. First of all, Mr.

Speaker, we have been dealing with the Auditor General's report, and

obviously the Auditor General had some significant issues with long-term

care, nutrition for some of our seniors in long-term care, and safety in

some of our personal care homes.

Mr. Speaker, on Monday we recognized, both sides of the

House, World Elder Abuse Awareness Day.

The media certainly picked up on it from both sides of the House, and

it is something we want to move forward with in this resolution.

I have been asking questions in the House for some time on the median

income, dealing with income of seniors in the Province and where we relate

in the rest of the country.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER (Littlejohn):

Order, please!

MR. HILLIER:

Sometimes I get answers, sometimes I do not.

Sometimes answers are a little bit stretched, but we want to speak to

that in a little bit more detail today, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, we did not get very far with our private

member's resolution regarding a seniors' advocate back in April.

We want to continue speaking on behalf of seniors, and let's see

where we go with that seniors' advocate at another time.

Mr. Speaker, we did get some traction on the seniors'

advocate in that the Premier is now using the term seniors' advocate

inaccurately, but at least he now has the term in common usage.

The difference in his seniors' advocate is that his seniors' advocate

is actually a collection agent clawing back overpayments made to pensioners

a clerical mistake that is now hitting seniors in the pocketbook.

So while he is using that term, I would like the public to know that

the seniors' advocate the Premier is referring to is not the seniors'

advocate that we are referring to.

Mr. Speaker, we generally associate this whole issue of

seniors' abuse with I guess with criminal intent, with the criminal

justice system, assault, financial abuse, what have you.

Monday, the awareness day on seniors' abuse, on elder

abuse, comes out of the United Nations Charter of days going back to 2006.

They treat this whole issue of elder abuse from a human rights point

of view as opposed to a criminal point of view.

They are establishing the right of our seniors to live free of abuse,

free of neglect, free of discrimination, and free of poverty.

It is this right to live free of poverty that we want to follow up on

today in calling for a seniors poverty reduction strategy from this

government.

Mr. Speaker, in this House we have used a bunch of

demographics over time. We talk

about currently 18 per cent of our population are seniors, 93,000 people,

and by 2025 that number will reach 25 per cent of our population.

Overall, people are living longer.

The savings they had, the pensions they had do not go as far as they

did at one point in time.

On top of that, one of the issues here in our Province

is we have lost a lot of our young people moving as a result of

out-migration, a downturn in the fishery, a downturn in the economy.

So what we are seeing is a very, very significant issue in that we do

not have the number of young people here, first of all, to support their

parents, our seniors, but also we do not have them working here so that our

economy can be strong enough to support this segment of our population as

they go into their older years.

Mr. Speaker, I just want to read into the record the

definition of poverty as set down by World Health Organizations so we have

some idea of where we are going today.

Poverty is hunger.

Poverty is lack of shelter.

Poverty is being sick and not being able to see a doctor.

Poverty is not having access to school and not knowing how to read.

Poverty is not having a job, is fear for the future, living one day

at a time. Poverty has many

faces, changing from place to place and across time, and has been described

in many ways.

So poverty is a call to action for the poor and the

wealthy alike a call to change the world so that many more may have enough

to eat, adequate shelter, access to education and health, protection from

violence, and a voice in what happens in their communities.

Mr. Speaker, seniors' poverty is both a social and a

fiscal problem that will be exacerbated as higher percentages of populations

move into that over sixty-five demographic that I referenced a few moments

ago. Poverty rates among the

elderly tend to be highest among women, particularly widows over the age of

seventy-five. This is generally

due to pension allowances that have traditionally been linked to employment

history.

Mr. Speaker, what does this poverty look like?

If we want to talk about poverty, what does this poverty look like?

Here in Newfoundland, if we want to see what poverty looks like we

can go to the mall and see what poverty looks like.

We can see people who go to the mall because they chose to be at the

mall on a daily basis rather than turn on the heat in their home,

particularly on real cold days, particularly during cold weather in the

wintertime. If you talk to

people who spend a lot of time at the mall, people who work at the mall,

they can identify these people.

Poverty is people who are seniors living alone but

living in their big homes. Homes

they raised families in. Homes

they can no longer now support.

I will give you an example. It

is an issue in my town, in Conception Bay South, where property assessments

have risen so high in past years that property tax has gone up.

We had one lady who could not believe she would ever owe anything to

anybody, and came in to work out her tax bill with our staff.

She said: I am prepared to pay it off a month at a time, $100 a

month.

Mr. Speaker, what she did not work out was $100 a month

would only give her $1,200 in taxes, where her taxes every year were $2,000,

but the staff made a condition.

They chose to accept it, and every month this lady because she cannot

afford to be in her house drops in with that $100 bill, pays her taxes,

the staff say thank you, and she goes on.

Her taxes will never be paid off.

Mr. Speaker, try to heat some of these homes, try to

maintain these homes, try to find alternate living arrangements because a

lot of people say to me: Rex, I do not want to be in my big home anymore, I

cannot afford to be in my big home anymore, but I do not have the

alternative to move.

Mr. Speaker, in the past ten years, government has

collected some $20 billion. We

have argued about it here. We

have talked about wasting $20 billion, we have talked about blowing $20

billion, we have talked about squandering $20 billion, and we have had some

interesting debate back and forth.

Today, I just want to talk about collecting $20 billion.

I do not think anybody can dispute that over the last X number of

years, this Province has collected some $20 billion.

Mr. Speaker, while government was collecting this $20

billion, we have seen more and more of our seniors slipping into poverty.

Our economy has boomed.

We are into big houses. We are

into big vehicles. We are into

$30 steaks at Costco. With a

booming economy and wages increased, the cost of living is going up, but

most of our seniors are on a fixed income and they are slipping more and

more into poverty.

I know we will debate this, this afternoon and members

opposite will get up and talk about all the things that they have dealt

with, all the things they have put in place over the last ten, twelve,

fourteen years, thirteen years in terms of helping out our seniors.

They will talk about the HST rebate.

They will talk about the Provincial Home Repair Program.

They will talk about the new seniors department.

They will talk about the home no, they will not talk about the home

heat.

AN HON. MEMBER:

No.

MR. HILLIER:

No, they will not talk about the tax exemptions.

They will talk about the Low Income Seniors' Benefit, Mr. Speaker.

Let's create a baseline, Mr. Speaker.

We have heard this government talk about the mess that they

inherited. There is no doubt

when this government came into the House in 2003, there was a mess.

They tell us that the government was almost bankrupt, and that was

the first thing to try and come out of that bankruptcy.

Mr. Speaker, in 2003, if we talk about our seniors

and this is the median after-tax income among seniors by family, type, and

province 2003 Newfoundland and Labrador was the lowest in terms of elderly

married couples. We were the

lowest in terms of income. We

were the second lowest for unattached females in terms of income.

We were the lowest in unattached elderly males in terms of income.

That is the baseline I want to work from.

There is no doubt that we had seniors in poverty and on the verge of

poverty when this government took power in 2003.

I have taken some time to have a look at the Budget

document. A lot of it talks

about what has happened in this Province since 2003.

If we look at household income, that is total provincially, it has

gone from $13 billion a year to $24 billion a year.

Compensation for government employees has gone from $8 billion to $15

billion a year. Capital

investment has gone from $4 billion a year to $13 billion a year.

Mr. Speaker, retail sales have gone from $5 billion a

year to $8 billion a year.

Average weekly earnings in this Province since 2003 have gone from $600 a

week to $1,000 a week. Mr.

Speaker, if this government had anything to do with this, kudos to them.

Great looking graphs, all going upward, all shown the growth in our

economy since 2003.

I set the baseline for 2003 in terms of poverty, in

terms of various sectors of our population.

If you go back to it, we said that elderly married couples were the

lowest in the country. We said

that unattached elderly females were the second lowest in the country, and

we said that unattached elderly males were the lowest in the country in

terms of median after tax.

Mr. Speaker, having gone through the $20 billion that

we have collected and all of the economic indicators that have grown so much

since 2003, now we come to 2014 I am sorry, the latest statistics is 2012.

We will use the 2012 statistics, and we are using the same sectors of

the population.

Here we go again, elderly married couples, lowest in

the country in terms of poverty, in terms of income; elderly males, second

lowest in the country in terms of income; elderly females, lowest in the

country in terms of income.

Mr. Speaker, 2003-2012, given everything that went

through this book that we saw in the Budget this week, nothing has changed

in terms of poverty in this Province for our seniors, and I look forward to

the remainder of the debate.

Thank you very much.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Service Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. CRUMMELL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I certainly have the pleasure to speak to

the private member's motion today.

It certainly is close to my heart and the hearts of everybody here in

the House of Assembly. We all

have seniors in our lives that we deal with every day, and we want to make

sure that we do what we think is best for them going forward and support

them in every way we can, in so many ways.

The member opposite referenced some statistics that I

will refer to as well, just to show how far we have come as a Province in

the last little while. Mr.

Speaker, specifically, what have we been doing for seniors over the last ten

years? What has this government

been investing in to make sure that seniors live out their golden years with

respect, dignity, and in a safe and caring environment?

There is a lot of work that we have done, and we

recognize that there is work to be done yet as well.

We have not yet reached that ideal goal in our lives, in our

Province, in our communities to where we want to get to, but we are all

moving forward to that good place.

Mr. Speaker, when we talk about the poverty reduction

strategy a poverty reduction strategy is a place to reduce and alleviate

and ultimately eliminate poverty in Newfoundland and Labrador.

That has been a goal of this government since we took power in 2003.

When we are looking at poverty reduction for this

Province, we are talking about reduction in poverty for all people of the

Province, including seniors, and especially seniors.

We know this, and we have been working very hard through our poverty

reduction strategy to address how do we support low-income seniors through

our income tax system and other ways as well we have been doing that.

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite talked about the

measurements of poverty and how we compare with the rest of Canada.

There are a few stats around that that we need to get out there to

have a full conversation. How

you measure poverty must be compared to both income and the cost of living.

That is important, Mr. Speaker, and there are measurements around

that.

What we have been doing in other supports as well, what

we do to advocate, what we are doing in terms of our research, compare that

to what other provinces and territories are doing, the investments in that

area are important as well to help alleviate that problem that we have here

in this Province.

Mr. Speaker, there is a stat that jumps out at me the

most of all the stats that we can throw around, and we can throw them back

and forth across the floor here today.

The most important one, I think, that we could look at is we are

proud to say that we have moved from having 9.1 per cent of seniors living

in poverty in 2003 to 3 per cent in 2012.

That is a significant number to look at.

When we look at that, it is a huge accomplishment.

The median incomes for seniors in Newfoundland and Labrador have

increased by 50 per cent since 2003 50 per cent.

That is significant as well.

When we compare what we are doing here in this Province

to other provinces, we are moving in the right direction.

That is exactly where we want to move.

We are not to the place that we want to get to.

We are on the way there and we are well on the way there.

Our Poverty Reduction Strategy that we put in place for

Newfoundland and Labrador in 2003 resonates throughout this country.

It is held up in high esteem.

Our people go to conferences, our civil servants and the politicians

here on this side go to conferences up in the mainland, and they call us out

everywhere they go. How did you

guys get to this place? Wow,

what are you doing? We want

examples of how you have gotten to this place within your Province.

We are on a pedestal, Mr. Speaker, with regard to other

provinces and how we have come so far in so short a time.

Ten years is a short period of time.

We are not going to get everywhere in ten years what we want to do in

this Province, but we are getting there and we are getting there, I would

consider, very rapidly.

As we focus on a poverty reduction strategy for all

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, it does not mean that we do not have to

focus on seniors because, Mr. Speaker, we have focused on seniors.

There are special programs out there that address the needs of

seniors in this Province.

We recognize there are still a number of seniors who

live in poverty. Mr. Speaker, we

recognize that. People's

circumstances in their lives that end up in the positions later in life like

that, it is difficult to get into.

They are complex issues in many instances.

We have to be there as a government to support people who find

themselves seniors living in today's day and age in this Province where we

see high incomes, the second-highest incomes in all of Canada.

So we need to address that and we are doing that.

We have a range of initiatives and we have implemented

a range of initiatives to support seniors.

I think we have every reason to be proud of the progress we have

made. I think we made

responsible decisions, responsible investments, and recognizing again, Mr.

Speaker, that there is work to be done.

We are right now currently working on developing a new action plan

for a poverty reduction strategy.

That is coming out later this year.

We are continuing to implement the Provincial Healthy Aging Policy

Framework, so our work continues.

Let's just go back and frame this up a little bit more,

and get some real stats out there that I think have teeth.

In 2003, 18.9 per cent of all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians were

in low income, and 9.1 per cent of seniors sixty-five plus were in low

income. The most recent data,

which is 2012, showed that 11.6 per cent of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians

are living in low income and only 3 per cent of seniors, Mr. Speaker.

That is real progress.

That means about 6,000 seniors were in low income back

in 2003 compared to 2,600 today.

We do recognize there are seniors who are in the borderline area; they are

in that cut-off point. A lot of

our programs address the seniors who are just above that poverty line, Mr.

Speaker, and beyond that.

Stats Canada indicates our seniors are better off than

the rest of Canada when it comes to homeownership.

That is a real important part of understanding how much money do you

need to live off. If you own

your own home, the income you have coming in, you can use for your daily

necessitates without having to pay your rent or your mortgage.

We have about 83 per cent of people in this Province

over the age of sixty-five owning their own home.

So looking at median incomes, compared to the rest of Canada, does

not do justice when you are comparing who is living in poverty and who is

not 83 per cent, by far the highest in all of Canada.

That is a huge number.

When we look at what Newfoundland and Labrador Housing

does and the suite of programs in place to help low-income seniors: the

Provincial Home Repair Program and the Residential Energy Efficiency Program

older. We invest millions and

millions and millions of dollars every single year in these programs.

We are proud of the progress we have made in these areas.

We are very proud.

So we talked specifically around seniors and poverty

reduction, but what are we doing?

What exactly are we doing? Why do we need to have a strategy that is

separate from an overall strategy?

I would suggest to the member opposite that you could say that people

who are sixty consider themselves seniors because you can avail of old age

security when you turn the age of sixty.

So where are the thresholds?

What are we talking about here?

When you do a targeted poverty reduction strategy for a

certain demographic of the population, you have thresholds and something

gets lost. That is the reason

why we focus on an overall poverty reduction strategy.

When we do target that overall population, we do have a special focus

on seniors, Mr. Speaker. That is

where we are going here now, with a few numbers that I am going to throw out

at you.

When you look at Budget 2015 and increasing the Low

Income Seniors' Benefit, we are increasing it by $1.7 million for a total of

$42.1 million. As a result of

that, about 45,000 households will receive this benefit in October 2015.

So they will be getting about $1,000 in their pockets in October,

money in their pockets, 45,000 households in this Province.

That is significant, Mr. Speaker.

That is a great investment.

I do not think anybody in this Province would have any problem with

that and we are talking targeted towards seniors.

Long-Term Care and Community Support Services; over

20,000 Newfoundlanders and Labradorians avail of the Long-Term Care and

Community Support Services each and every year.

Budget 2015 allocates about $700 million for these services including

about $180 million for the Provincial Home Support Program, which last year

assisted 9,000 individuals in this Province, the vast majority were seniors.

These are programs that target seniors but also capture people who

are on that cusp as well, Mr. Speaker, for whatever reason.

The Newfoundland and Labrador Prescription Drug

Program; when we look at that as part of one of the key cornerstones for our

poverty reduction strategy, there are five different plans that we have

eligibility for in this Province.

One is the 65Plus Plan; this plan provides coverage to residents

sixty-five and over who receive Old Age Security benefits and Guaranteed

Income Support. Individuals

under this program pay a maximum dispensing fee of $6 per prescription for

covered drugs.

In 2014-2015, the 65Plus Plan served more than 41,500

people at a cost of $45 million.

We are talking about a separate poverty reduction strategy.

There are two plans there together: the Low Income Seniors' Benefit

and the Prescription Drug Program, almost $100 million targeted directly to

seniors sixty-five years and older.

Mr. Speaker, again, we are doing the work that needs to

be done. We do not need to

reinvent the wheel. How far we

have come in the last ten years, again I say to you, it is amazing.

We are proud of that progress, and I will say that again, and I will

say it again before I am finished four minutes from now.

Seniors' discounts; my father, I call him Wally because

he is one of my best buddies. He

is eighty-four years old and he lives by himself in a seniors' complex.

Actually, my brother just moved back from the mainland so he is with

him now, but he lived by himself for many years after my mother passed away.

He lives on a fixed income, a very small pension.

He does not have a lot of money to play with like a lot of seniors in

the Province. He fishes and he

is in good health. He fishes, he

hunts, and he drives his car. He

was in Nova Scotia last year. He

drove to Nova Scotia and back again to visit my sister.

I tell you what, he is not afraid to talk about what is

right and wrong. This fellow

here, when you see him coming he is a guy who writes the letters to the

editor. The apple does not fall

far from the tree, Mr. Speaker.

He is the guy who is writing letters to the editor, an outdoors rights guy.

When he shows up at community

meetings he speaks his mind. He

does not mind telling me what is up and down in his mind.

I tell you what, I have conversations with him all the time.

He enjoys those benefits, the 30 per cent discounts he gets on his

automobile registration, on his licence when he gets his motor vehicle

licensed.

When he applies for a moose licence he got his moose

last year, Mr. Speaker. I still

have moose meat in my freezer.

He got his moose last year. Up

the pond in the boat, up over the bog, up over a hill and got his moose, Mr.

Speaker. He enjoyed that

seniors' discount.

He is living a healthy lifestyle, and we know that

nothing is perfect. I tell you

what, when I talk to him about what is up and down he tells me how things

have changed. He knows in the

last ten years what the difference has been.

He knows when his father and his mother were elderly years ago, the

supports they had which were almost non-existent.

So we have come a long way in the last twenty, thirty

years, but in particular in the last ten years.

I only have to look to my father and ask some questions, and hard

questions, because he is not afraid to tell me, Mr. Speaker.

He had a licence plate that said, here comes trouble on it.

Any community meeting he went to, he was there, and here comes

trouble.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. CRUMMELL:

He is a fellow who speaks his mind.

I tell you what, when I have conversations about politics, I hear it

every now and again. He does not

agree with everything that is going on, but for one thing he does agree, he

knows, and I have asked these questions: Are you better off today than you

were ten years ago or twenty years ago or thirty years ago?

The answer, unequivocally, when it comes to my father, unfiltered, is

absolutely yes. Can it be

better? He says yes, as well

and that is what we are moving towards.

Mr. Speaker, at this moment in time I would like to

propose an amendment. I move,

seconded by the Member for Terra Nova, that the resolution above be amended

by adding immediately after the word Government the words to continue

and by deleting the words specifically to target and substituting the

words to include.

I put that forward, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

We are stopping for recess to consider the amendment as presented.

Recess

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

After consideration, the amendment is in order.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Service Newfoundland and Labrador, to continue.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. CRUMMELL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, it is good to see the amendment is in

order. I do not think the

amendment takes away from the resolution.

I think it recognizes what we are doing, the path that we are on, and

the path that we are on is a good path.

I said in the fifteen minutes prior to now that what this government

is doing, how far we have come our Poverty Reduction Strategy is

absolutely working. There are

less people in this Province on Income Support, Mr. Speaker.

We have the highest rates of employment.

We have the lowest rates of people on Income Support ever in our

history, and that includes seniors.

Seniors are benefiting from this strategy.

We have targeted programs for seniors.

In the last year, we took the Poverty Reduction Strategy and we

combined it with the Seniors and Aging Division of government.

We combined them together.

The Poverty Reduction Strategy works hand in hand with our Seniors,

Wellness and Social Development department.

Working hand in hand with the Poverty Reduction Strategy, underneath

that umbrella, it speaks volumes of our focus of what we are trying to do in

terms of making sure seniors in this Province enjoy the benefits of their

golden years, that they can enjoy it as best as they possibly can, to make

them healthy and happy, and they deserve that.

We will be there to support them.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for The Straits White Bay North.

MR. MITCHELMORE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I was quite happy to second the original motion by the

Member for Conception Bay South, put forward by the Official Opposition, so

that government would commit to a clearly focused target when it comes to

poverty around seniors. When you

are looking at reducing poverty, you really do need to invest in the right

type of support because poverty is a very complex issue.

When you look at resources that exist within government

and the community, there are limitations.

So making the most effective investments based on evidence and best

practices is really more important than ever, especially when you look at

the critical time that we face here in the Province with the number of

people and the way the demographics are shifting and aging.

The minister got up and pointed out that side of the

House really looks at a one-size-fits-all approach to tackling an issue or a

problem. This side of the House

certainly does not see it that way.

They think that there needs to be clear direction and focus in

tackling areas, and putting support in those areas so that you can actually

measure, find out outcomes, and evaluate.

One only has to look at the Auditor General's findings

when it comes to monitoring and evaluation of various government programs.

It said that they could not always demonstrate that they were

monitoring, evaluating, and reporting on the effectiveness of government

financial assistance . I want

to point out because obviously the Minister of Service Newfoundland and

Labrador, we are looking at very similar statistics, but he is interpreting

them certainly in a different way.

While the provincial government reported in 2005 that

seniors in Newfoundland and Labrador had the lowest poverty rate amongst

provinces when they took power in 2003, seniors in Newfoundland and Labrador

now have the highest to the third-highest rate of poverty amongst provinces.

This depends on the measurement that you use and particularly the

population that you look at, for example, a married elderly couple versus

the single elderly person.

Seniors in Newfoundland and Labrador remain at the

bottom of median after-tax income amongst all provinces since 2003, despite

$25 billion in oil money and a poverty reduction strategy.

We really do need to look at poverty of seniors living alone as they

are the most vulnerable households in the Province overall.

Mr. Speaker, 70 per cent of seniors living alone are

women. So it is important that

the Province not only look at the overall poverty rate but the poverty rate

of seniors specifically. For

those who are living alone at home, that population tends to be more

vulnerable financially.

My colleague talked about demographics.

They talked about impacts on poverty and about how many of our

seniors are finding it difficult to make ends meet.

Government in 2005 its discussion paper on

Reducing Poverty in Newfoundland and

Labrador: Working Towards a Solution , which was drafted in preparation

for their 2006 Poverty Reduction Strategy, indicated that as of 2003,

Newfoundland and Labrador had the lowest rate of seniors in poverty compared

to other provinces.

Government launched their Poverty Reduction Strategy in

2006; they released their inaugural progress report on poverty reduction in

2009 and committed to release a progress report every two years.

A progress report was expected in 2011, but their actual progress

report was released in 2014, three years later than expected; that is five

years after the fact. Interestingly

then at that time, they did not indicate the poverty rate of seniors.

They committed to implementing a new strategy in 2011-2012, and we

still have not seen it.

This is where the important piece of having targeted

goals for vulnerable segments of the population overall, sixty-five plus,

those in the Province, 24 per cent, have an after-tax income lower than half

that for all economic families.

Single seniors, 27 per cent cannot afford to purchase the typical goods and

services others purchase in their community.

Many of them are at a point where they have to make decisions between

choosing between heat and food, and that is really unfortunate that we live

in a society where we cannot look after those who are most vulnerable.

Fifty per cent of those single seniors have an

after-tax income lower than half that for all economic families.

Elderly women living alone, 57 per cent have an after-tax income

lower than half that for all other economic families, and 29 per cent cannot

afford to purchase the typical goods and services others purchase in their

community. That is a really real

challenge; those are the statistics that are there.

This is factual information that presents the need to have a specific

focus on those who are aged sixty-five plus.

One of the things we need to look at, Mr. Speaker, is

that we need to look at the evidence-based policies, we need to look at

those in the community, and we need to have greater collaboration.

A strategy needs to provide the adequate supports to seniors to help

them live with dignity and enjoy continued income security into retirement.

If we look at some of the other provinces and what they have done to

help alleviate some of the burden because whenever we talk to seniors in

the region the minister talked about one of the positive things is that

seniors have a greater degree of home ownership in the Province, but there

are many seniors in the Province who are finding it very difficult to

maintain the home they own. They

are struggling to find affordable housing or to downsize, to have that

adequate comfortable level.

With the rising cost of living, when it comes to

putting the tax back on home heat in July by this government, when it comes

to all the other fee increases that are there on HST and other things, that

is going to have an impact on these seniors.

The cost of living is going up.

Seniors in Ontario have the ability to receive up to

$500 a year through an Ontario Senior Homeowners' Property Tax Grant.

This helps seniors who are living in municipalities.

Because we hear it all the time about municipalities that are

struggling financially when it comes to and with the aging population that

are there, seniors who are living in their homes struggle quite a bit

sometimes, especially those who are in the lower-income bracket, to be able

to afford and pay for property taxes.

Towns must be providing services to those who live there.

So this type of program that is there can help them

afford to remain living in their homes.

Over a five-year period the grant in Ontario is expected to help

600,000 seniors with about $1 billion in property tax alleviation.

This is taking a housing first approach to helping.

When it comes to low-income seniors in Ontario, they

qualify for a guaranteed minimum income through monthly payments from the

Guaranteed Annual Income System, GAINS.

The monthly GAINS payment is in addition to the federal government's

Old Age Security pension and benefits, including the Guaranteed Income

Supplement.

So this is above and beyond the programs that exist to

help support additional income, a guaranteed threshold to help alleviate and

ensure that seniors are able to live in dignity and enjoy additional

security in retirement. We want

to introduce policy and have good policy when it comes to seniors and

affordability long into their retirement years because seniors represent a

very big segment of the Newfoundland and Labrador population.

The importance and the purchasing power of a senior

when it comes to sustaining a community and the economy is very important,

but we cannot have all that locked up in trying to maintain and heat a large

home. There really does need to

be a plan that will help, as well, our working families build a more secure

retirement into the future. So

planning now for the senior of tomorrow as well is very important so that we

can return long-term economic benefits to the people of Newfoundland and

Labrador.

We have to think big.

We have to plan strategies that are actually going to be implemented,

be measureable, followed up on, and evaluated.

This is why targeting a specific segment of the population and we

are not saying that you would not do a poverty reduction strategy.

There are many groups that need focus and that need clear objectives

and outcomes, whether that be youth, whether it be those who are homeless,

or those suffering from mental health and addictions.

Home ownership is a big issue that needs to be talked

about and needs to be dealt with.

It cannot be just dealt with by looking at the provincial-federal

shared housing agreement that comes up every three years when it comes to

affordable housing that puts 1,000 or 1,200 units over that time period.

That is part of a solution, but it is not the answer.

There needs to be a real serious discussion around home ownership,

around affordability of homes, and around keeping and finding that balance

of seniors being able to unlock their actual equity that they may have

there.

Looking at dealing with cost of living, long-term

affordable housing and keeping that momentum is really important so that

people will have jobs, be able to raise families, and build strong

communities. We certainly need

that type of legislation for local communities and municipalities to deliver

on those housing and homelessness services that are tailored to specific

needs. It is not a

one-size-fits-all approach.

Urban economies, rural economies, and regional

economies all have different types of answers and different types of

supports and solutions that are there.

That is why real collaboration, continued dialogue, looking at all

the community supports that are there and bringing them together, and

collaborating so that we can have a meaningful, measurable approach to

making sure that seniors and those who are more vulnerable in society are

given the care that they need that they are well looked after.

That is why we need to have focus so that we can have

those long-term solutions and we can experience those cost savings down the

road. We do need to have that

real planned economy. We do.

We need to coordinate a good service delivery model, one that has

measureable outcomes for all who are involved.

I believe if we can come together and look at seniors and the poverty

issue that exists around that segment of the population, if that political

will is there, we can tackle issues surrounding poverty in the communities.

It all starts from the ground up, but there needs to be leadership

put forward looking at this.

I am surprised why government would prefer to water

down this particular motion and not look specifically at seniors, giving

them real focus. I guess it

should not come as any surprise to the people who are watching and listening

because this is the same government, the same members on the other side who

completely voted against having a seniors' advocate, having an independent

office with somebody who would advocate for them and their issues.

Certainly, an advocate would be looking at ways to

advance seniors issues, deal with poverty issues.

Look at things and get the information out there when it comes to

things like an HST Credit and see if it is actually a valuable credit; that

it actually mitigates against all of the higher burdens that are there in

Budget 2015. How Budget 2015,

passed by this government, makes life a whole lot less affordable for the

everyday person, specifically seniors in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Budget 2015, the Progressive Conservative Budget they

put forward in this House makes life less affordable for everyday seniors in

Newfoundland and Labrador. With

a 35 per cent fee thing that is there in terms of a discount well, if you

are increasing the fees, 261 of them, putting them up, you are still going

to end up paying more. The fees

are not stagnant, and things are not stagnant.

We really do need to figure things out a little better.

We need to have more effective ways to assist people who are

marginalized in society. I am

really happy that the Member for Conception Bay South has put this motion to

the floor.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Labrador West.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. MCGRATH:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am very pleased to be able to stand today and speak

on this private member's resolution.

I am glad the amendment was put forward because I think the amendment

clarifies exactly what this government is doing, and has been doing when it

comes to poverty reduction strategies, that we are continuing, and we plan

on continuing and including seniors in our strategy.

I think that is very important.

I do not think there is a member in the House of

Assembly who does not have seniors in their district.

Every one of us have seniors in our districts.

I know for myself, with my upbringing, being the tenth child of

eleven, my parents were seniors when I was born, or close to it.

I was taught from a very young age that if there is one thing seniors

deserve it is respect. I have

carried that with me all of my life.

I guess to some of the ones here in the House now I am even

considered a young senior now. I

am at that age now where I can get a seniors discount.

I think the important thing we have to look at is that

giving that respect to our seniors and keeping them a very active part of

our population is what this government focuses on.

This government focuses on making sure that we have programs, we have

policies, and we have funding in place to help our seniors.

I listened to the Minister of Service Newfoundland and

Labrador. He certainly detailed

quite a few of the programs and policies that we have in place.

I just listened to the Member for The Straits White Bay North.

One of the comments he made was that this government has a

one-size-fits-all policy. We

have one-size-fits-all programs.

You can take those words and he during his talk, in

the fifteen minutes that he was up speaking, he put a spin on things, that

it is all doom and gloom. I am

sitting here and I am thinking, my God, if anybody from outside the Province

is listening to him and planning on coming to Newfoundland and Labrador to

retire which we have quite a few people who do.

We have an awful lot of people who have moved away from

Newfoundland and Labrador and who are now coming back to spend their golden

years in Newfoundland and Labrador.

If they were listening to him, my God, they would be going for

Vancouver Island because everything was doom and gloom.

The difference with us over here,

with our government, is that we include our seniors.

They are part of our population.

We do not start when they are in trouble; we start with programs that

will blend them in.

For example, in my district I was at an elder abuse

seminar just last week. I

scanned the room. There were

maybe fifty or sixty people in the room.

As I scanned the room they were based in age from fifty, and the

oldest one there, I think, was eighty-nine.

That eighty-nine-year-old in my district is a prime example.

I am sure she does not mind me using her as an example because she is

very proud of what she does. At

eighty-nine years old she swims for an hour a day.

She has done that now for about twenty-five years.

She still bowls. She

makes sure whenever there is a dance she gets out because she loves to

dance. So she is not eighty-nine

years old, she is eighty-nine years young.

That in itself helps the seniors and it helps the poverty of seniors.

She has her own home.

She has a daughter who is also a senior citizen living with her,

living in her own home. She has

maintained her own home. I am

there thirty-eight years and she was a widow when I moved there.

So she has been a widow for a long, long time.

She has maintained her own home and done quite well for herself.

I can guarantee you she has done it on a fixed income because she is

a lady who has never worked as such.

She had her pension when her husband passed away, but she maintained

a very good lifestyle. It is all

about being inclusive.

I just want to touch on a couple of the things that the

minister did talk about. He

talked about the stats of 18.9 per cent of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians

being in low income, and 9.1 per cent of them senior citizens.

Now it is 3 per cent.

That was in 2003, and eleven years later it was at 3 per cent.

He also spoke about the 6,000 seniors who were in low

income. You take that 9.1 per

cent and the 3 per cent it was 6,000 and now it is only 2,600.

So are we doing everything right?

No, we are certainly not doing everything right.

Can we do better? Yes, we

can do better. Are we

progressing? You can be sure we

are progressing and we are progressing in the right ways.

I think that is what is important.

Do we realize our seniors still need help?

Yes, we certainly do.

I heard the Member for The Straits White Bay North

talk about housing, and comment on how the Minister of Service Newfoundland

and Labrador said that 83 per cent of our seniors own their own homes.

Well, guess what? They

worked really hard all of their life to make sure they own their own homes.

As many of us here present today, and many of the ones who are

listening, they are working really hard to make sure that when they get to

that age they own their own home so they do not have that liability hanging

over their heads.

This government has programs in place that can help

them such as the Home Repair Program, the energy rebate program, and the

get to a certain age and you need modifications made to your home, we have

programs in place for that. So

it is not all about taking the dollars and cents and putting it into

someone's hand. It is having

benefit from it. I think this

government has done a very good job in doing that over the last decade.

We have done a very good job in addressing the problem and reducing

the problem. That is what makes

a difference.

I just mentioned three programs there.

What the Provincial Home Repair Program does is help people to

retrofit their homes. A large

amount of our seniors are the ones who take advantage of that Home Repair

Program. They are allowed, over

a period of years, to avail of a certain amount of money.

Even though they do own their own home, we realize the

home may need some major modification such as new windows.

If you have insurance on your home, we all know that the shingles on

your roof, after twenty-five years they have to be replaced or you cannot

get insurance on your home. So

it is very important that these seniors can avail of some funding to make

those repairs, put in their new windows, put in their new doors, replacing

insulation, replacing the shingles on the roof.

That is what makes a difference, so we are putting those programs in

place.

The Residential Energy Efficiency Program, when they

have to make repairs to their energy efficiency.

There are different ways that they will get into that.

We have that program in place.

We have the Home Modification Program.

I am working for a senior in my district right now, for example, who

has her eighty-three-year-old mother living with her.

She is a senior, a widow.

Her eighty-three-year-old mother, who is also a widow, lives with her and

does not want to go into a home.

She is there and I am working on a program for her now

where I am trying to get a lift put into her home.

That lift will be paid for through one of our programs.

That keeps another bed available in our long-term care.

If you cannot get that done, then that is another person going into

the long-term care home. Our

government realizes that. That

is why we work with them.

Some of the other programs that we have: the seniors'

benefit. You heard the Minister

of Finance comment on it the Low Income Seniors' Benefit.

We are increasing it this year in this Budget by $1.7 million.

That brings it up to a total of $42.1 million that is going into the

Low Income Seniors' Benefit program.

That can give all of those seniors an annual maximum of $1,059.

That is a big increase to a low-income person.

That is a big help to those.

The Close to Home program, A Strategy for Long-Term

Care and Community Support Services was released in June 2012.

It is a ten-year strategy.

That is helping to guide and transform the delivery of long-term care

in Newfoundland and Labrador. I

listened to the Minister of Health and Community Services stand on his feet

almost every day in this House and talk about programs such as the Close to

Home program.

Our long-term care and community support services, we

just opened the long-term care here in St. John's.

I know the one in Happy Valley-Goose Bay I spoke with the member

the other day and I spoke with the CEO of Labrador-Grenfell Health.

This government is ahead of

schedule on that long-term care.

They are hoping to have that open this fall.

That is how fast they are moving on that.

So this government is listening.

We realize what we need for the seniors.

We are moving forward.

The Newfoundland and Labrador Prescription Drug

Program, you heard the Minister of Service Newfoundland and Labrador talk

about the 65Plus program. I

remember when we were putting that program together.

That was a very detailed piece of legislation there, that one was,

the 65Plus program for the prescription drugs, putting that one together.

Over $45 million is invested into that now.

That program helps seniors over sixty-five with their prescription

drugs. As we all know, as we get

older, we use more drugs. That

is a fact of life. In order to

try and live a comfortable lifestyle, quite often we have to resort to

prescription drugs with some of the ailments that come with getting older.

Government, through their 65Plus program, realizes that a lot of

people who are on low income, cannot afford those drugs.

So the 65Plus program, I think, is an excellent program and it helps.

With the enhanced care in personal care program, that

project is $1.5 million. It is

an eighteen-month project and it helps improve the growing demands for the

safe, quality living arrangements and accommodations of older adults.

What it does is it keeps people in their own homes longer.

When they cannot afford to stay in their own homes, that is a program

that will help keep them in their own homes longer.

Quite often it is through assisted living that they need to have

someone come in and help them.

We have the programs in place for that.

When you talk about all of these different programs

that we are doing, I think what we are doing through our Poverty Reduction

Strategy; we are addressing the needs of seniors.

We are addressing the needs of seniors on a low income.

We have done that all along.

We will continue to do that.

We will continue to work with our seniors.

The Community Rapid Response Team is another program

the government is investing in; $3.1 million over a two-year pilot program.

We have four different Community Rapid Response Teams, two of those

are here in St. John's, one is in Grand Falls and one is in Corner Brook,

and that is a pilot project. If

we feel that program is working and it is working effectively, you keep

investing in those programs.

The age-friendly grants, government has allocated $1.1

million into that and that is for healthy aging.

I think one of the best examples I can use there is when I first was

elected back in 2011, I spoke to a group out in Springdale and it was a

seniors' group that I spoke to in Springdale and they were called the 55

Plus Club. Sixty-five, seventy

percent of them were female, the others were males, and the group was based

between the age of fifty-five and seventy, the majority of them, but they

were all about aging gracefully.

They were all about when they aged, they did not want

to sit down in a rocking chair and just grow old.

They wanted to be healthy, they wanted to live a good lifestyle and

they were working on that through their physical activity, through their

mental activity, and also through their financial activity.

That was the three topics when I went out and I actually spoke to

that group, the three things they were focused on were physical, mental, and

financial.

That group felt that the government of the day, which

is this government, was working with seniors.

They certainly advocated for more; they wanted more.

They felt there was more that government could be doing, but they

were very pleased with what government was doing.

They felt that government was addressing many of the needs of the

seniors, especially the low-income seniors, because quite often they cannot

afford to avail of many of those programs.

This government was committed to those people; we are still committed

to them. We are still committed

to our seniors.

I do not think there is anybody on this side of the

House or on the Opposition side for that matter that does not have a high

respect for our seniors, and to me, as I stated in my opening comments, they

do not

MR. SPEAKER (Cross):

Order, please!

I remind the member his time has expired.

MR. MCGRATH:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St. John's Centre.

MS ROGERS:

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

I am very happy to stand here on behalf of my caucus

and to speak to this private member's motion.

Mr. Speaker, I am not in favour of a motion that is a poverty

reduction strategy. We are

looking for poverty elimination, and that is different.

It is poverty elimination that have to be looking for in terms of not

only seniors in Newfoundland and Labrador, but poverty elimination for all

people in this Province. It can

be done, and it is not about spending more and more money.

It is about spending our money wisely.

It is about investing in our people.

We are talking about poverty elimination, not simply reducing

poverty. We want to eliminate it

altogether.

Also, I would like to thank all the good people who are

working on our poverty reductions, although I am sure they too would be much

happier working on a poverty elimination strategy rather than a poverty

reduction strategy. Those who

work so passionately and with expertise looking at this area on how we can

deal with the poverty we are experiencing in our Province because we know it

is on the up rise, Mr. Speaker, because of our current economic situation,

because of certain types of cutbacks in government services, people are

feeling the pinch.

I would also like to thank all those who work with

seniors across Newfoundland and Labrador; particularly our non-government

volunteer organizations that are doing really incredible work, sometimes

lifesaving work, with seniors Province-wide.

It is not easy work because the funding to maintain

these groups is not enough. We

have groups who do not know whether they are going to get funded from year

to year or how much funding they will get.

They often do not know until the eleventh hour.

Sometimes they lose staff because the staff does not know whether or

not their contracts will be renewed.

That is no way to eliminate poverty, Mr. Speaker.

That is just tinkering.

We need more than tinkering. We

need a good, solid strategy that is meaningful and, again, not reducing

poverty but eliminating poverty.

That should be our goal. Nothing

short of that; that should be our goal to eliminate poverty altogether.

Mr. Speaker, we know from research that has been done,

good, solid empirical research, that one of the social determents of pushing

people into poverty is the issue of housing.

We know that is affecting seniors in our Province, Province-wide.

Whether you are a senior who does not own your own home, or even if

you are a senior who does own your own home, particularly if you are living

alone or if you have been widowed.

It is odd because someone might think, well, if someone owns their

own home, how could housing push them into poverty?

We will talk a little bit about that in terms of what

are the costs of owning your own home, but besides that, seniors who want to

downsize.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MS ROGERS:

We know many seniors because of the type of community, the culture that we

have in Newfoundland and Labrador in our outport communities, we all helped

each other build our homes, build our sheds, build our businesses.

So there are a lot of seniors who are in two-storey

homes. Who are in homes that are

way too big for them, but in order to downsize they may sell their home that

was built fifty years ago, sixty years ago, or it is a home they have

inherited from their family. So

the home may be older than that.

They may not get a whole lot of money for it, but in order to downsize, to

move into a smaller unit, they end up paying way more than what they would

get for their current unit, the current home that they are in.

If they do not buy, they may end up renting, and we all

know, whether you are in Come By Chance, whether you are in Red Bay, whether

you are in St. John's or on the Burin, whether you are anywhere in Labrador,

we know that housing is at a crunch everywhere, because our mayors and our

municipal leaders have told us that as well.

It is not just housing advocates.

We are hearing it from everywhere.

It is interesting, Mr. Speaker, as we go across the

Province with the All-Party Committee on Mental Health we are hearing that

as well. We are hearing it from

social workers. We are hearing

it from individuals. We are

hearing it from doctors. We are

hearing it from psychiatrists.

We are hearing it constantly that the high cost of housing is such a

problem. It is a social

determinant of your health. It

is also a social determinant as to whether or not you are pushed over the

edge into poverty.

So that is a big problem for our people, but it is one,

I believe, we can tackle. Mr.

Speaker, I believe we can tackle that problem.

I believe there are solutions.

The solutions come from working together.

So our poverty elimination strategy because, again, we want to

eliminate poverty, we do not simply want to reduce it is about

collaboration. It is about

working together. It is about

our different departments working together.

federal level working together looking at housing issues.

It is also about communities and it is about business as well.

How can business be a part of looking at the issue of housing for

seniors?

Mr. Speaker, I have raised this issue in the House a

number of times. One of the

things that touches my heart the most is when I visit seniors, either in my

own district