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June 12, 2019

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS

Vol. XLIX No. 3

The

House met at 10 a.m.

MR. SPEAKER (Trimper):

Admit strangers, please.

Order,

please!

Orders of the Day

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would

call from the Order Paper, Motion 3, the Budget Speech.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Exploits.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. FORSEY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It's an

honour, Mr. Speaker, to rise in this House of Assembly this morning to represent

the District of Exploits, the people who gave me the confidence to come here and

speak on their behalf and represent those people. I'd also like to congratulate

the other Members for being elected and re-elected in this election and, of

course, my colleagues on this side.

As I

went through the district, Mr. Speaker, there were some issues that I got from

door to door. One of them, of course, was the infrastructure and roads. I saw

there was money allotted for that. In my area, you drive down through the

smaller communities, not on the bigger part of the district, but in the smaller

areas, the roads are really dilapidated, deteriorated and potholes.

It is

disgraceful at times, so I'd like to see more emphasis put on roads and

infrastructure, especially in our area. Because not only does roads and

infrastructure – especially in our smaller communities, it means to bring

tourism into the districts, into the smaller areas with so much scenic things

that can be appreciated in those communities. So to get the people down there,

we also need good roads to get people down there to drive to, of course, and to

get to those communities.

Insulin

pumps were another issue that I came across in my district. And, to be honest, I

didn't think there was as many need for insulin pumps as there was. I know that

diabetes is a big issue but insulin pumps were, and I see there is some money

allotted for that for insulin pumps, so that is a good thing and it's well

needed.

Health-wise in our district, that was another big issue that came every time,

every door, especially in the Botwood area of the Exploits District. People are

really concerned about their 24-hour emergency service being cut in the Botwood

area. Yes, there is a 20-bed extension allotted for Botwood, for Gander, Grand

Falls-Windsor, but that's not what is of concern to the people of the Botwood

area, Exploits area. We need our 24-hour emergency service replaced especially

people – the geography of the Exploits district are huge. We can drive from

Leading Tickles to Grand Falls-Windsor, when needed, that becomes a two-hour

drive. Just to get to Botwood from Leading Tickles, it's an hour. You put

weather conditions, Mr. Speaker, into those conditions and it becomes a real

problem for the people of the Exploits District.

Also

down in Fortune Harbour, the same thing. People would really like to get that

24-hour emergency service back in focus at the Dr. Hugh Twomey Health Centre. It

also puts a stress on the people themselves, the family members that's bringing

people to those – trying to get to the hospital. Anybody who's going to take

sick, they're going to take sick in the nighttime, usually after 8, probably

after 12 most likely. You get up in the morning and try to get someone to the

hospital, at least not only take the stress off them from getting to the

hospital just to be assessed, treated if possible, and that would take the

stress off people knowing that they haven't got to go another half hour to Grand

Falls-Windsor. To maybe see that my relative, my mother, my sister, my father

might make it just because we didn't have to go an extra hour into Grand

Falls-Windsor,

whereas the 24-hour emergency service would take the stress off

that.

Not only

is the 24-hour emergency service a stress on the people of the Botwood area but

also in the Grand Falls-Windsor health care area centre. The people that have to

go there in the nighttime, 8 o'clock, you're looking at more stress put on the

Central Newfoundland health care centre because there are more people there.

I've

heard stories now of people waiting eight, 10 hours just to see a doctor.

They're waiting in the waiting rooms and it's not good for those people. The

stress that it's putting on the people, the facility itself and the doctors –

it's a strain on everybody. We need to get that 24 hours back. I'd like to see

that put in the budget to get that 24-hour emergency service back, not only for

Botwood but for, like I say, the Grand Falls-Windsor area as well and take the

stress off that.

That is

one of the big issues, Mr. Speaker, as I was going door to door that was brought

to me time and time again. Then, on the other one, employment in our area – not

only in our area, I guess it's all across Newfoundland and Labrador. Everybody

is looking for jobs, they're looking for affordable living and they want to stay

in this province.

Central

Newfoundland Exploits District, we have a lot of resources. We have minerals

there. We have the forestry there. We have a lot of things that we can avail of.

So we need to start bringing in investors, developers to use that. I know that

some money is now being putting into the mines and the minerals, and there's one

supposed to start in Valentine Lake in the Grand Falls-Windsor area, in Buchans

area. But we need more of this and we have the resources in there that we can

utilize.

Not only

when we're doing that, Mr. Speaker, I think there should be legislation there as

well to put more emphasis on those investors and developers to clean up their

mess. They come in, they take what we got, they rape our land and then leave all

their mess. And they're not held accountable for it. So if we could also bring

in the investors, create employment but also protect our environment as well. We

need to do that as we move into bringing in investors and developers.

Mr.

Speaker, that was another one of the big concerns in my area was the development

and the employment. Affordable living – the people of my district, of course,

where there are no big employment jobs right now, the stress on paying levees,

taxes and fees, especially on insurances, that creates the part of affordable

living, being able to stay in the district, being able to work there, raise

their families and people want to stay there, Mr. Speaker. They like

Newfoundland. It's our home, it's their home, they want to stay, so we have to

make it affordable that they can stay.

Then

another big issue was the seniors' issues. Out around my district, of course –

and, again, it's like it all across Newfoundland and Labrador – the smaller

areas, the smaller districts, get in the outlying areas, the seniors become a

big issue. That becomes a part of affordable living. They can't afford to get in

homes. They're forced to stay in their own homes in an unhealthy situation

sometimes, and the stress on those people is tremendous.

We need

to put emphasis on all those structures, Mr. Speaker, because I know, taking the

Exploits District into consideration, the geographic, the employment situation,

being able to stay there, it's a stress on all people there. Employment, of

course, would become one of the bigger issues, because without employment we

can't afford to have our communities staying alive and paying their taxes so we

can get their municipal roads done, their municipal infrastructure. So we need

employment and that sort of thing to be able to keep those people there, and I

guess our biggest resource of all is our own people.

I've had

young people come to me when I was going door to door – not only door to door,

but they came to me if I was in a gas station, in a supermarket or in a store.

They'd say: Mr. Forsey, when you get there, will you help create some

employment? That would be one of my biggest concerns, is to bring employment

into that area. Again, without employment, really nothing else matters. If we

don't have employment there, we can't keep the people there to avail of other

sources.

Mr.

Speaker, again, the 24-hour emergency service would be a great asset to the

Botwood area. I'd like to see that implemented in this budget; not only should

it be implemented in this budget, I know in the campaign itself there was a

promise made, actually, to restore the 24-hour emergency service in the Exploits

District. I think people would like to see it – I'm thinking that was in 2021,

but not only 2021, they'd like to see it now – because it's not what they want

right now, they want their emergency service put back right now.

Not only

that, the hospice in Grand Falls-Windsor – part of my district is in the Grand

Falls-Windsor area, so if you put the hospice there, get the money related for

the hospice, for the end-of-life care, you could take the 24-hour emergency

service, it'd all be in relation. We'd have the 24-hour emergency service put

back in Botwood, that way they can be there to be assessed or treated. If not,

then you're putting them in Grand Falls-Windsor, in the hospitals there, you're

putting stress on that.

Then, if

you had the hospices up and running, we could be taking those people, putting

them in those cares, that way alleviating more room at the Central Newfoundland

Regional Health Centre. So that would be a system in itself that would work

great for our area.

Anyway,

Mr. Speaker, it's been great to be able to talk about those budget issues, and I

look forward, in the future, to having another say in those matters.

Thank

you.

MR. SPEAKER:

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

MR. HAGGIE:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

It's

great to be back. Like my predecessors speaking to this motion, I would like to

acknowledge the continued support of the people of the District of Gander, and

our small but mighty team who helped me through the recent campaign, something

of a Darwinian process, I think. Certainly, it speaks to the conviction that my

constituents seem to have in the way we have approached things, both on their

behalf in what is possibly one of the smallest of the rural districts from a

geographic point of view, but also from a provincial perspective.

What I'd

like to do in addressing our budget is to break my comments down into a couple

of areas, principally around my own district, and highlight some of the things

that are positive for that district within the budget; bearing in mind, of

course, that anything is good for the province, as one of the folk opposite

said, is good for my district, too. Then I'll address some of the matters,

maybe, that come into my portfolio, maybe from a bigger picture rather than down

in the weeds, as it were, because that is a process that comes out during the

Estimates piece.

The

District of Gander is, as I say, small. It can be driven from one side to the

other in less than an hour on basically a single road, which is actually in

pretty good condition, being the Trans-Canada Highway. The focus of population

in the district is actually the community of Gander, which, in actual fact, was

fifth in population growth in the 2016 census in this province. It's one of the

few municipal areas that has had a significant increase in size.

It is a

hub economically for the district, but it's also in many respects a hub for the

province, built in 1938 around what was the Newfoundland Airport. People here

will know that it came to prominence in the Second World War when, with the

advent of Ferry Command and Bennett's flight across the Atlantic, it became the

jumping off point for no fewer than 10,000 aircraft built in Canada and North

America which supplied the war effort in Europe.

We heard

recently about the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of D-Day. Pretty well

every one of those multi-engine aircraft that flew over there would have come

through Gander at some point to contribute to the war effort, and it continues

to be an economic driver for the community itself.

Within

the budget, recognizing Gander as a centre of aerospace excellence, not just for

Central, but for the entire province, there was money there to bolster the next

wave of aviation, really, in this province, which is around maintenance,

manufacture, repair and overhaul, and training. We have the only flight school

in the province there.

colleague in Advanced Education, Skills and Labour has worked diligently to

provide funding support for the new integrated pilot training course that is

supplied there so that EI-eligible clients can avail of complete funding for

what is a guaranteed opportunity at the end of it. It's a job-ready training. To

emphasize again the job-ready nature of the training in aviation, I would flip

back to the other significant investment there, which is around the aircraft

maintenance engineer program and the aircraft structural technician program.

For 56

years, Gander, in one form or another, has been producing the highest-quality

graduates in the country from these programs. They are, and continue to be,

job-ready the minute they leave the school. Currently, done through the College

of the North Atlantic, before that it had been a trade school. Between the

departments of government there's $1.3 million going into that AME structural

program. Broken down, it represents half a million dollars in building up

capacity and enrolment and effectively doubling it.

The

advent of the glass cockpit in aviation has revolutionized the kind of skills

that are needed. By putting in glass cockpits for training purposes, again, it

will enable the graduates of this program to leave job ready for a market

anywhere in Newfoundland and Labrador, anywhere in Canada, and indeed I would

argue anywhere in the world.

It has,

as part of it though, integration with some of the other threads around the

budget. The air service provider based in Gander has a proposal in through

Municipal Affairs and Environment which will demonstrate that changing glass

cockpit in all of their aircraft will actually reduce the carbon footprint of

his organization by 350 metric tons a year –a significant improvement in a time

when we are conscious of the impact on the environment. The biggest contributor

to carbon footprint across the globe is, in actual fact, probably transportation

as much as heavy industry.

again, that integration between various facets of government shows the cohesive

nature of The Way Forward and the

budget plan, as you just apply it in a very granular way to aviation.

addition to that, there is another $300,000 to invest in the structural

component program, looking at bringing non-destructive testing in an aviation

sphere to Gander. This is not to take away from any of the other areas that do

non-destructive testing, but add a suite of skills peculiar to aviation which

would, again, be a synergy, a partnership with the existing infrastructure at

the CNA. That will position these graduates to be world leaders in their skill

set.

The

other area of investment that was highlighted in the budget is around Gander

Academy. Gander Academy is one of the old schools built in the '50s and while,

originally a K to six, is now being transformed into a K to three school. But

it's being done in a way that recognizes the need for integration between

schools and the rest of the community. So, one of the treasures of Gander

Academy was an addition some years ago of a gymnasium which actually has a

double-sized, full, competitive basketball court.

Were one

simply to demolish that school and rebuild it, that asset would have been lost,

and code today for a K to three school would have mandated a smaller court. It

would have then produced challenges with the community in terms of hosting

provincial and even national events in terms of basketball, for example.

The gym

has 30 more years of shelf life left in it, so the plan around Gander Academy is

to basically renovate the gym and rebuild the school in phases around it. So it

will be up to code for the K to 3 students. It will be advanced in the same way

that the newly opened Gander Elementary is with all the high-tech SMART Boards

and electronic integration and the environmentally friendly nature of the

building, but it keeps what is a gem which is the gymnasium there. Again, that

highlights those integrations between our planning in education and our attempts

to bring that across with municipal affairs and the community growth.

There

are many other infrastructure investments there. There's significant highway and

culvert work being done in Gambo, for example. In the interest of time and

trying to be reflective of the fact I have two hats at least to wear here, I'm

not going to belabour that point, although I'll be happy to do so if an

opportunity presents itself later.

From the

department point of view, I find myself once again in the portfolio of Minister

of Health and Community Services. Again, I thank the Premier for his confidence

in me in putting back in a role that I held for 3½ years.

We have

significant challenges and the Member for Stephenville - Port au Port alluded to

some of those in his reply to the budget. So I'm just going to stand and speak a

little bit about what is the big picture here. We do have the highest per capita

health care expenditures of any province in Canada. We're well above the

average.

What I

have come to realize, however, during my time in this office is we are often

comparing apples and oranges. If you look at this province west of Bellevue, we

are a territory, we're not a province. We may have been Canada's newest province

but, in actual fact, in some respects a territory.

If you

look at our statistics, the data, the hard facts, if you look at population

density, our population density as an average is 1.4 people per square

kilometre. The Canadian national average is 3.4. If you look at Labrador, it is

.09 people per square kilometre. We are a territory off the Avalon. If you then

say well, how do we compare per capita with expenditure on health in the

territories, we are the cheapest territory in Canada for health care per capita

expenditure.

Not

being content, however, with that, what I would also then do is draw comparisons

with trends over what has happened over the last three years. If you look across

the country at health care expenditure per capita – and these are CIHI figures,

they're not mine. They're not manufactured or tinkered with in any way. They've

come from the Canadian Institute for Health Information. The average rate of

risk of per capita health expenditure in Canada is around 4.6 per cent. If you

look at our average rate of rise, it is 0.8 per cent.

If you

look at the rate of inflation over that period, it varies between 1.6 and 2.4

per cent. So, in other words, we have held our health care expenditure per

capita lower than the rate of inflation consistently for the last three years. I

don't think there are many jurisdictions that you can point to where that has

been achieved.

But, at

the same time as doing that, we have not seen a reduction in services. Indeed, I

would argue, we have seen a significant increase in services. There are outcome

measures there and I would be happy to talk about our focused successes through

the Towards Recovery , an action plan

for mental health and addictions in Newfoundland and Labrador.

We have

zero wait times for cancelling in some areas. We have the Doorways program

rolling out across the province. We have put mental health on a new footing as a

provincial program. We have addictions hubs rolling out across the province. We

have a new model of addiction service delivery featured on Bell Island. This has

been in response to a refocusing of mental health services around the needs of

individuals to make it person-centred in the way that Members opposite have

referenced.

actual fact, we are unique in Atlantic Canada in having a Recovery Council. What

that is for new Members and people who may not have come across that term, it is

a group of people with lived experience, either directly or through a close

family member, who are constituted with direct access to the minister –

unfiltered.

Indeed,

I commend the Lieutenant-Governor for having a round-table event in the early

part of spring, if one could call it that, maybe even late winter, at Government

House, where self-identified mental health and addictions consumers/clients got

together with Her Honour, and I was invited as an observer to sit and listen to

these experiences. They've highlighted where we have succeeded, but, as is

always the case, they've highlighted areas where we need to continue to focus

and move ahead.

I think,

again, to go back to the per capita expenditure highlighting, there's been no

reduction in services. What does that mean for this province? Well, it means

that in a measured, steady way, just as our budget will bring us back to a

financial surplus on a

schedule that was set in 2016, we have a

schedule of our

own in health.

If you

look at the lines as drawn by the information from CIHI over time, those lines

about our per capita expenditure on health and the rest of Canada will actually

cross sometime between '24 and '25. We will no longer be the dearest. We will,

in actual fact, have gone into the middle of the pack, and we will certainly

have reached a yardstick that was set to me as a goal in my initial mandate

letter, which was to bring our per capita health expenditure in line with the

rest of Canada.

Again, I

would still argue that whilst I am using the same yardstick that the Opposition

have, which is we are a province that in actual fact, west of Fair Haven, half

our population lives in a territory. On that criteria, we have not made any

excuses for our geography. We have continued to hold the line with fiscally

responsible approaches to health. And that leads me in my closing remarks just

to comment, really, about some of the language that we've heard here and outside

in the scrum area about reprioritizing in line with what the populace, the

people of this province actually want.

There

are difficult decisions to be made in government about how money is allocated.

If one works on the principle that we are committed to no new fees and taxes, we

have a relationship with our bond rating agencies which essentially has said

that borrowing is something that we have capped out on for the time being, then

really and honestly, what you give to one area of program delivery, by

definition you have to take from somewhere else.

I would

argue that reprioritizing, as a term, has actually significant implications for

other groups who have not been as vocal perhaps, or whose needs may not have

become as topical in the last little while, and we really have to be careful

what we mean when we talk about reprioritizing. Because, quite frankly, that

will be seen by groups as synonymous, as identical with cutting, because there

is no way you can slice a fixed pie without cutting from one and giving to

another. If you want to increase the pie, that's a whole different discussion.

Yes, we

have federal health transfers. Yes, we have been to the feds and argued very

clearly – very clearly – that when Medicare was conceived, we had 50-cent

dollars from the feds. We now have 17-cent dollars from the feds. That has been

a process that has been engineered by successive federal governments, over the

wishes of every province and every territory.

It does

not belong to the Trudeau Liberals; and, to be fair, it probably doesn't belong

to the Harper Conservatives solely, either. Although, there was certainly some

machinations there in 2010 and 2012 which made our life a lot harder. The

Members opposite have referenced that these transfers are now done on a per

capita basis. Well, you can thank Stephen Harper for that, and the fact that no

one from this table got to that table.

So, the

next worrying thing is pharmacare. I am a great proponent of pharmacare,

national pharmacare. The report is coming out today, and we have not seen it.

What I am worried about now is that exactly the same thing will happen in

pharmacare as happened with Medicare. It will start with 50- or 60-cent dollars

from the feds and within five years it'll be down to 20-cent dollars, and we

will go from spending $149 million on drugs for clients for whom we have a

responsibility, to our estimates of $450 million, at a time when we cannot

afford to do that. We simply do not have the financial or the fiscal reserves.

I'm

looking forward, Mr. Speaker, to the discussions in Estimates. I'm looking

forward to discussions with my colleagues from the opposite side of the House

about how we can make health care more sustainable and an even better quality.

Because at the end of all this, I think it's really appropriate to close on the

fact that we have the best health care professionals in Canada.

What is

lost in this narrative is the fact that we lead the country in standards of care

around laryngeal cancer, around cancer care for cancer in the prostate. There

are islands of excellence that go unremarked because it is not fashionable to

talk about the things we do well. We are very bad as a province at highlighting

the things we do well, we let others take the narrative.

So, Mr.

Speaker, with that I'll take my seat. I would commend this budget to the House.

It is sustainable, it is responsible and it moves us further down a road that

the population of this province have clearly shown us they want us to go.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER (Reid):

The hon. the Member for

St. John's East - Quidi Vidi.

MS. COFFIN:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

It is

truly an honour to be able to rise and speak to the budget, something that I

have been studying for quite some time. I have a great appreciation for the

depth of experience and the great deal of knowledge that each individual MHA

brings to this House, and I'd like to add a little bit more to that.

I'd like

to expand on the Budget Speech that we heard from the Minister of Finance. I'd

also like to add a little bit from the Member for Stephenville - Port au Port.

I'd like to expand on a few other things there; but, at the same time, I want

to, in my speech now, to weave in a number of other issues that we're hearing.

Certainly, we're seeing a number of issues that were addressed in the budget.

We've certainly seen a number of issues that are coming up in the Auditor

General's report. I'm also hearing some wonderful things from my colleagues here

in the House of Assembly. So I want to capture some of that and build this into

what I'm going to say. I also want to reiterate what we are hearing at the

doors, because we are hearing a wealth of information. One of our roles here is

to be able to take the information that we're hearing at the doors and turn that

into sound, fiscal policy.

So, what

I would like to speak to today – well, we're talking about the budget. The

budget is simply a point-in-time document. A budget reflects what government's

intentions are and it sets the groundwork for its policy intentions and

direction; however, the budget is a one-year snapshot. It does have companion

documents that help frame the economic and social circumstances in which we are

building that budget, and I'd like to go into some of those things in a fair bit

of detail.

Before I

do, though, I think it's very, very important to point out that there are

numerous similarities across all platforms that we saw presented during this

election. I'd like to point out that it exemplifies the need for collaboration

and co-operation, and the fact that if we all have the same and similar ideals

in our platform, that certainly reflects what the wishes of the people who

elected us are.

One of

the things we need to do in the context of this budget is to look at the

difference between the short-term goals we are trying to achieve – and we have

to remember, that right now we are already a quarter of the way through our

fiscal year. The ability to change the budget is somewhat constrained.

I think

that at this point, if we are going to talk about any changes to our budget in

these discussions and our deliberations and Estimates, we do need to think

about, well, what are some of the short-term things we can achieve that do

reflect the party policies that we saw in the election. In those things we can

talk about small changes, perhaps, to allocations within departments, but, at

the same time, I think we need to focus on ideas that will bring value to the

people who elected us by way of legislative changes that will help enhance and

protect our citizens.

From a

longer term perspective, again, remembering that the budget is a point-in-time

document, what we want to do is plan for longer term issues. Certainly, many of

the strong things that we are seeing happening in our economy transcend a yearly

budget. Some of these things take two years, three years, five years. Some of

these will be generational. So we need to have a view, when we build our budget,

of the implications well into the future.

In that

context, I think we need to balance the need to build and grow our economy and

improve and strengthen our society. These are absolutely vital. However, we have

to do that in the context of the fiscal constraints which we are facing and the

social context in which we are operating.

particular, one of the things that are very imminent for us right now is the

bond-rating agencies have insisted upon a plan to return to surplus in the very

near future and, certainly, the intent seems to be that we want to return there

in the 2021-2022 budget – forgive me, that might be 2022-2023 budget. However,

in the context of returning to surplus we do have a number of key factors that

are utterly outside our control.

So this

will certainly curtail our ability to reach budget surplus. In particular, the

price of oil, upon which we depend quite significantly, is outside of our

control. And in fact, to exemplify that, over the last week we have seen the

price of oil drop from a high of about $75 per barrel to today it's trending at

about $60 a barrel. This will have a substantial effect on our ability to meet

our obligations. I have serious concerns about that.

Simultaneously, the price of oil is often given in US dollars; that means that

we are susceptible to any changes in the exchange rate. So that means that any

changes in the Canadian economy, any changes in the United States economy, but

also changes in the global economy will affect our ability to meet our fiscal

needs and plans. So we need to be acutely aware of that.

Additionally, we have the concern of interest rates. Domestic interest rates are

set by the Bank of Canada, which is set based on the economic context of Canada,

which is often vastly different from that of Newfoundland and Labrador. So we

can see a burgeoning economy in the Canadian economy, we would be facing higher

interest rates, and that of course will affect our ability to borrow, and then

again our ability to repay that. Since the Bank of Canada is talking about an

increase in interest rates, we need to be very aware of the effect of that on

our budget.

That

leads me to the Auditor General's report. In the context of the Auditor

General's report this is absolutely vital that we pay attention to this, because

the Auditor General's report is a non-partisan document that clearly articulates

our financial situation. In the Auditor General's report, you will find that

there are three key indicators that they address. One of which is vulnerability.

Vulnerability goes to how susceptible we are to factors beyond our control. In

the context of that, the Auditor General very clearly lays out the fact that the

price of oil, the exchange rate and the interest rate are outside of our control

and our budget process is outside of our ability to influence that, and that has

a significant impact.

In fact,

when you read the Auditor General's report, you will find an unfortunate and

alarming use of the words “a deteriorating trend,” whether it be upward or

downward, consistently throughout the document the Auditor General says we are

facing a deteriorating trend in those key indicators, and we need to be acutely

aware of the importance of that in the context of our spending.

Similarly, the other indicators that the Auditor General points out are

sustainability and flexibility. So the three key indicators that the Auditor

General reports on are: sustainability, flexibility, vulnerability.

Vulnerability, we are very vulnerable, as I have just mentioned. Sustainability,

to give the definition of that, it is whether a government is living within its

means. You will note that we are borrowing $1.2 billion this year as proposed in

the budget and if you wanted to have a greater look at what the level of

borrowing has been and what we can be expected to repay over the next little

while, you'll find in the back of the budget document a very clear outline of

the amount of borrowing that we have, when we borrowed and when that debt will

come due.

If you

look very carefully at it, during our term of office, there are hundreds of

millions of dollars that will come due and we are going to be expected to pay

that and we need to ensure that our budget addresses that in this context – very

important.

Flexibility: Flexibility refers to whether a government can meet the rising

commitments by expanding revenues or increasing debt. Now, thus far, we have not

been able to expand our revenues, unless we see an increase in the production of

oil, a factor outside our control, or the price of oil, another factor outside

of our control. So again, as you read through the Auditor General's report, you

will find repetition of “this is a deteriorating trend.” So we are no longer

sustainable, we are not flexible and we very, very vulnerable.

So as we

contemplate the needs and endless list of the things that we would like to see

the provincial government fund here in our province, we must ensure that that is

done in the context of these very serious concerns of our Auditor General. I

think that it's very important that everyone has the opportunity to make

themselves familiar with the context of this report because our deliberations

absolutely depend on that.

The Economy :

We noted yesterday there were a number of issues, a number of references to the

provincial indicators in our economy. I'd like to point out that

The Economy , again, a non-partisan

document that accurately reflects the state of our economy, just a simple thing

to point out right now but as you'll find on page 11, real GDP and employment

growth. I'd just like to point out that Newfoundland and Labrador is doing well

this year at 1.9 per cent growth. Excellent, we are almost leading the country

in growth.

You'll

note that BC has a 2.2 rate of growth, so they're doing slightly better than us,

and we're comparable to a number of other, similar economies. However, much of

that was out of our control. It is largely dependent on our investment in

megaprojects and the associated employment and revenues generated as a result of

that, but also it is associated with the price of oil and the production of oil;

again, factors outside of our control.

If one

was to look at the provincial economic indicators, I can roll off these stats,

but far more important is the intent of these and the implication of these, so

it's how we interpret these. So if you look across the provincial economic

indicators, what you'll find – 2017, 2018, we saw a deteriorating trend. We

actually saw reductions in gross domestic product, which is how much money our

economy generates, but also in household income with things like retail sales

and investment in housing stats, and yes, it is laudable that most of these

indicators will improve this year. However, it is a spike in point of time.

What we

are going to see in the coming years, gross domestic product, and very carefully

you must watch the difference between a nominal number and a real number; a real

number means how inflation is going to affect our ability, so this is the sting

or the bite that we find, or what we call in economics, a purchasing power. So,

what we see is as inflation goes up, even though our GDP is going up, that GDP

is going up predominantly because production is going up and the price of oil is

going up.

What is

actually happening to our households, household disposable income is going to go

down in real terms. So that means when we go to the store and buy a bag of

groceries, the amount of stuff that we put in that bag of groceries is going to

get smaller and smaller and smaller. We are going to be less able to afford the

things that we need to survive here, and that is very disconcerting. That means

that we are not meeting the needs of the people of this province.

Retail

sales, the things upon which we rely, we are going to see a decrease in real

terms of retail sales. That means all our small businesses, as well as our

larger businesses, are going to see a reduction in their incomes. That ought to

be very concerning as well.

Likewise, employment changes will drop off again next year. What we're seeing

again is a spike in infrastructure projects and investment projects, but that

drops off again. So we need to be extra cautious about how we use our

statistics.

Similarly, the unemployment rate and our population – the unemployment rates are

going back up again; our population is declining. We are getting older and there

are going to be less of us, which are going to have significant impacts on our

ability to provide public services, on our income, as well as the ability to

take care of the people who took care of us: our seniors.

In that

context, these are the economic numbers. The stuff that we are talking about on

the door – when I hear my colleagues and hon. Members beside me talking about

what they're hearing on the door, how they want better home care, how they want

better affordability. They want more jobs.

What we

are talking about is the social fabric of our economy. So if you want to look

at, yet, another non-partisan document, Vital Signs is quite remarkable. It

does, too, provide a snapshot in time; however, it gives us a good sense of some

of the social issues which we are facing.

For

example, the first numbers that I looked at today – in Newfoundland, how

confident are we in our economy? What we are seeing is Newfoundlanders are,

compared to our Atlantic counterparts, less likely to make a major purchase,

more concerned about the cost of living and very unsecure about employment.

These are very disconcerting facts and it means that the faith in the economy is

not there. That means people are not going to stay in this province. They're not

going to have children in this province. They are not going to raise families in

this province. Businesses are not going to come to this province. So we need to

address the confidence in our economy.

A couple

of other quick things that are interesting. Let's see here, food bank usage:

Newfoundland compared to Canada, we use it at twice the rate; 5 per cent of

Newfoundlanders use food banks and, of those 5 per cent, we are seeing 37 out of

every 100 are children and 56 out of every 100 are adults under the age of 65.

These are grown adults who cannot manage to afford or are capable of getting

food for themselves. That ought to be very disconcerting as well. Seven out of

every 100 are seniors. This goes to the affordability of seniors and their

abilities to even stay in their homes or be contributing members of society –

again, disconcerting facts.

In these

contexts, we ought to be very aware of some other things that you're not finding

in many of this, but we have heard them on the doors. I don't know if anyone

else has heard this, but I spoke to an 80-plus-year-old grandmother in

Spaniard's Bay recently who told me she knows how to boil down a morphine patch

to be able to get the opioids out. She said: Why do I need to know this at 80?

Well, she knows this because her grandson is in the throws of an opioid

addiction. This is wrong. We see grandmothers who have to take time out of their

retirement to dedicate their lives to their grandchildren because there's a

generation being scourged by the ravages of opioid addiction.

Other

things we are hearing on the doorstep: Gangs are becoming more prevalent on our

economy. The sex work in our economy is growing. These are social issues that

have come with the boom that we recently saw. So poor planning – when we look at

booms in our economy and huge investments are going to generate massive amounts

of money also come with negative implications.

And if

we do not address them as we go forward and plan more megaprojects, we are going

to find a consistent, persistent, pervasive use of gangs, opioids and we are

going to see sex work and these things are going to continue to grow. This will

affect our mental health, this affects our community capacity and this affects

our day-to-day lives. This is a serious, serious concern.

addition to this, in the context of our budget, we have a number of significant

issues on the horizon. These can be potentially problems; they could potentially

be good things. We have first power coming from Muskrat Falls. That is on the

horizon – wonderful if we have clean energy; however, the affordability of that

clean energy may be compromised. We need a plan to address the affordability of

Muskrat Falls, and that is not contained in our budget. That will, I'm sure,

consume an enormous amount of our deliberations over time.

addition, the integrity of the North Spur is something that I do not want on my

conscience, nor I'm sure does any other MHA want that on their conscience. We

need to be very clear and very assured that that North Spur will not fail.

Labour

negotiations are on the horizon as well. If you remember the last labour

negotiations got a lot of money off government's books by paying out severance –

fabulous. That means our debt looks a little bit better; however, that certainty

is not there for our public servants, and this very timely, given it's Public

Service Week. But, at the same time, we're seeing that in our P3 contracts,

we're guaranteeing an escalation of 2 per cent per year; however, our public

servants have been fixed at zero per cent per year. So you will see our brothers

and sisters in labour looking for wages negotiations, wage increases in the

coming years. In our term of office, this will be an issue which we will have to

address.

Simultaneously, we will need to look at climate change. This is pervasive, this

is immediate and this will have significant impacts on how we do business, as

well as the implications for some of the costs in our budget.

We need

to talk about transparency and accountability. Transparency, we can no longer

have dollars being given to numbered companies. The public purse is not to be

allocated out with any accountability, that is abhorrent and we ought to fix

that rather immediately. At the same time, we need to be accountable for any

poor policy outcomes that we have.

I do

look forward to sitting with the Minister for the Status of Women to talk about

the gender lens that is being used on the budget, versus what I would like to

call a more substantive gender analysis of the budget that reflects the

implications of spending on women. We also need to focus on prevention.

So, yes,

in conclusion, I like to see collaboration, I think that collective

responsibility means that we need to address all of the issues that I addressed

and fiscally, prudently and in a very socially responsible manner look to

balancing our budget, but do that in ensuring that we have the most knowledge

possible.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Harbour Grace - Port de Grave.

MS. P. PARSONS:

Thank you, Mr. Deputy

Speaker, and congratulations, of course, on your new role.

certainly is great to be back here in the House of Assembly. Firstly, I'd like

to start by thanking the constituents of the strong District of Harbour Grace -

Port de Grave. Of course, a district that I'm very proud of and I'm very humbled

and I'm very grateful to receive their support again to be their representative.

I'm happy to say in our past term, working together, we're getting things done

in Harbour Grace - Port de Grave District.

A big

thank you to the constituents there. Again, they're my first priority with this

work and I look forward to working with them, continuing to getting great

results.

Also, I

want to thank my volunteers. We've all come through, of course, an election

campaign. It was held in the spring of the year, but you'd swear it was the fall

or the winter because the snow and the sleet and the rain, the sideways rain and

the wind. It didn't stop us though. We can't sit around, of course, in this

province and wait for the sun to shine to get out and to get things done. So,

again, a big thank you to volunteers who've come together on my campaign, and,

of course, across the province.

I know,

Mr. Speaker, there was some concern for voter apathy coming up in this election.

Well, I can tell you, there was no voter apathy in the District of Harbour Grace

- Port de Grave. We actually had the second highest voter turnout, second to the

beautiful District of Cape St. Francis. Again, thanks to our voters for getting

out and doing their part for our democracy, for Newfoundland and Labrador.

Everybody has a stake here in this province, our province. We have a beautiful

province. In my opinion, we've got the best province in Canada, and let's all

work together as a team.

I see

the province as a big team, just as here in the House of Assembly. This is a

different climate, Mr. Speaker. Apparently, it's the first time we've had a

minority government since 1971. I'm particularly excited to see how this is all

going to unfold and work. I'm a political science major in university prior to

my journalism, so it's something that I've studied and I'm very excited to see

it at play.

I want

to congratulate everybody here, all 40 Members here in the House of Assembly,

for making it here. As our Lieutenant-Governor said recently, congratulations

for putting yourself forward, to step up and to serve the public. First and

foremost, that needs to be commended, and congratulations. I see around the room

we've got a variety of talent; lots of great different backgrounds, of course.

I want

to congratulate the Leader of the Third Party, who is also a friend of mine and

a fellow ball hockey teammate. So I look forward to certainly working with you,

and Members on all sides of the House, the Official Opposition and, of course,

my colleagues here on this side of the House. We're going to work together, I'm

confident in that.

Every

time I've spoken publicly since the election I've said, I'm very confident that

every Member who has been elected to this hon. House has been here – they put

their names forward, they're elected here and I know they're going to do the

best on behalf of the people who have represented them.

So on

that note, now I also want to recognize our wonderful public servants here

throughout the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is Public Service Week,

and I have a lot of great workers in my district, in Harbour Grace - Port de

Grave, from the departments of Children, Seniors and Social Development, motor

vehicle registration, which falls under Service NL, also Eastern Health of

course, and for the Department of Transportation and Works.

We have

a robust depot in Bay Roberts. I want to thank those public servants for

everything they do on behalf of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, because

they're out in all kinds of weather. You take the people who are clearing our

roads and doing our road maintenance, especially in the treacherous winter

months we have. So a big thank you from the bottom of my heart to our public

servants in Harbour Grace - Port de Grave District, and across Newfoundland and

Labrador.

course, it's that time of year again; it's not Christmas, Mr. Speaker, but it is

budget time. It's certainly a prominent time of year here in the House of

Assembly. It means for a lot of late nights.

I want

to also congratulate the Department of Justice on putting forward the great

Estimates session last night. We were here until just before 10 o'clock,

actually, getting things done and going through the line. This is where the

transparency and the accountability and the working together comes in. I want to

thank the Members also who took

part in that last night. So we look forward to

getting that done. It's going to be a long few weeks but that's what we're here

for. We've been elected to do this work on behalf of the people.

Also, I

want to talk about something that is very near and dear to my heart. It's a big

budget item in this year's budget, in particular, for the District of Harbour

Grace - Port de Grave, and that is the long overdue replacement for Coley's

Point Primary school. Those of you who are new, and if you haven't heard me talk

about Coley's Point Primary school, you're certainly going to – you're going to

hear this this whole session, because, of course, we heard a lot about it in the

last term.

I'm

happy to say, Mr. Speaker, it's this government listening to the people in this

region – for more than a decade. This school is over 60 years old. We have a

bursting population of students in that school's community. Coley's Point

Primary school services children from Port de Grave, Bareneed, Shearstown,

Butlerville, Bay Roberts and Coley's Point. Even some kids from Clarke's Beach

attend school at Coley's Point.

I'm

happy to say that construction for the new Coley's Point is underway; $16.2

million has been awarded by this government to the company JMJ Holdings, a local

Newfoundland and Labrador company, and work is underway. I've been out to the

site a couple of times to view the work that's happening there and to chat with

some of the workers on-site; practicing safety, of course, at the same time. I'm

happy to say things are underway.

Now,

just a little update from the department, to inform my constituents in the

District of Harbour Grace - Port de Grave, the latest on Coley's Point. About 80

per cent of the site work, which is the clearing and the grading, is complete.

The contractor is now preparing frameworks for footings and the concrete is soon

due to be poured.

Coley's

Point Primary school, as I mentioned, valued at $16.2 million, has been awarded

to JMJ Holdings. It's a single-story building. It's going to be featuring

eighteen –

AN HON. MEMBER:

(Inaudible.)

MS. P. PARSONS:

Yeah, $16.2 million. That's

right, Minister.

Featuring 18 classrooms, a gymnasium, a music room, of course, a cafeteria and

other required amenities. So we're very excited about this, because currently

those young students out there are eating at their desks, they're eating in

their classrooms. They don't have a proper cafeteria, but I have to give credit

to that school community, the parents, the teachers, the young students, for

what they have, they're certainly doing a lot of great things for what we have

to use right now. The resources that we do have out there.

I also

want to commend the people, Mr. Speaker, because being politicians, being MHAs,

we're working directly with the people. It's our job to represent what's

important to the people in our districts. Our priorities, our concerns, even if

it's – we're not going to be able to grant every wish. We don't have that magic

wand that we often wish we had, but our job is to do what we can on their behalf

and to be vocal and to work with our departments, our ministers, Members on all

sides of the House, because that's what this is about. Ultimately, we're here

for the betterment of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

So I

certainly want to commend the people of that region and Bay Roberts that made it

quite clear, this has been a priority for quite some time. It's been overlooked

for too long, but I'm happy to say things are getting done. They're happening

now, and it's our government that's delivering that new school, with the opening

date for early 2021. I can't wait, Mr. Speaker, and I invite everybody who wants

to come and be a part of this, because it certainly is going to be a great big

deal in the District of Harbour Grace - Port de Grave. So we're very happy about

that.

Also, I

want to talk about some work that's been happening on the Veterans Memorial

Highway. Oftentimes, Mr. Speaker, the Veterans Memorial Highway makes news

headlines, but not for great reasons. Unfortunately, there have been many

fatalities on that highway. Just this past week there was a pedestrian accident.

Thank God, I'm told that that person is in hospital recovering. But we need to

do more, and we've been listening. That's a priority in this region, Route 75,

the Veterans Memorial Highway.

Our

government has invested over $5 million over this past couple of years.

Construction is ongoing, and that's to include rumble strips, include climbing

lanes. As we know, the Veterans Memorial Highway is not a divided highway. It's

like the Trans-Canada, the speed limit is 100, but, again, it's not divided. And

given its geography and where it's located, there are a lot of moose.

Mr.

Speaker, I remember one night, just last year, actually, when the House was in

session in November. It was a dark night, and I was travelling out on a Thursday

evening from the House of Assembly to an event in my district in Harbour Grace,

and I came pretty close to a moose. A great big moose was right in the middle of

that road.

So we

have to do our part as motorists to be diligent and to adhere to the weather

conditions. It was a wet, dark night that night. I can remember, I stopped

abruptly, I saw the moose. Mr. Speaker, the distance was less from you to me

away. Actually, that's how close it was. I stopped and I put on my emergency

lights, but the driver behind me swerved out and passed. I stopped for a reason

clearly, and that driver almost hit that animal. So, again, we have to do our

part to protect ourselves and each other on that highway.

I'm

happy to say safety improvements are being made on the Veterans Memorial. For

example, currently work on 14 culverts. They're being replaced, ongoing

throughout the summer. The tender for rumble strips is to be issued this summer

when the paving is complete. Those rumble strips, of course, are going to wake

up drivers. If it's late at night and they're driving and they veer over to the

centre of the road, you're going to get that loud noise that's going to make you

alert and remind you that you've got to stay in your lane to protect yourself

and oncoming drivers. The grading is expected to be complete in a few weeks.

Paving to follow in July, Mr. Speaker. The climbing lanes, it's a cost-shared

project with the federal government, and that's anticipated to be complete at

the end of July.

So, good

things happening, and this comes as a direct result of listening to the people.

That's what we have to do. We have to listen to what the concerns are. We have

to, of course, utilize the officials in each department. They're the

professionals that we rely on to provide us with the facts and the information,

the best information going forward and how we can improve Newfoundland and

Labrador overall. Things are happening.

Also

moving on now, I want to talk about the Port de Grave Peninsula. We've got big

investments happening in there now because, as we know, we've got a gem in

tourism in Newfoundland and Labrador. It's one of the biggest industries that we

have. Everywhere we go – I just was on a flight recently and I was happy to see

an ad, a beautiful ad featuring Newfoundland and Labrador attracting people to

our province. I give the credit to my colleague, the Minister of Tourism. I know

he's very enthusiastic about the videos and about everything that we see in

tourism, but it's great to see.

AN HON. MEMBER:

(Inaudible.)

MS. P. PARSONS:

It's great to see that when

we travel – what I'm saying, my friend across the way here who is chirping, from

the beautiful District of Cape St. Francis, it's great to see Newfoundland and

Labrador featured on these ads and on these videos, the actual Newfoundland and

Labrador featured on videos. It's good to see and attract people. Everywhere we

go, we're known as unique people here in Newfoundland and Labrador.

The Port

de Grave Peninsula Heritage Society – I'm happy to say, working with my

colleague, MP Ken McDonald, who is a very hard worker, I got to give him credit

as well for the riding of Avalon which he represents. Poor Ken, I tell you, he

gets around to as many events as he can and, as we know, federal ridings are

much larger than provincial districts but we do what we can. So, together, we

were happy to announce $154,000 to be invested in the Green Point Light Station

in Port de Grave to develop Port de Grave and this particular peninsula as a

world-renowned heritage site and tourist attraction. And it's happening. There's

some great work happening down there.

I invite

all hon. Members, if you're looking for a place, a staycation this year in

Newfoundland and Labrador, come on out to Port de Grave. A staycation, invest

right here. I mean, there are lots of great parts in our province to visit. I

know I certainly haven't seen the whole province yet and we're larger

geographically than the Maritimes combined. We're bigger than Nova Scotia, New

Brunswick and PEI here in Newfoundland and Labrador, our geography, and we've

got vast glories we have to celebrate here in the province. I certainly invite

people to come on out and see what we've got going.

In the

winter months, you can come out to the boat lighting which is happening. This is

also a world-famous event now, the boat lighting in Port de Grave. As we know,

Port de Grave is a significant harbour. Many berths, many ships and vessels,

fishing vessels from across our province berth in Port de Grave. And the money

that comes in over the wharf annually in Port de Grave is not to be reckoned

with. It's second to none.

You

leave and any day you can go down and have a walk out on the wharf and talk to

the fish harvesters. They can tell you what it's like being on the water, what's

happening, what the catch is of the day and all that fun stuff. So we have a

great district in Harbour Grace - Port de Grave.

Also in

Harbour Grace now a big project that we're looking for and that we know is under

way and we've approved here at the provincial government for the Department of

Municipal Affairs and Environment, it has now gone to Ottawa as a cost share,

and that's the repairing of Harvey Street in Harbour Grace. Harvey Street is a

major thoroughfare through the town, and even through the area there. People all

throughout the Conception Bay North region utilize Harvey Street.

At one

time, Mr. Speaker, Harbour Grace was going to be the capital of Newfoundland and

Labrador, until it was destroyed by fire. That was some years ago, but I

certainly wish that outcome wasn't the reality, but it is. But Harbour Grace is

a beautiful, historic town.

Lots of

great things happening, they're gearing up there now for their Come Home Year

next summer. Beautiful, a lot of history, and I want to commend the volunteers

out there. In particular, the heritage group that's come together now. They work

with the museum, and I'm happy to say that we were able to recently announce

just over $21,000 to repair a part of the museum for the stairs at Colston's

Cove Stairs.

So lots

of small projects happening. But do you know what? No matter what the size of

these projects, it's enhancing our communities, and it's made possible by the

dedication of the people in our districts. So I'm happy to say – and I just made

that phone call to one of the members out there, of course, on the board for the

museum – that it is just under $22,000 now in investment to go and to repair

these stairs that enhances our museum, because we're expecting a lot of

visitors.

And

another reason we're expecting a lot of visitors to the District of Harbour

Grace - Port de Grace is for the first time in our history the Town of Bay

Roberts, another big, beautiful hub historic town – I argue it's the hub of the

bay, Conception Bay North. My colleague and my friend from the neighbouring

district probably would have something different to say, but Bay Roberts is the

hub of the bay, Mr. Speaker. That's right, here he is; he's hearing me now.

For the

first time in our history, Bay Roberts is going to host the Newfoundland and

Labrador 2020 Summer Games. It's the most prestigious, large-scale, provincial

sporting event that we can host here in our province. The infrastructure – I

have to give the credit as well to the municipality, the Town of Bay Roberts.

The infrastructure that they have, it's a great town, it's a wonderful,

functioning town. Residents in that town are very happy with the amenities that

we have, and I got to say it's their time and I'm happy to help make that

happen. Again, it's team work. It's working together.

One of

the priorities that the recreation director made clear to me upon my mandate

when I first became the MHA for the area: Pam, we've applied for years and years

to get a games here. We want to host a games here. We've got the infrastructure,

we've got the baseball fields and we've got the stadium. We're now building

beach volleyball courts. We've got the tennis courts, we've got the soccer

pitches, we've got it all here and there's no reason why we can't do this. We

want to, we're a big sports hub, the neighbouring Town of Harbour Grace is also

a sports capital in Newfoundland and Labrador and I'm happy to say it's

happening now.

Ian

Flynn, my friend and recreation director, has presented that application. By

working together with the minister as well the Department of Children, Seniors

and Social Development, I proudly had my colleague out last year, we made that

announcement for the Summer Games. I remember the minister's words. She said: I

can't believe we haven't hosted before. Because we have everything right here on

our doorstep, but it's happening now and we're getting things done. So,

thousands are expected to visit the District of Harbour Grace - Port de Grave in

Bay Roberts for the Summer Games next year, and I'm happy to say in this budget,

as well, the support from our Premier, the departments where we just announced a

$200,000 operating grant to support this sporting event here in the district.

And it's

not just the Town of Bay Roberts that's going to benefit, it's the neighbouring

communities of Conception Bay North. For example, another great town, Upper

Island Cove in my district, they have a beautiful baseball facility down there.

We've also helped and supported them in constructing a walking track, not just

for the athletes but for the people of that town, the seniors, the younger

children, you name it. Everybody's utilizing this beautiful community

enhancement, this walking track, and we're going to be using that ball field for

the Summer Games.

Also in

the neighbouring district over in Pitcher's Pond, the golf course is also going

to be utilized, the Carbonear pool is going to be utilized. So it's a team

effort, literally, and no pun intended there with the team, with the sporting

event, but we're all going to benefit.

Tourism

is going to benefit. People are going to come to Port de Grave. They're going to

want to see our new lighthouse, the Green Point Light Station which is down

there. It's becoming an iconic lighthouse here in the region, on the Port de

Grave Peninsula. So again, there are lots of things happening. Businesses are

going to benefit, the RV parks are going to benefit, the restaurants out there

are going to benefit and we have a lot of great things happening in the District

of Harbour Grace - Port de Grave.

Absolutely, it's the volunteers, as my colleague just mentioned – he often talks

about the volunteers in his district as well, but it's volunteers that make

these things happen. Money goes a long way, but you need the dedication of the

people and the passion and the pride that they show. So I am very confident that

we are going to host a beautiful Summer Games. Our volunteer base out there is

second to none, the co-chair is the principal, actually, of Ascension Collegiate

high school, we've also got good friend Judy Morrow, who's also co-chairing, and

a number of committees and people who have come together. They're going to put

off, arguably, I'm going to say it's going to be the best games that

Newfoundland and Labrador has ever seen, here at the Summer Games in 2020.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MS. P. PARSONS:

I also want to throw a big

thank you and appreciation out to our volunteer firefighters. There's not enough

I can say about these people, these men and women, these brave men and women,

because when the rest of us are running out seeking shelter and safety, it's

these men and women who are running in, our first responders.

We've

got great dedicated volunteer firefighters throughout the District of Harbour

Grace - Port de Grave. I'm happy our government also – working with those

volunteers, just last fall our government worked with the Town of Upper Island

Cove to deliver a new medical rescue fire unit truck, valued at about, give or

take, a half million dollars. In Upper Island Cove they respond to a lot of

medical calls because of their unique geography. They also look after the Towns

of Bishop's Cove and Bryant's Cove.

So this

is a perfect example. We are definitely following difficult economic times;

arguably, the most challenging in our history. In spite of all this, by working

together I'm confident we're getting things done. Mr. Speaker, things are

happening in the District of Harbour Grace - Port de Grave.

It's

always an honour to stand here in my place and represent the strong people, the

beautiful people of my district. Anything I can ever do to help, please call my

contingency office, 786-1372. We're located at 1 Excel Place in Bay Roberts.

Anything we can do to help, we certainly will do our best.

On that

note, Mr. Speaker, I will take my place and I look forward to debate.

Thank

you very much.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Bonavista.

MR. PARDY:

Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure

to speak to some budgetary items and express some thoughts this morning, some of

which I received at the doors in the District of Bonavista, and others based on

my career in education.

Firstly,

following the lead of my colleague from the Cape St. Francis area, I, too, would

like to thank the wonderful people of the District of Bonavista for this

wonderful opportunity. I realized after a week into the campaign that I was a

winner, regardless of the election night results, getting to meet some wonderful

people in the District of Bonavista, many of whom I hadn't met before.

Just as

a little side note; the tea, fresh buns and conversation was awesome. And, to

nobody's surprise in the District of Bonavista, I had fish on one occasion as

well. It was great.

education, we often say the same is not always better. We use it in our staff

meetings. It's said that if you are doing the same as what you always did,

chances are you're off track.

Yesterday, we heard a wonderful statement from the Member for Placentia - St.

Mary's when she talked about her two children, the same does not work. I would

say the education system would use that as one of their foundational principles.

I would think budgetary wise we ought to take heed with that as well. If you're

doing things the same over a great period of time, chances are you are off track

and unfair.

When I

did my graduate studies in the mid '80s, I did a graduate course from then Phil

Warren. It was a fantastic class. On one particular class, the then – I stand to

be corrected, I think the deputy minister at the time was Lorne Wheeler, who

came in for a discussion, and what a great discussion. What I remembered most

about that discussion on education was the fact that education in the mid '80s

was the greatest expenditure in the provincial budget, but both of them

concurred that that was soon going to lose out to health.

Well, in

1989 and '90 – which may be a little longer than what those learned gentlemen

had thought – is when health surpassed education. Just to let you know what the

figures were at that time: education was 23.1 per cent of the budget, $653

million; health was 22.8 per cent of the budget, $644 million.

In 1991

is when education fell into second place. I'm not saying it competitively, I'm

just saying it for a point. When I get to the end, you'll see how it's all tied

together. In education at that time, 23.6 per cent, we had $707 million;

education was 23.8, $712 million in our expenditures.

With

today's budget, education is $836 million-and-some, health is over $3 billion.

Many believe, myself included, that good investment in education significantly

improves the mental and physical health, reducing future health cost. We believe

it as teachers, we believe it as parents, that if we invest in education it

saves in health costs going forward.

The

Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in 2016 stated, that 70 per cent of the

mental illnesses have their onset during childhood or adolescence. I personally

challenge MHAs on both sides to view initiatives in our education system that

successfully curb and diminish health care demands, and thus its cost.

Again,

in 2019, the Budget Speech delivered by the Finance Minister on Tuesday, April

16, it stated on page 30 that the government is making transformative changes in

education. I look forward to the Education and Early Childhood Development

Estimates Committee meeting on Tuesday, June 25, to hear these transformational

changes.

Many of

you are doing the math. You would know from 1990 to current, a mere three

decades, education has increased 18 per cent in its expenditure. Health has

increased 337 per cent.

In the

2019 Budget Speech, and yesterday the Finance Minister referenced it as well,

new educational infrastructure, it was on page 44: Paradise elementary school;

Gander Academy – that the Member for Gander so appropriately mentioned a little

earlier; Coley's Point Elementary – which is wonderful; and a new school in St.

Alban's.

When

making transformative changes in education, I immediately become curious if

there has been accommodations to have as part of this new construction, what are

the sizes of the gymnasiums that we want children to be active in in a Northern

climate. I'm pleased that the Minister of Health, the Member for Gander, had

referenced that this particular gymnasium in Gander had two separate bays that

could be divided.

I was

fortunate enough in Clarenville, in the District of Terra Nova, to be at

Clarenville Middle School where we had three large gymnasiums that could be

separated with two curtains that we could have three groups of children engaged

and active in our Northern climate.

Schools

in the District of Bonavista, like Anthony Paddon in Musgravetown, Clarenville

Middle School, Heritage Collegiate in Lethbridge, Discovery Collegiate and

Matthew Elementary in Bonavista, were constructed with no outside recreational

areas for children to play and be active on during the school year. If we are

doing the same today, I would believe it to be a grave mistake. I would think

that we're probably contributing to an even greater increase in the health care

costs into the future. We need to invest and make sure we can curb those rather

large figures in the health care cost.

So the

question would be on the four schools – the Members spoke proudly of theirs – do

they have recreational areas that would be available for children to play? Is

that part of capital budget of which we are operating on now? If it's not, that

is a shame and it is a disservice to the children of the Province of

Newfoundland and Labrador going forward. I believe, as do I'm sure many of our

colleagues believe, that healthier, more active students make better learners, a

great investment for reducing health care costs, in addition to improved

academic results.

One

school I named a little earlier was Heritage Collegiate in Lethbridge. It is a

beautiful school. The school itself is a beautiful school and I'm sure they

wouldn't wish for anything different than what they have. It was built a little

over 10 years ago. Today, Mr. Speaker, the parents, the students and the

teachers are still fundraising to try to get a recreational area outside their

school where their children can be active on and to be healthier, active

learners in the school system. I would think in this century, anything less is

shameful.

stated, if we build new schools for the present only, we fail to adequately

provide for future generations. We fail to raise the achievement bar to an

academic level where we compete nationally and internationally.

In the

last 10 years in education, we challenged ourselves and our results – we always

look at our academic results. We seem to have adopted the curriculum from the

Province of Alberta and BC as being core to what curriculum that we followed.

Both those provinces have the highest incidents of daily, quality, physical

education in the education system. Both of them are very active provinces.

I would

say that it's not a coincidence that we're chasing the academic success of

Alberta and BC, not a coincidence that they are both the highest incidents of

active schools for children. It does make a difference. If you have healthy,

active children, they make better learners. I would say and challenge those

Members of which the four schools are being constructed, I don't know the

answer, but I would think now would be the question: Does it include

recreational areas where these children can become more active when we send them

to school to spend their days? That's a fair question and it's a good investment

in the youth of Newfoundland and Labrador.

I would

suggest Clarenville is a regional centre for the District of Bonavista and it

has been for some time. We held the Winter Games in Clarenville which enabled

us, as a system and probably as a province, to build the Winter Games complex.

It was our gymnasium. I would say to you that the students who went through

Clarenville Middle School, if data were collected, because they had the benefit

of having that large gym complex, were a healthy population. If you look at the

academic results, the results would indicate that students were active, healthy

learners. There's a high correlation, I would guess.

I would

suggest that that model ought to be looked at in some other large centres across

the province. Without naming them, we know that we're not just giving them

enough but we give them more. Gander maybe ought not to only have two bays in

their gymnasium. Clarenville, because the government had put it there in its

day, has benefited from three full gymnasiums. I would say to you, we need to

look at a standard, not do the same but to do more.

On a

not-so-positive note, in the District of Terra Nova – and my colleague can speak

to that sometime in the future – we decided to put a little over 700 primary

school students into one building, and that was Riverside Elementary school.

Keep in mind, we had the intermediate school with a huge complex that we had

three and we were quite active in that setting. We put 700 primary children in

Riverside in Clarenville into one regular gymnasium, where they have to split it

in two to try and deliver a program for children in being active.

We don't

need to be too astute to look and say where do those children go during their

lunch hour. It's not the gymnasium, because you would never get in there. But if

you looked at the recreation areas that are outside that school, you'd be

equally shocked as well. We should never repeat Riverside Elementary again in

the province. We should make sure that we adequately make those schools that the

kids can be active.

When we

look at the reasons for doing so, we need to invest, and we invest in our youth.

We invest in them to make their lives better, richer, healthier. One of the

effects we can have then is that it's less demand on our health care.

Friday

morning of last week, I was travelling on the highway and on VOCM I caught a

piece of it, where this cardiologist was quite proud and pleased with the

advances in heart disease in our province. But one thing he had mentioned was

that in BC, if you were a male, your life expectancy is 82 years of age. He

referenced that same adult male in Newfoundland it's 78. One can look and say

that four years is not a big difference. Four years is a huge difference. We

should be exceeding and aiming for higher than 82.

I'm

going to leave education, because I would be amiss if I didn't speak to two

senior situations that I would like to mention. One last thing on education. Why

not try and do an analysis or a study on a four-day school week? Why not run

from Monday to Thursday, leave one day off and let's see on a budgetary side of

the school whether we save in heating, busing, staffing? The kids now are being

transported as far away as an hour to schools. Maybe the four-day week we may

have some savings in that, that in the District of Bonavista you may want to do

a pilot. We would surely entertain the pilot of a four-day week after it is

looked at.

Mr.

Speaker, in my final minutes, I want to mention two seniors of whom I met in my

door-to-door campaigning. One senior who just recently celebrated 60 years of

volunteering in her community, 28 of those years were on council, 20 as mayor.

She lost her husband at age 63. She clearly said that both of them paid into the

government coffers for over 40 years, and she was proud to say never drew a

penny. He was not the only Newfoundlander and Labradorian who contributed but

never lived to receive a benefit.

This

lady, now as a widower, talks of the plight of those in similar situations, many

of whom gave lots of volunteer time but who find it very tough to remain in

their own homes, and they struggle. They have the same expenses as they did when

two of them were alive residing in that home, but in the unfortunate

circumstance of losing one, she had found that she could not keep the house up,

she couldn't renovate, she struggled to be able to feed herself and heat the

home without the renovations.

Ches

Crosbie and I visited another lady in the District of Bonavista with a similar

plight. Unfortunately, she's declared to be now legally blind, battling

glaucoma. She has to travel from the District of Bonavista to St. John's for

specialist treatment, and she does that every two months. She finds now that

she's got to pay for her injection into her eye. She lost her husband in 2016,

and she stated the same as the other story. Her husband was very proud to have

contributed his whole life and never received a penny back.

She

stated at that time she had $1,800 in her RRSP. She was finding it tough. She

withdrew the $1,800 from her RRSP in one lump sum. She did it because she wanted

to honour her deceased spouse by putting up a grave marker, a headstone. What

she didn't realize is that she pulled that $1,800 out of her RRSPs, only to find

that she was docked the next year on her income, which made it more difficult

for her to exist in the home and live by herself in that home.

Yesterday, the MHA for Stephenville - Port au Port asked the minister and the

current government to look at the budget and to be open to the idea of making

some changes for the betterment of the residents of Newfoundland and Labrador. I

would suggest in short time, look at the medical transportation to help out this

lady so that 100 per cent of her reimbursement for travel is honoured.

Thank

you.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member's time

has expired.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

I just want to take this

opportunity as well to remind Members that they refer to Members by the name of

their district or their position in the House. I just want to remind all Members

of that.

The hon.

the Member for Baie Verte - Springdale.

MR. WARR:

Baie Verte - Green Bay, Mr.

Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

Baie Verte - Green Bay,

sorry.

MR. WARR:

That's okay. It's the old

District of Baie Verte – Springdale, but with the reallocation of the districts

we became Baie Verte - Green Bay. I'm certainly happy to have the southern part

of Green Bay back into the district.

AN HON. MEMBER:

All of them are beautiful, of

course.

MR. WARR:

Absolutely.

I guess

probably to start off, Mr. Speaker, is to congratulate all Members, those new

Members, and on our side as well: congratulations, a job well done. Welcome to

probably one of the highlights of your life, to be able to represent your

district in the House of Assembly, as it was mine as well. I wish you nothing

but the best.

To our

new two Members, they're going to be a great addition to our caucus as well, Mr.

Speaker. And to our friends from the NDP, congratulations.

Mr.

Speaker, actually I had the opportunity – and I thank the hon. Member for Terra

Nova. I made three pages of notes while you spoke, and a lot you spoke about I

agree with. Certainly, he made some very good points. We had the opportunity

during our MHA training day to sit and talk.

I knew

he was the Education critic, or he was going to be the Education critic from the

Official Opposition side, so we took the opportunity to sit and speak.

Obviously, we had some connections that we shared. Number one, is our love of

hockey. He was an old Bonavista Cabot, Mr. Speaker. We played in the same league

years ago, and we shared our passion for swimming as well. So we got off to a

great start. I committed to him, as I commit to the Education critic from the

NDP as well, my full co-operation in the role that I have.

actually mentioned an old name that I know very well, and that's Lorne Wheeler.

Lorne Wheeler was actually the principal of the high school that I attended. He

left, I guess, probably in the mid-'70s, but we have a name that we're certainly

familiar with here in this House of Assembly and that was the hon. Brian

Peckford, who actually taught me in high school as well. So, some old names, and

thank you for the refreshing update.

Mr.

Speaker, I, too, want to salute our public servants during Public Service Week

and thank them for all the good work they provide to the people of this

province.

I'm

going to start off, Mr. Speaker, talking about education, and if time permits,

I'd like to run into a few things in my district as well. I'm certainly very

pleased to stand here in this hon. House to outline the many important and

progressive initiatives included in Budget

2019 for our children, our youth and our young families across the province.

I'm humbled to be given the opportunity to serve the people of Newfoundland and

Labrador as Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development.

Since

being sworn in on May 30, I've been learning about the department and the

critical work done by the employees to support and enhance the K to 12 and early

childhood education systems within the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It

is an incredible honour for me to lead and serve this department, and I thank

our employees for their dedication and hard work.

Mr.

Speaker, I've only had the opportunity to sit in the office – when you take in

the training days we've had, I've only had the opportunity to sit in the office

for maybe four or five days, but it's absolutely incredible the work that's

being done and the dedication to the work, dedication to the students,

dedication to families of children who attend our schools in Newfoundland and

Labrador.

Mr.

Speaker, in July 2018, we released the Education Action Plan to guide actions to

improve the K to 12 system. In less than one year, close to 40 per cent of the

actions have been completed or are substantially underway. This certainly

reflects the weight that we have placed on readying the province's youth for the

future. I think, Mr. Speaker, that's what it's all about.

Budget 2019

allocates $13 million, an increase of $6 million from last year, to continue the

implementation of the plan and to support better outcomes for students. Through

the plan, we are implementing over 80 actions to ensure students have access to

the supports they need, and 350 teacher resources are being hired over a

three-year period.

By the

way of an overview, Mr. Speaker, highlights of supports being provided this

year, through a $9 million allocation in

Budget 2019 , include additional reading specialists, teacher librarians, and

teaching learning assistants in K to 12 education; learning resources for

teachers to support reading in the primary and elementary grades for school

libraries to support literacy development; and a mathematics bursary program to

support teachers wishing to enhance their qualifications in mathematics.

But what

does this actually mean in the classroom? Because that's where the rubber hits

the road, Mr. Speaker. Here's what it means: 21 new reading specialists this

year, which will increase to 104 over the next two years; a new position,

teaching and learning assistant, supports teachers in primary and elementary

schools; 54 teaching and learning assistants have already been hired, with a

plan to hire another 146 over the next two years.

Teacher

librarians and additional resources for school libraries are supporting literacy

development. There are 13.5 additional teacher librarians this year, increasing

teachers have been added over three years as part of the larger part to support

multicultural education; a mathematics bursary program has been implemented to

support teachers wishing to enhance their qualifications in mathematics; and

mathematics and reading program specialists are working in regions of the

province to support teachers in primary and elementary schools.

Mr.

Speaker, this is an exciting time in the K to 12 education system. Our staff are

hearing it from teachers and administrators and they are embracing the

initiatives that we are implementing in the Education Action Plan.

We are also providing support for teachers through a $2 million investment

in professional learning. And, as mentioned, we are continuing the math bursary

program for K to six teachers through a $40,000 investment. I am pleased to

report that there has been a great interest throughout the province for school

administrators, classroom teachers and specialists looking to enhance their

knowledge and skills in mathematics.

As the

former minister of the department noted earlier this spring, we are receiving

positive feedback from teachers and specialists who have taken advantage of the

bursary program. The comments that we have received are worth repeating. One

mathematics program specialist wrote to say: I would strong recommend the

mathematics bursary program to a colleague, as it a wonderful opportunity to

enhance your teaching and learning proficiency in the area of mathematics. After

completing my course, I definitely walked away with a broader, richer

understanding of how best to teach mathematics in a K to six setting.

Mr.

Speaker, Budget 2019 also recognizes

the important contribution of student assistants in the K to 12 school system

and the budget for student assistant hours will be increased by $300,000 over

last year.

All

children, Mr. Speaker, have the right to a quality education and an equitable

opportunity to learn. Children enter school with their own individual

experiences, abilities, family structures, interests and cultural backgrounds.

Educators must consider these individual differences when making decisions

regarding approaches to teaching and learning. This need was clearly identified

in the Education Action Plan and we are moving forward and making progress in

this important area through implementation of the recommendations. The increase

in funding this year will help improve a school's ability to meet the needs and

support the inclusion of all students with exceptionalities.

Mr.

Speaker, another important focus of the Education Action Plan is social and

emotional learning. Social and emotional skills are necessary for positive

mental health by achieving and maintaining personal well-being and positive

relationships to succeed in the school environment and in all aspects of life.

Through

education and early childhood development, as part of the responsive teaching

and learning initiative currently being phased in across the province,

Budget 2019 provides an additional

$350,000 for social and emotional learning curriculum into the school system.

Mr.

Speaker, I recently had the opportunity to attend Roots of Empathy annual baby

celebration here in St. John's. This is an internationally recognized,

school-based program and it reflects what we strive each day in our school

communities through safe and caring school policies and initiatives. Studies

show that children who take

part in the program develop increased social and

emotional skills. It reinforces what we all strive to instill in them: to

respect each other's feelings.

Mr.

Speaker, I had that opportunity, actually, last Thursday and what an incredible

feeling, what an incredible place to be to have the opportunity to watch these

children at such young ages engage with each other and through the support of

their parents as well. Certainly, I think my first comment was you really know

how to make a minister melt. My love of children – I've been a father, too, and

certainly a proud grandpop of a young boy and young girl that my daughter

actually adopted a couple of years ago. I'm actually lost for words to talk

about children because they're so special to me, so I'll move on.

mentioned, Mr. Speaker, through our Education Action Plan and the

Towards Recovery action plan, and our

investment in Budget 2019 , we are

ensuring resources are in place to support social and emotional learning of our

students. Other investments in for the K to 12 school system include: $975,300

to support assistive technology, multicultural education and provincial

assessments; $350,000 in learning resources for teachers to support reading in

the primary and elementary grades; $238,000 for youth apprenticeship

co-operative education; $200,000 in learning resources for school libraries to

support literacy development.

Mr.

Speaker, let me take a few minutes to speak more and specifically in more detail

about the implementation of the Education Action Plan. Implementation of the 82

recommendations are scheduled to occur in three phases: Short term, 31

recommendations have already been completed or were substantially underway

within year one, which was the end of September 2018; medium term, there was an

additional 40 recommendations which will be completed or substantially underway

within years two to four, which is scheduled for September 2021; and our

long-term goal, the remaining 11 recommendations, will be completed or

substantially underway by year five, which would be the end of September 2022.

Several

recommendations of the EAP that form a new student service model are also being

phased in over a three-year period, with a particular emphasis on kindergarten

to grade six and the necessary linkages with pre-school. Year one, which is

District and one with the Conseil scolaire francophone provincial de

Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador, located in every region of the province, carefully

selected to provide a mix of urban and rural schools, small, medium and

large-sized student populations, and schools with Indigenous student

populations. Year two, '19 and '20, an additional 40 schools, similar selection

process but accounting for feeder schools; and year three, all remaining

schools.

The new

student service model includes: a new tiered approach to meeting the needs of

students in responsive teaching and learning policy; a new allocation of

school-based reading specialists; first provincial-wide allocation to address

reading issues; a new allocation of teaching and learning assistants to provide

instructional support to primary-elementary students; and, an increase in the

number of learning resource teachers to support school libraries and literacy

development.

All 40

phase one schools receive several professional learning days through the

2018-2019 school year to assist implementation of new policies, new teaching and

learning personnel and new learning resources. All administrations in the 40

phase two schools have received an initial two-day in-service to prepare the

implementation of the new student service model during the 2019-2020 school

year. Presentations and feedback for phase one schools have been quite positive.

Mr.

Speaker, before I speak to our child care initiatives and early childhood

education, I would like to outline changes and progresses that we've made over

the past year regarding school transportation in the K to 12 system.

Transportation of students is a major focus, and we work with the school

districts, operators and the industry to ensure it is as safe as possible. It is

important to understand that we hear from parents all the time on various

issues, and we have consistent dialogue with the district.

Last

year, when there was a change to some bus routes across the province, parents

brought their concerns and issues forward to the school district and to the

department. I know my hon. colleagues, as I did, heard from parents in their

districts. We have taken action to address concerns, and the current policy is

comparable, and in most cases more favourable than other provinces. I actually

tabled that report yesterday, for any Member that wants to have a copy, or they

can – again, my door is open, and any time anybody here wants to engage in a

discussion with regard to anything in education, certainly I welcome that.

Since

last year, Mr. Speaker, we've gone from approximately 72 courtesy stops to 649

stops within the 1.6-kilometre zone, which is accommodating many additional

students across the province. The current policy, with the addition of the

courtesy stops, is working to what everybody is looking for. I see Members

shaking their heads, and I respect that. We will continue to collaborate and

work with districts, who in turn work with their local school community to

address any pressure points that may arise.

Mr.

Speaker, we recognize that family-friendly policies are needed to ensure our

families can balance parenting with their daily work schedules. More affordable

and accessible child care is important for families in the province as a whole.

It helps build our communities, and it encourages parents to return to the

workplace.

In a

report released by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives that surveyed 28

major Canadian cities, it was noted that uptake on the Operating Grant Program

in St. John's has resulted in a drop in child care fees. St. John's is the only

city of the 28 surveyed that has shown an overall drop in fees since the first

report in 2014.

Building

on the additional 1,000 affordable child care spaces created since last year,

Budget 2019 allocates approximately

$60 million for early childhood development, which includes $7.4 million through

the agreement with the federal government. These investments will provide $17

million for child care service subsidy programs to reduce costs for individual

families; provide $11 million to continue the Operating Grant Program, which

provide an income enhancement to qualified early childhood educators working in

regulated child care services to help improve the quality of child care

services.

The

threshold for a full subsidy has been adjusted to $32,000 net family income and

will be increased to $35,000 in the near future – actually, July 1. A partial

subsidy is also available to many other families with higher than $32,000 net

family income.

Mr.

Speaker, by the looks of things, I'm not going to get an opportunity to finish

all this, so I'll just take an opportunity to sort of clue up. Again, Mr.

Speaker, I certainly have enjoyed my time here in the House of Assembly. It's

been a great opportunity and a great feeling representing the District of Baie

Verte - Green Bay, a district that I grew up in. I know the issues that I face

everyday.

My hon.

colleague talked about her encounter with moose. Well, I can tell you, Mr.

Speaker, I had the opportunity to join the Member for Conception Bay East - Bell

Island and the Premier in Baie Verte last weekend for the mining conference, and

I know it only too well, as I struck a moose on the way up over the Baie Verte

Peninsula. So if I can pass along a comment to my hon. colleague for

Transportation and Works, we have to get those roads cleared.

Anyway,

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity. I'll have another opportunity.

Thank

you very much.

MR. SPEAKER (Trimper):

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Thank you.

The hon.

the Member for the District of Topsail - Paradise.

MR. P. DINN:

Thank you, Minister.

And I

was going to say the beautiful District of Topsail - Paradise, but I believe our

Member for Cape St. Francis has a monopoly on that word.

I'm

pleased to rise and speak for the magnificent and beautiful District of Topsail

- Paradise, and I want to take an opportunity – because, of course, I'm no

longer a newbie here, which is a good thing I guess, but I'm going to intertwine

some of my maiden speech, which I never had an opportunity to do, into this.

AN HON. MEMBER:

Terrible.

MR. P. DINN:

It is terrible. It's

ridiculous.

I first

want to thank my family for their unwavering support in helping me to get here.

I personally thank the residents of Topsail - Paradise for putting their

confidence in me and giving me the opportunity to be their voice in the House of

Assembly. It's a responsibility that I take very serious, and I will certainly

advocate on their behalf to the best of my ability. I think I've said it before,

I don't believe politics was on my bucket list, but somehow led me down this way

and here I am.

I was

born in St. John's. I wasn't born in Paradise, but I spent most of my life in

Paradise, raised by two wonderful parents. I had three brothers, three sisters.

My mother gave up her job to raise us, and my father worked on the railway. So a

great accomplishment for my parents to be able to raise a family of seven on one

income and to be successful. Because I think everyone of us have achieved a

university degree, or multiple degrees, and that's more of a reflection on our

parents than on us ourselves.

We were

obviously raised to do the best we can, to be empathetic, to listen to people,

to be involved. I'm certainly glad to be here, and I would say the same for my

bigger brother who also occupies a seat here as well.

I spent

some time after university working with the provincial government, federal

government at a point in time, and gained a lot of experience, which I hope to

bring and have brought to this House of Assembly. I think the people of Topsail

- Paradise realize my commitment there and have put their faith in me.

Talking

about Topsail - Paradise, a wonderful, wonderful district. It's one of the

younger and fastest growing areas of the province. We've seen lots of growth in

the area in terms of the new schools, the walking trails, the new sports

complexes, the shopping centres, and we can go on and on. There are so many

positive changes for the young families who take up residence in our community.

Part of

my participation in the community, and what led me to this, was participating

and volunteering. Volunteering within the community is something I take very

serious. I've been involved in quite a few activities. I think most of the

Members in this House have, at some point in time, volunteered or continue to

volunteer. I believe that's giving to the community without expecting anything

back. I think our communities would not be running as they are unless we had the

work of volunteers.

I have a

quote here – because we all consider ourselves politicians. I like to refer to

myself as an elected official. Try and find a positive quote with the word

“politician” in it, I challenge you. It's not there. You cannot find it. So I

consider myself an elected official.

When it

comes to volunteering within your community, I found this quote. It says:

“Volunteering is the ultimate exercise in democracy. You vote in elections one a

year, but when you volunteer, you vote every day about the kind of community you

want to live in.” That's so true. I encourage everyone, if they haven't

volunteered, to do so.

Mr.

Speaker, part of my volunteering involved working with youth groups. In my mind,

we talk about the resources of our province. In our budget, we talk about our

natural resources. We talk about forestry. We talk about hydro. We talk about

all these resources we have, but I believe our most valuable resource are our

youth. Our youth are our future. I think we have to do much more in terms of

helping our youth. That could be anything from child care to, as my colleague

mentioned, increasing opportunities for being active.

Again, I

just go back to another quote, which of course is another unknown author: “If

you want to touch the past, touch a rock. If you want to touch the present,

touch a flower. If we want to touch the future, touch a life.” That quote is so

applicable to what I think, as an elected official, we should be doing because

it's the lives of our population, our residents in Newfoundland and Labrador

that have to be primary in what we do.

Now,

I'll take my comments more relevant to the budget. I think all of us, as elected

officials, we're elected by the people, for the people and I certainly intend to

represent the people of Topsail - Paradise.

Going

door to door, we had the opportunity now and a prime opportunity for us to hear

exactly what our constituents are saying, what our constituents want. Mr.

Speaker, during my campaign on a daily basis, like all Members of this House, we

had the opportunity to have conversations on the doorsteps, conversations in the

coffee shops, conversations wherever, on what our residents want for our

province and want for our districts, and I just want to touch on some of these.

Taxation

– taxation was a huge one. Residents expressed their dismay in the level of

taxation we're facing. They pointed to the examples of the 300-plus taxes placed

on us. They talked about the taxes on auto insurance and insurance. I got to say

I had a couple of conversations with residents who were extremely, extremely

upset over the levy. One in my district and one I believe in the Minister of

Finance's district – no reflection on the minister, it just happened to be the

individual was in that district but two of them were –

MR. OSBORNE:

(Inaudible.)

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. P. DINN:

I will – it may have been

your brother.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. P. DINN:

But they were really, really

upset with the levy to the point that they were hanging up the phones when

people were calling during the election. You know what, from an economic point

of view, when you're taxing people, you're taking money out of their pockets and

you're decreasing their disposable income, income that would be spent in the

communities and on businesses.

Energy

rates – energy rates is not new to any of us. When talking about Muskrat Falls

and the mitigation, that is a prime concern for many of the residents. We've

come out with plans – when I say we, we have come, one on this side and one on

the government side in terms of ways to mitigate. I don't think – people have a

bit of lacking in faith in how these plans are going to roll out.

One

certainly was the $200 million that the government have expressed that would

come from the federal government. That's certainly a big question mark for

residents out there. I think they are looking for a plan that is clear, that's

obtainable, that is practical and that people can see some relief in terms of

energy rates. So that is a huge one as well.

As I

mentioned earlier, talking about youth and youth being the most important

resource in my mind when it comes to the economy, and comes to our province,

child care and daycare. Child care and daycare are really prime areas where

people want to see some motion made to ensure that it's affordable, that daycare

and child care are affordable.

It was

interesting. It was a topic of discussion on one of the open-line shows this

morning. It's amazing, some of the comments you hear on it. But from an economic

– and I hate to talk economics because a former co-worker of mine is sitting as

Leader of the Third Party here, we worked together and I may know 10 per cent of

the economics that she knows, but I'll take this 10 per cent and I'll throw it

out there. When you're talking about child care and affordability, I sat in on a

group discussion by the group advocating for child care there a couple of months

back and the effect on the economy of child care is really huge.

We talk

about population decline, we talk about losing our families, they are leaving,

we talk about families leaving to follow their grandchildren and follow their

children. Affordable child care allows that second parent to work, or a parent

to work. Most times, it's the mother who sacrifices her career to stay home with

her child. Now, I use the word sacrifice, I mean everyone would love to stay

home with their children. But you give up a career to stay home because you

can't afford the child care, or you say I'm working to pay for child care. So

the better of the deal is well, if I'm working to pay for child care, I might as

well be home spending time with my child.

But

people out there, if they can afford child care and it's affordable to people,

people actually will have more kids. It's been proven. Believe it or not,

fertility rates go up when you have more affordable child care, and you have

more people in the workforce working, and you have more people in the workforce

generating revenue and dollars and taxes.

So, we

really need to do something about child care. I think there are a lot of

different programs different provinces have used. We should be looking at that.

When we look at budget items, we always look at the cost of that item. And we

should be, we should be looking at that.

When we

look at budget items, we always look at the cost of that item, and we should be.

We should be looking at the cost of the item, but we also need to look at the

cost of not doing something. We have to look at the cost of not doing something

proactive. I think child care is one of those areas we really need to look at,

be proactive down the road and what it does for us.

Seniors;

I think we all, in every part of this province, have seniors, and we deal with

issues around seniors. We're the fastest, oldest, aging population in the

country. So, it shouldn't hit us as any surprise that we're going to have issues

there, and it's going to continue to snowball until we start to address seniors'

issues.

Topsail - Paradise, we have a great seniors community. We have a couple of

seniors' homes that do wonderful work in looking after people's parents and

grandparents.

We've

heard one of the Members for Mount Pearl speak about Lillian's Law as an option,

and I say an option, but there are other ways that we should be looking at home

care and institutional care for our seniors.

Transportation is a big issue as well. You have seniors with mobility issues.

Seniors who are trying to get to doctors appointments. Seniors who are just

trying to get out to the mall. We need to come up with some transportation

systems that will accommodate our seniors.

It's not

mobility, but also we have a population out there – and I would say to you, it's

a hidden population for many of us.

Topsail - Paradise, I've met with groups who have visual disabilities of all

ages, and it was amazing when they told me the number of individuals within the

area of Topsail - Paradise alone that suffer from visual disabilities. These are

individuals who need transportation. So we need to look at accessible

issues.

I also

want to talk about – and this is where the Leader of the Third Party may start

poking me and saying I'm wrong on some points. My background, I have a degree in

business and education. I worked much of my career with the now Department of

Advanced Education, Skills and Labour dealing with labour market, skills

development and a number of issues over there.

We have

some great workers here in the province, and on Public Service Week it's an

opportunity for us to say congratulations, job well done. I can't say enough

about the staff of Advanced Education, Skills and Labour, but also the staff of

Finance. They produce these documents that help us all make decisions. We've had

two Members speak on that and use the documents and look at them. It's wonderful

information, and for me a little bit of knowledge becomes dangerous.

I think

if we're going forward and we're looking at information that we need to be

useful to make decisions, and I think we have a set up here – we have a minority

government here. Will there be challenges? Certainly. But are there

opportunities? Obviously, there are. I think we have an opportunity here to – my

job is to hold you accountable. Some of it may sound critical but it's to hold

you accountable.

I go

back to a discussion we had previous to the first budget, and the Minister of

Finance, and I believe the Premier, had mentioned this data previously and

they've mentioned it again. As an indicator, they talk about the 11 months now

of consecutive growth and employment. Now, I'm going to say that's not accurate,

but I'm saying it's not accurate because I don't really know what pieces of

information are being used to come up with that. Because you –

MR. OSBORNE:

Stats Canada.

MR. P. DINN:

Stats Canada.

So if I

do that, if I go to Stats Canada – thank you for that. If I go to Stats Canada,

and I talked about this earlier, the labour market survey puts out the data on

employment by Stats Canada, right.

AN HON. MEMBER:

Adjusted.

MR. P. DINN:

Adjusted, seasonally adjusted, and unadjusted. They put out both.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

A little order please, just a

little.

AN HON. MEMBER:

(Inaudible.)

MR. SPEAKER:

Just a little order, please.

Yes,

Sir.

MR. P. DINN:

No, but this is my point. So

the minister and the Premier have in the past used month over month, and

previously they were saying year over year, okay? I can understand where you

might say that.

Year

over year, you're comparing August 2018 to August this year. Month over month

you're comparing previous months. So when I look at that data month over month,

it's been up and down and everywhere. In fact, it's been down in May. The labour

force survey that came out last week, employment is down. If you go year over

year, going back the 11 months, the first six, full-time employment was down,

and it's been up.

I'm not

saying it's incorrect information, but what I'm getting at, if we're going to

make decisions on the labour market – and that's one benchmark, one benchmark.

We know, and the expat survey that we got coming out from Goss Gilroy, that's

going to tell us that what people want most is full-time permanent work.

I'm not

at all saying part-time work is useless. We have a lot of people who want

part-time work, but when we look at this data we will see that what's driving

employment more – more than not – is part-time employment; part-time employment

over the 11 months, part-time employment. What we need to do is create more

jobs. It sounds simple. I wish there was a simple solution. We really need to

create more full-time permanent, meaningful employment, okay. That's where we

need to go.

Just to

the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills, when we talk about immigration

and increasing immigration to the province – I think he used the comment or the

word in the past: we're setting achievable targets. That's wonderful. I like

achievable targets. I tell my kids when they come home and say: Dad, I only need

25 per cent on the final to pass. I say, well, let's do better than that.

In the

Mackenzie report I noted that we need to be more ambitious. It says it in the

Mackenzie report, we need to be more ambitious in our targets. Nothing against

achievable targets. Your success rate at the end of the day looks better when

you do achievable targets, but let's not be afraid of failure when we set

ambitious targets. We need to do better on immigration. We need to do better on

creating jobs.

let's, as a minority government and collectively in this House of Assembly,

let's push for more ambitious targets because this province could be a lot

better than where we are. We love this province and we could be doing so much

more.

MR. SPEAKER:

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would

suggest now, given the hour, that we recess until 2 p.m.

MR. SPEAKER:

Consistent with Standing

Order 9(1)(

b) this House is in recess until 2 o'clock this afternoon.

Recess

The House resumed at 2 p.m.

MR. SPEAKER (Trimper)

Admit strangers, please.

Order,

please!

I'd like

to welcome my colleagues back to this House of Assembly for the afternoon. I'd

also like to introduce to the House of Assembly another one of our new Pages.

With me is Lauren Borgaonkar. She is from St. John's and she is studying

Business at Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador.

A very

big welcome to you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Joining us for a Ministerial

Statement this afternoon from the Newfoundland and Labrador and Labrador

Association for Community Living, we have Fraser Piccott, Development

Coordinator.

From

Roncalli Elementary, we have the Principal, Alun Young; teachers Shannon

McCarthy, Lisa Tucker; Administrator Deb Smith; Guidance Counsellor David Lynch;

and students Lucas Hodder, Ethan Coady and Emma Coady.

A big

welcome to all of you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

Statements by

Members

MR. SPEAKER:

For Members' statement today

we will hear from Windsor Lake, St. John's Centre, Topsail - Paradise, Placentia

West - Bellevue and Exploits.

The hon.

the Member for Windsor Lake.

MR. CROSBIE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise

to recognize the upcoming 35th anniversary this July of a vital part of my

district: the MacMorran Community Centre.

For more

than a century, MacMorran has been there for the neighbourhoods of Brophy Place

and McGrath Crescent, for families, for young and old. I misspoke myself, I

should have said more than a third of a century; it's not quite that old.

Established thanks to the efforts of the Pius X Parish, the centre began with

just a clothing exchange and a food bank but expanded today to encompass a range

of key services.

None of

this would be possible, of course, without the intense efforts of its staff and

its many, many volunteers. While no one act of charity should be elevated above

another, I was asked to thank the efforts in particular of Brother Jim

McSheffrey who gave the last decade of his life into moving the programs and

profile of the centre to where it stands today.

Mr.

Speaker, it was Coretta Scott King who once wrote: “The greatness of a community

is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members.”

MacMorran community stands not only as a beacon of compassionate action in my

district, but in our province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Thank you.

The hon.

the Member for St. John's Centre.

MR. J. DINN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

This

Language students from Holy Heart on an overnight trip to the Brother Brennan

Centre. Their teacher, Mr. Greg Simmons, organized this trip to practise their

newly learned fly-fishing skills.

Yesterday, I had the privilege to speak to grade four students of Hazelwood

Elementary about elections, what it means to be a Member of the House of

Assembly, and how we work together to make the best decisions on their behalf.

Thank you to teacher Marnie Sinnott for the invitation.

Ms.

Sinnott and many teachers across our province used the recent provincial

election as an opportunity to teach students about elections and the different

forms of government.

That's

what teachers do: improvise, adapt and seize opportunities to make learning

relevant and fun for their students. They spend their own money, arrange special

trips and give of their own time to bring learning alive. At the heart of

teaching, at its very core, is the student. Teaching is a career with the

potential to change students' lives.

As the

school year draws to a close, I take this opportunity to thank the teachers of

Newfoundland and Labrador for all they do on behalf of our students.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Thank you.

The hon.

the Member for the District of Topsail - Paradise.

MR. P. DINN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Today it

is an honour for me to stand and congratulate Mr. Charles Moores, a life-long

member of the Royal Canadian Legion, who turned 102 on June 9. Mr. Moores was

born in 1917 at Carbonear, Newfoundland, and currently resides at Meadow Creek

Retirement Centre in my District of Topsail - Paradise.

Mr.

Moores, at the age of 23, joined the Merchant Navy and served until the end of

the Second World War. While at war, Mr. Moores tells of a time that they

encountered enemy action and his boat was torpedoed and sank. With just a life

jacket on and unable to swim, he jumped into the ocean and had to hold on to a

raft for approximately three hours before being rescued by one of their

corvettes.

When the

war ended, he returned to Carbonear and, in 1949, married Elizabeth De