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March

24, 2014

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS

Vol. XLVII No. 6

The House met at 1:30 p.m.

MR. SPEAKER (Wiseman):

Order, please!

Admit strangers.

Before we start regular

proceedings today, I want to share with you a result of a review that I had

completed, as a result of some issues that have arisen in the House in recent

past. This is not long but a little

bit lengthier than normal, so I would ask you to bear with me because it is

providing some direction to the House.

I am rising today to speak

on an issue of concern in this House with respect to the tabling of documents

during debate and Question Period.

The frequency with which such tabling has been requested has caused me to review

the text and precedents on such tabling of documents and I wish to indicate the

manner in which I intend to proceed in dealing with the issue.

First, there is no

distinction made in the parliamentary precedents between a document referred to

or quoted – the distinction between debate and Question Period, there is no

distinction.

Also private members do not

table documents from which they have read.

O'Brien and Bosc, on page 434, states, “There has been a long-standing

practice in the House that private Members may not table documents, official or

otherwise.”

O'Brien and Bosc

states on page 609, “Any document quoted by a Minister in debate or in

response to a question during Question Period must be tabled upon request…”.

That same paragraph, a little further on, goes on to say, “….a Minister

is not at liberty to read or quote from a despatch (an official written message

on government affairs) or other state papers without being prepared to table it

if this can be done without prejudice to the public interest.”

O'Brien and Bosc, on that

same page, quotes a 1941 ruling of Speaker Glen which addresses the reasons for

requiring tabling of documents read by ministers.

“The principle upon which this is based is that where information is

given to the House, the House itself is entitled to the same information as the

honourable member who may quote the document.”

This explanation is

similarly stated in Bourinot on page 347 of his volume on

Parliamentary Procedure and Practice in the Dominion of Canada .

Sometimes a document is

clearly an official report or stated government policy, and sometimes it is not.

Documents issued by the government as a policy document fall within the

category of a “state paper”. They

can, however, be excluded if it is found to be in the public interest to do so.

If a minister wishes to

invoke this exception, he or she must stand in his place on a point of order and

make the argument before the House.

Personal correspondence has

also been quoted and in doing so, the minister makes that letter a document that

must be tabled. O'Brien and Bosc

states on page 610, “If a Minister quotes a private letter in debate, the letter

becomes a public document and must be tabled upon request.”

Briefing notes, however,

being excluded from tabling where “referred to” – and this is an important

distinction. O'Brien and Bosc on

page 610 states, “A public document referred to but not quoted by a Minister

need not be tabled.” It continues in

that same paragraph and goes on to say, “However, a minister is not obliged to

table personal or briefing notes referred to during debate or Question Period.”

Any confusion that has

arisen with respect to these seemingly clear principles appears to be related to

one's

interpretation of the terms “quote”, “cite”, or “refer”.

Ministers, as you all know,

come prepared with their own department prepared notes, which allow them to give

accurate responses to questions in Question Period and to clearly and accurately

debate bills, resolutions, and other motions before this House.

Ministers frequently speak

with papers in their hands and will glance down at those papers or their tablets

or smart phones to ensure the accuracy of their statements and to refresh their

minds as to the points they wish to make.

It is not the nature of the document, nor referring to it that requires

the tabling, it is the actual quoting from the text of the document that

triggers the need for tabling.

Members must use their own

words, as that is the purpose of debate.

Documents used to drive home an argument or a point is the exception,

hence the requirement to table such documents.

The third edition

translation of Parliamentary Procedure in Quebec best states the quoting

principle on

Chapter 13, page 369, and it goes on to say, “Quoting from a

document implies that the speaker has communicated an excerpt from it.

Consequently, a minister is not required to table a document he or she

referred to without quoting from it.”

The Speaker of this House,

on December 5, 1990, page 17 of Hansard, “A Minister who summarizes a

correspondence, but does not actually quote from it, is not bound to lay it upon

the Table.”

An Acting Speaker of the

House of Commons, Speaker McClelland, as written in the House of Commons

debates, April 29, 1988, ruled, “The Minister is not required to table the

document unless he has quoted directly from the document.”

The House of Commons debated

the terms “cite” and “quote” in 1988 and in a ruling on April 25, 1988, from

selected decisions of Speaker Fraser, the Speaker determined that despite the

member's arguments on the use of “cite” and “quote” by Erskine May, he goes on

to say, “…For there to be an obligation on the Minister to table a document, it

has to have been actually quoted from.”

It appears from my review

that the word “cite” is often used when in fact the appropriate word would be

“quote”. A minister may “cite” the

source of material, the author, or even the page of a document, but unless there

is an actual “quote” of the text, the tabling requirement would not apply.

All ministers glance down at

and refer to their briefing notes from time to time; however, the rule is when

an actual quotation of words occurs, the document must be tabled upon demand.

Erskine May, twenty-fourth

edition, page 446, states that the Speaker ruled “…that summarizing or

confirming the accuracy of other summaries did not bring the rule into

operation…”.

Use of thoughts, data and

information in a briefing note, interpreted into a minister's own words, does

not make it a quote. A restatement

of a cost, a percentage or other number, usually at the request of another

member, does not make it a quotation either, unless it is in the context of a

larger sentence or paragraph that is read aloud in the House.

It would be very difficult for any member or the Speaker to absolutely

infer that glancing at and using one's briefing or personal notes in this sense

is the use of a quote to advance the debate.

If it is obvious to the

Speaker that a minister is reading or quoting the text of material in his or her

hand, the minister will be compelled to have it tabled.

In this regard I wish to add

that Parliamentary Secretaries will be required to table a document that he or

she has quoted from where the document relates to his or her assigned portfolio

but otherwise will be treated as a private member.

Also, the Speaker is

compelled, as in all cases, to accept the word of the minister as to the truth

of his statement that a document has not been read from.

I would like to quote from

Beauchesne's sixth edition at paragraph 494, which states, “It has been formally

ruled by Speakers that statements by Members respecting themselves and

particularly within their own knowledge must be accepted…”.

It goes on to say, “On rare occasions this may result in the House having

to accept two contradictory accounts of the same incident.”

As was ruled by Speaker

Fraser in the House of Commons with respect to his previously mentioned ruling

on April 25, 1988, “…As to whether the Minister actually quoted from a document,

the minister's statement on March 29 that he has no such study, that he did not

quote from any such study and that he has nothing that he could table, stands on

its own and, according to our tradition, the House must accept his word.”

We must take an hon. member

at his or her word that a document has not been quoted or read from.

By extension of this, if the

Speaker, however, directs a minister to table a document, unless the document

can clearly be argued as exempt for the reasons of public good, the minister

must table the document without delay.

The entire document must be tabled and not just a severed page or pages.

As stated by Erskine May in

the twenty-fourth edition on page 447, “…it is the responsibility of the

Government and not of the chair to see that documents that may be relevant to

debates are laid before the House…in a timely manner…”.

If the document is in an

electronic format, a paper copy of the document quoted from must be obtained by

the minister and laid upon the Table.

A document that a minister

volunteers to table, which can be presented at the minister's convenience, need

not be tabled. In our own House on

November 9, 1983 the Speaker had said the “…Minister might have indicated that

he would table some information but it was not at the instruction of the

Chair…and the chair would not enforce…”.

On November 10, in our own Hansard, page 6287, “…if the Minister

undertook to table a document, no time limit is set…”.

As we go forward, the manner

in which this Speaker will deal with issues with respect to tabling of

documents, what I have shared with you today is how it will be treated in this

House on a go-forward basis.

Thank you for your

attention.

Statements by Members.

Statements by Members

MR. SPEAKER:

Today we have statements from the Member for the

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

Member for the District of Mount Pearl South; the Member for the District of

Bonavista South; the Member for the District of Port de Grave; and the Member

for the District of Signal Hill – Quidi Vidi.

The hon. the Member for the

District of Bay of Islands.

MR. JOYCE:

Mr. Speaker, I rise in this House today to

recognize and extend congratulations to a group of young athletes from Sacred

Heart Elementary school in Curling.

On Saturday, this group of

athletes won the 2014 West Coast Grade 6 Girls Basketball Championship.

This is the third championship for the team, having already won the Tiny

Titans and the RNC Grade 6 Tournaments.

Hard work, dedication, and commitment to the team are the trademarks of

these young players.

Mr. Speaker, members of the

team include Laura Green, Kristen Buckle, Morgan Young, Madison Hackett, Emma

Welshman, Jenna King, Taylor Butt, Abigail Power Petten, Olivia Porter, Maddy

Mollon, Emily Butt, Adrianna Sheppard, Holly Mackey, Maggie Hunt, and Megan

Allan.

I am very proud to have had

the opportunity to work with this group of young athletes.

Despite their coach and with the help of Lisa Young, April Butt, and

Samantha Bennett, these players demonstrated what true sportsmanship and team

spirit is all about. They are true

representatives of Sacred Heart school, and I am confident they will continue

with their basketball careers.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all

members to join with me in congratulating the Sacred Heart Grade 6 Sabres, and

yes ladies, I am impressed.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

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

MR. KIRBY:

Mr. Speaker, on February 22, fifty-nine students

took

part in the annual Spelling Bee sponsored by

The Telegram newspaper.

Students from across

Newfoundland and Labrador took

part in the local spelling bees to qualify for

the main event held at Holy Heart Theatre in St. John's.

In addition to improving students' spelling skills and increasing their

knowledge, the annual Spelling Bee provides valuable experience in developing

students' self-confidence – a necessary skill for success in public speaking,

athletics, the arts, and other areas.

The Telegram

Spelling Bee provided two students who attend St. Andrew's Elementary School in

St. John's North, Aaron Sarkar and Luesma Fully, with an opportunity to showcase

their talents at the highest level.

Special thanks goes to

Spelling Bee at St. Andrew's.

Special congratulations go to Emily Hynes of Holy Trinity Elementary in Torbay,

champion of The Telegram Spelling Bee,

who will represent Newfoundland and Labrador in the 2014 Scripps National

Spelling Bee to be held in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Speaker, I ask that all

hon. members join me in congratulating all of the participants of the 2014

Telegram Spelling Bee.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Mount Pearl South.

MR. LANE:

Mr. Speaker, it is my privilege to stand in this

hon. House to offer congratulations to a group of individuals who have made a

significant contribution to sport in my community.

The Mount Pearl Sports Hall

of Fame was founded in 1995 by the Mount Pearl Sport Alliance and since that

time has inducted seventy-one tremendous individuals.

Today, I would like to acknowledge the achievements of five others.

Gerry O'Brien has been

inducted in the athlete category for his tremendous accomplishments in the sport

of soccer. Inducted into the builder

category are: Mary Holloway for her contribution to Special Olympics, Dan Maher

for his dedication and commitment to both soccer and Special Olympics, Michael

Mooney for his significant impact on the soccer community, and Paul Boland for

his tremendous contribution to youth bowling.

These individuals are a credit to their respective sports and to their

community.

I would ask all members of

this hon. House to join me in congratulating these individuals on this

significant accomplishment and wish them all the best in their future sporting

endeavours.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Bonavista South.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. LITTLE:

Mr. Speaker, hon. colleagues, I rise in this

House today to pay tribute to Clarence Coles of Elliston.

Although he is no longer with us, Mr. Coles deserves to be recognized as

a man who served this country with honour.

Clarence was born in

Elliston, Newfoundland and Labrador in March 1930.

He fished with his father at the age of eight and moved to Ontario to

work in the 1940s.

Mr. Coles enlisted in the

Navy in 1953 and went on to serve the HMCS

Magnificent, Athabasca, Bonaventure , and the

Fraser military ships.

While on the HMCS Magnificent ,

Clarence took

part in the Canadian Honour Guard in England for the Coronation of

Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. He

received the Canadian Forces Declaration and received three Good Conduct badges

in 1964, then was promoted to Corporal in 1965.

Clarence married in 1956 and

fathered five children. He retired

from the Canadian Navy in 1971 and returned back to Elliston in 1992.

Mr. Coles received a Special Service Medal and NATO Bar in 2006.

Clarence was an avid hunter

and sports fishermen. On January 6,

2014 Mr. Coles passed away.

Mr. Speaker, hon.

colleagues, please join me in honouring Mr. Clarence Coles for his lifetime of

dedication to this country, Canada.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Port de Grave.

MR. LITTLEJOHN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise today in this hon.

House to remember and pay tribute to Mr. George Mercer of Coley's Point.

Mr. Mercer passed away recently at the age of ninety-four, with his

family by his side.

Mr. Mercer was a former

World War II naval veteran who, like many Newfoundlanders and Labradorians,

joined the Royal Navy. He was

honoured to serve his country and defend the many freedoms we have today.

He was a proud member of the Royal Canadian Legion serving as District

Governor and President of Branch 32, Bay Roberts throughout his years.

Mr. Mercer became Mayor of

Bay Roberts in 1973 and served his community and served his community for eight

years in that position. During his

time as mayor, the town saw the paving of Coley's Point and the beginning of

water and sewer infrastructure in the town.

He was a successful businessman, running his own business for many years,

with a reputation for quality service.

I ask all hon. members to

join me today in paying tribute to Mr. Mercer, who unselfishly served his

country and community, for which we all are thankful.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Signal Hill – Quidi Vidi.

MS MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

I rise in the House today to

call attention to the fact that one of Canada's most Outstanding Principals

works in my district at Holy Heart High School.

Sheldon Barry, along with Roger Gillingham of Baccalieu Collegiate in Old

Perlican, was presented with his award on February 25 by registered charity, The

Learning Partnership.

If the feedback I get from

students and families is anything to go by, Sheldon is more than deserving of

this reward. He told

The Globe and Mail one of his biggest

challenges is helping his students understand why they should want to be in

school at all, especially when they can see unfilled, well-paying jobs that may

not always ask for post-secondary education.

He does it, though, in many

ways, not least of which is his personal interaction with the students.

Sheldon is in the corridors talking to them, leading a team that develops

innovative programs to encourage staying in school, and generally being the

inspiration every parent would like his or her kids to have.

I ask all members of the

House to join me in congratulating Sheldon Barry, one of Canada's Outstanding

Principals for 2014.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Statements by Ministers.

Statements by Ministers

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Labrador and Aboriginal

Affairs.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. MCGRATH:

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

acknowledge and congratulate Jason Watkins and Kevin Willmott of Labrador West,

winners of the 2014 Cain's Quest Snowmobile Endurance Race.

I also take this opportunity to recognize all those who participated in

this year's competition.

Cain's Quest is touted as

the world's longest and toughest snowmobile endurance race, and this year was

the toughest yet for racers.

Twenty-nine motivated teams started the race in Labrador West on March 1, and

frigid temperatures and treacherous conditions tested them for most of the 3,600

kilometre route throughout Labrador.

Eight teams of two crossed the finish line on Saturday, March 8, and it was my

pleasure to celebrate with them and more than 1,100 participants, friends, and

supporters at the closing ceremonies in Labrador City.

Mr. Speaker, this

world-class event brings economic benefits to the entire region and provides an

opportunity to showcase Labrador's rugged natural beauty to the world.

The provincial government is proud to support this unique sporting

challenge with an investment of $95,000 this year.

Labradorians continue to

embrace this race, bringing communities and cultures together in the spirit of

achievement. Checkpoint communities

were more engaged this year than ever before, bursting with excitement as teams

came through. The excitement online

also reached record levels this year, with over 57,000 visitors from more than

seventy countries around the world following online during race week.

Cain's Quest began in 2006,

and this year marks the seventh race challenge.

Participation has more than doubled over the years and we look forward to

continued success. This one of a

kind extreme event is planned and managed by a volunteer-run, non-profit

organization. As Minister

Responsible for Labrador and Aboriginal Affairs, I would like to take this

opportunity to recognize and to thank all of the volunteers and sponsors of the

biggest and best Cain's Quest to date.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all hon.

members to join me in applauding and celebrating all of the racers who dared to

take the challenge of Cain's Quest across the Big Land; and recognizing all of

those volunteers, sponsors, and friends who helped support racers in their

journey.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Torngat Mountains.

MR. EDMUNDS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank the minister for an

advance copy of his statement. Mr.

Speaker, we on this side as well would like to congratulate Jason Watkins and

Kevin Willmott from Labrador West on winning Cain's Quest.

We would also like to congratulate all the participants.

There are no losers participating in such a grueling snowmobile race.

I would like to especially congratulate the teams from Natuashish, Nain,

and Makkovik. Mr. Speaker, we would

also like to congratulate Todd Kent and all the volunteers throughout all of the

communities in Labrador who made it all possible.

What is it like to

participate in Cain's Quest? Imagine

a situation where adrenaline replaces most of your body's requirements.

Imagine frostbite creeping up on you without your knowledge.

Imagine travelling through unfamiliar terrain at night at high speed.

Imagine trying to focus on a small screen that is continuously changing

and blurry from vibration and impact.

Imagine your whole body

screaming for sleep and entering short periods of total exhaustion to wide

awake. Imagine your mind playing

tricks on you and strange visions appearing before you then changing back to

reality. Imagine all of your energy

reserves used up from fighting cold, tension, fatigue, and body-jarring

continuous impact. Imagine doing all

of this while trying to control an 800 pound piece of machinery that is capable

of reaching speeds of 200 kilometres an hour.

Mr. Speaker, you are in Cain's Quest.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

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

MS ROGERS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank the minister for an

advance copy of his statement.

Cain's Quest is a shining example of what can be done when creative and

imaginative people put their hearts and minds to a task.

This magnificent event has

become world famous in less than a decade since it was created.

People all over our Province can see from its success what imagination,

dedication and good old hard work can accomplish.

What a race!

Bravo to Jason Watkins and

Kevin Willmott, this year's winners.

Bravo to every team, and bravo to the people who organized the event.

We look forward to next year's Cain's Quest.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Natural Resources.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. DALLEY:

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

outline our government's work in facilitating robust oversight of the Muskrat

Falls Project on behalf of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Many senior departmental

officials throughout government have been involved in oversight from initial

planning, to early engineering, to our agreements with Emera, and most

importantly to sanction and financing.

Our government has also

ensured that there has been more information made public about this project than

any other project in the Province's history, providing the opportunity for

review by the public, government, and independent experts including Manitoba

Hydro International, Navigant Consulting, the Board of Commissioners of Public

Utilities, Dr. Wade Locke, and Ziff Energy Group of Calgary.

In addition to our

government's oversight, the level of external due diligence undertaken by the

Falls Project prior to issuing a federal loan guarantee to back the $5 billion

financing for this development. This

effort by Canada was supported by experienced external legal advisors,

independent financial advisors, an independent engineer, and an independent

Furthermore, Nalcor's board

of directors and internal audit department also provide oversight.

The provincial government requires Nalcor to report regularly through

annual transparency and accountability reports and Nalcor regularly prepares

financial statements which are audited by the external independent auditor and

integrated into Nalcor's annual business and financial annual reports.

Nalcor holds public annual general meetings where the previous year's

performance is discussed.

Prudent oversight of the

Muskrat Falls Project is a priority for our government and it will continue

through the construction and operation stages of the project.

To strengthen and formalize

the existing oversight for the construction phase of the Muskrat Falls Project,

a departmental committee of Finance, Natural Resources, and Justice, chaired by

the Clerk of the Executive Council, will focus on project costs, scheduling, and

overall project performance.

The committee will review

information provided by external auditors, the independent engineer, and Nalcor;

provide updates and discuss issues with relevant departments; meet regularly

with Nalcor officials; report to Cabinet, which will provide direction to

appropriate ministers as required; and provide quarterly updates to the public

starting in July on project costs, scheduling, and project performance.

Also to be initiated and

made public by Nalcor this year will be a report specific to the Muskrat Falls

Project prepared by Nalcor's external auditors as part of their annual audit.

Nalcor will also issue quarterly consolidated financial statements

starting later this year.

This complements Nalcor's

monthly benefit reports currently released publicly which include details on

employment, construction and procurement activities; construction costs; safety

and environmental activities; stakeholder and community consultation; and

engagement initiatives.

It is a priority for our

government to ensure information on the Muskrat Falls Project will continue to

be made available to the public, while still protecting the commercial interests

of the project.

Mr. Speaker, strong

oversight of the Muskrat Falls Project continues to be undertaken by the

Energy, project lenders, and independent experts.

This project will provide the least-cost source of electricity for the

future and will benefit Newfoundlanders and Labradorians for generations to

come.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker

I thank the minister for his

brief notice today. It was actually

just over five minutes before we received a copy of this statement, nevertheless

providing the opportunity to review the project and providing this oversight.

The minister went on to

mention the PUB. As we know, the PUB

were never given the full opportunity and actually said there was not enough

information then to make a conclusive decision on the project.

What was not mentioned, I

thought, in this release today was about the Joint Review Panel.

Of course, that panel said they could not really justify the project.

That was not mentioned.

It goes on to say about

sanctioning the project and about the oversight and the level of due diligence

that has already been done on this project.

We will say, then, as we have said many times as we have stood in this

House, sanctioning the project without Emera on side, I believe, has

disadvantaged the future of this project in giving Emera the first right of

refusal.

The title of the statement

says, “Provincial Government Facilitates Robust Oversight of the Muskrat Falls

Project”. I actually question the

use of the word robust. A robust

review would have started at the beginning, not when you are $5 billion in

commitments made on this project.

Now, Mr. Speaker, the

announcement by the minister today about quarterly reports by Nalcor as part of

the due diligence is something, as you know, I have mentioned in this House many

times. That is part of the regular

routine for many companies the size of Nalcor.

We actually accept that. We

actually believe that is a good initiative, and we look forward to those

financial reports from Nalcor.

Mr. Speaker, I will conclude

today. The oversight, in our

opinion, is something that should have started earlier, $5 billion into this

project; nevertheless, the committee itself, a committee of bureaucrats should

have been a little more independent in my mind.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. Leader of the Third Party.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MS MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

I thank the minister for at

least getting it just before going into the House, so we had some idea of what

we were going to be facing.

The oversight being touted

by the minister is still missing the truly independent oversight of an

independent body, such as the Public Utilities Board.

We have an internal committee, yes reporting to Cabinet, internal all the

way through. The decision to release

any information is still in the hands of Cabinet.

They have yet to prove to us that they are going to be more than a

secretive government because that is what we have had up to now.

They have a lot to prove to us and to the people of this Province.

The PUB should have been the

overseeing agency right from the very beginning.

This government missed the opportunity to undo what a Liberal government

did in 1999 when they removed the PUB from overseeing the Lower Churchill

Project.

Mr. Speaker, this is the

biggest investment in our history and we in this House are not going to get a

truly independent oversight. I

really regret to have to say this and I look forward to seeing what this

government is going to do in being open in what they reveal.

Even now we have to wait for July to get an update.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Time for Oral Questions.

Oral Questions

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

With over $5 billion already

committed to the Muskrat Falls Project, government has finally announced an

oversight committee. Proper

management includes a provision of oversight from the beginning, from the start,

even on small projects, let alone a multi-billion dollar initiative like Muskrat

Falls.

I ask the Premier: With so

much taxpayer money on the line, why did you wait until there was almost $5

billion committed before you added this oversight that was announced today?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER MARSHALL:

Mr. Speaker, of course, the premise to the question of the Leader of the

Opposition is incorrect. Oversight

started a long time ago. It started

before sanction. We had people like

Navigant, independent people, look at this: Navigant, MHI, did different reports

in the DG2 numbers and the DG3 numbers.

We also had Dr. Locke do a report; we had Ziff Energy do a report.

We looked at the constitutional issues.

We looked at the Upper Churchill.

There was lots of oversight

before the sanction decision was made.

Then, of course, we were looking at financing.

With financing, the federal government were involved and their lenders

were involved. Nalcor's lenders were

involved; the banks were involved.

They have hired an independent engineer to do oversight.

They had their internal and external counsel.

There was lots of oversight going on.

Now we are into a new phase.

We are now into the construction phase and we feel it was necessary to

enhance – because the people of Newfoundland are telling us they wanted to see

enhanced oversight to this project, the minister has announced that today.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

I thank the Premier for his answer, but the

people of this Province also said that they wanted the PUB in there; they said

that in many, many numbers. So a

committee of bureaucrats reporting to Cabinet is merely just window dressing,

Mr. Speaker. What is needed is

accountability, and one option was calling in the Auditor General to review the

operations of Nalcor.

Since you claim to be open,

why didn't you ask the Auditor General to review a project spending

section

under

section 16 of the AG's act?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER MARSHALL:

Mr. Speaker, let me make this very clear to the people of Newfoundland

and Labrador. The Auditor General

can go into Nalcor any time he or she wishes.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER MARSHALL:

Mr. Speaker, we brought the Auditor General into this House after he was

kept out by the previous government.

We invited the Auditor General into this House.

The Auditor General can go into Nalcor any time he wishes.

The independent engineer can go into Nalcor and look at what is going on

any time they wish. Whenever it is

appropriate that they want to do it, then please go ahead.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

We understand the AG can go in any time he wants,

so the answer to that question right now is that this government, this Premier,

is not interested in sending the AG in.

Under

section 16, the Premier can do that.

If the Premier is not

prepared to ask the AG to review it, the other option would be, of course, to

send the PUB in to provide oversight into what is happening.

That is exactly what was done with their partners in Nova Scotia.

I ask the Premier: Why

didn't you ask the PUB to provide this oversight?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER MARSHALL:

Mr. Speaker, right now there is oversight going on with respect to the

outages and we welcome that oversight by the PUB.

Nalcor is co-operating. Hydro

is co-operating. They are doing an

independent review. They have had

three independent people do reports.

They filed that with the PUB. We

welcome oversight by the PUB, Mr. Speaker.

In addition, let's look at

other things that are going on, when you want to talk about the Auditor General.

The Auditor General does not work for the government.

The Auditor General is an independent Officer of this House of Assembly

and has the full freedom to go and look at any part of the government's

operation, any Crown corporation, and report back to the people of this House,

and through the House, to the people of the Province.

We welcome that, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Premier mentioned

welcoming the PUB and the work that they are doing on the ongoing DarkNL and

what happened in January. Well, they

were not so welcome back in March, just two years now, when they actually said

they would not be given the extension that they requested.

Mr. Speaker, the Attorney

General released a good review of the Sherriff's Office earlier today; however,

the government has had this report in its possession since December 2, 2013.

If we remember the old Tory Blue Book commitment to release every report

in thirty days, we are not sure if that is a platform or if that was indeed an

actual commitment or promise.

I ask the Premier: Since you

are now claiming to be open and you have the commitment in the Tory Blue Book,

why did your government sit on a report for over three-and-a-half months without

making it public?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Justice.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KING:

Mr. Speaker, we had the pleasure to release two

reports this morning that will make a significant difference to the justice

system in Newfoundland and Labrador to the tune of $3.5 million investment in

this year's Budget. Twenty-nine

recommendations were submitted, and government announced today that we are

acknowledging, accepting, and implementing every single recommendation in that

report.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KING:

Part and parcel of receiving those reports, Mr.

Speaker, requires due diligence on behalf of government to understand what is in

the report, to assess the budgetary implications.

In one particular report, the Legal Aid report, there was not a direct

spelling out of the number of positions and a dollar figure associated with it.

It takes time to do that and that is what took the time between the time

we received the reports and today.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Last year the Minister of

Justice made harmful cuts throughout the justice system saying that the cuts

were made because of the Province's financial situation.

This morning he accepted all twenty-nine recommendations of the two

reviews, but when questioned on how government could afford the additional

millions of dollars he said: This is a good question for the Minister of

Finance.

I ask the Minister of

Finance: Since the Budget projections from last year looked very similar to this

year – as a matter of fact this year we are told you will be borrowing – do you

accept these recommendations? If so,

where will you find the dollars?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER MARSHALL:

Mr. Speaker, there are times when the revenue comes in it is wonderful

for government. Government can

provide programs and services for the people of the Province.

There are other times when the times are a lot tougher and you just

cannot continue to do that and you have to come back.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to

be able to say that this government is now on track to be back to surplus next

year and will stay in surplus the year after.

We are in a position to do things to help distribute wealth and look to

the people of Newfoundland (inaudible).

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

That is not news today

because you said you were going to be on track to be in surplus next year, last

year, yet you still made the cuts.

The Minister of Justice says that they are putting more funding into the

Sheriff's Office and Legal Aid because they took the time to review those

services after the initial cuts were made.

It seems a bit strange, but that is what was said; however, similar

reviews were not conducted on other services that were cut last year including

the Family Violence Intervention Court, and the Employment Assistance Services

offices.

I ask the Premier: Why have

you allowed some cuts to stand without review?

What are the criteria for using when you order a review?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Justice.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KING:

Mr. Speaker, what we did today was follow through

on a commitment. If you want to go

back to the member's question, the origination of this challenge was last year's

Budget. We announced a number of

decisions at that point in time. We

were in a particular position where I had to make decisions as Justice Minister.

We received feedback and we

listened to what people had to say.

As a result of that, we struck a committee.

We listened to what the committee had to say and we changed some of the

decisions. We struck two reviews

because we were asked to do so.

Today, Mr. Speaker, I say to

the member opposite, we are listening to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador

and we are implementing the recommendations that have been brought forward for

the Department of Justice.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Well, that really means you

were not listening to them last year, from what I just heard.

Mr. Speaker, it has been a

very difficult winter on everyone, to say the least, and thousands of fish

harvesters are now facing a delayed spring fishery due to severe ice conditions,

some people are saying the worst in twenty-five years.

I ask the minister: Has your

government called upon Ottawa to ensure fish harvesters and plant workers have

access to a timely, appropriate compensation program to address this looming

critical situation?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Fisheries and

Aquaculture.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. HUTCHINGS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, where our ice

conditions this year are a little bit heavier than they have been in the past,

we have certainly been in touch with industry and from the federal government

just recently. I was in Port de

Grave on Saturday morning with my colleague and met with a number of fishers

there. There were over 100 fishermen

there and people involved with the industry at a breakfast.

At that time, I also met with the harbour authority.

They actually had some ice mapping and went through that.

While there is concern at

this point in time, we are not sure where the industry is going to go in terms

of starting. Let there be no doubt

if there is something we have to do to facilitate or to help it along we will

certainly do that, but we are hopeful the industry will start on time.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Mr. Speaker, I just want to remind the minister

that the special compensation provided by the federal government is nothing new.

In previous years, as a matter of fact in 2007 and 2009, we were in a

very similar situation.

In the meantime, employment

insurance benefits will soon be running out.

We all know that will leave families in a very critical situation.

I ask the minister: Why have

you not started the discussions with the federal government?

This is an urgent problem.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Fisheries and

Aquaculture.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. HUTCHINGS:

Mr. Speaker, this is a standard issue every year,

in terms of ice conditions, the starting of the industry, the various species,

setting prices, and so forth. The

ice conditions, as I mentioned, are concerns in some parts of the Province.

As we move forward in the days and weeks ahead, if there are initiatives

we need to take with the federal government, us alone or with the federal

government, we will take those initiatives, we will have those discussions, and

we will move the industry along like we have always done.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Torngat Mountains.

MR. EDMUNDS:

Mr. Speaker, this government continues to assume

there are no discrepancies in the justice system in Labrador, yet we have

serious crimes like sexual and physical assault that have been on the docket for

up to three years. Mr. Speaker, they

are still on the docket.

I ask the Attorney General:

You claim to be happy with the workload in Labrador, as you stated in this

House, why do we have such long delays in cases being heard?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Attorney General.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. F. COLLINS:

Mr. Speaker, we acknowledge there are challenges with delivery of

services in Labrador, and in fact, in several places of the Province, not

necessarily peculiar to Labrador.

There are challenges involved in the delivery of services in Labrador, and this

government is committed, Mr. Speaker, to reasonable access to justice for

everybody. We have put a significant

investment into Labrador to make sure that principle is met in Labrador.

Mr. Speaker, having said

that, we are also prepared to sit down and work with the communities, with the

different stakeholders in the justice system up there, always to try to improve

the situation with regard to delivering services in Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Torngat Mountains.

MR. EDMUNDS:

Mr. Speaker, the Attorney General may be happy,

but I can assure you that the victims impacted by serious crimes are not happy.

In one upcoming court circuit the court will have to deal with ninety

offences, forty of which are breaches of undertaking or failure to comply.

Some of these initial charges include sixteen assault charges, three of

which are sexual assault charges.

I ask the Attorney General:

How can you be happy with the justice system in Labrador while the victims of

serious crimes live in fear and stress?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Attorney General.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. F. COLLINS:

Mr. Speaker, I do not think anybody can be happy when the situations do

not get resolved in time. I do not

know where the hon. member is coming to when he makes that premise.

As I mentioned the other day

in response to his question with regard to the backlog of cases in the Happy

Valley-Goose Bay, Happy Valley system, we looked through the data and found that

the cases are being – dispositions have been met in the Happy Valley-Goose Bay

program, Mr. Speaker, on the same level in comparison with the rest of the

Province.

Mr. Speaker, the key figures

are cases that are initiated and cases that are completed.

We find there are more cases completed than are initiated, and that is on

a favourable comparison, Mr. Speaker, with the rest of the Province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Bay of Islands.

MR. JOYCE:

Mr. Speaker, the Humber Valley land-use draft

plan was in the hands of government for three years.

Over $650,000 was invested in the plan by municipalities in the region

and the provincial government.

I ask the minister: After

sending comments back to a defunct committee, a resigned chairperson, will the

minister now admit that this department mishandled this file and wasted $650,000

of taxpayers' money?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Municipal and

Intergovernmental Affairs.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KENT:

Mr. Speaker, as members of this House of

Assembly, we all have an obligation to tell the truth.

We all have an obligation to make statements that we know to be true.

I know to be true, Mr. Speaker, that Dr. Downer has not resigned.

I knew it to be true last week, and I know it to be true now.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Bay of Islands.

MR. JOYCE:

Mr. Speaker, I read from

The Western Star , “Since vacating the

position, he has not had much involvement...”.

Mr. Speaker, I say to the

minister, do you want me to do your research?

You should do the research where Dr. Downer admitted himself that he

resigned.

Mr. Speaker, even your own

appointed chair, Dr. Downer –

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. JOYCE:

– after his resignation from the committee

expressed concern over the government's inaction on the draft plan.

Then you appointed him as Chair of Western Region Waste Management

Authority.

I ask the minister again

today: How much did you pay Premier Marshall's co-campaign manager and defeated

PC candidate as chair of the defunct land use committee, and how much is he

being paid as Chair of the Western Region Waste Management Authority?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Municipal and

Intergovernmental Affairs.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KENT:

Mr. Speaker, as I said last week in this hon.

House during Question Period, work is ongoing on the Humber Valley regional

plan. A comprehensive response was

sent from my department based on feedback compiled in consultation with various

government departments just several weeks ago.

It was sent to Dr. Downer as chair of that committee, and work continues,

and we hope to bring that process to a conclusion as quickly as possible.

Considerable dollars have

been invested in that work because it is important work.

It is so unfortunate, Mr. Speaker, that the member opposite is out of

touch with what is going on in his very own region of the Province.

I have the detailed cost breakdown.

I will be happy to provide it later today in this hon. House.

In fact, Mr. Speaker, I will table all documents related to those costs

in their entirety.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Cartwright – L'Anse au

Clair.

MS DEMPSTER:

Mr. Speaker, last week the Minister of Advanced

Education and Skills announced department restructuring, stating that staff

complement will not decrease. We

know for a fact that the regional director position for Goose Bay has been cut

and we know there are job losses in St. John's.

I ask the minister: Will he

give the people a straight answer, how many jobs or job equivalents are being

cut?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Advanced Education and

Skills.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. O'BRIEN:

Mr. Speaker, as I said in this House last week

and also said on the talk shows on Friday, there will be no layoffs in regard to

the restructuring of Advanced Education and Skills.

As a matter of fact, this will actually enable my staff to deliver the

services within my department, which is so important to the people of the

Province, more effectively.

There are no layoffs.

As a matter of fact, NAPE has been involved in regard to this process

right straight through. I thank NAPE

for all their advice through the process.

I look forward to delivering those services more effectively in the

future, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Cartwright – L'Anse au

Clair.

MS DEMPSTER:

I guess you are not referring to all of the

community third party groups being cut.

Mr. Speaker, the Department

of Advanced Education and Skills cut many Employment Assistance Service agencies

last year, putting 226 employment counsellors out of work.

We have just learned that women in successful employment are also closing

their doors.

I ask the minister: Will EAS

agencies serving women, as well as persons with disabilities, be cut?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Advanced Education and

Skills.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. O'BRIEN:

Mr. Speaker, we will continue to provide those

services through the great staff at Advanced Education and Skills.

As a matter of fact, I think there were over 5,000 people serviced

through that branch in regard to last year, in September, somewhere around that

area. They will continue to move

those programs forward. These

programs actually will be delivered more effectively now on a go-forward basis

once this restructure is complete.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

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

MR. KIRBY:

Mr. Speaker, I would like to follow up on a

question from last week about the Minister of Education's lack of clarity on

school board savings.

I ask the minister: Now that

your government has seen the openness and accountability light, can you finally

enlighten us on how much money was saved by cutting three school boards last

year?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Education.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN:

Mr. Speaker, we are about the seventh month into

the new board taking over, the new restructuring of these boards.

As I have said from the beginning, I can tell the hon. member that there

is $5 million in savings by removing the upper echelon, if I could put it that

way, of the school boards.

We are still working our way

through that process, Mr. Speaker. I

cannot give him an exact dollar but we are looking at probably in the tune of

around $12 million.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

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

MR. KIRBY:

Mr. Speaker, while the minister still struggles

to provide a sufficient level of detail on those purported school board savings,

the 2013 education budget cuts are still impacting our schools.

Last week, we heard that the Learning Through the Arts in Western

Newfoundland program may be cancelled now due to 2013 Cultural Connections

budget cuts.

I ask the minister: Will you

reverse this decision, together with the other poorly thought-out cuts to

classroom and student supports you made last year?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Education.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN:

Mr. Speaker, the program that he is referring to

was a federal program. When it was

cut, we did pick it up for a bit.

Mr. Speaker, we still have the School Touring Program that is on the go, the

ArtsSmarts, and the Visiting Artist Program.

Mr. Speaker, I will have the

hon. member know, and I am very proud to announce to the people of the Province,

that through this program, the Cultural Connections program, we have put in

place $17.4 million.

Go to any of the schools,

take a look at the music rooms that are in the schools, take a look at the

theatre arts rooms in the school, we have made a $17.4 million investment

towards those programs.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

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

MR. OSBORNE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Minister of

Transportation has stated publicly that the cost to lease the

Norcon Galatea is $5,800 a month.

I ask the minister: Is this

the total monthly cost or are there other costs associated with this lease?

Will you table a breakdown of all associated costs for the lease of the

Norcon Galatea ?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Transportation and

Works.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. MCGRATH:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, when this

government made the decision to lease the

Norcon Galatea we did it under the advice that it was cheaper to lease than

to purchase and run it on our own.

We still stand by that decision, that it is cheaper to lease the ferry, because

we did not need the ferry on an annual basis or an everyday basis.

When we went and purchased

that lease, or entered into that lease with the Norcon group of companies, we

did it on short-term basis because we are in the process, as I stated in this

House on several occasions, of a marine vessel replacement strategy.

As long as we are doing that, we may have to enter into leases.

I have no problem tabling

all expenses with the lease of the Norcon

Galatea .

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

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

MR. OSBORNE:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the minister

also stated that the Norcon Galatea

lease expires on March 31, 2014.

I ask the minister: Will he

confirm today that the lease for that vessel will be extended beyond March 31;

and why did you lease the vessel as opposed to going to public tender, knowing

that March 31 would not be long enough for the lease on that vessel?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Transportation and

Works.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. MCGRATH:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, when we entered

into the short-term lease, as I said earlier, and it is a short-term lease that

we entered into, we entered into the lease on the premise that we would need the

lease to extend until March 31, 2014.

On March 31, 2014 that lease will be up and we will not be extending the

lease on the ship.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the Third Party.

MS MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

Regarding oversight of

Muskrat Falls, I ask the Premier: Why will this government not allow independent

oversight of the biggest investment this Province has ever made?

What is he afraid of?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER MARSHALL:

Mr. Speaker, there is a plethora of independent oversight over that

project right now and there is even going to be more in the future.

There is the report of an independent engineer.

There could be the report of the Auditor General, should he choose to go

in there. There will be the report

of the independent financial auditor that is made available to the public.

The public have a meeting

where they can go and question Nalcor and the executive.

That is oversight as well, oversight directly by the public.

Now, Nalcor are going to provide those reports on a quarterly basis and

not just an annual basis.

There is going to be this

internal oversight committee. They

are going to do a public report.

Mr. Speaker, we come into

this House when the House is in session and we are available to questions from

the Opposition. That is probably the

greatest independent oversight you can have.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the Third Party.

MS MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, why won't this

government reverse the 1999 legislation and allow the PUB to have oversight of

the Lower Churchill, which it once had?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER MARSHALL:

Mr. Speaker, as I said, there have been lots of independent oversight

before sanction. There was

independent oversight during the financing.

We have now announced additional oversight that is going to take place

within government.

Nalcor themselves are

looking at their governance structure.

The people who serve on the board and provide oversight of Nalcor are

appointed by the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador because, after all,

Nalcor is owned by the people. It

has been given instructions in the Energy Plan to carry out a plan in order to

provide wealth and prosperity to the people of the Province.

Mr. Speaker, I have every confidence they are going to do that.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the Third Party.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MS MICHAEL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I guess the proof of the

pudding is going to be in the eating, whenever that time comes.

Mr. Speaker, people applying

to the Department of Advanced Education and Skills for Income Support are

waiting for hours on the phone and weeks for applications to be processed.

Now we hear of departmental changes that will lump all direct client

services into one branch.

I ask the Premier: How will

these changes improve this already badly functioning system?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Advanced Education and

Skills.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. O'BRIEN:

Mr. Speaker, because it simply streamlines the

services and that particular intake centre will be a centre of excellence.

As well, she gives out some wrong information; 73 per cent of our clients

who phone into Income Support for various reasons get answered by a real person.

Yes, there is about 25 per cent who do not, but then there are also

numerous repeat calls as well. We

have had spikes with regard to the number of calls in certain months, and that

is expected in the system; but we do service our clients.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. Leader of the Third Party.

MS MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

Sometimes people are on the

phone for hours waiting for that live voice, Mr. Speaker.

I really ask the minister to

tell us how these changes are designed to better serve people or are they just

designed to serve the department's bottom line.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Advanced Education and

Skills.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. O'BRIEN:

Mr. Speaker, I have been in this House since 2003

and it is clear to me that any kind of change to the Third Party is certainly

reviewed as not being effective, any kind of change – the are against change is

what I am trying to say, Mr. Speaker.

What we try to do are two

things. Number one, provide the

services that is within Advanced Education and Skills to the people of the

Province who require that service, and also we have to enable my employees, the

employees of Advanced Education and Skills, to deliver those services.

That will be done through this reorganization.

We have been great in regard to that in the past.

Yes, we might have had spikes in regard to the number of calls and that

happens from time to time, but we will continue to deliver that service, Mr.

Speaker

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

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

MS ROGERS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

In his report lawyer John

Roil wrote: There are concerns that due to the low eligibility threshold for

qualifying for Legal Aid, many working people cannot afford access to justice.

I ask the minister: What

will he do to fix these requirements to better reflect the economic reality that

working people face today?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Attorney General.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. F. COLLINS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As I mentioned earlier,

access to justice is one of the prime principles of any democratic society, and

certainly one of the strong principles of the Department of Justice and this

government.

We have, at the Legal Aid, a

team of dedicated, strong professionals who are doing a great service for the

people of Newfoundland and Labrador to the vulnerable of those who cannot afford

services.

Mr. Speaker, we recognize

the threshold that the hon. member speaks about.

There are recommendations in Mr. Roil's report that we have to consider

and look at. We are only actioning a

number of them today, there are others that have to be discussed with Legal Aid

and with the Law Society, and we will be moving on these in the next few months.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

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

MS ROGERS:

Mr. Speaker, today at the minister's press

conference, he said about the cuts he made last year: I was given a fiscal

situation to deal with, and some decisions were made not in the best interest of

the courts.

I ask the minister: Will he

now correct all the mistakes he made last year and reinstate the Family Violence

Intervention Court?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Justice.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KING:

First of all, Mr. Speaker, I did not say what the

member opposite alleges I said, for the record.

The comment I made this morning was that in the Budget last year I was

given a fiscal situation where I had to make some tough decisions.

I never once said anything along the lines that she repeated here today,

that they are irresponsible or not in the best interest of the court.

I said it was a snapshot in time.

Today, we are making

decisions because we are in a different spot with the Budget.

Last year, I had tough decisions to make and I made them and I stand by

them. That is what we do.

When you are in government you make tough decisions.

Sometimes you have to change those decisions.

Sometimes you recognize

there are positions you take and people want you to move away from them.

You have to be big enough to admit that you need to do that.

I did that with legal aid and with the Sheriff's Office.

Today, we have produced two documents that are going to have tremendous

benefits to the people of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

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

time for a quick question without

preamble.

MS ROGERS:

Mr. Speaker, I ask the minister again: Will he

listen then to the people of the Province and reinstate the Family Violence

Intervention Court?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Justice for a quick

response.

MR. KING:

Mr. Speaker, we are always listening to the

people of the Province. I always

acknowledge that we cannot do everything.

No matter how much you invest into programs and services in this

Province, you can never do enough for some people.

That is very unfortunate, Mr. Speaker, but we are sticking to the core

services in Justice.

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The time for Question Period has expired.

Presenting Reports by

Standing and Select Committees.

Tabling of Documents.

Tabling of Documents

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Municipal and

Intergovernmental Affairs.

MR. KENT:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As alluded to in Question

Period, there are a number of documents I would like to table today.

I am very pleased with the movement on the Humber Valley regional plan

that we have seen over the last number of months.

Since November, when I took office, I have been working with Dr. Downer

to advance this work, and, Mr. Speaker, I look forward to the work being

completed.

There are some vacancies on

the Committee. That is –

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

Is the member going to table

the report?

MR. KENT:

Gladly, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

Please.

MR. KENT:

The first thing I would like to table is the

terms of reference for the regional planning authority because clearly, the

member opposite fails to understand the process.

The next thing I would like to table is the letter that the member

referred to last week addressed to Dr. Downer correctly, despite the member's

false statements in this House today and last week as well, Mr. Speaker.

The third thing I would like to table is an e-mail from Dr. Downer

himself.

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

I ask the minister to table

his reports.

MR. KENT:

I am doing so, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

Without commentary, please.

MR. KENT:

Can I indicate what the documents are?

MR. SPEAKER:

Just indicate what they are but let's not have a

long speech.

MR. KENT:

That was not my intention, Mr. Speaker.

An e-mail from Dr. Downer

confirming his status and involvement in the process, and finally, a detailed

breakdown of the costs, including consultant costs, remuneration of travel

expenses for Dr. Downer, administrative costs and operational costs for the

Humber Valley Regional Planning Advisory Authority in full detail, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Bay of Islands.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. JOYCE:

Mr. Speaker, I just heard the minister say that I

made a –

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

Are you standing on a point

of order?

MR. JOYCE:

Yes, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

Please indicate it.

MR. JOYCE:

Mr. Speaker, I just heard the minister say that I

made false statements in the House last week.

I ask the minister to withdraw the remarks because at no time did I make

any false statements in this House of Assembly.

I ask the minister just to withdraw it.

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The hon. the Minister of

Municipal and Intergovernmental Affairs to the point of order?

MR. KENT:

To the point of order, Mr. Speaker.

I cannot withdraw the

statement because it is absolutely true.

The member made false statements today; he made false statements last

week.

MR. SPEAKER:

Is the minister suggesting that the hon. Member

for Bay of Islands has made a false statement to the House?

MR. KENT:

I withdraw the statement, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

Further tabling of documents?

Notices of Motion.

Notices of Motion

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Humber West.

MR. GRANTER:

Mr. Speaker, I give notice that I will ask leave

to introduce the following private member's motion:

WHEREAS senior officials of

our government have been involved in oversight of the Muskrat Falls

Project at every stage; and

WHEREAS our government has

just announced further mechanisms to provide oversight of the Muskrat Falls

Project; and

WHEREAS the Government of

Canada provides oversight of the project through its role as guarantor of the $5

billion in project financing; and

WHEREAS our government has

subjected this project to a greater level of scrutiny than has been brought to

bear on any other project in our history; and

WHEREAS the Board of

Directors provides oversight of Nalcor, and Nalcor is also required to account,

through its internal audit department, its regular reports to the government,

its regular audited financial statements and its public annual general meetings,

and

WHEREAS these oversight

mechanisms reflect our government's commitment to ensure the public is provided

with as much information on the Muskrat Falls Project as possible without

jeopardizing commercial interest;

THEREFORE

BE IT RESOLVED

that this hon. House supports the government's actions to provide greater

oversight of the Muskrat Falls Project.

That is seconded by the

Member for Lake Melville, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House Leader, notices of

motion?

MR. KING:

Yes, Mr. Speaker.

I give notice that the

motion just entered by the Member for Humber West will be the private member's

motion that we intend to debate this coming Wednesday, Private Members' Day.

MR. SPEAKER:

Further notices of motion?

Answers to Questions for

which Notice has been Given.

Petitions.

Petitions

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for The Straits – White Bay

North.

MR. MITCHELMORE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We, the citizens serviced by

Curtis Hospital located in St. Anthony, Newfoundland and Labrador, petition the

Government of Newfoundland and Labrador and Labrador-Grenfell Health to retain

the midwives at Curtis Hospital.

Our midwives offer services

that cannot be duplicated and which cannot be replaced.

The level of care they offer and the knowledge and training they have in

the area of obstetrics is immense.

It will be a great disservice to the people of this area if our midwives are no

longer available to care for the people here.

We implore upon the House of

Assembly to urge the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador and

Labrador-Grenfell Health to preserve our midwifery services at Curtis Hospital.

Mr. Speaker, this petition

is signed by over 600 individuals from the region, from my district, but also

Southern Labrador. There are

signatories from Quebec as well, who are not residents of Newfoundland and

Labrador but they are served by the hospital.

They really feel that government's movement on the issue of midwifery has

been an utter failure, given that in 2010 the Health Professions Act was passed

and it required regulations. There

are three nurses who are employed at Curtis Memorial Hospital who had midwifery

qualifications.

There are midwives who are

practicing in the North, northern Territories, who are regulated.

They would work in the system in Newfoundland and Labrador should

regulations be in play.

Now, the minister has

outlined that midwifery can happen in the private sector, likely within a year,

but when it comes to publicly funded midwifery in Newfoundland and Labrador, we

could be five to seven years out.

This certainly does not send a very positive message to those who have utilized

midwives. Maybe many in this room

have been born by midwives.

On the Northern Peninsula,

the majority of people have had prenatal, postnatal, and have even been

delivered by midwives. They have

done the majority of deliveries, especially for low risk.

It is the safest and most cost-effective way when we are looking at

utilizing professionals in a health care team.

Removing midwives from the

delivery process will also create additional strain in obstetrics and put on

call, in many cases, general practitioners and nurses who are not trained in

that particular field right now who require that training, so that pregnant

mothers to be make sure they are getting the services they deserve.

Cutting out midwifery in a publicly funded setting is the wrong step, and

it is that relationship that has been built up with these people from prenatal

to delivery, to post-natal care. It

has been in the Grenfell system for over ninety years, Mr. Speaker.

So I will put forward this

petition, and I know I have others.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

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

MR. KIRBY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

To the hon. House of

Assembly of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador in Parliament assembled,

the petition of the undersigned residents of the Newfoundland and Labrador

humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS in 2006, the

provincial government created a commission to review the Individualized Student

Support Plan/Pathways Model and make recommendations to improve the delivery of

special education programming in the K-12 education system; and

WHEREAS in 2007, the

ISSP/Pathways Commission delivered a final report to government outlining

seventy-five recommendations for creating a better system for the delivery of

special education programming; and

WHEREAS to date, many

important recommendations of the ISSP/Pathways Commission have not been acted

upon, including those related to public disclosure of assessment and wait-list

information; guidelines for comprehensive and ethical assessment practices;

procedures to address the needs of all at-risk students; creating an effective

appeals process for families; meeting the needs of exceptionally able or gifted

learners; expanding the role of student assistants in the teacher assistant

roles; introducing special education department heads in schools; and improving

on special education teacher qualifications and certification;

WHEREUPON the undersigned,

your petitioners, humbly pray and call upon the House of Assembly to urge

government to fully implement the recommendations of the ISSP/Pathways

Commission in order to improve the delivery of special education programming for

all students, parents, teachers, and schools.

As in duty bound, your

petitioners will ever pray.

Mr. Speaker, as the petition

notes, a significant number of the recommendations of this report remain not

acted upon, and it really is a part of a pattern of this government to

commission reviews and not act on the recommendations, to allow those reports to

accrue dust on a shelf somewhere.

I took the time to ask what

it costs to carry out the ISSP/Pathways review, and it was a total of $167,293,

a significant amount of taxpayers' dollars used to carry out this review with a

significant amount of recommendations, a number of the recommendations, not

acted upon. Now with the

government's newfound openness to, well, openness and accountability, there are

things in here like public disclosure of assessment and wait-list information

that is fully in line now with this new purported, newfound attachment to

openness, Mr. Speaker. I encourage

the members to think about that because they may actually benefit from acting on

their own review.

Thank you.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Burgeo – La Poile.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise today for a petition

to the hon. House of Assembly of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador in

Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS residents of the

Southwest Coast must travel the TCH between Channel-Port aux Basques and Corner

Brook for work, medical, educational, and social reasons; and

WHEREAS Marine Atlantic

ferries dock at Channel-Port aux Basques at various hours on a daily basis

resulting in extremely high volume of commercial and residential travellers

using this

section of the TCH; and

WHEREAS the world-renowned

Wreckhouse area is situate along this

section of the TCH; and

WHEREAS the Government of

Newfoundland and Labrador initiated a twenty-four hour snow clearing pilot

project in 2008 that excluded the

section of the TCH from Channel-Port aux

Basques to Stephenville;

WHEREUPON the undersigned,

your petitioners, humbly pray and call upon the House of Assembly to urge the

Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to include the

section of the TCH from

Channel-Port aux Basques to Stephenville in the twenty-four hour snow clearing

project.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. A. PARSONS:

Mr. Speaker, I know the members opposite do not want to hear this

petition again because it is something that makes a lot of sense, but that is

something that is contrary to what goes on in the other side in some cases.

What I want to concentrate

on today is I have actually looked into the review of the twenty-four hour snow

clearing pilot project. I have

reviewed it; I have gone through it.

I have come up with a number of questions and I put them to the Minister of

Transportation and Works. The

problem is, though, that contrary to the Open Government Initiative, I am not

getting any answers back. Therein

lies the problem again. It is a lot

of hype, but not a lot of substance.

One of the things that I did

ask about was we are the main entry for rubber tire traffic in this Province

through Marine Atlantic. We have

thousands upon thousands of vehicles coming in.

What I asked for was: When did you do a study to see how many vehicles

are coming in and comparing it to the other parts of the Province?

I was expecting maybe over a month-long period or maybe during seven

days. They took one day in the month

of February and said this is recognition of the average.

That in itself is absolutely ludicrous; that does not make any sense

whatsoever.

I have gone back to them on

that but lo and behold, surprise, they have not come back to me with anything on

this again. That is just one thing.

Their methodology to do this is flawed.

I would think that one of the main reasons is because of politics.

Maybe they do not want to do the right thing because of where this

section of the roadway is. I am just

putting that out there. I can only

make assumptions.

That is the problem; we make

assumptions based on the lack of information that is forthcoming, especially on

something that is of a life-saving nature.

Everybody knows that we need it.

The operators that this government hires to pay to do this job say you

should have it, yet they continue not to do it.

I am not going to stop; I

will keep going. Like I said I have

a suitcase full of these petitions not just from my district, but from the

members opposite districts. I am

going to keep putting them in until they come to their senses and make the

decision before something tragic happens.

Thank you.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Signal Hill – Quidi Vidi.

MS MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

To the hon. House of

Assembly of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador in Parliament assembled,

the petition of the undersigned residents of Newfoundland and Labrador humbly

sheweth:

WHEREAS as a result of a

recommendation in the Green report about wrongdoing in the House of Assembly,

there is now legislation that protects anyone who speaks up with evidence of

financial abuse or other impropriety in the Legislative Branch; and

WHEREAS it is unfair for one

group of civil servants to be protected by whistle-blower legislation when

another group is not; and

WHEREAS Justice Green stated

that the financial wrongdoing in the House of Assembly might have been

discovered sooner if whistle-blower legislation had been in place; and

WHEREAS the Cameron inquiry

into ER-PR testing found that problems with tests would have come to light

sooner, therefore lessening the impacts on patients, if whistle-blower

legislation had been in place; and

WHEREAS the task force on

adverse events recommended an amendment to the Regional Health Authorities Act

to provide legal protection for employees reporting occurrences or adverse

events; and

WHEREAS whistle-blower

legislation is in place elsewhere in Canada and the provincial government

promised similar legislation in the 2007 election but has not kept that promise;

We, the undersigned,

petition the House of Assembly to urge government to enact whistle-blower

legislation to protect public sector employees in provincial departments and

agencies, including public corporations, regional health authorities, and school

boards.

As in duty bound, your

petitioners will ever pray.

Mr. Speaker, I am very happy

to stand and speak to this petition.

I know government has said and it was said for them by the Lieutenant-Governor

in the Speech from the Throne that they are bringing in whistle-blower

legislation. We already have

experienced in this House that many times a first reading may happen and we wait

for a piece of legislation and it does not occur.

I am bringing forward this

petition, one, because it has been put in our hands and I am very happy to bring

it forward; but to also impress upon the Premier and the government, since they

say they listen to the people of the Province, that now that they have said they

are going to do the whistle-blower legislation and the people of the Province

are letting them know how much they want it, I really encourage this government

to speed up the process of bringing that legislation in to this House.

As I told the then Premier

in a leader's debate in 2007, I continue to have people calling anonymously,

coming to my house when it is dark, and speaking to me and also to members of

our caucus about concerns in the health care system, in the educational system,

and in different arms of government because they are not free to speak out.

They are not free to raise the concerns they have as public servants, so

I really encourage the government to speed up the whistle-blower legislation.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Mount Pearl South.

MR. LANE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

To the hon. House of

Assembly of Newfoundland and Labrador in Parliament assembled, the petition of

the undersigned residents humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS there is a waste

recovery facility being proposed by Eastern Waste Management in the Peak

Pond-Reids Pond area; and

WHEREAS such a site will

drastically impact the pond and general area in a negative way from an

environmental perspective; and

WHEREAS there are many

species of wildlife that will be negatively impacted by such a site, such as

moose, rabbits, loons, ducks, Canada geese, et cetera; and

WHEREAS such a site will

result in litter and strong odours in the general area; and

WHEREAS there are a

significant number of cabins and permanent homes in the Peak Pond and Reids Pond

area which will be negatively impacted by this site; and

WHEREAS Eastern Waste

Management has many sites available to them for such a facility, including

former dump sites in the area;

WHEREUPON the undersigned,

your petitioners, humbly pray and call upon the House of Assembly to urge the

Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to intercede in the matter and advise

Eastern Waste Management to withdraw this proposal and find a more suitable

location for this waste recovery facility.

As in duty bound, your

petitioners will ever pray.

Mr. Speaker, as indicated

here in this petition, Eastern Waste Management is proposing to place a waste

transfer facility in the Peak Pond area.

There are already eight other sites throughout the Province.

This is the ninth and final one, as I understand.

I am also of the understanding that the other eight sites, or at least

the majority of the other eight sites, have been set up in former landfill

sites, which certainly makes a lot of sense.

Mr. Speaker, I have been up

to that area and spoken to some of the permanent residents.

I have also spoken to a number of people who have cabins in the area,

people from the District of Mount Pearl South.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. LANE:

Mr. Speaker, it makes no sense to me whatsoever,

when you view that site, why you would want to place it in that particular

location, particularly given there are former landfill sites in that area.

To destroy another piece of pristine wilderness, to place a waste

transfer site and destroy that environment when there are already existing

sites, makes no sense.

Certainly, the residents and

the cabin owners are very upset by this.

I understand there is an environmental assessment process going ahead,

but from the perspective of those cabin owners and residents, they just want it

stopped immediately. Therefore, I am

bringing this to the House on their behalf and I will continue to do so.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Cartwright – L'Anse au

Clair.

MS DEMPSTER:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

To the hon. House of

Assembly of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador in Parliament assembled,

the petition of the undersigned humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS Route 510 from

L'Anse au Clair to Red Bay is in deplorable condition and requires immediate

upgrading; and

WHEREAS the condition of the

highway is causing undue damage to vehicles using the highway and has now become

a safety hazard for the travelling public; and

WHEREAS both residential and

commercial traffic has increased dramatically with the opening of the

Trans-Labrador Highway and increased development in Labrador; and

WHEREAS cold patching is no

longer adequate as a means of repair;

WHEREUPON the undersigned,

your petitioners, humbly pray and call upon the House of Assembly to urge the

Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to immediately allocate resources to

Route 510 from L'Anse au Clair to Red Bay that allows for permanent resurfacing

of the highway.

As in duty bound, your

petitioners will ever pray.

Mr. Speaker, they say a

picture is worth a thousand words.

Well, I can guarantee you when you are going to drive that road it is

worth more than a thousand words, and I do it most weekends.

Many people have heard me

complaining about the gravel roads in Southeast, but during the wintertime

Mother Nature intervenes and that road – when we have an ice road it is good to

travel on, but when you hit that pavement, and I drove it yesterday.

I was driving along and bang, bang, bang; I thought the bottom was gone

out of my vehicle. Every day I

receive dozens of e-mails from people in that area saying it is only a miracle

that someone has not been killed.

A few people here in the

House last week had a chuckle, but it was not funny, when I referenced the

highway as the Dalmatian highway because there are far more blocks of cold patch

in it right now than there is actually pavement.

It is thirty-five year old pavement.

The time has come and gone for it to be resurfaced.

It is a seventy-six kilometre stretch on Route 510.

I put a piece in

The Telegram last week and I could not

believe it when a spokesperson from Nalcor said, no, their equipment is not

going over the road. It is going

directly to the Muskrat Falls site via Goose Bay; yet, for months now every

single time I am on the road there is a convoy of heavy equipment that is really

pounding that road to death. So I am

not sure where they are all going if they are not going to Muskrat Falls.

That is certainly worsening what was already a very, very bad road.

I call upon the minister to

have a serious look at that. We had

four accidents last week. We have

people losing tires and beating rims.

It is a very, very serious issue and I will continue to raise it here in

the House.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

Orders of the Day.

Orders of the Day

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House Leader.

MR. KING:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

At this time, I move that

the House resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole to look at resolution and

Bill 2, respecting the granting of Interim Supply to Her Majesty.

MR. SPEAKER:

It has been moved and seconded that this House do

now resolve into Committee of the Whole to deal with Bill 2 respecting the

granting of Interim Supply to Her Majesty, and that I do now leave the Chair.

All those in favour, ‘aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

All those against, ‘nay'.

Motion carried.

On motion, that the House

resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole, Mr. Speaker left the Chair.

Committee of the Whole

CHAIR (Verge):

Order, please!

The Committee will continue

hearing debate on Interim Supply,

An Act For Granting To Her Majesty Certain

Sums Of Money For Defraying Certain Expenses Of The Public Service For The

Financial Year Ending March 31, 2015 And For Other Purposes Relating To The

Public Service.

The hon. the Member for St.

John's South.

MR. OSBORNE:

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Chair, I am going to

talk a little bit about ministers, and ministers going to very important

functions on behalf of the people of this Province, and showing up at different

events for the people of this Province and doing the business of the people of

this Province. I think it is

important. I think that work is

important, Mr. Chair. I think it is

important that the Province is represented.

I think the voice of government being represented at these events is very

important. I know, I served in

Cabinet, Mr. Chair, and I can tell you it is important that the people have a

representative at many of these events.

Mr. Chair, I am just going

to point out some examples of the important work that is done by ministers when

they go to these events. For

example, March 14 of this year, Mr. Chair, the Minister of Advanced Education

and Skills went to Ottawa. I commend

the minister for doing that because I think it was important.

I think it was important that the Province was represented there.

The news release said the

hon. – and I will not say the name because I know we are not supposed to.

The “Minister of Advanced Education and Skills, will join fellow

Federal-Provincial-Territorial Ministers of Immigration at meetings March 18 at

the John G. Diefenbaker Building on Sussex Drive in Ottawa.

“During these meetings, the

to be more responsive to labour market demand, will be among the items

discussed. Ministers will also

consider employer and provincial and territorial roles in the EOI, scheduled for

launch in 2015.”

I commend the minister for

going up there. I think that is

important work, Mr. Chair. As I have

said, I believe that it is important work that the Province is represented at

these events.

I am going to give another

example; May 13, 2013 the Premier attends an Offshore Technology Conference in

Houston. I think that is important,

and I think considering the Province's role in the offshore industry it is

important that the Premier attended that event.

Mr. Chair, it was a

Ministerial Statement and it reads, “…I rise in this Honourable House today to

highlight the tremendous work that took place at the Offshore Technology

Conference, which I attended in Houston, Texas last week.

This was a valuable opportunity…” – and I agree with that – for this

Province “to not only discuss offshore technology with other leaders in the

industry but also support our Newfoundland and Labrador delegation of 180

offshore service and supply sector companies who were there to market their

products, skills and services.” I

think that is important. Many people

would argue that it is not, but I think it was money well spent.

I think that we need to be at these events.

Mr. Chair, I am going to

give a couple of more examples; April 16, 2013 the Minister of Intergovernmental

and Aboriginal Affairs attended a meeting in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

The news release read, the hon. “Minister of Intergovernmental and

Aboriginal Affairs, will attend the annual meeting of the Aboriginal Affairs

Working Group, April 16-17, at the Fort Garry Hotel in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Topics on this year's agenda include Aboriginal education, Aboriginal

economic development and violence

against Aboriginal women and girls.”

We know that that was very timely just recently.

Again, I commend the hon. gentleman for attending those meetings on

behalf of the people of this Province.

I am going to get to the

point that I am making now in a couple of minutes, Mr. Chair.

November 15 of 2013, the Minister Responsible for Labrador and Aboriginal

Affairs again attended a meeting in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

It was November 18 and 19 at the Delta Hotel in Winnipeg and the topics

on the agenda were Aboriginal education, Aboriginal economic development,

addressing violence against Aboriginal women and girls, national disaster

mitigation strategy on reserve, and Aboriginal housing.

Mr. Chair, in April of 2012,

the Premier attended a meeting in Houston at the Reliant Center and there were

over 200 delegates there representing approximately seventy local companies and

organizations. Again, I will say

that it is important.

Mr. Chair, there were other

meetings; I will not go through the entire list, but I will say meetings in

Meech Lake, Quebec. It sounds like a

nice place to be for a meeting. The

Meech Lake one was by the Minister of Finance.

There was a meeting in Boston by the Minister of Fisheries and

Aquaculture. That sounds like a nice

place to visit.

Mr. Chair, in November of

2013 the Minister of Fisheries went to China on the government's business.

Again, I think it is important that we be represented at these events.

The Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture attended a meeting in Brussels;

another Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture attended a meeting in Boston.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

CHAIR:

Order, please!

MR. OSBORNE:

Mr. Chair, I am not condemning any of them

because I think they are all important meetings, and I think they are a valuable

investment for the people of this Province to have this Province represented at

meetings. I am not saying there is

anything wrong with it, Mr. Chair.

The Minister of Justice

attends a meeting in Ottawa; the Minister of Justice attends a meeting in the

Yukon; the Natural Resources Minister goes to Toronto; Tourism, meeting in

Ottawa; the Minister of Environment, Cape Town, South Africa.

Mr. Chair, Tourism, going to the Northwest Territories; the Minister of

Education in Cape Town, South Africa.

Mr. Chair, the reason I am

outlining these – and they all sound like very nice places to be – I am

wondering: What is wrong with Gander?

What is wrong with going to Gander?

Is Gander not sexy enough, not exciting enough, not enough Air Mile

points, Mr. Chair? It is a lot

cheaper to go to Gander than it is to Cape Town, South Africa.

While I say that the meeting

in Cape Town, South Africa, this Province was served well, it was a good

meeting, and I think that it is important to be at these meetings; but I know

that the issue being discussed in Gander regarding water in this Province – and

I am going to say that of all of these meetings, because there are many, many,

many more meetings that ministers go to, but all of those meetings that I

pointed out, Mr. Chair, were while this House was in session, while this House

was open and while we were sitting.

Mr. Chair, the Minister of

Environment stood last week and said I cannot go to Gander for a meeting on

water because the House is open. All

of those meetings that I pointed out, Mr. Chair, were while the House was open.

I am not sure, Mr. Chair, if

Gander is not far enough away, not exciting enough, or if the issue is not

important enough. I am not sure if

the meeting was not important enough, but all of these issues are important to

the people of the Province and there are communities in this Province right now

– I am getting e-mails on a regular basis from somebody complaining that they

are dealing with frozen water. We

hear from people who have water issues around the Province.

We have concerns with water, water quality, chlorination issues, Mr.

Chair.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

CHAIR:

Order, please!

MR. OSBORNE:

We have issues with chlorination, Mr. Chair.

CHAIR:

Order, please!

I remind the member that his

speaking time has expired.

MR. OSBORNE:

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

CHAIR:

The hon. the Member for Exploits.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. FORSEY:

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thanks for the opportunity

again to speak on Interim Supply, Bill 2.

What we are talking about here, in case people do not know what it is, is

the approval of money we need to continue on the good business and the good

investments this government is doing and the investments we are making.

As a matter of fact, the

member opposite just a little while ago mentioned about the Minister of AES

going away on meetings. It is

ironic, because it is just today, Mr. Chair, that I received an e-mail that a

constituent in a municipality wanted me to share with the minister on the good

work and the changes they made to the student employment applications this year.

He wanted to applaud government for doing that and for making it more

efficient.

That is what these meetings

are all about. When our ministers

travel to different places, they convene and they exchange ideas.

Of course, it always makes it better for the people participating, I say,

Mr. Chair.

Anyway, getting back to the

Supply bill, right now we are looking at approving $2,829,892,500, Mr. Chair.

That includes money that is going out to Transportation and Works,

Advanced Education and Skills, and Child, Youth and Family Services.

Just today, Mr. Chair, I had

the privilege to join the Minister of Child, Youth and Family Services on an

investment for the Continuum of Care regarding the services of the adoptions and

the level four they introduced today with regard to adoptions and the children

who are having it very difficult in their areas.

They need to be looked after by Child, Youth and Family Services and the

proper people skill sets to be able to look after them in a residential setting.

That in itself was quite an announcement this morning, and we need money

to do that.

Health and Community

Services and Justice; to go back to Health and Community Services, I know my

colleague from Terra Nova was up talking on Health and Community Services last

week, Mr. Chair, and he was talking about dialysis.

Of course, dialysis is near and dear to me, and has been for some time.

I probably talk about it too much at times, Mr. Chair.

However, with the investments we have made in diagnostic equipment,

especially dialysis, we have gone from seven sites up to fourteen.

With the opening of the one

in Harbour Breton this year, I think it is in the fall, it will certainly

relieve a lot of pressure on sites like Gander and Grand Falls-Windsor.

This is significant because a lot of us can recall when we only had a

couple of options; either go to Corner Brook or St. John's.

So this money, when it is passed, will go out for services like that, I

say, Mr. Chair.

Also, I wanted to get into

Innovation, Business and Rural Development.

There is money here for this as well.

Mr. Chair, a big part of this government's focus is on economic

responsibility. When we allocate

business attraction funds or research and development grants, we subject

applications to analysis to make sure the people's money is well invested.

We have invested strategically, Mr. Chair, to help build vibrant and

sustainable communities.

Creating opportunities for

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians to contribute their ideas, insights, and

expertise in this process will be essential to the development of the Open

Government Initiative. A big part of

this government's focus is on economic responsibility.

Mr. Chair, from April 1 – I

just wanted to share a couple of stats.

I always like to share some stats when I am up speaking.

MR. S. COLLINS:

Stats are good.

MR. FORSEY:

Stats are always good, I say to the Member for

Terra Nova.

From April 1, 2006 to March

31, 2013, IBRD spent $17.3 million on 276 projects through the Innovation

Strategy program. Since 2011, over

$964,000 toward twenty-one projects through its technology program, and $1.83

million for youth innovation, supporting 103 projects, Mr. Chair.

The Youth Innovation Program

provides non-repayable contributions up to 80 per cent of eligible project costs

to a maximum of $20,000. Since 2009,

the provincial government has invested close to $1.8 million in eighty projects

that support youth innovation.

In May of 2013, the

provincial government announced $422,000 in funding to twenty-four schools

throughout Newfoundland and Labrador.

That is the importance of this particular project and that is why we need

to keep it going. It is good for the

rural areas. It is good for youth.

It is good for innovation, Mr. Chair.

Of course, the broadband

initiative; I know it has been brought up here many times and I have always

lobbied for my own district, as other members in this House have done.

Mr. Chair, our government's investment of $29.6 million has leveraged

more than $115 million from other sources to improve broadband access in

Newfoundland and Labrador. This year

we are on target to reach approximately 95 per cent coverage for the Province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. FORSEY:

Some notes I have written down, Mr. Chair.

If the Member for The Straits – White Bay North wants that he can

certainly have it. It is not

electronic. I think it is from BIC,

but that is the BIC pen. I think

that is where it came from.

Mr. Chair, talking about the

broadband initiative; in 2007, an RFP was issued to bring broadband access to

200 communities. The RFP was

precipitated by the provincial government's $15 million investment in the

Province's second trans-gulf fibre option connection to mainland, Canada.

In 2009, the provincial

government announced the intention to connect more than 1,000 of its facilities,

including health care institutions, libraries, schools and other offices in the

communities throughout the Province.

The network also sought to enhance the ability of communication companies to

offer similar services to local residents and business customers, Mr. Chair.

The RBI was introduced.

We had the RBI I, where there was a $7 million investment; RBI II, a $2

million investment. This past year,

2013-2014, RBI III; a further $6.3 million was announced for the RBI III

initiative, Mr. Chair.

In an effort to focus this

funding towards remaining unserved and congested areas, an extensive mapping

exercise was undertaken. The mapping

exercise showed that approximately 95 per cent of the population has access to

high-speed Internet. That is a major

improvement since this program was brought in, I say, Mr. Chair.

This is very important to the people of the Province, very important,

especially to people in rural areas.

When they need to operate their business from small rural areas, they can have

contact with the rest of the Province or the rest of the world; therefore, it is

very important.

That is why when we are

talking about the Interim Supply bill and the money that we need, this is what

we need it for: to continue the good work that this government is doing and to

continue on with the initiatives that the people are looking for.

I am sure I have mentioned

this before – but just in case because it is another figure, another stat – this

year alone more than $20 million has been approved under IBRD programs for

regional and business initiatives. A

lot of this is for rural areas, Mr. Chair.

I am sure I will get the opportunity to discuss some of those areas and

those investments later on.

Thank you very much.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

CHAIR:

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

MR. KIRBY:

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I just want to pick up on

something that my colleague, the Member for St. John's South, had referenced in

his comments about the statement that was made by the Minister of Environment

and Conservation in the House of Assembly last week.

The Minister of Environment

and Conservation pointed out that there is going to be a conference in Gander to

look at the issue of water. It is

the 2014 Clean and Safe Drinking Water Workshop.

We just recognized World Water Day and the issue of safe drinking water

is important all around the world, but especially here in our Province.

We know for a fact, Mr.

Chair, at any given time there is something upwards of 150 boil water advisories

in effect in this Province. We know

oftentimes that – fortunately not that frequently, but we know there are

instances where communities in the wintertime do not have an adequate supply of

water. Oftentimes there are

outbreaks of one thing or another where communities do not have water.

There are communities that have boil water advisories in effect all the

time.

We know communities such as

Lawn, down in the Member for Grand Bank's district, where people have to go to a

central point to collect water; often like you did back in the pod auger days,

in order to get safe drinking water.

So it is a significant issue and a lot of those boil water advisories have been

in place for about twenty-five years.

I mean, it is a long period of time for communities in Newfoundland and

Labrador, this day and age, twenty-five years with boil water advisories.

The Member for St. John's

South pointed out that ministers do attend conferences while the House of

Assembly is sitting. I know the

Minister of Environment and Conservation said that she would not be able to

attend because she will be here in the House of Assembly, but of course we know

that the rules are structured very graciously so as to allow Ministers of the

Crown to do the important work on behalf of the people of the Province to go out

and attend those meetings.

Of course, politicians, we

even have a would-be leader of the governing party, would-be leader of the PC

Party down live-tweeting from Cuba wearing a fedora and smoking cigars and

making commentary of all sorts, Mr. Chair, travelling around making comments

about the direction of politics – not necessarily water; I did see some comment

about a firing squad, but I will leave that to the members opposite to sort out.

Mr. Chair, I did go back

through press releases. I know there

was the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills recently attended the

Federal/Provincial/Territorial Ministers of Immigration meeting.

We had the Premier who, while the House of Assembly was sitting, went and

attended the Offshore Technology Conference in Houston.

That was in May of last year.

Of course, the weather in Houston is a bit different than the weather here in

May. Then we had the hon. the

Minister of Intergovernmental and Aboriginal Affairs, while the House of

Assembly was sitting, went to attend the Aboriginal Affairs Working Group

meetings in Winnipeg; that was in April of last year.

We also had the Minister

Responsible for Labrador and Aboriginal Affairs who, while the House of Assembly

was sitting last fall, went to attend an Aboriginal Affairs Working Group

meeting in Winnipeg, Mr. Chair. We

also had the Premier, while the House of Assembly was sitting, went down to

attend the Offshore Technology Conference in Houston, Texas again.

That was another trip to Houston, Mr. Chair, down to represent the

Province down there. That was while

the House of Assembly was sitting.

We also had the minister who

is now the Minister of Finance, the Minister Responsible for the Status of

Women, while the House of Assembly was sitting, attending an important

federal-provincial-territorial meeting of Ministers Responsible for the Status

of Women in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Of

course, that is a little bit further than Gander, because Gander is really not

that far away. I know some members

take air travel out that way, and certainly they are allowed to do that if that

is their chosen mode of travel.

Also, this time of the year

I know the weather is a bit touch and go.

It could be a morning like this morning, but I suppose if you went in the

evening in advance you could have no problem getting out to Gander.

In any case, as I said, it

is really not unusual for ministers to vacate their seat in the House of

Assembly for a day or two, or even three days.

Sometimes they are gone for the whole week, Mr. Chair, to go to important

meetings to do the important work of representing their departments and the

Cabinet, the government caucus, of course, the provincial government, and the

people of Newfoundland and Labrador's interests at a variety of different

meetings.

Back in December 2012, when

the House of Assembly was sitting, the Minister of Finance and President of

Treasury Board he was at the time, the now Acting Premier, went to attend the

federal-provincial-territorial Finance Ministers' meeting in Meech Lake, Quebec.

Of course, Meech Lake is nice that time of the year.

We also had, in March, the

minister attending – oh, this was this year.

Yes, this was not very long ago the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture

went down to Boston to attend the annual Seafood Expo.

We also had the Minister of Fisheries who travelled last year to China,

all the way to China while the House of Assembly was sitting to attend China

Fisheries & Seafood Expo, so that was a long way to go.

I wanted to check and see what the distance was in comparison to Gander

than to go to China to go to a meeting while the House of Assembly was sitting

as well.

Then, we also had the former

Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture who went to Brussels.

It is a nice place; I have been to Brussels myself on my own private

business, but a really, really nice city and a good distance away, a further

distance than Gander I will say. It

is a lot further to go Brussels, obviously, than it is to go out to Gander to

represent the Cabinet, the government, and your particular portfolio to a

European Seafood Exposition.

We also had the previous,

now the Minister of Justice when he was Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture –

and we have had an awful lot of Ministers of Fisheries and Aquaculture over the

past number of years. It almost

seems like we have a different one every six months or so.

That Minister of Fisheries,

while the House of Assembly was sitting, also went down to the International

Boston Seafood Show to represent the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador and

the interests of the people of the Province at that meeting.

Last year, the same minister – he was Minister of Justice though at the

time – also went to Ottawa to attend the federal-provincial-territorial

Ministers of Justice and public safety meeting.

The former Member for

Carbonear – Harbour Grace, he is no longer in the House of Assembly now,

everybody will know he had a fairly notable dust up with the former Premier in

China and subsequently vacated his post.

He went to Toronto in March of 2012 to go to an international mineral

convention and trade show to represent the Government of Newfoundland and

Labrador in the interests of the people of the Province while the House of

Assembly was sitting.

It is also interesting, Mr.

Chair, to point out that the Minister of Environment and Conservation is unable

to travel to Gander to go to the drinking water conference.

Back in December, 2006, when she was Minister of Education she had no

problem, while the House of Assembly was sitting, going down to Cape Town, South

Africa to attend a meeting. Of

course, it was an important meeting.

She was leading a Canadian delegation of Ministers of Education at an

international conference.

There is no reason for a

minister to not attend a conference, whether it is Gander, or Brussels, or

Halifax, or anywhere else, Mr. Chair, while the House of Assembly is sitting.

We well know that we make allowances for ministers to travel while the

House is sitting, and I encourage the minister to change her mind on this.

CHAIR:

Order, please!

I remind the member his time

for speaking has expired.

MR. KIRBY:

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

CHAIR:

The hon. the Member for Lake Melville.

MR. RUSSELL:

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I would like to thank you

for the opportunity to rise here and speak to Interim Supply.

As many of us here on both sides of the House, even us in the backbench

who have a fire and a passion for the people of our district and a passion for

the people of the Province, we love to stand up and speak at every opportunity.

I will get down to it right away.

I would like to commend the

Minister of Labrador and Aboriginal Affairs today on his minister's statement

for Cain's Quest. I would also like

to commend the member across the way for Torngat Mountains on his response to

that Ministerial Statement which talked about the qualities of the people who

had the guts, Mr. Chair, to engage in that race; twenty-nine teams getting into

the action, only eight finishing.

I would just like to say we

were positively glued to our computer monitors, following the race at every turn

and checking out the local pictures.

People were coming out in droves, Mr. Chair, to get out and see the racers at

every opportunity at the rest stops.

The member across the way

from Torngat Mountains talked about the fatigue.

He talked about the long hours, the high speeds, the unbelievable

conditions that these riders and these racers had to face, braving the elements,

braving the trail, the natural terrain.

It is just fantastic, Mr. Chair.

He made one comment that I

would like to reiterate here. He

said there were no losers, and I believe that absolutely to be the case.

Anybody who had the will, the fortitude and the backing to get into this

race certainly needs to be commended.

Although only eight crossed the finish line, Mr. Chair, I would just like

to say that anybody who was willing to brave not only the majesty but also the

ruggedness, the terrain of Labrador, should be commended for that.

Some of the things we have

missed in all of this that were not mentioned by either the minister or the

member across the way were the support that these teams needed to get the job

done. They had their own support

teams that were there for the break-and-fix scenarios.

They had sponsors that were there not only putting up just the machines

in some cases but there to help them with the clothing, to make sure they had

the gear necessary to give a good showing, if you would, Mr. Chair, but to also

be safe out there as well.

I would like to commend Fire

and Emergency Services, people who were on standby making sure that in the event

people did have trouble and there were injuries, they were there and in some

cases had to engage with the people and help out and make sure they were brought

home safe and sound as well.

We have heard stories of the

camaraderie that developed between teams.

Although they were in competition, in the spirit of safety, in the spirit

of seeing people make it home alive from the rugged wilderness of Labrador, Mr.

Chair, we have seen people come together.

I guess at their own expense, the time they lost, they took it upon

themselves to stick together, help each other and see each other through.

I would like to give special

mention, Mr. Chair, to Team 5 from Goose Bay, George Rodgers and Mark Simms, and

also Team 77, the Backcountry Ravens, Jason King and Ronald Barth, who had a

great showing and placed second; friends of mine, Mr. Chair, local heroes,

celebrities if you will, who did all they could to have a good showing.

The community came out in droves just to get a glimpse of them along the

trail. I would like to say thank you

to each of those guys for their effort representing our communities and

congratulations on a race well run.

Mr. Chair, next I would like

to take a few moments and just talk about some of my activities in Labrador in

the last little while. I am so

pleased to hear people from across the way spend a lot of time today during

Interim Supply talk about how our members and how our ministers are just

everywhere around the Province. It

is very true.

They are so busy in fact,

Mr. Chair, that when the Minister of Municipal Affairs could not make it down to

Cartwright – L'Anse au Clair for a special announcement, he asked a Labradorian

to go down and represent him and this government, and I certainly was absolutely

pleased to do so. I talk about my

little trip to Cartwright. It was

good to see the Member for Cartwright – L'Anse au Clair down there as well where

we contributed around $65,000 to the Cartwright outdoor rink project, a

wonderful allocation of funds, I must say.

It all came about when the

recreation committee from Cartwright got a response from the Royal Bank about a

request for some funding. They then

engaged us. With a combination of

federal funds and our funds, Mr. Chair, we got to see an absolutely beautiful

outdoor rink for the youth and for the athletes in Cartwright set up right

alongside the 50 Plus Club, which was a wonderful initiative as well.

We got to see them setting

up and putting the final touches on the rink.

We got to see their ingenuity in their little homemade Zamboni, which was

put together with a couple of slides, a tow-behind, a forty-five-gallon drum, if

you will, to make sure the ice had a good surface.

We also got to see the

community supports in place when the RCMP came out for their third donation to

the community in terms of, I believe at that time, $15,000 in hockey equipment,

Mr. Chair. I would like to thank

Constable Ed Power and the RCMP boys for coming out in full force, pardon the

pun. They showed how the community

comes together for things like this.

If you are over twenty years

old and you are in Cartwright, you would know they had a rink in previous years.

Now the little ones will be able to get out there and they will also be

able to go over to the 50 Plus Club, Mr. Chair, and have a warm-up on those

colder days as well. Not only do we

see a community that steps up to the plate and goes for those recreation

dollars, I think even though it is not a PC district, it shows the willingness

of this government to put money where it is needed and to support those

communities that are ready to step up to the plate and fight for what those

communities want and those communities need.

I would like to thank the

people of Cartwright, truly wonderful people, for taking care of us when we were

in the district. A special thanks go out

to Rich Lewis for taking care of logistics for myself and my CA Shannon Tobin.

We had a wonderful time. My

only regret of the whole trip was that as I was doing my little speech there in

front of the 50 Plus Club, people were pointing to the plane that was coming to

get us there. I did not get to have

the fish and brewis from the 50 Plus Club, so that is my only regret leaving the

community of Cartwright. I would

like to thank them for their hospitality, wish them well, and congratulate them

on their rink.

Next up, Mr. Chair, I would

like to give mention to the community of Sheshatshiu.

This past weekend they had the Penote Ben Michel Memorial Tournament.

Although I was under the weather and did not get to make it, with that

note I will say I am sorry to my lovely wife and daughter who had to take care

of me. I became ill with the flu and

a giant baby emerged if you will.

They had to take care of me. I

missed the hockey tournament down there.

I would just like to say

that what a tournament they put off.

I was following onl