Newfoundland and Labrador Hansard — Members' Statements — 31 May 2007 (45th General Assembly, 4th Session, Vol. XLV No. 22)
2007-05-31
Newfoundland and Labrador — Debates (Hansard)
May 31, 2007 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY
PROCEEDINGS Vol. XLV No. 22
The House met at 1:30 p.m.
MR. SPEAKER (Hodder): Order, please!
Admit strangers.
This afternoon I would like to welcome, in the Speaker's gallery, Mayor
Jerry Dean from the Town of Botwood.
Welcome to our House.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: This afternoon, as well, I want to recognize one of our
Pages, Kara Warr, who has been with us now for several years. This is her last
day with us.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER: I do understand, in the next short while, that wedding bells
will ring for her.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: We want to wish her well and thank her for her time in the
House.
Thank you very much, Kara.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
Statements by Members
MR. SPEAKER: This afternoon we have members' statements as follows: the
hon. the Member for the District of Placentia & St. Mary's; the hon. the
Member for the District of Grand Falls-Buchans; the hon. the Member for the
District of Ferryland; the hon. the Member for the District of Carbonear-Harbour
Grace; the hon. the Member for the District of St. John's North; and, the hon.
the Member for the District of Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi.
The Chair recognizes the Member for Placentia & St. Mary's.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. COLLINS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to compliment the three Royal Canadian Army Cadet
Corps in my district: 2558 Placentia, 2895 Enright Memorial, and 2863 Dunne
Memorial.
During the past month, I had the opportunity to attend ceremonial reviews of
these three Corps and was most impressed with their performances. The drills,
bands, public speaking and fitness exhibitions won very positive reviews from
their inspecting officers.
In 2895 Enright Memorial, under Commanding Officer Lieutenant Heather Hanlon,
Master Warrant Officer Janice Dalton received the Royal Canadian Legion Medal of
Excellence, Master Warrant Officer Jennifer Power received the Commanding
Officers' Choice Award, and Chief Warrant Officer Justin Hearn was the
recipient of the Outstanding Cadet Award for the Corps, as well as being
selected as the overall provincial winner of the Strathcona Award.
In the 2863 Dunne Memorial Corps, under Commanding Officer Captain Don
Baldwin, Chief Warrant Officer Ashley Power received the Outstanding Cadet Award
and the Strathcona Award, Warrant Officer Vanessa Hearn received the Royal
Canadian Legion Medal of Excellence, and Master Warrant Officer D.J. Hayward
received the Commanding Officers' Choice Award.
In 2588 Placentia, under Commanding Officer Captain Lorne Collins, Sergeant
Tyler Whiffen won the individual Strathcona Trust Award, and Sergeant Kaitlin
McGrath received the Royal Canadian Legion Medal of Excellence. In addition,
2588 Placentia was awarded the Cadets Caring for Canada Atlantic Region
Environmental Award in recognition of their environmental initiatives conducted
in conjunction with Cadets Caring for Canada.
Mr. Speaker, the Royal Canadian Army Cadets is an excellent organization and
has a lengthy history in Placentia and St. Mary's of providing leadership
training, experience and friendships that will last these young people a
lifetime. It was a pleasure to see the results of that training in these young
leaders.
I ask all hon. members to join me in congratulating these three Corps, their
officers, cadets and sponsors, for a very successful year, and wish them well in
the future.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Grand Falls-Buchans.
MS THISTLE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in this House today to extend congratulations to the
Grand Falls Mill, Woodlands Division, who were recognized for the Best Safety
Record in a Woodlands Operation for 2006.
On Wednesday, March 21, 2007, Abitibi-Consolidated held its Annual Awards
Gala in Montreal. During this event, company management recognized specific
achievements of its workers in paper mills, sawmills, remanufacturing facilities
and woodlands operations for 2006.
Mr. Speaker, Woods Manager Bill Furey accepted the Corporate Woodland Safety
Award on behalf of the Abitibi employees. It has been twenty-seven months since
the last lost time accident occurred in the Woodlands Operations, and this is a
significant milestone in the area of health and safety. In 2006, the division
recorded an Occupational Safety and Health Administration reportable total
frequency of 1.07, which places their employees in a "World Class"
category.
Woodlands employees are engaged in many and varied high risk jobs such as
operations of harvesters, forwarders, excavators and graders, truck drivers,
maintenance personnel, cookery staff, thinners, tree planters and various
support, supervisory and management personnel. A component of the workforce is
still comprised of manual woodcutters using chainsaws to produce fibre and brush
saws for thinning.
Mr. Speaker, this is a significant achievement and I ask all members of this
House to join with me in extending congratulations to the Grand Falls Mill,
Woodland Operations, who have been recognized for Best Safety Record in a
Woodlands Operation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of Ferryland.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. HUTCHINS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I rise in this hon. House today to recognize and congratulate Justin Halleran,
from the community of Trepassey, on his outstanding basketball career as a MUN
Sea Hawk.
Justin has become one of the university's most notable players. He was a
leading scorer in two of the past three years. He was named the Sea Hawks MVP in
each of the past three years, and his 174 career three pointers made are second
only to former Sea Hawks player Jeff Saxby, who graduated several years ago.
Justin's commitment to his sport netted him major recognition over the past
few years. He has been awarded the Atlantic University Sport Award and the
Canadian Interuniversity Sport Ken Shields Award, which was a first for a
Memorial athlete. As well, he has received the Premier's Award for Athletics
and the Dave Kirkland Student Leadership Award, also the first for an athlete at
Memorial.
Between rigorous practice and training schedules and on top of studying,
Justin became one of the university's most dedicated student volunteers,
spending time as a Big Brother, volunteering at the Boys and Girls Club of St.
John's and serving as lead instructor at the MUN Advantage Camps, and visiting
hospitals and seniors' homes. Next year Justin plans on playing in the
semi-pro league overseas.
Mr. Speaker, I ask all hon. members to join with me in congratulating Justin
Halleran, from my district, on his successful career as a Memorial University
Sea Hawk and wish him well in his basketball career.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Carbonear-Harbour Grace.
MR. SWEENEY: Mr. Speaker, I rise today to extend congratulations to
Kristi Bourne of Carbonear, who was crowned Central Avalon's next
representative at Miss Teen Achievement Newfoundland and Labrador and she won
the title of Miss Summer Holidays Achievement 2007.
The eighteen-year-old Level III student at Carbonear Collegiate won the two
day event, which was held at Crescent Collegiate School in Blaketown, and she
will enjoy a full year of charitable and social events throughout the region.
Mr. Speaker, Kristi is an active member of the 589 Royal Canadian Air Cadet
Corps in Carbonear. She is a volunteer band instructor and she prepares cadets
from September to June annually for their final review, which I will be
attending on Sunday afternoon. She is also a Burry Heights camp counsellor, a
Royal Canadian Legion volunteer, a cheerleading, dance and wrestling team member
at Carbonear Collegiate and is part of numerous other community and charitable
events. These volunteer activities have led her to be awarding the VOCM Cares
Award for volunteerism at the 2007 Miss Teen Achievement Newfoundland and
Labrador Pageant this past March.
Just last year, Kristi was recognized as one of two cadets from Newfoundland
and Labrador for the International Air Cadet Exchange, where sixty-one out of
23,000 cadets from across Canada were selected to receive a trip as Ambassadors
for Canada to one of eleven host countries. Kristi travelled to Ottawa and then
on to the Netherlands for three weeks in July.
Mr. Speaker, I ask all members of this House to join with me in
congratulating Kristi Bourne who was crowned Central Avalon's next
representative at the Miss Teen Achievement Newfoundland and Labrador and won
the title of Miss Summer Holidays Achievement 2007. Quite the young lady, Mr.
Speaker.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. John's North.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. RIDGLEY: Mr. Speaker, yesterday evening I had the pleasure of
attending the Annual General Meeting and the volunteer banquet at the Rabbittown
Community Centre in the heart of the District of St. John's North. This is a
very special year for the Centre because they are celebrating their twentieth
year of serving the needs of the residents in their area.
Mr. Speaker, it is a true testament of the will, the fortitude, and the
dedication of the staff and volunteers at Rabbittown that the activities at the
Centre have expanded and grown to such an absolutely phenomenal extent. In fact,
this year they added two new programs, one for seniors and one for toddlers.
I would certainly like to commend Executive Director, Matthew Piercey,
Program Coordinator, Mark Richards, and Board Chair, Bill Donovan, for their
outstanding contributions.
Mr. Speaker, one of the highlights of yesterday's event was announcing the
name of the Volunteer of the Year. There were so many worthy recipients this
year that they actually had a tie for the award between Matthew Della Valle and
Marlayne Jane. Matthew serves as President of the Tenant Association, as well as
Treasurer of the Board of Directors and gives his heart and soul to the work at
Rabbittown. Marlayne became involved as a volunteer more recently and has,
likewise, given unselfishly of her time to make a valuable contribution to the
work at the Centre. As a matter of fact, it is Marlayne who designed the new
logo at Rabbittown.
Finally, Mr. Speaker, I would like to also mention Evan Connors, a young man
who has been employed at the Centre for three years and has been largely
responsible for facilitating the teen program. Evan has made a tremendous
contribution to the success of Rabbittown, but he is now moving on to enroll in
the carpentry school and we wish him well as he embarks on this new endeavour.
Mr. Speaker, I ask all member of the House to join me in congratulating the
staff and the volunteers of Rabbittown Community Centre as they celebrate their
twentieth anniversary and wish them every success in the future.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi.
MS MICHAEL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I rise in the House today to congratulate a group of students, faculty and
staff at Memorial University and the Provincial Museum for their project on the
St. John's Battery, which has resulted in an innovative new display at The
Rooms Provincial Museum. The students are: Jed Baker, Rita Colavincenzo, Lynda
Daneliuk, Jerry Dick, Lynn Matte, Hannah Mills-Woolsey, Maureen Power and
Heather Read. The project was part of a course taught by Folklore Professor
Jerry Pocius of Memorial and history curator Mark Ferguson of The Rooms, with
help from The Rooms exhibit designer Marni Mahle.
The students explored The Battery as a neighbourhood in transition, with
similarities to some of our rural communities. They saw three waves of
development through time - beginning with a community settled by fishing
families wanting to be near the water; though the 1970s when artists and
intellectuals were attracted by the setting and the cheap housing; and, in the
last few years, an influx of wealthy newcomers from around the world, creating
rising property values and a neighbourhood whose culture is changing.
Last fall, the students interviewed residents, collected stories and took
photos, and even gave residents disposable cameras to record their own
impressions. They went on to create the museum exhibit highlighting The Battery's
past and present, complete with a virtual walking tour.
I applaud this group for their collaborative approach, for connecting with
community residents and for making their research available to a wide audience.
I hope that when the exhibit ends at The Rooms in September, a permanent place
can be found for it.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: Statements by Ministers.
Statements by Ministers
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Human Resources, Labour and
Employment.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SKINNER: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I rise today to inform this hon. House about discussions held on May 24 and
May 25 during the federal-provincial-territorial ministers responsible for
immigration meetings in Ottawa.
The annual meeting is an opportunity for the various jurisdictions throughout
the country to share their respective priorities and approaches to immigration
and to discuss progress being made on current initiatives.
All minister recognized the growing importance of immigration to Canada's
future growth and productivity. I took the opportunity to inform my ministerial
colleagues of this Province's recent initiative to move forward with a
comprehensive $6 million investment in support of an immigration strategy for
Newfoundland and Labrador.
I was very pleased to see discussions raised on topis relevant to the
successful implementation of the immigration strategy. This included talks
regarding the establishment of a Canadian Experience Class (CEC) of immigrant
and the need for increases in federal immigrant settlement programming and
funding.
For example, the establishment of a CEC means that for individuals who are
already in Canada as an international student, they could apply for permanent
residence to remain in our communities without having to leave Canada. Goals 12
and 13 of the provincial immigration strategy address the need to increase
enrollment and retention of international students. Movement towards the
creation of a national CEC would, in turn, help support the implementation of
our strategy.
I also had an opportunity to discuss federal immigrant settlement programming
and funding levels. It is recognized that there is a lack of adequate settlement
funding available for this Province and also throughout Atlantic Canada. The
availability to grow settlement services impacts this Province's ability to
retain immigrants over the longer term. Goal 4 of the provincial immigration
strategy places a focus on increasing and enhancing settlement and immigration
services in our Province as a means to increase retention. I welcome the
opportunity to re-state the provincial government's position on the need for
an adequate and growing level of funding in respect to settlement of immigrants
in Newfoundland and Labrador.
I look forward to continuing this dialogue on immigration matters of interest
and concern to our Province. I encourage the federal government to ensure that
the perspective of the provincial government continues to be heard and positive
measures undertaken to move immigration policy forward in Canada.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Port de Grave.
MR. BUTLER: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I want to thank the minister for a copy of his statement, and to say that we
on this side of the House agree that, no doubt about it, immigration in this
Country of Canada is very important to each and ever province, and I am sure
probably the same can be said in a stronger tune for this Province here. We know
the importance that they play when they come here and create businesses and so
on, Mr Speaker.
I want to say to the minister that we are glad to see that the meetings that
he held when he was in Ottawa, like coming up with the Canadian Experience
Class, and some of the issues that were discussed, will play an important part
of implementing the immigration strategy here in the Province.
Mr. Speaker, he noted about students when they come here, rather than having
to leave, that they can probably stay here for longer periods of time. He
mentioned about trying to get increased funding from the federal government.
Hopefully that will pan out, Mr. Minister, and the relationships between our
government here and Ottawa are not strained to the point that you will not get
your funding.
I want to wish you well, Sir, in your future deliberations with your fellow
colleagues across the country.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi.
MS MICHAEL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I, too, thank the minister for the advance copy.
I am quite delighted, actually, to see the new class, the Canadian Experience
Class. I am aware of people who have been students here in Newfoundland and
Labrador and who really established roots, even to the point of getting married,
and now you have a couple that are separated while they try to work out
immigrant issues. So, if this could happen, it would certainly help the people
that I am aware of.
I am glad to know that the minister spoke to the need for better funding here
in Atlantic Canada. I am sorry you did not come away with more money at this
point, but I hope that will happen.
In talking about the need for money for settlement, it also -
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
The member's allotted time has expired.
MS MICHAEL: By leave?
AN HON. MEMBER: By leave.
MR. SPEAKER: Leave has been granted.
MS MICHAEL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The one point I would like to make is that money for settlement, I would like
to point out, is not just money to help the individual or the family, but also
community services that also help immigrants.
I am thinking, for example, about a group of immigrant women I know, the
Multicultural Women's Organization, and right now they are trying to exist
just on project money to deal with issues that immigrant women have to deal
with. It would be great if there were extra money for them, as an organization,
to do organizational work in supporting women.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER: Further statements by ministers.
The hon. the Minister of Education.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MS BURKE: Mr. Speaker, 100 high school students will put their
entrepreneurial and business skills to the test this weekend at the Enterprise
Olympics 2007 in Gander. This event is the culmination of a full year of
planning, project development and competitions by students in every school
district in the Province.
Through the Enterprise program, students learn about the world of business.
They learn how they can take an idea and turn it into an actual product. They
learn about the spirit of entrepreneurship and the gratification and rush of
excitement that comes from seeing a project through, from start to finish.
The program is designed to encourage students to be more enterprising and to
show them exactly what Enterprise Education has to offer. It also brings
together schools, communities and provincial business partnerships, and shows
how education is truly relevant in life beyond school.
The Department of Education has always provided services in-kind for the
Enterprise program. This year, Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to inform my hon.
colleagues that Education and Human Resources, Labour and Employment, will
contribute over $20,000 to this worthy event.
Enterprise Olympics embodies the vision and goals of the Williams Government.
Like these students, we want to celebrate our successes as a Province, take
pride in out accomplishments, and strive for excellence in everything we pursue.
The entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well in these young students, and we
will continue to support them in all their endeavours. They are the key to our
Province's prosperity and self-reliance.
I am extremely proud of the initiatives we have announced in Budget 2007 that
will open the door to post-secondary education for more of our high school
students. For the first time since the early 1990s, they will have access to
up-front, non-repayable grants. The amount of funding their parents are required
to contribute to their education will be reduced, and the interest they have to
pay on their student loans will be cut by 2.5 per cent.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all
participants in this year's Enterprise Olympics. Dave Denine, the Member for
Mount Pearl and my parliamentary secretary, will be in Gander to speak with the
students and present the awards Saturday evening.
I wish them the best of luck in the competition.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
The Member for Port de Grave.
MR. BUTLER: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Likewise, I would like to thank the Minister of Education for an advance copy
of her statement, and to say that we are very pleased to see government put
funding in and continue this good Liberal initiative that started a few years
back.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. BUTLER: Mr. Speaker, I agree with the minister full heartedly, I
think it is money well-spent to help bring schools and communities and
provincial business people together. Hopefully, those entrepreneurs, as they
move out into the workforce, will create jobs here in our Province so that the
out-migration trends will probably switch around again and more people will be
able to stay here in our Province.
On a lighter note, the only thing I would like to say to the minister is that
I understand - and I will just quote - is that Mr. Dave Denine, the Member for
Mount Pearl, will be going out to speak to those young people. I caution you,
Minister, to send someone with him, because as we listen to him in the House, he
is not too well-known out in rural Newfoundland and we would not want to see him
missing from the House of Assembly next week.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!
MR. BUTLER: Mr. Speaker, I want to join with the minister in
congratulating all those who will be taking
part in Enterprise Olympics 2007 in
Gander this weekend.
Thank you very much.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
Before I call upon the Member for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi, I have to remind
all members that we cannot do indirectly what we cannot do directly. Therefore,
members names and references should be only by the name of their constituency.
The Chair recognizes the Member for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi.
MS MICHAEL: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
I, too, thank the minister for her advance copy of the statement.
I know that this is a very exciting program and a very good program and I
congratulate the government on the fact that we still support it, but there is
an aspect that I would like to see in this program, and I encourage the minister
to look at this. Entrepreneurship is not just the work of an individual,
communities can also be entrepreneurs as communities, and I am thinking about
the efforts that happen through community economic development. For example, the
formation of community co-operatives, like the one that I know on Bell Island,
where they do individual businesses.
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
The hon. member's allotted time has expired.
MS MICHAEL: By leave, please, Mr. Speaker?
MR. SPEAKER: By leave?
AN HON. MEMBER: By leave.
MR. SPEAKER: Leave is granted.
MS MICHAEL: Just to say that it would be good if in the curriculum the
students became aware of community efforts, where the individual entrepreneurial
spirit is brought together in a community effort for the whole community. I
think we have some wonderful examples around the Province and it would be
wonderful if they could be brought into the curriculum.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER: Further statements by ministers?
Oral Questions.
Oral Questions
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, the former Deputy Minister of Health, the individual who
occupied that position until yesterday, has been recognized as an excellent
senior executive. As a matter of fact, he has been recognized for his
contribution to the public service in this Province and awarded the Lieutenant
Governor's Award of Excellence in Public Administration by the Institute of
Public Administration for Canada. Mr. Abbott was relieved of his duties in the
Department of Health yesterday. Basically, the Premier wanted the individual
removed from the department and offered him a demotion. The individual declined
and left the public service.
I ask the Premier: Can he clarify what this deputy minister did or did not do
to deserve this slap in the face by his government?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. WISEMAN: Mr. Speaker, as was indicated in this House yesterday very
clearly, the former Deputy Minister of Health and Community Services had
provided exemplary service to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, was
commended for the great work that he did, was provided an opportunity to move
some place else in the public service and chose, though, to return to his
private consulting practice, which he had a very successful career in before
coming back to the Department of Health and Community Services. We wish him
well. We are certain that he will be equally as successful in his continued
consulting role as he was with the Department of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
To listen to the Minister of Health, you would swear that the deputy minister
asked to leave himself. How funny. How ironic.
Mr. Speaker, another former Deputy Minister of Health was dismissed by this
government after the VON fiasco in Corner Brook at the same time that the Member
for Topsail was fired from her Cabinet. At that time the Premier decided that an
individual, such as the deputy minister, would also be a scapegoat for that
circumstance and she was removed from that position.
I ask the Premier: How much did the taxpayers of this Province pay for having
Ms Fry wrongfully dismissed from that job, and what liability is government
subjecting itself to with the most recent dismissal of the Deputy Minister of
Health?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. WISEMAN: Mr. Speaker, individuals who are employed by government are
entitled to - depending on whether they are governed by a collective agreement
or governed by Treasury Board policies, there is a provision for severance when
employees terminate their employment. If any individual, whether it is a deputy
minister or an employee of this House, or any other department of government,
decides that they want to leave government or decides that they want to move on,
what they are entitled to is laid out either in, in some cases collective
agreements, in some cases policies, and they will get whatever severance they
are duly entitled to when that employment relationship changes. It is a standard
process. Members opposite would know that from their own personal experiences in
government.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MR. REID: Mr. Speaker, both the Premier and the minister are dodging the
answer to the question I raised.
I ask the minister quite simply: Did the Deputy Minister of Health,
yesterday, ask to leave that position or was he ordered to leave the position?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. WISEMAN: Mr. Speaker, I am not certain how much clearer we can be.
The Premier yesterday indicated, and it has been indicated several times since
then, that the former deputy minister the member is referring to was offered a
move to another position, another department as a deputy minister. He would have
been a deputy minister in another department. At that particular point in time,
it was that individual's own personal decision to not accept that offer and he
wanted to make a choice to return to a private consulting practice.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MR. REID: Mr. Speaker, it seems that the group opposite have a real
problem with the word fired. They fired Joan Cleary and said that she resigned.
They asked for her resignation. They moved the deputy minister out yesterday and
you will not say if you asked him to leave or if he asked to leave.
Mr. Speaker, the Premier stated yesterday that he wanted a clean approach to
the Department of Health while the government is under public scrutiny. That is
the reason he gave for removing the deputy minister from that position. The
current Minister of Health, the individual who is answering the questions on
behalf of the Premier this afternoon, was the Parliamentary Secretary or the
minister all during this breast screening issue that has arisen recently.
I ask the Premier: If you are using this excuse to remove the Deputy Minister
of Health, why are you not using the same logic and remove the current Minister
of Health, the individual who is involved in the entire process and is supposed
to make the ultimate decisions on behalf of the Department of Health?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. WISEMAN: Mr. Speaker, back in January I was quite pleased when the
Premier called and invited me into the Cabinet. I was pleased when he expressed
that kind of confidence in my ability to be able to hold this portfolio, and
while I sit in this chair I will continue to carry out my duties and
responsibilities in a very fair and diligent way.
I say, Mr. Speaker, I am pleased that the Premier has expressed that kind of
confidence in my ability to be able to hold this post and look forward to
continuing in my capacity for quite some time in the future.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MR. REID: Mr. Speaker, I thought I saw it all until just then. I asked
the Premier, why won't he remove the Minister of Health from that portfolio,
and guess who answered? The Minister of Health got up and said why he should not
be removed.
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
MR. REID: What a joke! What a joke!
Mr. Speaker, another individual who is involved in this entire process is the
current CEO, Chief Executive Officer, of Eastern Health, Mr. George Tilley.
I ask the minister, or I ask the Premier - not the Minister of Health, who
gets up and defends himself from being fired - I ask the Premier: Why is Mr.
Abbott being removed from the Department of Health while Mr. Tilley, as you
stated yesterday, was making the decisions and providing the advice to
government on this issue?
Using your own logic, what do you think should happen to Mr. Tilley, I ask
the Premier?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. WISEMAN: Mr. Speaker, the Premier of the Province can very clearly
speak on behalf of government and take actions with respect to any department in
government, but Mr. Tilley is the CEO of the Eastern Health Authority. That
Eastern Health Authority has been established through a piece of legislation
passed in this House. They are an autonomous body. Eastern Health has recruited
Mr. Tilley as their CEO and they will provide direction to him in terms of how
he performs his task. Eastern Health will evaluate his performance and Eastern
Health will make decisions around future employment of Mr. Tilley and others who
work with the Eastern Health Authority, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MR. REID: Mr. Speaker, I cannot believe how this government tries to get
themselves around a situation. Here he goes and says that it is the board of
Eastern Health who hired Mr. Tilley. Well, I ask the minister: Who was it who
appointed the board, each and every member, to the board of Eastern Health? It
was the government. You control the board over there. You control Eastern
Health, I say to the minister.
Mr. Speaker, the Premier says a judicial inquiry and a task force are very
important steps to immediately find out what went wrong in the Department of
Health - to immediately find out what went wrong with the Department of Health.
Meanwhile, the Premier and his ministers knew about this problem ever since May
2005 and understood the magnitude of the problem in November 2006.
I ask the Premier: Why did it take you so long to address the issue?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. WISEMAN: I think it is important - in the last couple of weeks we
have heard a lot of questions, and in the questions we have embedded dates and
timelines. That becomes very important to appreciate here, Mr. Speaker, and it
is important for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador to understand this.
Eastern Health became aware that they had a difficulty and a problem in May
2005. As I said in this House many times, in July 2005 they, at that particular
time, advised government of the issue; but to suggest that Eastern Health or
government, from July 2005 up to November 2006, did not disclose information,
that is a false statement, Mr. Speaker. It is a false statement because clearly,
as Eastern Health presented to members opposite, as I have said in this House,
in the fall, in October 2005, Eastern Health started a process to communicate
with all of those individuals who had their test results sent away, to have that
done. That was presented to you and members of your caucus last week by Eastern
Health.
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
I ask the hon. minister to complete his answer now.
MR. WISEMAN: Clearly, the information to those people who really needed
to know - the people who really needed to know were the patients who were
impacted, and their families - they started to know in the fall of 2005, I say,
Mr. Speaker, and these were the important people who really needed to know, not
the members of the Opposition.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
The Chair recognizes the hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I say to the minister, you can get on with your drivel all you like. The fact
of the matter is that Eastern Health and the Minister of Health knew about the
faulty tests in May 2005 and there were some women in the Province who did not
learn of that problem until November 2006, and there are still some out there
today who still do not know the results of those tests.
Mr. Speaker, let's see if the Minister of Health will get up and answer
this one, instead of the Premier, or maybe he will get some other minion over
there to do it for him. Mr. Speaker, as we speak, thousands of people on the
Northeast Coast and Labrador are struggling without an income because of ice
conditions. Last week, the Premier was in Ottawa for a full week and did not
make any attempt whatsoever to address this issue with the Prime Minister or any
of his ministers.
I ask the Premier: Why didn't you attempt to discuss this very important
matter with your federal counterparts? Because of their lack of action, when are
you, as the Premier of this Province, going to step in and do something for the
individuals who are finding it so difficult to make ends meet today along the
Northeast Coast and Labrador?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: Mr. Speaker, I was unable to speak with the Prime
Minister when I was in Ottawa for three days last week because he was in Kabul
and I was in Ottawa.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
What he did not say is that he has never made any attempt, whether it be in
Ottawa or here.
Mr. Speaker, while there are thousands of people doing without on the
Northeast Coast and Labrador this spring, the Premier took his little spring
tour to the continent of Europe, namely to Ireland. Now, Mr. Speaker, I have not
been to Ireland but people tell me that it is a lovely spot to go in the spring,
especially when you have someone to drive you around.
I ask the Premier: Can you confirm that you spent nearly $24,000 on chauffeur
services during your three day stint to Ireland in March, and will you table the
other expenses that you and your minister incurred while there?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: Just another example of the incorrect information which
the hon. gentleman opposite is prepared to put forward in this House and to the
people of Newfoundland and Labrador.
The first thing I can confirm is that this government, in the last three
years, has spent an additional $600 million on health care in this Province. The
difference between the Budget in 2003 and the Budget in 2006 is $600 million.
That is the extra money we spent on health care.
With regard to limousine driven vehicles at $23,000, that is absolutely
incorrect. There were two automobiles that were provided for a delegation that
were over there. The amount, as I understand it, was less than $10,000 that was
spent.
In order to effect savings, the individuals involved chose to drive for three
or four hours rather than fly, which would have been more expensive than the
cost of sitting in a car. What I was sitting in was a four-seater car that was
far from a limousine, I can certainly tell you that much.
The number that the hon. gentleman opposite is indicating is more than twice
the actual cost. I understand that the cost is less than $10,000 - maybe $9,000
- and was used to transport the minister and his delegation and, as far as I
understand, as well, some of the people from the business side who were also in
Ireland.
So, that is completely inaccurate, completely misleading. One thing that this
government has not done is spend the kind of money on travel -
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
I ask the Premier now to complete his answer.
PREMIER WILLIAMS: - that hon. members opposite spent on jaunts all around
the world, themselves and their spouses, including the Leader of the Opposition.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
He says it is false information. You should talk to your own people, because
that is the book that you give us this week. In that, is says: $23,152 spend to
a chauffeur service in Ireland.
Now, if that is one car or two, Mr. Speaker, it does not matter to me.
Twenty-four thousand dollars for two vehicles for three days, you should be
ashamed to stand in the House and say that you did it.
Mr. Speaker, last month the Premier brought down his election Budget but he
did not get the positive coverage that he was expecting, especially when The
Telegram came out -
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
Time is passing quickly.
The Chair recognizes the Leader of the Opposition.
MR. REID: As I said, the Premier did not get the positive coverage that
he expected, especially when it was let out to the public that he spent $10,000
and $15,000 giving raises to each of the individuals who work on the eighth
floor next to him.
Mr. Speaker, to counter that, what he has done recently is, he has just made
a copy of the Budget Highlights for each and every individual in the Province,
and these are going to be sent out to every household.
I ask the Premier -
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
The Chair recognizes the Leader of the Opposition and asks him to put his
question.
MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I ask the Premier: How much is this public relations exercise costing the
taxpayers of this Province?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: Mr. Speaker, I can tell you what we did not do. We did
not spend over $200,000 on a personal ad campaign for the Premier, the former
Premier, the colleague of the gentleman opposite, who spent over $200,000 on a
personal promotion campaign with his own picture on it, which is probably the
single greatest factor in orchestrating their own defeat by the fact that they
did send it out in the first place.
As well, Mr. Speaker, when it comes to the Budget, obviously this is an
extremely good budget, as I just indicated before. We have increased funds for
health care. We have increased funds in absolutely every single aspect in the
Province. We have over $400 million gone into the infrastructure, personal
income taxes, and I could go on and on and on.
I can tell you what I did not spend it on. I did not order Wolf Blass Yellow
Label Cabernet and I did not order the Trapiche Merlot for my house to entertain
people, I can tell you that much.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
The Chair recognizes the Leader of the Opposition.
MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I say, why don't you check with your own Minister of Industry, who has
acquired, I might add, a special taste for Single Malt Scotch at $45 a bottle,
if you want to start talking about stuff.
Now, Mr. Speaker, the Premier has no problem spending $1.2 million on a
branding project. The Premier has no problem spending $15 million, which he gave
to his buddies, for fibre optics. The Premier has no problem spending $200,000
on wining and dining in one night for the premiers last year. The Premier has no
problem spending $8,000 on a couple of sealskin fur coats for Ralph Klein and
his wife. The Premier has no problem giving thousands of dollars in pay
increases to his staff on the eighth floor. The Premier has no problem spending
$24,000 for a limousine service in Ireland.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
MR. REID: I ask the Premier: While people are struggling on the Northeast
Coast, some of them having to sell their vehicles - some of these people would
love to have $24,000 in limousine services, I say to the Premier. Some of them
are hungry and some of them are losing their vehicles. When are you going to
step in and do something for those individuals?
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: Mr. Speaker, we have no problem spending money to
advertise this Province, to promote this Province, to promote the tourism ads
that we put throughout the country that are nationally and internationally
recognized across the country as world leaders. We have no problem putting our
money into a brand, which has been recognized as an incredible brand for this
Province and being very well received.
I take great, personal pride in wearing a sealskin jacket, myself, to support
the sealers and the sealing industry. I make no apologies for providing the
former Premier of Alberta and his wife with sealskin jackets so that they can
wear those with pride around the country. I make no apologies for agreeing to
provide $15 million to a company that is basically able to save the government
$400 million. We have no problems doing any of that.
As well, I would just like to reiterate, now knowing that he is wrong on the
$23,000 for chauffeur service in Ireland, that he is completely wrong, that his
information is erroneous, he continues to put that incorrect information out to
the people of Newfoundland and Labrador. That is typical of your behaviour. That
is the way you operate. It does not matter whether it is the truth or not, but
you put it out. Shameless!
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
The Chair recognizes the hon. the Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair.
MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
My questions are for the Minister of Health and Community Services.
There is a critical shortage of nurses in our hospitals and we heard this
morning in a recent broadcast that professionals have been forced to quit their
jobs because they have been denied vacation time with their families this year.
We know that government has already tampered with nurses' contracts over the
years, cutting their sick days, freezing wages and so on, and we know that this
is discouraging in terms of attracting nurses to our Province and to work in our
hospitals.
I have to ask the minister - I know he was a while this year before he
converted some of the casual and temporary positions to permanent, but I ask
him: Are they prepared to convert more of these positions to permanent jobs, and
could he also tell me what other initiatives they are working on right now to
ensure that we have a full complement of nurses in our hospitals?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. WISEMAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
As I said yesterday, each of the four authorities have converted casual
positions to permanent. That has been done throughout the entire Province in
each of our four authorities. Two authorities have engaged in a process to
assist them with recruitment to provide bonuses, to help with the relocation and
signing bonuses to come to work with these two authorities, particularly in
areas where it is much more difficult to recruit than some others. We have a
working group between the Nurses' Union and the nurses' association, the
Department of Health and Community Services and the authorities, working on
developing a long-term strategy to deal with some of the issues that are facing
the Province in the long term.
Mr. Speaker, some of the initiatives that we have undertaken in this year's
Budget to be able to enhance the careers of people who are currently working in
the nursing profession, with a view to ensuring that they have much better
working conditions and are able to -
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
I ask the minister now to complete his answer.
MR. WISEMAN: Thank you very much.
To make sure, Mr. Speaker, that we provide a quality of work life for the
people who work within the nursing profession within each of our four
authorities.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair.
MS JONES: Mr. Speaker, the minister knows full well that this government
has not addressed the nursing shortage in the Province appropriately in the past
three to four years. As a result of the situation we are faced with this year,
it is anticipated that beds will close in our hospitals over the summer.
I ask the minister: How many hospital beds are slated for closure across the
Province this summer, and in what health care centres?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. WISEMAN: Mr. Speaker, before I answer the last part of the member's
question, let me just put in perspective some of the things that we have done
with nursing. If you look over the last three budgets, we have increased in a
significant way the number of public health nurses that we have had in the
system; we have increased the number of nursing positions as a result of the
introduction of dialysis services in four new locations; we have improved the
number of nurse educators who are involved in diabetic teaching in the Province;
created new positions. We have created new nurse practitioner positions, all
with the view, Mr. Speaker, of improving the quality of care we provide, but at
the same time providing increased opportunities for nursing in this Province and
providing opportunities for progression within their professions.
To the second part of her question, what each of the health authorities are
doing this summer, as I understand it, Mr. Speaker, each of the authorities are
now -
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
I ask the minister now to complete his answer.
MR. WISEMAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I understand each of the health authorities now have mapped out a strategy
for the summer in terms of their level of operation and also in terms of the
vacation
schedule for our nursing staff.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
The Chair recognizes the Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair.
MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
It was only one question and the question was on the number of beds that will
close in the Province. I understood from part of the minister's answer that
there will be some, and I ask him if he could table that list for me at some
point in terms of the number of beds that will close and in what areas of the
Province.
Mr. Speaker, LPNs at the Hoyles-Escasoni are now expected to conduct
orientations with personal observer attendants that Eastern Health is hiring for
summer relief in those facilities. The minister indicated in his response
yesterday that he is supportive of this move by Eastern Health. Minister, I can
assure you that LPNs are not supportive of these hirings, and I ask if you will
support them on this matter and intervene to bring a halt to this downgrade in
our health care system?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. WISEMAN: Mr. Speaker, one of the things I want to repeat from
yesterday: These personal observers that are being hired, they are not being
hired to replace LPNs. They are not moving into the exact same role and function
that the LPN now provides. They are not doing that at all, Mr. Speaker. They are
being hired as a group of individuals to provide support within our health
sector for the summer, and more precisely, within Eastern Health. They are there
to provide assistance when patients and residents in our homes need to have some
individual providing special care, special treatment; while they are in our
hospitals and in our institutions, they need someone to be with them twenty-four
hours a day. Those individuals who will be hired as personal observers are
actually going to perform that function.
The issue around nursing care will still be provided by LPNs and RNs.
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
I ask the minister now to complete his answer quickly.
MR. WISEMAN: That will not change, I say, Mr. Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair.
MS JONES: Mr. Speaker, the minister indicated again today and yesterday
that these personal care or personal observer attendants will just be sitting
with and observing patients.
I say to the minister, if this is the case, my question is: What action is
being take to fill the vacancies of LPNs that exist in our long-term care
facilities over the summer?
As you know, many of them are working overtime and on call, almost on a
weekly and daily basis.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. WISEMAN: We understand and are very much aware, and the health
authorities have advised us, as the summer was approaching, in this summer, they
were going to have to make some adjustments in their staffing schedules and they
were going to have some real challenges with their vacation time. We understood
that and we provided this year, Mr. Speaker, as we did last year and the year
before last, each of our four authorities, with some additional money to ensure
that they are able to cope with the increasing staffing demands that they have.
They have made some great efforts this year in recruiting additional people
and they have taken a very aggressive approach, I say, Mr. Speaker, each of the
four authorities, in ensuring that they have a successful recruitment campaign
to be able to provide the adequate relief for the summer time, relief for
periods, but also to be able to continue to recruit to fill some of the current
vacancies that exist.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi.
MS MICHAEL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Yesterday in the House, the Premier said that the newly announced task force
is about making sure that the patients and the people of this Province have
proper health care.
Mr. Speaker, problems with test results and staff shortages within Eastern
Health are signs of underlying problems in the health care system that go way
beyond the management of adverse health events and the related dissemination of
public information, the stated mandate of the task force.
My question for the Premier is: Will the government establish an external
review that will look at all aspects of our health care system and make
recommendations for improvement based on best practices?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: Mr. Speaker, this is an evolving process and we are
dealing with it as expeditiously as we can. It is going to be something that is
going to be very dynamic over the course of the next month, twelve months,
eighteen months, twenty-four months. New issues are going to arise every day.
From my own perspective, my own background, involved on the legal side,
issues of malpractice come up on a regular basis all the time. Because of the
heightened awareness and sensitivity, I think there are going to be more issues
that are going to be raised.
I do know, from my own perspective, I have had adverse health diagnoses that
could have affected my own health. There is another mater now which government
is aware of, we became aware of yesterday afternoon, which is another issue we
are going to look at. So this is going to continue to evolve on perhaps a daily,
perhaps a monthly, perhaps a yearly, basis.
As we go along and as we see these we will address them. If the magnitude
increases and we have to extend the scope in order to deal with it - but the
bottom line on this is that we want to make sure that we get to the bottom of
it, that we get the answers, that we put in place the best possible procedures
that can ensure that we have the best system that we can afford here in the
Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. That is our goal. The ultimate goal,
though, and the most importance goal, is the health and the safety of the
patients, the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi.
MS MICHAEL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
As I have indicated, we have ongoing problems that are not always being
recognized as crises. The ongoing problems of people waiting weeks for results,
that does not come out as being an adverse event, so I want the government, as
the Manitoba government has done, to look at the need for putting in place a
review that will examine all performance measures of effectiveness and outcomes
and overall efficiency. The Manitoba government is looking at the comparison
between what they are offering in services and how those services are meeting
patient needs.
So, again, my question is: Mr. Premier, will the government recognize that we
need an overall review of the whole regional health care authority and do what
is being done in Manitoba?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I think possibly what is happening in Newfoundland and Labrador is probably
also a reflection of what may be happening in other parts of the country.
Obviously, if it is happening in Manitoba, Manitoba feel there is a need for a
review.
I noticed, actually, in The Globe and Mail today there was a comment
by, I think, the President of the Canadian Association of Radiologists that
actually indicated that the number of misdiagnoses or items that are missed
during a review of X-rays and other types of technology, that the error rate is
up to 25 per cent, which is quite alarming, quite frankly. That is the Canadian
Association saying that one out of four can be wrong.
There are national problems, there are provincial problems. The one thing
about this is that something good may come out of something bad. If we can
improve the system and make it better, and guarantee and perfect the health and
the safety of the people of the Province, then this government will do what it
can.
Like I said, I am not aware of the details of the Manitoba review. I know
Premier Doer very well, and it is certainly an issue I will discuss with him.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
The time allocated for Question Period has expired.
The hon. the Member for Fortune Bay-Cape La Hune.
MR. LANGDON: A point of order, Mr. Speaker, or a personal point of
privilege.
I noticed, during Question Period, in one of the Premier's answers, I think
it was to the Leader of the Opposition, he referred to the members opposite, who
were former ministers, that they took their wives on jaunts around the globe
and, in a sense, spent excessively government money.
Mr. Speaker, I want to tell the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, and the
people opposite, that my wife never, ever did that. I feel insulted when these
comments are made. I had very much difficulty to even get her to go to a
convention here in the Province.
I did not do it, personally, and I would like for government to make public
the trips that I did make when I was minister, in Municipal Affairs or
Environment, because I did not do it. I cannot speak for other people, but when
the comments are made across the board that I did it, I personally did not.
I had to make that point, Mr. Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier, speaking to the point of order.
PREMIER WILLIAMS: Mr. Speaker, if the hon. member has been offended by
that, I certainly understand that. If you are one of the ministers who did not
have his spouse travel with him, then I most certainly apologize to the hon.
member if there is any innuendo or any reflection on you or your spouse.
I also invite all members opposite to get up as well, if they have a question
or they have an objection. In fact, if any of them feel that they have been
slighted, then I would like to see all of them stand up and then we can find out
who was slighted and who was not slighted.
From your perspective, Sir, I sincerely apologize.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
There is no point of order. There may be a disagreement.
The Chair recognizes the hon. the Opposition House Leader.
MR. PARSONS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Just a point of order again, and maybe some direction from the Chair.
The Premier, of course, in responding to one of the questions, made reference
to a figure that was cited by the Leader of the Opposition from a document that
you, yourself, I believe, tabled in this House, as being false, and that is the
exemptions from the Public Tender Act, which I do believe you tabled; and
yesterday, I do believe, you filed an amendment which related to this again.
Just for clarification purposes, it is you who tabled the document. If there
is anything in that document that is incorrect, or if the Leader of the
Opposition has referred to falsely, we would certainly appreciate some
clarification on it, because we were just relying upon documents that were
tabled in this House here.
There is certainly no intention by anyone here to give false information. The
information was taken directly from the book. If there is some explanation of
that figure, we would certainly look forward to receiving the details and
breakdown on that. If that requires that the Leader of the Opposition change the
nature of his questioning, we would certainly be prepared to do that, but we
would not want to be referring to documents that were unintentionally erroneous.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier, speaking to the point of order.
PREMIER WILLIAMS: Mr. Speaker, the document that is tabled sets up an
allowance for an expenditure, no different than a budget sets up an allowance
for an expenditure, but whether that expenditure is incurred is, quite frankly,
something completely different.
What was alluded to by the Leader of the Opposition is that this was an
actual expenditure, not an allowance. After I corrected him and told him exactly
what the amount was, he then got up again and repeated the fact that, that
expenditure was incurred. I would ask the Leader of the Opposition to apologize
for misleading this hon. House.
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
Speaking to the point of order, the hon. the Opposition House Leader.
MR. PARSONS: Yes, to the point of order, Mr. Speaker.
If that is indeed the case on this item that the Premier is referring to
here, item 70263, Government Purchasing Agency c/o Department of Transportation
and Works, it said in the one I am referring to - but that was amended, I do
believe, to be Industry, Trade yesterday - the Chauffeur Service Ireland,
$23,152.92.
Now, there are a number of these items in this book that has been tabled
here, dozens. If the figures that are here are only figures that reflect the
amount that was budgeted and not the amount that was actually spent, I suggest
that we ought to have the correct information if that is the case, because we
are relying here, and everybody in the Province is relying upon the fact that
this is a list of contracts reported by government funded bodies without tender
invitation during a certain period of time. I think the common sense reading of
this would be that it is what it says, and if it is not what it says, there
should be some explanation to that for all of these items in this book, because
otherwise a lot of people are going to feel it is incorrect.
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
The Chair will take the matter under review and only say at this point that
the documents that were tabled are the documents supplied to the Chair by the
appropriate department, together with the amendment that was tabled yesterday.
The Chair will review the matter and, if need be, come back to the House with an
explanation.
Presenting Reports by Standing and Select Committees.
Tabling of Documents.
Notices of Motions.
Notices of Motion
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Government House Leader.
MR. RIDEOUT: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, first of all I give notice, pursuant to Standing Order 11, that
tomorrow, Monday, June 4, this House not adjourn at 5:30 p.m. or at 10:00 p.m.
MR. SPEAKER: Further notices of motions?
The hon. the Government House Leader.
MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, I give notice that I will ask leave to
introduce a bill entitled,
An Act To Hold The Government Harmless In The
Disposition Of Fisheries Products International Limited. (Bill 31)
MR. SPEAKER: Further notices of motions?
Answers to Questions for which Notice has been Given.
Petitions.
Orders of the Day.
Orders of the Day
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Government House Leader.
MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, I would like to, first of all, move Motion 4,
that this House not adjourn today, Thursday, May 31, at 5:30 p.m.
MR. SPEAKER: The motion is, pursuant to Standing Order 11, that this
House not adjourn today, Thursday, May 31, at 5:30 o'clock.
All those in favour, aye'.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.
MR. SPEAKER: All those against, nay'.
The motion is carried.
Motion carried.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Government House Leader.
MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, I would also like to now move Motion 5, that
this House pursuant to Standing Order 11, not adjourn today, Thursday, May 31,
at 10:00 o'clock.
MR. SPEAKER: The motion is, pursuant to Standing Order 11, that this
House not adjourn today, Thursday, May 31, at 10:00 p.m.
All those in favour, aye'.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.
MR. SPEAKER: All those against, nay'.
The motion is carried.
Motion carried.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Government House Leader.
MR. RIDEOUT: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I would now like to move to Order 12, second reading of a bill,
An Act To
Amend The Commissioners For Oaths Act. (Bill 26)
MR. SPEAKER: It is moved and seconded that Bill 26, Order 12,
An Act To
Amend The Commissioners For Oaths Act, be now read a second time.
Motion, second reading of a bill, "An Act To Amend The Commissioners For
Oaths Act." (Bill 26)
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Government House Leader.
MR. RIDEOUT: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
On behalf of my colleague, the Minister of Justice, who is out of the
Province today on government business, it gives me pleasure to introduce Bill 26
for second reading,
An Act To Amend The Commissioners For Oaths Act.
Mr. Speaker, I will give a little bit of background, but this amendment is
relatively simple, pretty straightforward and certainly routine in nature.
As hon. members know, Mr. Speaker, the Commissioners For Oaths Act allows for
the appointment, by the Minister of Justice, of certain people as Commissioners
for Oaths. These persons can sign, therefore, once they have been appointed -
they can sign and witness affidavits, declarations, and affirmations.
Mr. Speaker, in sections 4, 5, 6, and 7 of the act, those sections designate
certain categories of individuals, including members of this House, as a matter
of fact, as noted in
section 5, as persons who can act as Commissioners for
Oaths. In discussion with some people, not long ago, actually, they did not
realize that members of this House, once they take an oath and are sworn in as
members, are automatically Commissioners for Oaths under the act and can
therefore sign as a commissioner and witness affidavits and take oaths and
things of that nature.
Section 7, Mr. Speaker, deals with social workers and other employees of
government and boards under the Health and Community Services Act and the
Hospitals Act. The offices which are noted in
section 7 have changed over time,
and that is hence the reason for this particular amendment.
In consultation with the Department of Human Resources, Labour and Employment
and the Department of Health and Community Services, the Department of Justice
have determined that the use of more generic language to describe the officers
who should be designated as Commissioners for Oaths would be more appropriate.
The amendment to
section 7 would avoid having to make future changes because
of the changes - you know, if there are changes to future specific job
descriptions, then it would not be necessary to have to amend this particular
act again, hence the need, and the desirability really, to have a generic
definition.
The amendment would allow the minister, the Minister of Justice in this case,
or the CEO of a board to designate employees of a government department or a
health authority to act as Commissioners for Oaths. This becomes important, Mr
Speaker, if in the course of their duties it becomes necessary to witness a
document, be able to affirm a document, affirm a note, take a note, or things
designated for people who would normally be Commissioners for Oaths, that the
act allows them to do.
This amendment, as I said, is routine in nature and provides for a routine
amendment to the act so that the generic definition will allow the description
of people who can fulfill the requirements of Commissioners of Oaths under the
direction of the minister or the CEO of a health authority to be able to carry
out those duties without having it necessary to amend the act again if titles
and designations should change.
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased therefore to move second reading.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Opposition House Leader.
MR. PARSONS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I appreciate an opportunity to have a few words concerning this amendment to
the Commissioners for Oaths Act.
We have a number of bodies or persons in the Province, of course, who can
swear an oath and each type has different laws or different authorities shall we
say. We have notary publics, we have justices of the peace, and we have
commissioners. There is always a lot of confusion in the public domain as to who
can do what. Maybe some little brief explanation might be helpful.
For example, a notary public - you usually see barrister, solicitor and
notary public - some people think that you have to be a lawyer to be a notary
public, but that is not true. We have
an act, of course, called the Notaries
Public Act, and you can be a notary public in this Province simply by applying
to the Department of Justice under that piece of legislation and being appointed
a notary public.
What a notary public does is, it authorizes someone who is here in this
Province and who is a notary public, to witness a document that is going to be
used outside of this jurisdiction. For example, if you are commissioner and you
sign a document and witness a document in Newfoundland, it is only usable in a
court here in the Province of Newfoundland; but, if you are a notary, it is
usable outside the jurisdiction. That is the main distinction between a notary.
All of them can be witnesses to a document, but depending upon where they are
usable is the difference; the distinction has to be made. When you sign as a
notary, that document can be used in Britain, the United States, anywhere in the
world, because it is the notary public who did it.
Then, of course, you have your justices of the peace. Now, in old-time
Newfoundland, of course, they were pretty important. In a lot of places we had
justices and that is all we had; we never even had the magistrates. A lot of
communities here, back in the old days, almost like it is now, actually, our
provincial court is pretty well the circuit court today. Provincial courts, for
example, out my way, on the West Coast, the judges in Stephenville do Port aux
Basques, Burgeo and so on. The judges in Corner Brook do the circuits up the
coast, Roddickton, Port au Choix, Port Saunders, St. Anthony and those places.
Well, that is somewhat it was like back in the old days when the magistrates
travelled around as well.
Of course, you had justices of the peace. We used to have several out our
way, and it was a mark of distinction, actually, somebody who was usually very
reputable in the community, somebody who had some basics of education, knew how
to read, were good readers and good writers and understood things. Back in the
old days, not everybody had that level of education in rural Newfoundland, in
particular, so you had justices of the peace. They used to do up land deeds.
I practiced for twenty-five years and I am sure about - oh, certainly when I
first started, back in 1980, virtually every deed you saw come across your desk
was drafted by a justice of the peace. There was no lawyer involved. There were
no lawyers there to draft them, and we had no typewriters in a lot of cases, so
I have had the benefit of seeing some pretty good writing and some not-so-good
writing over the course of the years. Regardless of the writing, the need was
there for these justices of the peace.
There was a requirement that the justice could do the deed, but he could not
charge to do the deed. Actually, the Law Society, of course, got kind of upset
because they said, as the 1970s and 1980s progressed and we ended up with the
increase in the number of lawyers in the Province, and lawyers, of course, were
trying to make a living doing property work, they said: How can we be having JPs
doing deeds? Because JPs are out there doing them and they should not be allowed
to do it because it is taking work away from lawyers.
Of course, the law got changed under the Law Society Act saying that you
could not draft a deed for somebody for a fee. You could do it gratuitously. So,
if John or Joe wanted to go up and get the JP to do the deed free of charge, and
if the JP would do that, that was fine, but the JP was prohibited, since early
on, of charging any fee to do a deed of transfer for a piece of land.
A lot of vehicles, of course, in rural Newfoundland got transferred based
upon a justice of the peace document. The only JPs we have today, pretty well,
we have a couple out our way. My brother, for example, happens to be a justice
of the peace in the Port aux Basques area. He is also the deputy sheriff, has
been for thirty years, long before my hat had been into the legal business. He
is a JP as well, because he is someone who is recognized locally, people go to
him, and there is a courtroom piece to a JP. For example, if a judge cannot get
to a community and someone is charged with a criminal offence, there is actually
authority, under the Criminal Code, for a justice of the peace to do certain
things. It is not only a signing of documents or an affidavits thing. The JP
holds a very special place and has a lot of special authorities.
Out in Alberta, for example, I was at a justice conference some years ago.
Justices of the peace in Alberta, as I understood it, were getting paid an
annual stipend, as justices of the peace, to the tune of about $85,000 a year.
We were amazed when we heard about it, coming from Atlantic Canada, that is the
role and that is the stipend that they get, $85,000 a year - that was in 2000 -
that justices of the peace were being paid in the Province of Alberta. That was
six or seven years ago. So, different provinces make use of them for different
things. That is the justice of the peace.
Then, of course, we have the commissioners, which is being referred to here
today. There are a lot of people in the Province who are commissioners. I go
back for a second to the JPs. The Province - even in my time, when I went into
justice, and shortly before that - got a bit stingy about who was going to be
JPs. The reason was, they tried to tie - and have successfully tied - the JP
designation now pretty well to anyone who is a court clerk. If you are
functioning in the court and you are a court clerk, I believe you do now
automatically get the designation of justice of the peace along with being the
court clerk. Other than that, they are pretty rare unless you have some really
isolated community that needs one for that purpose, because there is no one else
there to do it. Other than that now, you do not see too many JP designations
being handed out by the Department of Justice today.
Then, of course, the one we are dealing with today is the commissioners.
There is a very valid reason for having them. There are all kinds of documents
that need to get witnessed. It could be an affidavit, it could be a title
document that someone wants you to witness. Some people insist on having a
commissioner witness their wills. They are just not satisfied to have, even
though any person can witness a will, any two people can make a will valid from
that perspective, from witnessing, some people insist that they want a
commissioner to be the witness to their will because it is all seen as above
board and independent.
We certainly have no problem with this. You need it in these institutions
because you get a lot of circumstances in an institution where people do not
have ready access but they need to have something sworn to or declared, and that
is why, of course, it is important that we have them in our health and community
services facilities, because that is quite often where the need arises as well.
We will certainly be speaking in favour of this. It is not a major piece of
legislation we have here in that sense. It is an amendment to a bill that
already exists, so we will certainly be voting in favour of this. There is a
need for it, and we certainly will not be standing in the way of it.
Thank you.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi.
MS MICHAEL: Yes, just very briefly, Mr. Speaker, to say, obviously, I
will be standing in support of this bill.
I want to thank my colleague from Burgeo & LaPoile, and I mean it
sincerely, for his history lesson. There were a lot of details I did not know
about our judicial system, especially in rural Newfoundland and Labrador.
commissioners for oaths as easy as possible for people in need, because the
average person does not know very often where to go. I agree with my colleague,
that having people within the hospital system in particular, and the health care
system, who are able to act in this capacity will be very important for people,
because sometimes people are in a situation they do not expect to be in, and do
need witnessing, and really would not know what to do.
Yes, obviously, this is a straightforward amendment. We need it and we
support it.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Government House Leader, if he speaks now he
closes debate at second reading.
The hon. the Government House Leader.
MR. RIDEOUT: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I thank my colleagues for their contribution to the debate, and I move second
reading.
MR. SPEAKER: Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion that
Bill 26,
An Act To Amend The Commissioners For Oaths Act, be now read a second
time?
All those in favour, aye'.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.
MR. SPEAKER: All those against, nay'.
The motion is carried.
CLERK: A bill,
An Act To Amend The Commissioners For Oaths Act. (Bill 26)
MR. SPEAKER: Bill 26,
An Act To Amend The Commissioners For Oaths Act,
has now been read a second time.
When shall this bill be referred to a Committee of the Whole House?
MR. RIDEOUT: Presently, Mr. Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER: Presently.
On motion, a bill, "An Act To Amend The Commissioners For Oaths
Act," read a second time, ordered referred to a Committee of the Whole
House presently, by leave. (Bill 26)
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Government House Leader.
MR. RIDEOUT: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Order 15, second reading of a bill,
An Act To Amend The Historic Resources
Act. (Bill 30)
MR. SPEAKER: It is moved and seconded that Bill 30,
An Act To Amend The
Historic Resources Act, be now read a second time.
Motion, second reading of a bill, "An Act To Amend The Historic
Resources Act." (Bill 30)
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Recreation.
MR. HEDDERSON: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Certainly, I get up to speak on Bill 30,
An Act To Amend The Historic
Resources Act. This is a change or an amendment to the current act for good
reason, because it refers back to our government's provincial cultural
strategy that was released last year: Creative Newfoundland and Labrador. In
that, a commitment was made as a result of an ask, I guess, from the heritage
community to bring about certain changes with regard to a commemoration or
designation program. This is a commitment that we made in that strategy and this
is the fulfilment of the strategy as we bring it forth because naturally, we
want to bring it forth this spring to get it in legislation so that we can begin
immediately with that commemoration program.
What it means, Mr. Speaker, is as the act currently stands we are very
restrictive in what we can designate. What we are looking at, of course, is
extending our ability to designation, I guess not only places, but also to
extend it to things of other cultural significance, and this is the purpose of
this legislation amendment. Like I said, right now we have no mechanisms for
recognizing many aspects of our history and our culture that are of provincial
significance.
We have at the present time, Mr. Speaker, designated structures, as well as
districts of provincial historic significance through the Heritage Foundation of
Newfoundland and Labrador, but we do not have any way of commemorating persons,
events, or cultural traditions. What we call, I guess, the intangible heritage.
This has meant that numerous requests by individuals, by groups in the Province
to commemorate various aspects of our history, have certainly gone unheeded and
we want to be able to close that gap.
What this is, is the creation of a provincial historic commemorations program
that will provide a number of benefits. It will help, I guess, to make citizens
more aware of historic events, persons, places and traditions that have shaped
us and, indeed, shaped our culture. It will create new opportunities for
developing tourist attractions, where our recognition may afford a greater level
of protection for our heritage resources. A provincial designation can provide
an important stepping stone for commemoration by the Historic Sites and
Monuments Board of Canada. I would say to the hon. members, Mr. Speaker, that it
is patterned so that it coincides with the national program. So, again, it would
afford us, in this Province, an opportunity to not only have it designated
provincially but it would be the stepping stone then to make it designated, or
possible to be designated on a federal level.
One of the things that will make - even though I said it is similar to
national, there is one very distinct and unique difference. That is that it is
our inclusion of aspects of traditional culture. Just an example, of course,
mummering. We could designate that as a traditional custom, traditional practice
and this is unique, and I would say, Mr. Speaker, leading. I am sure that many
of our members have heard, and certainly the people in Newfoundland and
Labrador, about intangible heritage and how important it is that we not only
protect the structures but also the intangibles; the type of food that we eat,
the way it is prepared, the way that we cure fish. The different and unique
aspects of our heritage and culture in Newfoundland and Labrador, and this
program will allow us to do it. There are some very special places and
communities that - it might not be a structure, it might be a place, a beach, a
rock where a fish stage was, where people met. There are all sorts of
possibilities, and this is the aspect of this particular change in the act to
allow this to happen.
Again, we have right now five, I believe - yes, five existing historic sites,
and those would be grandfathered in. So, what we have already would
automatically be grandfathered in. Then we will go from there. Of course, I
think that by making these changes we will be able to entice people to really
search and reflect upon what they are, who they are, what their communities are,
and so on and so forth.
We will also, Mr. Speaker, set up an advisory board that will be appointed by
government to advise the minister on the designations under this particular
program. This is standard procedure, but, of course, it will need to represent
individuals with expertise in a wide variety of aspects of our history, of our
culture and our heritage. Policies will be developed to ensure broad and
equitable representation on this particular board. Of course, once the board is
set up and, I guess, on an annual basis nominations will be garnered, will be
invited. The board will review such nominations and provide advice to the
minister on potential designation under the act. Customarily, research papers
will have to be prepared on each nomination. It is just not simply put a name in
or whatever, proper research would have to be done. The board will, and of
course officials in my department, be tasked with that but the board will use
that research, look at the number of nominations and go from there.
This year we have budgeted $50,000 for the running of the program. The
majority of these funds will be spent on board travel expenses, preparation of
research papers and on plaguing, or other types of commemoration. If we have a
commemoration program, obviously the plaguing is most important, because once
the nominees are accepted and done, then of course the various sites and people
and so on - the plaques or other types of commemoration. So we are kind of open
on that. Again, it may not be a tangible site, it may be an intangible and it
would be trying to find the best way in order to plaque such a thing.
That is a brief overview, Mr. Speaker. I am not sure if I have forgotten
anything but basically, it is a fulfillment of a commitment that we made to the
heritage community, that we would bring forth such a program. We outlined it in
our cultural strategy. The strategy clearly indicated the direction that we had
to go. We followed that direction, now we are coming into the Legislature, Mr.
Speaker, to put it in the act so that we can action where we were.
I will leave it at that, and I certainly invite other members to join with me
in speaking on this particular amendment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair.
MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I am pleased to rise and speak on Bill 30 today,
An Act To Amend The Historic
Resources Act.
Mr. Speaker, as the minister just indicated, it is to change the
registration, I guess, or the reference to it, by saying, instead of a
registered historic site, that is would be a registered provincial cultural
site, and it gives the minister and his department the ability to declare a
site, an event, a person or tradition of historical or cultural significance to
be registered provincial cultural resources and included in the Registry of
Historic Resources in the Province.
Mr. Speaker, I think that tourism has been one of the key industries for us
in terms of diversifying, especially in rural Newfoundland and Labrador. It is
an industry that has allowed us to be able to take things that have been of
value to us, in terms of our histories, in terms of our genealogies, in terms of
our cultural resources, and to translate it into what could be a profitable
venture in an industry sector such as tourism.
Mr. Speaker, anyone who has travelled throughout Newfoundland and Labrador
will find, in all different regions of our Province, many fabulous tourism
resources and cultural resources that we have established over the years, not
only as a monument to the people of the Province but, Mr. Speaker, as a
celebration of who we are and what we are all about as Newfoundlanders and
Labradorians.
Mr. Speaker, I am very fortunate to live in a district where tourism has
become one of the key industries for diversity in terms of failed fisheries in
the early 1990s. Tourism was taken on in a major way, where you see a lot of
people investing their own money into tourism resources, whether it be to
establish the services, such as accommodations and food services that goes along
with a thriving industry, or whether it would be to restore some of our natural
habitats and some of our natural landscapes, as well as preserving our
histories.
Mr. Speaker, in my district today we have something like seven key sites that
we have developed in tourism and, of course, over the years we have been able to
build on those sites, adding new sites every year.
When you look at the Gateway Centre in L'Anse au Clair, which was once the
Anglican Church and has now been restored to be the main gateway coming into the
Labrador Straits region and to Southern Labrador, and I guess when the road goes
through to Lake Melville that it would be the actual initial gateway for all of
Labrador in terms of that particular direction of traffic.
Mr. Speaker, that was a old church that was dilapidated and closed down, and
over the years there has been money invested, through various governments and
departments and individuals, to restore that building, which is absolutely
fabulous today, in which it becomes the Gateway Centre for information about all
of the other attractions in that area.
In the last couple of years we added trails in that area, the Jersey Room
trails, and these trails were built to celebrate and recognize the significance
of the French culture, as well, in that area that stretched along that Labrador,
Quebec Shore, and took into consideration that piece of history. It is a
fabulous trail. I have walked it a couple of times, and it is absolutely lovely.
Mr. Speaker, I think the Point Amour site, one of the earliest burial grounds
in North America for native peoples is in Point Amour. In fact, it is one of the
sites that tourists come from all over the world to visit, because of its early
significance to the history, not just of our Province but to that of North
America as well. The Point Amour Lighthouse, in itself, one of the tallest
lighthouses in Atlantic Canada, has certainly been a testament to the kind of
achievements that we have had in developing the tourism industry.
The Point Amour site is a provincially operated tourism site. Over the years,
we have been able to take that site, which was the site of a lighthouse and a
lighthouse keeper's residence, and turn it into a real tourism activity where
not only you walk through museums and interpret the history of the area, but you
also have the opportunity to shop in craft stores, to be able to walk the many
trails that are out around Point Amour and L'Anse Amour area. That is one of
the real significant pieces of tourism infrastructure that we have.
The Pinware River, in itself, should be designated, I say to the minister,
and under this new legislation could be designed, as definitely a culturally
significant site in our Province. The mighty Pinware River has been a river that
has attracted anglers for generation after generation to Labrador to fish, on
some of the great wild Labrador rivers, the Atlantic salmon. Over the years, it
has not only grown in terms of the numbers of people there but it has matured as
one of the main icons for angling in Labrador, and in Newfoundland and Labrador
in its entirety. It is a great river, and one of the sites that I would love to
see designated under this new program.
Mr. Speaker, I want to talk a little bit about Red Bay, because Red Bay has a
history that goes back more than 5,000 years. That is what the entire tourism
industry of Red Bay is built on. It is built on the early presence of the Basque
and the Spanish who came for the whaling fishery, to hunt whale off the Coast of
Labrador. Many of them wintered there, brought their families there, married
into the Aboriginal populations at the time.
Mr. Speaker, today, because of that history, because of the archival history
that we have on them, because of all the cultural pieces that we have been able
to discover and research and put together over the years, we now have a full
history of the Basque presence in Labrador, and what was happening there 5,000
years ago. You can go through the community of Red Bay, through the
interpretation centres, through the museums, and you can see all of this history
first-hand.
Mr. Speaker, in addition to that, the community itself provides the kind of
services that you need, that go with a site like this, fabulous services being
provided by Basque Whalers restaurant, the Bridles there, and now a new
establishment there by the Earles in Red Bay as well. Mr. Speaker, those are the
kinds of opportunities that have come for local people simply because of us, as
a Province, recognizing the real significance of culture and of tourism in
various regions.
Mr. Speaker, now that we have a road built up through Southern Labrador, you
can drive from Red Bay North, in fact, only just a short seventy-six kilometres
over a gravel road and you are in Mary's Harbour where you can take a short
ferry ride to Battle Harbour. Battle Harbour, Mr. Speaker, is designated as a
World Heritage community, as a World Heritage Village. It is an entire island
that has been restored as a monument to the fishing industry of the seventeenth
century. Mr. Speaker, a fishing industry that we people in Newfoundland and
Labrador grew up to be proud of, an industry we grew up to respect, to depend
upon, and to respect those who engaged in it as a livelihood, as we still do
today.
Mr. Speaker, Battle Harbour was not only significant in the context of the
fishery in Labrador, but it became the main fishing station for many of the
fisherpeople who came from the Island of Newfoundland, especially from the
Carbonear, Bay Roberts and Cupids area, from the Twillingate and Fogo areas. Mr.
Speaker, people came, fishermen, by the hundreds, every year to fish the waters
off the coast of Battle Harbour and to deal with the merchant company that was
there. Of course, the merchant company, in the later years, since 1950, would
have been recognized in this Province as Earle Freighting Services, who had
their main headquarters in Carbonear, Newfoundland. Mr. Speaker, they became the
main merchant company for that part of the Coast of Labrador. Today, when you
sail into Battle Harbour, it is like sailing back into time. It is a rare
experience that you will ever get to have anywhere in this world. When you can
sail into a community and feel like you are sailing back into the seventeenth or
eighteenth century of the fishery, it is a remarkable feeling, I say to my
colleagues in the House of Assembly. That site has been completely restored. Not
only can you walk through it and learn the history of the fishery of
Newfoundland and Labrador, learn how we traded with Portugal and Spain in the
days of the early fishery, but you also have the opportunity to relax in rustic
or luxurious accommodations. You have the opportunity to have rustic dining or
fine dining. It is entirely up to you, but it allows you the most remarkable
experience that one could ever ask for.
Mr. Speaker, there are many other attractions as well. You look at the
Wonder-Strands up off Cartwright, and the Wonder-Strands are not wrongly named
because they are one of the most magnificent wonders of the world. If you ever
go into Cartwright and talk to the local people in that community and ask them
what one of the attractions is in their area that they are proudest of, it would
be the Wonder-Strands, I say to you, Mr. Speaker. The people of that area are so
proud to have, in their backyard, one of the most magnificent pieces of tourism
that you could ever hope to have in the eastern world, I say. There are beaches
that stretch for miles and miles and miles of sandy beach, of clear blue water,
underneath a wonderful Labrador sky and, I can guarantee you, if there is ever
to be a designation, I say to the minister, in terms of this new piece of
legislation that you are bringing in, that is one another one that should
certainly be looked at, the Wonder-Strands of Cartwright.
Mr. Speaker, we also have tourism attractions in our marine sector. You look
at Gilbert Bay in Labrador. Gilbert Bay is found to be home of the golden cod,
one of the rarest species of cod that you can find in this part of the world.
Over the years they have been able to nurture that cod stock to allow it to grow
and today it is a marine protected area that has become one of the prime areas
for scientists and biologists to learn and explore the scientific nature of that
particular species of cod. A lot of work went into this by DFO and Memorial
University, and through their partnerships with people in the area, this has
become one of the most magnificent marine protected areas, I would think, in
Labrador right now. In fact, I think it might be the only marine protected area
in Labrador right now, but we are looking at other areas.
As the minister already knows, this summer we will be holding a conference in
my district to look at marine provincially designated areas, or marine park
areas in a couple of different parts of the district. We have been doing some
work on that and we think it is going to be a significant piece of work. I am
sure that he will be there supporting us and helping us along the way as we move
forward on that.
Now, Mr. Speaker, I want to talk about a couple of other things that I think
should be recognized under a bill like this. I am only talking about this from
the perspective of my own district, but if you want to look at Labrador itself
as a tourism icon and all the things that can be done there, we could probably
use up the whole session of the House of Assembly to be able to touch
on it.
I do want to touch on a couple of things, and one is that of the Labrador
Husky dog. A young guy up in Lake Melville, in Goose Bay, by the name of Scott
Hudson, has been doing a lot of work in having the Labrador Husky recognized as
a heritage animal. I am pleased to see the changes that are taking place in the
Historic Resources Act now, because that will allow the efforts and the work of
people like Scott Hudson to be able to materialize into something -
MR. HEDDERSON: (Inaudible).
MS JONES: Okay. The minister tells me that they will do the research as
well in order to do this.
He has worked diligently in the last year to raise the profile and raise
attention and awareness around the Labrador Husky. As you know, everybody in
this House knows that the Labrador Husky was one of the primary modes of
transportation in Labrador for many decades. Not only transportation in terms of
getting people to work and getting mail service and hospital services, but it
became a part of every family. It was a custom to own a dog team because that
was your sole source of being able to mobilize any goods and services, or people
in Labrador at that time.
Scott Hudson will now be able to apply to have the Labrador Husky recognized.
Through this new legislation he will be able to obtain, I think, research money
or have help with the research through the Department of Tourism. I think that
is a good thing. I really do, because it will give an opportunity for a lot of
individuals and groups, like Mr. Hudson, to be able to go out there and seek out
things that need to be recognized and highlighted in our Province as an
attraction.
I want to mention a couple of other things, too, Mr. Speaker. Henry John
Williams of Cartwright. Henry John Williams, when I am talking about the dog
team, I never talk about dog teaming in Labrador without remembering this man
because he is kind of an icon in the dog team transportation system, I suppose.
He is legendary in terms of being a racer. Not only did he use the dog team for
decades as an individual to get around Labrador and to do his work, but in the
later years he introduced dog teaming to Southern Labrador as a competitive
sport, as a racer. While he was never a man to be overly competitive himself, he
was the oldest man to race a dog team in the Labrador Winter Games in Labrador
before he deceased. Mr. Speaker, if you go into Cartwright today you will find
pictures of Henry John Williams and his dog teams in that community, and blown
up and framed in a place of pride in people's establishments because they
remember the legendary Henry John Williams. I think people like that should be
recognized for the kind of efforts and the work that they have done.
The other individual I would like to mention is Uncle Ben Powell of
Charlottetown. A gentleman, Mr. Speaker, that can only be admired because to
know this gentleman is definitely to realize the real capabilities of mankind.
This is a gentleman who had little or no education, who grew up as a fisherman
and a trapper; who came like a lot of people did, from the Carbonear area of
Newfoundland and settled in Labrador. He was the founding father of the
community of Charlottetown and the author of more than twelve books on Labrador
and his life. I think it is a remarkable tribute, not only to that community but
for him to be recognized for the kind of work and the efforts that he has done.
So, Mr. Speaker, this bill certainly allows us as individuals in the Province to
apply to this board to have recognition for these individuals, from an
historical and cultural perspective, for the works that they are doing.
I think, Mr. Speaker, you do not have to look too far, only in the last few
weeks, when you look at the seven wonders of Canada, the contest that CBC now
has ongoing. Of course, I, like a lot of other people, have been online checking
the stats but three different sites in Newfoundland and Labrador has made the
short list for the seven wonders of Canada. Gros Morne National Park has to be
one of the most beautiful national parks in all of the country, I say. I have
been to the Rocky Mountains and I have been to Gros Morns, and I can tell you,
they are equally as beautiful - and I have been to Alaska, I say to the
minister. So I have seen many prominent mountains in this country and Gros Morns
is certainly up there with all of them.
The site of the Beothuks in the Grand Falls area, in my colleague's
District of Grand Falls-Buchans, Mr. Speaker, she tells me the significance of
this rock as it relates to the early history of the Beothuks in Newfoundland and
Labrador.
Again, of course, I could not forget the community of L'Anse Amour, the
Cove of Love, I say to my hon. colleagues. It has been nominated as one of the
Seven Wonders of Canada, and no wonder, Mr. Speaker. Only seven residents live
in this tiny village, but they are people who are strongly connected to the land
and the sea. They live in one of the most beautiful spots that you could ever
hope to have a home and to wake up in the morning and to gaze out over the ocean
the separates Newfoundland and Labrador, that body of water. It is an absolutely
beautiful place, and the people who live there are equally as beautiful. I am
not surprised that they have made the short list for one of the Seven Wonders of
Canada.
Now, if my efforts pay off , I say to the minister, they will win, because I
have e-mailed, I think, almost everyone on my server list, asking them to vote
for L'Anse Amour, the Cove of Love, and to read about the community and to
read about the nominees. I think they, too, would certainly fall in love with
this place and want to see it win as one of the Seven Wonders of Canada.
All of the three sites that have been nominated in Newfoundland and Labrador,
I wish them the very best, and I am sure that throughout this process, whether
they win as one of the top seven or not, the fact that they have been recognized
and they have been put in a position of prestige and recognized by people all
throughout the country for the wonderful attributes that they offer in
Newfoundland and Labrador certainly says something about them and the people who
operate those sites as well.
Mr. Speaker, I am not going to go on much longer. I have said the few
comments that I wanted to say, but I certainly support Bill 30, and I commend
the minister for his forthright thinking in bringing a bill like this to the
Legislature. It is probably long over due, but it is an opportunity to recognize
not only the wonderful cultural and traditional places we have in this Province,
but also recognize some of the wonderful people who make those sites and make
this place the place that we are fortunate enough to live in.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi.
MS MICHAEL: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
I am very pleased to stand in support of this bill today also. I think this
bill is a real statement about who we are as a people, actually. The very fact
that we are saying in this bill that we would recognize traditional culture as a
recognized site, I think, is a statement about ourselves as a people. The very
fact that we would want culture in Newfoundland and Labrador to be a registered
provincial cultural resource says so much, because that is what we have to
bring, both to ourselves and to this country - culture.
It is part of the fibre of our being, I think, that we just believe so much
in who we are in our identities. We have one identity in one way but we have so
many other identities within that identity. Being open to recognize those
cultural identities is such a strength of who we are.
As I am standing here, I am thinking that maybe we should just designate
ourselves, the whole Province, as a registered provincial cultural resource
because of the resource that we bring to Canada. We bring it as a Province, as a
totality, and then we bring it as individuals as we move out across Canada.
Who else in this country goes to other places in Canada and the first thing
they do, as Canadians - I am not talking about immigrants coming in, but as
Canadians - the first thing they do is gather together and then form
Newfoundland clubs. Wherever we go in this country, Newfoundlanders and
Labradorians find a way to get together and celebrate. You do not go around
Newfoundland and Labrador and find Ontario food stores, or Nova Scotia food
stores, but you go to B.C., you go to Ontario, you go to Alberta, and you find
Newfoundland food stores.
We are unique in this country, and what this bill is doing is going to be
allowing us to celebrate our uniqueness around our traditional cultures. To me,
it is really quite exciting. Listening to my colleague from Cartwright-L'Anse
au Clair just made me feel so proud to be a part of this Province. I feel proud,
too, simply because, as an individual Newfoundlander and Labradorian, I know
that I come from a culture that I believe could be celebrated in the broader
culture. We have minority cultures throughout the Province who have impacted so
very positively the overall culture of the Province. I know that the Lebanese
community is a culture that did that. We celebrate it all the time inside of the
Lebanese community. We know the impact that we have had, and how we were
impacted by being people in this Province. Just the potential of being able to
celebrate that kind of a thing, to me, is just tremendous.
I really do thank the minister for being open to listening to the people who
brought this forward. One of the strengths in our Province is our folklore
department at Memorial University. I am sure that they are some of the ones who
have been saying to government and to the minister that this kind of thing
should be in the designation in the bill.
We should be proud of the work that has been done, both through the
archeology department at Memorial as well as the folklore department. Through
those two departments we have - and I am not using the pun deliberately -
unearthed some tremendous information about ourselves as a people. So, to me, it
just seems so logical that we would be the only province in Canada, at the
moment, who would think of designating our culture as a historic site, as a
historic property, as something to be celebrated by our Province. Therefore, if
it is being celebrated by our Province, it will be celebrated by other people as
well.
I was really grateful for the minister's full explanation because, when I
read the bill, one of the first questions I had was: Well, how do we keep this
from just becoming a commonplace thing? How do we keep it from just anybody
saying: Oh, I think that person should be designated.
The minister gave a very good explanation of the role of the advisory board.
The advisory board is going to be key, because I think the advisory board, and I
mean this very sincerely, has to be completely unbiased with regard to making
its decisions. Therefore, I think it really does have to be people who are
professional people in the area of archeology, in the area of culture, in the
area of historic sites, in the areas that are covered when you talk about
setting up a registered provincial cultural resource.
I think we really do have to go with professionals here so that the decisions
that are made really are unbiased decisions, unbiased in every level, because we
cannot have this to become a Mickey Mouse affair. When we do designate, I think
we really have to designate something that really, really has impacted the
community. I think that is one of the important things about the designation, is
that there is proof there of this event or this person or this place, this site
of having had a significant impact either on present community, on present
society or in the past. For example, looking at the rock out in Central
Newfoundland that was important to the Beothuk. To me, that is very, very
significant. If that proof is there, then that could be a place that could be
looked at. That rock could be a spot that could be looked at.
So, we want something that, as I said, can be shown to have been significant
in the life of the community, either the larger or smaller community, in an
extremely significant way and that its impact has carried through. That the
impact of that event or that place or that person has carried through and it is
still impacting the community.
When we have a board like the one that has been described, if that board has
the expertise it will be able to do the investigation that will be needed to
designate. I will be looking forward to seeing the guidelines that will be put
in place, because I am sure there will be stringent guidelines put in place that
the board will follow. I look forward to seeing those guidelines. I think it
would be good for those guidelines maybe to even become publicly put out there
so that people understand how important this is and the dignity that it should
have, because I am sure - I know the minister wants that as well, that in doing
this we are doing it in a dignified manner, in a way that carries weight so that
it is not just any little stone or any little event that gets designated because
if we end up having thousands of these then the import will be gone, the import
will be lessened.
So, Mr. Speaker, I think I have said what I wanted to say. I am very, very
delighted to support this bill. I know we will move from just having five
historic sites, especially as we broaden the definition, but I still believe
that what we come up with - I do trust the minister's intent and what he has
explained to me is that what we come up with will be important, will be
significant and will give leadership across Canada.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER: If the hon. the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Recreation
speaks now he will close debate at second reading.
The hon. the minister.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. HEDDERSON: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
First of all, I want to thank my colleagues for standing in the debate today
with regard to Bill 30. Their comments were well appreciated and certainly
showed a clear understanding of where they wanted to see this bill go, this
amendment. I am very pleased to say that in our consultations with our heritage
and cultural groups, we believe that what we are putting forth is the desire of
those particular groups. This commemorations program, Mr. Speaker, will enable
this Province to continue to support culture and heritage to ensure that there
will be something for generations to come.
Just on a few points, and points that are well taken. The Member for Signal
Hill-Quidi Vidi indicating the independence of the board. I will just say to the
member, we are going to develop the policies. That board should be, first of
all, geography, gender, expertise, as we would want any board to represent all
of Newfoundland and Labrador. Once the board is set up, then the board will come
together. A lot of the guidelines, I think, need to be put to the board, some
consensus reached and then we will put it out in the form of nomination forms,
and so on and so forth.
Again, this designation, I say, Mr. Speaker, puts us on the leading edge
across this nation. We are indeed very, very proud as a government to be able to
bring it forward. I will leave that where it is and perhaps any other points we
can bring up in further stages of the bill.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: Is the pleasure of the House that Bill 30,
An Act To Amend
The Historic Resources Act, be now read a second time?
All those in favour, aye'.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.
MR. SPEAKER: All those against, nay'.
The motion is carried.
CLERK: A bill,
An Act To Amend The Historic Resources Act. (Bill 30)
MR. SPEAKER: Bill 30,
An Act To Amend The Historic Resources Act has now
been read a second time.
When shall this bill be referred to a Committee of the Whole House?
MR. RIDEOUT: Presently, Mr. Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER: Presently.
On motion, a bill, "An Act To Amend The Historic Resources Act,"
read a second time, ordered referred to a Committee of the Whole House
presently, by leave.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Government House Leader.
MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, I would like to call Order 6, Bill 14,
An Act
To Amend The Liquor Control Act.
MR. SPEAKER: It is moved and seconded that Bill 14,
An Act To Amend The
Liquor Control Act, be now read a second time.
Motion, second reading of a bill, "An Act To Amend The Liquor Control
Act." (Bill 14)
MR. SPEAKER: Speakers to the bill.
The hon. the Government House Leader.
MR. RIDEOUT: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
This bill stands on the Order Paper in the name of my colleague, the Minister
of Finance, obviously, as the Liquor Corporation is a Crown entity that the
Minister of Finance is responsible for. I am pleased to introduce the bill on
his behalf, in his absence - he is out of the House on Her Majesty's business
- but I am also pleased to introduce it as Minister Responsible for Aboriginal
Affairs because, really, this particular amendment to the Liquor Corporation Act
has all to do with a matter relative to Aboriginal Affairs.
This bill,
An Act To Amend The Liquor Control Act, is very simple,
straightforward and to the point. It will allow the Labrador Inuit communities
to continue to implement alcohol control initiatives within the territory now
governed by the Nunatsiavut Government as a result of the treaty.
Mr. Speaker, municipalities in the Province defined under the Municipalities
Act did not, of course, include the new communities and the new community
governments that came into being as a result of the Inuit Land Claims treaty.
When the Municipalities Act was crafted and passed through this House there was
no thought, of course, at that time, that there would be an Inuit Lands Claims
treaty, so the definition of municipalities does not fit, it does not match, the
definition of community governments under the Labrador Inuit Land Claims
Agreement.
To be able to ensure that the Labrador Inuit governments in Postville, Nain,
Makkovik, Hopedale and Rigolet - I think there are five Inuit communities on the
North Coast of Labrador - to be able to ensure that those five communities can
control their own destiny when it comes to the control of alcohol, it is
necessary to amend the legislation to allow those communities to be able to do
that under the Liquor Control Act.
Mr. Speaker, hopefully, this House will approve the amendment. When those
communities have the authority, as a result of this amendment, they can manage
the control of alcohol on their territory, in their communities, as they see
fit. As I understand it, they could, if they wish, designate the communities to
be dry communities. They can allow for the open and closure of licenced
establishments at hours that are suitable to the community. Whatever it is, in
terms of the control of alcohol in those Inuit communities, it will be as it
should, I say, Mr. Speaker, it will be in the hands of the local leadership and
the local government of the Inuit communities on the North Coast of Labrador as
a result of the Labrador Inuit Land Claims Agreement and as a result of the new
Nunatsiavut government.
Mr. Speaker, that is the pith and the substance of the amendment to the
Liquor Control Act. It is straightforward. It results from the new reality
emerging from the Labrador Inuit Land Claims Agreement that those Inuit
communities, the governments of those Inuit communities, are not municipalities;
therefore, they cannot act under the authority of the Municipalities Act. They
are something more than municipalities. They are almost like - well, they are a
self-government entity. They are provided for, and their government is provided
for, in the treaty. Then you have an overall government called the Government of
Nunatsiavut that is responsible for the territory as a whole. So, in order for
those Inuit communities and those Inuit governments to be able to control
alcohol, and the use of alcohol, and the availability of alcohol in their
communities, it is necessary that the Liquor Control Act be amended. That is the
purpose of this amendment.
On behalf of my colleague, the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury
Board, but more importantly as Minister Responsible for Aboriginal Affairs, I am
pleased to move second reading.
MR. SPEAKER (Fitzgerald): Order, please!
The hon. the Member for Grand Falls-Buchans.
MS THISTLE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I am pleased, as well, to stand today to respond to Bill 14,
An Act To Amend
The Liquor Control Act. I must commend the Aboriginal communities in Labrador
for wanting to make a stand to ensure their own future.
One question I would have about this bill: Is there any flexibility in the
time frame, or is there an endless time frame on this? Perhaps the minister,
later, can respond to that, because I know this was one that needed to come
before this House today and be looked at and legislated.
Mr. Speaker, I had the opportunity to visit the community of Nunatsiavut a
few years back and I was really impressed with that community and the people who
are living there today. In fact, it was encouraging last week to see, on TV, a
substance abuse facility opened in Labrador. That is going to make a huge
difference to our young people in Labrador.
I also noticed that government, in their Budget, announced $575,000 to
address the issue of gambling. I do not know what amount is the best amount to
actually spend on that issue; because, when you consider that in lottery sales
alone in our Province last year - it is frightening; it is a staggering figure -
there was $104 million in lottery sales in our Province last year; $104 million.
Just tobacco tax alone in our Province last year was $111 million. Now, I can't
determine what the alcohol tax was, because that particular tax is lumped in
with our retail sales tax.
When you look at the money that was actually spent by individuals in our
Province last year, $104 million in lottery sales and $111 million in tobacco
tax - and that doesn't even include alcohol - and government are now going to
spend $175,000 to address gambling. We have huge problems in our society, in our
Province, with gambling addiction whether it comes from drugs or alcohol or
gambling.
I also notice that in the government s own material they have provided an
extra $250,000 for the Kids Eat Smart program in our Province. That tells a lot
of things about what is going o