December

9, 2009

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS

Vol. XLVI No. 37

The House met at 2:00 p.m.

MR. SPEAKER (Fitzgerald): Order, please!

Admit strangers.

Statements by Members

MR. SPEAKER: Today the Chair welcomes the following members'

statements: the hon. the Member for the District of Port de Grave; the hon. the

Member for the District of St. John's North; the hon. the Member for the

District of Baie Verte-Springdale; and the hon. the Member for the District of

Exploits.

The hon. the Member for the District of Port de Grave.

MR. BUTLER: Mr. Speaker, today I pay tribute to the men and women that

make up the Avalon North Wolverines Search & Rescue, Bay Roberts.

On Saturday, November 14, 2009 this group celebrated their twenty-fifth

anniversary with a dinner and dance that was held at the Royal Canadian Legion

in Spaniard's Bay.

It was a pleasure to join with Mr. Barry Nash, Newfoundland and Labrador

Search & Rescue Association, Mr. Brian Avery, Office of Boating Safety for

Transport Canada, and Staff Sergeant Rick Robinson, the RCMP, Trinity-Conception

district, to extend greetings.

The guest speaker was Mr. Randy Mercer, retiree of the RCMP who worked

faithfully with this group over the years. Mr. Clarence Russell, Mr. Roy Mercer,

Mr. Clyde Mercer and Mr. Perry Bowering were presented with their twenty-fifth

year certificates for their unselfish and dedicated service.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all hon. members to join me in extending congratulations

to the Avalon North Wolverines Search & Rescue as they continue to serve

those who find themselves in need of a search & rescue service.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of St. John's North.

MR. RIDGLEY: Mr. Speaker, I want to recognize and congratulate the

Friends of Pippy Park on the occasion of their twenty-fifth anniversary. The

Friends of Pippy Park is an incorporated non-profit society founded in 1984 with

the general purpose of improving the park and enriching the experiences of its

many visitors.

Many people will not realize that Pippy Park encompasses some 3,400 acres and

is truly one of the jewels in the capital city, and for twenty-five years the

Friends have given freely of their time to keep this jewel sparkling. Mr.

Speaker, at a recent twenty-fifth anniversary luncheon, a plaque was unveiled to

commemorate Dr. J. Douglas Eaton, founding president of the Friends and awards

of merit were presented to three long-time volunteers: Mr. Richard Stoker, Dr.

Donald Steele and Mr. Michael Manning.

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

these honourees and the Friends of Pippy Park on the occasion of their

twenty-fifth anniversary.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of Baie Verte-Springdale.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. POLLARD: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is indeed a privilege and an honour for me to rise in this hon. House

today to applaud the academic achievements of three outstanding high school

graduates: Michael Rolfe and Ashley Rideout of Indian River High, Springdale and

Cynthia Robinson of MSB Regional Academy, Middle Arm.

They captured the Baie Verte-Springdale Electoral District Scholarships that

are awarded to three high school graduates in each district who achieves the

highest Department of Education scholarship score. Not only are these graduates

to be commended, but also the school's staff who have provided the caring and

nurturing atmosphere in which these students could excel.

Michael, Ashley and Cynthia are indicative of the many bright, aspiring,

industrious students that grace the halls of our schools today and to whom we

look for fresh ideas.

Hon. colleagues, please join with me in saluting Michael, Ashley and Cynthia.

I wish them every success as they rigorously pursue their dreams and take their

place in today's challenging world.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. FORSEY: Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise in this House today to

recognize the accomplishment of Paul Brothers of Bishop's Falls.

Mr. Speaker, in May of this year The Score Television Network and Gillette

launched Canada's Next Sportscaster challenge. Auditions were held in St. John's,

Halifax, Calgary, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Ottawa and Toronto.

Mr. Speaker, on June 19, after hundreds of contestants were judged, Paul was

selected as one of the top five finalists. The grand prize for the winner is a

one-year contract with The Score Television Network and a thirteen month

contract as a Gillette spokesperson with Procter & Gamble. On Tuesday,

December 8, Paul emerged as the winner of the sportscaster challenge, quite an

accomplishment.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all members to join me in congratulating Paul Brothers on

his determination, professionalism and successfully responding to the challenge.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Statements by Ministers.

Statements by Ministers

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise in this hon. House today to provide my colleagues and the people of

the Province with an update on a very important project related to the

development of the Province's aquaculture industry. That, of course, is the

Centre for Aquaculture Health and Development, which will be located at St.

Alban's.

I am pleased to report today, and I am sure my colleague from the District of

Fortune Bay-Cape la Hune will be happy to hear that a tender has been awarded to

Brook Construction Inc. of Corner Brook for the construction of the centre. It

is estimated that the centre will cost $8 million and will house approximately

ten staff, including veterinarians, aquatic health staff and development

personnel.

I am also pleased to report that the site preparation work has been completed

and the centre is scheduled to be completed over the coming year.

In response to extensive investment in aquaculture development, the total

value of the Province's aquaculture industry has almost doubled from $33.6

million in 2005 to $63.3 million in 2008. The production value has increased

from 8,200 metric tonnes in 2005 to 11,600 metric tonnes in 2008. By

establishing this centre, the provincial government is supporting the industry

in its goal of reaching 50,000 metric tonnes of production. This is another

example of how the government is investing in rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

St. Alban's is strategically positioned to service the South Coast

aquaculture industry. In particular, it will service the Atlantic salmon,

steelhead trout and Atlantic cod aquaculture sectors.

Mr. Speaker, the centre will play many roles. It will contain a state of the

art aquatic health laboratory to provide rapid diagnostic services. As well, it

will provide applied clinical research and be the focal point for advanced

biosecurity for the industry.

The centre represents our government's commitment to the health and

sustainable development of the Province's aquaculture industry.

Mr. Speaker, this new aquaculture infrastructure will ensure continued

expansion of the Province's growing aquaculture industry and enable it to

become more competitive in attracting international investment. It will enable

us to ensure that farmed seafood from the Province remains in the healthiest

state possible, while protecting our marine environment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of The Straits &

White Bay North.

MR. DEAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

First of all, I would like to thank the hon. minister for an advance copy of

his statement.

I am certainly pleased today to see investment in the Province's

aquaculture industry. It is also good to see the numbers that reflect an

increase in the value of this Province's industry, and we certainly look

forward to more growth here for sure. Aquaculture is certainly very important to

our Province.

While aquaculture is progressing well, we cannot forget about the need for a

real plan for the wild traditional fishery, we might call it, which seems to be

lacking somewhat in this present time. The wild traditional fishery has

sustained us for years and will continue to be a vital part of our fishery on a

go-forward basis.

So again, I would encourage the minister to pay a lot of attention to that

part of the industry, and again, certainly want to say this is a welcomed

announcement and congratulate the people that will be involved. The ability to

monitor the health of the fishery locally is certainly a step forward as well.

Thank you.

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

Vidi.

MS MICHAEL: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

I, too, thank the minister for the advance copy of his statement, and I am

delighted for the people of the St. Alban's region to see this centre being

built. It is an important addition both for them economically, as well as to the

overall aquaculture industry. It is certainly one aspect of the future of the

seafood industry in this Province, but I think we need to note that these are

subsidies made by the people of the Province to private companies, and I hope

that these subsidies are going to benefit the people as much as they are also

benefiting the company who is running the facility.

I also would like to say to the minister that I want to see just as much

concern with regard to the traditional fishery in this Province. Once again, I

stand and say to the Minister of Fisheries that we need a marketing board in

this Province to deal with the issues that the traditional fishery is dealing

with. I would hope that this current minister will do what the past minister did

not do and make this marketing board happen.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Further statements by ministers?

The hon. the Minister of Labrador Affairs.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HICKEY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to update my hon. colleagues on the current status

of the Labrador Transportation Grooming Subsidy.

This subsidy helps to provide the necessary transportation links in winter

months to isolated communities on the north and south coasts of Labrador that

have no access to the Trans-Labrador Highway.

Mr. Speaker, maintaining and enhancing the groomed snowmobile trails

connecting isolated communities is a firm commitment made under our Northern

Strategic Plan for Labrador. We have made significant improvements this past

year, and we are continuing to make changes to the program to better suit the

needs of the people who use those trails.

I am pleased to report to this hon. House that the Department of Labrador and

Aboriginal Affairs has once again hired a trail inspector for the coming winter

trail season. This position ensures a safer, more reliable winter trail system

for people living in isolated communities. As well, this year we have delivered

two new snowmobile trail groomers one for Postville, and another for Rigolet.

Mr. Speaker, the travelling distance between some of these isolated

communities is considerable, and the terrain can be challenging. To further

ensure the safety of trail groomed operations, we have installed a more reliable

satellite phone system in every groomer. As well, we are now investigating a GPS

tracking system, where each groomer location is tracked in real time. This would

also be of benefit to the travelling public as they can be informed in a timely

manner on when the trails are being groomed.

Mr. Speaker, in Budget 2009, the Williams government allocated a total of

$390,000 for the 2009-2010 winter snowmobile trail season. I am pleased to

report to my hon. colleagues that through the Northern Strategic Plan for

Labrador the provincial government has allocated another $100,000 for trail

upgrades. Some of these initiatives include the purchase of tracking equipment

and software, trail rerouting and increased signage.

Mr. Speaker, since assuming responsibility for administration of this

subsidy, at the commencement of last year's trail season, I am pleased to

report that the Department of Labrador and Aboriginal Affairs has put a great

deal of effort into fostering positive relationships with associated communities

and development associations. We will continue to nurture these relationships as

we work to enhance this vital transportation network for Labrador's remote and

isolated communities.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank the minister for an advance copy of his statement. I can see why his

colleagues go wild over there. He has made his first statement of the session in

the House on one of the three files he has in his whole department, Mr. Speaker.

Imagine what they would do if it was not a rehash of the same statement that he

made a year ago in the House of Assembly, Mr. Speaker exact same statement.

Mr. Speaker, let me say this, snowmobile trails are a vital transportation

link to communities right across Labrador. Let's not kid ourselves, the safety

and survival of people are very important. That is why that having a good

snowmobile trail connecting communities from one part of Labrador to the other

is not only, Mr. Speaker, for the safety and the survival of people

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS JONES: - who live in communities that are remote and have difficulty

accessing them, but it is also, Mr. Speaker, a tourism icon for Labrador; one of

the things that we can promote from an industry perspective as well.

I think it is vitally important that our trails from one end to the other be

of the best standard, have the best equipment and be the safest that we can

certainly make them.

Mr. Speaker, I would also like to remind the minister that there are requests

for two groomers as well in Labrador; one in the community of Norman Bay, which

has no other transportation link in winter, only by snowmobile trails. They have

asked to have parts of their trail rerouted so they get off the salt water ice

and they are able to access trails that will go over land, providing for a

longer season and a safer season for the people that are dependent upon those

trails. In addition, Mr. Speaker -

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I ask the hon. member to conclude her remarks.

MS JONES: Just a minute to conclude, Mr. Speaker?

MR. SPEAKER: Does the hon. member have leave?

AN HON. MEMBER: By leave.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. member by leave.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

In addition, they have made a request to also have a new groomer purchased

for that community. The other community is in Black Tickle, which again is

completely cut off from any other form of transportation except by air. They

desperately need a new groomer for that community to be based in the community

to service the people in that region.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the minister that he take those particular requests under

consideration and seriously move forward to investing in these initiatives.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Vidi.

MS MICHAEL: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

I, too, thank the minister for an advance copy of his statement. It is good

to see the government taking its responsibility seriously and continuing to do

that with regard to something that is such a necessity for the people in

Labrador. Here on the Island, especially off the Northern Peninsula, people may

not realize the importance of these trails, but for Labrador it is essential to

their transportation in winter; they cannot do without it. As well, you do have

the tourism side of it and sledding is a tourism issue, but that is also

important for the economy.

I do hope that this year with the groomers that have been delivered to

Postville and Rigolet that we will not, in a year's time, hear the minister do

what he did last year and that is argue with the communities that if they decide

to do something with the groomers that he does not like, as he did last year. I

hope he is over that, Mr. Speaker.

I think the minister too should be looking into other issues with regard to

services in Labrador. What I would like to raise has to do with the state of the

freight services to the Coast of Labrador, because we have been receiving, in my

office, correspondence from communities on the North Coast asking for help. I

hope, Mr. Speaker, that the minister is taking seriously the situation with

regard to the freight services and responding to their requests.

Thank you.

MR. SPEAKER: Further statements by ministers?

Oral questions.

Oral Questions

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I understand that a progress report on the Cameron

recommendations is not due until March of 2010, however, the previous minister

did table, on May 28 of this year, an update of the status of the

recommendations. When you examine the report you see, in fact, that only one

recommendation was fully implemented at that time.

I ask the minister today: What progress has been made over the past several

months on further implementing the recommendations that were outlined in the

Cameron Inquiry?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENNEDY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I can indicate to the member opposite that we are continuing to implement the

Cameron recommendations and we are continuing to contribute to the Cancer Care

Program in this Province.

Mr. Speaker, in Budget 2008-2009 we provided - I cannot even add it all up

here. It is about $60 million for digital mammography units, CT scanners. In

2008, we also indicated another $2.3 million in relation to the collection of

information. We are looking at, Mr. Speaker, the PET scanner, which we are

hoping to have up and running before too long. Mr. Speaker, the provincial

Cancer Care Program is ongoing. We are looking at the issues, Mr. Speaker,

especially clinics, the continuation of radiation treatment, including $10.6

billion over the past two years to construct bunkers -

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I ask the hon. member to conclude his response.

MR. KENNEDY: It is just difficult, Mr. Speaker, to outline, in a short

period of time, how much we have been doing, but anyway I thank the member for

her question.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

This inquiry has impacted the lives of many people, and I guess the minister

would understand why there is extreme interest in monitoring the continued

implementation of the recommendations in the report.

I ask him today: Maybe he is prepared to table in the House another progress

report on those recommendations during this session?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENNEDY: Mr. Speaker, I am aware of the effect, as we all are in this

House, of the effect that the Cameron Inquiry - the people who were involved in

the Cameron Inquiry and the effect that had upon them and their families. We are

also, Mr. Speaker, aware and I am glad from a government perspective and

from a minister perspective, that an agreement was reached recently between

Eastern Health with the members of the class action.

Cancer, Mr. Speaker, is a disease that affects all of us. It is a disease

that affects so many people in this Province. We are continuing to invest, Mr.

Speaker, in our cancer care funding. We will continue to invest, and the Cameron

implementations are certainly a very significant part of what we are doing.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The minister was listing a number of initiatives that they were working on,

so maybe he will present in the House of Assembly an update before the session

concludes.

Mr. Speaker, the chair of the oncology department at Memorial University, Dr.

David Saltman, publicly spoke out on the lack of colorectal cancer screening

programs in the Province. He goes as far as to calling the situation a tragedy.

I ask the minister: Why, in Newfoundland and Labrador, are we falling behind

the other provinces when it comes to colorectal cancer screening programs?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENNEDY: Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Obviously, colorectal cancer is a very significant cancer and one that

apparently is the second leading cause of cancer in this country.

Mr. Speaker, I am aware of the comments made by Dr. Saltman in the media. I

was a bit surprised. Dr. Saltman had written me on October 16, asking for a

meeting, but it had nothing to do with the colorectal cancer screening program.

However, having said that, this matter has been under discussion for quite

some period of time. I indicated, over the last couple of days, that budget

discussions are ongoing. We are certainly looking at a very worthwhile program

like colorectal cancer screening. It is a discussion that I would certainly be

willing to have with Dr. Saltman any time.

Discussions are ongoing with Eastern Health, Mr. Speaker. There is no

question that this is a program that we will have to look at, but again, in the

context of the priorities put forward by Eastern Health and the health care

system.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

There are 400 new cases of colorectal cancer diagnosed in this Province each

year and this disease kills approximately 200 of our citizens annually. Early

screening for this type of cancer can result in 90 per cent of them being

preventable. Our Province also has the highest new cases and mortality in the

country due to this type of cancer.

I ask the minister today: Is he prepared to commit to implementing a

colorectal cancer screening program, as suggested by the advice of professionals

like Dr. Saltman, and what would be the timeframes to see this implemented

within our Province?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENNEDY: Yes, thank you Mr. Speaker.

I can indicate that the former minister, now Minister of Business, certainly

had this on his radar, and it was a very significant concern for him while he

was in the department.

The vice-president, Mr. Speaker, of medical services at Eastern Health

advises that a colorectal screening program is a high priority for Eastern

Health, and for the Province, considering there is a high incidence and a

genetic predisposition to this type of cancer in this Province.

It is my understanding, Mr. Speaker, that we will now go through the budget

process, we will look at it Eastern Health has indicated that it is a high

priority. Then, what will happen, Mr. Speaker, after the budget process, it is

my understanding that a colorectal screening co-ordinator would have to be hired

and it would take at least six months to get a provincial program in place, once

the co-ordinator is hired.

So, as we go through the budget process, Mr. Speaker, we will look at this,

and I can indicate to the hon. member opposite, and to Dr. Saltman, to other

residents in this Province, Mr. Speaker, that this is a matter that we will look

closely at in this budget and see where it goes.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: I thank the minister for his response, Mr. Speaker.

The future of AbitibiBowater, their current and former workers and

pensioners, are now buried in extensive legal challenges. The latest court

actions of your government have been an attempt to force the company to reveal

corporate financial information using the argument that the Province is, in

effect, a creditor of the company.

What is the status of this legal action, and when can we expect to see a

ruling?

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

Development.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SKINNER: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, as the people of the Province know, this government did step up

for the former AbitibiBowater employees. There have been some 800-900 employees,

former employees of AbitibiBowater that we have stepped in and provided

assistance to. We deemed that the benefits that they were to receive were the

responsibility of AbitibiBowater. AbitibiBowater did not live up to that

responsibility and this government stepped forward to ensure that the people of

the Central Region who are entitled to benefits received those benefits as they

should have gotten them.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Maybe the minister could update us on what the status is of the legal action

that government was taking, and when we can expect to see some conclusion of it

or at least some ruling around it.

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. F. COLLINS: Mr. Speaker, with regard to the action CCA claims of

monies owing to the Province, the position of the government is that we are not

pursuing these claims because there are insufficient funds. We figure there are

insufficient funds with Abitibi to compensate for those claims. The costs, legal

costs, would be (inaudible)

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I understood that court action was going to be taken by the government simply

because it was felt that they were a creditor of the company. Do I understand

clearly now that the minister is telling me that there will be no legal action

taken to recover the monies that were paid out?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. F. COLLINS: Mr. Speaker, it is the belief of the Province at this

time that the insufficient funds, given the insolvency, or the CCA claims, or

CCA activities of Abitibi, there are insufficient funds there to recover any of

the claims that we are looking for.

At this stage of the game, that is the position of government.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Mr. Speaker, reports indicate that the AbitibiBowater pensions,

which are underfunded by some $1.3 billion, are putting pensioners' income at

risk in our Province as well. As a solution, the union, the company, with the

support of Ontario and Quebec governments, are proposing that governments back a

proposal to establish a pension trust. This should protect the income of company

pensioners should the company finally fall into bankruptcy. Without governments

taking action, many of these pensioners will take a hit of at least 25 per cent

to 33 per cent or more in their income. It will affect workers in both the Grand

Falls mill as well as the former Stephenville mill.

My question to the minister is: Has your government been involved in this

proposal to establish a pension trust and to aid in the protecting of pension

funds for workers in our Province?

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

Board.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. T. MARSHALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The whole issue of pensions is certainly on the radar of the country, and

pension plans that are in trouble, such as the AbitibiBowater pension plan which

the hon. the Leader of the Opposition has just mentioned. It is very fortunate

that the pension plan for our employees in this Province, our employees do not

have that same problem, our retirees do not have that same problem, because of

investments that this government has made to the tune of $3 billion in the

pension plan, and the fact that the taxpayers behind the pension plan provide

security for our own retired employees.

With respect to pension plans like AbitibiBowater, we hear in the news of the

pension plans like Nortel up in Ontario, these plans are under great pressure

because the companies themselves are in financial difficulty and will be unable

to make their contributions, but I am pleased to advise the hon. member that

there will be a federal-provincial-territorial meeting of Finance Ministers this

coming Wednesday in Whitehorse and I will be attending, and I will be happy,

when I get back, to report to this House as to the results of the reports that

have been provided for Finance Ministers to deal with this very important issue.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I guess we are all aware of what has been going on nationally, especially

with Nortel over the last number of years, but in spite of all of that, Mr.

Speaker, we do know that there have been discussions between the union,

companies, the Government of Quebec, the Government of Ontario and the federal

government around the pension trust piece, and looking at it as an option for

Abitibi pensioners that will be effected.

So, again, I ask the minister: Outside of the territorial meetings that you

will participate in, is your government prepared to get involved in the process

that is ongoing to help protect the pension incomes of former Abitibi workers in

our Province?

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

Board.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. T. MARSHALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

In addition to the FPT meetings, at which time reports that have been

contracted to deal with this important issue will be presented to the Finance

Ministers and the federal government and the provincial governments and

territories in Whitehorse next week, in addition to that, I know the Premiers

have also commissioned research reports into this issue and those reports will

also be presented at the end of the year. With those reports, that will inform

governments right across the country as to the appropriate steps that we can

take to help pensioners, given the pressure that the pension plans are under.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

In the severance payments that were provided to Abitibi workers by the

government last year, there were conditions and timelines that were attached;

however, since that deadline there are dozens of workers that have been laid

off. These individuals have yet to receive any severance payments, although they

have applied for government-sponsored severance. Some of them, their

applications date back to September of this year.

I ask the government today: Are you prepared to provide and pay out the

severance to those workers who were outside the timelines? If you are, why is it

taking so long to have their payments processed and issued to them?

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

Development.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SKINNER: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, as I have indicated in this House before, this government did

step up for the former workers of AbitibiBowater. This government did provide

some $25 million or $26 million in severance and other benefits to workers who

were displaced from AbitibiBowater in the Central region. The reason that we are

still processing some of these claims, Mr. Speaker, is that as we move forward

new information is becoming uncovered each day with some of these; it has been

difficult to get information. We have also found out that people are being laid

off after the original - I will call it mass layoff that was done back in April

of this year.

As we encounter those situations we are processing those claims and we will

continue to do that. We will continue to support the people of the Central

region. We will continue to provide the benefits that they should have received.

This government stepped up and did it before, and we will continue to do that,

Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Reports indicate that Newfoundland and Labrador Refining Corporation has

emerged from bankruptcy. The judge in the case has given them two years to find

a buyer or a partner in their proposed $4 billion project.

I ask the minister: Have you met with the proponents of this project before

or since they emerged from the bankruptcy position?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Deputy Premier and Minister of Natural

Resources.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the department watches very carefully what is happening in the

energy sector in this Province. We are aware all the time what is happening;

there are informal discussions that are ongoing on a regular basis. I have not

had a formal meeting with the principles of Newfoundland Refining since this

action has taken place.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would like to ask the minister: Has the government, or near-government

agencies like Nalcor or their subsidiaries, have they given consideration to

taking any equity stake in the refinery or to contribute public money to this

particular development?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Deputy Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

No, we have not.

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

One final question for the minister on this issue, because we know that

government has acted on behalf of this refinery proponent in the past, in terms

of looking at recruiting partners or buyers. I think the last incident we heard

publicly was from Qatar, and a trip they took to the Middle East.

I ask the minister today: Has there been any indication that those meetings

will result in new investments for this refinery project and this company, or is

there still follow-up taking place to those meetings?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Deputy Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, as we do our work here in the Province, across the country and

around the world, we promote Newfoundland and Labrador, and companies who

operate here, as good places for people to invest money. That is part of the

responsibility we have as a government. So we, wherever we go, at every

opportunity we have, promote Newfoundland and Labrador as a good place to

invest.

Once we make people aware of that, unless we are asked to intervene or become

involved, Mr. Speaker, we allow them, the companies and the investors, to

further build those relationships and make whatever arrangements work in the

best interests of both parties, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. KELVIN PARSONS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

On Monday, I directed some questions concerning the ongoing issue involving

the Child and Youth Advocate to the Minister of Finance. Minister, we are now

aware that Mr. Bern Coffey, the solicitor for Ms Neville, has filed an appeal of

last Friday's Supreme Court decision regarding her right to appear before this

House. Given that a definitive resolution regarding Ms Neville was postponed

during the September sitting of this House because these matters were before the

courts, is government now prepared to postpone the introduction of a definitive

resolution, pending disposition of Ms Neville's appeal?

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

Board.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. T. MARSHALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

With respect to the matter surrounding the Child and Youth Advocate, the

government has received the complaint of the Speaker of the House, and the

government has also received a response and has heard from Ms Neville. We

received a ninety-two page document outlining her response to the allegations

made.

Government is considering the information that it has before it, and in due

course government will bring forth a resolution to be determined in this House,

and it will be the appropriate resolution at the appropriate time.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. KELVIN PARSONS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I just had some correspondence delivered, in fact, as we entered the House

today, again from Mr. Coffey, solicitor for Ms Neville, who indicates that she

has had absolutely no opportunity, since she was advised of her suspension,

about an opportunity to provide any information to Cabinet, or to speak to

Cabinet.

I asked the minister this question on Friday or, excuse me, on Monday

past would Ms Neville be afforded an opportunity to appear before the House,

or before Cabinet? The minister, at that time, said, bluntly: No.

I am wondering if the minister could take an opportunity to explain why you

are not allowing her an opportunity.

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

Board.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. T. MARSHALL: Mr. Speaker, the principles of natural justice will

allow Ms Neville to state her case to the government, and that has happened. As

I said, we received a ninety-two page

outline of the case that she has made.

In the case of Fraser March, he was not given that opportunity. Mr. March was

dismissed by the Internal Economy Commission of the House without being given an

opportunity to make his case. In Ms Neville's situation, the case has been

heard by government, government is reviewing it; it is reviewing the allegations

from the Speaker. Government will make its determination and bring a resolution

before the House so the House can make the final determination of this matter

and end it once and for all.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. KELVIN PARSONS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Just for the information of the minister, Mr. March was not terminated by the

Internal Economy Commission. Mr. March was terminated from his employment by a

resolution of this House of Assembly. Now the government has gone back, as we

know, and allowed Mr. March an opportunity to have natural justice by way of

Justice O'Neill, whose report is due on Friday.

I ask the minister: If you were prepared to see that natural justice was

allowed in the case of Mr. March, who was dismissed by this House, why would you

not be prepared to allow Ms Neville the same opportunity?

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. T. MARSHALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I have already answered that question. The principles of natural

justice allow Ms Neville to make a response. The response, a ninety-two page

response, has been received and is being considered by government.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for The Straits & White Bay North.

MR. DEAN: Mr. Speaker, a common practice by small-boat fisherpeople in

our Province for years, if not decades, has been the practice of selling codfish

locally, either at the wharf or door-to-door, on the back of their truck and so

on. This past season, commercial fishers in this Province have received warnings

from the DFA fishery inspectors that it is illegal to sell codfish locally.

My question for the Minister of Fisheries is: Why has your department

suddenly decided to bring stronger enforcement to that regulation?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN: Mr. Speaker, under the Fish Inspection Act, fish harvesters

are only permitted to sell to licensed fish processors and buyers. Everyone

knows in the Province that oftentimes that is something that is not followed. I

think some people would go out and purchase a bit of fish off a fisherman and

not even know that they are in contravention of the law.

Mr. Speaker, at the union convention just a little over a week ago I was

approached by some fishermen on that particular issue. I told them at that

particular point that I would discuss it with my officials and see where we

might be able to go with that. That, in fact, is what I am doing and will

continue to do, and we will see how that gets resolved.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of Port de Grave.

MR. BUTLER: Mr. Speaker, I assure you, my questions today have nothing to

do with electricity.

On Monday, Mr. Speaker, I asked the Minister of Finance with regard to the

$300 rebate for oil tank replacements, and he told me that he would undertake to

find the answers to that question.

I ask the minister today: How many people are waiting for the rebates, and

when will the cheques be forthcoming?

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

Board.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. T. MARSHALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the year before last I think there was a budget allocation of

$750,000 in the budget but the take-up was only around $71,000. The following

year the amount allocated was $75,000 and, of course, the take-up was in excess

of that amount.

Funds were transferred into the program on August 13, on September 22, and

again on November 30, and I am advised by the Comptroller General that 284

cheques were sent out yesterday afternoon to these people.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of Port de Grave.

MR. BUTLER: Mr. Speaker, I thank the minister for that response.

It is December 9 and again our office is flooded with e-mails and telephone

calls asking questions: Where is the home heating fuel rebate? Last year it was

announced on December 8. The year before it was December 6. It seems like each

year the announcements are coming later and later.

I ask the minister: When can we expect the announcement with regard to the

home heating fuel rebates this year?

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

Board.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. T. MARSHALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Government announced in March of this year that the Home Heating Rebate

Program would be a permanent program, and we also announced that the program,

along with the Parental Benefits Program, would be moved to Grand Falls and will

provide twenty-five jobs in that Central Newfoundland community, to attempt to

mitigate in a small way the job losses from the closure of the mill. So the

program is now permanent. The parameters of the program are being discussed.

They were discussed between me and some of my colleagues today, and I expect to

be in a position in the not-too-distant future to announce the parameters, which

are the amount of the rebate and the income eligibility threshold.

There are three permanent positions hired in Grand Falls-Windsor now. There

are twenty-two permanent seasonal workers who, these positions should be filled

by mid-December. The interviews took place the week of November 23, and we are

looking forward to the program.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. T. MARSHALL: These will be new workers, but -

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I ask the hon. minister to conclude his response.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

Vidi.

MS MICHAEL: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

I, too, wanted to ask the Minister of Finance about the Home Heating Rebate,

and I am glad to know that the steps have been taken to make it a permanent

program, as had been promised in the March Budget; but, Mr. Speaker, the people

who rely on this rebate do not have a lot of money and the waiting game is very

difficult for them as they try to budget, especially as they come into the

winter and the Christmas season. The minister has said a number of times that

the rebate is only a small amount of money, but for these people it is not a

small amount, and I am hoping this year it is going to be more.

I am asking the minister: If he can tell us why there is always this waiting

game and why it is so difficult to come up with, as he called it, the parameters

of the program?

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

Treasury Board.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. T. MARSHALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The parameters of the program are usually announced in December, around this

time every year. We are going through that process. An analysis was done, we

analyzed the changes in the fuel cost and changes in the electricity cost; we

had a good look at it. When I have completed my discussions with my colleagues,

the parameters will be announced for this year as well.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

Vidi.

MS MICHAEL: Mr. Speaker, I would like to point out to the minister that

the phone calls to our office, and I assume it is probably the same for other

MHAs, those phone calls begin early in November.

I am wondering: Can the minister tell me whether or not he is willing to take

under advisement trying to get this out earlier in the future?

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

Board.

MR. T. MARSHALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As I said earlier, the program is now a permanent program; it will not be an

ad hoc program anymore. There are three permanent employees in Grand Falls,

twenty-two permanent seasonal employees. As soon as they get trained, they will

get the program out, and then each year after that the program should come out

earlier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

Vidi.

MS MICHAEL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I hope the training begins immediately so that people will not have to wait

next year.

Mr. Speaker, in fall update 2009, the GDP is used as an indicator of how the

Province is doing. Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, the GDP does not give an accurate

and authentic picture of what is really happening to people here in the Province

and what is happening in their lives.

Mr. Speaker, the financial updates used by our Province and others - not just

by ours, whether purposefully or not, I do not know - do not reference

recognized social indicators such as hunger, homelessness, illiteracy or

unemployment and therefore do not give a true economic picture of the lives of

the people in the Province.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the Premier: When is this government going to give an

accurate view of how all people are actually faring in our new economy?

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

Board.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. T. MARSHALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Fortunately, the people of this Province, especially people at the low end,

are doing much better because this government has done more for the people in

poverty than any other government in the history of Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. T. MARSHALL: Mr. Speaker, I refer to the Seniors' Benefit, which

was enhanced last year. We are giving seniors $800 every October. I refer to the

fact that we allow seniors to split their pension income. We have expanded the

Home Heating Rebate Program. When we came into office, there were 11,000 people

getting the program, there were 76,000 got the program last year.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. T. MARSHALL: Mr. Speaker, we removed thousands of low income people

from the tax rolls. Mr. Speaker, we gave the people of this Province the biggest

tax cut in the history of Newfoundland and Labrador. We lowered 174 fees, we

lowered motor vehicle registration and we increased the Provincial Home Repair

Program.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. T. MARSHALL: We provided money for drug programs, we increased the

RAP program and we are going to continue to help people (inaudible).

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The time allotted for questions and answers has expired.

Presenting Reports by Standing and Select Committees.

Tabling of Documents.

Notices of Motion.

Answers to Questions for which Notice has been Given.

Answers to Questions for which Notice has been Given

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.

MR. HEDDERSON: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise today to provide some information pertaining to questions asked

yesterday in Question Period by the Opposition House Leader.

The hon. Member for Burgeo & LaPoile asked me why the crew of the Gallipoli

have recently received layoff notices for the period in which the vessel is

undergoing its annual refit. The member also stated that this is the first time,

in the history of these refits, the whole crew has been laid off.

Mr. Speaker, I would first like to state that the entire crew has not been

laid off. The captain and two of the vessel's engineers will remain on the

vessel throughout the refit. Furthermore, Mr. Speaker, this is not a new

practice with our marine division, and in fact, has been the practice of the

department for some time.

Decisions as to what crew to keep on the vessel during a refit is made on a

case to case basis on the work required. In this case, there is not enough of

the work that is normally completed by the crew to be done to warrant keeping

all of them on for the full duration of the refit. These crew members will,

however, be called back before the refit is completed to allow sufficient time

for them to complete the work they would normally do to make the vessel ready to

return to service.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HEDDERSON: As such, Mr. Speaker, the vessel maintenance program will

not be adversely affected, as was suggested by the Opposition House Leader.

Mr. Speaker, as employers, we take our responsibilities under collective

agreements seriously. The affected crew members are entitled to their normal

rights under their collective agreement; this includes bumping rights based on

seniority.

As a government, we must also be stewards of the Province's finances. In

this case, there is simply not enough work to justify keeping the full crew on

the vessel during the full refit period. The decision, our marine branch, to

issue temporary layoff notice is the responsible thing to do.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Further answers to questions for which notice has been

given?

Petitions.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

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

revert to another proceeding?

MR. T. MARSHALL: Yes, the answers to questions for which notice has been

given.

MR. SPEAKER: Answers to questions for which notice has been given.

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

MR. T. MARSHALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, or the day before I think, the Leader of the

Opposition asked me about the income tax problem that fisher people on the Great

Northern Peninsula were having. I checked with my officials and I noted that on

May 21, 2008 this House of Assembly adopted a resolution that called upon the

tax burden placed on these Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. I notice that in

2008 the Premier wrote the Prime Minister seeking his party's position on

additional and unfair income tax burdens.

The Leader of the Opposition asked me if I would contact the Minister of

National Revenue and to make representation on behalf of these people. I will be

very happy to do it, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Petitions.

Petitions

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of Port de Grave.

MR. BUTLER: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I want to stand today with a petition with regard to unregulated and gravel

pit campers. We have received petitions signed by over 2,000 people to date and

there is more to come in.

Seeing this is the first time, I will read the prayer of the petition:

WHEREAS unregulated or gravel pit camping has been a long standing

recreational tradition for families in Newfoundland and Labrador; and

WHEREAS residents of our Province have engaged in gravel pit camping for up

to forty years; and

WHEREAS government has not typically targeted gravel pit campers for

contravening the Province's Lands Act due to the cultural uniqueness and

historical meaning of the practice for the people involved; and

WHEREAS government has now rapidly moved forward to enforce its own

legislation in gravel pit camping sites in a relatively haphazard fashion,

without consideration of the impacting costs of their action; and

WHEREAS many gravel pit campers are seniors that lack the resources to haul

their campers and trailers out of gravel pit sites before the sixty-day removal

order currently being imposed by officials within the Department of Environment;

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

House of Assembly to re-evaluate government's heavy-handed approach to gravel

pit campers and consult with them to work out a long-term solution to problems

with the practice that government finds unacceptable.

AND - this is presented as in duty bound your petitioners will ever pray

Mr. Speaker, you might be able to say: Well, why would you come forward with

such a petition when we have so many parks, and private parks and provincial

parks, in the Province?

Mr. Speaker, I can stand here today and say that there are over 5,000 people

who take

part in gravel pit camping in various locations throughout this

Province and not one of them can get into a provincial park. I have tried this

year, many times. Our parks are full, and no one has to tell me any more than

that because I do the camping myself. They are filled to capacity. I am going to

tell you one thing and I stand here today and I hear people talking about

the Whiskey Pit. I agree, Mr. Speaker, there are different scenarios in all of

those locations that have to be cleaned up. They have to be cleaned up.

Mr. Speaker, I am calling on this government to do what they did before. My

hon. colleague, the minister of municipal affairs and transportation, he knows

full well the situation I am going to discuss. There were trailer owners and

cabin owners in Wolf Pond up in Fox Marsh and they were told they had to get

out. We met - both the minister, his officials and I met - with officials within

the department for many months. Do you know what government did? They did not

tell them they had sixty days to get out, and you are left on your own. What

they did, they moved up the road a very short distance, made roads for those

people, cut out sites for them so they could have a park.

Yes, they were regulated. Yes, they pay a fee, and rightly so. I am not

saying they should sit on Crown land and not do this, but what was done for

those people in the Fox Marsh area should be done for every individual in this

Province, Mr. Speaker. Not tell you to get home and leave what you have there

and not do anything with it. That was done. This government made sure that those

people had a site to go to. Mr. Speaker, that is all I am asking the minister to

do, to go back and re-evaluate what they are doing.

Those people have a right to be able to camp. They cannot get into the parks.

Many of them cannot afford to go into them. Mr. Speaker, let me assure you, this

is only one of many petitions that will be forthcoming.

MR. SPEAKER: Further petitions?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

Does the hon. the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board have

leave to revert to tabling of documents?

Tabling of Documents

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

Board.

MR. T. MARSHALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Pursuant to

section 26 of the Financial Administration Act, I am tabling

nineteen Orders-in-Council relating to funding pre-commitments for the 2010 to

2012-2013 fiscal years.

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to

section 28.(4) of the Financial Administration Act,

I am tabling the Order-in-Council for the creation of a subhead of a Head of

Expenditures to which countervailing savings can be transferred relating to the

purchase of water bombers.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Orders of the Day.

Orders of the Day

Private Members' Day

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

MS BURKE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It being Private Members' Day, we will call from the Order Paper Motion 3,

as put forward by the Member for Bonavista North.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Bonavista North.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

Having been born and raised in the Town of Greenspond, one of the most

historic towns in the Province, and having lived and worked in the Town of

Badger's Quay for approximately forty years, I guess when I speak about rural

Newfoundland I do have some idea of what I am talking about. Based on that, Mr.

Speaker, I certainly have to, right from the inception, take strong exception to

anyone who is saying that our government is out there gutting rural Newfoundland

and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HARDING: There is nothing further from the truth, Mr. Speaker.

First of all, I would just like probably to give a brief overview of the

resolution itself. What we are saying is that, since we formed government back

in 2003, one of the main objectives of our government was to take steps to

revitalize rural Newfoundland and Labrador. We worked on a strategy at that

time, and by March 2005 we were ready to implement that strategy for rural

Newfoundland and Labrador; and that we did, Mr. Speaker.

So the content of this resolution is to certainly remind the public, I guess,

of things that we have done in rural Newfoundland and Labrador over these past

six or seven years: steps that we have taken in promoting rural infrastructure,

in natural resource development, in value-added production, in education,

retention of our youth and attracting youth to the Province, and our social

support programs. What we are asking in this resolution, Mr. Speaker, is that we

would like to get the full support and co-operation of all the members in this

House as to the direction that we have taken and to offer support and

encouragement for us to continue on that track.

The strategy that we took, Mr. Speaker, back in 2005 is based on principles:

principles of sector development, of focusing on strengths of the different

regions of our Province, and putting the tools in place to build on these

strengths. Doing something like this, Mr. Speaker, is certainly something that

cannot be done overnight. It is something that takes very much time, in fact

years, before you see the final results of exactly what we are doing.

Mr. Speaker, I have to say that we are committed to the wealth of our natural

resources, and from these resources we want and have tried to, and certainly are

doing, benefiting every Newfoundlander and Labradorian.

We also want to improve on our financial situation, and we want to diversify

and bolster the economies in all regions of the Province. By doing that, Mr.

Speaker, we are looking at the long term: not just today, not just tomorrow, but

years and years to come. We have done that, Mr. Speaker, through prudent

utilization of our natural resources, by not only the increase in our revenue

from oil and gas - not only that, Mr. Speaker - but often I think we fail to

realize that there is more to it than just that increase. There is the

renegotiation that the Premier did with the Atlantic Accord. That money in

itself is bringing in millions and millions of dollars, not only this year, not

only last year, not only next year, but years and years to come. With our equity

investment only this past year now into the offshore projects we will see even

more revenues accrue from our natural resources.

We put these revenues to good use, Mr. Speaker. As the Minister of Finance

mentioned yesterday, we have done it to increase our financial position. We have

reduced our debt. We have reduced taxes for all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians,

and we continue to contribute to programs that support economic growth

throughout the Province. Mr. Speaker, the way we have done this, it has been

done so that there has been a positive effect right throughout the Province of

Newfoundland and Labrador.

If we take the West Coast, we are emerging as a centre for environmental

excellence. On the South Coast, and the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture

made reference to it today, we are developing the South Coast of this Province

as a major, major area for aquaculture development, making us one of the

greatest Provinces in the country in aquaculture development.

The eastern part of Newfoundland and Labrador - Newfoundland in particular, I

mean - we are emerging as a hub for tourist trade. I know in my own area, in the

community of New-Wes-Valley, Newtown, monies that we have invested into the

Barbour site, we have made that now the second-largest employer in the district,

employing sixty or seventy people, Mr. Speaker, in the tourism trade. That is

just one sector.

The Northern Region certainly is an area of massive energy potential. We are

taking steps to further develop the mining industry in Labrador, and certainly,

most recently, the Upper Churchill development.

The Department of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development, Mr. Speaker, has a

number of programs that have benefited rural Newfoundland and Labrador. The

Regional Sectoral Diversification Fund, we increased that, this current budget,

to more than $8 million, and 80 per cent of the funding through the Department

of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development is going out to communities in rural

Newfoundland and Labrador. It is going to companies, it is going to community

associations and it is going to cultural and heritage groups in developing the

potential of rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

The area of broadband installation, our government was criticized time and

time again by the Opposition for investing in broadband in our Province. I am

happy to say that in my own district, Bonavista North, that we are lucky enough

to have two service providers of broadband services.

I know the Member for Burgeo & LaPoile spent one session criticizing our

government for investment in the broadband services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KELVIN PARSONS: (Inaudible) did not go to public tender. That is what

we criticized. It did not go to public tender. You gave it to your buddies.

MR. HARDING: Regardless of how it was done, Mr. Speaker, it is a major

benefit to this Province and something that we could never do without because

having a major communication system today, we can have services in the smallest

of communities just as well as we can in any of the larger centres in the

Province.

In the area of trade missions, Mr. Speaker, we have spent considerable money

in helping to send fish processors and other manufacturing companies in the

Province to all parts of the world. Only recently, a couple of weeks ago,

Beothic Fish Processors in my district went on a trade mission to China to try

to develop markets for their fish products, knowing full well what has happened

with the economy in the United States, we certainly have to look outside of the

US for our finished products.

Mr. Speaker, we have made investments in rural Newfoundland - education, we

have done it in infrastructure. I just want to mention one figure in particular

that I was given today with respect to our government's investment in

municipal infrastructure since 2003-2004 when we took office. Mr. Speaker, our

government has provided to the municipalities in Newfoundland and Labrador since

2003 $911 million in municipal infrastructure in this Province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HARDING: Of this amount, Mr. Speaker, and that is money that has gone

into capital works for municipalities in terms of roadwork, in terms of water

and sewer, municipal buildings, fire trucks and so on in towns with a population

of less than 3,000, and we are talking - that is all in rural Newfoundland. Over

that past six years, Mr. Speaker, we have contributed $332 million in

infrastructure money; that is for towns less than 3,000 population. So for

people to look up then, Mr. Speaker, and say we are not contributing to rural

Newfoundland and Labrador, I have to say that those people, they are either

still voting for Mr. Smallwood or they have a chip on their shoulder -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HARDING: Otherwise, they have no idea of what they are talking about.

Mr. Speaker, I will conclude on that note now because I know we have three or

four more speakers from the government side, and I assume that the Opposition

will have two or three speakers as well. I will come back later on and conclude

my remarks on this resolution.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Member for Bellevue.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. PEACH: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It gives me a great pleasure to stand in this House today and speak on this

motion put forward by my colleague, the Member for Bonavista North. I, too, like

our hon. colleague, come from a small community, Mr. Speaker, in rural

Newfoundland. I live in rural Newfoundland as a Member of the House of Assembly.

The District of Bellevue is pretty much all rural Newfoundland. There are very

few communities in my district that do not receive funding or have not received

funding over the past years from this government.

Mr. Speaker, before I speak on that, I want to talk about this morning, Mr.

Speaker. When we woke up this morning, we were without water in the hotel. I

want to refer to the bottled water that we received this morning, Mr. Speaker.

When I received two bottles of water this morning, it was eighty degrees true

north, and I said: Where did that water come from? I googled on the computer

this morning and I found out that the water came from St. Anthony in

Newfoundland, a rural community in Newfoundland, Mr. Speaker. Very often do we

hear our people say, our constituents say in our districts, that everything

stays inside of St. John's, but it is nice to see that bottled water is being

shipped into St. John's and marketed into St. John's and coming from a

company in rural Newfoundland

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. PEACH: a company that has been partly funded by our government,

Mr. Speaker. So, I am really, really pleased to see that we are doing something

in rural Newfoundland, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. PEACH: Mr. Speaker, there has been a lot happening in my district

over the last couple of years, Mr. Speaker. We have had quite a bit of funding

for different projects in my district.

I might say, too, Mr. Speaker, that we have seen renovations in our schools,

renovations in schools in Swift Current and Terrenceville. Mr. Speaker, our

government's $800 million infrastructure funding to the Province of

Newfoundland and Labrador, Mr. Speaker, for rural communities, I am being told

that we have spent and invested over 80 per cent of the $800 million investment

in rural Newfoundland communities, Mr. Speaker.

I want to point out some of the funds, and some of the sectors that the funds

have been spent in, Mr. Speaker: In transportation and infrastructure,

$309,230,000; in education facilities, $155,745,000; in health care facilities,

$163,000,000 in health care; $103,112,000 in municipal infrastructure;

Newfoundland and Labrador Housing, $25 million; Justice infrastructure, over $18

million. Mr. Speaker, this certainly shows that our government is committed to

rural Newfoundland.

Mr. Speaker, the government has focused on the need in rural Newfoundland and

Labrador. We do not talk enough about what happens out in our communities in

rural Newfoundland and Labrador. Small projects such as grants for recreation,

Lions Clubs, community centres, mean a lot to rural Newfoundland, Mr. Speaker.

Funding this year in my district made many communities and towns feel good about

their future. Mr. Speaker, funding such as the CEP programs that came out just

recently being announced for people to get enough stamps to get their

unemployment for the winter means a lot to the people in rural Newfoundland.

The fisheries assistance program this past year has certainly been an asset

to the people who had a downturn in the fishery, in the fish plants and in the

fishery, Mr. Speaker. We saw this year, in the district, through the Isthmus

Development Association, a tourist enhancement program in the amount of $50,660,

and this enhancement program was partnered with the Isthmus Development

Association and the Long Cove Harbour Authority and also with ACOA and Service

Canada. The total funds for that community this year were $230,000.

Mr. Speaker, we have seen pavement in the New Harbour, Dildo and Old Shop

area in my district. We have seen pavement in the Fair Haven Road, Long Cove and

Sunnyside, Mr. Speaker. We have seen pavement and road upgrades on the Burin

Peninsula Highway, a commitment of funding for an interchange near Come By

Chance and Sunnyside on the Trans-Canada Highway. This was a commitment that did

not get started this fall, Mr. Speaker, but will be starting in early 2010. Road

upgrades on Monkstown Road, road upgrades and pavement in St. Bernard's and

Jacques Fontaine, water and sewer projects in Norman's Cove, water and sewer

project in Sunnyside, water and sewer and road upgrades in Arnold's Cove,

water and sewer projects in Southern Harbour, water upgrades in Thornlea, Mr.

Speaker, two pilot projects, one at Sunnyside and one at Southern Harbour, for

water quality, $100,000 for new technology at Long Cove plant.

Mr. Speaker, I want to talk a little bit about aquaculture. We have some

monies that went into mussel farming in Merasheen Island in the sum of $10,000.

We also saw some monies in Come By Chance in the amount of $50,000. We also saw

monies going out into rural Newfoundland and Labrador communities. Mr. Speaker,

my district has benefited from the $800 million package that was assisted by the

Government of Newfoundland and Labrador that was signed this year.

I want to talk a little bit about the zonal boards in my area as well, and

their importance to the community. We have a zonal board in Carbonear, M-RON,

and M-RON covers six communities in my district, Mr. Speaker, the communities of

New Harbour, Dildo, South Dildo, Broad Cove, Old Shop and Blaketown. Mr.

Speaker, these people are very professional in what they do, from the zonal

boards. Also, we have another zonal board, Discovery zonal board, in Clarenville,

and that zonal board covers fourteen communities in my district, from Chapel Arm

through to Swift Current. Then we have the Schooner board in Marystown, on the

Burin Peninsula, and that board covers from St. Bernard's, Bay L'Argent area

I want to say, Mr. Speaker, that these zonal boards are certainly a big asset

to the people in small communities in rural Newfoundland and Labrador. These

people are involved in the day-to-day business transactions that go on. They are

also involved in the day-to-day planning for new business.

Just today, Mr. Speaker, I had a call from a young person out in my district

who wanted to know where they could go to pursue funding for a new business. Mr.

Speaker, I was not hesitant at all to ask them to go to talk with their zonal

board in that area. I directed them to the people they needed to talk to.

Mr. Speaker, the fishing industry this year has been a downturn in our

district as well. We have certainly taken our attention to the fishery this year

by coming up with our commitments that government have made earlier, and

fulfilling the commitment of the Fisheries Assistance Program certainly helped a

lot of communities out there get community centres repaired, do work on

churches, do work on the wharves, do work on the slipways.

Mr. Speaker, these things mean a lot to rural Newfoundland and Labrador

communities because these small infrastructures in the town certainly mean that

if they get repaired and brought up to a standard of safety and whatever -

wheelchair ramps around a building - it means a lot to people in rural

Newfoundland. We have to keep our infrastructure up in our communities to be

able to meet the day-to-day requirements of safety, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, all the zonal boards work hand in hand, Mr. Speaker, with the

INTRD offices. We have an INTRD office in Carbonear that worked with the M-RON

board. Both of those work hand in hand in delivering programs. We also have an

INTRD office in Clarenville that works hand in hand with the Discovery board,

and we have an INTRD office in Marystown that works with the board in Marystown

as well.

I want to thank these people, Mr. Speaker. I want to thank these people who

are on these M-RON boards. Also, we have the rural development associations in

the district. The Isthmus Development Association covers from Chapel Arm-Fair

Haven area. We also have a rural development association on the Burin Peninsula;

it is the Fortune Bay East Development Association, Mr. Speaker. They work

pretty much hand in hand as well with the M-RON boards and the Discovery boards

and the Schooner boards. Also, Mr. Speaker, they work with a lot of projects

through INTRD. They deliver a lot of projects through the fishery; they deliver

projects through forestry. When we talk about the brush cutting, Mr. Speaker,

most of the brush cutting money is put through our rural developments and every

day we see things happen. I am told that the rural development every year, Mr.

Speaker, sponsors projects that total over $1 million, and all in rural

Newfoundland and Labrador.

These boards and their staff, through the rural development and through the

zonal boards, are all volunteers too, Mr. Speaker. I want to point out that they

are all volunteers; volunteers that take their dedication and time away from

their families as well to make rural Newfoundland a better place to stay and

live, and to see people come in and build housing and build different businesses

up in the communities, Mr. Speaker, that makes it better to live in rural

Newfoundland and Labrador. I want to take this opportunity to thank them

publicly for their dedication and their time and their hours that they put into

the rural development of rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

Mr. Speaker, in closing, I certainly want to say that I would not know what

kind of a position that this Province would be in if it were not for having a

leader like we have in this Province today, Mr. Speaker, the Premier of

Newfoundland and Labrador. We all know how moved we all were when the Premier

walked down the steps in the airport with a check in his hand, Mr. Speaker. I

want to say that was the first step of the foundation that was set for this

Province and for Newfoundland and Labrador, and for the rural communities in

Newfoundland and Labrador.

Mr. Speaker, in closing, I want to say that I am proud to be part of this

government. Mr. Speaker, a government who cares, a government who understands, a

government who has committed to the people of this Province, has committed no

more giveaways, Mr. Speaker, and I am proud to be part of that government.

Thank you, very much.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER (T. Osborne): The hon. the Member for The Straits & White

Bay North.

MR. DEAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would like to speak for a few moments about the resolution before us as it

pertains to my district in particular, The Straits & White Bay North.

Certainly, it is a commendable thing to acknowledge and to realize that rural

and regional economic development is very necessary. Certainly, some good things

happening for sure in rural Newfoundland and Labrador, but then amongst the good

or amidst the good that is being done there is also a lot of things that are not

so good.

In my district, for example, I spoke this morning to a mayor of a community,

there is a small town of Raleigh where, for the past five years, the town has

been on a boil order and not able to drink from the water supply in that

community. I think of the town of Green Island Brook, for example, where several

homes in the center of that community have for a number of years now have had no

access to their homes during the wintertime in terms of snow clearing. During

the by-election, travelling to the district and talking to those people and

realize how they have to use sleds to bring their groceries to their door from

December down through April month because the highway service transportation

equipment is not able to or does not do that part of the community. Towns like

Sandy Cove and Englee where, for years, they had a fishing industry and a fish

plant, and their plants have deteriorated to a point where they are not useable

any more and they have no idea really where their future lies and where their

communities will go for their economic viability.

Towns like St. Anthony Bight, St. Carols and Great Braha where the

availability of high-speed Internet is not available. Just yesterday, I had an

e-mail from a lady who lives in St. Anthony Bight, just six kilometres from St.

Anthony, who has an opportunity to work in a home-based possibility, but yet not

able to do it because it requires high-speed Internet. So, some of the things

that we take for granted, certainly in the urban parts of the Province, and in

many parts of rural Newfoundland, are still not available in many other parts.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. DEAN: Also, 911 services is so important and crucial to attention and

survival of our people, is not available in rural Newfoundland. Cellphone

coverage, many parts of the Province, in my district you can go, leave St.

Anthony, and two kilometres or so out you lose your cellphone service. Many

communities in rural Newfoundland that do not have adequate fire service

facilities and trouble attracting volunteer firefighters and so on.

Just this weekend, while I was in my district I was informed by a member

there that the decision of the Western Newfoundland and Labrador marketing

organization to withdraw funding, or to close the office and layoff the person

that was involved there, and Corner Brook would become the place where St.

Anthony, the Viking Trail and so on would be administered from.

It seems that in recent years those things have just continued for some

reason. We have lost our school board that was so vital and important to us.

Now, decision making for the education of our children is directly out of Corner

Brook. We lost our health board to Goose Bay and the autonomy we enjoyed so much

and that was so necessary to the survival of our health care system is now being

done from another part of the Province. Then the Viking Trail Tourism

Association that, just eight or ten years ago, had an executive director, a

staff and an office in St. Anthony, now we have to look to Corner Brook to give

us direction as to how we promote national historic sites like L'Anse aux

Meadows and other attractions along the Viking Trail.

Certainly, these are concerns that I share today as we consider the

commitment that we have to rural Newfoundland and as we speak about the things

that we have done there, still there would be so much more that we could do.

While all of these things have gone out, the sad thing is that it seems as

though nothing is coming in. Again this week I read in the Northern Pen

that in Port au Choix , that IMP, a business that had been there for so long,

serving the fishing industry that they were closing their doors and leaving the

area. These are significant moves. These are moves that really change the whole

dynamic of what our communities are and how they are and so on.

The comment earlier about the whiskey fits, I am not sure about that when we

consider small communities like Main Brook and some of the older residents who

may have a trailer up in some little location along the road, I am not sure if

they would really appreciate being referred to in that way. What provincial park

would they go to if they were to take their trailer tomorrow, if they could, and

move it exactly, where would they go? So I think there has to be an

understanding that one size does not fit all and there have to be exceptions to

every situation within our Province.

When we consider education, again, we see in my district a community

struggling with the closure of their school. Again, I would trust that we would

really reconsider and re-evaluate and understand the whole dynamic that is

taking place and so on there. So many other things that have failed rural

Newfoundland in recent years. So while there is money obviously being spent in

rural Newfoundland, on roads and schools and things like that, and certainly

much more needed to be spent and much more attention needed to really ensure

that rural Newfoundland and that my district, as I said in particular for me,

has an opportunity to survive into the future and to prosper and that our

communities can do well.

So these are just a few points today that I would make and I would encourage

the government to consider that as we look - I would also like to put forth or

read an amendment or put forth an amendment here at this moment, Mr. Speaker, on

the proposal.

It is moved by the hon. Member for The Straits & White Bay North and

seconded by the hon. Member for Cartwright L'Anse au Clair; it is proposed

that the resolution be amended by deleting the last paragraph and substituting

it with the following:

THEREFORE

BE IT RESOLVED that the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly

affirms its support for the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to promote

and invest in the growth, prosperity and sustainability of our rural and

regional communities;

THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this House of Assembly call upon

government to place more focus on the fishery, agriculture, forestry and tourism

industries, the lifeblood of many rural communities throughout Newfoundland and

Labrador.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Development.

Are you speaking to the amendment?

MR. SKINNER: Mr. Speaker, yes, is the short answer. I have not received

the amendment. I am just wondering if we could receive the amendment -

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. SKINNER: Do you mind if I respond to it? I have not had an

opportunity to see the amendment. If I could, we would like to have an

opportunity to receive the amendment and take a brief recess while we review it,

please.

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

amendment.

MR. KELVIN PARSONS: Mr. Speaker, maybe just for clarification for all

parties concerned. We did have an amendment ready; I presented it to the Table

Officers some time ago today. The Table Officers indicated that it would be

moved. We had intended to move it through the Leader of the Opposition who was

going to be the first speaker, but she got tied up because of a scrum. Therefore

the Member for The Straits & White Bay North spoke; therefore he is moving

the amendment rather than the Leader of the Opposition, but it is seconded by

her.

Yes, the minister is quite right; we were told not to circulate it to anyone

until such time as we had tabled it. They would rule if it was in order and if

it was, we have additional copies for everyone.

MR. SPEAKER: There has been an amendment tabled by the hon. the Member

for The Straits & White Bay North. We will take a short recess to allow all

members of the House to receive a copy and to allow the Chair to examine the

amendment to determine whether or not it is in order.

Recess

MR. SPEAKER (T. Osborne): Order, please!

The Chair has had an opportunity to review the amendment as put forward by

the hon. the Member for The Straits & White Bay North, and views the

amendment to be in order.

The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I certainly wanted to rise and speak to the motion that is before the House

of Assembly today: the motion, Mr. Speaker, that has been put forward by my

colleague, the Member for Bonavista North.

Mr. Speaker, when he introduced the motion today, which is really to affirm

government's support for rural Newfoundland and Labrador, I guess there is

nothing wrong with affirming one's support for any particular area or region

of the Province, but when government feels that the support they are lending and

the kind of strategy they are implementing is not penetrating to the communities

and the people who live in those regions, and they are forced to bring in a

motion to try and solidify the people that we are doing something for you, I

think there is a big message in that itself. There is a huge message, Mr.

Speaker, when you have to tell people and remind people. The exact words the

member used when he introduced the motion, he said: We are doing this today to

remind people of what we are doing in rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

There is a big message in that, when you have to remind people, because they

are either not feeling the support, they are not feeling the investment, they

are not feeling the progress, they are not really feeling a part of any of these

things within the Province, and the motion is there to remind you - you people

out there who think that we are not doing anything for you we are going to

remind you today, because we are going to read the last three Budgets that have

been brought down, we are going to rehash every single press release, to remind

you that we are doing something for you.

Well, Mr. Speaker, when you are actually really doing something, you actually

see results, and the results are felt. I can tell you today that in many areas

I will not say all areas, because that would not be accurate, but in most

areas - in rural Newfoundland and Labrador today, Mr. Speaker, they are not

feeling a part of the progress and the financial-found wealth of the Province of

Newfoundland and Labrador. In fact, they are feeling anything but. Their

challenges, Mr. Speaker, are greater and greater every day not lesser. For

those who do not believe that, you have your head in the sand. For those who do

not believe that, you really do have your head in the sand.

There is a saying that self-praise is no praise at all. That is exactly what

is happening here today, Mr. Speaker. When a government has to get up and praise

themselves, and try to convince and influence the minds of people in rural

Newfoundland and Labrador that we are doing something for you, well, Mr.

Speaker, it carries no weight with me, because the reality of what is happening

in rural Newfoundland and Labrador should be seen by half the members in this

Province, in this House of Assembly, that represent rural district. Mr. Speaker,

if there are any of them who can stand in their seats today and tell me that in

their districts the unemployment rate is not growing, that outmigration is not

getting more and more, larger every day, that more businesses, Mr. Speaker,

small businesses, are not closing, I challenge them. I challenge them, Mr.

Speaker, because every statistic that has been done, Mr. Speaker

MR. WISEMAN: A point of order, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Minister of Business, on a point of order.

MR. WISEMAN: I am going to accept the challenge of the member opposite. I

represent a rural district I represent the District of Trinity North - and

on all those counts I think the District of Trinity North measures favourably, I

say, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. WISEMAN: I am just one of many, Mr. Speaker, who can say it.

I do not want to interrupt her ten minute speech but I cannot leave that

comment unchecked. When she looks across this House of Assembly and looks at

this side of the House and says I challenge any member to stand, I can stand and

defend what is happening in Trinity North and talk about the growth and

prosperity that is happening in rural parts of Trinity North, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.

MR. HICKEY: A point of order, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Minister of Labrador Affairs, on a point of order.

MR. HICKEY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I represent a rural part of this Province, and as the Minister of Labrador

Affairs I can tell you Labrador has not been neglected over the last five years

like it was the previous fourteen years when she was part of it, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HICKEY: We have spent $1.9 billion in Labrador in all departments,

and that is a rural part of this Province, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. HICKEY: Mr. Speaker, the rural parts of this Province are getting

looked after. We spent, just over the last number of years, $130 million in The

Straits & White Bay North. That is a rural part of the Province, Mr.

Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HICKEY: Mr. Speaker, a brand new school in her district, in Port Hope

Simpson.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. HICKEY: A school in L'Anse-au-Loup (inaudible)

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HICKEY: (Inaudible).

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

All of the other members I have challenged, I hope they will get up when my

time is finished, Mr. Speaker, not on points of order that are frivolous. They

are making a mockery of the House of Assembly. Mr. Speaker, they are not

following the parliamentary procedure in this House, and it is absolutely

disgusting if you ask me.

MR. PEACH: A point of order, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Member for Bellevue, on a point of order.

MR. PEACH: Mr. Speaker, I rise to the challenge of the Leader of the

Opposition.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. PEACH: She talked about businesses growing out in the communities. We

have seen new business growing all the time in my district in the last two

years, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. PEACH: We see new housing growing in our district, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. PEACH: We see our schools being renovated, Mr. Speaker, things that

have not happened before with the members of the Opposition, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, they are like a crowd of children in a schoolyard. They all have

their time here to speak to this motion, Mr. Speaker, and they are abusing the

parliamentary rules of this House of Assembly which will indicate - indicate

quite clearly - that they have no points of order.

They have been challenged, and I hope that before the day is out, when my

time is up, that every one of them will stand up and talk about, reaffirm, and

try and convince the people in rural Newfoundland and Labrador that we are doing

something for you; because they are not convinced today, Mr. Speaker. The

rural-urban divide sentiment is alive and well in this Province, Mr. Speaker.

For those members who got up and talked about how well their districts are

doing, well, I can get up and I can tell you this: The unemployment rate in most

of those districts is growing every single day. Last month, Mr. Speaker, the

unemployment rate in the district of the member who introduced this motion today

has gone from 18.4 per cent to 20 per cent, almost double, over double, what the

provincial average is, double what the St. John's unemployment rate is, I say,

Mr. Speaker. The reason for that is this: The real wealth of the oil and gas

industry is being felt in the Eastern Avalon and in places like in the area of

the member for Trinity and Clarenville yes, it is but, is it being felt

right across Newfoundland and Labrador? Absolutely not. In fact, Mr. Speaker, 70

per cent of the service companies that provide services to the oil and gas

industry in this Province are in the Eastern Avalon region. Only 5 per cent of

those companies exist outside of this particular region. In fact, Mr. Speaker,

25 per cent of that service comes from outside the Province.

Mr. Speaker, I knocked on a lot of doors and I know that members opposite

have. How they can stand in their place today, when they have knocked on doors

down in the District of Terra Nova and in the district of the Northern Peninsula

in the last couple of months, and look across this room and tell me that

everything is well in rural Newfoundland and Labrador? Mr. Speaker, they have

obviously not clued in at all to any of those people that they have met, to none

of those people that they have met.

In fact, Mr. Speaker, in many of these houses that I went and talked to

people at their kitchen tables, talked to them in meeting halls, talked to them

in their place of business, those who were fortunate enough to still have good,

viable businesses and employing people, I can tell you the message that I heard.

The message was this: We are not feeling the wealth that the government claims

is being generated in this Province.

In fact, Mr. Speaker, you look at the Budget. The Budget, since the time this

government came to power, has increased by 76 per cent in revenue in this

Province; 76 per cent. They are spending over $3 billion more today than they

were three or four years ago -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS JONES: - but, are people in those communities feeling that kind of

wealth? Absolutely not. In fact, Mr. Speaker, many of them still have to leave

this Province to find work. Because it was on this government's watch that the

entire forest industry collapsed in Newfoundland and Labrador. An industry, Mr.

Speaker, that was providing jobs to rural communities in this Province; an

industry that was keeping sawmillers in business, keeping loggers in business,

keeping pulp and paper mills in business, and it was under the watch of this

government, Mr. Speaker, when they looked at companies like AbitibiBowater and

said they could not wait to see the backs of their heads when they left the

Province, that these industries failed.

It is the fishing industry, Mr. Speaker. This government, since day one of

its administration, has failed to deal with the issues in the fishing industry.

It was this government who dismantled FPI, Mr. Speaker, dismantled FPI, tore

down the flagship company of the fishing industry in this Province, and in fact

they failed to replace that particular marketing arm with anything else in the

Province to date. In fact, Mr. Speaker, most of them have very little to do with

the fishing industry, and it is absolutely disappointing.

The member who brought in the motion today, look at how disappointed he was

on the Fisheries Broadcast back a few months ago when your government voted down

a licence for a processing plant in his own district, when your government voted

it down after a board had approved it. Mr. Speaker, the member opposite was not

praising the government that day, when he was on the Fisheries Broadcast talking

about how hundreds of jobs in his district were going to be ripped out; the guts

were going to be ripped out of her by the government opposite, Mr. Speaker.

What happened when they came and they wanted to put - down in that very same

district, the very same district where the member today, the Member for

Bonavista North, is talking about the great things the government, his

government, is doing in rural communities, they gutted a licence down there in a

plant, 200 jobs gone because of it. They tried to bring in a cranberry

operation, and the Minister of Business of the day, Mr. Speaker, took that long

to try to get a file through the department, the business left. They invested in

New Brunswick or Nova Scotia somewhere, and all of those jobs were gone. So, Mr.

Speaker, how the member can get the gall to stand up here today and even talk

about investment in rural communities is beyond me.

Mr. Speaker, the government wants to talk about infrastructure spending: all

the money they are putting into roads, money they are putting into bridges,

money they are putting into water and sewer. Let's not forget, Mr. Speaker,

that kind of infrastructure spending has always gone on in this Province based

on the revenues that have been available. Today, there should be four times more

money spent in infrastructure in rural Newfoundland and Labrador than there was

four years ago because there is more money to spend. That is the reality. In

addition to that, there are huge transfers in infrastructure dollars from the

federal government. It is not all coming out of their pocket.

Mr. Speaker, let's not forget where this government has gotten its

new-found wealth. It did not come through the deals that they brokered. Their

new-found wealth, Mr. Speaker, is coming from projects like Voisey's Bay

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS JONES: - from the Hibernia Development Project, from the White Rose

development oil project, from the Terra Nova oil development project. This is

where the real monies are coming from, that are being spent on Newfoundlanders

and Labradorians; not because of the foresight of any member across the way, Mr.

Speaker, you can be sure of that.

Mr. Speaker, there are a lot of gaps in rural communities and it absolutely

breaks my heart. It breaks my heart when I walk into these communities, Mr.

Speaker, and people are looking at you and they are asking for the smallest

things, in some cases

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS JONES: - the smallest things and they are not even getting a

hearing with the government, Mr. Speaker. That is exactly the situation. All of

that was pretty evident down in Terra Nova when you had people working in the

logging industry, and sawmill operators who had been waiting six and eight

months to get a meeting with the minister of forestry after an industry

collapsed in this Province. Because they were out in a rural community, out in

rural Newfoundland, Mr. Speaker, no one would meet with them; but, in the middle

of a by-election, as soon as the news hit the media, the minister was on the

ground and she was meeting with them.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS JONES: That was the difference.

Let's talk about Labrador for a minute, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I remind the hon. member that her time for speaking has expired.

MS JONES: May I, by leave, Mr. Speaker?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: No leave.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

Before I recognize the Member for St. Barbe, I apologize to the Member for

St. Barbe. We generally alternate one from Opposition and one from government.

The Member for St. Barbe was standing and I inadvertently recognized the

Opposition House Leader. I would ask everybody to keep that in mind as we

recognize the next two speakers.

The hon. the Member for St. Barbe.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. YOUNG: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is certainly a pleasure to stand here today and speak on this motion. It

is a motion regarding rural Newfoundland and Labrador, and the economic

development that has been on the go there.

As for myself, and representing the District of St. Barbe, I represent one of

the more rural districts in this Province. I have thirty-four communities that

are spread over 300 kilometres from one end of her to the other. Obviously, with

thirty-four communities, I do not have a community of 3,000 to 4,000 people. My

biggest communities consist of around 1,000 people, and I have four of those,

actually, I suppose, that would fall into that category. Other than that, I have

small communities quite similar to my own, that are 200 to 300 to 400 people.

Mr. Speaker, because of that, the challenges I certainly understand are

significant, and to overcome them is not easy. Really, it takes a challenge.

In this last little while, the Premier saw fit to appoint me Parliamentary

Secretary to the Minister of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development. I saw this

is a great opportunity for my district, to be able to get out and get involved

at such a level, so I am rather pleased that has happened.

One of the things that will give me is an opportunity through the Rural

Secretariat. It is an important body, and to be able to get involved with such a

body is very important to me, and to be able to get involved in the pilot

project that takes in half of my district, on the northern part, is certainly

significant for me, because we are certainly exploring new ways to be able to

get out there and to bring the community and the government together, and to try

to separate what we have dividing us, I suppose, out there. That is the

challenge that we have through distance, and small communities on the go.

So what we are doing with the Rural Secretariat and that pilot project is

giving an opportunity for the leadership there to come together, to sit down at

the table with government departments and be able to prioritize and see what is

important to the people and what is important to government, and the challenges

we have as a government in being able to deliver services and being able to

create the new opportunities we have out there, and the challenges we have in

accepting what is out there, what government can do. To be able to blend that

together is certainly ever so important for us. I am very fortunate to find

myself in an opportunity to be able to get out there and to play a role, because

I certainly feel that I can play a role.

I come from a background in the hospitality industry, and it certainly helps

me understand some of the challenges. When I offered myself for election in

2001, I said: I have a background where I had served the people who are out

there, who are working the resources we have, and are making a living from the

fishery, the forestry and the tourism, and I certainly understand that part of

it.

I also understand, through that opportunity, the people who had regulated and

who had come out to see that the industries were being regulated and run in such

a way. I understood the challenge of being able to fit into a government bloc,

as such, and we have to reshape ourselves in order to be able to access what is

out there. I saw that as being an incredible problem, that it had to be solved

and to be able to blend. I think this pilot project is certainly one of the

great ways of being able to round the square and square the circle kind of thing

so that it meets, so that we have those government services wherever we go. I

saw that as being a very good opportunity for me.

I went out there, and one of the other things that I saw as coming out of the

industry that I did is a sense of no boundaries. I had gone out there, I

suppose, in my family business, and I had seen the investments into a park, with

Parks Canada in L'Anse aux Meadows, and to go out there and to see someone who

was an hour-and-a-half away be able to benefit as much as they did certainly

gave me a great appreciation for whatever we do, and if we invest properly that

we can go out there to create the economies that are worthwhile. To be able to

find the right things to invest in will certainly benefit us all. I certainly

bring that understanding to the table, and I am really pleased that I am able to

do that.

Some of the things - I went out there, and I have to point out - with our

infrastructure, such as our highways, our road system, you know, the 430 being

out there, on the Northern Peninsula we have some clusters of attractions that

are attracting people worldwide: Gros Morne; L'Anse aux Meadows. Just Labrador

in itself is an incredible place and an incredible attraction. We have places

like Port au Choix, and then we have others things with Bird Cove and other

attractions that are out there. One of the things out there holding people back:

our highways had dilapidated to the point that there were maps out there

circulating in the tourism industry that had circles drawn on them between Hawke's

Bay and the north part of the boundary, that were not considered passable, and

that is what was going around.

If you have such challenges, no matter what you do, you cannot get out there

and attract someone to come there if they are getting information that they

cannot actually get there unless they have an incredible effort and pay an

incredible price.

I have seen, in the last six years, where we have gone from having those

conditions to having one of the better highways in this Province, Mr. Speaker. I

have seen where we have a thirty kilometre stretch; and, if you have ever set

down on a thirty kilometre stretch of new asphalt, it is certainly impressive.

You kind of think you are going to run out two or three times before you do

actually get to the end. To see the change in the supports that we have in

putting that infrastructure there is considerable.

It not only supports the tourism industry. Because people go out and say:

Well, you know, the tourism industry is a marginal industry; it does not create

year-round employment, and it is this and that, and it is taking its time to be

able to be known throughout the community as a credible employer, as well as the

forestry and the fisheries, the traditional ones that we have had.

Mr. Speaker, every part of it, the industry that we have with trucking, that

goes out there, that takes everything on the part of the economy just to

transportation itself, was the day that a gentleman got down out of his truck

and came over and shook my hand, and asked me if I would thank the Premier for

him, because he was now taking money and putting it into his pocket instead of

into his truck. He was making a living that was increasing, instead of just

existing hoping for a better day. To him, that better day had arrived. To me, it

was a significant time, a significant happening, when that man shook my hand. I

knew that we had certainly turned a corner. It was very pleasing to be there and

to know that you were a part of it, that you were given the message to bring

back, that we were doing the right things, and that we were building things.

Mr. Speaker, like I said in the comparison, we, on the one hand, had maps

drawn. In order to get a government just to go and I find this a little bit,

when I tell some of my colleagues that I had to be on Open Line quite a number

of times in order to get the attention, to show how dangerous was a

section of

road in a park, where a provincial road was there, and as it joined on to the

provincial park it was very dangerous going. I had to continuously, in order to

get something as serious as that addressed, to go and to have the means to be

able, on the other hand, to have a highway that we have today that goes out to

build an economy, it is a foundation for an economy. If you do not have the

basic infrastructure of highways, there is no way that you can build the

economy. You cannot get the confidence of people who are going to come and

invest and determine that future is there unless you have that, Mr. Speaker.

One of the other things that I have that has been out there, and I have seen,

has been an incredible decision for rural Newfoundland and Labrador, and that

was the broadband. The decision to get out there to force the issue that we are

going to have broadband in 90-odd per cent of our communities was an incredible

decision. It showed that we were going to have a commitment to a place that we

could go out there and have any business and be able to prosper. The only side

to that is that in the interim what we have is the fear of not being included;

because, to be not included, it means so much. It is just as drastic if there

was not a road coming through your community as it is for the broadband, so the

stress has been incredible. The opportunity for your child, if you live outside

of a zone, not to be able to get the education as someone who lives ten

kilometres away, those are things that we go through today in the interim.

The commitment that this government has had, that is bringing broadband to

rural Newfoundland and Labrador, it is taking rural Newfoundland and Labrador in

itself and changing it from a place that had very limited opportunity to a place

that has as much opportunity as any urban place.

I think that was a very strong signal that we were not going to sit back and

let the chips fall where they may, and that we were taking control of a

situation and certainly moving ahead with whatever it takes to be able to make

it a credible place to invest, live and grow, Mr. Speaker. That is what we have

had with that kind of a decision.

One of the other things that I think that we have certainly gone out for

rural Newfoundland and Labrador is 90-10 for small communities. All of my

communities fall in the category of being able to have a 90-10. Mr. Speaker, we

are out there seeing communities today that are out there planning for the

future again when they were at a point where there was no such thing as

planning. They had no means to partake into the government system; they just

could not afford to belly up to be a part. The 90-10 gave them an opportunity to

be a part so that they can plan and they can have a functioning community and an

opportunity more so to get involved and to know that you are making a

contribution to your community, versus when you had a 70-30 that was out of

reach.

One of the things that I use as an example that have saw such a great

commitment is one of my communities just got a new fire truck. They were out

there, and they were using a fire truck that just was not suited for the job. It

was breaking down, it was very inadequate and very much a danger to the

community. It was demoralizing to, certainly, the people who offered themselves

to go out and to help their neighbours, to protect their community and to do

with what they have. Mr. Speaker, today, because of 90-10, they have a new fire

truck. They were out today - and I had an opportunity to go and share their

first dinner as a fundraiser that they had. The stress that they are not under

to be able to pay their share is where we have to be.

It is an important point to go, because if it was a 70-30 and they had

decided that they just had to have the fire truck, the amount of money that they

would have had to raise in the community to be able to bring their share would

have been just so high that it would have been a disagreement within the

community. It would have been a community in turmoil,

whereas you go out there

today and you see a community that is onside, they agree with the decision, they

know the amount of money that they have to raise is only a fair amount of money,

it is a reasonable amount of money to be able to provide that service. To see

those people go out there and to give themselves to the community, as they do,

Mr. Speaker, it is certainly encouraging to know that we are here, and I am a

part of a government that is out there that is playing that role, Mr. Speaker.

Just to continue on with the notion of a fire department and what it does -

last weekend I was to a fireman's ball in Port Saunders. It is that we are out

there - for the industry that is out there depends on your volunteer fire

departments. We have the fishing industry - in Port Saunders we have a marine

centre, it is a very important centre in my district, but the value of what we

have there and what they are responsible for, and to be able to have the monies

to even buy the phone is an added expense on that community, because of the

services that they provide to all of the communities who are coming there. So,

Mr. Speaker, that is certainly an incredible service that people are

volunteering and giving to us in those small communities. For us to be there to

be able to play that role, side by side with them, and to support them as they

go, it is certainly encouraging for myself.

Mr. Speaker, one of the other things that I had gotten down to was certainly

tourism. Tourism is certainly a very important engine to rural Newfoundland and

Labrador. I saw those two ads that we had just gone out and done with Gros Morne

and L'Anse aux Meadows. It was incredible, Mr. Speaker. I can sit, myself,

today and see it and watch it for its entirety because it is so captivating. The

response that you get from people is likewise, who are seeing it and coming to

have an appreciation for what we have. That is certainly an economic engine that

we are supporting in rural Newfoundland and Labrador, Mr. Speaker.

One of the other things that I have is certainly the forestry. You take on

the Northern Peninsula, where Corner Brook Pulp and Paper was no longer able to

buy the pulpwood. It was uneconomical for them to be able to do that. To have a

government to sit down and to come together with private industry and to be able

to support them, to be able to get off into a new direction with a pellet plant

and sawmill and to size it all, to make it fit, to be able to ensure that there

was an economy there in the forest industry, was certainly very significant, Mr.

Speaker. It was an effort, and the amount of work was very much unlike what I

have seen before, where I have seen a particleboard plant announced, or I saw

something else announced that was a little bit of money thrown at something, and

that was going to solve the problem. It is certainly not the approach of this

government, Mr. Speaker. It was one where there was a lot of hard work put into.

Having an industry changed it completely. It was there in partnership with

private industry and the people on the Northern Peninsula is that we are heading

off into another direction, and a very significant one, I believe.

Mr. Speaker, one of the other things I would like to touch on is the oil

industry. The oil industry is what certainly moves the economy of the Province

as a whole. Today we have, in Parson's Pond, an opportunity where Nalcor is

investing $14 million exploring oil opportunities on the Northern Peninsula. I

certainly believe that exploration will show the geology and will show the

potential that we have, whether we strike oil within those three holes or not,

it is the beginning and a significant investment in trying to make sure that the

oil industry gets where it needs to be on the Northern Peninsula. I think when

you see that change, you will see an economy on the West Coast of this Province

that will be contributing from an oil industry, the same as we have on the

Northeast Avalon, and the Province as a whole, Mr. Speaker.

One of things that I find encouraging is that we are changing and we are in

control of the change. Many times people would like to turn back the clock to go

back to where we were; that is impossible. How do you find you way out? It is

certainly a challenge then. It is a challenge that takes a lot of hard work, Mr.

Speaker, and this government has been there with the people of this Province,

and we are changing for a better future.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER (Kelly): The Chair recognizes the hon. the Member for

Exploits.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. FORSEY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The motion that we are talking about today identifies a lot of investment and

initiatives by INTRD. However, the Leader of the Opposition has challenged the

government members here in this House to get up and defend what is happening in

their districts - especially rural members, Mr. Speaker. Of course, the District

of Exploits is certainly a rural district. Now, I would have liked to have

talked about some other things, and if I get the time, I will do that, because

this government is certainly concentrating and consistently supporting

initiatives in rural and regional areas in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Mr. Speaker, just for the information of the general public out there, and

the information of the Opposition, and especially the Leader of the Opposition,

in Bishop's Falls, there are several industries in there that are actually

going strong. Newfoundland Styro, just this past year, Mr. Speaker, is now

operating on a twenty-four hour work shift three eight-hour shifts. High

Point Industries, Mr. Speaker, is exporting to seven different countries. The

only product that is made in Newfoundland and Labrador that he is supplying is

made in the District of Exploits and shipping to seven different countries, Mr.

Speaker.

Because of this government, Mr. Speaker, a woodworking company out our way,

in the Town of Bishop's Falls, Blanchard's Woodworking, is now making

pellets. They have started up a pelletizing plant because of this government,

and the investment by this government and supporting the local economy, Mr.

Speaker. Through that, they have probably a staff of employees right now of

somewhere between twenty-five and thirty people working there, Mr. Speaker. Now,

in a small industry and a small community in small district, that is a lot of

jobs, but we cannot forget that we lost a lot of jobs, Mr. Speaker. We lost a

lot of jobs this year, because of the downturn with AbitibiBowater. However, it

is not the first time we lost jobs, Mr. Speaker. I can remember when the Town of

Botwood was a thriving community. It was a big shipping port, when ASARCO

shipped all their concentrate through that port, Mr. Speaker. What happened to

ASARCO? ASARCO closed. They left and what did they leave? Nothing only, I guess,

an environmental mess is what they left, and infrastructure that today is not

fit for anyone to use. It just costs a lot of money to try to clean it up, Mr.

Speaker.

Bishop's Falls, Mr. Speaker, in the 1950s had over 100 people working in a

pulp mill in Bishop's Falls. It closed, but we are resilient, we persevere. We