PDF Version

April 17, 2018

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS

Vol. XLVIII No. 8

The

House met at 1:30 p.m.

MR. SPEAKER (Trimper):

Order, please!

Admit

strangers.

In the

public gallery today I would like to welcome Mr. Jim Crockwell, Ms. Nicole

McDonald and Ms. Nehal Alsikh who will be mentioned in a Member's statement

today.

A very

big welcome to you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

Statements by

Members

MR. SPEAKER:

Today we will hear Members'

statements for the Districts of Baie Verte - Green Bay, Windsor Lake, Lewisporte

- Twillingate, Fogo Island - Cape Freels and Fortune Bay - Cape La Hune.

The hon.

Member for Baie Verte - Green Bay.

MR. WARR:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, I rise to acknowledge another successful year of play in the Central

Senior Men's Recreation Hockey League. The league this year consisted of five

teams representing the town of Exploits, Lewisporte, Twillingate and two teams

from my district, Baie Verte and Springdale.

Mr.

Speaker, I had the opportunity to attend many of the games that were played in

my district. The matches were well attended, the fans enjoyed the atmosphere and

the level of play was spectacular. The players are all local to their respective

areas and made for an exciting brand of hockey.

After

winning the league championship the last two years, the Northeast Sabres from

Baie Verte once again claimed first place in the regular season but fell short

to their first round playoff opponents, the Twillingate Combines.

Springdale swept Exploits to set up a final against Twillingate.

In the

spirit of competition, Mr. Speaker, discussions took place with the MHA from

Lewisporte - Twillingate and myself which led me to this statement.

Being a

man of my word, I ask all hon. Members to join me in saluting the Twillingate

Combines of the 2018 Central Men's Recreation Hockey League Champions.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for the

District of Windsor Lake.

MS. C. BENNETT:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I stand

in this hon. House to recognize the amazing community associated with MacMorran

Community Centre. The staff and volunteers worked with Ms. Nehal Alshikh from

the Community Centre Alliance to host a very successful Multicultural Festival

on March 22 of this year.

The

centre was packed with neighbours and friends for an evening of sharing of

cultures – from the salsa and belly dancers, the Henna station, and of course

the wonderful Canadian and Ethnic Cuisine – all showcasing what makes the many

cultures in the community worth sharing.

The

community information kiosks, face painting and the wall of painted hands all

illustrated the richness of this community and neighbours willingness to learn

and share. The children, and adults, that attended the festival all left with

large smiles and with an even deeper appreciation for the fabric of the

community while building empathy for the horror that some members of that

community have experienced in other countries.

Nehal

said it best: “Sharing happiness is the best way to build a bridge between

people.”

The

neighbours, volunteers, staff and all involved in MacMorran Community Centre in

my district demonstrate every day values of compassion and understanding, an

example for all of us, Mr. Speaker.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for the

District of Lewisporte - Twillingate.

MR. D. BENNETT:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

And

thank you to the Member for Baie Verte - Green Bay for his kind words.

I rise

in this hon. House to recognize the Lewisporte Senior Lynx male basketball team.

After being granted a wild card berth to the provincial championships, the

Senior Lynx brought their talents to the court, and dominated their opponents

during round robin play, defeating Exploits Valley High, Elwood Collegiate and

St. Kevin's High.

Semi-final action seen the Senior Lynx playing Templeton Academy, where they won

with a score of 59-47. The final match was between two Central Newfoundland

teams, as Lewisporte faced Gander Collegiate. With only a one point lead going

into the fourth quarter, the Lynx came out with strong defence and great

shooting, finishing with a 78-67 win.

The

Senior Lynx teams is comprised of: Aaron Hayward, Reece Watton, Jordan Watkins,

Phillip Pardy, Nolan Humphries, Dante Mills, Andrew Welsh, Joey Mews, Caleb

Deering, Ian Wellon, Jonah Stead, Michael Hoffe, Brayden Hart, Michael Rideout

and coaching staff were Ed Mitchell, John Walsh and Emma Mitchell.

Mr.

Speaker, I ask all Members to join me in congratulating the Lewisporte Senior

Lynx on winning the 3A provincial basketball championships.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Fogo

Island - Cape Freels.

MR. BRAGG:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

With

this being volunteer appreciation week, I would like to relate a story of some

outstanding volunteers. Last week, my district was experiencing extremely high

destructive winds. Wesley Collins's house was severely damaged. All his shingles

on one side were completely blown off and scattered all over the ground.

Wesley

is not in good health, and physically unable to get up on his roof to repair it.

Moreover, he was not in a financial position to afford to purchase the new

materials needed for such a project.

When

word got out about Wesley's roof, people were very concerned and wanted to help.

Within 24 hours, 11 men from Hare Bay and other surrounding towns came together

to fix the problem. In addition, they took care of all the expenses at the local

hardware store, so he wouldn't have any financial burden.

I would

like to thank Randy, Lloyd, Ronald, Adam, Glen, Harvey, Todd, Gerald, Martin,

Terry, Dwayne and everyone else involved in this project.

Wesley

and his family are very humbled by this act of kindness, and hope these men

realize how much they are appreciated. What they did will never be forgotten.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for the

District of Fortune Bay - Cape La Hune.

MS. PERRY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise

in this hon. House to once again deliver accolades to my district's talented

participants in this year's Central Newfoundland Kiwanis Music Festival. Thanks

to our music instructors for their hard work and dedication that has supported

and nurtured our many shining musical artists.

Today,

I'd like to congratulate all the performers for their excellent results and

throw a bouquet out to our 2018 award winners. The Cole Award went to the Bay

d'Espoir Academy Triple Trio and the Howell Memorial Award was awarded to the

St. Ignatius Children's Choir.

Jessica

Willcott shone with the Cater Memorial Rose Bowl, Vocal Concert Group – 15 Years

and Over, Compositions by Canadian Composers and Concert Group, Concerto &

Complete Major Solo Works – 12 Years and Over. Brianna Hoskins was awarded the

Traditional Folk Song – 14 Years and Under, and Paige John won the award for

Sacred Music – 15 Years and Over.

Congratulations also to the Bay d'Espoir Academy High choir, recipient of the

coveted Adjudicator Award. Hats off to all the performers who absolutely shone

at the festival.

I ask

all Members of this hon. House to join me, along with your classmates, teachers

and community residents in extending congratulations to all participants. Thank

you for sharing your amazing gift of music.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Statements by Ministers.

Statements by

Ministers

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

MR. OSBORNE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It's a

pleasure to rise in the House today to celebrate and recognize the tireless work

of our province's volunteers. National Volunteer Week runs from April 15 to 21

and it is a time to thank the volunteers in our province for their contributions

to our communities.

From the

dedicated people who help our seniors to those working to welcome newcomers from

other countries, volunteers are essential to the province's continued social,

cultural and economic development.

Some

volunteers, including firefighters and search and rescue teams, work in

difficult and precarious circumstances, often helping others in what might be

their darkest hours.

Budget 2018 , we introduced a Search

and Rescue Volunteer Tax Credit that will allow eligible volunteers to claim a

$3,000 non-refundable provincial income tax credit starting January 1, 2019. Our

government will always seek opportunities to support those who spend their time

supporting others.

Mr.

Speaker, it is extraordinary that in our busy world so many people are still

willing to give so freely of their time. Volunteer Week is when we say thank you

to those who contribute and to celebrate the value of volunteering. I, along

with my hon. colleagues, thank them for their efforts.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Opposition House

Leader.

MR. HUTCHINGS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank

the minister for an advance copy of his statement. On behalf of the Official

Opposition caucus, I join with the minister in recognizing National Volunteer

Week and thank the thousands of volunteers who work tirelessly to support our

organizations in our communities all over our great province.

In this

province, we are fortunate to have volunteers who give their time to operate all

kinds of community organizations, school councils, recreation committees,

coaches, services for children and families, those who serve as volunteer

firefighters and on search and rescue teams and the list goes on.

The

minister spoke about a Search and Rescue Volunteer Tax Credit that does

recognize the commitment and dedication of our search and rescue volunteers and

the unselfish giving of their time supported by their families. I recognize the

many volunteers in this province and encourage them to continue serving our

communities as they are the fabric which binds our community and regions. Only

through their efforts are we the great Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for the

District of St. John's East - Quidi Vidi.

MS. MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

I thank

the minister for the advance copy of his statement and join with him in

celebrating the work of the province's legions of volunteers. Truly, volunteers

are the backbone of the community.

There

are few organizations or municipalities who could function without their

volunteers. Their contribution to social, cultural and economic development is

incalculable. Volunteers keep this province going.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Further statements by

ministers?

The hon.

the Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development.

MR. KIRBY:

Mr. Speaker, to increase

exposure to coding and participation in youth technology experience programs,

the provincial government announced $250,000 to support a partnership with

Brilliant Labs for students in our schools with hands-on participation in

science, technology, engineering and mathematics-focused activities.

addition to this new funding, the Department of Education and Early Childhood

Development is providing $150,000 aimed specifically at professional learning

and resources for schools, and the provision of two itinerant teaching units to

support Brilliant Labs work.

Mr.

Speaker, Brilliant Labs is an Atlantic Canadian organization that supports

coding, computational thinking and Maker Education in schools. This funding will

assist Brilliant Labs to provide educational technologies in Newfoundland and

Labrador such as interface equipment, sensors, programming languages and 3-D

printing. A long-term goal of Brilliant Labs is to engage more partners to reach

up to 45,000 students and more than 5,000 educators.

The

provincial government is committed to the advancement of technology in the

classroom. This partnership will give our students an opportunity to reach their

full potential – to become innovators, educators, researchers and leaders. We

want to develop creative problem solvers and entrepreneurs who continue to drive

innovative, leading-edge technology and make Newfoundland and Labrador a world

leader and a place to invest.

Mr.

Speaker, this partnership aligns with key initiatives of

The Way Forward , such as the Premier's Task Force on Improving

Educational Outcomes, the recently released Technology Sector Work Plan and the

Business Innovation Agenda.

During

yesterday's coding announcement at Elizabeth Park Elementary, myself and the

Minister of Tourism, Culture, Industry and Innovation, witnessed students

putting coding principles into action through a classroom demonstration. Seeing

these young people embrace new technology, and seeing that experience position

them for success in the future, all speaks to how our government is Building for

Our Future.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for the

District of Fortune Bay - Cape La Hune.

MS. PERRY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank

the minister for an advance copy of his statement. The announcement that coding

and technology will play a greater role in our education curriculum is something

that we are interested in learning more about. I'm also interested in learning

more about the partnership with Brilliant Labs.

Automation is one of the most prevalent factors that are cited to change the

landscape of the future economy. Many other jurisdictions have taken note of

this trend and have implemented coding curriculum for many years now with very

positive results. Providing our youth with a brighter future and the tools that

will lead them to greater opportunities is always a good thing.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for the

District of St. John's East - Quidi Vidi.

MS. MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

I, too,

thank the minister for the advance copy of his statement. I'm pleased the

department is investing directly to expand coding and technology instruction in

schools, something I have long supported. In 2014, I stood in this House with a

petition calling for more computer science courses and coding instruction in

schools.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MS. MICHAEL:

Our students need computer

literacy for their future employment and for our economy. I hope this

instruction, Mr. Speaker, will be universally available to all students.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Further statements by

ministers?

The hon.

the Minister of Advanced Education, Skills and Labour.

MR. HAWKINS:

Thank you.

Mr.

Speaker, as announced on April 5, applications are now being accepted for Summer

Student Employment Programs.

Budget 2018

provides $6.1 million to support youth employment and career-related activities,

helping youth build a brighter future right here at home. Included in this is

funding for two Summer Student Employment Programs, one for high school students

and another for post-secondary students.

These

programs enable young Newfoundlanders and Labradorians to learn and develop new

skills while making important connections with the local business community.

Applications for post-secondary students must be received by May 7. I am pleased

to inform my hon. colleagues that the wage subsidy for private sector employers

hiring post-secondary students has been raised to $5.60 per hour from the

original $5 per hour.

Applications for high school students must be received by May 22.

This

year we are again partnering with the Community Sector Council of Newfoundland

and Labrador to offer the AMPLIFY program, Assisting My Potential - Labour

Market Initiative for Youth. Launched last year as a pilot program, AMPLIFY

helped young youth gain work experience and participate in career development

and personal growth activities.

Through

the Cabinet Committee on Jobs, we also continue to work with industry partners

to expand the oil and gas, the agriculture, the aquaculture and technology

sectors by supporting career-development opportunities for youth. As part of

The Way Forward , we partnered with

these industries to promote economic growth and job creation, and a key part of

that work is exposing young people to opportunities they can use to build their

futures.

Budget 2018

provides $196,000 for a new Student Mentorship Program, which is supported by

federal funding, and will provide 25 youth with work experience in each of these

high-growth sectors for a total of 100 jobs. We are finalizing the details of

this new program and I anticipate inviting applications in the very near future.

I ask

all hon. colleagues to join me in encouraging employers and not-for-profit

organizations throughout the province to participate in these programs, helping

build the province's future workforce.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for the

District of Conception Bay South.

MR. PETTEN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank

the minister for the advance copy of his statement. The Summer Student

Employment Program is very important, as it provides young people with the

skills and abilities they will need for their future. It's a great networking

exercise and overall positive experience for students. It's also a great benefit

that this program provides to employers and especially to non-profit

organizations. There are untold mutual benefits that the program provides.

encourage all high school and post-secondary students who are interested to

apply for this program and I wish them nothing but the best in their future.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The Member for the District

of St. John's East - Quidi Vidi.

MS. MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

I thank

the minister for the advance copy of his statement. I'm pleased to join with him

in encouraging employers, business or not-for-profit, to get involved in this

program and hire a student. Students bring energy and enthusiasm to the

workplace and get much needed on-the-job experience and some cash in return.

I also

look forward to government developing a workable job strategy so these young

people will be able to find meaningful employment waiting for them in this

province when they get ready for fulltime employment.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Further statements by

ministers?

Oral

Questions.

Oral Questions

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Opposition House

Leader.

MR. HUTCHINGS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, it's been one year since the appointment of the Cabinet Committee on

Jobs and the Premier's promise of 14,000 person-years of employment annually.

I ask

the Premier: How many jobs have been created over the past year?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Well as

the Member opposite has mentioned about the Cabinet Committee on Jobs, it was a

priority for us, job creation in our province, there's no doubt. We've seen

unemployment numbers rise in Newfoundland and Labrador, primarily because of the

finalization of three megaprojects that we've seen in our province, Mr. Speaker.

So the

exact number per position that has been created in agriculture, Mr. Speaker, I

can't give you that exact number today. I will tell you, there are many people

looking at the agricultural industry and that area for future jobs, employment.

We've met with tech sector. We saw hundreds of people that stood up, less than

30 years old, interested in working in Newfoundland and Labrador, already

finding jobs here. Investments that we made in industries like Provincial

Airlines creating jobs, some 150 that have been added to the investment we've

made with them.

I can't

give you the exact number, but I can tell you what, we are creating jobs for

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Opposition House

Leader.

MR. HUTCHINGS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, instead of creating the environment to promote jobs, the Liberal's own

budget document shows that jobs are disappearing. From 2016-2022, 17,800 jobs

will vanish – that's according to your own documents.

Premier:

Are you still creating the economic environment to meet the projected job

creation that your government has laid out?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Absolutely, Mr. Speaker,

we're creating the environment. As a matter of fact, we fixed a lot of tough

environments that the Members opposite have left Newfoundlanders and

Labradorians – not just this government, but Newfoundlanders and Labradorians,

and that was very clear, Mr. Speaker.

With our

Way Forward in 2016, it was primarily

focused on job creation. That is the reason why we put in the Cabinet Committee

on Jobs. We are meeting sector by sector. We've already had meetings with

aquaculture. We're seeing significant investments come in to our province. I

mentioned earlier about agriculture. We've seen it with forestry, mining, tech

sector. The list goes on and on.

We are

committed to creating a better environment.

Advance 2030 is another good example

of making investments with industry, Mr. Speaker, to create employment for

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

Mr.

Speaker, we recognize that economic diversification is the future for job

creation, not just …

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Opposition House

Leader.

MR. HUTCHINGS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The

Premier needs to read Budget 2018: The

Economy , his own documentation on the economic indicators for the province,

Mr. Speaker. Unemployment continues to rise based on that document. Budget

documents show the general unemployment rate will be over 15 per cent by 2019.

Based on

your own information, how can your so-called

Way Forward strategy even been working?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yes,

I've read our budget, Mr. Speaker, and we put in place a very good forecast for

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. A seven-year forecast will get this province

back to surplus. Mr. Speaker, it was a seven-year journey that we put in place

in 2016 based on what we were left with in 2015.

Now the

Member opposite talks about looking at economic indicators, so I would encourage

him not to play politics with this but look at his own budget that he was part

of in 2015. Look at the economic indicators that he put out there to the people

in this province, Mr. Speaker. I will tell you, we have turned many of the bad

economic indicators that they posted in 2015. There's a lot of work being done.

There's a lot more work being done, but I can tell you this province will

continue to work.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Opposition House

Leader.

MR. HUTCHINGS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

encourage the Premier to go back and look at the economic indicators with our 10

years or 12 years of power and compare them to his. Do that any day, have a

look.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. HUTCHINGS:

Have a look, I'll say to the

Premier. Take a look.

Mr.

Speaker, the seven-year plan he refers to, the seven-year plan; Moody's and

other banking institutes have looked at that and they don't share the optimism

that he does and neither does the AG in 2017, I say to the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. HUTCHINGS:

Premier, your

Way Forward on aquaculture states you will generate 1,100

person-hours of employment based on your aquaculture growth targets, yet

aquaculture production and value actually declined in the province last year.

Can you

tell us how you plan to meet those job targets you promised in that particular

sector?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Mr. Speaker, (inaudible) the Member opposite just go with a

preamble when he

talked about comparing the last 12 years, from 2003 to 2015, to where we are

now.

Mr.

Speaker, their government that they refuse to even talk about had nearly 35 per

cent, 36 per cent of the revenue coming from oil and they forgot this – Mr.

Speaker, I would say they got a little lazy, to be honest with you, when you

look at economic diversification, where you would make investments to create

jobs for the future for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. What they did was

some-$25 billion over the 10-year period that they had an unprecedented number –

no other government in the history of this province which saw that kind of money

coming in.

Mr.

Speaker, we should not be in this position. I will tell you, their legacy is

higher electricity rates and Muskrat Falls.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Fortune Bay - Cape La Hune.

MS. PERRY:

Mr. Speaker, people were a

lot happier in the last decade than what they have been in the last two years.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MS. PERRY:

In budget '16, grants in the

Disability Policy Office were cut by $150,000. In budget '17, another $50,000

was cut, and in this year's recent budget another $75,000 in funding was

removed.

I ask

the minister: Why do you feel it is necessary to cut disability grants by

$275,000 since coming into office?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Children, Seniors and Social Development.

MS. DEMPSTER:

Mr. Speaker, there are not a

lot of things that leaves me speechless, but day after day when we come in this

House and they ask us what we're doing and talk about increased taxes and things

like that – and seem to have complete amnesia about the mismanagement for the

decade they were in power.

Mr.

Speaker, in the Disability Policy Office we are doing wonderful things for that

group of people, given the fiscal situation that we are in. We have things like

the Accessible Vehicle Funding Program, 350,000; the Accessible Taxi Program

that we give out $50,000 to a number of businesses around the province. We hear

back all the time about the wonderful benefits of that.

Mr.

Speaker, right now we are currently looking at a full new act around the

disabilities piece, engaging with stakeholders. Stay tuned for more information.

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for the

District of Fortune Bay - Cape La Hune.

MS. PERRY:

Minister, you've cut almost

$300,000 from inclusion grants, accessible transportation programs and capacity

grants. What do you say to those individuals and community partners who are

looking for funding, but cannot receive it because the Liberal government does

not consider it a priority?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Children, Seniors and Social Development.

MS. DEMPSTER:

Mr. Speaker, we are investing

more than $2 million into capacity, we are investing more than $1 million into

capacity grants and I could go on and on. What I will say is we have a plan in

The Way Forward that we are

following. We will not see another decade of mismanagement that's on the backs

of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians in this province like we've seen in the last

decade, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The

Member for Fortune Bay - Cape La Hune.

MS. PERRY: So

far The Way Forward has taken us 10

steps backwards.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MS. PERRY: In

March, the minister was quick to thank MusicNL for bringing CBC's Studio F back

to life; however, yesterday he said that the partnership has nothing to do with

the provincial government.

I ask the minister: Do you support the partnership with

MusicNL in the funding of CBC's Studio F?

MR. SPEAKER: The

Minister of Tourism, Culture, Industry and Innovation.

MR. MITCHELMORE:

Mr. Speaker, the question that's being asked is something that is with an

industry association that is completely independent of government and a public

broadcaster. She may want to ask the co-chair of MusicNL, Mr. Davis, about this

particular partnership and how they've entered into with the public broadcaster.

When it comes to supporting and advancing the music

industry and any partnership that will see the music industry in Newfoundland

and Labrador create jobs, create opportunities for export and development and

allow for musicians and others to progress, we certainly support that, Mr.

Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

I remind all Members that

this is called Oral Questions. I want to hear the questions and I want to hear

the answers. I will not tolerate interruptions of either.

Please

continue.

The hon.

the Member for Mount Pearl North.

MR. LESTER:

Mr. Speaker, the current

Liberal government has committed a massive handout of $40 million worth of tax

breaks to Canopy Growth, a Mainland marijuana company.

I ask

the minister: Will there be any additional financial commitments to this

company?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Tourism, Culture, Industry and Innovation.

MR. MITCHELMORE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

When it

comes to the supply of cannabis for Newfoundland and Labrador, once cannabis

becomes legal by the federal government and their policy shift, all provinces

and territories must ensure adequate supply. So for Newfoundland and Labrador,

given that we have no licensed suppliers here in the province, we had to ensure

that we secure a source of supply, and we entered into an agreement with Canopy,

which is going to lead to 145 jobs right here in this province for 20 years.

When the

Member opposite, the House Leader had asked about what are some of the things

that we're doing for job creation, this is something that's leading to job

creation. There's also going to be R & D investment and the company is going to

be putting in up to $55 million when it comes to investment here. We're not

providing financial dollars to the company.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Mount

Pearl North.

MR. LESTER:

Mr. Speaker, I would like

this question addressed: Will Canopy Growth, after being given $40 million of

Newfoundland taxpayers' money, be able to compete with local industry to apply

for additional money for any of the province's agricultural grants or subsidies?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Tourism, Culture, Industry and Innovation.

MR. MITCHELMORE:

I must clear the record, Mr.

Speaker, to the Member opposite because there are no tax dollars going into

Canopy Growth company. This is a deal that's being put into place that's going

to lead to 145 jobs for the province, the company is going to make an investment

and they can recoup partial investment through sales rebates that's made right

here in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Now, the

Minister of Fisheries and Land Resources has been very clear that cannabis

operations would not be eligible for grants under the programs that exist in

their department.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Mount

Pearl North.

MR. LESTER:

I do understand that it's not

actually a handout of $40 million but –

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. LESTER:

If we're forgoing income on

the future of tax breaks, that is a liability that we are bestowing on the

people of this province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. LESTER:

We're months away from the

legalization of weed in St. John's and a retail store downtown is already

running a contest for its customers stating: win free weed for a year.

Apparently, they're convinced that they will be getting a licence from

government.

Can the

minister confirm?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Tourism, Culture, Industry and Innovation.

MR. MITCHELMORE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

When it

comes to the Canopy Growth deal itself, one of the important things – and I'm

very pleased that the Member opposite recognizes now that there are not tax

dollars going into this operation, as they've been misreporting time and time

again. Actually, what's going to happen with the Canopy deal itself, we're going

to see tens of millions of dollars returned to the province through job numbers,

through salary dollars, through taxation that is going to lead to economic

development and diversification.

The NLC,

as well, has just entered into a request for information to look at other supply

opportunities for other suppliers across Newfoundland and Labrador. We see where

there are a lot of people who are interested in supply, and that we will be

ready in Newfoundland and Labrador.

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Mount

Pearl North.

MR. LESTER:

I ask the minister: Wouldn't marijuana stores be held to the same standards

employed around the sale of alcohol? Would a government-approved marijuana store

be permitted to give away a year's worth of free weed to a customer, recognizing

that NLC cannot do so with alcohol?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Tourism, Culture, Industry and Innovation.

MR. MITCHELMORE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

When it

comes to compliance of what is permissible and what is not, we will certainly be

looking into any particular matter. If something is not within the realm of the

law or the regulations, certainly the Minister of Justice, through the NLC who

is actually going to be dealing with the retail of cannabis here in this

province, they will certainly use their enforcement officers and ensure

compliance, as all retailers are ensured to do when it comes to the sale of

alcohol.

We take

this matter very seriously as a province when it comes to compliance here in

Newfoundland and Labrador and we certainly will with cannabis as well.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Mount

Pearl North.

MR. LESTER:

Considering that we're less than three months away, I'm pretty sure we should

have these details finalized by now.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. LESTER:

In Estimates last night, we

heard that there is no additional support for the Mistaken Point UNESCO site,

despite the fact that there are mandated requirements under the UNESCO

management plan to be met to maintain our UNESCO status. And there are

tremendous economic opportunities for the Southern Avalon.

This is

our only provincially UNESCO managed site. Why is there a lack of support for

this project?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Fisheries and Land Resources.

MR. BYRNE:

Oh no, Mr. Speaker, there's

no lack of provincial support for this particular site. In fact, we are very

keen on developing Mistaken Point within the structure and the guidelines of the

application that was brought forward by their administration, the former

administration. Which reflected on the fact that this is a very, very special

site, a very important conservation location that needs to be protected while at

the same time opportunities promoted to be able to encourage visitation.

Mr.

Speaker, we're working now with local community groups, with assembling an

advisory committee. We're working on a fee structure which we spoke about last

night in Estimates.

Before I

sit down, I do want to take an opportunity to thank the hon. Members opposite

for a fantastic Estimates session last night. We really did get a lot of

information on the floor of the House of Assembly.

Thank

you very much, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The Member for Mount Pearl

North.

MR. LESTER:

I'd also like to express my

gratitude to the Member opposite.

Mr.

Speaker, the Mistaken Point Cape Race Heritage is a volunteer organization that

operates the

interpretation centre in Portugal Cove South, the gateway for

tourists from around the world to visit this site. This group wrote the minister

last November looking for help and were never responded to.

Is this

acceptable for volunteers who support the only provincially managed UNESCO site,

bearing in mind that this site will be open to the public in less than four

weeks?

MR. SPEAKER:

The Minister of Fisheries and

Land Resources.

MR. BYRNE:

Mr. Speaker, our protected

areas – we have been in communication with the various stakeholder groups. Yes,

there are several issues that need to be resolved – such as the advisory

committee, such as the fee structure – to be able to adequately maintain the

facilities, promote the facilities and care for the facilities. I do want to say

how much I appreciate.

Mr.

Speaker, the hon. Member opposite gives me a wonderful opportunity to stand on

my feet and express how this government is supporting tourism and our protected

areas. We are doing a fantastic job. I appreciate the hon. Member for his

support for all that we do in this House.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The Member for Mount Pearl

North.

MR. LESTER:

Mr. Speaker, this site is

provincially managed and, once again, four weeks from opening its doors and it's

still without a stable financial plan. This organization has run deficits in the

last two years struggling to operate the UNESCO site gateway.

Budget 2016 your government decided

that you were going to charge a fee for entrance and put it into general

revenues with no commitment to provide additional support for this site. We

cannot use this UNESCO site as a cash cow; this is something we need to develop

as a business.

Is this

still the plan for 2018?

MR. SPEAKER:

The Minister of Fisheries and

Land Resources.

MR. BYRNE:

Mr. Speaker, we value this

site and we are working with the stakeholders to ensure the site is not only

protected, but visitation is enhanced. That we ensure the opportunity for not

only local members of the community to manage and to promote its conservation,

but also to promote visitation to the site is indeed encouraged.

MR. JOYCE:

(Inaudible.)

MR. BYRNE:

And as the hon. member, the

Minister of Municipal Affairs and Environment points out, those 16 years of age

and under are admitted free of charge.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. BYRNE:

Now, Mr. Speaker, that's

promoting our young people to take advantage of all that Newfoundland and

Labrador, our tremendous natural heritage, that –

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please.

MR. BYRNE:

– all of our young people can take advantage of.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Mount

Pearl North.

MR. LESTER:

I do appreciate the

preliminary discussions and plans, but last year, Mr. Speaker, volunteers at the

interpretation centre had to sell raffle tickets, keep a donation jar on the

counter, just to keep the centre open. Again last week, in light of

unsustainable funds, the volunteers had to put off a supper to try and raise the

money to operate this season.

Minister, do you think this is acceptable for a provincially managed, globally

recognized, UNESCO Heritage Site, and how does this action align with our

province's tourism plan?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Fisheries and Land Resources.

MR. BYRNE:

So, Mr. Speaker, there are

two different entities that are involved here. One is the

interpretation centre.

One is the (inaudible) organization on the ground in the community itself. There

is provincial funding that is going to this site, but I will point out a very

important point, fact.

When the

previous administration submitted the plan, there was very little foundation

that was laid above and beyond what we installed, what we put in place. Yes, we

are working with the advisory committees. We are establishing an advisory

committee. We're working with the local community groups to ensure that the

facility is not only well run but well financed. They would like to establish a

fee structure themselves. They want to complement it with any provincial fee

structure so that there's an adequate revenue stream.

Mr.

Speaker, Mistaken Point, make no mistake, will continue to be a treasure for

Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Mount

Pearl North.

MR. LESTER:

I'm still confused. I can't see where the breakdown is. We're four weeks away

from opening the doors and they still don't know if they're going to be able to

turn the lights on, or keep the lights on. In order for United Nations status

for World Heritage designation to be maintained, specific requirements are to be

met under an approved management plan.

Can you

assure that all measures are up to date and that the designation is not in

question?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Fisheries and Land Resources.

MR. BYRNE:

Yes, Mr. Speaker, we can

assure that. In fact, we'll be hiring soon – not only students to be able to

ensure the facility is properly maintained over the summer months, a wonderful

opportunity for students – but we have staff on site. We'll make sure this site

is operating properly, and we do recognize it does require provincial investment

and we are prepared to make that investment.

I will

remind the hon. Member opposite, he may want to look to the front bench of his

own caucus, his own colleagues, because the Member for Ferryland was just on

promoting and insisting that programs and services of the Province of

Newfoundland and Labrador supplied by the Government of Newfoundland and

Labrador must be cut. He should ask the Member for Ferryland what he meant by

that.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for the

District of Conception Bay South.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. PETTEN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

In 2018,

the federal government will further burden and stifle the Newfoundland economy

with a carbon tax that all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians will have to pay.

Again, instead of standing up for our province the government has agreed to go

along with their federal cousins as per normal.

I ask

the Minister of Environment: in the first year of the $20 a ton carbon tax, what

reduction in greenhouse gas in Newfoundland are you predicting?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Municipal Affairs and Environment.

MR. JOYCE:

Mr. Speaker, I thank the

Member for his question.

I'm just

glad that he finally realizes it's a federal tax that's imposed upon all the

provinces in Canada because the press release he sent out earlier said how we

agreed to it and we went out and we could have fought against it. So I'm just

glad the Member has finally read the material and finally has his facts

straight.

I'll say

to the Member opposite, it don't start until January 1, 2019. Mr. Speaker, we

will be releasing the carbon plan very soon in the Province of Newfoundland and

Labrador for everybody to see.

Mr.

Speaker, I made no bones about it, I said it publicly on many occasions, that

before January 1, 2019, we will be releasing the carbon plan and it will be out

for public view. I'm sure …

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The hon.

the Member for Conception Bay South.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. PETTEN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Surely

the Minister of Environment for Newfoundland, you should know the answer to this

question. What you answered then was nothing.

So I ask

the minister again: What reduction in greenhouse gas emissions do you expect

with your carbon tax?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Municipal Affairs and Environment.

MR. JOYCE:

Mr. Speaker, again, to the

Member opposite, I have to say your carbon tax: Muskrat Falls. The largest tax

that Newfoundlanders and Labradorians will ever see in this province is Muskrat

Falls. People say you're always bringing up Muskrat Falls. I got to bring it up,

Mr. Speaker, because that's going to be hurting Newfoundlanders and Labradorians

until everyone in this House is not even here anymore. That's the sad part.

What we

can say, though, Mr. Speaker, about the carbon tax is that the federal

government informed us here's what you have to do. We will do it. If not, they

will step in. The formula that we're going to put in place, Mr. Speaker, will be

made in Newfoundland and Labrador. And when the carbon tax comes in, we will

have the gas tax, the rest of the gas tax (inaudible) –

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The hon.

the Member for Conception Bay South for a quick question, please.

MR. PETTEN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Obviously another new tactic to note: no details, no idea.

Minister, can you release your assessment on what the average family in

Newfoundland and Labrador with two small children will pay in extra costs for

food, clothing and other necessities as a result of the trickle-down effect of

the carbon tax?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Municipal Affairs and the Environment for a quick response, please.

MR. JOYCE:

As I said earlier, Mr.

Speaker, if the Member wants to listen –

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. JOYCE:

Mr. Speaker, if the Member

wants to listen to it, as I said, I will release the carbon tax all throughout

the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. I can tell you one thing, when I

release the plan for the carbon tax, it's going to be a lot more than the three

sentences that he was a part of when he was executive assistant to the minister

of Transportation in the Humber Valley Paving that stuck a lot of people with

money.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Third Party.

MS. ROGERS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yesterday I asked the Premier, after 2½ years of him at the helm of the

province, why is real unemployment increasing to an expected 20 per cent and

rising. We all knew the three megaprojects would be winding down. That was not

an unexpected surprise.

So I ask

the Premier again: What does he expect the unemployment rate and the job rates

to be in 2020?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I did

answer the Member opposite about the high unemployment rates in our province and

where we go back to similar numbers of where we were in 2009-2010 time frames,

Mr. Speaker. We're not happy with that. We want to put people to work in

Newfoundland and Labrador.

I'll

just remind people about a comment that I made yesterday about how you track

investment into Newfoundland and Labrador. I'm not suggesting that

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians that work in Alberta is the answer – it's not.

We want to attract investment to Newfoundland and Labrador. But her federal

party and her two colleagues in British Columbia and Alberta, they seem to be

having a squabble how you attract investment. So I'd be curious to know, where

would you stand on investments like you saw in BC in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Mr.

Speaker, we are doing our job to attract investment in Newfoundland and

Labrador, working with every single industry sector.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Third Party.

MS. ROGERS:

Mr. Speaker, I'm sure the

Premier knows what's happening across Canada. Let's talk about what's happening

here in the lives of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MS. ROGERS:

So I ask the Premier once

again: What assurances can he give our young people and families who want to

stay and live here that there will be work for them here in Newfoundland and

Labrador? Perhaps today he can focus on answering that question.

Can he

please tell them, from his knowledge and the work that his government has done,

what does the immediate and short-term future of work here in the province look

like for them?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We've

been working very closely, as I said, with a number of industry sectors; one of

which would be the aquaculture industry and making investments into

infrastructure in our province as well. Much of the investments that we've seen

we take opposition from people like the NDP, and now including the new Leader of

the NDP who does not see a future in aquaculture in rural communities in

Newfoundland and Labrador. Mr. Speaker, she's quite openly, on many occasions,

spoken out against that.

We have

our federal colleagues right now that, in some cases, take exception to what's

happening to offshore Newfoundland and Labrador, Mr. Speaker. In some ways, I

get confused on where she actually stands because we've never seen a solution of

where we should be investing to create jobs.

We are

working with every single industry sector in the province (inaudible) –

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The

Member for St. John's East - Quidi Vidi.

MS. MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

The

much-touted new federal funding for child care is just throwing money at a

patchwork system, leaving most parents without access to affordable, quality

child care. The province continues to buy in to the subsidy mentality.

I ask

the Minister of Finance why the new eligibility cap for the subsidy is so low at

$35,000, still excluding families just above the poverty line who can't afford

$800 a month.

MR. SPEAKER:

The Minister of Education and

Early Childhood Development.

MR. KIRBY:

Mr. Speaker, we have done

quite a bit since taking office on the early learning and care file. We started

out by implementing full-day kindergarten, which the Member opposed here in the

House of Assembly. We have improved the lot of early childhood educators by

increasing the supplement that they receive not once, but twice. We have

increased the cap to enable more families to avail of the full subsidy, but it's

a sliding scale so it's somewhat inaccurate to suggest anybody else wouldn't get

anything.

We are

improving the Operating Grant Program to make child care more affordable, with

the assistance of the $22 million agreement that we signed with the federal

government. We have done quite a lot more on this file than any government

previously.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The

Member for St. John's East - Quidi Vidi.

MS. MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

I point

out to the minister that full-day kindergarten is not child care.

When

will he make child care truly affordable by bringing it into the public

education system and early childhood development system for children of all

ages?

MR. SPEAKER:

The Minister of Education and

Early Childhood Development.

MR. KIRBY:

Mr. Speaker, I didn't say

that it was child care, full-day kindergarten. I said early learning and care.

Early learning and care is a continuum from the time a child enters regulated

child care to the time that a child really goes through primary school. That is

the continuum of early learning and care. The earliest time that a child enters

regulated child care to the time that a child leaves primary school.

That's

just my definition and way of putting it. It's all a continuum and part of the

transformation of the education system that we are seeing and that we are

presiding over. The next step in that is early reading intervention for

kindergarten to grade six, and every teacher I talked to is quite excited to get

to the next step of this.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The time for Oral Questions

has ended.

Presenting Reports by Standing and Select Committees.

Tabling

of Documents.

Tabling of

Documents

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Natural Resources.

MS. COADY:

Mr. Speaker, in accordance with the Energy

Corporation Act and the Hydro

Corporation Act it's my pleasure to table the 2017 Business and Financial

Report for Nalcor Energy, as well as the 2017 Consolidated Financial Statements

of Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

Further tabling of documents?

Notices

of Motion.

Answers

to Questions for which Notice has been Given.

Petitions.

Petitions

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Mount

Pearl North.

MR. LESTER:

Mr. Speaker, I have been once

again given the honour to be the voice of the people of Port Blandford. I,

therefore, present these reasons for this petition:

Port

Blandford and surrounding region's economy is reliant on tourism and related

outdoor activities. The forest in and around Port Blandford contributes heavily

to a thriving tourism industry, employing many residents in the town.

The

forests in and around Port Blandford sustains a large wildlife population,

including the once endangered and now threatened species, the Newfoundland

marten. The council and residents of the community were not properly consulted

before important decisions were made.

Therefore, we petition the hon. House of Assembly to call upon government to

immediately cancel any plans for clear-cutting in the Port Blandford area, as

identified in the five-year plan; and furthermore, before any current or future

decisions are made concerning wood harvesting in our region, to direct the

department to ensure that appropriate consultations are conducted with active

involvement from the municipal council and an opportunity for its residents to

be engaged.

therefore, as a Member of the House of Assembly, respectfully ask the minister

to address these concerns in a timely fashion.

Thank

you.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Municipal Affairs and Environment for a response, please.

MR. JOYCE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank

the Member for the petition, but we have to set the record, because as Minister

of Municipal Affairs and Environment, Mr. Speaker, I want to make it quite

clear. If you sit down with the minister and if there are any changes to it,

it's done in good faith.

I have

to say, in the email that was sent, Mr. Speaker, the email from Mr. Bennett, I

think it was January 12, 2017, he clearly states: after the meeting Tuesday

night and we met with the Department of Forestry and Agrifoods about our

concerns, that now we approve what was put forth.

I know

the mayor quite well. We have a great relationship with the mayor. When we made

the announcement out in Clarenville, the mayor thought the best relationship we

ever had. The first time they ever got funding. So I know the department is open

to sit down and have a very serious conversation with the town, with the group.

Mr.

Speaker, we cannot let it stand to say that this was pushed, because the

information shows the council had concerns. These people went and met with

officials and came back and said: after meeting with the officials, now we agree

with the plan.

January 12, 2017, it was sent in from Mr. Bennett to the Department of

Environment to release this because they agreed with what was in the plan. At

least seven times, or eight times, I'm not sure of the exact number, there were

words “clear-cutting” in it.

So let's

sit down and have a sensible conversation over this, Mr. Speaker, but it was

done according to all regulations and with consultation.

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

Thank

you.

Further

petitions?

The hon.

the Member for St. John's East - Quidi Vidi.

MS. MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

(Inaudible) reasons for this petition on universal public child care. Our

licenced child care system is a patchwork of private for-profit centres – 70 per

cent of all centres – non-profit community-based centres and family daycare,

plus a small number of education and workplace-based centres. It is nowhere near

meeting the child care needs in our province. Affordable licenced child care is

often in short supply in rural parts of the province. Even in St. John's there

are long wait-lists for quality child care programs.

Child

care programs have both social and financial benefits for society. Studies show

that high-quality child care and early childhood education programs result in

better cognitive, language and numeracy skills. They help economically

disadvantaged children transition to school on the same level as other children.

For every one dollar spent on early childhood education, the benefits range from

$1.50 to $2.78.

Investing in child care creates jobs. One million dollars invested in child care

would create 40 jobs, more than in any other sector. A gender-based analysis of

the provincial budget would have indicated the need for a public child care

program as a key way to close the wage gap between women and men in this

province.

THEREFORE we the undersigned, petition the House of Assembly as follows:

We call

upon the House of Assembly to urge the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador

to take immediate steps to put in place a plan for a gradual transition to a

universal, regulated and publicly funded and fully accessible child care and

after school care program.

Mr.

Speaker, I think it's important to point out that what these petitioners are

saying has also been echoed by people such as the Bank of Canada. The Bank of

Canada has highlighted a child care program for raising prime-aged female

workforce participation from 74 per cent 20 years ago to about 87 per cent

today. In comparison, he said about 83 per cent of prime-aged women participate

in the national workplace because of that. He's talking about Quebec, where

Quebec turned things around for women, and by turning things around for women,

turned things around for their economy.

Thank

you very much, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

Further petitions?

The hon.

the Member for

Cape St. Francis.

MR.

K. PARSONS:

Thank you very much, 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 the fishery policy regulations links harvesting

quotas to vessels length for certain species; and

WHEREAS many harvesters own vessels of various sizes

but because of policy and regulations are restricted to using smaller vessels

and often putting their crews into danger;

WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly

pray and call upon the House of Assembly to urge the government to make

representation to the federal government to encourage them to change the policy

and ensure safety to fish harvesters in this province.

Mr. Speaker, this is a petition I've been bringing up

several times. Every time I come to the House, and it hits home to me. I have

family members that are on the water with different vessels also.

When you look in the North Atlantic and look at some of

the times – especially the last couple of weeks. I know there's some boats gone

today. When I came through my community of Flatrock this morning it amazed me to

know they were gone because there was a swell on like you wouldn't believe and

outside it seemed like it was pretty rough, but to know they're gone out there

in vessels to catch the inshore crab.

What I'm talking about, especially in the crab fishery,

there are three different zones and they're all based on different size vessels.

Now I don't think it's much of a difference whether you're nine miles off or

you're 50 miles off or you're 200 miles off. Once you go offshore five or six

miles you're in rough water, no matter what the conditions are.

I believe regulations can change, and I understand why

the regulations came in in the first of it. Because when we went to a shell

fishery, and the crab fishery in particular, the inshore fisheries had smaller

boats. It was a point to make sure they weren't

shoved aside because they

needed a bigger vessel. They gave them a zone that they could fish in.

Now that

the fishery has expanded and most people do have larger vessels and fish three

different zones, the regulations should be looked at because the safety of our

harvesters – and it's too often we hear in Newfoundland and Labrador about

people getting lost at sea and drowned at sea and stuff like this.

This is

a regulation that Ottawa is making. It should be made here in Newfoundland and

Labrador and say, listen here, conditions here in our province are very rough

areas where people have to go. There's no reason they should be using boats

under 35-feet long to be in these conditions.

Thank

you.

MR. SPEAKER:

Further petitions?

The hon.

the Government House Leader.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Yes, thank you.

I call

Orders of the Day, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

Orders of the Day.

Orders of the Day

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Mr. Speaker, I call from the

Order Paper, Motion 1, the Budget Speech.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Placentia West - Bellevue.

MR. BROWNE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It's

certainly a pleasure to stand here in the Chamber to bring some of my remarks in

response to the budget. I first wish to congratulate my colleague from St.

John's Centre on becoming the new Leader of the NDP. Congratulations, I say to

my colleague. I certainly look forward to a spirited debate as always here in

the Legislature.

Mr.

Speaker, I was listening to some of the commentary back and forth in Question

Period. It was getting quite exciting, actually, today. The topic was jobs. Jobs

are so important to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, particularly to

young people. I can guarantee Members opposite that the young people of this

province want to stay home. We want to live here. We want to work here. We want

to raise our families here, which is exactly why the Premier constituted the

Cabinet Committee on Jobs.

you're asking for a jobs plan, I say to Members opposite, I can tell you one

thing: We won't be aiding a foreign government with their jobs plan in Romania

like Members opposite did. We won't be shipping hundreds and hundreds and

hundreds and hundreds of jobs that could have been down in Marystown, Mr.

Speaker, building ferries, off to Romania and then forgetting that there would

be tariffs applied – forgot $50 million worth of tariffs.

In most

societies, this would be considered fiction. You couldn't imagine that a

government would not only ship work overseas, but then forget about the tariffs

that would be applied, Mr. Speaker, based on the premise that BC had a ferry

that was sunk out there and they got their tariffs relieved. It's a totally

different story.

It could

have been built in Marystown. There could have been jobs in Marystown, but yet

again – yet again – the people of the Burin Peninsula were forgotten about, were

ignored, just like they were when the FPI plant was crumbled to the ground, like

the High Liner plant in Burin was left to be shuttered their doors on, like the

mine in St. Lawrence (inaudible) hung around and hung around – the cut that many

ribbons they couldn't find ne'er ribbon to cut on it there last year.

So we're

taking things over the finish line. We're committed to ensuring the jobs are

created that are meaningful and sustainable, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. BROWNE:

Before we broke for Easter,

Mr. Speaker, I gave a speech here in the Legislature with respect to

aquaculture. I challenged the then contender for the NDP leadership, the Member

for St. John's Centre, to come to the Burin Peninsula and explain and put her

position on the table to the people with respect to aquaculture.

To the

best of my knowledge, that's still not happened. I live on the Burin Peninsula.

I never saw the Member down. The invitation is still there and the people expect

it. We should all put our positions on the table, rather than pontificating in

Question Period about where the jobs plan are. We have a viable means to create

jobs in rural Newfoundland and Labrador, but Members opposite are set on seeing

it delayed, if not stopped entirely.

So I

just have to highlight some facts, Mr. Speaker. We have created the Cabinet

Committee on Jobs. We have so far hosted three industry summits where we've had

people all around the table, from industry. We've had action plans in place.

Whether it's in aquaculture, agriculture or technology, the people around the

table, the industry associations, the operators, the entrepreneurs are

applauding these efforts. Saying they've never seen government engaged in a

laser-focused way on promoting economic growth and economic sustainability as

they've seen through this process. I am certain that there will be more to come.

We look

at tourism, Mr. Speaker. We just attended the largest Hospitality Newfoundland

and Labrador Conference in their history. We're almost up to 20,000 people

employed in the industry, up from 18,000. Last year, we had a total tourism

spending of $1.13 billion. And not only that – and this is a very important fact

– non-resident visitors, we had over 550,000, the highest non-resident

visitation and spending here in the province last year.

Twenty

thousand jobs, Mr. Speaker, but apparently there are no jobs plan. There are no

jobs in the province. All the young people leaving. This negativity it gets

tiring. I mean, the Members opposite must be so tired, because I'm tired of

listening to the negativity. We all need to be positive. We all need to

recognize there are challenges, no doubt, but collectively work together to

solve them.

We have

a lot going on, Mr. Speaker, and in terms of this year's budget it continues our

plan to bring this province back from the brink of bankruptcy, which the former

administration left us. So I always say when I stand and we discuss budgetary

matters, it's important to note and notice where we were, where we are and where

we are going.

When I

shook hands with people in the last election, knocked on their doors, shook

hands with them, I did in the good faith that I believe the numbers that they

published. Mr. Speaker, so clearly mistaken that I was, and the people in the

province were when we were told there was a $1.1 billion deficit, it was

actually a $2.7 billion deficit. Very, very unfortunate that is the state of the

fiscal reality that we were left with.

So we've

taken a measured approached over a seven-year period to return to surplus. I

commend the minister, I commend the former minister, for this plan and we are

continuing on that, Mr. Speaker, but there are some very good investments in

terms of economic growth and social sustainability as well. I want to highlight

some of those.

To build

on the commitments in The Way Forward ,

Mr. Speaker, we have included in this year's budget $35.2 million to support

economic development, research and development, investment attraction, which

leverages funding from the federal government and other sources. So we will have

$73 million for innovation and growth and including – this is very important for

those of us in rural areas – $1 million to improve cellular infrastructure

through pilot projects. We are increasing connectivity.

Just

days after New Year's, I had the great privilege to attend an announcement on

behalf of the Department of Tourism, Culture, Industry and Innovation, along

with the Premier and Minister O'Regan, for over $40 million into broadband into

the province.

Mr.

Speaker, I know what you're asking. You're asking: Well, how much did the

province put into this? I can confirm to Members of the House and the people of

the province in that over $40 million, there was $1.56 million. Mr. Speaker, not

often can you put in $1.5 million and get back $35 million. That is called smart

management, good decision making and leveraging other funds. That's the approach

this government takes.

We're

not going to go it alone like the other government, Mr. Speaker, and ship jobs

off to Romania, helping the Romanian government with their jobs plan. We're

going to ensure that our investments are made in a measured and calculated way

so as to leverage the most funding from the federal government and any other

sources that we can provide.

As I

said, Mr. Speaker, and I know you're probably asking yourself how can you put in

$1.5 million and get another $35 million back. Well, it was done and now over 70

communities in this province will be connected to high-speed Internet, many in

Bight, Little Harbour East and Fairhaven.

I can

guarantee you, Mr. Speaker, those people are very happy. In fact, I had the

Minister of Innovation with me in my district some time ago and we spent time in

those very communities. How many people approached us, I say to the minister, so

happy with the investment that not only the province was making, but the federal

government, the private sector, it's all about co-operation. We're going to

continue to collaborating where we can.

So to

build on what we're doing, Mr. Speaker, with broadband and the high-speed

Internet in our province, we're going to invest $1 million in this budget year

for a pilot project related to cellular communications and telecommunications.

East and you haven't got Internet, how can you go on to DFO websites and file

for your licences and permits and other matters?

These

investments, they're not only going to help people get on Facebook or Netflix,

Mr. Speaker, which people want obviously for their quality of life and

connecting with their grandchildren and children away, but it has very practical

impacts to enable economic activity and economic growth, and that's why we're

very pleased to highlight those investments.

Also

supporting innovation and economic growth, we're investing $19.2 million for

culture and heritage including – and this is very important and near and dear to

my heart – free access to provincial historic sites in the summer months for

youth under age 16. Mr. Speaker, we have so many rich treasures in terms of our

provincial historic sites. For a low-income family often taking their children

to a site like this would be expensive, perhaps cost prohibitive; we don't want

that. We want people to be able to bring their children to these sites, showcase

our history, learn of our culture and really soak it all in. I think this is a

very wise, wise investment.

We're

also including in this year's budget $12.9 million for tourism marketing. I just

want to go back for a second, Mr. Speaker, to the HNL convention. I know a

number of Members attended the HNL conference: the Member for

Cartwright - L'Anse au Clair, the Member for Burin - Grand Bank, the Member for

Lewisporte - Twillingate, the minister himself and myself as parliamentary

secretary. Universally, there was optimism in the room, Mr. Speaker. There was

positivity about the future for tourism.

We're seeing the numbers of employment rise from 18,000

to over 20,000. That's an additional 2,000 jobs. That's a large factory, Mr.

Speaker, if it was all consolidated in one area, but we're seeing this spread

across the entire province in the nooks and crannies, coves and harbours that

dot the coasts of

Newfoundland and Labrador that make up the rich diversity that we call rural

Newfoundland and Labrador.

We're

seeing those investments being made. We're seeing the highest resident and

non-resident tourism spending in the history of the province. My only wish, Mr.

Speaker, is to see those numbers continue to rise because a high tide floats all

boats, as they say. In tourism, we have so much happening. We have so much

happening in my own district.

You take

Kilmory Resort in Swift Current, Mr. Speaker, seeing record numbers. They now

even have a package where they're partnering with the Woody Island Resort which

is also in my district; you leave from Garden Cove to go to a resettled

community. They're partnering with Woody Island Resort and Kilmory, Hotel

Fortune in Fortune and with Hotel Robert in Pierre et Miquelon.

You're

seeing those synergies come together. You're seeing that ability to partner.

You're seeing that ability to draw on and leverage every asset that we have,

including the fact that we have a French island, a piece of France, just 12

miles off our shore. Mr. Speaker, we're seeing a lot of positivity, a lot of

connectivity which is why we're going to be helping with making investments in

like cellphones and broadband. It helps those economic development opportunities

in rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

I also

want to discuss our Film Equity Program. We are including $4 million for the

Film Equity Program to support the film and television industry. Myself, the

Premier and the Minister of Culture recently visited the beautiful District of

Cape St. Francis where Frontier was

being filmed. It was a beautiful day, windy and cold. Jason Momoa was there and

of course Allan Hawco plays a big role in

Frontier . We're seeing so many investments now and an expansion truly of our

film industry.

I think

we always need to bring some facts to the table, Mr. Speaker. If you look at the

economic impact of Maudie – which was

a really beautiful film, and the acting was perfect. The filming was done in the

District of Bonavista area partially. If you look at the economic impact, there

was a $5.4 million production expenditure for

Maudie and there was a $9 million total economic output.

Mr.

Speaker, we're putting in $4 million for the Film Equity Program and just one

film alone had a $9 million economic output. We generated in taxes just $400,000

into Maudie , Mr. Speaker.

AN HON. MEMBER:

How much?

MR. BROWNE:

Four hundred thousand dollars

in just taxes to the government from this film operation and a $9 million

economic output from Maudie . So we're

going to continue making strategic investments in film, in our culture, and in

our heritage because not only is it important because it's who we are and we

ought to preserve that for the future generations, but it makes good, economic

sense.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. BROWNE:

I also want to highlight – we're doing so much for the economy, despite the

negativity of the Opposition – an issue that's very near and dear to my heart,

which is mental health and the recent announcement where I joined the Minister

of Health, the parliamentary secretary for Health, and number of my colleagues,

including the Premier, where there's $6.1 million allocated towards the

replacement of the Waterford Hospital.

Mr.

Speaker, as someone who – I've had a family member take their own life. I

understand the anguish, the unanswered questions, the whys and the what-ifs. It

affects everyone, Mr. Speaker. To see advancing the replacement of a stale and a

facility that has such a stigma, I think it's welcomed by many advocates and

many people who support the advancement of mental health issues. I'm very

pleased to see that not only will we be getting a new facility, Mr. Speaker, but

we're going to be removing the name of the Waterford. I think that is a welcomed

step for mental health.

Mr.

Speaker, before I take my place today, I do wish to say a few words about

Volunteer Week. I will be attending the volunteer appreciation night in

Sunnyside tomorrow, in the District of Placentia West - Bellevue. We have some

45 communities in the district doting the coasts of Trinity, Placentia and

Fortune Bay and we have such a rich repertoire and a deep bench of volunteers in

Placentia West - Bellevue. This was on display no better than I've ever seen,

Mr. Speaker, in this past weekend.

I was so

pleased to have my colleagues, the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills,

the parliamentary secretary for Children, Seniors and Social Development, the

Member for Burin - Grand Bank, the parliamentary secretary for Health and the

minister of sport in the province, the Premier, the Member for Baie Verte -

Green Bay, the Member for Terra Nova, the Member for Grand Falls – there was so

many there and, of course, I'm referencing the celebrations with respect to

Katelyn Osmond. The entire community came out, not only to see her but to help

organize and to plan.

There

was the largest parade – I would say it out-stripped the Santa Claus Parade in

downtown St. John's, Mr. Speaker. There were met and greets. There was an ice

show with some 1,200 people there. It was phenomenal. And none of that kind of

activity, or any other activity, whether it's a Christmas seniors' supper or a

come home year in the summer, nothing happens without volunteers which are the

backbone of our rural communities particularly. They have my gratitude. We are

all indebted to volunteers, Mr. Speaker, because they do such yeoman's service

to all of our communities.

I also

want to bring reference to the shipyard in Marystown, a file that is near and

dear to my heart as well. People say to me: Well, you're probably not going to

make Kiewit's Christmas card list. Well, I wasn't elected by Kiewit or anyone

else. I'm going to stand up for the people that I represent. Just as I ask for

people to put their positions on aquaculture on the table, I will ensure that

companies operating in my district are accountable to the people and obliged to

their social responsibilities, Mr. Speaker.

There's

a facility down in Marystown that was built with taxpayers' dollars. It was put

there by the taxpayers of the province. It has been let to fall into the water.

I think I'm well within my right and anyone else who lives in Marystown are well

within their rights to ask that if there's an opportunity to sell it, then to

execute the deal, let the people of Marystown and the Burin Peninsula get back

to work. That's all I'm asking for, Mr. Speaker. That's all the people of

Marystown ask for. We want the opportunity to have shipbuilding, ship repair

back into Marystown.

Mr.

Speaker, had I been here when decisions were being made, I can guarantee you I

wouldn't have stood by and sat silent while jobs went to Romania that could have

been put into Marystown. It's not my job to help the foreign governments of

Europe with their jobs plan. It's our job to put people back to work here in

Newfoundland and Labrador. That's why we've taken CFI, a $17 million repayable

loan over the limit. We were just there on this past Saturday. In fact, half of

it was blown up by Member for

Burin - Grand Bank – and, Mr. Speaker, that's

not a lie. She got the push the button and they did a blast while we were there.

There's so much progress happening, Mr. Speaker. We had

a blast at the blast. I can tell you CFI is a shining example of how we're going

to structure deals, how we're going to have good deals for the people of the

Burin Peninsula, good deals for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador. If it's

within my power, I will ensure and work to ensure with the town, with the

chamber, with the company to have a shipyard up and running in Marystown again,

Mr. Speaker.

It's something that I'm very passionate about. It's

something that is not totally within my power or ours as a government. That's

why we're working with others. We're not afraid to ask for help. We're not

afraid to ask others and work with others to collaborate, just as we did in St.

Lawrence. We have some 300 to 400 people now, Mr. Speaker, back to work in St.

Lawrence and we're going to have the same hold true in Marystown.

I can certainly tell you we're proud of our Olympian,

we're proud of our gold medallist , but we're going to be even prouder when we have people back to work and

she can come home to a town that is flourishing just as when she left.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. Member for the

District of Cape St. Francis.

MR. K. PARSONS:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

It's

indeed a privilege to get up here today and represent the beautiful District of

Cape St. Francis and the beautiful people in the District of Cape St. Francis.

Mr.

Speaker, we're talking budget today. For the people at home, it doesn't

necessarily have to be on the budget items and stuff like that; it's a financial

bill, so you get the opportunity to be able to speak on different things.

Whether you can speak on your district or you can speak on different – all of us

here have different critic roles that we have to play. That's what I'm going to

do today.

The

Member that was just up that time now, he just spoke a little bit. I'm glad he's

going to represent his district. I think everybody in this House, on both sides

of the House, should represent their district the best they can. They should

listen to the people in their districts, listen to what they have to say and

make sure their concerns are brought to the House of Assembly, whether it's on

government or it's on Opposition, if it's nay or whatever.

They're

our bosses. They're the people who elected us and they're the people that put us

here in the House of Assembly. They're my boss and that's who I'm going to

represent in the House of Assembly, no matter if it's good, bad or indifferent

to whoever it is. The people that elected us are the people that put us here.

Mr.

Speaker, I know the Member – and before I talk I'm going to go into what I want

to talk about – talked about tourism. I really feel our tourism industry, the

one right now, is probably one of the brightest we've had in years.

MR. MITCHELMORE:

Hear, hear!

MR. K. PARSONS:

It is hear, hear, Minister –

it is – but it's been a lot of hard work over the last number of years. You also

have to recognize the former administration did a fantastic job when it came to

tourism.

The

biggest thing we have in tourism in our province is our people. No matter where

you come from – and I've heard it so many times, people that come from the

Mainland or come from different parts of the world, the very first thing they'll

say is I can't believe how friendly you are.

happened to be downtown this weekend and I ran into a lady and two kids. They

were from Ontario. They went into Rocket to get a coffee, but I guess it wasn't

what the kids wanted. So they came out through the door and they wanted to know

where the nearest Tim Hortons is. I gave them directions and she just turned to

me and said: You Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are all alike, you're a very

friendly people and thank you so much for that.

Those

are little things that we can do to make sure our province and our tourism

industry builds like it is going to build. I really hope that government's

investments pay off for us and pay off for us in a big way.

Today,

in the House, Mistaken Point was brought up here in Question Period several

times. You know, this is world renowned. People from all over the world want to

come and see those fossils. I'm not a person that's into that kind of stuff. I'm

a hunter and I love the wildlife, but we have people from all over the world who

come here. It's our obligation to make sure we supply the best possible site

that can be there. This is the only one the province controls. We have three

other ones that are done by the federal government.

I went

to Red Bay this year, and I was so impressed and saw how many people –

AN HON. MEMBER:

(Inaudible.)

MR. K. PARSONS:

Yes, actually I told the

Member, I called her and told her I was out in her district. I told her how

beautiful it was and how impressed I was with it. You know, the one thing I

really did notice that day – it was a grey foggy day and it wasn't a very nice

day, but there were four tour buses that day. There were four tour buses on the

road.

We look

down the Southern Avalon and say: oh, you're going down to Trepassey, there's

nothing down there – Portugal Cove South. It was the same trip I had when I was

over in the minister's district, but people wanted to go see it. So we have to

make sure we do the proper investments because as we know, and the minister

knows, tourism plays such a huge role in how our economy is going to do.

It's not

the people down on the Southern Avalon. There will be people in bread and

breakfasts in my district that will take advantage of what is happening down in

Mistaken Point, because people will come and they'll take the whole thing in.

They'll go down on the East Coast Trail and probably walk down to Cape St.

Francis. It's a beautiful area, but it's something we all can offer. So it's

important that we do it right and it's important that it gets done right.

Sometimes it takes a bit of effort. When I heard today it was like six months

ago that the volunteers, who are volunteers, requested a meeting with the

minister and still haven't had a meeting, I mean there's something wrong with

that. There's no doubt about it, there's something wrong with that.

matter what it is, I don't know, but we all have to work together to make sure –

like I said, I congratulate government and I think we played a major role, but

tourism is a huge industry in our province. We all have to work together to make

sure we have the best product ever. That means meeting with people, meeting with

the volunteers, because our volunteers are the people who put people in these

places and make people want to come back. It's the people of Newfoundland and

Labrador that bring people here all the time.

Now, Mr.

Speaker, I'm going to talk today – and I just got off on that one because it was

a topic today that I listened to in Question Period and it just struck home to

me that it's important that we do what we do.

One of

my critic roles is the fishery. Today, I really want to talk – and I hope that

mainly a lot of the Members across the way are from fishing districts like my

own. It's hard to believe, some people say Cape St. Francis is not a fishing

district. Actually, do you know what? Most of St. John's is probably the biggest

fishing port in the province when you look at it, what's landed and whatnot in

the province. So it's important that we look at the fishery.

Mr.

Speaker, again, I'm going to give you a little history. My first job ever at 13

years old was weighing fish, writing out the slips, driving along with the fish

truck driver. Then when I became big enough to drive a truck, I drove a truck.

My father was a fisherman. He was a bit of everything, but if you asked him what

he was in his life, a fisherman he was proud of. I have a brother that's

involved in the fishery now, and a son that's involved in the fishery.

So my

family, I've been around the fishery all my life. I know how important it is to

people in Newfoundland and Labrador. I know how important it is to small

communities. If you look at small communities in this province, I can remember

when you were cutting out tongues and whatnot and how important the fishery was

to everyone in that community. It was the local store, it was businesses, you

could see people at once. If it was a good year, people were doing their roofs.

They were putting in windows. It just spread right through the whole economy.

Today,

we have some major issues in our fishery. I look at in 1992 we brought

down the cod moratorium; in 1992 the commercial salmon fishery. Today, if you

listen to the Open Line shows, it seems every day they're talking about the

anglers on the rivers now and the issues they're having with salmon also,

whether it's in decline. I know sometimes it depends on the rivers and stuff

like that, but obviously there's a major decline in – and the concerns they

have, whether it's hook and release or what they're going to do this year is

going to keep two, three or whatever it is.

This past weekend, the crab started in my area and the St.

John's area. I'm not sure when it starts in other areas in the province, but I

know my brother and them were out and I know a lot of fishers were out down our

way. The crab this weekend was very, very – they never caught one-tenth of what

they caught last year on their first trip.

Now, there were some reasons given for that. They told me

there was a lot of sea lice in the water and sometimes that eats the bait and

causes – and sometimes the temperature of the water, crab is not moving. So

they're hoping it's going to pick up. Apparently the crab outside in the other

areas wasn't too bad.

We look at the shrimp stocks down in area 6 and we see

massive reductions. I know last year, and I spoke to the Member for Twillingate

- Fogo –

AN HON. MEMBER:

Fogo - Cape Freels.

MR. K. PARSONS:

Fogo - Cape Freels last night, and we spoke about it. Last year you were allowed

to buddy up. So the cost of going down to area 6 to get your shrimp, if you

buddied up you could split the cost with somebody else and get one trip out of

it. Now this year, he tells me, it can go as high as five, I believe.

That'll tell you what's happening with the shrimp. I know

most of the people that are in the St. John's area and down my way that did go

after shrimp are not going, because it's just not feasible for them to go and

get what they can. So the shrimp industry, it's a major issue.

Now, the other one is the decline in capelin. Capelin is

declining like you wouldn't believe. I know one of my first jobs driving a

truck, I went to St. Mary's Bay, I went to Conception Bay, I went to Trinity

Bay, I went to Bonavista Bay and I went to White Bay. We used to follow the

capelin all around with different boats and truck

capelin.

You

could get capelin back then, I'm telling you, that length. You could get nice,

big capelin. The female capelin and male capelin were probably nine or 10 inches

long. I saw last year – and capelin were late coming last year. I saw capelin

came in late July last year and they were this big. They were like three or four

inches, so our capelin stocks are declining like you wouldn't believe.

personally believe there should be a moratorium on capelin. I really believe

that because I think that it's a food for our cod and I think that it plays a

factor in whether our cod is going to come back or not. Also, our herring stocks

are down. Mr. Speaker, I have a couple of pictures I'm going to show, and I'll

just talk about it – but those are all fisheries that are on the decline.

Mr.

Speaker, there are all kinds of fishery regulations. It's based on gear

restrictions, fishing seasons. It's monitored by DFO, and there are different

technologies that are used. Each fishery has conservation technologies and best

practices and limited to the natural habitat and everything else. But, Mr.

Speaker, I'm going to read a quote now that was said in 1995, and this is going

to be the gist of my next 10 minutes, I suppose, on my speech.

In 1995,

in a controversial move Brain Tobin the Canadian federal minister of Fisheries

and Oceans reopened the hunt on harp seals, which prey on cod. This is what he

said: There's only one major player still fishing cod. His name is harp and his

second name is seal.

Mr.

Speaker, I just mentioned a few minutes ago all the declines in different

species that we are fishing off our province that are having a major effect on

rural Newfoundland, as well as St. John's and everywhere. It's having an effect

on our processing. I asked a question last night in Estimates about the number

of plants. Last year when the Estimates came, I asked the same question. I

didn't get an answer last night, but they're going to get back to me. There were

25 crab plants and eight shrimp plants in our province and I wanted to know what

was happening.

I know

we had plants close down. There's one going to be closed down, apparently in

Twillingate, and there are some more along the province. It depends on what

happens with the shrimp and the crab whether these can survive, and not only can

they survive but what's going to happen to these communities.

Mr.

Speaker, according to the latest estimates by DFO, they are estimating that

there are 7.4 million harp seals and they say that they consume 10 pounds of

fish per day. If you look at that, that's about 12 million metric tons of

seafood. That's what a seal – and just to put it in context, the total combined

commercial fishery for 2017 for inshore and offshore, all species, was 440

million pounds. That's 200,000 metric tons. That's only 1.8 per cent of what is

estimated that harp seals eat in one year.

I saw a

chart the other day and it showed me that what we catch in one year in our

fishery is equivalent to what harp seals eat in six days. I mean, that's

amazing. It's absolutely amazing. I'm sure that all Members on the other side of

the House will agree with me that we have a problem and our problem is seals.

I'm

thinking there are solutions. I'm hoping there are solutions. I just want to

show you one thing here and it came from a guy, Brad Rideout, that sent me a

picture. He sent me a picture there last year and in the belly of the seal, in

the stomach of a seal was 181 female crab – 181 female crab. His prediction, the

potential that this could produce was 100,000 eggs on a spawning cycle. Now,

that's just on one cycle is 100,000 eggs that that could produce. Can you

imagine when we're having issues with our crab what effect one seal had on crab?

So what effect is 7.4 million seals having on the crab stock alone?

I have

another picture here and it shows a seal eating the belly of a cod. Most people

will say okay, seals don't eat cod. Well, they do. They bite at the belly of the

cod and they take the belly of the cod. I have another picture here that shows

it. I can show hundreds of cod in a harbour with the bellies ate out of them on

the bottom of the thing; they're destroying the cod fish.

I also

have a picture here of an adult seal that weighs 1,500 pounds, a hood. Now, I'm

sure that that seal eats more than 10 pounds a day. Can you imagine what that

eats? I mean, you have to look at this; this is serious stuff. It's not funny.

People looking at our fishing industry and DFO –

AN HON. MEMBER:

(Inaudible.)

MR. K. PARSONS:

Yes, I do.

DFO, the

federal government – and I spoke to the Minister of Fisheries last night about

it and he was in full agreement with me, the seals are playing a major issue in

the decline of all our stocks but somebody has got to step up. Somebody's got to

step up and say we have to do something about it. I mean not only do seals eat

fish but they also got what I know you know and some people in this House know –

ever see the worms that are in fish? That's where they come from. They come

from, the worms – it's like a disease.

Now,

it's no harm to anybody eating fish with fish worms in it, just to be clear on

that also. I know people will screw up their face and say oh, I wouldn't eat

that. But let me tell you something, what it costs to our plants. If you go into

a plant, whether it's out in Arnold's Cove, whatever, and they're producing cod,

they need a special light to go underneath. They need to pick the worms out of

the fish, obviously, before they go and put it to market. So it's a huge cost.

And the more seals that are out there, the more worms we have in fish.

Mr.

Speaker, in 1972 to 1982, we harvested 165,000 seals a day. We had large

vessels. I tell you, I'll always remember my father, he was proud to be a

sealer. When he got his flippers every year, he'd go down in the basement and

b'y, he'd clean them up like you wouldn't believe because this had to be done

with them, that had – most fellas would just take them and – but he was a

sealer. He was proud to be a sealer.

Those

people went to the ice years ago, and you can only image – and so many

disasters. So many disasters that people lost their lives all over this province

because they went. Now, we have technology today. We have better vessels. We

have people that can harvest the seal. They got radars, different things. We got

rescues that can go out and get them, search and rescue that can go get boats

and stuff like that, and we can do it.

But

since 1995, now that dropped down to 50,000 seals a day. It's funny, you know,

when you look at the reduction, say, in the cod fishery, as the seals grew, as

the seals numbers increased, so did the codfish decrease. So I believe that it

plays – DFO probably don't believe that they eat cod, but I sure do.

Mr.

Speaker, currently we have a quota of 400,000 that's we don't meet, because I

guess it's based on markets and whatnot. When you get up in the House of

Assembly sometimes you can talk about what this, this, and give all of that, but

I think there are solutions. I believe that there are solutions to the problem

with seals, and I believe they're political solutions that got to be looked at.

We can

develop strategies, and we need the federal government onside to be able to

develop those strategies, that we can utilize all the seal. Seal oil, seal meat,

the bone and skins can all be used. Today, if you were looking at something for

your health, you hear omega-3. Omega-3 is a huge factor in people's health

today. It's a capsule that people take. It's nutrition; it's good for the body.

We could focus on those things. Our skin – obviously, we have markets all over

the world. Some take them and some don't, but we have to be better educated.

I look

at Food Aid, and I look at the world around us. I know I enjoy seal, and I'm

sure there are other people who enjoy it. Canada is probably one of the

countries in the world that's looked up to for our humanitarian, what we do. We

have people all over this world – we have 20 million people starving a year

worldwide, all over the world. We, as Canadians, are pumping millions and

millions of dollars into these countries to help in aid.

We could

make our harvest so that we could supply food to these countries. What a great

way to do it, and it doesn't necessarily have to be in a can of seal. There are

powders, there's frozen stuff that you can do. We can make it so people in the

world have opportunity to have nutrition which will be great for them, and

especially in these countries where you find people are starving and stuff like

that.

We have

a close working relationship with global food aids and global affairs and the

the seal itself, but until people start talking, until people in this province

start demanding that we do something about our seals and have our federal

government and our federal fishery department forget about the Greenpeace's of

the world and everybody else, we're going to lose an industry.

I'm

talking our fisheries industry that we came here as Newfoundlanders and

Labradorians – we came over here because we had an industry and it's the

survival of Newfoundland and Labrador. I believe working together with that

government over there and working here with our federal government we need to do

something to make sure we can do something on our seal industry to make sure

that our fishery survives.

Thank

you very much.

AN HON. MEMBER:

(Inaudible.)

MR. K. PARSONS:

Where is it? One second now,

where's that to? Okay.

Can I

have leave?

MR. SPEAKER (Warr):

Order, please!

AN HON. MEMBER:

No leave.

MR. K. PARSONS:

Just for one second.

MR. SPEAKER:

Does the Member have leave?

MR. K. PARSONS:

Can I have leave, please?

AN HON. MEMBER:

Yes.

MR. K. PARSONS:

Okay. I tell you now, Mr.

Speaker, I got so excited about seals that I forgot that I wanted to bring down

a sub-amendment. Okay.

It's

going to be seconded by the Member for CBS.

AN HON. MEMBER:

(Inaudible) you were going to

leave?

MR. K. PARSONS:

No, I'm not going to leave.

That the

amendment that was previously presented, the non-confidence motion, be amended

by changing the period at the end of Therefore to a comma and by adding

immediately thereafter the following words:

“and

that this House also condemns the government for its failure to demonstrate

sound leadership, accountable governance or proper concern for the people of

Newfoundland and Labrador.”

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. K. PARSONS:

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

We will

recess the House to have a look at the amendment.

Recess

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

Are the

House Leaders ready?

MR. A. PARSONS:

Yes.

MR. HUTCHINGS:

Ready.

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The

amendment is said to be in order.

The hon.

the Member for Cape St. Francis.

MR. K. PARSONS:

Twenty minutes again.

I'm

going to finish off, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to thank the Members across the way.

I'll sit down a couple of minutes early for giving me leave. I really appreciate

you giving me leave and getting me out of the jam that I have myself in. Thank

you very much. I really appreciate it.

Mr.

Speaker, in the previous 20 minutes I spoke the last 10 or 15 about seals and

the effect it's having on our fishery. The Minister of Fisheries is here now. We

spoke about it last night in Estimates. We're on agreement that we, as

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, need to stand up and talk about it.

We need

to get our federal government to talk about it and we need to make sure that the

seal industry – there are seals in our province. We can utilize them; make sure

that they are utilized to the fullest. There are also agreements. Last night we

talked about an agreement, I think it was 2011, where Canada and China were on

the verge of making a huge agreement on seals. That would have been really good

for the industry here in the province.

The

agreement was basically – I don't know if it was the federal government or it

was the Chinese government that just slacked off and said no, we are not going

to have this agreement. But I think we should go back, as a federal government,

to China and look at this and maybe there's some way that we can have a harvest

here in the province that could be sustainable and could be very valuable to

rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

Mr.

Speaker, I want to talk about – and in my previous speech, I am just want to

finish off because I really want to get to a little bit on my district, but I'm

just going to finish off about DFOs decision on seals. There are quotes that

they are after making. It says that there's no evidence suggesting that seals

have an overall negative impact on snow crab population.

Mr.

Speaker, I showed you a picture, you've seen the picture, we've seen it, 181,

one seal – talk to people out there that are harvesting seals. That's who DFO

have to talk to. Talk to people who are out there harvesting seals today and

when they see what is inside the seals DFO has to understand that this is what

is happening here in our province. DFO has to change the attitude if they

believe that's the case.

DFO says

there's no evidence of any impact on shellfish. Our shell fishery is declining.

I'll tell you another thing too, Mr. Speaker, any groundfish will eat baby crab

because there's nothing else there to eat and seals are affecting everything in

our groundfish, capelin, everything else like that.

It said

an adult grey seal eats two tons per year and cod is only 10 to 50 per cent of

its diet. Mr. Speaker, that's too much. What that's doing to our cod fishery is

unbelievable. So we need everybody in this House, we need every harvester,

processor and everyone to come together, go to the federal government and talk

about our seal industry, talk about what we – no, they got to talk about it and

say this is serious.

We have

many resources in our province and our fishery is probably the best resource

that we have because it's a renewable resource and it's from one end of this

place to the other end. It's from the top of Labrador to the end of Cape St.

Francis that people rely on the fish in our province. It's time we all stand up

and realize that seals are playing a major role in the decline of all our stocks

in the fishery.

I just

wanted to do that today and I know that Members across the way, most of them do

agree with me when I say it. It's something that we can all work together on to

make sure that our fishing industry survives. It's the reason we came here; it's

the reason that we are proud Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. Like I said, when

you asked my father what he did, he did everything that he wanted to do. But do

you know what he was? He was a fishermen and that's what he was proud of.

I know

people today that go on the water, they're just proud to keep the heritage of

their families going – generation after generation after generation. And in

order for us to do that we need to come together as a government, as people in

Newfoundland and Labrador, as our federal representatives, our seven people who

are in Ottawa, need to come together and do a plan that we can make sure that

our fishery survives. I believe that the seal industry is one of the reasons –

if we don't do anything about it, our fishing industry will die. Mr. Speaker,

I'll end on that.

Mr.

Speaker, I'm going to talk a little bit today – this is Volunteer Week. T he

beautiful District of Cape St. Francis is very lucky, as are all small

communities and large communities and cities and towns, everywhere in this

province. We're so lucky that Newfoundlanders and Labradorians get up and do

what they do. I think there's no other province in Canada that has so much

volunteer hours as Newfoundland and Labrador does.

It's not only the volunteers – there are volunteers

that I always talk about, a couple of ladies in my own hometown of Flatrock. I

always say please God that they stays there for so long because I think they got

you from the time your born to the time you die. Anything in the community,

whether it's a baptism that needs to be done or something with the church or

when you're young, there could be a recreation program and stuff like that,

they're there to count out.

When you die, they're the bereavement team in the

church that helps make sure that things run smoothly and the readings are done

and the family doesn't need to worry about this. Their names are Anita Dyer,

Madonna Wilkinson and Bun Hawco. They're in my community and when I look at the

word volunteer, I look at those three people and say thank you for all that they

do because they do so much in the small community of Flatrock. It's

unbelievable. Now, there are volunteers like you wouldn't believe in the

community, but I single out those three because they really have an effect like

I said on so much.

Mr. Speaker, I look at the Volunteer Fire Department. I

had an opportunity this weekend to attend the Firemen's Ball for the Torbay

Volunteer Fire Department. The Torbay Volunteer Fire Department takes care of

both the communities of Flatrock and Torbay. They have a station in Flatrock

where they have two trucks. I have to say, last year – you'd be surprised about

this one – they had 236 calls. That's 236 times that the Volunteer Fire

Department were called out.

So sometimes when you look at volunteers, you might say

okay I volunteer once a month to do this or I volunteer every three months to do

this or a weekly thing, but to be out 236 times as a volunteer organization,

boy, that's a lot and I really want to say I appreciate it and I know the people

in the towns really appreciate what they do.

They did

118 medical calls last year. I remember one day my mom got sick and we needed to

call an ambulance. The first ones that came through the door were the Torbay

Volunteer Fire Department. They made her feel comfortable. She was so

appreciative they were there. That's what they do. They do a fantastic job.

When we

talk volunteer firefighters, when that phone rings or the bell goes off, who

knows what they're going to face. Who knows what's going to happen. Is it a

fire? Is it an accident? Is there someone hurt? Is there someone burned? Is

there someone caught in a building? Nobody knows what they're going to face when

they leave that night. It's not only the volunteer firefighter that goes, it's

the family that watches them run out through the door and wonders what are they

going to face tonight or what are they going to face today.

To all

volunteer firefighters and people that do volunteer, I really want to say

Volunteer Week – and I had the opportunity to speak at Saturday night's event.

On the event that night, Mike Matthews had 25 years of service to the Torbay

Volunteer Fire Department, so he's at it for 25 years. There was also Paul

Blundon who was there for 20 years.

The

Torbay Volunteer Fire Department has been in existence for 44 years. They've

been on the go as a volunteer unit in the areas. Like I said, they do Torbay and

Flatrock. The chief, Mike McGrath, has been there for 44 years.

AN HON. MEMBER:

How long?

MR. K. PARSONS:

Forty-four years he's been –

not always as chief but 44 years he's dedicated his time and his effort. I

explained the other night; I said he's like a dog on a rabbit. When he has

something, he's not going to give up. He's going to keep going and going until

he gets it. Sometimes you can do your best but that's the way he is.

Do you

know what? The 42 members of that department appreciate everything he does and

the people in the area appreciate everything. His wife, Karen, does because two

of them – it's not only Mike, it's his wife that's there. She's on the auxiliary

for the last number of years. I think she retired this year from it. But a big

thank you to those people that do the work that they do; like I said, Volunteer

Week.

I also

have another volunteer fire department in my district also and that's Pouch

Cove. Pouch Cove services the areas of Pouch Cove and Shoe Cove and Bauline.

Their chief is a dedicated man also. His name is Derek Sullivan. Derek is a good

guy. He works hard and his heart and soul goes into the Pouch Cove Volunteer

firefighters.

They

have a junior firefighting program also that gets younger people involved in the

early ages, and I'm not sure how many are in it right now, but it's a great

program they got that young people in the community can come and be junior

firefighters and see the training, have the opportunity to do certain calls,

participate in what the fire department does.

In both

communities the fire department does a lot, because not only do they do – the

Santa Claus Parade usually is the main thing and one of the big events that they

participate in. I know Pouch Cove plays a huge role around Christmas with

running the dinner, breakfast with Santa and stuff like that, and they're really

community-oriented people. So we have to recognize our volunteers.

Another

one of the groups that I'll recognize, and it was a part that I played myself

for a lot of years, and I watched and last number of weeks we've saw the

terrible tragedy with the bus accident in Saskatchewan. I was involved in hockey

all my life, but probably the most gratifying time I ever had out of hockey is

coaching and being a member of the executive at minor hockey.

For all

the communities – and I heard you up today, Mr. Speaker, have to chew on a bit

of crow I suppose to your colleague from Twillingate. I played hockey in

Twillingate, I played hockey in Springdale, and we all went on a bus trip and

there were many volunteers that got us to where we were to. And minor hockey

just finished – it's always around the Easter week, and the time and effort that

goes into that from volunteers, no matter if it's running the tournament. I

don't know if you ever had the opportunity Mr. Speaker, to run a tournament and

have five or six teams come into your community and for you to have to organize

the billets for those kids, you had to organize and make sure the

schedule was

done right and you know parents, sometimes everything doesn't go the way it is.

I'll always say when I do a speech beforehand, I always tell people that are in

the stands that this is fun and it's a game, and respect of people that are

around, especially the volunteers, because it's so important that we do.

Mr.

Speaker, the past weekend also in my district – and this one really hit home to

me – there was a Ron Cadigan Foundation set up. Ron Cadigan was probably one the

best athletes, one of the finest hockey players I've ever played against. Not

only was he a fine hockey player, he was one of the most gentlemanly fellows you

could ever meet in your entire life. His whole life was nothing but class.

His

family, this weekend, ran a hockey to raise the money for MSA and plus the Ron

Cadigan Foundation. When Ronnie was in his heyday – I don't know how many people

will ever remember back in 1979 when the Shamrock scored the Herder. They beat

Gander in Gander. It was the Mike's Shamrocks back then, and they beat them in

overtime in the final game, and Ronnie scored the overtime goal. I remember

being in my kitchen listening to George MacLaren, me and my father, and we were

just so excited because we knew who Ronnie Cadigan was and he scored the winning

goal.

This

weekend people came together and I think they raised around $10,000 and his

wife, Barb, who is a good friend of mine and a lovely lady and his two sons, two

RNC officers right now, they should be so proud of themselves of what they done

this weekend to keep his legacy going. I hope this foundation and I hope this

event continues for years to come. I was happy to get down there on Thursday

night. I would have liked to get there a whole lot more and next year I may even

play in the tournament, but it was good to see and it's nice to see so many

volunteers come out to help the family make sure that Ronnie's life – because

like I said this man was a true – well, basically a legend in our area, one of

the finest hockey players ever to come out of our way, great guy.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. K. PARSONS:

Mr. Speaker, we look at

volunteers – and I know the Minister of Education deals with a lot of different

school councils and stuff like that and I have to say that that's another group

of people that I'm going to talk a little bit about today, about our school

councils and what they do. I'm sure the minister will agree that every one of

them have different wants and they have different needs and stuff like that.

MR. KIRBY:

All 268.

MR. K. PARSONS:

All 268 of them.

I know,

Minister, that they reach out to your department all the time but these people

represent our children. They represent our children in the schools and I know

that their needs are high sometimes in want they want, but they're great

volunteers and we need them and we need them to speak on our educational needs.

MR. KIRBY:

(Inaudible.)

MR. K. PARSONS:

And they do great

co-operation; you're right.

I'm

going to give you an example now, and the minister will know what I'm talking

about. In my district we had some major issues with the capacity in some of the

schools. Our Holy Trinity was built up and a new school built and some people

will say oh, you built it too small in the first place, but I tell you the

population changed and there was a lot of different things. When you plan a

school, it usually takes a couple of years to get it done, a couple of years to

do the planning and the whole area grew by a lot. That school was way out of

capacity.

The

school in Pouch Cove was way over and above; 263 was the amount that they said

could go to school and we were up to about 350. The high school was at full

capacity.

These

three school councils, rather than one school council talk about their school

and their problem with three different schools, the three school councils got

together and had a solution for all three schools. So rather than have K to 6 in

Pouch Cove and Flatrock, and K to 6 in Torbay, they said maybe we can go K to 4.

The high school – they looked at it and they said okay.

Now, a

big thing with high schools sometimes, the curriculum depends a lot on the

amount of children that are in the school. They looked at it and said: okay,

maybe we can give up grade seven. They did all the work. It's unbelievable the

amount of time they put into this. They had to do a presentation to the school,

the school board, the school trustees. Then there were some more letters that

had to be written to the minister, give you all the birth rates, where we're to.

They did it all.

The

result was we had a brand new school built that myself and the minister were

down to just this year and opened in Torbay. It was the result of volunteers.

These volunteers, I have to really commend them. They did such a fantastic job.

The reason why we have the education system that we do in my district right now

is because of the great volunteers, our school councils and the dedication they

had to the children in the area. I want to commend them for that.

AN HON. MEMBER:

(Inaudible) credit yourself.

MR. K. PARSONS:

No, but I helped a little bit

along the way.

Mr.

Speaker, recreation is also a very important part of who we are. Now, we'll all

be out this summer and we'll be going to different sporting events in our areas.

Soccer seems like it's a huge sport now. I didn't play much soccer when I was

growing up but softball was a sport. Today, in my district, soccer is like –

there's a soccer group in Flatrock that, I think, there are about 400 involved

right now; take Pouch Cove, Bauline and that area.

I was up

to the Torbay minor soccer program and they have massive teams. Every kid in the

area is all playing soccer. It's a great sport. The reason why soccer is such a

great sport is because it's cheap. Not that it's cheap, but it's affordable to

be able to play.

Soccer

is a sport that you don't need to have the best skates on. You don't need to

have all the equipment on. A pair of shorts and a pair of sneakers or a pair of

cleats that they use, it won't cost you an arm and a leg. Today, it's

unfortunate that some children can't play minor sports because of cost, but

soccer is one of these sports that get a lot of people involved.

When I

look at different areas in my district and see what's happening with soccer –

recreation is playing a major role. Softball is not what it used to be but

soccer is. When you go to a soccer field and you see – I got a couple of little

grandchildren now and I'm hoping to be able to go down and see them when they're

this high, down kicking the ball and they don't care where it goes to but

they're having fun. You watch the volunteers that are there to help out and make

sure everything is done, that they have jerseys, they have this, that and

everything else.

Recreation in our communities plays a huge role; again, another volunteer group

that needs to be talked about and thanked. I know I've missed some. I know I've

missed some groups. There are church groups, there are all kinds of fundraising

groups, there are harbour authorities, there are so many people out there.

Being

Volunteer Week, I'd just like to take the opportunity – and I know all my

colleagues in this House appreciate every minute, every second, every hour,

every time a person reaches to volunteer because volunteers are the heart and

soul of our small communities.