Newfoundland and Labrador Hansard — Members' Statements; Statements by Ministers — 17 May 2007 (45th General Assembly, 4th Session, Vol. XLV No. 15)
2007-05-17
Newfoundland and Labrador — Debates (Hansard)
May 17, 2007 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY
PROCEEDINGS Vol. XLV No. 15
The House met at 1:30 p.m.
MR. SPEAKER (Hodder): Order, please!
Admit Strangers.
This afternoon we are very pleased to welcome ten representatives from the
Senior Resource Centre - Multi-culture Group here in St. John's, together with
their Program Coordinator, Ms Clarice Cole.
A very special welcome to the House of Assembly.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
Statements by Members
MR. SPEAKER: This afternoon we have members' statements as follows: The
hon. the Member for the District of Port de Grave; the hon. the Member for the
District of Ferryland; the hon. the Member for the District of Cartwright-L'Anse
au Clair; the hon. the Member for the District of Conception Bay South; the hon.
the Member for the District of Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi, and the hon. the Member
for the District of Trinity-Bay de Verde.
The Chair recognizes the hon. the Member for Port de Grave.
MR. BUTLER: Mr. Speaker, I rise in this House today to extend
congratulations to the Town of Bay Roberts who recently were officially
proclaimed the national winner of WinterLights Celebrations.
Mr. Speaker, the town received a five-star rating at the sixth national
WinterLights Celebrations recently held in Ottawa. Communities are evaluated on
visual presentation, winter pleasures, festive season celebrations, goodwill
programs and tourism promotion. WinterLights is a component of Communities in
Bloom.
Bay Roberts was officially proclaimed the national winner in the Winners
Circle: Small Category in the 2006 WinterLights Celebrations. The award
recognized Amalgamated Academy in Bay Roberts for its community spirit and
goodwill programs.
Mr. Speaker, one of the reasons the town has such great success at
WinterLights is its sense of community pride from the residents and students,
along with superior programming.
Mr. Speaker, I ask all members of this House to join with me in extending
congratulations to the Town of Bay Roberts, its residents, students and
volunteer organizers who contributed to winning the National WinterLights
Celebration Award for 2006.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of Ferryland.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. HUTCHINGS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in this hon. House today to ask members to join with me
in recognizing the accomplishment of the Stella Maris School boys basketball
team and their achievement in winning the under fifteen Provincial B Basketball
Championship on April 29. This event was hosted by St. Kevin's School with
teams competing from Beaconsfield, Dunne Memorial, St. Catherine's, I.J.
Samson and St. Peter's.
The name Stella Maris has been synonymous with basketball in both girls and
boys basketball in the Province over the past decades. Teams from this region
have competed and won high school championships in the 4A division, the highest
and most competitive in high school divisions. Actually, many graduates of
Stella Maris have gone on to play and coach university basketball, including
representing our Province's own university, Memorial at the national stage.
With the recent team from Stella Maris winning the provincial championship,
the region continues in the steep tradition of successful basketball teams. What
makes this achievement even more astounding is recognizing the number of
students the team had to draw from and the fact the schools competing have much
higher enrollments. It is indeed a tribute to the community, the players, and
coaches that they commit themselves to a program of excellence and continue the
strong tradition of competitive basketball programs in the Trepassey region.
I would like to recognize the members of the championship team, including:
Zachery Brown, Blaine Carew, Tyler Coombs, Carlton Hartery, Edward Kenny,
William Kenny, Jake Pennell, Jordon Pennell, Brad Waddleton, Jarett Waddleton,
Ronnie Ward, Stephen White and Coach, Mark Pennell.
I again congratulate the Stella Maris basketball team and ask all members to
join with me in extending best wishes.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair.
MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I rise in the House today to extend congratulations to a woman entrepreneur
Corina is from Forteau, Labrador, and has been honoured with the Entrepreneur of
the Year Award from the Newfoundland and Labrador Organization of Women
Entrepreneurs at a gala event at the Fairmont Hotel on April 26, 2007.
Since 1998, the NLOWE Entrepreneur of the Year awards have been awarded to
the Province's most successful female entrepreneurs for their contributions to
the economy. Seven women entrepreneurs from around the Province were honoured
with the award this year. These outstanding women entrepreneurs contribute
significantly to our provincial economy and serve as role models for all women
entrepreneurs.
currently Managing Director of the company. She is a professional General
Accountant and has thirteen years managerial and administration experience
working for one of Canada's largest enterprises, the Hudson's Bay Company.
Corina's positive and organized work ethic, as well as her well-rounded
communication skills, has enable here to provide top-notch customer service to
her clients and triple sales at the company. She is now in the process of adding
a new embroidery line to her company called, Canadian Stitches. She is
aggressively marketing the business by developing an e-commerce Web site,
running radio advertising campaigns, and now publishing a professional
catalogue.
Mr. Speaker, I ask all members of this House to join with me in extending
congratulations to Corina Dumaresque, who was honoured with the Entrepreneur of
the Year Award for Labrador from the Newfoundland and Labrador Organization of
Women Entrepreneurs.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Conception Bay South.
MR. FRENCH: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Just before I read my statement, I want to acknowledge the Member for
Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair, who contributed to this member's statement, as a
good friend of Mr. Bob Hardy whom I will be talking about here in a minute.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in this House today to honour three Community Safety
Champions: Carrie Young, Bob Hardy and Greg Lawlor, three residents of
Conception Bay South, for lifesaving actions following an all-terrain vehicle
accident on December 31, 2006.
Sadly, fifteen-year-old Kenneth Howe drowned when the ATV on which he and two
other teens were riding broke through the ice on Lawrence Pond last New Year's
Eve. As tragic as this accident was for the Howe family and the entire
community, there is no doubt the actions of three Safety Champions prevented
further loss of life.
Carrie Young from Foxtrap, the fourteen-year-old, was a passenger on the ATV
and, although her own life was in danger, she saw that fellow passenger Nicholas
Hann was struggling. She swam to him, took the life ring that had been thrown to
her and, instead, placed it around him, and helped keep him afloat until both
were rescued.
Bob Hardy, a resident of Upper Gullies, whose home overlooks the pond,
noticed at that particular time of that horrific night, the lights of the
all-terrain vehicle suddenly disappeared and immediately called 911. He, too,
ended up in the water briefly as he began a rescue attempt. He was able to toss
a life ring that was on his wharf to the accident victims and assisted with the
rescue.
Greg Lawlor, a ten-year veteran of the Conception Bay South Volunteer Fire
Department and instructor with the Marine Institute, was the first rescuer on
the scene. He donned a floatation jacket, moved out on the ice, and entered the
frigid water to pull the two survivors to safety.
Mr. Speaker, I ask all hon. members of this House to join with me in
recognizing the three Community Safety Champions: Carrie Young, Bob Hardy and
Greg Lawlor.
Mr. Speaker, also, our condolences to the family of the late Kenneth Howe,
who lost his life on that tragic night. Our prayers are with them.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi.
MS MICHAEL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I rise in the House today to advise members that May 17 is International Day
Against Homophobia. This morning, I attended a breakfast commemorating this Day,
organized by local organizations involved in fighting prejudice of all kinds,
including homophobia. I would like to recognize the work of the many groups in
our Province who are involved in working to counteract homophobia, which leads
to discrimination and sometimes severe violence and death. We are currently
hearing in the news about murders that may be linked to homophobia.
In particular, I call the members' attention to the work of the AIDS
Committee of Newfoundland and Labrador. The Committee has many support services
for those living with AIDS/HIV. As well, they hold regular workshops throughout
the Province to inform youth and health professionals to dispel negative
stereotypes and to improve the lives of people suffering from discrimination due
to sexual orientation or HIV status. Staff and volunteers at the AIDS Committee
at the Tommy Sexton Centre in St. John's are always available to answer
questions and offer information.
I think, with the permission of the House, there are going to be brochures
distributed to all members of the House commemorating International Day Against
Homophobia. I ask all members to congratulate the AIDS Committee of Newfoundland
and Labrador and all organizations who work to promote public awareness and
provide help to people affected by prejudice.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Trinity-Bay de Verde.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MS JOHNSON: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate Ryan Higdon, son of Lori Whiteway
and Chris Higdon of Green's Harbour, who attends Grade 3 at Acreman
Elementary. Ryan won first place in the Royal Canadian Legion's Remembrance
Day Contest with the submission of a black and white poster.
Ryan's poster was chosen as one of the top three by the local branch to be
submitted to the provincial branch. His poster was then selected as one of the
top two provincially to compete at the National Remembrance Day Contest in
Ottawa.
Mr. Speaker, the overall winner of this contest will be eligible to travel to
Beaumont Hamel and eventually to the National War Memorial in Ottawa.
Mr. Speaker, I would ask that all members join with me in extending
congratulations to Ryan in recognition of this wonderful achievement.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: Statements by Ministers.
Statements by Ministers
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Natural Resources.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MS DUNDERDALE: Mr. Speaker, I rise today to inform the House of Assembly
of another new initiative to continue diversifying the economy of Newfoundland
and Labrador.
This morning, I visited Central Dairies in Mount Pearl to tour the facility
and announce the investment of $1 million in an exciting expansion that will see
a new line of speciality cheese products manufactured right here in Newfoundland
and Labrador.
By investing in this Province's growing agrifoods sector, we are supporting
an industry that is providing sustainable employment and economic benefits,
especially in our rural communities.
Mr. Speaker, our strategic and targeted investment under the Agriculture and
Agrifoods Development Fund will create the Province's very first large-scale
cheese manufacturing operation. It is allowing Central Dairies to build a new
production line to manufacture high-quality cheeses for sale in this Province,
across the country and beyond.
Central Dairies is contributing $2.5 million toward this expansion, which
will provide up to fifteen long-term jobs at the Mount Pearl facility.
Mr. Speaker, this investment does much more. At start up, Central Dairies is
committed to purchasing 4.7 million litres of industrial milk from local dairy
farmers. The company expects to double that volume by year seven.
By supporting this expansion, we are ensuring our dairy industry continues to
receive the maximum economic benefit from industrial milk production and
secondary processing opportunities.
Mr. Speaker, this investment helps our rural dairy farmers by reducing
transportation costs. Currently, the majority of the Province's industrial
milk quota is exported. By enabling producers to sell their milk on the Island
rather than ship it to the mainland for processing, they will realize
substantial savings.
Our government is committed to providing our farmers and food producers with
the tools to continue building their businesses right across this Province. I
encourage all members of this House and the people of the Province to support
local farmers by purchasing top-quality cheese products produced right here at
home.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair.
MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I want to thank the minister for an advanced copy of her statement today.
Central Dairies, Mr. Speaker, has been a great company in the Province of
Newfoundland and Labrador. They are not only producing high-quality products
into our marketplace and products that we are proud of in this Province, but
they are also employing Newfoundlanders and Labradorians and have done so since
their inception in this Province.
Mr. Speaker, they are also providing for us a market for our dairy farmers.
We also know what the struggles have been for the dairy industry in this
Province over the years. Any stability that we can bring to it is going to be
great and it will allow them to be able to grow and expand their developments as
well.
Mr. Speaker, I have to say, I am proud to live in a Province where I can wake
up everyday and have a Purity Cream Cracker and some Newfoundland preserves with
some Newfoundland yogurt and now some cheese, and toast all of that with a good
glass of wine or a cup of tea. It is not too bad, I say to you, Mr. Speaker. The
more kind of business that we can do like this creating jobs in our own
Province, with our own people, I am all for it and I would love to see more of
it happening.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi.
MS MICHAEL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I do not think I can top that one, so I am not going to try.
I am very delighted to see the new developments at Central Dairies and
naturally I am congratulating the minister on what has happened today. But, not
to turn too negative, in spite of my colleagues comments before me, I do need to
say though that I have had some small farmers come to me. While they are not
saying we should not have large-scale development, they are concerned that they
do not get the same amount of support when they come up with creative ideas.
I would encourage the minister, who I know is committed to Newfoundland and
Labrador, to listen to some of these small farmers and to their concerns. Maybe
someday we can sit down and talk about that together.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER: Further Statements by Ministers?
The hon. the Minister of Environment and Conservation.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. JACKMAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I am pleased to rise today to inform this hon. House that the Department of
Environment and Conservation has allocated $60,000 in funding this year for the
operation of the Climate Change Education Centre. These funds will allow for
more program development and a more consistent approach to public education.
This year, the Centre's goal is to increase awareness of climate change and to
encourage Newfoundlanders and Labradorians to actively reduce emissions and
make more sustainable lifestyle choices.
Mr. Speaker, as indicated in our Climate Change Action Plan, government
continues to support the Climate Change Education Centre. I congratulate the
CCEC for bringing the climate change message to the youth of this Province. It
is the centre's long-term vision to dramatically increase knowledge and
understanding of climate change and to be the catalyst for the actions necessary
to address this issue. Where possible, my department will provide financial
support to assist them and their efforts.
Mr. Speaker, the Conservation Corps of Newfoundland and Labrador became the
host organization for the Climate Change Education Centre in 2002. Referred to
as the Hub, the centre provides public education and outreach that covers a wide
scope of climate change related information. They work with a variety of
audiences including municipalities, industry and youth. Because of their
efforts, thousands of young Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are more aware of
the impact of climate change and have been encouraged to take action to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions in their daily lives.
The Climate Change Education Centre creates partnerships with community-based
organizations while focusing its efforts on reaching rural and remote
communities. Since inception, the Hub has been very successful in reaching its
target audiences. The centre has presented over 11,000 youth through schools and
youth organizations. They have provided climate change awareness sessions and
curriculum training for over 500 teachers. They have provided 300 public
information sessions on climate change and energy efficiency, reaching more than
25,000 people. They have helped climate change capacity building workshops for
more than fifty non-governmental organizations, and they have presented to
industry, including Newfoundland Power and Petro Canada.
Mr. Speaker, climate change is a serious environmental issue. This government
views the Climate Change Education Centre as vital to increasing awareness
around the impacts of climate change and encouraging individuals to take actions
to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Fortune Bay-Cape la Hune.
MR. LANGDON: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I want to thank the minister for an advanced copy of his statement. Before I
refer to the statement he has given, I would just like to say to him, the first
two months of spring in Newfoundland this year, it is pretty difficult to
convince Newfoundlanders and Labradorians that we have global warming and
climate change, you need your longjohns on everyday. I do not think we have had
double digits. The only way we are going to get double digits in the spring is
to go back reporting under the Fahrenheit rather than the Celsius scale.
Anyway, Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to respond to that. It is good to see
government contributing some dollars for the Climate Change Education Centre.
The fact that you are targeting young people, I think is very important because
it is these people who are the most impressionable at that age and no doubt,
they take this much more seriously than some of the older people of our
population.
Talking about the Conservation Corps of Newfoundland and Labrador, I had an
opportunity not too long ago to speak to a former director, former head, Bruce
Gilbert, a Newfoundlander. Bruce is now at Dalhousie University doing a
doctorate and looking forward to coming back to Newfoundland and Labrador again
someday, hopefully to find employment here.
Anytime that we put dollars in to give education to the people of our
Province on climate change and global warming, because it is a reality, I think
that is a great thing to do. No doubt about it, climate change is a serious
environmental issue, as the minister already said, and it is great to see some
dollars going into an education centre to make us more aware of it.
Thank you.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MS MICHAEL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
There is no doubt that the Climate Change Education Centre, and the host
organization Conservation Corps has done really good work and has been doing
good work. Unfortunately, because of cuts by the government in Ottawa, the
Harper government, the Centre now has a limited mandate. It is just education.
Whereas when the Conservation Corps was working and federal money was in there,
we had action along with education, and I think we need action. Thanks to the
cuts from the Harper government we no longer have the action. The Conservation
Corps used to have a residence retrofit program with a whole corps of young
people who were trained to do the audits of the homes. Then the federal
government also funded homeowners to then do the retrofits that became
recommended after the audits were done.
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
The hon. member's allotted time has expired.
MS MICHAEL: By leave, Mr. Speaker?
AN HON. MEMBER: By leave.
MR. SPEAKER: Leave has been granted.
MS MICHAEL: Thank you.
I really would like the government and the minister, as they go on doing
their planning around climate change, to look at the government stepping in to
put in place the action part that used to be there with Conservation Corps,
which has to go with the education.
Thank you very much.
MR. SPEAKER: Further Statements by Ministers?
Oral Questions.
Oral Questions
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
My questions are for the Premier.
Shortly after the federal budget came down in March, Prime Minister Stephen
Harper wrote both Premier MacDonald of Nova Scotia and our Premier. Both letters
and the accompanying press releases were practically identical, with the
exception that in the letter sent to Premier MacDonald there was an additional
paragraph. That paragraph read, and I quote: The national infrastructure program
announced in Budget 2007 also contains a component for nationally significant
infrastructure, including Gateways. I encourage you to continue to work with my
ministers to further develop the Atlantic Gateway concept.
I ask the Premier: Were you aware that there were differences in the letter
sent to you and the letter sent to Premier MacDonald, and can you tell us why
this Province was not asked to participate in the Gateway infrastructure
initiative?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: Mr. Speaker, I was aware that there are differences in
it. Halifax and Nova Scotia, of course, have tried to take the initiative on the
Atlantic Gateway. We made sure at the Council of Atlantic Premiers that, in
fact, we put our position forward. We had an indication and an assurance from
the Premier of Nova Scotia during the last CAP meeting that, in fact, it would
be spread out; the benefits would be spread out over all four provinces if, in
fact, Gateway was decided. Where that is ultimately selected, is a decision that
has yet to be made. I have no idea why there was a difference. I guess you would
have to ask the Prime Minister, but I cannot give you an answer on that.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MR. REID: In the executive
summary of the Gateway infrastructure program
- and I have copy of it here, I say to the Premier. It states: Like Vancouver on
Canada's West Coast, Halifax can be part of a new transportation grid that
involves rail, trucking and shipping, linking Atlantic Canada to Central Canada
in the large consumer markets in the United States. It also states that the
Atlantic Gateway is an national issue and a national priority because it must
form part of the national Maritime transportation strategy linking West Coast to
East Coast as part of a Pan-Canadian transportation strategy.
I ask the Premier: Are we being excluded from this Pan-Canadian
transportation strategy as a result of the strained relationships that exist
between you and the Prime Minister?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: I can tell the Leader of the Opposition that I am not
the one who quotes in the House of Commons. He refers to comments that are made
by the Leader of Opposition when he supports positions that are
anti-Newfoundland and Labrador. As a matter of fact, I heard him quote you in
the House of Commons just over a month ago. So, it would be nice if you were on
our side. That would certainly help, for starters.
From our perspective, we cannot read the Prime Minister's mind on this. I
know that Peter MacKay is lobbying very, very strongly on behalf of Nova Scotia.
He is a senior minister in the Cabinet. My concern would be that they are going
to try and trade off, possibly, the Atlantic Gateway for concessions on the
equalization issues, on the Accord issues that we have with the federal
government. There is nothing I can do about that.
Minister Loyola Hearn, of course, is our minister in Ottawa. He is the one
who needs to advocate on behalf of the Atlantic Gateway. We are doing everything
we can, as a Province. Our Transportation Minister has been involved in
transportation issues, and we are involved in the Atlantic transportation
strategy. As I said at the CAP meetings, I put our positions forward in the very
strongest terms to make sure that we were not exempted from any negotiations
that went on.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. REID: Mr. Speaker, I say to the Premier: I, unlike you, never did and
never will support Stephen Harper. You are the one who campaigned for Stephen
Harper, not me.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. REID: I never trusted him. That is the reason I did not support him,
unlike you.
Mr. Speaker, last year, British Columbia received $591 million for the
Asia-Pacific Gateway and Corridor Initiative. Earlier this month, Stephen Harper
was in Vancouver to announce an additional $410 million for this project, for a
total of $1 billion over two years for the gateway corridor to the Pacific.
I ask the Premier: How much money has the federal government set aside for
the Atlantic Gateway, and how much do you anticipate will come to this Province?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: Mr. Speaker, we do not know how much money has been set
aside. We do not have any knowledge of that whatsoever, but I can tell you that
if we had the $11 billion that was promised to us we could build eleven gateways
in this Province. So, our focus is on getting that significant amount of money
that was promised to us, an amount of money that would erase the debt of every
man, woman and child in this Province.
The Minister of Transportation has written the federal government, the
Minister of Natural Resources has written the federal government on this. I have
taken it up with the Premiers. We are doing absolutely everything we can. We
have an assurance from the Premier of Nova Scotia, who is lead on this, that we
will actually be involved in Atlantic Gateway, so that an Atlantic Gate project
is truly an Atlantic project, not a Nova Scotian project.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I say to the Premier, if you don't know, you should know. You should
probably go on to the Web site from ACOA because there is lots of information on
that site about these programs, both the Pacific one and the Atlantic one.
Mr. Speaker, yesterday we heard lame excuses from the Premier as to why
Newfoundlanders and Labradorians could not handle the job of booking campsite
reservations for our provincial parks. The Premier actually stood in the House
of Assembly yesterday and tried to justify the decision to give this particular
project, and the jobs associated with it, to a Quebec company.
I ask the Premier: How much are the taxpayers of this Province paying this
Quebec call centre to do that particular job?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: Mr. Speaker, I do not know if the Leader of the
Opposition realizes the consequences of what he is saying here when he is
talking about this particular contract.
As we indicated, the contract, the Request for Proposals, the tender, was put
out. They were the only bidders. According to a legitimate legal process, they
won in that process. Now, if we do what he is suggesting, a company yesterday,
like G.J. Cahill, which we paid tribute to as one of the what? fifty best
managed or something, we would have to tell them to come back from Alberta and
not do any work in Alberta.
When we were out on a trade mission to Alberta three months ago, they picked
up a $30 million contract as a result of that exercise. So, do we tell companies
like Aliant they cannot do any work outside of Newfoundland and Labrador? Do we
put a great big wall up around Newfoundland and Labrador and dig a great big
moat so that people cannot come into the Province? Because, if that is the case,
there is no reciprocity, there are no internal trade rules, we cannot go across
the country, and Newfoundlanders and Labradorians cannot do work in other
Provinces.
If that is what you want us to do, if you want us to isolate the Province,
then I am sorry we are not going there. That is just completely wrong.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
The Chair recognizes the Leader of the Opposition.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I say to the Premier, you are missing your point when you are trying to
justify giving a contract to Quebec. You are missing the point totally.
What we are saying, Mr. Speaker, and I will ask the Premier the question;
maybe he will understand it: Why couldn't you set up an office somewhere in
this Province, whether it be in Confederation Building or in Corner Brook or in
Twillingate or in St. Anthony, staff it with some of the thousands of students
that we have and who are now going to find themselves unemployed because of cuts
to a federal student employment project this summer, why didn't you take some
of those students and put them in an office somewhere in this Province with a
toll-free number so that they could answer those calls, rather than sending
those jobs to Quebec?
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: Mr. Speaker, if I take that logic to where that is
going, then the call centres that we have in the Province right now - how many
people are employed by the...?
AN HON. MEMBER: Thousands.
PREMIER WILLIAMS: Several thousand people are employed by the call
centres in this Province, who actually do calls and take calls for people in
other provinces and other countries and other states all over the world. So, we
cut off that business, we will not do that call centre business. Then what we
will do is, we will set up our own nationalized call centre business and we will
hire people from the Province to go into the call centres and take that business
away from the private sector.
Is that what you are advocating? Because we are not going there.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MR. REID: Mr. Speaker, I cannot believe that this is the same individual
who is in charge of economic development for this Province. I just cannot
believe it -
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. REID: - when he stands for two days in a row and tries to justify
giving jobs to people in Quebec when we have thousands of Newfoundlanders and
Labradorians leaving this Province on a weekly basis to seek employment
elsewhere.
Now, Mr. Speaker, the Premier's own polls - and he is apt to do a lot of
them - the Premier's own polls, which he pays for, I might add, with taxpayers'
money, recently showed that unemployment, out-migration, and the economy in
general are the most important issues facing the people of this Province.
I ask the Premier, Mr. Speaker: Knowing that unemployment is the number one
issue in this Province, why do you insist in defending giving taxpayers' money
to supply jobs to Quebecers?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: Mr. Speaker, in addition to the answer that I gave
before, I just want to take a quote from the hon. member, which he gave to the
Resource Committee back in April 2002. He was talking about the Marine Services
Centre, and he was talking about privatizing, the benefits of privatization, the
benefits of the private sector doing business in this Province as opposed to
government getting involved in that.
He said: The Marine Services Center, I know when the Province owned them, the
one in Twillingate, for example, the Province employed one-and-a-half to two
people per year down there. Right now, after we divested it, last year the
company which is now running it employed as many as thirty people.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: So, when it was divested it employed thirty people as
opposed to one-and-a-half or two people.
He goes on to say: That goes for most of them in the Province that we have
divested.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: This is the important sentence: It just goes to show
that the private sector can run those things far more efficiently and employ far
more people than the Province ever could.
That goes for call centres, and that goes for the fishery as well.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
The hon. the Member for Humber Valley.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. BALL: Mr. Speaker, my question is to the Minister of Health and
Community Services and it concerns the faulty breast screening test results.
Today we know we have close to 1,000 women who have been retested for
possible testing errors. While the minister has indicated that women needing a
change in treatment have been contacted, can the minister confirm whether all
women who have been retested have been notified and, if not, does the minister
consider the failure to communicate this information acceptable?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. WISEMAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, as I indicated in the last couple of days in the House, all of
those tests that were repeated and the test results came back different than
those that were gotten at the Health Sciences Centre, all of those patients have
been contacted. All of the tests that were redone, all of those individuals have
not been contacted because, some of them, their test results did not change. For
those whose test results did change, they have been contacted. One hundred and
seventeen of them had their treatment regime changed. The remaining patients
were contacted through their family physicians for appropriate follow-up, I say,
Mr. Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Humber Valley.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. BALL: Mr. Speaker, every year we have hundreds of new cases of breast
cancer in the Province, and since the error in testing was discovered by Eastern
Health in 2005 I understand that the tissue samples of women being tested since
that time have been sent out of the Province right up until February of this
year.
I ask the minister: What reassurances can you provide to the women who have
been tested and diagnosed in the past two years, that their test results are
indeed accurate?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. WISEMAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, as the member just pointed out, when Eastern Health realized
that there was an error in May of 2005 they did some auditing on their own, and
as a result of that auditing in July they ceased to operate their own lab. From
that point on, until February of this year when it reopened, those exams and
those tests were sent out of the Province to Toronto for testing. Those results
would have come from that test result in Toronto.
Since February, as I laid out in this House in the last couple of days, since
the lab has reopened there is a whole new structure we have put in place. As I
pointed out, we have dedicated technologists working in that lab now. We have a
director of the laboratory, a dedicated pathologist in that area. We have
established a centre of excellence of using oncology and pathology to ensure
that we have pooled the skill sets that we have in this Province to ensure that
the women of Newfoundland and Labrador have access to a quality program.
The other piece of that, that I have outlined in this House, is the new
quality assurance program that ensures that there is a monitoring mechanism in
place, that there is a mechanism in place to have those test results randomly
selected and sent outside the Province for confirmation to ensure that we are
providing a quality program to the women of Newfoundland and Labrador, Mr.
Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Humber Valley.
MR. BALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
One of the concerns of my first question had to do with the 700 women, I
guess, who probably have not been notified. I don't know about the minister's
office, but I know we have been getting calls from women in this Province who
are very concerned about the whole affair. Indeed, they are calling MHAs, they
are calling doctors offices and even support groups.
I would ask the minister: Given the fear and anxiety with the many questions
still remaining about this whole process, will the minister commit to
immediately setting up a toll-free line to provide assurance, information and
counseling to these women and their families?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. WISEMAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
One of the things that we have recognized in the last two days is that there
is a lot of misinformation being given to the general population. There have
been a number of questions raised by members opposite. Some of them are really
legitimate questions and I appreciate them and understand them. Mr. Speaker,
unfortunately, many of them have been very cheap political questions to try to
raise an unwarranted fear among many Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.
As a result of that, I have asked Eastern Health if they would, in fact,
tomorrow, arrange for a full briefing, a public briefing, for the media and
those members opposite who wish to attend, to be able to understand fully what
has taken place here from the period of time that they have reviewed, and the
actions that have taken place since then. There will be clinical people there to
be able to answer some of the very specific clinical questions that you might
have.
Hopefully, I say to the members opposite, you will attend that briefing as
well so you can get some clarity around the questions that you have been raising
here and raising fear among many women in this Province unnecessarily, I say,
Mr. Speaker, in many cases.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Opposition House Leader.
MR. PARSONS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I will not even attempt to comment on what the minister just said about
fearmongering here. It is shameful. Shameful.
Mr. Speaker, there are certainly communication problems between government,
Eastern Health and the general public regarding the breast screening results.
There are women who are contacting not only our offices but I am sure people on
the government side as well, wondering if their results were part of the
retesting process.
For clarity purposes, could the Minister of Justice, the former Minister of
Health, confirm when Eastern Health became aware of the magnitude of the false
results, when the retesting began, when the women affected were notified, and
when the Department of Justice became involved?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. WISEMAN: Mr. Speaker, Eastern Health became aware of the problem they
had in May 2005. They very quickly then moved to try to confirm the extent to
which the problem existed. In July 2005 they ceased to operate their lab and
they made a decision then to start transferring the tests in that facility
outside the Province. They also made the decision at that time that they would
now start to have all of the negative results that occurred from 1997 to 2005
sent outside the Province for rechecking. At that time, they met with the
department to advise them of the circumstance, to advise them what they found.
The process started then in August, I believe, of 2005 to send these tests out
for re-evaluation.
In was in October 2005 when Eastern Health received the first response from
Toronto. The first grouping of tests to be repeated were done in October 2005.
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
I ask the minister if he could complete his answer quickly.
MR. WISEMAN: I appreciate your suggestion, Mr. Speaker, but the hon.
member was asking for a sequence of events.
It was in October 2005 that those first results came back, and all of them
were back by February 2006, I say, Mr. Speaker. By February 2006 all of the
tests that had been sent out, the results were now back and Eastern Health
became aware then of the total numbers that they had at that particular time.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Opposition House Leader.
MR. PARSONS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Notwithstanding the Health Minister's comments a couple of days ago about
the balance, I guess, between the need to inform and disclose information versus
the possible negative consequences it might have on litigation, I come back to
this issue again: We need to find out what went wrong here to make sure that it
does not happen again. That is what this is about. This is not a blame game, and
we are not only concerned about civil liability. We do not know, for example,
even if there was any criminal responsibility here. That is the point we are
missing here, and what government seems not to be acknowledging.
I say to the Minister of Justice again, I asked this question yesterday and I
will continue to ask it because I think it is foolhardy and misguided and
misdirected of this government not to undertake what is an essential, necessary
and obvious judicial inquiry that needs to be done.
We have had inquiries, Minister. When we had an industrial accident at Come
By Chance, we did a judicial inquiry because we wanted to know what happened so
it would not happen again. When we had the police shootings in this Province by
the RNC and by the RCMP, we did a judicial inquiry. We have twenty-four judges
on the Provincial Court; they are equipped to do it. It is not costly, it is not
time-consuming.
I say again to the Minister of Justice: To ensure that every woman in this
Province has the full details of what happened, including the families of the
176 women who have passed away since the details of this have been made public,
will you and this government commit to a full judicial inquiry to ensure that
all of the information is put on the table and disclosed here? It is absolutely
necessary.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: Mr. Speaker, I think everybody in this room is very,
very sensitive to the issues involved here. I think everybody in this room, on
both sides of the House, want to have the answers, want to have all the answers.
I think that is very, very important. In the interest of openness, it is
extremely important that this be done properly.
This government is certainly prepared to do a review in order to find the
information. At the end of the day, we want to make sure that the people of
Newfoundland and Labrador, but most importantly the people who are affected here
- the patients, the people who have suffered, their families - they all need to
know the answers.
It is a very sensitive issue and a very delicate issue, and there are issues
of confidentiality of information here that are very important because it is a
medical matter. On that basis, now, we are seeking advice from the Department of
Justice with regard to the best way to go about this, to make sure that this is
fully reviewed in a proper manner.
The other thing we want to do is, we want to make sure that we do not create
a problem in the Province whereby people lose complete confidence in the health
care system because that is unfair to the people of the Province and it is also
unfair to medical professionals and people who are in the medical field
throughout the Province. So, we do not want to do anything that sort of reflects
on everybody in the system in any manner whatsoever, and I think you would agree
with me in that perspective.
So, we want to move properly, we want to move carefully, we want to move
cautiously, but we will move expeditiously. We will not delay this for any
extended period of time. The first step, of course, is what the minister has
indicated today, is that we are going to ask Eastern Health immediately, to get
out and have a technical briefing so that all the facts are disclosed. When it
comes to the legal issues, Eastern Health are on the front line here, and the
hon. gentleman opposite knows that. The legal advice came from Eastern Health
because it is their issue and that is where the liability rests.
On this side of the House, however, there is a moral responsibility as well
that rests with this government, and rests with everybody inside the House. So,
we undertake to have a very, very hard look at this. We are going to do
something. It is a question of going about it and doing it right, but, at the
end of the day, we want to assure people of the Province, particularly the
people who have been affected here, that we will get full disclosure and we will
get the answers that they require.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi.
MS MICHAEL: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
I will continue on from that point, I guess. I was very glad to hear the
minister talk about the briefing, that was going to be one of my questions. So,
I will ask then some further questions around it. I think the minister said that
it was going to be a public briefing and that we would be able to attend. Is
this a fully public briefing? Will we be able to ask questions? Has the format
been decided? Mr. Speaker, the hon. Minister of Health and Community Services.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. WISEMAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I had indicated that it would be a public format, that we want to make sure
that the information gets out into the public domain and the questions that you
have been raising here and others have been raising are fully answered.
The issues that the member opposite raised in terms of exact location and
exact time, it was before I came to the House today that I had that discussion
with Eastern Health to ensure that it took place. I asked to have it happen
tomorrow, and they are immediately working towards that now. I assume and will
assure you that before the day is over, we will be making a public announcement
about when and where that will occur, and the time that it will happen as well.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi.
MS MICHAEL: Mr. Speaker, could I just make one comment to the minister? I
would encourage the minister to see that the briefing is held in the morning,
since a lot of MHAs leave to go to their districts in the afternoon.
I do have a couple of more questions. It is my understanding, Mr. Speaker,
that the families of the 176 deceased women have not been personally notified
that there was retesting of the tissue samples of those women, and also whether
or not any of these women received a new result from the retesting. Papers filed
with the court show that thirty-six of the 105 deceased women have been
confirmed to have had false negatives. These thirty-six women could have availed
of potentially life saving therapies.
Can the minister confirm that the families of the deceased have not been
personally contacted by Eastern Health authorities, and if not, why were they
not informed?
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
MR. WISEMAN: Mr. Speaker, as I understand the process for those family
members of the deceased individuals, they have an opportunity to make a request
to Eastern Health and have the results. That is what I understand has happened.
I cannot tell you how many people have actually done that. I cannot tell you how
many families would be aware of the changes in the test results, if any. I know
that is the kind of question that Eastern Health would be able to provide for
you, which is kind of a technical and detailed question that they would be able
to answer for you.
MR. SPEAKER: Final supplementary to the Member for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi.
MS MICHAEL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Well, then I will wait and put that question tomorrow because my question
really gets at where they informed personally or just through advertisements
that went out in the newspaper, but I will ask that tomorrow.
I do have then a final question, Mr. Speaker. The minister informed the House
on Tuesday that there is a quality control procedure in place, you spoke about
it again today. In a scrum, the minister said that approximately 10 per cent of
samples are sent away for retesting.
I would like the minister to inform us as to what are the results of that
quality control testing? Are we seeing, through the quality control testing that
is going on, that the testing which is now going on here is hopefully error
free, and how is that information going to be relayed to the House?
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
MR. WISEMAN: Just on that point, Mr. Speaker, I do not recall having
quantified the percentage of tests that would be sent out. What I had indicated
was that as a part of the quality control program, a random cross-section of
tests to be performed at Eastern Health would now be selected and sent outside
for a retesting, just to validate the test results at Eastern Health, I think
was my comment.
To answer your question about whether or not there has been any sent out to
date, how many have been sent out, and what the results have been, that is an
answer I do not have for you. I can get it for you though. I would be only too
glad to table it here for you in the House.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I will try to switch gears here now. My questions are for the Minister of
Natural Resources.
In March, the government reached an out-of-court settle with Canada Bay
Lumber in Roddickton to pay back their debt to the government and to move
forward with a new sawmill and particle board plant in that area. Part of the
deal was to allow the company to hold onto its 21,000 cubic metres of wood.
Why has the government not released a wood permit to wood products industry
limited so that the company will have an opportunity to settle its finances,
raise the capital it needs and move forward with the operation?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Natural Resources.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MS DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
As former minister of INTRD and now as Minister of Natural Resources, I have
been intimately involved in the file concerning Chimney Bay Lumber, Canada Bay
Lumber and WPI. Numerous opportunities, negotiations, you name it, Mr. Speaker,
has gone on to try to get this company on a footing that would allow it to move
forward. That has not happened. The Department of INTRD has taken action now
with regard to it and decisions will be made in the very short term with regard
to the permit that is associated with WPI.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Cartwright-L'Anse Au Clair.
MS JONES: Mr. Speaker, the operator claims that government has been
putting up roadblocks for them by changing the conditions of the wood allocation
permit. Today, minister, it is no secret that twenty-five to thirty loggers are
out of work in that area. There is an individual in that area who has spent up
to $400,000 to purchase a new harvester that now has nothing to harvest.
Obviously, this company and the residents in that area are looking for
government to issue the permit and have signed a petition with over 700
signatures from the community.
I ask the minister today: Why not work with this company, help them get their
operation off the ground and issue the wood permit to them?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Natural Resources.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MS DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
This government has been working with the companies named for over ten years.
We have exercised every way that we know how to encourage a sawmilling operation
on the Great Northern Peninsula. We are well aware of the concerns that are
being expressed on the Great Northern Peninsula with regard to the forestry
issue. We have worked with them in the past in terms of understanding what their
needs are and meeting those needs. We will do the same in this instance, Mr.
Speaker. If we need to be innovative to ensure that the harvesters have work and
that there is a market for the product of the Great Northern Peninsula, then we
are going to do whatever we can to make sure that happens.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
The time allocated for Question Period has expired.
Presenting Reports by Standing and Special Committees.
Tabling of documents.
Notices of Motion.
Notices of Motion
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury
Board.
MR. T. MARSHALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I give notice that I will ask leave to introduce a bill entitled,
An Act To
Amend The Retail Sales Tax Act, Bill 20.
MR. SPEAKER: Further Notices of Motion.
The hon. the Government House Leader.
MR. RIDEOUT: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to move, pursuant to Standing Order 11, that tomorrow,
Tuesday, May 22, the House not adjourn at 5:30 p.m., nor will the House adjourn
at 10:00 p.m.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Opposition House Leader on Notices of Motion.
MR. PARSONS: Normally under Standing Order 63(3) we would on a Monday
give notice of our private member's motion for next Wednesday's Private
Members' Day, but the House being closed on Monday we would like to give that
notice today, if we could, if that is okay. It is being moved by the Member for
Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair, giving
notice of motion.
MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to move the following Private Member's Motion,
seconded by my colleague, the Member for Burgeo & LaPoile:
WHEREAS it has been revealed that there were error rates of 42 per cent in
breast cancer screening tests conducted by Eastern Health and the circumstances
surrounding the release of this information has shaken confidence in the health
care system in this Province;
BE IT RESOLVED that this House of Assembly calls upon the government to
appoint a judicial enquiry into the circumstances around faulty breast cancer
screening results and the release of this information.
MR. SPEAKER: Further Notices of Motion.
Answers to Questions for which Notice has been Given.
Petitions.
The hon. the Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair.
MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I rise today to present a petition on behalf of people in the community of
Roddickton and in that area.
Mr. Speaker, this petition falls in line with the questions that I asked of
the Minister of Natural Resources today, and it has to do in particular with a
company by the name of Canada Bay Lumber.
Mr. Speaker, Canada Bay Lumber once ran a thriving sawmilling operation in
the Roddickton area, and it was destroyed by fire. Since that time they have had
great difficulty in rebuilding their company back to the vibrance that it once
way. They have been asking for the support and the nurturing of government in
enabling them to do just that. In fact, Mr. Speaker, not unlike a lot of
companies in this Province, they found themselves owing government substantial
amounts of money, none of which we can deny, but in recent days they were able
to strike a deal with the government, in March of this year, to pay back
$700,000, I think, of the money.
AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).
MS JONES: Eight hundred and fifty thousand. I stand to be corrected by
the Member for The Straits & White Bay North, Mr. Speaker, who seems to know
all about the issue but doing very little to resolve it, I say.
Mr. Speaker, there was $850,000 agreed to be paid back. As part of that deal,
it was told to the company they could hang on to their wood allocations of
22,000 cubic metres of wood. Once the company was able to pay back its
investment, re-establish itself as a sawmill and particle board operation, then
those quotas would be transferred into a timber allocation for the company to
use, Mr. Speaker. That was the deal, but attached to that timber allocation were
certain conditions that the company would have to honour, and those were the
guarantees that the government asked for.
Mr. Speaker, the operator now claims that, before he was able to deliver on
the payments and to be able to get this operation back on track, government
changed the conditions of his permit, and he feels that the government changed
the conditions of this permit only because they want to award the allocation to
Conservative friends of theirs so that they will have control of the allocation.
In doing so, Mr. Speaker, there is a risk of those jobs being shipped out of
that area.
I do not have to tell anyone in this Legislature that the Roddickton area is
an area of this Province, Mr. Speaker, that has high unemployment. They are
desperately looking for work. Even, Mr. Speaker, in the years that this company
had difficultly in managing its operations, they still employed loggers in that
area, up to thirty loggers every year who worked on contract with this company,
who today find themselves out of a job simply because the government opposite
was impatient and not willing to work with this company to bring their operation
to fruition.
Mr. Speaker, they talk every day about creating opportunity in rural
communities in this Province. Here is an opportunity right on their doorstep,
where people are crying out for work, and right now, today -
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
The member's allotted time has expired.
MS JONES: By leave, Mr. Speaker?
MR. RIDEOUT: By leave to conclude.
MR. SPEAKER: Leave has been granted to make some concluding comments.
MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I thank the Government House Leader for leave to conclude.
Mr. Speaker, today we have thirty workers in this area who are unemployed. We
have one of those people who has bought a harvester in the last year or so, Mr.
Speaker, has spent over $400,000 and now has nothing to harvest.
Mr. Speaker, I want to encourage the government, on behalf of the people in
this area - and the MHA for that area, who happens to be the minister - to work
with this company, work with the people in that region, and get this company off
the ground and get those people back to work!
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: Further petitions?
The hon. the Member for Port de Grave.
MR. BUTLER: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I want to present this petition and I will read it, seeing it is the first
time I have had it before the House.
WHEREAS the road maintenance depots have been closed in various areas of the
Province; and
WHEREAS these closures have resulted in maintenance workers servicing huge
areas; and
WHEREAS many areas are not receiving adequate road repairs because of these
government cutbacks;
WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, call upon all Members of the
House of Assembly to urge government to take actions to address the lack of road
maintenance in many areas of the Province.
I present this petition.
Mr. Speaker, I want to say -
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
The Chair asks all members on both sides of the House for their co-operation.
The Chair recognizes the Member for Port de Grave, and asks him to continue
presenting his petition.
MR. BUTLER: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
I want to say from the outset, and I know the minister is aware of this, I
had the opportunity to meet with the officials of the Department of
Transportation and Works on many of the issues that I have concerns on. They are
checking them out, no doubt, over a period of time, and hopefully this year some
of those issues will be resolved in a successful manner.
Mr. Speaker, there is one issue I want to bring to the forefront, and it is
due to a maintenance issue that happened last year. As a matter of fact, it
happened in August of last summer, and here we are into May of this year. The
department had been dealing with it. There were seven to eight vehicles, due to
a pothole that was in the road in Bay Roberts, that received extensive damage. I
relayed it to the road maintenance at the time.
Finally, one of the individuals received a letter back dated April 17, 2007,
and this is from the Department of Finance. They go on to say that they have
reviewed the information that was put forward by Transportation and Works
concerning alleged damages.
I can assure you, Mr. Speaker, they were not alleged damages. There were
thousands of dollars worth of damage done with regard to striking this
particular pothole. They referenced that all the information had been provided,
and I will go on to say, and I want to quote here: In reviewing the report from
the department, I find that every effort has been taken to repair this and other
potholes in the area.
No doubt, Mr. Speaker, that is true, but I can assure you every effort was
not taken to repair the damage to those vehicles.
They conclude with this statement: With the amount of freeze and thaw
conditions in the Avalon area, potholes can develop very quickly.
I can assure you, Mr. Speaker, due to the thawing of the ground there were no
potholes created in Bay Roberts in August of last year.
I think it is important that the department - I know the Department of
Transportation and Works took this issue forward and they believed that they
went to the Department of Finance to see if this would go through the claims,
but this letter if from the claims administrator telling those people that those
potholes have been taken care of - and they now - but I can assure you they were
there at that particular time. Many people, seven or eight individuals, had a
tremendous amount of damage done to their vehicles. The maintenance crews, when
the depots were closed, I can assure you that in my district a lot of work was
not done last year. The officials in the department in the Bay Roberts depot
will confirm that.
It is unfortunate that those people, Mr. Speaker, have received this letter
back. I just ask the minister to check with his officials. I know they have a
response back from the Department of Finance, but I believe it is worth that the
department would take another look at it and see if anything can be done for
those individuals.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER: Further petitions?
The hon. the Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair.
MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I rise to present a petition on behalf of my constituents in the District of
Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair.
Mr. Speaker, this petition has to do with having cellphone services in that
area. I would like to read the prayer of the petition, because I understand this
petition is being circulated throughout the district. I only received one copy
so far. Apparently, I have been told, the others are on the way. It says:
WHEREAS Phase II of the Trans-Labrador Highway from Red Bay to Cartwright has
been completed for a number of years; and
WHEREAS the residents of Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair now rely on this
connection for many necessities of life; and
WHEREAS the unpredictable nature of winter weather and lack of snow-clearing
equipment often causes hazardous for travellers on this
section of highway; and
WHEREAS a huge
section of the highway from West St. Modeste to Cartwright
covering 375 kilometres of road has no cellphone coverage because of the high
cost to provide such a service to a relatively low number of customers; and
WHEREAS government has provided $15 million to Persona Communications to
assist in future technology developments that enable them to become more
profitable, we feel that government should provide financial assistance to
ensure there are cell services available in our area;
WHEREFORE we, the undersigned, petition the House of House of Assembly to
urge government to contribute to the cost of providing cellular phone coverage
to the residents of Southern Labrador.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to speak to that for a couple of minutes because I
use that road quite often. In fact, if you look at the whole area going up
through, you are looking at over 400 kilometres of road in which you have no
cellphone coverage at all.
Mr. Speaker, I know what it is like to be out on that highway in the middle
of the winter and to be stuck, because it has happened. I have spent all night
on that road with no communications connection to anyone and having to stay
there until the early hours of the morning when a plow could come and get you
out. I am not alone in that experience. There are many people in my district who
often go through that.
Also, Mr. Speaker, there are lots of occasions when you are covering the huge
distance of several hundred kilometers between Port Hope Simpson and Cartwright
in which you have no stops at all and you have no communication equipment on
that
section of highway. We often have had people caught out there, broke down
or stuck in a snow storm, Mr. Speaker, and not being able to get out of it.
The request that is being made by the people of my district is a very
legitimate request. I have held a number of meetings with Aliant over the last
few years talking about cellphone coverage. In fact, in the Labrador Straits,
when we did get cellphone coverage, we had to make a business case to Aliant. At
the end of the day, we provided a good case and we were able to get the service.
In the Coastal region of Labrador we have also provided a business case for
cellular coverage but we have been told -
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
The hon. member's allotted time has expired.
MS JONES: May I, by leave, just clue up, Mr. Speaker?
AN HON. MEMBER: By leave.
MR. SPEAKER: Leave has been granted to make some concluding comments.
MS JONES: Thank you.
Aliant has told us that the cost of providing a cellphone service in that
particular area was more than the expenditure that they were prepared to invest,
and that the numbers they had crunched on what their return on investment would
be was not substantial for them at this time.
Mr. Speaker, basically what Aliant has told us and what another company - and
I should say we did go to another company, as well, looking for them to invest
in the cellular phone service in that particular area - and, again, it was the
same option. They did not feel that their investment was warranted in terms of
what their return would be.
Mr. Speaker, we have been told by the communications companies in the
Province that the only way that the cell service could be provided in that area
of the Province is with the investment of government as a partner. I would like
to encourage government and the Minister of Industry to look at this as an
option on behalf of the people of my district and that part of our Province.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER: Orders of the Day.
Orders of the Day
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Government House Leader.
MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, I would like to call Order 3, the concurrence
motion.
I believe there is, I don't know, fifteen or sixteen minutes, or something
in that order, left in debate, in the concurrence debate on the Social Services
Committee. I would like to call that matter first, please.
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
At the end of our debate previously, I do believe there were seventeen
minutes left and the debate had been adjourned by the Leader of the Opposition.
The Chair recognizes the hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Let those viewers who are watching us at home on a Thursday afternoon know
that, when we are discussing a Budget, we can speak on anything we wish in the
House of Assembly. We do not have to stick to a particular subject contained in
a particular bill.
When I left off on Tuesday, debating this particular issue, I was talking
about the need for an extension to EI, Employment Insurance, for fish harvesters
and plant workers on the Northeast Coast of Newfoundland and the Coast of
Labrador. Because, as you know, Mr. Speaker, the people in the affected area who
see the ice onshore today are finding it very difficult to survive financially
because the fishing season started on April 1 and many people who are involved
in the fishing industry have had their EI discontinued since that time. This is
some seven weeks now that they have to do without an income.
What we have done on this side of the House, we have contacted the federal
government, we have raised the issue locally through the various media, the Open
Line shows, the newspapers and the newscasts. We have asked questions in the
House of Assembly of the provincial government as to what they have done with
regard to lobbying the federal government to try and do something for the people
in the affected region, because they are finding it extremely difficult.
I am sure that members opposite are receiving calls. I heard from the Member
for Bonavista North today on the Open Line show raising the issue, and he had to
bring my name into it. I have been listening to the media in the last three or
four weeks since this became an issue. It became an issue around the middle of
April. Obviously, it did not become an issue on April 1 because that is when the
fishing season opened. It became an issue around the middle of April and, to be
truthful with you, I have not heard any of the members opposite raise the issue
publicly, but the Member for Bonavista North did come on this morning and say
that he did not need to take lessons from Gerry Reid.
I say to the member, I am glad I woke him up, and I hope I can wake up some
others on the opposite side, because there are a lot of Tory members in the
House of Assembly who are receiving calls, besides the Liberal members. In fact,
there are more Tories in the affected areas than there are Liberals. We have
been making representation both to the provincial and federal governments to get
something done because it is, indeed, a desperate situation.
Mr. Speaker, I have written the federal ministers - and I say ministers - to
Minister Hearn, our federal Fisheries Minister, as well as the Minister
Responsible for the EI program, Minister Solberg. I have written both.
For a while, I didn't receive a response from Fisheries Minister Hearn, our
representative in the federal Cabinet, but he did call me yesterday morning. He
did say that he was working with his federal Cabinet colleagues to try and put a
package together for those individuals who are without an income right now.
I have to mention, and I think I did when I started this, it is not just the
people on the Northeast Coast of Newfoundland, it is also on the Coast of
Labrador, and that takes in the Torngat District in the Northern part of
Labrador as well as the Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair District in the Southern
portion of Labrador. If I am not mistaken, I think there are a couple of
fishermen in Goose Bay who also prosecute the fishery, I say to my colleagues
from Labrador. We are talking about all of those individuals.
I had a discussion yesterday morning with the federal minister, he called me,
Minister Hearn, and he said that he had received my letter and he was returning
my call to tell me that they are working on it. But, yesterday afternoon I did
notice, in watching the House of Commons debate in Question Period from the back
room here - I happened to go in there for a glass of water and we had the
television on, and Todd Russell, the Liberal MP from Labrador, was raising the
very issue in the House of Commons. I was somewhat surprised with the response
from Mr. Hearn, our federal minister. He said that basically they don't have
all of the information on the numbers who are affected in the region, from
Bonavista basically to Nain.
That is somewhat surprising, his response to Mr. Todd Russell, because I
raised that very issue in the House over a week ago. I think it as last Monday,
some seven, eight, ten days ago, when I asked our provincial minister - I said
at that time that the provincial minister has a field staff out and about this
Province. For example, in the area that I am served by, the provincial
Department of Fisheries has their offices in Grand Falls. There is a team of
individuals who work there called field staff. These individuals are in touch
with fish harvesters and plant workers in my district and other districts along
that particular area of the Northeast Coast on almost a daily basis. I think
that the individuals who work for the department are very decent individuals and
they know a lot about the people they serve.
What I asked the minister last week is, if that field staff could compile a
list of the numbers of people in each of the regions and forward that
information on to Ottawa. Obviously, our provincial minister hasn't done that.
Mr. Hearn said yesterday, if he had that information he might be able to
expedite this process. In other words, he might be able to speed it up.
I was very saddened and very angered to hear the federal minister say
yesterday that information has not been forthcoming from anybody from the
Province, and that surprised me because I did ask the minister some ten days ago
to do that. It would not be that difficult because I know the individuals who
work for fisheries in the district that I represent and I know that they know
the people in the Bonavista North area and they know the people in the New World
Island, Change Islands, Twillingate Island, Fogo Island region. I bet you within
a very short period of time they could tell the federal government exactly what
the numbers are, and I was saddened and angered at the same time by the fact
that the provincial government does not seem to be that much interested in
helping these individuals out. I do not understand why they would not because I
am not asking the minister to do the work. I am asking his staff to do the work,
and I am sure that his staff would be more than delighted to forward that
information on to the federal government.
So, it leaves me to wonder if the provincial government is really serious
about trying to get an EI extension for those affected, or maybe they have an
alternative motive here, or ulterior motive. Maybe they have a motive that -
maybe they do not want the federal government to step in and help out these
individuals because the federal government might look good if they were to do
that. I explained that to the federal minister yesterday. I said to him, I said
minister: I know the relationships and the relations between the federal
government and the provincial government at this point in time is somewhat
strained, but if you were able to do something for the people on the Northeast
Coast and the Coast of Labrador, at least you might be able to curry some good
favour amongst the individuals in that area. I know that you are taking a
beating from the general population of this Province but I think that if you
were to step up to the plate now and put some money on the table to help out
these individuals, then some of these individuals at least might be thankful for
you and look at you in a different light than they are looking at you today.
I spoke quite frankly to Minister Hearn, as I always have and he speaks quite
frankly to me, but I am rather disappointed to learn that we are not, as a
provincial government - I should not say we, because we are doing our part, but
the government is not doing their part to do the calculations and try to get
some of the figures put together so that they could present that to Ottawa so
that these people who have not had a cheque come in for some seven weeks now
could have an income - so it could tie them over until they are able to get out
to the fishery. Because if you listen to Environment Canada, these ice
conditions could remain for another month. That would be all of April, all of
May and all of June without a source of income.
The other thing, too, Mr. Speaker, that I am somewhat perplexed about is
this, the provincial government has not stepped in to try and help these
individuals. They have not stepped in, and it is my understanding that if some
of these individuals who have not received a cheque for seven weeks or
thirty-five days, or forty-nine days, they are not eligible for social services
because if you apply for social services, one of the criteria for receiving
social services is that you have to be without any money for sixty days. So,
they are really in a bind. You cannot just walk into a social services office if
you spent your last unemployment cheque last week and look for social assistance
this week. You have to wait sixty days. Some of these individuals have already
waited forty-nine days without a cent coming into their house and they are going
to have to wait another eleven days before they apply for social services. They
might have to wait another fourteen days on top of that before they get any
assistance. I think this is absolutely atrocious, especially when we are talking
and dealing with a government today that has a surplus in their pockets, or in
their Budget this year of $260 million; $260 million and it seems like the
plight of all of those thousands of people on the Northeast Coast in Labrador,
on the Labrador Coast are being left out like forgotten people.
If you talk to these individuals, like I do, some of them will go so far as
to say that they think there is a plan afoot to drive them out of these rural
communities in the area that I talked about. I am not saying this myself, that
is what I have been told. A lot of them are saying, if we do not get some help
very soon we are going to have to go to Alberta. A lot of them have already left
to go to Alberta, especially crew members, Mr. Speaker. When they realize that
they already have pretty well two months of the fishing season gone - the crab
fishery, I say, the most important one in that whole area that we are talking
about, is scheduled to close on June 15. Today is the sixteenth or seventeenth
of May. That fishery is going to close in less than a month. They do not have a
pot in the water yet. They do not even have their boats in the water, Mr.
Speaker, and the fishery is supposed to close in less than a month. So you can
imagine the stress and the strain - not to mention the fact that they do not
have a cent - and the impact that this is having on these individuals and their
families.
We are not talking about big strapping men and women. We are also talking
children having to go to school everyday and their parents without a cent for
seven weeks. I think it is absolutely atrocious. I think it is absolutely
atrocious that our provincial government - when the Premier talks about caring
for people and standing shoulder to shoulder with people, where are those broad
shoulders now of the Premier, I say, because I have not heard him mention it? I
have not heard him mention anything. All they say is, it is a federal government
responsibility. Well, if that is the case, what happens if the federal
government says we are not doing it? What happens to these individuals? We are
not going to do that. You are not getting an EI extension, and there is a month
or two before they get out to their fishery. What happens to these individuals
in the interim? What happens - which is a big fear in my district today - once
the ice moves off, in two or three or four weeks from now, and they put their
crab pots in the water and we experience softshell crab?
Now, I do not know if all of these individuals sitting across the floor, from
St. John's, know what that means, talking about softshell crab. That means -
it is as simple as this - as soon as they find a high incidence of that in the
fishery, that is closed. That, for the most part, will mean a complete loss of a
fishing season for most of the individuals in that area that I talked about,
from Bonavista north to Nain. Then what do we do?
I guess what the crowd opposite are saying, then: Well, at least by that time
they will qualify for social services.
I say, Mr. Speaker, if that happens this year, the crowd opposite will not
have to worry about giving a lot of social services because 90 per cent of the
people in that area will move out of this Province and go to the mainland to
work. That is what they think the plan is, in my district - they honestly
believe it - because they really feel that they are being let down by this
government, because this government is not making the representation that they
think they should be making to the federal government to get some help on this.
The only one I have heard, to date, even mention it publicly is the Member
for Bonavista North, in his first debut on the Open Line show this morning,
criticizing me because I mentioned his name, that we have not heard from him. He
was more interested in criticizing me than he was about really presenting the
issue of some help for his constituents, so he is obviously playing politics
with it. I am quite prepared to leave the politics aside in this, quite
prepared. I have not mentioned politics up until this point in time, expect to
give the federal government a smack up the side of the head over it because they
have not been doing due diligence in trying to help out those individuals.
Mr. Speaker, I would like for the Minister of Fisheries and the Deputy
Premier of the Province to tell me later on today if, in fact, he has his field
staff compiling some of this information so that he can send it off to the
federal government so they can expedite the possibility of these people
receiving some Income Support in terms of an EI extension before it is too late
for them.
We all know, the minister said here in the House of Assembly, that a week ago
- more than a week ago, the Sunday before last, it will be two weeks this Sunday
- he went to Ottawa, flew to Ottawa on a Saturday afternoon, met with the
federal Minister of Fisheries in Ottawa, in his office, had his staff accompany
him, sat across the table from Mr. Hearn, eyeball to eyeball, talking about FPI,
and never mentioned the ice conditions and the need for an EI extension. He said
that in the House of Assembly here last week. That was confirmed by Mr. Hearn,
to me, yesterday morning in my conversation with Mr. Hearn. I think that is
atrocious. I mentioned that on an Open Line program last week and Mr. Randy
Simms even agreed. He does not always agree with me, but he is a half-logical
individual and he said that the minister, the Deputy Premier, missed a golden
opportunity to raise this very serious issue, to raise this very serious issue
with the Minister of Fisheries. That is unconscionable; because, even if he had
forgotten himself, I am sure that he had his staff with him.
I know, when I was Minister of Fisheries, and even today when I am a
backbench Opposition member, even today I have an assistant working with me, and
I remind her very often: Don't let me forget this.
All the minister had to say, when this issue arose in the House two weeks
ago, before he went to Ottawa: Don't let me forget to mention the ice
compensation and the EI extension to Mr. Hearn when I meet with him on Sunday.
Obviously, it was not a major concern to anyone over in the Department of
Fisheries or the issue would have been addressed when they were in Ottawa last
week.
What I am saying, Mr. Speaker, is that this government should get off their
derrieres, get the figures, document them, find out how many individuals, or
roughly how many individuals, need an extension to their EI, and forward that
off to Ottawa immediately. They do not even have to go up themselves with it,
Mr. Speaker; that stuff can be faxed now, or sent by e-mails, so they do not
have to fly to Ottawa again to do it, and waste time. All of that information
can find its way to Ottawa in a very short period of time. It might not even
need to go to Ottawa. We have DFO offices here in St. John's, along with EI
offices, and in Gander and other places across the Province.
All I am saying is that it is a very serious issue. I wish that more of you
opposite would take it more seriously and do something, at least hear your
voices in the media, on the television screens and out on the Open Line shows,
to at least let your constituents know that you are worried about them, that you
are thinking about them, you want something to change.
Try and leave the politics out of it. I know when I was on the air I said I
have not heard from the Member for Bonavista North or the Member for
Windsor-Springdale, the Member for Bonavista South, and a few of you. I did not
mention you by name, so I did not mean to rile up the Member for Bonavista North
today.
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
The hon. member's time has expired.
MR. REID: Mr. Speaker, I would like for them to get serious and do
everything that they possibly can to help the individuals affected in these
areas because, Mr. Speaker, they are in dire straits. They need help, and they
need help from whomever they can get it.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The motion before the House is that the House concurs in the
approval of the report of the Social Services Committee on Supply.
All those in favour, aye'.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.
MR. SPEAKER: All those against, nay'.
The motion is carried.
Motion carried.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Government House Leader.
MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, Motion 2, Committee of Supply.
I would like to move, I guess, that the House resolve itself into a Committee
of the Whole to consider the matters related to Executive Council.
MR. SPEAKER: The motion is that this House resolve itself into a
Committee of Supply to consider certain motions relating to the Executive
Council Estimates.
All those in favour, aye'.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.
MR. SPEAKER: All those against, nay'.
The motion is carried.
On motion, that the House resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole, Mr.
Speaker left the Chair.
Committee of the Whole
CHAIR (Fitzgerald): Order, please!
The Committee is ready to receive debate and entertain questions, if
necessary, on the heading of Executive Council.
The hon. the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. T. MARSHALL: Thank you, Mr. Chair.
It is an honour and a privilege for me to stand here in my place today to
introduce the Estimates for the Office of the Executive Council. What has been
happening here is that as part of the Budget process, one of the things we do is
that we present the Estimates. We present the actual spending in each head under
the Estimates for approval for the House of Assembly. Normally, this is done in
various committees.
For example, as the Minister of Finance, the Finance Estimates were presented
to one of the committees of the House. I believe it was the Committee on
Government Services, and at that committee meeting my colleague, the hon. Member
for Grand Falls-Buchans was there, members of the Opposition were there, members
of the government were there and they questioned me, as the minister, and the
senior officials of the department as to what each of these Estimates were and
what we were spending money on so that government, through that process, is
accountable to the people of this Province as to how we spend the money because
it is obviously extremely important that we spend that money wisely.
Government has no money of its own. Any money government gets, it gets and
takes from the people of this Province. It does it through taxation, it does it
through charging fees. It is the people's money that the government is
spending. The government has the legal right to spend that money, but it is
spending the people's money and therefore - as was said to me at one of the
pre-Budget consultations I attended, I think it was either the mayor or the
deputy mayor of Stephenville Crossing. He said to me: You are spending the
public's money. You have to spend that money wisely and you have to take it
very seriously. That message has stayed with me, and it will stay with me
throughout my political career.
Today, we do something different. In addition to the Estimates that take
place in the various committees - there was a Resource Committee, a Social
Services Committee, as well as a Government Services Committee. The same process
went on, the Estimates, the heads of spending of the various departments was
presented. The ministers appeared before the committees, they had their
officials with them and they accounted to the members of the committees for how
they were going to spend the taxpayers' money. That is a very basic and
fundamental process based on accountability, based on openness and transparency.
It is a very important part of a whole process that we go through as we spend
the taxpayers' money.
Today, we are going through a process that is a bit different. While the
process is essentially the same, we are doing it here in the main Chamber of the
House of Assembly, we are doing it in the Committee of the Whole and we are
doing it before the TV cameras so that the people of Newfoundland can see what
the process is like. I do not know why certain things happen in the House as
opposed to in the Committee meetings, why the heads of expenditure that we are
going to look at today are held here. I do not know the answer to that, but I am
sure someone will explain it at some point during the discussion today.
What we are going to talk about today is the expenditures in Executive
Council. Under Executive Council we are going to look at the establishment of
the Lieutenant Governor. We are going to look at the expenditures that are
taking place there. Under Office of the Executive Council, we are going to look
at the expenditures in the Premier's Office, we are going to look at the
expenditures of Cabinet Secretariat. Now, that is group at the top of the scale
in the civil service who actually carry out the instructions and policies set by
the Cabinet. There is the Communications and Consultation Branch of Executive
Council. There is Financial Administration and Human Resource Support. Later on,
I understand, we are going to do the Estimates for the Public Service
Secretariat. Most people will remember the Public Service Secretariat as what
was referred to once as Treasury Board and came into an existence with respect
to a reorganization that took place, I think it was in 2005.
So, we will go through these numbers and members of the Opposition will be
able to stand and ask questions concerning these Estimates and make their views
known on the expenditures. Members of the government side, as well, will take
part in the debate and in the discussion.
With that, Mr. Chair, I will sit down now and let the debate and discussion
begin. I look forward to the questions from the other side, and I look forward
to all members taking
part in what I am sure will be an interesting discussion.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
CHAIR: Order, please!
The hon. the Member for Grand Falls-Buchans.
MS THISTLE: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I am pleased to stand today and respond to the Minister of Finance, his
presentation on Executive Council.
One of the things he mentioned in his speech was, he wondered why Executive
Council would be debated in the House of Assembly as opposed to in Committee,
kind of like behind closed doors and not on camera.
The reason for that is because the Executive Council really is the Office of
the Premier - and most taxpayers always find that very interesting - and the
Transparency and Accountability Office, Communication Consultation Branch and,
of course, our Lieutenant-Governor's house, Intergovernmental Affairs
Secretariat, Office of the Chief Information Officer, Protocol, Rural
Secretariat, Women's Policy, Public Service Secretariat. So, under that
umbrella of Executive Council, people are always curious as to how government
fills those offices, how they spend the money for those offices, and do they
spend it in the best way possible.
Our job, as the Opposition - and it was interesting when the Minister of
Finance said that all members of the House will have an opportunity to ask
questions around this particular part of government spending, but he knows full
well that his own members will not ask him any questions in the House today so
he is safe in that regard.
It is interesting, too, that while the current government was in Opposition -
and I know the Minister of Finance was not part of that group - the Opposition
always questioned the Lieutenant-Governor's establishment. I, for one, always
supported the Lieutenant-Governor's house, Government House, which we have all
grown to appreciate and are very proud of, so I do not have any issue with the
Lieutenant-Governor's house. Our current Lieutenant-Governor, Edward Moxon
Roberts, has been one of the first ones to make it open to the public, and I
think that has been a good thing. It is the people's money that pays for
Government House, and I believe that it should be open to the people.
I am wondering, though, in Government House spending for next year there is
going to be $40,000 spend, new money, on property, furnishings and equipment. I
do not know if the minister will want to get up when I ask these questions or if
he would like to make note of it and answer probably on his own time, because I
know that will cut into my time if he stands up and gives me the answer there.
That is Government House, under 1.1.02.07, Property, Furnishings and
Equipment. There is going to be a $40,000 expenditure this coming year for
Government House, on property, so I am curious as to what government intends to
buy there. Maybe the minister can make note of that and let me know.
I think the most alarming thing that we found out a while ago, in the Premier's
Office, when I look back at the Estimates and the Salary Details, what is
actually spent in operating the Premier's Office on a year-to-year basis. The
last year that we were the government - that was 2003 - we spent under $1
million in salaries and operations for the Premier's Office. Just in salaries
alone this year, this coming year, for the Premier's Office, $1.4 million is
going to spent in just salaries alone. That brings into question: Why is the
Premier spending an extra - $500,000 is what it is - why is the Premier spending
an extra $500,000 in salaries this year for his staff? That is the curious part
about all of this.
We saw in the newspaper a while ago - and this is only under Communications -
that the Premier's own staff in the Premier's Office are getting pay hikes.
The pay hikes that the Premier's staff are getting are scandalous. They are
ranging anywhere from 8 per cent to 17 per cent. Tell me, do you know of any
other public servant within the government of this Province that is going to get
a pay raise anywhere between 8 per cent and 17 per cent?
Some of these people are going from - I will give you an example - a Chief of
Staff with the Premier's Office, his salary is going from $121,000 to
$131,000, and the Director of Communications - I happen to know the Director of
Communications - that person, actually her salary is going from $89,000 up to
$102,000. That is from $89,000 to $102,000, an increase of 14 per cent in just
one year. Now, I know the Director of Communications is a busy job, but when you
ask around government every job around government is busy. Even the MHA's job
is quite busy. We are not on set hours, nine to five. In fact, our hours are
twenty-four seven. We are available no matter who calls or when they call; we
are ready to go.
There is another new staff member and that title is Deputy Chief of Staff.
Now, it is bad enough to have what we call a Chief of Staff. Every premier who
has been around since 1949 has had a Chief of Staff, but now we have a Deputy
Chief of Staff. That is a brand new position that is coming on board this year.
I guess the person is already in the job now, because this Budget was brought
down April 26. As a result of that, that person has probably been hired, hired
something like the new Electoral Officer, Mr. Paul Reynolds. His job has not
been sanctioned yet by this House of Assembly, but he has been on the payroll of
this Province since the first of May. His salary is over $100,000 a year.
We have the Chief of Staff getting the big salary increase of 8 per cent, and
he had so much work to do that he couldn't work by himself, so they created
another position, so that position would work with him. That is called a Deputy
Chief of Staff for $95,000 a year.
These are the kinds of jobs the Premier won't be talking about when he has
his job fair in two weeks time. He won't be asking people to apply for this
job. That job won't be advertised.
In addition to that, they have a Special Advisor, mind you now. This person
was making $85,000 and as of the first of April that person is going to make
$92,000. That is an increase of 8 per cent.
I don't know what the Principal Assistant does. The Principal Assistant,
that is a brand new title. I never heard tell of it in my life before. That
person was making $83,000 in March and now, today, that person is making
$90,036, an 8 per cent increase. Instead of the Chief of Operations handling
everything in the Premier's office, along with the Chief of Staff and his
Deputy Chief of Staff - they can't work alone - he has another one hired now,
what they call the Director of Operations, and that person went from $70,000 to
$82,000 in a space of an overnight decision. That increase amounts to 17 per
cent. That is outrageous.
This is another one, a brand new position, called Manager of Community
Outreach. Now, that is a person who is doing all the political stuff out in
every community, lining things up for the Premier. That salary went from $68,000
to $80,000, an increase of 17 per cent.
When you look at the salaries for the Premier's Office in 2003, and you
look at them again in 2007, we have an increase of $500,000 in salaries to
operate the Premier's Office, and he was the person who was going to operate a
lean, mean machine. Can you imagine that?
There is so much in here, it is hard to know where to begin; because, in my
first session here, I have only fifteen minutes.
I want to talk now about the Ottawa office. The very first Budget that I
critiqued for the new government was in 2004, and this is 2007. The current
Premier decided to have an office in Ottawa, at a cost to the taxpayers of this
Province of $400,000 a year. Now, the current person sitting in the Ottawa
office is John Fitzgerald. If anybody can tell me what he does up there, I think
I will be surprised with the answer; because, as far as I know, the boardroom is
never used in the Ottawa office. You can hang out a line of clothes in the
Ottawa office and it would never be disturbed.
MR. PARSONS: Doctor Feelgood's limousine service.
MS THISTLE: Doctor Feelgood's limousine service is always there in case
they have somebody from this government going up, but, as you already know,
since March 19 there is nobody going to the Ottawa office from this government.
There is nobody going up. We have all kinds of pressing federal-provincial
issues here that nobody from this government are dealing with because the
relationship has soured with Stephen Harper.
Just this week, just yesterday, I had four telephone calls from my very own
district, Grand Falls-Buchans, from people, organizations, who cannot get any
money to hire students. We have the Exploits Visitor Information Centre out
there in Grand Falls-Windsor, called the tourism centre. They have about 30,000
people go through their office every year, and two nights ago they had to have
an emergency meeting and discuss what they were going to do. They decided to
keep the locks on the door for another three weeks to see if they can get any
funding to hire the students, because if they cannot hire the students they
cannot operate the tourism facility.
Now, we have the Salmonid
Interpretation Centre and also Sanger Memorial RV
Park that operate in partnership with the Salmonid
Interpretation Centre. They
have, in the same way, almost - well, over 30,000 visitors went through the
Salmonid
Interpretation Centre last year. They cannot open; they do not have
students to hire.
In addition to that, we have a soccer program in Grand Falls-Windsor - Grand
Falls-Windsor Minor Soccer - 300 children play soccer every summer in Grand
Falls-Windsor. We do not have the students to operate that program.
We have also heard from the Heritage Society. They operate thirteen museums
in the Exploits Valley, right from Leading Tickles to Buchans. They do not have
staff to go in their thirteen museums.
What is this government doing? The Minister of Human Resources, Labour and
Employment, is he talking to his Ottawa office? Because there is nothing coming
back through this government and being distributed out to the general public.
You have no resolution on the student hirings. Are you going to let that brew,
and the only people who will be affected are students and you are not going to
bother about them?
You have $261 million in surplus, this government has. You know, if Ottawa
are not going to deal with this problem - the Minister of Human Resources,
Labour and Employment has not been on his feet one day in this House of Assembly
to tell the people watching that he is going to resolve the problem out there.
I am going to ask the Minister of Finance: If you cannot deal with Ottawa, is
the provincial government going to step in and fix this problem for the students
of our Province? That is one big issue.
Now, today the Premier was asked: What are we going to get out of the
Atlantic Gateway investment program that every other province across the country
is going to get something from? Halifax, or all of Nova Scotia, all of British
Columbia, and we are not even on the radar screen simply because we have a sour
relationship with Ottawa; but, you know, we have to deal with them. Some time or
other we have to deal with them. We are losing out. We are absolutely losing out
big-time in federal-provincial partnership programs.
It is true, Stephen Harper did not keep his promises, but is our provincial
fisheries minister going to not deal with him on the ice matter and the
extension of EI? Is our human resources or human - what do you call this new
title our minister has now? Human Resources, Labour and Employment, is it? I
cannot keep up with you guys, you are changing the Cabinet names every so often.
Anyways, he has not dealt with the federal counterpart on that matter. Are
you going to deal with the student employment issue? Is the Premier going to
deal with the Gateway policy on investment in this Province?
CHAIR: Order, please!
I remind the hon. Member for Grand Falls-Buchans that her time for speaking
has lapsed.
MS THISTLE: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I do hope I will have an opportunity to continue.
Thank you.
CHAIR: Before the Chair recognizes the Member for Labrador West, is the
Chair under the impression that there is leave granted for the member to deliver
his speech without being interrupted?
AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).
CHAIR: The hon. the Member for Labrador West.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. BAKER: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
It is indeed with a deep sense of pride and humility that I rise today in
this hon. House to deliver my maiden speech.
In my speech today, I want to acknowledge the people who are responsible for
putting me here today, I want to talk about the great District of Labrador West,
and I want to touch on the great Budget and the great news that it contains for
my district.
First of all, I want to thank the voters of Labrador West for the confidence
and the trust that they have placed in me to act as their representative, their
voice in this Legislature. This trust comes with a great deal of responsibility,
something which I take quite seriously, something I think about a lot, hoping
that I can live up to the expectations. I promised my constituents that I would
work hard on their behalf and give them the sincere, dedicated representation to
the best of my ability. I believe I am living up to that commitment, to now, and
I will continue to do so as long as I am their representative.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. BAKER: Mr. Chairman, an election campaign is only as good as the team
of volunteers you have around you. I had the best, and I thank them from the
bottom of my heart for giving so freely of their time. My campaign chair, my
co-chair, my financial person, sign crews, poll captains, drivers and countless
others. The victory was indeed the result of a great team effort which could not
have happened without the great commitment of everyone involved. The level of
support was overwhelming, and I will be forever grateful to them. I want to
thank my family, my wife, Theresa, who is here in the gallery today, our son and
daughter and our four grandchildren for their great support.
Mr. Chairman, campaigning in Labrador, in winter, in February, can be
challenging at the best of times, but this year we hit a particularly cold snap
right in the middle of the campaign. I thank my colleagues in this House, MHAs
and Cabinet Ministers who came out and braved the elements to campaign
door-to-door and provided such great, valuable support.
I especially want to thank the Premier for his support. He went door-to-door
and also braved minus forty degree temperatures at the early morning Tim Horton
drive through. More importantly though, was the opportunity for him and his
ministers to meet the various stakeholder groups, the town councils, the union
leaders and others to hear the issues first hand.
Mr. Chairman, I have called Labrador West home for the past forty-three
years, and I can think of no better place to live. With my wife, Theresa, we
have raised a son and a daughter who, in turn, have given us four lovely
grandchildren. We are fortunate that they continue to make Labrador West their
home. I may be a little biased, but I truly believe that Labrador West offers
the best standard of living and the quality of life of any region or district in
this Province. There is no better place to raise a family. We are unsurpassed
for our outdoor sports and recreation. There is really something for everyone
who wants to get out.
A lot of our facilities are run by non-profit organizations and operated
mainly by volunteers. We are very proud of the achievements of our athletes and
organizations at the provincial, national and indeed at the world level over the
years.
Some of our facilities: The Menihek Nordic Ski Club, which cross-country ski
trails are world-class, and actually we have hosted several world cups back in
the 1980s. The Great Labrador Loppet, which is a cross-country ski race, is an
annual spring tradition which goes back to the early 1970s.
Our alpine ski club, Smokey Mountain, caters to alpine skiers and
snowboarders. This club has hosted numerous national events over the years. The
popularity of snowboarding in the region is fast attracting new and younger
members.
Our White Wolf Snowmobile Club is very active with over 1,000 members who
travel on some of the best groomed trails you will find anywhere in this
country, or indeed anywhere in North America. Cain's Quest, a 1,000 kilometre
snowmobile endurance race through the Labrador wilderness, is one of the
toughest and most challenging anywhere in North America. This year's event had
eighteen teams from Labrador to the Eastern US and was covered by Snow Trax TV
and TSN. After just two years, this event is gaining national and international
participation and acclaim and playing a great role in promoting Labrador West as
a winter tourism destination.
Our Curling Club has enjoyed great success and acclaim over the years. The
Sue Anne Bartlett rink was the legendary provincial champions for years on end
and, of course, the real crowning moment came just last year or the year before
when two of our own, Mark Nichols and Mike Adam, helped bring home Olympic Gold
as part of the Brad Gushue team.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. BAKER: Our figure skating club has enjoyed great prominence over the
years. Just last year our own Joey Russell was crowned the Canadian Junior
Champion.
The annual regatta on beautiful Jean Lake in Wabush is certainly one of the
great highlights of our summer season.
Of course, Labrador has long been recognized as a prime hunting and fishing
destination. The migratory George River caribou herd, of about a million animals
really, is the greatest and largest in the world. Of course, our rivers and
streams and lakes are an angler's dream.
Mr. Chairman, Labrador City and Wabush were built by the mining companies in
the early 1960s and remained company towns until 1981 when both held their first
municipal elections. These towns are a model of what modern, well-planned towns
should look like. The combined population was approximately 16,000 back at the
end of the 1970s, but then a major slump in the price of steel in 1981 resulted
in mass layoffs and a resulting drop in our population. Although the mining
companies today are prospering and producing at record levels, workplace
efficiencies and technology have enabled them to operate with much lower
workforces. Our population has held fairly steady at around 10,000 until
recently. The population is now on an upswing, as more and more retirees choose
to stay in Labrador West, and more young people are being hired to replace them.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. BAKER: This has had a rejuvenation effect on the towns, and we are
now one of the few regions in this Province which has an increase in our school
populations. It is also interesting to note that out of the current group of 130
future employees in the Mining Technician Program at the local college,
eighty-one, or 63 per cent, of those people are female. These are
non-traditional jobs which, now, we have more than a 50 per cent population or
group that are in those particular programs, so gender equity is certainly alive
and well in our area.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. BAKER: The residents of my district are a kind, caring, compassionate
people. Their generosity is unsurpassed anywhere in this country. When the first
MRI unit was being purchased for this Province back in the early 1990s, the
workers at IOCC and Wabush Mines agreed to voluntary payroll deductions for a
three year period to help fund this project. The total amount pledged by the
IOCC workers and the company, both combined, was in the vicinity of $340,000. I
do not have the Wabush numbers, but I would suspect that the two companies
combined, with their employees, that number was in the range of about $500,000.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. BAKER: Certainly, we were the greatest contributor towards this
particular fundraising project.
The Legion telethon raises upwards to $25,000 annually to purchase equipment
for our local hospital. Events such as Relay for Life, Walk for Prostate Cancer,
all raise amounts on a per capita basis far surpassing anywhere else. When an
individual or a family is in need, the response is immediate. The Christmas Food
Hamper Drive is another testament to the caring nature of our residents.
Mr. Chairman, the downturn notwithstanding, Labrador West has truly been an
economic success story since 1962. Strategic reinvestment by IOC and Wabush
Mines, combined with a hard-working, dedicated workforce, have contributed to
this long-term success and viability. The long-term future outlook is also very
encouraging. The demand for iron ore in the emerging markets of China and India
has driven prices to record highs. The Iron Ore Company of Canada is currently
planning a major expansion. A recent discovery at the Bloom Lake deposit just
across the border in Fermont, Quebec, may be the answer to the long-term
viability of Wabush Mines.
The development of a major iron ore deposit near Schefferville could see
mining activity on a scale rivaling the Iron Ore Company. The mining companies
provide well-paying jobs - actually, at about $10,000 above the national average
- and the local purchase policy of these companies has resulted in numerous
industrial suppliers setting up shop in the region. The spinoff business is
providing a good tax base for all levels of government. There are approximately
250 businesses in the area, resulting in a retail activity at about 48 per cent
above the national average.
Mr. Chairman, the economic success of Labrador West has also provided a
steady flow of higher than average tax dollars to the provincial Treasury for
the past fifty years. As the saying goes, as someone said here last week, what
is good for the goose is also good for the gander. It is an understatement to
say that we have given more than we have received over the years.
While we have a lot of the amenities of life and a lot to be proud of, we are
also lacking a lot of the basics which most on the Island part of our Province
take for granted. Transportation, health care and post-secondary education
facilities are some of the major issues we face.
Mr. Chairman, now for the good news. With this government and this Budget,
the time for Labrador has finally come.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. BAKER: The upgrade and hard surfacing of the Trans-Labrador Highway
to national highway standards will start this year, with or without the federal
cost-sharing.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. BAKER: It is indeed shameful the way the Stephen Harper government
has been holding up this funding to fit their own political agenda. Labrador is
called the Big Land for a reason. With close to 600 kilometres just between
Labrador West and Happy Valley-Goose Bay, you are looking at a seven to
eight-hour trip, or the time it would almost take for you to drive across this
Island. A good highway system across Labrador will have a great economic impact
from tourism to industrial development, much as the building of the QNSL Railway
by the Iron Ore Company of Canada did for mining development back in the late
1950s.
Mr. Chairman, our health care facility has long outlived its useful life and
has been a burning issue for a long time. Again, this government has responded
with a commitment for a new twenty-eight bed, $60 million facility.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. BAKER: The design work, site preparation and ground work will be
completed this summer and construction will start next year.
Mr. Chairman, the College of the North Atlantic in Labrador West is renting
space for its campus in a former elementary school which is less than adequate
for its intended purpose. The news gets better. Our government, in recognition
that Labrador West is a major industrial growth centre, has announced a new
state-of-the-art $18 million campus designed to accommodate 250 students and
also designed for future growth.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. BAKER: Again, design, site preparation and ground work will get
underway this year with construction starting next year.
Mr. Chairman, one of the dominant issues expressed in my district was the
lack of apprenticeship training programs being offered at the local college.
This was not only contributing to the skill shortage in the area, but was
creating social and financial hardship for those having to complete those
programs on the Island. It was especially hard on young, single mothers who
simply had to pass up the opportunity. Mr. Chairman, the announcement of two new
apprenticeship programs starting in September in industrial electrical and
industrial mechanical will go a long way in addressing this problem, and it is
certainly music to my ears.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. BAKER: Another issue which really pulled at my heartstrings during
the campaign were the stories relayed to me by several young MS sufferers who
were trying to live independent lives but burdened down by enormous drug costs,
as much as $25,000 annually. The announcement of the drug enhancement program
will give them, and sufferers of other debilitating diseases, back that
independence and dignity.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. BAKER: The cost of servicing high student debt was another issue of
concern in my district, as I am sure it is everywhere. The reduction of 2.5
percentage points down to the prime rate will go a long way to alleviate that
burden. That, combined with an up-front needs grant and maintaining the present
tuition freeze, will give our students a financial advantage which is
unsurpassed anywhere in this country.
Mr. Chairman, I am very pleased to see our government put money back into the
pockets of its taxpayers. The taxpayers who have borne the brunt of taxation
over the years, when our fiscal situation was far worse than it is today. The
reduction in the tax rates and the elimination of the 9 per cent surtax will
benefit many taxpayers in my district. This surtax was imposed on higher income
earners to help offset budget deficits. Now that we are finally in a surplus
situation, it is only fa