May

11, 2011 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS

Vol. XLVI No. 23

The House met at 2:00 p.m.

MR. SPEAKER (Fitzgerald): Order, please!

Statements by Members

MR. SPEAKER: Today the Chair welcomes the following members' statements:

the hon. the Member for the District of Baie Verte-Springdale; the hon. the

Member for the District of Port de Grave; the hon. the Member for the District

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

of The Straits & White Bay North.

The hon. the Member for the District of Baie Verte-Springdale.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. POLLARD: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise in this hon. House today to congratulate the Harry's Harbour/Jackson's

Cove Salvation Army Corps for celebrating its 110 years of service and ministry

to the people of the area.

To celebrate the remarkable achievement, on November 20 and 21 the

Salvationists held a special weekend whereby people from all over the area, and

special guests, were treated to a tasty dinner and special services.

During this time of fellowship, fun, and laughter everyone was reminded of

God's goodness and faithfulness down through the years and was encouraged to

keep the faith as they try to serve their fellowman.

Local organizers are to be commended for this special occasion and for

highlighting the positive impact that the Salvationist had on the people of the

area.

I ask all hon. colleagues to join me in applauding the Harry's

Harbour/Jackson's Cove Salvation Army Corps for reaching such a significant

milestone and wish them every success in their ministry.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of Port de Grave.

MR. BUTLER: Mr. Speaker, musicians from the Trinity-Conception Bay region

were among those honoured at the 2011 East Coast Music Awards in Charlottetown,

PEI which was held April 13 to April 17.

The Once , a St. John's folk group featuring Coley's Point native Andrew

Dale won Group Recording of the Year. Other members of the group were Geraldine

Hollett and Philip Churchill, both from St. John's.

Duane and Curtis Andrews, though living in Carbonear, have strong family ties

to Port de Grave. Duane added another trophy to his collection with a win in the

Jazz Recording of the Year category and his brother Curtis and Paul Earle, known

as The Idlers , won World Recording of the Year honours.

It is encouraging to see our local talent doing so well on the national

scene.

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

Duane and Curtis Andrews and the other members of their groups on being honoured

at the ECMAs in 2011.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

Bell Island.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. BRAZIL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I stand in this House today to acknowledge the establishment of the Portugal

Cove-St. Philips Heritage Committee.

Mr. Speaker, in late February, I had the pleasure of attending a public

meeting to discuss promoting the heritage of this unique corner of our Province.

While I assumed this would be poorly attended, as it may not be of interest

to a large sector of the community, I was pleasantly surprised when over 150

residents attended with every intention of preserving and celebrating their

heritage.

Under the Chair of Mr. Winston Fiander and a very talented, dedicated

committee the evening proceeded with an overview of the significant geographic,

educational, and historical, employment and social history of the community,

along with an inspirational talk by former Lieutenant-Governor, the Hon. Ed

Roberts regarding the importance of preserving our community's history.

Mr. Speaker, for three hours those in attendance shared stories of the

historical events, noted citizens and geographic location which have all

contributed to give Portugal Cove-St. Philips residents a sense of pride and

respect for what this community has contributed to the history of this Province.

Mr. Speaker, the committee, with the support of the town council, is looking

forward to preserving permanently their 500 years of history.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all members to acknowledge the Portugal Cove-St. Philips

Heritage Society for preserving and celebrating their history.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of The Straits & White

Bay North.

MR. DEAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in this House today to congratulate the members of the

Straits Rifters Peewee E' division squad who won top honours at Bishop's Falls

during the Minor Hockey Easter provincials. The Peewee squad's tilt at

championship glory, took them the entire tournament without a loss. Their only

glitch came in their second game of the event with a 4-all tie with

Stephenville. They added a 3-1 victory against host Bishop's Falls, 11-2 victory

against Corner Brook Regional, 3-1 victory against Southern Shore. They won the

championship game against Stephenville 2-1.

I would like to take this time and congratulate each player for their hard

work and relentless effort that led to their team's success: Mitchel White, Kyle

Squires, Nicholas Mitchemore, Ben White, Jaret White, Megan White, Mack Coles,

Bradley Way, Owen Way, Zack Applin, Ty Whalen, Allyson Moores, Blair Genge,

Andrew Genge, Brandon Guinchard, Dillion Gibbons, and Luke Allingham.

I would also like to recognize those who dedicate their time and effort to

the youth and to the game of hockey the coaches: Dave White, Ian Dave White,

Wayne Allingham, and Darryl Way.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all members of this House to join with me in

congratulating this team and wish them well in their future competitions.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Statements by Ministers.

Statements by Ministers

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

I am pleased to rise in this hon. House today to acknowledge the week of May

9 to 15 as National Nursing Week. The theme this year, Mr. Speaker, is Nursing

The Health of Our Nation.

Nurses across Newfoundland and Labrador play an essential role in the

delivery of health care. This year, Newfoundland and Labrador made a

particularly unique contribution to National Nursing Week. I am proud to say,

Mr. Speaker, that Lori-Ann Sacrey, a registered nurse from Baie Verte, submitted

the winning entry to a contest held by the Canadian Nurses Association to

determine the theme of this year's National Nursing Week.

Mr. Speaker, our government recognizes the many different important roles

nurses play in our health care system. Nurses work in a variety of areas such as

patient care, education, administration, research, and policy. Whether they are

interacting directly with patients or playing valuable roles in other areas of

health care, nurses are making important contributions that enhance our health

care system.

Mr. Speaker, there are currently 6,200 registered nurses and approximately

2,700 licensed practical nurses working across Newfoundland and Labrador. Our

government has invested to effectively recruit and retain nurses by increasing

the funding available to regional health authorities, to implement professional

development activities and to address recruitment and retention needs. There are

now thirteen registered nurse specific recruitment initiatives in place

totalling more than $2.5 million annually. For example, Mr. Speaker, starting in

January 2011, signing bonuses between $3,000 and $8,000 became available to

registered nurses signing a one-year service agreement to work in a

difficult-to-fill position in rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

I am pleased to report, Mr. Speaker, that last year approximately 86 per cent

of our new Bachelor of Nursing graduates, and approximately 97 per cent of our

licensed practical nursing graduates, chose to work in Newfoundland and

Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENNEDY: Mr. Speaker, this represents 195 Bachelor of Nursing

graduates, and 171 licensed practical nursing graduates who stayed in the

Province to work. This increase in the number of nursing graduates staying in

the Province along with the decrease in vacant nursing positions provides

evidence that our recruitment and retention strategies are working.

On behalf of the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, Mr. Speaker, I want

to thank all nurses in this Province for the important contributions they make

and extend best wishes to them for National Nursing Week.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank the minister for an advance copy of his statement. National Nursing

Week is certainly very significant because it looks at the value of Canada's

largest group of health care providers that we have. It provides an opportunity

for all of us to celebrate those in the nursing profession, to celebrate the

tremendous diversity that they bring to health care, and certainly understand

the complexities of the jobs that many of them are tasked with doing every day.

I want to congratulate Lori-Ann Sacrey of Baie Verte on defining this year's

theme, Nursing - The Health of our Nation, and I think it was very appropriate.

Mr. Speaker, I also want to say that in Newfoundland and Labrador we are very

blessed, because we have 9,000 people out there working in health care as

registered nurses, LPNs, and nurse practitioners who provide first-class,

first-rate health care to Newfoundlanders and Labradorians on a daily basis.

This past year, I had the unfortunate experience of receiving some of that

health care first-hand, and I can tell you that there is no greater group of

caring, concerned people for the health of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians than

those who we have working on the front lines in health care in Newfoundland and

Labrador.

Mr. Speaker, we still have to be cognizant of the fact that our nurses are

tasked with huge responsibilities, and oftentimes they are tasked with jobs that

leave them overworked, working long hours, and in many cases, burnt-out. I

remember just a while ago I heard the Nurses' Union president, Debbie Forward,

say that although this was not a year of negotiation and contracts with

government, it was certainly a year of having a lot of issues that they

certainly had to deal with, in terms of workplace issues for the nurses in our

Province.

So, Mr. Speaker, I realize my time is up, but if I could just, by one minute,

clue up my statement.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

Does the hon. member have leave?

AN HON. MEMBER: By leave.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. member, by leave.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I think it is important that we always be cognizant of the responsibility

that we have tasked these people with. When you look at nursing as a profession

within the Nation, we always have to cognizant of the fact that we have to be

competitive and we have to encourage more use of our nurses within our health

care system.

Mr. Speaker, what is unfortunate is that, today, we still have 325 vacancies

of registered nurses in Newfoundland and Labrador. While there have been some

efforts in recruitment, I suggest there needs to be quite a bit more.

Thank you.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of Signal Hill-Quidi

Vidi.

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

I thank the minister for the advance copy of his statement. I am very happy

to join with him, not just in recognizing National Nursing Week but also

recognizing the achievement of Lori-Ann Sacrey in having the winning submission

to the Canadian Nurses Association. It is important that we pay homage to the

hard-working, competent, and dedicated nursing workforce in this Province. While

I have not been in hospital myself, I listened to what the Leader of the

Opposition said and I have had many people who have come to us about the health

care system who point out how well they are treated when they are inside the

health care system, they especially mention the nurses.

It is a dedicated workforce, and I am pleased that government has finally

committed funds to build up and retain our nursing workforce. It is extremely

important. I also hope that government will continue to address the shortfall of

nurses and provide more resources for specialized training because we do require

specialized training. I think it is one of the weaknesses that as new areas open

up and nurses move in from other parts of the field, that they need training for

the new specialized units.

They also face a very challenging work environment. We do not hear about it

often, but nurses very often experience violence from patients and sometimes

even abuse from families. It is a hidden piece of their workload that we do not

see. It was only last weekend I met with somebody from the health care system

who spoke to me about this issue. They have many things in their workload that

go way beyond nursing duties.

I am glad to see that the government now has a government union committee

working with these workplace issues. I encourage the minister to continue making

sure that all of our support is there for the wonderful people who work in our

health care system.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Further statements by ministers?

The hon. the Minister of Government Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HARDING: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I am standing today in this hon. House to announce the

completion of this year's national Brake Check Day, as part of North America's

Operation Airbrake, which took place on May 4.

This announcement is of significant importance as it comes today on May 11

which the UN has designated as the launch day for the United Nations Decade of

Action for Road Safety 2011-2020.

Operation Air Brake is an annual initiative of the Commercial Vehicle Safety

Alliance. The alliance was created in 1982 with a mandate to oversee an

international truck and bus brake safety campaign dedicated to improving

commercial vehicle brake safety throughout North America. The objective of the

initiative is to reduce the number of highway crashes caused by faulty braking

systems on commercial vehicles, by conducting unannounced roadside inspections

and educating drivers, mechanics and others on the importance of proper brake

inspection, maintenance and operation.

Mr. Speaker, the Department of Government Services is responsible for

inspections under the Highway Traffic Act. Our inspectors, who are certified by

the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, conduct roadside inspections of

commercial vehicles with an emphasis on braking systems and other mechanical

safety systems. Inspection guidelines provide for the testing of mechanical

components, brake adjustment and air pressure. Poorly adjusted air brakes and

brake system defects constitute the main reasons for inspectors to determine

that commercial vehicles should be placed out of service.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HARDING: The department mobilized twenty-five enforcement staff

members across the entire Province at ten sites on the Island and in Labrador

over a twelve-hour period on May 4. Out of 207 total inspections, 12 per cent of

trucks were taken out of service specifically for brake systems and 21.2 per

cent of trucks out of service for all conditions including brakes.

Mr. Speaker, over the past few years there has not been a significant change

in the rate of vehicles taken out of service for poor air brake adjustment or

other brake related defects. Traditional enforcement methods are having a

reasonable impact in helping to remove dangerous vehicles from the road.

The Department of Government Services is continuing to participate in

national initiatives such as Operation Air Brake which are important in ensuring

that commercial vehicles are inspected and required corrective actions are

taken, thereby making our roads safer for all motorists.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of Port de Grave.

MR. BUTLER: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I want to thank the minister for an advance copy of his statement, and to say

that we also recognize the importance of National Brake Check Day and applaud

the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance on its initiative. It is good to know

that people are going out and doing inspections.

However, Mr. Speaker, having said that, we believe the results of this

one-day exercise is alarming. The minister's own percentages that he used, shows

that forty-two of the 207 vehicles were found to be defective. Mr. Speaker, I

think that is scary, not only to myself but to all those who are listening.

Mr. Speaker, not only commercial vehicles, in January 2011 the RCMP randomly

pulled over ten vehicles in Central Newfoundland and two of those were unfit for

the road. Mr. Speaker, it is a serious situation and hopefully, with National

Brake Check Day and other initiatives like this, people will really take notice

to what is going on in our Province.

Mr. Speaker, I also want to mention to the minister the inspections of our

school buses. I have received many phone calls, and what is happening here is

apparently the operators of the school buses receive a phone call before the

inspectors actually go out and do the inspections. If someone has twenty or

thirty buses, they pick out two or three that has nothing wrong with them, and

that is very unfair. That is happening; it happened only recently, Mr. Speaker,

in my area. So I challenge the minister to check out that and make sure that the

inspections are done without any notification and hopefully our roads will be a

safer place for each and every one of us.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of Signal Hill-Quidi

Vidi.

MS MICHAEL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank the minister for the advance copy of his statement. It is good to

have a statement like this so that we can highlight an issue as important as

road safety. We have enough accidents on our highways that we cannot control

without having accidents happening because of faulty vehicles, especially

commercial vehicles.

I am quite alarmed by the statistics that the minister has told us about. It

certainly does not fill one with a sense of security, knowing that so many

commercial vehicles could be on the road with defective brakes. Maybe the

government needs to put more resources into this area to ensure that we can get

as close to 100 per cent compliance as possible. Obviously, we need more of

these sporadic checkups; we need more checks on these vehicles, to make sure

that we get closer to not having anybody out there

The minister says that traditional enforcement is having a reasonable impact.

Well, that is not good enough, Mr. Speaker. Is it not reasonable for us to

assume that all commercial operators are driving with safe equipment at all

times? So I encourage the minister to look at beefing up these kinds of checkups

and get all commercial vehicles off the road unless they are safe.

Thank you.

MR. SPEAKER: Further statements by ministers?

The hon. the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Recreation.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

Sportfest. This event is organized by Sport Newfoundland and Labrador. The theme

is: See it, Play it, Get Active! The event runs from May 12 to May 14.

Sportfest is designed to showcase a number of organized sports available to

youth in this Province. This three-day festival is the first of its kind in

Newfoundland and Labrador. It will allow participants to see demonstrations and

actually experience over twenty different sports. More than 5,000 young people

are expected to attend.

The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, through the Department of

Tourism, Culture and Recreation, has provided $25,000 to support this initiative

which clearly fits the provincial government's recreation and sports strategy:

Active, Healthy Newfoundland and Labrador.

Mr. Speaker, three celebrated provincial athletes have been named as official

ambassadors to Sportfest: Jamie Korab Olympic gold-medal winning curler; Rod

Snow professional rugby player; and Michelle Healey former MUN varsity

basketball player and Chef de Mission at our last Canada Games. They have

dedicated their lives to sport. They will be available during the Sportfest to

share their love of sport with participants.

Sportfest is happening at the PowerPlex, 90 Crosbie Road in St. John's, and

is open to the public on Friday night and Saturday. General admission is $2 and

a family pass is $5. You can visit the Sportfest Web site for more information

at www.sportfestnl.ca.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Opposition House Leader.

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

I thank the minister for an advance copy of his statement. It is indeed a

great initiative. Anything that gets our families and our youth in this Province

involved and makes them more active is certainly a positive move, not only for

the persons who get involved but also for our system, even our health care

system for example. To expose people to the opportunities that there are and the

different types of sports that there, is a great thing.

I know in a lot of cases if you are not aware of something, how can you

become interested in it? I think it is a great idea actually to have these

well-known athletes in our Province involved, because a lot of times our youth

in particular, they emulate what they see and the people who they see. If they

are aware of the sport, they know that they have heroes who they can follow

throughout the sport; it only bodes well for all of us in the end.

We would encourage everybody who is able to partake, to partake. I noticed

that the cost, for example, is nominal, and that is a great thing as well

because it is not something that you cannot access because it is not affordable.

It is great to see that the cost here is certainly not prohibitive. Hopefully,

hundreds of families and hundreds of youth will partake in this. We do firmly

believe it is a good initiative and it is a step in the right direction.

Thank you.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of Signal Hill-Quidi

Vidi.

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

I, too, thank the minister for the advance copy of his statement. I am

pleased to see government supporting initiatives such as the one that is being

described here today. It is so important to get children more involved in

sports, organized or otherwise. This, obviously, is going to be a way to really

get them excited. I understand - because I did hear this talked about on the

radio - this is an interactive thing that will be going on. They just will not

observe sports, they will get an opportunity to have their own hands-on, if you

will, experience of the sports that are being presented at the Sportfest. It is

a way to get children excited about a sport, learning a bit, getting over their

hesitancy to jump in and try out for sports teams.

Organized sports do provide an unbeatable experience for children and youth.

They learn teamwork, leadership, discipline, and even more important, they stay

fit. It is important that we subsidize low-income children adequately to get

involved in organized sports across the Province, because it is one of the

drawbacks for low-income children. Many of the sports, they cannot take

part in.

While events such as Sportfest are important for raising awareness on

organized sports, the foundation of sport and fitness still lies in the schools.

I encourage the minister to speak with the Minister of Education about how we

can beef up our access to physical education for all our children in the school

system.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Further statements by ministers?

The hon. the Minister of Government Services.

MR. HARDING: Mr. Speaker, I would like to rise on a point of order.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Government Services, on a point of

order.

MR. HARDING: After I gave the statement today, the hon. Member for Port

de Grave made a comment with respect to the bus safety and inspections in this

Province. I am really concerned about the safety of our children riding on these

buses, and I would like for the hon. member to table any information that he

does have, documented information, with respect to the comments that he made.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

There is no point of order. I remind the hon. member as well that private

members, by our own Standing Orders, are not permitted to table anything in the

House of Assembly. That can only be done by ministers. If the hon. member wants

to share information, that will be up to the hon. member.

Further statements by ministers?

Oral Questions.

Oral Questions

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, in Nalcor's response to the Joint Review Panel, it says that it

was directed by government to develop Muskrat Falls. Yet, in the House of

Assembly, the Premier has insisted that developing Muskrat Falls as a

stand-alone project was Nalcor's idea. It is an important distinction and it

speaks to whether any alternatives to this project were actually considered.

I ask the Premier today: Can you specifically tell us what, if any,

alternatives to Muskrat Falls were considered and will you table those reports

in the House of Assembly this week?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yes, Mr. Speaker, as I have said in this House and outside this House a

number of times, there were a number of considerations for alternative sources

of generation of electricity for the people of this Province outside of Muskrat

Falls. Mr. Speaker, Muskrat Falls was determined to be the best option at the

end of all of that analysis.

The second most attractive option is to refurbish Seal Cove, to develop small

hydro on Round Pond and Island Pond, to add some wind to the system, and to

develop new thermal; Mr. Speaker, all much more expensive than Muskrat Falls.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Premier may be aware, and if not she should be, that the Harris Centre

has recently commissioned a study on alternatives to Muskrat Falls as a

replacement for Holyrood. It commissioned three senior researchers at the

Faculty of Engineering to study the economic viability of small hydro and wind

power as an alternative to Holyrood.

The Harris Centre determined there is nearly twice as much small hydro

potential on the Island of Newfoundland as Holyrood currently produces. It also

determined that all the projects would be profitable charging a rate of less

than nine cents per kilowatt hour. That is far cheaper than the 14.3 cents that

Muskrat Falls power will cost.

I ask you, Premier: Why won't you direct Nalcor to consider those

alternatives in light of the information brought forward by professionals in our

Province?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the development of the Lower Churchill has been under

consideration and under study, first of all, by Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro

and by Nalcor for the last thirty-five to forty years in this Province. There

has been analysis done within and without. In terms of the work that we have

done through Nalcor since we formed the government of this great Province, we

have engaged experts in terms of the development of this project here in this

Province, across the country, and across the world.

Mr. Speaker, we are talking about, in terms of what we have done alone, eight

years of analysis that we have had tested externally a number of times. Muskrat

Falls is the best option for electricity generation in this Province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Premier should know that when there is a failure to listen, there is

always a failure of opportunities. When you fail opportunities in the Province,

you fail the people of the Province.

Mr. Speaker, the Harris Centre has taken this very seriously, and they have

looked at a number of alternatives. One of the things, as I have outlined, is

they have looked at hydro development projects on the Island that could replace

Holyrood at a much cheaper cost than what she is proposing under Muskrat Falls.

I ask you today, Premier: Have you read the documentation, have you looked at

the submission that they have made, and are you open to even giving it

consideration?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, we have, within Nalcor, the best expertise I would say to you

that is available in the country, if not in North America, especially in terms

of the development of hydro.

Mr. Speaker, not only have I laid out to her time and time again, as has

Nalcor, in a number of briefings to the members of the Opposition, about the

economics of this project and why it makes sense. It has been endorsed right

across this country and, most recently, by a diplomat from the United States. It

has been endorsed by the banks, it has been endorsed by our own Board of Trade.

This is a very good project. We look at everything. We have looked at small

hydro as the second best alternative, which is Island Pond and Round Pond, but

we still need to add wind and other thermal generation, which is more expensive

again.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.

MS JONES: Pardon me, Premier, but Nalcor is the same people who

expropriated the paper mill in Grand Falls, along with yourself, and did not

realize that you had done it. So, I make no apologies for asking questions.

I can see why others in the country would be all on the bandwagon, because

others in the country, Premier, will get Muskrat Falls power cheaper than

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians will get Muskrat Falls power. That is the

reason that they are all behind the project.

Mr. Speaker, the Harris Centre researchers also looked at wind power. Right

now, Nalcor and the government is not even accepting proposals for wind power.

There is a group in Argentia, I think, that have been trying to submit a

proposal, and they have not been able to. They are saying that there is enough

wind power on the Island of Newfoundland to produce 117 times more electricity

than we currently need.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

Order, please!

I ask the hon. member to pose her question.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I ask the Premier: Why have you prohibited Nalcor from considering wind farms

as part of the solution to replacing Holyrood?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Back to basics, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, wind power is always more expensive than hydro. Hydro power is

the cheapest way to provide electricity anywhere in the world. Mr. Speaker, we

have the best wind regimes in North America. In Labrador, the amount of wind

energy that is available for development is ridiculous in the numbers. So we cap

it at 5,000 megawatts of wind in Labrador. We have equally as much on the

Island, Mr. Speaker, but wind has to be backstopped. You have to have hydro, or

you have to have nuclear, or you have to have something to backstop it, which

makes it much more expensive, Mr. Speaker.

We have expertise within the Department of Natural Resources, within Nalcor,

Mr. Speaker, who clearly understands this, as the Opposition clearly does not.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We understand very clearly, I say to the Premier, and so do many other people

in the Province, especially the people at the Harris Centre who have been

looking at this, and they clearly state that Holyrood could be replaced by a

combination of new hydro and wind projects on the Island, but from what we can

gather the last time that Nalcor looked at this was in 1986.

I ask the Premier today: Why are you not considering cheaper options for the

people of Newfoundland and Labrador? Why do you insist on doing a project that

is going to double the electricity rates of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians and

give rebates to everyone else in the country who are going to use that power?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the first thing we have to get straight is that Muskrat Falls is

not going to double the electricity costs of the people of this Province. Mr.

Speaker, what it is going to do in fact is stabilize electricity rates at where

they might be in 2016 and ensure that the rate of increase is stabilized and

predictable, Mr. Speaker. That is the first thing.

The second thing is we have looked at all options, Mr. Speaker. We have even

looked at the option that the members of the Opposition put forward of

identifying from a twenty-five-year-old report seventy ponds that we could

develop all around the Province. God knows, what the transmission would cost.

The amount would be so ridiculous.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: That is the only suggestion you have been able to

come forward with since we have started this debate some months ago.

Mr. Speaker, all options have been considered. Muskrat Falls is the most

reliable and cheapest answer to our energy questions here in the Province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Premier allows she does not have a crystal ball but yet she is trying to

tell the people of the Province that it is the cheapest power that they can

provide and she has not even looked at the options. Even the Harris Centre in

this Province has looked at options, Mr. Speaker, that the Premier is not

prepared to open her mind or open her eyes and allow to look at.

I ask her again: How can she feel that this is a good deal when she is

prepared to double the rates of electricity for people in Newfoundland and

Labrador, and yet give people in Maritime Canada and other corporations huge

profits and breaks on their energy rates?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Mr. Speaker, you can repeat something that is

incorrect 100 times, 1,000 times, 10,000 times and it will not make it right.

Mr. Speaker, Muskrat Falls will not double energy costs here in this Province.

We have proved it; we have laid out the information.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Mr. Speaker, the Opposition continues to look for any

kind of support they can find anywhere no matter how outlandish or how far out

in right field it is because they do not want this project to succeed, because

their two attempts failed. That is the bottom line, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The real issue here is that we are standing up for the people of this

Province, Premier, and you are standing up for Nalcor Energy

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS JONES: - and Emera corporation, that is who you are standing up for.

You are guaranteeing them a profit, not the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Chair is having difficulty hearing the hon. member ask her question. I

ask hon. members for their co-operation.

The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, according to the Turner report, government needs to implement

third party oversight procedures in the oil industry. We have heard it on a

similar recommendation from the Wells report. There are major environmental

concerns surrounding the possibility of a well blowout.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the government: What action is being taken to implement

the Turner recommendation for independent oversight? Our current procedures have

been judged inadequate and inherently based and I ask the minister, what is

being done to fix them?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Natural Resources.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SKINNER: Mr. Speaker, again, I want to assure the people of the

Province that the measures we have in terms of the offshore are adequate and are

very responsible measures that have been developed by the companies, been

developed by the C-NLOPB which approves the safety plans. It has been approved

by regulatory agencies besides the C-NLOPB, like Transport Canada, like the

Canadian Coast Guard.

I do not want anyone left with the impression that we are not able to respond

should something occur offshore. Should there be an incident of catastrophic

proportions, as happened in the Gulf of Mexico, there is a tiered response.

Captain Turner has said, given what has happened in the Gulf of Mexico he would

like us to go back and review our response capabilities to make sure that we are

aware of what happened there and we are able to provide an even greater level of

response. We have indicated that we support that. We want to see the safety

level increased, and we are going to continue to do that, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I ask the minister today: In doing that review, will he commit to implement

the recommendation and will he ensure that there is a total system approach to a

blowout control and will it mandate operators to regularly test that particular

response?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Natural Resources.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SKINNER: Mr. Speaker, Captain Turner's report indicated a number of

recommendations that crossed over a number of regulatory agencies. I have

indicated before in this House that the C-NLOPB is an independent, arm's-length

regulatory safety agency from government. They have a copy of the report. We

forwarded it to them. They were consulted in the creation of the report by

Captain Turner and I am sure they will do everything they can within their

mandate to ensure that the recommendations are implemented. There are also

recommendations there that would apply to federal agencies, to other regulatory

bodies, to the provincial government, and we will work with all of those

partners to provide whatever assistance we can to ensure that all of the

recommendations are implemented as per Captain Turner's report.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Mr. Speaker, a catastrophic well blowout would affect our

industries and environment for years, if not decades. Our fishing and tourism

industries are particularly susceptible to the lack of liability borne by

operators.

My question to the government is this. Since the report was received six

months ago, what in negotiations have you engaged in with Ottawa to amend our

operator liability? For example, right now ours is capped at $30 million. In the

United States that liability is at $75 million, and they are looking at even

increasing it to probably somewhere around a billion dollars.

I ask the minister: Has there been any discussions with Ottawa on what our

cap is and what our liabilities are?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Natural Resources.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SKINNER: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, as a point of clarification, there was a draft copy of the

report received some months ago. We have only recently received the final copy

of the report. It has not been six months. That is not a major point, but I just

want to make that point.

Mr. Speaker, what we are doing, as I have indicated before, is there are a

number of recommendations in Captain Turner's report that cross a number of

government agencies, regulatory agencies. We are working with all of them to

ensure that they move towards implementing all of those recommendations in terms

of the mandate that each of those agencies would have.

Some that we have responsibility for, we will certainly look to do that

ourselves. Some that other agencies have, we will work with them, encourage

them, and advocate to them that they also do what they need to do to ensure the

safest possible offshore environment that we can have here in Newfoundland and

Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of The Straits & White

Bay North.

MR. DEAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, last evening I spent several hours grilling the minister in the

Fisheries Budget Estimates and I raised a number of important issues; two that

are of great urgency to the Northern Peninsula. One of these is the

multi-species plant in New Ferolle that is still not up and running. The

minister committed to finding out first thing in the morning if this plant is

ready for production because we understand it is a shell of a building.

I ask the minister: Has he indeed made contact? If so, will he reassure the

people of this area that the plant will operate this season, offering adequate

employment?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I did indeed follow-up. Our indications and our inquiries have pointed out

that there are four or five people in the facility at present assembling

equipment there. Mr. Speaker, we have the indication that there will be some

production in that plant this year.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of The Straits & White

Bay North.

MR. DEAN: Mr. Speaker, this is a desperate situation. If it was not, I

would not be bringing it to the House of Assembly floor. People are expecting

this government and your minister to give leadership, to show that we do care,

and that we are going to do something about this. It has been nearly three years

since the current owner took over. There has been practically no operation at

this plant.

So I again ask the minister: Are you going to allow this private company to

control the people of New Ferolle? Will you take a stand to ensure that these

people do get proper employment in this plant this year?

AN HON. MEMBER: When they do, send in a couple of (inaudible).

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN: Mr. Speaker, legally Mr. Mullowney owns the plant and the

licence that is attached to it. If anybody has followed the history of New

Ferolle, myself and ministers past have done everything that we possibly could

to get that moving. There has been court action. We have put facilitators in

there to negotiate and attempt to move the process along whereby we could have

that in operation.

Mr. Speaker, we cannot do any more as a government. The hope now is that

people are in there assembling equipment. We would hope that the plant will be

in production and will provide employment for the people of New Ferolle.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of The Straits & White

Bay North.

MR. DEAN: Mr. Speaker, this government gave that plant to this operator

for $1. There is an agreement in place, and it is not good enough to just hope

that something will take place, I would say to the minister.

Mr. Speaker, the lobster crisis is continuing to escalate, and we are midway

through another week, and indeed, we are approaching the midway of the lobster

season. There was little time to waste, and I would say today there is no time

to waste. I have been hearing from lobster fishermen in my district, the Member

from Burgeo & La Poile has been hearing from lobster fishermen in his district,

I have been hearing from lobster fishermen in districts of some of the MHAs here

in this House, and they are all worried, basically, of the same thing. They know

they cannot survive without an income.

Given that the MOU report calls the lobster industry incidental to the larger

processors, I ask the minister: How much longer will you take to allow this

impasse to continue before intervening to ensure we have an immediate solution?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN: Mr. Speaker, we truly do sympathize with the situation that

these harvesters find themselves in. There is no one in this House who does not

care and want to get that issue resolved we certainly do. I would, the members

opposite would, and all of the members on this side would.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased that I just found out a little while ago I am

surprised that the member has not found out, since the head of SPNL has gone

forward for the Liberal Party. As we speak, Mr. Speaker, members of SPNL and

FFAW are sitting down to attempt to find a resolution. That is the way it should

be. We have the parties who have the business interests here, and the best way

to find a solution is that they sit down and resolve and arrive at a price, and,

Mr. Speaker, we certainly do hope that they will arrive at that resolution

before the end of this day.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of The Straits & White

Bay North.

MR. DEAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, again, we are hoping that a resolution comes forward, and the

people of this Province are hoping that this government will give leadership.

I want to ask the minister again I am aware, we are aware as an Opposition

that the FFAW is meeting with SPNL, and I ask the minister: Has he been talking

to those groups to have any input?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN: Mr. Speaker, let us be very clear, and let us go on the

record. I hope someone asks for a response.

This morning, I forwarded a letter because the issue of outside buying has

arisen here I have issued a letter to the FFAW, and to SPNL, and to the

Association of Seafood Producers, around where they see it, if this is precedent

setting, what is their stand on other species.

Mr. Speaker, not only did I issue the letter to those three parties, I issued

the letter to both parties on the other side of the House. Let us see what their

response is in terms of outside buying as it relates to lobster and other

species in this Province. It is easy enough to sit on the fence, Mr. Speaker.

Let them put their words where their mouth is.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Member for the District of The Straits & White Bay North.

MR. DEAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, with -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. DEAN: - the crisis

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. DEAN: Mr. Speaker, with the crisis we have in the lobster industry,

quite frankly I find this shameful what is happening here today. I really do,

and I am being sincere, I am not playing politics

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. DEAN: We have people who have thousands and thousands

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. DEAN: We have fishermen who have thousands and thousands of pounds or

dollars worth of lobster in crates; they do not know where to go with it. They

have come to the Minister of Fisheries for a resolution and all he can do is

throw it back across the House and say what would you do? Mr. Speaker, what I

would do what I would do is I would find a resolution to the situation before

it got to where it is today.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN: Mr. Speaker, I did not hear a question there but I would

certainly like a little bit of commentary on it because that is exactly what has

happened. We deal with this issue on a crisis by crisis basis. So, Mr. Speaker,

finding the solution here cannot just be the sole responsibility of government.

I cannot force nor can any of us force harvesters to harvest; we cannot force

buyers to buy. We can attempt to facilitate a process, Mr. Speaker, and that is

what the panel was about. If one side opted not to go there, Mr. Speaker, we

cannot force them to do that. So, Mr. Speaker, we are looking for the

longer-term fix and solution. Simply, my letter asked them for their input as to

what would they see as some suggestions that I might take forward as a

resolution to this on an ongoing basis, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Opposition House Leader.

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

Mr. Speaker, I spoke yesterday with at least two dozen lobster fishermen from

the District of Burgeo & La Poile. These are men and women often who operate

joint enterprises. They have thousands of lobsters in the water that they cannot

sell, thousands of dollars worth that was going to keep them alive and existing

for the next twelve months. It is also tied-in to being qualified for their EI.

These people are hard-working, dedicated citizens of this Province.

I ask the Minister of Fisheries: When is he going to stop procrastinating,

get off his duff, and give some leadership rather than passing the buck to

others?

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I ask the hon. member to be sensitive to the language that he uses here in

the House to ask his questions and pose his

MR. KELVIN PARSONS: It is a sensitive issue, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

For the final time I am going to say to the Opposition House Leader that the

Speaker is not going to tolerate the comments he makes to the Chair and the

reaction he gets when the Chair rules on orders in this House. I ask him to take

heed of that order here today.

The hon. the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture.

MR. JACKMAN: Mr. Speaker, I am not about to take any lectures from the

Opposition House Leader, I can tell you that. There is nobody who wants to see

this resolved in this House more than I do and more than any member on this side

of the House. We know how people are impacted. I come from the Burin Peninsula

where

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. KELVIN PARSONS: (Inaudible).

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I ask the hon. Opposition House Leader to apologize to the House for the

interruptions that he continues to cause, and three times it has happened here

today.

I ask the hon. member to apologize to the House, and to do it immediately.

MR. KELVIN PARSONS: I apologize, Mr. Speaker, for

what I said.

MR. SPEAKER: Thank you, I say to the hon.

Order, please!

There is no explanation of why you apologize. I ask the hon. member - I have

heard the apology - please take your seat.

The hon. the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture.

MR. KELVIN PARSONS: (Inaudible).

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture.

MR. JACKMAN: Mr. Speaker, nothing would be better to my ears today than

to hear that the negotiations that are going on between SPANL and the FFAW will

find a resolution to this.

Mr. Speaker, we are looking very seriously at the outside buying, but there

are complications that come with that and there are precedents that are set.

Therefore, I want to seek the input. The parties that I have sent the letters to

have a vested interest here so I would expect a very quick turnaround, which

then, Mr. Speaker, will allow us to make the next step and then hopefully make

the decision around the outside buying.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of Signal Hill-Quidi

Vidi.

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

Mr. Speaker, in his report on this Province's offshore oil spill prevention

and response practices Captain Mark Turner observed that current liability

limits for offshore oil well related spills are far below what would be required

for a significant blowout. He recommended government conduct a comprehensive

review of the cost of liability with the goal of adjusting the amount to a value

that better represents today's economic realities. Turner notes that in Norway

the licensee is liable for pollution damage without a limit on costs, except for

acts of nature of course. Mr. Speaker, in Norway the polluter pays.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the Minister of Natural Resources: Will government

dispense with the idea of a costly review and recommend Norway's standards for

our own offshore oil industry?

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Minister of Natural Resources.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SKINNER: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, we have indicated as a government in this House before that we

are happy with the work that Captain Turner has done. We are very pleased with

the quality of the work. He has come forward with some very important

recommendations for government and for other federal agencies and regulatory

agencies. We will take all of those under advisement. We are considering all of

them now, as we speak, Mr. Speaker. We will follow through on the

recommendations, and whether or not the liability limits increase and what they

will be as a result of the work that we are doing. We will come back at some

point in the future with some more definitive statement on that, but that work

will be done, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of Signal Hill-Quidi

Vidi.

MS MICHAEL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I look forward to hearing more from the minister on this issue.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday in the House the Minister of Natural Resources quoted

Captain Turner referring to a catastrophic event, such as a blowout, as an

infrequent occurrence. I remind the minister, and all of us, the Ocean Ranger

disaster was an infrequent occurrence. The Macondo blowout was an infrequent

occurrence, and tragically, two years ago, Cougar 491 was also an extremely

remote and infrequent occurrence. Mr. Speaker, we must always be prepared for

the worst.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the minister: How could the government be satisfied to

allow deepwater oil exploration without full plans in place to deal with a

catastrophic event?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Natural Resources.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SKINNER: Mr. Speaker, the reason why we engaged Captain Turner was to

do a review of the response systems we have in place, to advise us whether or

not he felt they were adequate, whether or not he felt they were suitable for

the environment that we are operating in, for the level of activity that we have

going on there, for the distances involved; all kinds of factors. Captain Turner

has done his work and has come back with a report.

I have indicated here in this House before when I have been on my feet that

he has given us recommendations that will incrementally improve upon the safety

levels that we have. He has indicated we have a good regulatory and safety

regime but he says that we can improve upon it, and we are going to work towards

doing that, Mr. Speaker. Safety is not a static thing, it is something that is

very fluid and incrementally we will continue every day that we are here in this

government side to ensure that we do the best job we can for safety.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Member for the District of Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi.

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

I am really delighted to hear the minister speak so strongly about safety. It

has to be our number one priority. I think that is why Judge Wells recommended

that there be an independent authority set up to deal with safety and

environmental issues.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the Premier: Where are the discussions with the federal

government at this moment with regard to their support for Wells'

recommendation?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, this government has been very straightforward in terms of our

position. Safety to our offshore workers, Mr. Speaker, and protection of the

environment are our number one and two priorities.

Now, Mr. Speaker, once we received the Wells report, we immediately endorsed

the recommendation of a standalone regulator. We indicated our support for that

recommendation to the federal government. The federal government has not yet

taken a position on it, Mr. Speaker. We reiterate our position every opportunity

we have. As soon as the new government is settled in Ottawa, Mr. Speaker, and

gets back to work, in short order I would hope, we will be there and we will be

endorsing that recommendation again.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The time allotted for questions and answers 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 Leader of the Opposition.

I remind the hon. Leader of the Opposition that the normal time period for

presenting petitions is three minutes. This being Private Members' Day, I ask

her if she would be cognizant of the clock and allow Private Members' Day,

unless leave is granted, to take place at that time.

The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise today to present a petition on behalf of the people in Labrador with

regard to the Trans-Labrador Highway.

WHEREAS the Trans-Labrador Highway is a vital transportation lifeline for the

Labrador communities, providing access, generating economic activity, and

allowing residents to obtain health care and other public services; and

WHEREAS Route 510 and connecting branch roads of the Trans-Labrador highway

are unpaved, in deplorable condition and are no longer suitable and safe for the

traffic volumes that travel this route; and

WHEREAS Labrador cannot afford to wait years or decades for upgrading and

paving of their essential transportation route;

WHEREUPON the petitioners call on the House of Assembly to call upon the

government to provide additional funding for much needed improvements to Route

510 and connecting branch roads of the Trans-Labrador Highway.

Mr. Speaker, the people in Labrador have never been more frustrated in their

entire lives than they have been this year with the Trans-Labrador Highway. Mr.

Speaker, people who are travelling over the highway are e-mailing me everyday.

They are putting videos up on YouTube. They have opened a Facebook site where

hundreds of people across Labrador who use the road right now have logged onto.

In the last couple of weeks, Mr. Speaker, I have had cases where patients

could not be transported by ambulance because the roads are too bad. A patient

came out of Corner Brook hospital after having a major back surgery. They could

not even be taken down over the highway by ambulance because the road was so

bad, Mr. Speaker. We had to make arrangements to have them flown back into their

community.

This is the situation that people are left in. Truckers are calling me all

the time. They are doing damages to their vehicles. It is costing them a

fortune, Mr. Speaker. People who are having to travel for all kinds of reasons

have never had to endure such deplorable road conditions in their entire lives,

and they are asking the government to do something to respond to what their need

is at this time.

Orders of the Day

Private Members' Day

MR. SPEAKER: This being Private Members' Day, and it now being 3:00

o'clock in the afternoon, I now call on the hon. Member for the District of

Ferryland to present his private member's resolution.

The hon. the Member for the District of Ferryland.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HUTCHINGS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is certainly a pleasure to stand here today on a private member's

resolution, seconded by my colleague, the Member for Topsail.

To get the debate going today, Mr. Speaker, I think I will read it into the

record:

WHEREAS in the 2011 Budget the government introduced a $3.2 million two-year

pilot project focused on the development of child care spaces in family homes

throughout Newfoundland and Labrador; and

WHEREAS this initiative increases from $2,500 to $5,000 the start-up grant to

become a regulated family child care provider; provides start-up grants of

$7,500 for homes that care exclusively for children up to the age of two; and

provides for an ongoing stimulus grant to infant care homes of $200 a month per

infant space, in recognition of the higher cost of operation in terms of staff

ratios; and

WHEREAS this approach will help keep rates attainable for parents requiring

infant care, the very type of care that, right now, is in the shortest supply;

and

WHEREAS this approach is also of particular benefit for families in rural and

under-serviced areas because it is feasible on a small scale; and

WHEREAS this pilot project has the capacity to support the creation of up to

400 child care spaces over two years; and

WHEREAS since coming to office in 2003, this government has increased the

number of child care spaces by 50 per cent, adding 168 spaces in just the last

couple of years, and in addition to the 400 targeted in the new pilot project,

the government is planning to continue with the capacity initiative next year to

provide for yet another 460 child care spaces; and

WHEREAS because of the $3 million the Province has invested this year under

the Child Care Tax Credit to complement the federal child care tax credit, two

parents in this Province earning minimum wage and raising two children will pay

only $5 a day for child care, less than the $7 a day that this family would pay

in Quebec;

BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that this hon. House supports the government's

decision to proceed with the two-year pilot project focused on the development

of child care spaces in family homes throughout Newfoundland and Labrador.

Mr. Speaker, that is the resolution that was introduced. I would certainly

like to speak to that to begin debate as we move forward through the afternoon.

Mr. Speaker, as a government we are committed to providing families and young

children with the support they need to reach their full potential and live

enriching lives in this great Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Our

government no doubt recognizes the importance of supporting the healthy growth

and development of children in Newfoundland and Labrador. We know much of the

research and particularly over the past ten years

MR. SPEAKER (Kelly): Order, please!

The Chair is having difficulty hearing the hon. member speak. I would ask all

hon. members for their co-operation.

The hon. member

MR. HUTCHINGS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, as we know research over the past number of years, particularly

the past ten years has underscored the importance of early years in terms of

brain development and the lasting effects early experiences have on children's

success in school and beyond from youth, very young, into their adult life.

Therefore, Mr. Speaker, it is not only the quantity of early learning

opportunities that is so important and child care spaces that must be addressed

when developing a child care system, it is certainly the quality of the care and

instruction in those homes or centres where child care is given.

That is why as a government we are moving forward to develop a comprehensive

child care strategy for Newfoundland and Labrador. More families will have the

opportunity to make balanced choices when it comes to their children. Children

will also benefit from age appropriate programs and services before entering the

K to 12 school system.

In this year's Budget, Mr. Speaker, government introduced measures to advance

the implementation of its Early Childhood Learning Strategy entitled, Learning

from the Start, to give children a firm footing in their emotional, social and

cognitive development which is so important.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

This is the second time that the Chair has asked hon. members for their

co-operation.

MR. HUTCHINGS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, quality early learning and child care is provided by well

trained staff in environments including child care centres, family child care

homes and family resource programs that promote early learning using well

researched and best practices.

Our government has listened carefully to the concerns of parents and is

committed to specifically targeting the shortage of child care spaces.

Particularly in rural communities, Mr. Speaker, which is so important for

children under the age of two and school-aged children as well.

Mr. Speaker, it is necessary to identify where we are in terms of demand and

that is important in terms of the resolution and certainly in terms of the steps

that our government is committed in Budget 2011-2012. Currently there are

approximately 49,000 children aged zero to twelve with mothers in the paid

workforce. As of February 2011, there were 6,574 child care spaces for this same

group, but 13.4 per cent of children with parents employed have access to

regulated child care.

Broken down by age group, Mr. Speaker, it looks something like this: zero to

two years, there are 194 spaces, 104 centre-based and ninety family child care;

from two to five years there are 5,418 spaces and some of these would include

school-aged children as well; from the age six to twelve there are 962 spaces,

this includes centres specifically licensed for school-aged children. Mr.

Speaker, of that 6,574 in total we have 6,071 in child care centres and 503 in

family child care homes.

Mr. Speaker, when you look at the number of centres in regulated family child

care homes, again, as of February 2011, the number of child care centres was 181

and the number of family care homes eighty-six.

Mr. Speaker, that is where we are in terms of the initiatives that have been

taken prior to this fiscal year. The initiative that was announced through

Child, Youth and Family Services by the minister in the Budget is part of us

going forward in terms of the two-year strategy, where we want to go in

recognizing there is a shortfall and how we are going to meet that shortfall.

Mr. Speaker, as well, hon. members here in the House, certainly the Member

for St. John's North and others here who have small children or myself two

children now who are thirteen and eleven have gone through it and certainly

recognize the challenge we have in terms of daycare and what is needed, in terms

of starting out. It is so important in terms of early and what is needed. That

is very important, Mr. Speaker, that you have gone through it, you have

experienced it, you understand this. Everybody here or most people here have

been touched by it and understand the importance and access to it.

I may have said St. John's North, Mr. Speaker, Mt. Pearl North I reference in

terms of

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. HUTCHINGS: Everybody is okay.

Mr. Speaker, in addressing that shortfall, some of the things that we have

identified in terms of moving forward, and I mentioned Budget 2011-2012, a

further expansion of our capacity initiative, certainly looking at the

development of family child care with a particular emphasis on infant child

care. The goal of the two-year project is to increase family child care spaces

by 200 each year for the next two years for a total of 400 spaces, and that is

going to be over the next two years.

Certainly, this initiative is based on some of the research we have done. We

are looking a shortage of regulated child care across the Province, particularly

in rural areas, as I have mentioned, and for children under twenty-four months

and school-aged children as well.

The new Family Child Care Initiative is intended to assist in addressing the

problems and to provide more options for families in Newfoundland and Labrador.

The two-year pilot project will serve to inform the ten-year child care services

strategy. Certainly, initiatives starting now will move forward in the future to

meet the needs of our families and of our children.

To achieve the goal of significant increases in the number of regulated child

care spaces, particularly for children under twenty-four months, financial and

other incentives will be put in place to encourage unregulated providers to

become regulated, and for others to enter and remain in the regulated child care

field. This public policy is not just a change in regulations; it is also a

financial investment by the government in terms of stepping forward, building

this program, and bringing financial incentives with it.

Under the initiative, family child care providers who are licensed and

approved after April 1, 2011 will receive a $5,000 start-up grant. In addition,

those licensed after April 1, 2011 to care for three children under twenty-four

months will receive a $7,500 start-up grant. Those will be called infant homes.

Providers in infant homes will receive $200 per month for each infant enrolled.

Once again, Mr. Speaker, we are making this investment along with this

initiative to increase the spaces up to 400 over the next two years.

Again, professional development is very important in terms of a program like

this. That opportunity will be available on-line, so all providers can access it

throughout the Province. It will provide them with the opportunity to connect

with other providers. So, it is sort of a peer mentoring program. Those skills

and experiences from others in industry, the dialogue can go on, and that

information and research is certainly communicated, which is very important.

Information will be made available to regulated providers to assist them with

the business aspect of their operations. That will include things like workshops

with the business aspect through collaboration with the Department of

Innovation, Trade and Rural Development.

In addition, Mr. Speaker, family and child care connectors have recruited

more providers so the current staff can manage. They will provide as well

funding for an additional home visitor. Again, we are looking at putting

resources in place for these changes as we move toward meeting our goal of 400

new spaces.

In our Province, Mr. Speaker, no doubt, to have a future workforce comprised

of well-educated, competent, and confident adults, attention to child

development during the early years is essential. That is for the overall

well-being of society that we recognize there are efforts needed to be made. We

have certainly identified that and are certainly working towards it.

Mr. Speaker, from my own experience as MHA in the District of Ferryland, I

know a number of years ago - I think it was 2007 - through an early initiative,

a review carried out by the Department of Health and Community Services, there

was identification that there was shortfall in my area in regard to early

childhood spaces. Through that, a new initiative is coming on line this year.

Through the new Lifestyle Centre in Bay Bulls, there will be a forty-eight space

child centre, a proposed range up to seven years. Those are additional spaces;

those are spaces that were never there before. Through the initiative of this

government, the foresight of working with the community and working with the

region, identifying it is needed, those are forty-eight, as I have said, child

care spaces that were never there before are scheduled to open in approximately

June of this year.

That is done in collaboration with the Kilbride to Ferryland Family Resource

Centre. They are the sponsoring agency for this program. As I said, it is

located in the new regional Lifestyle Centre in Bay Bulls which is a $4.2

million complex that as well, in total, is scheduled to open this year with the

child care spaces hopefully available in June.

The satellite office of the family resource centre will be moved there as

well from the Southern Shore arena where it is now and will move into the new

Lifestyle Centre. This is part of the whole initiative, again through early

learning childhood capacity and building on those spaces that we need. Once

again, this is in rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

Mr. Speaker, some of the investments for this project: $116,000 to date, and

start up would be $156,000. Again, we are making that investment, we are

identifying where it is needed, and we are meeting that need.

Mr. Speaker, as we move through this afternoon, I look forward to hearing

from my colleagues in the House in terms of this private member's motion. As I

said, there has been a commitment made by this government in prior years and

again in Budget 2011-2012. In recognizing that we are moving ahead with a

strategy, we are initiating this two-year pilot to increase those spaces,

especially for infants. That is an initiative that as a government we believe

in, we are moving forward on it, and I look forward to hearing comments and

support from my colleagues here in the House.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Chair recognizes the hon. the Leader of the Opposition.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am rising today to speak on the motion that has been put forward by my

colleague. It is an unusual motion. In all of the time that I have been in the

House of Assembly, I do not know if I have actually seen a motion where

government has made a decision, announced a program, went forward with it and

then all of a sudden they are back to the House of Assembly with a motion asking

for support for the government. I have never quite seen that in my life. It

shows that the government themselves are uncomfortable with their own decision.

It shows that they did not make it with complete competency; therefore, they

feel a need to have everybody come together and pat them on the back and say:

Oh, that was a good decision, or that was a good job.

Mr. Speaker, most times when government makes decisions, and they go out and

they announce decisions in the Province, they do it with conviction. They do it

because they believe that they have already done what is right and proper. One

would think that they did it with the support of their caucus. One would think

that this motion would have been on the caucus table in the Tory caucus room

three months ago, Mr. Speaker. Three months ago, informing the backbenchers in

the government, informing the PC elected MHAs that we might be doing a pilot

project in child care. Obviously, Mr. Speaker, it must have come as a big shock

to them all when the Budget came down because, today, you have a backbencher

bringing a motion into the House of Assembly asking them to support the pilot

project of the government that the government has already committed to do, the

government has already announced, the government has already budgeted for.

Now, you mean to tell me that with forty-three MHAs in the House of Assembly,

representing the people of this Province, that there is no issue out there in

none of their constituencies that is calling on the government to do something

on behalf of the people they represent. Out of forty-three PC MHAs, there is not

one issue in their district that anyone has a concern with, that they want to

bring to the government to ask the government for support on, only something

they have already agreed to do, something they have already announced, something

they have already budgeted for in child care.

Now, one would have been shocked, because I was shocked. I was absolutely

shocked when I saw it, Mr. Speaker. So, I was really, really shocked to see the

motion come forward, based on what the government has already announced, already

said it was going to do, already said it was going to carry forward, and that is

the only issue they could find of importance out there in the whole Province of

Newfoundland and Labrador today.

Now, Mr. Speaker, since we have the motion on the floor that is asking the

people of the Province in voting to do absolutely nothing, that is asking no one

in this House to call upon government to do anything, it is a motion that is

calling for no action whatsoever, it is a dead motion. Because of the fact that

it is talking about child care, I will take a few minutes to speak on child care

in the Province.

Mr. Speaker, normally, in all of the time I have been here and I cannot

stress this enough most private members' motions that you see call upon the

people's House, that is all of us who are elected here on behalf of the people

of the Province, to actually support something, or to bring forward something to

implement change, or to call on government to take a certain action. It is very

seldom ever done to seek approval after government has announced something.

You have to remember, the hallmark of the Administration, Mr. Speaker, the

Dunderdale Administration, is child care. That was the centre plank in their

Throne Speech, that was the centre plank in their Budget, and child care was the

piece that they held up. This is what we want to be remembered for. This is what

we want our legacy to be as a government. We want it to be around child care.

Well, obviously they are not feeling too comfortable with what they have done

so far if they are bringing it to the House of Assembly looking for the four

Opposition members, Mr. Speaker, to give them some praise on it. They must be

feeling very uncomfortable, very unstable in the commitments they have made.

They want some assurance that they are doing the right thing or they are going

far enough.

Well, Mr. Speaker, they are not going to get a lot of assurance from me

today, I can guarantee you that. What they will get is an assurance that there

is nothing wrong with the pilot project that they are going to bring in. There

is nothing wrong. We said that in the media over and over again. If they had

read any transcripts or media clips on Budget Day, they would have heard that.

Does it go far enough? Absolutely not, and the minister knows that. I sat in

Estimates with her two days ago, two days ago, right before the motion came into

the House of Assembly. In fact, Mr. Speaker, I walked out of the Estimates

Committee with the minister and the member walked in with the motion. So there

we go. I guess I gave them some suggestions or an inkling of where they should

go on Private Members' Day.

Anyway, Mr. Speaker, having said that, let's talk about child care for a

minute. First of all, Mr. Speaker, what I will say is this, is that they did not

go far enough. Right now, today in Newfoundland and Labrador, for any young

family, for any family with children where the parents want to be able to go out

and engage in the workforce, they need to have good child care for their

children. That is the ultimate, Mr. Speaker. They need to have good, quality

child care for their children. They need to have affordable child care for their

children.

Mr. Speaker, those are the two fundamentals that we deal with in this

Province around child care. It is around making sure we have the spaces. I tell

you, they talk about all the spaces that they have created. I do not know where

they have created those spaces. We have asked time and time again to get a list

of where those spaces have been created, in what child care centres, where they

are available to people. I do not know if the Leader of the NDP has ever

received a list, but I do not ever recall seeing a list of where they have

created all of these 168 spaces that they claim they have created in the

Province. Mr. Speaker, maybe they could give us the full list.

Mr. Speaker, one of the fundamental issues around child care in this Province

has been the lack of early childhood educators. This has been the one concern. I

have met with daycare operators in all areas of this Province, Mr. Speaker. I

have had discussions with PACAL's administration, which is the group that

represents daycare operators in the Province. I have talked to individual

workers who actually work in daycares and I can tell you that one of the

fundamental problems have been around attracting early childhood educators. That

was the one piece that the minister and the government buried their heads in the

sand about and did not want to deal with.

We raised the issue last spring in the House of Assembly. We raised it here,

several questions one day to the minister on early childhood educators, on the

stipend that is being paid for education, how we can get more people into the

system, how we can get more early childhood educators into the daycare centres.

Guess what, Mr. Speaker? They not only ignored what we brought to the House of

Assembly but they ignored all the people out there who work in the field. They

ignored the daycare operators. They ignored the people who are in early

childhood education who were asking for this, because they know they cannot

handle the amount of work that is out there right now. They do not have the

people to put into places.

Mr. Speaker, what you have today is you have daycares in this Province with

spaces, I say to the Minister, daycare centres that have spaces. Guess what?

They cannot take children into those spaces because they do not have early

childhood educators. Because the regulations that you have laid out for them,

they are unable to meet those regulations. I am not saying there is anything

wrong with those regulations from a quality child care perspective, but if you

are going to put them in place you have to allow a way forward for those centres

to be able to attract the right people to do the job. This is where the

government, Mr. Speaker, fell down in their daycare policy one of the ways. I

am going to point out a few of them now in a minute, but this is one of the

ways.

Right now, today, we have daycare centres in this Province that have spaces,

that are willing to open their doors to take children in, that are willing, Mr.

Speaker, to provide the service, but they are not doing it because they cannot

attract early childhood educators to the system. Mr. Speaker, we feel that this

was one of the key areas that the government should have addressed. One of the

key areas that government should have addressed, and they did not do it. They

failed to do it. Because in addressing that key component, what they would have

done is they would have automatically opened up extra spaces for child care in

the Province, but they did not do that.

In addition to that, Mr. Speaker, let's talk about the cost, because I raised

the issue in the House of Assembly and the minister got up too cute by half, I

might say, in terms of what two people in a family would have to pay. Now,

having said that, the rate is a lot lower than I thought it was but it is not as

low as what the minister claims it to be.

For example, Mr. Speaker, in the House of Assembly a few weeks before Easter

I asked a question of the minister with regard to two people who work for

minimum wage in the Province, and they have two children and they want to put

them into child care. She stands up and says: oh no, it is $5 a day; it is a

$100 a month. This is what she says to me: $5 a day, $100 a month. Well, do you

know what the first problem was, Mr. Speaker? The subsidy is $30 a day. I could

not find a daycare that takes a child for $30 a day. That was the problem, I say

to the minister. I could not find it. In fact, I have a whole list of them here.

I have a whole list of them.

Mr. Speaker, we could not find a daycare. In fact, when we started making

calls to all the daycare centres and looking for what their rates were on a

daily basis to see if that two-income family, working for minimum wage, could

put their two children in a daycare in this Province at what the minister says

is $100 a month, we could not find it. Mr. Speaker, maybe she knows of one.

Maybe she knows of one but I am going to tell you, we could not find one for

this couple that I was dealing with, nowhere in their area.

In fact, Mr. Speaker, the rates came back like this. For infants, they said

the cost of daycare charges per day is $60 a day in Newfoundland and Labrador,

$60 a day. They said the government's subsidy rate is $44 a day. The other one

was toddlers. Every centre that we talked to, and I say to the minister there

might be a couple out there that we did not get a hold of where we did not get

their rates, but I am sure she could find one if she tried. Anyway, their charge

is $40 a day for toddlers. That is what they tell us they are charging today in

Newfoundland and Labrador for their rates. The subsidy is $30 a day. Mr.

Speaker, that translates into not only the additional $10 the family pays but

the $5 towards the subsidy, which is $15 a day per family, which translates

and if I could do the math really quickly I think it is something like $375. I

know I had it here $325 on a monthly basis. Now, that is a far cry from the

$100 a month that the minister stood up in the House and said that people were

going to have to pay for child care if you work for minimum wage in this

Province.

We looked, Mr. Speaker, for child care for ages three to five. The daily cost

for daycare for children aged three to five is anywhere from $35 to $40. There

were some centres that actually offered it for $35 a day, and the subsidy was

$30 a day. So, when we raise issue of child care, we are raising it for a couple

of reasons. One is that we want to ensure that working mothers in this Province,

women who want to work, women who are of child-bearing age, they want to have a

family, and they want to be able to go to work, that they have the option to put

their children into a child care centre. We also want to ensure that they can do

it at an affordable rate, and that they do not have to take half of what they

earn, or over half of what they earn from that job, to be able to put their

children into a child care centre. Mr. Speaker, women in this Province have a

lot to contribute to the workforce, and they cannot contribute adequately

without the proper services being provided to them.

So, there is nothing wrong with having a pilot project. I think the minister

said she is hoping this year to create forty-one or forty-two new spaces for

infant care. Even that is a good start. We are not going to stand up here and

condemn the fact that they are going to do a pilot project, but do we think it

is enough, do we think they have addressed the major problems that needed to be

addressed here? No, they did not take it far enough. They did not deal with the

early childhood educators' piece, they did not deal with attracting quality

workers into our child care centres that we have so we can make more spaces

available, and they did not deal with the issues around affordability that a lot

of families are still facing.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: The Chair recognizes the hon. Member for Terra Nova.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

Unlike the Leader of the Opposition, it is my absolute pleasure to rise here

today to speak to this motion. As a new father with a young three-and-a-half

month old daughter, I can certainly appreciate these things more than others,

perhaps.

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. S. COLLINS: Thank you.

I certainly applaud our government's steps to provide young families with the

services, opportunities, and supports needed to ensure its success. Mr. Speaker,

being a parent is such a huge responsibility, and certainly a gift. These

measures introduced by government will certainly help parents to succeed.

In last year's Budget, we saw children and youth as our government's focus

and this year we see further improvements and initiatives to build on that

strong base. Bringing a child into this world, Mr. Speaker, is perhaps the

biggest decision any couple will ever make. While my mother always said I was

not a decision, she certainly did her best to raise me right.

One of the determining factors that goes into a decision when a couple looks

into having kids certainly would be the finances surrounding them once the child

is born. In particular, women may ask themselves: Can I return to the workforce,

and what implications are there if I can? Certainly, that would depend largely

upon issues surrounding child care. This is even more pertinent to low-income

earners. That is where the child care subsidy comes in, Mr. Speaker.

The Department of Child, Youth and Family Services provides a subsidy to

child care centres on behalf of eligible families to facilitate their access to

quality and affordable child care. The Child Care Services Subsidy Program helps

eligible parents or guardians pay for child care in a licensed care centre or a

regulated family child care home. Some or all of the costs may be covered

depending on family income. Transportation costs may also be covered.

As of January 2011, over 1,900 children in Newfoundland and Labrador are

attending child care centres with support from the subsidy program. If you look

across the Province, it is broken down as follows: Eastern Urban, 1,003; Eastern

Rural, 143; Central, 470; Western, 299; and Labrador-Grenfell with twenty-three,

and that brings the total subsides to 1,938.

Government is committed to making child care for low-income earners more

affordable and more accessible allowing all people with the opportunity to reach

their full potential. Research has shown that success and prosperity depends

upon having a diverse educated and engaged population, which in turn depends

upon having appropriate supports and services in place such as quality early

learning and affordable child care.

In addition, Mr. Speaker, when children are provided with high-quality child

care and early learning the social, emotional, and intellectual benefits are

apparent as children enter school with a positive attitude towards themselves as

competent learners with parents who feel supported in their parenting role.

Another piece of the puzzle is the child tax credit, and this, of course,

focuses on families right across the board. Commencing with the 2011 taxation

year, there will be a new non-refundable child credit tax based upon child care

expenses currently deductible from income. The new child tax credit is one

component of the larger ten-year strategy to support young families with their

child care needs.

Budget 2011 commits $3 million annually for a non-refundable child care

credit for deductible child care expenses that have been incurred. This credit

allows for a maximum of $7,000 per year to be claimed for children up to seven

years of age for a maximum credit of $539, and $4,000 per year for children aged

seven to sixteen for a maximum credit of $308.

Mr. Speaker, the child care credit is a non-refundable tax credit that will

be calculated at 7.7 per cent of the eligible child care deduction as reported

on line 214 of an individual's income tax return. This will help make child care

more affordable and is designed to provide relief from the rising cost for young

families who must avail of child care in order to work.

When you combine the child tax credit with the subsidy program, minimum wage

earners in our Province pay approximately $5 per day per child for child care in

Newfoundland and Labrador. Mr. Speaker, our government recognizes that child

care services are essential to supporting labour force participation both now

and in the future.

Child care services provide a primary need for families, and that is to

support workforce participation of young parents, allowing parents the

opportunity for full- or part-time employment. By doing this, a strong child

care system contributes to equality, especially for women, and a more equitable

division of child rearing, facilitating employment opportunities for mothers.

Poverty related to unemployment or underemployment can be directly linked to

a lack of early learning and child care, which obviously can have a huge

negative impact later in life. Lone parents of low-income families are

especially vulnerable when child care is unavailable, unaffordable, or of poor

quality. Single mothers, in particular, are more likely to exit the labour force

and consequently become reliant on income assistance as a direct result of not

having access to appropriate child care.

High-quality early learning in child care is the first step to a child's

success in school and in future workforce participation. Mr. Speaker, that

obviously should be our focus. As a result, individuals who, before such

initiatives, were left with little choice but to be dependent on Income Support

now have a choice, a choice that will allow them to be self-sufficient and a

contributor in our society. This is such an empowering tool and the benefits are

immense to both parents and their children.

Mr. Speaker, more specific to children is the child development and early

development as it relates to child care supports. The provincial government is

committed to providing families and young children with the supports they need

to reach their full potential and live enriching lives in Newfoundland and

Labrador. Our government recognizes the importance of supporting the healthy

growth and development of children in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Mr. Speaker, research over the past ten years has underscored the importance

of the early years in terms of brain development and the lasting effects that

early experiences have on children's success in school and beyond. Therefore, it

is not only the quantity of early learning opportunities and child care spaces

that must be addressed when developing a child care system, it is also the

quality that is so important. This is why we are moving forward to develop a

comprehensive child care strategy for Newfoundland and Labrador so more families

will have opportunities to make balanced choices.

Children will also benefit from age appropriate programs and services before

entering the K to 12 school system. In this year's Budget, government introduced

measures to advance the implementation of its Early Childhood Learning Strategy

entitled, Learning from the Start, to give children a firm footing in their

emotional, social and cognitive development. Quality learning and child care is

provided by well trained staff in environments including child care centres,

family child care homes, and family resource programs that promote early

learning using well researched best practices. Mr. Speaker, our government has

listened carefully to the concerns of parents and is committed to specifically

targeting the shortage of child care spaces, particularly in rural communities,

such as where I live, and for children under the age of two and school-aged

children.

Mr. Speaker, when I look at my own hometown of Glovertown, and I guess

speaking in context of somebody coming from a city, it has a population of less

than 3,000. In the Town of Glovertown alone there are over eighty children of

pre-Kindergarten age. Like I said, if you take that in context - one of them is

mine, and when you take that in context of the numbers, that is certainly huge.

I know when we were in the hospital, my wife gave birth in the Health

Sciences Centre, and when we were in there - we actually spent ten days in, she

had some complications. It was fantastic, the news you would hear from the

nurses. We had fantastic care; I would certainly like to point that out as well.

It was brought to my attention that we are now experiencing a relative baby boom

here in the Province. They said the numbers over last year and the year previous

to that has grown relatively in large amounts. So whatever we are doing is

certainly working. I was thinking, well maybe that is just in St. John's. Maybe

that is just in urban parts of the Province.

I recently visited my sister-in-law who gave birth in James Paton Memorial

Hospital in Gander early last month and the exact same thing again was said by

nurses, there is a baby boom happening. There are a lot of babies being born.

Mr. Speaker, in a developed country, that happens for specific reasons. It just

does not happen by chance. Certainly, I will speak to a few of those in a

moment.

This government has made so many great strides. As I have said, unprecedented

investments in health, education, amongst other things. This, combined with the

latest announcements, has created a great environment to have and raise

children. As I said, people do not go out and even though I may have started

off by saying I was a mistake myself, but when people are planning on having

children they give thoughts to the different things. They give thoughts to the

education system, the health system, recreational opportunities in your area,

those types of things, and certainly child care plays a big part of that. I have

not faced that yet, because of course my wife is on maternity leave, and we live

in a country where we have a year's maternity leave, which is a fantastic thing.

I have a cousin in California now who just recently had a baby. No maternity

leave whatsoever. She actually had to take three months sick leave from her job

as a teacher. We are so fortunate that we have that first year which is so

important in the development of a child, but then of course you have to look

after that. The years following can be difficult if you do not have any steps in

place and if you do not implement the correct things there to have care for your

children outside the home if you wish to enter the workforce once again.

Mr. Speaker, I certainly and wholeheartedly will be supporting this motion,

as you can probably tell. I would be very surprised if all of the members here

in the House - after hearing the Leader of the Opposition. I would ask her to

give this a second thought. I know a lot of times people not a lot of times,

all the time people play politics with things but if you look at this, how do

you say this is not a good idea? I look down to - and it is not St. John's

North, it is Mount Pearl North. I was actually surprised, I was going to wish

Mr. Ridgley congratulations; but there are a number of young families there, as

well as the minister herself. Ask us, how are we planning to deal with these

things? That is the thing. Like I said, I am going to be looking into these

services relatively soon. My wife hopes to return to the workforce, which I

fully support, and she will be able to do that if there are proper services in

place.

I would ask all members to support this motion, and just to finish off by

saying there are so many great things happening in this Province. I am going to

do my part to increase the population. I would certainly ask all the rest of the

members in this hon. House I do not know if that is unparliamentary to ask

that of people. There are great things happening in the Province, it is a great

place to raise a family. You ask anybody, you have people I have friends of my

own who have moved down from Alberta, Ontario. I have a friend from the Middle

East; she brought her and her family back here because it is such a great place

to raise children. Do not tell us; certainly ask us, because we are doing it

right now. As I said, a number of members in this House are raising children and

are doing it happily

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. S. COLLINS: Yes, that is right.

Anyway, I will take my seat with that, and thank you for the opportunity to

speak to this motion.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: It is the pleasure of the Chair to recognize the hon. the

Member for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi.

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

I am glad to have the opportunity this afternoon to address issues of early

childhood education and care. The private member's motion that has been brought

forward gives me the opportunity to do that. Obviously, the private member's

motion is dealing with a program that government has announced. Well, a pilot

project that government has announced in this year's Budget and it is something

that government is moving ahead with.

I have many concerns about this pilot project, but I am not going to

concentrate on those concerns per se. What I am going to do is what I hope

government would be happy to have me to do, is to put forward thoughts and ideas

with regard to early childhood care and education that I hope will help them as

they continue putting together the ten year strategy for child care, as they

continue looking at early childhood learning, and as they put this pilot project

in place, which they are doing and which I assume they will be evaluating.

One of the things that strikes me as I look at all the efforts that are going

into child care, is an African proverb that a lot of us have heard, I am sure.

It is very simple, it says: It takes a village to raise a child. I think there

is a lot for us to learn from that proverb, because it recognizes that the

raising of children is not just the responsibility of an individual who actually

gives birth to the child, it is not just the responsibility of the two people

who created that child, it is not just the responsibility, even, of the family

that those two people find themselves in, it is the responsibility of everybody

in the community. It is a communal responsibility to help children with their

development, whether that development is the physical development, whether that

development is mental, no matter what their development is, that it is all of

our responsibilities.

That is the reason, Mr. Speaker, that we have things in our society such as

governmental agencies that protect children. That is why we have things in our

society such as government responsibility for education. We know that it is

everybody's responsibility to take care of children. It is everybody's

responsibility to be involved with their development. It is everybody's

responsibility to raise a child. We know that for education, we know that for

child protection, and we know that for children's health. We had an unfortunate

situation in this Province just yesterday where a mother was found guilty and

has to go to jail because she did not provide for the child's safety. That is

the community recognizing we all have a responsibility.

What that says to me is that when it comes to our early childhood education

and child care everything about the child's learning, everything about the

education of a child, everything about the care of the child is not just the

responsibility of the parents or of the family in which that child finds him or

herself, it is the responsibility of all of us. That is why, Mr. Speaker, what

we need in this Province is a public system, a system that is publicly funded,

that is publicly administered, that is totally, publicly developed. This is what

we do not have at the moment, Mr. Speaker.

Families in Newfoundland and Labrador want a child care system that is

high-quality, that is universal, that is affordable, and that is accessible and

developmental. They want everybody to have access to good, high-quality child

care.

We have a serious shortage of licensed child care and early childhood

education in this Province. What we are dealing with here today in this private

member's motion goes nowhere near taking care of that.

We have approximately 6,000 full-time equivalent child care spaces, but in

2010 there were 23,413 children under five in this Province. Even if some

proportion of these families do not want or need child care there are still

thousands of children under five whose parents work full-time and do not have

access to licensed child care.

The way child care is funded and delivered in Newfoundland and Labrador

creates a patchwork of services and does not provide high-quality early

childhood education to every child. We have a fragmented system. Some of our

child care spaces are public spaces, such as the child care centre attached to

the House of Assembly and the one attached to the College of the North Atlantic.

Some of our child care spaces are not-for-profit spaces like those that are at

the resource centre that CUPE has here in St. John's, and there are many other

community-based, not-for-profit child care seats. Some of the child care seats

in this Province are private, for-profit seats.

We have a non-uniform system, a system that lacks adequate regulations and a

system that does not take care of the needs of people in the Province, of

children in this Province. The system that we have is non-affordable for many

parents and we have subsidies and subsidies are fine but subsidies do not meet

the needs of everybody in the Province, Mr. Speaker.

We have lack of standards because of the fragmented patchwork quilt of child

care that we have; we have lack of standards, Mr. Speaker. Lack of standards

always leads to lack of quality. That is one of the major problems when you have

lack of standards, when you do not have a fully regulated system. A publicly

delivered, publicly administered system would be fully regulated and that is

something we are missing seriously in this Province.

A universal early childhood education and child care system gives every child

an equal opportunity to get a head start in life and is that not what we want

that every child has the same opportunity to get a good head start in life?

Research clearly demonstrates that high quality, public, non-profit, early

learning and child care delivers the best support to children and families.

Families can feel secure and safe when they know that their children are going

into such child care spaces that are high quality, that are not-for-profit, that

are regulated and they are really taking care of the children.

Those kinds of centres and that kind of a system, Mr. Speaker, also assure

that we have safeguards for child care workers. We have child care workers who

are trained and we have child care workers who are paid according to their

training because that is what we do not have right now, Mr. Speaker. We have a

poorly paid workforce while at the same time we demand that they have training.

It is not fair to the workers, Mr. Speaker, and we lose a lot of workers because

of that. A high quality, public, non-profit early learning and child care system

would mean that workers would be happy workers. They would be workers who are

getting paid according to their ability and they are workers who will want to

stay in the workforce. We will not have a high turnover and we will be assured

that we have quality based care.

Another thing that a high quality public system will do, Mr. Speaker, is that

it will make the best use of public dollars. Right now we have a system that

subsidizes parents and some parents need to be all parents need to be

subsidized. When we are subsidizing parents with children who are going in to

for-profit centres or who are even going into family-based care because

family-based care is for profit also when we are subsidizing children going

into such spaces, we are using public money to go into the private sector where

those operating the spaces are trying to make money for themselves. It is a

business.

This is certainly a poor and inadequate way in which to use our public

dollars, Mr. Speaker. This is something that the new initiative the government

is getting into with the pilot project they are talking about does not face.

They are increasing spaces that are for profit and government is using public

money to pay people who want to make money from running child care centres.

Lack of child care, Mr. Speaker, is a major barrier to the ability for both

parents in a family where there are two parents to participate fully in the work

force. Lack of a good, public, high-quality child care system does not meet

either and is a barrier also for single parents, especially single women, who

are trying to work. If they do not have good-quality child care, they very often

cannot work and therefore are unable to give their children the quality of life

economically they want to give them. Whether we are talking about families with

two parents or families with one parent, having a good-quality public child care

system enables parents to work fully and to be able to give their children what

they need.

As I have said, mothers, especially single mothers, are the ones who

experience the biggest barriers, Mr. Speaker. At least 13 per cent of women

working part-time in Canada cite lack of child care as the reason why they do

not work full-time, compared to only 2 per cent of men. That is a gross,

inequitable situation, Mr. Speaker, and something we should be concerned about.

We know from the experience in other places, especially in Quebec, Mr.

Speaker, that it is their wonderful child care program that has enabled so many

more women to go into the work force. It has really benefitted the economy in

Quebec, both because of more parents being able to work and also because of the

good-quality jobs that child care workers have, Mr. Speaker. So, all of it

benefits the economy. It is not an expense, it is a benefit; it is actually part

of revenue. From an economic perspective it makes all the sense in the world.

From the care of children, it also makes all the sense in the world.

It is mostly mothers who are losing out because of the shortage of child care

spaces, as I have said. We often hear of young mothers - and I certainly hear

about them in my office - who decides to stay home because they cannot find

adequate child care.

A well-designed early childhood education and child care system will be good

for the economy. It will help increase women's participation in the labour

force, as I have said. It will create local child care jobs and local demand for

goods and services. That is the basis of a good economy, Mr. Speaker, when what

is happening is happening locally.

Mr. Speaker, what I would like to see - and this is what I encourage the

government to look at - is a seamless early childhood education and child care

program that is publicly funded, administered and delivered for children up to

the age of six, and an after school program for school-aged children as well. It

is the seamlessness that is really important, Mr. Speaker. An integrated program

of early childhood education and child care needs to be administered by one

department, not two as we have here in our Province, and preferably that

department should be in Education.

What we need, Mr. Speaker, is an early learning and child care division that

comes under the Department of Education. We do not need and we should not have

one department dealing with early childhood learning and early childhood

education, making decisions in one department, and then another department

dealing with child care and making decisions and setting up programs in their

department. That kind of system does not give us a policy that encourages

integration of the system. We want seamlessness and that will come if we put the

two issues together under one department.

Early childhood and child care centres I believe

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER (T. Osborne): Order, please!

MS MICHAEL: - should be based in the schools, Mr. Speaker, especially in

rural areas, not in families but attach them to the schools. That would support

family daycare providers and offer ECE programs directly to children. It is a

model that is used elsewhere and it is a model we could benefit from. We also

need a full day Kindergarten for five-year-olds, and I do know that the

Department of Education is looking at that and eventually for four-year-olds.

I would like to see government agree to a fully integrated approach with the

goal of having only one department dealing with early childhood. The situation

we have now of two departments dealing with early childhood education and child

care will continue to support a fragmented approach.

Mr. Speaker, I would like the government to think about what I said right at

the very beginning, that it does take a community to raise a child and that we

make sure that our early childhood learning and child care policies and

practices show the importance of the community raising that child. In our

context, Mr. Speaker, that means a fully government-funded,

government-delivered, and government-administered early learning and child care

program.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Child, Youth and Family Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

It gives me great pleasure to speak to our private member's resolution here

today calling upon this House to support our two-year pilot project. It

certainly focuses on the development of child care spaces in family homes, Mr.

Speaker. It is a great motion.

I have to say right off the top, Mr. Speaker, I was really taken aback by the

Leader of the Opposition's comment when she began by saying that this is the

only thing of importance that we could find as a government. Mr. Speaker, what a

statement to make: the only thing of importance that we could find as a

government.

Well, Mr. Speaker, this is one of the most important things as a government

that we will discuss in our entire time as a government and for many years

beyond. Getting child care right is critically important, not only to the

economy of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, not only to the workforce

of Newfoundland and Labrador, not only to particularly women who will have an

opportunity to either be in the workforce because of what we are doing around

child care or to create family child care centres in their homes themselves

where they can either stay with their own children or take in others' children,

Mr. Speaker. Even beyond all of that, this is so critically important for the

children of the Province. That is the most important thing. The children of the

Province deserve that we absolutely do this right, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS JOHNSON: So, to make a statement that this is the only thing of

importance that we could find is absolutely ridiculous, Mr. Speaker. This is an

opportunity today for the Leader of the Opposition to get up and support what we

are doing, endorse what we are doing, and support the motion put here today.

Obviously, Mr. Speaker, with an attitude that this is the only thing of

importance we can find, we are not going to get much support on that side of the

House.

One of the other things that the member opposite did raise and yes, we did

have our Estimates Monday morning, and yes, she did ask where are these 168

spaces, Mr. Speaker. I have since gotten that information for her and I can

certainly read it into the record here now. It is not something we are trying to

hide. We are very proud of the fact that we have created 168 spaces in the last

little while. Mr. Speaker, we see every day their research skills here in the

House, but I do not mind helping them out a little bit and providing that

information. Forty-one of those spaces were in St. John's; six were in Eastern

Rural; seventy-six in Central; eight in Western; and thirty-seven in Labrador.

So, you can see that this is all throughout the Province. As I said, we are very

proud of the spaces that we have created.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS JOHNSON: Mr. Speaker, the other thing that the Leader of the

Opposition was talking about was the subsidy rate. We have one of the greatest

subsidy programs in the entire country. We have increased the number of

subsidies since we have come into government by 72 per cent with over 1,900

children being subsidized today. The subsidies are great. I did say in this

House that two people working, making minimum wage, with two children would only

pay about $100 a month per child. She is saying she cannot find anywhere where

those rates are as low as what we said, she cannot figure out how we get to $100

a month.

Again, Mr. Speaker, we see their research skills every day, they cannot get

it right with Muskrat Falls, they cannot get it right with all kinds of issues

in the House. They get great dollars, from what I understand, in terms of

research. Again, I do not mind giving her a place to start. She said she could

not find one and maybe the minister could find one. I just came up with six or

seven off the top of my head, so if they wanted to start some research there

they can go ahead.

The Children's Centre is one; they do not charge more than the subsidized

rate, the St. George's Y centre, the Way 2 Grow Child Care Center, several

YMCAs, Building Blocks Quality Child Care Centre, and Lourdes Preschool. Mr.

Speaker, that is just a few that I just came up with in a few minutes. They have

had a couple of days to do the research; since Monday they knew this. The

information is right there. It is very easy to find. As I said, they do not do

great research. I do not mind helping them out, but it makes for much more

informed debate when they do the research first.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS JOHNSON: In any case, we will help them along.

The other thing she was being very cute about in saying that she should not

find how we came up with the $100 a month. Mr. Speaker, I do not make things up

or cloud them, or make them sound prettier than they are. I clearly said upfront

in my comment when you take into consideration the provincial and the federal

tax credit that are already currently in place, add that on to the child care

benefit that we have put in the Budget this year, when you take all of that into

account then does it become $100 a month, Mr. Speaker.

She is trying to be cute. I am not cute; that is not the way I operate. I do

not put out numbers that ar