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May 5,

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS

Vol. XLVII No. 21

The House met at 1:30 p.m.

MR.

SPEAKER (Wiseman): Order, please!

Admit strangers.

Before we start regular proceedings today, we will

adhere to a time honoured tradition as we welcome new members to the House of

Assembly. Today we are going to be

welcoming Ms Cathy Bennett, who was just recently elected to the District of

Virginia Waters in a by-election on April 9.

I have been advised by the Clerk that she has taken her Oath of

Allegiance as required by the Constitution and has also signed the Members'

Roll.

Welcome, Ms Cathy Bennett.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

A. PARSONS:

Mr.

Speaker, I present to you Ms Cathy Bennett, the Member for Virginia Waters, who

claims the right to her seat.

MR.

SPEAKER:

Please take your seat.

C. BENNETT:

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

Statements by Members

MR.

SPEAKER:

Today we will have members' statements from the Member for the District of Port

au Port, the Member for the District of Bonavista North, the Member for the

District of Burgeo La Poile, the Member for the District of Kilbride, the

Member for the District of St. John's South, and the Member for the District of

Exploits.

The hon. the Member for the District of Port au Port.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

CORNECT:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise to congratulate the winners and nominees who

were honoured at the Stephen Awards Banquet in Stephenville on April 13 as part

of Volunteer Week 2014.

Rosa Dollard was honoured with the Citizen of the Year

Award while Simal Qureshi was the recipient of the Youth of the Year Award, both

being recognized for their outstanding volunteer service to their community.

Tiuri Lomond won the Junior Male Athlete of the Year Award; Rita-Jane St.

Croix was presented with the Junior Female Athlete of the Year Award and Chris

Dugas was presented with the Senior Athlete of the Year Award.

Twenty-seven Certificates of Merit for outstanding

volunteer work were also presented, Mr. Speaker.

Marie Alexander, Cator Best, Cecelia Burke, Mary Burt, Mark Burt, Wayne

Butt, Norma Childs, Tom Collier, Debra Coughlin, Michele Dawson, J.J. Furlong,

Susan Gallant, Don Gibbon, Michelle Hawco-Stokes, Yvonne Healey, Arch Locke,

Gwen Lomond, Angela LeRoy, Ivan MacDonald, Nancy MacDonald, Avril McIsaac, Lloyd

Pye, Mondella Stacey, Corinne Tulk, Christopher Vaughn, Chelsey White and Gus

Willette.

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

congratulating all the winners and nominees of the Stephen Awards on their

invaluable contributions to our communities, our Province, and our country.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for the District of Bonavista North.

MR.

CROSS:

Mr.

Speaker, I take great pleasure in standing today to recognize the artistic

efforts of a young constituent.

In October 2013, Ocean Rogers, along with many

classmates and students from Centreville Academy and hundreds of others from

around the Province participated in a poster contest sponsored by the Royal

Canadian Legion.

Ocean submitted her pencil sketch, as no colour was

allowed, which represented the symbolism that Remembrance Day meant to a fifth

grader in a small rural community.

On April 17, 2014, just a couple of weeks ago, Mr.

Nelson Granter, a representative of the Royal Canadian Legion visited

Centreville Academy where Ocean Rogers received a certificate and monetary prize

for her art work and she was declared the provincial winner for her category.

I am sure that in years to come, Ocean will look back

on the 100 th Anniversary of the start of World War I and have a

special memory of her award and this remarkable year.

I am sure as a collective voice of this House of

Assembly, I extend congratulations to Ocean.

I am also confident that projects sponsored by the Royal Canadian Legion

and the eager participation of students at schools like Centreville Academy, we

will never forget the contribution of those who sacrificed for our freedoms.

Lest we forget, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for Burgeo La Poile.

MR.

A. PARSONS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise today to recognize the efforts of the Autism

Involves Me, or AIM for short, group and the generous donors who assisted with

the purchase of physical and sensory equipment for special needs children.

The AIM sports program takes place at the Bruce II

sports complex in Port aux Basques, which provides free space for the equipment

and staff to set up the equipment.

In exchange for this space, the Bruce II is able to use this same equipment to

provide a program for pre-school children.

This joint initiative is working quite well for everyone involved, and

most importantly, the children.

There are two main categories of equipment, one for the

physical aspect and the other for sensory awareness.

The group received their initial funding from the Jump

Start Program and Canadian Tire.

This was followed with donations from local businesses and parents of an

autistic child. This is a fantastic

way for special needs children to participate in physical activity at their own

pace and without any pressure or intimidation.

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

with me in extending congratulations to the AIM group and the Bruce II sports

complex in providing a safe and happy environment for special needs children to

participate in physical activities.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for the District of Kilbride.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for the District of Kilbride.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

DINN:

Mr.

Speaker, I stand in this hon. House today to highlight a very successful local

business in the District of Kilbride that was recently profiled in

The Telegram .

Topsailstar Pet Center, located at 70 Ruby Line, is

dedicated to pet care and training twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

The owners, Valerie and Barry Reid, pride themselves on running a

top-notch business that provides daycare and boarding for dogs that are fully

vaccinated. Training and grooming

services are also provided.

Topsailstar is a busy place with lots of happy dogs around at all times.

Personnel working at Topsailstar are trained in

handling and caring for dogs, and that includes everyone from groomers to kennel

attendants, to those who entertain and supervise the dogs at playtime a total

of ten employees, counting the owners.

Topsailstar Pet Center also features a retail

section with an assortment

of nutritious foods, toys, and other products.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all hon. Members of this House of

Assembly to join me in commending Valerie and Barry Reid for operating such a

good and successful business.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for St. John's South.

MR.

OSBORNE:

Mr.

Speaker, I would like to recognize Travis Penny, a junior high school student at

St. John Bosco School in my district.

Travis is currently in Winnipeg, Manitoba representing Newfoundland and

Labrador at Youth Bowling Canada, their National Championships.

It is always exciting to see young people excel in the

area of sport within our Province, but it is especially exciting to see them

earn their spot to compete on the national level.

Travis' success has no doubt been achieved through hard work and his

dedication to his sport.

I would like all hon. members to join with me in

congratulating Travis and in wishing him well during the remainder of his

competitions at the Youth Bowling Canada, National Championships.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for the District of Exploits.

MR.

FORSEY:

Mr.

Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to stand in this House today to recognize

the contributions to the Town of Leading Tickles by the Leading Tickles

Volunteer Firefighters, in particular, the dedication of Mr. Cliff Chippett who

was chosen Firefighter of the Year.

We are all aware of the commitment of these volunteers

being ready for duty twenty-four hours a day and, of course, this would not be

possible without the support they receive from their families.

Cliff has given his time unselfishly for the good of his community,

always ready to respond to emergency situations, to volunteering for community

events, and helping those in need.

For these reasons, his dedication is certainly recognized by his peers.

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

in congratulating Cliff Chippett on being named Firefighter of the Year.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

Statements by Ministers.

Statements by Ministers

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Minister of Municipal and Intergovernmental Affairs.

MR.

KENT:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am pleased to rise in this hon. House today to talk

about Emergency Preparedness Week 2014, which takes place this week from May

4-10.

Public safety is a top priority of the Government of

Newfoundland and Labrador, particularly during emergency situations, and being

prepared can make a huge difference and save lives.

Individuals, families, communities, and all levels of government should

be ready to respond to any emergency that may occur.

Mr. Speaker, I strongly recommend all residents of the

Province to know the risks, make a plan, and assemble an emergency kit.

I would also like to encourage residents to visit getprepared.ca, for

tips and basic directions about how to assemble a seventy-two-hour emergency kit

for their homes.

Emergency Preparedness Week is an excellent opportunity

for families and the neighbours to engage with one another, and have

conversations about how they can help each other during emergencies.

By having these important discussions, residents will be better prepared

to face any emergency situation that may arise.

Mr. Speaker, on a municipal level, communities are

encouraged to update their emergency management plans and validate them through

emergency exercises. Through Fire

and Emergency Services-Newfoundland and Labrador, our government supports

municipalities, government departments and agencies in developing, maintaining,

and exercising emergency management plans. We

continue to stress the importance of this on a daily basis.

I would like to highlight our recent participation in

Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador's Emergency Preparedness and Disaster

Management Conference that took place last week in Gander.

During this conference, Fire and Emergency Services officials joined

municipal leaders, the Canadian Red Cross, the Coalition of Persons with

Disabilities Newfoundland and Labrador, the media, and other stakeholders to

learn from each other and discuss the importance of emergency preparedness.

Finally, I would like to ask all hon. members in this

House today, are you ready? If not,

start preparing immediately during Emergency Preparedness Week.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for the District of Bay of Islands.

MR.

JOYCE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank the minister for an advance copy of his

statement. The Opposition also

understands the importance of being prepared for emergencies.

If you look at DarkNL, which was a crisis in my view that we had, and

just as the report that came back on DarkNL it said we will have future

blackouts. The need for being

prepared is even getting greater with natural flooding that happens in

Newfoundland and Labrador and natural disasters.

We all need to be ready and prepared.

Mr. Speaker, to the municipalities, a lot of

municipalities and we asked this question this morning in Estimates - about 85

per cent do have their plan in or are in the process of finishing their plan,

but the municipalities need resources so they can carry out their plan in time

of need.

To the Red Cross, the Coalition of Persons with

Disabilities, and other groups, congratulations for stepping up to the plate on

many occasions to help out Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

Mr. Speaker, the Coalition of Persons with Disabilities, I know the

minister has spoken to them. For

people with disabilities, that is a different, unique set of circumstances that

we must face. We must have a plan

for different communities for people with disabilities.

We encourage everybody to be prepared.

We encourage government to keep up the work to help towns to have their

emergency plans updated on a regular basis.

We urge the government to supply water resources

MR.

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The member's time has expired.

MR.

JOYCE:

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

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

MR.

MURPHY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would also like to thank the minister for the advance

copy of his statement. It was good

to hear in Estimates this morning, of course, that there were 96 per cent of

municipalities, I think, so far that had their emergency plans.

We need to get that other 4 per cent done, so I encourage the minister to

keep pursuing that.

We know we are facing dark ages coming ahead, not only

with the challenges with electricity, but the challenges as well for climate

change. We know we have to see more

government investment, for example, in roads and bridges.

We know the Auditor General has said that.

We also have to have our confidence as well and

government needs to let the people of Newfoundland and Labrador know this to

know that government has been doing the right things, for example, for 911.

They say 911 is going to be ready for December 2012.

We are hoping they are going to meet the challenge, but we need to hear

those regular updates.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh,

oh!

MR.

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Today is STOP!

Clean Your Hands Day , a national event that coincides with a global

initiative of the World Health Organization called

Save Lives: Clean Your Hands .

The focus of today is to bring greater awareness to the

importance of washing our hands as a way of preventing disease by controlling

the spread of germs.

The simple task of washing your hands with soap and

water or an alcohol-based rub can have a significant impact on your health and

on the health of everyone you come in contact with.

For our health care workers, hand hygiene remains the

primary means of reducing health care associated infections.

Mr. Speaker, we have placed an emphasis on hand hygiene

and we have provided the necessary resources to ensure that patients are

protected.

While there is always room for improvement, the number

of health care associated infections has declined in Newfoundland and Labrador

since 2009.

As a result of our monitoring and prevention policies,

including education and surveillance, we have among the lowest rates of

C-difficile infection in Canada and have seen a significant decline in

Staphylococcus infection known as MRSA over the last number of years.

Mr. Speaker while we will continue to work on improving

health prevention initiatives with our health care system, I want to strongly

encourage all residents to make a habit of regular hand washing.

This simple, yet effective action can help prevent the spread of illness

such as influence, norovirus, and many more serious communicable diseases.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for Burgeo La Poile.

MR.

A. PARSONS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank the minister for the advance copy of his

statement, and I congratulate him on his new role as the Minister of Health.

I am looking forward to working with him in this, obviously, very

important portfolio.

This seems to be a very simple thing that we hear about

all the time: wash your hands, wash your hands; but I do not think we can drill

it into people's heads enough of how much this simple action of washing your

hands can help prevent the spread of communicable diseases and infections.

We see the signs out there, we see them in hospitals,

we see them in schools, and I think we need to continue on with that.

I note that our rates are still amongst the lowest in Canada and that is

a good sign, but we need to do more to eradicate this altogether.

This simple act that takes only a few seconds can help stop the spread of

what can be deadly infections.

I think we need to start with our youth.

I take my three-year-old, for example, and we have started him in that

routine of washing your hands all the time.

Sometimes we are like a drill sergeant, but I think we need to start with

youth and we have to continue forming these habits and creating them and

spreading them. As they continue

into adulthood, once they have these strong habits, it is only going to help

prevent what could be an easily avoided infection.

I appreciate the time, Mr. Speaker, thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

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

ROGERS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank the minister for the advance copy of his

statement, and congratulations to the minister on his new portfolio.

I, too, look forward to working with him.

Hand washing is an excellent preventative health care

measure, and I congratulate our health care workers who have this growing

success in reducing infection. I

hope this government will not stop there.

Ensuring that people have access to home care based on need will also

contribute greatly to ensuring hospitals are not overcrowded unnecessarily and

providing free glucose strips and providing the insulin pump to adults over

twenty-five so people can afford to manage their diabetes and avoid more serious

complications that end in preventable hospital admissions is an important thing.

To provide a more comprehensive adult

MR.

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The member's time has expired.

Oral Questions

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for Burgeo La Poile.

MR.

A. PARSONS:

Mr.

Speaker, last week the public became aware that government released Humber

Valley Paving from an $18 million paving contract for the Trans-Labrador

Highway.

I ask the minister: Now that you claim to be an open

government, will you provide a copy of the contract that Humber Valley Paving

was released from?

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

MCGRATH:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the department, I guess, our number one

initiative is to make sure that we provide a service to the people of

Newfoundland and Labrador and we get contracts finished on time and on budget.

The contract that we had released with the particular contractor in

question here today, once the tender was awarded, that was a public document.

So there is no problem at all for the Opposition at any time to get hold

to that contract.

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for Burgeo La Poile.

MR.

A. PARSONS:

Mr.

Speaker, the minister said that Humber Valley Paving submitted a request to be

released from the paving contract on March 13, 2014.

I ask the minister: How was this request submitted?

Again, now that you claim to be an open government, will you provide us

with a copy of that particular documentation?

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

MCGRATH:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, again, within the Department of

Transportation and Works, when we award contracts to any tender we keep a very

close contact with the contractors.

Our objective is to make sure that tenders and contracts are done efficiently,

effectively, on time and on budget.

We have constant contact and conversation with all contractors during the

process of a contract after it is awarded.

What we do then in this particular case, there were constant

conversations with the contractor.

We monitor throughout the contract being fulfilled.

What we did in this case is that we had to

MR.

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The hon. the Member for Burgeo La Poile.

MR.

A. PARSONS:

Mr.

Speaker, I asked the minister, how was the request submitted on March 13, 2014,

and will you provide us with a copy of that particular documentation?

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.

MR.

MCGRATH:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, as I was saying, what we do is we keep

constant contact with the contractors.

Last year, Mr. Speaker, was a very difficult year

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh,

oh!

MR.

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR.

MCGRATH:

Last year, Mr. Speaker, was a very difficult year with unforeseen circumstances

that nobody had any control over, government or the contractor in this case.

Of course, what I am talking about here, Mr. Speaker, mostly is the

forest fires that were throughout Labrador, especially in Labrador West and

spreading into Eastern Labrador which closed down the highway for an extended

period of time. This caused

unforeseen delays, as well as extra expenses to the contractor.

The contractor then in March approached, and I will continue when he asks

the next question.

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for Burgeo La Poile.

MR.

A. PARSONS:

Mr.

Speaker, I have to ask the same question again.

The contract was released March 13, 2014.

I ask, how was the request submitted and will you provide us with a copy

of that documentation?

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

MCGRATH:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I will pick up where I left off the last time.

We were approached then in March by the contractor.

Of course, the first objective from my perspective as the Minister of

Transportation and Works is to get that contract finished on time and on budget.

We were into verbal conversations with the contractor

and then we had to make a decision.

Do you enter into a negotiation to let them out of the contract?

We could have said no and held them to the contract.

We put all of the options on the table.

What we felt the best thing to do for the people of Newfoundland and

Labrador was to sit down and see what the best options were that we had.

Again, I will continue on the next question.

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for Burgeo La Poile.

MR.

A. PARSONS:

Mr.

Speaker, there was a request submitted on March 13.

I ask the minister very simply: Will he release that

documentation, yes or no?

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

MCGRATH:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, as I said, we were into verbal

conversations then with the contractor.

What I, as the minister, had to decide then was, what were the options

that I had?

First and foremost, I wanted the contract finished on

time and on budget. Secondly, I

wanted to protect the people of Newfoundland and Labrador and the employment to

the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Thirdly, I did not want to see a Newfoundland and Labrador company that

since 1996 has been providing very good professional service to the Province of

Newfoundland and Labrador we have been very pleased with the work they have

been doing.

I was left with a very small window of opportunity.

I sat down and I felt that the best option in order to get the work done

was to enter into a contract

MR.

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The hon. the Member for Burgeo La Poile.

MR.

A. PARSONS:

Mr.

Speaker, it is apparent we are not going to get a copy of that document.

I note the minister said he was in verbal conversation with somebody from

the company.

I ask the minister: Who were you speaking to about this

matter?

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

MCGRATH:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, as I was saying, we sat down then and

there was a mutual agreement between the contractor, in this case Humber Valley

Paving, and the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador that the best option in

order to get the work done on time, on budget, protect the

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh,

oh!

MR.

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR.

MCGRATH:

citizens of Newfoundland and Labrador, protect jobs for the people of

Newfoundland and Labrador, and to ensure that a company that has provided a very

good professional service within Newfoundland and Labrador with this government

since 1996, that we did not jeopardize the future of that company.

There was a small window of opportunity to retender the work with other

work within Labrador.

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for Burgeo La Poile.

MR.

A. PARSONS:

Mr.

Speaker, I ask the minister: Prior to the decision on March 13 to revoke this

contract or renege on the contract who were you in conversations with?

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

MCGRATH:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I will pick up where I left off there.

Then there was a mutual agreement between the

contractor and the government, a small window of opportunity to be able to

bundle that sixty kilometre piece of work with a much larger piece of work, an

eighty kilometre piece of work in Eastern Labrador on the Trans-Labrador

Highway. As well as a piece of work

within Hamilton River Road in Happy Valley-Goose Bay and a small

section on the

eastern side of the Trans-Labrador Highway, about three kilometres that has chip

seal that has to be redone. By

bundling all of that work together, along with the sixty kilometres, we felt and

still feel the best decision was to bundle it together to get the work

guaranteed to be done on time, on budget, this season, Mr. Speaker.

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for Burgeo La Poile.

MR.

A. PARSONS:

Mr.

Speaker, the minister has indicated that he is not going to release any of the

documentation, he is not going to tell us who he talked to, and we are talking

about millions of dollars of taxpayer money.

Will the minister confirm that you will not release the

information or who you spoke to with Humber Valley Paving about this?

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

MCGRATH:

I was saying, Mr. Speaker, we felt that was the best decision at the time, still

feel that in order to get the work done on time, on schedule, on budget, was to

bundle it together. The people we

talked to and I will say unequivocally that at no time have I ever had a

conversation, as the Minister of Transportation and Works, at no time have I

ever had a conversation with Frank Coleman concerning Happy Valley-Goose Bay.

The people I spoke with were the people that at the time represented the

contractor, in this case Humber Valley Paving, and there were verbal

conversations from March 13. Then my

senior officials, on March 21, entered into an agreement to terminate the

contract.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The hon. the Member for Burgeo La Poile.

MR.

A. PARSONS:

Mr.

Speaker, I ask the minister: When was the first communication, formal or

informal, written or verbal, between the government and Humber Valley Paving

about the cancellation of this contract?

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

MCGRATH:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, as the member opposite announced in his

preamble earlier, it was on March 13 that the company had first approached

government to enter into a verbal conversation to move forward to make a

decision whether or not there could be a mutual agreement that termination of

the contract would be in the best interest of the government, the people of

Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as the contractor in question here now.

That was on March 13.

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for Burgeo La Poile.

MR.

A. PARSONS:

Mr.

Speaker, I ask the minister: Prior to March 13, 2014, did the minister ever

discuss this with the Premier?

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

MCGRATH:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I have many conversations with the Premier

as well as the Cabinet and caucus, and verbal conversations.

I will not say that I did not have a conversation with the Premier

concerning this because, as I said, I have conversations almost on a daily

basis, especially with Cabinet.

There is no written documentation as there was not with Humber Valley Paving.

On March 13 they approached us to see if we could have a discussion,

whether or not it was possible to move into negotiations to terminate this

contract. On March 21, because of

the window of opportunity I had to bundle this with another tender, my senior

officials agreed to terminate the contract.

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for Burgeo La Poile.

MR.

A. PARSONS:

Just to confirm, Mr. Speaker, the minister did discuss this matter with the

Premier prior to March 13.

I ask the minister: Was this a departmental or Cabinet

decision to cancel the contract?

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

MCGRATH:

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, this was strictly a departmental decision.

I sat with my senior officials.

We had to make a decision.

The urgency I felt from a government perspective here, as well as a business

perspective, was that we needed to act faster.

We had a very small window because we were about to send out a tender for

the other eighty kilometres and the five kilometres to be retendered.

If we did not move that and bundle it together, then I did not feel that

sixty kilometres would be done on

schedule and on budget.

I think we made the right decision to get that work done by the end of

this summer.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for Burgeo La Poile.

MR.

A. PARSONS:

Mr.

Speaker, the minister states he did discuss this with the Premier and that this

was a departmental decision, however.

I ask the minister: Do all departments discuss their

decisions with the Premier prior to making them or do they usually happen

strictly within departments?

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

MCGRATH:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I cannot speak for other departments, but

I will guarantee you that as part of being an open government and as part of

being a communicative government, I certainly discuss many issues as a minister

of the Crown with the Premier, who actually governs this whole government.

I would think it would be responsible that you do have conversations with

the leader of your party.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for St. John's South.

MR.

OSBORNE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, in addition to releasing Humber Valley

Paving from the paving contract, government did not call the bond associated

with this contract.

I ask the minister: Now that you claim to be an open

and accountable government, will you release a copy of the bond?

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

MCGRATH:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member opposite for the

question because after listening to the political spin that was put on bonds

when it comes to how a bond works and I heard members of the Opposition

announce publicly that a bond of $9.5 million could have been held back from the

contractor in question and spent in an Opposition's district.

Mr. Speaker, how a bond works, and the bonding agency

works, is that a bond is the same as an insurance policy.

A bond is put in place. There

is not actually $9.5 million in cash sitting there and you can decide whether

you are going to keep it or not. It

is an insurance policy. Many of us,

I would hope, pay insurance on different things.

MR.

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

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

MR.

OSBORNE:

Mr.

Speaker, I asked the minister a simple question.

I will ask him again.

Will you release a copy of the bond, yes or no?

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

MCGRATH:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, as I was saying, the bond is an insurance

policy that quite often is part of when a contract is awarded the bonds are

necessary. Those insurance policies

are put in place, and once a contract is mutually agreed upon to be terminated,

well then all bonds or pieces of documentation that are referred or related to

that contract, they are also terminated, Mr. Speaker.

It is very easy for the Opposition to access that.

As I said, once this tender was awarded, any documentation that went with

that contract that was being awarded was public knowledge also.

He is more than welcome to go on site and get that.

MR.

SPEAKER:

remind members that the Speaker acknowledges one speaker at a time, and only one

speaker should be on their feet at any one time.

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

MR.

OSBORNE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I ask the minister: What kind of bond did Humber Valley

Paving have in place that government did not release?

Was it a labour materials bond that was not released, a performance bond,

or both?

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

MCGRATH:

Mr.

Speaker, as I was saying, the bonds that are related to any contract in this

case the performance bonds, they are related to that particular contract.

Once there was a mutual agreement to terminate the contract with this

particular contractor, any issues, any bonds that were related to the contract,

they also are terminated. As I said,

that would be public knowledge, Mr. Speaker.

Whenever they want to go on the Web site, they are more than welcome to

access that information. It is

already public knowledge.

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for St. John's South.

MR.

OSBORNE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I will ask the minister again: Did he not call the

performance bond in addition to the labour and materials bond?

Both of those bonds, I am assuming, were in place for Humber Valley

Paving.

I am asking the minister: Were both bonds released back

to the company without being called?

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

MCGRATH:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, as I said, when the contract was mutually

agreed upon to terminate the contract then all bonds that were related to that

particular contract also terminate.

It was not in the best interest of government to call

in the bonds. Had we called in the

bonds my first and most important objective in this whole issue was to get the

job completed, the sixty kilometres completed on schedule, and to get it

completed on budget.

The most sensible thing when I sat down with my senior

officials was to bundle that sixty kilometres with another large tender I had

coming out in that very near future.

There was a small window of opportunity.

Had I kept the bonds or called in the bonds, Mr. Speaker and I will

repeat on the next question.

MR.

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

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

MR.

OSBORNE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I cannot see how it would not be in the best interest

of government to call a bond on a tender that was not completed.

I ask the minister: Would either of the bonds that were

not called have provided any protection to creditors if the bond had been

called?

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

MCGRATH:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

That is a good question again by the member from the

Opposition, Mr. Speaker. Again, if

it would help the member from the Opposition and he would like a briefing on how

bonds work and the bonding agency, I would be more than happy to have my

department give him a briefing as to how the bonding agency works.

A bonding agency and the bonds that are related to a

contract, as I said earlier, Mr. Speaker, is an insurance policy.

It is not a matter of having the $9.5 million bond and being able to

spend it whichever way you want.

What happens between private industry and another private industry, government,

and the bonding agency has nothing to do with that.

Had we called in those bonds, what we would have had to

do there is a process that you have to go through.

I would have jeopardized getting the project done on time.

MR.

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

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

MR.

OSBORNE:

Mr.

Speaker, I will ask the minister: If he had called the bond, would it have

provided either of the bonds, the labour and materials or the performance

bond. Would either of those bonds,

had they been called, provided any protection to creditors that are looking for

money?

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

MCGRATH:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, as I was saying, if I had called in the

bonds I would not have gotten the job done on time and on budget.

The job would have been delayed to go through the bonding agency process

which could be very lengthy. It

could lead to litigation.

Once you call in a bond, the bonding agency then has to

do research and see, were there circumstantial reasons that would suffice the

company, or the contractor in this case, saying it was not in the best interest

of the company to stay within this contract?

Government and the contractor in this particular case mutually agreed it

was in the best interest of the Province and the best interest of getting the

job done on time and on budget that we terminate the project.

In order to terminate the project, we also (inaudible).

MR.

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

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

MR.

OSBORNE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The minister previously stated that he did not call the

bond, claiming that it would cause Humber Valley Paving to suffer.

Mr. Speaker, there are many suppliers and small businesses that cannot

afford to suffer a loss should they not be able to collect on outstanding debts

of Humber Valley Paving.

I ask the minister: What measures has government taken

to ensure that the suppliers and other creditors will not suffer because they

are not able to collect the money that they are owed?

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.

MR.

MCGRATH:

Again, Mr. Speaker, it is obvious that the Member for St. John's South does not

understand how the bonding agency works.

Government

SOME HON. MEMBER:

Oh,

oh!

MR.

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The Speaker has acknowledged the Minister of

Transportation and Works for an answer.

MR.

MCGRATH:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, again, as I was saying, it is obvious that

the Member for St. John's South does not understand how the bonding agencies

work and government does not get involved in financial issues from one private

enterprise to another; that is not how we govern.

What we did in the best interests of the people of Newfoundland and

Labrador, the best opportunity to get this project completed and on budget, was

the decision that we made.

MR.

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

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

MR.

OSBORNE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, when a bond is issued guarantors provide a

promise to pay if a company defaults on its contract.

I ask the minister: Who were the bond guarantors for

the contract and will he provide the documentation for these guarantors?

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

MCGRATH:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, as I was saying, it was in the best

interests of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians that the decision that we made, we

made it on the premise that we wanted to get the job done on time and we wanted

to get the job done on budget. We

did not want to risk Newfoundlanders and Labradorians losing on employment, and

I did not see any issues in jeopardizing a company that since 1996 has done very

good work, very professional, work with the Government of Newfoundland and

Labrador.

In order to move forward and get this job done on time

and on budget, I think we made a very sound decision in terminating that and

getting it retendered. The bonds

then, once we terminated the project, the bonds also terminated.

MR.

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

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

MR.

OSBORNE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I will ask the minister again very pointed, very

directly: Can he provide us with a list of the guarantors for the bond for this

contract?

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

MCGRATH:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, again, I say that the information would be

public information; they are more than welcome to go and look up the tender.

All of the obligations that go with that tender are public information.

They are more than welcome to look that up.

Again, my objective as the minister, when this decision

was being made, was the people of Newfoundland and Labrador getting the job done

on time, on schedule, on budget, and protecting the employment of the people of

Newfoundland and Labrador. There was

a small window of opportunity here.

I had the other tenders almost ready to go out on the eighty kilometres and the

five kilometres in Happy Valley-Goose Bay.

By bundling these tenders together, government feels we will get a much

better price and still be on budget.

MR.

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The hon. the Member for St. John's South, for a quick

question without

preamble.

MR.

OSBORNE:

Frank Coleman a guarantor, yes or no?

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works, for a quick response.

MR.

MCGRATH:

Again, Mr. Speaker, as I said unequivocally, never never have I had as the

Minister of Transportation and Works a conversation with Mr. Frank Coleman

concerning this issue. We dealt with

the contractor themselves on any conversations we had.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

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

MR.

MURPHY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the Humber Valley Paving payback stinks

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh,

oh!

MR.

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR.

MURPHY:

to sum it up. Right or wrong, some

members of the public suspect an impropriety has occurred.

In the interest of clearing the air, will the minister

ask the Auditor General to take a look at this matter?

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

MCGRATH:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I extend the invitation.

When I extended an invitation

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh,

oh!

MR.

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR.

MCGRATH:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As I extended an invitation to the Opposition, I also

extend an invitation to the Third Party, if they want to step in.

The Auditor General can come in and audit any time he wants to any issue

that happens in the government. What

the Auditor General does I have no control over.

Mr. Speaker, this is a very open decision I have made

and I stand by my decision. I think

it was the best decision for the people in Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

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

MR.

MURPHY:

Mr.

Speaker, we have all the power in this House to be able to bring in the Auditor

General, as was done already back in 2007.

When the cable deal came forth, the House of Assembly asked the Auditor

General to look at it. He was asked

to look into the controversial fibre optic deal.

He found no wrongdoing and the deal went ahead.

I ask the minister: Why would he not want to clear the

air on this matter?

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

MCGRATH:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, let me clarify for the member from the

Third Party, I have no air to clear.

I think I made a very sound decision, a decision in the best interests of the

people of Newfoundland and Labrador, the best decision for the Government of

Newfoundland and Labrador, and in this case the best decision in the benefit of

a contractor. If the Auditor General

wants to investigate that, he is more than welcome, and I have no say in that.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

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

MR.

MURPHY:

Mr.

Speaker, I say that it might be a good decision for him and maybe for his

department, but it is not the best decision that he has made on behalf of the

people of Newfoundland and Labrador, the taxpayers, who want some clarity on

this matter. They want the air

cleared, plain and simple.

Mr. Speaker, can the minister please give this House

other examples where government released companies from their contractual

obligations without penalty?

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

MCGRATH:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I wonder: Is the member from the Third Party suggesting

that it would be in the best interest of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians not to

have this contract for the sixty kilometres completed?

I feel the decision I made gives the best opportunity for this sixty

kilometres to be completed.

I wonder, if the Third Party, while they were asking

that question, had they done the research on the tender that is out now to close

on May 14, he would be able to answer that question himself and realize that

there was another contractor where there was a mutual agreement between the

contractor and the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador that is actually

retendered in the tender that is out to close on May 14

MR.

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

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

MR.

MURPHY:

Mr.

Speaker, I do not believe it. They

still do not think on the government side that there are no implications to not

clearing the air to the Newfoundland and Labrador taxpayer.

I do not understand why, through a motion of this House even, if you

wanted to bring in the Auditor General and put in a formal request, that it

could not be done as it was in 2007.

I would like the minister to explain that.

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

MCGRATH:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Again, Mr. Speaker, I wonder if the member from the

Third Party has done his research because as I just stated, in the tender that

is out now to close on May 14, his question was: Can you give examples of other

contractors where there was a mutual agreement to terminate a contract?

Had he done his research, he would realize that within the 145 kilometre

tender that is scheduled to close on May 14, there is another contract that was

terminated in November 2013 that there was no talk about at all,

and that is retendered now.

So I wonder: Is there political posturing and that is why we are up here

in the House of Assembly today talking about what happened?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

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

MR.

MURPHY:

Mr.

Speaker, I do not call looking after the taxpayers' money in this Province, the

residents of Newfoundland and Labrador, the people who give you the money to

spend in the first place, as being that.

Mr. Speaker: What implications does this have now for

the future contractors who are going to be posting bonds in this Province?

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

MCGRATH:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, as I said, he says he does not call it

exactly that. Well that is exactly

what I do call it, political posturing, because when the contract was terminated

in November there was absolutely no word.

Here we are today with the exact same tender,

retendering two projects. One was

mutually terminated in November, 2013; a second contract was terminated on March

21, 2014. There was never an issue,

never a word about a contract being mutually terminated between the contractor

and the government until it was in what they thought what the Opposition and

the Third Party thought would be in their political best interest to try and

smear what this government thought was in the best interest, and still thinks is

in the best interest of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador to get a project

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh,

oh!

MR.

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR.

MCGRATH:

I was saying, Mr. Speaker, to get a contract finished on time, on budget, and

protects the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

MR.

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

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

ROGERS:

Mr.

Speaker, group homes in Burin, Grand Falls-Windsor, and Stephenville were

successfully caring for youth for years with very well-trained staff, some with

decades of experience. These homes

submitted proposals to government to continue their good work.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the minister: Who made the decision

to not accept their proposals?

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Minister of Child, Youth and Family Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

JACKMAN:

Mr.

Speaker, one of the homes mentioned is in my district.

I recognize the work that these people have done over the years and the

service they have provided to the youth of our Province.

Through the Auditor General's recommendation, an RFP was called and

tenders were awarded according to those RFPs.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for St. John's Centre for a quick question without

preamble.

ROGERS:

Mr.

Speaker, I ask the minister: What was the role of Deloitte in making these

decisions?

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Minister of Child, Youth and Family Services for a quick response.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

JACKMAN:

Mr.

Speaker, all I can say in response to the member's question was that through the

Auditor General an RFP was put out.

The proponents who won out in this one are recognized quality child service

providers. As such, that decision

has been made.

MR.

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The time for Question Period has expired.

Presenting Reports by Standing and Select Committees.

Tabling of Documents.

Tabling of Documents

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh,

oh!

MR.

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

In accordance with

section 19(5)(

a) of the House of

Assembly Accountability, Integrity And Administration Act, I hereby table the

minutes of the House of Assembly Management Commission meeting held on March 13,

Also, under

section 37 of the House of Assembly

Accountability, Integrity And Administration Act the Commissioner of Legislative

Standards conducted an inquiry into the conduct of the Member for Gander for the

alleged contraventions of the House of Assembly Code of Conduct.

Under

section 38 of the House of Assembly

Accountability, Integrity And Administration Act the Commissioner of Legislative

Standards delivered his report to me, as the Chairperson of the Management

Commission of the House of Assembly, and this report has been distributed to the

members of the Management committee.

In accordance with 38(1) of the House of Assembly Accountability, Integrity And

Administration Act, I am hereby tabling the report of the Commissioner for

Legislative Standards into the conduct of the Member for the District of Gander.

Notices of Motion.

Notices of Motion

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for Bonavista North.

MR.

CROSS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I give notice of the following private member's

resolution, moved by me, the Member for Bonavista North.

WHEREAS the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans

in allocating quotas for Northern shrimp this year has reduced the allocations

for the inshore fleet disproportionately by adopting a last in, first out

policy;

THEREFORE

BE IT RESOLVED that this hon. House calls on

the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and to instead distribute more equitably

the Northern shrimp quota allocations based on adjacency and historical

dependence.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Government House Leader.

MR.

KING:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

First of all, to add to the previous motion, to serve

notice that the motion provided by the member will be seconded by the Member for

Humber Valley and Leader of the Opposition, as well as the Member for Signal

Hill Quidi Vidi and Leader of the Third Party in the House.

I further serve notice that the motion just read in

will be the private member's motion that we will debate this coming Wednesday.

MR.

SPEAKER:

Answers to Questions

The hon. the Government House Leader.

MR.

KING:

am sorry. I thought you were still

calling.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I give notice that under Standing Order 11, I shall

move that the House not adjourn at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 6, 2014.

Further, I give notice under Standing Order 11, I shall

move that the House not adjourn at 10:00 p.m. Tuesday, May 6, 2014.

MR.

SPEAKER:

Answers to Questions for Which Notice has been Given.

Petitions.

Petitions

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for the District of Bay of Islands.

MR.

JOYCE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I stand on a petition today concerning the hospital in

Corner Brook.

WHEREAS we wish to raise concerns regarding the recent

delay on the construction of the new hospital in Corner Brook, Newfoundland and

Labrador;

WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly

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

and Labrador to commit to the planning and construction of a new hospital in

Corner Brook as previously committed to and in a timely manner as originally

announced without further delay or changes.

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition here today from people

from Massey Drive, from Humbermouth, Humber Heights, Petries.

There are so many people, Mr. Speaker.

It was even on the back of the all over, there is Golden Globe,

O'Connell Drive.

Mr. Speaker, there is some good news for the people of

Western Newfoundland and Labrador and parts of Central in the last little while.

It is that there will be a radiation unit and a PET scanner at the

hospital in Corner Brook.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

JOYCE:

Mr.

Speaker, I just find it pretty strange.

I have to give the action committee, Israel Hann, Gerald Parsons, Wayne

Rose, and a lot of the members on the committee credit also for supporting this

and taking it to a new level.

I just find it very strange that we hear the former

Minister of Health out talking about you cannot have it because the numbers are

not there back on March 28 or 29, or April 1, at that time.

Now we hear the Premier of the Province saying we are not going to put

one, but we may put two in there. We

may put two in there. Some of his

comments was people from Central can avail of these services also.

I think it is good news for Western Newfoundland.

Mr. Speaker, there is one thing I have to remind people

of in Western Newfoundland, and they can rest assured that I am going to keep

vigil on this matter. The same

Premier who announced there is going to be a radiation unit, a PET scanner at

the hospital in Corner Brook in the last little while, is the same Premier, when

he was minister at the time, stood up in 2011 and said construction of the new

hospital will start in 2012, knowing full well there was not even a design for

the building.

I am not saying it is not going to be done, but I am

just saying on past history you have to remain vigil.

I say to the action committee, I am going to start presenting petitions.

I am going to start presenting information because the information I

presented before was all false until four days ago, when all of a sudden now we

are having two machines.

I am going to talk about ultrasounds.

I was saying, Mr. Speaker, the ultrasounds are going to be cut from six

to three. The wait time is going to

go from 147 days to 350 days.

Last year I was told I did not know what I was talking

about, about radiation and PET scanners.

Guess what? I was proven

right. I will be proven right about

the ultrasounds. The action

committee also will stay vigilant on this here because we cannot have a cut in

services to make room for this.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

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

ROGERS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

To the hon. House of Assembly of the Province of

Newfoundland and Labrador in Parliament assembled, the petition of the

undersigned residents of Newfoundland and Labrador humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS the Family Violence Intervention Court provided

a comprehensive approach to domestic violence in a court setting that fully

understood and dealt with the complex issues of domestic violence; and

WHEREAS domestic violence continues to be one of the

most serious issues facing our Province today, and the cost of the impact of

domestic violence is great both economically and in human suffering; and

WHEREAS the Family Violence Intervention Court was

welcomed and endorsed by all aspects of the justice system, including the

police, the courts, prosecutors, defence counsel, Child, Youth and Family

Services, as well as victims, offenders, community agencies, and women's groups;

and

WHEREAS the recidivism rate for offenders going through

the court was 10 per cent compared to 40 per cent for those who did not; and

WHEREAS the budget for the court was only 0.2 per cent

of the entire budget of the Department of Justice;

WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly

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

Family Violence Intervention Court.

As in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr. Speaker, I have spoken to women's groups all over

the Province, women's groups who deal with issues of domestic violence, women's

groups who are experts in this area.

I have spoken to police. I have

spoken to officials of the courts. I

have spoken to prosecutors; I have spoken to defence counsel.

I have spoken to members from Child, Youth and Family Services, as well

as victims, offenders, and community agencies.

Everybody is saying that the Family Violence Intervention Court was

integral and was an important part of working on the issue of family violence.

It was a key element in solving the issues of domestic violence.

There is no good reason this government has yet stated

as to why they closed the Family Violence Intervention Court.

Five hundred and twenty thousand people in this Province and the court

was $520,000 a year. That is $1 per

citizen. How much money was wasted

on Humber Valley Paving? How much

money went down the drain there that belonged to the taxpayers of this Province,

money that could have been spent on the Family Violence Intervention Court?

That was simply tossed out the window and forgiven.

How much money is spent every day, every single day, on

Muskrat Falls?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh,

oh!

MR.

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

ROGERS:

Every single day, millions of dollars millions of dollars, Mr. Speaker and

we are talking about $500,000 to save the lives of women and children in this

Province. This government has

obviously lost its way in the area of family violence.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for St. John's South.

MR.

OSBORNE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

This is a petition to the hon. House of Assembly of the

Province of Newfoundland and Labrador in Parliament assembled, the petition of

the undersigned residents humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS Holy Cross school is a small family-oriented

school that gives all of the children the highest education possible; and

WHEREAS the school helps support the many children who

have difficult and/or learning disabilities to reach their highest potential;

and

WHEREAS the school has a friendly atmosphere for

children and parents, the staff knowing all of the children and parents by name;

and

WHEREAS the teachers at Holy Cross bring extra supports

that would not be present in a larger school or larger classroom;

WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly

pray and call upon the House of Assembly to urge government to consider keeping

Holy Cross open and to allow the children of the area to attend a neighbourhood

school as was promised with education reform.

Mr. Speaker, there are a couple of issues here.

It is a smaller school and from my experience, because I have a smaller

school in my district, I firmly believe that they provide a greater level of

education because of the relationship between the parents and the teachers, and

especially between the teachers and the children, and the fact that the teachers

know all of the children by name.

The school itself has a feeling of community.

Generally speaking, I would say that smaller schools,

where there is a greater one-on-one level of support for the students, would

tend to have a higher grade point average than some of the larger super schools

and the super structures. I

understand and I realize that the super schools, Mr. Speaker, provide additional

amenities, additional lab equipment and so on, but you do tend to lose that

personal feeling that you have in a smaller school.

On top of that, we have the issue of all-day

Kindergarten that is going to be put in place.

When it was determined that Holy Cross Elementary was going to close,

all-day Kindergarten was not a reality.

The children from Holy Cross are now supposed to go to St. Theresa's

School. I would contend that if we

are going to have all-day Kindergarten then throughout the City of St. John's

the number of Kindergarten classes is going to double; therefore, we are going

to need additional space.

I ask government to reconsider the issue of closure of

Holy Cross Elementary with that in mind.

On top of the fact as the parents say in this petition they were promised

neighbourhood schools, Mr. Speaker and this is a neighbourhood school.

For some of the children to be bused to St. Theresa's, the new school to

be constructed certainly is not the neighbourhood school.

That is not the concept of education reform when that was voted on in

this Province.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for St. Barbe.

MR.

J. BENNETT:

Mr.

Speaker, a petition to the hon. House of Assembly of the Province of

Newfoundland and Labrador in Parliament assembled, the petition of the

undersigned humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS there is no cellphone service in the Town of

Trout River, which is an enclave community in Gros Morne National Park; and

WHEREAS visitors to Gros Morne National Park, more than

100,000 annually, expect to communicate by cellphone when they visit the park;

and

WHEREAS cellphone service has become a very important

aspect of everyday living for residents; and

WHEREAS cellphone is an essential safety tool for

visitors and residents; and

WHEREAS cellphone service is essential for business

development;

WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly

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

and Labrador to partner with the private sector to extend cellphone coverage

throughout Gros Morne National Park, and the enclave community of Trout River.

As in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr. Speaker, I spent yesterday afternoon in Trout

River, and you will recall that I have presented this petition on a few

occasions in fact, on more than a few occasions and the evidence of the

shortfall in cellphone service and the fact that Trout River does not have

cellphone service could not have been more borne out than yesterday when I was

leaving Trout River.

Twenty kilometres back from Trout River in Woody Point,

I came across a vehicle with somebody in it, and that person was from the

Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

The person from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans was the security person

dispatched to secure the whale that is ashore.

Of course, the person is a security guard for DFO, cannot use his

cellphone from Trout River, so he has got to stand guard over the eighty-one

foot long blue whale which is in Trout River and is quite a conversation piece,

then he has got to drive back twenty kilometres so he can report in.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh,

oh!

MR.

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR.

J. BENNETT:

So,

Mr. Speaker, how bizarre is it that we would have in a major national park in

our Nation, a community with 600 or 700 people, a community that the entire

focus of the world has been drawn to in the last few weeks, was the whale having

gone ashore with the media coverage, with the Royal Ontario Museum making an

agreement with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to see if they can acquire

the whale and put it on display.

People will be looking to Trout River, and what is the one thing that they are

not going to have, all of the scientists who come and stay in Trout River in

order to be able to generate maybe as much as a couple of year's work locally?

They will not be able to use their cellphone.

So, Mr. Speaker, one of the first things that the Royal

Ontario Museum probably will be well advised to do, I guess they should rent a

house or something so they can get a telephone installed, because we know there

is no cellphone available for them.

What kind of a black eye is that for our Province that we cannot even extend

cellphone service to such a place?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for The Straits White Bay North.

MR.

MITCHELMORE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

To the hon. House of Assembly of the Province of

Newfoundland and Labrador in Parliament assembled, the petition of the

undersigned residents of Newfoundland and Labrador humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS Route 430, the Viking Trail, is the primary

highway on the Great Northern Peninsula; and

WHEREAS the current road condition of approximately

sixty kilometres between Plum Point and Eddies Cove East have sections that are

in dire need of resurfacing and/or repaving; and

WHEREAS it is government's obligation to provide basic

infrastructure to all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians; and

WHEREAS an improved road network on this primary

highway is needed to enhance road safety, and help with local commerce, as well

as deal with increasing passenger traffic levels in this

section of highway;

We, the undersigned, petition the House of Assembly to

urge government to allocate funds under the provincial roads program to pave

this

section of Route 430.

As in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr. Speaker, I guess like my colleague, the Member for

St. Barbe, this petition follows both of our districts and also would transcend

to the traffic that would be going to Labrador with the Strait of Belle Isle

ferry crossing.

As well, we look at having advanced transportation and

telecommunication networks as key.

We have the Strait of Belle Isle cable crossing and drilling happening in the

Shoal Cove, Pines Cove area where there is heavy equipment working right now,

and the road in that area is one of the worst sections.

You have a lot of development happening there in pertaining to the

Muskrat Falls Project, yet we are seeing our basic infrastructure being eroded.

That will have a significant impact on other transportation of goods and

services, on our tourism economy where we have a UNESCO heritage site in L'Anse

aux Meadows, as well as another UNESCO heritage site that goes to Red Bay, and

then there is one just near the Trout River area in Gros Morne National Park

that is being talked about.

It is all interlinked when we look at infrastructure,

when we look at our road infrastructure and when we look at our

telecommunications infrastructure.

It is time government look at making investment, do some resurfacing, do some

repairs in this

section of primary highway for the good of all Newfoundlanders

and Labradorians.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for Mount Pearl South.

MR.

LANE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

To the hon. House of Assembly of the Province of

Newfoundland and Labrador in Parliament assembled, the petition of the

undersigned residents humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS there is a waste recovery facility being

proposed by Eastern Waste Management in the Peak Pond-Reids Pond area;

WHEREAS such a site would drastically impact the pond

and general area in a negative way from an environmental perspective; and

WHEREAS there are many species of wildlife that will be

negatively impacted by such a site such as moose, rabbits, loons, ducks, Canada

geese, et cetera; and

WHEREAS such a site will result in litter and strong

odours in the general area; and

WHEREAS there are significant number of cabins and

permanent homes in the Peak Pond-Reids Pond area, which will be negatively

impacted by this site; and

WHEREAS Eastern Waste Management has many sites

available to them for such a facility, including former dump sites in the area;

WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly

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

and Labrador to intercede in the matter and advise Eastern Waste Management to

withdraw the proposal and find a more suitable location for this waste recovery

facility.

As in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr. Speaker, I have presented this petition now a

number of times. It actually started

out, for me, when I was contacted by some people in my district who actually own

cabins and summer homes in Peak Pond-Reids Pond, and so on.

Since that time, I have spoken to some permanent residents up there.

This has actually grown now from beyond simply the cabin owners to people

in the general area who have concerns over this site.

Today on my petition I have people here from Old Shop.

Of course, there is Mount Pearl and St. John's.

South Dildo, Blaketown, and Whiteway are some of the different

communities that are represented here today.

Mr. Speaker, as is indicated in the petition and as I

indicated before, this whole process, this whole plan to put a waste recovery

facility in that area, was done without any consultation with people in the

area, any of the cabin owners, or any of the permanent residents.

They were not even given the opportunity to even know it was on the go.

They had to read The Telegram

or something one day or something in the media to even find out about it, which

in itself is problematic.

Since that time,

there was an environmental assessment process, which was supposed to have been

completed a couple of weeks ago but it has not been for some reason.

I am not sure. Residents still

have not had an opportunity to give their input.

The bottom line is

we all recognize the need for such a facility.

There are eight other facilities across the Island, transfer sites and so

on. I think we all agree they are

needed. It is all about the location

and this is certainly not a suitable one.

I will continue to

present petitions on behalf of these people until it is changed.

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The member's time

has expired.

MR. LANE:

Thank you.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House Leader.

MR. KING:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I call, as per

Standing Order 32, we move into Orders of the Day.

MR. SPEAKER:

A motion for Orders of the Day has been

called.

All those in

favour, aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR.

SPEAKER:

All

those against, nay'.

Motion carried.

Orders of the Day.

Orders of the Day

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Government House Leader.

MR.

KING:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

First of all, a reminder in advance, so I do not

forget, for members. At 6:00 p.m.

today in the House, the Government Services Committee will meet to review the

Estimates of the Department of Transportation and Works and Labrador and

Aboriginal Affairs.

Further, Mr. Speaker, a reminder of tomorrow, May 6,

Tuesday, the Social Services Committee will meet in the House at 9:00 a.m. to

review the Estimates of the Department of Justice, Attorney General, and the

Labour Relations Agency.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Minister of Health

and Community Services, for leave to introduce a bill entitled,

An Act To Amend

Various Acts Of The Province Respecting The Publication Of A

Summary Of A

Decision Or Order Of An Adjudication Tribunal, Bill 8, and that the said bill be

now read the first time.

MR.

SPEAKER:

is moved and seconded that the hon. the Minister of Health and Community

Services shall have leave to introduce a bill,

An Act To Amend Various Acts Of

The Province Respecting The Publication Of A

Summary Of A Decision Or Order Of

An Adjudication Tribunal, Bill 8, and that the said bill be now read a first

time.

Is it the pleasure of the House that the minister shall

have leave to introduce Bill 8, and that the said bill be now read a first time?

All those in favour, aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR.

SPEAKER:

All

those against, nay'.

Motion carried.

Motion, the hon. the Minister of Health and Community

Services to introduce a bill,

An Act To Amend Various Acts Of The Province

Respecting The Publication Of A

Summary Of A Decision Or Order Of An

Adjudication Tribunal, carried.

(Bill 8)

CLERK:

bill,

An Act To Amend Various Acts Of The Province Respecting The Publication Of

A

Summary Of A Decision Or Order Of An Adjudication Tribunal.

(Bill 8)

MR.

SPEAKER:

This bill has now been read a first time.

When shall the bill be read a second time?

MR.

KING:

tomorrow.

MR.

SPEAKER:

tomorrow.

On motion, Bill 8 read a first time, ordered read a

second time on tomorrow.

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Government House Leader.

MR.

KING:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Order 2, third reading of a bill,

An Act To Amend The

Revenue Administration Act, Bill 9, I move, seconded by the Minister of

Environment and Conservation, that the said bill be now read a third time.

MR.

SPEAKER:

is moved and seconded that the said bill be now read a third time.

All those in favour, aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR.

SPEAKER:

All

those against, nay'.

Motion carried.

CLERK:

bill,

An Act To Amend The Revenue Administration Act.

(Bill 9)

MR.

SPEAKER:

This bill has now been read a third time and it is ordered that the bill do pass

and that the title be as on the Order Paper.

On motion, a bill,

An Act To Amend The Revenue

Administration Act, read a third time, ordered passed and its title be as on

the Order Paper. (Bill 9)

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Government House Leader.

MR.

KING:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

At this time I would like to call from the Order Paper,

Motion 1, to move that the House approves in general the budgetary policy of the

government, the Budget Speech.

MR.

SPEAKER:

Motion 1 has been called, the Budget Speech.

Does anyone want to stand and be recognized to speak to it?

HON. MEMBER:

is a vote.

MR.

SPEAKER:

are going to vote on the sub-amendment?

Oh, I am sorry.

You have heard the motion.

All those in favour, aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR.

SPEAKER:

All

those against, nay'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Nay.

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

motion is defeated.

The hon. the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills.

MR.

O'BRIEN:

Yes, Mr. Speaker

MR.

SPEAKER:

want to remind members now we have just disposed of the sub-amendment, and we

are now going back to the amendment.

I am acknowledging the Minister of Advanced Education

and Skills, speaking to the amendment.

MR.

O'BRIEN:

Yes, Mr. Speaker.

I am happy to stand in my place in the House today to

talk to Budget 2014-2015, Mr. Speaker.

Today I would like to split my time from talking about my own district in

regard to what that Budget means to my district, and also to my department.

I will start off essentially with my district.

Over the last couple of weeks or so, I and a couple of other ministers

have made some major announcements in regard to my district, which were well

received. I look back at Gander back

in 2003, previous to 2003, going back really to 1999.

I have referenced in this House previously as well, Mr.

Speaker, that I have three children, three girls.

I am quite proud of the three girls.

Back around 1999, 2000, 2001, I never thought that either one of them

would live in Gander. I thought that

neither one of them would live in Newfoundland and Labrador, Mr. Speaker,

because we did have a bleak future back then.

People were moving and doing all kinds of things in regard to seeking a

productive life. I did not think

they would for a minute, but things have changed, Mr. Speaker.

One of the fastest growing communities in Eastern

Canada, next to Paradise, probably, is the Town of Gander, with about 120 to

130, 140 new houses built each and every year for the last five years or so.

Our population is increasing as I speak, to be honest with you, Mr.

Speaker, because each and every time I go back to Gander somebody else is

building a house in one of the subdivisions in Gander as well.

That is one of the reasons why we, as a government,

have invested heavily in Newfoundland and Labrador.

We have invested in schools.

We have invested in health. We have

invested in education. We have

invested in enabling people to go back to school, to seek a skilled trade.

We have enabled people to go to Memorial University and not incur the

debt that they had incurred in the past.

We have invested in our future, Mr. Speaker.

That is exactly what we have done over the last ten or eleven years.

Especially since 2005, we have invested heavily in this Province.

Mr. Speaker, I am very proud to be the MHA for Gander.

I am very proud to be able to work with all the different stakeholders in

my communities, the various councils, and also the chambers of commerce and any

of the other stakeholders. The

non-for-profits that we have out there too, Mr. Speaker.

We work well together and we have achieved a lot over the last number of

years.

I want to reference the schooling system in Gander.

Gander Collegiate has been totally redeveloped over the last number of

years. As a matter of fact, the

Minister of Education saw fit to redevelop the parking lot between St. Paul's

and the collegiate last year which was really welcomed by both the faculty and

the students as well.

As a matter of fact, it was only this week past that I

met the principal of Gander Collegiate.

He referenced how it has actually enabled them to cut down on their

overall maintenance cost in that particular school as well because the mud and

the dirt is not coming into the school and that kind of stuff, and destroying

some of the things they had there, Mr. Speaker.

St. Paul's has been expanded, Mr. Speaker, and

redeveloped as well. We have

announced that in past budgets. It

is all investments in education.

I had the privilege last year of announcing, and then

also announcing that we will start site work and hopefully get some steel onsite

in regard to the new four to six school in Gander as well.

We had to pick a site. We had

to swap some land with the Town of Gander too in regard to obtaining that site.

So that took a little while to get the particular legal documents and

legal process finished, Mr. Speaker, but right now we should be starting site

work in the next few weeks or so.

As well, in this Budget the planning money is there in

regard to the new K-3 school. Both

schools will probably be in the vicinity of between $40 million and $45 million,

or $48 million once done. The old

Gander Academy school was built in 1957.

It certainly does not meet the needs of the students today, Mr. Speaker.

I am so proud I was able to work with all of the stakeholders to

establish and have funded two new schools for the District of Gander, which has

a growing young population base, young students, and I encourage people to look

at Gander as a place to live. It is

a great place to bring up a family.

I moved there back in the early 1970s, saw that and never looked back, Mr.

Speaker. It is my home.

Mr. Speaker, over the last while, as a matter of fact,

I know the airport has commissioned a study to downsize the particular footprint

of the airport terminal. I

understand why they are doing that because aviation has really changed over the

last number of years and whatnot, but with that came a bit of criticism in

regard to that downsize. People have

to understand that aviation has changed.

The City of St. John's has changed and the traffic load has changed as

well. The airport terminal has given

the airport authority some challenges in regard to the overall maintenance

costs, operational costs, et cetera.

They are going to have a look at that and see how much of it they can

incorporate in the new plan and whatnot.

people were questioning in regard to politicians being involved in the Gander

airport and what they have said in the past and how important that piece of

infrastructure is to the Town of Gander.

Well, it absolutely is, and we have been involved as a government.

That is why we invested over $3 million in a $10 million project to

redevelop the main runway in Gander.

That is the reason why we invested in Garrett Drive, an intricate piece of

infrastructure connecting the business park to the airport.

It was in deplorable condition and we invested in that as well.

That is the reason why, Mr. Speaker, we invested in new

water bombers because everybody in this House realizes that the water bomber

base, government air services is located in Gander.

It has been located there for many, many years.

These people do some great things for this Province, take great risks,

especially when they are fighting fires as was seen in Lab West last year with

massive fires, and they do that kind of thing.

They should have the equipment that they absolutely need.

So two water bombers in the tune of $75 million is being purchased.

As a matter of fact, one is going to be delivered pretty soon or probably

is delivered.

Also, as well, we announced a new hangar in Gander

which will establish the headquarters for government air services at the airport

in Gander for ever and a day. They

require that too, because they are operating out of hangars that were built back

in the 1940s and 1950s. This will

bring them up to standard as well.

That hangar will cost anywhere between $30 million and $40 million.

The hospital in Gander, the James Paton Memorial

Hospital, will be celebrating fifty years this month, Mr. Speaker.

I may not be able to get to that celebration myself because I think it is

going to be held during the session of the House of Assembly, and I understand

the rules of the House that I cannot be out of the House in regard to district

work. I regret that I might not be

there, but my heart, my soul, and my congratulations go out to not only the

staff of the James Paton Memorial Hospital currently, but also all the staff who

made that James Paton Memorial Hospital what it is today in the past, Mr.

Speaker. I started out my career as

well in the James Paton Memorial Hospital.

I did a couple of internships there in the pharmacy.

As well, over the last years, especially under the

guidance of the past Minister of Health, the MHA for Grand Falls-Windsor

Buchans, I believe, we invested heavily in the James Paton Memorial Hospital in

both equipment and the redevelopment.

She helped me announce about three weeks or so ago $16 million for the

James Paton Memorial Hospital that will finish that redevelopment completely.

In essence, then, I would end up with a brand-new hospital in Gander,

which has been developed over the last number of years, up to standard and has

some of the best equipment in Eastern Canada, too, Mr. Speaker.

Recently, I was at the airport in St. John's.

I was talking to a gentleman who I had not seen for many, many years, in

fact a colleague of mine in my past life, a pharmacist.

He sat down with me up at the airport and we were just chatting about

Newfoundland and Labrador today as compared to 2003.

You cannot compare. You

cannot compare Newfoundland and Labrador as it was in 2003.

We did not and were not leading the country in regard to all economic

indicators or most economic indicators out there.

There was not the number of jobs and the opportunity there, as well.

Memorial University was not what it was.

The College of the North Atlantic was certainly not what it is today, as

well as the total economy.

I also recognize that everybody does not achieve.

That is the way society works.

Everybody does not achieve in a democracy, but everybody has the

opportunity, Mr. Speaker. Certainly

right now in this Province, each and every Newfoundlander and Labradorian has

the opportunity.

We had a good conversation about that.

He brought the subject matter up to me and I had not seen him in a number

of years. As a matter of fact, I

would say it was probably about twenty or twenty-five years.

I wanted to talk more about when we were in the early years of pharmacy,

but he wanted to talk about Newfoundland and Labrador so we had that kind of a

conversation.

Interestingly enough, Mr. Speaker, when he left to

catch his flight, there was a young gentleman who was listening, unbeknownst to

us, about the conversation. I would

say that young gentleman was maybe twenty-three or twenty-four, probably even

younger than that. He did not know

who I was. He did not know who the

other gentleman was.

When the other gentleman left, he said: I overheard

your conversation. He said: I agree

with you. Even being as young as I

am, I have noticed a difference in Newfoundland and Labrador.

You are absolutely saying exactly what has happened in Newfoundland and

Labrador since 2003 and I have opportunity.

I am working here now on a kiosk, but I am only here on a temporary

basis. He said: I am going to

college and I have a great opportunity to make a life for myself here in this

Province, where I would not have had it back in 2003.

That was comforting to me as a politician.

That was comforting to me as a father.

That was comforting to me as a Newfoundlander and Labradorian that a

young person of that age is connected and recognized the investments and the

things that this government has achieved over the last ten to eleven years,

especially since 2005.

Last Thursday I had the fortunate aspect of spending an

hour on Crosstalk, I believe the name of the show was in regard to apprentices.

It was a very positive program.

It was about an hour. We had

a number of people phone in complimenting the programs that we have within

government that support apprentices and support employers.

Some of the people who phoned in made suggestions and I

took them as well, Mr. Speaker. One

in particular, and I will read, it was a lady by the name of Sarah Watts-Rynard,

an Executive Director of the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum.

She was there and she phoned in.

Here is exactly what she said, Newfoundland is really

out ahead when it comes to the wage subsidy, a much, much more generous wage

subsidy for employers in Newfoundland than is available anywhere else across the

country. A real effort to be able to

help employers who want to hire and train apprentices to be able to financially

do that. We know from our own

research that there's a great business case for apprenticeship training and lots

of reasons why employers should see the financial benefit of hiring and training

apprentices. But at the same time

that's still a key obstacle and it's really a place where Newfoundland is out

ahead of the rest of the country.

That is what we have done.

Since the Skills Taskforce we as a government have invested over $100

million in training. As a matter of

fact, with the labour market training we have about $39.8 million to continue to

develop a skilled workforce in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Fourteen thousand people in this Province avail of some type of funding

from those programs. As a matter of

fact, between ourselves and the federal government, we have a total of about

$163 million, $164 million in regard to that fund.

That is the way we support Newfoundlanders and Labradorians to enable

them to train, enable them to educate themselves, enable them to seek the

opportunity and avail of the opportunities in this Province, Mr. Speaker.

I am hoping and praying that more and more of them will

make this their home, make this their home after Memorial University, which is

another great investment in my department in regard to reducing debt to our

students. Our tuition freeze, I

think it is $14.7 million we are going to invest no, that is actually $14.7

million over two years to complete the conversion of student loans to grants,

Mr. Speaker. That was hailed by the

students in general, and certainly by the Federation of Students as well, and it

is a great investment because it is an investment in our future, Mr. Speaker.

The tuition freeze is another $5.1 million, I believe, in continuing that

tuition freeze. So overall, in the

tuition freeze, there is $283 million invested by this government in our

students since we first introduced that in 2005.

Mr. Speaker, one of the things in my department that I

take not only a great interest, a great pride in as well, is the Income Support

part of my department, the most vulnerable people in our Province.

I said in this House and in interviews that we have a number of people in

this Province who will require some type of Income Support all their lives, and

that is an acceptable thing. There

were not born with what I have, they were not born with what all of us in this

House have, and they have challenges and they require support from us.

That is the reason why we invested $4.8 million in this

year's Budget to give them a 5 per cent increase in their basic rate, which is

really absolutely important. These

are the vulnerable people of our Province and we have to recognize that when we

are in an economy that we find ourselves in, we have to share that wealth, Mr.

Speaker. If we are going to be a

responsible government, if we are going to be a Province that people will look

at with envy and also I say this in thinking, Mr. Speaker, I go to a fair

number of provincial-territorial meetings, I go to a fair number of

federal-provincial-territorial meetings as well, and each and every one of those

that I attend, some of the ministers, a lot of the ministers have conversations

with me, and want to have conversations with me.

They want to find out how we are doing things.

We are doing things different.

They want to get and glean that information from us, from my officials,

from me as a minister, where they can possibly support their people as well.

I am not just talking about vulnerable people.

I am talking about the people of the Province, and we have done that

effectively and we have done it well.

I will go back to my opening remarks, Mr. Speaker, that you cannot

compare this Province today as it was in 2003.

You cannot compare 2003 to now.

We are living in a different Province today, a much better Province than

we found it in 2003.

As a government, do we do everything right?

Absolutely not! Do you do

everything right? Absolutely not!

We are all human beings and we do make mistakes.

You are limited by your budgets and all that kind of stuff.

Would you like to do everything?

Absolutely, you would, but that is not possible.

That is not possible in a household.

That is not possible in a business.

That is not possible in Memorial University.

That is not possible in the College of the North Atlantic, because you

live within a budget.

You only have so much money to go around.

That is not possible for yourself.

Absolutely not! You cannot

decide as a young person that you want to go out every night and you are going

to spend and you are going to spend and you are going to spend.

You are going to run out of money. That

is the way it works. We have tried

to invest as wisely as we possibly can and make this Province a better place.

Mr. Speaker, this Budget was a great Budget.

This Budget was a great Budget for Education.

This Budget was a great Budget for Advanced Education and Skills.

MR.

SPEAKER (Verge):

Order, please!

I remind the hon. member his time for speaking has

expired.

MR.

O'BRIEN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It was great to speak to this Budget.

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for St. Barbe.

MR.

J. BENNETT:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thought I was rising out of turn, apparently I am in

turn.

Mr. Speaker, today in speaking to this matter I would

like to address the issues that I have become familiar with in our Department of

Justice and the Attorney General's Office over the past five or six months.

I was privileged to be able to devote a significant amount of my time

being appointed critic at the end of the year.

To me, it seems like we have had a report on our prisons, which was

called Decades of Darkness, and I think we could easily have a talk today about

our Department of Justice and we could say a decade of neglect.

We have had a decade of neglect in the Department of Justice.

First of all, in the broad strokes, what do we mean

when we look at the Department of Justice and the Attorney General's office,

which generally is overseen by one minister, but not so in this case?

First of all, we see the one we are familiar with having the mandates,

the various mandates that come under Justice.

One is that people should feel safe and secure from violent crime, from

being extorted, and from having people out on bail breaking into their homes.

That is the one we see in the news media.

That is the one that leaves us with the person we are being warned about

is on the loose. The police are

warning us up to a few hours ago. Do

not approach this person. A woman

who is on the loose breached some conditions, which means a prior offender, and

apparently ran into somebody.

Then we look at another area of the Department of

Justice, and that is providing access to the courts for people who have legal

issues and legal problems. Mr.

Speaker, quite often it seems to me that all of the attention, or most of the

attention, is focused on the crime and punishment aspect of the Department of

Justice without enough focus on other parts, the part of the Department of

Justice which says people who have legal issues and people who have family law

cases, and I am speaking about matrimonial matters, custody and access for

children, and businesses that need to resort to the courts for legal matters, to

have due process. In that area, we

are absolutely bogged down in the courts with no idea of when that may lighten

up.

To go on further with the Department of Justice and

Attorney General's office, we look at risk management.

Mr. Speaker, I have dealt with several lawyers at the Department of

Justice, both on the civil side and on the criminal side.

In my view, they do an outstanding job with the instructions they are

given. Lawyers are accustomed to

going to work because they have received instructions.

That means they wait to be told what they are supposed to do on what

cases, and that is done through a management team, but it comes from the

minister. The minister represents

the people who say: This is the policy we are going to pursue; this is what we

want to accomplish. Then the people

in the department carry out those instructions.

A third particular area on the civil side of the

Department of Justice and the Attorney General's office, which is sorely

lacking, is in loss prevention, risk management, providing advice, and providing

opinions back to the government so that the government does not do things like

expropriate paper mills that they should not expropriate inappropriately.

This was an error. It was a

bad move in the first place. It was

stampeded through.

Then we see the Department of Justice ought to be able

to provide advice on the civil side back to government over different issues

that government comes up with so we do not get caught up into litigation, like

class actions over runaway moose. We

need to have a Department of Justice and Attorney General's office which is

accountable. It provides almost as

if it is a three-legged stool, and this is what the Department of Justice and

the Attorney General's office provides for the people of the Province of

Newfoundland and Labrador. If, in

fact, that stool has three legs, they are three very wobbly legs from neglect

and from lack of direction.

In the area which is crime and punishment, which I have

said seems to be there, it gets the most media attention.

There appears to be no focus whatsoever from this government as to what

direction we are taking with respect to organized crime, violent crime, family

crime, Aboriginal crime, white collar crime, any kind of crime.

It is almost as if the Department of Justice by giving no instructions,

they are not saying that I can see two Crown prosecutors if somebody comes

before the court with a violent crime, then for certain you must oppose bail.

When I see a newspaper story which says somebody comes

before the court who is arrested after a long time police investigation,

consuming thousands and thousands of dollars in resources, and these people have

over $300,000 in cash, nine millimetre automatic weapons that are designed to be

small, compact, and used as personal weapons of offence, generally, and when I

see that in no time the person is out on bail.

That means if the two lawyers, the defence counsel and the prosecuting

counsel, come before the judge and they are content to let the person out, the

judge has to assume they have made proper inquiries and investigations if it

means that person is sent back out on the street to commit more crime, more

crime and more crime.

Mr. Speaker, every time I read a media release today

and it says that such-and-such a person was arrested for impaired driving, a

high-speed chase, an assault with a police officer, and then they say and

breaches'. Well, Mr. Speaker, there

are two kinds of breaches. One is a

breach of probation which means the person is on probation and probably ought to

be supervised better, or they have had a lapse.

The other is generally a failure to comply with an order of the court,

which is typically a breach of a bail condition.

That means that the person is out.

The person has been given the benefit of walking free with the

presumption of innocence even though they are alleged to have committed one

offence, maybe two offences, or maybe multiple offences.

My colleague for Torngat Mountains has been looking at

the number of breaches, and the number of charges.

It is almost as if people who are involved in criminal activity are told

well, we are going to give you better yet it is going to be cheaper by the

dozen. The more crime you do, the

less time or fewer fines you are going to have to serve.

If we look at the collection of fines in the Province,

it seems to be totally ignored, and totally forgotten about.

The Auditor General some time ago made certain recommendations as to what

steps could be taken in fine collection.

Other provinces, for generally petty offenders, may have fine option

provisions, which means a person can work off a fine if it is relatively low.

This is a non-violent type of offender.

If a person is ordered to pay a fine and if they do not

pay the fine, then they rack up fines that are $10,000, $20,000, $30,000,

$40,000. We heard recently one which

was much higher, but I understand that may have been an exception because there

was a substantial tobacco fine involved in that one.

The person may well have been paying and that was more than $160,000.

If the person has racked up tens of thousands of

dollars in fines, in my view that shows an absolute and utter contempt for the

court. What does it say to a person

who has committed a relatively minor infraction, maybe it is a driving

infraction, and they have had not relatively nominal fines?

How does it give the generally law-abiding citizen any comfort to say now

you have a fine, Mr. Whatever, for, say, speeding and you have a $200 or $300

fine, but we are not going to bother to collect $20,000 or $30,000 of fines from

somebody else? When you want to

renew your driver's licence, you are going to pay this fine.

Why is it that we do not pursue offenders of large amounts of fines?

Why is it?

These people have not vanished; they are showing up

regularly. Not only is it showing

absolutely no regard for law and order and the administration of justice in

causing a slippage in bringing the administration of justice into disrepute, it

means that people are on our streets who are driving unregistered, unlicensed

motor vehicles, an absolute hazard to other members of the public.

A very simple set of instructions to chase down those fines and give

people their opportunity, and if they do not pay then we may not imprison

people any more for failing to pay fines; however, we do imprison people for

contempt of court. If the person

cannot demonstrate to a judge that they are making their best efforts to pay

those fines, then for sure that can be seen as contempt of court and they can

face yet another charge and incarceration.

Another of the issues I see having toured Her Majesty's

Penitentiary, and I certainly encourage the minister to tour Her Majesty's

Penitentiary and all of the prisons in the Province, is Her Majesty's

Penitentiary was built in 1859. By

way of comparison, I have earlier referred to Darwin having written his

masterpiece, On the Origin of Species .

Well, in the 1850s, the United States government also opened Alcatraz.

Alcatraz was opened in the same decade as Her Majesty's Penitentiary in

the then colony, ultimately Dominion, and now Province of Newfoundland and

Labrador.

The prison is absolutely archaic, but even more so, one

of the initiatives of government, which is not going very well, is that inmates

are permitted to wear everyday street clothing inside.

That is very ill advised. It

is ill advised because the corrections officers know that people who wear street

clothing in the prison for weekends or for any other use are astute of smuggling

contraband. They can have pills sewn

in seams. They can have various

types of drugs sewn into clothing that goes inside the prison.

As was explained to me by somebody working in the

prison only a few weeks ago, in addition to street clothing providing avenues

for contraband, street clothing often is taken away, extorted, or stolen from

the weaker inmates so that the stronger, heavy on the range, gets the street

clothing. Then the person who lost

the street clothing, maybe it is a $250 jacket, reports it as stolen, and maybe

it was sold for drugs on the inside, and the authorities inside our penitentiary

then have to launch an investigation to find out what happened to this person's

street clothing. If they cannot find

it, then the taxpayers have to reimburse this inmate for street clothing that is

lost inside of the prison. Clearly

some direction from the Minister of Justice on ceasing wearing of street

clothing inside would solve a lot of issues on moving contraband and violence

inside.

Less than a week ago I toured the most modern

provincial prison in Canada. The

South West Detention Centre has been built to house approximately 300 inmates,

so it is roughly twice the size of Her Majesty's Penitentiary.

In the South West Detention Centre, the inmates in that detention centre,

the most modern one in Canada, they wear uniforms.

Not only do they wear uniforms, the South West

Detention Centre has a wing for male inmates, a wing for female inmates so the

female inmates with families primarily in the Northeast Avalon area, St. John's

area, do not have to be shipped to Clarenville; they could just as easily be

serving their time locally. The

uniform for male inmates is orange overalls and the uniform for female inmates

is track pants and a sweat shirt, and it is as simple as that.

This is something that these very minor steps, at minimal cost, could

improve the efficiencies of the prison system in this Province.

We are not doing that.

Something else that they have that we have not even

considered in our Province with roughly a 150-year-old prison is that they have

a mental health wing. For people who

are sentenced to prison, they can serve their time in a mental health wing.

Because many people who commit offences and who are in prison have mental

health issues, they also have an infirmary.

They have an eight-unit infirmary so that, as was explained to me by one

of the personnel who was kind enough to give me approximately a three-hour tour,

if somebody gets sick and we are responsible for that person, that inmate,

regardless of what offence they have committed and this is not a federal

penitentiary; this is a provincial prison for up to two years less a day.

The take on transporting someone to the hospital means

two correctional officers two guards and a driver are taken out of the system

for one inmate to go to the hospital.

If that inmate is kept in the hospital, you have to have two guards,

twelve hours on and twelve hours off, to oversee that person.

Yet if they have an infirmary and they have multiple nurses, more than

a dozen nurses working in the prison, and we have one nurse practitioner.

That is what we have in Her Majesty's Penitentiary.

The prison in Windsor, Ontario, the South West

Detention Centre, it really was not built so much for the inmates; it was built

more for the staff because the people who work in the prison work in conditions

that if it were an industry, I am pretty certain it would not be allowed.

I am pretty sure that somebody could not be hired at a company and say

now you go down in the basement and you sit there for twelve hours and watch

monitors with no daylight and no fresh air.

That is the working conditions of people working in the prison.

If people do not care about the inmates I am not saying they do or they

do not, but if they do not we should at least care about the staff who work at

Her Majesty's Penitentiary.

Contraband is a significant issue.

Some of the contraband issues include outsiders being able to throw drugs

over the wall. Then people are able

to acquire the drugs thrown over the wall, and this causes more trouble on the

inside.

Another one of the issues that the Minister of Justice

would do well to review is people who are doing temporary absences, intermittent

sentences, also known as weekends.

In my view, somebody should have to convince a judge that yes, I should be

allowed to do my relatively short stretches on weekends.

This could be fourteen days, thirty days, sixty days, whatever it happens

to be, because right now it seems to be they are receiving this as a matter of

right.

People who are doing weekends, now some people have

stretched out weekends and say well, I am working on the weekend so I want to do

my weekends in the middle of the week.

That means that the people inside who we have heard are pretty much

formed into a prison gang are able to say to people who are coming in: If you do

not bring drugs into the institution, then you are going to be beat up.

We know you are coming back in.

These people are put in the general prison population.

There is another wing; quite often, it is overcrowded.

I have toured the other wing in our penitentiary, but there should be no

communication between people who are doing the short stretches on weekends

because people doing the short stretches bring in drugs and are coerced into

bringing in drugs for the heavy-duty inmates on the inside.

Mr. Speaker, in preparing as Justice critic I have had

the opportunity to review the press releases issued by this government for the

last half dozen years. If the

government had done all of the things that they said they were going to do over

the last half dozen years, we would have a much better system.

I believe that we would also be participating more fully in the Canadian

Confederation.

For example, a half dozen or so years ago a former

Minister of Justice was saying he was making representations to then Public

Safety Minister, Stockwell Day, saying we want a 70-30 split on building a

prison in our Province because there is not a federation institution.

That seems to have fallen by the wayside and the Province is now building

our own institution.

Another issue that a former Minister of Justice was

taking up with the federal government is that we have never, ever had a Justice

of the Supreme Court from this Province to be appointed from this Province.

Mr. Speaker, sixty-five years in Confederation and one-half dozen years

ago the Minister of Justice said he was making representation so we could have

one of our judges and we have enough judges who are experienced enough and

smart enough to serve on the Supreme Court of Canada.

It seems like government has given up on this entirely.

It is as if, from time to time, they pump out a few press releases, a few

feel-good press releases, and there is little to no follow-up.

Certainly we should be entitled to participate on the bench of the

Supreme Court of Canada. Given our

smaller population, undoubtedly we will not get very many appointments.

Given that there is already a formula in place of the

nine justices, three from Ontario, three from Quebec, two from the Prairies, and

one from Atlantic, we would not expect to get very many judges.

For sure after every sixty or seventy years, we should be allowed to have

one judge in this Province on the Supreme Court of Canada.

It would seem to make sense to me in order for us to be able to

participate more fully in the fabric of Canadian society.

Many of the issues that the Department of Justice could

be dealing with to improve our society are significant.

Many of them are large; many of them are smaller.

This government has consistently withdrawn Provincial Court services from

small rural communities. Mr.

Speaker, they have done so on the Great Northern Peninsula, and they have done

so on the Bonavista Peninsula. This

means that people have to travel greater distances.

These are people who are often unemployed looking for child support

payments. They are trying to enforce

their right in our Provincial Courts, in our provincial civil courts, yet

government continues to downgrade and withdraw the services.

Mr. Speaker, I heard the last member say how far we

have come. It seems to me we have

also fallen further behind than we were ten years ago.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR.

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The hon. the Member for Bonavista North.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

CROSS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is great to rise today to speak to the amendment.

It is like the news program we watch on Sundays and we have the three to

watch. The first portion of this,

the sub-amendment, has been voted down.

Now we are talking to the amendment on this Budget.

We will get into the third act to get back to the Budget debate itself.

I would just like to as my first words on this Budget

and the amendment make a couple of comments about the first Budget of our new

minister. From the travels around

the Province and the talks she had with constituents and residents around the

Province, the shared views that were shared with her and her committees and the

other ministers who were doing the consultations in different parts of the

Province, then we certainly listened to what was said to us through the last few

months.

This Budget came about and has quite austere measures

in it for this Province and is in quite capable hands.

I would not want to refer to the fact that this new minister has huge

shoes to fill. You know what shoes

she would have to step into; she would probably get lost in them, in the sense

of physical size. I will refer to

her capable hands that this Budget and how it was brought in, how it is

presented, and the themes in which she came in with shared prosperity, fair

society, and balanced outlook towards our Province, then I am sure that through

these actions this Budget was prepared by capable hands through her and her

officials in her department.

Before I get right into the Budget, I do want to take

just a moment, Mr. Speaker, to welcome the Member for Virginia Waters.

I guess now I am the first to welcome her; she was brought into this

House today. I hope she gets used to

her seat, and that in the few days to come that we will hear much from her.

I would also refer to a new addition with regard to the

Cabinet today, the Member for Terra Nova.

His time has finally come and he stepped up to those ranks for Tourism,

Culture and Recreation, and I am sure the job will be done quite well.

In the next ranks behind, the Member for Fortune Bay Cape La Hune, I

would just like to congratulate her on her new role as well, and others who may

have been in new roles since we left two short weeks ago.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

CROSS:

look at this Budget, Mr. Speaker, again the themes from the Budget: shared

prosperity, fair society, balanced outlook.

Shared prosperity: What and how can you actually take that and explain it

for the residents? We are working

together for a growing of our economy, sharing the economic benefits, the shared

prosperity, through most of our great Province.

In a fair society we care for the vulnerable; we care for those who are

probably less able to protect themselves and to fight and fend off themselves.

We also look at this balanced outlook to the future that we are spending

and sustaining. It is not all cuts,

but it is not all debts. It is not

all cuts; it not all borrowing. This

Budget is a balanced outlook for the future.

In looking at all of us who speak here in this hon.

House, Mr. Speaker, we all speak with a different tune, so to speak. We know we

dance to different tunes on different sides of the House, but every single one

of us has a unique district. Every

single one of us as members are unique persons.

A good friend of mine, and a teacher who taught with me, whenever I would

make a comment like that, he would say, (inaudible) would say, and no two of us

are alike either. So I just want to

refer that as we all speak to this Budget we do have different points of view,

we do have to look at our own districts, we do have to look at the entire

Province, and we do have to really look at the entire country as it melds and

welds into our Province and the relationships we have to continue on with Ottawa

and outside governments, and all these other aspects of what happens to make up

this great society we are developing here in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Now, many of us get up and we talk mainly about a

particular interest to us. A lot of

us do not talk a lot about the Budget, so I want to take two or three minutes.

My last position was a Grade 6 teacher of math.

I was a principal, but I also taught math in Grade 6.

One of the biggest challenges was taking the idea of math and to put it

in context for a Grade 6 student, which should be able to explain this to all of

the people.

We all stand in our place here inside this House and

talk about different things, but what we really think we are doing at the same

time, we are talking to Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, whoever is tuned into

their TV sets watching the debate that is taking place here.

Basically, what we have to do, Mr. Speaker, is try to explain this in a

perspective that maybe after I am finished today, some of my Grade 6 students

might understand what I am trying to explain about how to create this Budget,

but also most of the populace in the Province would as well.

Usually when you talk about graphs you talk about pie

charts. Imagine, Mr. Speaker, and

all my Grade 6 students and all of the constituents out there, that you are

taking a huge pie plate and you are going to fill up your pie plate with all of

the different parts that make up this Budget.

How much do you actually need?

Well, this Budget this year we needed $7.5 billion to create this pie.

If we take this pie, look at it, and say we are going to cut it into

pieces, how do we fill up the pieces of this pie to create the Budget we are

creating for this year?

Taxation, Mr. Speaker, and residents of Newfoundland

and Labrador; if we had to take it and say this pie is created out of ten equal

pieces, then four pieces of this pie is created and filled in the pie plate from

taxation around our Province.

Taxation has to be done in a certain way.

The philosophy, I am trying to say, is that in the last three, four, or

five years, government had a very competitive tax rate such that we have kept

money in the hands of the Province.

To increase and balance our Budget this year, we could have not left that money

in the hands of the residents; we could have had a little bigger piece of the

pie out of this Budget from taxation, but we did not because we are balanced and

fair.

Another piece of the pie, Mr. Speaker, out of the ten

pieces comes from investment, fees and fines, as the last member was talking

about on the other side, and other provincial sources.

One piece of this pie comes from that.

That makes up half of this Budget, Mr. Speaker.

Then we come to the offshore royalties, which we are

enjoying at this time but they are not sustainable.

We are extending them but they are not sustainable to keep us going in

the future, and that is the reason why we need to diversify.

There are three pieces out of this pie that comes from the offshore

royalties three pieces plus four pieces is seven pieces, eight-and-a-half

pieces, Mr. Speaker. The remaining

piece and a half of this Budget comes from the federal government; 15 per cent

of this year's spending comes from the federal government.

There were years ago when 30 per cent-plus of our spending came from the

federal government. We are quite

proud that we are able to go this our own way.

Now, that is how we filled up the Budget.

That is how we filled up the pie that we are going to use.

How do we take that pie and serve it around to the different parts of