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May

19, 2015

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS

Vol. XLVII No. 16

The

House met at 1:30 p.m.

MR. SPEAKER (Verge):

Order, please!

Admit strangers.

would like to welcome everybody back for another week of debate in the House

of Assembly.

Statements by

Members

MR. SPEAKER:

Today we are going to

hear members' statements from members representing the Districts of Burgeo

La Poile, Baie Verte Springdale, Virginia Waters, St. John's North, Mount

Pearl South, and Bonavista South.

The

hon. the Member for the District of Burgeo La Poile.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. A. PARSONS:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

rise today to recognize and commend the Occupational Health and Safety

Committee, of Marine Atlantic Inc.'s Port aux Basques terminal, on receiving

the Committee of the Year Award for the second time.

The award was presented at the annual Newfoundland and Labrador

Occupational Health and Safety Conference on May 14 in Gander.

be eligible for this award the committee must promote health and safety

awareness programs, hold regular meetings, perform workplace inspections,

listen to worker concerns, identify aspects of the workplace that may be

unhealthy or unsafe, and make recommendations to management for possible

improvements.

The

committee says safety is the priority of Marine Atlantic and they have been

instrumental in changing the safety culture at Marine Atlantic to ensure all

employees remain safe.

Committee members include: Terry Anderson, Betty Lynn Battiste, Tammy

Buckhurst, Eric Davis, Gwen Davis, Bob Green, Robert Horwood, Tony Jeans,

Dave Keats, Carolann Keough, Cara Leamon, Brad Matthews, Darryl Matthews,

Dave Mauger, Sheldon Ryles, Ross Skinner, Dave Stockley, Sharmaine

Strickland, and Basil Taylor.

Mr.

Speaker, I ask all members of this House to join with me in congratulating

the Occupational Health and Safety Committee of Marine Atlantic Inc.'s Port

aux Basques terminal on a job well done.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

the District of Baie Verte Springdale.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. POLLARD:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

rise in this hon. House today to congratulate the Springdale Bravettes

under-20 female hockey team, who competed in the B division for the

provincial championship. Hosted

by Rocky Harbour on the weekend of March 27-29, the provincial tournament

was comprised of four teams.

The

nail-biting victory in double overtime over the host squad gave the

Bravettes the coveted gold medal.

It was a hard-fought battle said head coach, Dave Edison.

Members of the team, which include the Baie Verte system, are: Britanny

Andrews, Kristie Macdonald, Robyn Rideout, Chelsea Regular, Ami Welsh,

Lashonda Roberts, Emily Edison, Brittany Mckay, Taylor Mackay, Emily

Chislett, Tara Traverse, Kelsie Parsons, Summer Barrett, and Allie Saunders.

Coaches Dave Edison and Bob Rideout are to be commended for guiding the team

to another solid provincial championship.

is interesting to note that the core members of this team competed in all

the provincial championship divisions as they progressed through the minor

hockey system: the under twelve, under fifteen, and now under twenty.

all three provincial divisional championships, the exceptional team amassed

a total of six medals. It took

skill, dedication, and hard work to accomplish this.

Please join me in applauding a unique team for such an extraordinary

performance.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

the District of Virginia Waters.

MS C. BENNETT:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, I rise in this hon. House today to recognize Jocelyn Greene, former

Executive Director of Stella Burry Community Services.

Greene was recently awarded the Order of Canada for her work in transforming

Emmanuel House residential treatment program into Stella's Circle, one of

the largest social enterprises in the Province.

Stella's Circle helps over 800 people annually overcome challenges of

literacy, issues of physical and mental health, as well as incarceration.

Mr.

Speaker, I ask all hon. members to join me in recognizing Ms Greene, her

work, and her inspiration and even more importantly her results which have

helped hundreds of women and men to overcome challenges in their lives.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

the District of St. John's North.

MR. KIRBY:

Mr. Speaker, on February

28, fifty-four students from across Newfoundland and Labrador gathered at

the Holy Heart Theatre in St. John's to take

part in

The Telegram newspaper's annual

Spelling Bee.

The Telegram

Spelling Bee is an excellent opportunity for students to showcase their

academic skills, their spelling ability, their ability to think on their

feet under pressure, and their confidence in speaking before an audience.

This

year's competition featured four students from the District of St. John's

North. Leary's Brook Junior High

Grade 7 students Owen Cumby and Dylan March took part, as well as two

students from St. Andrew's Elementary, Grade 5 student Kassandra Kennedy and

Grade 6 student Luesma Fully.

Each

of these students took the opportunity to demonstrate their talents at the

highest level of competition in Newfoundland and Labrador, with Luesma Fully

lasting the longest an impressive nine rounds of competition.

Special congratulations are in order for overall winner Greta Warner, a

student at Bishop Field, who will represent the Province at the Scripps

National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. next week.

Mr.

Speaker, I ask all hon. members to join me in congratulating all

participants of the 2015 Telegram

Spelling Bee.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

the District of Mount Pearl South.

MR. LANE:

Mr. Speaker, it gives me

great pleasure to rise in this hon. House to recognize several outstanding

young people in my community.

The twenty-sixth Annual Mount Pearl Focus on Youth Awards was a tremendous

success and highlighted the great talent, athleticism, and intellectual

ability possessed by some very amazing youth.

These individuals included: Mount Pearl Female Youth of the Year, Noubahar

Hasnain; Male Youth of the Year, Harrison Latham; Youth Volunteer of the

year, Cassandra Chislett; Male Youth Speak-off award winner, Ryan McDonald;

Female Youth Speak-off award winner, Victoria Jackman; STEM Award winner for

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math, Lauren Coombs; Male Youth

Athlete of the Year, Liam Hickey; Female Youth Athlete of the Year, Emily

Bailey; Youth Sports Team of the Year, the Mount Pearl Minor Basketball

Girls Under-14 Celtics Team; Official of the Year, Jeff Butler.

RNC

Youth in Service Award winner, Emily Gallant; Youth Group of the Year, the

O'Donel Patriot Mentors; Performing Arts Individual Award winner, Jenny

Mallard; Performing Arts Group Recognition Award Winners, the O'Donel Jazz

Band, Mount Pearl Show Choir, Etcetera

28: True Colours Cast and Crew, the Mount Pearl Senior High Drama Club,

and the Cast and Crew of O'Donel High School's

Sound of Music ; Visual Arts Award

winner, Sarah Hiscock; and Literary Arts Award winner, Breanna Sheppard.

One

of our tremendous adult community volunteers, Mr. Brian Hunt, was also

recognized at the gala and awarded the Adult Volunteer Working with Youth in

Sport Award.

would ask all Members of this hon. House to join me in congratulating all of

these individuals on their accomplishments.

Our future is in good hands.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Bonavista South.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. LITTLE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Honourable colleagues, I rise today to recognize and congratulate the Silver

Rockers who are members of the Silver Wings Skating Club from Bonavista on

winning the gold medal at the Provincial Synchronized Skating Championships

in the Beginner I category. This

competition was held at the Eastlink Event Centre in Clarenville on February

7, 2015.

The

Rockers were the only team that represented the Bonavista club and this is

only the second year that the team has competed.

When they are on the ice, the team members, who range in age from

eight to twelve years, demonstrate unison, teamwork, dedication, and

emotion. In order for these

young skaters to compete, they have to depend on each other and when they

step on the ice they are one, they move as one, and they succeed as one.

The

members of the Silver Rockers are: Hailey Maloney, Bailey Hayward, Madison

Elliott, Jordyn Piercey, Patricia Maloney, Michaela Butler, Jennifer

Hiscock, Emma Butler, Klaire Hayward, Natalee Chaulk, and Sarah Boyce.

The coach is Brittney Baril and team manager is Wendy Maloney.

Mr.

Speaker, Members of the House of Assembly, please join me in congratulating

the Silver Rockers on bringing the gold medal home to Bonavista.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Statements by Ministers.

Statements by

Ministers

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Labrador and Aboriginal Affairs.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. RUSSELL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, I rise today to update this hon. House on the Aboriginal Affairs

Working Group meetings which I had the pleasure to attend in Yellowknife

last week. Provincial and

territorial ministers responsible for Aboriginal Affairs, along with leaders

of national Aboriginal organizations gathered to work together to improve

opportunities for First Nation, Inuit and Metis people throughout Canada.

this meeting, Ministers of Aboriginal Affairs from across the country and

leaders from the five national Aboriginal organizations engaged in

discussions, heard from a number of informative presenters, and endorsed

recommendations on important issues such as education, economic development,

housing, ending violence against Aboriginal women and girls, disaster

mitigation, and emergency management in Aboriginal communities.

Mr.

Speaker, one of the key topics of our meeting was discussing the outcomes of

the first National Roundtable on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and

Girls which was held in Ottawa on February 27.

Last week, all leaders in attendance called on the federal government

to join in the development and implementation of a prevention and awareness

campaign aimed at ending violence against Aboriginal women and girls.

We also continue to call for a national inquiry into missing and

murdered Aboriginal women and girls.

Personally, I want to take this moment to acknowledge and remember

Bernice Rich and Loretta Saunders as two of my reasons for supporting an

inquiry.

The

provincial government has worked hard to support an end to violence against

Aboriginal women and children and we continue to provide support for

violence prevention projects sponsored by Aboriginal governments and

organizations through the Aboriginal Women's Violence Prevention Grants

Program.

Mr.

Speaker, the Aboriginal Affairs Working Group also discussed and

acknowledged the barriers which Aboriginal women face in gender equality,

education, and workplace opportunities, and the need to continue work for

the development of a Socio-Economic Action Plan for Aboriginal Women.

In addition, leaders considered work completed on the issue of

Aboriginal children in care with a view to reducing the number of children

in care and improving their outcomes.

July, Premiers and National Aboriginal Organizations leaders will meet in

Happy Valley-Goose Bay to discuss the recommendations from this Yellowknife

meeting. I look forward to

welcoming the leaders of our country to the Big Land and to showcase the

famous Labrador hospitality.

Mr.

Speaker, I believe it is important that all of us work together to further

support and ensure a stronger future for Aboriginal communities across this

Province and this country.

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.

Ending violence against Aboriginal women and girls should be a

priority for all levels of government across Canada.

That is why we, too, support the call for a national inquiry into

missing and murdered Aboriginal women.

It is a shame that the Conservative government in Ottawa continues to

ignore the request.

While this government advocates for such an inquiry, it is this same

government that has been operating without an up-to-date violence prevention

action plan for three years. It

is this same government that two years ago cancelled the Family Violence

Intervention Court when they should have spent the last two years expanding

it. Now in Budget 2015, they are

committed to exploring a domestic violence court model for Labrador with a

total investment of $100,000 that will serve the Aboriginal people of

Labrador.

Mr.

Speaker, the commitment is only to a model, but how much longer will the

people of Labrador have to wait before they actually have access to a

domestic violence court?

also believe it is important that all of us work together to further support

and ensure a stronger future for the Aboriginal communities across this

Province and country, but if we believe that then we should also be prepared

to put the necessary resources in place to support it.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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 the advance copy of his statement.

It is good to get an update on the Aboriginal Affairs Working Group

and to hear that it was addressing the findings of the National Roundtable

on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

is important to call on the federal government to help implement a

prevention and awareness campaign, but a campaign will only go so far in

ending the violence. A national

inquiry is the highest priority for Aboriginal organizations and

communities.

When

the minister talks about continuing to call for a national inquiry, I would

like to know specifically what he means.

I would also like to know when was the last time he wrote a letter to

the federal minister calling for a national inquiry, and I would like to

know when they are going to tell us what really is going to happen with

regard to the Family Violence Intervention Courts.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Environment and Conservation.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. CRUMMELL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge important initiatives underway in

Newfoundland and Labrador to help deter potential offenders from dumping

their garbage at unauthorized sites throughout the Province.

Recently, the Multi- Materials Stewardship Board and Crime Stoppers

established a new partnership and public awareness campaign to encourage

residents to take an active role in protecting their communities by

reporting suspicious activity.

Mr.

Speaker, in this Province and across the country, illegal dumping is a

serious and unnecessary problem that can pollute land and water, negatively

impact wildlife, and lead to substantial clean-up costs; but this is an

offence that can easily be avoided by properly disposing of items through

municipal collection services, recycling programs, special collection

events, and public drop-off facilities.

MMSB

and Crime Stoppers are sending a clear message that illegal dumping is a

crime and that anyone can safely and anonymously report suspicious activity

by calling, emailing, or texting Crime Stoppers.

As summer approaches, we encourage all Newfoundlanders and

Labradorians to keep this message top of mind.

Whether you are at the cabin, camping, or exploring one of our many

beautiful trails, if you see something, say something.

is also important for people to realize that tossing items to the side of

the road is

an act of illegal dumping that can prove to be a safety hazard

for other motorists and also for the crews who must collect them.

We remind everyone to dispose of the garbage and the old household

items in a responsible and appropriate manner.

We all share responsibility to protect our environment, and also to

be mindful of the safety of crews and fellow motorists.

Mr.

Speaker, the Crime Stoppers public awareness campaign builds on the Illegal

Dumping Surveillance Program, implemented by MMSB and the Town of Conception

Bay South, to provide participating communities with technology and training

to implement effective surveillance and enforcement programs within their

jurisdictions.

date, fifteen municipalities have implemented surveillance programs that

have resulted in more than thirty charges being laid and over twenty-five

convictions. While illegal

dumping continues to present a significant threat to our environment, we are

pleased to see how partnerships between government, municipalities, and law

enforcement are working to help effect positive change and protect our

communities.

Mr.

Speaker, it is through an integrated approach that includes targeted

enforcement, community engagement and public education that we will combat

illegal dumping. I encourage all

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians to take an active role.

Together, we can make a difference.

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, I thank

the minister for an advance copy of his statement, and we certainly must

combat illegal dumping in the Province.

It is a good partnership between the MMSB and Crime Stoppers, but the

Province is certainly late coming to the game and that this matter of

illegal dumping has been really spearheaded by municipalities with the

capacity.

The

minister raised the issue and highlighted I would like to highlight as

well the Town of CBS, Conception Bay South, as a shining example of

showing great leadership. There

is a further opportunity to expand with and work with regional services

boards like NorPen and those that exist on the Burin and Bonavista

Peninsulas.

have to look at the real mismanagement in the waste management strategy when

we look at what my colleague for the Bay of Islands has been raising around

the West Coast and Don Downer and the waste management plan.

There is lots of money that has been spent and little activity.

Towns, local service districts, and other communities are worried about

increased illegal dumping, especially on the West Coast when fees will

sharply rise because garbage has to be shipped to Central; as far as St.

Anthony and Port aux Basques to Central Newfoundland and Labrador.

Labrador will see even further challenges, given its geographical

location.

There has been lots of money that has been spent but we need to certainly

see better results when it comes to this government and the leadership role

that it plans to take.

commend the municipalities.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The

hon. the Member for Signal Hill Quidi Vidi.

MS MICHAEL:

Mr. Speaker, I too thank

the minister for the advance copy of his statement.

I am

pleased to hear of this partnership to raise public awareness of the damages

caused by illegal dumping and littering.

It will be a new means to encourage people to become more active as

environmental stewards in their communities and it will help raise awareness

that illegal dumping and littering should be taken more seriously.

Mr.

Speaker, recent media stories about all of the refuse still found in our

woods and open areas indicate that we have a major cultural problem.

We need the government involved with everybody else in an aggressive,

targeted, education campaign in our communities and schools, and more

enforcement to change that culture.

applaud the municipalities and the organizations for their efforts to end

illegal dumping and I urge more involvement of the provincial government.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Further statements by

ministers?

Oral

Questions.

Oral Questions

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of

the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

part of an agreement to ship unprocessed fish, OCI was to employ 110 people

in their Fortune fish plant for full-time processing jobs; however, it is

now reported that more than 100 employees have not worked since last

December.

ask the Premier: Why aren't the terms of the agreement you signed with OCI

not being followed?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Fisheries and Aquaculture.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. GRANTER:

Mr. Speaker, I had

officials speak to OCI officials this morning.

They informed me, as they did in the last couple of weeks, that the

plant will be open in June for twenty weeks or more this particular year.

As I said in the House of Assembly before, we will hold OCI

accountable to the agreements that they have signed with the government.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of

the Official Opposition.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. BALL:

Mr. Speaker, it is one

thing to talk to officials at the company, it is another thing to do

something for the people of Fortune.

This agreement was signed in December 2012.

The media release at the time highlighted one of the requirements was

a minimum of 110 full-time processing positions for a minimum of five years.

ask the Premier: You have a responsibility here, why aren't you making this

company live up to its commitments?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Fisheries and Aquaculture.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. GRANTER:

Mr. Speaker, again, I

said I had officials speak to OCI this morning.

I have met with the union.

I have met with union officials from Fortune and from the company.

We are trying our darnedest to make sure OCI upholds to the standards

by which it was signed in the agreement.

understand there are two ships at sea right now, Mr. Speaker.

The reports coming back is that the fish caught are all small sized.

It has only been in the last two or three days that the amount of

volume that is coming in over the side has actually increased, and the size

of the fish is actually increasing.

The company has agreed that they would have at least twenty weeks of

work starting the first week of June this year.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of

the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

will ask the minister: Is twenty weeks the way you interpret this agreement

with OCI? Because it speaks to

something very different than that when you read through the document.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Fisheries and Aquaculture.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. GRANTER:

Mr. Speaker, again, I say

that I spoke to the company working with the company, working with the

officials of the union, working with head office of the union here in St.

John's. We will hold the company

accountable for the agreements which they signed.

Sometimes it takes time, depending on the amount of fish that is

being caught, the amount of fish and the quality of the fish that is coming

over the side with regard to the kinds of fish that you can process in the

particular plant.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. GRANTER:

Mr. Speaker, the company

this morning said to me, reinforced to me that they would have twenty weeks

work starting in June. We

continue to work with the company.

We continue to work with officials and the people of Fortune.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of

the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Well, holding somebody accountable is more than just a phone call to a

company when you are talking about people's jobs and livelihoods at stake in

Fortune, I say, Mr. Speaker.

After this government's botched expropriation of the Abitibi mill in Grand

Falls-Windsor and hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayers' money spent,

demolition of the mill was set to begin.

Government has said that taxpayers are not on the hook for

dismantling the mill and that a private company has paid $500,000 to

government.

ask the Premier: Since taxpayers are still responsible for the environmental

liabilities at the mill, how much are they actually on the hook for?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Transportation and Works.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. BRAZIL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am

glad that the Leader of the Opposition did bring up the point that we have a

very unique contract here with Delson International around the integrity of

taking down that historic piece of property out there, at no cost, Mr.

Speaker, I might note, to the taxpayers.

Also, it will generate some revenue.

What

we will do, once the piece of property is taken down to ground level, we

will be working with the municipalities and the stakeholders to determine

what is the best use of that land, Mr. Speaker.

Once that is identified, then we will know exactly what the

remediation costs or what it is we have to do to make sure that that is a

useable piece of property for the people of this great Province.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of

the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

remind the Premier and the minister that this is not a unique contract; this

is something that has been done in other Atlantic Provinces, even we have

seen it in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

Last

week when talking about environmental liabilities at the former Abitibi

site, the minister said that all the work has been done.

ask the Premier: If all the work is done, why are you not telling the people

of the Province how much they will have to pay for this botched

expropriation?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Environment and Conservation.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. CRUMMELL:

Again, Mr. Speaker, like

I said last week in the House of Assembly, this report will go forward to

the Auditor General and they will have a look at that his office will have

a look at that. They will

determine whether or not there are any liabilities.

We will not make that determination as a department.

It will be up to them to make that determination, Mr. Speaker.

We will know in the next little while exactly what that document will

show.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of

the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

What

I think I just heard the minister say, what he did say, was this was up to

Auditor General to determine the level of liability for this Province.

I just need clarification on that.

Is that what the minister just said?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Environment and Conservation.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. CRUMMELL:

Mr. Speaker, there is a

level of scrutiny under the general accounting accepted principles that are

involved here, and it would be the Auditor General to determine, from

practices, what is a liability and what is not a liability.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of

the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Well, I understand the AG says the liability should be recorded.

Mr.

Speaker, two months ago government called the former Abitibi mill a $100

million asset that the people would have.

Now with the $500,000 from the company that the minister just spoke

about and 75 per cent of the sales of scrap, I ask the Premier: Given that

you now claim that this is a $100 million asset, how much does his

government plan to collect from this demolition?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Transportation and Works.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. BRAZIL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As I

outlined earlier, $500,000 is a cheque in hand; it is what the company has

paid us as the initial payment for the demolition of that.

Once it is realized, after the costing of the demolition, we get 75

per cent of all materials and equipment that is sold on the market, which is

being handled by Delson International.

We have people on site to assess exactly the values.

We will get 75 per cent of those dollars that will come back to the

taxpayers of this Province.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of

the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

One

of the questions that are on the minds of people in Central Newfoundland is

about the timber resources. It

has been almost six years since the Abitibi expropriation and well over a

year since government announced they were negotiating with Rentech for the

development of the Central and Northern Peninsula timber resources.

ask the Premier: Why has the development of these resources been delayed for

so long?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Fisheries and Aquaculture.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. GRANTER:

Mr. Speaker, it is

recognized what the value of the timber resources in Central Newfoundland

and the Northern Peninsula and the value of that for the industry.

The industry is worth an incredible amount of money for the people of

the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

have been negotiating, as I said before, with Rentech for the resources out

in Central Newfoundland. Those

negotiations are continuing. As

I said in the House a little while back, when we get to a point in time

whereby there is agreement in principle and an agreement in place with

Rentech, it will be announced here in the House of Assembly, Mr. Speaker.

If we do not get to that level, we will announce that as well.

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, it is

clear that the forestry has not been a priority for this government for a

number of years. The industry

overview on the government's own website is from 2009, claiming that the

industry is valued at $250 million and 5,500 jobs.

This was reiterated by government members in the Budget debate.

ask the Minister of Forestry: When will you provide accurate job numbers and

the industry's real value?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister

Responsible for the Forestry and Agrifoods Agency.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. GRANTER:

Mr. Speaker, my numbers

indicate to me that the overall numbers associated with the forestry

industry in the Province is 5,500 and the annual value of the forest

industry is $250 million.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

The Straits White Bay North.

MR. MITCHELMORE:

Mr. Speaker, total

GDP, including forestry and farming was projected at $177 million in 2013,

and 2014 employment at 2,200 person years.

Budget documents reveal Corner Brook Pulp and Paper employs 550 full

and casual workers at the paper mill, forest operations, and power plant.

ask the minister: Is he able to account for the remaining 5,000 forestry

jobs to this House, and why does our renewable forest sector only get two

sentences in the Budget?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister

Responsible for the Forestry and Agrifoods sector.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. GRANTER:

Mr. Speaker, it is a good

question.

Again, my numbers indicate 5,500 associated with the forestry industry jobs

in the Province at a value of $250 million.

If he wants me to stand on the floor of the House of Assembly and

indicate where all 5,500 jobs are in the Province, Mr. Speaker, I cannot do

that right now, but if he wants me to table it I will get that information

and table it to the House of Assembly.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

St. John's North.

MR. KIRBY:

Mr. Speaker, on March 25,

I asked the Minister of Education if the promised Grades 5-7 school for

Torbay would have to accommodate Grade 8 students, given the school

district's decision to reconfigure the school to Grades 5-8.

The minister said, no. I

District which contradicts that response from the minister.

ask the acting minister: Who is telling the truth here, your government or

Milton Peach, your appointed school district Chair?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Acting

Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. DALLEY:

In your comments you are

obviously very supportive of the school board and the chair, which should be

duly noted.

Having said that, Mr. Speaker, what our government has done here is looked

at our Budget this year and looked at the many challenges in our education

system, particularly around capacity issues in the Northeast Avalon region.

What we have done here, Mr. Speaker, is awarded a tender to build a

brand new school in Torbay, a Grades 5-7 school

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. DALLEY:

acknowledging, Mr.

Speaker, that there is potential down the road, possibly five years down the

road, where you could see added pressures on that enrolment, where we may

have to add an extension to the building, but right now, with the support of

the school board, we are investing millions of dollars for the kids in

Torbay and really proud to do so.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

St. John's North.

MR. KIRBY:

Mr. Speaker, the acting

minister has now acknowledged what the chair of the school district has told

me, is that the school district has already placed a request for expansion

of the new Torbay school to accommodate Grade 8 students before it is even

built, before the tender is even awarded.

That means more portable classrooms crammed on to new school grounds

as we have seen this government do in the past.

ask now, Mr. Speaker, how much will taxpayers now be on the hook for because

government botched another school project, even before the shovels hit the

ground?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Acting

Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. DALLEY:

Mr. Speaker, my critic

wants to stand over there and play politics with a decision around building

a brand new 5 to 7 school, but the reality is that decision is supported by

the school board. Not only that;

not only do they support read the note.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. DALLEY:

Not only do they support

a Grades 5-7 school acknowledging capacity issues in the next five years,

the reality is we could put money in to deal with the expansion for the next

five years while some other kids in other schools do not have a classroom to

go to. That is not the decision

we are going to make.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

St. John's North.

MR. KIRBY:

As I said, Mr. Speaker, I

have the letter here contradicting what the minister told me here this

AN HON. MEMBER:

(Inaudible).

MR. KIRBY:

Private members do not do

that, Mr. Speaker.

The

school board decided to change the plan for the Torbay school last

September. Four months later, in

January, this government issued a tender for a school that is already too

small before it is even built, before the tender is even awarded.

Now the school board chair says they are asking for a building

extension even before the construction begins.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. KIRBY:

You had four months from

September to January to get this tender right.

How

come you cannot get it right? In

four months you could not get it straight.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Acting

Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development.

MR. DALLEY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

is absolutely right. The work

was done on a 5 to 7 school, the planning was done, and the board in looking

at their long term, Mr. Speaker, recognized there could be capacity issues

in five years' time.

Acknowledged by the board, acknowledged by the department, but the reality

is the board does not want delays in building a 5 to 7 school.

They do not want delays.

I can tell you, contrary to the critic, the parents in Torbay and the kids

in Torbay do not want delays.

The

other reality that we have to face, we are not going to put money into a

building that is going to sit there for five years with empty space when we

have kids who do not have a classroom to go to in September.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The

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

MR. KIRBY:

Mr. Speaker, I have a

letter here dated May 14 from the minister's appointed school board chair.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. KIRBY:

It says, the board of trustees has requested to the provincial government

that an expansion take place so the school can accommodate Grades 5-8

students. That is not what the

minister said here in the House.

Government is spending millions of dollars to build a school that they

themselves acknowledge now is too small.

Taxpayers will be on the hook in a year or two now

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. KIRBY:

Taxpayers are going to be

on the hook because government bungled yet another tender.

ask the minister: You had four months to get this right, why wasn't this new

tender done right from the beginning and save taxpayers of this Province the

money that they deserve to be saved, and give kids in that community a

school that is big enough to go to?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The

hon. the Acting Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development.

MR. DALLEY:

Mr. Speaker, a couple of

points; whether it is built today or built five years from now, the

taxpayers are on the hook for it.

The taxpayers are not going to put money into an empty building that

is not going to be used for five years when we have kids who do not have a

classroom to go to. The

taxpayers are paying today or in five years' time.

It is a very week argument.

The

other reality, Mr. Speaker, this is not botched, this is planned.

The reality is in five years' time

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. DALLEY:

when we need an

extension, we will deal with it.

The member says there are capacity issues.

We are building 5 to 7, Mr. Speaker.

There is no crammed space.

There will be enough room for Grades 5-7.

He wants the Grade 8s to come back and go to a Grades 5-7 school.

It does not happen anywhere on the planet.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The

hon. the Member for Burgeo La Poile.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Mr. Speaker, the use

of electronic cigarettes or e-cigarettes has become mainstream.

A 2015 survey shows that 20 per cent of Canadian youth have tried or

are actively using e-cigarettes and they are considered a gateway to

traditional smoking. Currently,

there are no regulations in this Province about the sale or use of

e-cigarettes. A Grade 6 student

could purchase them if they wanted.

ask the minister: Are you planning on introducing legislation to regulate

e-cigarettes in this Province?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, it is a very serious issue raised by the member opposite.

We are fully aware of the seriousness of this and the implications

that it has on our young people and people of all ages and members of our

population.

can tell you, Mr. Speaker, for some months now we have been reviewing this

particular matter. We have been

looking at options for legislation.

We have reviewed what other jurisdictions are doing.

Our plan is to bring forward legislation to the House of Assembly

when we have completed our comprehensive review of the entire circumstance.

It is a serious matter.

The health of young people is serious.

The health of our population is serious.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Burgeo La Poile.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Mr. Speaker, the

World Health Organization says regulations need to be put in place.

The CMA wants a ban on the sale of all e-cigarettes to anyone under

the age of eighteen. The federal

government's March 2015 report wants it banned again to people under the age

of eighteen and to prohibit their use in public buildings.

Nova Scotia has already regulated them; BC, Ontario, and Quebec are

all following suit.

ask the Premier: You say you are going to bring legislation; I would ask you

when will this legislation be brought to the House?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

the member opposite referenced there are a variety of views across the

country on strength of regulations, how strong they should be, what age

groups they should impact, and how they should be implemented.

Mr. Speaker, we are reviewing all of that.

We want to have the best legislation for Newfoundlanders and

Labradorians, the best regulations for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians with

top of mind at all time is the health of our population, our young people

and adults alike, Mr. Speaker.

are doing that work. We are

doing jurisdictional scans. When

we have that completed and we have a framework for legislation, we will be

bringing it forward.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Mount Pearl South.

MR. LANE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Last

week I asked the Minister of Health about privacy breaches.

The most recent incident involved a dairy farmer who ended up with

someone else's health records.

Such breaches are happening throughout all of government, not just Health

motor registration, wildlife, Justice, Advanced Education and Skills,

Newfoundland and Labrador Housing, and workers' compensation.

ask the Premier: When can we expect a government-wide effort to bring these

kinds of serious privacy breaches to an end?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KENT:

Mr. Speaker, as I

outlined last week and on previous occasions in this House, privacy breaches

whenever they occur, no matter whether they are deemed to be small or large,

they all need to be taken extremely seriously, they need to be acted upon,

they need to be reported to the ATIPP office, and also to the Information

and Privacy Commissioner. They

are all investigated.

is critical that we do the appropriate follow-up and that we review

practices and protocols within departments and agencies to make sure all the

steps are being taken to avoid any kind of privacy breach.

are showing leadership on this issue, Mr. Speaker.

Privacy breaches are inevitable.

Human error does occur from time to time.

It needs to be dealt with seriously.

At the same time, Mr. Speaker, we have brought in the best Access to

Information and Protection of Privacy legislation anywhere in the country;

it is among the best in the world.

We are going to continue to show leadership on this issue.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Mount Pearl South.

MR. LANE:

Mr. Speaker, there are

all kinds of breaches involving this government; even our IT operations are

vulnerable. A study conducted on

our computer systems by EWA Ltd. showed that we did not have a proper

incident response procedure in place if someone attempted to hack into our

computer system.

ask the minister: What action have you taken to ensure this flaw to our

computer security procedures has been corrected?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. WISEMAN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

the minister just indicated the security breaches is one of these things

that we often find ourselves experiencing, but one of the things that we

always learn from those experiences, Mr. Speaker.

Having a system that is going to be completely foolproof I do not

think any of us should be nave enough to think that all of our systems are

going to be constantly foolproof.

With

the advances in technology, hackers, and others will be able to get into

systems as they change, Mr. Speaker.

The critical thing for us, though, is to be constantly aware of

changes that are occurring, constantly upgrading our systems, reviewing

processes, reviewing procedures, and responding too.

We bring in companies like the opposite member identified a moment

ago. We bring in experts

periodically to do vulnerability assessments.

We learn from that and implement the necessary change.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Humber East.

MR. FLYNN:

Mr. Speaker, Anderson

Vacations recently published a Canada-Alaska travel guide where major

tourist towns in Newfoundland and Labrador are located on a map of Cape

Breton Island.

ask the minister: Is your department aware of this mistake, and have you

discussed this problem with the Canadian-based travel specialist?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Justice and Public Safety.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KING:

It is not difficult to

figure out a map of Canada and Newfoundland and Labrador, Mr. Speaker.

No, I am not aware. It is

the first I heard of it. I would

assume none of my officials would be aware or else they would have briefed

me on it. So there have been no

discussions.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Humber East.

MR. FLYNN:

Mr. Speaker, revenues to

the tune of a billion dollars in the tourism industry is at stake.

We have invested millions in advertising in Canadian markets, yet

travel specialists cannot even get our location right.

What

steps is the department taking to ensure this kind of sloppy mistake does

not happen again in the future?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Business, Tourism, Culture and Rural Development.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KING:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As I

said a few moments ago, we were not aware of the incident until the member

raised it here on the floor of the House.

So we have not taken any steps to rectify it.

would hardly go so far as to classify a mistake by a particular advertising

company as critical of a billion-dollar industry, Mr. Speaker.

We have invested significantly in tourism advertising and marketing

in this Province, and have marketed some very good campaigns that have

provided very good dividends to the businesses in the Province.

the member would be so kind as to provide me with the information after

Question Period, I will certainly follow up and see if we can have our staff

rectify the problem. Clearly, it

is not government's issue; it is a mistake made by a provider of some

vacation packages.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

St. John's South.

MR. OSBORNE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The

renovation to the Confederation Building to put the blue windows on is now

in excess of $56 million. We

also know that there has been structural work done to the eighth, ninth, and

tenth floors that is not included in that price.

ask the minister: What is the total cost of the structural work to the

eighth, ninth, and tenth floor, including all cosmetic work done to those

floors?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Transportation and Works.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. BRAZIL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

need to clarify; the initial contract and bid for the windows was $20

million. When that work began,

we were notified by the contractor that we had run into some structural

issues. There were some very

alarming issues around the structure of this building and how work itself,

fifty years ago, was not up to par.

What

we endeavoured then to do with the contractor was to rectify that, bring

this building, the people's building, back to where it is acceptable, is a

good working environment, and it represents democracy to the people of this

Province.

Mr.

Speaker, that whole package comes to $56 million, which includes the mason

work that is being done, steel structure, some electrical work, and the

windows itself.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Signal Hill Quidi Vidi.

MS MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

Last

week, I attended a town hall at memorial where student after student in a

full house said government's decision to cut $20 million from MUN's budget

resulting in a government-directed hike in tuition for international and

graduate students and a $1,000 hike in resident fees will cause them to quit

their studies here.

ask the Premier: Does he know that 40 per cent of the students and residents

are from rural Newfoundland and Labrador?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

Yes,

I am quite aware of the student population at Memorial University.

I can tell you that for those Newfoundlanders and Labradorians and

domestic students who attend memorial, they currently enjoy a 60 per cent

tuition freeze or 60 per cent lower than the Canadian average, Mr. Speaker.

It is the best in the country.

Our

aim and goal is to provide an opportunity for continued high-quality work

and delivery of education that memorial provides.

We have done that year after year after year.

can tell you that, for me, for one, I am very proud of the work that

Memorial University does, as well as the College of the North Atlantic.

We all know and we all believe that they provide a fine product to

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Signal Hill Quidi Vidi.

MS MICHAEL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

ask the Premier: Does he have any idea of the impact on rural students and

their families of an extra $1,000 to live in residence at our university?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

certainly am, and I am quite aware of the compensation package and cost to

students from Newfoundland and Labrador and Canada, as well as international

students. We have what is a very

competitive package, especially for our own domestic students, Mr. Speaker.

We are leading the country in moving loans to grants.

Starting this fall, when new students enter Memorial University, they are

going to be able to obtain an education when eligible and meet the

requirements without having a loan.

It will be provided through grants to those students.

That is leading edge.

are providing great products to Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, as well as

visitors or students who come to Newfoundland and Labrador to enjoy a great

education, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Signal Hill Quidi Vidi.

MS MICHAEL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

is happy to penalize students from rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

want to know, what analysis does he have showing the 30 per cent tuition

hike will not result in the loss of students at MUN?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER DAVIS:

Mr. Speaker, for

domestic students, the tuition freeze created about $335 million has been

invested by this government since 2005 to ensure the continuation of the

tuition freeze. It is the lowest

in the country, 60 per cent of the Canadian average.

For international students, Mr. Speaker, they actually pay

approximately 80 per cent lower than the Canadian average to receive an

education here in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Mr.

Speaker, people come to Newfoundland and Labrador and come to Memorial

University because they are going to receive a quality education.

That is going to continue.

We are going to continue to support Memorial University and it will

continue to be the fine institution that it currently is.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

St. John's Centre.

MS ROGERS:

Mr. Speaker, it has been

six weeks since Mr. Donald Dunphy was shot and killed in his home by a

member of the Protective Services Unit.

People are wondering what is happening with the investigation.

Given the magnitude of the situation, I ask the Premier: Does he know when

this investigation will be completed and made public to the people of

Newfoundland and Labrador?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Justice and Public Safety.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KING:

Mr. Speaker, the incident

the member raised indeed is very serious, as we have had considerable

discussions here on the floor of the House of Assembly.

cannot provide an update on the investigation.

As I have said many times, repeatedly here, I am not engaged with the

RCMP on daily investigations and their daily operational activities.

As much as I can say is they are into a process that takes time.

I do not think the RCMP has provided any definitive time frame.

I would encourage the member to direct her questions that way.

I do not have any information on that.

When

the investigation is concluded, my understanding is the conclusion will be

made public. A report will be

sent to me by the medical examiner and we will go forward from there, as I

have said many times, but I do not have daily operational knowledge of what

is happening there.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

St. John's Centre has time for a very quick question.

MS ROGERS:

Mr. Speaker, I ask the

Premier: Can he explain the policy of the PSU that would allow a

plainclothes officer from the PSU of the Premier's Office to go to a

citizen's private home unannounced and with no apparent provocation?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Justice and Public Safety for a quick reply.

MR. KING:

Mr. Speaker, I cannot be

any clearer than I have been over the last four weeks on that issue.

I am

not prepared to entertain any discussion around what has happened in the

particular incident raised here until such a time as the investigation has

concluded and government determines whether or not there is action we need

to take around an inquiry. The

rest of any speculation and any discussion around what the member is raising

here is better left for the police to conclude their investigation.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The

time for Question Period has expired.

Presenting Reports by Standing and Select Committees.

Tabling of Documents.

Tabling of

Documents

MR. SPEAKER:

Pursuant to

section 8 and

section 10 of the Public Tender Act, I hereby table reports of Public Tender

Act exceptions for the months of January and February, 2015, as presented by

the Chief Operating Officer of the Government Purchasing Agency.

Further tabling of documents?

Notices of Motion.

Notices of Motion

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

St. George's Stephenville East.

MR. REID:

Mr. Speaker, I move the

following motion, seconded by the Member for Bay of Islands:

WHEREAS government has made many expensive mistakes, which have cost

taxpayers of this Province millions of dollars; and

WHEREAS the government has not provided leadership in establishing proper

processes and management practices that would result in the prudent

expenditure of tax dollars;

IT RESOLVED that this House of Assembly condemns the current government's

wasteful, inept mismanagement of taxpayers' money.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Opposition

House Leader.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Yes, Mr. Speaker.

Pursuant to the Standing Orders, the motion just read by the member shall be

the one to be debated tomorrow.

MR. SPEAKER:

Further notices of

motion?

Answers to Questions for which Notice has been Given.

Answers to

Questions for which Notice has been Given

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

Before the hon. Minister of Transportation and Works begins, I would like to

remind the minister in advance that when answering questions for which

notice has been given a previous ruling setting precedent in the House is we

allow two to four minutes to answer each question.

If your answer requires information subsequent to that, then you are

free to table it.

The

hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.

MR. BRAZIL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

On a

question posed by the Member for Burgeo La Poile a couple of weeks ago

when I spoke to the Budget around the investments we have made to our school

system in this Province, Mr. Speaker, I would like to table information

relevant to the costing around such things as roof repairs at Basque

Memorial, a number of other ones, $250,000 for roof repairs at St. Boniface

in the member's own district. It

is noted there, nearly $100 million worth of investment in our school

system.

would like to table this for the review of the hon. member opposite, over

$100 million in school repairs and new schools in the last number of years.

I table that, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Further answers to

questions for which notice has been given?

Petitions.

Petitions

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Signal Hill Quidi Vidi.

MS MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

Petition to the House of Assembly of the Province of Newfoundland and

Labrador in Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned residents

humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS privatized nursing homes lower operating costs by paying lower

wages, de-unionizing, laying people off and cutting staff in these

facilities; and

WHEREAS studies have established that for-profit nursing homes are

associated with lower quality of services and poorer resident health

outcomes, including an increased risk of hospitalization; and

WHEREAS Auditors General of the Provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and

Ontario have reported that P3s cost taxpayers more;

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

House of Assembly to urge government to immediately stop the privatization

of long-term care.

in duty bound your petitioners will ever pray.

Once

again, Mr. Speaker, I am happy to stand and present this petition which

comes to me today from different parts of the Province.

I see signatures from Mount Pearl, Norris Arm, Botwood, Grand

Falls-Windsor, Harbour Breton, Springdale, from various parts of the

Province, from here to Central Newfoundland here on the Island.

People are really concerned that long-term care, which is part of our health

care system, is going to fall into the hands of private operators because of

the new policies of this government.

We all know when operations are in the hands of private operators

that the people running them, and rightly so, are there to make money.

There is nothing wrong with that, except in the area of taking care

of our senior citizens in long-term care who should be under our health care

system, there should be no attempt to be making money on the backs of the

people who need care.

has been pointed out by many studies, it is proven in this country, and in

more than this country but especially in this country, that the

privatization of long-term care will result in lower standards of care for

our seniors and those who need chronic care, Mr. Speaker.

It is very disconcerting.

Many things happen.

The

petition mentions lower staffing.

Well, lower staffing is not just an issue for the workers in terms of

employment, it is an issue for the workers in terms also of being

overstressed because of the understaffing, and it is an issue for those who

need care. If there is

understaffing, then our people in long-term care are not being cared for in

the way that they should. As I

pointed out last week, Mr. Speaker, different parts of the country have been

referring to these issues.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Conception Bay South.

MR. HILLIER:

Mr. Speaker, to the hon. House of

Assembly of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador in Parliament

assembled, the petition of the undersigned residents of Newfoundland and

Labrador humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS Route 2 on the Conception Bay South Bypass Road is the second

busiest highway in the Province; and

WHEREAS we must ensure the safety of the residents who use the access road,

especially when driving at night; and

WHEREAS brush clearing can reduce the risk to drivers from the local moose

population;

We,

the undersigned, petition the House of Assembly to urge the government to

allocate funding to include brush clearing for the Manuels Access Road.

Mr.

Speaker, last Thursday morning was a beautiful sunny morning in Conception

Bay South my clock went off at around 7:00 most mornings are like that

in Conception Bay South. When I

turned on the radio the first item on the news: two moose near Weir's Pit on

the bypass road. When I finished

breakfast, the news cycle had come around again: two moose in the Weir's Pit

area on the Manuels Bypass Road.

Mr.

Speaker, that morning 15,000 motorists saw those two moose on the highway

near Weir's Pit. This is the

area that I have brought this petition forward in the past.

This is the area where we know there are moose hanging out.

We know there are moose there on a regular basis.

The Department of Transportation and Works has signs there telling us

that there are moose in the area.

This

morning it was foggy. Those two

moose are still in that area.

Mr. Speaker, 15,000 people went by there this morning and nobody could see

it. All a moose had to do was

step out on the highway and we know what would have resulted.

Mr.

Speaker, this is ongoing. It is

an issue that we have had there for some time.

We know that we have almost 30,000 people coming and going there on a

regular basis. We know that

moose come down through that gulch and we know that there are trees there

that need to be taken out of the way.

Mr.

Speaker, all I am asking is that in the next round of tenders that this area

from works, services and transportation be included for brush clearing.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Burgeo La Poile.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

have a petition to the hon. House of Assembly of the Province of

Newfoundland and Labrador in Parliament assembled, the petition of the

undersigned residents humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS hundreds of residents on the South Coast of the Province of

Newfoundland and Labrador, including residents of the communities of Burgeo,

Ramea, Grey River, and Franois use Route 480 on a regular basis for work,

medical, educational, and social reasons; and

WHEREAS there is no cellphone coverage on Route 480; and

WHEREAS cellphone service is an essential safety and communication tool for

visitors and residents; and

WHEREAS the residents and users of Route 480 feel that the provincial

government should invest in cellphone coverage for rural Newfoundland and

Labrador;

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

government to partner with the private sector to extend cellphone coverage

along Route 480.

in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr.

Speaker, this is a petition I have entered on a number of occasions about a

service that, again, many of us take for granted all across the Province.

There are many pockets in the Province that are still underserviced.

Again, the reason I bring this forward is that we know that the

Province has spent a significant amount of money when it comes to broadband

coverage and has provided broadband coverage to rural Newfoundland and

Labrador.

fact, there was a group in my area, Burgeo Broadcasting System, that has

taken advantage of that and has provided the service all across the

Province. They are a great

organization, and the fact that government has worked with them shows that

they are willing to do what is needed and there is that partnership.

What

we are suggesting is that these same groups, though, could provide cellphone

coverage in these areas. The

technology has gotten much more affordable, much cheaper, and I know that it

can happen and I know that the department is aware of it.

Now unfortunately, I do not think Budget Estimates led us to believe

that there was anything promised under this area for government this year,

which is unfortunate; but again, I look forward to the minister addressing

this at some point, perhaps during the Budget debate when he gets an

opportunity to talk about the concerns that he deals with in his department.

This is one he should deal with.

have talked about it on a number of occasions, the different reasons that we

need to have it. This is just

one roadway, Route 480, but I have another one, Route 470, that is the same

way. I am sure members on the

other side as well as my colleagues all have the same areas.

This is a problem that we should be able to fix.

As time has passed, technology has gotten cheaper but the service is

something that we need. It is a

life-saving measure at this point.

Thank you so much, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Carbonear Harbour Grace.

MR. SLADE:

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 humbly

sheweth:

WHEREAS on average, there are over 700 moose-vehicle accidents in the

Province of Newfoundland and Labrador each year; and

WHEREAS approximately 10 per cent of those accidents result in serious

injury or fatality; and

WHEREAS the moose-vehicle accident mitigation measures like moose fencing,

brush cutting, and hunting quotas have reduced accidents in other provinces,

in particular, New Brunswick;

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

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

increase moose-vehicle accident mitigation measures, including moose

fencing, brush cutting, and increasing quotas, and to provide financial

assistance to those most seriously injured as a result of said collisions.

in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr.

Speaker, I am after bringing this petition here a number of times, and we

all know the results of moose-vehicle accidents and collisions and what it

entails. In some cases, death,

and of course in other cases, people sent to wheelchairs.

I do not think it is good enough.

will say that at one point in time the government did try to do something

with the moose sensors, but it was a failed project.

I would suggest to government not only to do the brush cutting, but

also look at areas and I am sure we have people in the division of

wildlife who know where those moose tend to hang to and where they mostly

come out on the highways, and suggest to them, we say, of doing some tests

on fencing, like they do in other provinces.

Anyway, Mr. Speaker, I will sit down on that note.

Thank you very much.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

The Straits White Bay North.

MR. MITCHELMORE:

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 Route 438 is the primary highway for residents of Grandois, St.

Julien's, and Croque; and

WHEREAS the current gravel road conditions are dangerous for travel, given

size of potholes and debris embedded in the road; and

WHEREAS it is government's obligation to provide basic infrastructure to all

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians; and

WHEREAS this is the primary link for residents to health care and essential

services, and enhancement is needed for safety reasons;

We,

the undersigned, petition the House of Assembly to urge the government to

allocate funds under the provincial roads maintenance program to upgrade

this

section of Route 438.

in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr.

Speaker, I had the opportunity to I was in Main Brook on Saturday morning

and I met with a number of constituents who are from Croque and St. Julien's

and travel this thirty-kilometre gravel road on a regular basis.

They highlight that since the flooding and the washout, there has

been work done; but without proper equipment like a roller to actually push

in the rock and things like that, the road is still in a deplorable and

somewhat dangerous condition.

There needs to be real attention placed on gravel roads, particularly Route

438 and Route 434, and I have extended the invitation to the minister to

come up and travel these routes and have direct dialogue with my

constituents because it certainly is a serious matter and a petition that I

have been raising in the House of Assembly for quite some time.

So I

put that forward.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

Orders of the Day.

Orders of the Day

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government

House Leader.

MR. KING:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

call from the Order Paper, Motion 1, that the House approves in general the

budgetary policy of the government, the Budget Speech.

MR. SPEAKER:

We are resuming debate on

Motion 1.

recognize the hon. the Member for St. Barbe.

MR. J. BENNETT:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

The

Government House Leader is confusing you.

He is playing with that crystal ball again.

I wish he would not do that.

Mr.

Speaker, it is a privilege to be able to speak to the Budget, as horrifying

as the Budget is. The lines

initially that I am drawn to in the Budget is when the government says,

after they list the eight principles that are at the heart of the

government's approach, the new long-term approach of the government that has

been around for twelve years.

First they say, we will take this year to deal with the immediate

challenges we face because of the global decline in commodity prices and the

consequent impact on our resources.

We need to adjust our course accordingly to meet this new reality

head-on, but we must be careful not to adjust the course so much that we

create unintended negative impacts on our economy.

Mr.

Speaker, then I went back and had a look.

I wonder how much of a readjustment this is going to be over the last

let's say the last four years, if you go back and have a look at the

Budget totals for the last four years.

If you look at 2011 and 2012, government's gross expense was $7.8

billion. Then the following

year, 2012, it stepped up to $7.83 billion.

So another $60-odd million more.

Then

if you look at last year, it goes up again to $7,888,000,000.

In a year when we are facing absolute financial constraint with the

low price of oil, the government decides to bring in a Budget that goes over

$8 billion. I am not sure how we

have adjusted the course. It

seems to me like our expenses were steadily creeping upward and creeping

upward and creeping upward.

This

year they are doing exactly the same thing, but government's

preamble

their discussion on the Budget is that we need to adjust our course.

It seems to me we are on exactly the same course on the expense side

of the ledger, the side of the ledger that we can control.

I think everybody understands that you can control how much you spend

one way or the other. You can

defer some things. You can cut

back some things. You can

eliminate some things.

Government members from time to time are fond of saying: Well, what would

you do? What would you do with

all of this? What are you going

to cut? What are you going to

eliminate?

then we hear the government talk about the great attrition plan.

The great attrition plan is going to have 1,420 or so people through

attrition who will not be rehired over the next five years.

This is forecast to save us a little over $20 million a year, a

significant amount over the next five years.

I go

through the Budget lines and I look at the top lines on a bunch of items.

What I mean by the top lines is that these are the lines at or near

the minister's office. These are

increases in discretionary expenses that the minister had control over and

that each minister has voluntarily increased from last year.

identifying 106 items, the amount of increase in discretionary spending by

this government this year on 106 items comes to over $30 million.

So this is not to say, lay anybody off.

This is not to say, cut any expenses.

This is simply to say to each minister hold the line on the top line

of the expenses in your department.

Hold the line the same as it was last year.

Surely you must be able to do the same this year as you could last year,

because the option is that we must impose an increase in the HST on people.

We must increase certain fees.

We must increase the hunting licences on all hunters, but in

particular on the critical one for outfitters is the 50 per cent increase

retroactive to the current season which has already been sold by them.

number of these outfitters, and quite a large number of them, have to

recover or get this money somehow.

They have sold their hunts to the hunters who will come from the

United States. They have no way

to recoup that money. So they

have to eat the loss, and in some cases $20,000 or $30,000.

we look line by line from the Budget, Mr. Speaker, where are some of these

increases? This type of an

increase, when every year you go up and you go up and you go up, this just

speaks to a lack of discipline, slothfulness, a lack of commitment to

financial accountability.

you look at the Office of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, for example,

Cabinet Secretariat, Salaries this year have gone from $638,000 last year to

$765,000. That is approximately

a 20 per cent increase on that line alone.

you go through these lines, and I will go through quite a number of them so

people can get a sense of where government is wasting money, where

government is not being diligent, where they are not being clearly, they

are not progressive and neither are they conservative.

The

Protocol Office last year was $137,000.

So why couldn't we do it for $137,000 this year?

I do not know, but this year it is $173,000.

That is another $37,000 that is just an increase in expense.

you look at the Communications Branch, the Salaries alone, the increase in

Salaries year over year goes from $1,142,000 to $1,259,000.

So you can see there is another $17,000 or $18,000 gone to just on an

increase.

you look at the Office of Public Engagement I am still not certain what it

does last year the Salaries and the executive support staff, Executive

Support this is not people who are front line workers, this is not people

who are hands on with the public, this is Salaries on Executive Support from

$395,000 to $429,000. That is

another $35,000.

you continue on throughout the Budget, then you see in

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. J. BENNETT:

Salaries for Tax

Administration, there is no getting around it.

We need to properly administer our taxes; however, this year is it

because government is increasing taxes, is it because of all the changes?

Because last year the Salaries for Tax Administration was $2.8

million, this year it is nearly $3.5 million.

It is approximately $600,000 more on that single line in this Budget.

Mr.

Speaker, if you continue on; the Economic and Statistics Branch, last year

$2.68 million, this year $3.1 million, another $500,000.

That is $500,000 that somebody decided that they needed to spend more

this year than they spent last year.

you go to the Government Purchasing Agency, and this is Appropriations

provide for the operation of the Government Purchasing Agency which conducts

purchasing, monitoring, and audit of procurement activities for Government

departments, municipalities, academic institutions, schools and hospitals in

the Province. Last year the

Salaries were $1,506,000, this year it is $2.247 million.

That is $700,000. That is

approximately a 50 per cent increase in the cost of the Salaries in the

Government Purchasing Agency.

share some insight into how the Government Purchasing Agency seems to work

or not work; when I was first elected, one of the commitments I made in my

district was that there would be a district office.

Because after sixty-two years of Confederation I felt the residents

of the District of St. Barbe were entitled to have an office, so we had an

office. It took approximately

six months.

Government buildings that were available were unfit to be used.

One of them, the Provincial Authority Building in Rocky Harbour is

still lying vacant. So it took

six months to get an office.

Meanwhile, I needed a filing cabinet.

So with my new constituency assistant, I said, well, we have this

big, thick book on government purchasing so we should see how this works

because we need a filing cabinet.

We should use this as a test, a sample, and I suspect all members go

through the same thing.

Mr.

Speaker, the private sector

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

ask members for their co-operation.

MR. J. BENNETT:

that I have worked

in all of my life and in compliance with government purchasing and

appropriate quotes and estimates, ordinarily I think what a person would do,

I would assume, is I would pick up the telephone; I would call three

suppliers in Corner Brook right alongside and get their prices.

When I am in town, I would go buy one.

I would put the seats down, stick it in the back, drive it to the

office and I would send the bill in, here are the three quotes and here is

what it is. That would probably

be $180 or $190, a couple of hundred dollars for a four-drawer filing

cabinet but because we were not supposed to do that

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The

Speaker is having trouble hearing the person who has been recognized to

speak and, once again, I ask members for their co-operation.

The

hon. the Member for St. Barbe.

MR. J. BENNETT:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

assistant and I fill out the necessary forms it is a useful exercise to go

through to find out how purchasing is supposed to work.

In looking at it, the supplier was Staples, so that was fine.

I thought well, Staples in Corner Brook; they are right alongside.

No, you cannot go there; this has to be Staples in Mount Pearl.

You

have to fill out the forms, the forms go off, and we wait and see what

happens. We go around the circle

for quite some time and sometime in the next couple of weeks, a transport

truck comes. Now, the transport

truck cannot get up to my house because it is a local road.

So the transport driver phones me on his cellphone and says can you

come down and get the filing cabinet?

I go

down in my vehicle, open up back, he and I load it in, and we take it up

it is in the box; it is in there.

He has gone and I open the box and the thing is crushed.

It is weeks late, double the cost, and crushed, now this thing has to

be picked up and sent back. We

went through the whole rigmarole and, to me, that is sort of the nature of

government purchasing.

That

type of purchasing simply is not sustainable because it does not make good

business sense on items that cost only in the few hundreds of dollars that

could easily be accessed by way of three quotes, routine common-standard

items. Surely the individual, in

this case a Member of the House of Assembly, should be able to say here are

your three quotes: one is from Staples, one is from provincial, and one is

from modern. These guys had a

sale. I bought it, it is in the

office, and you can come look at it.

Give me the stickers to put on it, like we all put the stickers on

it. It would save a couple of

hundred dollars. I would have

the thing on my next trip to Corner Brook within two or three days, it

would just be done.

Mr.

Speaker, this is not good management of public resources in my view and then

to look at this budget line and see that the Government Purchasing Agency

this year on that level those salaries to go from $1.5 million to $2.247

million, approximately a 50 per cent increase, why is that?

If you could manage last year on $1.5 million on oil that was like

$100 a barrel or whatever, and this year we are in a bit of trouble because

it is $60-odd a barrel, surely you should be able to manage on the same

amount of money as you had last year.

expect a lot of our old age pensioners to do so.

After they get their adjustment for inflation, basically, they are

living on exactly the same thing as they lived on last year, yet everything

goes up. Any form of Income

Support and many people in struggling businesses, they do not have a way to

increase their revenue automatically like government can do by jacking up

expenses.

it is the expense side of this Budget that has really got me, that in such a

year that we would drive right through the $8 billion cap, if there ever was

a cap, in the last year three years came in just under $8 billion, yet the

government says that we have to alter our course.

We have not altered our course.

We are still going in the same direction, the same escalation, and

the same trajectory. All we are

doing is we are jacking up taxes.

This feels to me more like tax and spend, than it does anything to do

with developing a culture of whatever it was they said the culture is

supposed to be this year.

MS C. BENNETT:

Cost management.

MR. J. BENNETT:

Oh, cost management.

I am sorry. I am grateful

to the Member for Virginia Waters.

She is the Finance critic.

She knows about cost management.

She knows about unit costs and cost control.

you go further through in the Budget and look at other numbers, if you go to

page 9.9, Workforce Development and Productivity Secretariat, it all sounds

good. This is for,

Appropriations provide for advancing workforce and labour market

development initiatives to foster the creation of employment opportunities

and the recruitment, retention and training of skilled workers.

would bet that is the same line put in there every single year, year after

year after year without any change.

It is probably exactly the same verbiage.

Last year, it was $653,000.

This year it is $824,000.

How can it be another $175,000 on a $650,000 budget in a year when we are

supposed to have restraint? How

can that possibly be?

me, the spending is out of control.

There is no diligence.

There is no discipline. This is

in Advanced Education and Skills, if you look at Skills and Labour Market

Research now I am not sure what we are doing with Skills and Labour Market

Research. It seemed like a good

idea. We have the highest

unemployment rate in Canada. On

the Salaries, and these are on the top line costs, last year it was $523,000

and this year it is $625,000.

Percentage wise, Mr. Speaker, that is almost a 20 per cent increase on that

line. How can you need 20 per

cent more in a year of restraints on $62 a barrel oil when you can get by on

the $523,000 last year? I cannot

understand it. I cannot get that

at all. I do not think that the

voters and taxpayers can either.

you go further down the line and I am always suspicious of large round

numbers, numbers with lots of zeros on it because that means someone decided

it is like these are the Estimates and this is a pretty big round

estimate. If you look at

Professional Services in the same heading, last year we budgeted $150,000 on

Professional Services and we actually burned through $176,000.

I think somebody should have been accountable for the $26,000.

was $150,000. It came in at

$176,000. What do you think it

is this year? It is $450,000

budgeted. The budget is three

times as high for Professional services in that line item as it was last

year. I do not see how you can

possibly face the people who are going to have to pay the extra 2 per cent

on HST and tell them that we have been diligent with our expenses.

At the same time, we are going to jack up the taxes for a kid on a

can of coke. You are going to

have another 2 per cent on everything from Tim Hortons to whatever it is

that people buy.

Mr.

Speaker, if a person has $1,000 to spend and you reach in and you take out

$20. It might not seem like a

whole lot. You multiple that by

hundreds of thousands of consumers, all of a sudden everybody gets clipped

$20 on $1,000. That $20 has to

go somewhere. That $20 is gone.

It is gone out of the economy.

It is gone out of the cash flow.

It hurts the people who have to pay it.

It hurts the small businesses that see that little extra drag.

Jacking up the tax like that, it is almost like I have heard an

explanation of someone with a tape worm.

If you have a tape worm, the more you eat it does not make any

difference. The worm eats it

all. The government taxation is

like a tape worm. The person can

eat and eat and eat and the tape worm gets all the nourishment and you do

not gain any weight. That is

what is happening. I think it is

absolutely abominable.

Mr.

Speaker, this should be the government of the change of name.

I do not fault the minister even though he is minister.

This should be a fabulous department.

It covers so many areas.

When you talk to the front-line worker they say let me check and see what we

are this week. This one is

called Business, Tourism, Culture and Rural Development.

are not doing so well in business.

Tourism, I guess, is okay as long as Nova Scotia in the maps is part

of Newfoundland and Labrador. I

guess we took over Cape Breton.

Culture, I imagine that is going to be fine.

Rural development, we have no RED Boards.

Mr.

Speaker, in the Minister's Office in this particular budget, first of all

the salary cost $317,500 to $338,000; that is $17,000 just gone, puff.

Seventeen thousand bucks is 17,000 bucks.

When I see how government rounds up money, I see everybody pays small

amounts of money. I see the

child who buys a tin of pop, or a bar or bag of chips or whatever, and they

pay the taxes penny by penny by penny and government blows it by the

millions. How long does it take

and how many transactions does it take to gather up that much cash so

government can just burn right through it without any regard to the

financial consequences for the Province and for the people?

Mr.

Speaker, on the Executive Support item under General Administration, for

heaven's sake, hold the line.

Just hold the line once. One

year, hold the line. Hold the

line another year. Executive

Salaries last year and this is: Appropriation provide for senior planning

and direction of the Department including the establishment and evaluation

of policies and objectives.

Mr.

Speaker, after twelve years in government and this department has gone

through multiple incarnations and reincarnations; surely you do not have to

jack up the Executive salaries by $95,000 from $1.076 million to $1.171

million. There has been so much

change already. This is

completely unbelievable.

Policy and Strategic Planning in the BTCRD department what policy and

strategic planning are they going to do where they have to jack salaries

from $554,000 to $622,000?

Mr.

Speaker, the cost, the expense side of the ledger of this government is

completely out of control. There

is absolutely no discipline whatsoever.

This is not about our revenues; this is about reining in our expenses

on a reasonable basis the way that normal, ordinary working families and

retired people have to maintain their expenses.

The way they have to check the labels and see if they are going to

get a discount on this, or if they are going to get a price on their

potatoes, or if they are going to get a price on their milk.

People have to examine the money they have to spend and government

just spends the money on and on and on.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER (Cross):

The hon. the

Member for Harbour Main.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. HEDDERSON:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

my exuberance I tried to jump ahead of the member from across the way, but I

do apologize because I understood that we were up next.

I do say to the member opposite, I did try to follow you but when you

got to the tape worm, I lost you.

Mr.

Speaker, I am absolutely delighted to stand on my feet today to represent

the historic District of Harbour Main and on my feet with regard to the

Budget for something like the seventeenth time.

I must say, Mr. Speaker, that I have been where they are right now.

I think I spent four years defending amendments, telling the

government that they were not doing what they were supposed to do; but for

the last twelve years, I am up as a government member and I tell you, much

more comfortable on this side than over there.

say, Mr. Speaker, that of the seventeen Budgets you compare Budgets back

and forth in each given year, and each given year brings forth different

challenges. I am very, very

pleased to say that this Budget is as good as any that I have seen, given

the particular times and the particular situation that this Province is in.

In the weeks that have followed since the Budget announcement, I have

done what all MHAs are doing they are out mingling amongst their

constituents. I am hearing some

negatives; there is no doubt about that.

I would be the first to admit it.

No one wants to see their taxes increase; no one wants to see their

fees increased.

There is a bottom line to all this, Mr. Speaker, and what I like and I

have to commend the Minister of Finance, our Premier, and the Cabinet, in

the decisions that had to go into this Budget.

It is obvious from some of the things that are coming across from the

Opposition that they have difficulties in deciding what they would do.

I do not hear too much about, yes I just heard today in Question

Period about a school down in Torbay.

sit next to the member who represents that particular district, and I know

the work that he has put into making sure that government understands where

we should be going with that particular school.

I am very pleased to hear that we have tendered for that

configuration. It is the

configuration that has been asked for by the grassroots, Mr. Speaker the

people who have children in those schools.

Not only the intermediate school, but the high school as well.

It is disconcerting to hear the member opposite, the critic for

education, getting up and trying to undermine a good consensus that was

gotten.

AN HON. MEMBER:

That is a tough word.

MR. HEDDERSON:

Yes, it is a tough

word, but it is a true word. It

is all right to criticize and it is all right to say to us who are here as

government to go back and ask the people what they want.

In this case, from what I can gather, this is what the people wanted.

This is what the teachers were looking at.

This is what the parents were looking at.

This is what our government decided to do.

use only that as an incident of the tough decisions.

The Acting Minister of Education spoke today and talked about a tough

decision, looking five years down the road and saying that, yes, there will

be an issue coming up in five years' time, but we can deal with the short

term in a better way than just to create empty space for five years.

Mr. Speaker, that makes sense to me.

It makes sense to the people who are involved in those school

systems. It should make sense to

anyone who is really caring about how education is.

Mr.

Speaker, to get back to the Budget and to the Minister of Finance, I realize

that it was an awesome task to deal with all of the decisions, an example of

which that I just gave and there are many, many more.

In balance and that is what this was all about I say to the people

of the Province. We had to

balance out the needs with our resources.

I am very, very pleased, as many of you realize, that I am associated

with the Department of Education.

I support the minister of this government, and that I am taking an

active

part in that particular department.

From

the infrastructure, again we are continuing to invest.

I am not going to go down through the list of schools.

That has been done time and time again in this Budget debate, so I am

not going to go there. I am

saying that in education, in particular, overall I believe the right

decisions were made.

you ask me did I want to see seventy-plus teaching positions go?

Absolutely not, but those were positions and balanced off with that

is the fact that we are having, I would say I know the latest number is

150-plus teachers retiring this year.

In actual fact, there probably will not be any particular layoffs,

even though teachers might be moved around.

I say it is a good decision because we are trying to find ways to get

through a very difficult time without doing too much in the way of affecting

the great work that has been done in education over the years, and to get us

to where we are right now.

Schools have been built. Schools

have been repaired. Maintenance

has been carried out. Mr.

Speaker, I am very, very pleased that on the infrastructure side, there was

not that much in the way of delaying projects or putting off projects.

They might have been stretched out a bit more but, again, Mr.

Speaker, the work that has been done there is well.

With

education, you are talking about not only I am looking at the K-12, but I

would stretch it into the post-secondary as well.

I am very, very pleased to see us again supporting the people of this

Province, students who are at university, at our post-secondary

institutions, to try to make their life a little bit easier, trying to make

sure that we can continue our tuition freezes, that we can keep these

buildings up and that sort of thing, as they move forward. Overall,

education came out very, very well in this Budget.

The

other area is early childhood development, and that is a very important

aspect. The Premier made a very

good move that was applauded by everyone in the industry, in putting that

early childhood development where it should be with regard to learning,

filling in that gap in the continuum of lifelong learning, and in this case

from the womb, basically, to Grade 12.

bringing it under the auspices of the Department of Education, we were able

to tap into all of the expertise we have in learning in the department as it

stands. Again, I hear that we

are not doing it right. I do not

know what the basis is of that, because once again, we have maintained the

funding for our Early Childhood Strategy: Caring for our Future.

It is a ten-year strategy, one which is focused on what the whole

industry, the whole sector believes in.

It is about quality, it is about sufficiency, and it is about

affordability of child care.

I do

not think anyone can argue no, I have not seen an argument against either

one of those things. When I

attend town hall meetings, when I attend meetings with various groups on

child care, one, two, three, everyone is on the same page, no doubt about

it.

Since 2003, with those three things in mind, we have gone from and these

are registered child care places we have gone up by about 70 per cent.

We had about 4,600 in 2003 and we are now up to, close to 8,000.

That is progress, Mr. Speaker.

The thing about child care is it is very, very difficult to go, bang,

and get it done. Of course, we

as a government are often compared, and what really irks me is when we are

compared to Quebec. Because as

everyone knows, Quebec does have very excellent social services, child care

services, and so on and so forth.

was reminded today as a matter of fact, Jocelyn Greene was mentioned in a

member's statement today. I

remember sitting up in Quebec, we were on a I think it was a housing

conference. I was the minister

responsible there, and Jocelyn got up in Quebec and looked around, and do

you know what she said? She

said, it is no wonder you can afford all this affordable housing, and child

care and that, because it is on the backs of us as Newfoundlanders.

Of course, a hush went over the room.

was as proud as a peacock, because you know what she was referring to.

She was referring to the billions of dollars and I see someone

shaking their heads the billions of dollars that they made off Churchill

Falls over the years. That goes

into the provincial coffers, as you know, billions of dollars.

see one of the members for Labrador shaking their head in agreement.

We know

AN HON. MEMBER:

You nod your head in

agreement. You do not shake your

head in agreement.

MR. HEDDERSON:

Well, I do not mind

you see shaking your heads, because obviously you are not going to be

supportive of me.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. HEDDERSON:

So, Mr. Speaker, just

to get back to it, is that it is a very expensive proposition as we try to

deal with the challenges that are ahead of us.

Quebec had been very, very fortunate to have a sweetheart deal with

Newfoundland and Labrador, and they are reaping the benefits of it.

I will go back to that, hopefully, before I finish.

get back to the Child Care Strategy, Mr. Speaker, we have made a commitment

for ten years. It is a plan

no, we are not planning to make a plan, we have a plan.

We have a plan

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. HEDDERSON:

As you notice, the

backbench over there. They come

alive now, right? They come

alive. Now they are not moving

their heads but their tongues are wagging.

I am not going to take it from that.

I only have seven minutes left.

I just want to get to my points, Mr. Speaker.

do have a plan. It is a plan

that many of the organizations and some of the individuals are taking up.

We do provide grants. It

is a voluntary operating grant.

We have $10 million into that. I

am not going to go through the details.

The

Child Care Services Subsidy Program, we have $17 million into that.

Early Learning and Childhood Supplement, we have $5.5 million into

that. We are up to something

like $45.7 million. Even in an

austere Budget like this, we know child care is one of our priorities, Mr.

Speaker, and that is where we are going.

get back to Churchill Falls, it is so important.

I know in 2007-2008 the then Premier brought forth an Energy Plan,

but it was more than an Energy Plan, Mr. Speaker.

It went to 2041 and worked backwards.

The important part of all of this, one most important step was going

to be Muskrat Falls, because if we were not successful at Muskrat Falls the

rest of it would not fall into place.

was a great vision; a vision of the two Premiers.

She at that time, Premier Dunderdale at the time, who had taken over

from Premier Williams. Both of

them she had been the resource's minister who brought forth the plan, but

the two of them saw and had that vision.

In years to come, we will be looking back to that point in time.

Because I still believe it is possible, even though I never, ever

expected the pushback on Muskrat Falls that we got and still do.

Again, if we are successful with Muskrat Falls, Gull Island has to

follow, and Churchill Falls in 2041.

That will give us the sustainability that we absolutely need.

Right now, we are knocked back a little bit because in the interim our oil

resources were supposed to allow us to continue the good work that has been

done in our social programs, with our infrastructure and whatever, but we

all know what happened to the oil.

The oil prices are down.

Our revenues are down. So we do

have to, as someone mentioned, sort of put on the pause button.

are not doing it just to see what will happen.

As a result of it, we have come up with a plan.

That is what this Budget is all about, is a plan to get us five years

down the road and still in a good positon to be able to carry through.

Target 2041, as the year that it will all come together and that we

will have three power plants using the same water and turning in the

resources that we need in this Province to carry out the work that needs to

be done.

Mr.

Speaker, it is very, very important that the people of Newfoundland and

Labrador understand that as a Budget, not the one that we wanted to put

forward, but one that we believe very strongly in, that it will get us to

where we need to go. There is

some pain involved, no doubt about it.

It does have some consequences that we are prepared to take and

gamble, to some degree, but it is a calculated gamble that has been the

result of much consultation, much deliberation.

Again, on any scale, this is as good a Budget as we could bring down

in any particular time, especially right now.

Mr.

Speaker, with a couple of minutes left I will draw attention I always like

to finish off by talking about what is most near and dear to me and that of

course are the constituents who are in the constituency of Harbour Main.

I am very happy to report that, we, as a district not everyone is

doing well, but overall the prosperity in my district is unprecedented.

Right now, what is the future going to bring?

I am not going to be looking into a crystal ball, but I can tell you,

and especially the young people I hear about young people leaving and that

sort of thing. Guess what?

The backyards development in Harbour Main district is taking off; the

kids are back. They are taking

over from their moms and dads.

They are working the iron. Some

of them are travelling. Some are

travelling to Alberta, but they are continuing on a very important tradition

out our way, which is to make sure they can eke out a livelihood and stay in

Newfoundland and Labrador. That

is happening.

Mr.

Speaker, our infrastructure is in good shape.

I am very, very pleased that we are where we are.

I am looking forward to the future.

There are very few naysayers out around that I walk across.

They are working out in Long Harbour.

They are in Bull Arm.

There is a steady stream of traffic back to the capital city.

Like

I said, I am not pleased with everything.

There is always something to do.

There is always somebody to help, but it is a far cry than 1999 when

I first was given the privilege of serving these people.

We had some tremendous challenges, but they have persevered and we

have persevered as a government and as a Province.

I am

just asking the people of Newfoundland and Labrador to step back, look at

the situation that we have today and they will make up their mind later in

the fall as to which party is going to govern this particular Province; but

I am convinced that a party going forward that has a five-year plan, that

has, when you look back, achieved much in the twelve years that they have

been in government, that they will persevere, Mr. Speaker, and persevere

because of the hard work and determination that they have to do the best for

this Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Our

new Premier has brought good things to where we are today.

I am very proud to be part of his team and I look forward to

continuing on and making sure that the people of my district and the

Province are well represented, that we are optimistic, that we have the hope

that what we have done in this Budget will get us beyond the next five years

and well into the future.

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:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am

pleased to be able to stand and respond to some of the members' comment and

give some of my own personal opinion about the Budget this year.

It is always a pleasure for me to stand in my place and represent the

good people of St. John's North, however long that is going to last, at

least sometime until as long as the district exists I suppose, which will

take us maybe up until October or maybe sometime next year, who knows,

whenever the Premier gets around to calling an election, which he apparently

is not in any great haste to do.

This

Budget this year should have been called lost opportunity and misplaced

priorities. That should have

been the title on the Budget this year because that is what this Budget

represents: lost opportunity and misplaced priorities.

I want to get into some of the details on that as it relates to what

the member just said, what some of the government members have said.

Basically, this is a Budget that will do nothing other than put us

back from where we are now, where we have been and where we could have been

had government's priorities been different.

sat there on Budget day and I kept thinking to myself this is the longest

Budget Speech I have heard yet, the largest number of words uttered as part

of a Budget Speech yet. I think

that is really demonstrative of the sort of spin that government is trying

to put on this Budget. I

remember watching an election campaign that was not successful one time.

They were trying to nail Jell-O to a wall and it did not work.

They were trying to demonstrate the way government was operating.

It is like the government is trying to throw anything it can out and

see what sticks because nothing seems to be sticking.

Wherever I go, I hear the same thing from people.

They say, my God, when are they going to call the election?

Everybody says the same thing.

When are they going to call the election?

We got to get rid of that crowd.

That crowd got to go.

Somebody said to me the other day somebody who is not a member of a

political party, is not really a person who opens up the provincial paper

every day, not a person who looks for political stories.

I was in my district the other day and I ran into this person.

He said: Get in the car.

I sat down and had a chat with him.

He said: Boy, I do not think they are going to get one seat.

He said: I cannot imagine they are going to get one seat.

The government he was talking about.

He cannot imagine they are going to get one seat in the election.

Now,

they might get one seat. It

might be the Member for Terra Nova.

Who knows? It could be

somebody else over there. I will

give them some credit; they might get one.

Government in the Budget Speech is trying to convince us that they have

everything under control.

Everything is under control, no need to worry at all.

They have a plan to deal with it.

Finally, after all this extended period of time in power, all the

levers and gears of government at their behest, finally now this time it is

going to be all straightened out now, do not worry about it.

The

other thing that the Minister of Finance and the government is basically

saying to the people of the Province is that they did not have any control

over anything that went wrong.

They did not have any control over any of our fiscal problems, or their

spending problems, or waste and mismanagement that we have seen from this

government. They did not have

any control over that at all.

No,

I suppose they did not have any control over the price of oil.

I do not even know how much control OPEC has over the price of oil

because the power in the oil industry has become more and more diffuse over

the years and OPEC itself is not a united group like it used to be back in

the 1970s or the 1980s.

Fracking in the United States has changed things.

Increased use of renewable energy in Europe has changed things a lot.

So a lot has changed in the world.

Of course, we cannot expect that you can envision the price of oil,

but in some respect that is what government was doing for a long period of

time.

There was a point in time where oil was up to over $100 a barrel and

government still was running deficits to the tune of hundreds of millions of

dollars. No one out there could

see that coming. They have said

to us, no one could see this coming.

People saw this coming, there is no question about that.

you want to go back and read the Hansard just from the general election in

2011, you could see this coming.

Go back and read the text of the Muskrat Falls debate about the price of oil

and where people saw it. People

said different over here. There

is no question, some people saw it coming.

Average folks who balance their household budget, they saw this sort of

thing coming. They could see it.

They could see the poor planning.

They could see the mismanagement.

They could see the problems building and building and building up

with this government.

Every year the Auditor General is coming out and pointing out a litany of

problems. Here is where you can

save money. Here is where you

can stop wasting money. Here is

where you can redirect funds.

Here is where you can stop wasting money.

Every year, year after year, there is a stack of them.

Since this government took power there is a stack of them about that

high. You could go in and get

all kinds of ideas from there, but that is not what has happened.

Now,

basically, the government is looking for a free pass from the voters.

They are afraid to go out and face the voters, for one.

There were fewer than 350 people who chose this Premier.

The people who chose this Premier were the people who went to the PC

convention. Full stop, and they

had a do over on that too. They

wanted everybody to just be patient, we will count it right the same as

the Treasury of the Province.

There were less than 350 people who chose this Premier.

So, this Premier has little or no mandate.

This government has exhausted its mandate in its three-and-a-half

Premier's we have had over the past three-and-a-half-or-so years.

People are fed up.

Wherever you go that is what you hear from people: when will they call the

election finally?

Now

the Premier and other members of the government caucus are out there hinting

that in addition to changing the electoral boundaries in the month of June

or July or August, whenever they get around to it, now they are going to

amend the Elections Act so they can change the fixed election date that they

crowed about forever, that we brought in.

You brought it in, and now they are going to toss it out to suit

themselves. So you can go back

to basically the way it was before.

You did not like it before, but now that the shoe is on the other

foot, now government wants to change its own fixed election date so it can

have its own way.

What

happens when we end up with a situation like this, when government is

desperate as this, as desperate as it is to elude the voters, to not face

them in a general election because ideally most people tell me we should

have had one by now, and I agree.

We get bad decisions made by government, and we have had a lot of

them just very recently.

You

only have to look at this job killing increase in the HST in sales tax.

Increasing sale tax is one of the most regressive ways to raise money

on the backs of average folks.

It squeezes people who have the least, because they have to pay that

proportionate amount of tax.

You

only have to look across Canada to see what happens when a government

campaigns on one thing when it comes to taxes and gets into power and does

the opposite. Look at Nova

Scotia. That is what happened in

Nova Scotia. They were not going

to increase any taxes, then they got in and the easiest thing to do was to

increase taxes on the most vulnerable, on ordinary folks, on working

families through sales tax. The

next opportunity the taxpayers of the province had the chance to vote, that

government went out the door.

The

same thing is going on in Manitoba right now.

Government said we are not going to increase sales taxes, not us.

What did they do? They

increased sales taxes. Where are

they in the polls? Very low.

That is what happens when you do that to average folks, and that is

what I think is going to happen with this government.

kills the housing market, because on big ticket items like a home and you

look at it, this was the government that said they were going to give young

families, people who were trying to buy their first home, they were going to

give them a hand in doing that.

They were going to help them, and they have not done that.

We have not seen that program.

They are putting this huge tax increase now on a new home.

That is absolutely contrary to what they promised people in their

platform in the last general election.

That

is what the PC Party of Newfoundland and Labrador said they would do.

They said they would help people buy their first new home, and now

they are hindering it. They are

going to depress the housing construction industry even more.

So there will be fewer jobs for everyone, from carpenters,

electricians, plumbers, plasters, painters.

Everyone who works in that industry is going to feel the squeeze too.

We already know that projections for the housing market are on a

downward trajectory anyways.

The

Member for Harbour Main is funny.

I was reading the other day when the Member for Harbour Main was the

critic for Education when he sat over on this side.

He decried the cuts to teachers in press release after press release.

I am sure they used up a box of paper all decrying the cuts to

teachers when he was the critic.

He sits over on that side now and he says: well, I do not like it very much

but I have to go along with it because that is just the way it is.

fails to recognize the disproportionately large impact that those teacher

cuts have on small and rural schools.

Taking a half of a unit out of a small school like St. Mark's in

King's Cove really puts the squeeze on the existing workforce, the small

number of the people in there who are trying to do a job.

These cuts were not made with a plan.

had the Throne Speech where government came in and said: we are going to

make up a plan now. We will have

a curriculum review and we will review math.

We have told them time and time again, parents have told them time

and time again, teachers have told them time and time again, they are having

problems with the math curriculum.

Finally, eventually, we do not know when, they are going to get

around to doing something about that.

In the meantime, we are going to cut a number of teachers.

That is not the way you do it.

You have it backwards.

Plan first, make changes later if necessary.

Do not make them at the expense of small and rural schools,

educational outcomes. Do not do

it like that. You have it

backwards.

Then

he talked about the school in Torbay, which I have raised here several

times. Not because I am trying

to undermine that project. I am

trying to do my job as an Opposition member here to protect taxpayers and

also to make sure they get what they deserve, which is a school that is big

enough to fit the kids that the board says they are sending there.

That is all it is we are trying to do.

think the Member for Harbour Main should go back and look at some of the

evidence I have a lot of it here with this, because in September 2014

the board decided that projections five years out would show that they will

send Grade 8s to that school, that they would have a pressure.

Now,

that is not five years after the school is constructed the tender has not

been awarded yet. The school has

to be built yet, and they say it is going to be September 2016 we will

see. So that is not five years

after, that is actually three years after.

I do not know about anybody else here, but if you look at new school

builds in Carbonear, for example, you look at all the pressures in Paradise,

in Mount Pearl, and Portugal Cove-St. Phillips, and all the pressures we

have had in Torbay already, who has got confidence in those projections?

Not me. I do not have one

iota of confidence in those projections.

They have let us down too many times.

So we cannot count on that.

This

is about political expediency, I say to the Member for Harbour Main.

This is about political expediency.

This is about getting this project out the door as fast as we can,

award the tender, and we tell parents in Torbay they are going to get a new

school for 2016, we tell parents in Paradise they are going to get a new

school for 2016, and we tell parents in Portugal Cove-St. Phillips they are

going to get a new school in 2016.

We tell parents in CBS they are going to get a new one, and we tell

parents in Gander they are going to get a new one.

We are going to build all these new schools not before the next

election; they did not plan for any of that.

They will build them all later, and who knows if their projections

are off at all, then we have problems.

So,

all we are trying to do here is make sure that parents and kids in those

communities get what they are entitled to, which is the same level of

education as anybody else in this Province.

That is the goal here. We

should all be united on that. We

should all be together with that same goal that every kid, whether you live

on the coast of Labrador, whether you live on the coast of Newfoundland, the

Island, whether you live in the interior, whether you live on the South

Coast, whether you live on the North Coast, the West Coast, the Avalon

Peninsula, that everyone is entitled to the same level of education, the

same programs and services, regardless of where you live.

We all have to believe that.

Now,

the other thing, I just could not figure it out.

The Member for Harbour Main talked about how everybody is hunky dory

he did not use those words, but that is what was suggested to me.

Everybody is hunky dory with their 10-Year Child Care Strategy.

Everybody is on board. He

was at a meeting that a bunch of the rest of us were, recently, held by a

Coalition for Better Child Care in Newfoundland and Labrador.

I did not hear any of what he said.

I did not hear any of that, that they are all on board and they think

it is all great. Not at all

and I have a list of things here.

Where is the update on the 10-Year Child Care Strategy?

Where is the update on that?

Everybody is wondering, where is the update on that?

Those people there, they want an update on that.

They want to know. Where

is the centralized child care registry?

It was going to be online and all these promises that we had, that

was part of last year's second year of the ten-year plan, so it is all going

sideways really slowly. It is

like you are going down an unploughed road in the winter and she is starting

to go a bit sideways because the road has not been ploughed; you do not have

enough salt or sand down and it is going aside.

That is what it feels like to me.

registry we do not know. I

asked the Minister of Education about