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May 4,

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS

Vol. XLVIII No. 13

The

House met at 1:30 p.m.

MR. SPEAKER (Osborne):

Order, please!

Admit

strangers.

I would

like to welcome to our public gallery today Carol and Laura Lowe from Nova

Scotia. They saw pictures of the massive iceberg in Ferryland and were inspired

to come and visit our beautiful province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

They are joined by their

friend Micah Maddelena and I hope I pronounced your name properly. He is

currently living in St. John's and a friend of the Lowes.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

As all Members of the

Legislature are aware, and for the benefit of those in our public galleries and

those who are viewing at home, about once a session we invite individuals who

have done something absolutely inspiring in our province to the floor of the

Legislature to be recognized.

Today we

have the great pleasure of welcoming Steven Sullivan to our public gallery. He

is joined by his parents and friends, and we'll say a little bit more about

Steven now in a few moments.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

We also have in the Speaker's

gallery, Mr. Jeff Hunt, owner of the CFL franchise the Redblacks; we also have

Brad Sinopoli who is a CFL player, and Greg Ellingson, a CFL player, as well as

guests of Mr. Hunt from the franchise as well.

Members

may have noticed, probably the first time we've had a non-living item as a guest

in our Speaker's gallery, but the Grey Cup is actually behind the door of the

Speaker's gallery as well.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Today, I'm very proud to

welcome nine-year-old Steven Sullivan to the Speaker's gallery, and in a moment

to the floor of the Chamber. He is battling acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Steven

is the 2017 Champion Child and was chosen to represent sick and injured children

from all across Newfoundland and Labrador. He recently travelled to Ottawa

representing our province. He met with other representatives from across the

country.

Steven

also represented our province when he travelled to Disney World and participated

in various Children's Miracle Network celebration activities, followed I'm sure,

by lots of fun time and playtime at Disney World.

Steven

has fought more than his share of battles, but through it all he's been an

ambassador of hope to sick kids at home and across the country. Steven doesn't

go to school these days with his friends. He spent the past year at the Janeway

making sure he spreads his strong spirit and his message of hope to other sick

children. He wants to let them know they should never give up.

I will

now ask the Member for Cape St. Francis, a friend of Steven's, to say a few

remarks.

MR. K. PARSONS:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

I'd like

to welcome Steven Sullivan and his family to the House and congratulate Steven

on being named this year's Champion Child.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. K. PARSONS:

Steven was diagnosed with a

type of blood cancer almost two years ago. Since then, he's fought quite the

battle and has spent over 300 days in the Janeway. I know Steven has a great

attitude and a loving heart, and he has faced every day with courage and a

smile. He has made many friends at the Janeway, including patients and staff and

he's always there to support and encourage other children.

Steven's

amazing spirit led him to be chosen this year's Janeway Champion Child. As the

Janeway Champion Child, Steven recently represented all the sick and injured

children in this province in Ottawa and also at Walt Disney in Orlando. I know

he had a great time because I saw all the pictures on Facebook.

Steven,

you are an amazing boy and I know you bring great joy and hope to everyone

around you. You are an inspiration to all the sick and injured children in this

province and you are an inspiration to all of us here today.

Thank

you, Steven.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Steven, I'm going to ask

yourself, Steven, and your parents to come to the floor of the Chamber. I'm also

going to invite the Premier, the Leader of the Opposition, the leader of the

Third Party and the Member for Cape St. Francis so we can present you with a

flag and get some pictures.

All

Members of the Legislature signed the flag as a keepsake for your bravery,

Steven, and how you've represented the province.

(Presenting of flag.)

(Applause.)

MR. SPEAKER:

Colleagues, it's a pleasure

now to recognize our next special guest for today. We've been given a very

special opportunity this afternoon. We have here in our Chamber a special cup

that is very special to the people of this province. We don't actually have a

major league football franchise in the province, but the owner of the franchise

is from Newfoundland and Labrador, so we feel incredible.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Many of us in this Chamber

and people throughout the province are very aware of the achievements of a

remarkable Newfoundlander and Labradorian by the name of Jeff Hunt. Jeff was

born and raised here. He is a proud son of Newfoundland and Labrador. His dad

was an RCMP officer and he and his family had several postings throughout

Western Newfoundland and Labrador West.

Jeff and

his family moved to Ottawa at the age of 19, and at 19 years of age Jeff opened

a carpet cleaning business in the Nation's capital. From there, you could say he

really cleaned up. Within a few short years, his first-ever business expanded to

250 locations throughout North America. Jeff sold his empire to another empire,

Sears, and he did very well for himself in the process.

Jeff was

always an avid sportsman. While in Newfoundland, but especially while in

Labrador City, his life was touched by several mentors and sports heroes who

helped shape his life. Shortly after selling his business, the twitch to blend

sport and business followed its predictable path. Jeff became a partner in the

Ottawa 67's, a championship team within the OHL. This team has become one of the

most successful Major Junior Hockey franchises in North America.

More

recently, however, Jeff took an interest in professional football. From the best

traditions of the Ottawa Rough Riders, Jeff had a group of enthusiasts and

brought Ottawa back into the CFL with the formation of the Ottawa REDBLACKS.

Very early on in the team's history, the Ottawa REDBLACKS became the 2016 CFL

Grey Cup champions.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

There are several

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians throughout the world who have really made

Newfoundland and Labrador proud and showcased to the world what Newfoundland and

Labrador have to offer. Mr. Jeff Hunt, you are certainly one of those

individuals.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

I now call on the Minister of

Advanced Education, Skills and Labour, who I understand is a personal friend of

Mr. Hunt's, and who helped organize the tour of the Grey Cup here today.

MR. BYRNE:

Thank you very, very much,

Mr. Speaker.

What an

incredible opportunity for this House. Before I begin, I want to follow up on an

introduction that you've already made. I also want to introduce, I want to say a

special mention to someone who's come back home, to Mr. Paul Harrington who is

with TSN. Paul, of course, a native Newfoundlander and Labradorian, grew up here

in St. John's, worked at CBC and now is one of the most pre-eminent producers

for TSN.

Welcome

home, Paul.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. BYRNE:

Another distinguished

incredibly distinguished guest amongst us, Mr. Brian Williams; known to all,

seen by all and appreciated by all. Mr. Williams is known as the dean of the

Olympic sport broadcasting in Canada. Mr. Williams is here with us.

He, with

TSN, of course, are looking at this particular tour, the first time ever that we

were blessed to have the Grey Cup in Newfoundland and Labrador, and of course

with a special, special significance here with the connection with Jeff Hunt.

Thank

you, Mr. Williams.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. BYRNE:

Now, of course, whenever

anyone comes to our House, we always have a tradition in Newfoundland and

Labrador. The first thing we ask is: Now, who's your people?

Well,

Jeff Hunt is no stranger and he's no visitor. Jeff Hunt is one of us. Jeff Hunt

from Newfoundland and Labrador he hails. He was born in Stephenville in 1964;

moved to Flower's Cove in 1966; Corner Brook in 1970; to St. George's in 1972;

to Stephenville Crossing in 1973; back to Corner Brook in 1974; went on to Lab

City in 1978; and then back to Corner Brook in 1982. After a short stay in St.

John's, then was off to Ottawa at the age of 19.

Well,

Mr. Speaker, I think it's very fair to say and true to say, Jeff Hunt could be a

qualified candidate to run and would be elected in any one of seven provincial

districts in Newfoundland and Labrador.

This is

an impressive resume for any Newfoundlander and Labradorian, as you've stated,

but we'd also like today to thank Jeff's father and his family for their service

to us all with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and I thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. BYRNE:

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Hunt's story

certainly does not end there; it only just begins. While living in Lab City and

attending Labrador City Collegiate, a very special visitor came to the students

at LCC; that visitor was Gerry Organ, an icon of the Canadian Football League,

and member of the storied Ottawa Rough Riders. Gerry Organ spoke to the young

students of LCC and to Jeff about the power of commitment, of setting goals and

about the need for discipline and courage in overcoming any adversity life may

throw at you.

The

students that day left the gymnasium, made to feel very, very special by what

Gerry Organ and the league had done, that a Canadian sports legend had taken the

time to talk to them. Jeff walked away forever changed. He took those messages

and he made them his own. Soon afterwards, he found himself Ottawa, and in a

bitterly cold month of January a place I know very well at the age of

19, Jeff measured out two dreams he held: one, to complete university, and the

other to start his own business.

As you referred, Mr. Speaker, while waiting out the cold on

an Ottawa Valley winter for a September enrolment at Carleton, Jeff decided to

start a small business on the

side, cleaning commercial and residential carpeting and, yes, Mr. Speaker, that

business grew to 250 franchise locations.

Having

nurtured that to the point where any other competitor in that industry would

have to step out of Jeff's way, he sold the business to another business and

made sure that everyone kept their jobs in the process.

With now

time on his hands, Jeff and some partners bought into the Ottawa 67's, a storied

member of the OHL. Their contribution to this strong franchise was to enrich it.

Enrich it with development. Make it fan-centred, sport-centred and

community-centred. Colleagues, Jeff Hunt enriched the community and the sporting

world, and that is the secret to the growth of the 67's.

Well

then, of course, we know that Jeff maintained his connection and he maintains

his connections to the 67's, but now has an additional venture, the Ottawa

REDBLACKS. Where, again, applying a fan-centred, sport-centred and

community-centred philosophy, it has really brought it to its full fruition.

Congratulations, because of course a young franchise in the CFL is now the CFL

Grey Cup champions.

Mr.

Speaker, I want to speak a little bit more personally and to say, because of my

own connections and my own association in Ottawa, in the Ottawa Valley, Jeff

Hunt, the 67's and the REDBLACKS, they do something more to the community and

for the community than just play hockey and football. They add such a dimension;

it is beyond understanding and belief. They attend to community events. They

sponsor community events. They see needs of the community and attend to the

needs of the community.

Today,

Steven Sullivan asked the REDBLACKS or the 67's to come down to Newfoundland, to

come down to St. John's, not for any other reason, to see a wish child. Jeff

Hunt and the 67's and the REDBLACKS would be here in an instant because that's

what they've been doing in Ottawa for quite some time.

I want

to introduce as well, because the nature and the spirit of a team are its

player: Bradley Sinopoli is a Canadian football wide receiver for the Ottawa

REDBLACKS of the CFL. He's got a multi-talent, multi-threat. He originally was a

quarterback with the Calgary Stampeders before showing the league that he could

be a powerhouse as a wide receiver for the REDBLACKS.

We've

got Greg Ellingson, also a wide receiver for the REDBLACKS He played college

football in the US at Florida and he also was a member of several American-based

teams as well as the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

Mr.

Speaker, the 67's and the REDBLACKS have made quite an indelible mark on the

nation. They have embodied all that sport is in terms of enriching us. While

hockey is our national sport, football is becoming our national sport as well. A

lot of it has to do with the fact that the franchise and the leagues itself are

such a powerful and incredible force in our communities.

The Grey

Cup, it's the oldest sporting championship cup in all of North America. It's an

incredible opportunity we have here today and I sincerely want to thank Jeff

Hunt for his team, the family members that he's brought with us and, as well,

Mr. Williams, each and every one of them.

Thank

you for going to Corner Brook and hosting sporting clinics. Thank you for going

to Lab City and inspiring kids there. Thank you for coming to St. John's and

hosting sporting clinics. Thank you for raising money for amateur sport through

your quarterbacks corners which have been held, or will be held now in three

locations in Newfoundland and Labrador, and the money, the proceeds, going to

help offset the cost of amateur sport in our province.

Mr.

Speaker, I seek you and the unanimous consent of the House to ask the REDBLACKS,

Jeff Hunt and the cup to enter the floor.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

I was about to stand and say

your 20 minutes are up.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

It is with great pleasure

that we invite Mr. Hunt and the two CFL players to the floor of the Assembly

with the Grey Cup. I'm going to ask the Sergeant-at-Arms to open the doors.

There they are.

I'm

going to ask for two pictures here. I'm going to invite the Premier, the Leader

of the Opposition, the Leader of the Third Party, as well Steven Sullivan, Mr.

Hunt and the two CFL players for a picture, and then I'll ask all Members of the

House to join as well and get a picture with the Grey Cup, please, to the floor.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Mr. Hunt, thank you very

much.

MR. HUNT:

Thank you for having us. We

really appreciate all the kind words.

MR. SPEAKER:

My pleasure. I will say that

the REDBLACKS are now oh, my name is on there as well. Awesome! The REDBLACKS

are now my official CFL team and I'm sure

MR. HUNT:

All right, we've converted

one fan (inaudible).

MR. SPEAKER:

Most Newfoundlanders and

Labradorians, I'm sure with your connection, will become REDBLACKS fans in the

MR. HUNT:

I hope so.

Thank

you.

MR. SPEAKER:

Steven

MR. HUNT:

Are you a REDBLACKS fan now,

Steven?

AN HON. MEMBER:

I sure hope so.

MS. MICHAEL:

He better be.

MR. SPEAKER:

Awesome.

It's my

pleasure to invite all Members of the House to the floor.

(Members

have photo taken on the floor of the House.)

MR. SPEAKER:

Steven told me earlier that

his favourite sport was hockey. I'd say it's now going to be football, isn't it?

It's going to be a close second. There are not many people, Steven, got to

actually touch the Grey Cup.

Order,

please!

I ask

the Sergeant-at-Arms to close the Chamber doors.

Order,

please!

The time

for Question Period has now expired.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

Statements by

Members

MR. SPEAKER:

For today's Members'

statements, we have the Members for the Districts of Torngat Mountains, Harbour

Main, Burin Grand Bank, Terra Nova, Ferryland and Mount Pearl North.

The hon.

the Member for Torngat Mountains.

MR. EDMUNDS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise

today to recognize the Hope Walkers of Hopedale, Nunatsiavut, and the people of

Natuashish who, through

an act of determination and friendship, have built a

unique bond between these Inuit and Innu communities.

Some-50

Inuit from Hopedale joined approximately 30 Innu from Natuashish and they all

participated in the challenging walk earlier this month across 80 kilometres of

Labrador from Hopedale to Natuashish.

This was

the second walk held in honour of 18-year-old James Poker, who lost his life on

the ice between the two communities in 2015. He was trying to get to Hopedale.

In 2016, his family and friends decided to finish the journey.

This

year, the people of Natuashish and Hopedale walked the other way. It took the

walkers three days and two nights to complete their journey. When they got to

Natuashish, they were welcomed with a warm reception from the community.

Those

who participated described it as a unique way to deal with the grief of family

loss. Every one of these Hope Walkers, as they call themselves, has lost someone

to suicide or other tragedy.

Mr.

Speaker, I ask all hon. Members to join me in recognizing the tremendous

community bond these walkers have forged between the people of Natuashish and

Hopedale.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for the

District of Harbour Main.

MS. PARSLEY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am

delighted once again to rise in this hon. House to recognize a young athlete

from my district with a bright future.

Since a

very young age, Shailynn Snow, who is now 15, has always wanted to sport the

maple leaf on the ice hockey rink and represent Canada at the Olympics.

Following a successful season at home and across the country, Team Canada is now

looking at this young lady from Clarke's Beach as a serious contender for a spot

in the lineup.

Tuesday past, Shailynn left for Hamilton Ontario where she will join 49 other

players to show off their strength and skills in the hope of gaining a spot on

the under 18 squad.

Undoubtedly, just to have an invite to such an exclusive training camp is quite

the accomplishment, but, Mr. Speaker, I am confident that Shailynn's hard work

and dedication will pay off and she will join the ranks of Newfoundlanders who

have gone on to represent our province and our country on the world stage.

I ask

all hon. Members to join me in sending best wishes to Shailynn Snow as she works

towards achieving her childhood dreams.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for the

District of Burin Grand Bank.

MS. HALEY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Last

week towns and communities across Canada used the backdrop of National Volunteer

Week to show their appreciation to the thousands of volunteers who give

generously of their time and talent to enrich the lives of their fellow

citizens.

I take

this opportunity to thank the countless volunteers in my district, and to thank

the organizations and communities that hosted appreciation events last week.

I was

especially pleased to learn that Vic Lundrigan of Lewin's Cove had been named

the recipient of a Step Up award from NAPE, presented each year to members who

go above and beyond in community volunteerism.

Vic, who

recently retired after more than four decades with the public service, was

nominated by his former colleagues, who recognize the great heights to which he

goes to make the area served by St. Patrick's Parish a great place to call home.

Mr.

Speaker, I ask all hon. Members to join me in recognizing Vic Lundrigan on this

award and in thanking all volunteers for the work they do to address the needs

of their communities.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for the

District of Terra Nova.

MR. HOLLOWAY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Started

in the 1950s at the former United Church primary school, the public library has

been a long-standing organization in Glovertown. In 1985, after moving several

times, the library settled into its current location at Glovertown Academy.

Each

week, through the dedicated efforts of librarian Rose Sweetapple, and her board

of directors, a variety of reading programs is offered to preschool and school

age children, as well as hosting special events for adults.

On March

16, the library hosted a live taping of Canada Reads 2017, which aired the

following week on CBC television and radio.

During

the event, finalist and Toronto-based author, Madeline Ashby read from her

novel, Company Town , a futuristic

story about an oil rig community off the coast of Newfoundland.

The

library is said to hold the title of Book Club Capital of Newfoundland and

Labrador. With enough members to form five book clubs, like the Terra Nova

Chapters, Paper Cuts, Read Between the Wines, The Lit Chicks and The Bookworms,

it is obvious the residents of Glovertown treasure this space.

I ask

all hon. Members to join me in congratulating the library's board of directors

for their long-standing effort to promote community engagement, literacy and

lifelong learning.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for the

District of Ferryland.

MR. HUTCHINGS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, I rise in this hon. House today to recognize a young constituent from

my district, a grade nine junior high school student from Stella Maris Academy

in Trepassey. While the school is small in numbers, the results in both

academics and athletics have always been high.

HaeNa

Luther is the junior high winner for the Heritage Places Poster Contest and the

overall winner for the entire province. Her poster was unveiled on February 21,

2017, at Government House. HaeNa's poster was a drawing of the Colonial Building

in St. John's. HaeNa's school, Stella Maris Academy will also receive a monetary

prize in the amount of $750. Approximately 1,000 students from 62 schools across

the province produced submissions for the contest. The winning submission is

featured on the foundation's poster promoting Heritage Day in Newfoundland and

Labrador.

I would

like to congratulate HaeNa on her accomplishment and recognize her for her

talent and overall winner of the poster contest.

Mr.

Speaker, I ask all of my colleagues of the House to join me in congratulating

HaeNa Luther on winning the 2017 Heritage Poster Foundation Contest.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Mount

Pearl North.

MR. KENT:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise

in this hon. House today to recognize and congratulate the nominees for and the

winner of this year's Citizen of the Year Award in the City of Mount Pearl.

Volunteers give so much of their time, without need or want for compensation of

any kind. The selfless acts of these individuals were especially evident at the

2016 Citizen of the Year Ceremony which was held last month in the City of Mount

Pearl.

I would

like to recognize in particular Wayne Andrews, Dannielle Brittain, Betty Dunlop,

Craig Dyer, Deidre Levandier, Alice Walsh, and the winner of the 2016 Citizen of

the Year Award, Sally Seward, who was nominated by the Mount Pearl Seniors

Independence Group.

Sally

has been a friend of my wife and I for a long time. She's been volunteering in

our community for over 50 years. She's involved with the Girl Guides, the

legion, the seniors' drop-in centre, the Frosty Festival and much more.

Mr.

Speaker, I ask all Members of this House to join me in congratulating all

nominees as well as the winner, Sally Seward, of the 2016 Citizen of the Year

Award for Mount Pearl. Volunteers truly are the heart of the community.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Statements by Ministers.

Statements by

Ministers

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Education and Early Childhood Development.

MR. KIRBY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, a

deviation from script here today.

Mr.

Speaker, I rise in this hon. House to acknowledge the National Physical and

Health Education Conference which begins this evening at the Sheraton Hotel here

in St. John's.

This

year's theme, Rock Solid FoundationsEnergizing Futures, recognizes the

importance of active living and the lifelong value of maintaining a healthy

lifestyle.

Delegates at the national conference are people involved with the health,

physical activity and education needs of children and youth. They include

educators, public health professionals, researchers, administrators, recreation

leaders, physical education specialists and others who want the opportunity to

network with colleagues, increase their knowledge and skills and foster healthy

active living for our children and youth in our schools, families and

communities.

Our

government is committed to supporting increased physical activity in schools

through Active Schools, Participation Nation and school-based sport programs

offered by School Sport Newfoundland and Labrador.

addition, Mr. Speaker, we are part of the Joint Consortium for School Health

which models, supports and encourages partnerships between health and school

health. It works across provincial, territorial and federal governments to

better coordinate and integrate efforts that champion improved health and

learning for children and youth.

I ask

all Members of this hon. House to join me in thanking the members of the

Newfoundland and Labrador Physical Education Special Interest Council, and

Physical and Health Education Canada for hosting such an important and

productive event. The dedication of physical education professionals throughout

our province has played an essential role in ensuring that our children and

youth have the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to lead healthy and

active lives.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Conception Bay East Bell Island.

MR. BRAZIL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank

the minister for an advance copy of his statement and I would to also recognize

the National Physical and Health Education Conference that begins this evening

in St. John's.

Physical

and Health Education Canada has a vision to see that all children and youth live

healthy and physically active lives. This is something I feel that we all can

support.

We owe

it to our youth to highlight the importance of physical activity and recreation

in their formative years so that they grow into adults with skills and attitudes

needed to lead physical, active and healthy lives.

commend the work of Physical and Health Education Canada and I send my best

wishes to the delegates of this conference as they build relationships,

partnerships and plan to advance quality physical education and quality health

education programs.

I salute

the Newfoundland and Labrador Physical Education Special Interest Council, and

Physical and Health Education Canada for such an important event and all those

who played a role in making this active and healthy event a success.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St.

John's East Quidi Vidi.

MS. MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

I too

thank the minister for the advance copy of his statement. This conference is a

great opportunity to learn firsthand about innovative models for increasing

physical activity in our schools. I commend the many teachers and volunteers who

have worked hard to implement programs such as Active Schools and Participation

Nation in schools around the province, but I would urge the minister to

reinstate into the physical education curriculum, programming that was removed

from schools, thereby contributing to the physical fitness deficit we see today

in our province.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Further statements by

ministers?

The hon.

the Minister of Children, Seniors and Social Development.

MS. GAMBIN-WALSH:

Mr. Speaker, I rise in this

hon. House today to highlight our government's investment of $1.79 million in

the Community Healthy Living Fund. This program provides funding to

municipalities and community-based organizations to support local physical

activity, recreation, healthy living and wellness programs throughout the

province.

The

community Healthy Living Fund supports our government's commitment to helping

residents enjoy healthier, more active lifestyles by supporting a wide variety

of wellness initiatives and activities.

In fact,

Mr. Speaker, last year 285 community-based organizations were supported by this

program, including a variety of initiatives in all regions of the province such

as a summer day camp program for Easter Seals Newfoundland and Labrador; the

Empower Program for the Gander Boys and Girls Club; skiing and snowshoeing

equipment for Special Olympics Corner Brook, and a summer recreation program for

the Town of Happy Valley-Goose Bay.

Applications for funding may be submitted year-round and funding is based on

program priorities and eligibility criteria. Program guidelines and applications

are available under the Grants

section of our website at: cssd.gov.nl.ca.

Mr.

Speaker, I commend all those who are working within our communities to support

healthier lifestyle choices. Our government will continue to work in partnership

with municipalities and community-based organizations to enhance services and

improve outcomes to promote a healthy and prosperous Newfoundland and Labrador.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. Member for Fortune

Bay Cape La Hune.

MS. PERRY:

I thank the minister for an

advance copy of her statement. This program provides valuable funding to a

number of municipalities and community-based organizations which support

physical activity, recreation, healthy living and wellness programs throughout

the province.

The

minister stood in this House and promoted the Community Healthy Living program,

but what she didn't say is that the funding for this program has actually been

reduced again this year. Last year, the Liberal government reduced the funding

for this program from $2.1 million to $1.85 million and there's another cut in

budget 2017-18. Again, they're reducing this valuable program.

I thank

those organizations such as the Boys and Girls Clubs, Special Olympics and

Easter Seals who use this valuable funding to provide programming to our

communities. I implore the minister to ensure that the fund is not reduced again

in the future.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. Member for St.

John's Centre.

MS. ROGERS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank

the minister for an advance copy of her statement. The Community Healthy Living

grants are so important for communities and organizations to be able to fund

activities they need to provide to enrich people's lives. Their work is so

important for encouraging healthy lifestyles but also for building community

from the ground up.

The

funds have at least remained stable but I remind government that these projects

need to be properly resourced to be effective, and there is a growing need for

programs tailored for seniors.

Thank

you very much, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Oral Questions.

Oral Questions

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Opposition.

MR. P. DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, the Premier finally disclosed yesterday here in the House of Assembly

that the former Liberal clerk of the Executive Council, while acting as a

private lawyer, reached a settlement deal with Labrador-Grenfell Health, a claim

that's been ongoing since 2013. Mr. Coffey didn't conclude the settlement with

the health authority until after he became the clerk.

I ask

the Premier: What was the date that the settlement was reached on

Labrador-Grenfell Health?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Once

again, there was no new information yesterday. I made it quite clear in the

media releases that we did on Monday of last week that there were seven files

when we started. We got that or with the work of Mr. Coffey dwindling down and

basically shedding his client list, that was down to two, Mr. Speaker. So there

were a number of actions that would have taken place.

The

conclusion of that file that the Leader of the Opposition is referring to was

one that was ongoing for a number of years, Mr. Speaker, the date that was set

prior to Mr. Coffey coming to work.

There's

nothing scandalous what's going on here, Mr. Speaker. It's just the rhetoric

that's going on. Mr. Coffey was doing his job, getting his client list under

control. We just weren't able to get all of those files taken care of and Mr.

Coffey resigned.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.

MR. P. DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Well, a

very easy question for the Premier: What was the date the settlement was

reached?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Mr. Speaker, the date the

settlement was released and all that, these are the responsibility of the

clients who took

part in the discussions. There was no conflict of interest. The

employer's contract would have said that or the employer.

I can

tell you, Mr. Coffey, if there was ever a potential of a conflict of interest,

he would have declared it. We had lawyers that were opposite to that, they also

knew the responsibility, if indeed someone was in a conflict of interest, for

them to report it.

The

Leader of the Opposition right now, Mr. Speaker, has made many accusations here

in this House this week, but let's be very clear what is happening in this House

today. This is not about Mr. Coffey. It's not about the clerk. This is about

leadership and what he's trying to do is re-launch his own leadership campaign.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER BALL:

Calling people across the

province maybe he should call his Member just opposite to him. That's what

this is all about.

We've

answered the questions about Mr. Coffey. Mr. Speaker, there is no conflict of

interest.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Opposition.

MR. P. DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Well, we

know how desperate they are now to stoop that low, don't we, Mr. Speaker. We

certainly do.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. P. DAVIS:

Mr. Speaker, the Premier just

said when he was on his feet

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. P. DAVIS:

The Premier just said when he

was on his feet that we had lawyers opposite.

What are

you referring to, Premier?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Mr. Speaker, what we were

talking about was when the file list that was shared, the Department of Justice

looked at the list. They looked at the list; I made that quite clear. The

Cabinet Secretariat and Mr. Coffey would have shared that list with them. Mr.

Coffey shared that list with me.

There

was a contract that was signed;

section 10 and 11 made it quite clear. Mr.

Speaker, we've been very clear about what was happening with Mr. Coffey in his

tenure and transitioning from him employment. We've been very clear about that.

He made

significant progress in getting those files taken care of, but we just could not

get all those done within the appropriate time frame.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Opposition.

MR. P. DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I guess

that one slipped out, just like the disclosure yesterday.

Mr.

Speaker, the Premier had an opportunity with the media on Monday morning to

disclose this information. When they were asking for all the details, he never

disclosed it. We went through three Question Periods before the Premier

disclosed the information.

I ask

the Premier

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. P. DAVIS:

I ask the Premier: Why did

you withhold this information until yesterday that a settlement was reached with

a former Liberal clerk with Labrador-Grenfell?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The hon.

the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Mr. Speaker, there was

nothing withheld. There were seven cases, or there were seven clients on a list.

We made that very clear. As of the weekend, last weekend, there were two. So

obviously there was progress that was made on all the files.

The

statement of claim was issued in 2013. I'm sure the Member opposite has taken

the time to read it, about a sick leave policy or something with the health

authority, Mr. Speaker. This is not a scandal that the former premier is trying

to make this. This is really gamesmanship.

I can

tell you what was a scandal, though, Mr. Speaker, and if you look at the

financial institutions and the reports that are coming out of them, is where

they left this province. They called it a ship that's taking on water. The job

that we are doing over here is to correct the path, to get this course

corrected. They want to divert from that, because they do not have questions

about a budget, Muskrat Falls or electricity rates.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Opposition.

MR. P. DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It's

always interesting to notice that when someone repeats over and over again

there's no scandal, sometimes there's a scandal.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. P. DAVIS:

Mr. Speaker, I ask the

Premier

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

Order,

please!

I remind

all hon. Members again that the only individual I wish to hear from is the

individual identified to speak.

The hon.

the Leader of the Opposition.

MR. P. DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I ask

the Premier: How much did Mr. Coffey profit personally from the

Labrador-Grenfell settlement?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I can

guarantee you one thing; it wasn't as much as Frank Coleman.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Opposition.

MR. P. DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

I'm

going to give the Member for Burin Placentia West a final warning. I'm asking

Members, the only individual I wish to hear from is the individual identified to

speak.

The hon.

the Leader of the Opposition.

MR. P. DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

understand why they're sensitive today.

Mr.

Speaker, I ask the Premier: Was the Department of Justice involved in any way

with this Labrador-Grenfell settlement, and did they have knowledge of the

settlement before, during and after the agreement was made?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I'm

certainly happy to stand here and speak to the Department of Justice's

involvement with this. At the time Mr. Coffey was hired, he made clear that he

had to transition out and there was a list of files provided to a solicitor

within the Department of Justice. These files were discussed and there was

advice provided on what should be done to avoid any conflict of interest going

forward. I think I've made that clear on a number of occasions. I'm not aware of

any other details of these cases being made aware, but the fact is all cases

were disclosed to the department and advice provided.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Opposition.

MR. P. DAVIS:

I ask the Minister of Justice

when he's on his feet, when did you learn about the Labrador-Grenfell

settlement?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

In fact,

I just learned about it the same time as everybody else. I learned this

settlement I didn't have any involvement in the matter per se; there was a

solicitor within Justice. And certainly I'm happy to answer any more questions

about Justice, including the fact that I do remember other lawyers being hired

with government funds to sue government when somebody else was premier.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Opposition.

MR. P. DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, I ask the Premier: Are there any other settlements made by Mr. Coffey

that haven't been disclosed yet? We know of three files he's involved with, but

has there been any other settlements made by Mr. Coffey while he was in the

clerk's position that impacted government, or any government entity?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

There

are a lot of things that haven't been settled by the previous administration,

but this administration here is talking about Mr. Coffey.

As I

said earlier, back in September when he came to work with government, seven down

to two; no settlements that I'm aware of; no big amounts of money; no conflict

of interest; provisions made. But I can tell you one thing, there's been a much

better job done with protecting the conflict of interest of individuals than

that former premier would have done, even when he was minister, around the

Humber Valley Paving contract.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Opposition.

MR. P. DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I ask

the Premier if he actually asked Mr. Coffey if there are any other settlements.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Well,

the contract itself, under

section 10 and 11, says if there was any conflict of

interest and in this case if there was the responsibility is on the individual

just like it's the responsibility on every single person in this House to

declare that conflict.

Mr.

Coffey never, ever declared a conflict of interest; didn't do it. When I asked

him about the Nalcor case, Mr. Speaker, because that was the other statement of

claim that went in, and in that particular case he was not going to be the

lawyer of record. What he did was clearly and merely put in place a mechanism to

allow that particular client, before the statute of limitations had expired

allow him to actually seek legal advice on a wrongful dismissal, and he would

not be that lawyer.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Opposition.

MR. P. DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I ask

the Premier he raised Humber Valley Paving. The Auditor General did an

independent review of Humber Valley Paving. Will you call an independent review

of this matter too?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

The role of the AG in this

matter, Mr. Speaker, is no role for the AG, but I can guarantee you the AG did

say in the Humber Valley Paving that he was not satisfied he was not

satisfied.

That is

the reason why one of the three inquiries that we will be calling will be into

the Humber Valley Paving, Mr. Speaker. Clearly, what is happening today is

gamesmanship here. It's about the Member opposite trying to relaunch his

campaign.

I would

tell to the Member opposite, I would tell to the Member a couple of seats down:

Wait for your phone call because it's on its way.

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Opposition.

MR. P. DAVIS:

Mr. Speaker, so the Premier

is saying he the Premier is saying he will not allow for an independent

review.

I ask

the Minister of Finance: Where does the funding come from to settle the

Labrador-Grenfell lawsuit?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

MS. C. BENNETT:

Mr. Speaker, I'm not aware of

the details around the settlement. I would assume if a health care authority had

some settlement to some particular legal case that would come from the resources

that they have at their disposal. I'm not aware of any information that could

add to the question that the Member asked.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Opposition.

MR. P. DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I ask

the Premier if Cabinet signed off and approved the Labrador-Grenfell settlement.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I'm

certainly happy to stand up here again. The Member opposite is asking whether

Cabinet would have signed off on a settlement for a health authority. Now, the

Member opposite would have been in Cabinet at some point.

AN HON. MEMBER:

He was the minister of

Health.

MR. A. PARSONS:

In fact, he was the minister

of Health at some point. I think he should realize that something like that

would never have gone to Cabinet in the first place. The other thing is he's

assuming that there was some kind of payout, but the fact is he's throwing out

information without anything to back it up whatsoever.

Going

back to something else that he had to say earlier, Mr. Speaker, I certainly look

forward to fulfilling my mandate letter and having an inquiry done of Humber

Valley Paving so we can see what the Members on the other side had to do with

that.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. Member for Mount

Pearl North.

MR. KENT:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yesterday, the Premier tried to distance himself from the hiring of his previous

election campaign co-chair and Liberal Party vice-president, and instead threw

the Minister of Health under the bus, saying it was all the minister's idea.

I ask

the Premier: Did you or anyone else in the Premier's office give any advice or

direction to the minister or his staff to find a job for your former campaign

co-chair and party vice-president?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

MR. HAGGIE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I'm

happy to rise in the House and answer the question. The facts of the case are it

is not uncommon for staff within RHAs and the Department of Health to be

seconded for mutual benefit of all parties.

We had a

skills gap in the Department of Health which could be filled admirably by

someone in Eastern Health who had qualifications to a master's level around

clinical trials, oncology and management. Those, as the Members opposite will

know from Estimates because we discussed it, are the pressure points on the

NLPDP.

We need

skills in clinical trials. We need skills in oncology. The person who is

seconded temporarily from Eastern Health has that skill set, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. Member for Mount

Pearl North.

MR. KENT:

Mr. Speaker, the minister

wants to talk about facts? The fact is that he's continuing his government's

practice of sending some good public servants out the door while they create

six-figure positions six-figure salaries for some of their Liberal friends.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KENT:

Premier, you committed to

taking the politics out of appointments. The facts are that the former director

of Pharmaceutical Services in the Department of Health was let go just weeks ago

to make room for yet another Liberal friend, now with a six-figure salary.

Why are

you continuing to say one thing and do another?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

Before I

recognize the hon. Minister of Health and Community Services, I remind the

Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development, the only individuals I

wish to hear from are the individuals identified to speak.

The hon.

the Minister of Health and Community Services.

MR. HAGGIE:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

I think

it's rather ironic coming from the Member opposite to talk about politicizing

operational appointments. Maybe if I drew his attention back to October 29,

2015, seven days before the election writ was dropped, when he personally signed

off on 40 appointments 4-0 appointments

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. HAGGIE:

to agencies, boards and commissions responsible to the Department of Health.

answer to the question, Mr. Speaker, we had a vacancy in the department and a

need of skill sets. We have a temporary secondment from Eastern Health with an

individual who has those skill sets. It will benefit the department, the RHA,

the individual concerned and the province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Mount

Pearl North.

MR. KENT:

Mr. Speaker, I did appoint a

number of volunteers

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. JOYCE:

volunteer appointments.

They were well-qualified people, and that went on regularly. I would imagine

that government committees are still

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. KENT:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The hon.

Member for Mount Pearl North.

MR. KENT:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As I was

saying, there are lots of government committees and boards, and many of them are

volunteers. All of the positions that the minister is referring to are volunteer

positions, qualified people. There was a public call done and quality people

were appointed to various roles.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KENT:

But what I can assure him is

that people like Lynn Sullivan and George Joyce and Chris Pickard and Bern

Coffey and now Ms. O'Dea are all Liberal friends now making six-figure salaries.

The

Minister of Health said to reporters yesterday that he could not recall if the

elimination of the position was part of the Liberal's flatter, leaner, meaner

management cuts. That's hard to believe.

Can the

minister now confirm that the position of director of Pharmaceutical Services

was indeed eliminated back in February?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

MR. HAGGIE:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

There

was a reorganization of the department. My understanding is that the position

that is currently being temporarily filled has been in existence for possibly a

decade. The PCN number has not changed at all.

It is

interesting however, that again the Member opposite refers to the fact that it's

all right for him to sign 40 individuals in one day who happen to have

qualification; yet, I'm not allowed to do that with one individual whose skill

set is crucially needed at a time in the Department of Health for the benefit of

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Mount

Pearl North.

MR. KENT:

Mr. Speaker, just a few weeks

after the elimination of the director of pharmaceuticals position, the minister

said the same position with a slightly adjusted title is important and needed to

be filled immediately.

I ask

the minister: Why did you remove a position just weeks ago if the role played

such a critical role within your government and within your department?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

MR. HAGGIE:

Mr. Speaker, it's bad enough

that people's names are getting dragged through the House without their ability

to defend themselves. I am not, as an employer, as a representative of

government, going to comment on HR issues as to why someone who may or may not

have been employed by the department, may or may not have left.

The

facts of the case are, Mr. Speaker, that position has been vacant for some

weeks. It is a skill set that we have identified, somewhat slightly different

than the usual accent. The individual in Eastern Health has those skills at a

time when we need them. It will be to the benefit of the individual. It will be

to the benefit of the RHA when the individual is repatriated, and the people of

this province will benefit at a time when drug costs are a crucial issue for

this province, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Mount

Pearl North.

MR. KENT:

The minister keeps referring

to facts. You can't call them facts if you make them up, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KENT:

The minister keeps saying

this is a HR issue. This is not a HR issue. This is a matter of ethics, this is

a matter of trust, this is a matter of judgement and this is a matter of

honesty, Mr. Speaker.

There

are many other questions to be asked on this matter. Media reported that the

former Liberal vice-president is being paid a salary of $89,000, based on

information provided by the minister's department.

Can he

actually confirm that in actual fact your new director friend is actually

receiving a management wage adjustment, which brings her salary on to sunshine

list well over $100,000 annually?

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

Before I

recognize the hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services, I say to the

Member for Labrador West you need not stand today.

The hon.

the Minister for Health and Community Services.

MR. HAGGIE:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

I was

tempted to rise on a point of order about the comment about making things up,

but I would actually use this opportunity to point out that the Member opposite

is guilty of just that. He made erroneous statements in the press yesterday and

again this morning about the 811 service. Those comments will cost people lives,

Mr. Speaker.

They

were irresponsible, they were factually incorrect and they are lethal. Yet, he

is allowed to get away with saying I am making things up. I really think that is

dishonest, quite frankly, Mr. Speaker.

I will

is not responsible as an employer. We have provided information to the media

which is not as quoted again by Member opposite. So he is again choosing to

adapt those facts and make his own.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Mount

Pearl North.

MR. KENT:

Mr. Speaker, I'd encourage

the minister to talk to pharmacists and call 811 himself. What I described in

the media, what I described in this House of Assembly is absolutely 100 per cent

accurate.

I ask

the minister: When was the decision made to hire the former Liberal campaign

coach here to a senior position in the Department of Health, before or after you

dismissed the former director; and how much did it cost in salary continuance

and severance to fire the former director to make room for his Liberal friend?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

MR. HAGGIE:

Mr. Speaker, the gentleman

opposite is factually incorrect about 811. I have rang I have had my staff

verify this in the light of his comments. The instructions to 811 on the roll

out of the Naloxone program were very clear. When they ask for access to a kit,

they are asked for a location, a date of birth and a name. They are then

directed to the nearest physical distribution point, of which there are 74.

AN HON. MEMBER:

How many?

MR. HAGGIE:

Seventy-four publicly

accessible sites with their opening hours. There is none of this you've got to

go to Pleasantville to get trained. There is no comment in here about training.

This gentleman over here is putting up barriers to a vulnerable group of people

who are already vulnerable, and he's doing it for his election campaign.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Cape

St. Francis.

MR. K. PARSONS:

Minister: Do you have a

signed Atlantic Fisheries Fund agreement, yes or no?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Fisheries and Land Resources.

MR. CROCKER:

Well, Mr. Speaker, I thank

the hon. Member for the question. I reckon back to a news conference that cost

tens of thousands dollars at The Rooms when they forgot to invite their federal

cousins.

I can

tell the hon. Member opposite what we do have is a commitment to work with our

federal government for the fishery in this province, and we are working hard to

not-too-distant future.

Mr.

Speaker, let me quote some numbers for the Member opposite of what we've done as

a government since we took office in 15 months when it comes to the fishery:

$100 million dollars for a federal fisheries fund; $66 million for lifeboat

stations in Bay de Verde and Twillingate and update the one in St. Anthony;

$14.5 million for a cod assessment; $2.5 million for a capelin assessment; $10

million in Bay de Verde alone.

I'll

continue, thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Cape

St. Francis.

MR. K. PARSONS:

So there's no signed

agreement.

Minister, Budget 2017 included items

from the federal government for $7 million; $3 million from the provincial

government for a fisheries innovation fund.

you're telling us, with the state of the fishery today, the $100 million fund

will only be $7 million this year?

AN HON. MEMBER:

If they get an agreement.

MR. K. PARSONS:

If you get an agreement.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Fisheries and Land Resources.

MR. CROCKER:

Mr. Speaker, it's absolutely

astonishing that a Member that sat on this side of the House can stand up and

ask those types of questions. He never once when he was over here mentioned

fisheries science, not once not once did he stand up for fisheries science.

They

danced on the stage with Stephen Harper at the Sheraton, Mr. Speaker, in 2011.

They never reminded Mr. Harper back then that they had a commitment to deliver.

They never delivered.

Mr.

Speaker, I want to go back to the previous question. So $10 million for harbour

infrastructure in Bay de Verde; $34 million for the Ocean Frontier project, $8

million of which will go to CFER; a regional aquaculture centre announced last

week for half a million dollars; 27 new fisheries science positions in the

science division at DFO valued at over $20 million over a 10-year period.

Mr.

Speaker, my math tells me and I know they struggle with math that in 15

months that's $247 million.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. Member for St.

John's East Quidi Vidi.

MS. MICHAEL:

Thank you very much

MR. K. PARSONS:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

You

know, on your $100 million

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The hon.

Member for St. John's East Quidi Vidi.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MS. MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

The

Minister of Advanced Education, Skills and Labour's inflammatory public comments

and mudslinging about Memorial University has put the university community in

turmoil.

I ask

the Premier: Does he endorse his minister's belligerent tactics in dealing with

the university?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Advanced Education, Skills and Labour.

MR. BYRNE:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

What's

really, really important is that before the university considers raising

additional revenues on the backs of students or requests additional funds from

taxpayers, we would like the university to consider whether or not its expenses

could be reviewed, and whether or not there are certain expenses that may be

trimmed so that those costs can be kept in line. By actually looking at

expenses, instead of looking at revenue from students, then I think the students

are better served, I think the university is well served and I think the

province is better served as well, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. Member for St.

John's East Quidi Vidi.

MS. MICHAEL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Last

year government accepted a multi-year funding plan presented by Memorial

University. In Budget 2017 , government

decided to cut MUN's operating grant by an additional $3 million annually.

I ask

the Minister of Finance: Why was there a much larger than expected cut to the

university's budget in Budget 2017?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Advanced Education, Skills and Labour.

MR. BYRNE:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

I would

like to say how much I appreciate the hon. Member's question and, as well, the

statement of fact that she provided, that there was a $3 million reduction in

the overall operating budget of the university. The university at times has not

actually acknowledged that; they've suggested the number has been different.

I think

that's important that we have a discussion about the budget. What here is most

important is that we reflect on the fact that the budget of Memorial University

of Newfoundland is roughly a half a billion dollar annual institution. It has

roughly a half a billion dollars in annual expenditures.

Relatively speaking, when we must look at all of our expenditures, all of our

departments, whether it be health, education, whether it be all of the agencies,

boards and commissions, it would seem to be a fair and reasonable prospect for

the university to consider their expenses as well.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. Member for St.

John's East Quidi Vidi.

MS. MICHAEL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I ask

the minister: When will he reinstate the ABE program to the College of the North

Atlantic as he himself says should have happened?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Advanced Education, Skills and Labour.

MR. BYRNE:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

It gives

me an opportunity to highlight the incredible work that has been done at the

College of the North Atlantic to actually review its own operations and its own

expenses. Yes, indeed, there were serious, serious issues that were found in

terms of operational performance, financial performance. There were things that

were found at the College of the North Atlantic such as a number of vehicles

the fleet management system was inadequate. There was inadequate enrolment

controls at the College of the North Atlantic.

Do you

know what I admire so much about the fact of what the College of the North

Atlantic has done? Is that they took a deep, serious, hard look at themselves

and instead of actually sweeping problems under the rug they found out what the

problems were so that they could correct them.

Do you

know what? I am concerned about the problems that were found but what I am more

and more encouraged about is that they will be solved.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St.

John's Centre.

MS. ROGERS:

Mr. Speaker, we all know we

have a growing opioid crisis made worse by fentanyl in our communities.

Addiction workers are telling us there are not enough naloxone kits in the

streets. Suboxone is stalled and not being rolled out any time soon and there is

a wait list for methadone treatment. Government has to respond immediately.

I ask

the Minister of Health and Community Services: Will he do whatever is necessary

to get more naloxone kits in the streets where community experts have identified

they are needed and ensure there is an ongoing renewed supply while we were in

this crisis?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

MR. HAGGIE:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker, for the question.

The

access to naloxone is a pressure point at the moment. It seems for reasons that

I'm not clear about is that people have not been contacting either 811 or these

numbers, in the numbers that I would have hoped. It's certainly my aim to push

these kits out as far as possible. We need them in the hands of individuals who

are associated with drug using, and those communities.

As far

as the actual kits themselves, we're looking at data from Eastern Health to make

sure there is a right amount of naloxone in each kit because there is some

evidence from other jurisdictions that that might not be adequate. We also have

an internal task group with external consultants from the RNC looking at ways we

can do better.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The time for Question Period

has expired.

Presenting Reports by Standing and Select Committees

Presenting Reports

by Standing and Select Committees

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Cartwright L'Anse au Clair.

MS. DEMPSTER:

Mr. Speaker, I will table the

report of the Social Services Committee. We finished up Estimates this morning.

The

Social Services Committee has considered the matters to them referred and have

directed me to report that they have passed without amendment the Estimates of

the Department of Justice and Public Safety, the Department of Education and

Early Childhood Development, the Department of Health and Community Services,

the Department of Municipal Affairs and Environment, the Department of Children,

Seniors and Social Development and Newfoundland and Labrador Housing.

Mr.

Speaker, Committee Members were: myself, the Member for Topsail Paradise, the

Member for Burin Grand Bank, the Member for Harbour Main, the Member for

Fortune Bay Cape La Hune, the Member for St. George's Humber, the Member for

St. John's Centre, and the Member for Baie Verte Green Bay.

I'd just

like to take a moment to thank the departments, the staff for the tremendous

amount of work that goes in to preparing for Estimates and the necessary

documents. It was a fluid and necessary process in our democracy, Mr. Speaker. I

want to thank the Table staff as well for their support. There have been some

long days since the budget.

Mr.

Speaker, I look forward to having more to say on the Social Services Committee

and the Estimates in those five departments later in debate.

Thank

you.

MR. SPEAKER:

Further presenting of reports

by standing and select committees?

Tabling

of Documents.

Tabling of

Documents

MR. SPEAKER:

Pursuant to

section 8 and

section 10 of the Public Tender Act , I

hereby table the report of the Public

Tender Act Exceptions for February 2017 as presented by the chief operating

officer of the Government Purchasing Agency.

Notices

of Motion.

Answers

to Questions for which Notice has been Given.

Petitions.

Petitions

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. Member for

Conception Bay East Bell Island.

MR. BRAZIL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

To the

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

Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned residents of Newfoundland

and Labrador humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS

Budget 2016 implemented a regressive

tax on books in the province; and

WHEREAS

Newfoundland and Labrador is the only province in the country to have such a

tax; and

WHEREAS

the tax will undoubtedly affect literacy rates in this province as well as

negatively impact local authors and publishers;

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

of Assembly to urge government to immediately cancel this ill-conceived book

tax.

And as

in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr.

Speaker, we've had an opportunity to talk about a number of regressive taxes and

fees that have been put in place, but nothing as foolish as the tax on books.

One of

the important things that we've been able to do for the last number of decades

is promote our culture here, but be able to promote that because we have such a

skill set in writers and publishers. We've been able to send our message all

over the world. We've been able to encourage our own residents to get a better

understanding of exactly what our culture is about, our history, the significant

events, the significant people, what happens. We've even been able to engage

people in entertainment because of what we've been able to write, but we've

particularly been able to engage young people, kids to be able to get back into

reading, the basics of life.

We know

people here are facing economic times and we know there are challenges around

their first priorities. Their first priority is obviously keeping your family

safe, healthy, warm, clothed and fed. These are the key objectives of any

family, any individual. To do that, obviously, it's got to be based on your

ability to finance all those things. With the challenges that we've had over the

last year, particularly the additional taxes and that, anything that goes beyond

that becomes secondary of importance.

When you

do have a little bit of extra disposable money, you want to do things that are

of importance to you and that you think will sometime foster a better quality of

life or some type of entertainment process. Books are one of those key things.

It does a multitude of things as I noted. It promotes our culture and that.

To put

tax on something as important as promoting who we are and what we do, giving

young people a chance to be engaged, being able to promote their history, shows

that there's very little vision, very little oversight as to what it is the plan

is here. When you add into the fact the minimum amount of money that's going to

be generated from it, it becomes an inclusive tax only because it's probably

going to cost you more money to collect it at the end of the day than it would

have been what you would have taken from it.

If they

had said we're going to put in a book tax and every cent of that is going to go

in to promote publishers here, to educate young people around being creative

writers, to researching some of the other important things that our society

needs to collect and needs to historically write so that we can promote around

the world, I probably would have nodded and said, you know, not a bad way to

diversify, as one of their plans was, another part of our economy.

Instead,

just to take tax for the sake of taking tax is a loss in our society. Mr.

Speaker, I'll have an opportunity to speak to that again and I encourage the

government to take this regressive tax away.

Thank

you.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for the

District of Ferryland.

MR. HUTCHINGS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise

today happy to present this petition on behalf of the residents of Ferryland

District.

To the

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

Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned residents of Newfoundland

and Labrador humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS

Budget 2015 announced a new school for

the Witless Bay-Mobile school system; and

WHEREAS

the planning and design of the school was underway; and

WHEREAS

Statistics Canada recognized the region as having significant growth; and

WHEREAS

the project was cancelled in Budget 2016 ;

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

of Assembly to urge government to reverse its decision and construct the

proposed school for the Witless Bay-Mobile school system announced in 2015.

And as

in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr.

Speaker, I've certainly brought this up before in the House and continue to try

and bring it to government's understanding in terms of the premise, foundation

and facts of why a new middle school was announced for the region in 2015 and

move forward to begin. Yet, in 2016, we saw a decision made by this government.

To date, we haven't been able to validate whether it will be even done or not in

regard to putting nine classrooms on the footprint of where Mobile school is

today. We hear there are challenges with that, even in regard to the size of the

footprint itself and what's trying to be done in regard to that facility.

Even if

recommended to the government of the day in 2015 to build that facility. In

2016, the change in the decision of this government basically to cancel it was

At that time, on the agenda they were going to vote on a reconfiguration which

would see grade six moved to Mobile Central High, yet they put it off and didn't

vote on it. They're going to vote on reconfiguration or delay reconfiguration

voting until apparent construction can be done, which we don't even know if it

can be done.

The

logic here is certainly confusing to everybody. We've met with the minister,

didn't make any inroads there. The school community have asked to meet with the

Premier. To my knowledge, he hasn't responded.

certainly call on the government, the Premier, to recognize the invitation to

meet to make their views the people their views to the Premier so we can get

some logic and basically a sound decision made for the people of the region

which was made in 2015. For some apparent reason, we don't know, we can all

speculate why it was cancelled in 2016, but today there's no rationale for that.

We certainly impress upon government to revisit this, do the right thing and

build a middle school in the region.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I call

Orders of the Day.

MR. SPEAKER:

Orders of the Day.

Orders of the Day

MR. A. PARSONS:

Mr. Speaker, I call from the

Order Paper, Motion 1, the budget.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St.

John's Centre.

MS. ROGERS:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

I am

very happy to rise again and speak to the amendment to the budget. I'd like to

pick up where I left off a few days ago when I spoke. I was basically talking

about, really, how do you measure the success of a budget? What makes a

successful budget? One would think a budget that empowers our people, empowers

and strengthens our communities. That really is a go-forward document rather

than going backwards, something that really makes it possible for everybody to

weather the storm we are experiencing right now in terms of the current economic

situation but also that grows our province, that improves our economy and that

helps us go forward.

I spoke

a little bit about more macro issues and now I'd like to talk about some of the

rollout effects. Now, again, Mr. Speaker, what I mentioned when I spoke

previously was that this budget is simply a rehash of budget '16-'17. The budget

we saw in 2016 and 2017 that hit low-income workers and hard-working,

middle-class families, it hit them so hard. One would have thought if that

budget were successful, then it would have accomplished something. Again, that

would have strengthened and empowered individuals, strengthened and empowered

our communities, strengthened and empowered our economy, but, in fact, we are

still living with the rollout and the effects of budget 2016-17.

Then we

have a budget now in '17-'18 which gives us no relief from the way that people

were negatively impacted in 2016-17. As a matter of fact, we are still seeing

the negative consequences, the negative impacts of budget 2016-17 on the people

today. This budget offers no relief, no solutions. It has not empowered. It has

not strengthened individuals. As a matter of fact, I'd like to say it's quite

the opposite. So I would like to look at that, Madam Speaker.

In fact,

what has happened since that budget in 2016 and now since this budget that's

proposed, in that it is not a successful budget by any shape, by any figment of

anybody's imagination. It is not successful in achieving the goals, if in fact

the goals were to benefit the people of the province, to benefit the economy

because it hasn't improved the economy at all. As a matter of fact, we are

seeing quite the opposite.

The only

increases we see are the increases in the unemployment rate, the increases of

the number of people who are either filing for bankruptcy or filing for

protection. The other economic indicators once again are not favourable and what

we are seeing are drops in household income and, again, more stresses on

individuals, more stresses on communities, more stresses on the economy.

I'd like

to touch on some of the decisions in

Budget 2016 that made life more difficult for people who were already

struggling to get by. One would say: Oh, there she goes again. She's such a

bleeding heart. All she talks about is poor people. Well, Madam Speaker, I think

that these are also economic considerations because poverty is expensive.

Poverty is expensive in terms of what we have to do to alleviate the negative

effects of poverty. I'm going to look a little bit on that. I think those are

some interesting issues and ideas to take a look at.

The Home

Heating Rebate program I want to look at what has happened to some of the

measures that were in place before Budget

2016 and what happened to them and where we are now in 2017. The Home

Heating Rebate program: Gone. That was a program that helped low-income people

with their heating bills. It's gone. There's no trace of it. There's no

indication in this budget that it is coming back. It certainly did not help

low-income earners. It didn't help them at all and it's gone, and we see that

the heating costs are rising.

The

Parental Benefits Program, which helped young people get started, is gone. That

was a program where government would provide $1,000 per child at birth, then an

additional $100 a month for the first year of that child's life. A lot of

low-come, hard-working families needed that help. It is simply gone and there's

no indication that it's coming back.

The drug

coverage for over-the-counter drugs: Gone. We've heard from a number of doctors

how many of their patients, be they seniors who need certain kinds of

medications because of other prescription medications that they need, who they

can't afford it. Again, we know, it's a fact that we have the highest percentage

of seniors in receipt of GIS and OAS. There are no pennies to spare.

If we

look at if someone is renting and they're not lucky enough to have a rent

supplement from Newfoundland and Labrador Housing because those are very

limited as well. If you're on an income of $1,100 or $1,200 a month and your

rent is $800 a month and your heat and light is $200 a month and you're not

getting any relief from that because that Home Heating Rebate program is gone

so that's a thousand bucks, and then your phone and your cable is a hundred

bucks. That's not a luxury, that's a necessity it leaves you with no money.

Maybe

you're more than eligible for the drug assistance program, the Prescription Drug

Program; however, you're no longer eligible for the over-the-counter drugs that

you may need as a result of some of your prescription drugs, or it's drugs like

calcium. It particularly affects senior women who need certain types of

over-the-counter drugs to help either relieve the symptoms of osteoporosis or

that actually help prevent osteoporosis. The same thing with diabetics, people

with diabetes who need certain supplies, much of that has been cut.

Is that

a successful measure by the 2016 budget? I don't think so, and it hasn't been

relieved by 2017. What we see is this cumulative effect of budget measures from

2016-17 that have not been relieved by budget '17-'18.

The

Adult Dental Program coverage: Gone. Other than very limited coverage for adults

who are in receipt of income support, that program is cancelled. It is gone.

I've

stood in this House and told the story of a gentleman in my district who had an

infected tooth, who tried to pull out his own tooth with plyers because he

cannot afford a dentist. He is not alone. We've been told by the Minister of

Health, well then he has to appeal it. He did appeal it and he still has no

help.

We are

getting call after call and I'm sure that a number of MHAs here in this House

are getting call after call. My colleagues here from the Opposition, both of

them there are nodding their heads. We're all getting calls, particularly from

seniors who cannot afford their dental care. We're hearing from doctors about

the problem that our seniors can't afford dental care. What happens? We all know

what happens. They end up in emergency. It's not a success.

That

budget measure in 2016-17 was not a success, and in 2017 this budget does

nothing to alleviate that. There is no success there. There's no benefit. I'm

curious as to what government has done to measure the roll-out effects and

consequences of these decisions to see in fact: (

a) has it strengthened our

individuals, (

b) has it strengthened our communities, (

c) is it better for our

entire community and our entire economy.

So far

we haven't seen any report that indicates they have assessed the impact of these

particular measures and no relief in budget '17. So we have people going to

emergency. We have people who end up with larger infections that spread, and it

costs us more. In the long run, it costs us way more.

Again, a

number of seniors, a number of doctors have talked to us about seniors whose

overall health is affected by the fact that they cannot any longer get dental

coverage. They cannot afford it. For some, it creates very serious health

situations.

The

Labrador food airlift subsidy: gone. Tell me who that benefits. Who does that

benefit? Who does that measure benefit? It's gone.

The

Labrador building material rebate program: gone. Who has that benefited? Who has

that affected negatively? There is no way to look at that particular measure and

say that was good for the economy. How could it be good for the economy?

The

assistance for diabetic test strips: reduced. Perhaps that made sense for some

folks living with diabetes but for many people it does not. There are doctors

who are saying, this is not a good measure. Who has that benefited? How has that

improved our economy? How has that improved our communities? How has that

improved the general health of individuals? I don't think it has, and

Budget 2017 has done nothing to

alleviate that.

Grants

to youth organizations: reduced. We see through the All-Party Committee on

Mental Health and Addictions, through the educational outcomes advisory

committee, the investigation committee, we are seeing the rise and increase in

obesity in our children, and mental health issues in our children, anxiety and

depression and in drug use. So how has the reduction to youth organizations who

work on these issues, who benefit our young people, how has that benefited our

communities, our individuals or our economy? It hasn't. All these measures are

failures. They're not successes. They are failures by this government in 2016-17

and now in 2017-18.

Eight

rural AES offices are closed. How does that benefit our economy? How does that

benefit our communities? It doesn't. It doesn't, and we're hearing from women's

centers across the country about women who used to use these offices to get

advice on career counselling, to get advice on employment counselling, to help

do their resumes. They're gone. They're just simply gone. I don't know how that

benefits our economy.

Funding

for youth and student services and at-risk youth employment: reduced. When what

we should be doing right now is pouring money into our youth, pouring money into

any kind of educational program, whether it be our mainstream educational

programs or our alternative educational programs, it is so important. We know

that, because the cost down the road is far greater than what has been saved by

these short-sighted, ill-informed cuts.

Bus

passes for people facing mental and physical health challenges: eliminated for

many. I have a situation of someone who has been waiting for two years to get

into the trauma program and cannot afford the bus pass, because it's too far to

walk. Their Income Support is so low, their rent is so high, the cost of food

has gone up, and that person cannot afford the bus fee that it will take to go

back and forth. One return trip is $5; five return trips in a week is $25. Four

times that is $100 a month for someone who may only have $125 a month for food.

It's not possible.

How many

times have we had to help people whose bus passes were cancelled, how many times

have we had to help them appeal their decisions. What happens is they have to go

back and forth to their doctors, for their doctors to write letter after letter,

appealing and appealing again, so that they can in fact get bus passes so they

can attend their mental health support groups, or just even the mental health,

the organizations where the doors are open, whether it be the Gathering Place,

whether it be CHANNAL. There may not be a formalized program every day but it

takes people out of their isolation, and their doctors are saying it's so

important.

Again,

when you have maybe about $125 a month to live on because Income Support is so

low, $100 a month for bus fees, it's not possible. A bus pass is $75. So what

happens, people end up isolated, they end up unwell, they end up at the doctor,

they end up at the Waterford and they end up with physical ailments. The

suffering compared to $75 a month makes no sense.

I know

of one doctor who wrote in an appeal letter that I will see this person eight

times a month so that they will be eligible for their bus pass. That's the

rollout effect of such a short-sighted, ill-informed decision.

How has

that improved our economy? How has that improved our communities? How has that

improved our individuals? As a matter of fact, it's actually the antithesis to

good health. It's the antithesis to empowering our communities. It's the

antithesis to good economic sense because, again, what happens is that people

then have to use other services because their health deteriorates because they

are isolated.

I'm

hearing from mental health workers about this. I'm hearing from doctors about

this. I'm hearing from social workers about this. It makes no sense. Has

government actually done an analysis of the consequences of some of these

short-sighted decisions?

The HST

point-of-sale rebate on books: eliminated; making us the only province in the

country to tax books. It's the antithesis again of where we should be going. We

should not be taxing books at this point probably never, but certainly at this

point when we know we have the highest illiteracy rates and we have the only

province that has a provincial sales tax now on books. Again, it flies in the

face of reason.

The home

care subsidy under the Provincial Home Support Program: hours reduced again, I

know that many of my colleagues here in the House have received phone call after

phone call after phone call from people who were saying that their home care

hours have been reduced. Some of them are seniors who may only have needed just

a few hours of home care to help them stay in their homes. And sometimes it

means a visit from someone, sometimes it means somebody who will mop up their

floors, put out the garbage because they're not able to do that on their own,

someone to really help them stay in their homes all it is, is a few hours.

Again,

how does this improve our economy? How does it strengthen our communities? How

does it help and empower individuals to take away a few hours? They're not

frills. They're not oh, wouldn't be nice if we could do this. These are

cost-saving measures for us in the long run to make sure that people can stay in

their homes, to make sure that they can stay in their homes safely.

So here

we have seniors where their over-the-counter drug costs are no longer covered,

their dental needs are no longer covered, their home care hours have been cut

and their bus passes have been taken away. I challenge anyone in this House to

tell me, to tell all of us, to tell the seniors of Newfoundland and Labrador,

how those cuts improve our economy, how those cuts improve the budget of the

government, how those cuts empower our individuals, empower and strengthen our

seniors, empower and strengthen our communities and how it improves the economy.

challenge anyone in this House and I hope that somebody on the other side of the

House who is supporting this budget can stand up and tell me why it was a good

thing to take away dental care from seniors, to take away over-the-counter drugs

from seniors, to take away home care from seniors and their Home Heating Rebate.

I challenge anyone. I actually beg. I beg someone on the other side of the House

to please stand up and indicate to us how that helps the seniors of the

province, how that helps the economy of the province, how that strengthens our

communities.

MADAM SPEAKER (Dempster):

Order, please!

MS. ROGERS:

Thank you very much, Madam

Speaker.

MADAM SPEAKER:

I remind the hon. Member her

time for speaking has expired.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MADAM SPEAKER:

The Speaker recognizes the

hon. Member for Ferryland.

MR. HUTCHINGS:

Thank you, Madam Speaker.

It's

certainly a pleasure to rise today I think maybe the third time to speak to

Budget 2017 . I listened very

attentively to my colleague for St. John's Centre.

She

mentioned an issue that I have encountered in my district as well dealing with

seniors and the issue of keeping seniors in their own home and what that means

just in terms of their overall well-being, but from a health care perspective

and providing the appropriate level of service and care through government and

through public policy that allows them to stay in their home.

One of

the things she talked about was the two-hour home care component that was

allowed up to last year's budget, which was taken out, and I don't believe it

was put back in this year's budget as well. I know dealing with individual cases

I dealt with a case in Petty Harbour just some time ago; I went down and met

with a senior lady who was doing well in terms of being able to live in her own

home. The home had been well taken care of. She availed of some of the programs

that we'd brought in over the past number of years: the Home Repair Program and

the Residential Energy Efficiency Program.

Her home

is certainly in good shape. It was a larger home, a two-storey home; her husband

was deceased but her kids, some were in the area and some were not, had moved

on. But with everything that she had and with some of the public policy supports

over the past number of years, she was able to continue to live in her home.

You

might say it's only two hours, but hours of essential help that would come in at

a particular time and to help her with really home-making services in her home,

and that would get her through the nighttime, or again in the morning to get

through her days. So it was certainly disappointing in that regard that that's

not there, because it's a huge component of the overall health care for seniors.

If you

look at some of the numbers, some of them were just I think I saw a report

just recently, in the past couple of days that looked at the aging population in

Canada. I think it's the first time in our history that the senior numbers, 65

and over, are going to exceed those in our country that are 14 and younger. I

think that's historic and it's the first time ever that when you look at our

demographics and what that's tied to in terms of health care, providing health

care for seniors as people get older, there's a huge public policy issue that

has been dealt with and is going to continue to be dealt with in the future as

we move forward.

That's

on a Canadian standard. As we all know, or we should know, when we look at

Newfoundland and Labrador, the demographics here in regard to our aging

population and the variations in the next decade when you look at who is going

to be 65 years and older, and who is going to be younger, from that perspective

our aging of that demographic is even increasing at a larger rate than it is on

the national average or the national standard, which poses huge challenges for

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, and for government, in terms of using those

services and providing those services.

One of

the fundamental ones, and it's certainly cost efficient, is getting back to the

issue of allowing people to stay in their homes seniors as opposed to going

to a personal care home, then on to a nursing care home. Personal care home

Level 1 and 2, and then you get on to a higher cost with nursing homes Level 3

and 4.

I know

in our time in government we had started looking at the amount of personal care

homes that were in the province. The vacancy rate wasn't at full capacity in

regard to capacity in the homes, and there was some give there in regard to the

amount of vacancies that were available. So with that it was a 2.5 in terms of

the overall care that could be provided in these personal care homes.

If a

personal care home was able to accommodate a senior, keep them, if they had been

there for Level 1 or Level 2 care, their care had deteriorated somewhat but

could still be around 2.5 in terms of level of care, that could be accommodated

in that personal care home. That allows to use the resources that are available

in a cost-effective way.

I'm

certainly familiar with that. Over the past number of years my late mother was

in a personal care home, for the past number of years, the past five or six

years, and through that while you're in government you deal with constituents.

Obviously, you're dealing with someone in your family, a loved one, you become

quite familiar with the challenges, with the programs that are available and how

you can best execute those programs to make sure to benefit.

I saw

that first-hand in terms of a personal care home, in terms of health when there

are challenges with an older relative. She was in her 90s, so you saw that as

you went through and what care she needed and how it could be provided. So

that's all very important as we look forward in regard to how we fund health

care services, particularly related to our older demographics and the challenges

with that.

One of

the things we've seen over the past, I guess the past year, and the current

administration and the federal government the federal Liberal government and

the provincial Liberal government here went through the process of updating

funding through the Health Act and what that would look like. The past agreement

was growing at an annual increase of 6 per cent. There was a lot of discussion

about that of what that would be, and then the discussion and the agreement of

Prime Minister Trudeau and the federal government of what that would be, would

be 3 per cent.

So they

adopted that 3 per cent, or they offered the 3 per cent. Most premiers in Canada

at the time were not happy with that 3 per cent, recognizing that it's not only

for seniors; it's for acute care, mental health, various demographics. All

that's to help with the challenges we face nationally and provincially.

Now

there's been a lot of attention drawn too, which is great, in terms of mental

health; a lot of work done by various corporations, governments, various

volunteer groups in regard to reducing the stigma of mental health. That it is

an illness we need to recognize, not be ashamed to come forward with, certainly

to understand it that we all either individually or within our family or

friends know someone that has had challenges in regard to mental health.

Thankfully, any kind of a stigma or any kind of reluctance to come forward to

talk about it, to seek help, those walls are coming down, and that's extremely

important and it's good to see that.

With

that as well, we need to meet that demand that people are willing to come

forward. I know in our time, our administration built facilities as well,

particularly related to youth in terms of treatment, whether it's addictions or

other mental health challenges that can be dealt with.

Through

the health transfers that we're renegotiating, unfortunately, from a national

perspective, they reduced down to 3 per cent. As I said, provincial leaders, our

Premier included, were in Ottawa and weren't going to accept 3 per cent. It

wasn't enough, wasn't going to meet the needs of this province in terms of the

challenges we have.

As well,

when you look at the demographics, I think it's important that when you're

talking about health care funding on a national level coming to the province,

that you look at what are the demographics? What are the challenges of the

individual provinces?

Look at

our demographics and where they're going. As I said, per capita we have the

oldest demographics in the country. When you look at the scale of where we're

getting to in terms of the percentage of the population that's going to be over

the age of 65, we're getting there the quickest in the country and continuing in

that direction.

It's

extremely important when our provincial government goes to Ottawa to look for

actual assistance that comes to us. It's been part of this great federation we

call Canada that we extract from those programs our share, but, as well, extract

our fair share related to the particulars of the province, because some of the

things we experience are experienced by other Atlantic Canadian Provinces as

opposed to what might be experienced in Ontario or Quebec.

Some of

the statistics I read the other day in regard to some of the younger

populations, we're seeing them in some of the western provinces where their

demographics are quite different, and some of our other areas, northern areas of

our country where the younger age demographic is reflective of their population.

you're going to look at delivering health care services, as well looking at the

demographics, looking at the remoteness, the geography, there are challenges. So

one-size doesn't fit all in that regard. We need to look at the particulars of a

particular part of our country. My point is Newfoundland and Labrador needs to

be fully aware and make federal government agencies aware of what the

particulars are in our particular circumstance.

Going

back to the health care funding and what was agreed to, our Premier said they

weren't going to accept 3 per cent, but it was no time after they were back out

and lining up to sign on for 3 per cent. So we got our 3 per cent and didn't get

anything else in regard to helping us with particular aspects of health care

funding here for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

Just to

go back to the example I started with in regard to my colleague for St. John's

Centre when she talked about that two-hour. Well, that may be small but it's

important in terms of delivery of service for that aging senior that I met with

in Petty Harbour and that so many others of us meet, and others in my district,

too, in regard to what that means to them and their standard of living and

providing cost-effective delivery of service to seniors. We're all getting

there, and at some point we'll experience the system too. It's a big challenge

and we need to take it on and make sure we can meet that challenge.

As well

in the budget this year, when you go back and look at I went back the other

day and looked at the expenditures and some of the reductions in 2016-2017. I

looked at the amount of fees and taxes that were implemented at that time. When

you look at this particular year, we've heard in the past that on the other side

they had the plan, they had the right plan. People were going to like it.

I'm not

sure when it was laid out last year. The original plan laid out, from what we

can understand, wasn't met because they were going to have the first phase of

the budget was going to be some revenue generation. Then we were going to see an

update and as well going to see an expenditure reduction later in the summer and

the fall. Then we were going to look at how they were going to proceed into

their second budget.

What

actually happened is that we saw a massive amount of fees and taxes that came

in, haphazardly really, when you look at the list. There's a list of several

pages into what was taxed and what the fees were. Then later on there was going

to be a look at expenditures.

I guess

initially when the budget came down, like any budget, if there are huge changes

that are made, it's reflected in the economy on the social side and the economic

side when people understand and take a look and say: Okay, what's the impact of

this going to be on me? Something like a levy that was implemented; I know

families that it was $400. They just filed their income tax and you go to the

second or last page of their income tax filing and you see $400 taken out or you

see $300 taken out. That's net dollars that would have gone back to them in

regard to their refund. That's significant, but that's only one component of all

of those net dollars that were taken out of communities and families.

I talk

to them, as we all do I'm sure all MHAs do constituents in their district. I

pay close attention to all, but certainly to those families that we'd call

middle-class families. Either the first couple that had just gotten married,

they're planning on starting their family, or have one or two kids now that are

getting to school age, or they have in school involved in activities. Because

when you look at the indicators that are in some of the budget documents in

regard to the economy, where we're are with those indicators in terms of

population, I said before about demographics, where those demographics are

going, if there's a group we need to focus on in Newfoundland and Labrador today

and for decades to come, it's those young families.

It's

those, as I said, those young couples now that are thinking about having a

family, starting their family. They need to have belief and they need to have a

positive feeling that good things are happening in Newfoundland and Labrador;

there's a sound plan in place. We may have some financial challenges, but

there's a plan in place to see us through this and through our vast wealth,

through our vast natural resources

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER (Warr):

Order, please!

MR. HUTCHINGS:

through our commodity

markets, all of those things that there's an opportunity for them to start to

have a family here, to raise their family here, to buy a home, to invest, to

continue investing in the economy. For those that may have been affected by a

downturn in the economy maybe one of the parents may have lost a job and they

need to make some decisions about looking forward. We're in a position now,

we've got a home here, we have our kids here, do we look for an occupation or an

opportunity somewhere else outside of the province; or do we try and see our way

through the next period of time until we're able to find that employment, find

that job, and certainly be part of this and stay here in Newfoundland and

Labrador?

And not

only in our urban centres, but in our rural communities, because all of that

drives economic activity, that drives sustainability, and it drives our ability

to continue to drive our economy, and that's what we need to do. As a

government, you need to drive that opportunity. You need to let people know

that. You need to let them know there's a plan in place, and they feel confident

that this is the place to be.

You can

talk about economic development and sustainability, but that's all tied

together. We have certainly tried in our time in office when you look at I

know my colleague got up a day or two ago in the Budget Speech and talked about

the investments we made. The billions of dollars and some of the revenues we've

generated, where that went. A lot of that went into education, primary,

secondary and university education, post-secondary, to make sure that that youth

component of it, that we gave everybody an opportunity. Whether it's Grenfell

campus on the West Coast, whether it's Memorial University here, whether it's

the Marine Institute, whether it's our CNA campuses, our private colleges, all

of that allows our young people or anybody who's changing their career to have

access to what they need to get access to contribute to the economy and to give

back to the economy when they're employed here and have that expertise.

You look

at the type of economy we've grown here. It's certainly diverse in some of the

activities we have related to our natural resources, but also related to the IT

sector. I know, if I remember correctly, a couple of years ago it was over $3

billion in terms of the IT sector and what's been grown, how it's been developed

and what the return is here in the province.

We have

a film industry here that I know we invested heavily in our time in our province

and how that has grown. But that was seed money and there had to be good money

invested. Now, some folks talked about the monies we got from royalties and

where did it go. Well, I know it was listed the other day and where it went.

It's quite clear where it went but if you have an issue with it, you have to

stand up and say you shouldn't have spent it here; you should have spent it

somewhere else. That's fine; that's the debate we can have. We spent and it's

driven activities that we see today in industries like the film industry, in

industries like the IT sector and in industries like the aquaculture sector in

regard to farming and what that has developed.

If I

remember correctly there was almost $30 million, I think, maybe leveraged

another $200 million in the past decade. We have other large entities that have

come from outside that want to grow the volume of activity we have here. I know

we have Grieg Seafarms. We created an MOU on that. It's been 17 or 18 months

now, we still haven't heard anything, but it's another one to develop that

capacity that we had started in the aquaculture industry. That's good because

once you get to a certain level in regard to tonnage and production, you get

synergies in regard to whether it's feed infrastructure and all of those things.

AN HON. MEMBER:

(Inaudible.)

MR. HUTCHINGS:

Yes, I'll say to the hon.

Member I do support it because I was part of putting the MOU together, without a

doubt. We supported growing the aquaculture industry to what it is today and

future growth, without a doubt. There's a huge opportunity and we need to

continue to do it.

regard to supports for the oil and gas sector, we've invested in that in regard

to growing the support companies. Because it's one thing to grow the oil and gas

sector and you get large companies coming here, but a lot of money put into

research and development as well, the Research & Development Corporation, to

leverage private sector dollars out of the oil and gas sector to grow those

companies that we see now in all parts of the province that support the oil and

gas industry. They bring new growth, new money, new expertise for

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians to grow.

Once you

build those companies, as you see from Norwegian companies that come here, once

you develop that intellectual knowledge in this particular area that can be

exported out. It can be used here but it also can be exported all over the world

and I think that's extremely important, and that's what sound investment means

in terms of sustainability.

haven't seen a lot from this particular government when they're 15, 16 months

in. Economic development, sustainability, we hear the words but when you match

that up with actions, we haven't seen a lot of those. They're almost two years

in now. Hopefully, in the near future, we'll hear something about it, but that's

what we need. And we need to continue to promote the fact that there is

opportunity here, there is a positive environment and we need people to grow,

build the communities here because there is opportunity. We need to see more

from this government and this budget doesn't deliver very much in that regard.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Cartwright L'Anse au Clair.

MS. DEMPSTER:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I'm

pleased to stand on my feet and take my 20 minutes, when the clock gets set

here, Mr. Speaker. Make sure I get my full 20 minutes before heading home for

the weekend.

I did

speak yesterday to the PMR, but it's my first time speaking in the budget debate

since the budget came down, so I'm going to primarily focus on my district, Mr.

Speaker, some of the things that I'm working on, trying to advance on behalf of

the people there in the area.

I had a

wonderful 17 days. Springtime is probably the most beautiful time

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MS. DEMPSTER:

if you want to visit the

District of Cartwright L'Anse au Clair, and this spring was exceptionally

nice. Every day was sunny blue skies and great snowmobiling. Even though, of my

18 communities, three are unconnected and I have to travel by snowmobile in the

winter and boat in the summer to get to them that was a bonus at this time of

year.

certainly enjoyed my trip to Norman Bay by snowmobile and attended the

graduation there, just one young boy, which is indicative we've been hearing a

lot in the last couple of days about aging demographics, out-migration and

shrinking communities in rural parts. There are indications of that all around,

certainly, in my district too.

So we

had a lovely evening in Norman Bay and we celebrated the achievements of that

young man. Then on Saturday past, I left from Cartwright and we made the 60-mile

trip, 106 kilometres I think it was, to Black Tickle and we attended the

graduation there of four young people from St. Peter's School. We had a great

trip to Black Tickle and back. It was a beautiful graduation; comparable with

any graduation you'll see anywhere.

I want

to commend the principal there, Madeline, and the teacher, a young lady by the

name of Krista Conway from McIvers. They have done a great job there in Black

Tickle this year, Mr. Speaker. I'm looking forward.

Once

we're here in the House, when we are here, it's very, very busy, especially if

you represent a rural district and you spend your weekends travelling. You lose

a lot of time getting out and about to events in your district. So while it's

important for us to be here and it's necessary as parliamentarians to take care

of the legislative side of our job, certainly for me the most rewarding is when

I am out and about in contact with the people that I work for on a regular basis

and bringing their issues forward back here, Mr. Speaker.

For

those watching, after budget we go through a process called Estimates. That's

where the Opposition and Third Party get to come into the Chamber and department

by department, they get to ask questions line by line by line in the budget.

I've

chaired the Social Services Committee for the last couple of years. That means

I'm here for five departments. It's been very, very busy. Sometimes it means a

couple of extra days, Mr. Speaker, before you get that email returned or you get

that phone call returned. We finished up today and I'm quite happy about that.

Mr.

Speaker, before I get into the district issues, listening to Members across the

way, the Member for St. John's Centre just talked at length about some of the

issues, concerns and programs that were cut. Members in the Opposition talked

about the fees and the tax increases. I think most people now are beginning to

understand why that had to happen. Just maybe four months in after forming

government, when you realize that unless you make cuts there or you find some

new measures to generate revenue, you do not even have the funds for basic

programs and services, that's where we were.

As I

listen and I do listen intently every day as they stand and talk about what

happened to this and what happened to that and how come we don't have this and

why did you tax that I'm not hearing solutions. I'm not hearing solutions of

what they would have done differently, Mr. Speaker. I used the analogy again

yesterday of a ship. We got on a ship that was going down and everybody

basically was bailing like crazy because we were on a collision course for

bankruptcy.

I don't

know what happened, Mr. Speaker. I thought about it after. I think the previous

administration were (inaudible) forecast of having a wonderful time, and people

came along and passed in requests and money was being passed out and it was not

necessarily being prioritized or based on need, which is what you see with good

governance.

In my

district, Mr. Speaker, we have the Trans-Labrador Highway, the biggest project

probably ever to be undertaken in Newfoundland and Labrador. We are on track for

2020 to have everything paved that will be a happy day from Red Bay all the

way to Labrador City, 1,200 kilometres of pavement.

We're

not there yet, Mr. Speaker. We've not made the progress that we should have in

the last number of years. So in the spring and fall with the gravel road that

stretches from Red Bay to Goose Bay, it's absolutely atrocious. Unless you have

been there and you have driven it, you cannot appreciate what people are

trenching through past the top of their tires in mud.

Mr.

Speaker, every spring and fall the story of the Trans-Labrador Highway makes its

comments of this is 2017 and why are we still driving on a road this bad. I want

to say to the people that despite the fiscal climate, because of the great

relationship that we also have with Ottawa in terms of being able to leverage

funds, in June 2016 we flew in to Mary's Harbour and we made the single biggest

announcement that's been on the Trans-Labrador Highway to date. Sixty-three

million dollars I think it came in. It was actually $55.7 million. Work started

on that last year.

People

were frustrated. They didn't see pavement on the ground. Mr. Speaker, Johnson's,

the contractor, is now coming in to start up. They're probably there right now

on the ground. They're bringing in a large crusher. They're bringing in a couple

of spreaders. If I have constituents that are watching, they're going to start

the paving we're going to probably see that start in June. They're going to

start Red Bay going north and they're going to start Lodge Bay going north.

I had a

lot of calls to my office, Mr. Speaker, saying, okay, there were two

80-kilometre paving contracts that went out, but one contractor got it so will

we now only see them working on one end. No, they're going to come in and

they're going to be working on two. I'm hoping myself that by late fall, I'm

going to be driving on a lot of pavement from Charlottetown when I'm heading to

Blanc Sablon, Quebec, to the airport.

Mr.

Speaker, in addition to that, I also want to let the people know that we have

work that will be commencing in the Labrador Straits, Route 510. My colleagues

and many people here in the House talk about the $25 billion in oil over the

last 12 years. Well, I want to tell you, if money was being allocated based on

need, Route 510 in the Labrador Straits would never have been neglected for the

last 12 years never.

If we

are talking about the volume of traffic that goes over a road, we have the

Strait of Belle Isle. Mr. Speaker, in the Gulf, we have two super ferries that

move about 300,000 people a year. In the Strait of Belle Isle, we have the

Apollo that's been moving around

150,000 people a year 150,000 people. The road I'm talking about, Route 510,

is the main artery that comes right down through Labrador. It's absolutely in a

deplorable condition.

Even

though we were in very tough shape the first year, the minister did allocate

some money for levelling in the really crisis parts. We did get some more

provincial money this year in the budget that we will hopefully see that work

over the next month. We're going to see some levelling through Forteau. We're

coming up out of Crow Head, and through the community of West St. Modeste.

And, Mr.

Speaker, our government has already gone on record and committed that we will

pulverize and pave the entire Labrador Straits starting with there's a $16

million business case study going to Ottawa and that will be $8 million

provincial and $8 million federal. I understand that is being prepared to go

late May, early June to Ottawa to look for funds and beyond that, which will

cover the 44 kilometres of pavement from the border to Pinware. The following

year in 2019-2020, we're going to see announcements made for the 23 kilometres

or so of pavement from Pinware to Red Bay, which is not in quite as bad a shape

but still very necessary to be done, and hasn't been repaved in a long, long

time.

So, Mr.

Speaker, I'm quite pleased with that. To form government and to have so little

to work with but the government recognizes that this link from the Quebec border

on to the Quebec border in Labrador West is going to link us to mainland Canada.

It's not just linking Newfoundland and Labrador; it's linking us to Canada. That

work will continue on.

Back to

the Trans-Labrador Highway, there are several more business cases that have gone

to Ottawa. We're optimistic that we will be hearing some funding announcements

on that soon. The next phase that is prioritized to be completed is the

Charlottetown Junction to Cartwright Junction. I can tell you that my office

gets an awful lot of calls, especially spring and fall, because there's nothing

in 2001, I believe, that road was put in so you can imagine now 16 years

without any stone, without any additional work being done, there's nothing there

to grade. Unless you live in that region or unless you have to travel back and

forth to Goose Bay and to Lab City, you can't appreciate what I'm talking about.

Most of

you guys and my colleagues will leave here today, they will get on a paved road

and they will go back to their district. We're not there yet. I understand

people when they're so frustrated and they're waiting for it to happen, but

we're doing everything we can to roll out the money, roll out the projects and

hopefully, in a couple of years, we'll be looking back and it will all be done,

Mr. Speaker.

widening, upgrading, hard surfacing Charlottetown Junction to Cartwright

Junction is the next phase. Beyond that, Mr. Speaker, we are looking at Phase

III to widen and upgrade from Cartwright Junction to 160 kilometres east of

Happy Valley. This work will get underway as soon as the agreements are

finalized and the funding has been approved.

Broadband; I don't know what I get most of the calls on if it's on the road or

if it's on broadband I really don't. We've got a lot of people that are

driving on the road and that's terrible, but broadband is a huge, huge issue.

It's huge for health as we're trying to find ways to save money in health. Once

we get the broadband you'll be able to go in to a clinic, sit down in front of a

screen and you'll have the supports there to meet with a psychiatrist in a more

urban area.

Schools;

Mr. Speaker, a couple of years ago I worked with the Department of Education. I

was in Opposition at the time. We put in satellite dishes for all of the schools

because things were extremely problematic with the students trying to learn b