Newfoundland and Labrador Hansard — Members' Statements; Statements by Ministers — 29 April 2013 (47th General Assembly, 2nd Session, Vol. XLVII No. 11)
2013-04-29
Newfoundland and Labrador — Debates (Hansard)
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April
29, 2013 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS
Vol. XLVII No. 11
The House met at 1:30 p.m.
MR. SPEAKER (Wiseman): Order, please!
Admit strangers.
Statements by Members
MR. SPEAKER: Today we will have members' statements from the Member for
the District of Port au Port; the Member for the District of Bonavista North;
the Member for the District of St. John's West; the Member for the District of
Kilbride; the Member for the District of Torngat Mountains; and the Member for
the District of Exploits.
The Member for the District of Port au Port.
MR. CORNECT: Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Pat Marche on the
publication of his book Musicians of Bay St. George and the Port au Port
Peninsula which highlights the talents of local musicians from the 1940s to
the present.
Mr. Marche was motivated to compile this book from his love of music and his
desire to preserve our rich musical culture here in the Bay St. George-Port au
Port Peninsula region.
Mr. Marche's book was launched this past November. The book tells the stories
of over 500 featured musicians and it is complemented with more than 435
photographs. It is important to preserve our rich musical culture and heritage,
as it is a part of who we are as Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.
Mr. Speaker, I ask all hon. members to join with me in applauding Mr. Pat
Marche in his efforts that has led to the publication of this fine book that
highlights the musical talents of people from the Bay St. George-Port au Port
region.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The Member for Bonavista North.
MR. CROSS: Mr. Speaker, last week was office professionals week, so it
gives me great pleasure to stand in this Chamber today to recognize someone who
plays a very vital role in my day-to-day operations.
It is the professional expertise of administrative assistants, secretaries,
and receptionists who keep the engines of business running everywhere from
small business to schools, modest offices to the upper reaches of multinational
corporations.
The role of executive assistants has been recognized since the early 1950s,
when industry boomed after World War II, calling upon primarily women to take on
the role of assistants to the new captains of industry. Since then, a gender
balance has taken place and the role is becoming increasingly important in the
day-to-day operations of companies worldwide.
Valerie Hewitt is the engine that drives my constituency office. She is the
first friendly voice that greets constituents, that reassuring tone, that
calming influence. There is unanimity to the responses I receive from my
constituents that they appreciate her caring, professional, and confidential
dedication to their concerns.
The words organized, pleasant, dedicated, compassionate, and efficient are
all rolled into one name Valerie. I am sure all hon. members have their own
Valeries or Ediths, Roberts or Justins, so I know you will make this unanimous
as we tip our hats to our CAs and EAs for their contribution to our lives as
MHAs.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The Member for St. John's West.
MR. CRUMMELL: I rise today to congratulate the students and staff of
Cowan Heights Elementary School on their Heritage Fair that took place on March
I had the pleasure of attending the Heritage Fair, Mr. Speaker, and I have to
say that there were some wonderful projects on display. Nearly fifty Cowan
Heights students presented on this year's theme My Province, Newfoundland and
Labrador. As you can imagine, the projects covered a wide and interesting range
of topics, and I can certainly understand why the eight community judges had
difficulty in selecting finalists to represent Cowan Heights Elementary at the
upcoming Regional Fair.
Mr. Speaker, the top three projects selected were Voisey's Bay Mine by Sarra
Kenny and Emily Woodfine; Newfoundland Fisheries by Ethan Knight; and
Newfoundland Wolf by Brianna Squires. The alternate project was Gros Morne
National Park by Anna Taylor and Lillith Kelly.
Mr. Speaker, I commend these students, and indeed all students and staff at
Cowan Heights Elementary, for the hard work that went into this year's Heritage
Fair and I wish the finalists every success at the Regional Fair being held this
weekend at St. Matthew's Elementary.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The Member for the District of Kilbride.
MR. DINN: Mr. Speaker, I stand in this hon. House today to recognize the
great effort of Hazelwood Elementary School, St. John's, in its Shave for the
Brave Campaign.
On Monday, March 25, 2013, Hazelwood had its third Shave for the Brave in
support of Young Adult Cancer Canada. A total of 113 students, staff, and
parents participated in the shave.
In 2012, Hazelwood had the distinction of being named the Bravest School in
Newfoundland and Labrador and Canada. The goal this year was to retain this
title. The 133 heads shaved this year represents the highest number at any
school ever and with this number, Hazelwood is certainly in the running to
retain its title. To date, the school has raised in excess of $11,000 in its
2013 Shave for the Brave Campaign.
I ask all hon. members to join me in congratulating the students, staff, and
parents of Hazelwood Elementary for a great job done in raising money and
awareness for cancer research. I want to especially commend Principal Kirk Smith
for his tremendous motivational efforts at Hazelwood.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Torngat Mountains.
MR. EDMUNDS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I rise in this hon. House today to recognize Captain Mike Byrne for his
forty-five years of service to the aviation industry in Labrador.
Mike began his career as a mechanic with Eastern Provincial Airways in 1958,
and started flying in 1969. Since then, he has logged well over 40,000 hours of
flying, many in a single-engine airplane throughout Labrador.
Mike also served as a pilot and chief pilot with Labrador Airways, now known
as Air Labrador. Respected as an experienced and knowledgeable bush pilot,
Captain Byrne transported everything from fuel drums to snowmobiles and caribou.
He flew many medevac flights, transporting physicians and nurses to seriously
ill patients in coastal remote communities, many years without modern
navigational aids.
As a pioneer of the aviation industry to the Coast of Labrador and a close
family friend, Mike has related many stories of heroism throughout his flying
career, but none that he knowingly put himself or any of his passengers in
potentially dangerous situations. He did what he loved most, helping people and
flying airplanes.
Mr. Speaker, I ask all hon. members to join me in congratulating and thanking
Captain Mike Byrne for his forty-five years of service to Labrador aviation.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of Exploits.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. FORSEY: Mr. Speaker, in November of 2012, Bishop's Falls native Craig
Harnum, Manager of the Marine Institute's Safety and Emergency Response Training
Centre in Stephenville, was recognized for twenty-five years of volunteer fire
service.
Craig practically grew up in the fire hall in Bishop's Falls. Craig's dad,
Harry, volunteered for forty-two years and is the former fire chief.
Mr. Speaker, with his dad's forty-two years, his brother Hedley with forty,
his brother Garry with thirty-nine, his nephew Stephen with eleven, and Craig's
wife Sandee with ten, the family has 168 years of fire and emergency service.
Craig said he was fortunate not to receive an injury in all these years and
credits this to the knowledge he received from his father, and the training he
underwent over the years. He said training is really the key.
Mr. Speaker, I ask all members of this House to join me in congratulating
Craig Harnum and the Harnum family for their many years of dedicated
volunteering service.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: Statements by Ministers.
Statements by Ministers
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MS SULLIVAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in this hon. House today to inform people throughout the
Province about a new nurse practitioner master's program offered through
Memorial University School of Nursing, in collaboration with the Centre for
Nursing Studies.
The Master of Nursing, Nurse Practitioner Option, which began in January
2013, will see the enrolment of twelve to sixteen women and men annually, as a
result of a provincial government investment of approximately $3.6 million in
core funding over the next five years.
The program consists of twelve courses, and students may complete the program
full-time in two years over six semesters, or part-time over ten semesters. The
first class of students will graduate from this program in October 2014.
Mr. Speaker, nurse practitioners provide primary health care services and are
particularly important in rural and remote areas where access to physician care
is sometimes limited. The new master's program will prepare nurses to work in
expanded roles in acute care areas such as emergency rooms, mental health and
cardiac care, as well as long-term care and out-patient clinics.
This program is unique in that it is offered through distance education,
which allows nurses to advance their education while continuing to work in their
field. As a former teacher who taught courses through distance education for
many years, I know first-hand the value and benefit of offering education
through this innovative method.
Mr. Speaker, Newfoundland and Labrador was one of the first Canadian
provinces to introduce the nurse practitioner primary health care role.
Currently, there are 123 nurse practitioners registered to practice in the
Province. In 2011, we had twenty-one nurse practitioners per 100,000 people, the
second-highest number in Canada. We have since increased this number to
twenty-four.
Our government recognizes the vital role nursing professionals play in our
health care system. This master's program will not only deliver a higher level
of education and training to nurse practitioners in the Province, but will
advance patient-centred care and health care services overall now and in the
future.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Burgeo La Poile.
MR. A. PARSONS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I thank the minister for an advance copy of her statement. Congratulations to
Memorial University and the Centre for Nursing Studies on the establishment of
the Nurse Practitioner Option within the Master of Nursing program.
The presence of nurse practitioners in our health care system is growing and
their role in remote and rural communities is crucial, particularly given the
challenges in physician recruitment and retention. Certainly, I know that in my
district and in places like Ramea where they have had a lot of trouble filling
the nurse practitioner position. We know the value of nurse practitioners given
that Port aux Basques was amongst the first to get that. I take that was a
Liberal government initiative as well.
Scopes of practice are being expanded for various health care professionals,
such as nurse practitioners and licensed practical nurses. Our regional health
authorities are adjusting skill-mix ratios to save the Province money. As a
result of these changes, we are seeing nurses displaced from Central Health due
to this practice and residents are concerned about the impact of these changes
on their health and safety.
Ironically, we received numerous calls about the elimination of the nurse
practitioner position in Central. While it was replaced with a clinical nurse
educator, the person who filled that role was dedicated to the community. It is
important to remember these just are not positions, they are people. We wish the
inaugural class of the master's program all the best.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. John's Centre.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MS ROGERS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I too thank the minister for an advance copy of her statement. Bravo to the
MUN School of Nursing and the Centre for Nursing Studies. It is great to have
this training program to increase the number of nurse practitioners in our
Province. Their role is crucial to a fully comprehensive health care primary
care model. As well, they can reduce wait times in emergency departments and can
provide high levels of care to those who do not have access to a family doctor.
I hope government will follow this initiative up with a commitment to ensure
that more nurse practitioners are hired by regional health authorities in every
region to work with doctors, RNs, and the communities to improve our primary
health care system. Bravo, Mr. Speaker. I am sure my colleagues would like to
join me in saying bravo to those nurses who have dedicated their lives to taking
care of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Environment and Conservation.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. HEDDERSON: Mr. Speaker, I rise to remind my hon. colleagues that the
deadline for nominations for the 2013 Environmental Awards, May 1, is fast
approaching. This awards program is an annual celebration of environmental
achievements in our Province, and raises awareness of the individuals, groups
and businesses that are taking action to protect and sustain our environment.
This initiative, Mr. Speaker, is jointly sponsored by the Department of
Environment and Conservation, the Multi-Materials Stewardship Board, and the
Newfoundland and Labrador Women's Institutes. There are six categories to
recognize outstanding environmental and conservation achievements. These are:
Individual; Community Group or Organization; Youth, Youth Group or School;
Municipality or Regional Waste Management Committee; and, Business or Industry
Leader.
In addition to being celebrated at an awards ceremony during Environment
Week, Mr. Speaker, each of the winners will also receive a $1,000 honorarium
from the MMSB to go towards furthering their own environmental projects or to
donate to an environmental cause of their choice.
Mr. Speaker, for more than twenty years, these annual awards have highlighted
the work of countless men and women who are true environmental ambassadors for
this Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. We all share responsibility for the
environment in our Province, and that is why it is so important to recognize the
great work that is being done by those who demonstrate an impressive passion for
our environment.
I encourage everyone, Mr. Speaker, to look around them at the great work that
is being done to protect and preserve our environment, and submit a nomination
to recognize these outstanding individuals and groups. Further information and
the nomination form can be found on the Department of Environment and
Conservation Web site.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Torngat Mountains.
MR. EDMUNDS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I thank the minister for the advance copy of his statement. The annual
environmental awards are indeed important and events such as these are something
that should be celebrated throughout the Province.
Mr. Speaker, what I see here is a situation where names may not have been
submitted and with just two days left, I would encourage that more effort be put
into these awards and having people in place before the deadlines do come upon
us.
Mr. Speaker, I know there are many individuals, groups and businesses in our
Province that are leading the way in environmental awareness. I, too, encourage
individuals to have their names put forward for these awards.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. John's East.
MR. MURPHY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I would also like to thank the minister for the advance copy of his
statement.
All projects, of course, having to do with the environment are very
noteworthy. We can talk about a couple of projects that I have run into in a
very short parliamentary career so far. I can note, for example, Mr. Juergen
Schau's project dealing with puffins down in the District of Ferryland. I can
talk about the Salmonid Association dealing with the Rennie's River project.
Hopefully, they are going to be introducing salmon, for example, in the Rennie's
Mill River.
I would be remiss, as well, if I did not talk about some of the groups in
Newfoundland and Labrador that do things without government funding or have lost
government funding. The Newfoundland and Labrador Environmental Network, for
example, has lost funding in this last budgetary process. We are at risk of
losing that particular umbrella organization within the Province.
I ask government to reconsider sometimes where their monies should be
directed. If we are to be out there looking after our environment we need to put
money upfront sometimes in order to enjoy the rewards of environmental
protection. I would also like to say that some people out there do it for
absolutely nothing, and I can think of the Grand Riverkeepers in Labrador. I can
think of the Sandy Pond Alliance out there that are working so hard for
environmental protection in this Province.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: Oral Questions.
Oral Questions
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.
MR. BALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
There will be fewer acute care beds in the new Corner Brook hospital, and to
accommodate this downsizing the plan is to shorten hospital stays by 25 per
cent. We all know that regional health authorities are undergoing efficiency
reviews and that nursing positions may be cut. Research, however, shows that
when nursing staffing levels go down, length of stays go up.
I ask the Minister of Health: Do you really think that cutting nursing and
shortening hospital stays can be achieved simultaneously when research shows
otherwise?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MS SULLIVAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, we have proposed a facility for Corner Brook that will be second
to none.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MS SULLIVAN: We are looking at $500 million to $600 million worth of
expenditure. It will be a flagship service for the entire of the Province, Mr.
Speaker. It will be a model that we are going to want to use in the entire of
the Province.
Mr. Speaker, we have had some disagreements around what the numbers look like
in terms of acute care. When we received the report, Mr. Speaker, what we got
was a report that emphasized the importance of the right service to the right
clients at the right time.
In the Corner Brook hospital, Mr. Speaker, or the Western Memorial Hospital,
we are looking at being able to put forward 260 beds.
Mr. Speaker, I hope I get another question so I can continue.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The Leader of the Official Opposition.
MR. BALL: The minister does not have to worry about questions coming from
the West Coast about the new hospital. There are lots of questions coming out
there. There is lots of misinformation too, I might add, Mr. Speaker.
Today, we will be presenting a petition on behalf of the Newfoundland and
Labrador Nurses' Union. This petition has 4,500 names from the residents of
Central Newfoundland regarding cuts to nursing positions in the region.
I ask the Minister of Health: Is this a compelling argument or is this just
noise?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MS SULLIVAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, further to the last question, I just want to follow up that we
will have 260 beds in there that will more than adequately meet the needs of the
people of the Western Region of the Province.
With regard to the nursing question that he is asking about in Central
Health, Mr. Speaker, what we are talking about in Central Health is implementing
models of nursing care that have been on the go since 2006. There is nothing new
that is happening there, Mr. Speaker.
In fact, what we are talking about in long-term care, the new skills mix
ratio, came about as a result of a provincial committee that was put in place
and recommended this new skills mix that will often see, Mr. Speaker, more
people working within our health facilities.
Again, I am hoping for another question.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The Leader of the Official Opposition.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. BALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The hallmark of this government continues to be secrecy. Following on the
steps of twelve senior appointments, hidden by this government, it appointed a
transition team to oversee school board collapse without any public input.
I ask the minister: Will he table the detailed mandate of the transition
team, which would include timelines for accountability and the autonomy that is
has provided through this board?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Education.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. JACKMAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
A transition committee that is made of up of trustees from the four existing
boards Mr. Lorne Wheeler this morning, the Chair of that committee, is in
contact with the individuals who make up that transition team. Things are
progressing quite well.
Mr. Speaker, if I were to interfere, I would assume the member would talk
about political interference. The reason for the transition committee is we will
allow them to do their work. They will determine and move ahead with it to
ensure we continue with a quality education in Newfoundland and Labrador.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The Leader of the Official Opposition.
MR. BALL: I will ask the minister a simple question here now, then: If
they came back with a recommendation not to go to one school board, would you
accept that recommendation?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Education.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. JACKMAN: Mr. Speaker, that is putting the cart before the horse. We
have a transition committee in place. I would suggest anyone out there who has
suggestions, please put them forward to the transition committee, and we will
then move ahead with the planning that we need to ensure that it is a smooth
process.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The Leader of the Official Opposition.
MR. BALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I believe the minister by his own admission just put the cart before the
horse. That was not the transition team or the trustees that you could actually
report to. It was this government who made the decision and then asked for
information later.
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Education has stated that the mega-school board
approach is based on changing demographics. So I ask the minister: Has
government carried out a proper study to determine if one board is even
manageable in this Province?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Education.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. JACKMAN: Mr. Speaker, I am going to ask the member again: Is he
willing to stand up and say that we will allow the boards to continue and then
take away from the students and the teachers? Is that what he is saying?
I will quote another one from one of the members opposite in the Liberals in
1999, Mr. Speaker, "Today we are at 97,000. I am sure the members opposite do
not expect us to maintain the same level of teachers in the system with that
kind of declining student enrolment. Maybe they do, but it is always easy to
promise when you do not have to deliver."
This is about efficiency. We are determined to put it in the hands of
teachers and students, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The Leader of the Official Opposition.
MR. BALL: I think the minister missed the question again, because the
question was about if it is manageable, not about the efficiency, I say, Mr.
Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
MR. BALL: Mr. Speaker, the NLTA stresses that a 40 per cent cut to
needs-based teaching will be detrimental to teachers dealing with complex issues
like autism, drugs, and bullying in our system.
So I ask the minister: By making these cuts, how much money do you really
plan to save on the backs of our most vulnerable, our children?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Education.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. JACKMAN: Mr. Speaker, I will caution the hon. member, because I
mentioned in here he mentioned cuts to services for students with autism. Mr.
Speaker, we are not cutting that.
I will tell you, Mr. Speaker, in 2007, despite a 2,200 student decline, we
put thirty-eight additional teachers in the system. In 2008, with another 1,400
student decline, we added another sixty-five. With the needs-based formula that
came in 2008, there are an additional 265 teachers in the system today because
of that. Never question our commitment to education.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.
MR. BALL: I will ask the minister one more time: How much money do you
expect to save by cutting the needs-based system by 40 per cent? How much? What
is the dollar value?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Education.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. JACKMAN: Mr. Speaker, I am going to speak again to our commitment to
the education system. This education system is staffed and funded now better
than ever in the history of this Province. Our commitment, Mr. Speaker, has been
a 42 per cent increase in funding for education since we came into government in
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.
MR. BALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The minister who is making the decision obviously does not know how much
savings he is making from this decision. Mr. Speaker, the message is loud and
clear. Educators, administrators, and school boards are warning that government
cuts to 160 positions will seriously impact the education of our students.
I ask the minister: Why is he refusing to listen to this compelling argument,
or is this just noise?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Education.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. JACKMAN: Mr. Speaker, no changes to classroom caps, no cuts to
special education services, no cuts to supports for special needs students, no
cuts to student assistants. Mr. Speaker, that speaks to our investment in front
line services where it is most important.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.
MR. BALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Well, there is a full litany and a full list of cuts I say, Mr. Speaker. I
believe the minister, quite frankly, just ignored to list those.
The day before government dropped the Budget and laid off 1,000
Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, they made ten secret appointments to the civil
service. Then they added another one on Budget day and another one the day
after, for a total of twelve. Traditionally, senior appointments are announced
by a press release, which would explain the background of the person who got the
job and the rationale behind it.
Why was there no public release at that time?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Finance.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. KENNEDY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
During the Budget process, we actually eliminated ten positions from the
number of executive positions in government, bringing it from 121 to 111. The
appointments that were made at the timeframe that the member is talking about
are all people who are within the public service, and they were either moving
laterally or moving within their departments.
There were no new jobs created, Mr. Speaker. They were not new appointments.
For example, in Health and Community Services three people moved. An ADM moved
to another position, a Director became an ADM. So what we have is simply a
situation where there were a number of appointments made. There was no news
release at that point in time, Mr. Speaker, because we knew that the Orders in
Council will be published online very shortly.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MR. BALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
In the Budget announcement it was very clear that if there were vacant
positions within the public service they were not filled. Why were they filled
when the hiring freeze was on?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Finance.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. KENNEDY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The hiring freeze related to core departments, or what went on within our
sixteen departments. The appointments to executive positions are within the
discretion of the Premier, Mr. Speaker, and the Order in Council, or the MC
clearly indicated that the appointments to executive appointments did not come
within the hiring freeze.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Bay of Islands.
MR. JOYCE: Mr. Speaker, the construction of the Sir Ambrose Shea bridge
in Placentia has been stalled because the government refuses to pay its permit
fees or have them included in the tender documents.
I ask the minister: Why is government refusing to pay the Town of Placentia
the cost of its permit fees, which they are allowed to charge under the
Municipalities Act?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. DAVIS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I would like to point out to the hon. member and to the members of the House
of Assembly that we invest tens of millions of dollars in roads, provincial
roads, and provincial roadwork throughout the Province. That includes asphalt,
it includes replacement of culverts, it includes building of bridges and
wharves, and nowhere in the Province do we pay municipal permit fees, Mr.
Speaker, while we build those highway infrastructures.
I will just use as an example, Team Gushue Highway, a big project being
conducted by this government, going right through the centre of St. John's, zero
dollars for permits. The new overpass at Topsail Road and Kenmount Road, just
recently built with no permits. The Conception Bay South Bypass Road another
significant investment by this Province bridges being built out there, Mr.
Speaker, at no cost of permits.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Bay of Islands.
MR. JOYCE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I say to the minister, the reason why they need the fees is that the town has
to protect its infrastructure. They do not have the personnel on staff, the
professionals on staff, to ensure the water and sewer
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
MR. JOYCE: Mr. Speaker, there are two archaeological sites that are going
to be in this area. They need to hire an archaeologist. Do you expect the town
to pay for this?
I ask the minister again: How can you stop paying a fee for the town which is
under the Municipalities Act, which they can charge, that you are arbitrarily
saying no, we are not going to pay this fee?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. DAVIS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, the first thing I would like to straighten out in the
preamble
of the hon. member opposite is that the infrastructure we are building there is
infrastructure belonging to the taxpayers of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is a
piece of provincial infrastructure, part of our provincial road network that
extends throughout Newfoundland and Labrador.
As for the second part of his question, as far as archaeology concerns go
and there are issues regarding archaeology, as addressed by the hon. member
opposite our staff, the senior staff, senior officials in my department have
been working very closely with the town in regard to engineering, in regard to
archaeological needs, the resources that the town has versus the resources that
the Province can bring forward and assist them with, and those discussions will
continue, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The Member for Bay of Islands.
MR. JOYCE: Mr. Speaker, in 2007 the development of the RNC headquarters
in St. John's was announced and the total cost was budgeted to be $48 million
and the completion by 2012. We now know from the ATIPP request submitted by our
office that the cost is expected to be over $57 million and it is not going to
be finished until the earliest at 2014.
I ask the minister: How can your budget process be so wrong and yet have
another project be so over budget?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. DAVIS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The redevelopment of the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary headquarters site in
the centre of St. John's is a significant project for this Province and for this
government. It is another benchmark of the investments that we are making in the
Province and the infrastructure of the Province.
This project began many years ago, Mr. Speaker. It began in 2007. At the
time, because the RNC continue to operate and function in that site they are a
twenty-four hour, seven-day week service it was believed very early in the
project that the use of the site could continue while the project continued;
however, Mr. Speaker, after a period of time when engineers began to look inside
the building to see what work was actually necessary, and that quite often takes
some time to do, a better understanding was grasped after the project proceeded.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The Member for Bay of Islands.
MR. JOYCE: Mr. Speaker, the RNC building is now expected to be almost $10
million over budget. That is almost a 20 per cent increase in cost.
I ask the minister: How can you be part of a government that says the Muskrat
Falls Project will not have any cost overruns, but every project that you were
involved with in the last three years is from 20 per cent to 50 per cent in cost
overruns?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. DAVIS: Mr. Speaker, what the member opposite is failing to point out
is that there is a significant difference in a renovation, a significant
renovation project, versus a new build. When you get into a renovation project,
the engineering design work is done to the best of the abilities of the
engineers and the designers who look at the project.
Not until you get inside the walls of a project and you start taking down
walls, you start looking at mechanical, you look at electrical and you look at
structures, do you get an actual determination of the scope of work that is
needed. It is very different from Muskrat Falls, Mr. Speaker, which is going to
be a great project for Newfoundland and Labrador and is going to be a great
project for generations to come.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The Member for Torngat Mountains.
MR. EDMUNDS: Mr. Speaker, last week when I asked the Minister of
Environment about an oil slick near Fogo, he put it off as a federal issue.
Environment Canada has since confirmed an oil slick in the area and is working
to pinpoint the source.
I ask the minister: What new information does he have on this issue and what
is the provincial government doing to assist the investigation?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Environment and Conservation.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. HEDDERSON: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
In my response last week I certainly indicated that it was a federal
responsibility, but being a federal responsibility does not mean that the
provincial government are not involved. As well, we went to the main source,
asked the right questions and were told, basically, that there was an
investigation on the go as to the type of oil slick that it was. We have been
further advised that they are going further into their investigation and going
underneath the sea to see exactly what is down there.
I will tell the member we are involved. Again, kudos to the federal
government for being on top of this, moving forward, and trying to get to the
bottom of a very serious issue.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Torngat Mountains, for a very quick
question without
preamble.
MR. EDMUNDS: I ask the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture: What is
your department's role in this investigation and what risk does this oil slick
pose to our fish stocks in the area?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Environments and Conservation, for
a quick response.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. HEDDERSON: Again, very quickly, Mr. Speaker, I would give some sense
of comfort to the member opposite by saying that all aspects of this spill are
being looked at. There has been monitoring; all resources have been thrown at
it. We as a provincial government are making sure that everything has been done
to the satisfaction and we hope that the end result will be a very positive one.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The Leader of the Third Party.
MS MICHAEL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Government announced today that it has lifted the temporary suspension on
hiring, saying recruitment for government jobs will begin as of today. The
timing of this announcement is perplexing. The release says that there has been
an accumulation of vacancies because of normal employee turnover, retirement,
and long-term leave.
Mr. Speaker, I ask the Minister of Finance: Were these positions immune from
the bumping process that has just gone on in public sector? If so, why?
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Finance.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. KENNEDY: Yes, Mr. Speaker, we were criticized for bringing in the
hiring freeze and now we are being criticized for lifting the hiring freeze.
Mr. Speaker, the hiring freeze was brought in because we wanted to get the
full picture that exists in government in terms of the number of people who had
jobs and how it related to the core mandate review. What has happened is that
there are no new positions being created. The positions that we are talking
about have funding in Budget 2013.
What happened is that the exemptions to the hiring freeze were very difficult
to come by. So what we are doing now is we have a new process in place that will
have strict criteria. All filling of positions within government will have to
follow that procedure, Mr. Speaker. There is nothing suspicious that I am aware
of and it had nothing to do with the bumping process.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Third Party.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MS MICHAEL: The minister did not answer the question. I wanted to know
why they were not a part of the bumping process. If people could be bumped into
those, why were they not bumped into them? That is the question. He is not going
to answer it, so I will move on.
Mr. Speaker, the government says it remains committed to providing job
experiences for students and will continue to have a program for co-op students
and summer students.
Mr. Speaker, I ask the Minister of Finance: Is this government committing to
keeping the same number of co-op and summer jobs for summer students who greatly
need the employment experience as they have had before?
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Finance.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. KENNEDY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I can tell the member opposite that the e-mail from which she got her
question, I replied to the same gentleman earlier today and said that student
jobs and co-op student jobs are still in place. I indicated approximately a
month ago that students would still be hired, that the hiring freeze would not
apply to them.
We are certainly committed to ensuring that students are employed, Mr.
Speaker. There will be jobs here for them this summer, co-op students and all
students, because we understand that the youth of our Province need jobs in the
summertime and we will provide those jobs for them.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Third Party.
MS MICHAEL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
My question came directly from the release that came from the minister. That
is where my question came from.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
MS MICHAEL: Very often our students hope that such temporary situations
will lead to permanent jobs. This announcement is cold comfort to all those
students, many of whom will have to leave the Province due to the chill that has
fallen over it.
Mr. Speaker, I ask the Minister of Finance: What that commitment will do for
students who have graduated from programs and need permanent employment?
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Finance.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. KENNEDY: Yes, Mr. Speaker, the member opposite still seems to be in
the 1990s when there might not have been as many jobs available.
Let me tell you the situation that currently exists in our Province, Mr.
Speaker. We have for students the lowest tuition fees in the country. We are
second in the country in weekly earnings. We have more people working today than
ever in our history.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. KENNEDY: Since 2003, our unemployment rate has declined by 3.9
percentage points, the lowest in thirty-seven years, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. KENNEDY: Capital investment has increased in our Province by 170 per
cent since 2003. It is the land of opportunity for new students and they do not
only have to rely upon government for jobs, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Third Party.
MS MICHAEL: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
I would now ask
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
The hon. the Leader of the Third Party.
MS MICHAEL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I now ask the minister to table tomorrow in this House of Assembly the number
of people who have to leave the Province to get jobs.
Mr. Speaker, in the Sustainability Plan it says that in years four to ten
government will continue to focus on innovation, diversification, and debt
reduction.
Mr. Speaker, I ask the Minister of Finance to outline for us what great
innovations this government has in mind for economic diversification since there
is actually nothing outlined in the current so-called Sustainability Plan?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Finance.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. KENNEDY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Let me continue where I just left off. What do we have happening in this
Province in the next number of years? Building Muskrat Falls, 3,000 jobs, many
of which are union members, and the NDP do not support that, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. KENNEDY: We have Bull Arm, Hebron going, 3,000 jobs, and mostly union
jobs. The NDP probably do not support that either, Mr. Speaker. We have
continued diversity in the industries as outlined by the Minister of Innovation,
Business and Rural Development.
What we have, Mr. Speaker, is in this year's Budget alone another $1 billion
to support children and families. We have lowered taxes by $500 million since
2007. We have the most competitive tax regime in Atlantic Canada. The good
things continue, Mr. Speaker, and I would suggest to the member: read the
Budget.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Third Party.
MS MICHAEL: Mr. Speaker, Statistics Canada explained this Province's
notable fall in GDP last year, a whopping 4.6 per cent, as a decline in oil and
gas extraction due to maintenance work as well as a decline of metal ore mining.
That should not have surprised this government, Mr. Speaker, yet they projected
that 0.01 per cent of GDP would be what we would have this year.
I ask the Minister of Finance: Once again, how could they have been so far
out in their projections?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Finance.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. KENNEDY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
GDP, as Telegram James was noticing on Twitter today, Mr. Speaker, is a
notoriously unreliable measurement in a small resource-based economy like ours.
Oil production is up, GDP is up; oil production is down, GDP is down.
I did indicate, Mr. Speaker, that oil production is an issue that we have to
deal with. We get the numbers twice a year, once in January and once in June. In
one year, Mr. Speaker, a couple of years ago, the C-NLOPB projections were off
by 18 million barrels. Obviously, Mr. Speaker, GDP will be affected.
What we have to look at is what is happening in this Province. Again, let me
repeat that we have the lowest unemployment rate in thirty-seven years and more
people working today than ever in our history.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
The Member for The Straits White Bay North.
MR. MITCHELMORE: Mr. Speaker, advanced telecommunication is essential to
economic development. Last month the feds announced $1.35 million to improve
broadband services to North West River and Sheshatshiu. Announced in 2011, the
Province, the feds, Bell, SmartLabrador and Nalcor were investing $24 million to
provide fiber backbone to 19,000 people in Central and Western Labrador.
Mr. Speaker, with Muskrat Fall passing along the communities of the South
Coast of Labrador and the Great Northern Peninsula, I ask the Minister of IBRD:
When can they expect to see similar investments of adding broadband and dealing
with chronic capacity issues, or will they continue to remain forgotten?
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Innovation, Business and Rural
Development.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. HUTCHINGS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, we have been heavily involved as we know, the hon. member knows
and the members in this House, in terms of high speed and rural broadband
initiatives for the past number of years. We have increased it now to almost 89
per cent on the Island and over 95 per cent in Labrador. This year's Budget is
$6.3 million again to reinvest.
Coming this week, again, as part of the second RBI, we will be announcing
twenty-six additional communities that will receive through the program. We are
continuing to build it.
With regard to Nalcor, in consultations with them, when they build the
transmission line there will be fibre on that transmission line which will come
down to Southern Labrador. There could be opportunities there, we believe there
are opportunities there, and we will maximize them for the people of Labrador.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The Member for The Straits White Bay North.
MR. MITCHELMORE: I certainly hope the minister is not going to forget the
Great Northern Peninsula as well.
Mr. Speaker, Air Access Strategy funding was cut midway through its five
years. As well, the five-year Northern Strategy Plan of 2007 says it will
finalize its decision on a central airport for Southern Labrador.
The people do not have a reliable air service, limiting economic growth in
Southeastern Labrador, and are calling for an enhanced service capable of
handling aircraft larger than a Twin Otter.
Mr. Speaker, I ask the Minister of IBRD: What is the status of a centralized
airstrip, or are you abandoning this commitment like the Air Access Strategy?
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. DAVIS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
There are airstrips located throughout Labrador and also throughout the
Island of Newfoundland. We realize, understand and appreciate that the airstrips
in Labrador in particular are of significant importance to the people of
Labrador. We have a funding arrangement with the federal government; it is an
annual funding arrangement. We continue to have discussions with them on ways
that we can make improvement to airstrips and air services in Labrador through a
way to enhance that agreement between us and the federal government. We will
continue to make those advancements, Mr. Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER: The Member for St. John's East.
MR. MURPHY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Last week our private member's motion in the House called for government to
implement a strategy geared toward roads and the provincial ferry system. Sadly,
the government voted against the motion, even though they put it in the election
Blue Book, as far back as 2003.
If government says it already has a strategy for ferries, then where is it?
Will they make the documents public?
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. DAVIS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I would like to thank the hon. member for giving me an opportunity to rise
again and talk about the great investments we are making in ferry services
throughout Newfoundland and Labrador.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Order, please!
MR. DAVIS: Mr. Speaker, we currently have an RFP that has been issued to
build a replacement vessel for the Captain Earl Winsor which provides
service to the people of Change Islands and Fogo Island. It is providing very
good service to the people of Change Islands and Fogo Island, Mr. Speaker. It is
going to be a significant vessel, a significant build, the largest one, probably
ever, that we have done in the Province.
As well, Mr. Speaker, that RFP includes the ability now to build and
construct a new forty-two metre swing vessel for the people of the Province.
This will be similar to the Grace Sparkes and Hazel McIsaac which
is providing good services to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, Mr.
Speaker, and we will continue to make those investments in ferry services
throughout the Province.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. John's East.
MR. MURPHY: I would say, Mr. Speaker, he is not giving his fellow Member
for Conception Bay East Bell Island a very good hand answering that one.
Mr. Speaker, the motion also talked about the need for a permanent road
construction strategy that government also voted against. What is the difficulty
that government must see that they cannot put forward a transparent road
strategy for this Province?
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. DAVIS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, we have two vessels that are providing services to the people of
Bell Island. While vessels require having routine maintenance, at times they
have mechanical matters that need to be addressed as they operate. Like any
mechanical item, as it is utilized, it requires maintenance and it requires
work.
I would say to the hon. member opposite that the two vessels that we have
operating right now, considering the vessels that we have available to us, are
providing a continuous and a good service for the people of Bell Island.
As for the rest of his question, Mr. Speaker, on planning for roads and the
development, we have made a commitment to the people of the Province that we
would work to come forward with a greater plan for our infrastructure within the
Province and we intend to do that.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The time for Question Period has expired.
Presenting Reports by Standing and Select Committees.
Tabling of documents.
Notices of Motion.
Notices of Motion
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Government House Leader.
MR. KING: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I give notice under Standing Order 11 that I shall move that
this House not adjourn 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 30, 2013; and further, I give
notice, under Standing Order 11, I shall move that this House not adjourn 10:00
p.m. on Tuesday, April 30, 2013.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. John's West.
MR. CRUMMELL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I would like to move the following private member's resolution for Wednesday,
May 1, this coming Wednesday, seconded by the Member for Bonavista North:
BE IT RESOLVED that this hon. House supports this government's actions to
ensure that public programs and services for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians
are designed and delivered in ways that are results focused and effective, as
well as innovative, efficient, and affordable.
MR. SPEAKER: Answers to Questions for which Notice has been Given.
Petitions.
Petitions
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. Barbe.
MR. BENNETT: Mr. Speaker, a petition to the hon. House of Assembly of the
Province of Newfoundland and Labrador in Parliament Assembled, the petition of
the undersigned humbly sheweth:
WHEREAS the offshore of the West Coast of the Island of Newfoundland is
recognized as a region containing potentially billions of barrels of oil; and
WHEREAS hydraulic fracturing could be an accepted and effective method of
petroleum discovery and exploration, and is compatible with the protection of
the natural environment and water sources when executed within the context of a
comprehensive regulatory framework; and
WHEREAS the petroleum exploration sector needs the certainty and confidence
of a stable regulatory regime; and
WHEREAS with that regulatory regime, oil discovery and industry development
could provide unprecedented economic opportunity and bring people home to a
currently economically challenged area; and
WHEREAS the undersigned support properly regulated exploration and
development of the oil and gas resource in the Province;
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
MR. BENNETT: WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly pray and
call upon the House of Assembly to urge the Government of Newfoundland and
Labrador to introduce a regulatory framework immediately under which hydraulic
fracturing could proceed safely, and move this industry forward in Western
Newfoundland.
Mr. Speaker, as all of us are aware, there are significant news stories
regarding hydraulic fracturing. Many of these stories are sensational. Many of
the stories have absolutely nothing to do with the type of exploration that is
contemplated in this region. It is incomprehensible why people, for example, a
member of the town council in Bay of Islands in the last few days, talked about
having sea spray on their house windows and now expecting to have chemicals from
hydraulic fracturing from out in Bay of Islands spray on their windows.
Some of these things are absolutely ludicrous. Mr. Speaker, the things people
think of as they see a movie where somebody turns on a water tap and sees flames
come out of their water faucets. It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.
There is a great concern in the region that I represent, that the people who
are putting forth these unfounded histrionic complaints may carry the day. There
is such a groundswell on the ground by people who want to see common sense,
regulated, appropriate development. The petitions have started to come in, and I
expect them to come steadily from the people who are pro-development and
pro-employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. John's Centre.
MS ROGERS: 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 as a result of a recommendation in the Green report about wrongdoing
in the House of Assembly, there is now legislation that protects anyone who
speaks up with evidence of financial abuse or other impropriety in the
legislative branch; and
WHEREAS it is unfair for one group of civil servants to be protected by
whistle-blower legislation when another group is not; and
WHEREAS Justice Green stated that the financial wrongdoing in the House of
Assembly might have been discovered sooner if whistle-blower legislation had
been in place; and
WHEREAS the Cameron Inquiry into ER-PR testing found that problems with tests
would have come to light sooner, therefore lessoning the impacts on patients, if
whistle-blower legislation had been in place; and
WHEREAS the Task Force on Adverse Events recommended an amendment to the
Regional Health Authorities Act to provide legal protection for employees
reporting occurrences or adverse events; and
WHEREAS whistle-blower legislation is in place elsewhere in Canada and the
provincial government promised similar legislation in the 2007 election but has
not kept that promise;
We the undersigned, petition the House of Assembly to urge government to
enact whistle-blower legislation to protect public sector employees in
provincial departments and agencies, including public corporations, regional
health authorities and schools boards.
And as in duty bound your petitioners will ever pray.
Mr. Speaker, I had the honour yesterday of attending a day of mourning for
workers injured or who have lost their lives on the job. It was quite a moving
ceremony. There were well past 100 people there with over fifty wreaths laid on
behalf of workers and different employers and groups, just to show how this
issue is of growing importance to the people in the Province.
Mr. Speaker, perhaps in some cases we honoured and remembered six injured
workers who died by accidents, this year alone, on the job, and twenty who died
because of workplace related diseases. Perhaps, Mr. Speaker, if we had effective
whistle-blower legislation, protection for people who want to speak out about
unsafe working conditions perhaps that could save lives.
This government once again promised the people of Newfoundland and Labrador
to pass whistle-blower legislation and they have absolutely done nothing to
further this. As a matter of fact, last year, about a year ago, I asked the
Minister of Justice at the time and he said no. This is a sad state of affairs
for our Province.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Burgeo La Poile.
MR. A. PARSONS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I stand today to enter a petition.
To the hon. House of Assembly of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador in
Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned residents humbly sheweth:
WHEREAS Central Health is planning to reduce the number of registered nurses
working in numerous facilities throughout Central Newfoundland; and
WHEREAS registered nurses and community members from Central Newfoundland
have serious concerns over the impact these staffing changes will have on
patient and resident care; and
WHEREAS registered nurses provide an expert level of care and bring value to
the health care system that no other health care provider can, and registered
nurses are the only nursing professionals who can independently provide care
when health conditions are complex and unstable, and health outcomes are
unpredictable; and
WHEREAS it is proven through research that registered nurses improve patient
outcomes, reduce mortality and enhance the quality of care, and that higher
registered nurse ratios result in fewer death, pressure ulcers, pneumonia,
post-operative infections, urinary tract infections, gastrointestinal bleeds and
cardiac arrests, with results also including shorter lengths of stay, improved
failure to rescue rates, and superior organizational effectiveness and budgetary
outcomes;
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
I ask all members if they would take their private conversations outside the
Chambers, please.
I recognize the Member for Burgeo La Poile in presenting a petition.
MR. A. PARSONS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly pray and call upon the
House of Assembly to urge government to call on Central Regional Health
Authority to re-examine the proposed registered nurse reductions, ensuring high
quality care for the residents of Central Newfoundland.
And as in duty bound your petitioners will ever pray.
Mr. Speaker, this is probably the largest petition I have ever entered in
this House of Assembly, with over 4,500 names of people from the Central area
who have signed, people who live in communities all over Central, communities
that are represented by members, especially on the government side. I would
think the 4,500 names signed here being entered today is what we would call
compelling argument.
One of the things we talked about when we did Health budget Estimates the
other night was trying to reduce patient stay. At the same time, talking about
how much cost that has but if you are going to reduce the nursing complement,
studies show that the stay is going to go up. So, unless there is some research
that we are unaware of, I do not know how this is possible.
There are a number of opportunities we have to look at this, to make sure
that we are making the right choice, and to listen to the experts in the field,
to work with them to make sure that the proper health and care is provided to
residents. We look at the situation out in Lewisporte where we are going to have
one RN on a long-term care overnight facility, just one for a number of
patients. This is just one of the concerns that we have.
I am very happy to stand here today and enter the concerns of the residents
of Central Newfoundland. It is not going to stop there. I have fears that this
is going to continue elsewhere, that it is going to move to Western Newfoundland
and up to Labrador Grenfell. We have to make sure that with these Budget cuts do
not come reduced health and safety for the people of this Province.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Government House Leader.
MR. KING: Mr. Speaker, I would like to give notice to the House that the
motion laid before us a few moments ago by the Member for St. John's West will
be the private member's motion that government will debate this coming
Wednesday, Private Members' Day.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. Barbe.
MR. BENNETT: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
A petition to the hon. House of Assembly of the Province of Newfoundland and
Labrador in Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned residents
humbly sheweth:
WHEREAS there has been an agreement between the Federation of Newfoundland
Nation Band; and
WHEREAS persons submitted applications with the required documents for
registration in the band up to the application deadline of November 30, 2012;
and
WHEREAS the reported number of applications received by the Qalipu Mi'kmaq
First Nation Band are in excess of 100,000; and
WHEREAS the reported number of applicants now registered as members is
approximately 22,000; and
WHEREAS the agreement between the Federation of Newfoundland Indians and the
scheduled to end on March 31, 2013; and
WHEREAS the Qalipu Mi'kmaq First Nation Band Chief has requested, but has not
received, an extension to the agreement to process the remaining applications;
and
WHEREAS to date there is no decision on how to deal with the remaining
applications;
WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly pray and call upon the
House of Assembly to urge the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to work
with the Newfoundland Federation of Indians and the Government to Canada to
provide a fair and equal review of all their applications.
As in duty bound your petitioners will ever pray.
Mr. Speaker, the applications have been filed. More recently, we have noticed
maybe a thawing in what the federal counterpart has said. They finally
acknowledge that they were absolutely overwhelmed with petitions. Nevertheless,
Mr. Speaker, that does not relieve our government of the obligation to intervene
on behalf of between 70,000 and 80,000 more people who are unrecognized, who are
residents of this Province.
Mr. Speaker, what excuse can this government possibly have when people are
bringing petitions day after day after day asking and outlining these
circumstances to say that we want to have our petition heard, we want to have
our applications reviewed, and we want this matter to move forward? They have
established a significant Facebook presence. They are following this thing.
There have been public demonstrations and significant input. This is simply a
request of government, by these people, to intervene with the federal
counterpart and move this file forward.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Government House Leader.
MR. KING: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I call from the Order Paper, Motion 1, that this House approves
in general the budgetary policy of the government. The Budget Speech, Mr.
Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. John's Centre.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MS ROGERS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I am grateful for the opportunity to stand in this House today to speak to
the Budget, and I am especially honoured to speak on behalf of the good people
of St. John's Centre.
Mr. Speaker, the last ten years have been a very
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
MS ROGERS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, the last ten years have been a very interesting time for the
people of Newfoundland and Labrador. There were promises and celebrations and
declarations. We saw roads built, school books paid for, tuition reduced, more
people were hired through the public service. There were jobs and a Poverty
Reduction Strategy that promised to make Newfoundland and Labrador the Province
with the lowest level of poverty by the end of 2013. Newfoundland and Labrador
was open for business.
There was a Youth Retention Strategy to encourage our young people to stay in
this land of opportunity. There was even money to help you when you had a baby,
and folks were coming back home. We were, said the government, flush with cash,
and never, never in our history did we experience so much prosperity. We
celebrated, Mr. Speaker, with our artists. We sang, and there was dancing and
painting and making of movies, and, oh yeah, there was making of TV. Mr.
Speaker, it just happens to be the International Day of Dance.
We were going to be a powerhouse of electricity. We were going to dam Muskrat
Falls and the US was going to be pounding on our doors looking for power. We
were going to be even richer. Oil flowed and it was good. Yes, by God, we were a
have Province. Why, they even considered having a holiday to celebrate that, but
on Tuesday, March 26, 2013 it all came to a screeching halt.
This government, Mr. Speaker, the same government who promised so much ground
to a halt, bellowing: Wait, things have changed and now we are taking it back.
They are taking a lot of it back from a lot of people. Thursday, in this House,
a member of this government actually stood up and said that the people of this
Province got spoiled, and that public servants got spoiled. So the undoing
began.
This Budget 2013 is one of the most regressive Budgets this Province has
seen. After so much was promised, where did it go, Mr. Speaker? Where did our
prosperity go, the prosperity that belongs to the people of Newfoundland and
Labrador?
This time last year, the former Minister of Finance told reporters the day
before the Budget came down, "We could have done it in one year We could have
cut $258 million, and cut a lot of jobs. We decided that we're not going to do
it in one or two years. We decided that we're going to have a 10-year plan and
that we're going to get where we have to be over that time."
In a CBC
article last year, in an interview with the former Minister of
Finance, he "indicated that some savings could be realized through attrition.
He noted that 24 per cent of the core civil service will be eligible to retire
over the next five years. Other workers, he said, will depart of their own
accord for the private sector."
The minister said, "We will take advantage of those voluntary retirements and
those voluntary resignations in order to manage the size of our core public
service so that it's sustainable over the long term". He said, Mr. Speaker, that
we are not going to do it in one or two years, but over a period of ten years.
"In fact, the 10-year plan did not appear to be referenced at all in the
reams of budget documents that were tabled" last year. "It instead came up
when" the minister " was questioned by reporters.
"While there are currently more than 9,000 people employed in core government
departments," the minister said " there are no targets involved.
"Nobody is fired; nobody is let go,' he said. But we still will accomplish
our objective to reduce the size of the public service.'"
So, Mr. Speaker, what a difference a year makes. The loss of upwards of 2,000
public service jobs through layoffs, attrition, and leaving vacant positions
unfilled. The cancelling of the Family Violence Intervention Court, a court that
reduced recidivism in family violence by 75 per cent, that protected women,
children, and health offenders rehabilitate. It was a shining example across the
country.
The privatization of part of our basic education system through the
discontinuation of Adult Basic Education at the College of the North Atlantic;
cancelling of the ABE program at the Waterford Centre that provided total
support and wraparound services for people with complex mental issues, people
who could in no way pursue their education in a mainstream school setting,
cancelled without notice.
There are cuts so deep to the justice system that they threw the system into
chaos; cuts so deep to fish and wildlife enforcement that many parts of the
Province are covered by lone officers who are armed lone officers, working
alone and will have to go off by themselves far into the woods to pursue armed
poachers. Mr. Speaker, this is actually the case. This is madness, to send our
armed officers into the woods to apprehend groups of people who are armed, all
by themselves, Mr. Speaker. It is total madness.
There are cuts of $10 million to the Newfoundland and Labrador Housing
Corporation when we are in the middle of a housing crisis Province-wide with
sky-rocketing costs and 0 per cent vacancy rates, especially in the areas where
large-scale resource development is happening. This housing crisis is affecting
young people, seniors, young working families, and there is no relief in sight.
This government has washed its hands and said it is not our problem; the
market will take care of it. Well, Mr. Speaker, the market is not taking care of
it, and this government is not taking care of it. The cutting back of the
Residential Energy Efficiency Program by 50 per cent when worldwide governments
are helping their citizens make their homes as energy efficient as possible.
This is happening all over the world. This cut, Mr. Speaker, absolutely flies in
the face of logic.
There are no publicly administered and provided home care programs. Families
are struggling to care for their elderly. No real child care program. Families
once again are struggling trying to co-ordinate and pay for child care. More and
more of our seniors are slipping into poverty using food banks, spending 50 per
cent and more of their meagre incomes on housing.
Health care, the loss of 125 managers, and we do not yet know who or what
those jobs are and how it will affect the service to the public. The loss of
some of our youngest and our brightest, and our most committed and dedicated
young people working in the health and wellness promotion plan, gone without
notice, Mr. Speaker, absolutely gone. The cutting of hundreds of EAS jobs, and,
Mr. Speaker, there is more to come. This is only touching the tip of the
iceberg.
So, Mr. Speaker, what happened? What went wrong? Last year, the former
Minister of Finance said: the deficit was expected to be $258.4 million in
2012-2013. Only four months ago, when the Premier was pushing Muskrat Falls
through the House with no proper debate, ignoring our Public Utilities Board,
she said we were in great financial shape.
Only a few months ago, the Minister of Finance said our projected deficit was
going to be $1.6 billion. Then within a month of that, it was changed to $563.8
million. People joked that if they held off with the Budget a few more months,
then maybe we would actually be in a surplus at that rate. Really, Mr. Speaker,
it is not a laughing matter; these are serious issues.
Mr. Speaker, we have all heard these numbers, but really what do they mean?
Last week the Premier said that 100 people were still working at Whitbourne
youth detention facility and looking after only nine youth; she said it as an
accusation. Who exactly was she accusing? Her government has been at the helm
for ten years now. How long did her government let that go on? Why did she not
work with the unions and the public service to figure out a solution sooner?
On Monday, April 15, the Premier said she actually said this we cannot
continue to have waste and spending and extravagance and poor management. Who
has been wasting the money of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador? Who has
been spending? Where is the extravagance and poor management? Who has been
responsible for this? Who exactly is the Premier looking to blame? This
government has been the only ones at the helm for ten years. Maybe she is
blaming former Premier Danny Williams. Who knows? She must be blaming someone
because she said it has to stop.
For ten years now they have been running the show during years of the highest
revenues this Province has ever experienced. What have they done? They have now
ground to a halt. For ten years they have had no solid plan, no identifiable
economic policy, and no sustainability plan. Now, even in their cuts, there is
no plan. These cuts were done in panic. Even though they knew for years that
there would be a slowdown in oil production, even though that was so absolutely
clear, they were still in a panic. There was no plan for sustainability, no plan
for the cuts.
They say that these cuts were based on many core mandate reviews. Mr.
Speaker, we ask one more time, I ask again no core mandate review could
recommend some of these most reckless and ill-informed cuts. They undertook
these cuts that created chaos in the public service fundamental, essential
services needed for our communities to function. They have caused devastation in
the lives of the people who have lost their jobs. These are not just numbers of
positions, but people's lives with families and communities.
Removing upwards of 2,000 jobs from our economy will not stimulate
prosperity. The economic effects will be felt Province-wide. What is driving
this? What is happening? We are so resource rich, yet this government has
presented an austerity Budget.
Again, I must say, what kind of rabbit hole have we fallen into where
everything is not as it seems; where up is down and where prosperity is
austerity? We are seeing it time again. We are seeing it in Europe. We are
seeing it in Spain. We are seeing it in Greece. We are seeing leading economists
saying that austerity plans do not lead to prosperity.
They are not finished yet. They have told us that next year they are going
after Memorial University, they are going after the College of the North
Atlantic, they are going after the Regional Health Authorities, and they are
going after the unfunded pension liability, an unfunded pension liability that
lies at their feet because they are responsible for this.
Mr. Speaker, this government has proven that they cannot govern any more;
they have lost their way. They are dragging us kicking and screaming into a
multi-billion dollar megaproject that no one knows if we even need it and no one
knows how much it will really cost the people of Newfoundland and Labrador in
the end. Guaranteed, Mr. Speaker, we will be paying for it because no one else
will be paying for this.
They have sent out the message loud and clear to our young people who are
wanting to serve the public that Newfoundland and Labrador is now closed for
business. They have destabilized the public service. It will take in some cases
years for people to settle into their new positions and learn their jobs and
become proficient once again.
In a single day, Mr. Speaker, this government has put the kibosh on youth
retention. Once again, this Premier herself said it so succinctly: We cannot
continue to have waste and spending and extravagance and poor management.
No, they cannot. This government itself is admitting to poor management. They
have managed our wealth, the wealth of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador
they have managed our wealth poorly. Instead, they should have been focusing on
how to make life better for our people and their families. They should have been
providing economic stability and certainty. They should have been taking
practical steps to develop a full child care and early learning program that
actually meets the needs of working families.
They should have been establishing a publicly funded and administered home
care program so that families could work without trying to juggle the prices
that come with not sufficient help to care for an elderly parent. They should
have provided the home ownership assistance program that they promised in 2011,
which is not in this Budget, Mr. Speaker. They promised this. They promised the
people of Newfoundland and Labrador a home ownership assistance program in 2011
and it is still not in this Budget. We will not see it at all in this Budget
year. They should have been strengthening our public service rather than
throwing the lives of our public employees into a complete mess.
They say they have based these cuts on the core mandate reviews. I ask this
government once again to release these reviews, release the core mandate reviews
that these cuts were based on. Have they done an impact analysis on the effects
of the loss of all of these jobs on the economy? Have they done that? If so,
release it; release this economic impact analysis that they have done.
Like the ill-conceived cuts in Justice, did they really have a plan? Did they
really know what the results would be on the people of Newfoundland and Labrador
by these ill-conceived cuts?
If we had all-party standing legislative committees, perhaps I know that is
not where the Budget is set we would have been able to help this government
find its way, but we do not and they will not this government refuses. So they
have created this problem. Mr. Speaker, this government has created this problem
all on their own. They have run this Province, as stated by the Premier, with
waste and spending and extravagance and poor management.
They have mismanaged our fishery, a vital renewable resource that built this
Province. They have neglected rural Newfoundland and Labrador; instead, now
offering people money to actually leave it. They have not built a plan for
healthy economic diversity. They have been addicted to oil because they do not
know what else to do. We, as a Province, are not even getting the full benefit
we could be getting from that rich resource.
The role, Mr. Speaker, of government is to help us achieve our hopes and our
dreams, to help us as a people reach where we want to go, how we want to make
sure our resources are best used. This government is now failing the people of
Newfoundland and Labrador miserably. They have proven they can no longer do it.
They are done. Mr. Speaker, they are without direction; they are without plan.
They are in a panic mode. They have abandoned the people of this Province, and
this Budget shows it.
They cannot blame a previous Administration; they are the previous
Administration. They are driven by a poorly-defined ideology, not the intent to
do right by the people of this Province. They have proven to be reactionary, not
proactive, with the finances of the Province. To have relied almost entirely on
oil revenues has been fool-hearted and short-sighted. To plan the finances of
the Province based on the price of oil is akin to using an Ouija board for
budgeting.
There does not appear to be any vision for prosperity. They have mismanaged
any surplus we have had and have proven themselves to be very poor managers of
our money. In 2008, the start of the Budget consultations, the former Minister
of Finance, this is what he said, "After almost 50 years of paying out more than
we have taken in, we are now projecting a surplus for this year. Future success
depends on how responsibly we utilize these revenues today." Wise words, Mr.
Speaker wise words.
This Budget is not a Budget of prosperity, it is not a Budget of hope, and it
is not a Budget of a bright future.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER (Verge): Order, please!
The hon. the Minister of Natural Resources and Attorney General.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. MARSHALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
It is my pleasure to stand here in the House today and speak to this I
think it is the sub-amendment. Basically what has happened, this is the Budget
debate were the Minister of Finance has put forward a motion that this House
supports the budgetary policy of the government, the Leader of the Opposition
then introduced an amendment to that motion, and then there was a sub-amendment.
Now, the reason for the amendment and sub-amendment, of course, is that this
will give members of the House an opportunity to speak on more than one
occasion. We can now all speak on three occasions in this bill. Because it is
what is known as a money bill, we now have the opportunity to speak on topics
that we wish to speak about, including the Budget. We can digress from the
Budget, talk about things that are important to our district, and talk about
things that are of interest to us as MHAs.
Mr. Speaker, I think, since I have been in this House, this is the tenth
Budget in which I have had an opportunity to speak during the debate. I have
given five Budgets myself in my capacity as Minister of Finance, and I am
delighted now to have an opportunity to say a few words about the Budget that my
colleague, the Minister of Finance, has brought down a Budget that is a
responsible Budget, a Budget that is an appropriate Budget for the times that we
find ourselves in.
Mr. Speaker, I heard the Leader of the Opposition speak during his
opportunity I think he had three or four hours to speak on the Budget. One day
he kept saying we are spending too much money. Our government spent too much
money. We are spending too much money we are spending too much money. Then the
next day he criticized the government for reducing its spending. He attacked
every reduction in expenditures that the government made. What is it going to
be, Mr. Speaker? Are we going to be criticized for spending, but on the other
side, we are criticized for not spending. What is it going to be?
That is not a responsible position, Mr. Speaker. A responsible position is to
look at the economy of this Province and to do the right thing. Mr. Speaker, a
number of years ago when the world economy was in what was called the great
recession, what this government did is this government then stimulated the
economy by spending money. It spent money on programs, spent money on
infrastructure. It spent and it spent and it spent, and it did that in
co-operation with every other province in the country.
That originated in a meeting of national Finance Ministers, where the Finance
Ministers met and they said that every country has to stimulate their economies
to try to get the world economy to get out of the great recession that it was
in. Everyone agreed to do that, and we did that.
Mr. Speaker, what you have to do is that you cannot stimulate all the time.
You cannot stimulate every year. What you do is that when the economy is bad and
when you stimulate the economy to try to get it moving, when you stimulate the
economy to try to get some growth, you incur debt to do that. When the economy
comes back and when the economy starts to move now you are in a position to
reduce your spending to pay off the debt you took out when the economy was bad.
You have to do what is appropriate over the business cycle. You cannot spend
more money than is coming in year after year after year; no one can do that. The
result of that will be bankruptcy whether you are a family, whether you are a
business, whether you are a non-profit organization or whether you are a
provincial government.
Mr. Speaker, what our government did that previous governments had not done
is that we ran surpluses. We limited what we spent. We lived within our means.
The money that is coming in and the money that is available the money do not
belong to the government. The money is the people's money; it belongs to the
people of the Province. In my view, Mr. Speaker, the money should be spent on
the people of the Province because they are the people who own it.
Mr. Speaker, we are here to govern. We do not have a machine in the basement
of the Confederation Building or in the Sir Richard Squires Building that prints
money. Only the federal government can do that; only the central bankers can do
that. We have to operate this Province on the revenues that are coming into the
Province on taxation, on fees, on corporate taxation, and on royalties that are
paid for by the people of the Province. It is their money, and that is why I
have always said in this House we have to make sure we spend the money wisely.
Mr. Speaker, we have done that.
One of the things we did not do, and one of the reasons why the bond rating
agencies have been giving this government credit for prudent financial
management notwithstanding the comments coming from opposite that we overspend
or we spent too much money, or that the spending was unsustainable is that we
did not spend every cent coming in. We spent the bulk of it on the people
because it is their money and I do not apologize for that.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. MARSHALL: Mr. Speaker, the other thing we did is we did something
that other governments had failed to do. They failed to put any on the debt. In
other words they borrowed when times were tough; they borrowed when times were
good. They did not care. They kept racking up debt. They kept running deficits,
taking out debt to finance the deficit, taking out debt to build infrastructure.
We did it differently, Mr. Speaker. The money came in and we lived within our
means. The Auditor General has said, and it is in his report every year, that a
government that lives within its means is a government that is running a
surplus. This government, Mr. Speaker, ran six surpluses out of the last eight
years, unprecedented in the history of Newfoundland and Labrador.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. MARSHALL: Mr. Speaker, we also paid down debt. We also lowered taxes
to put money back in people's pockets. Instead of just taking, taking, taking
from the hard-working people of the Province all the time, we left money in
people's pockets so they could spend their money on things that are important to
them. Mr. Speaker, we do not apologize for that. We do not have the lowest taxes
in the country, and I do not want us to have the lowest taxes in the country,
but we have to be competitive. We have to be competitive with other
jurisdictions.
Mr. Speaker, one of the things that have happened here is that we are an
exporting Province. We export our products into the world economy. We do not
control the price of those products, and it has been that way since the first
settlers came here to fish years and years ago. The fish is sold out into the
world market. It is a commodity.
The forestry, our lumber, the pulp and paper, and the newsprint are sold out
into the world economy. It is a commodity. We do not control the price, we are
price takers. Our agricultural products, our lumber, the iron ore from Bell
Island originally and now from Labrador, and nickel, we do not control the
market. It is a global economy and we are price takers.
What happened, Mr. Speaker, is that the global economy turned. Things do not
stay the same. The global economy changed, and, Mr. Speaker, we have to change
with it. We all know that when things are going good, they are not going to be
good forever.
One of the things I used to say is, look out when things are going good for a
long period of time because at some point you are going to get it right between
the eyes. For the same reason, when things are going bad it is important that we
not give up hope because when things are going bad, things are going to change
again. Things will get better.
We have to govern our economy in accordance with good economic policy. That
is what we have to do. When the economy was bad, we stimulated the economy. Mr.
Speaker, this is where, when I look at the ads that NAPE is running on TV. They
are saying, how come there have to be cuts in government spending when the
economy is strong? Well, there is a darn good reason for that. There is a
difference between the economy and the fiscal situation of the Province. There
is a major difference.
If you look at our economy, if we look at that first of all, there are
different parts to the economy. There is the investment sector, there is the
consumer sector, there is the government sector, and there is the export sector.
They are the four areas. So let's look at them.
In the investment sector, we are booming. We have businesses making capital
investments. We have people building buildings. You cannot go anywhere without
seeing condominiums go up and apartment buildings go up, all over the place. We
have Vale. There are 5,000 people working at Vale in that project. You have
people working at Bull Arm now with the Hebron Project. You have people working
on the Muskrat Falls Project.
Just listen, Mr. Speaker. There are more jobs being created in this Province
than at any time in our history. That is incredible. Who would have thought that
today? When our government got into power ten years ago, who would have thought
that nine or ten years later we would be creating more jobs in Newfoundland and
Labrador than at any time in our history?
The other thing that is happening is the jobs are well paid. Mr. Speaker,
average weekly wages in this Province are for the first time in our history
higher than the Canadian average. The growth in wages is second only to Alberta
in terms of the rate of growth. So we have more people working and they are
getting paid high salaries.
Where do we see the effects of that? We see the effects of that in housing
starts. Who could believe it, after all these years of all these homes being
built, last year another record in housing starts in this Province? Last year in
this Province retail sales were very high. Last year auto sales, Mr. Speaker,
was the highest ever in Newfoundland and Labrador. It is because people have
money in their pockets and people are working.
You have the business sector booming, you have the consumer sector booming.
If more people are working and they are making more money, and more businesses
in the Province are selling more goods, selling more trucks, selling more retail
items, obviously they are making money. If they are making money they are going
to pay revenues in the form of personal income taxes and in the form of
corporate income taxes to the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. Those
parts of the economy are doing well. Money is coming into the government to
enable the government to spend money on the people of the Province on health
care and education and things that are important to the people of the Province.
Mr. Speaker, the wealthiest part of our economy is the export sector. It is
the oil and gas industry. Not that we are too reliant on oil. That is the
biggest part of the economy. We cannot do it based on wood pellets. We are going
to try, but it is oil that has been giving the wealth. It is the minerals that
have been giving the wealth because of demand coming from places like China, and
coming from places like India, and coming from places in other parts of the
world.
The demand for the product was driving up the price of the product. The price
of the product now is driving up profits being made by the business sector;
therefore, they would pay more royalties to the Government of Newfoundland and
Labrador. They would pay more taxes to the Government of Newfoundland and
Labrador and those revenues were taken to do the things that we could do; to do
things like the insulin pumps, to build new schools, to build new roads, to
build new ferries. That is where it came from, but unfortunately the economy has
changed. The world economy has changed.
There is a banking crisis in Europe. There is a housing crisis and a debt
crisis in the United States. Those economies are stagnant. As a result of that,
there is less demand coming out of Europe, less demand coming out of the US for
products in China, for products in India. Their needs and their demands for the
commodities that we provide the oil, nickel, iron ore is less demand. Less
demand for our products, lower price for our products. Lower price for our
products, less royalties come into our Treasury, less corporate taxes come into
our Treasury. It is very simple.
Some parts of our economy are going very well. There are lots of jobs being
created, lots of opportunity for the people here, but what has happened is
because of the export sector, less revenue is coming into the Province. We have
to do what anybody has to do when the revenue that they are earning drops.
Circumstances have changed. The world economy changed. Demand for our products
is lower. The price of our products is lower. Money coming into us was lower. So
we have to live within our means.
Like any family, if your revenue drops, your expenditures have to drop, like
any organization, like any business. It is no different for our government. We
are not immune to it. We are not immune to circumstances changing in the world
and we have to adapt to them. We have to live within our means, and that means
reducing our expenditures. We do not like doing it. We know the pain it causes.
When revenues are coming in and government introduces a new program, what has
to happen? What government does is provide services to its people, and to
provide services you have to hire people to provide those services. Mr. Speaker,
when the opposite happens, when revenues drop and you cannot offer all of those
services, then unfortunately people lose their jobs. That is very, very
unfortunate. We know how tough it is on those who do.
It was interesting, Mr. Speaker, as I noticed people commenting on the
Budget, a lot of people said the same thing. A lot people said: Yes, you have to
cut your spending. We know you have to eliminate that deficit. You cannot have a
deficit every year. If you are having a deficit you now have to take steps to
get rid of that deficit, which means you either reduce your spending or you
raise your taxes, or you borrow, which is madness.
Mr. Speaker, everyone said the same thing. They all said: Yes, you have to
reduce your spending, we know that, but don't cut us. Don't cut the things that
we love. That is the problem. Tough decisions have to be made. Responsible
decisions have to be made. If we do what is right now we will get our financial
system back in order, and I know there is a projection by the minister that we
will get there in a couple of years. Then we will be able to get on with
continuing to pay down debt and continue to make investments.
Mr. Speaker, there is also a difference I hear people saying: Oh, my God,
you should not spend the money. You should not have cut that; you should cut
Muskrat Falls and then you would have a surplus.
That is the dumbest thing I think anybody in this Province has ever said. We
know that the investment in Muskrat Falls does not go on the income statement as
an expense; it is an investment. It is an investment that will come back to the
people of the Province many times over. We will get our money back. Not only
will we get our money back, it will provide the people of the Province with low
energy prices, stable energy prices, which is the whole reason for the
investment.
Mr. Speaker, Muskrat Falls was not an investment to export power to the rest
of the world. Muskrat Falls is an investment for the people of this Province so
the people of this Province will have stable, steady, reliable energy for the
next fifty, sixty years, until the end of time. At least our people will be
protected in that way. That was the advantage there.
I find this absolutely amazing that people would criticize the investment
that this government is going to make to protect the workers at the pulp and
paper mill in Corner Brook, to protect the pensioners who used to work at the
pulp and paper mill in Corner Brook. We stand with those people, Mr. Speaker. We
are proud to stand with this mill no matter what is said by certain people.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. MARSHALL: Can you imagine if that mill went down? Can you imagine the
harshness and the impact that would have on those pensioners? With an unfunded
pension liability, their pensions would be reduced by 25 per cent or 30 per
cent. Can you imagine the impact, the devastation that would have on those
families?
We are standing with the paper mill because we have a belief and a
recognition that we are not talking about saving one plant. We are not talking
about saving one business. We are talking about saving a whole forestry industry
which is all interconnected, the pulp and paper mill with the integrated saw
mill operations. They are all interconnected.
The pulp and paper company, the logs that come into that company, the sawlogs
go to the sawmills where they are harvested into lumber. There is some good news
happening there; the lumber prices are up. The sawmills, of course, with their
lumber, the pulp logs, they transfer to the newsprint mill. The waste from the
sawmilling operation, the bark, the chips, and the shavings also go to the pulp
and paper company. That provides another stream of revenue for the integrated
sawmills that helps keep them operating.
I was told by my officials that if the mill went down the sawmill operators
in Central Newfoundland would go down within a month. Mr. Speaker, we are going
to stand by that industry. We are going to invest in that industry with
good-paying jobs for the people who work there. We are not going to abandon it
like others might suggest.
I am not talking about the Official Opposition when I say it. They have stood
with us, they have co-operated with us, and they will stand with us in support
for the workers and the pensioners and the people who are involved in the
forestry industry in Newfoundland. We are not going to let them down. We are
going to stand with them, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
I recognize the Leader of the Official Opposition.
MR. BALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
This is my second time to be able to stand and speak to Budget 2013. As the
minister mentioned in his speech just a few minutes ago, I spoke at length about
ten days ago, about three hours, on the Budget Speech.
Right now, if we just go back and review the numbers that were given in this
year's Budget, the total revenue for 2013-2014 is a total of $7 billion. We are
anticipating or expecting or forecasting a $563 million deficit for this year,
with net expenses to be $7.6 billion, Mr. Speaker.
In the Budget outlook it also forecasts for 2014-2015, where revenue actually
will decrease again, which is about $6.9 billion. Then the net expenses for next
year will be about $7.6 billion, with a surplus of $650 million.
Mr. Speaker, in the third year, which is part of the Sustainability Plan that
has been mentioned by this government, in 2015-2016 it is $7.8 billion in
revenue, with net expenses of $7.6 billion, and then forecasted to return to a
surplus of $230 million.
Mr. Speaker, as we know, over the last few years, even though those forecasts
are put in place and we see a three-year forecast here, very rarely has this
government ever met any of those forecasts. Indeed, all of this has to do with
the pricing of commodities around oil primarily, but sometimes affected by
mining as well. It is very difficult, as I have said many, many times just the
way oil is priced and how it is impacted by currency, it is very difficult to
make long-term forecasts.
Mr. Speaker, I guess I want to respond to some of the comments that were made
by the minister just a few minutes ago, some comments that I made about a week
ago in this House about where there were some accusations of me saying that we
spent too much money or overspending by this government.
I will qualify that by saying there is no question that those warnings were
put out there by many people, not just me as the Leader of the Official
Opposition, there were many people in this Province. I even mentioned last week
about Scotiabank and their own economist who was used to create this year's
Budget who they brought in for a period of time to help with putting Budget 2013
in place, Dr. Wade Locke. He was actually sending warnings, as were other
economists across the country. You had people with the various editorial boards.
Many, many people had sent warnings and said that we have to get the spending
of this government under control. It was not just about the overspending; it was
about how you spent and the priority of spending. There was no point if you were
just going to go out and spend money and then the positions you create or the
services you put in place are not affordable.
The Adult Dental Program is a perfect example of that. We put that program in
place, it lasted one year, there was no planning, and the next year, what had to
happen? Well, it was ratcheted back, I say, Mr. Speaker. It is about the
priority of spending and when you make a decision to spend, is the money there
to make that program sustainable into the future? It is about creating the
long-term plan for that spending. So when we make decisions, as I say, do we
have the money there and do we know with certainty that money is available in
the long term?
Mr. Speaker, as I said, it is about the commitments that we make, if we can
afford them, and if the money is going to be in place to sustain those programs
well into the future. We found that out this year, of course, now when we have
had to really cut many of our employees in the public sector as a result of not
planning for those positions for the long term.
Mr. Speaker, I do want to address some of the comments about some of the
projects and some of the money that has been spent to create programs by this
government. There is always the accusation when you go back to past
Administrations and why things were not in place, why other people had to go and
borrow, and why there was less done. I will say, if people go back in and take a
look at the history, there are surpluses, but they were smaller surpluses, I
would add.
I can tell you, if you look at the Budgets of the past Administrations, there
was not a lot of money available. We have seen Budgets of $4 billion and less,
when you look at revenue streams now at $7 billion and more. It is quite a
difference. The environment of putting a Budget in place prior to 2003 was quite
different. It was a very different environment.
What that government did, I will say, is that they went out and negotiated
very successfully with mining companies like Vale, Inco at the time. They
successfully negotiated with and created Hibernia, and that was based on, I will
say, successive governments. Many people had their hand in that, even going back
into the 1980s, of making Hibernia the success that it is. The deals were signed
by Liberal governments. Terra Nova is another example. Terra Nova is a great
example and it is actually producing a lot of revenue for our economy today. Of
course, we also have White Rose. We have seen extensions, but without the
negotiations, without those projects put in place in the beginning from 2003 to
where we are today, we would not have the money to spend. We would still be
dealing with $4 billion budgets.
I challenge this government, how would you respond to a $4 billion budget if
you did not have those revenue lines that were negotiated by other
Administrations? Actually, that was part of the inheritance. There was no
question there was a lot of work that had to be done.
I heard a member opposite today talk about no hospitals in the Province, or
where were the hospitals? I can tell you there were lots of hospitals that were
built in this Province and a lot of schools that were built in this Province
before 2003. As a matter of fact, if you go back in history and look in history,
there was quite a bit of work that was done in this Province in the 1960s. When
you look at things like the university, when you look at vocational schools and
a lot of the other programs and buildings that were put in place, they were not
put in place by this government, Mr. Speaker. It took successive governments to
do that work.
Mr. Speaker, I want to respond for just a few minutes to the Corner Brook
Pulp and Paper situation in Corner Brook. I have to say, it was disturbing to
see in The Western Star , which is a local newspaper in Corner
Brook, this week I will read this like it is, so people understand that this
is not just Opposition out there complaining about this.
This is an interview that was done by the Minister of Health and Community
Services. "She said while some political parties criticize the province's
$90-million pledge to the paper mill and would rather see it collapse, the
government doesn't agree." Mr. Speaker, I am going to tell you, I take offence
to that. I really do, because it was not a fair statement.
The minister made it quite clear, political parties and made a deliberate
attempt, I would say, Mr. Speaker, not to tell the full story. I think people on
the West Coast, in particular the people in Corner Brook and the people in my
community of Deer Lake and people in Central Newfoundland I have spoken at
great length, and there was no question across this Province. There was a
backlash about how we should spend this $90 million. It was not, I would say if
you look at most of the polling across the Province, especially in the
environment of this latest Budget, in this 2013 Budget. A lot of people had
concerns where this money would be spent and how it would be spent.
Many people came to me in my district and said: You can't be serious, Dwight,
that you would actually support giving Corner Brook Pulp and Paper $90 million
in a loan when we are seeing public sector employees being laid off, when we are
seeing services cut across the Province.
Even on Saturday night at an event, I went through great length of explaining
to the people in that room why it is I would be comfortable with the $90 million
loan. I made it quite clear the money needed to be protected. There needed to be
a repayment provision put in place. There needed to be security put in place.
We even went out there and said security like Deer Lake Power is something
that would need to be considered. Land, for instance, in communities would be
something that needed to be considered. We are not here to say that we should be
willy-nilly, taking a $90 million cheque and just throwing it at a company like
Corner Brook Pulp and Paper. It is not a company, I say, Mr. Speaker. Indeed, it
is a forestry industry.
As the Minister of Natural Resources just clearly said, what we are doing
here, or what government wants to do here and I am not the one, as Leader of
the Opposition, who should be standing here and supporting a government
investment into the forestry industry. I can tell you right now, when I see
where there is an opportunity, when I see this government trying to do the right
thing for an industry, well, I am going to stand up and support it because that
is how I feel. I take offence to this because there was an opportunity to tell
the story like it was. We are not one of those people. If there is an
opportunity there to do something right for the forestry industry, well then we
will support it.
I will say we need to get the loan repayment conditions clarified. We need to
make sure it is secure. We need to make sure we have the proper security so that
we can take it back in case there is a default position, and we need to make
sure there is infrastructure put in place in that mill. That is an old mill.
That mill is very old and it is quite costly to operate.
It is important that if we are going to put a sustainable and a viable mill
in place, we need investment and infrastructure in that mill, I say, Mr.
Speaker. We have employees and retirees throughout this Province who contribute
a lot of money to the economy on the West Coast, and not only the West Coast.
The minister spoke earlier about car sales, for instance. Well, I can tell
you a lot of those cars are bought by retirees and employees with Corner Brook
Pulp and Paper, or Deer Lake Power, or in some of the integrated sawmills with
somebody attached to the forestry industry across this Province. They make those
purchases. They are making decisions to renovate their houses and make other
purchases, if it is recreational or otherwise. It is part of what happens.
I am not at all interested in seeing laid off workers from a mill in Corner
Brook go away or be taking a plane out of Deer lake and end up in Fort McMurray
looking for work. That is not what this is all about. We have to support
industry but we have to make sure that we protect our assets, which includes our
financial assets.
Mr. Speaker, that is why I take offence to some of the comments that have
been made here. We are indeed concerned and protecting the taxpayers' money. We
do see there is an opportunity here to make sure that industry is viable and
sustainable for the long haul, and if by chance it does not happen, the money is
protected. As a default, the security is in place. Our money is protected and we
could get assets of Corner Brook Pulp and Paper back, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, as I said, that is the position we take on Corner Brook Pulp and
Paper. It is a significant investment as I know, as you know. It is hard; it is
often difficult to explain that in the current situation. On one hand here we
have an industry that if it was to collapse, there would be well over 1,000
people who would be out of work and that industry would be gone forever, Mr.
Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I will move on and speak to some of the other issues that I see
coming out of Budget 2013. I want to speak just for a minutes about the
so-called 10-Year Sustainability Plan that was put in place. As I read through
the 10-Year Sustainability Plan I will say when you get to 2013, you look at
putting measures in place for deficit reduction. Then you look at 2014, where we
would see a review of Memorial University, the College of the North Atlantic,
regional health authorities and the unfunded pension liabilities, and then next
year where we would return to surplus. Then in year four to ten we would see a
continued focus on innovation, economic diversification and debt reduction.
When you get past year four, this 10-Year Sustainability Plan I will say, Mr.
Speaker, really lacks detail. I know it can be very difficult sometimes to put
yourself out there four or five year's time, but when you look at year four,
that is not that far away. If we are going to be innovative and use our
creativity to bring industry to this Province, I am going to say, Mr. Speaker,
that has to happen right now. I really do not see, as I read through this
document here, as I look through this document, where there are any specific
examples of how this could happen.
I will give you an example with the College of the North Atlantic. I will go
back to an example that I have heard, I know some members of the House of
Assembly have used. This is with the electronics program at the College of the
North Atlantic. I would agree right now, that the numbers in that particular
program are down. There has been no marketing done around that program. All of
the students who come out of that program, the electronics program at the
college in Corner Brook, they all get work. They end up working with companies
like Nalcor and with NAV CANADA.
What I found alarming with all of this, what I found alarming and disturbing,
actually, is that there has never been a meeting. There was no consultation at
all with the college on how you could fix that program and on how you could get
the enrolment up to twenty students a year and have sixty students in that
class. The success is there. You have companies who actually come in and hire
those people right from their classes. As a matter of fact, I have attended
graduation ceremonies at the college when these students are not even there. Do
you know why they are not there, Mr. Speaker? They are already gone to work.
It is not only the electronics program, I say, Mr. Speaker. There were lots
of examples through the college system. I believe if we sat down, if we took the
administrators from the college and even the instructors aside and said: How can
we fix those challenges? How can we fix that? That is what the dialogue should
have been. That is what the conversation should have been, with the people who
are actually delivering those programs. It did not happen. How can you be
actually, truly innovative and creative if you refuse to talk to the people who
are engaged in the system? You cannot do it.
There has been letter after letter that has come from people around to the
Premier, I say. Members opposite are saying: Well, we are not getting those.
Well, I can assure you, and I have a file up in the office upstairs that I can
guarantee you is growing. These are just letters that are coming in. These are
not including the e-mails. There are literally thousands of e-mails that have
come in.
MR. LANE: Tens of thousands.
MR. BALL: No, I am not going to say tens of thousands, I say to the
Member for Mount Pearl South. It is not tens of thousands, because as you know
there are not tens of thousands of students in the programs. I can guarantee you
there are tens of thousands of people impacted by this.
I can give you lots of good examples of families across this Province who are
being impacted by this. I can give you examples of where mothers have gone back
to school and now they have come off social services income. Now they are out
there working. They are out there paying taxes. They are contributing, and they
are happy and proud to do so. The impact that is having on their own children, I
say, and in their own communities, Mr. Speaker; their own children right now
feel like they have been taken out of a trap and now they are ending up in
post-secondary education. There are a lot of good news stories, Mr. Speaker.
What needed to happen was there needed to be a dialogue where you would
engage those very people who were involved with the College of the North
Atlantic. Then, I believe, with that level of engagement, challenge the
instructors and challenge the people who were involved in the system. Show us.
Help us find solutions. That is what a proper review would have done. That is
how a proper review should have been done, I say, Mr. Speaker. It did not happen
in this particular case, and now what we are seeing is programs cut from the
College of the North Atlantic across this Province.
So, Mr. Speaker, another area that I spoke at great length in the last few
weeks and anybody who knows my background, I am certainly not someone that has
been involved in the education system around the Province. I am not a teacher,
not a principal, and I have not sat on a school council. I have done my
volunteer time in schools, talking to many classes, including JA, for many, many
years, and talking about business, talking about health care, and I have always
enjoyed going into classrooms.
There are a lot of members opposite, however, who have been involved in our
education system, directly involved in our education system, either by being
teachers or by being principals, or maybe even some in the administration.
Certainly, lots of people have been more directly involved with education than I
would have been. I think if you really sat down privately, in their own history,
in their past, the best decision that those educators made in their days of
working in school were made when they brought people in, when they brought
families in, when they brought students in, and what did they do? When they
brought people in and they actually sat down and they consulted with them
which brings me to, of course, school board amalgamation.
If you go back over the history of education in our Province, if you go right
back to Term 17 in 1949 as part of the Confederation with Canada. That was a put
there for a reason. Even the people of the time, when we were about to enter
Confederation, education was an extremely important element of what we would do
as a Province in Canada.
In the 1960s I was not very old then I do understand that in the 1960s
there was actually a Royal Commission put in place. There was a Royal Commission
put in place because people were feeling that we had to change our education
system. Something needed to happen. So, in the 1960s they put a Royal Commission
in place to come back with recommendations on how we should change our education
system, what the future of education should be, how would it look. Well, there
were a number of recommendations that came out of that, as you know, and from
that is where we got what has become known in our Province for many, many years,
which was a denominational school system.
For many, many years, that system worked. We had the direct involvement, of
course, of many churches around the Province. As a result of that commission in
the 1960s, we had, as I said, the interdenominational system. Lab