March 21, 2006 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY

PROCEEDINGS Vol. XLV No. 47

The House met at 1:30 p.m.

MR. SPEAKER (Hodder): Order, please!

Admit strangers.

Before we proceed with routine proceedings this afternoon, I would like to

observe an old parliamentary tradition. I have the pleasure, and the pleasant

task, to formally introduce a member who was elected in the by-election held on

February 21. He is Mr. Felix Collins, from the District of Placentia & St.

Mary's.

I have been advised by the Clerk of the House of Assembly that Mr. Collins

has taken the Oath of Allegiance to the Crown, as required by the Constitution,

and has signed the Members' Roll.

Please welcome Mr. Felix Collins.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER WILLIAMS: Mr. Speaker, I present to this hon. House of Assembly,

Mr. Felix Collins, the new Member for Placentia & St. Mary's, who requests

the right to claim his seat.

MR. SPEAKER: Welcome, Mr. Collins. It is my privilege to welcome you to

the House, and to tell you that you now have the right and privilege to take

your seat.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

Statements by Members

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

Members' statements for this afternoon are as follows: the hon. the Member

for the District of Grand Falls-Buchans; the hon. the Member for the District of

Lake Melville; the hon. the Member for the District of Port de Grave; the hon.

the Member for the District of Exploits; the hon. the Member for the District of

Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair; and the hon. the Member for the District of

Gander.

The Chair recognizes the hon. the Member for the District of Grand Falls-Buchans.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS THISTLE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to congratulate Exploits Valley High

Principal Dave Antle, as being selected as one of Canada's Outstanding

Principals. The award is an initiative of The Learning Partnership, a

not-for-profit organization bringing business, education, government, labour,

policy makers and the community to develop partnerships that strengthen public

education in Canada.

Mr. Speaker, the awards program received nominations from every province and

territory, and the selection was based on representation by population. Each

candidate was scored in several categories, including characteristics of

outstanding principals, evidence of partnerships with parents and community,

with illustrations of successful change and innovation resulting in improved

student achievement.

An example of partnerships with students, parents and community, was one I

heard on a CBC interview this morning while I was driving out from Grand

Falls-Windsor. I heard Dave Antle being interviewed by Randy Larcombe. Exploits

Valley High School has taken a very bold step as of today; they are banning

smoking on school premises. This could not have been done without partnerships.

As part of winning the award, principals took

part in a trip to the

University of Toronto for a five-day executive leadership training program and

will also be inducted into the National Academy of Principals.

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

Exploits Valley High Principal Dave Antle, one of Canada's Outstanding

Principals!

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Lake Melville.

MR. HICKEY: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House today to congratulate each and every

athlete, their communities, their community co-ordinators and volunteers, who

took

part in last week's Labrador Winter Games.

Athletes participated in a wide range of sporting events, from the

traditional, such as the dog team race, the Labrathon, to the more contemporary,

such as badminton and ball hockey. It was a great week of competition, fun and

sportsmanship. Many Games records were broken but, more importantly, many old

friendships were renewed and many new friendships were made, which is why the

Labrador Winter Games are so often called and referred to as the Friendship

Games.

The Labrador Winter Games are extremely important to the people of Labrador,

as they unite Labradorians of all cultures and backgrounds by a single bond -

sports. I have to say, Labrador produces some of the finest athletes this

Province has ever seen, Mr. Speaker. Mark Nichols and Mike Adam are case in

point - who, by the way, received a tremendous welcome at the Games Opening

Ceremonies on March 12.

The Games were a fantastic success, due to the hard work and dedication of

the Games Board of Directors and Volunteer Committee Chairs, their sub-groups of

volunteers and, of course, the Games Director, Assistant Director and their

staff, under the direction of Mr. Dusty Miller, without whom these Games would

not be possible.

Again, I ask all members of the House to join me in extending congratulations

to everybody who took

part in the 2006 Labrador Winter Games, and we look

forward to the 2009 Games.

Mr. Speaker, a special congratulations I want to extend to the Cartwright

team who, this year, won first place in the Labrador Winter Games.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Port au Grave.

MR. BUTLER: Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Jamie Porter of Bay

Roberts, and Lindsay Roberts of Spaniards Bay, who recently won gold medals at

the Youth Bowling Provincial Championships which were held in St. John's.

Jamie won in the Senior Division and Lindsay won in the Junior Division.

Mr. Speaker, this was quite an accomplishment for these two young bowlers.

Fourteen centres from around the Province took part, and Old Mill Lanes of Bay

Roberts was one of those. Jamie and Lindsay both bowl at Old Mill Lanes. Mr.

Speaker, a first for Old Mill Lanes, two female bowlers, winning their

respective divisions in separate competitions in the one year. Jamie and Lindsey

will represent our Province at the Nationals which will be held in Sudbury,

Ontario in May of this year.

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to have both bowlers and their parents in the

gallery today, and I ask that all members of this House to join with me in

congratulating our two provincial Gold medalists and to wish them every success

at the Nationals.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of Exploits.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. FORSEY: Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure today to stand in

this House to recognize the recipient of the Exporter of the Year Award for

2006, Mr. Bill Butler and his company, Hi-Point Industries.

Since its incorporation in 1983, Hi-Point Industries have been developing an

environmentally safe, all natural oil absorbent for containment of Hydro Carbon

Spills. For twenty-three years they have been very innovative in manufacturing

products that can be used globally and took the opportunity to develop markets

outside the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, and now export to over two

dozen countries including South America, Europe and the Middle East.

Hi-Point Industries have been very successful in expanding its markets and

has made a substantial contribution to the provincial economy.

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

Bill Butler and his company, Hi-Point Industries of Bishop's Falls, on

receiving this prestigious award.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

This past week I had the pleasure to watch athletes from all over Labrador

compete in the Olympics of the North in Happy Valley-Goose Bay. Over 400

competitors and community coordinators from twenty-seven communities celebrated

the sporting and cultural heritage of the big Land, and they were supported by

over 600 volunteers.

I am proud and pleased to congratulate Team Cartwright from the great

District of Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair on winning the 2006 Labrador Winter

Games Championship Cup. The community of less than 550 people showed us a line

up of athletes that were second to none in performance. Not only did they claim

gold, silver and bronze medals in almost every sport they competed in, but they

also set a new record in both the Snowshoe Rely and the female snowshoe

Biathlon.

Andrea Pardy of Cartwright was also chosen as the top athlete from

Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair district, as well as top female athlete overall for

the games. Preston Morris of Cartwright was the top male athlete for the

District of Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair, while Alf Parsons of Labrador City was

chosen as the top male athlete for the Labrador Games.

Cartwright athletes, Mr. Speaker, beat all the odds in preparing for these

games, their gymnasium was closed for most of the winter and they had nowhere to

train but outside, however, they persevered. Christa Williams of Cartwright won

bronze medal during the Northern Games and I was amazed as her mother told me

she practiced the seal kick in the hallway of their home in Cartwright in

preparation for this sport.

Two of my favourite sports at the games have always been the Dog Team race

and the Labrathon, and this year the competition was equally as fierce. As

participants made their way around the one kilometre Labrathon venue it was

exciting to watch them make a fire, boil the kettle, shoot five targets, saw a

six inch log and chop a hole through the ice, all within sixteen to eighteen

minutes. I want to congratulate Barry Dyson of Cartwright on a gold medal in

that event, and Brad Rumbolt of Mary's Harbour whom I am proud to say is my

brother, Mr. Speaker, on a silver medal, and Lyle O'Brien of L'Anse au Loup

on a bronze medal. I also want to congratulate and acknowledge Sandy Powell of

Charlottetown on placing fifth in this competition, but Sandy has been involved

in the sport and competed in the Labrador Winter Games since 1983 and it was

good to see him back this year.

In closing, I also want to acknowledge the winners of the Dog Team Race, one

of the oldest sports in Labrador culture. Aubrey Russell of Mary's Harbour won

gold, Bill Russell of Port Hope Simpson won silver, and Hayward Larkham of

Williams Harbour won bronze. What is interesting, Mr. Speaker, is that all three

of these individuals originated from the tiny community of Williams Harbour.

For the first time ever we also saw a woman race a dog team in the Labrador

Winter Games. Sherry Munn of Wabush was the racer, and I am sure my colleague

from Labrador West would know her very well, and it was a pleasure to watch her

in the sport.

I ask my colleagues to join me today in recognizing and congratulating all

the participants and medal winners along with the volunteers in the 2006

Labrador Winter Games. Especially the community of Cartwright who took the

Labrador Cup, the Town of Goose Bay for placing second, the Town of Labrador

City for a third place finish, and of course my hometown team of Mary's

Harbour for a remarkable fourth place finish.

Congratulations to them all.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Chair recognizes the hon. Member for the District of

Gander.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. O'BRIEN: Mr. Speaker, I rise in his hon. House today to recognize

the accomplishments of several young people from Gander who recently competed in

the Newfoundland and Labrador Winter Games. Charlene Morgan, Alex Holden,

Allison Radford, and Chelsea Mercer represented Central in the curling

competition. Their coach, Jean Blackie, coached them to a perfect two and zero

record in their division as they went on to win a silver medal.

Equally successful at the Newfoundland and Labrador Winter Games was

Stephanie Nevin of Gander. Stephanie represented Central in the Open Ladies

category of figure skating and won a silver medal as well.

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

congratulating Charlene Morgan, Alex Holden, Allison Radford, Chelsea Mercer,

and Jean Blackie of the Gander Curling Club; and also Stephanie Nevin on their

Silver Medal performances at the Newfoundland and Labrador Winter Games.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Statements by Ministers.

Statements by Ministers

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. E. BYRNE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise today to inform this House of two new investments being made by

government to build on the momentum and growth underway in the mineral sector

and our continued effort to attract new business and employment prospects to our

Province, in particular in rural parts of the Province.

On March 6, I attended the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada

annual convention. This industry gathering, one of the largest of its kind in

the country, attracts thousands of industry representatives who take the

opportunity to network with their colleagues and investigate merging

opportunities in exploration and development.

The convention provides an appropriate forum in which to promote the rapidly

growing mineral sector in Newfoundland and Labrador.

As the minister responsible, I spoke at the convention and outlined

government's intention to commit $3 million in Budget 2006 to enhance the

Mineral Incentive Program and make improvements in the provision of geological

services in the Province. This is $1.4 million in new funds over current levels.

Of this, $2.5 million is dedicated to the Mineral Incentive Program. This is

the largest contribution ever made in this program's history. The Mineral

Incentive Program is designed to promote prospecting and exploration activity in

Newfoundland and Labrador. It provides an investment by government which

benefits junior companies and prospectors in their effort to leverage additional

private funds to engage in exploration.

In 2005, for example, Mr. Speaker, fifty individuals and firms received

assistance under the program. The additional funding for 2006-2007 will help

meet increased demand by the industry. For every dollar invested by government

$1.41 of private capital is spend on grass roots exploration.

I am also pleased to announce that government is committing an additional

$500,000 to expand regional geological work in Newfoundland and Labrador. The

provision of core geo-science information is a benefit for the exploration

community, as this is the first step in the identification of suitable prospects

for more detailed mineral exploration.

The dividends are clear, when we encourage more exploration activity then we

increase the potential for new mine development, all of which leads to new

businesses and employment opportunities for the Province and for the people who

benefit directly from their resources.

Government, through a targeted investment strategy in these programs, is

active in encouraging new business development.

The key indicators for 2005 support the direction government is taking with

these Budget 2006 initiatives. The total value of mineral shipments, for

example, Mr. Speaker, in the Province, reached the unprecedented level of $1.5

billion in 2005, as compared to $687 million in 2004. Shipments are forecast to

rise to a staggering $2.6 billion in the upcoming year.

Exploration expenditure, another key indicator of growth, has increased by 30

per cent since 2004 to reach $45 million in the last year. We anticipate that

this will reach $50 million in 2006. Last year, Mr. Speaker, for example,

capital expenditure by mining companies operating in our Province was in the

range $500 million.

Our people are benefitting from this growth. Particularly, rural areas of the

Province are benefitting from associated employment in the mineral sector. In

2005, 3,200 people were employed in the industry.

We are firmly on the agenda for future growth. I am confident, and government

is confident, that the people of our Province will benefit from the renewed

prosperity being driven by this vital sector of our economy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. PARSONS: Thank you.

I appreciate the minister providing me with a copy in advance of his

statement today. Houdini could not have done it any better himself. Smoke and

mirrors and the spin doctors are at it again.

We are talking here about a new initiative that was announced in 1999 by the

former Liberal Administration, which this Administration cut the guts out of in

2005 by taking $600,000 out of it.

All of the good things the minister said in this statement are absolutely

true, and that is why the program and the initiative was implemented back in

1999 between the industry and the players in the industry and government. It is

good for prospectors, yes; it is good for junior exploration, and that is why it

was recognized by the former Administration. I am just pleased to see that

instead of a government trying to take credit here, like they are doing, as if

they have just created something, that they are finally putting back into this

program the money that was in it in the first place, because it is good, and it

is great to see that this Administration will finally admit that some former

Administration Liberal initiatives were indeed great and are just seeing the

benefits in this economy today.

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Labrador West.

MR. R. COLLINS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We welcome the news from the minister today. We are not going to get into a

fight over who did what when, but we are happy to see this happening, Mr.

Speaker, because mining is very important to this Province, and the district

that I represent was created solely as a result of mining.

When we look in the future, Mr. Speaker, we see LabMag, a company that is

going to operate out of Schefferville to build a pellet plant, they are

projecting, in a place called Ross Bay, forty miles from Labrador City and

Wabush, that will create, according to their projections, 700 well-paying jobs

beginning next year.

The junior companies in this Province, and the prospectors, Mr. Speaker, need

incentive in order to get out in the bush and discover the minerals that will

provide economic benefit and good paying jobs for the rest of us.

Mining is very important. This year it should be worth more than $2.5 billion

in total value shipments. I think that would make it, Mr. Speaker, probably the

largest industry in this Province. The jobs that are associated with mining are

well-paying jobs and good benefits.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The member's allotted time has expired.

Does the member have leave?

MR. R. COLLINS: To clue up, Mr. Speaker?

AN HON. MEMBER: By leave.

MR. SPEAKER: Leave has been granted.

MR. R. COLLINS: Mr. Speaker, just to clue up and say that the mining

industry needs support and, with the support that is offered, they will develop

well-paying jobs for residents of our Province.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Further statements by ministers?

Oral Questions.

Oral Questions

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

MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

My questions are for the Premier.

Mr. Speaker, Fishery Products International was established to provide

employment opportunities and benefits to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador

from our fishing resources. In 2004, FPI shut their plant in Harbour Breton

throwing 350 people out of work. They recently announced hundreds of job cuts on

the Burin Peninsula, all of these cuts because the Board of Directors does not

feel they are earning enough profits for their foreign shareholders. I ask the

Premier: Do you believe that FPI is living up to the spirt and intent of the FPI

Act?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER WILLIAMS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, one thing that this government has done is, they have been

engaged, and they have been fully engaged, with the problems that FPI have

encountered and created around this Province. Since we have taken over office,

we have been very much engaged. The former minister, the current minister, the

other ministers in Cabinet, and myself, we have been interested enough to ask

all of the questions. We have not been just as much in the dark today as we were

yesterday, which came from the former Minister of Fisheries, which is the

current House Leader, or Leader of the Opposition, whatever his title is now,

forgive me.

Having said that, we are concerned about FPI. We are concerned about the way

in which they are operating their company. We are concerned about the way they

are treating their workers and their former workers, and we are keeping a very

close eye on it. As recently as yesterday, I met with two federal ministers; I

met with the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, Minister Hearn, together with

Minister Dunderdale and also Minister MacKay, Foreign Affairs. Today, ministers

went out and met with the residents of the communities, the people who came in

here to demonstrate at FPI. They attended, they discussed with them, and we will

having meetings in the future. We are very much all over this issue. We are very

concerned about it, and we are doing whatever we can.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.

MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, when FPI closed its Harbour Breton facility, this government sat

idly by and did nothing to prevent this from happening. Instead, it reiterated

all of FPI's excuses and called it a business decision. The fish traditionally

processed at the plant in Harbour Breton was supposed to go to the Burin

Peninsula for processing, but this has not happened. There are strong

suggestions that fish was actually processed in China.

I ask the Premier: What commitment can you give the people of the Burin

Peninsula that government will not allow a similar situation to take place in

Fortune and Marystown as you allowed to happen in Harbour Breton?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, this government did not sit idly by and not try

to assist Harbour Breton. The fact of the matter is that we have an operator who

is interested in operating Harbour Breton. As we speak today, discussions and

negotiations are underway on the transfer of the facility itself to the

community and then to the new operator.

Also, Mr. Speaker, in terms of processing fish in the Province, the hon. the

Leader of the Opposition knows, particularly as a former minister, that when

fish is landed in the Province it then becomes the constitutional responsibility

of the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador.

FPI, without any permission from anybody, shipped unprocessed fish out of

this Province this past year. We were made aware of it, we audited them, and we

have now given instructions for an investigation to begin. Mr. Speaker, we will

make sure FPI is dealt with to the full extent of the law, no favour shown.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. REID: Mr. Speaker, in a January 21, 2002 press release by the

Premier, he stated, and I quote: To the people of the Province, I pledge to you

today that my party and I will not stand by and allow businesses or any person

to circumvent the spirit and intent of our laws. We will ensure safeguards are

in place to protect their interests.

Well, Mr. Speaker, it certainly appears that FPI has deliberately

circumvented the FPI Act by closing plants, laying off hundreds of workers, for

the benefits of foreign investors.

I ask the Premier: When are you going to live up to your commitments that you

made to the people of the Province, especially those who work for FPI in

communities like Fortune, Harbour Breton and Marystown?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, I have made it abundantly clear to the people

of this Province, in communities where FPI are operating or were operating up to

a few weeks ago, that we will hold FPI to the full extent of the FPI Act. Now,

having said that - because there is all kinds of innuendo being spread,

particularly by the Leader of the Opposition, as to what the FPI Act contains

and what it doesn't - the FPI Act contains two things, Mr. Speaker, a share

restriction, and in

section 7 it contains a restriction on selling all or

substantially all of their business.

The All-Party Committee that this House struck back in 2002 - I believe the

Leader of the Opposition was Chair, Mr. Speaker - considered whether there

should be anything in the legislation dealing with plant closures and plant

layoffs. On page 16 of that report, the All-Party Committee said the following:

The Committee concludes that it is not appropriate to legislate in that area.

Mr. Speaker, what we have in front of us in terms of the FPI Act, we will

enforce it, we will hold the company's feet to the fire, we will do whatever

we can do, but there is nothing in the FPI Act that deals with plant closures

and layoffs.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. REID: Mr. Speaker, I say to the minister, if he wants to adjourn the

House and come back in five minutes we will go along with it, if he wants to

revamp the FPI Act or change any clause that is in it to protect the people of

that area.

Mr. Speaker, while responding to the Speech from the Throne in 2003, the

current Premier stated that our resources are being used to benefit people

outside of Newfoundland and Labrador, and this has to stop. Last year, FPI

closed Harbour Breton and is now going to close Fortune, gut Marystown and ship

our fish to China for processing. All this is happening to increase the values

for the company's foreign investors.

I ask the Premier: When are you going to live up to your commitment and stop

these resource giveaways?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, I don't know what part of the answer the hon.

gentleman doesn't understand, but let me repeat it just in case. I have said

consistently, and I say again today to all who want to listen, that once the

fish is landed in this Province FPI or nobody else, this moment, this day, has

any approval to ship it out.

Mr. Speaker, while we are in the situation with FPI that we are in today, FPI

will not be permitted to ship two-thirds of its quota out of this Province

unprocessed if it lands it here. Now, if it doesn't land it here, we have to

go somewhere else and look for a solution and that would be to the Federal

Minister of Fisheries and Oceans. I have no control or say over fish in the

water, but when it is landed here this government does have control and we are

not going to back away from that, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. REID: Mr. Speaker, I say to the minister, I am glad to hear him say

that but it is too bad his predecessor did not say that because FPI has been

shipping fish to China for processing for well over a year.

Mr. Speaker, FPI has indicated it wants to ship approximately 60 per cent of

its quotas, our fish, to China for processing. This will lead to hundreds of

layoffs and a drastic impact on communities in this Province.

I ask the Premier: What plans do you have to use the FPI Act to prevent FPI

from shipping our fish to China, closing plants and laying off workers in this

Province?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, let me correct the record. For the record, in 2004 FPI had

approval from the former minister to ship 1.25 million pounds of less than 400

gram yellowtail out of this Province, which previous to that, Mr. Speaker, was

dumped in the New Harbour dump because it wasn't economic to process it. It

had no permission from the former minister, or any other minister, this year to

ship a pound out of this Province and, Mr. Speaker, they are not getting it.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. REID: Where was your predecessor? Was he asleep at the switch when

they were doing it all last year, I ask the minister?

Mr. Speaker, FPI's quotas were given to the company for the benefit of the

people of Newfoundland and Labrador. It now appears that the company is no

longer interested in using these resources to benefit the people of this

Province.

I ask the Premier: What discussions have you had with the federal Minister of

Fisheries and Oceans regarding these quotas, and have you requested that FPI's

quotas be taken from it if it tries to ship them to China or elsewhere for

processing?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER WILLIAMS: The federal minister, Mr. Speaker, has been very clear.

He is very clearly on the record as to what his position and what his government's

position is on shipping product outside the Province. He has been very, very

clear on it. I have had conversations with him, the minister has had

conversations with him and others have had conversations with him.

So, you know, really you cannot take that any further than where you have

taken it. The federal government, who has jurisdiction over this particular

issue, have said that they will not stand for allowing this to go outside the

Province. He stands by it and we stand behind him on that statement.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, FPI's decision to close Harbour Breton in 2004 and the current

situation on the Burin Peninsula, I ask the Premier: Are you willing to have an

emergency debate in the House of Assembly concerning the future of FPI's

operations in this Province?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: There is certainly adequate opportunity, Mr. Speaker, to

debate anything that the hon. members opposite want to debate about FPI, or any

other piece of business relating to the fishery in this Province. We are doing

it now through Question Period. This afternoon we are on Interim Supply, which

is a money bill. You can talk about anything under the sun. So there is no

impediment, Mr. Speaker, to an emergency debate to bringing the matters of FPI

to the floor of the House for debate; no impediment whatsoever.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. REID: Mr. Speaker, we know that the minister by his own admission in

front of a group of plant workers from the Burin Peninsula on O'Leary Avenue

an hour ago, and by his own admission here in the House of Assembly a few

minutes ago, that FPI has broken the laws of this Province by shipping fish out

of the Province for processing without the permission of government. We also

know that the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture has also conducted an

internal review of FPI and says that the company is not in as bad a financial

shape as they would lead the people of this Province to believe.

I ask the Premier, knowing that they have broken the law and knowing that

they are saying things that run contrary to what the minister is saying, will

you hold a public inquiry into the operations of FPI and its Board of Directors?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, when FPI had permission to ship unprocessed

fish out of the Province back in 2004, it was given with the approval of the

government and the minister and with the approval of other stakeholders in the

industry, including the union at the time. We are not going to go about dealing

with FPI on their own when it comes to shipping unprocessed fish out of the

Province. There was a committee struck that represent the union, the company and

the Province. We are trying to reactive that committee again because if it is

necessary to deal with a request again, we will obviously have to deal with it

but we are going to proceed to deal with FPI to the full extent of the law, Mr.

Speaker. What an inquiry would do into this company, I have no - I cannot see

what an inquiry would do that we are not doing here in the House today, that we

are not doing publicly with the participation of the FFAW everyday. We will do

whatever we have to do to hold FPI to the spirit and intent of the FPI Act. That

has been our commitment from day one and that will be our commitment as we go

forward, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of Grand Bank.

MS FOOTE: Obviously, Mr. Speaker, there will be no inquiry, any more than

they agreed to look into the operations of FPI last fall when the time was

appropriate to do it.

Mr. Speaker, the Burin Peninsula is in a crisis. Families are leaving daily

for Alberta in search of work. I ask the Minister of Innovation, Trade and Rural

Development, where is the rural strategy you boasted about two and half years

ago? Now, minister, would be a good time to roll it out while there are still

people left who can benefit from it.

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

Development.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS DUNDERDALE: Mr. Speaker, this government has stood shoulder to

shoulder with people of communities all over this Province who find themselves

in distress. We are undergoing a huge economic and industrial adjustment in this

Province in the fishery. The fishery is a key economic anchor on the Burin

Peninsula and we will work with the Burin Peninsula, not only to diversify the

economy, but to solidify what is their heritage and their right.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Grand Bank.

MS FOOTE: Mr. Speaker, this government is famous for referring to plan B

rather than hold companies in this Province accountable. FPI is a case in point,

where this government is allowing a company off the hook instead of enforcing

legislation that exists to protect the people of the Province. All you have to

do is look to Harbour Breton and see where you have dropped the ball.

Minister, your plan B for Harbour Breton has not worked and people are leery

of your plan B for Fortune. Isn't it time you admitted that the rural

development approach has been a disaster as more and more people leave this

Province?

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

Development.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS DUNDERDALE: Mr. Speaker, what this government has done, first of all,

is to take the interest of the plant workers in Harbour Breton as their first

priority. What we have been able to do in terms of agreements with ACOA, with

the money we put on the table and with the money this government negotiated from

FPI, was to ensure that the plant workers in Harbour Breton now have an income

for the next year that reflects what they would have received had that plant

been operational; number one priority.

Number two, Mr. Speaker, we have secured an operator for the plant of Harbour

Breton and one that will take advantage of the wild fishery and the farm fishery

and secure a proper place in both of those fisheries for the people of the

Connaigre Peninsula, which will see them prosper in years to come.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Grand Bank.

MS FOOTE: Mr. Speaker, I do not know if this minister thinks that the

people who work on the Connaigre Peninsula or on the Burin Peninsula have years

ahead of them to wait. People's EI is running out; they do not have work, they

do not have employment opportunities. It is all too obvious if the only rural

strategy this government has is one that will result in wiping out rural

Newfoundland and Labrador. All you have to do is speak to someone from Harbour

Breton. Now the communities that work at the fish plant in Fortune are in shock

of the news that, that plant will not reopen and now the Marystown workforce

will be cut in half. Minister, what do you say to these people who are looking

to you for direction?

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

Development.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS DUNDERDALE: Mr. Speaker, I am going to stand shoulder to shoulder with

the people of Harbour Breton and Fortune. I will not be looking for a seat in

the federal government, I will be right here fighting the battles with them and

securing the future for the people of all of those communities.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The members know that the clock is still running and there are questions to

be asked.

The Chair recognizes, I do believe, the hon. Member for Grand Bank on a

supplementary.

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

AN HON. MEMBER: That is a good comment that is, a good comment.

MS FOOTE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Premier's personal jibes at me don't mean a thing, so he can keep it

up all he wants. The point here is that: Minister, if you are going to stand

shoulder to shoulder with the people on the Burin Peninsula I hope it is there

and not in Alberta where they are all going.

Mr. Speaker, the people on the Burin Peninsula try to understand what is

happening to them and they run into a brick wall in trying to meet with the

Minister of Fisheries to try and get answers. After months of requesting a

meeting with the minister, the Concerned Citizens Committee of Fortune finally

have a meeting scheduled. The union from Clearwater Seafoods in Grand Bank have

also been requesting a meeting but with no success.

Minister, will you confirm a time to meet with the union now that Clearwater

has stated publicly they will not be landing their catch at the plant in Grand

Bank and has moved it prime cuts line to China?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, for the information of the hon. member, I have

dealt with requests to meet with various groups on the Burin Peninsula. As a

matter of fact, I went to the Burin Peninsula. I spoke at the Chamber in

Marystown and I sat down, for I think it might have been an hour, with people

from Fortune, with people from Burin, with people from Marystown, and it was the

Member of Parliament for that district who asked me to meet with the Concerned

Citizens Committee of Fortune which I am doing tomorrow morning.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. PARSONS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

My question is for the Minister of Justice.

Minister, has your department commenced any work in light of the current

circumstances on the FPI Act, to ensure that it has the proper teeth required to

protect the interests of our people?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Justice and Attorney General.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. T. MARSHALL: Mr. Speaker, I can assure the hon. member that lawyers

in the Department of Justice have been engaged full time with officials in the

Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture to deal with the whole FPI file. We also

have engaged outside solicitors to assist us in that regard as well.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. PARSONS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Minister, I guess we all, at times, don't draft legislation that would be

perfect. I guess the current Minister of Fisheries was the minister back in the

1980s when the FPI Act came about, so if there were any deficiencies in it I

guess there were oversights at that time. It is good to see that you are

involved.

I ask you, Minister: Isn't it about time that you or your government told

the people of this Province - the unions, the communities, the people involved,

the fisherpersons themselves, the plant workers - what it is you have found so

far?

We hear your ministers saying: We don't think the act has much teeth. Well,

how long have you been working on this plan to put some teeth in the FPI Act?

When can we expect to have something from you rather than, again, sitting on

your duffs?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Justice and Attorney General.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. T. MARSHALL: Mr. Speaker, lawyers in the Department of Justice are

engaged on a daily basis with other departments, with ministers in other

departments, to provide legal advice and to deal with their concerns, and the

Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture will be the minister who will stand in

this House and indicate government's policy with respect to the fisheries

industry in this Province.

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

MR. PARSONS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

With all due respect to the minister, the people in this Province,

particularly the people impacted by FPI, need more than just smoke and mirrors

and non answers.

Minister, your government was pretty quick to come to its feet and have a

free vote in this House and call everybody back here when you wanted to amend

the FPI Act to allow them to sell off their profitable arm down in the States.

How come you are not so quick now?

When can we look forward to something from this government to put the

necessary teeth in the FPI Act? Can you give us some idea, rather than saying we

are looking at it? How long have you been looking at it, and when do you

anticipate we might have some suggestions from you that are helpful rather than

just being harmful?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Justice and Attorney General.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. T. MARSHALL: Mr. Speaker, the hon. member well knows that the role of

the Department of Justice is to engage with the various government departments

and to provide legal advice when called upon to do so, and it is the Minister of

Fisheries and Aquaculture for the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador who will

stand in this House and indicate what the government's policy is with respect

to fisheries matters in this Province and with respect to FPI or any other

company that is engaged in the fisheries industry, and not the Department of

Justice.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi.

MR. HARRIS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

My question is for the Premier.

Mr. Premier, we all know that FPI is a private corporation but it has a

public purpose as set forth in the FPI Act. That includes a commitment to the

growth and strengthening of the fishery in the Province and not to disrupt the

historical patterns of harvesting and processing of fish, which is what we have

seen happen.

Mr. Speaker, hardly anybody - if there is one, I would like to know his name

- has any confidence that the current leadership of FPI believes in the act and

believes in the purposes that are set forth therein.

Will the Premier confirm that this government will not, under any

circumstances, weaken the act, and specifically keep the 15 per cent share

restriction, and will it now insist that FPI put into place leadership that is

committed to operating the company in accordance with the principles and the

purposes set forth in the act?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER WILLIAMS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is not our intention to weaken the act under any circumstances. That

certainly is not our intention. If, in fact, there were stakeholders - if, in

fact, the communities and the union and the company and government felt that

there was a solution that could be resolved by working through the act, we would

certainly look at that, but that would have to be an agreed solution that

everybody was comfortable with.

We do not intend to weaken that act. That is not our intention. The company

now would like to basically see us just take that act and just remove it.

The other thing is, too, I think we need to point out something and make

something very clear here for the people who are in attendance, and for the

people of this Province. There was an all-party committee that was headed up by

the Leader of the Opposition - and, of course, the hon. member actually, I

believe, was a member of that committee. At that particular point in time there

was a very clear recommendation not to interfere with that act.

The Leader of the Opposition stands up here and speaks out of both sides of

his mouth, and now demands that this be changed, when he headed up and he was

chair of a committee that said it should not be changed.

Now, despite what you say and despite the fact that you talk out of both

sides of your mouth, we are going to find solutions for those people on the

Burin Peninsula because, as the minister said, we will stand shoulder to

shoulder with those people and we will find solutions.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Chair recognizes the hon. the Member for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi.

MR. HARRIS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It was that committee and this Legislature that, in fact, put in place the

purposes in the act and, in fact, are forcing the company to operate in

accordance with those principles despite the fact that they have no belief in

them.

Mr. Speaker, what I want to know is: How far is this government prepared to

go to ensure that this company, FPI, operates in the best interests of the

fishing industry and the communities of this Province? Are they prepared to look

back at history and see what was done between 1984 and 2001, and have a company

in place with government participation and ensuring that the best interests of

the communities and the best interests of the Province are, in fact, in place?

Is the government prepared to consider that as an option if it is necessary to

do so?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. gentleman for his question.

Let me answer it this way: The government is prepared to consider any option

that will help improve the situation in communities where FPI operate. Any

option we will consider. If that means we have to maybe do something to

strengthen the act, well, that means we have to look at it. If it means that all

parties are going to come together and, if they reach a solution, they say to

government, maybe you should undo things in the act now to let the company

breathe better or easier or raise money or whatever, if that comes out of a

consensus, that kind of a solution comes out of a consensus, as the Premier

indicated, we will look at it. But the bottom line is, we are prepared to look

at any and everything, any and every possibility, to improve the lot of those

people who depend on FPI, and the communities where they operate.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Grand Falls-Buchans.

MS THISTLE: Mr. Speaker, this morning gas prices skyrocketed once again,

where it now costs $1.10 or more per litre. We have continuously asked this

government to provide some relief to consumers who, through their taxes, are

contributing to the surplus this government is experiencing. As the price of gas

increases, government collects more HST for their coffers.

I ask the Premier: Will you give a break to ordinary Newfoundlanders and

Labradorians in the upcoming Budget and reduce taxes on gasoline by either

removing government's portion of the HST or lowering the provincial gas tax?

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

Board.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SULLIVAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I answered the question three times already in this Session; I will answer it

again. When gasoline prices go up at the gas pump, we take in less revenue on

gasoline tax because consumption has gone down and ours is a per litre tax. In

fact, in this fiscal year we are in right now, I would say to the member, we are

down $4 million in gasoline tax this year, because as price goes up consumption

goes down and we get less revenue.

What we did do, Mr. Speaker -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. SULLIVAN: What we did do was something that government never before

did; we allowed people, from home heating fuels, to get a rebate up to $400 when

they gave a measly $100 when the price of oil was so high.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Grand Falls-Buchans.

MS THISTLE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the same old rhetoric from this minister every time. He called

for gas taxes to be reduced when he was in Opposition but, because he is making

a windfall profit off the backs of the people of this Province, he is no longer

willing to provide consumers with a break.

I ask the minister: With over 40 per cent of the price of gas being direct or

indirect tax, why is our provincial government still focused on taking every

single cent possible from the pockets of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians?

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

Board.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SULLIVAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

This government has looked at people who may have hardships because of low

incomes, and people affected by this. This government initiated and eliminated

income tax for individuals under $12,000 -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SULLIVAN: - under $19,000 for a family of two, with no provincial

income tax. We have taken initiatives on low income people to refund money

through rebates on home heating. We will look at, in this Budget - I have said

in this House before - a poverty strategy to assist people not just because you

have $15,000 income, or $18,000, but much higher levels, to assist everybody in

Newfoundland and Labrador who have low income and hardships, whether you drive

an automobile or whether you do not.

We want equity. We have taken this Province out of a billion dollar debt they

left us with on an annual basis; deficit. We are trying to turn this around and

enhance the plight of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. We are going to do it

and we are going to continue to do it, as much as she hates to see it happen.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Grand Falls-Buchans.

MS THISTLE: Mr. Speaker, I guess the jury is still out. Was that a yes or

a no with that answer?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS THISTLE: I guess this is the same minister who pulled the wool over

all our eyes when he said we were in debt a billion dollars when he took over,

and eighteen months later we are in the black and they have not created a single

job.

Mr. Speaker, the minister could very easily make the decision to reduce the

provincial gas tax without having to worry about consulting with other provinces

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS THISTLE: I ask the minister: Why not reduce -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Chair recognizes the member and we note that there is very limited time

left.

MS THISTLE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I ask the minister: Why not reduce this 16.5 cent per litre gas charge to

consumers in this Province? You have money to burn, start here.

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

Board, time for a very brief reply.

MR. SULLIVAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We are not going to burn it, we are going to use it for the good purpose of

people in Newfoundland and Labrador. That is what we are going to do.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SULLIVAN: Mr. Speaker, this year coming up we will have - in the

following two and three years we will be increasing with the highest number of

people employed in the history of our Province. We did not fabricate that. The

Auditor General confirmed on public accounts -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Chair has permitted a question to be asked and it is the Chair's

responsibility to make sure that there is adequate time for a reply. I ask the

minister if he would finish his comment very quickly.

MR. SULLIVAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

They do not like success. The Auditor General has confirmed a $913.6 million

deficit in the year we took over. Now we have a balanced budget, I say, a

balanced budget on this year. In fact, a surplus on this year, I say to the

member, and we are going to use that for the benefit of people in our Province

to provide services to everybody around our Province. We are seeing new

construction in our Province, in schools. We are seeing it in long-term care

facilities, road construction, ferries, you name it - everything we are going to

be looking at to enhance the Province, not leave us in the state that they left

us in.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The time allocated for Question Period has expired.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

Presenting Reports by Standing and Select Committees.

Tabling of Documents.

Notices of Motion.

Notices of Motion

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

MR. E. BYRNE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I give notice and by leave move, with the agreement of all parliamentary

groups in the House that we have already had this discussion, the following

resolution and bill, standing in the name of the hon. the Minister of Finance

and President of Treasury Board, that the House resolve itself into a Committee

of the Whole on Supply to consider certain resolutions for the granting of

Interim Supply to Her Majesty, Bill 74, and that following the receipt of the

message from His Honour, the Lieutenant Governor, the resolution and bill will

be referred to Committee of Supply when Orders of the Day are called by you, Mr.

Speaker.

I further move that upon adjournment of the Committee of Supply this

afternoon that Bill 47 be reintroduced during the third session of the

Forty-fifth General Assembly and that the resolution and bill appear on the

Order Paper at the same stage that is in Committee of the Whole on Supply.

MR. SPEAKER: Is there agreement that this will be the method by which we

would operate the House this afternoon?

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. SPEAKER: Agreement has been reached. At the appropriate time in the

proceedings the Chair will therefore call these respective motions.

Further Notices of Motions.

Answers to Questions for which Notice has been Given.

Petitions.

Orders of the Day.

Orders of the Day

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

MR. E. BYRNE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Upon giving notice, I now move Bill 74.

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

Board.

MR. SULLIVAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I wish to inform the House that I have received a message from His Honour the

Lieutenant-Governor.

MR. SPEAKER: All rise.

The message reads as follows, dated 15 March 2006, "As

Lieutenant-Governor of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, I transmit a

request to appropriate sums required for the Public Service of the Province for

the year ending 31 March 2007, by way of Interim Supply, and in accordance with

the provisions of sections 54 and 90 of the Constitution Act, 1867 , I

recommend this request to the House of Assembly." Signed by Edward Roberts,

the Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland and Labrador.

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

Board.

MR. SULLIVAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I move that the message, together with a bill, be referred to the Committee

of Supply.

MR. SPEAKER: The motion is that the message, together with a bill, be

referred to Committee of Supply.

All those in favour, aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

MR. SPEAKER: All those against, nay'.

Carried.

On motion, that the House resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole on

Supply, Mr. Speaker left the Chair.

Committee of the Whole on Supply

CHAIR (Fitzgerald): Order, please!

Bill 74,

An Act For Granting To Her Majesty Certain Sums Of Money For

Defraying Certain Expenses Of The Public Service For The Financial Year Ending

March 31, 2007 And For Other Purposes Relating To The Public Service.

The Committee is now ready to debate the resolution that accompanies Bill 74.

The hon. the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SULLIVAN: Thank you, Mr. Chair.

This bill is to allow us to have some interim monies available to be able to

carry on the business of government from the period April 1 until approximately

June 30, and we have asked the House for $1,509,510,800 to be able to carry on

the business of government.

On the

Schedule attached to that, you can see the expenditures that are being

put forth from Interim Supply in each of the particular departments there. There

are no significant differences from the 2005 Interim Supply Bill, just to allow

for other areas like salary increases, 3 per cent in the public service in

certain instances, April 1 to allow for extra expenditure in normal ongoing

programs. In some of these areas, if you compare them to last year, for example,

the Department of Health, you will probably see around $34 million more. That is

to carry on the operations of our regional integrated health authorities, the

functions of the department, and carry on all of these responses that are out

there.

Interim Supply basically allows us to be able to appropriate money to carry

on current programs that are out there, and to be able to fund them to the level

that would be required until the Budget gets approved, and hopefully it will be

sooner rather than later. What it does is important, of course. March 28 is the

ultimate deadline, of course, that it would need to pass to allow the processing

of cheques so they can be sent to Labrador, to reach there in time to be able to

meet our government commitments there and be able to have the money approved by

this Legislature.

Overall, I am sure ministers, along the way, might want to have a comment -

or other members - on their particular departments and so on. Certainly, under

the Finance area that I am responsible for, and a part of Executive Council

also, expenditures are normal, government expenditures. There are no significant

variations, in fact, in some of these from last year, but obviously in some

areas like Health, which is a big department, we are looking at up in the $1.9

billion range of expenditures. Obviously, we need a fair amount of money to be

able to pay the bills for the first three months of the year.

Other departments out there, if you look at Interim Supply last year, like

Transportation and Works, there is probably roughly $23.5 million extra;

Municipal Affairs about another $10 million; Executive Council about $13

million; Natural Resources about $7.7 million; Education about $20.7 million and

so on, so there are various areas of expenditure to meet our programs there. It

is a normal, standard procedure here; it is needed. Really, it is an advance

approval to start spending money on the 2006-2007 Budget until the Budget is

approved.

That is basically what it does. Along the way, if there are any particular

questions and things that people have, I will certainly try to answer them.

With that, Mr. Chair, we put forward probably the largest Interim Supply

Bill, I would think, in the history of our Province, which means that we have an

increased revenue base, we have an increased expenditure base, and we are going

to be able to provide a fair amount of service. The Budget will address that, of

course. These ones here allow - there is increased cost to running current

programs that are there right now. We need to have the money to flow to be able

to do that. I am sure, with the co-operation of the House - we have always had

co-operation of the House on both sides, in the twelve years I have served in

Opposition, too - with facilitating this process to allow government to operate

and people to be able to get paid.

With that, I will conclude my comments at this time, Mr. Chair.

CHAIR: Order, please!

The hon. the Member for Grand Falls-Buchans.

MS THISTLE: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I am pleased today to rise and speak to this Interim Supply Bill. As the

Government House Leader indicated earlier, with an Interim Supply Bill, this is

a money bill. Of course, we can talk about pretty much any subject we wish under

the heading of a money bill.

As the minister indicated, this is $1.5 billion that needs to be approved by

this House of Assembly before 28 March so people who are expecting this money

can get their money before the end of the month.

There is no reason why we would hang up this bill, but it still gives us an

opportunity to review what government has been doing with the taxpayers' money

and give an account of the direction they are taking, and whether or not we

agree, as the Official Opposition, with what has been happening.

There was a lot of activity in the media about ten days ago concerning health

care in this Province. In fact, on the heels of that, the Premier did a mini

shuffle of his Cabinet. He changed over the Health and Community Services

Minister. I was surprised, myself, to learn that, here in this Province today,

we are actually going to send out patients for cancer treatment. When I heard

that, I really could not believe it or understand it because a year ago there

was a health care accord that was signed by all premiers of all provinces with

the federal government. In this Province we have gotten, from that health care

accord, an extra $46 million per year. When I learned, as did the public of our

Province, that patients are now having to be sent out for cancer treatment, I

was startled by that, because going through cancer treatment is traumatic enough

without having to leave your support system, which is your family. Even sending

someone out, they cannot take their entire family. They can just probably take a

caregiver, the nearest of kin, who wants to travel with them.

Having to learn that people in this Province, after all the money that is

after coming from oil exploration, oil development offshore, and $2 billion from

the Atlantic Accord and $46 million more ever year from health, just designed

for health alone, that we are now in a position of having to send our people out

for cancer treatment, Mr. Chairman, I would say: Who is minding the shop? Who is

looking after health care in our Province? The money is there, supposedly. Is it

being used for something else? There is no reason that we do not have up-to-date

equipment in our cancer treatment facilities because the money was designed for

that purpose, so that there would be no waiting and no need to send our people

out of the Province for cancer treatment.

In fact, there should be no reason that we would see patients on a stretcher

in a hallway in a hospital, waiting for a bed. There should be no reason why

people would be in that situation. There should be no reason why senior patients

would be held up in long-term care in a hospital, when they should be in a

long-term care facility for seniors. Keeping seniors in a hospital is not

conducive to their well-being, when they should be in a long-term care facility.

The minister has said that there are long-term care facilities under

construction. They are not under construction right now; they might be in the

planning stages.

The other night, I received an e-mail from a person in Happy Valley-Goose

Bay, and it was one of these heartbreaking e-mails concerning a young woman who

has her mother requiring Alzheimer's care at a facility but there is neither

one in Labrador. Now, this mother is only in her sixties and she has come down

with Alzheimer's. She can no longer stay in the facility in Happy Valley-Goose

Bay. That is a hard proposition for any family to have to do, to have to send

their aging parents - in this case, this woman is very young, only in her

sixties. For her to have to go to the Hoyles-Escasoni house here in St. John's

while her family are in Goose Bay, Labrador, just look at the trauma for someone

who has very little memory and only associates it with the people they have

known all their life, their immediate family. When that link is gone, can you

imagine the trauma that is going to be for this Alzheimer patient and her family

who are still in Happy Valley-Goose Bay.

Government are now in a position where they are pretty much in the black on

their current account deficit, and they need to look at long-term care

facilities, particularly for the people in Labrador. That is a great issue that

should be done. You have to look at specialized facilities such as Alzheimer

treatment and so on.

Even on the Island portion of our Province, there are still not enough

facilities for Alzheimer patients. In fact, in Central the only one we have is

at the Hugh Twomey Centre in Botwood. There is a waiting list there as long as

your arm. People just cannot cope with having to look after their parents in

regular facilities or even at home. Government needs to turn their mind around

that prospect. They have said, government did, in their own literature that in

ten years time more than half of the people in our Province will be fifty years

old or older, so you need to start planning right now. This is the third year of

your mandate and you have to look towards what is happening with our health care

and our seniors.

I have also heard that someone receiving surgery, they can't get those

dressings. If someone requires dressing from a surgery, they cannot get those

dressings in their home today unless they actually go out and buy the dressings

and have somebody come in and administer those dressings. Ordinarily, what

people are expected to do is, if they have a centre like we have in Grand

Falls-Windsor, the provincial building Health and Community Services, no matter

how bad you are feeling after an operation you actually have to go up to that

centre and sit down or lie down on an examining table and get your dressings

done. We always were accustomed to having the public health nurse go right into

a home after surgery and administer dressings.

These are types of things that are happening that probably people are not

aware of. With money to spend in all directions, as this government is about to

announce a good news Budget, it is time for government to put their money

towards health care and looking after our seniors and the people who really need

it.

It was interesting this afternoon to hear the Minister of Natural Resources

when he got on his feet and made a ministerial statement. He talked about new

investment being made in the Mineral Incentive Program and regional geology

services. He says his government is putting $2.5 million into that particular

incentive program. Well, I would say to the Minister of Natural Resources and

his government, look closely on what is happening in the Buchans-Millertown

area. We have a deteriorating road, I was up over it about a week ago, and the

sides of the roads are completely eaten out. Since this government, the new

government, got into power they have not put any money into rural Newfoundland

roads. I am concerned, because Millertown and Buchans, these are bright spots.

There is a mine all ready to go into full operation this summer. Right now they

are employing 150 people at Duck Pond. Messina Minerals Inc. are there, and

there are all kinds of other companies that are there in the exploration stages.

Can you imagine the income tax and the taxes that are going to be paid on

services purchased that are going into the coffers of the Government of

Newfoundland and Labrador? Yet, they are satisfied for pieces of equipment, all

kinds of trucks, heavy equipment, men and women, employees going over that road

day after day but they are not going to upgrade it and improve it.

This is something that you cannot phantom, because the Minister of

Innovation, Trade and Rural Newfoundland is trying to, she says, rejuvenate

rural Newfoundland and Labrador. Well, that would be the first thing to do. If

there is actually something happening in rural Newfoundland and Labrador - which

there is, in Millertown, and also there is a barite mine in Buchans that is now

in operation as well. If you have two entities in a close proximity and they are

turning in money for government, wouldn't you do your utmost to make sure that

the road is in proper condition so that heavy equipment and supplies going in

and out, and ore that is being mined there, that people will have a good road to

go over? Sure, that is only a solid investment.

Why do I have to get up day after day and say to the Minister of

Transportation and Works, we need this done? This is a money-maker for

government. Last year I had pictures of the holes in the roads and the sides

were eaten off the shoulders of the roads. I had pictures blown up to show him.

After all of that we got $300,000 to do up 100 kilometres of road. That was like

a fly spit into the air, that is all it was. So, it is time for government to

realize what potential is in rural Newfoundland and Labrador and if you have a

bright spot that is creating investment, creating revenue, do something. Do the

right thing, do up the roads so you can have people being able to get to their

jobs.

It was interesting too, when I heard the Minister of Industry, Trade and

Rural Development get up today. In her questions from the Member for Grand Bank

- the Member for Grand Bank asked the minister what was she going to do for the

people of the Burin Peninsula. She got up and said she was going to stand

shoulder to shoulder and she was going to do for the people on the Burin

Peninsula what she did for the people on the Connaigre Peninsula. Well, good

Lord! After watching that CBC special they had on there last week about the men

who had left Harbour Breton and they were heading to - I think it was Calgary.

They showed them when they left their homes, it was still darkness in the

morning, and they showed them when they arrived in Calgary and they showed them

too when they started their work up there on the job.

Well, you know, I looked the other day at this Rural Secretariat Executive

Council Annual Report, it went right up from April 2004 to March 2005. One of

the key things it says: The Rural Secretariat is still in a developmental stage.

Well, good Lord! The Rural Secretariat is still in a development stage - their

own literature. Three years on the job. All I can find, from looking in this

book, is that the Rural Secretariat - there are going to be nine regional

councils comprising men and women. Oh, I am glad to see that women are going to

be in it. Comprising men and women - gee, that is something new. There will be

nine regional councils comprising men and women from larger and smaller

communities and the provincial council will consist of representatives from each

of the regional councils. This is Doug House's book right here.

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MS THISTLE: Yes, he is now reviewing his plan B.

Doug House had a plan that everybody on the Trans-Canada from St. John's to

Port aux Basques would survive, and everyone else off the Trans-Canada, unless

they could get into one of these big places to get a job, we should cut them

off. That is your plan. That is the plan. Everyone on the Trans-Canada had a

chance to survive but everyone outside the Trans-Canada, if they could not get

into a regional centre to do an IT job or a service industry job or a job in the

mall, or somewhere else, too bad. They had to get their U-Haul and go to Calgary

or Yellowknife or Fort McMurray, but I cannot understand it. I really cannot

understand it. Three years on the job by the new government. They are rated in

the polls, the highest that it could ever be recorded, and how lucky can you

get? This is a government that hasn't brought in one new initiative to save

rural Newfoundland and Labrador. They have been able to sit on their duffs and

look at the balance sheet pile up in the black because it was all Liberal

initiatives that made it that way.

CHAIR: Order, please!

I remind the hon. Member for Grands Falls-Buchans that her time has expired.

MS THISTLE: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I will take my leave and maybe I will come back again this afternoon.

Thank you.

CHAIR: Order, please!

The hon. the Member for Lake Melville.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HICKEY: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

It is indeed a pleasure to stand in this hon. House today and talk about some

of the good things that are happening in Newfoundland and Labrador, and in

particular, Labrador, I say, Mr. Chairman.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HICKEY: I say to my hon. colleague from Grand Falls-Buchans, that we

have addressed the issue of a long-term health care facility and we did it last

week, something that you and your government never, ever addressed while you

were there.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HICKEY: Never, ever addressed while you were there, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Chairman, I want to talk about some of the announcements that happened

and we talk about rural Newfoundland and Labrador. Well, I can tell you, in the

rural parts of Labrador this Budget, and this Budget that you will see over the

course of the next number of days, will reveal that there is a commitment to

rural parts of this Province and, in particular, Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HICKEY: So, I can tell you, we have done it! Something your

government, I say to the Member for Grand Falls-Buchans, never had; never had it

in you to do it for the people of Labrador.

Anyway, Mr. Chairman, I want to go over some of the good news stories coming

out of Labrador. Last week the Premier was there, the Minister of Tourism,

Culture and Recreation was there, the Minister of Labrador Affairs was there,

and the Deputy Premier was there. We have had more ministers in Labrador than we

saw over the previous fourteen years, I say to the Member for Grand Falls-Buchans.

Mr. Chairman, last week was indeed a great week for the people of Labrador,

and I would not able be able to stand in this hon. House today and not stand

here and say to our Premier and to our government that we have addressed and

made commitments to the people of Labrador on long-standing issues, I say, Mr.

Chairman, long-standing issues, particularly when it comes to infrastructure. I

want to go over some of these, Mr. Chairman, because they are important, indeed

important to my constituents and indeed to the people of Labrador.

As we go on over the course of the next number of years, Mr. Chairman, we

will see great opportunities in Labrador, particularly in the resource sector,

particularly in mining, hydro development, tourism, transportation, justice

issues, all very, very important, all issues that have been outstanding for

many, many years, Mr. Chairman. I can tell you, as a former mayor, as a former

councillor, as a resident of the community, having lived there, I can say to my

good friend from Grand Falls-Buchans, we finally have a government and a Premier

and the leadership to do the things that should have been done many, many years

ago. I will say to you, Mr. Chairman, that as we go forward, the announcements,

some $175 million, close on $200 million, will be invested in Labrador over the

course of the next four years.

I want to take a couple of minutes today to talk about some of those

investments. We are talking somewhere in the vicinity of $1.9 million which will

go into a performance base or auditorium, something that the young people of

Labrador have long wanted.

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. HICKEY: I say to my fellow colleague over there, you were one of the

members who were against it, if I remember. You were the ones who voted against

it.

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

CHAIR: Order, please!

MR. HICKEY: Anyway, Mr. Chairman, the performance complex is something

that we will build. It will be started this year in Lake Melville. It will be a

performance base for the people of Labrador, for the arts community of Labrador,

and I am so glad that we can move forward on this particular project.

Mr. Chair, there will be a further investment of some $1.5 million into the

health centre in Labrador West. I can tell you, having lived in Churchill Falls

and growing up there, the facility in Labrador West is long overdue - long

overdue. I can tell you, the comments that we have heard from the mayors and

from community leaders in Labrador West have been very, very supportive, very

supportive of this government and the commitments that we have made.

I also want to talk, Mr. Chairman, about the commitments that we have made

when it comes to post-secondary education in Labrador, and the extension to the

College of the North Atlantic in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, and indeed the new

facility for Labrador West.

Mr. Chairman, when it comes to post-secondary education, it is so important

that we prepare our youth and our young people for the jobs and the economic

development that is going to take place in Labrador. I am so pleased to say that

this government and this Premier have given the commitments that we need to

ensure that we have facilities that will allow our young people the opportunity

to train and prepare themselves for those jobs that will be coming up in the

different resource sectors in Labrador.

I also want to talk about the long-term health care facility. As I said

earlier, the long-term health care facility has been long, long overdue. I want

to commend some of the people back home in my district, like Mayor Abbass,

Councillor Stanley Oliver, and many of the community groups and organizations

that for so long have lobbied for a long-term health care facility so that we

can keep our seniors at home, we can provide them with the care and the service

of their friends and their families. I will tell you, this was a great

announcement for the people of my district and the people of Labrador. It is

indeed gratifying that now, once this facility is built, we will not have to

send our loved ones off somewhere else to live, basically in solitude.

Mr. Chairman, there was also a major commitment to the Trans-Labrador Highway

made last week. I will read here from the local Labradorian newspaper. It

says: Pre-budget Bonanza, Funding Flows for Labrador. Great news for Labrador!

I want to talk about the transportation initiatives, some $41.7 million for

the continuation of the Trans-Labrador Highway. The difference between this

government, Mr. Chairman, is that we are spending our money on the

Trans-Labrador Highway. We are not trying to put it into general revenue, like

my good friends and colleagues across the way did while they were in government.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HICKEY: I must make that point, because it did happen.

Mr. Chairman, we are also going to commit some $15 million, which will be

cost-shared with the federal government to add up to $30 million, to start the

hard surfacing of the road from Happy Valley-Goose Bay to Labrador City. Mr.

Chairman, I can tell you, that is something that everybody in Labrador has been

wanting for many, many years. Again, it is this government that is making the

commitment, and we are putting our money where our mouths are.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HICKEY: We are not talking about it like the Member for Cartwright-L'Anse

au Clair used to talk about it. We are not talking about it like the Member for

Torngat Mountains used to talk about it. It was all talk, talk, talk, but there

was never any action. I can tell you, this government is putting our mouth where

it is and we are supporting those projects in Labrador, Mr. Chairman.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HICKEY: Mr. Chairman, I am going to go on as long as I can here

today, because there are a lot of good things that have been done here in

Labrador since the course of this government has taken office. I will say to you

that, since the fall of 2003, government has made steady progress in

establishing solid economic and infrastructure help for Labradorians to capture

the opportunities presented to its regions, strong resources base-skilled in

innovative communities.

We have been listening to the people of Labrador, something that has not been

done before. I want to just show you and to demonstrate to you, to the Province

and to the people of Labrador today, that our Premier and this government have

been listening to the people of Labrador and they have been listening to our

issues.

When the Premier, in part of our Blue Book, was to establish a Premier's

Office in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, I am pleased to say, Mr. Chairman, that

project has been there. It is set up. We have a great, capable person in the

name of Ms Win Barnes who is running the office there, and that facility and

that office certainly will be a connection to the people of Labrador to ensure

that the priorities of Labradorians get straight into the Premier's Office.

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. HICKEY: I was coming to that one.

We have strengthened the Department of Labrador Affairs, Mr. Chairman,

through the hiring of a new Assistant Deputy Minister of Labrador Affairs. That

position is established in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, and I am proud to say that

this government promoted from within one of our own senior civil servants, from

one of our own senior civil servants, and gave them the opportunity to take on

the task of that position.

Premier Williams, our Premier, along with ministers and myself, we also went

to the North Coast of Labrador. We were in all of the communities in the summer

of 2004, and we listened to some of the issues that were raised by the folks on

the Coast of Labrador. It was a great opportunity to engage with people, to

listen to their concerns and to get ideas from them as to how we can improve the

lot of those communities on the North Coast of Labrador.

Mr. Chairman, the Premier has led consultations in November, 2005, with

Aboriginal leaders, and in particular Aboriginal women, to advance the issues at

the First Ministers' Conference of National Aboriginal leaders in Kelowna,

B.C.

The Premier has hosted public meetings with Labradorians in November 2005 on

the proposed Lower Churchill. The Premier advanced Labrador issues during the

recent federal election, including the Lower Churchill, development of 5 Wing

Goose Bay, the Trans-Labrador Highway, and certainly a very important issue is

the creation of a reserve in the community of Sheshatshiu.

We are committed, Mr. Chairman, to strategic investments to strengthen

Labrador's positioning for long-term economic growth. I can tell you, we have

done this through the hiring of a new senior government position that supports

in Labrador West -

CHAIR: Order, please!

I remind the hon. member that his time for speaking has expired.

AN HON. MEMBER: By leave.

CHAIR: By leave? Does the hon. member have leave?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: By leave.

CHAIR: By leave.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HICKEY: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

The new senior government position supports in Labrador West was created

within the Department of Natural Resources to serve Labrador's mining,

agricultural and energy sectors. I can tell you, Mr. Chairman, that is a very,

very important position. It is working well, and I can tell you we are going to

see great benefits from that initiative.

5 Wing Goose Bay, this is probably one of the biggest issues that is facing

the community of Happy Valley-Goose Bay. It is an issue that I have been

involved with for many, many years. I can tell you that our government, and

particularly our Premier, has championed 5 Wing Goose Bay more than ever we have

seen on any previous government.

I am also pleased to say, and report back to the people of my district, that

the very first meeting that our Premier had with the new federal government was

with the Minister of National Defence, Gordon O'Connor, to talk about the

commitments that were made to our government in writing by now Prime Minister

Harper on 5 Wing Goose Bay. Mr. Chairman, we are going to be, with great

interest, looking forward to the 650 ground troops that will be established in

Happy Valley-Goose Bay at 5 Wing over the course of the next number of years.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HICKEY: We are also going to be very pleased to see the additional

100 support troops who are going to be there to support the UAV squadron that

will be stationed there, but most of all, Mr. Chair, we are happy that the new

Conservative government in Ottawa is going to make a long term commitment to

Five Wing Goose Bay and ensure that it has an operational requirement into the

future. That is so important for the longevity and for the jobs of the people of

Five-Wing Goose Bay and indeed the people of my district.

Mr. Chair, the Lower Churchill Development is coming forward. We have

committed to look at this project. I can tell you that this project is now being

looked at certainly through the departments. An energy plan is in place, and I

can tell you we look forward to the day when we can announce the Lower

Churchill. We look forward to the day we will do this ourselves in the Province

of Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HICKEY: That is what the people of this Province want, this is what

our government wants, and that is the commitment.

When it comes to agriculture, Mr. Chair, no previous government has given the

commitment to agriculture Labrador that this government has created.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HICKEY: I can tell you for certain, talk to some of my friends who

are in the farming community and agricultural community in Happy Valley-Goose

Bay and they will tell you that we have never seen the support of any previous

government on issues of agriculture as we have seen, certainly, from the

Minister of Natural Resources and this government. The proof is in the pudding.

We never talked about it, we did it, we put the money where it was to go. I can

tell you, it was a proud day for the farmers when they took the keys of a new

tractor, a $165,000 tractor, so now we can clear land and now we can do many of

the things that agriculture can do in the District of Lake Melville and indeed

in Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HICKEY: Mr. Chair, I would be remiss if I never talked about safety

and justice. Safety and justice are certainly two issues that we have been

crying for in Labrador for many years. More police officers was something that

was needed, and more social workers. I am happy to report here today, Mr. Chair,

that five additional social positions were announced in 2004 to the tune of some

$500,000 of new money put into the department; three additional positions in

2005 for Northern and Central Labrador; eleven additional RCMP positions

established for coastal communities, which amounted to $1.2 million; additional

funding provided to the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary in Labrador West under a

70-30 federal-provincial funding arrangement; a new RCMP detachment established

in Sheshatshiu; a new Supreme Court building constructed and officially opened

in Happy Valley-Goose Bay at $2.1 million; Labrador Correctional Centre,

upgrading a building, $193,000; and a new video conferencing unit established in

Happy Valley-Goose Bay. Mr. Chair, when I sing those figures out, I can tell

you, I will challenge anyone across the way to put their track record against

what we have done for Labrador in the last two years, I can tell you, Mr. Chair.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HICKEY: One of the things, Mr. Chair, that we did in our government

is we made a commitment to working with Aboriginal people and Aboriginal

communities toward greater self-reliance. The Labrador Inuit Land Claims

Agreement has been passed by both the federal and provincial levels of

government. Our Minister of Aboriginal Affairs has appeared before the House of

Commons and the Senate Standing Committees on Aboriginal Affairs in June of this

year to encourage the expeditious passing of the legislation.

The Labrador Inuit Land Claims Agreement, signed by the Labrador Inuit

the foundation for a sustainable development in Northern Labrador, Mr. Chair.

The Torngat's National Park Reserve land transfer agreement, signed with the

for up to the tune of $14 million over the next ten years, Mr. Chair. Parks and

benefits agreement signed with the Labrador Inuit Association and the Government

of Canada to provide employment and economic benefits for the Inuit people of

Labrador. Progress in the negotiation of the Innu land claims and the impacts

and benefits issues related to the Lower Churchill are ongoing and making

progress, Mr. Chair. This government, this Premier, is committed to ensuring

that Labrador gets its fair share and that justice for all is something that we

will ensure happens in the big land.

When it comes to health and wellness - another very, very important issue,

to further the Innu healing strategy and to address the many social problems

that have plagued the Innu for many years. Eight additional permanent social

workers to serve Natuashish and nearby Aboriginal communities at a cost of some

$750,000 a year. We supported the reopening of the group home in Sheshatshiu,

family resource projects and other projects to help protect and empower

Aboriginal women and their families, $400,000, including $100,000 for violence

prevention.

Our Premier participated, in 2004, in the first meetings with Aboriginal

leaders on Aboriginal health, helping to achieve an agreement for some $700

million dollars in new federal funding to help address some of the social

challenges confronting Aboriginal communities across Canada.

Mr. Chair, planning is underway for our Premier to participate in the First

Ministers' Meeting of Aboriginal Affairs, including consultation with other

Aboriginal groups.

Mr. Chair, we are committed to ensuring that Labrador and its communities get

its fair share. I can tell you, last week the commitments that were made by this

government, the funding that was made by this government, has never been seen in

the history of Labrador. I have lived there all of my life and I can tell you,

no other government has made the commitments to Labrador and to Labrador

communities that this Premier and this government has made over the past week.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HICKEY: Mr. Speaker, as we move on over the course of the next weeks

and months we will see the turning of the sod for a new long-term health care

facility; a new extension to the College of the North Atlantic in Happy

Valley-Goose Bay; a new college building for Labrador West; a new health centre

for Labrador West; a new long-term health care facility for Happy Valley-Goose

Bay and indeed Labrador; and indeed the auditorium for the arts community of

Happy Valley-Goose Bay.

I am very pleased, Mr. Chair, to say I have been on a lot of those files. I

have been all over some of those files for many years, but I will say that it is

very gratifying for me as the MHA, the only MHA on this side of the House from

Labrador, to ensure that our government has made these commitments to the people

and to the communities. I can tell you, as we move forward Labrador is going to

play a huge role in the future economic development of our Province. As I said

many times in the past, and I continue to say, the future of the Province of

Newfoundland and Labrador lies in the development of the resources of Labrador.

I can tell you that as we move forward with the Lower Churchill, and forestry

and mining activities, I can tell you that the future for young Labradorians is

going to be great. The future of our Province is great and our commitments are

firm and strong.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, for this opportunity.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

CHAIR: Order, please!

The hon. the Member for Grand Bank.

MS FOOTE: Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I stand today to speak to Bill 74, recognizing of course that under this

particular bill you can speak to about anything your heart desires but,

particularly I guess, anything to do with issues that are of vital importance to

this Province.

I listened intently to the member from Labrador speak about what has happened

in that part of our Province, and I think it is absolutely wonderful that is, in

fact, the case. I would like to think that it will not be too long before the

Member for Burin-Placentia West, who is now in Cabinet, will be able to stand up

and rhyme off a litany of things that is going to happen for the Burin

Peninsula. I think we all know what is happening on the Burin Peninsula and its

devastation, there is no other word for it because, obviously, we have hundreds

of people who really do not know what their future holds. So, while we can talk

in glowing terms about a bright future for people in one part or another part of

our Province, the reality of what is happening on the Burin Peninsula is sad.

I think we heard today from members of the FFAW who travelled to St. John's,

who protested over at Fishery Products International. We heard from them exactly

the trials that they are going through, the anguish that they are living

through, and when we talk about the importance of revitalizing a part of our

Province that has given so much in the time that it has existed, has been such a

major player in Newfoundland and Labrador, and today they are wondering what

their future holds. I speak for them when I stand here and say that they really

do not want to move away. They really do not want to leave Newfoundland and

Labrador but they will tell you, if you speak to them, that the question that is

being asked all the time is: When are you moving? Where are you going? Do you

have any idea how long you are going to be away? Isn't that sad? Isn't that

sad, not that it is unusual for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians to go away and

work and come back, but what is happening now is that we have entire families

that are moving. To have a spouse go away and come back, you know that family

unit is still here in Newfoundland and Labrador, it is still intact. But what is

happening now is that they cannot see a future anymore. They cannot see down the

road where, in fact, they will be able to come back and spend time in

Newfoundland and Labrador; and, in the best interest of the family unit, the

decision they are making now is to uproot the family and move, because they are

looking at the actions of FPI, they are looking at the actions of a government

and its failure to hold FPI accountable, and saying: Where do we turn? Who do we

look to? We can't look to our government.

We have asked the government today, again in the House of Assembly, to

conduct a public, independent inquiry into the operation and management of FPI

and they have said no. A golden opportunity to take a company that is a

profitable company, that has just rode roughshod over to the people in

Newfoundland and Labrador, particularly in those places where they have told

them they are no longer important.

Look at Harbour Breton. What does the future hold for Harbour Breton? We talk

about Plan B. Well, Plan B, if you talk to the people from Harbour Breton, the B

could stand for bull because they are not seeing anything coming out of this

government with respect to Plan B. I know there is a discussion about the Barry

Group, and if that materializes it will be good news, obviously. The same way

with the Plan B for Fortune, where they are talking about Cooke Aquaculture. If

that materializes, that will be good news, but the reality of it is that if

either of those materialize you are not going to see employment in the numbers

that have been there with FPI. So, what do all of these people do?

Then we talk about an early retirement package which might take care of some

of these people, people who have worked in the fishery for thirty or forty years

and who would, in fact, like to retire rather than have to go to Alberta. I

mean, where do you go when you are fifty-nine or sixty years old? If you watched

the TV news last night on NTV, there was an expos

there on Fortune and what is happening there. It was sad to listen to these

people, people whom I know and know well, talk about that they really do not

know what the future holds, talk about having to move away, and talk about the

fact that at fifty-nine years old who is going to hire you, so you cannot move

away. So it is a Catch-22. The problem they are dealing with is that you have a

company like FPI that has washed its hands, given up on them, has not even

acknowledged the fact that FPI exists because of the hard work of their

employees, people who have worked for years and years and years to help make FPI

a profitable company, and they have turned their backs on them.

Marystown, we talk about 300 people going to work. The reality is that we are

talking about 115 positions, not 300 positions. They are talking about taking

300 and some-odd people and working them over three shifts. What does that tell

you in terms of the future for these people in Marystown?

We have Harbour Breton, who has gone by the wayside, hanging their hats on a

Plan B. We have Fortune, where the plant will not reopen, hanging their hats on

a Plan B. We have Marystown, who does not know where to turn, thinking that the

workforce there is going to be cut in half. There are people, of course, from my

constituency who work in Marystown, so they really do not know where they will

fit in the whole scheme of things. Then, there is Bonavista.

I bring up Bonavista because we all know what happened with Trepassey, all of

these other communities. We were thinking in Harbour Breton, Fortune and

Marystown, it will not happen to us. Well, guess what? It happened to Harbour

Breton. Fortune was saying: No, we are going to get a secondary processing

plant. The powers that be at FPI promised us that would materialize. Well, guess

what? There is no secondary processing plant going in Fortune, so now it has

happened to Fortune. Marystown - whoever thought that they would take the plant

in Marystown and cut the workforce in half? I am sure the people in Marystown

didn't think that. Well, that is exactly what is happening in Marystown. The

people in Bonavista must be holding their breath and wondering: Are we next? The

track record of FPI has been such that I make no wonder they are wondering if

they are going to be next.

There does not seem to be an ounce of social conscience left in this company.

If you can watch what is transpiring, how people are hurting, how families are

being torn apart, and the only thing that you are concerned about is the bottom

line, then this company has indeed lost any sense of a social conscience that it

had.

This from a company, by the way, and this is their - FPI reports fourth

quarter and full year 2005 unaudited results. For the year December 31, 2005,

revenue was $833.7 million, an increase of $33.3 million or 4.2 per cent over

2004 revenue of $800.4 million. It is a company that is not hurting. Are they

making enough wealth to satisfy their shareholders? Maybe not, obviously not,

because I cannot believe that anybody in their right mind would do what this

company is doing if it was not trying to just please their shareholders.

I look at the Board of Directors. I look at the Chairman of the Board of FPI,

a Newfoundlander. Where is his social conscience? Why can't he make any

inroads? Has he tried? Does he understand what is going on here? Because we have

to look to people like this to influence people like John Risley.

We know that Mr. Rowe is on the record as saying FPI is going to become a

shellfish company; they are getting out of the groundfish business. Well, why

didn't Mr. Anthony, the Chair of the Board, speak up? If he did, we did not

hear him. There must be someone inside that operation who thinks enough about

this Province and rural Newfoundland and Labrador to stand up and be counted,

but to date we have not seen it. That is precisely why we are calling on the

government to initiate a public, independent inquiry into the operation and

management of FPI. Anybody looking at what has transpired here would have to

agree that the time has long come. The opportunity that we had back in the fall

when I introduced a private member's motion to do just that, which every

person on the government side voted against, a golden opportunity missed, and

all of us, of course, in the Opposition, including the NDP, voted for, we have

missed that opportunity. Well, now we have another one. Now that we know that

FPI has been breaking the law, doesn't that beg the question: What else have

they been doing?

You must wonder what FPI is up to. As a government, you have a piece of

legislation that makes it possible for you to move and hold this company

accountable; but, for whatever reason, you are choosing not to do it. It boggles

the mind why you would do that, as a government that is representing the people

of Newfoundland and Labrador. You are not there to represent the interests of

FPI. You are there to represent the interests of the people of Newfoundland and

Labrador.

I know in my own district, the fish plant is in Fortune but actually the

people who work there - or worked there, I should say - came from about six or

seven different communities.

CHAIR: Order, please!

I remind the hon. Member for Grand Bank that her time has expired.

MS FOOTE: By leave, Mr. Chairman?

CHAIR: Does the hon. member have leave?

AN HON. MEMBER: By leave.

CHAIR: The hon. member, by leave.

MS FOOTE: Thank you. I appreciate the opportunity to continue.

The fact of the matter is, this is all about rural Newfoundland and Labrador

and it appears, from everything we have seen, that not only has the company

turned its back on our rural communities but so has the government. When the

Minister of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development says rural Newfoundland is

going through an economic restructuring, all I can do is look at the people who

are sitting in the gallery today and say, that really gives them a level of

comfort, people whose EI is running out, people who worked years at the fishery,

people who really do not have any other skill set that they can take and apply

to a position whether it is here or in Alberta or in Ontario or some other part

of our country. I wonder what they think about the fact that the minister who is

responsible for helping to revitalize rural Newfoundland and Labrador says rural

Newfoundland is going through an economic restructuring. I am telling you, they

will be able to put that on their table tonight for dinner, they will be able to

go and buy their gas, they will be able to go and pay their bills, because of

this economic restructuring that rural Newfoundland and Labrador is going

through!

The reality is people are hurting. Rural Newfoundland and Labrador is

disappearing. It is disappearing because people are leaving this Province and

moving because of actions by companies like FPI. While other companies may make

similar decisions that will impact on our people, this government has the

authority, under the law - it has a piece of legislation that it can come to

this House with and say to FPI: You are not going to treat the people of this

Province in the manner that you have been treating them, and if you do not care

about rural Newfoundland and Labrador then move elsewhere, take your name, FPI,

and go, but leave your quotas, leave your fish plants, leave your boats, because

we know there are people who will be only too willing to take those assets and

those resources and make it work for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

The fish that are in our waters should be harvested and processed in our

Province.

The problem we are having today is that the company has gotten away with

sending this resource, this most valuable resource, to China. Who knows what

other companies might be doing the same. The fact of the matter is that the

government did not know it was happening, so they say. The question is, are

there other companies doing the same thing. It begs the question. If so, what

does that mean in terms of employment lost for the people of Newfoundland and

Labrador?

The reality is that there is no one keeping watch and that is the sad part of

this. There is no one keeping watch on what is happening, and that was admitted

today by the Minister of Fisheries. Isn't that a sad admission, that a company

can ship all of this resource to China, away from our Province, creating

employment in a foreign country, while the people of Newfoundland and Labrador

who work so hard in the fishery are without jobs? They are not in a position to

be able to provide for their families. They have to look at uprooting their

families, if in fact they are going to provide for them, and move to whatever

corner of the world where they will be able to find work, because we all know

that Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are among the best workers in the world.

When I have to sit in this House of Assembly and look at the people in the

gallery who are asking for our help, and when I go to my district and I meet

with people who do not know how they are going to pay their bills, grown men and

women who are crying, that is hard to take, knowing that there is so little I

can do about it other than bring the issue up time and time and time again, and

hopefully get the government to acknowledge that this is a serious issue and

that plan Bs do not cut it. Plan Bs that fail to materialize in a certain amount

of time do not cut it. You cannot talk about a plan B that is going to

materialize maybe two, three, four or five years down the road and expect that

people are going to hang around and wait for that. Would they, if they could?

Probably, but the fact of the matter is that they cannot afford to wait around.

This government should not afford this company, FPI, the time it is giving it to

make final decisions.

The FFAW was the body that actually told all of us what the company was going

to do. I am sure the government must have known, they have been in discussions

with FPI and FFAW, but it had to be left to the FFAW to tell the people of the

Province what was coming down. That is sad, when our own government and the

company were not upfront with the people who work for the company and who the

government represents.

Mr. Chair, I will conclude by saying, I would like for the government to

reconsider the request that was made today in Question Period, that, in fact,

the government agree to a public independent inquiry into the operations and

management of FPI, because it is in the best interests of all of us to find out

exactly what FPI is doing.

Thank you.

CHAIR: Order, please!

The hon. the Leader of the New Democratic Party.

MR. HARRIS: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I am pleased to have an opportunity to say a few words today on Interim

Supply. It is an opportunity to comment on the general state of the finances of

the Province, and because we have $1.1 billion being authorized to be spent by

the government, it is pretty clear this is a significant debate. It is

traditional to allow the government to, at some point after debate, obtain

sufficient authority to spend, usually up until the end of June, sufficient

monies to carry out government programs. I do not know if that is the strict

accounting there. Maybe the Minister of Finance can straighten that out a little

later, but if we are going to spend $1.5 billion between now and the end of

June, I hope that is not one-quarter of the expenditures for the year, because

that would mean we are going to have $6 billion to spend.

If the minister was right the other day, saying we are going to have a

balance budget, then he must have $6 billion of revenues somewhere too. I hope

he does, Mr. Chairman. I am sure the minister watched very avidly the other

night, on Sunday and Monday, when the Tommy Douglas story was put out on CBC,

telling the story of the Douglas Government back in the 1930s and 1940s, going

down to the bankers in Boston who thought they were going to call their bonds,

saying: Mr. Banker, not only do we want you to keep the bonds, we are going to

start paying them off. The Minister of Finance must have been watching that or

he must have known about it when he decided to have a go at the Teachers'

Pensions Plan deficit, Mr. Chair, because, of course, one of the things that

Tommy Douglas did was said that governments should not be beholding to the

bankers for their agenda. The agenda should be set by the government based on

the needs of the people.

Getting to that, Mr. Chair, we had a debate today earlier in Question Period

about FPI. What I want to know is: What is the agenda of the people who are

running FPI? I have a pretty good idea, Mr. Chair, and I have a pretty good idea

that it doesn't have anything to do with the purposes that are spelled out in

section 2 of the Act, the

section that was put in there in 2002 after an

All-Party Committee went around this Province and considered what the future of

FPI might be under the new Board of Directors, under the new attempt at control

of the company by those interests outside the Province.

You, Mr. Chairman, were on that committee, the Leader of the Opposition

chaired the committee, the former Minister of Fisheries was on the committee,

and we went around the Province and heard how important FPI was to the

communities of the Burin Peninsula, of the Bonavista Peninsula, the Triton area,

the Great Northern Peninsula, and all of the communities that were dependent on

a flag ship company such as FPI continuing to work for the growth and the

prosperity and the expansion of the Newfoundland fishery and the protection of

that, to strengthen that not to weaken it, and not disrupt the historical

pattern of harvesting and the processing of fish.

We put that in the Act, Mr. Chairman, because it needed to be put in that

Act. They needed to be told that was the purpose and that was the historical

purpose of FPI going back to 1984 when the restructuring took place and public

money was put in to make FPI happen.

What do we have now, Mr. Chairman? We have resources being shipped to China

and processed in China. We have shrimp being processed offshore. We have the

closedown of Harbour Breton. We have the closedown of Fortune. We don't know

what the fate of Bonavista is because all of the commitments that were made last

summer when they wanted changes in the Act none of them seem to have panned out.

What we have now, Mr. Chairman, is a total lack of confidence in the leadership

of this company.

I will ask you this, Mr. Chairman. There was a lot of talk today about the

shipping of yellowtail to China for processing. The question has got to be

asked: What yellowtail is being shipped to China? The answer given today was: It

was yellowtail that was less than 400 grams. Now, Mr. Chairman, what are we

doing, and what are they doing, catching yellowtail less than 400 grams? The

insanity of that knows no bounds, Mr. Chairman. If you had a company that was

interested in the long-term health of the fishery of Newfoundland and Labrador

they wouldn't be catching 400-gram yellowtail in the first place. They would

leave it in the water and wait until it grows so they could catch it. So what

interest does that company have in the long-term sustainability of the

yellowtail fishery that they are catching? What is the insanity of that? What is

the value in that?

I remember a few years ago big pictures on the TV screen, the former Premier

Brian Tobin down in New York with a big net hanging from a crane and he had a

little baby fish. He called it a little baby turbot, the last lonely turbot,

less than the size of your hand clinging on by his fingernails on the Grand

Banks. That is what we had. Now we have 400 gram yellowtail being shipped to

China to process because we cannot afford to process it here. Of course, we

cannot afford to process it here. It should never be caught in the first place.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HARRIS: It should never be caught in the first place. Is this a

company, I ask you, that is interested in long-term prosperity and strengthening

of the fishery of Newfoundland and Labrador? No, Mr. Chair. Not if they are

catching 400 gram yellowtail fish. What is wrong with them, Mr. Chair? What is

wrong with them? Obviously, they do not care about the future of the fishery in

Newfoundland and Labrador or they would not be destroyed. If they left that

yellowtail in the water this year and next year and the year after, they might

have an increased quota. There might be more to catch. So, what are they doing,

Mr. Chair? What are they doing? Catching that level of fish that should not be

caught in the first place.

So, we have a problem, Mr. Chair. We have a problem. We have a bunch of

people running the leadership. I call it the leadership today but we have to

call it a hide-and-seek leadership. Now, we kind of know their names. John

Risley is one of them. He is in Nova Scotia mostly, when he is not flying around

in his corporate jet. We have Mr. (inaudible) who seems to be a bit of a

corporate raider type, and we have a few others, people who are calling the

shots.

The Icelanders still have a big interest in what is going on. They are very

interested in the marketing arm. They are very interested in marketing. I have

nothing against marketing. Marketing is a good thing. We need to have a good

strong marketing arm for the fish that is caught and processed in Newfoundland

and Labrador. I do not even think I am opposed to having a marketing arm in the

U.K. if that is what it is, because, yes, we do need to be able to penetrate the

European market if we can for our crab and our shrimp without a tariff if we can

do it; if we can do it, Mr. Chair. But we need to know that that marketing asset

is just as important to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador as the fish

plants, as the quotas and that we still need to have a flagship company.

What kind of a flagship company is this, one that is satisfied to see the

operations in Newfoundland and Labrador deteriorate and, at the same, foster

plans to get rid of the obligation to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador?

They will say the restrictions. They said as late as March 10, the restrictions

placed on the act, the burden of the act. Well, the burden of the act, Mr.

Chairman, are the obligations to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador who

made that company possible. What is a burden to them is a plus for the people of

Newfoundland and Labrador. This government has an obligation that they have

inherited as part of their responsibility to the govern to ensure that FPI is

operated in accordance with the needs and the best interests of the people of

Newfoundland and Labrador. I hope they are going to do that, Mr. Chairman. I

hope they are going to do that. We need to insist that the directors of FPI come

up with some leadership that people can have faith in, that they are prepared to

sit down and trust that when they say something they can do it and they will do

it. If we cannot have that, Mr. Chairman, yes, we have to look at what we had in

the past; yes, we have to look at the restructuring that took place in 1984

where the public participated and the public was entitled to dictate, not just

the structure and the restrictions but also in the case initially of FPI which

plants would stay open.

I agree with the Minister of Fisheries in what he said today, that yes, in

2002, the all-party committee did not recommend the list of plants that should

stay open; did not recommend that there be a restriction on the closure of

plants. The government recognized that they did not own the company and they

were not going to tell the company what they should do or should not do in any

particular circumstance. The purposes were put in there that they should not

unduly disrupt the traditional historic patterns of harvesting and processing.

That is what they are doing, Mr. Chairman, to the extent that they are in the

Burin Peninsula and have last year in the Harbour Breton area. The whole South

Coast, Mr. Chairman, that was once a very important part of the harvesting and

processing sector in the Province has now been devastated by the actions of FPI.

So, we do not have faith in the leadership, Mr. Chairman. We do not have

faith in the leadership that, in the last five years, started turning their

attention to the operations of a particular plant and saying: Are we making

money here or are we making money there? That sounds like CN, Mr. Chairman. We

are not making money on this particular piece of rail line because we divide the

number of rails we have by the amount of money we spend in Moncton, or in

Winnipeg, or someplace and say: Well, this particular piece of rail here in

Newfoundland and Labrador is not making any money so we should close it down.

CHAIR: Order, please!

I remind the hon. Member for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi that his time for

speaking has expired.

MR. HARRIS: By leave, Mr. Chair.

CHAIR: By leave?

AN HON. MEMBER: By leave.

CHAIR: The hon. member, by leave.

MR. HARRIS: Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I thank all hon. members for their leave.

We do have a situation here that is fundamentally important to the future of

rural Newfoundland and Labrador but fundamental to how we see ourselves as a

people. FPI did have a corporate culture, if you want to call it that, going

back to 1984. It was a culture that responded to the realities of Newfoundland

and Labrador but also worked with the people and the communities to work through

some of the most difficult times that we have experienced in our history in

terms of the cod moratorium. That company survived, Mr. Chair, and people seemed

to have faith in it. The only people who did not have faith in them, Mr. Chair,

were people like the Ontario Teachers' Pension Fund who thought they could

make more money by putting somebody else in charge and maybe squeezing a few

more dolla