Newfoundland and Labrador Hansard — Members' Statements; Statements by Ministers — 24 March 2015 (47th General Assembly, 3rd Session, Vol. XLVII No. 66)
2015-03-24
Newfoundland and Labrador — Debates (Hansard)
PDF Version
March 24, 2015 HOUSE
OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS
Vol. XLVII No. 66
The
House met at 1:30 p.m.
MR. SPEAKER (Verge):
Order, please!
Admit strangers.
Today I am pleased to welcome to the public gallery Ms Bethany Downer, MUN
student and founder of One Step Shoe Recycling.
I am
also pleased to welcome to the public gallery some representatives of
Memorial University's School of Social Work, including members of the
graduating class of 2015, as well as Field Education Co-ordinator Sheri
McConnell.
Welcome to the House of Assembly.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
Statements by
Members
MR. SPEAKER:
Today we will be hearing
members' statements from the Members for the District of St. George's
Stephenville East, St. John's Centre, Carbonear Harbour Grace, Humber
Valley, Virginia Waters, and from St. Barbe.
The
hon. the Member for the District of St. George's Stephenville East.
MR. REID:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
rise today to pay tribute to a great citizen of our Province, Fred Madore of
Jeffrey's. He will be remembered
by many as a regular caller to Open Line shows who kept us politicians on
our toes.
Fred
had a passion for this Province and especially for the Bay St. George South
area of the West Coast where he lived.
Over the years he spoke out on the state of roads, medical care, and
many other issues.
many of us, Fred was an entertaining speaker who made his points forcefully.
To his wife, he was a devoted husband; to his children, he was a
proud and loving father; to others, he was a brother, friend, and co-worker.
Fred
Madore was not elected to any official political position in government, but
he was a leader in his own way.
He influenced and added to public debates which were happening in our
Province. He will be remembered
fondly by many.
ask all members of this House to join with me in showing our appreciation
for the contribution of Fred Madore to political life in this Province.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
St. John's Centre.
MS ROGERS:
Mr. Speaker, I am
thrilled to acknowledge and honour the social work graduating class of 2015.
Soon, sixty-eight new social workers will be set loose on our
community. They have spent years
learning and preparing for this time.
They
have been challenged by anti-racist, anti-oppressive, and feminist theory.
They have challenged back, looking at how the state responds to the
needs of people. They have
explored progressive mental health practices and critiqued child protection
and anti-poverty policies.
They
have worked hard, both in school and in field placements applying their
knowledge, learning more, and also bringing fresh ideas to the workplace.
The amazing Jason Wiseman did his placement with my office and it was
a wonderful experience for us all.
These students are ready. They
are ready to give back. They are
ready to work in our hospitals, in our schools, to work in our public
service, to work with the incredible community groups who are doing
life-saving work.
honour of Social Work Month, I thank these amazing women and men for their
commitment and dedication. I
thank their teachers for giving them the tools they need to go out there and
change the world. I look forward
to them serving the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Bravo, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Carbonear Harbour Grace.
MR. SLADE:
Mr. Speaker, I rise in
this hon. House today to congratulate Zoe Hamilton, a teacher at Carbonear
Academy, for winning the 2013-2014 National Award for Teaching Excellence in
Physical Education.
This
award honours Canadian teachers who provide outstanding teaching
performances at all levels, have an exceptional ability to motivate students
to participate in physical activities, and who further physical education in
Canada.
Zoe
is very passionate about instilling in young girls a sense of equality,
empowerment, self-esteem, and positive body image, all of which are embraced
in her physical education classes.
Her
classroom becomes a community in which all students are respected, accepted
and treated equally and where health and wellness are exemplified.
Contributing to the physical education profession both on a provincial and
national level for the past twelve years, Zoe is the current president of
the provincial NLTA Physical Education Special Interest Council and sits on
the Council of Provinces and Territories for Physical and Health Education
Canada.
Zoe
is the ninth national winner in the last ten years from Newfoundland and
Labrador.
ask all hon. members to join me in congratulating Zoe Hamilton on winning
this prestigious award.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Humber Valley.
MR. BALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
rise in this hon. House today to congratulate the organizers of the third
annual Snow Ride for Autism which
was held in my District of Humber Valley, this past Saturday.
The
charity snowmobile ride began in 2013 as a way to highlight the importance
of learning about the challenges facing those with Autism Spectrum Disorder,
and to assist the Autism Society in their fundraising efforts.
Mr.
Speaker, the Autism Society of Newfoundland and Labrador depends almost
exclusively on the donations and fundraising events like the
Snow Ride to run their programs.
This past weekend over $8,600 was collected for the Autism Society of
Newfoundland and Labrador. It
was great fun to join everyone who took
part in the snowmobile ride
throughout the district to support autism awareness.
I am delighted to say that over 150 snowmobile riders from all over
the Province took part.
Mr.
Speaker, I ask all members of this House to join me in congratulating the
Autism Society of Newfoundland and Labrador, regional assistant manager
Kelli Lannon, board member Donna Giles, and the steering committee on such a
successful event.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Virginia Waters.
MS C. BENNETT:
Thank you, Mr.
Speaker.
Mr.
Speaker, I rise in this hon. House today to recognize Bethany Downer from
the District of Virginia Waters.
Downer, an innovative geography student attending Memorial University, has
always had a desire to start her own not-for-profit organization.
In 2014, she attended the 2014 Impact! Student Leadership Conference.
At this conference she was encouraged to act on her passion to make a
difference; a real sustainable difference.
One
Step Recycling was created. The
mission of the charity is to bring unwanted pairs of shoes to those who can
put them to better use worldwide.
Since September 2014, 5,936 pairs of shoes have been collected and
redistributed. That's the
equivalent to over 9,000 pounds diverted from landfills.
The
shoes go to various organizations across Canada with priorities to
low-income families, homeless shelters, and women shelters
Ms Downer's organization's mission is to create sustainable
communities and bringing those in need one step closer to a better life.
Mr.
Speaker, I ask hon. members to join me in recognizing Bethany and her
incredible ingenuity in encouraging others to value sustainable practices.
Her leadership in protecting the environment and her passion for
social justice are making a real difference every day.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
St. Barbe.
MR. J. BENNETT:
Thank you, Mr.
Speaker.
rise in this hon. House to congratulate Kaylee Gerrow of Rocky Harbour on
being selected for the Newfoundland and Labrador Women's Hockey Team, to
compete at the Canada Winter Games hosted in Prince George, British
Columbia, February 13-March 1, 2015.
The Newfoundland and Labrador Women's Hockey Team placed ninth, and
it was a great experience.
Kaylee plays for the Gros Morne Minor Hockey and the Western AAA Midget
Female teams. She joined the
Atom Team in Gros Morne at the age of ten, the team won gold at the
Provincial J Championships, and she was hooked on hockey!
Kaylee's previous accomplishments include a gold medal at the
Newfoundland and Labrador Winter Games 2014 and a silver medal at the
Atlantic Challenge Cup 2013.
Kaylee attributes her success to what she has taken from her role model and
friend, the late Vanessa Brown saying, You always have to work for what you
want, treat everyone with respect, always be positive, make the most of
everything, and take nothing for granted.
Mr.
Speaker, I ask all members of the House to join me in congratulating Kaylee
Gerrow.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
Statements by Ministers.
Statements by
Ministers
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Municipal and Intergovernmental Affairs.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. HUTCHINGS:
Thank you, Mr.
Speaker.
Mr.
Speaker, I am pleased to rise today in this hon. House to speak to the
substantial infrastructure investments this government has made in
communities throughout Newfoundland and Labrador.
Our
commitment was demonstrated when the Department of Municipal and
Intergovernmental Affairs introduced new cost-share ratios in 2008.
The revised formula freed up monies for communities to invest in
other programs and service delivery areas.
It meant that towns with populations less than 3,000 only pay 10 per
cent toward their approved infrastructure projects, with the Province
covering the remaining 90 per cent.
Towns with population greater than 3,000 but less than 7,000 pay 20
per cent, with government paying the 80 per cent difference.
For towns with populations exceeding 7,000, the Province pays 70
percent, and the town pays the remaining 30 per cent.
Mr.
Speaker, since these ratios were implemented, for every $1 municipalities
invest, the provincial government invests between $1.5 and $6.6, depending
on a municipality's population.
Lower contributions for our municipalities makes infrastructure more
affordable for them and may mean they do not need to borrow or incur debt to
finance their share. In fact,
since 2006, municipalities' debt service ratios have decreased on average by
10 per cent.
Since 2008, the provincial government has approved in excess of $820 million
in municipal capital works projects resulting in improvements to drinking
water, waste water systems, as well as recreational infrastructure.
Just this past year, the Department of Municipal and
Intergovernmental Affairs committed to a $200 million three-year capital
works program for new municipal infrastructure projects.
When federal and municipal contributions are included, the total
investment since 2008 is in excess of $1.3 billion.
addition, the new Building Canada Fund will provide approximately $349
million in federal funding to the Province over the next ten years.
When combined with provincial and municipal cost sharing, the total
investment for this fund in provincial and municipal infrastructure is
expected to be $800 million and $1 billion in additional investment.
Mr.
Speaker, the department has received in excess of eighty applications for
the new Building Canada Fund. We
are currently in the process of assessing these applications and expect to
submit proposed projects to the federal government in the coming months.
Our
government recognizes that investing in infrastructure promotes economic
development and supports the provincial economy.
We continue to work collaboratively with communities throughout the
Province to advance their infrastructure priorities, recognizing that there
is more work to do to support our communities and residents and provide them
with modern and reliable infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Bay of Islands.
MR. JOYCE:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
thank the minister for an advance copy of his statement.
There is no doubt the capital works that are provided by the
government did make a difference in a lot of communities and towns, and
there has been some great work down across the Province, Mr. Speaker.
just find it kind of strange that he did not mention the large towns, where
they took away the MOGs for large towns that is not added in this, the
money that is subtracted. I look
at the past two ministers, Mr. Speaker and I am sure this minister is very
different, and the Member for Gander was very different, but the past two
ministers, you got funding and it depended where you lived.
If you lived in a Liberal district, you had problems.
I will use Lark Harbour, for example, which was committed last year
$1.2 million they never got it for amalgamation.
look at the boil water advisories in the Province still high.
It is great if you give a town a Cadillac system, but you need to
give the resources to run the system.
That is what this government is missing.
They are saying we are giving out all of this money, you can have all
of this major infrastructure, but they need to operate the system, Mr.
Speaker. Water is something that
we all need in this life. We all
need it. So we need to let the
town have some resources to make sure that they operate these great systems.
say to the minister, I look forward to working with you with amalgamation on
Lark Harbour-York Harbour and capital works.
I know this minister, from the previous past, who has a different
mindset to help everybody out in the Province.
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR. JOYCE:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
St. John's East.
MR. MURPHY:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
thank the minister for the advance copy of his statement, but the minister
and his government are fully aware that municipalities do not get enough
funding as it is now and there are going to be problems in the future.
They are also fully aware of the falling populations in rural areas
of the Province also drops the per capita share that they get from such
funds as the Building Canada Fund.
This is also going to add to the municipal funding problem in the
future as well, if they do not address the population concerns that we have.
Municipalities have put forth other funding arrangements to government.
It is going to interesting to see what government is going to be
offering back to municipalities come this Budget.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Advanced Education and Skills.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. JACKMAN:
Mr. Speaker, I rise today
in this hon. House to highlight a new innovative education and awareness
initiative developed by Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro and Newfoundland
Power in partnership with our government.
This
initiative and its trademark slogan SWITCH ON YOUR LIFE was launched last
Wednesday at Holy Spirit High School in Conception Bay South.
The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Education and Early
Childhood Development attended the launch and was joined by students,
teachers, representatives from post-secondary institutions, and employees of
Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro and Newfoundland Power.
Mr.
Speaker, the provincial government has contributed more than $389,000 over
three years to this project.
Funding is provided by my department through the Labour Market Partnerships
Program of the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Labour Market Development
Agreement.
The
overall goal of the initiative is to educate young professionals in our
Province about the many interesting and diverse career opportunities
available in the electricity industry in Newfoundland and Labrador.
The website
www.electricityindustrynl.ca
is a valuable information tool that provides details about the electricity
industry, details on the educational requirements for particular careers,
and the benefits of working in this industry.
Through the development of marketing and communication tools targeted
primarily at youth, as well as curriculum that will be offered in some high
schools through the Province, we hope to encourage more young men and women
to learn about the industry and explore the employment opportunities
available in this particular sector.
Mr.
Speaker, I encourage everyone to visit the website, to learn more about this
exciting and worthwhile initiative.
Educating our young people on the variety of career paths and
opportunities available to them here in Newfoundland and Labrador will help
to encourage more young people to stay in this Province to study, work and
raise their families.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Cartwright L'Anse au Clair.
MS DEMPSTER:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
thank the minister for an advance copy of his statement.
Mr.
Speaker, the goal of the SWITCH ON YOUR LIFE initiative is to educate young
professionals on the career opportunities available in the Province's
electricity industry. Not
surprisingly, a visit to the website reveals there are no projections around
how many of these positions will be needed over the mid to long term none.
These programs take several years to complete.
Choosing a career, Mr. Speaker, is a big decision.
It is irresponsible of government to promote any career without
updated labour market projections.
Government continues to make the same mistake, promoting and funding
trades without updated labour market information.
Mr.
Speaker, two years ago it was government's own ADM for Labour Market
Development who said himself the outlook twenty numbers were outdated then,
and there are still no new numbers.
In those two years, Mr. Speaker, this Province has lost 10,000 jobs.
say a failure to plan is a plan to fail.
Government is promoting its SWITCH ON YOUR LIFE initiative but this
government is truly in the dark when it comes to labour market development.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Signal Hill Quidi Vidi.
MS MICHAEL:
Thank you very much, Mr.
Speaker.
too, thank the minister for an advance copy of his statement.
It is good to see an effort to involve youth in a particular career.
This effort is needed in many sectors to slow the outmigration of
young people.
report from the Federation of Labour, called Opportunities and Challenges
for Young Workers, urged government to address barriers to labour force
participation that youth face such as high student debt and employer
requirements for years of experience.
It urged the government, and I support them in that, to reprioritize
action on youth retention, involve youth in planning, and learn from best
practices in other jurisdictions.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Education and Early Childhood Development.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MS SULLIVAN:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr.
Speaker, over the past decade the provincial government has worked
successfully to ensure students in every corner of Newfoundland and Labrador
have the opportunity to have their educational needs met through distance
education. Recently, I took
part
in a course demonstration at the Centre for Distance Learning and Innovation
in Gander, along with my colleague, the Member for Gander, and had the
opportunity to see firsthand the innovative techniques being used to educate
our students throughout the Province.
As a
former educator, with a strong background in CDLI, I know how distance
education can provide high-quality programming to students in rural, remote,
and isolated regions, where smaller enrolment and the availability of
specialist teachers might otherwise have limited their opportunities.
Mr.
Speaker, our government wants every student in our Province to reach their
full potential and through the Centre for Distance Learning and Innovation,
we are ensuring that students, regardless of location, have access to the
courses they need for a rich and diverse educational experience.
Since 2004, the provincial government has invested more than $71 million in
distance learning which has allowed teachers in areas such as skilled
trades, core French, science, mathematics, and music to reach over 20,000
students throughout the Province.
With
forty-six staff, including twenty-nine distance teachers, CDLI's mandate
includes the development and delivery of senior high school distance
education programming, online teacher professional development, and
providing oversight of various K-12 technology integration initiatives.
Mr.
Speaker, in the past decade, CDLI has grown from offering twenty-five
courses in ninety-three high schools to offering over forty courses in more
than 110 high schools. The
program has also expanded to offer senior high course review material to
assist all students with final or supplementary public exams and free online
tutoring to senior high and intermediate students Province-wide.
Mr.
Speaker, this government is committed to meeting the needs of students and
staff in rural and remote communities throughout the Province by investing
in distance learning to ensure that all students have access to education no
matter where they live.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
St. John's North.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. KIRBY:
Thanks to the minister
for an advance copy of her statement.
CDLI was established under a Liberal government in 2001 to ensure
equal access to educational opportunities for all of our students,
regardless of where they live in Newfoundland and Labrador.
behalf of the Official Opposition, I would like to thank the teachers and
the staff at CDLI for all of their great work, everything they have been
doing to try and make Newfoundland and Labrador a world leader in online and
distance education. Given this
Province's disbursed population and our geography, the remoteness of some of
our communities, we ought to be a leader in distance education in the world.
Teachers and staff at CDLI know, Mr. Speaker, that there is lots more to be
done. There is lots more to be
done to build on the work they have done over the past fifteen years but
that cannot be done with less funding.
So, it is unfortunate that CDLI has seen its budget cut by more than
a million dollars in just the past few years.
That is when times were good and oil was high, and as the previous
Finance Minister said, we were flush with cash.
Then
they also cut the Virtual Teacher Centre, which provided Province-wide
online professional development for teachers for more than a decade.
Mr. Speaker, we are probably going to need more distance education if
they keep building schools too small.
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
remind the member his time has expired.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
The
hon. the Member for Signal Hill Quidi Vidi.
MS MICHAEL:
Thank you very much, Mr.
Speaker.
too thank the minister for the advance copy of her statement.
Due
to our geography and the size of our communities, the Centre for Distance
Learning and Innovation is incredibly important to help our students in
rural schools get the education they need and deserve.
I hope the minister read the NLTA pre-budget consultation and listens
to their recommendations that small rural schools receive additional
allocations, as identified by need of the school to meet the program
requirements. That government
establish a committee to oversee integration of technology in the classroom,
and that the committee involve teachers in the ongoing review, approval, and
evaluation of the educational suitability of technology for education.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER:
Oral Questions.
Oral Questions
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of
the Official Opposition.
MR. BALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Government's fall update was released on December 16 and projected a deficit
of $916 million and $63 oil, but since then oil has averaged in the
mid-fifties, around $56. Once
again, government's recent forecasting has proven to be inaccurate.
ask the Premier: Based on oil trading lower than you forecast in December,
what is the new projected deficit for this year?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Finance and President of Treasury Board.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. WISEMAN:
We recognized in the fall
that the oil prices were going to be staying down for some time.
The Premier announced some actions we were going to take at that time
to curtail expenditures to ensure that we were when we did that update, we
were going to try to stay focused on meeting that target by making some
adjustments in our expenditure levels throughout the latter part of this
fiscal year. We have done that.
That target that we set with the update, we are still working towards
that, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of
the Official Opposition.
MR. BALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The
question was based on the price of oil, which is we were looking for an
update. Obviously, this is not
being followed closely.
want to go back to a few months ago when the Premier said that nobody could
see the price of oil dropping so low this year.
If you look back to 2007, to the Energy Plan, they predicted oil
between $60 and $70 a barrel this year in 2015.
That was in 2007.
ask Premier: Since your Energy Plan in 2007 predicted for oil prices to be
reasonably accurate, why didn't you just stick to that plan?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Finance and President of Treasury Board.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. WISEMAN:
Mr. Speaker, each year
when government develops its Budget, it reaches out to experts who provide
advice, not just to this government but governments around the world
investment houses. They provide
advice to people like ourselves.
They monitor this. They have
their finger on the pulse of what is happening globally and they are able to
provide some significant advice to people like ourselves.
Over
the last four years we have relied on that advice, and they have held us in
pretty good position. If you consider
what our forecast has been
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR. WISEMAN:
If look at our
forecasting for the last ten years and what our actual performance has been,
there has only been three years of the last twelve where our forecast was
higher than we actually achieved.
I would suggest, Mr. Speaker, that advice has held us in good
position for some twelve years.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of
the Official Opposition.
MR. BALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Well, the advice you took in the 2007 Energy Plan is obviously better advice
than you got for this year.
Mr.
Speaker, the government made big decisions based on short-term oil pricing,
the development of Muskrat Falls to name just one; however, the long-term
forecast they laid out in the 2007 Energy Plan is much more accurate.
ask the Premier: Why did you make decisions based on oil trading over $100 a
barrel when your Energy Plan in 2007 predicted it to be only in the
mid-seventies?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Finance and President of Treasury Board.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. WISEMAN:
One of the things that
members opposite would also appreciate is planning, strategic plans,
long-term visionary plans, obviously, are able to be informed by information
you have at that time. They are
also living documents. They
change over a period of time, I say, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR. WISEMAN:
They do change over a
period of time. What we would
have forecasted in 2007 as new information became available, you adjust
your plans based on new information, like we are doing today.
Last
fall, when we realized oil prices had changed significantly back in July,
and now the forecasting was not going to be as prosperous as we thought,
very different than we thought last year, we adjusted the course
accordingly, just like we did from 2007 and the out years.
We will continue to do that, adjust the course to reflect current-day
realities.
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of
the Official Opposition.
MR. BALL:
I say to the minister and
to the Premier, it seems to me that the old information that you had in 2007
is much more accurate than you are actually using today.
Speaking of planning, Mr. Speaker, government had an Energy Plan which they
obviously did not follow. They
had a 10-Year Sustainability Plan they walked away from in year two.
They committed to reducing the per capita debt to the national
average, but instead that has been increased.
They published mandate letters that they have not committed to
follow.
ask the Premier: Why don't you just follow the plans that you are putting
taxpayers' money of Newfoundland and Labrador in?
Why can't you just follow your plan?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
PREMIER DAVIS:
Thank you, Mr.
Speaker.
is a good discussion happening here today.
I am glad members are providing opportunity for the minister and I to
respond to them. Regardless of
their continuous interruptions across the way, we will continue to provide
the answers and the information, Mr. Speaker.
is important to know and the Minister of Finance has highlighted it that
you set plans and then plans have to be fluid.
You have to be able to adjust plans.
Just
recently, there was significant discussion on child care in this Province,
Mr. Speaker. We have a ten-year
plan that we are implementing. Within
that plan there are several projects and several programs that we are
working towards
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
PREMIER DAVIS:
into approved child
care in Newfoundland and Labrador.
As we roll out those plans and we see the realities of the impacts of
those plans, we adjust them so we get the best benefit for Newfoundlanders
and Labradorians.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of
the Official Opposition.
MR. BALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
has been very obvious that as you roll out a plan you spend just as much
time rolling up plans and getting rid of them, I would say.
Mr.
Speaker, the government made bad management decisions which resulted in a
loss of 7,600 full-time jobs in the last year.
On top of that, we are seeing a ripple effect as the Alberta oil
patch and now the commuting workforce are not being called back.
ask the Premier: Do your Budget projections include a decline in the
commuting workforce?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
PREMIER DAVIS:
Thank you, Mr.
Speaker.
know the impacts of the world oil prices are impacting provinces from coast
to coast, Mr. Speaker. They are
impacting the federal government.
They are impacting provinces that are heavily reliant on oil as part
of their economy and they are having impacts.
also have projects underway such as the Muskrat Falls Project, Mr. Speaker,
which has provided jobs to thousands of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians
thousands. While the numbers
change and move, as we move through the cycles of construction and the
different phases of construction, we are glad to see that our economy is
still very strong in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Mr. Speaker, we waded through difficult times in 2008-2009, and we
will do it again now.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of
the Official Opposition.
MR. BALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
remind the Premier that 7,600 full-time jobs, just imagine where that would
be today if it was not for those megaprojects that we have.
Mr.
Speaker, one of the key things about economic diversification, there has
been a lot said about that. Last
April, government announced it was negotiating with Rentech for the
development of Central and Northern Peninsula timber resources but, last
fall, they admitted that there were multiple challenges during negotiations
and have refused a further update.
ask the Premier: It has been over two years since the Expressions of
Interest was announced for these resources; why is it taking so long to put
this deal together?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Fisheries and Aquaculture.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. GRANTER:
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate
the question from the hon. member.
As I said in the House a day or two ago, negotiations with Rentech
are ongoing; they have been ongoing for a number of months.
The industry is a very competitive industry.
We are concerned with the issues out in Central Newfoundland, as we
are with the industry on the Northern Peninsula.
As I
said a couple of days ago, we are negotiating with Rentech; they have other
interests around the world. They
are interested in Newfoundland.
We are negotiating. We are
getting down to the fine points, Mr. Speaker.
When I get to the point where I have something to say on that, I will
in the House.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of
the Official Opposition.
MR. BALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
has been six years actually since Central Newfoundland saw the expropriation
of the Abitibi mill. Will the
minister at least give some information to the people in Central
Newfoundland? When can they
expect to see this deal finalized?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
PREMIER DAVIS:
Mr. Speaker, the
member has answered questions on this; he has demonstrated our commitment as
a government to continue our efforts to achieve an agreement with Rentech.
It is very important to not only us as a government, but also the
people of Central Newfoundland, the central part of the Island.
It is very important to them.
It is important to us. We
are consistent with that.
Mr.
Speaker, we have to work with business, we have to work with opportunities,
and we have a good track record as a government in doing that partnering
with businesses in Newfoundland and Labrador, bringing business to
Newfoundland and Labrador, diversifying our economy, and in supporting those
who come here to hire Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Trinity Bay de Verde.
MR. CROCKER:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Each
year the Business Investment Corporation, a Crown corporation of government,
is writing off millions of dollars as bad debt.
Since 2010, there has been a steady increase in the amount of money
that is being written off. In
2014 alone, it was $6 million.
ask the minister: What measures have been put in place to protect taxpayers'
money?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Child, Youth and Family Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. S. COLLINS:
Thank you, Mr.
Speaker.
would like to answer that question.
I have some information here which is kind of interesting.
he has said, in 2014 seventy-one investments were written off; 91.3 per cent
were from older portions of the portfolio that existed prior to the creation
of Business Investment Corporation.
So, in other words, Mr. Speaker, the majority of writeoffs in 2014
were investments made under the previous Administration.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Trinity Bay de Verde.
MR. CROCKER:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
thank the minister for the history
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR. CROCKER:
lesson and if he wants
to do history lessons, let's go back and talk about cucumbers.
Mr.
Speaker, this government does not have a great track record of ensuring
oversight of management of taxpayers' money.
The Business Investment Corporation has written off $40 million as
bad debt.
ask the minister: Will he table a list of all of the writeoffs, and can he
explain why $40 million of taxpayers' hard-earned money has just been
written off?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Child, Youth and Family Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. S. COLLINS:
Mr. Speaker, it is
interesting he asked me a supplementary question, the same question he just
asked me, the same question which the answer just embarrassed him and his
party. He remains asking the
same question, so I will again answer it.
When
he talks about the money that is written off, the vast majority of that
money was written off by the past Administration.
Instead of asking me, it would probably be best if he asked the
Member for the Bay Islands who was part of the Administration during that
time. He may be able to answer
that question better than even myself.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
The
hon. the Member for Virginia Waters.
MS C. BENNETT:
Thank you, Mr.
Speaker.
can certainly understand why the minister might have difficulty
understanding that question. I
loans and those equity investments.
Again, I would like to ask the minister: Will you table a list of every one
of those companies who you gave a writeoff to?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Child, Youth and Family Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. S. COLLINS:
Mr. Speaker, I would
be happy to go back to the officials in the department and ask for that
list. Many on that list, of
course, the members opposite would be familiar with, as they were created
during their Administration.
would be happy to endeavour to get that information for the member.
Thank you very much.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Virginia Waters.
MS C. BENNETT:
Thank you, Mr.
Speaker.
have heard about this government's Crown corporation writing off millions of
dollars that they were accountable for ensuring was repaid.
Government continues to talk about increasing revenue and cutting
expenses. Have you ever thought
that maybe what you might want to try to do is to get your fiscal house in
order?
2013, the AGs report, for example, had nineteen recommendations related to
health care in the Province.
These recommendations were made to improve health expenditures.
With
thirty-six cents of every dollar going to health care, why aren't you
ensuring that the AG's recommendations are implemented and taxpayers'
hard-earned money is being spent in the right way?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Finance and President of Treasury Board.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. WISEMAN:
I am always amused by the
member opposite when she stands and asks questions about getting our fiscal
house in order. It was not all
that long ago, in fact, you only have to go back to 2003 and 2004 when this
government, this Province, was almost bankrupt, as a result of what?
As the result of a Liberal Administration's mismanagement over many,
many years of this Province's finances.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR. WISEMAN:
In our tenure we were
about the first five or six years that we were in government trying to
restore some semblance of control
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR. WISEMAN:
put in place good fiscal policies, management policies, to ensure that we
were positioned to deal with circumstances like we find ourselves in today.
Had we not done that today, had we not done that in the last ten
years, just think of the position the Province would be in today, Mr.
Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Virginia Waters.
MS C. BENNETT:
Thank you, Mr.
Speaker.
can certainly say that eleven deficits in sixteen years is not something the
people of the Province are laughing at.
You had six in eleven and you want five more.
There are over 110 recommendations from the Auditor General from 2008 to
2011 that remain not fully implemented, and an additional 176
recommendations that have been made since 2012 that we do not know the
status of; 286 recommendations to better manage the money this government
has to control.
Why
is your government not acting expeditiously to get your own financial house
in order?
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Finance and President of Treasury Board.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. WISEMAN:
Mr. Speaker, once again
the member jumps to conclusions.
The assumption is because she does not know the answer, it must be wrong.
All the recommendations that are made that she does not understand
the status, she does not know what the story is, she automatically assumes
it is wrong.
All
you need to do is just look at the Auditor General's reports.
They are very important.
They are very important documents for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.
They are a great piece of work for all governments.
The
Auditor General comes in, makes reviews, and makes suggestions as to how we
might improve. Governments over
time, each department of government gets a report over a period of time on
their operations. We, on a
regular basis, are continually making enhancements to what we do, improving
programs and services, and responding to the recommendations of the Auditor
General for better internal controls.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Torngat Mountains.
MR. EDMUNDS:
Mr. Speaker, a request to
extend the validity period to June 12, 2015 has been sent to all proponents
shortlisted on the RFP for Labrador marine services.
This follows a number of extensions already granted on the RFP.
ask the minister: Why have you requested another extension on the RFP, and
does this now mean that all proposals, including the one from Nunatsiavut
Marine, are being considered in your review?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Transportation and Works.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. BRAZIL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
As I
mentioned last week, the RFP process was a very in-depth process here.
We went to the market. We
had a number of proponents who put in a proposal, we have looked at that.
We want to make sure that we have the best service possible to
deliver to the people of Labrador, while at the same time making sure that
the taxpayers in this Province get the best return on their investment.
have gone through a process; I have gone back to my officials.
We have even included a fairness monitor to make sure we have
assessed every component of that RFP.
I have gone back and said, I want to look at some other components as
part of that RFP to ensure we get the best return on our investment and that
the people of Labrador get the best service that we can provide for them.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Torngat Mountains.
MR. EDMUNDS:
Mr. Speaker, included in
your letter to the proponent is an acknowledgement that a further delay in
contract award will impact delivery dates for the vessels and the
commencement date that was anticipated in the RFP.
ask the minister: Are you now telling the people of Labrador that a new
marine vessel will not be available in 2016, despite you saying all along
that it will be?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Transportation and Works.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. BRAZIL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
What
I am telling the people of Labrador is that we will do everything possible.
We have a very diligent staff with 100 years of professional service
in the marine service to ensure the best service possible for the people of
Labrador will be provided. We
will do that in the quickest way possible, being very diligent of the
financial investment that we have to make, and making sure we have included
the stakeholders. I have had
multiple conversations and meetings with stakeholders to ensure that what we
are going to offer the people will meet their needs.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
The Straits White Bay North.
MR. MITCHELMORE:
Mr. Speaker, recent
news show our seal products are confiscated at the US border for breaching
the Marine Mammals Protection Act, 1972.
This act inaccurately deems our seals as endangered.
In fact, in 1994, the US amended the act to permit Alaskans to take
seals.
ask the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs: Will he make representation
to the federal government to ask the US to review the facts on the seal
population that would permit a regulation change, given that our seals are
surely no different than the Alaskan seals?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Municipal and Intergovernmental Affairs.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. HUTCHINGS:
Thank you, Mr.
Speaker.
Mr.
Speaker, no doubt, the sealing industry for the past 400 years has been very
important to us as a people and our Province.
That is why we so heavily invested in the sealing industry and
supported it over the past number of years.
It is still very important to us.
understand the incident took place, in regard to the Marine Mammal Act, in
the US. Certainly, we are
looking at that in terms of what it means; but overall, in terms of us as a
government, we are committed to the sealing industry and what it means in
terms of exports. We continue to
grow the industry. It is very
important to our coastal communities and we will do whatever is required to
make sure that we continue to grow the industry, whether it is North America
or anywhere around the world, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
The Straits White Bay North.
MR. MITCHELMORE:
We certainly did not
get a commitment from the minister on the answer to that question.
Mr.
Speaker, Newfoundland and Labrador is one of the worst in the country for
protecting public land. In 1992,
all provincial governments committed to increasing protected areas from 4
per cent to 12 per cent by 2000; yet, when all federal and provincial lands
are counted our total is a paltry 4.6 per cent.
ask the minister: More than a decade overdue, will you admit your inactions
clearly highlight protecting public land is just not a priority for your
government?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Environment and Conservation.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. CRUMMELL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr.
Speaker, we are definitely dedicated towards protecting biodiversity in this
Province at many different levels.
Mealy Mountains National Park, we are in the very final stages of
negotiations with the federal government.
We are going through Aboriginal consultations in short order, Mr.
Speaker. We are getting down to
the brass tacks on that one. Mr.
Speaker, once we have that land mass negotiated and turned over to the
federal government for that national park, we will be right there with the
provincial average in terms of protected areas in all of Canada.
Mr.
Speaker, we are on the mark. We
are doing good work. We have
people in the department doing good work.
We have advisory boards that are advising us what we should be doing,
Mr. Speaker. We have a robust
system.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Cartwright L'Anse au Clair.
MS DEMPSTER:
Mr. Speaker, the
establishment of the Mealy Mountains National Park will significantly
increase the potential for tourism development in all communities in
Southeastern Labrador. However,
we are still waiting for the Province to finalize the land transfer
agreement.
ask the minister: When can we expect the Province to finalize this land
transfer agreement?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Environment and Conservation.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. CRUMMELL:
Mr. Speaker, we have made
significant progress over the last number of years.
I am pleased to announce here today that in the coming weeks and we
are talking weeks, not months we will be making an announcement that will
be pleasing to everybody in the Province, including the people in Labrador
in particular, and people of the region, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Cartwright L'Anse au Clair.
MS DEMPSTER:
Mr. Speaker, this file
has been ongoing since 2007 over seven years of waiting for the transfer
of land from the Province. Two
weeks ago, the Minister of Environment said there would be an announcement
on the Mealy Mountains Park, but still nothing.
So I
just want to ask the minister: Why do you continue to give the people of
Labrador expectations that you are obviously not prepared to meet?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Environment and Conservation.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. CRUMMELL:
Mr. Speaker, I believe
that is an unfair comment. We
have negotiations going on with the users, of the people of the region.
This
is going to be a landmark agreement, Mr. Speaker.
There are details that I am aware of that I cannot provide to the
House at this moment in time.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR. CRUMMELL:
It is going to be a
significant agreement for the people.
Believe me, Mr. Speaker, our interests are to make sure that it gets
done in a timely manner. We are
down to the short strokes. We
are going to be happy to stand up and make that announcement in this House,
and when we get up to the region as well.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Mount Pearl South.
MR. LANE:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr.
Speaker, last week I asked the Minister of Service NL about past amendments
to its insurance legislation; however, for some bizarre reason, the Minister
of CYFS took the opportunity to update us on workers' comp issues.
Therefore, I ask the Minister of Service NL: Why wasn't the Insurance
Brokers Association of Newfoundland and Labrador consulted when your
department amended its insurance legislation to remove the requirement for
audited statements of trust accounts?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Service NL.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. CRUMMELL:
Mr. Speaker, first of
all, I do apologize for missing the tail end of your question.
It was a long
preamble and I did not get quite the ask.
I should have asked you to restate your question.
It was my fault, Mr. Speaker, and I do apologize.
thank the minister next to me for standing up and talking about something
that we thought it was referring to.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR. CRUMMELL:
Listen, Mr. Speaker, on
this question in particular, the change does not impact consumers at all.
Other jurisdictions in the country do not have these types of
auditing.
Mr.
Speaker, we do have other oversights as well.
It was determined by officials in our department that this is not
required for the Province at this time.
Again, we have checks and measures in place, reporting systems in
place that are going to happen on a regular and annual basis.
Mr.
Speaker, we will be doing some random audits as well, just to make sure that
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
I remind the member his
time is up.
The
hon. the Member for Signal Hill Quidi Vidi.
MS MICHAEL:
Thank you very much, Mr.
Speaker.
This
government's 2013 Aboriginal Consultation Policy states that they are
committed to consulting Aboriginal organizations when making land and
resource development decisions that impact them.
ask the Premier: What happened to this policy when government came to an
agreement with Vale to change the Voisey's Bay Development Agreement?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
PREMIER DAVIS:
Mr. Speaker,
consultation requirement exists for changes that occur on the Vale site in
Labrador if there is change in licensing, change in process, change in
operation on the site itself.
The
agreement that we reached with Vale, which benefits the people working on
the site, it benefits the Nunatsiavut Government, it benefits the Innu
Nation, is that we were able to reach an agreement so that the mining
continued at Vale in Labrador to the benefit of all of those parties.
part of that agreement of what happens, what we changed was an agreement of
what happens to ore after it leaves the site.
Mr. Speaker, under the agreement, there was no requirement to consult
in that circumstance.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Signal Hill Quidi Vid.
MS MICHAEL:
Thank you very much, Mr.
Speaker.
point out to the Premier that when we talk about the Voisey's Bay
development, it always includes all of the operations with regard to
minerals.
ask the Premier: How can he expect Aboriginal groups to trust what he says
when the government does not even follow its own written policy?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
PREMIER DAVIS:
Mr. Speaker, we do
follow a policy. Obviously,
there has been a discussion. I
had a discussion with President Leo.
I also had a discussion yesterday in a phone call I made to Grand
Chief Qupee. We had a discussion
on that.
Yesterday, when I spoke to Grand Chief, I asked her for the opportunity for
us to meet together in a face-to-face meeting, and she has agreed to that.
I look forward to the opportunity to follow up and have further
discussions with the Grand Chief and also President Leo.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Signal Hill Quidi Vidi.
MS MICHAEL:
Thank you very much, Mr.
Speaker.
light of some of the incidents that have happened in this Province with
regard to relations with Aboriginal people, I ask the Premier if he has
considered diversity, sensitivity training for his Cabinet ministers.
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
PREMIER DAVIS:
Mr. Speaker, I am
going to tell you the relationship that we have
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
PREMIER DAVIS:
with Aboriginal
peoples and representatives for Aboriginal peoples, I take very serious.
I know the Minister of Labrador and Aboriginal Affairs takes very
serious. He and I have had
numerous discussions in recent days and weeks about that relationship and
the importance of it, Mr. Speaker.
can tell you, there is nothing more important there are things equally as
important, but there is nothing more important than ensuring that we have a
good working relationship with all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians,
including the people in Labrador, including our Aboriginal people, and
ensuring that we have strong partnerships and strong relationships with all
persons in our Province.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
St. John's East.
MR. MURPHY:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Section 9(3) of the new ATIPP Act underscores the importance of public
health and safety and disclosure in the public interest.
ask the minister: Considering that government has already put its stamp of
approval on this new legislation to be passed in the coming weeks, would his
government also agree to the importance of appointing a public health
professional to the fracking review panel?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Natural Resources.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. DALLEY:
Mr. Speaker, we have
established an independent fracking review panel highly-qualified experts
with experience with respect to the fracking issue, experts with respect to
the process, with some experience as well.
What
is important here, the decision that this government made, is that we
establish a process here that gives everybody in the Province experts,
doctors, whoever wants to have input a very clear opportunity to stand and
make a presentation, write a letter, offer an email, but certainly the
opportunity to present their views with fracking and the potential impacts
on the West Coast of this Province.
Mr. Speaker, I am looking forward to that process.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
St. John's East has time for a quick question.
MR. MURPHY:
Mr. Speaker, would the
minister agree that the disclosure of fracking chemicals would also be in
the best interest of public health and safety?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Natural Resources, for a quick reply.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. DALLEY:
Mr. Speaker, what I will
agree to and I think we have demonstrated time and time again is that
public safety whether it is in the offshore, whether it is on land, with
aspects to workers in this Province, Occupational Health and Safety, as well
as public interest with safety, we will do what is right.
With
respect to fracking itself, I look forward to the panel doing their work,
and I really wish the member opposite would do the same, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The time for Question
Period has expired.
Presenting Reports by Standing and Select Committees.
Tabling of Documents.
Notices of Motion.
Tabling of
Documents
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Finance, on the Tabling of Documents.
MR. WISEMAN:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Pursuant to
section 26(5)(
a) of the Financial Administration Act, I am
tabling fourteen Orders-in-Council relating to the funding pre-commitments
for 2015-2016 to 2019-2020 fiscal years.
MR. SPEAKER:
Further tabling of
documents?
The
hon. the Minister of Natural Resources.
MR. DALLEY:
Mr. Speaker, in
accordance with the Energy Corporation Act and the Hydro Corporation Act, it
is my pleasure to table the 2014 Business and Financial Report for Nalcor
Energy, as well as the 2014 Consolidated Financial Statements of
Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro.
MR. SPEAKER:
Further tabling of
documents?
Notices of Motion.
Answers to Questions for which Notice has been Given.
Petitions.
Petitions
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
St. John's North.
MR. KIRBY:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
the hon. House of Assembly of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador in
Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned residents of
Newfoundland and Labrador humbly sheweth:
a proposal to bus K-6 students from Holy Family School in Paradise to the
former School for the Deaf on Topsail Road in St. John's twelve kilometres
away; and
WHEREAS many parents have expressed concern about the impact of long bus
rides to and from school for primary and elementary school-aged children who
would otherwise attend Holy Family School in Paradise; and
District to consider alternatives to having children from Holy Family School
attend school at the former School for the Deaf;
WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly pray and call upon the
House of Assembly to urge government to direct the Newfoundland and Labrador
which would see students from Holy Family School in Paradise attending
school at the former School for the Deaf.
in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.
Now,
Mr. Speaker, I did point out the last time I read this petition there are
about another 100 or so petitioners on here today.
changed, but they are now proposing two bad proposals, in my opinion.
One is to bus Grade 2 to Grade 6 kids out forty-five minutes to the
School for the Deaf on Topsail Road, or to add four modular classrooms to an
already overcrowded school at Holy Family neither a good option here, not
at all.
understand, from speaking to people that the Premier has involved himself
personally in this situation now.
I do not know how that is going to turn out, but I do understand that
the Premier is somehow involved in this, and he represents Paradise as part
of his district.
As I
said before, I do not really think that either of these options make any
sense. Overcrowding an already
overcrowded school is unsanitary what is going on already.
The school was never designed to accommodate that many students.
There are already problems with kids lining up to go to the washroom;
team teaching; the cafeteria is cut up; poor air quality, according to
anecdotal reports; crowded parking lots when people are trying to drop off
all these kids. That proposal is
to increase the school population to something like 1,000 for a school that
was built for about 650.
Then
the other option is to bus kids forty-five minutes.
You are talking about busing kids in Grade 2 all the way out there.
People ask: How did it get to this?
How did government manage to so poorly plan schooling on the
Northeast Avalon? When times
were good, when oil was high, when we were flush with cash, this government
failed the people on the Northeast Avalon, failed to build schools where
they were needed.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
The
hon. the Member for St. John's Centre.
MS ROGERS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
the hon. House of Assembly of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador in
Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned residents of
Newfoundland and Labrador humbly sheweth:
WHEREAS the Family Violence Intervention Court provided a comprehensive
approach to domestic violence in a court setting that fully understood and
dealt with the complex issues of domestic violence; and
WHEREAS domestic violence continues to be one of the most serious issues
facing our Province today, and the cost of the impact of domestic violence
is great both economically and in human suffering; and
WHEREAS the Family Violence Intervention Court was welcomed and endorsed by
all aspects of the justice system including the police, the courts,
prosecutors, defence counsel, Child, Youth and Family Services, as well as
victims, offenders, community agencies and women's groups; and
WHEREAS the recidivism rate for offenders going through the court was 10 per
cent compared to 40 per cent for those who did not; and
WHEREAS the budget for the court was only 0.2 per cent of the entire budget
of the Department of Justice;
WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly pray and call upon the
House of Assembly to urge government to reinstate the Family Intervention
Court.
in duty bound your petitioners will ever pray.
Mr.
Speaker, I am happy to stand in this House, particularly today with a number
of social workers and social work students in the gallery.
When we look at the issue of family violence, domestic violence, we
know how complex that is.
As a
social worker, I was involved in starting the first transition house here in
the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
That was a long time ago.
Mr. Speaker, we know that several social workers were involved in organizing
and lobbying for the court, and that several social workers across the
country did the same in their provinces.
Some of whom modelled theirs on our court here in Newfoundland and
Labrador.
Mr.
Speaker, there were several social workers in different departments involved
in the operation of the Family Violence Intervention Court.
We had social workers with Child, Youth and Family Services who
really understood the impact of domestic violence on the lives of children.
Not only was their job to understand that, but their job was also to
ensure that children were kept safe.
Social workers with Child, Youth and Family Services who worked with the
court were determined, and they did a fantastic job.
They knew, and they continue to know, the Family Violence
Intervention Court was a model that really got to the root cause of domestic
violence and it did ensure the safety of children.
Mr.
Speaker, I encourage the government to listen to the expertise of social
workers around the Family Violence Intervention Court.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Humber East.
MR. FLYNN:
To the hon. House of
Assembly of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador in Parliament
assembled, the petition of the undersigned humbly sheweth:
WHEREAS the 2009 Throne Speech clearly states that the government has
provided free textbooks to students; and
WHEREAS this is an instrument of education; and
WHEREAS unfortunately students attending independently-funded schools have
been deprived of equal access to this assistance; and
WHEREAS the Department of Education is perceived to show discrimination
towards parents who exercise a choice of schooling for their child; and
WHEREAS all schools operate under the guidelines of the Schools Act;
WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly pray and call upon the
House of Assembly to urge the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador,
beginning immediately, ask the Department of Education to provide free
textbooks to all students who attend any school that follows the
requirements of the Schools Act (amended)
Chapter S-12.2.
in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.
Mr.
Speaker, this is the third petition that I have presented here to the House.
Yesterday, the Minister of Finance accidentally said they do not
discriminate against children, but it is very clear in this case the
children attending the independently owned schools are being discriminated
against.
is not like these people are asking for a leaky roof to be fixed or even
heating in that school to be fixed.
It is not like these people are asking teachers to be paid for out of
the public purse. What this
demonstrates is a clear discrimination against children in our society.
Those parents, whether we like to admit or not, not all of them have
deep pockets. In actual fact,
their school books are not even allowed to be tax deductible.
I am
asking the Minister of Education, because this petition does involve names
from Humber West as well. I will
present some later from St. John's.
I will ask the Minister of Education to intervene on this level and
stop the discrimination towards children in our schools.
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
St. George's Stephenville East.
MR. REID:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
have a petition today on health care in the Heatherton to Highlands area.
the hon. House of Assembly in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador in
Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned humbly sheweth:
WHEREAS there has not been a permanent doctor at the clinic in Jeffrey's for
almost a year; and
WHEREAS this absence of a permanent doctor is seriously compromising the
health care of people who live in the Heatherton to Highlands area and
causing them undue hardship; and
WHEREAS the absence of a doctor or nurse practitioner in the area leaves
seniors without a consistency and quality of care which is necessary for
their continued good health;
WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly pray and call upon the
House of Assembly to urge the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to
take action which will result in a permanent doctor or other arrangements to
improve the health care services in the Heatherton to Highlands area.
Mr.
Speaker, this is a petition signed by a number of people in the Robinsons
area, from the Cartyville area, all throughout the Heatherton to Highlands
area. It is a situation that has
gone on for too long. For over a
year now, the people of that area have not had a permanent doctor in the
clinic at Jeffery's. People have had
to travel long distances to get medical care, to get prescriptions refilled,
to get medical tests back, and to be referred for tests.
So, it is far from ideal, the situation there in Jeffrey's.
St.
George's, as well, does not have a doctor; has not had a doctor since before
Christmas. So they have been
without a doctor for a number of months now.
People in that town are really concerned about the future, given they
are looking at their neighbours in the Heatherton to Highlands area who have
not had a doctor for over a year.
People are very concerned about this and they want to see some changes.
I have talked to the minister about this.
I have talked to officials at Western Health.
People are aware of the situation there, and I am hopeful that we
will begin to see some solution to this problem very soon, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much.
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
St. John's East.
MR. MURPHY:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
the hon. House of Assembly of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador in
Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned residents of
Newfoundland and Labrador humbly sheweth:
WHEREAS Tordon 101 contains the chemicals 2,4-D and picloram; and
WHEREAS the chemical picloram is a known cancer-causing carcinogen; and
WHEREAS the provincial government has banned the cosmetic use of the
pesticide 2,4-D; and
WHEREAS safer alternatives are available to the provincial government for
brush clearing such as manual labour, alternative competitive seeding
methods, and/or mechanical removal of brush; and
WHEREAS the provincial government is responsible for ensuring the safety and
well-being of its citizens;
WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly pray and call upon the
House of Assembly to urge government to cease the use of chemicals covered
under its own cosmetic pesticide ban and begin using safer methods of brush
clearance that will not place its citizens in harm's way.
in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.
Mr.
Speaker, this petition today comes from residents of St. John's and
residents of Salmon Cove in Conception Bay North, and I want to thank these
people for signing this petition and sending it in at this particular time.
Earlier in Question Period, I had talked about the proposed new legislation,
the new ATIPPA legislation, that is going to be coming forward to the House
this spring session, and we know that government has already accepted as is
that particular piece of legislation.
Mr.
Speaker, I had referenced earlier a
section 9(3) in this particular piece of
legislation that reads: Whether or not a request for access is made, the
head of a public body shall, without delay, disclose to the public, to an
affected group of people or to an applicant, information about a risk of
significant harm to the environment or to the health or safety of the public
or group of people, the disclosure of which is clearly in the public
interest.
Mr.
Speaker, the signing of a petition is, as far as I am concerned, clearly in
the public interest. Where
public health and safety is concerned, it remains evident in the petition in
itself. It says here, the second
last line:
WHEREAS the provincial government is responsible for ensuring the
safety and well-being of its citizens.
The people of Newfoundland and Labrador who are signing this petition
are directly concerned. They
have a right to know about what is happening to their environment around
them, they are showing signs to this government, and have been now for the
last year-and-a-half, two years, that I have been on my feet about this
petition, that they are directly concerned with their own personal health.
They
have a grave concern that, so far, this government has not addressed.
Again, we are asking government to address this.
Of course we know the piece of legislation that is coming up before
us in the coming weeks and pretty soon, they are not going to have any other
choice but to address it.
Thank you very much.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Signal Hill Quidi Vidi.
I am
sorry the hon. Member for Burgeo La Poile.
MR. A. PARSONS:
Thank you, Mr.
Speaker.
Here
I was saying you did not have a sense of humour.
the hon. House of Assembly of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador in
Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned residents humbly
sheweth:
WHEREAS the applied behavioural analysis (ABA) program for children with
autism is funded by the Department of Health and Community Services; and
WHEREAS the program was introduced in 1999 and is in serious need of
revision; and
WHEREAS with the advances made in early diagnosis of autism, the number of
high functioning children being diagnosed with autism has drastically
increased; and
WHEREAS the current ABA program does not take into account that children on
the autism spectrum are involved in many educationally, recreational, and
social activities outside of the home; and
WHEREAS the current ABA program required that the therapist be accompanied
at all times by another adult, which is not only inconvenient but can be
quite costly when a parent is unable to be that second adult due to work or
other obligations; and
WHEREAS the current ABA program ends at Grade 3 but autism is a lifelong
social disorder;
WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly pray and call up the
House to urge the government to implement a review of the ABA program with
considerations given to alternate programming options, and to extend autism
programming beyond Grade 3.
Mr.
Speaker, I have stood and entered this petition in the House before.
I am sure this is not going to be the last time that I enter it.
The reason is that we have had a huge change in the diagnosis numbers
in this Province, but we have not had a huge change in the approach that we
have taken.
stand here today after having a phone call from a parent yesterday.
This phone call was dealing with their child is on the spectrum and
they are having issues at the school.
He does not know what to do.
It is absolutely amazing the scary thing is this is not the only
parent I have had that conversation with.
We need to do more.
look back to when this program was introduced.
We look back to the funding that was put in.
It is not keeping up. Do
I have all the solutions? I
certainly do not. One thing I
would suggest is that we actually start talking to some of these parents to
figure out solutions to the problems here.
I do not think it is all just a financial consideration.
I think we should be able to talk to them.
When
we look at the fact that ABA goes to Grade 3, but the fact is these children
grow up. They still have to
continue on; these parents still have to continue on.
We have to do more.
I am
pleading with the government. We
know that the Budget is coming at some point.
Please, let's see some mention of this type of issue in there a
review of the program. The
program is good. Let's see some
changes to it. Let's listen to
these parents because they are crying out, desperately, wanting to be heard.
MR. SPEAKER:
Orders of the Day.
I do
not know if I missed the Member for St. George's Stephenville East.
Were you about to stand?
MR. REID:
No.
MR. SPEAKER:
No.
The
hon. the Deputy Government House Leader.
MR. HUTCHINGS:
Thank you, Mr.
Speaker.
will move to Orders of the Day, Order 1, Committee of Supply.
MR. SPEAKER:
The motion is that the
House resolve itself into Committee of Supply to further consider the
Interim Supply bill.
All
those in favour, 'aye.'
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Aye.
MR. SPEAKER:
All those against, 'nay.'
Carried.
motion, that the House resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole, Mr.
Speaker, left the Chair.
Committee of the
Whole
CHAIR (Littlejohn):
Order, please!
are considering the related resolution on Bill 44,
An Act For Granting To
Her Majesty Certain Sums Of Money For Defraying Certain Expenses Of The
Public Service For The Financial Year Ending March 31, 2016 And For Other
Purposes Relating To The Public Service.
will continue the debate on Bill 44.
The
hon. the Member for Exploits.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. FORSEY:
Thank you, Mr. Chair, for
the opportunity again to speak on Interim Supply.
It is always a pleasure to be able to stand up here in the House and
speak on behalf of the wonderful District of Exploits and the Province of
Newfoundland and Labrador.
is a funny thing, Mr. Chair, we cannot seem to get away from education
sometimes. It seems like
everybody who gets up wants to talk about education.
I guess it has to do with the investments that we made in education
as a government and the plan that we had when we came in.
was a bit of a difficult situation at the time.
There was that much infrastructure needed for education and other
resources, it was a very difficult time for this government to try to
maintain certain services.
sit back and I listen to the Opposition when they get up and they talk about
we had no plan and we wasted money.
Back in the 1990s, during their Administration I have said it
before and I am going to say it again because they do not seem to hear it
when you say it across the way there they were the ones who amalgamated
the schools.
They
were the ones who were going to save all this money.
They were the ones who were going to reinvest it back into the
schools that were left. They
were the ones who were going to do the renovations and the maintenance and
all of that, but they had no plan.
They did not have a plan.
When
we came in, it was mould after mould after mould issues.
The minister got tired of answering questions and getting up and
responding to getting investments for the schools, Mr. Chair.
listened to the Minister of Education speak yesterday very passionate and
eloquently about our investments in education and how we started out with
I think the main platform for the Opposition in 2003 was we are going to
eliminate school fees. They
thought that was a big thing.
That was in their platform. Now
they were there for fifteen years, sixteen years, and they could have done
that.
MR. KIRBY:
A point of order, Mr.
Chair.
CHAIR:
The hon. the Member for
St. John's North on a point of order.
MR. KIRBY:
Mr. Chair, I believe the
member said that the minister was tired of answering questions.
If the minister is tired of answering questions, then they should get
the Premier to call a general election.
CHAIR:
There is no point of
order.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Exploits.
MR. FORSEY:
At that particular time
that I was talking about, Mr. Chair, the minister was tired of answering
questions because that was the first couple of years of this Administration.
The buildings were falling down and dilapidated.
Mr.
Chair, I will just stick to my own district.
I will ask the people across the way if it is a waste and they can
tell me if it is a waste, if this government wasted money.
Back
in 2005, Mr. Chair, when I was elected, a school in Leading Tickles, where I
grew up and went to school, the school was a K-6 school and they were
getting ready to tear it down. I
went down there for meetings and they said, well, our member said he was
coming down, the former member.
He was coming down, who happened to be the Premier of the day.
He was coming down. Oh,
wait, we are going to get the windows done, we are going to get the
insulation fixed, and we are going to get the roof fixed.
We are going to get all that done.
Guess what? Six months
later the school was demolished.
It was not fit to go into, it was not fit.
What
this government did was put a new one back there, because we had to.
We had no choice. We had
no choice, because we believe in rural Newfoundland and Labrador.
We believe that a community like Leading Tickles in the District of
Exploits deserves just as much as somebody in Grand Falls-Windsor or St.
John's, Newfoundland.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. FORSEY:
We are all the same on
this side, Mr. Chair. We treat
everybody the same, but apparently across the way they do not understand
what that means.
remember first when we brought in skilled trades.
When we brought in skilled trades, we were after going from bringing
in free textbooks, eliminating school fees, and started to build on
infrastructure. Then we started
on expansion. We brought in
twenty-six pilot projects in high schools for skilled trades that first
year. Botwood Collegiate, in the
District of Exploits, was one of the very fortunate schools that was able to
avail of the expansion on skilled trades.
Since then, skilled trades is in every high school.
We have it in every high school in the District of Exploits.
remember a teacher in Botwood telling me, he said: Clayton, we service five
communities from here. We are a
feeder school for five communities: Point of Bay, Phillips Head, Northern
Arm, Botwood, and Peterview.
They all go to the same school.
He said, we have had students there who were not sure what they wanted to
do. When they brought in skilled
trades, he said, I recall putting this young fellow in the carpenter shop.
He said he was right at home.
That
is what we did, Mr. Chair. We
gave the youth an opportunity because of investments.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. FORSEY:
Now if that is a waste, I
hate to see what the Opposition would do if they call that a waste.
As a
matter of fact, I remember the other day the Member for CBS or somewhere,
across the way there, stood up and started talking about the waste of $20
million. Twenty million dollars,
it is a waste $20 million.
Then somebody was smart enough to correct him
MR. HILLIER:
A point of order, Mr.
Chair.
CHAIR:
A point of order, the
hon. the Member for Conception Bay South.
MR. HILLIER:
Mr. Chair, the $20
million I was talking about wasting was the $20 million wasted on Humber
Paving. That was the $20 million
I was talking about wasting.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
CHAIR:
There is no point of
order.
The
hon. the Member for Exploits.
MR. FORSEY:
He said they squandered
$20 million squandered it.
Then somebody in their caucus said: oh, no, it was $20 billion.
Oh, I am sorry, he said, I thought it was $20 million and they want
to form the government. They do
not know the difference between $20 billion and $20 million.
Can you imagine these fellows running the Province?
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. FORSEY:
Can you just imagine what
they would do running the Province?
MR. HILLIER:
A point of order, Mr.
Chair.
CHAIR:
A point of order, the
hon. the Member for Conception Bay South.
MR. HILLIER:
Mr. Chair, I have only
been here five or six months and I try to role model whoever I can, who I
think are my best role models.
One that I have been following, obviously, has been your own Minister of
Finance, unfortunately, who admits that he is not very good at math.
CHAIR:
There is no point of
order.
The
hon. the Member for Exploits.
MR. FORSEY:
I do not need to defend
the Minister of Finance, but he has done some very good portfolios while he
has been in this government and did a very good job of them, I must say.
He was the one who did the good work with the Department of Health
when he was there. He was the
one who had to face what started with the Liberals back in the 1990s, the
same thing that has started with the education.
Nothing has changed over there, and I do not think we are ready to go
back to it.
did hear the Member for St. John's East, when he stood up and spoke at least
he understood, yes, and agreed that when we took over in 2003, did we have
an infrastructure deficit? We
did, a major infrastructure deficit.
Did we put the money where it needed to be?
Of course we did.
you want to go out and tell the people of Leading Tickles that the
investment in that school was a waste, please go and do it, and they will
tell you want they think. If we
never had built enough schools and spending money on the infrastructure,
along with the programming that we brought in, along with the skilled trades
and everything else we have done for education just in Exploits alone, Mr.
Chair. I get rather passionate
when I start talking about the investments.
was fortunate enough to go and talk to the Grade 9 class at Leo Burke
Academy two weeks ago, Mr. Chair, and they were really interested in how
government works, and the money and how it is spent.
Of course, it all starts with education.
Even though 40 per cent, or close to it, is spent in health,
education is still most important when it comes to wanting to know, what you
and learning about education, environment, and whatever else.
Mr.
Chair, investments in new schools.
In Botwood Collegiate, just last year we had to replace the roof,
$235,000. In Leo Burke Academy
we had to replace the roof, $350,000.
Memorial Academy in Botwood, we had to replace the roof, another
$100,000.
have been building schools in the District of Exploits.
We have been very fortunate.
We built a new school in Leading Tickles.
We added on an expansion to Botwood Collegiate, and we have done
repairs and upgrades. It is
much, much needed investments in education I say, Mr. Chair.
see my time is up. I will
certainly have another opportunity, I am sure, to talk about the good things
that this government has done.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
CHAIR:
The hon. the Member for
Carbonear Harbour Grace.
MR. SLADE:
Mr. Chair, I am going to
tell you one thing, it is a job to stand here on back of that one.
Mr.
Chair, I just want to say one thing.
Yes, there have been investments in schools, and I am going to give
you examples and big investments.
I am going to use the school in Carbonear, the new Carbonear Academy.
That is the school I am going to use.
When it was opened last year, it was built two small.
The government had to turn around and build four more classrooms on
the side of it while the children were in there trying to learn.
So I
am going to tell you something.
When the Member for St. John's North gets up and speaks about schools being
too small, there is one case there now.
Somebody over there got to tell me what happened to the numbers
because, at that point in time, we had three and four kids in one locker.
respect you guys over there, but I will tell you something, you do not tell
all the truth. Mr. Chair, they
certainly do not tell all the truth, I can guarantee you that.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SLADE:
Mr. Chair, I brought
issues here over the last year or so.
One of them was down in Freshwater.
I want to speak about my district because I am very proud to stand
here as the Member of the House of Assembly for the Carbonear Harbour
Grace district.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SLADE:
I want to talk about
number three well down in Freshwater.
We all know there is arsenic in it.
We know it is high-level arsenic.
The Minister of Municipal Affairs knows all about it.
He asked the local service district chair down there to go out and
get estimates. He went out and
got estimates. He was talking to
somebody in Municipal Affairs the other day.
Arsenic is a major issue. The
worst thing we could ever do is turn our backs on people who have that
situation. The people of
Freshwater deserve clean drinking water, the same as every person in this
Province, Mr. Chair.
you know what the gentleman on the local service district was told down
there? You are going to have to
wait for the next new Budget to come down.
Shame on this government to allow the people of Freshwater to be
treated like that. I cannot
believe it.
Mr.
Chair, I stood here many times and I spoke about the road cut-offs down in
Freshwater and Bristol's Hope. I
spoke here on the floor at long lengths on it.
I presented petition after petition.
So, while government is over there tapping themselves on the back and
saying how wonderful they are, I can assure this government you are not
wonderful to the people in the Carbonear Harbour Grace district because
you have neglected them.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SLADE:
Mr. Chair, I am going to tell you, I
really would like for them to stop clapping over there right now because
they know I am right.
Mr.
Chair, now I will tell you, Bryant's Cove over the last number of years has
been applying to Municipal Affairs to get the Point Road done.
This is very interesting.
I have to tell you this one because this is indeed very interesting.
Point Road is to the point now where it is hardly usable.
Last year they might have been able to tack coat it, we will say, and
save the road. Forget about it.
After this winter, it is not going to happen.
School buses go out over that road, Mr. Chair.
Do you know what the school bus driver is saying?
We cannot go out there any longer to pick up the children.
Why? It is dangerous on
the bus for the kids, so they cannot go out.
Mr.
Chair, just imagine, this road has been applied for by the town for the last
four or five years and to this point, it is not done.
I will tell you how bad it is.
The Department of Transportation I think does their plowing for them
over there on this road. It is
that bad the Department of Transportation gave them sixty bags of wet patch
to patch the holes in it. That
is how bad it is. Sixty bags of
wet patch, can you imagine? So
how bad was it that the equipment did not even want to go out there?
heard the Minister of Finance get up there yesterday.
He spoke about all the things we say that the government did good.
You guys over there, you absolutely have me amazed.
You guys have been in government for twelve years, and every time I
hear each and every one of you over there getting up to speak every time
he blames it on the Liberals.
Guys, you have been over there twelve years; you have to take your own
blame. The Liberals did not do
it. If the Liberals did
something that was so wrong, why didn't you guys correct it?
You had twelve years to correct it twelve years to correct it.
It is crazy. I have never
seen anything like it in my life.
You guys do not take responsibility.
It is always the Liberals that have done it.
I do not understand it, Mr. Chair.
I do not understand it whatsoever.
Mr.
Chair, in Carbonear by the TC Square and not the present Minister of
Municipal Affairs now but the one prior to him.
Anyway, I will tell you, over there every year the Town of Carbonear
had to get after this government to have the lines placed on the road there.
It is a very dangerous place, a very dangerous place indeed.
They would have to go after government to turn around and get the
lines put in there because of people coming into Carbonear and one thing and
another so that there would not be any accidents there.
Mr.
Chair, last year, got after the minister, they finally got the lines put in,
but they forgot to put the arrows in.
They forgot to put the arrows in.
We went back to them; I went back to them in an email and letters to
follow up, the arrow signs, the directional arrows, were never put on it,
Mr. Chair, never put on it.
much for safety of the public and this government professes how they want to
be very, very compassionate with people.
No, Mr. Chair, absolutely not, there is no compassion whatsoever.
Mr.
Chair, I just mentioned the road there up in the district in Bryant's Cove.
At what point in time do we have to look at this and say the safety
of our children is foremost in our mind?
At what point in time, Mr. Chair?
Because apparently for the last four or five years, they did not have
that concern. This town has been
applying for that. They had
their share to put into that, so safety is certainly not on the minds of
this group.
There are many things wrong. I
will just give an example; Lady Lake Road has been waiting for roadwork for
the last twenty years. The
Thicket Road up there and this is factual.
If you went on the Thicket Road and talk about preference and what
this government has done, part of that road is in the member's district, the
Chair's district, and part of it is in mine.
If you looked at the part that was in the Chair's district it is in
pretty good shape. I have to
say, it is in pretty good shape.
Over on the other side, Mr. Chair, I am going to tell you something, you
would never believe it you would never believe it.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SLADE:
I will tell you something
else they done in Spaniard's Bay and I have a short while to get it out,
so I have to try to get it out.
In Spaniard's Bay, the divider was the church on the top of the hill and the
road was paved there. The Member
for Carbonear Harbour Grace, before I got here, they got curb and gutter
put on his side of the district.
There was a Liberal on the other side of the district and they would not put
in the curb and gutter, so there is now technical it gets.
Mr.
Chair, I am going to tell you something, I am fair, as fair can be, Mr.
Chair, and I respect a lot of guys across that way.
I have had many, many conversations there, but I will tell you
something. Your report card is
an F because you failed the people in my district, and there are lots of
other issues out in my district that does not get any attention from this
government.
CHAIR:
I remind the hon. member
his time has expired.
MR. SLADE:
I will say that right
now, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
CHAIR:
The hon. the Minister of
Environment and Conservation, and Service Newfoundland and Labrador.
MR. CRUMMELL:
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr.
Chair, it is certainly my pleasure to speak today on Interim Supply.
I love the passion on the other side of the House.
I heard a similar speech yesterday, Mr. Chair, from the Member for
St. John's South when he was on his feet.
remember not so long ago when the Member for St. John's South was on this
side of the House. He was on his
feet and he was talking about the great accomplishments that our government
achieved in the last ten years, and the investments we made in some of the
things that the member was talking about a few minutes ago.
The investments made in infrastructure, the investments in schools,
hospitals, roads and in ferries; and, Mr. Chair, investments in the
prescription drug plan. He was
very proud of that.
remember having conversations with the member when he was on this side of
the House; we would have conversations.
He was very proud of our tuition freeze.
It is one of the things that stood out to him.
We would talk about this at length.
have heard him on his feet in the House talking about the great
accomplishments and how much we have achieved in such a short period of time
to transform this economy. He
was on his feet yesterday, Mr. Chair, saying something a little bit
different. You cannot cut it
both ways. I have heard him say
that expression before as well.
Mr.
Chair, there are so many good things that have happened in the last ten
years. Certainly, when he talks
about the district, the member who was talking earlier from Carbonear
Harbour Grace and what was going on there.
The investments in that community, and those communities in that
region, were significant absolutely significant.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
CHAIR:
Order, please!
MR. CRUMMELL:
You are always going to
find things that need to be improved on, and I will give him that.
There is more work to be done out there in the Province.
There will always be work; 100 years from now there will still be
more work, but, Mr. Chair, things are moving ahead.
Things are moving forward and our economy has been transformed.
It has never been better.
It has to do with the decisions that were made on this side of the House,
the decisions that this government has made.
Oil
was part of the results of why we got to where we are, Mr. Chair, but it was
not the only reason. We
diversified the economy. We
found ways to manage the money that we had in our hands.
Mr. Chair, the proof is in the facts and the facts do not lie.
The facts are out there for all to see if they want to have a look at
them.
Look
at the average weekly wage here in this Province.
In 2003 it was $640, today it is $950.
It is the second highest in all of Canada.
That is something we should be proud of.
should be proud of living in a country where you can travel from one part of
the country to the other to do work.
I have two daughters working in Calgary who are coming home soon.
They were working out in Calgary and are soon to come home.
is a beautiful country that we live in, that we have that ability to go
around and move around our country to do work.
It is also beautiful, Mr. Chair, to work and live here in
Newfoundland and Labrador. That
is what we are trying to do for our children.
That is what I want to do for our children.
we look at retail sales, another benchmark, another key indicator of how
well we have done as a Province in the last ten years.
In 2003, retail sales were $5.7 billion.
Today, it is $8.6 billion.
Mr. Chair, that bodes well for the future.
The economy is still strong, despite what is happening in the oil
patch, despite what is happening right now with the resource and the economy
when it goes that way.
Everything else that is happening in this Province, I think we are in good
shape.
Employment, 211,000 people were working back in 2003; 232,000 people now.
Unemployment has gone from 6.4 per cent to 11.4 per cent, Mr. Chair,
in the opposite way around. So
in good ways, in positive ways, there are so many positives.
We have built a strong resource-based economy, there is no doubt
about that. On top of that, we
are working around the edges to build up other pieces of the base that we
need to move forward as a Province.
Mr.
Chair, we recognize we do have a revenue issue.
We do recognize that we have to make some changes to what we are
doing and how we are handling our monies.
This Budget is going to be a difficult one for everybody in the
Province, for everybody right across this Province.
We have to recognize that.
We have to be prudent, but we need to continue to grow our economy.
We can do that, even though government is in this fiscal reality.
When
you look at tax regimes, when you look at taxes and putting money in
people's pockets which is important to drive the economy of this Province,
Mr. Chair. In 2011, our policy
Blue Book said, ensure Newfoundland and Labrador families continue to
enjoy tax rates that are low and competitive. review our income tax rates
and provisions to ensure that our income tax system is progressive and
competitive.
Mr.
Chair, we have worked wonders since 2004.
We have worked wonders since 2007, when we came out with the other
policy Blue Book. If we just
look at the total cost of tax and fee changes from 2004 to 2014 to put money
in the pockets of the people of this Province, to be able to spend that
money and drive our economy, the people of this Province would be amazed.
The facts are on the table.
I am a person who believes in less tax.
I have to be honest with you, I do not think anybody in the Province
believes less tax is better, it stimulates the economy.
2004, we had a tax relief for the people of this Province of $4.8 million.
We put into their pockets, based on policies that we put in place,
this government put in place. In
2008, we were up to $322 million a year in tax relief for the people of this
Province; per year, Mr. Chair.
That is back into the pockets of the people of this Province to continue to
help drive this economy.
When
you look at 2012, $507 million in tax relief.
It is money in the pockets of the people of this Province.
In 2014, we went up to $744 million.
That put money in the pockets of the people of this Province to make
sure that we could continue to grow this Province, continue to grow jobs,
and continue to grow the economy.
Mr. Chair, each year these savings went right back into the economy
to make our economy a strong economy for the people of this Province.
We were diversifying the economy as we went.
Mr.
Chair, what does the future hold?
We know we are a resource-based economy.
We recognize that as a Province.
We recognize that as a people.
The
oil and gas sector, 2.7 billion barrels have been discovered so far and
being exploited. Well, Mr.
Chair, there are 6 billion-plus barrels out there estimated to be
undiscovered; 6 billion barrels of oil.
The oil age is not over yet.
Some people may say it is, but it is not.
This
bodes well for people like my son who is at the Marine Institute working at
a trade that is going to see him work in the offshore.
He will be employed shortly after, from the sounds of it, because
they need people like him. Even
though there is a downturn, we are still producing oil offshore of this
Province.
Natural gas, right now there are 10 trillion-plus cubic feet discovered, Mr.
Chair. We believe there are 60
trillion-plus cubic feet of natural gas off our shores of Newfoundland and
Labrador, out there yet to be discovered.
That is what is estimated based on the research that we have done.
At some point in time in our future we will find a way to harness
that, to monetize that.
Australia has done a wonderful job.
If we could follow the model they have down there, at some point in
time the oil companies, the gas companies of the world, they will come to
us. They will make it happen.
That will be the future for our children and their children going
forward. The oil and gas sector
is going to be strong into the future for many, many years.
Renewable energy, hydroelectricity, we have 6,700 megawatts developed.
Mr. Chair, there is another 6,000 megawatts-plus that are undeveloped
that we can harness and take advantage of.
Opening up new corridors to sell our energy to other jurisdictions in
North America bodes well for us for the future.
look at wind. People talk about
wind. We did not dismiss wind
when we talked about Muskrat Falls.
Wind was part of the equation.
We did the analysis on wind and wind did not make sense right now.
We need hydroelectricity to backstop what we need here in this
Province. Fifty-one megawatts of
wind is developed right now, Mr. Chair.
We have 5,000-plus megawatts undeveloped right now that we anticipate
could be developed to sell to the North American grid to monetize to make
this Province a better place for our people now and into the future.
Mr.
Chair, the opportunities are endless when it comes to renewable energy
absolutely endless. We have not
even reached the tip of the iceberg when it comes to that.
Mining similar circumstance in many ways.
Mining right now is going through a little bust, a little downturn,
but it will change. The world
economy will come around again, Mr. Chair.
This is what we have seen happen in the past, and the past will
repeat itself. The mining in
Labrador will continue to drive our economy, and the mines in the island
portion of Newfoundland will continue to drive this economy.
So,
Mr. Chair, we are working in manufacturing; we are working in resource-based
companies; we are working in forestry; we are working in the fishery; we are
working in the manufacturing industry; travel and tourism.
Mr. Chair, we have such a bright future ahead of us, and we laid the
groundwork, this government has laid the groundwork in the last ten years,
and the people of the Province will recognize that when they go to the polls
in the fall.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
CHAIR:
The hon. the Member for
St. George's Stephenville East.
MR. REID:
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
listened with interest to the Minister of Environment and Conservation, and
he makes some very good points.
I want to just give a quick
summary of where we are and what we are doing
here in the House now, just in case the people are just tuning in.
Mr.
Chair, what we are doing here is we are looking at Interim Supply.
Interim Supply is
an act to allow government to pay its bills before
the Budget comes down. This
year, our Budget is going to be a little later, so we are in in the process
of passing Interim Supply so we will be able to continue to pay our bills,
despite the Budget not being passed.
This
is a finance bill, so it allows us to have a good, wide-ranging debate on
many issues that impact on the Province.
So, it is a good opportunity to talk about public policy and where we
are going in this Province and our dependence on oil and issues like that.
I notice a number of other speakers have also sort of talked about
the finances of the Province and our dependence on oil and how we should
diversify our economy. So,
similar to that, I want to sort of inject some ideas related to public
policy and to have a little bit of a discussion about where we are going in
terms of our finances and where we are going in terms of public policy and
oil.
that light, I want to talk about a concept in public policy called the
paradox of plenty. I want to see
how that relates to what is happening in this Province and how we compare to
other places. The concept of the
paradox of plenty was developed by an economist, Terry Lynn Karl, back in
the 1990s. What she did was she
looked at places around the world where oil had been discovered and she
looked at how their economy had been impacted by the discovery of oil.
She did a comprehensive analysis and what she found was very
interesting. What she found was
that in some cases places that had discovered oil turned out to be worse off
in the long run than places that had not discovered oil.
Mr.
Chair, there is a paradox there if they have discovered these riches off
their shore or on their land, why are they, in the long-term, less well off
than places that never discovered oil or never discovered mineral wealth?
Why does that happen? So,
that is the paradox, Mr. Chair.
Basically, she wondered how did this happen.
What she found was that the huge influx of money to the economy from
the resource revenue had a detrimental impact on the producing
jurisdictions.
is interesting to apply the concept of the paradox of plenty to Newfoundland
and Labrador. We have had a
discovery of oil in our Province and if we look around, we should be looking
at other places to see what we can learn from how they have conducted their
affairs, to see what mistakes other places have made, and to look at how we
cannot fall into this situation where we have the paradox of plenty.
No matter what government is in power, Mr. Chair, these are some
public policy directions that we should be taking, some things that we
should be doing.
Newfoundland and Labrador is a relatively new producing region of the world.
In terms of where we are today, we are basically similar to what the
early days of the North Sea was in terms of producing oil.
We are still very small.
We have three producing fields and another one to come on stream fairly
shortly. We are very small scale
compared to somewhere like the North Sea where hundreds of wells have been
drilled and much oil has been taken out.
Mr.
Chair, it is interesting to note the impact of oil here in this Province.
Between 1997 and 2010, provincial real GDP grew by 58 per cent.
It is estimated by the Department of Finance that half of this growth
is directly attributed to oil production.
It is interesting that there have been comments that we are overly
dependent on oil revenue.
Another concept that is very common in terms of the oil industry, public
policy and the way it impacts on the economies of the producing jurisdiction
is called the Dutch disease, Mr. Chair.
It is sort of related to the paradox of plenty.
The Dutch disease is a term that began to be used by
The Economist magazine in 1959.
It related to the discovery of gas off the Netherlands during that
period.
Mr.
Chair, basically the Dutch disease is a concept in economics that involves
the use of when oil is discovered often what happens is that other
industries are neglected.
Capital and labour move to the oil industry, and other industries such as
agriculture and manufacturing are neglected in many ways.
Basically, goods are not produced locally.
Because you have all this oil wealth, all this oil revenue, you are
able to import the goods you need rather than produce them locally.
That is another way that oil can have a damaging impact on your
economy.
These two concepts are sort of related: Dutch disease and the paradox of
plenty. The paradox of plenty is
sort of a broader concept because it looks at how oil and natural resources
impact on the public policy in the Province and public institutions.
Basically, it hinders the oil development it hinders the
development of functioning public institutions.
It leads to a greater concentration of power.
It also leads to an expansion and predominance of the state in many
places. This sort of thing has
been documented in many places such as Africa where oil has been discovered
and corruption has resulted and authoritarian regimes have come about.
Mr.
Chair, if you look around the world at what other jurisdictions have done in
terms of the way they have used and developed and taken advantage of their
oil revenue, a country that a lot of people sort of look at, a place that
has done it right, is Norway.
Norway is seen as a model country that has done it right; but, Norway, some
people say, is a place that had a lot of wealth when it discovered oil.
It had mature democratic institutions when it discovered oil, but
others look at the state-owned oil company, Statoil, and the impact that
that had on government and the way it was set up.
Mr.
Chair, also the Norwegian Government Petroleum Fund is also an interesting
fund. It is not just a savings
account, but it is the way it is set up that has made it such a success.
Norway did not start off with this production fund; it sort of came
about as a result of the impact of oil prices dipping in the 1980s and the
severe recession that resulted from that.
The Norwegian oil fund was a reaction to that.
The
interesting thing about the fund is that the government is not allowed to
pull money out of that fund.
They are limited to how much they can take out in a year.
They are limited to the revenue that is generated from the capital
amount of the fund, to take that and invest it.
Also, the government has sort of put restrictions on how the funds can be
invested and a portion of it has to be invested outside of Norway.
That is a way of diversifying their investments outside of the
petroleum industry.
Mr.
Chair, those are some things that Norway has done to use their revenue
wisely. Maybe in the future of
the debate I will have a chance to talk about this a little more.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
CHAIR:
The hon. the Member for
Bonavista South.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. LITTLE:
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
is an honour to be able to speak in this House today on the Interim Supply
bill, Bill 44. At this point in
time, Mr. Chair, I would like to extend a sincere thank you to the people of
Bonavista South for your continued support, confidence, and trust that you
put in me on a regular basis as the Member of the House of Assembly for the
District of Bonavista South.
Mr.
Chair, after listening to the previous speakers today and previously on this
very important Interim Supply bill, I would like to respond and outline the
many positive moments and times and announcements and investments that this
government has made since 2004.
are definitely maximizing our resources and investments into our resources,
and I would like to explain how it ties into major projects that have been
announced and investments that occurred in the District of Bonavista South
over the past number of years. I
will definitely outline the number of positive initiatives that this
government has been involved in, Mr. Chair.
would like to start by talking about the major investments that went into
the tourism industry and how it ties into future investments made by
business people who actually invested their own money into the tourism
industry as well because of the major investments that our government has
put into the tourism industry.
would like to speak on a number of major projects, Mr. Chair, and outline
them. Tourism Elliston if you
look at the Home from the Sea, the Sealers Memorial, and the investment that
this government made into that particular legacy project and how it ties
into the future tourism industry in this Province, I would ask members
opposite, what would you have done?
Would you have cancelled that type of investment?
That is a very important legacy to my district and to the future of
this Province.
Would you have not invested in that area?
I am going to ask the questions; I am going to continue to ask.
The Sir William Ford Coaker foundation, a national historic site, a
site that this government has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars,
would you have not invested in that particular site?
I would like to know where you would have made cuts in relation to
where we go in the future, Mr. Chair.
The
Tip-A-Vista Wellness Foundation our government has made enormous
investments in that particular site in Bonavista South and how it ties into
wellness and physical activity and what we are doing as a group on the
Bonavista Peninsula in promoting wellness, and it is great project.
Would you have not invested in that project?
I would like to ask the members opposite, which projects would you
have cut, which projects would you have not allowed to go ahead if you were
in power?
addition to those committees, Mr. Chair, there are a number of other major
projects that this government invested in.
Our government has invested highly in health and community services.
I am proud as an MHA, and a representative of the people of Bonavista
South, representing the people of this Province, Mr. Chair.
When you look at the health care investments an investment in a new
protective care community residence; $2.6 million that this government has
invested in.
Health care is a priority. This
government made health care a priority, Mr. Chair, and we will continue to
make health care a priority. I
wonder, what would the members opposite have done if they were in power?
Would they have invested in health care, the new protective care
community residence that is very important?
There is a wait-list, Mr. Chair, in relation to this type of project.
There still is a wait-list.
our government has invested in strategic areas in relation to departments
such as health and community services.
In addition to that, Mr. Chair, in our last Budget, there was an
announcement for dialysis. Right
now, we have invested $1.5 million into dialysis services in the District of
Bonavista South. It is a
regional investment, an investment that allows our own people to stay at
home and have a service right in our own communities in Bonavista South.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. LITTLE:
I have to ask the
question: What would you have done if you were in government?
To me, those investments were strategic investments that were a
priority to the District of Bonavista South, Mr. Chair.
make no apologies for making investments like that on behalf of the people
of the District of Bonavista South not only in Bonavista South but,
strategically, these type of investments occurred right across the Province
of Newfoundland and Labrador.
will be upfront and I will say it again: Can we do everything for everyone?
Honestly, the answer is no.
This government is all about letting the people know upfront what we
can do and what we cannot do.
This
past week the Premier of this great Province visited the historical
beautiful District of Bonavista South.
Through the process we and I will say we, the people, the people of
Bonavista South along with our Premier and their elected MHA had great
conversations about the investments that this government made on this side
of the House for the District of Bonavista South.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. LITTLE:
I can tell you they
certainly showed their appreciation for the investments that we made as a
government and we will continue to make strategically as a government in the
future, Mr. Chair.
will mention exactly the visitations and the places that we visited, Mr.
Chair. We actually visited the
community of Trinity Bay North.
We went through a business there, the bottling plant at the Sir William Ford
Coaker Foundation. We spent about an
hour there in consultation and talks with a business person.
He was delighted that we stopped by.
The workers were delighted we stopped by and had a consultation talk
with them.
From
there we went to the College of the North Atlantic, a campus in Bonavista
that serves the region and the Province, Mr. Chair.
I must say, I am delighted to know there are major new programs,
investments made by this government into the College of the North Atlantic.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. LITTLE:
I will name some of the
investments and the programs, Mr. Chair.
There is a culinary unit in that College of the North Atlantic.
It is next to none. An
investment that was made by this government, an investment where there are
two cooks and a baker program.
An investment where our own people can graduate and find jobs, and go into
entrepreneurship, become business people and reach out, help develop, and
make this Province grow.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. LITTLE:
That is what this
government is all about, making this Province grow, Mr. Chair.
Mr.
Chair, there is a new program there as well, a program that I am truly
delighted about. It is called
the heavy equipment operator course.
There are a number of people from the Bonavista region, from
Bonavista South and all over the Province involved in that program.
There are two instructors there as well who are providing great educational
skills to our younger people, to some older people, to people who have been
out of the labour force who will definitely get back into the labour force
with jobs in the labour market of tomorrow.
That is what this government is all about, Mr. Chair, investing in
programs like that in our educational system, and we will continue to invest
in those programs.
must say, I am delighted, and I, for one, would not want to see any of those
programs cut. I ask the crowd
across: What would you do if you were elected?
MR. CHAIR:
I remind the hon. member his time has expired.
MR. LITTLE:
Thank you very much for
your time.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
CHAIR:
The hon. the Member for
Signal Hill Quidi Vidi.
MS MICHAEL:
Thank you very much, Mr.
Chair.
I am
really happy to be able to stand again and speak.
I would like to make some reference to what we have just heard from
the Member for Bonavista South.
Considering the cuts they made to the College of the North Atlantic in 2013,
I think we should be looking at a reversal of some of that, Mr. Chair.
That is not much of a promise of him to say there are going to be no
cuts to programs. They cut them
as far as they could two years ago.
So who knows what is going to happen this time.
I am sure the people in th