PDF Version

April 25,

2013 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS Vol.

XLVII No. 10

The House met at 1:30 p.m.

MR. SPEAKER (Wiseman): Order, please!

Admit strangers.

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

MR. KENNEDY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I withdraw the comment that was complained of yesterday.

MR. SPEAKER: Thank you.

Before we start today, I want to acknowledge a special guest we have in our

gallery this afternoon. Today I want to welcome Mr. Gerald Healey. Mr. Healey

was acknowledged as the outstanding Deputy Governor for District 7 Atlantic

Canada and was awarded the Kin District 7 Atlantic Canada Award for Outstanding

Zone Leadership.

He is accompanied today by his wife Sylvia; his children Geraldine, Rodney,

Trevor, Glenn; together with his grandchildren Brandan and Grace; as well as

members of the Kin Club of Paradise including their President, Jim Lewis.

Welcome to our gallery, and congratulations.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

Statements by Members

MR. SPEAKER: Today we have members' statements from the Member for the

District of Lake Melville; the Member for the District of Lewisporte; the Member

for the District of Humber Valley; the Member for the District of St. Barbe; the

Member for the District of Conception Bay East Bell Island; and the Member for

the District of Terra Nova.

The hon. the Member for the District of Lake Melville.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RUSSELL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise today to recognize the Northern Huskies AAA Midget hockey team, who

made Labrador hockey history this past February by being the first team to win

the provincial AAA tournament, winning the right to represent the Province at

this year's Atlantics.

During the provincial championships, they went undefeated beating strong

teams from Tri-Pen in St. John's to a decisive win in the championship.

The team travelled in March to Atlantics and fought hard throughout the

tournament. Facing stiff competition, the tournament was decided by the last

game of the round robin. The Huskies lost to PEI, the eventual tournament

winners, by just one goal, relegating them to a bronze medal game which they won

in overtime.

I would like to specifically recognize Andrew Jackman, the second leading

scorer during the provincial tournament; Brad Robinson, who was third in scoring

at the Atlantic championships; as well as Jeremy Billard and Nathan Kennedy,

recognized during the tournament as players of the game during the Atlantic

Championships, who were all great representatives of Labrador.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all members of the House to join me in recognizing the

Northern Huskies, our Province's AAA midget representatives.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for Lewisporte.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. VERGE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise today to recognize the 617 Dambusters Air Cadet Biathlon team of the

Lewisporte area who represented their region in a national competition during

the first week of March. The biathlon is a sport that combines the rigors of

cross-country skiing with the ability to shoot at targets placed throughout the

course.

The road to the nationals began with a zone competition in November where the

team finished second but were given the wild card position to the provincials.

In late January, the team went to Corner Brook for the provincial competition

and qualified for the nationals that were held in Quebec.

The team is coached by Captain Ambrose Patterson, who has given his time and

expertise to biathlons since 1997. Members of the team include Warrant Officer

2, Natasha Baker from Little Burnt Bay, who has competed at the national level

for three years; Flight Corporal Jennifer Wells of Lewisporte, who made her

second trip to the nationals; and also first-year cadet Chelsey Pelley of

Lewisporte, who made her first appearance at this level.

Honourable members, please join with me in congratulating Captain Patterson,

Natasha, Jennifer, and Chelsey on a job well done.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for District of Humber Valley.

MR. BALL: Mr. Speaker, I rise in this hon. House today to congratulate

Deer Lake Dolphins Swim Team member Ryan George, who has recently been named to

the swimming team that will be representing our Province at the 2013 Canada

Summer Games that will be held in Sherbrooke, Quebec this summer.

Ryan, who is the son of Derek and Crystal George, is a very dedicated and a

motivated swimmer who has impressed many with his skill set and speed. Ryan has

put a tremendous amount of training and preparing into these games. He is one of

only two swimmers from the Western Region of our Province to earn a spot on the

twenty-four member swim team that is competing in the 2013 games.

Mr. Speaker, representing our Province at the Canada Summer Games is an

opportunity of a lifetime for all young athletes. This will create memories that

will last forever.

I ask all members of this House to join me in extending congratulations and

good luck to Ryan George and all the Summer Games team as they compete in

Sherbrooke this August.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for the District of St. Barbe.

MR. BENNETT: Mr. Speaker, I rise in this hon. House today to recognize

the tremendous effort of the War Memorial Committee and to congratulate their

success in seeing the Regional War Memorial completed in the St. Barbe district.

Sixty names are inscribed on the monument.

Regrettably, we can expect to be plagued by war into the future. Fortunately,

we can expect other gallant men and women to serve in order that we may live

freely and in peace. Their names will also be added to this War Memorial.

Some four years ago, a committee with members Adrian Payne, Scott Hutchings

as co-chairs, Harold Payne, Glenda Bavis, Nora Shears, and Daphne O'Leary

decided they wanted to erect a Regional War Memorial to commemorate the brave

people in the region from Sally's Cove to Daniel's Harbour who served in the

First and Second War Wars, as well as future veterans.

They have been continually fundraising, and fundraising is ongoing for

landscaping and maintenance of the site. Their efforts plus government support

has resulted in this War Memorial that serves as a lasting reminder of the

sacrifices of our veterans, and the men and women who continue to serve our

country.

I ask all members of this House to join me in congratulating the War Memorial

Committee.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of Conception Bay East

Bell Island.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. BRAZIL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I stand in this House to acknowledge an award winning organization in my

district. I refer to the Kin Club of Paradise. This club was established in 2009

through an amalgamation of the existing Kinsmen and Kinette members in Paradise.

Through the dedicated commitment of its members, the club has donated tens of

thousands of dollars to support such groups and programs as Heart & Stroke

Foundation, multiple sclerosis, cystic fibrosis, numerous scholarships and

charities, while sponsoring the Viking 905 Cadet Corp.

All members take a leadership role with the organization, however, I want to

recognize one member who has been acknowledged for his outstanding contribution

to this organization and is designated as a lifetime member. Mr. Gerry Healey

himself has been a member of the Kinsmen organization for the past thirty-seven

years and has served in many positions.

This past year Gerry was acknowledged as the outstanding Deputy Governor for

District 7, Atlantic Canada, and he was award the Kin District 7 Atlantic Canada

Award for Outstanding Zone Leadership. Mr. Healey and all members of the Kin

Club of Paradise are to be commended for their commitment to improving the

resident's lives.

I ask all members to join me in congratulating them.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of Terra Nova.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. S. COLLINS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise today to recognize the efforts of a school from my district. Smallwood

Academy in Gambo recently held their first ever Cancer Awareness Fair in

Education, or CAFE, which took place on April 12.

Each grade level from K-12 participated by performing educational pieces as

well as preparing projects that were displayed around the gymnasium. This event

was superbly organized, having participation from health professionals, school

district, community leaders, and I was happy to speak on behalf of government

in particular the Minister of Education. While there were a number of speakers,

undoubtedly the most powerful words spoken were from three cancer survivors.

Their message to students was simple, Mr. Speaker. Cancer can be beaten, and it

is through such educational activities that we become more aware and more

mindful of ways to live healthy and decrease the chance of ever getting cancer.

I would like to recognize the entire staff and student body of Smallwood

Academy for organizing and hosting such a wonderful event, but in particular I

would like to single out Ms Jo-Ann Broders who championed this from the very

beginning and quarterbacked its success.

I ask all hon. members to join me in commending their hard work.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Ministerial Statements.

Statements by Ministers

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Municipal Affairs.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. O'BRIEN: Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today in this hon. House

to highlight key investments in Budget 2013 to support the people and

communities of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Budget 2013 demonstrates the continued commitment of the provincial

government to assist towns and communities as they grow and thrive. We have

listened to the needs of large and small municipalities around the Province, and

we have met with Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador to determine the best

path forward for communities in this Province.

Mr. Speaker, through Budget 2013 we have made a commitment to begin

discussions with Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador on a review of the

provincial-municipal fiscal framework to ensure that it is sustainable and fair

for all municipalities in the Province. These discussions will begin this month.

In addition, we will maintain Municipal Operating Grants (MOGs) at existing

funding levels for communities under 11,000 residents for 2013 and we have

budgeted $22 million to fund a new MOG formula in 2014, which is a 38 per cent

increase to smaller municipalities. It will also see that most municipalities

will see an increase in their funding, and none will see a decrease.

Mr. Speaker, in recognition of the importance placed on infrastructure

funding for our large municipalities, this Budget includes $25 million to create

a new capital works program for the seven municipalities in the Province with

populations greater than 11,000. These communities are St. John's, Conception

Bay South, Mount Pearl, Paradise, Corner Brook, Gander, and Grand Falls-Windsor.

On top of these new programs, we will also continue funding for the second

year of a $130 million capital works program. This investment provides funding

for important infrastructure projects right across the Province, especially in

rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

Mr. Speaker, the provincial government is answering the call of towns and

communities in Newfoundland and Labrador. We have spoken with mayors from

municipalities across the Province and they have responded positively to the

initiatives in Budget 2013. We are now delivering a full suite of programs which

will meet and exceed these needs, and will allow us to sit down for a meaningful

and complete review of the provincial-municipal fiscal framework.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Bay of Islands.

MR. JOYCE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank the minister for the advance copy. I can see that the government is

in a bit of a bind trying to find some good news out of the Budget because this

is the fifth time this minister announced the same press release the fifth

time.

Mr. Speaker, out of this press release, I will tell you what has not changed.

There was a commitment started in 2008 for the fiscal arrangements so we are

supposed to jump with joy because now they are going to commit to starting

negotiations that they committed back in 2008. We are also supposed to be happy

because there are 160 municipalities without proper drinking water and have boil

orders. This is the kind of stuff we have to work on and say there might be good

news.

If the good news is about the $25 million to the seven municipalities, why

are they all banding together to find some way to fight it? What happens when

this $25 million is gone? The City of Corner Brook will be out $650,000 from

here to eternity, but they are supposed to be happy because they may get a few

dollars this year. Ten years down the road, they are going to be out millions

and millions.

Mr. Speaker, if you are going to make an announcement and try to make it

good, have something concrete, something that you know is going to be done

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. JOYCE: and not something that was committed in 2008 that you are

doing now.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. John's East.

MR. MURPHY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I counted four releases on the same thing. It is almost up there with the

same announcements that we see on the CBS Bypass, the numbers are that much.

I would like to thank the minister for the advance copy of his statement. I

would like to say while they are giving in one hand, Mr. Speaker, they are also

taking from the other in various other departments.

One need only look at the Newfoundland Liquor Corporation that is projected

to make another $15 million in the next year. What did they do? They took away

grants from cities like Corner Brook and from the City of St. John's. The City

of St. John's lost in this Budget. Not only did they gain with the minister's

program here, but my city lost $100,000 in extra funding. That carries on with

the same policy of this government

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. MURPHY: not paying taxes on municipal infrastructure on government

buildings that are contained within the city.

I will leave it at that, Mr. Speaker, but it is certainly something for this

government to think about. They should pay their taxes.

Thank you very much.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Service Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. MCGRATH: Mr. Speaker, I rise in this hon. House to acknowledge April

28, this Sunday, as Canada's National Day of Mourning. This solemn occasion

commemorates workers who have been killed, injured or who have suffered illness

due to workplace-related hazards and incidents.

Mr. Speaker, all across Canada, families, friends and co-workers of those

seriously affected or lost in a work-related incident will be coming together in

support of those still with us, and to remember those who sadly are not.

In 2012, six workers lost their lives in our Province in workplace incidents,

and twenty succumbed to occupational disease. Although any workplace death or

injury is too many, we are seeing encouraging improvements.

Just last week, the Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission

reported the number of workplace injuries resulting in lost-time compensation

claims has declined to the lowest level ever recorded in our Province.

Additionally, the total number of lost-time workplace injuries in 2012 was

3,742, the lowest number reported in fifty years.

Mr. Speaker, we also recognize the impact occupational disease has on the

lives of workers. An example of this is the completion of the registry of

information about former employees and contractual workers of the Baie Verte

asbestos mine. This registry, the first of its kind in Canada, will be a

valuable tool to assist in the adjudication of asbestos-related claims arising

from the Baie Verte mines.

The Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission works closely with

the Occupational Health and Safety Branch of Service NL to enhance safety in all

types of workplaces throughout Newfoundland and Labrador. Last year, 1,081

potential workplace injuries and deaths were prevented through Occupational

Health and Safety enforcement intervention. Furthermore, over 15,300 unsafe work

practices were rectified and corrected. By working together, employees,

employers, and government can build an even stronger safety culture that will

reduce workplace injuries and deaths.

Mr. Speaker, I will be participating in a wreath-laying ceremony this Sunday

to remember those who have been killed while working. On the National Day of

Mourning, our thoughts will be with those who have been affected by workplace

injury and death. This day is an important reminder for all of us to be ever

vigilant so we can all go home safe at the end of the work day.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for Torngat Mountains.

MR. EDMUNDS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank the minister for the advance copy of his statement. Mr. Speaker, it

is indeed important that we take the time to commemorate workers who have been

killed, injured or suffered illness due to their work. Any injury, as the

minister said, at a workplace is too many, and we must continue to make our

workplaces safe.

Mr. Speaker, while I am encouraged to hear from the minister that lost-time

compensation claims in our Province are at their lowest level, 2012 saw an

increase in lost-time incident rates for agriculture and fish harvesting.

We should be seeing decreasing in lost-time injuries in all of our

industries, so I call on the minister not to be complacent because of the

overall numbers from 2012 and to continue his department's important work to

make all our workplaces safe.

Mr. Speaker, I, too, will be present at the ceremony on Sunday representing the

Official Opposition and the Liberal Party. On the National Day of Mourning, I

encourage all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians to mark the occasion and keep

their thoughts with those who have been affected by workplace injury and death.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Third Party.

MS MICHAEL: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

I thank the minister for the advance copy of his statement. First of all, of

course, I would like to pass on my condolences to the families of the six

workers who died on the job this year and the twenty who were lost due to

occupational diseases.

I am glad to see that our numbers are improving, but we have a lot more to do

to work towards our safety work culture. It is not enough to speak about the

issue; I do urge government to deal with the issues in a more timely fashion.

For example, we waited two years on the announcement on the dust study for

miners in Labrador West. We finally have it, and I am glad of that. Hopefully,

we may see lives saved because of it.

The registry for the Baie Verte miners was also too long in coming, and we

are still waiting for an offshore safety board that Commissioner Robert Wells

recommended in the Offshore Helicopter Safety Inquiry.

We cannot sit on our laurels. While we will all be at the memorial on Sunday,

Mr. Speaker, that is not enough. We require more action.

Thank you so much.

MR. SPEAKER: Oral Questions.

Oral Questions

MR. SPEAKER: The Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

This government recently introduced a needs-based formula for education that

would ensure quality education for all students, no matter where the student

lived or how many students attended the school. This government has now

flip-flopped and removed 40 per cent of that funding to these students.

I ask the Premier: Why are you deliberately denying students access to

quality programs and education?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Education.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN: Mr. Speaker, I would like to read a little response from May

6, 1999 from the Minister of Education for the Liberal Party.

"For anyone to suggest, with that kind of a decline in student enrolment, and

that kind of reduction in the number of schools, that we should not look at a

reduction in the number of teachers, is being totally unrealistic and

irresponsible."

Mr. Speaker, in 2008 we introduced a needs-based teacher allocation. Because

of that needs-based allocation, we presently have 265 more teachers in the

system than would have been prior to that. Mr.Speaker, our investment in

education is strong, continues to be strong, and we will see it into the future.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It will be interesting to hear the minister if he went back and just dug into

the archives of his own government's press releases in 2008 about this very

program. Why didn't he mention the 160 teachers who are coming out as a result

of Budget 2013?

Mr. Speaker, the minister has said publicly that he is hoping to have all the

board transition completed by the end of August. The key word here is hope.

There is no certainty there. The transition is going to be a difficult process

and will take time to complete.

I ask the Premier: Why are you willing to put the quality of education for

our children at risk when you cannot ensure that this will be done by September?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Education.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN: Mr. Speaker, we have decided to invest where it is most

important, that being in students and teachers.

Mr. Speaker, the member got up yesterday and made a comment about some of the

regional boards in Burin and other places around the Province, the satellite

offices that are not going to be in service. Mr. Speaker, that is totally not

true. What we are doing is where the boards have identified vacant spaces; we

are going to put the staff in those vacant spaces. Are they suggesting that we

have vacant spaces and we continue to pour out rent? Mr. Speaker, that is not

what we are about.

In the restructuring of these boards, it is the financial side of it that is

being collapsed. Mr. Speaker, that strong regional presence will still be there.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Well, the minister just needs to go around and do the inventory on empty

offices because of Budget 2013. There are lots of them, so he need not worry

about paying rent in offices.

Mr. Speaker, we have heard from boards and trustees from all over this

Province that this has been an ill thought-out plan. The boards have spoken out

publicly. Trustees have resigned, with the latest one as early as today. The

President of the Teachers' Association has even written the Premier, pleading

that these cuts would be reversed.

I ask the Premier: Is this enough? Is this a compelling argument for you to

review those cuts, just like you did in Justice?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Education.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN: Mr. Speaker, I have to say one thing. Yesterday one of the

members over there referred to the volunteer trustees who have come forward as

hacks referred to them as hacks. This is Volunteer Week. These are trustees

who serve on a board for the best interests of students in this Province.

Mr. Speaker, we are looking at combining the corporate side. Where is our

investment and our support? With teachers and students.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Maybe the minister will speak to those 160 teachers who are coming out of the

system and then let them decide if you are minding what is happening in the

education system.

Mr. Speaker, in the Estimates for Transportation and Works the minister

confirmed the elimination of one complete water bomber crew: a pilot, a

co-pilot, and a mechanic. This comes at a time when the possibility of fires is

much greater because of rising temperatures and drier weather.

I ask the Premier: What areas of our Province do you see downgraded with the

reduction in water bomber service?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Transportation.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. DAVIS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I am very proud to say that this government has invested heavily

in firefighting services. In recent years, we have invested $120 million to

purchase four new state-of-the-art water bombers for this Province; CL-415 is

state of the art and the best available (inaudible)

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. DAVIS: The older water bombers that we have, CL-215s, are forty years

old. They are aging. They work on an older type of fuel called avgas. We will

have one of those posted in Gander this year and one of them in Wabush. In

Wabush, we actually have to send the fuel in to supply for that aircraft because

it is becoming more difficult as time goes on to find locations where avgas is

available. We are also rightsizing our crews to go along with that, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL: There we go, rightsizing again, Mr. Speaker. The minister did

not answer which areas of the Province would see a downgrade in service.

Mr. Speaker, the forest is one of our greatest natural resources and it can

be one of our greatest enemies, as we all know. We learned this last year with

the evacuation of communities because of fires.

I ask the Premier: Why are you putting the lives of people at risk by

downgrading firefighting services? Is people's safety a compelling enough

argument?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. DAVIS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, this year we will have our water bombers, our new CL-415s

located. We will have one located in St. John's, we will have one located in

Gander, we will have one located in Deer Lake, and we will have one located in

Happy Valley-Goose Bay. We will have a CL-215, which we have two older CL-215s.

One of those will be in Wabush, and the spare backup CL-215 will be located in

Gander. The same as we had last year, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Torngat Mountains.

MR. EDMUNDS: Mr. Speaker, today the Innu of Sheshatshiu have shut down

and boarded up the CYFS office in their community. This comes after allegations

of child removal by CYFS staff.

I ask the minister: Can you confirm what is actually happening today in

Sheshatshiu?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SHEA: Mr. Speaker, the Department of Child, Youth and Family Services

is concerned and has a mandate. It is the priority of the department to ensure

the safety of children in Newfoundland and Labrador. When children are in need

of protective intervention services, the social workers of CYFS work with the

family.

Mr. Speaker, in working with the family, sometimes there are situations where

children have to be removed from the family home. It always remains the priority

of the department to continue to work with the family to try to reintegrate the

child back into the family.

Mr. Speaker, there are occasions, unfortunately, when children are unable to

be returned to their home. It is certainly the priority of this department to

work with families and to protect the children.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Torngat Mountains.

MR. EDMUNDS: Mr. Speaker, these are very serious allegations by the Innu

who have been seeking help for a long time. As of now, CYFS staff is out of

their offices in Sheshatshiu with nowhere to perform their duties.

I ask the minister: What is your department prepared to do to deal with this

very serious situation and these very serious allegations out of Sheshatshiu and

Natuashish?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SHEA: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I can tell the hon. member that the Department of Child, Youth

and Family Services are more than willing to work with the Innu communities. We

want to ensure the safety of the children in all the communities in Newfoundland

and Labrador, and we have absolutely no problem working with the Innu

communities. As a matter of fact, last week or the week before, a member of the

executive visited the leadership in Natuashish to talk to the leadership. We had

our zone manager in the area. We also have social workers on the ground.

Mr. Speaker, we will continue to do what we need to do to ensure the safety

of the children, and we will do it in complete co-operation with the leadership

of the Innu communities.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. Barbe.

MR. BENNETT: Mr. Speaker, in 2004 this government paid $3.5 million for a

groundfish quota, which they then assigned to Icewater in Arnold's Cove. We

learned in December that 2 million pounds of that yellowtail is not being

caught.

I ask the minister: How long are you going to let our yellowtail sit in the

water when processors and harvesters would like to have a chance to catch it?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Education.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, there is, I believe, a pilot project that is going underway,

because some folks are saying that they can harvest and make profit off this.

Mr. Speaker, we are entering into a process whereby that is going to be allowed

as a pilot fishery to see if indeed it can be successful.

Mr. Speaker, again, this is another example of government working with

industry for the betterment of the harvesters in this Province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. Barbe.

MR. BENNETT: Mr. Speaker, in Estimates this morning we learned that

government just made a $2 million equity investment. They bought shares in

financially strapped Icewater so that they could fix up a used fishing vessel.

Mr. Speaker: Would it not make more sense if this government properly

invested in the fishery into the fisheries loans board so all these transactions

could be open and fair to all harvesters?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Innovation, Business and Rural

Development.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HUTCHINGS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, we need to make no apology for investing in rural Newfoundland

and Labrador in traditional industry.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HUTCHINGS: When you hear it from the other side, we are not investing

in rural Newfoundland and Labrador. What we have here is a company that

purchased a vessel about a year and a half ago. Due to the original cost, it

escalated because of Canadianization' on that vessel. We recognize the

importance of the industry. They came to us for assistance. We have no intention

we were not interested in shutting it down, like the hon. member, I guess, is

suggesting, not at all.

This company was going through a difficult time. We went through the normal

process of evaluation, business analysis, looked at it and certainly it was a

sound investment, we believe, in the industry, in rural Newfoundland and

Labrador. We will not back away from that, not like the hon. member. We believe

in rural Newfoundland and Labrador. Where we can invest, we will invest, and we

make no apologies for that, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Burgeo La Poile.

MR. A. PARSONS: Mr. Speaker, the Faculty of the College of the North

Atlantic have made a compelling argument for keeping the college's ABE program.

The minister states the reason for cutting the program is the cost of delivery

and the low graduation rate.

I ask the minister: Why do you think the cost is higher and graduation rate

lower at the college's ABE program?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I have received a copy of the letter from the Faculty of CNA and

their most compelling statement in the letter is their last: With a looming

skilled worker shortage and the need for an educated workforce at an all-time

high, it is vital that your government make investment in our public college

system a priority.

Mr. Speaker, we have done that since we received the White Paper on

Education. We are going to continue to do that, Mr. Speaker, and we are going to

answer the letter and the points in the letter put to us by the Faculty of CNA.

Mr. Speaker, we are not going to pay more for less. Our motto is to pay less

for more for a better result. Mr. Speaker, we are going to continue to do that.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Burgeo La Poile.

MR. A. PARSONS: Mr. Speaker, one of the things referenced in the letter

is government's sound bytes in justifying this, and certainly we just heard more

of them.

Speaking of the White Paper, income support clients must go through ABE at

the college. This government's White Paper on Education cited income support

clients as having fewer education credentials to begin with and overall a weaker

skill set on a number of dimensions.

I ask the Premier: Don't you think the increased barriers faced by income

support clients are a considerable factor in the increased cost and lower

graduation rate?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, when we came to government in 2003, I was honoured to receive an

appointment to the lead business department of government, Minister of

Innovation, now Innovation, Business and Rural Development.

I was also appointed, as my participation in that department, to the Poverty

Reduction Strategy, Mr. Speaker, and because I had experience in community, had

come from that background, had experience as a social worker, as did many of my

colleagues, and brought varied experiences from a number of my colleagues, Mr.

Speaker, we were able to recognize what the challenges were before people who

were trying to reattach to the workforce, and we dealt with it not only in the

White Paper but in the Poverty Reduction Strategy.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Burgeo La Poile.

MR. A. PARSONS: I guess the Premier, Mr. Speaker, is referencing the

Poverty Reduction program that was recently gutted and had the director position

not filled and competitions not filled.

The John Noseworthy report states contradicting numbers on ABE seats at the

College. In a couple of instances, he states that the department receives 1,250

seats for $6 million and that 349 of those must be used by Income Support

clients. Elsewhere he states that the department receives 600 seats and that all

600 must be filled by Income Support clients.

So I ask the minister: Can you clarify how many seats have the department

reserved for ABE and how many are reserved for Income Support clients?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SHEA: Mr. Speaker, I would like to first comment on the hon. member's

statements regarding the Poverty Reduction Strategy. This Province, this

government, has invested approximately $150 million annually into the Poverty

Reduction Strategy. The hon. member makes it sound as if a director position is

the Poverty Reduction Strategy.

Mr. Speaker, the Poverty Reduction Strategy is programs and services that are

offered across various departments of government that help people who are most

vulnerable or who are in need of services. That has been a commitment of this

government. We wanted a ten-year period to transform the Province from the

Province with the highest rate of poverty to the lowest rate of poverty. Mr.

Speaker, the people who receive the services under the Poverty Reduction

Strategy understand what we are trying to accomplish.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for Burgeo La Poile.

MR. A. PARSONS: Now that the minister has answered my statement, I will

ask my question again: Can you clarify how many seats the department received

for ABE and how many are reserved for Income Support clients?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SHEA: Mr. Speaker, what I would like to clarify is that as we

transform the way that we deliver ABE in Newfoundland and Labrador, we also the

program being inclusive. So we do not have to segregate people in this Province

and say because you receive Income Support you have to go to this classroom. If

you are more independent and able to fall under other government programs, you

go to this classroom.

Mr. Speaker, as we move forward, we want to ensure that ABE is available to

students who need it. It will be unnecessary to segregate people because they

receive Income Support.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Burgeo La Poile.

MR. A. PARSONS: Mr. Speaker, the John Noseworthy report points out there

is a financial incentive for public and private colleges to maximize the

duration of ABE training. An argument could be made that an incentive exists to

push people through the system, as the minister has emphasized the importance of

the delivery being cheap and quick.

I ask the minister: What happens to a society's education system when cheap

and quick is the priority?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SHEA: Mr. Speaker, the ABE program as it is delivered today and will

be delivered in the future is a prescribed curriculum. The curriculum has been

developed. The students will be tested on the curriculum. The student-to-teacher

ratio has been established and the qualifications of the teacher or the

instructor have also been determined, Mr. Speaker.

The same program delivered by qualified people in a class ratio that has

already been established will be delivered into the future, Mr. Speaker.

Students who finish the ABE program will receive their diplomas and will be able

to move on based on the curriculum, not on the individual colleges.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Leader of the Third Party.

MS MICHAEL: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

This year's Budget will raise another $8 million from the tobacco tax. At the

same time, the government has ignored the call from key health-related

organizations to make smoking cessation medicines and nicotine replacement

therapies available, something which is done in every other province except one.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the Premier: Why she will not invest in smoking cessation

programs to help people quit smoking?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Finance.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENNEDY: Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker.

One of the issues that we had to look at in this year's Budget was whether or

not we would raise personal income taxes. I went through last week the

difficulty with that in terms of the number of people who pay the taxes in this

Province. We also then, Mr. Speaker, looked at whether or not we would raise the

HST. Having decided that consumption tax would affect everyone, we decided not

to go there.

The tax on cigarettes, what we did is we brought it up to a level that is

consistent with what is taking place in the rest of the country, Mr. Speaker.

There is nothing unusual about it.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Leader of the Third Party.

MS MICHAEL: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

No, there is nothing unusual about raising the tobacco tax, and that is not

my point. What is unusual is that this government is not doing what other

provinces are doing, and is using some of that tax to put in place the cessation

therapies and medicines. This government has been asked by the Newfoundland and

Labrador Lung Association to take $500,000 of the new $8 million and invest it

in the smoking cessation products.

Now I ask the minister to be clear: Why won't the minister consider doing

this option which has been asked for and which other provinces are doing?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Finance.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENNEDY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

One of the areas that we have invested most heavily in as a government is the

health care system. In the year 2000, Mr. Speaker, there was a $1.2 billion

investment in health care. Today, we invest $2.9 billion or, Mr. Speaker, 142

per cent increase over that period of time; 38.7 per cent of our provincial

Budget goes to health care at present.

To answer the question, quite simply, we had to choose between putting money

into the cancer drugs which we did, Mr. Speaker, and you will see there are

new cancer therapies that have been provided for or putting it into smoking

cessation. We chose cancer drugs, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Third Party.

MS MICHAEL: I find that hilarious, Mr. Speaker, comparing the cost of

cancer drugs with smoking, which is a cause of cancer.

I ask the Premier then: Has she asked her ministers to do an analysis of how

much money would be saved in future health care by spending $500,000 now to take

care of getting rid of smoking?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Finance.

MR. KENNEDY: Mr. Speaker, one of the things that have to take place

within our health care system and in society, in general, is the preventive

aspect of health. We all have to be responsible, Mr. Speaker, for our own

health.

The issue being forward by the member opposite could apply to any aspect of

the health care system. What we have to do as a government is make choices.

There are limited monies to go around. We have an aging population, Mr. Speaker,

and the issues we face are the same as faced in the rest of this country.

Let me give you an example. In our Province, we have fifteen hospitals,

twenty-two community health centres, 114 community clinics, and twenty long-term

care facilities in a Province with 500,000 people. Hamilton, a city with the

same population, has three hospitals.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Leader of the Third Party.

MS MICHAEL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We will never get through to them on the importance of preventative health

measures.

Mr. Speaker, action speaks louder than words and show priorities. In the 2013

Estimates, government slashed the Mother Baby Nutrition Supplement by $100,000,

a full quarter of last year's allotment. This same Budget saw government giving

$170,000 to Vale, the richest nickel mining company in the world, for two

hydrometric stations for the Voisey's Bay Project.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the Premier: How can she defend giving grants to the rich

multi-national mining companies ahead of nutrition of infants in this Province?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SHEA: Mr. Speaker, I would like to clarify that there has been no

reduction in the amount of funds received by mothers in the Mother Baby

Nutrition Supplement. Any reductions in the Budget to that program would be

related to the number of people who draw down on that program. Based on the

needs, the number of people who draw down on it continue to have access of that

program. If the numbers decrease, the Budget decreases because of that, not

because the benefits to the parents or to the mothers have been reduced.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Third Party.

MS MICHAEL: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

I hope if the numbers go up this year over and above what they are estimating

that the money will be there to take care of the infants in this Province.

Mr. Speaker, last week when the Premier responded to my questions about why

she is pitting the vulnerable against the ill, she made no reference to the

point of my question.

I ask the Premier: If she is concerned about the high cost of cancer drugs,

why did she lay off four Wellness Division consultants in the Department of

Health. Government seems to be cutting off its nose to spite its face.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Finance.

MR. KENNEDY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

What took place in the Health department, Mr. Speaker, was a rigorous

analysis of the delivery of services. I can assure you that no one worked harder

during this Budget process than the Minister of Health and Community Services

and her officials. They looked at how the department was structured. They

reorganized the department and found efficiencies and effectiveness within the

department.

For the member opposite to criticize the fact that we are putting money into

cancer drugs, Mr. Speaker, is quite frankly, shameful.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. John's Centre.

MS ROGERS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the Premier said she avidly works against violence against women

and children, yet she shut down the Family Violence Intervention Court without

warning, leaving women victims vulnerable and panicked about what to do next.

The Family Violence Intervention Court is one of the most effective programs

that keep women and children victims of domestic violence safe. It is supported

by judges, prosecutors, defence attorneys, social workers, Child Youth, and

Family Services victims and offenders. Mr. Speaker, what can be a more

compelling argument than the safety and lives of women and children.

I ask the Premier: Will she reinstate the Family Violence Intervention Court?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind everybody that it is important to

understand the dynamics of violence in this Province and around the world. There

has been, for me personally, a devastating ignorance of the impacts of violence

and what violence looks like in the work of this government and the work of this

House of Assembly during the last number of weeks.

Mr. Speaker, my record and the record of this government speaks for itself.

Anti-violence has been something

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: - that I personally have been engaged in, Mr.

Speaker, all of my adult life, and I can point to shelters, I can point to

programs, I can point to funding of transition houses. I can point to gender and

diversity agreements, Mr. Speaker, because at the heart of violence is a lack of

access to economic ways of supporting yourself and your family, Mr. Speaker. We

are proud of the work that we have done as a government with regard to this

issue.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. John's Centre.

MS ROGERS: Mr. Speaker, family violence experts have pointed to the

Family Violence Intervention Court as best practices and ours has been shut down

unceremoniously. Our correctional facilities are full, often overcrowded.

Incarceration is very expensive. Avoidable incarceration is a waste of

taxpayers' money.

Mr. Speaker, now that the minister has abruptly cancelled the Electronic

Monitoring Program with no fallback plan, what are the minister's plans to house

additional inmates who may have otherwise gotten conditional sentences?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, this government recognizes the vulnerability of victims of

violence. It is a terrible reality in this Province when more women, for

example, are murdered or killed than soldiers in a war zone. We have worked

diligently to make people aware, and I am afraid we have significant work yet to

do, Mr. Speaker, in our anti-violence initiatives. Not only in terms of the

committee's work that we support, what we do for families, what we do for

employment, and what we do in our anti-poverty campaign. Mr. Speaker, the work

goes on and on. Our record is second to none.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for St. John's North.

MR. KIRBY: Mr. Speaker, a number of Adult Basic Education instructors at

the College of the North Atlantic have been told by supervisors that they are

better off not speaking out about the privatization of ABE.

Can the minister tell us if this is based on a directive from her office? If

not, why are we are hearing from people across the Province who are afraid to

speak out about your Budget cuts?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SHEA: Mr. Speaker, it is not a directive from my office.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for St. John's North.

MR. KIRBY: ABE instructors are asking if government's program completion

figures show that many ABE students at the College of the North Atlantic

transfer their credits back to high school in order to receive a high school

diploma instead of an ABE diploma from CNA.

Will the minister finally clear the air and release the full details of the

ABE enrolment and graduation analysis that was carried out to justify

government's decision to privatize the program?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SHEA: Mr. Speaker, as I have said, the ABE program will continue to be

offered in Newfoundland and Labrador in September. It will just be offered in

venues other than the College of the North Atlantic. It may be offered by

private institutions or by community groups, Mr. Speaker.

What I can say is today, based on the enrolment figures in the ABE program in

this Province, we have approximately 2,000 students enrolled in ABE. Sixty per

cent today have chosen not to attend the College of the North Atlantic. Forty

per cent, approximately 800 or maybe lower, are students at the College of the

North Atlantic.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The member has time for a very quick question without

preamble.

MR. KIRBY: Is the Premier unaware that students are forced to borrow

thousands of dollars more to attend private training institutions instead of

attending College of the North Atlantic? Is she aware of that?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills, for

a quick response.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SHEA: Mr. Speaker, students who fall under the mandate of Advanced

Education and Skills, whether they are under Income Support or the LMDA

programming, receive funding to attend ABE. Mr. Speaker, we feel that as we move

forward there are cost-saving measures we can incorporate into this department,

yet be able to offer that program to the people of the Province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The time for Question Period has expired.

Presenting Reports by Standing and Select Committees.

Tabling of Documents.

Notices of Motion.

Answers to Questions for which Notice has been Given.

Petitions.

Petitions

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Burgeo La Poile.

MR. A. PARSONS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Newfoundland and Labrador in Parliament assembled, the petition of the

undersigned residents humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS home care allows the elderly and people with disabilities to remain

within the comfort and security of their own homes, home care also allows people

to be discharged from hospital earlier; and

WHEREAS many families find it very difficult to recruit and retain home care

workers for their loved ones; and

WHEREAS the PC Blue Book 2011 as well as the 2012 Speech from the Throne

committed that government would develop a new model of home care and give people

the option of receiving that care from family members; and

WHEREAS government has given no time commitment for when government plans to

implement paying family caregivers;

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

Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to implement a new home care model to

cover family caregivers in the 2012-2013 Budget.

As in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

This is a topic that has obviously been very hot prior to the 2011 election.

It was something that was announced in the PC Blue Book and a lot of people

really enjoyed seeing that because they thought this issue, which is obviously

important, was going to be dealt with. It was next brought up in the 2012 Budget

and we heard about it again, but still no framework. Now, we did ask questions

on it last year and we got two answers. One was very soon, and one was very,

very soon.

The issue came up again this year in an otherwise pretty terrible Budget. We

had the announcement of a pilot program, $6.1 million for this year, and $8.2

million for next year for family care givers. Again, people got excited. It was

good news. It was something that we would applaud, but we have not been able to

get any details on this so far.

I have asked numerous questions, both here in the House and I have asked it

in Estimates, but we are not getting anywhere. I tend to believe there is

actually no plan in place. I do not know, Mr. Speaker, why you would promise

something if you actually have no concept as to how you are going to fulfill

that promise.

I hope I am wrong, because for the many people out there who are going to

avail of this, they want to see it. In fact, I had calls from a government

member's constituency today, people who are very interested. They want to talk

to me. They are very scared, actually. They said: Please keep asking about this.

We need this. We need to rely on this. That is why I am here putting this

petition in again today.

So I hope that the minister's answer which I am not sure, I think it was

soon now. We will see it at some point, hopefully in this calendar year. We are

going to keep asking about it and this is just another one of the petitions that

we will enter on that.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. John's North.

MR. KIRBY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned residents of Newfoundland

and Labrador humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS students of the Adult Basic Education program at College of the North

Atlantic do not wish to attend private educational facilities; and

WHEREAS the College of the North Atlantic has the most accredited Adult Basic

Education program in Newfoundland and Labrador; and

WHEREAS students are concerned as to the availability of private institutions

and whether or not they can accommodate additional students;

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

House of Assembly to urge government to reverse the damaging decision to

students and reinstate the Adult Basic Education programming at the College of

the North Atlantic.

As in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr. Speaker, I believe it may be the third time that I have presented this

petition. The last time I stood up there were over 1,500 petitioners on the list

of petitions. This one has over 300 people from Marystown, Garnish, here in St.

John's - a number from St. John's - from St. Anthony, River of Ponds, a good

number from the Northern Peninsula, CBS and Mount Pearl. There are I believe a

little over 300 on this one.

I spoke to a gentleman yesterday in Labrador; he has collected about 300

petitions in a number of communities in Labrador. I do understand now there is

another petition that is circulating asking government to release their

calculations on the enrolment, graduation, and funding of Adult Basic Education.

As I have said before here in the House, and has been said by the other

Opposition party here, government's argument to shut down this program at

College of the North Atlantic and to privatize it has been unclear,

inconsistent, and sometimes incoherent. The government has suggested that the

cost of Adult Basic Education at the College of the North Atlantic is too

expensive compared to private training institutions.

The Premier said at one point that the program costs more than $7,000 at the

College of the North Atlantic. We got a different message from the minister at

one point. Then if you look in the John Noseworthy Business Transformation

Report, the suggestion is that there are 1,250 seats that were funded by $6

million. You do the math in that. It is less than $5,000.

We do not know which of the numbers is correct. There are also some questions

around the student success and graduation data, mixing of ABE, Level I, II, and

II. It is not the same thing. That is sort of the same as treating Level I, II,

and III of senior high schools as if they were the same.

There are a lot of outstanding questions. The best way to have some openness

and transparency here is for the minister, for the government, to release these

calculations.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. Barbe.

MR. BENNETT: To the hon. House of Assembly for the Province of

Newfoundland and Labrador in Parliament assembled, the petition of the

undersigned residents humbly sheweth.

WHEREAS home care allows the elderly and people with disabilities to remain

within the comfort and security of their own homes. Home care also allows people

to be discharged from hospital earlier; and

WHEREAS many families find it very difficult to recruit and retain home care

workers for their loved ones; and

WHEREAS the PC Blue Book 2011, as well as the 2012 Speech from the Throne,

committed that government would develop a new model of home care and give people

the option of receiving that care from family members; and

WHEREAS government has given no time commitment for when government plans to

implement paying family caregivers;

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

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

implement a new home care model to cover family caregivers.

As in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr. Speaker, this petition is signed by people from River of Ponds, Hawke's

Bay, Bellburns. There are a few dozen of these on these two sheets. The concern

that people have this is something which actually costs government nothing.

The people who we are speaking of are people who are already approved for home

care.

There is an example of a man in my district in Hawke's Bay. He is in his

mid-thirties, blind, hypertensive, and needs constant home care. He is approved

for fifty-six hours a week, eight hours a day. In his case, his mother is a

qualified home care provider; she is in her early sixties. If she provides the

home care to him, he loses two days. He loses sixteen hours. If his mother, who

is a qualified home care provider, cares for him, she gets paid for forty hours

and someone has to give him free home care for the next sixteen hours. If his

mother would go and work for the next-door neighbour, then two strangers could

come and provide care for him for fifty-six hours per week. It is completely

inequitable.

In another situation, Mr. Speaker, there is an elderly lady in the Town of

Port Saunders and her family members are very concerned. This lady suffers from

dementia. She does not take well to strangers in her home. Giving home care to

people who are suffering dementia is very trying for the home care workers;

consequently, there is a certain amount of turnover.

From time to time when she gets a new home care provider, that person is a

stranger to her. She absolutely panics; she is in terror because there is a

stranger in her home. On the other hand, if government would go along with what

it said it would do at no additional cost, a niece of hers, who is well known to

her and who is a qualified home care provider, could provide this very care for

this lady. She would not be traumatized every time there is turnover for her

home care provider.

Mr. Speaker, this is not something that costs government extra. It is the

same cost. It was promised. It is now in the Budget, but there is still no

action. All these people ask for is action.

Thank you.

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for St. John's East.

MR. MURPHY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned residents of Newfoundland

and Labrador humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS the process of slickwater hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, injects

hazardous chemicals into rock formations to extract oil, and is polluting

groundwater and air across North America; and

potential environmental impacts of shale oil and gas extraction in Canada,

including fracking; and

WHEREAS Quebec, Nova Scotia, and a number of US states have halted fracking

and others are introducing regulations specific to fracking; and

WHEREAS it is incumbent upon the provincial government to ensure that our

natural environment is protected from harmful industrial processes;

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

House of Assembly to urge government to impose a moratorium on slickwater

fracking until it develops comprehensive regulations and ensures that each

proposed project undergoes a conclusive environmental assessment to determine

whether it is safe for the environment, the integrity of water supplies, and

human health.

As in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr. Speaker, I have risen in the House on any number of times on this

petition. There is probably about another 300 names on this petition from places

such as Fox Island River, Stephenville, Port au Port; there are some here from

St. John's, Kippens, Campbells Creek, Boswarlos, and various communities all

around the areas of interest that the oil companies have in exploring shale oil

and gas from this particular region.

We know the risks of slickwater fracking. We know that it is a dangerous

process. We know that Quebec on January 5, 2011 halted fracking to the point

where they had thirty-one wells that were previously drilled and inspection

showed there were nineteen of these wells that were leeching natural gas and

polluting the environment.

There was a reason why Quebec stopped it. There is a reason why we have to

have vested interest in our own people's drinking water supplies. There are

various reasons we should have various interests in protecting our environment

and protecting the plants, for example, that are over there native to the Port

au Port Peninsula that are on the endangered list.

We know there are risks to industrial development as much as there are

possible benefits to it, but we have to be responsible for it. We have to be

careful in developing new regulations, I say to the Natural Resources Minister.

He has a vested interest in helping to develop this resource but we cannot be

careless and reckless about it.

We have Gros Morne National Park. We have the Western area of the Province

that brings in approximately $200 million of tourism dollars in the run of a

year out of a billion dollar industry in this Province. We have good reason to

protect our natural heritage here.

Three hundred more people are speaking to this issue, Mr. Speaker, amongst

all of the others that I have ever presented. These people want to be heard.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for Torngat Mountains.

MR. EDMUNDS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

A petition to the hon. House of Assembly of the Province of Newfoundland and

Labrador in Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned humbly

sheweth:

WHEREAS students of the Adult Basic Education program at the College of the

North Atlantic do not wish to attend privatized educational facilities; and

WHEREAS College of the North Atlantic has been the most accredited ABE

program in Newfoundland and Labrador; and

WHEREAS students are concerned as to the availability of private institutions

and whether or not they can accommodate additional students;

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

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

this damaging decision to the students and reinstate the Adult Basic Education

program at the College of the North Atlantic.

And as in duty bound your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr. Speaker, we have had petitions coming from all over this Province, from

one end to the other. I have had most of mine come from Labrador. I have had

petitions with 300 names on it from the community of Nain.

The petition that I submit today, Mr. Speaker, comes from the community of

Sheshatshiu. Also, I understand there are petitions coming from North West

River, Hopedale, and Happy Valley-Goose Bay. These students live in rural areas.

These students all realize the important role the College of the North Atlantic

plays in Adult Basic Education, Mr. Speaker, and they are concerned about losing

that second change. That second change is so important in many areas around this

Province, in fact, Mr. Speaker, in all areas.

We have students in the hundreds who have been accepted for Adult Basic

Education programs at the College of the North Atlantic, Mr. Speaker, but they

cannot get sponsorship funding now because of the decision by this government.

The decisions are impacting Adult Basic Education delivery through

infrastructure. Nobody knows what privatization will bring.

Mr. Speaker, I know the Nunatsiavut Government has funded 60 per cent of the

programs for its beneficiaries. The College of the North Atlantic funds the

other 40 per cent. Where is this other 40 per cent going to come from? Who is

going to cover the cost?

Mr. Speaker, I will have more petitions to come but I thank you for giving me

the opportunity.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. John's Centre.

MS ROGERS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned residents of Newfoundland

and Labrador humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS as a result of a recommendation in the Green report about wrongdoing

in the House of Assembly, there is now legislation that protects anyone who

speaks up with evidence of financial abuse or other impropriety in the

legislative branch; and

WHEREAS it is unfair for one group of civil servants to be protected by

whistle-blower legislation when another group is not; and

WHEREAS Justice Green stated that the financial wrongdoing in the House of

Assembly might have been discovered sooner if whistle-blower legislation had

been in place; and

WHEREAS the Cameron Inquiry into ER-PR testing found that problems with tests

could have come to light sooner, therefore lessening the impacts on patients, if

whistle-blower legislation had been in place; and

WHEREAS the Task Force on Adverse Events recommended an amendment to the

Regional Health Authorities Act to provide legal protection for employees

reporting occurrences or adverse events; and

WHEREAS whistle-blower protection legislation is in place elsewhere in Canada

and the provincial government promised similar legislation in the 2007 election

but has not kept that promise.

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

enact whistle-blower legislation to protect public sector employees in

provincial departments and agencies, including public corporations, regional

health authorities and school boards.

As in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr. Speaker, once again the people of the Province are clearly saying that

this is what they want. There is no justification for not going this route. We

have it across the country. The previous Minister of Justice said well, you

know, it is a very complicated issue, it is a very tedious issue and we are

watching other jurisdictions.

I have faith, as do the rest of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, that

our officials in our Justice department are well-educated. Well experienced

officials in our Justice department can make this work. They can wade through

the complexities. They can wade through what is tedious and they can come up

with whistle-blower protection that is in the best interest of the people of the

Province.

When we look over the last few years, the problems that we have had in our

House of Assembly with spending scandals, when we look at the Cameron Inquiry

with the ER-PR situation where some people may have died early because of that,

that in fact, we, above anybody else, our Province above any other province,

should know the importance of whistle-blower protection and legislation. It can

be done. It will not cost us anything. What it will do, it will make a safer

public service and safer services for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. Barbe.

MR. BENNETT: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS with declining enrolment, distance education by Internet is now an

accepted way to deliver educational services to students living in small

communities; and

WHEREAS students have little to no say in where they or their families

reside; and

WHEREAS many families do not have the ability to relocate so that their

children can access educational opportunities in larger centres; and

WHEREAS many small businesses rely on the Internet to conduct business; and

WHEREAS high-speed Internet permits a business to be more competitive than

slower dial-up service; and

WHEREAS no high-speed Internet service exists in the community of Bird Cove;

and

WHEREAS there are no plans to offer high-speed Internet to residents of this

community;

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

House of Assembly to urge the government of Newfoundland and Labrador to partner

with the private sector and offer high-speed Internet service to this community.

As in duty bound your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr. Speaker, this is a small incorporated community that is paying its way.

It is a community that suffered a significant population loss with the downturn

of the fishery. It is in recovery, it is coming back. They have done a lot of

very good work over the last several years since the downturn.

One of the attractions there is the site for whales. They have a whalebone

exhibition that tourists find quite attractive and interesting. They also have

other diggings of the Maritime Archaic Natives. So this is an area that could

really benefit from high-speed Internet. There are a few small tourist operators

there, and they could be much bigger.

Mr. Speaker, it is an area that when high-speed came to the region this

community got bypassed. That is not to say the service has not gone further

north. In fact, it did go further north and overstepped them. A relatively small

investment on the part of government, partnering with the private sector, would

see that these people were brought into the contemporary twenty-first century

with respect to high-speed Internet.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for The Straits White Bay North.

MR. MITCHELMORE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned residents of Newfoundland

and Labrador humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS students of the Adult Basic Education program at the College of the

North Atlantic do not wish to attend privatized educational facilities; and

WHEREAS College of the North Atlantic has the most accredited Adult Basic

Education program in Newfoundland and Labrador; and

WHEREAS students are concerned as to the availability of private institutions

and whether or not they can accommodate additional students;

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

House of Assembly to urge government to reverse this damaging decision to the

students and reinstate the Adult Basic Education programming at the College of

the North Atlantic.

As in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr. Speaker, this petition I believe has been presented this is the third

time by members today in this House. This petition is signed by my constituents

from St. Anthony, from Goose Cove, from Green Island Brook, from St. Anthony

Bight, from Great Brehat, from Raleigh, from Cook's Harbour, from St.

Lunaire-Griquet, from Englee, from Main Brook. It is very far-reaching across my

district on the Great Northern Peninsula.

One thing to acknowledge is that there are a number of people who go to the

College of the North Atlantic to maybe attend and take ABE for just a small

number of courses. They do pay a lower tuition rate when they do this

themselves. There are a number of people who are not being funded, whether it be

Income Support or the LMDA.

Where there is no other private institution on the Great Northern Peninsula,

it certainly has impacts. There may be the option of a community program, but it

is not providing a similar atmosphere for someone who requires maybe one or two

courses to complete and then would be transitioning in to the college system to

advance their own education.

On behalf of my petitioners I bring this forward. I acknowledge that I think

this is a mistake in terms of cutting the funding to ABE from the College of the

North Atlantic, and urge the government and other members of this House to

recognize this as well.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

[Technical difficulties]

Orders of the Day

MR. SPEAKER (Verge): The hon. the Government House Leader.

MR. KING: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

This time I call from the Order Paper, Motion 1, that this House approves in

general the budgetary policy of the government, the Budget Speech.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Torngat Mountains.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. EDMUNDS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Before I begin, I, too, would like to recognize volunteers this week

throughout the Province and the hours and hours of work that they put in, Mr.

Speaker, to support other services in our communities.

Mr. Speaker, I would just like to talk about the volunteers in the community

of Hopedale who work tirelessly to set up a program part of a national program

called Shave for the Brave. In a small town of about 500 people, the

volunteers put together a program which resulted in over $7,000 being raised.

That is no small feat in a small community. Mr. Speaker, hats off to people like

this and volunteers throughout our Province for the hours that they put in to

the betterment of our lives and our communities.

Mr. Speaker, this is my first address to the sub-amendment and it is

certainly an honour to rise and speak to Budget 2013 or I should say lack of

Budget. There are so many areas that you could zero in on in this Budget, but I

think one of the ones that are most important right now and I will have other

opportunities to address other areas is the issue that I just presented a

petition on, and that is the issue of Adult Basic Education.

Mr. Speaker, this second chance, as I have come to call it, is very important

to the people of this Province for the simple fact that sometimes you do not

always get a chance to complete high school as a young person for various

reasons, and this program that is offered through the College of the North

Atlantic gives many, many, many people that second chance.

Mr. Speaker, I would just like to go through a little bit of chronology in

respect to how this government led up to the Budget and what the impacts are.

When the House opened in March and I can reference Hansard many ministers

across the floor, Mr. Speaker, stood up and talked about the shortage of skilled

workers in our Province, the shrinking population in our Province, and this was

prior to Budget 2013.

Mr. Speaker, these government members have said this repeatedly that there

will be shortage or there is a shortage of skilled workers. This is on the heels

of major, major development in all corners of our Province from Vale Inco in the

North to Bull Arm in the South and everywhere in between.

Mr. Speaker, the demand there is for skilled workers in our Province. As

megaprojects come forward or any projects come forward, the demand for skilled

workers comes with it. Certainly at the protest site in Muskrat Falls last week,

there was a lot of mention about people wanting employment and people coming in

to take jobs away. This is the mentality that I see with this government, Mr.

Speaker, and all of this before Budget 2013.

The other thing that happened before Budget 2013, Mr. Speaker, was the

removal of the employment assistance offices around the Province. They removed

the employment assistance offices. This is before Budget 2013. This group of

people are skilled and highly trained, Mr. Speaker, and their job is to help

people find jobs. That is their job. These positions were cut before Budget

Then, Mr. Speaker, we come into Budget 2013. The numbers are debatable. It

depends on what side of the floor you approach, Mr. Speaker, but after laying

off the offices of the Employment Assistance Services they lay off 1,600

workers. That confuses me.

Mr. Speaker, we go on then and after the jobs were cut, they made cuts to the

ABE program for people to get educated to get into jobs. Mr. Speaker, this

confused me even further. First you cut the employment assistance offices, then

you lay off people, then you cut the training programs. What was this government

thinking?

What this did was create a Province-wide fear brought on by their own doing,

Mr. Speaker. Certainly people in this Province have a right to be afraid. We

have people who are afraid still of losing their jobs. We certainly have people

who are afraid to come forward about losing their jobs.

Mr. Speaker, this whole unfolding of events has led to many, many, many

petitions that have come forward in this House on different aspects of the

Budget, but I would like to focus on the cuts to Adult Basic Education. When I

spoke in the petition I will reiterate some of the comments that I made then

because I do have a little bit more time. Petitions have come from all over the

Province on the cuts to Adult Basic Education as it is delivered by the College

of the North Atlantic, including districts that representatives on the

government side are a part of.

I have heard the minister stand up and say the programs will be better and

that they will not be affected. Somehow the people are missing this because the

petitions I have received have come from Lake Melville and three communities:

Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Sheshatshiu, and North West River. I get petitions from

Nain, from Hopedale, and from Rigolet. These learning centres in rural

communities are worked through the College of the North Atlantic.

Mr. Speaker, as part of the funding arrangements, the Nunatsiavut Government

has an agreement with the College of the North Atlantic where they fund 60 per

cent of the seats that are sponsored by the Nunatsiavut Department of Education,

through that department. The college funds 40 per cent. It was a win-win

situation. The college did not have to pay the extra cost and certainly with

contributions from the Inuit in Labrador, seats were filled and seats were

funded.

Now, Mr. Speaker, all of a sudden you have, I do not know how many students

who are accepted to adult education programs through the College of the North

Atlantic, but they cannot get sponsorship because of the situation that has

occurred with changes proposed to the ABE program. There are reasons obviously

why the government has made these cuts. I do not happen to agree with them and

cannot agree with them, but there have been many, many success stories that have

come out of Adult Basic Education programs.

Mr. Speaker, throughout this Province, as people get up into high school,

through different reasons are forced to drop out or decide to drop out. The

bottom line, Mr. Speaker, is they do not complete high school, and we can write

it off as serious situations or people being young and not understanding their

full potential and the need for education in our Province. What Adult Basic

Education offered was that second chance that they talked about.

Mr. Speaker, there have been stories of single mothers with families who were

forced to drop out of school who took advantage of the Adult Basic Education

program. Took their families and completed that program and went on into the

trades. Mr. Speaker, some of them went on into university programs and graduated

with degrees because they had that second chance.

Once you get in the rural areas and you talk about privatization, are private

companies going to look at the numbers? Are they going to look at

infrastructure? Are they going to look at cost of delivery? That will increase,

because everyone else likes to jack up the price when they move north.

Mr. Speaker, these are the issues that affect the students and these are the

issues that I have been hearing about. I am certain that members across the way

have been hearing about them. I know from the Third Party, they have been

hearing about them. I think we have all been hearing about them. Mr. Speaker,

they would not be coming forward if they did not have that concern.

I am not standing up here, Mr. Speaker, and giving you these reasons because

I am trying to grab them out of thin air. These are the concerns that are coming

from the people in our Province. They are coming from the students in our

Province. They are coming from students who have completed the program. They are

coming from students who want to get into the program. They are coming from

families of students. They are coming from Adult Basic Education instructors,

from teachers who have worked with students who have not finished high school.

They are calling on behalf of students who they would like to see get back in

and get that second chance.

Mr. Speaker, when you look at the number of students who access this program

through the College of the North Atlantic, it makes you wonder why this

government would want to talk about the shortage of skilled workers in our

Province and then take away the chance for people to get skilled in the

workplace. I do not get it, Mr. Speaker, I do not get it.

Mr. Speaker, these concerns are also coming from Aboriginal groups. The

petition I presented earlier came from the Innu community of Sheshatshiu. These

people are trying to better themselves. They are trying hard, Mr. Speaker, but

they do see a lot of frustration. I have students in the community of North West

River, just across the bridge, walking distance, Mr. Speaker, who are concerned

about having that second chance.

In terms of the new programs and delivery, Mr. Speaker, we are not seeing

anything. All we are hearing is assurances that the program will be better and

students will not be affected. The concern I bring forward, as I said earlier,

and I will say it again, Mr. Speaker, is that their concern is about

privatization, not moving into areas because it would not be cost-effective for

them. We have heard in Question Period and statements around this House that

privatization is often more expensive.

Mr. Speaker, I am certainly one of the advocates who are saying leave the

program with the College of the North Atlantic. I spoke about this yesterday.

Programs in the College of the North Atlantic itself are being cut.

I talked about the automotive program, where there were sixteen students

enrolled, Mr. Speaker, and automotive companies have called the College of the

North Atlantic on an annual basis. They have put scholarships into the program.

The answer I received from the minister is that if a program is not effective

and it does not look like it is going to produce jobs, it is dropped.

These sixteen students are now put on a waiting list to move to another

campus and I am going to assume it is on the Island portion of the Province

to take this course that they want to take. How do you uproot a family that has

a facility right in their community and move to a different town and be put on a

waiting list? There is no confirmation that these students will be accepted into

a program at another campus. If they are on a waiting list, Mr. Speaker, then

the demand for students to enrol in this program is obviously there. It has not

gone away.

Now, Mr. Speaker, if you add up the number of people in this Province, and

you compare it to the number of vehicles operating in this Province, you will

quickly find that there is a demand for automotive personnel, or automotive

engineers or mechanics, or whatever you might want to call them.

When you are looking at industry, Mr. Speaker, the demand for automotive

technicians in industry is overwhelming. I can share with you, and I am sure the

Member for Lake Melville and the Member for Labrador West can share with you the

number of vehicles that are traveling around in Goose Bay employed at Muskrat

Falls with the little red flags. It is certainly very, very evident in that

community. Yes, there is a demand for these kinds of programs, and the students

are there to fill these courses.

Again, I keep going back to the government's statement that there is a need

for a skilled workforce. They have said that. Mr. Speaker, they have removed

that opportunity for people to get into the skilled workforce. I just do not get

it.

Mr. Speaker, I only have a short time left, I had planned to go on to some

other issues. I think I will just run the clock out on this. In North West River

there are eighteen students who want to get into Adult Basic Education programs.

A small community, small numbers, but why deny them the opportunity?

Mr. Speaker, the numbers are not in yet from Happy Valley-Goose Bay, but the

College of the North Atlantic at Happy Valley-Goose Bay accepts students from

the North Coast who are unable to access the learning centres. They get students

from Labrador West. They get students from Central Labrador and they get

students from Southern Labrador. If you look at industry in Labrador from Lab

West, to Central, to Northern, these students want to access those jobs and I

for one think they have a right to. They have a right to access those jobs.

Why should we have to import workers into job sites when we have workers

there who want to go to work? They want to go to school to get educated to go to

work, Mr. Speaker. Why take that chance away from them? They lived there; they

know the jobs are there. It pisses them off when they see outside workers coming

in and taking those jobs. It certainly pisses them off when the government

removes that opportunity for them to be able to access an education to get to

those jobs.

The government is well aware of this. Muskrat Falls has been highly debated

both in this House, on the road and at the site, Mr. Speaker, and the movement

from people in Labrador is that they want the jobs. I think the government is

obligated to give them that opportunity. If you are not a student graduate out

of high school, I think this government should give them that second chance.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I recognize the Member for Bonavista North.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. CROSS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, like all who stand in this House, it really is a privilege to

have the opportunity to speak to and for the people of Newfoundland and

Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. CROSS: We realize here today we are talking about Budget 2013, and in

particular today we are talking about the sub-amendment after a non-confidence

motion, of all things, to this Budget, from the Opposition.

What we are hearing from the other side is all that they do not want to vote

for; it is all that they want to deny the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Some of the decisions that we have had to make around this Budget, Mr. Speaker,

have been exceptionally difficult decisions to make. We make them because we are

concerned about this Province; we are concerned about our children and our

grandchildren. We are concerned about providing for them a sustainable future; a

future in Newfoundland and Labrador, not a future outside of Newfoundland and

Labrador. Therefore, many of these decisions that we are making are difficult,

but they are always based on principle. The principle has to do with ensuring

that future.

Principle; we use that word, but we do not use it lightly. Principle versus

popularity; popularity is concerned with gaining favour from the electorate,

trying to do what gets votes, flip-flop as the trend indicates. No strong

conviction to ideals, short-term planning, short-sightedness. It sounds

complicated, but it sounds a lot like what we hear from across the floor, Mr.

Speaker.

Principles, Mr. Speaker; principle leads by a standard. There are touchstones

for success. It does not directly relate to voter satisfaction. It stays the

course because it has its eye on a goal. It is a lifestyle. You do not jump when

there is a hiccup. There is no panic. A strong economy, pride in your heritage,

and your eye on a goal. You stay the course.

Mr. Speaker, our Minister of Health spoke a few days ago. She made reference

to what she had seen our Premier and our leader saying and doing when discussing

this around the Cabinet table. It came up time and time again the question: What

we are doing for our children? What are we doing for our grandchildren? In other

words, can this be sustained indefinitely? When we talk about our children, we

are looking to the future.

Mr. Speaker, those are the principles we adhere to in this Budget. Lots of

times it is really easy to be popular. We had a choice in this Budget. We

recognized on one side of it there is a very, very difficult, problematic

deficit. We had a choice to ignore that or take it on head-on and do something

with that so our young people can have this future that they want in this

Province. There are reasons we made choices that we made.

If we ignore all of that, if we ignore all of these principles and what we

are doing, we would spend, and spend, and spend, Mr. Speaker. We would have

nothing left for the future. Again, it starts to sound familiar.

As I have been discussing this Budget with my constituents, they have been

asking questions. Some of them might sound like easy questions or simple

questions, but sometimes it is simple questions and simple answers in which we

get the true picture of how we would feel. In my remaining comments, and it is

impossible to touch on everything, I am going to try to give you some of these

questions and some of these answers as they have been posed by some of my

friends in my conversations in Bonavista North. I agree that all of us come from

different districts; all of us come from different backgrounds. We will each

have a unique perspective on this.

The first question: Why do we have a deficit? The simple answer would be your

spending is up and your revenue is down, but it is more than that, Mr. Speaker.

In our oil-based revenue, our economy based on oil, just look at the last couple

of years. In 2011 we harvested or we recovered 95 million barrels of oil. In

2012, because of reasons that everybody is familiar with, we only recovered 70

million barrels. This is 27 per cent less, one-quarter less in the number of

barrels of oil we have recovered. The price was lower on these than in previous

years, one reason why our revenue is down.

Equalization, Mr. Speaker; in 2004, 22 per cent of our Province's revenues

were in equalization payments. In 2008, that ended. Last year, what did we

receive? Zero. In just a few short years equalization payments are gone. Lower

production does not mean we are going to get equalization back just because we

had a rough year.

The Accord, Mr. Speaker; the Accord payments ended in 2011. That year we

received our last payment, $536 million. In 2012, Mr. Speaker, what did we

receive? Zero; zilch. Take away $500 million from your revenue. Tough choices to

try to replace it, and we do not have that money to spend.

Wages to our public service, Mr. Speaker; the public service has increased in

size over the last few years, as well as the generous wage increase that was

offered in the last package to our employees. Wage costs have increased by about

29 per cent over the last seven years 29 per cent.

The cost to the Budget annually, you have heard it, about $500 million

annually. Can we squash that? There are collective agreements to meet. We cannot

just say: Oh, that $500 million, we are not going to spend that. We have to

spend that. If we had the $500 million I just mentioned on the Accord payment,

balanced. We have to find this, Mr. Speaker. We have to find the answer for

this.

The idea of the have Province, Mr. Speaker, in 2003-2004 our total revenue

was handy about $4 billion, $3.9 billion. Of that, 36 per cent came from the

federal government. I mentioned equalization payments. I mentioned other

programs from the federal government.

In 2013, Mr. Speaker, just nine years later, revenue has climbed to $7

billion. An 80 per cent increase in nine short years. It has gone from just

under $4 billion to $7 billion, zero equalization in the last year. At this

time, only 10 per cent is coming in agreements, payments, and supplements from

the federal government. Our revenues have almost doubled but they are coming

from our own sources.

After nearly a decade of surplus, Mr. Speaker, we are going to face these two

or three years of deficits. In 2013, even with this deficit, what do we see? No

borrowing. We do not have to borrow this year. We have made fiscal adjustments

and done some sustainability planning.

Like a good sailor, my grandfather was a good sailor, he always read the

weather. He did not always take advice from everyone else. He accepted the

dangers of the storm. He adjusted his course, sought shelter when necessary, but

generally he weathered the storm, and there is better sailing ahead for

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians financially, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. CROSS: Some of my constituents looked at the Budget. They criticized

us and said you have no plan. They looked at me and said: What is your plan?

What is this plan?

The projected deficit for 2013 is $563 million, down from the $1.6 billion as

projected. It is down because of a huge piece of work the Department of Finance

and Cabinet, and our civil service did for us in the last few months.

This Province of Newfoundland and Labrador has enjoyed and sustained economic

growth for the last nine years. When you go through nine years of prosperity, it

sort of spoils you. Who does it spoil? It spoiled the electorate because they

have gotten use to good budgets. It spoils the public servants. It spoils the

politicians.

The fundamental driver of our economy is expected to continue. It is not

over. It is not done with, and we have to adjust our expectations for the period

of this deficit. This government, we have managed responsibly with a balance of

debt reduction and investment. All have been duly recognized by the bond and

credit rating agencies recently and the banking gurus.

Our minister has indicated the Triple A rating continues. Through this and

through the planning that we have done, we are the envy of the rest of the

country. Our goal is to return to the surplus, back in the black in three years.

Eliminate the deficit budgets in three years, surplus by 2015.

Even during the deficits, we are going to maintain strong fiscal positions.

Our economy is going to continue to flourish while we are being frugal. How do

we plan through these deficits, and how do we come out of them? Well, we have to

seriously take a look at you look in the Budget and you look in the other

documents that we have been reviewing. We are going to attack the Budget.

Health care review is going to be important. Post-secondary review is going

to be very important to this. Equity investments are going to come through for

us in some cases. We are going to prioritize our spending. We are going to

continue with our competitive taxation regime, and we are doing much

consultation recently with our municipalities.

We have shown through these principles, through good times and rough times,

inside and out, touchstones for future sustainability. What is the question that

I was asked? Do we have a plan? I say yes, Mr. Speaker, a resounding yes. There

is a plan to bring us through this.

When I visit someone else, Mr. Speaker, I get a question: What about seniors?

What about health care and families? Budget 2013 includes $2.9 billion

AN HON. MEMBER: How much?

MR. CROSS: It is $2.9 billion directed towards health care, families, and

community services. It still remains the largest portion of the Budget, more per

capita than any other jurisdiction in our country. Health and community

services, target investment, increase of services, new health care treatments,

greater long-term care, and community support for seniors and families.

Let's touch on a few that will have a direct impact. A paid family caregiver,

it has been attacked. There have been questions about this in the last few days.

There has been a value attached to this, Mr. Speaker, $6 million this year,

annualizing next year to $8 million-plus. The Opposition says there is no plan

to this, but we have no one to copy. We are creating this new and comprehensive

family caregiver plan that will be the envy of the rest of the country.

I know of brothers and sisters, sons and daughters who have removed

themselves from the workforce in my district to take care of their loved ones.

This is not going to be as soon as they decide that, oh, I am going to take care

of my family now, and I am going to get paid for it. It is not a Klondike.

Although the final model is not yet ready, when it is prepared and when it is

rolled out, it will be comprehensive and it will be basic. Family members are

going to need to qualify to receive care. Decisions are going to be made by

professionals. I am confident of what is to come, and I am proud that it is

going to happen this year.

Another thing here is enhanced care in personal care homes, Mr. Speaker. I

have known of couples in my district who in the latter years of their life have

been separated because one needs a different classification of care than

another. This may allow them to stay together for a longer period of time. This

may allow them to stay with dignity in their own community of residence for a

longer period of time.

The introduction of respite care in personal care homes would also allow for

the same thing. This would allow for short-term relief for families who are in a

crisis that need some help. It is stressful, sometimes, giving the unconditional

care for family members and loved ones. Also for seniors in this Budget, Mr.

Speaker, is a $3 million investment which allows for the continued reduction of

the 35 per cent on fees, motor vehicle registration, licences, hunting licences,

et cetera.

There is $8.4 million for Harbour Grace and $4 million for Grand

Falls-Windsor for addiction centres for adults and youth, respectively. There is

millions, and millions, and millions for construction and planning of health

care and long-term care facilities.

AN HON. MEMBER: Millions.

MR. CROSS: Millions, hundreds of millions.

This government's investment into health continues to be a very high

priority.

Let us talk about infrastructure, Mr. Speaker, in this really, really

difficult Budget year. You would think there is no spending on anything. Not

true, Mr. Speaker. This year's investment of almost $800 million-plus into

infrastructure

AN HON. MEMBER: How much?

MR. CROSS: Nine tenths of a billion dollars. Ferry terminals, roads and

bridges, water and sewer projects, hospitals, long-term care facilities,

aquaculture wharves, tourist investments, schools, and training facilities

this stimulates the economy. Not only that these facilities are going to be

built, but jobs in construction, safer bridges, improved roads, and better

health care facilities.

I apologize to all of my friends who do not like to hear of investment of

capital funds, but indulge me just to listen to a few short notes I have jotted

from many sources. I remind you on the other side this is going to be a

sampling, but it could be hard on your ears. I am sure I might resume this list

a little later another time speaking.

Again, this may be hard to endure over there, nine tenths of a billion

dollars: $59 million for provincial roads, some of which is being expended in

Bonavista North; $43 million to complete the last full season of paving on the

Trans-Labrador Highway Phase I, with widening and other improvements and other

phases to follow; $26 million to support several TCH projects, some near the

entrance to Bonavista North; $20 million for the Placentia Lift Bridge; and $12

million for the Sir Robert Bond Bridge.

Are your ears sore yet? There is more. Health care facilities: $226 million

for health care infrastructure; $165 million for continuing construction; and

$20 million for repairs and renovation. In Education: $100 million for new and

ongoing infrastructure, including $77 million for major capital improvements;

and $25 million for planning new schools in Gander, Paradise, Portugal Cove

St. Philip's, Coley's Point, and others. I am getting out of breath, Mr.

Speaker.

Municipal and Provincial Affairs: $130 million for the second year of capital

works programs to support water and waste treatment; and $25 million in capital

works for towns over 11,000. Are your ears full yet? Yes, there is more, but I

have to move on. When I come and stand again, I will come back.

Mr. Speaker, this deficit time is not unique to Newfoundland and Labrador.

Some of our strongest and wealthiest provincial sisters and brothers are

experiencing a similar impact. I say, in the last twenty seconds, how I will

respond to this. I am saying no to the sub-amendment and no to the

non-confidence motion. We have the principles to move on. We have the right

plan. We have and can maintain a vibrant economy. We have great potential. We

have the right attitude. We have the right leadership.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. CROSS: We have the right confidence. We are a have Province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I recognize the Member for The Straits White Bay North.

MR. MITCHELMORE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We may be a have Province, but there are certainly a lot of people who do not

feel they are a have person. I listened intently to the Member for Bonavista

North talk about there is no one to copy for a proposal of this family caregiver

program. I really hope that no other province is copying this poorly named

Budget that we have here and a really mismanaged Budget on behalf of this

government.

I really find it appalling that the Member for Bonavista North would blame

the prosperity, and deflect and say that these problems spoil the electorate, it

spoils the public servants, and it spoils the politicians. Mr. Speaker, this is

clearly a blatant attempt of admitting all of the mismanagement on behalf of

this government after ten years in power.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. MITCHELMORE: I find that really insulting, Mr. Speaker, as to what

was said there. If we look at anybody who has mismanaged the books here and

spent like drunken sailors, it is the government across the way.

Let's just look at the financial statements right here of where we go,

because the former Finance Minister always talked about net debt and how well we

were doing. Well, let's see where the Estimates are this year for net debt. The

net debt the end of the year, do you know what it is this year? It is projected

at being at $9.5 billion. That is in increase of $936 million, nearly $1

billion. That is a lot of money. Do you know what it was this past year? It

increased $757 million. That is an excessive amount. That is three-quarters of a

billion dollars increasing the net debt. That is not the only thing that

increases because net debt is a funny number that you can put around.

Let's just look at the direct debt. Direct debt this proposed year is going

to go from $10.8 billion to $11.5 billion. That is directly in the financial

statements. We cannot hide from the numbers. The Public Accounts clearly state

exactly where we are and where we are going. Do you know where we are going per

capita? Right now, it is forecast that this year every man, woman and child is

going to owe $18,867. Do you know where we were a few years ago? We were down

quite a bit. That is quite significant, looking at that.

Budget 2013 is titled A Sound Plan, A Secure Future. It is nothing but. It is

completely mistitled. To put a 10-Year Sustainability Plan forward, it is just

incredible that this government would base its sustainability plan on the

volatility, once again, of oil and non-renewable resources because that is what

the bulk of it is in their plan, it absolutely is.

The Member for Bonavista North talked about all the volatility. He talked

about there is no Atlantic Accord money this year. We do not have any money

there, but the Finance Minister and the government knew that there was not going

to be any money years ago. They knew this and they did not plan for it.

These are the types of things we need to look at. If you know that something

is happening, you plan for it. You do not just wait for things to happen and

say: Now we have to have a crisis budget where we lay off lots of workers. We

have all of these job cuts. We have program cuts, department cuts. Everywhere

around there is a significant loss, yet the debt is still going up. We are

sending ourselves into a real financial mess if we do not do something to turn

things around.

I hope the former Finance Minister will stand on his feet and explain why we

are in such a poor fiscal mess right now, and saying there is an 80 per cent

increase in revenue. If we have an 80 per cent increase in revenue we should not

have these types of deficits coming forward if the revenue has been going up;

yet, the expenditures has been going up even more. We are not matching that.

The talk that we are not borrowing money this year, Mr. Speaker, we may not

be borrowing money but something has happened because let's look at the debt

servicing ratio. We will look at how much more. Do you know

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. MITCHELMORE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The member opposite will have his opportunity to speak because he certainly

has some explaining to do.

A $40 million increase in debt servicing this year. We are not borrowing more

money but we are certainly spending a lot more when it comes to servicing the

debt. What has happened there? Forty million dollars can certainly pay for a

lot. It could have kept the Adult Dental Program as it was. It certainly could

have dealt with the RED Boards and other entities. It probably could have kept

ABE at the College of the North Atlantic. There are certainly things that could

have been better planned.

The Budget here has been absolutely devastating for the economy. It is doing

everything to destabilize the economy actually and send shockwaves into it. To

see the immense growth that has happened, it is not the government that has

created all of these immense opportunities. The private sector has done so much

itself to create the economy there that is going. We are seeing that happen in

tremendous capital investments when it comes to things like that.

Let's look at something that the government is responsible for. It is looking

at our exports. Looking at dealing with things as to how we can really where

that is headed. It is declining.

One of the things that is going on right now, and I want to look at the

economy with all these layoffs, if we look at Stats Canada, where we were. For

every job vacancy in the Province in the last report, there were sixteen people

unemployed. Sixteen people who were looking for work for every job vacancy, yet

now there are at least 1,200, if not close to 2,000 people or more without work

right now.

Government touts that we have the second-highest average weekly wage at $929.

Look at this, that is $48,000 annually they are saying is the average people

earn. We know there are so many people who are working at minimum wage jobs, on

very low income. If we look at where this money is coming from, it is coming

primarily from the commuter economy. If something should happen so that the

people in Alberta are not filing their taxes here and coming back and forth, we

are in a boatload of trouble right there.

With the way this Budget has cut rural areas, has cut youth retention, we are

going to be sending more and more people away. So we are going to be collecting

less provincial tax dollars in income taxes from these people. It is going to

have a trickle-down effect on the programs and services that we can offer the

people of the Province, and that is something that is not really looked at.

You can say and tout how things are right now with looking at $929, but the

reality is that most people in this Province do not earn $929. It is skewed by

heavy oil money and the commuter economy that is happening. Should that change,

all of us are in for a very, very hard wakeup call when it comes to looking at:

Where do we go from here?

What we have seen in this Budget, we have seen up to 700 per cent fee

increases for forestry and fishery licences, hikes to ferry rates, job losses,

and cuts to tourism marketing, employment services, health care and education.

How can the Member for Bonavista North get up on his feet and say this is good,

things in the Budget are good?

MR. MURPHY: He is from rural Newfoundland.

MR. MITCHELMORE: He is from rural Newfoundland and Labrador, and I am

sure his constituents would be appalled to hear what he had just said.

If anything, the Premier's Budget really promotes a further depopulation of

our rural communities. I asked the Minister of Innovation, Business and Rural

Development: Where is the advanced transportation strategy? Where is the plan?

Yet, no, what has further been done is a cut to the Air Access Strategy, that

program is gone. We need to really look at strategies in place to advance our

economy, and that is not happening. What we are seeing is more people are

leaving our small communities.

The Budget has put forward moving money, for people to move from rural

regions. It is quite apparent that there is no plan to create rural

sustainability. Just a few years ago this government touted a Youth Retention

and Attraction Strategy, yet it cut initiatives in this plan. It gave people a

lot of hope that there were going to be 70,000 jobs; yet, with all these

cutbacks we know that 70,000 is not an accurate number when it comes to the

openings in the next seven years left to this plan. We need to see some updates

to this.

We need to have a look at, when we talk about volatility, when we talk about

the oil and gas sector, the mining sector. They are going to be volatile. Where

are we in our renewable resource sector when it comes to the fishery, when it

comes to the forestry? What is government actually doing to help these sectors?

Fish landings last year were down 6.2 per cent. The landed value was down 6.3

per cent. Do you know what the value was? It was $575 million, and this was a

result of low crab prices. This year crab prices are even lower, at $2 right

now. It is lower than what it was last year. They are hoping to make up this

shortfall by other species.

Aquaculture production was up by 23 per cent, but the market value dropped by

6 per cent. We have a lot of investment put into the salmon sector, but the

prices fell. We have seen a drop in aquaculture value as well. These are the

types of things that are going to have an impact.

We have to look at things like certification of our fish species. We have to

really develop an overall plan, because things are not just going to work

themselves out and be on par. I invite the Member for Fortune Bay Cape La Hune

to get up and talk about this. There are things that could be talked about.

I want to talk about the increase to fish licensing and fish buyer licences.

They have jumped quite significantly. This is really a misstep when you look at

trying to help the small competitors, the independents to create that

competition on the ground. It is going to be making a profit overall, the fish

licences, in the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture. Yet, the overall

budget was cut by 33 per cent. So it really shows the commitment to the fishery

and aquaculture on behalf of this government. They increased the fees. They are

going to make a whole lot more money there. It is going to have an impact

because you are going to reduce competition.

When we look at the open market, what the price of crab was, the market

value, and what the shrimp was, it levied last year about $5 a pound. That has

certainly not trickled down into our economy. We are seeing a lot less in terms

of the value there. The small business fees, like I said, looking at where they

went, they went up to a 100 per cent increase. The aquaculture site licences I

am sure the Member for Fortune Bay Cape La Hune should be speaking out about

this, increases from 150 per cent to 400 per cent.

Looking at the forest sector, commercial forestry permits went up 138 per

cent. Commercial sawmill licence fees went up 700 per cent. That is quite

significant when we have a sector in the economy looking at where we are in

terms of forestry. There has been a real concern looking at where we are in our

paper shipments and where we were last year. The projected value of a ton of

paper is going to be between $20 and $40 less this year.

So that means anybody who is shipping paper right now can anticipate that

they are going to be earning $5 million to $10 million less. That is going to

have a significant impact on the bottom line of any company that is shipping out

paper product and involved in the industry. Yet you are taxing all the people

from the bottom who are dealing in the forestry, from the person who is cutting

at the sawmill and all the way up. It is all interconnected, so you are really

forcing people and you are trying to push people out of the industry. It shows

no interest and no hope for rural Newfoundland and Labrador based on the types

of fees and increases that you are doing.

When we look at adding a fee of $500 for putting up a business by the side of

a highway, a provincial highway, that is a fee that did not exist before. It is

the same thing if you wanted to build a house. Now you are immediately taxed

$100 to build a house. You are not going to see these types of fees in certain

areas, but you are going to see them primarily in rural Newfoundland and

Labrador. That is having an impact.

We wanted to see things like looking at the small business in Newfoundland

and Labrador. They employ 40 per cent of the people and are significant

contributors to the economy, yet there are seven other provinces than

Newfoundland and Labrador that have a more progressive small business tax policy

than what we do. If we looked at cutting our small business tax and being more

competitive, we might be like a province in Nova Scotia that added 2,900 jobs

last month. Instead, we saw a significant loss. We probably saw more than 2,900

jobs cut last month overall when we see the numbers that are going to be

released. That has quite a significant impact.

If we look at some of the other missed steps in the Budget and looking at the

cuts, looking at where it is in my own district when we see that there is only

one fish wildlife enforcement officer for the whole Northern Peninsula, it

really opens up the gate there for poaching and what that means for protection

of our environment and protected areas, and dealing with snowmobile and ATV

regulations. I mean, this is something that needs to be looked at in terms what

the trickled down and domino effect is going to have on the outfitting industry.

That is a $40 million industry. They were not consulted. When it comes to the

tourism industry, when we talk about trying to promote and extend the seasons,

when we talk about developing the trail systems and things like that, losing

these positions have an impact.

We look at a lack of commitment and a lack of respect, really, for some of

the areas when it comes to our forest sector completely. We are really turning

our back on royalties and revenues from the forestry. If we look at where we are

going to be in five years, government is moving forward on Muskrat Falls, so

Muskrat Falls moving forward is going to be built in 2017. What is the plan

after that? We do not see it addressed in the Sustainability Plan. Just looking

at the jobs here in The Economy, the employment after construction in

Newfoundland and Labrador: eighty direct full-time jobs. Employment after

construction in Labrador, where the development is and where the investment is

made and where the power is going to come from do you know how many jobs are

going to be created after it is developed? It says more than forty jobs. It does

not really show a big commitment real