PDF Version

June 3, 2015

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS

Vol. XLVII No. 25

The House met at 2:00 p.m.

Admit strangers.

MR. SPEAKER (Verge):

Order, please!

I am pleased to welcome to our public gallery today

from Recreation Newfoundland and Labrador Ms Pam Mills, Recreation

Specialist; Michelle Hunt, Operations Manager; and, Jane Collins from the

Recreation Division of the Department of Seniors, Wellness and Social

Development.

Welcome to the House of Assembly.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

I do believe I erred. It is

Jaime Collins, I believe.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

Statements by Members

MR. SPEAKER:

We will be hearing members' statements today for the members representing

the Districts of Humber East, Virginia Waters, St. George's Stephenville

East, Port au Port, Trinity Bay de Verde, and Bonavista North.

The hon. the Member for Humber East.

MR. FLYNN:

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Frank Humber of Corner Brook.

On May 31, the big left-hander pitched his 200 th win in

the Corner Brook Senior Baseball League.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. FLYNN:

Frank has been involved in the sport of baseball for over thirty years and

has achieved a distinguished career.

In 1985, Frank attended high school in Florida and won the Fort

Lauderdale/Miami High School Player of the Year Award.

This was followed by four years at Wake Forest University where he

achieved notoriety for appearances, innings pitched, wins, and strikeouts.

During those years Frank represented Canada at the 1987

Pan Am Games, the 1988 World Baseball Championships where he was National

Team Most Valuable Player, and the 1988 Summer Olympics.

A crowning achievement came in the 1989 when Frank was drafted by the

LA Dodgers.

Frank played in the Dodger's minor league system for a

couple of years before returning to Corner Brook to establish his

professional career as a teacher and school principal.

As a player and a coach, Frank has been an inspiration to many young

players in Corner Brook and throughout the Province.

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

congratulating Frank Humber on his many accomplishments in the great sport

of baseball.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Virginia Waters.

MS C. BENNETT:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in this hon. House today to

recognize the unwavering dedication and love for community service of two

special individuals in the District of Virginia Waters.

Jim and Theresa Boland received the Brother Jim McSheffrey Community

Award which recognizes individuals and organizations for long-standing

contributions to the MacMorran Community Centre.

Jim is known as the go-to person for the community food

bank, providing a compassionate and critical service for those in need.

He can be found in the centre each day gathering, sorting, and

distributing the many food items wherever they are needed.

Nearby, Theresa spends her time each day co-ordinating the efforts

and the services of the clothing bank to ensure that requests go fulfilled,

whether it is the clothes for back to school or the clothes the kids need to

go to camp.

Motivated by community pride and care for their

neighbours, they are hard-working volunteers.

Involved in family events, folklore projects, and the 50 Plus Club,

Theresa and Jim are so very deserving of this recognition.

I ask all hon. members to join me in congratulating Jim

and Theresa Boland and thank them for their contribution to the

neighbourhood they call home.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St. George's Stephenville East.

MR. REID:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Recently, Mr. Speaker, the College of the North

Atlantic was presented with two awards at the Colleges and Institutes Canada

Awards of Excellence held in Winnipeg.

CNA's innovative blended learning offering of the Heavy

Duty Equipment Technician Program was recognized for Program Excellence, and

its instructor, Grey Ryan, was recognized for Teaching Excellence.

The program combined a group of geographically

dispersed apprentices in Labrador West, an innovative instructor in Bay St.

George, and a creative use of technology to create an engaging classroom

which integrated students from the two dispersed locations.

Mr. Speaker, this is not the first time the college has

received awards for this innovative program.

In 2013, they received the Shirley Davis Award for Excellence in

Blended Learning from the National University Technology Network.

In that same year, they were recipients of the Sloan Consortium

Effective Practice Award.

I ask members of this House of Assembly to join with me

in congratulating the College of the North Atlantic, all the people involved

in setting up this program, and instructor Greg Ryan on the award-winning

work they do.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Port au Port.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. CORNECT:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise to congratulate Master Warrant Officer Alysha

Chaulk, Master Warrant Officer Stephen Eckhert, and Master Warrant Officer

Andrew Patten of the 2904 Cambrai Royal Canadian Army Cadet Corps in

Stephenville, who are the only cadets in the Province of Newfoundland and

Labrador to attain the highest level of the National Star of Excellence

program this year.

Mr. Speaker, this award is based on the ability of

cadets to collect points in different areas of assessment to reach four

distinct levels of excellence.

The areas of assessment are a combination of compulsory and participation

training and events, including such things as leadership, fitness, community

service, drill, wilderness survival, marksmanship, and participation in

optional training teams like first aid or drill teams.

More points are given for higher levels of success within specified

training or levels of participation.

The National Star of Excellence recognizes senior

cadets who display exceptional involvement in the Army Cadet activities, and

is the most comprehensive Army Cadet Challenge.

I ask all hon. members to join with me in

congratulating Master Warrant Officers Alysha Chaulk, Stephen Eckhert, and

Andrew Patten on this prestigious accomplishment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Trinity Bay de Verde.

MR. CROCKER:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in this hon. House today to

recognize the Heart's Content 50 Plus Club and congratulate them on the

completion of the launch of the book

By Hook or By Crook, Tales of Days Gone by in Heart's Content .

This past Sunday, I had the opportunity to attend the

launch. The idea for the book

was developed by Mike Middelkoop, and was then fostered and brought to

fruition by members of the 50 Plus Club.

This book is a collection of interviews from the

memories of local residents. In

1866, Heart's Content made telecommunications history by being the site of

the first successful landing of the transatlantic cable.

2016 will mark the 150 th anniversary.

This event brought many modern conveniences to the area, while hardy

residents coped with the everyday struggles of a developing settlement.

Recollections for the book were provided by Donald

Blundon, the late Herb Crocker, Annie Cumby, Bill Cumby, Marina Langer, Ed

Matthews, Betty Piercey, Frank Piercey, and Jack Smith.

The Club is hopeful this book will become the first in

a Tales of Days Gone By series.

I ask all hon. members to join me in congratulating the

Heart's Content 50 Plus Club on the launch of

By Hook or By Crook .

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Bonavista North.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. CROSS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As you drive towards New-Wes-Valley, you see a sign

that looks like a piece of artwork inviting you to visit Norton's Cove

Studio in Brookfield. The

owner-operator artist, Janet Davis, is a true gem as a multi-disciplined

artist.

Surfacing

by Janet Davis is currently running at the Main Gallery of the Newfoundland

and Labrador Craft Council on Duckworth Street.

It concludes on June 13 and it is definitely a must see.

It includes prints, pottery, hooked mats, and paintings that

celebrate the many moods and metaphors found in the surface of the oceans.

Janet, a local resident and graduate of Cabot College's

Textiles Program before it was CNA and the Nova Scotia College of Art

and Design has been producing fine art and sharing her craft with students

and visiting as an artist in the schools for many years.

Janet creates interdisciplinary images based on her

life in rural Newfoundland. She

says that the sea is present in all aspect of her life, from sailing as a

past time, to watching the sunrise and sunset as they reflect with the waves

as her first and last inspirations, daily.

I ask all hon. members to help me toast a former

student, Janet Davis to recognize her achievements and wish her much

success in the future.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Statements by Ministers.

Statements by Ministers

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Justice and Public Safety.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KING:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

On May 29, Newfoundland and Labrador Crime Stoppers

announced the recipients of the 2015 Police and Peace Officer of the Year

Awards. This marked the

twenty-first annual event that recognizes officers for their professionalism

and for the contributions they make to their communities.

I would like to congratulate this year's recipients.

For police officers, the winners were Royal Canadian Mounted Police

Staff Sergeant Donald Rogers of the Happy Valley-Goose Bay detachment, as

well as Royal Newfoundland Constabulary Constable Scott Mosher of Corner

Brook. The peace officer of the

year is Fishery Officer Sherry Pittman, who is employed with the Department

of Fisheries and Oceans.

RCM Staff Sergeant Rogers was promoted to his current

leadership positon last year and has been a member of the RCMP for almost

twenty-six years. He currently

oversees a busy detachment in Labrador with eighteen officers.

Despite his busy workload, Staff Sergeant Rogers still contributes

greatly to his community and volunteers with groups such as the Labrador

Friendship Centre, the Homelessness Coalition, Special Olympics and the

Mokami Status of Women.

Mr. Speaker, RNC Constable Scott Mosher has already had

a significantly positive impact on Corner Brook despite being a relatively

new officer. In addition to his

duties with the patrol services, he is extensively involved with the Drug

Abuse Resistance Education program, commonly known as D.A.R.E, and last year

he spoke to hundreds of elementary school students about the dangers of

drugs. Constable Mosher is also

a dedicated volunteer and assists with youth sports, the Corner Brook Winter

Carnival, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, and the local Crime Prevention

Committee.

Finally, Mr. Speaker, but certainly not least, Fishery

Officer Sherry Pittman is also stationed in Corner Brook where she engages

fish harvesters and the public to educate and promote conservation and

protection initiatives. In 2014,

Officer Pittman was involved in a rescue at sea in the Bay of Islands when

she and her partner came upon an overturned vessel.

One of the survivors of the incident had drifted from the vessel and

was located with the assistance of the Canadian Coast Guard after a search

was initiated by Officer Pittman.

Mr. Speaker, all three recipients of this year's Police

and Peace Officer of the Year Awards are certainly deserving of the

accolades they receive and they are fine role models for their fellow

colleagues. On behalf of the

provincial government, I congratulate them and I also commend Newfoundland

and Labrador Crime Stoppers for bringing recognition to their important

work.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Burgeo La Poile.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank the minister for an advance copy of his

statement. I am pleased to stand

in the House on behalf of the Official Opposition to commend Newfoundland

and Labrador Crime Stoppers for recognizing such important members of our

workforce and our communities.

The Police and Peace Officer of the Year Awards provide

us with an opportunity to appreciate the valuable work that officers do,

both on the job and off the job, in big and small communities across the

Province. I would like to extend

congratulations to this year's recipients, Staff Sergeant Rogers, Constable

Mosher, and Fisheries Officer Pittman, for their outstanding professionalism

and their commitment to the improvement of public safety in this Province.

The volunteer contributions these individuals make and

have made to their communities, in addition to their demanding jobs, deserve

the highest accolades. I would

also like to take this opportunity to encourage all members of the Province

to engage with their communities as these officers have and follow the fine

example they have set.

Once again, congratulations to the officers and to

Newfoundland and Labrador Crime Stoppers.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

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

MS ROGERS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I too thank the minister for an advance copy of his

statement. Congratulations Staff

Sergeant Rogers, Constable Mosher, and Officer Pittman.

Congratulations also to all the women and men who work as police and

peace officers.

The public depends on these people and depends on their

professionalism, their dedication, and expertise.

I applaud the work they do in our communities.

The transition of police forces into police services is enhanced by

all the extracurricular community work done by these officers.

How better to serve the community than to be a visible part of it.

Bravo to them all.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Seniors, Wellness and Social Development.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise today to note that June is Recreation Month in

Newfoundland and Labrador, a time to highlight how active, healthy living

enhances the quality of our lives.

The theme once again this year is

Celebrate! Activate!

Motivate! As a

government, we work with our partners at Recreation Newfoundland and

Labrador to do just that. We

celebrate and promote the benefits of recreation, Mr. Speaker, while putting

in place a supportive environment at the community level to motivate

residents to become more active.

Mr. Speaker, we have supported hiking trail

development, park development, wellness grants, age-friendly grants,

physical activity equipment grants, and provided community-based

organizations large and small with funding to deliver recreational

programs to all ages. We also

support Recreation Newfoundland and Labrador in its efforts to promote

active, healthy living and to deliver key programs like Eat Great and

Participate, High Five, the Find Your Fit! campaign, and more.

Our government has put the infrastructure and

opportunities in place which allow people to engage in healthy, recreational

pursuits. But we also know that

at the end of the day, individuals must make the choice to use those

opportunities to improve their own lifestyle, and to encourage our children

and grandchildren to do likewise.

Mr. Speaker, in February, federal, provincial, and

territorial ministers responsible for recreation met in Prince George,

British Columbia and endorsed a National Recreation Framework to guide the

sector. I encourage those

working at the community level to read the document, and to incorporate it

into their community recreation planning and practice.

Our government has also committed to developing a new

Provincial Wellness Plan, Mr. Speaker.

It will be representative of the new synergies we have found in

forming the Department of Seniors, Wellness and Social Development with

healthy living, recreation, and sport development together.

It will also represent the views of our stakeholders, both inside and

outside of government.

It is a major undertaking, Mr. Speaker.

We essentially need to change the collective mindset of our

population and encourage more Newfoundlanders and Labradorians to make

active, healthy living a way of life.

So I welcome this opportunity, Mr. Speaker, during Recreation Month,

to encourage everybody to take the first step.

Get outdoors. Go for a

hike. Start right now to pursue

a healthier, more active lifestyle.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Conception Bay South.

MR. HILLIER:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank the minister for an advance copy of his

statement. While June is

officially recognized as Recreation Month in Newfoundland and Labrador, it

is important to promote health and active living throughout the whole year.

Whether it is summer, winter, spring, or fall, there are lots of

opportunities to remain active and promote healthy lifestyles.

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate

Recreation Newfoundland and Labrador as they have just completed their

thirty-day challenge, where residents of all ages and abilities came

together to Find Your Fit!

Incredibly, seventy-one communities, fifty-eight schools, and over 40,000

people took

part in this community physical activity initiative.

Mr. Speaker, at the same time they are promoting

recreation, this government has raised the fees at the three provincially

owned and operated swimming pools in the Province.

That, in particular, has affected our seniors.

The minister also states that government has committed to a new

provincial wellness plan. We

have been asking for that plan since 2008 and we have not yet seen the

outcomes that the first wellness plan was supposed to deliver.

Mr. Speaker, we need to do more to inspire residents of

Newfoundland and Labrador to incorporate physical activity and healthy

choices into their everyday life.

Thank you very much.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

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

MS ROGERS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I, too, thank the minister for an advance copy of his

statement. Every month is

Recreation Month and indeed every day is recreation day.

I play hockey and even scored a hat trick this year, and I try to get

in a walk at least once a day.

Changing the collective mindset of our population to

embrace a healthier way of life takes leadership.

I challenge my hon. colleagues to show leadership by organizing

community walks, rolls, hops, jogs, or whatever works to get the people in

our districts, young and old, to get more exercise.

The longest journey starts with that first step, or that first roll.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Service Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. CRUMMELL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in this hon. House to emphasize the

importance of promoting occupational health and safety particularly as

construction activity and other seasonal work increases during the summer

months. Preventing accidents and

illness in workplaces throughout the Province is part of the mandate of

Service NL, and we remain dedicated to working with employers to promote the

well-being of workers year-round.

Mr. Speaker, I remind my hon. colleagues that only a

few weeks ago we celebrated North American Occupational Health and Safety

Week, with the theme being Make Safety a Habit For Your Career.

This is an important message to be remembered throughout the year,

but especially at a time when many new construction workers are entering the

workplace to start their careers.

It is important that all employers give site-specific safety

orientation to all new employees.

Safety orientation and ongoing safety coaching are critical

components for preventing injuries in the workplace.

Mr. Speaker, in 2014, the number of workplace injuries

resulting in lost-time compensation claims remained, for the third

consecutive year, at the lowest level ever recorded in our Province.

This speaks to what can be achieved through a collaboration between

employers, union representatives, and the provincial government.

Nevertheless, eleven workers died last year as a result of workplace

accidents, and another eighteen died from occupational disease.

These statistics underline the need to be vigilant and consistent in

promoting a strong safety culture in every workplace.

To promote this, Service NL's Occupational Health and

Safety Division completes inspections at all workplaces throughout

Newfoundland and Labrador. The

inspection process not only assesses the level of compliance, but also helps

employers understand their legislated responsibilities.

Staff of the division are also available to answer questions at any

time to help stakeholders better understand their responsibilities under the

legislation. This complements

other efforts by our government to improve safety for workers at

construction sites, such as amendments to the

Highway Traffic Act to improve the

safety of road construction crews.

Our government doubled the fine for speeding in construction zones to

safeguard workers on the job.

Mr. Speaker, maintaining safety in the workplace is

everyone's responsibility. As

construction activity ramps up over the coming months, I encourage everyone

to remember their respective roles and responsibilities, and work together

to make sure workers come home safe at the end of each day.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Mount Pearl South.

MR. LANE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank the minister for an advance copy of his

statement. We here in the

Official Opposition also want to recognize the importance of occupational

health and safety. As the

minister says, we do have the roadwork season coming on now.

Certainly, I have seen a lot of improvement, particularly as it

relates to the Newfoundland and Labrador Construction Safety Association and

the impact they have had on safety when it comes to that type of work.

So, we certainly applaud them and we applaud that initiative.

Mr. Speaker, when we talk about occupational health and

safety, government has a much larger role to play than simply reading

Ministerial Statements. We look

no further than Labrador, where we have had no safety inspectors there for

the last three years, and according to the minister we cannot get anyone to

work in Labrador. I am not sure

where he got that information, but that certainly is an issue.

We have a silica dust study up there that is over a year behind.

We have the fish processors safety sector council which was supposed

to be established three years ago that did not happen.

God forbid if you get hurt, you get injured, we know

the mess that is going on at the Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation

Commission and the Review Division, and how people have to wait so long to

get their cases heard.

Government is breaking its own sixty-day legislation.

I thank the minister.

There is a lot of work to be done.

Let's get at it.

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. LANE:

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

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

MR. MURPHY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank the minister for the advance copy of his

statement here today as well. It

is important to note in the facts behind workplace injuries is the fact that

assaults and violent acts and injury rates are well up according to the

latest WHSCC annual performance report.

I was only having a look at it yesterday.

Mr. Speaker, sometimes a strong culture of safety also

needs to be legislated by government.

I will give a good example: how about lone-worker legislation to help

protect workers on the job? Such

legislation has the potential to lower incidence rates as well as lower

accepted fatality claims as well.

Above all, Mr. Speaker, we encourage government to

enforce those components of the Highway Traffic Act to ensure lower injury

rates. We have to remember that

the key to any of this work that is being done on the highways is

enforcement. We need better

enforcement mechanisms, particularly when it comes to the Move Over

legislation that our party backed them on.

Thank you very much.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Oral Questions.

Oral Questions

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yesterday, the minister said that he would check with

Nalcor to determine the costs associated with offshore seismic vessels that

are currently being tied up in St. John's Harbour.

This, of course, is due to regulatory issues with the C-NLOPB.

The boats have been tied up now for over a week.

I ask the minister: You have now had time to check with

Nalcor; what impact will this delay have on the exploration program?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Natural Resources.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. DALLEY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The two vessels that are currently in the harbour, one

vessel has been released and is headed to the offshore, Mr. Speaker.

They are tied up because of offshore safety concerns.

It is the responsibility of the companies and through the C-NLOPB to

work through to ensure offshore safety for workers, and that they are

compliant with the new transitional regulations.

So that is why they are tied up.

I think that is for good reason when we are talking about safety of

offshore workers. With respect

to any additional cost to Nalcor, Mr. Speaker, there is no additional cost

to Nalcor with the vessels that are tied up in the harbour.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Methylphenidate or Ritalin is a drug that is commonly

used to treat ADHD. There is a

legitimate need for this use with this medication; however, professionals

are telling us it has been highly abused.

The first line of Ritalin covered by government's Prescription Drug

Program is forms that can be easily abused.

I ask the Premier: Are you aware of this issue you

were the Minister of Health and Community Services and, if so, what are

you doing to address it?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KENT:

Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition raises a very important issue, and

it is one that came up during recent consultations that the All-Party

Committee on Mental Health and Addictions have held in various places in the

Province, with more coming up later this week and next week as well.

The misuse of any kind of prescription drug is always a

great concern from a health perspective, from a legal perspective.

There are numerous efforts being made in this Province to crack down

on the misuse and abuse of prescription drugs.

Ritalin is a drug that many people need and when used properly and

when the prescription is followed, there are not issues with that, but any

kind of drug abuse is very concerning, of course.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Some of the efforts that the minister speaks about, he

must know that there are other forms available for methylphenidate or

Ritalin that cannot be crushed or cannot be easily abused; however, this

government will only cover these medications after they have tried or they

have failed on the kind that is easily abused.

I ask the Premier: Since you know that these pills are

being sold on the streets, why haven't you made the changes to the

Prescription Drug Program to reduce the abuse that is currently happening

with this particular medication?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KENT:

Mr. Speaker, all of the time in the Department of Health and Community

Services, while working closely with Atlantic counterparts and counterparts

across the country, we are reviewing what drugs are under formularies, we

are reviewing what drugs are covered under the Newfoundland and Labrador

Prescription Drug Program.

As I have said in my previous response, this is a

serious issue. We are certainly

looking into it further. The

whole issue of the abuse of prescription narcotics is actually a major

public health issue across this country.

We recognize the severity of it, we are working with other key

stakeholders to respond, and there is actually an Atlantic Provinces working

group that has been formed to look at gaps and opportunities and approaches

to deal with prescription drug abuse.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Well, in various jurisdictions the problems that this

particular medication causes to society, in particular our youth, there are

options available. Many health

care professionals and parents want this current policy to be changed.

They do not want the first option being drugs that are easily abused,

like methylphenidate, the one that is currently being available to most of

our youth. Government is aware

of this. They have been told

this, as the minister said.

I ask the Premier: Why aren't you listening to these

concerns and putting the proper measures in place so that you can help solve

some of those problems with our youth right now?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KENT:

Mr. Speaker, time and time again within the Department of Health and

Community Services we have demonstrated our willingness to adapt in the face

of evidence, and that is changing all of the time.

We are constantly monitoring what is occurring with various

prescription drugs and the misuse or abuse of those drugs.

We have also started discussions within the mental

health program and the addition programs within Eastern Health on this very

issue, so I can assure the Leader of the Opposition that it is an issue we

are looking at because we do recognize the seriousness.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I agree with the minister when he talks about this

being evidence-based, but surely he must be aware of the evidence that is

currently out there. Our

educators are telling us, our parents are telling us, health professionals

are telling us why aren't you listening to the evidence that you already

know exists?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KENT:

Mr. Speaker, like every province and territory in the country, we subscribe

to the Pan-Canadian review processes that are in place when it comes to

drugs, which drugs are listed, which drugs are included in drug programs.

We monitor very closely what is happening across the country.

We consult with stakeholders within our own health care system as

well, so this is an issue that has been recently raised and it is one that

we are closely looking at, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Burgeo La Poile.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Mr. Speaker, the 2014 Auditor General's report shows that the Province is

currently owed over $37 million in outstanding traffic fines.

Governments current collection methods are only applied to accounts

or fines of $400 or more; however, there is $6.3 million owing in fines

totalling less than $400, each which is not being actively collected

whatsoever and those are the words of the AG.

I ask the minister: Given you current fiscal

difficulties, what steps are your government taking to collect this $6.3

million?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Justice and Public Safety.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KING:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I appreciate the question from the member opposite.

As he referenced, we talked about this in Estimates and we talked

about it at length. I think

anyone who has been involved with the Department of Justice on either side

of the House recognizes that there are challenges for all of us in

collecting outstanding fines. A lot

of it has to do with the nature of the clientele you are dealing with in

many respects. A lot of them

have no fixed addresses and are very hard and difficult to locate.

What I can tell the member, as he just referenced, we

have taken a number of steps to try and crack down on repeat offenders and

to try and generate further revenue with respect to the public Treasury.

Just recently we conducted a pilot project with the

RNC. I cannot share a lot of

data at this point because I do not have it, but I can say it looks like

there is some good success in what we have tried.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Burgeo La Poile.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Mr. Speaker, as I said, the AG has stated that any accounts of a less than

$400 are not being actively collected.

That is $6.3 million.

Recently, the Finance Minister hired his political

friend to collect roughly $900,000 from seniors and pensioners because of

his department's mistake. It is

important to remember that over half of those overpayments, made by the

government, amount to less than $400 each.

I ask the Premier: Why are you allowing people who

violated traffic laws to evade over $6 million in fines and, instead,

forcing seniors to make up for your $900,000 mistake?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Justice and Public Safety.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KING:

Mr. Speaker, we are talking about a very serious issue there.

It is shameful the member would lump the seniors of our Province into

a discussion

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. KING:

It is shocking that the member would lump the seniors of our Province into a

discussion about those who commit criminal activities in the Province, Mr.

Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. KING:

Mr. Speaker, as I said a few moments ago, we have taken a number of

significant steps to enhance our ability to collect fines.

We have garnished wages.

We actually now do not allow drivers' licences

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. KING:

If the members are interested, I can continue, Mr. Speaker, but I am not

going to compete for airtime in Question Period.

We garnish wages.

We do not renew drivers' licences.

We will not register vehicles.

The challenge with the clientele we are talking about is many of them

drive without a licence and registered vehicle anyway.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Burgeo La Poile.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Mr. Speaker, it is shocking to hear that this government's priority is to

prosecute seniors rather than offenders.

This government has targeting vulnerable seniors, many living on

fixed incomes to pay for their mistakes.

In 2013, the PC government cut collections officers

tasked with collecting these unpaid fines over $37 million.

The AG said that cutting them had a huge impact on collecting fines

and that is why we have such a poor collection rate.

I ask the Premier again: How do you justify having Leo

Bonnell go after seniors for $900,000 while downsizing those who should be

collecting the $37 million owing by offenders?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Justice and Public Safety.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KING:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is certainly appropriate that the member wants to

score political points. I accept

that. That is part of the

theatrics in the House of Assembly, but the fact that he would use seniors

of the Province and lump them into a discussion around criminals in the

Province I think is just absolutely terrible.

We are talking about a very serious

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. KING:

We are talking about a very serious issue here.

We are talking about those who commit crimes, have outstanding fines,

and trying to find a way to collect the fines.

To take the vulnerable and the seniors of the Province and to lump

them in with that discussion and to suggest that somehow there is a

connection to that, it is absolutely atrocious in my view, Mr. Speaker.

I have outlined to the member opposite very clearly

that we have taken concrete steps to try and collect fines.

We will continue to pursue every option available to us.

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Burgeo La Poile.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Mr. Speaker, speaking of concrete steps, other provinces such as Alberta,

Manitoba, and New Brunswick use a program in partnership with Canada Revenue

Agency. It allows income tax

refunds, GST rebates, and tax credits to be withheld from debtors and

redirected to the province. New

Brunswick alone collected $2 million in voluntary payments in the first year

because people knew that their tax returns would be affected.

I ask the minister: It has been successful elsewhere,

will you consider the registration of traffic fines, regardless of their

amount, with CRA?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Justice and Public Safety.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KING:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Again, I appreciate the question.

The member has hit on a very good point there, and contrary to the

opposite member's belief that we are the least, last, and lowest in the

country, we are not. As a matter

of fact, we do a lot of great things.

The member just raised a very good point.

We are actually doing what he is asking me if we will consider doing,

Mr. Speaker. We have been doing

it for some time.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

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

MR. OSBORNE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Last week, I asked the minister if those who are

homeless are counted in the number of individuals on Income Support and he

was supposed to get back to us with an answer.

We do not yet have that answer.

I will ask the minister: Can he confirm today that

individuals without an address do not qualify for Income Support?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It so happens that I have the information here, Mr.

Speaker. I will table it right

after Question Period.

MR. SPEAKER:

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

MR. OSBORNE:

Mr. Speaker, I ask the minister: Will he confirm for the House today that

individuals without an address do not qualify for Income Support?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN:

Mr. Speaker, I will have to check with my staff on that.

I certainly will report to him.

I will report to him as soon as Question Period is over.

MR. SPEAKER:

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

MR. OSBORNE:

It is very typical of that government, Mr. Speaker.

We have the information; we do not have the information.

We will make a decision; we will not make a decision.

The rental allowance provided through Income Support is

not nearly enough to pay for rent.

Some individuals become homeless because they simply cannot afford to

pay their rent based on what they receive on Income Support.

If you cannot pay your rent and become homeless, you do not have an

address. If you do not have an

address, you do not qualify for Income Support.

Will the minister confirm that people are becoming

homeless because the rental allowance is simply not sufficient to pay their

rent?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN:

Mr. Speaker, we take this entire issue very seriously.

That is why, we as a government, commissioned the OrgCode report.

We have had discussions with groups and organizations who put forward

the challenges of rents in urban versus rural.

As this report rolls out, as we continue our meetings with groups,

this will be something that the entire study of this and the movement

forward will take a look at. I

recognize it is an issue, and we will continue to work and try to find a

solution to it.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Conception Bay South.

MR. HILLIER:

Mr. Speaker, earlier this year the government issued a request for proposals

to conduct a review of the Province's Home Support Program.

The contract for this work was to have been awarded by the end of

March. That did not happen.

Mr. Speaker, seniors' organizations are anxious for this work to

start. They have changes they

want to recommend.

I ask the minister: Can you provide a timeline from

when this work will begin to the presentation of the final report?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KENT:

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to report to the House that the responses to our

recent request for proposals have been received.

We are finalizing the evaluation right now, and we expect to award

the RFP within the next number of weeks.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Conception Bay South.

MR. HILLIER:

Mr. Speaker, the RFP says that the successful contractor is to consult with

seniors and other key stakeholders Province-wide, but the type of

consultation is not defined. It

could be anything, send an email or write a letter.

I ask the minister: Can you assure this House that the

primary type of consultation will include public meetings where anyone and

everyone with concerns or opinions will be heard?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KENT:

Mr. Speaker, in recent years we have done a lot of work to improve the Home

Support Program, and we recognize that there are still concerns and that

there are still challenges. That

is why we have commissioned this independent review of the Home Support

Program.

I can assure the hon. member that we want input from

anybody who has any suggestions, ideas, concerns, issues they wish to raise.

I will be asking the consultant to provide multiple opportunities for

people to have a say and to have input into the process, because we want to

make the program as strong as possible for the families who avail of Home

Support in our Province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Virginia Waters.

MS C. BENNETT:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Minister of Finance confirmed last week in the

House that the freeze on discretionary spending that the Premier put in

place last year will not continue with this Budget.

He said that government will operate within the Budget they have

presented, but the Budget documents show that they plan to spend the same or

more than they did last year.

I ask the Premier: Why are you not continuing the

elimination of discretionary spending when you have projected the largest

deficit in the history of Newfoundland and Labrador?

MR. SPEAKER:

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. WISEMAN:

Mr. Speaker, let's understand what a Budget document is.

A Budget document clearly maps out for the people of the Province and

for members of this House, maps out what government plans to spend its money

on next year, how government plans to generate revenue, and that becomes our

guide. That becomes a plan.

The Budget is a plan.

The Budget says we will spend this much on salaries, we will spend

this much on supplies, and it allocates it by department, by board, or by

agency. So that becomes the

guide, and that will guide government's expenditure levels for the next

twelve months. In building that

Budget, we exercised great discretion and did due diligence to determine

what was an appropriate level of spending by each expense category, Mr.

Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Virginia Waters.

MS C. BENNETT:

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance has an interesting definition of due

diligence.

The minister himself indicated in the Estimates

Committee meeting that they came in significantly under budget last year in

areas such as travel as part of this elimination of discretionary spending,

but now the Department of Finance and others have budgeted significantly

more for travel than they actually spent last year because the freeze is no

longer in effect.

I ask the Premier: Why did you not direct the

departments to cut discretionary spending on travel and other related

expenses when your government has created the largest deficit in the history

of Newfoundland and Labrador?

MR. SPEAKER:

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. WISEMAN:

Mr. Speaker, two moments ago in Question Period another member opposite

talked about and criticized, in fact, criticized government for eliminating

tax collectors. So let's use

that as one example. If we are

going to have people who are involved in providing services to the public,

people who are involved in doing inspections, Occupational, Health and

Safety people travelling around the Province, that is how they do their

work. They go out to where the

activities take place.

So if we were to say everybody stays home, nobody does

anything, we are not going to do any travel, look at what we would do.

We would shut down government.

If you think about how government delivers programs and services and

where people need those programs and services, and how do we get our

employees out to those job sites?

They travel, Mr. Speaker, and we have an obligation to reimburse them

for their expenditures. So we

need to look at how government operates because we cannot shut down the

delivery of programs and services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St. George's Stephenville East.

MR. REID:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Back in March, I asked the Minister Responsible for

Agrifoods how government's review of the Province's Crown Lands Act would

impact the designation of Crown land for agricultural purposes.

At that time, the minister informed the House that there was a

separate review taking place on that particular issue.

I ask the minister: Can he tell us more about the

separate review, the process involved, and when we can expect a report?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister Responsible for the Forestry and Agrifoods Agency.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. GRANTER:

Mr. Speaker, we are all aware in the Province the importance of land

development. It is accurate that

we are looking at the creation, through Crown Lands Interdepartmental Land

Use Committee, as well as our agency is increasing compliance activities on

existing agriculture leases, as well as to ensure these areas are being used

for agriculture purposes.

We want to get more agriculture land back to farmers

and more young farmers involved with the system.

That is the goal of government.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St. George's Stephenville East.

MR. REID:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is interesting that the minister did not tell us the

process and when we can expect a report.

Food security and availability of land is very closely linked.

I ask the minister: Will he speed up the process for

farmers who want to access Crown land by having predesignated Crown land

that is available for agricultural use?

Will he do that?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister Responsible for the Forestry and Agrifoods Agency.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. GRANTER:

Mr. Speaker, we are all aware, living on an Island, of the importance of

food security, especially with the ice conditions that we see in the Gulf

from time to time in the spring of the year.

It is absolutely critical as a Province, and as

communities in the Province, that we get more and more food security.

In the last number of years, we have seen an increase in the amount

of food produced in the Province.

We are self-sustainable in a number of areas, Mr. Speaker.

This government is committed to making sure that we move closer and

closer to food security for all residents of Newfoundland and Labrador.

As an example, now we are increasing the amount of

funds that we are putting into cranberries and cranberry production

agricultural land development.

Again, as I just said, we are looking at compliance with regard to leases of

Crown land for agricultural purposes in the Province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

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

MR. KIRBY:

Mr. Speaker, the Budget Speech announced that government would be carrying

out a kindergarten to Grade 12 curriculum renewal as part of a new

investment in education.

However, we have learned since there is actually no new investment

associated with this, and this purportedly new initiative is actually part

of a routine annual curriculum review of the Department of Education.

I ask the acting minister: Don't you think it is

misleading for you to use routine work of the Department of Education and

include it as a major new initiative in the Budget Speech?

MR. SPEAKER:

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. DALLEY:

Mr. Speaker, contrary to the member opposite, I do not see the work done by

the Department of Education in collaboration with the teachers of the

Province routine when it comes to examining the curriculum that is delivered

in our Province.

There are some 320 different curriculums, Mr. Speaker,

and there is a plan and a process where we continue to renew.

We become innovative. We

look at new methods of teaching.

We integrated new technologies, Mr. Speaker.

That is important that we continue to advance and give our kids in

our schools every opportunity with the best curriculum.

The fact that we would announce we are going to proceed

and continue to do that, Mr. Speaker, I think it is extremely positive.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

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

MR. KIRBY:

Getting those sorts of answers from the minister is becoming routine, Mr.

Speaker.

Every educator knows that new curriculum should be

piloted before it is introduced in a new setting.

The minister is a former educator himself.

It was confirmed in Estimates that government has absolutely no plan

to pilot the full-day kindergarten curriculum in a full-day setting.

I ask the minister: Why isn't your full-day

kindergarten curriculum being piloted properly as is the standard practice

in this Province? Are you simply

planning to just chuck it out, hand it out to teachers and expect them to

work all of the problems out?

MR. SPEAKER:

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. DALLEY:

Routine answers, Mr. Speaker, for routine questions.

Simple.

Mr. Speaker, as for the kindergarten curriculum, it is

our government that have committed to full-day kindergarten.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. DALLEY:

They want to take credit. They

all want to stand up and take credit, that member, the Member for Virginia

Waters. They all want to take

credit, but we are committed to full-day kindergarten.

We are committed to training teachers properly.

As with the curriculum, Mr. Speaker, the kindergarten curriculum, a

play-based curriculum was developed and designed for full day.

It is play based, Mr. Speaker, and we will implement full-day

kindergarten with the best interest of students in this Province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Signal Hill Quidi Vidi.

MS MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

Yesterday, the Premier refused to answer my questions

about information OCI was to supply in return for cod MPR exemptions.

I ask the Premier: Did he really give OCI cod

exemptions with no strings attached?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. GRANTER:

It is interesting, Mr. Speaker, to get a question from one of the Opposition

parties with regard to pilot projects in education, and at the same time

when the Fisheries and Aquaculture department of the Government of

Newfoundland and Labrador introduced pilot projects last year with regard to

fishing cod in 3Ps, that is all of a sudden problematic.

We issued MPRs last year for cod production and cod

catch in 3Ps. That, the FFAW

agreed with, Mr. Speaker, and that, the current Leader of the NDP when he

was President of the FFAW also agreed with it.

We issued MPRs for cod out of 3Ps last year to increase the value of

the cod landed in 3Ps, and that is what we did.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The hon. the Member for Signal Hill Quidi Vidi.

MS MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

So we have the answer.

They are giving to OCI and taking from the workers.

Mr. Speaker, in return for MPR exemptions

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MS MICHAEL:

for yellowtail, government said they had secured from OCI 110 full-time

processing jobs for five years for Fortune workers.

Last year they only got thirty-five weeks, and this year twenty.

I ask the Premier: Does the Province have any legal

mechanism to force OCI to live up to its commitment to provide the full-time

jobs?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Justice and Public Safety.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KING:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am very pleased to stand and address that question.

I have to tell you it boils me day in and day out to hear that party

that stood against the people of Fortune time and time again, while this

government tried to find a solution to put people to work.

We have more than a hundred-vessel crew making money as

a part of the deal that this government did with OCI, Mr. Speaker, and we

have people working in the plant in Fortune.

Time and time again the member opposite stands and would have us do

nothing but shut the deal down and say too bad to the people of Fortune.

Well I say shame on you, shame on your party, and shame on your

leader for fighting the people of Fortune.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. KING:

We stand with the people of Fortune and we will continue to stand with the

people of Fortune, in spite of where you stand.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The hon. the Member for Signal Hill Quidi Vidi.

MS MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

I am asking the minister, the Premier, and that whole

bunch over there to explain to the Fortune plant workers how twenty weeks is

better than thirty-five weeks.

Why are they giving it to the company and not to the people of the

community?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Justice and Public Safety.

MR. KING:

Mr. Speaker, let me say this to the member opposite: the question here is

not whether twenty is better than thirty-five; it is whether twenty is

better than zero, the big zero, because that is what the people in Fortune

had for five or six years, I say to the member opposite.

The only problem now is that it is your party standing

against them. I say to you, what

the people of Fortune told your leader, go home and stay away from us.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The hon. the Member for Signal Hill Quidi Vidi.

MS MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

So now I ask the minister to do

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MS MICHAEL:

the math that the Minister of Finance cannot do: Is twenty better than 110

full-time processing jobs for five years?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. GRANTER:

Mr. Speaker, when you look at the situation that has unfolded in Fortune in

the last number of years, clearly articulated by my colleague on this side

of the House, OCI owns the quotas in Fortune.

They own the plant. On

every occasion as Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, I met with the

union representative, Mr. Speaker.

In actual fact, I met with union officials yesterday morning

discussing again the situation that has unfolded in Fortune for the last

couple or three years, and what we may or may not be able to do as we go

forward.

Look, basically it is this: OCI is operating in Fortune

right now. They promised twenty

weeks work. We know that is not

the thirty-two weeks that they got last year, but as the Minister for

Fisheries and Aquaculture, I am always looking for solutions.

I would ask that we work together on the issue in Fortune, not try to

cut us apart, Mr. Speaker.

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.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

Tabling of Documents

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

Pursuant to

section 8 and

section 10 of the Public

Tender Act, I hereby table the report of Public Tender Act exceptions for

the month of April 2015, as presented by the Chief Operating Officer of the

Government Purchasing Agency.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

In accordance with

section 28 of the Child and Youth

Advocate Act, I hereby table the 2013-2014 annual report of the Office of

the Advocate for Children and Youth.

Further tabling of documents?

The hon. the Minister of Seniors, Wellness and Social

Development.

MR. JACKMAN:

Yes, Mr. Speaker, as was referenced in Question Period, the Member for St.

John's South asked a question last week as to the number of people who are

homeless and whether they are added into the statistics of people on social

services. I would like to report

and I would like to table a response to his question.

MR. SPEAKER:

Further tabling of documents?

Notices of Motion.

Answers to Questions for which Notice has been Given.

Petitions.

Petitions

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for the Bay of Islands.

MR. JOYCE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I stand in this House today to the hon. House of

Assembly of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador in Parliament

assembled, the petition of the undersigned humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS due to the Animal Health and Protection Act in

2012, SPCA has been instructed by the Department of Natural Resources to

cease responding to animal abuse and neglect complaints; and

WHEREAS complaints will be dealt with by the RCMP, RNC,

and designated municipal officers; and

WHEREAS SPCA is to hold, provide care, and assume all

expenses of seized animals until a decision is made in a court of law; and

WHEREAS this court process can take several months or

longer; and

WHEREAS due to the very busy schedules and lack of

hands-on training of the RCMP, RNC, and municipal officers, some animals may

be left to suffer needlessly;

WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly

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

Newfoundland and Labrador to review the Animal Health and Protection Act and

make the SPCA a voice for the voiceless and appoint them as enforcement

officers of the Animal Health and Protection Act.

As in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr. Speaker, I have hundreds, and probably even

thousands of signatures here to urge the government to review this.

When this was brought in, I encouraged and I spoke here on many days

for the government to bring in this legislation.

Part of this legislation was to enforce and help the animal

protection. The SPCA, Mr.

Speaker, one of the four known providers of health and protection for

animals across the Province are excluded from this now.

A lot of the reasons why, they were saying it is

protection if there is a violent situation.

Most people in the SPCA would agree, if there is something major and

there is some harm, the RNC or the RCMP

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

Orders of the Day

Private Members' Day

MR. SPEAKER:

It now being 3:00 p.m., Private Members' Day, we have to go to the hon.

Member for Signal Hill Quidi Vidi to begin debate on the private member's

motion.

The hon. the Member for Signal Hill Quidi Vidi.

MS MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

WHEREAS following the imposition of the 1992 moratorium

on Northern cod, the federal Minister of Fisheries and Oceans assured

inshore harvesters of the Province that upon the return of the resource, the

first 115,000 tons of 2J3KL cod would be allotted to the adjacent inshore

harvesters; and

WHEREAS the Northern cod is showing a resurgence in

numbers; and

WHEREAS the current federal Minister of Fisheries and

Oceans has shown contempt for the principle of adjacency;

THEREFORE

BE IT RESOLVED that this House urge

government to call for the federal minister to reaffirm the federal policy

of returning the first 115,000 metric tons of Northern cod quota to the

adjacent inshore harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador.

I so move, Mr. Speaker, seconded by the Member for St.

John's Centre.

It gives me, I suppose, pleasure to stand and speak

today to an issue that is so important, I think, to all of us in this House

and all of us in the Province.

It is too bad that we have to stand and speak to this.

It is something that should be a given, something that we believe has

been a policy that we have been following in this country and in this

Province for decades now.

The Northern cod stock was recognized as one of the

greatest fish resources in the world.

It supported the settlement of hundreds of communities from Cape St.

Mary's to Cape Chidley, and was the mainstay of the economy of most of these

communities.

From the early days of European settlement of

Newfoundland and Labrador until July 2, 1992 that fateful day this stock

was fished year in, year out. It

was fished with inshore vessels using fixed gear until the advent of

trawlers in the 1950s. It was

subject to heavy overfishing by foreign fleets peaking at 800,000 metric

tons in 1968.

The inshore fishery declined precipitously in early

1970s in the wake of that onslaught of foreign fishing, notably on the

Hamilton Banks off Labrador. It

was in those early 1970s that I, myself, first became interested in what was

happening with the fishery and was part of a small conference here in St.

John's involving the newly formed union, involving fisher people themselves,

and involving the newly formed St. John's Oxfam Committee, talking about the

soon to be called 200-mile limit off the coast and what that would mean for

the fishery.

A new era of hope with declaration of Canada's 200-mile

exclusive economic zone in 1978 came to be.

The federal government forecast a total allowable catch of Northern

cod rising to 450,000 metric tons and gave incentives for trawler companies

who had been kicked out of the Gulf of St. Lawrence redfish fishery to fish

Northern cod through the ice in the winter.

Because of the importance of Northern cod, DFO convened

a special Northern cod workshop in Corner Brook, in August 1979, to discuss

the science and management of the stock.

At this workshop, attended by government, federal and provincial, and

industry leaders, there was general agreement that the inshore allowance of

115,000 metric tons of Northern cod would take precedence over all Canadian

fleets. I will talk more about

that further on.

During the 1980s, inshore fish harvesters warned of

serious problems with Northern cod stocks, something that, when I was at the

small conference in the early 1970s, was a fear that was raised.

Their plea largely fell on deaf ears until the late 1980s, when

scientific advice finally caught up with the harvesters' observations and

recommended significant quota cuts.

Meanwhile, foreign fleets notably the EU continued

to fish Northern cod, as well as other key stocks, far about the quotas they

were allocated by NAFO.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER (Littlejohn):

Order, please!

MS MICHAEL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, that is helpful.

The unthinkable happened.

The stock collapsed, nothing any of us could have thought, and on

July 2, 1992, John Crosbie announced the moratorium.

I would like to quote from a couple of documents that

confirm the priority access for the inshore sector.

I have copies of those documents if anybody wants to see them

afterwards, but it is important for us to go back and to hear what has been

proclaimed over and over.

In April 1996, the Deputy Minister of Fisheries and

Oceans, William Rowat, in a response to questions from the Chair of the

Senate Committee on Fisheries said, Your recommendation that the inshore

sector have priority access to reopened groundfish stocks is contrary to our

existing policy and one that we are not prepared to accept other than for

the 2J3KL cod stock. Since the

Corner Brook Northern Cod Seminar in August of 1979 it has been the

department's position, and in general terms the industry's as well, that the

inshore sector should have priority of access to this cod stock.

This confirmed a statement Fisheries and Oceans Minister Brian Tobin

had made in his speech to the St. John's Board of Trade the year before.

A May 21, 1994

article in a special Atlantic Canada

report in the Financial Post

referred to the task force on incomes and adjustment in the Atlantic

fishery, Chaired by Richard Cashin.

The

article said, and these are important words, In his task force

report, Cashin cautioned the return of a directed offshore cod fishery.

On this point, Brian Tobin seems to agree.

Both Tobin and Cashin have tossed out the figure of about 115,000

tonnes, a level the northern cod quota would have to reach before the

offshore could return to those fishing grounds.

This policy was more recently confirmed during a

presentation from long-time senior DFO management official, David Bevan, in

an appearance before the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans on March

13, 2008, when he said as part of a discussion on the DFO enterprise

allocation policy in the offshore fishery, That policy was put in place as

we made significant decisions, for example, on 2J3KL cod.

The first 115,000 tonnes go to the inshore and the remainder would be

shared between the inshore and the offshore.

This policy seems very clear as we go over these

historical documents. So, why

the need to reconfirm it?

Because the Harper government, Mr. Speaker, has clearly demonstrated that it

cannot be trusted to manage the fishery fairly, and especially fairly for

this Province. Nowhere has this

been more evident than in the recent controversy surrounding the halibut

quotas in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Gail Shea flew in the face of clear, established DFO

policy called stable shares, when she took halibut from resource-short

fishing fleets in the Newfoundland and Labrador portion of the Gulf of St.

Lawrence to increase shares in the Maritime Provinces and thereby improve

Conservative electoral prospects.

Shameful, Mr. Speaker, shameful!

Gross abuse of the major powers of the Fisheries Act

confers on the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, using her position for

political gain. Previously she

has shown her colours by refusing to move from a unilateral

interpretation

of the so-called LIFO, Last In, First Out policy in the Northern shrimp.

In spite of the strong arguments presented to her in person by our

all-party committee on shrimp quotas.

In other words, she continued to take the overwhelming

majority of quota reductions from the inshore and disregard the principle of

adjacency priority of access to the most adjacent people and communities.

She did that as well to benefit the people in her own home province,

again, abusing her powers as minister.

The only consistent feature of all of this is that the

minister consistently jumps all over the place.

She treats DFO management principles as options of convenience, to be

adhered to or discarded at her sole whim.

Again, I have to say disgraceful, Mr. Speaker, and shameful.

It is to confront this arbitrary authority and its

flagrant misuse that, we, the NDP, present

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

It is very difficult to hear the speaker.

The hon. the Member for Signal Hill Quidi Vidi.

MS MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

It is to confront Gail Shea's arbitrary authority and

her flagrant misuse that, we, the NDP, present this private member's motion

in the House today.

The Northern cod resource is on the rebound.

We know that. It is

critical to the survival of coastal communities on the Northeast Coast of

Newfoundland and the Southeast corner of Labrador that we fight tooth and

nail to ensure that the first 115,000 metric tons of Northern cod quota is

allocated to the inshore fleet, as promised by various DFO officials and

ministers.

No doubt, Mr. Speaker, the offshore lobby will be

fierce in the light of this proposal.

They may be lobbying the minister right now for so-called scientific

quota, as they have done in the Northern shrimp fishery among others, but

the minister should reject out-of-hand that pathetically transparent attempt

to increase quota share by the backdoor.

Adjacency and historic dependence are the traditional

cornerstones of fisheries access.

The people and communities along the Northeast Coast of Newfoundland

and the Southeast corner of Labrador are the most adjacent to the 2J3KL cod

stock. They have centuries of

historic attachment. For once,

the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans should stick to the core principles

that are supposed to guide fisheries allocation policy and irrevocably

confirm the long-standing policy that the first 115,000 metric tons of

Northern cod be allocated to the adjacent inshore sector.

Mr. Speaker, we have an obligation here in this House

to stand for this motion that we are putting on the floor today, to stand

for the people of the communities who will be kept alive by the growth in

our Northern cod, the communities that form a backbone to our economy in

this Province, Mr. Speaker, the communities that for centuries have fished

off those waters, the communities that are waiting for the restoration of

the Northern cod. They were

promised that in 1992. They were

promised it was not going to be forever and that the cod was going to come

back. Now it certainly has taken

much longer than anybody hoped, but everybody is filled with hope over the

signs of the resurgence.

Every year for the past few summers you hear the

fishing people from the inshore talking about what they are observing in the

waters. We all know that we have

to take our time. We have to

make sure we do not move too quickly because we have to make sure the

resurgence is for real. When we

get to a point of 115,000 metric tons of fish, and we know that fishing can

happen and that fish can be taken out of the water, the only people who

should benefit from that historically, ethically, and morally are the people

of the communities that have to go on living, that we need to go on living,

and that will need that fish to do it.

Mr. Speaker, I call on all members of this hon. House

to support my motion, to support the call for an action that will be for the

life of this Province and for the life of the people of our fishing

communities.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Cape St. Francis.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. K. PARSONS:

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

It is not too often I will run to a minister and say

can I speak on that motion, but I did that the other day when the member of

the NDP put forward this motion about the cod fishery in Newfoundland and

Labrador. I will tell you why,

Mr. Speaker, because I grew up in it.

I grew up in a fishing family.

I grew up in a family that fished.

We trucked, we bought, and we were agents.

I challenge any person in this House to say he cut more cod tongues

than I did.

Mr. Speaker, the fishery in Newfoundland and Labrador

is the reason why we are here in the first place.

We can never forget it.

The fishery is what brought people to Newfoundland and Labrador.

It is what made Newfoundland and Labrador what we are today as far as

I am concerned.

I can remember fishing and coming in with my father's

boat. It was about a

twenty-eight-foot boat and she had an 8 Acadia in her.

The sound of the echo, the putt, putt, putt, putt, putt on the rocks

was just something that you could never imagine.

I can remember one morning we had her log-loaded.

It is a memory that you will always remember log-loaded.

I lay across the cuddy in her and the water was coming in over the

top a little bit. He put the oil

clothes over me so I would not get wet.

I was only about seven or eight years old, but it is a memory I will

always have for my whole life.

There are lots of memories I have with fish because,

like I said, I grew up in it. My

first job ever well, I guess I was about ten years old.

I used to drive around with the fish truck driver and I used to write

the slips out to the fishermen and weigh the fish.

Back then when we look at the fishery and what we got to have today

and I would say to the hon. member, I would say I could sit down and every

member in this House is going to agree with this motion today, because it is

a good motion. I 100 per cent

support it.

Mr. Speaker, I want to talk a little bit about today,

because we made mistakes. There

were a lot of mistakes made in the cod fishery.

I will give examples now today of what I am going to talk about.

Quality was an important thing.

In the 1970s and the 1980s we concentrated more on catching a

quantity of fish rather than we did with quality.

I can remember driving around in a fish truck where they used to

prong the fish out of the boat into a tray, they would haul it up to the

stage and they would prong it into the stage, and they would prong it into

the back of the truck and that went around the whole day then with no ice

on it. So by the time it got to

the plant about 2:00 o'clock in the day, there was not much left to the

fish.

The fishery of the future is going to be a different

fishery. I talked to fishermen

last night. I made a couple of

phone calls last night, and I wanted to talk to a couple of fishermen and

just get their ideas. I told

them about the motion that was coming today, and I said: What do you think

of the fishery of the future?

Where do you think we are going to be with the cod?

Mr. Speaker, I look at the cod fishery and I hope

someday while the crab is a great fishery for Newfoundland and Labrador,

but what the cod fishery will do for Newfoundland and Labrador, it will

bring our communities back. It

will bring the excitement down on the wharfs I can remember going on the

wharf and everybody down there, no matter who it was, my father would make

sure that so and so got a fish, and this one got a fish.

People were going home with fish, and eating fish it brought the

community together. I remember

cutting cod tongues. You would

cut your cod tongues, and every little fellow had their own bucket with the

little hole in the middle where we were all sticking cod tongues down, and

made a few dollars at it. It was

what brought the community together.

It was so important, and in 1992 when the cod fishery

left and was closed down, it was devastating to our communities I know all

the communities down my way; it was unbelievable.

At the time my father owned a company called Flat Rock Trucking, and

the only thing we trucked was cod and capelin.

That is it. That is all

we did. We had about ten

employees, and that was it. It

was all over, finished for us.

That was ten families that it affected.

I never, ever thought that the fishery would be back to

where it is today. The fishery

today is huge in my area, and the people who are involved in the crab

fishery today are making great money.

They are doing great things.

I talked to a couple of crab fishermen last night and they told me:

Kevin, boy, I do not know about the cod anymore.

We are doing well with the crab.

We would like to see the cod come back, but there are a lot of things

that have to change.

I want to talk a little bit about quality again,

because I know that people use gillnets.

I do not like gillnets. I

tell you the truth, I think that you are drowning the fish, the quality of

fish and if you get a fish on a hook and line versus in a net, I think the

fish is a whole lot better quality.

I am sure the Member for Carbonear Harbour Grace would agree with

me because we talked about it one day before.

There are a lot of things we have to do.

I can remember and like I said my job was working on a fish truck

and what I used to have to do, I used to go down and we used to weigh fish

and I would have to cull it.

They had to take the fish I had to cull fish that was under sixteen

inches, fish that was between sixteen to eighteen inches and eighteen inches

over. The fishermen got a

different price for it. The last

going off they never got anything for the sixteen and under fish, nothing at

all. You know, it was funny

because some communities, where I did this, you could see the difference in

what the fishermen were using for their gear in their cod traps.

The cod traps, in some areas, you could see that,

because I would go down in one area and the percentage of under sixteen

would probably be about 3 per cent or 4 per cent, while I would go to

another area and it would probably be 35 per cent or 40 per cent.

The work in the back of the trap my father explained this to me

was a different size so if you had three-and-a-half inch work in the back of

the trap or five inch work in the back of the trap meant the fish could swim

through. The fishermen who had

five inch work they were getting a larger amount of fish.

Those are some of the regulations that if we ever come

back, we have to be a bit smarter than what we were back then.

I do not know if the cod traps will ever come back again.

I really do not think so.

I do not see it, but someday it may. It

will have to come back in a way that people will have to understand what

they are doing and make sure that we leave the small fish.

I can remember watching on the news and you would see

the big draggers come in, dragging the big load of fish and they would dump

it all out on the you would see little fish, this length, getting caught.

We cannot go back to that anymore. I

can tell you, last year I had a friend of mine who was doing the sentinel

fishery and I think they get 6,000 or 7,000 pounds per quota and they put

out six nets. They put out the

six nets and the second day or third day they took in two because they were

catching so much fish, that it was all they could handle was with four nets.

I know down in my area the fish is coming back.

I love the food fishery. I absolutely love the food fishery.

Every chance that I can get out to catch a cod, I will catch a cod.

I will tell you, there are a lot of people down our way that I give a

fine lot of fish to. If anyone

needs a feed of fish, if I know it, they are going to get a feed of fish

because I appreciate just the point of being able to eat a cod fish because

I did it all my life. Like I

said, driving the fish truck the first thing we did in the morning was send

one fish into mother and she would put it on the boiler and we would have a

bit of boiled fish with a bit of butter and pepper over it for breakfast

every morning, that is what we had.

Fish is a part of who we are.

The cod fishery for years and years like I said is an important part

of our community. We have to be

smart about what we are doing.

When the fishery comes back and I know it is going to come back.

Like I said, last year, going out at the food fishery, one drift and

we would have our fifteen fish, no sweat at all.

There was lots of fish there.

You can see the improvements over the years.

I will tell you another thing; you can see the improvements in the

size of the fish. The fish are

really after getting bigger. It

is important that we do it, but it is important that we do it right.

When the cod fishery comes back, it is important that we do it right.

Mr. Speaker, there is a huge problem and it is a

problem I think most of the fishermen realize where we were in 1992, we

had a lot of plants around this Province, and every second fellow you talked

to could fillet a fish. Everyone

knew how to fillet fish and everything else.

I can remember, I think it was the early 1980s, that I was up to

Quick Freeze up in Witless Bay and they brought in this machine that you

used to lay the fillet on and do it.

It was amazing just to watch a machine fillet fish.

Meanwhile, there were probably about forty or fifty people there

filleting fish along the table and skinning and doing everything else.

I tell you, Mr. Speaker, for the cod fishery to come

back, I do not know if we have the workers to do it.

I do not know if the people out there there is going to have to be

a big change. I know that right

now I am not sure, I would not be able to make an estimate even.

I think there are only a few companies in the Province that really

handles the codfish anymore.

I know last year, my brother and them sold so much fish

to some guy who was coming down.

He was with one of the plants.

It had to be in ice and the grade and it was good.

The quality had to be really good.

They could not get rid of a lot of it because they only took like, I

think, 1,500 pounds a day or 1,000 pounds a day.

While it is nice to know that the fishery is coming back, we have to

do a lot of work. There is a lot

of work to do with the fishery coming back to develop markets, to develop

the technologies, and to get the people back in the plants.

Like I said, this is the thing that could really drive

rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

We are always looking to see what we can do in rural Newfoundland and

Labrador, and this is it. I can

remember bringing fish to Hant's Harbour.

I can remember bringing fish to Dildo.

I can remember bringing fish to Green's Harbour.

I can remember bringing fish down to Old Perlican.

We trucked fish to Renews.

Mr. Speaker, on the Southern Shore there was a plant in

Witless Bay, there was a plant in Bay Bulls, Tors Cove, Cape Broyle, and I

think up in Renews. There were

plants all along the shore and they were busy.

That employed the whole Southern Shore, people in the plants.

The fishery itself, like I said, is the reason why we are here in the

first place. I think we have to

make it there are a lot of changes that have to come.

I believe the demand for the cod fishery will come

back. Back in the 1980s and

1970s, I think nearly all the codfish that was caught and went to the plants

we went to, I know all went to the Boston area, New England area, and that

is where they sold it. Now, I do

not know if we will ever get those markets back again, but we have to work a

lot at getting the markets back to where it was.

I think the quality of the cod is the best fish that you can eat,

myself. That is my opinion.

I think it is.

I think it is important that we make sure we do I

agree with the hon. member, the first 115,000 metric tons has to go to the

inshore; do not go to the offshore.

It has to stay to the inshore, because that is what will keep

Newfoundland and Labrador alive.

I think it will bring back people to our communities.

There is great pride in being a fisherman.

There is great pride in knowing your father was a fisherman and your

grandfather was a fisherman. Mr.

Speaker, it is a great skill being a fisherman.

I can remember one day being out with a fellow he is

long gone now Mr. Jim Maher.

My brother asked me to go, we were out hand lining.

I was as nervous as anything going

out with Jim Maher because he was a legend in Flatrock.

I remember we were catching a few fish, not very much.

He told me to haul up. I

hauled up the grapple and we said we would move.

I thought we were going to move down to we moved about twenty feet,

threw out the grapple again and we caught away at the fish again.

He said, now we have to get on the shoulder of the bank, we were out

a little bit too far. The skill

that these people had was unbelievable.

Technology today is after changing.

When we used to go out fishing first, you looked at a river down here

and a greenhouse up there, hoping it would not be painted every year because

that was the mark you went on.

Now, everybody uses GPS and the different technologies they use.

Technology today is way beyond what I can remember down looking in

a cod trap with a big glass with a silver thing like this, and you would

look down in the cod trap and you could see the fish swimming around.

That is how they knew.

Now they go over the trap and the fish finder comes up and shows them that

there is lots of fish there. The

technology today will definitely increase the amount of fish you can catch.

I know everyone in this House is going to support this

motion. We need the federal

government to make sure that if it does come back, that it is managed

properly. I think by managing it

properly, it is making sure that the quality of our fish caught is good

enough to get to that market so we compete with everybody in the world.

I believe we have to make sure that we are not catching little tiny

fish. We are not catching stuff

under sixteen inches.

I believe in the hook and line.

I do not like gillnets at all.

I do not like them because you can leave them out for three or four

days. You can always feel the

fish, if a gillnet fish is a bit softer when it comes in.

As soon as you get the fish in the boat it should be iced.

You would even do that today.

When you go out to the handline fishery, you used to cut the throat

anyway so it would be nice and white when you are filleting it and stuff

like that. So the quality is

very important.

The crab fishery is a great fishery, and we are seeing

it lately. I talked to a lot of

fishermen down my way. There are

areas this year where they are really concerned about the crab fishery,

because to the 'southard' there is not as much crab as what was there in

previous years. They are really

seeing a decline there.

Now, off down our way, a buddy of mine came in last

night and they had a fine load of crab.

He said there are still lots of crab there and they are doing well.

The mid-shore crab, they are doing pretty well too in the offshore,

but as it goes to the 'southard' I think people are worried about the type

of crab. We have to be careful

what we are doing with that fishery because, like I said earlier, the

fishermen today are doing really, really well with that fishery.

As the cod fishery comes back, I think we can have both

of them. I think it is very

important that we manage it properly and get it done properly so that it

will make rural Newfoundland and Labrador a better place and bring back what

I used to like I said, my memories of growing up in Flatrock, cutting

tongues and being down there.

When I was on the fish truck, I used to hear the putt-putts coming in.

I could almost tell who owned the boat because of the different

sounds they all made. You could

see it in the communities.

Today, we look at Newfoundland and Labrador and you go

out to rural Newfoundland, beautiful, beautiful places, but how nice would

it be to see the cod fishery come back and have that excitement on the

wharf, and that excitement with young people going to a cod trap, hauling a

cod trap, or even going out and jigging a cod.

I am sure everyone in this House here

would love to go out. I know it

is great experience. I do it on a

regular basis, and anybody who wanted to come along with me, they can come

on and we would catch a few cod.

It is a great feeling. It is a

great feeling to be on the water.

It is who we are as Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

This motion today, I am 100 per cent in support of it,

but I hope when the cod fishery does come back that it is managed properly

and we do it right, because we did it wrong in the 1970s and 1980s.

For too many years we talked people blame it on seals, people blame

it on foreigners, people can also blame it on ourselves, because we did not

do proper management. We did not

do it in the offshore and we did not do it in the inshore.

I believe it is something that could bring Newfoundland

back to where we were years ago with how we were and how we were as a

community, and keep our communities in rural Newfoundland alive.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Carbonear Harbour Grace.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SLADE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, any time the gentleman from Cape St.

Francis gets up and speaks about the fishery, I can commend him because I

will tell you, he has it in his heart, and that is what it is all about,

having it in your heart. There

is an old saying, it is not blood that runs through your veins, it is

saltwater, Sir.

Mr. Speaker, before we begin the debate today on the

PMR and the fishery, I think it is important to go back in time.

As it has been said many times, if we do not know our past, we will

not get to our future. At this

point in our Province's history and with the current fiscal crisis and

mismanagement that is happening on our shores, it is insightful to turn back

the pages and to get acquainted with the sole reason why we are here as

people of the Province, and what brought us here, Sir, is cod.

Mr. Speaker, the Northern cod stocks, 2J, 3K, 3L

commonly referred to as 2J3KL, has been harvested by fishermen from Hopedale

to St. John's for over 500 years.

In fact, it was here in 2J3KL that the famous story arose about the

fishing being so abundant that they impeded the progress of ships and could

be caught merely by lowering baskets in the water.

Mr. Speaker, the fishery went on to become the economic

foundation for European settlements along the East Coast of Newfoundland.

Our famous Newfoundland cod were the reason to be here, and for

existence of Newfoundland as a colony and later as a Dominion.

Prior to the moratorium in July 1992, the Northern cod

fishery was the single most important fishery in Canada and the most

abundant cod stock in the world.

As somebody once said cod was very much like peanut butter; it spread itself

from the tip of Labrador all the way down across the South Coast of the

Province and it went into every nook and cranny and affected more people.

In fact, Mr. Speaker, Northern cod was instrumental not just in

building Newfoundland, but in development of the new world.

It was truly the king of fish.

Mr. Speaker, most of the Province's coastal communities

were built up on Northern cod which concentrated in the headlands and the

islands and the great bays on the East Coast.

Cod was so important to our economy and culture that it was in fact

called Newfoundland currency.

At its highest, at the total catch peak in the late

1960s to around 800,000 ton, these were the glory days.

By 1991, a year when the total allowable catch was at its lowest in

decades, the fishery still had an estimated value to the Canadian economy of

over $700 million and supported directly and indirectly some 31,000 jobs in

the region, about 12 per cent of the Province's labour force.

In 1990, for example, the total landed value of species was $277

million, of which cod accounted for $134 million or 48 per cent.

The seeds of Newfoundland and Labrador's destruction

were planted during the 1960s and 1970s when the cod stocks were shamelessly

overexploited. The first

systematically collection of data on the Northern cod stock did not take

place until 1959, and so the state of the scientific knowledge in the 1960s

was such that no estimates of stock size could be made.

The deficit in science would cause the overestimation

of the size of the cod stocks over the years, together with other factors

like federal mismanagement and disengagement, foreign overfishing, advances

in technology, and big boats all lead to the decline of the cod biomass.

Despite catch quotas or TACs being imposed in 1970, together with the

gain of the 200-mile limit that was to benefit the traditional inshore,

there was no heading off or appealing this ecological and cultural disaster

even as fishermen were warned that not all was well in Northern cod stocks.

Mr. Speaker, that happens to be a very true statement.

Back then, fishermen were coming in, they were saying there was

something wrong. Science did not

listen to them, and I like to refer to it as under kill.

When the cod started coming back a little bit, fishermen talked about

it again and they said it seems to be picking up a little bit and one thing

and another. They went to the

Science Branch and said: Do you know something, guys?

The fish are starting to come back.

The scientists once again are not listening to the fish harvesters.

Mr. Speaker, I am going to tell you something, the best

scientists in the world are fish harvesters.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SLADE:

They know what is going on around them, Mr. Speaker.

They definitely, definitely know what is going on around them.

On Thursday July 2, 1992 was there ever a more

significant milestone in the Province's history some say that it is up

there only with the founding of our Province in 1497.

For the first time in 400 years, we could not harvest cod fish.

It was a tragedy that was beyond comparison for many of us, not to

mention the fact that over 30,000 people from over 400 communities were laid

off and set adrift for a lifetime in their security.

I was kicking around when the moratorium was called,

and I am going to tell you something and this is right from here, Mr.

Speaker. It was the hardest

thing ever I went through in my lifetime.

I invested, I had cod traps, I had the boats, I had men hired on

aboard the boat to go catch the fish, I invested over $8,000 that winter in

replacing twine and cod traps only not to be able to set it, but I still

owed the money for the cod twine.

I still owed that. It

took every fibre of my being to be able to get up the next morning and know

what my situation really was. I

can tell you, Mr. Speaker, that went across this Province like wildfire and

people are still reeling from the effect of that today.

I heard the member over there not too long ago from

Cape St. Francis. He is

well-versed in the fishery. I

heard him talk about the crab.

God bless the crab, Mr. Speaker, and the shrimp, but we have to recognize

that cod is coming back to the shoreline.

I will tell you, because I know the last two years that

I was at the sentinel survey, the bigger cod was coming around.

Mr. Speaker, when you opened up that fish I reported it to the

Science Branch. I reported

everything I saw out on the water, when I caught the fish, the size of the

fish, and the sex of the fish. I

cut the otoliths out so people in the Science Branch could tell how old the

fish was. They could tell how

old the fish was.

Mr. Speaker, when we started cutting open the fish and

these larger fish: five, ten, fifteen female snow crab.

You have to understand the female snow crab is only probably about

this big on the round. They are

perfect bite size for the cod.

Mr. Speaker, if some correction is not done and if the

cod is back I do believe the cod is back in a reasonable amount.

Now I do not think we should jump off the horse here and go and fish

it willy-nilly. I think we need

to be very careful with it and at least fish harvesters can get something

out of it and make a living at it.

I do think it needs to be corrected because if you do not, down we

will go.

I will tell you, Mr. Speaker, I know over in 3Ps now

the fish harvesters over there are having a problem catching 9,000 pounds of

crab. That is a fact.

If we are not careful, we will have problems.

In Conception Bay, or Trinity Bay, or whatever bay you live in there

will be problems. There is no

doubt about that because a cod's diet would be that crab.

It would also be shrimp.

So we better be very careful.

It is wonderful for the fish harvesters out there at

this point in time are getting a fair dollar for their product.

It is wonderful. Mr.

Speaker, it brings many, many dollars.

I want to remind this hon. House those are brand new dollars that are

coming into the Newfoundland economy.

If fish harvesters do well, they will go off and they will buy a TV

set, or they will go and buy a new couch and that.

The communities are doing good, so every dollar that comes out of the

fishing industry is a brand new dollar and we need to remember that.

Like I just said, I was around during the moratorium and it was very

tough.

I would like to speak now about the federal-provincial

relations. Just last week we

stood in the House and debated another fishery PMR about the unfair sharing

of halibut quotas. That is a

decision by the federal minister not to honour quota sharing arrangements

was deplorable and disrespectful of our Province and our people.

As I stated then, federal-provincial relations are in crisis and this

is having the most detrimental effect on our fisheries.

The fact that the minister, who lives 2,727 kilometres away, has a

discretionary decision to impose whatever logic she wants on the fishery

without being guided by any established principles, is slowly, but surely

killing our fisheries and our people.

We must show leadership and encourage the vision to

move us beyond a sixty-five-year stalemate where the federal government gets

to control our destiny. Mr.

Speaker, I just want to speak about that one for one second.

It is kind of ironic when you sit here to know how much control the

feds actually have over us. I

sat home one night about five or six years ago, and somebody called into the

Open Line show from up on the mainland.

They were very disrespectful of Newfoundlanders and said that we were

living off the EI system.

I am going to just say this, Mr. Speaker.

When we have the federal government up there it does not matter to

me or any member in this House whether some gentleman in Toronto gets a

Toyota dealership with 500 or 600, or 5,000 or 6,000 tons of cod or anything

else attached to it. When it is

fished inside that 200-mile limit it makes a difference to me and every

other fisherman out there. It

makes a difference to every one of you guys over there.

I am going to tell you something, it should never be.

We were like what we were, because Ottawa had control

and they still have control.

They are very disrespectful to the people of this Province.

They are very disrespectful.

Mr. Speaker, I am going to put a little bit of blame here now because

I do not have much longer. I am

going to put a little bit of blame here now, and I am as fair as fair can

be.

This started back during the ABC campaign.

Mr. Speaker, that is when this started.

I will tell you something, the federal government has been down on

this Province ever since and down on its people.

I say to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, shame on you, Sir.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SLADE:

Shame on you for what you are doing to the people of this Province, the

great fish harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador.

It is just simply not good enough.

Mr. Speaker, this PMR calls the House to, urge

Government to call for the Federal Minister to reaffirm the federal policy

of returning the first 115,000 metric tonnes of northern cod quota to the

adjacent inshore harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador.

The priority of the access to the first 100,000 to 115,000 tons for

the inshore has been mentioned in numerous reports including those by DFA in

1993, Cashin in 1993, and DFO.

Today, our inshore fishers are recommending a modest increase in TAC so they

can engage in small commercial fisheries.

Mr. Speaker, just to kind of clue up here a little bit,

back in the day, prior to 1992, we had allocations.

There was no quota set for the inshore, it was allocations.

Those allocations were never, ever caught.

You had a season and whatever you caught in that season, that is what

you had. There was an

allocation, not a quota.

Right now, Mr. Speaker, fish harvesters today and

they do not have much of a quota have 105,000-pound round.

That is what they have right now today.

That should have been creeping up a little bit all along, but it was

not.

Anyway, just to give you a little bit of an upper hand

on that one because I am sure there are people here who did not know that

it was an allocation, it was not a quota. The

Member for Cape St. Francis said he knew it.

The resource allocation issue has been problematic through the years

and still is.

I am sorry, Mr. Speaker.

I am very sorry I ran out of time because I could have gone on for

another twenty minutes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. GRANTER:

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

Before I begin I just want to say thank you to the

Member for Signal Hill Quidi Vidi for bringing this private member's

resolution forward this afternoon, and my colleague who sits behind me from

Cape St. Francis for his commentary, as well as the speaker before me from

Carbonear Harbour Grace. We

listened to his story with regard to his years involved with the fishery,

Mr. Speaker, around the time of the cod moratorium.

I know that he spoke this afternoon from the heart.

I do not come from a fishery background, Mr. Speaker,

but I could hear what he was saying was from the heart.

I could also hear the member behind me.

When we look at the internal consciousness of the people of the

Province in the moratorium years actually, as we all know, it tore the

guts and it tore the minds out of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians from

across this great Province. From

every cove and every inlet we were all impacted.

Houses were all boarded up, windows were all shut up.

People were loading up their pickup trucks, moving to the mainland,

looking for work on the mainland.

Entire communities were absolutely devastated.

So the entire consciousness of the Province back during, prior to,

and just after the moratorium, Mr. Speaker, was absolutely devastated.

We have stories written about it, books written about it, and music

and song. It is a part of our

history that we want to forget, but a part of our history that made us

strong and resilient. That is

what Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are.

So I am glad today that this private member's resolution was brought

forward.

Mr. Speaker, I have always known that the fishery has

been very complicated and involved with its issues, and also complicated

when you look at the opportunities.

We have opportunities in our fisheries every day.

Since I have become Fisheries and Aquaculture Minister, every day I

get calls from the offshore sector, I get calls from the inshore sector,

from producers, from harvesters, and from union reps.

I sit down with community reps on a daily basis.

We cannot cherry-pick one issue over another issue because they are

all very, very important to the people of the Province.

They all individually have solutions to their particular issue, or

all have suggestions on where we might want to take the fishery.

As I stand here today, it is great to see that all

members on the floor of this House and all parties are standing firm, Mr.

Speaker, with regard to the importance of the fishery in the Province of

Newfoundland and Labrador, the historical significance of the fishery, as

well as where we need to go with regard to the groundfish fishery, or the

shellfish fishery as we move into the future.

So, indeed, I am pleased to stand today to support this private

member's resolution calling on the federal Minister of Fisheries and Oceans,

to reaffirm the federal policy of returning the first 115,000 metric

tonnes of northern cod quota to the adjacent inshore harvesters of

Newfoundland and Labrador. I am

glad that all members of the House will support that.

All of us here, Mr. Speaker, in this hon. House know

the importance and value of the seafood sector to communities throughout the

Province. That is why our

government has invested over the years over $100 million in the Newfoundland

and Labrador seafood sector, including the wild fishery and aquaculture.

Approximately half of the funding has been directed to fisheries

innovation initiatives, fisheries science and research, and marketing

initiatives. The remainder has

been directed towards supporting aquaculture infrastructure and development.

Both the wild fishery and aquaculture are of vital

importance to our Province's economy, and have a combined annual value of

approximately $1 billion, Mr. Speaker.

We saw in Gander, when all parties went to the rally a few months

ago, and were shown time and time again by parts of the Province, in Corner

Brook, in Gander, and Clarenville how important the fishing industry is to

these communities as well, not only to the rural parts of the Province, but

to the communities of Central Newfoundland and the West Coast, here in St.

John's and Clarenville and those places, with spinoff jobs and spinoff

opportunities, people buying vehicles and equipment for their boats, et

cetera. So it has a real impact

on the GDP of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

This is why it is important to the people and why we are all

supporting this resolution today.

Today's debate is about cod and about calling on the

federal minister and the federal government to live up to a commitment to

ensure inshore harvesters in this Province receive the first 115,000 metric

tons of Northern cod quota once the commercial fishery reopens.

Sometimes we try to compare our fishery in the cod to

other parts of the world; 115,000 metric tons is what we are asking for.

We look at Norway. Norway

currently has 1 million metric tons of cod fisheries, Mr. Speaker.

Iceland currently is in I do not have the number in front of me,

but I believe it is somewhere between 150,000 and 200,000 metric tons in

Iceland. That is the markets of

the world. That is the countries

of the world that we are speaking to, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The hon. the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture.

MR. GRANTER:

Well, that is a first that I cannot be heard in the House of Assembly.

So it must be some noisy here today.

Mr. Speaker, we believe this is extremely important.

In 1992, the cod moratorium amounted to the largest mass layoff in

Canadian history the largest layoff in Canadian history; 30,000 people out

of work representing 12 per cent of the Province's labour force.

As I said at that onset of my debate this afternoon, it actually tore

the guts and the heart out of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, no more

articulated than from the Member for Carbonear Harbour Grace because he

articulated it very well.

As well all know, an aid package was announced for

displace fish harvesters and plant workers in the wake of that moratorium,

Mr. Speaker. The Northern Cod

Adjustment and Recovery Program, we all remember that.

The acronym we called it was NCARP, which provided weekly payments to

displaced workers.

In 1994, NCARP ended and was replaced by the Atlantic

Groundfish Strategy often knows as TAGS, which ran until May 1998, providing

participants with weekly income as well.

The TAGS program and NCARP encouraged displaced workers to retrain

for work in other fields or accept retirement packages.

Both programs, as we all know now that we look back on it

historically, had limited success.

While the program for displaced workers was income support during

difficult times, they did not adequately prepare participants for work in

other fields or training in other parts of the fishery.

The same time that NCARP and TAGS were being

implemented, a promising shellfish fishery was absorbing some of the

displaced workers. Although, the

value of landings fell to $179 million in 1992, the year the Northern cod

moratorium came into effect, the growth of the lucrative shellfish industry

with shrimp and snow crab, as we now know, permitted the industry to quickly

rebound.

Mr. Speaker, by the end of 1995, the total landed value

of the fisheries in the Province had reached $330 million despite the

complete absence of cod. The

structure of Newfoundland and Labrador's seafood industry has changed

significantly from that time to the present.

The industry has shifted from one harvesting, primarily groundfish,

to one harvesting, as was said here earlier today, primarily shellfish.

Now with cod stocks showing promising signs of

rebuilding and shellfish showing signs of decline, we need to prepare our

harvesting and processing sectors for a shift back to an industry

predominantly reliant on groundfish, Mr. Speaker.

Of course, the challenge is that we have been out of the groundfish

business in any major way for more than twenty years.

Our government, along with industry, has been taking steps to prepare

our fishing industry for the shift back to that ground fishery, Mr. Speaker.

The production value of the fishery has been at

historical high levels during the past decade.

Landings have averaged over 300,000 tons annually and the landed

value has been more than $420 million a year.

This is more than double the amount prior to the moratorium.

Mr. Speaker, the provincial government investments over

the past ten years has helped to strengthen and diversify the industry and

prepare to the return of cod. We

need to continue, we all understand that, to invest as we move back into the

groundfish fishery.

For example, our government has been a strong supporter

of Icewater Seafoods, a cod processing plant in Arnold's Cove, working with

the company to ensure that the plant remains open, creating employment

opportunities. That is where I

said at the beginning it is difficult, you have to look at the fishery in

its entirety, as a whole. We

cannot cherry-pick one part of the fishery and compare it to another part of

the fishery. Because when we

start cherry-picking, just as in any natural resource, one part of the

industry and starting to criticize, there are always all kinds of links when

we look at the fishery.

The offshore is connected or interconnected to the

aspects of the inshore.

Processors are connected to harvesters.

We are all connected, so it is incredibly important that we do not

cherry-pick one part of the industry, criticize that, and compare it to

another part of the industry because we have been doing that for far too

long. It is time that we work

together, Mr. Speaker, to have a solution for the fishery of the people of

Newfoundland and Labrador.

The Arnold's Cove plant is the largest buyer for local

cod and is currently the only dedicated cod processing plant in the

Province. This makes the plant

strategically important, Mr. Speaker, for the industry as groundfish stocks,

cod in particular, recover. I am

glad to hear that I understand that more and more of the processing

facilities in the Province will be getting involved in the processing of

codfish this particular year. I

wish them the very best with that.

In 2014, the Icewater plant in Arnold's Cove employed

approximately 200 employees for approximately 145 days, operating two

eight-hour shifts a day. I had a

wonderful opportunity earlier this year or late last fall to get a chance to

tour the facility out in Arnold's Cove, Mr. Speaker.

Under the joint federal-provincial Fishing Industry Renewal Strategy,

the provincial government has also made important policy changes designed to

renew the processing sector, enhance marketing initiatives, encourage new

technologies, enhance access to financing, enhance safety initiatives, and

support workforce adjustment measures.

In 2008, the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture

introduced new more rigorous licensing policies to address overcapacity in

the processing sector, essentially eliminating latent capacity, helping to

ensure regional balance and serving to make the processing sector very

strong, Mr. Speaker. Government

also invested in fisheries and aquaculture research, development through the

Fisheries Technology and New Opportunities Program.

The acronym we use is FTNOP.

To date more than 280 projects have been funded under

this program focusing on safety, energy efficiency, marketing, product

development, and diversification, all of which contribute to improving the

value of the resource in the Province.

Budget 2015 allocated a million dollars to this program bringing the

total investment for FTNOP over the last number of years since 2007 to $14

million, and it has trickled down through the industry.

Government also introduced enhancements to the

Fisheries Loan Guarantee Program in 2012, improved access to capital for

fish harvesters seeking to combine licences and enterprises to improve

viability of their businesses, Mr. Speaker.

We also continue to undertake seafood marketing efforts to work with

industry to achieve increased market awareness and demand for a wide variety

of seafood products in global markets.

That will continue. We

need to enhance that and move that further along.

The Department of Fisheries Aquaculture attends and

provides financial assistance to industry representatives to exhibit, and

seek new and expanded opportunities in markets at various trade shows such

as the Seafood Expo Global in Brussels, the China Fisheries & Seafood Expo.

Mr. Speaker, I had a chance to be at the China Fisheries & Seafood

Expo. I was absolutely amazed,

as I have said in this House before, about the importance of fish and

fisheries to the world economies and the world market.

I thought I was going to a rock concert as I said here

before, Mr. Speaker. Thousands

and thousands and thousands of people, shoulder to shoulder to get into this

China Fisheries & Seafood Expo competing with all of the nations of the

world, all the new technologies of the world that will eventually have to be

in place in this Province if we compete with the Norways of the world and

Icelands of the world. It is a

no-brainer. The department also

carries out market research activities to target certain markets and

co-ordinates the hiring of external market research consultants to collect

market information and intelligence for various species in the Province.

Mr. Speaker, we have also provided support to industry

for sustainability and traceability requirements, which are becoming

increasingly important to consumers at home and in the global markets.

Seafood buyers are increasingly adopting fish sourcing policies, many

of which include sustainability as a sole or key criterion.

The Marine Stewardship Council Certification, the most

widely recognized seafood sustainability certification program in the world,

such certification allows our industry to be competitive in a global

marketplace of sustainable products.

While we have been holding our own, Mr. Speaker, without cod, now is

the time to prepare for cods return.

Approximately 9,500 fish harvesters are employed by over 3,000

enterprises in the inshore harvesting sector, landing in approximately 450

communities.

If the federal government lives up to its commitment to

return the first 115,000 metric tons of Northern cod quota to the adjacent

inshore harvesters in Newfoundland, this sector, which lost so much after

the cod's collapse, stands to gain significantly.

As we all know, the inshore fleet provides major spinoff benefits to

communities throughout the entire Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Through harvesting and processing, the inshore sector

supports thousands of direct jobs and many more indirect jobs.

Economic activity generated by inshore harvesters contributes to a

tax base, creates and maintains jobs in rural parts of the Province, and

contributes to the overall success of rural communities, Mr. Speaker.

An active, strong inshore sector

helps to support rural communities and regions throughout Newfoundland and

Labrador.

Again, I am glad the hon. member across the way brought

this motion forward. We support

it as a party. We support it as

a government, Mr. Speaker. It is

great to see the Opposition support this too.

Thank you very much.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

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

MS ROGERS:

Mr. Speaker, I am so happy to stand in this House and speak to the private

member's motion. I would like to

thank my colleagues for Cape St. Francis how wonderful to hear his

presentation here today and my colleague for Carbonear Harbour Grace

when he said I do believe the cod is back, and thank you also to the

Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture.

Mr. Speaker, this private member's motion is about our

people. It is about social and

economic justice. It is a story

of hard work. It is a story of

dedication. It is a story of

risk and it is a story of community.

This is about who we are, where we have come from, and where we are

going.

Although I have never been a fish harvester or a fish

processor, many of us in this House have never been fish harvesters or fish

processors, but many of us are here because of the people in the fishery,

because we know that our Province was born from the fishery.

My brother-in-law, Derek Keats, was the first local

scientist to listen to the fishers, to listen to fishers who were out on the

water who knew that something was happening with the cod stocks.

He wrote the foundational report on which a lot of work went forward.

He wrote the Keats report.

So we heard about these issues at the kitchen table.

We heard about these issues within family discussions.

My mother was from the fishing community of Port Saunders where their

community r