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May

15, 2013 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS

Vol. XLVII No. 21

The House met at 2:00 p.m.

MR. SPEAKER (Wiseman): Order, please!

Admit strangers.

Before we start the proceedings today, I want to welcome some special guests

to the gallery who are from my district. There are twenty-one Grade 10 students

from Random Island Academy on Random Island. They are accompanied by their

teacher Curtis Blackmore, and Kim Hansford who is driving the bus for them

today.

Welcome to the House of Assembly.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

Statements by Members

MR. SPEAKER: Today we have members' statements from the District of Port

au Port; the Member for the District of Bonavista North; the Member for the

District of St. John's West; the Member for the District of Kilbride; the Member

for the District of Torngat Mountains; and the Member for the District of

Bellevue.

The hon. the Member for the District of Port au Port.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. CORNECT: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Historical Society on their grand opening of the Regional Museum of Art and

History this past summer.

The Regional Museum of Art and History tells the many stories of those who

have come before us, what their lives were like and how their cultural values

sustained a way of life on the West Coast of Newfoundland and Labrador. The

museum highlights our Aboriginal history, the Harmon Air Force Base legacy, our

railway and transportation history, and our French and Scottish ancestry.

Creating a space for our precious historical artifacts is important. These

keepsakes will be preserved and displayed for enjoyment of all forever. We

indeed have a proud heritage to be proud of.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all hon. members to join with me in congratulating the

Stephenville Historical Society on preserving and showcasing our proud heritage

and history. The Society is to be commended for their dedication and hard work.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Bonavista North.

MR. CROSS: I take great pleasure today, Mr. Speaker, in standing to

recognize Reginald and Ethel Norris of Newtown.

In the spring of 1943, Reg was working at St. John's and had a very short

turnaround at home in Newtown. Although he had made arrangements with the Church

of England clergy from Badger's Quay, there was some inconvenience and his

wedding had to be delayed. While walking home to Newtown, Reg dropped in on the

United Church Parson in Wesleyville, and had a more agreeable conclusion.

On May 21, 1943 the bride, Ettie Tulk of Newtown, was delivered to

Wesleyville aboard the Miss Newtown. It was a day that the groom says the sun

could split the rocks. In the middle of the sunny afternoon, Reg and Ettie were

united as husband and wife by the Reverend Clarke at the Jubilee United Church

in Wesleyville.

This past winter, February 23, Reg turned ninety, and on August 5 this year

Ettie will turn ninety as well. Ettie was delivered by a midwife in her family

home. In fact, she still lives in that house today, ninety years later.

Honourable colleagues, please join me in wishing Reg and Ettie Norris a very happy

70 th wedding anniversary.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. CRUMMELL: Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Cowan Heights

Elementary School on its very successful Shave for the Brave event held in

March.

Mr. Speaker, this was the school's third time doing this event and it has

grown each year. This year children from Kindergarten to Grade 7 participated,

along with a teacher and some parents as well. In total, Mr. Speaker, sixty-five

heads were shaved.

Geoff Eaton, founder of Young Adult Cancer Canada was on hand to pass out

yellow toques to all those who shaved, including the only girl participating

this year a Grade 1 student who donated her braids and then shaved her head.

Mr. Eaton also presented a special toque to a very brave Grade 2 student of

Cowan Heights Elementary who is a cancer survivor.

Mr. Speaker, Cowan Heights Elementary raised over $17,500 at this year's

event and I understand that many students have already committed to the school's

fourth annual Shave for the Brave next year.

I ask all hon. members to join me in congratulating the entire Cowan Heights

Elementary School community on their tremendous success and continued commitment

to Shave for the Brave.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Kilbride.

MR. DINN: Mr. Speaker, the City of St. John's Youth of the Year Award was

presented on Tuesday, May 7, 2013 during the Recreation Division's Annual Youth

Week luncheon.

This year's recipient is Natasha Noel, a Level III student, Youth Action

Committee member and class president at Bishop's College High School. One of her

most active roles is Volunteer Co-ordinator for the Aquatic Therapy Program at

Easter Seals Newfoundland and Labrador, where she also routinely volunteers as a

coach for the Sledge Hockey League and Wheelchair Basketball Program. Natasha is

very passionate about helping to provide a variety of therapeutic recreational

activities for children and youth with physical disabilities.

Natasha has led fundraisers for local organizations like the Street Reach

Program and Nature Conservancy of Canada. Her benevolent spirit, and

continuously expanding desire to help others, makes this seventeen-year-old

student truly remarkable.

I ask all hon. Members of this House of Assembly to join me in congratulating

Natasha for being awarded the City of St. John's, 2013 Youth of the Year and to

thank her for her many hours of dedicated volunteerism.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

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

Mrs. Ruth Flowers of Hopedale on receiving the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Award.

Mrs. Flowers has been a driving force for Aboriginal women's rights for well

over forty years. She served as a town councillor and Mayor in Makkovik and Town

Clerk in Hopedale, where she was instrumental in getting the RCMP services to

many communities on the North Coast. She also played a major role in the

Labrador Inuit Association by serving as the President of the Women's Chapter.

Mrs. Flowers has countless awards of recognition to her credit, including the

prestigious Order of Canada.

Mr. Speaker, Captain Sid Hynes and the good people at Canship were so

impressed with her care and commitment that they flew her and her daughter to

Seoul, South Korea to christen the tanker, the M.V. Kometik .

Mrs. Flowers now resides with her husband in the Inuit community of Hopedale.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all hon. members to join me in congratulating Mrs. Ruth

Flowers on receiving yet another award of recognition, the Queen's Diamond

Jubilee Award.

Mr. Speaker, there is a special place in my heart for Mrs. Ruth Flowers she

also happens to be my mom.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Bellevue.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. PEACH: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise in this hon. House today to congratulate the 2013 graduating classes

from the great District of Bellevue.

On May 3, 2013, I had the great privilege to attend the graduation of Fortune

Bay Academy in St. Bernard's with seventeen graduates. On May 10 it was my

pleasure to attend the graduation of Tricentia Academy in Arnold's Cove with

thirty graduates; while my CA attended the graduation at St. Joseph's All Grade

in Terrenceville where there were nine graduates.

On May 3 there were nine graduates from Swift Current; and on May 11 Crescent

Collegiate from Blaketown had ninety-three students graduating.

As the young men and women adventure out into a world of much uncertainty I

encourage them to evaluate their opportunities. The choice they make will shape

the future they will have.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the members of this hon. House to join me in

congratulating the 2013 graduates of all five schools: Swift Current Academy,

Fortune Bay Academy, Crescent Collegiate, St. Joseph's All Grade, and Tricentia

Academy and wish them all the best in their future endeavours.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Statements by Ministers.

Statements by Ministers

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Intergovernmental and Aboriginal

Affairs.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. F. COLLINS: Mr. Speaker, I am proud to stand today to announce an

important step in strengthening the provincial government's relationship with

Aboriginal people and organizations in the Province the development of an

Aboriginal Foundational Document for the Government of Newfoundland and

Labrador.

Mr. Speaker, the final document will outline government's vision for a

principles-based relationship built on respect, honour, and trust.

The Aboriginal Foundational Document will outline the provincial government's

commitment to approaching Aboriginal issues in a strategic manner. It will also

serve to highlight significant shared achievements resulting from strong

partnerships with Aboriginal organizations in the Province.

Consultation will occur with provincial Aboriginal organizations to introduce

the concept of the foundational document, discuss the draft document, and gather

feedback. These consultations will allow for meaningful discussion that will

help to inform the development of a final document and are expected to occur

this summer.

We have made great strides, Mr. Speaker, toward strengthening our

relationships with Aboriginal people and organizations, particularly over the

past decade, through the negotiation of land claims, self-governing and other

agreements, and our commitment to ensuring appropriate consultation and dialogue

with Aboriginal organizations.

Our government has continued to maintain a strong government to government

relationship with the Nunatsiavut Government and tomorrow, Mr. Speaker, Premier

Dunderdale will be hosting a joint Cabinet meeting with members of the

provincial government Cabinet, President Sarah Leo, and members of the

Nunatsiavut Government Executive Council.

The development of an Aboriginal Foundational Document, in partnership with

Aboriginal organizations in our Province, will help to establish a framework for

respectful relationship between the provincial government and all Aboriginal

people in Newfoundland and Labrador and a strategic approach to Aboriginal

issues.

I look forward to the completion of the final document and to building an

even stronger relationship with all Aboriginal people and organizations in our

Province.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for Torngat Mountains.

MR. EDMUNDS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

applaud any initiative that any government would take in strengthening

relationships and opening dialogue with Aboriginal groups in our Province. I am

hopeful that this venture will also include other Aboriginal groups like the

Qalipu, Innu Nation, and NunatuKavut. I have certainly been an advocate for

Aboriginal issues; I have certainly brought them forward in this House, Mr.

Speaker. Sometimes, I think that this government has heard them for the first

time.

I am happy to see that this government is moving, it is listening, Mr.

Speaker, and I certainly wish all the best to your Executive Council for the

Executive Council meetings tomorrow. Certainly I love to hear some forward

movement on the issues. I also give my support to helping government in any way

to make this initiative go forward. Again, I applaud this statement, it is a

start, we will see what happens from there, and I wish all the best with the

meetings tomorrow.

Thank you.

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

MR. MURPHY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

today. I welcome this foundational document initiative. I hope that it will

strengthen relationships between government and the peoples of Labrador. I also

see the government is planning consultations for the summer, as they say, to

inform the document as well. They are going to be doing that in partnership with

the Aboriginal organizations that are there.

I also hope the government will address the NunatuKavut nation as well and

include them in the ongoing documentation of what is happening, and wish them

all the best, too, at the same time, in this particular initiative.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. DAVIS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise today to update this hon. House on recent advancements made to improve

airstrip operations on the Coast of Labrador. An advanced Global Positioning

System-based set of flight instrument procedures has now been developed and

published for use by aircraft landing in Black Tickle, Cartwright, Makkovik,

Nain, Natuashish, and Postville.

The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador engaged Genivar Inc. through a

contract valued at approximately $221,000 to develop procedures which will help

improve landing frequency for aircrafts, reduce delays, cancellations, and

diversions to alternate locations in poor weather conditions. The project

developed a total of twenty-four instrument procedures, including twelve

approach procedures and twelve departure procedures for the runways at each of

the three Labrador communities.

Mr. Speaker, these instrument procedures were published by NAV CANADA on

March 7 of this year. These improvements are welcomed by the aviation community

as they ensure a safer environment for aircraft that provide private travel,

supply shipment, and emergency services in the region.

Prior to these enhancements,

pilots landing on these communities were required to break from cloud cover and

align aircraft with the runway visually. These new instrument procedures

developed by Genivar Inc. allow pilots to align the plane while still within

cloud cover, providing for an easier landing process. Our government is helping

residents living in these remote communities along the Labrador Coast.

Airports in Charlottetown, Mary's Harbour, Port Hope Simpson, St. Lewis, and

Williams Harbour already have these advanced instrument procedures published for

use and NAV CANADA is in the process of also designing procedures for Hopedale

and Rigolet.

Mr. Speaker, our government recognizes the importance of improving access for

residents of coastal communities. These airport improvements are another example

of the strategic investments being made to strengthen the overall transportation

network throughout the Province.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for Torngat Mountains.

MR. EDMUNDS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

certainly any improvements in terms of navigational aid to the airstrips on the

North Coast is something that is long overdue.

I have witnessed a number of aircraft accidents at the airstrip in Nain

alone, Mr. Speaker. Along the Coast, there have been several tragedies to do

with air navigation. Just this weekend, I was late getting back to St. John's

because of weather conditions that could have been improved upon with the

introduction of the technology that we have now.

I have seen, I think, in the 1990s at the height of mineral exploration, I

was actually working as a monitor, and I recorded 180 aircraft takeoffs and

landings in Nain on a single day. It is hard to believe, Mr. Speaker, but it is

true.

Mr. Speaker, the best airstrip on the North Coast of Labrador was actually

built in the 1950s at the height of the cold war and that was in Saglek, just

north of Nain some 400 miles.

I applaud the minister on taking this initiative on and increasing

navigational aids. There is more to be done. I would love to see the day when we

can have big

MR. SPEAKER: I ask the member to complete his comments, please.

MR. EDMUNDS: aircraft land on paved runways.

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

MR. MURPHY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank the minister of an advance copy of his statement, as well. For the

investment that government is doing, $221,000, it is small measure, we know.

There could be a lot more money that is sunk into the improvement of runways to

raise the CAT ratings for some of these airports. We know that the runway visual

rating can be low with regard to weather, but we can do more improvements with

hard infrastructure investments, for example, that would be able to allow more

flights to be landing at some of these airports and to be able to improve

access.

I would like to remind the government, too, that $221,000 right now is an

important investment, but we could see more money.

MR. SPEAKER: I ask the member to conclude his comments, please.

MR. MURPHY: Thank you very much.

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN: Mr. Speaker, last week I had the great privilege of opening

the Provincial Theatre Arts Festival, and then attending many of the

performances which took place in the host city of Corner Brook.

The talent and commitment displayed by the students, teachers and volunteers,

both onstage and behind the scenes, was absolutely incredible. I am always

impressed by the quality of our school-based theatre productions, Mr. Speaker,

and this year's festival did not disappoint.

On a personal note, Mr. Speaker, I have been attending them for about twenty

years. I am always impressed with the students and the work that they do there.

As a government, we know that involvement in the arts helps students to

discover and develop their artistic talent and creative skills. It helps to

build confidence and self-esteem, and contributes to a student's overall

personal development. The $50,000 in annual support for the Provincial Theatre

Arts Festival program is just one way in which our government is promoting the

arts within our schools.

Mr. Speaker, in 2005, the provincial government introduced Cultural

Connections, a program designed to support and enhance arts programming in our

schools. Since that time, over $17.4 million

AN HON. MEMBER: How much?

MR. JACKMAN: Seventeen-point-four million dollars has been invested in

musical equipment, art supplies, books

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN: music festivals, heritage fairs, and other programs and

activities to benefit students and participating artists. That program, Mr.

Speaker, did not exist before. We introduced it, and we continue to support it.

In addition, we have substantially increased the allocation of specialist

teachers to the system over the years. This includes teachers for music,

theatre, and art. We also introduced an allocation of specialist teachers at the

primary and elementary level an allocation which did not exist before, Mr.

Speaker. Again, we introduced it. In fact, there will be 246 more specialist

teachers in the education system in September than there would have been under

the allocation model approved under the previous Administration and a great

many of them are specialists in the fine arts. I believe that speaks to our

commitment to the development of the whole child.

Mr. Speaker, I invite my colleagues in this House to join me in

congratulating the organizers, participants, volunteers and audiences, who all

contributed to making the 2013 Provincial Theatre Arts Festival a resounding

success.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BENNETT: Mr. Speaker, I agree with the minister that certainly the

arts are very important in providing a well-rounded education to our students.

It is regrettable that so many of our students are not going to be able to take

part in arts programs. Due to school closures by this government, they are going

to have to be on school buses for an hour in the morning and an hour in the

evening for ten hours a week, Mr. Speaker, when they could easily be taking

advantage of arts programs if they were not being bused like cattle from one

jurisdiction to another.

It is also regrettable that the minister responds with a Pavlovian response

whenever he hears small class sizes. If you would reference the 2005 C.D. Howe

paper this government subscribes to C.D. Howe Institute he would find out

that only in the first few grades is small class size a big advantage. After the

students are sufficiently socialized, those teachers can go to slightly larger

classes. They can be freed up to provide more arts programming, more sports

programming and more assistance to students who are struggling. The slavish

adherence, a rubber stamp for students, simply does not work. We need a little

more creativity in the education system.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. KIRBY: Thanks to the minister for the advance copy of his statement.

I also extend congratulations to all who helped make the 2013 Provincial Theatre

Arts Festival successful.

The minister is wrong on many things, but I have to admit that he is right

when he says the current government introduced the Cultural Connections program.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KIRBY: This year his government also cut the Cultural Connections

program which will serve to diminish

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. KIRBY: - students' exposure to Newfoundland and Labrador music, art,

culture, history and heritage. This government also cut tens of millions of

dollars and made tens of millions of dollars in cuts which will result in fewer

specialist teachers in music and in fine arts. I suggest the minister consider

the full story the next time he gets up to make a statement.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Oral Questions.

Oral Questions

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

MR. BALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yesterday the Premier reacted to the Conservative Party's loss in Labrador by

saying that it would not help relations with Ottawa and that those relations are

currently difficult. The Premier even admitted to a passive approach to Stephen

Harper has not worked on issues like search and rescue but she has done nothing

to change this approach.

I ask the Premier: Is it unrealistic to think that doing the same thing over

and over again will produce different results, so why have you not changed your

approach to Stephen Harper?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I am not sure what approach would be suitable to the Leader of

the Opposition. There certainly have been a number of approaches used in the

last ten years, all of them roundly criticized by our colleagues opposite.

Now, Mr. Speaker, I have an obligation and our government has an obligation

to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, and that is to represent their

interests, not only here in the Province, but federally. We do not have a great

deal of help with that. Presently, we do not have any MPs nor do we have any

help from the Opposition MPs, nor do we have any help from the Opposition

parties in this Legislature.

We take our obligation very seriously. We will work with what we have, and we

will continue to advocate on behalf of the people of this Province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We understand this morning that Nova Scotian MP Peter MacKay will be our

federal representative representing Newfoundland and Labrador in the Cabinet.

I ask the Premier: Did Prime Minister Stephen Harper consult with you on this

appointment?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

No, Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister did not consult with me on this

appointment. He has no obligation to consult with me nor did he use any

opportunity to consult with me. I do not wait for the Prime Minister to consult.

Mr. Speaker, as I said in my previous answer, our obligation on this side of

the House, that we take very seriously, is to represent the best interests of

the people of Newfoundland and Labrador. We will do that with or without the

help of the Prime Minister, with or without the help of the Opposition parties,

and with or without the help of the sitting MPs in Ottawa.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Well, the Premier herself said it is important to have someone inside the

tent. We do not have anybody inside this tent now with Nova Scotian Peter

MacKay, I say, Mr. Speaker.

With four Conservative senators in Ottawa, with four in Ottawa already

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. BALL: will you now advocate to have one of those senators appointed

to the federal Cabinet?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Mr. Speaker, I am not sure what the Leader of the

Opposition's problem is. They were advocating and campaigning for the Liberal MP

to be elected, the Liberal candidate to be elected in Labrador. Obviously they

did not feel it was important to have somebody inside the tent.

Now, Mr. Speaker, I am not going to criticize the people of Newfoundland or

Labrador for exercising their franchise and electing people who they feel are

best going to represent their interests. What I do commit to, to the people of

Newfoundland and Labrador, is that we will work with whatever we have to work

with. While we have a voice and while we have strength in our bodies, whether we

are in this House or outside, we will fight for Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BALL: I say to the Premier, what we are looking for is someone who is

from Newfoundland and Labrador to work on our behalf. We are looking for our

representative, I say.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL: The Premier has let Stephen Harper off with this trick before.

We have seen this in the past. Appointing senators to the Cabinet is nothing new

to the federal government, I say, Mr. Speaker. We have seen it from Quebec. We

have seen where they have added senators to strengthen the Cabinet.

I ask the Premier: Will you finally stand up to Stephen Harper and advocate

to have one of our four senators appointed to the Cabinet?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I do not need any advice from the Leader of the Opposition on

standing up to Stephen Harper on behalf of the people in Newfoundland and

Labrador. It is something he never does, Mr. Speaker. Even when he was in

Ottawa, he did not even take the opportunity to meet with Stephen Harper's

ministers to advocate for something he asked for in this House every day, Mr.

Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, what he is concerned about and what his party is concerned about

is what works for them, not for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. BALL: Yesterday in this House the Premier talked about her travel

plans. I can assure the Premier, we have met with federal Cabinet ministers and

we are advocating for things on behalf of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

I say to the Premier: Will you stand up for Newfoundland and Labrador and ask

for one of our four senators to be appointed to that Cabinet?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, this party goes to Labrador, speaks to the people in Labrador,

and says vote for our Liberal candidate because they can represent your

interests better in Ottawa in the Opposition benches than inside Stephen

Harper's Cabinet. Then he has the face to come to this House of Assembly and

argue that Newfoundland and Labrador is disadvantaged because we do not have a

Cabinet representative.

This is the kind of hypocrisy we have come to expect from this party across

the way, Mr. Speaker. We do not need to hear it. We are here to stand up for the

rights of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians and we will do it every day of the

week.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

If the Premier is sincerely standing up for Newfoundland and Labrador go ask

Senator Marshall, go ask Senator Doyle, go ask Senator Wells, go ask Senator

Manning, go ask Prime Minister Stephen Harper if he will allow one of those to

be our representative, I say, Mr. Speaker.

Just yesterday, I watched the Premier as her caucus

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. BALL: gave themselves another standing ovation on this Budget 2013.

Today, NAPE released a poll, and not surprising, 71 per cent opposed and 81 per

cent believed that Budget cuts should be reviewed.

I ask the Premier: As you pat yourself on the back about Budget 2013, the

vast majority of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians oppose this Budget; will you

consult with Newfoundlanders and Labradorians?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

The accuracy of polls is something that is always in question, although there

is always relevant information in the polls. What took place in BC last night

certainly shows you the volatility of polls.

Mr. Speaker, one of the interesting responses that I saw in this poll when

you go to the

section called the economy, buried in the back, is that 62 per

cent of the people feel that their personal or family situation is excellent or

good right now, and 83 per cent feel that their personal or family situation is

better or about the same it was five years ago. Eighty-eight per cent of the

people feel their personal financial situation will be better or the same twelve

months from now, including 88 per cent of union members.

I guess what I am saying, Mr. Peepers Mr. Speaker - it is how you read the

poll.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. KENNEDY: What did I say? Mr. Peepers?

I guess the point is, it is how you read the poll. You can interpret how you

see it.

MR. SPEAKER: On that note, please be seated.

The Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL: Mr. Speaker, we have been saying for weeks that this government

did not do proper consultations before bringing down Budget 2013. Cuts in this

poll confirm that 84 per cent of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians agree with us;

proper consultations were not done. Failure to consult has become a hallmark of

this government.

I ask the Premier: Why do you insist on cutting government off from the very

people of Newfoundland and Labrador, the people you are supposed to represent?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

There is an inherent problem with consulting people about a Budget,

especially if you are making cuts. To think that you can go to a group of people

and say we are going to cut your group by $1 million and for them to agree. I am

not really sure how you consult on a Budget other than to do what we did.

We did pre-Budget consultations throughout the Province, Mr. Speaker. We

listened to what the people of the Province had to say. They said to us that

health care services and education services were very important.

To point out another interesting thing about this poll is that 79 per cent of

the people polled said they knew a little or nothing about the Budget. Polls are

in the eyes of the beholder, Mr. Speaker, and you see that which you want to

see.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The minister is right that 79 per cent of the people in Newfoundland and

Labrador did not feel they had enough information on this. All on the backs of

just spending $150,000 on a PR campaign with a Toronto-based firm.

I say to the Premier, instead of spending money on the PR makeover, why don't

you just talk and engage with Newfoundlanders and Labradorians?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

As I indicated, the polls oftentimes are in the eyes of the beholder. One of

the interesting points again on the economy is that 72 per cent of the people

polled say the economy is better or the same than it was five years ago; and 70

per cent of the people polled say that the economy will be better or the same

twelve months from now.

What this poll does, Mr. Speaker, it supports this government's economic

platform; it supports the plan that we have. I think it is 68 per cent of the

responders said that despite the cuts in public sector, the effect would be

minor or have little impact on the person or family, Mr. Speaker.

This poll can support everything we are putting forward; it is how you look

at it.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for Bay of Islands.

MR. JOYCE: Mr. Speaker, I asked the Minister of Transportation and Works

yesterday if he would live up his commitment from Estimates to release the Hatch

Mott MacDonald report on the Corner Brook hospital. He stated there was no such

thing in Hansard.

I would like to table for the House, Mr. Speaker, or give it to the minister,

a copy of Estimates, the audio and written excerpt of the audio where the

minister and his deputy would give me the report.

I ask the minister: Now would you live up to your commitment from Estimates

and release the report you committed to, and your deputy minister?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. DAVIS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As I indicated yesterday, we receive many requests for information from

members opposite and other persons as well. I indicated to him yesterday that we

are considering the request that he made. We will do that, keeping in mind that

the protection of personal and private information has to be reviewed and has to

be looked at in keeping with the laws of the Province, as we would do with any

type of request.

As I said, we are doing that. We are reviewing his request. We have to keep

in mind the protection of individuals and also commercial sensitive information.

When we complete that review, we will let him know.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for Bay of Islands.

MR. JOYCE: Mr. Speaker, the minister yesterday said that this did not

exist in Estimates.

I ask the minister: How can you expect to have confidence in this House when

you, as a minister, make a commitment in this House of Assembly and you do not

honour your commitment to the people of Western Newfoundland? Will the minister

please live up to his commitment and table that report on the hospital in

Western Newfoundland, please, on behalf of the people of Western Newfoundland?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. DAVIS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

There seems to be an echo here in the Chamber today, Mr. Speaker, because I

seem to be hearing the same information coming from the opposite side over and

over. I will review the information that he is tabling here today to see what he

has before him. Again, I have indicated yesterday and again here this afternoon

that we are considering his request. We will keep in mind the requirements and

parameters that we have to do, according to the laws of the Province, and as we

do that we will consider his request.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. EDMUNDS: Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Minister of Justice said that

impacts on Aboriginal victims were considered before he made the drastic cuts to

the Justice Department. However, we know that justice, as it relates to

Aboriginal victims of crime, is a mess.

I ask the minister: How could you make further cuts to a system that is

strained to the point that there is very limited protection for the victims of

crime?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KING: Mr. Speaker, I stand to be corrected by Hansard, but I think

what the member just said does not reflect what I said yesterday. If memory

serves me, the Speaker asked for a question without

preamble and a very short

response. My recollection of the question is: In contemplating further budgetary

decisions, will you think about Aboriginal rights and justice? I said yes to

that.

I do not recall saying anything about, as what is referenced by the member in

his

preamble to that question.

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

MR. EDMUNDS: Mr. Speaker, judges continuously defer court cases that

impact victims of crime. They say it is in the interest of the court's time, but

the reality is that it is due to a lack of court resources. On top of this, the

minister has cut back on circuit court visits throughout rural parts of our

Province.

I ask the minister: When can we expect to see positive change in the area of

Aboriginal justice, instead of regressive cuts?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KING: Mr. Speaker, first of all, I would certainly invite the member

to table any comments that he is attributing here today to any judges throughout

the Province. I am not aware that any judge has made that comment, but I would

certainly invite him to table it and share it with me, and I would be glad to

follow up on it outside the House.

Back to the previous question, we have made significant investment in Justice

in this Province across the entire spectrum of justice services. First and

foremost, is providing safe communities and ensure a fair and representative

justice system for all individuals, and that includes all those who live in

Labrador and part of the Aboriginal community. We will continue to do that. We

have made significant investments in Innu and Inuit court worker positions. We

provide victim services and probation services, Aboriginal court interpreter,

and the list goes on.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BENNETT: Mr. Speaker, while children in this Province pound the

streets begging for education dollars, the minister defends the disgraced

Eastern School District one-free drink policy. He also praises the equally

disgraced board chair Milton Peach, who he appointed to the transition team.

I again ask the minister: Will he do the honourable thing and dismiss former

Tory MHA Milton Peach from the Eastern School Board and drop him from the

transition team?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN: Mr. Speaker, I think there is a responsibility on us in this

House to provide correct information. I read through Hansard yesterday, and the

member gets up and throws out a piece of information that indicates Mr. Peach

spent $50,000. That is what he said. You can go through Hansard and see it. You

throw that out there irresponsibly. I doubt very much if the member even knows

the man, and he is damaging a person's reputation.

I, Sir, appreciate the work that the trustees of this Province do. I would

ask him to go and confront each one of those and tell them they are not putting

time, energy, and commitment into the job they do. They are doing it for the

people of their Province. Mr. Speaker, it is shameful what this member is doing.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. Barbe, time for a quick question

please.

MR. BENNETT: Mr. Speaker, the minister is often on record defending our

school boards as democratically elected, which they are supposed to be.

MR. SPEAKER: A quick question, I ask the Member for St. Barbe.

MR. BENNETT: Yet, the Tory transition team is not democratic. Instead,

they are the new ayatollahs of education.

I ask the minister: Will he let democracy flower in our school system again

by giving us back our elected boards before the 2015 provincial election?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Education, for a quick response.

MR. JACKMAN: Talk about flowering, Mr. Speaker, it is time for the member

to bloom.

Mr. Speaker, it is hard to decide. One minute they are saying we are

controlling education from Confederation Building; the next minute he is telling

us to interfere in the process. It is time for him to make up his mind, Mr.

Speaker. To be quite honest with you, I do not think he can.

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

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

A 2009 joint government-Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro study on power

alternatives for Coastal Labrador stated it was reasonable to confirm there were

alternative energy resources that, under the right economic conditions, could be

developed to reduce diesel generation in many communities. Mr. Speaker, less

than six months ago, then Minister of Natural Resources told the media a report

on small hydro developments for Coastal Labrador was weeks away.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the Premier: Will she table that report?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. MARSHALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Nalcor has been engaged for some time in a study to try to find alternative

ways of providing energy to Coastal Labrador that will be cheaper for the people

on the coast. We all know right now this government is providing many subsidies

that are reducing the cost to the people on the coast so that what they pay is

much less than the actual cost of manufacturing and providing the power.

Right now, Hydro is looking at two small hydro projects that would possibly

connect to some of the communities and eliminate diesel generation.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. MARSHALL: In addition to that, with respect to that study, there is

more engineering that needs to be done and there is further consultation that is

going to be done with stakeholders near those prospective sites. Mr. Speaker,

there is also a wind study that is now in progress. We are looking at that

alternative. That will (inaudible).

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Leader of the Third Party.

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

What I asked was: Could we have some of these reports tabled?

I ask the minister: How many studies and resource giveaways will need to

happen before we live up to our obligations for the people of Coastal Labrador?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. MARSHALL: Mr. Speaker, as I just said, the hydro project is ongoing.

Further engineering is being done, further consultations are being done. There

is also a wind study in progress that is going to be gathering data over the

next two years for the Towns of Hopedale, Cartwright, Nain, Makkovik and L'Anse

au Loup.

We are also studying a large-scale diesel system to provide enough power to

interconnect a cluster of communities in Southern Labrador. That work is

ongoing. As soon as that work is completed we will be very happy to tell the

people of this House, more importantly, the people of the Coast of Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

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

In government's disastrous 2013 Budget, we see the richest nickel mining

company on earth get a $177,000 gift from government to explore hydro potential

for the Voisey's Bay mine, yet the people who live in the communities along the

South Coast of Labrador, especially Black Tickle, get nothing.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the Premier: When will this government give timelines to

the people of Coastal Labrador with regard to their energy needs?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Well, Mr. Speaker, a bit of a reversal I say for the Leader of the NDP, who

is always quite boastful of the role she played in the development of the

Voisey's Bay mine, and the role she played on the environmental assessment

panel, and the benefits that were negotiated for Labrador. Now, mind you, she

omits that she agreed to a tailings pond in Labrador while she objected to one

on the Island, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: She omits that piece, Mr. Speaker.

Now, Mr. Speaker, we are really interested in mining developments in

Labrador, not just because for their own sake of the benefits they bring to the

people in terms of employment, Mr. Speaker, and the revenues they bring to the

Treasury. Mr. Speaker, they also enable generation of electricity that works not

only for them, but for the people of Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

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

I once again remind the Premier of what I said. The largest mining company in

the world that makes billions upon billions upon billions of dollars, that is

what she is talking about.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS MICHAEL: Mr. Speaker, my next question is for the Premier.

The latest Harris-Decima poll contracted by NAPE reports that 71 per cent of

people who know something about this year's Budget either oppose or strongly

oppose it, and 81 per cent of those polled believe government should review all

the cuts announced in the latest Budget.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS MICHAEL: Mr. Speaker, I ask the Premier: Faced with the hard facts,

will she now allow a proper review of the Budget cuts?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

Again, the poll certainly contains relevant information, Mr. Speaker. We are

aware of the political climate that exists. Quite frankly, we expected that

there would be opposition to the Budget any time that there are job cuts.

One of the interesting comments is that 88 per cent of the people polled said

that their personal financial situation will be better or the same twelve months

from now, including 88 per cent of union members. I find that is an interesting

statistic, Mr. Speaker. Then when we look at the economy, 72 per cent feel that

the economy is better or the same than it was five years ago, and 70 per cent

feel that the economy is better or will be the same twelve months from now.

Mr. Speaker, there is all kinds of information in the poll. There is

information that can be looked at in different ways. It is quite startling when

you see the number of people who knew a little or nothing about the Budget.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Leader of the Third Party.

MS MICHAEL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Harris/Decima poll shows that half of the people in Newfoundland and

Labrador think that the brutal layoffs in the government's 2013 Budget were

based on inaccurate data.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the Premier: How can she explain that half the population

thinks that she and her government fired people they may not have had to fire?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

I guess according to the polls with a 20 per cent lead twenty-eight days ago,

the Liberals would not have a majority government in BC today.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENNEDY: Mr. Speaker, polls are something that is helpful to

governments, to parties in assessing where they are going. There is information

in here we will certainly look at. Again, I will use 50 per cent. Fifty per cent

of those polled said the cuts will help reduce the deficit. Fifty per cent

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. KENNEDY: So cuts will reduce the deficit. Mr. Speaker, 83 per cent of

the people said that their personal or family situation is better or the same

than it was five years ago.

There is information in it. We have to take all of this with a grain of salt.

I would certainly say to NAPE that you can spend your money better.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. KIRBY: Mr. Speaker, over half of the instructors at the Happy

Valley-Goose Bay campus of the College of the North Atlantic have lost their

jobs due to Budget cuts and the elimination of core training programs.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. KIRBY: Why is the college cutting programs and laying off

instructors, when it should instead be delivering training programs to people in

Labrador so they can take advantage of job openings and economic development

opportunities there?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SHEA: Mr. Speaker, the College of the North Atlantic plays a very

important role in the economy of this Province and preparing people to take the

jobs that are necessary. As the economy changes, the programs that are offered

at the College of the North Atlantic have to change as well.

Not just are programs eliminated in the Happy Valley campus, Mr. Speaker, I

would like to talk about the programs that have been added to the campus or will

be added. We will be adding Environmental Monitor, Construction Craft Worker,

Occupational Health and Safety, Truck Driver, Heavy Equipment. We will also be

adding Cook and Carpenter.

Mr. Speaker, the addition of these courses is to help people of Labrador

prepare for the jobs that will be available in Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. KIRBY: Last year Hibernia Management and Development donated $150,000

to College of the North Atlantic to purchase assistive technologies to support

students with disabilities. Because of Budget funding cuts, the college has laid

off most of the resource facilitators who were trained to use these donated

resources.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. KIRBY: Can the minister then tell us how this is supposed to help

students with disabilities to get the training they need to find decent

employment?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SHEA: Mr. Speaker, what I would like to just add to the previous

question is that the Opposition talks about the cuts. What they did not add was

there was going to be eleven new instructors hired at the Happy Valley-Goose Bay

campus.

Mr. Speaker, with regard to students with disabilities and the services that

are offered, oftentimes the services are moved from one campus to another based

on the needs of the students who attend that particular campus who require

supports for persons with disabilities.

Mr. Speaker, as students enrol or complete the programs, the number of

services for people with disabilities changes based on that enrolment. What I

can say confidently, Mr Speaker, is that the supports offered to students with

disabilities at the College of the North Atlantic will not be reduced.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. MURPHY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the ferry replacement program's failure has led to more

pressures on the present fleet of vessels operating around the Province. The

latest news entails that the Grace Sparkes is out of service to Bell

Islanders for at least another month.

Can the minister please tell this House and the people of Bell Island what

the problem is?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. DAVIS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

On May 3, a mechanical issue was discovered on the Grace Sparkes ,

which has been providing supplementary assistance to the people of Bell Island

while the Beaumont Hamel is in for a refit. It was immediately taken to

dry dock in St. John's to undergo repairs. Many repairs have been identified.

There are parts that are on order that had to be manufactured, which is

underway. It is being done as quickly as it can.

In the meantime the Flanders has been providing very good service to

the people of Bell Island. Instead of making ten trips a day now, we have added

extra staff and we have taken other arrangements to increase that to sixteen

round trips a day so we can provide the best services we can to the people of

Bell Island.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. MURPHY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

There is no doubt that they have to go back and revisit the program.

Mr. Speaker, the Apollo is going to be doing the Straits run again

this year but government is also going to be doing another RFP for service,

leaving the possibility that we will be having the Apollo for another two

years after that.

She is fifty years old, Mr. Speaker. The AG said in 2000 that ships over

twenty-five years should be replaced.

Does this count for chartered vessels as well?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. DAVIS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I should explain to the member opposite, when you want to secure and find new

vessels, it takes a considerable time to do that. It can take two years to

construct a new vessel anywhere in shipyards through the world, anywhere up to

two years, sometimes a bit longer, sometimes a little bit shorter.

It is not like if you are to say, for example, I want to buy a new car or new

taxi cab or something, you can go down to a lot and buy one. It is not that

easy, Mr. Speaker.

The ferry services in Newfoundland and Labrador are highly regulated by the

federal government. They have very high standards and requirements. Vessels are

very difficult to find. So we have a new process we are going through to provide

a better service to the people of Labrador. We are in the tendering process for

two new vessels, a new swing vessel, as well as a new vessel for the people of

Fogo Island and Change Islands, and we will continue to make advances, Mr.

Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

There is time for a very quick question without

preamble.

MR. MURPHY: Mr. Speaker, can the minister please provide an update to the

progress of the ferry replacement program?

MR. SPEAKER: A quick response from the Minister of Transportation and

Works.

MR. DAVIS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank him for giving me the opportunity to continue where I was because we

have a tender underway, a process underway, to secure two new vessels: a new

forty-two meter swing vessel, as well as a new vessel to replace the Winsor

on the Fogo Island-Change Islands run. That tender will close the end of this

month. We look forward to reviewing those opportunities.

As well, we are entering into a long-term new process for the people of

Labrador, which will have new vessels up there to provide better service.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The time for Question Period has expired.

MR. KING: A point of order.

MR. SPEAKER: The Government House Leader, on a point of order.

MR. KING: Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, in Question Period one of the members opposite, in posing a

question in Education, referenced volunteer trustees, as well as a former member

of the House, as an ayatollah, and I believe used it in a negative sense. In the

negative sense, Mr. Speaker, ayatollah would reference violence, an individual

who was connected with mass murder and death.

From our perspective, I believe it was a very inappropriate characterization,

and I would ask the member to withdraw that particular characterization.

MR. SPEAKER: The Speaker will undertake a review of Hansard to see the

comments that may have been made during Question Period.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

Presenting Reports by Standing and Select Committees.

Tabling of Documents.

Tabling of Documents

MR. SPEAKER: I would ask members if they would leave the Assembly

quietly, please, I say to our guests.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

Members must see the end is near.

In accordance with

section 19(5)(

a) of the House of Assembly Accountability,

Integrity and Administration Act, I hereby table minutes of the House of

Assembly Management Commission meetings held on February 27, February 28, and

March 20, 2013.

Notices of Motion.

Notices of Motion

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

MR. KING: Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I give notice under Standing Order 11 that I shall move that the

House not adjourn at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 16, 2013.

Also, Mr. Speaker, I give notice under Standing Order 11 that I shall move

that the House not adjourn at 10:00 p.m. Thursday, May 16, 2013.

MR. SPEAKER: Answers to Questions for which Notice has been Given.

Petitions.

Petitions

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

MR. KIRBY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned residents of Newfoundland

and Labrador humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS residents of Newfoundland and Labrador, I say to the member, have not

been provided with detailed evidence that justifies government's decision to

remove Adult Basic Education from College of the North Atlantic; and

WHEREAS residents of Newfoundland and Labrador are concerned that

government's decision to remove Adult Basic Education from College of the North

Atlantic will lead to a decline in already low provincial literacy rates; and

WHEREAS residents of Newfoundland and Labrador are concerned that

government's decision will limit access to Adult Basic Education services in

remote regions; and

WHEREAS residents of Newfoundland and Labrador are concerned there will be a

decline in the availability of supports to assist Adult Basic Education

learners; and

WHEREAS government's research shows that educational attainment is the most

important determinant of earnings and sustained attachment to the labour market;

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

House of Assembly to urge government to provide the full details of the

enrolment, graduation, and funding analysis that were carried out to justify

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. KIRBY: the decision to cut Adult Basic Education programs at

College of the North Atlantic.

As in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr. Speaker, there are petitioners here from Gander, from Catalina,

Bonavista, Bay Roberts, Rencontre East, Springdale, King's Point, and Burgeo.

The member is asking about Labrador. Certainly, we have had lots of petitioners

from Labrador, as well as the Island portion of the Province regarding this

issue.

There have been two petitions presented here in the House of Assembly over

the past number of weeks regarding Adult Basic Education. This one is asking for

government to provide a more detailed rationale for its decision. That is not

something we were able to get from the substituting minister, the Minister of

Justice at the Estimates Committee when we were dealing with this particular

Budget this year.

I think in the interest of transparency and fairness, it is only right that

government provide a more thorough explanation. In fact, there was a letter to

the editor. Perhaps the Member for Burin Placentia West saw this yesterday.

There was a letter to the editor in the Southern Gazette, which services

the Burin Peninsula, yesterday asking for government to do this very thing.

We know there are going to be, certainly quite possibly detrimental effects

of privatizing this program and handing it over to the private sector at

institutions that may or may not have the same level of service, the same level

of quality as the College of the North Atlantic has. We also know there are a

good number of instructors at College of the North Atlantic who teach in this

program, who now live and work in rural Newfoundland, who will not be able to do

that any further. I have corresponded with a number of individuals by e-mail.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I remind the member that his time has expired.

MR. KIRBY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: I remind the Member for Burgeo La Poile that he has a

little better than a minute to deliver his petition.

MR. A. PARSONS: Mr. Speaker:

WHEREAS students of the Adult Basic

Education program at the College of the North Atlantic do not wish to attend

privatized educational facilities; and

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

Education program in Newfoundland and Labrador; and

WHEREAS students are concerned as to the availability of private institutions

and whether or not they can accommodate additional students;

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

House to urge government to reverse this damaging decision to students and

reinstate the Adult Basic Education programming at the College of the North

Atlantic.

And as in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr. Speaker, I have been entering this petition a lot and that is because I

have a lot of them. There are a lot of people affected by this short-sighted

move.

Just so people out there realize, there are people out there watching these

proceedings. They hear what the members in here are saying. I get e-mails on

that.

I have one here that is commenting on statements made by members on the other

side when they talk about Adult Basic Education. Some of the stuff they say

here, they are using the terms trumpeting false assertions that private colleges

have a higher success rate. It goes back into what we have been saying, the

information going out is wrong. We need to rethink it.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

Orders of the Day

Private Members' Day

MR. SPEAKER: This being Wednesday, Private Members' Day, it is 3:00

o'clock and I will now call upon the Member for Conception Bay East Bell

Island to introduce the motion on the Order Paper in his name.

MR. BRAZIL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is a pleasure to be able to present the motion here:

BE IT RESOLVED that this hon. House supports the establishment of the Task

Force on Child Exploitation and Drugs, a joint effort between the RCMP and the

RNC.

It is seconded by my hon. colleague from the District of Port au Port.

Mr. Speaker, when we look at this, we see coming out of this Budget another

opportunity for us to invest back in, not only supporting the people, but

particularly protecting those who can be very vulnerable in our society.

Mr. Speaker, what we have done here, we have taken the initiative to

collaborate with two great entities in this Province, the RNC, the Royal

Newfoundland Constabulary, and the RCMP, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, to

come together and look at using their resources, their expertise, their

specialties, their history, and their collaborative efforts to make sure that we

address a particular need here. That we address the benefits of supporting those

who may be vulnerable, and how we are going to address future needs.

What we have done here, Mr. Speaker, is invest $1 million directly through

this Budget so that we can add additional resources and put the system in place

that better benefits the people of this Province. We are going to be focusing on

organized crime groups.

While our economy is booming, and while in past history we have been always a

year or two behind having to deal with some of the negativities in society, the

reality is with a global economy, with our notoriety on the global world, with

technology, and with the advancements in organized crime, people are targeting

what goes on in this Province. They are targeting the fact that we may have a

vulnerable society here, and we may have people who can be exploited. So we want

to make sure we get ahead of this.

While we are already doing reactive stuff and both police forces have been

very diligently working in these areas, particularly around drug enforcement and

dealing with the exploitation of citizens, particular children. We now want to

be able to bring those expertise together under one unit, add additional

resources to be able to now be proactive so we do not run into additional issues

down the road that we are not ready for.

We want to be realistic around the fact that we know technology is changing.

So we are going to have to evolve accordingly and try to stay ahead of it so

that we can protect the people in our society. What we have done here, Mr.

Speaker, is bring together the two forces. They have sat down and said we need

to have an approach that works to the benefit of everybody involved and

continues the ultimate policing that we are already doing.

Mr. Speaker, there are three main elements when you come to policing in our

society here. It is the traditional. On the streets, making sure people are safe

as they move around. Making sure people feel comfortable in their own citizen

homes, they are comfortable in dealing with their neighbours, and they are

comfortable in being able to be free in our society.

There is also community policing, where we go out in the community. We engage

the community. We ask the community to be a partner with us. We try to find out

what is the best approach that we could use to make sure people are protected

and that they feel part of the solution as we move things forward.

There is also intelligence-led policing where we look at who is out there,

who are the people that we need to be watching for? Who are the ones that we

cannot trust? The reality: There are bad guys out there; we need to protect our

society against those bad guys. How do we do that? We have to gather the

intelligence that is necessary to know what it is that they are trying to do,

where they are going, who they have partnered with, what their philosophy is,

and how they are going to try to change when we catch up to them to be able to

get around what we are doing. That is part of this whole philosophy of what is

going to be put in place.

This new task force will start addressing those issues. This task force was

not taken lightly. As I mentioned earlier, we have two very unique police forces

here doing similar work with different jurisdictions, yet they intertwine. Now

it only makes sense that they come together and pool those resources. As a

result when they sat down and this was decided and the Minister of Justice and

his officials looked at it and talked to the two police forces, it was decided

let's roll this out; how do we do it? The best way to do this is let's do it

right.

The best way to do it right, let's go to other jurisdictions, other

provinces. Let's look at what is happening where. Let's ask them what they have

done that worked. Let's ask them what stumbling blocks they ran into. Let's ask

what cracks they have noticed since they put the programs in place that we now

can fill before our program is up and running.

The two police forces travelled various parts of this Province, met with

other police forces, met with other Ministers of Justice, met with other

partners that are involved in dealing with issues like this, met and discussed

with international police forces and other particular entities that would be of

benefit when developing a task force that would address particularly around drug

enforcement, proceeds of crime, and exploitation of children.

When they did that, Mr. Speaker, they came back and sat down and brought all

their resources in the room from both forces and some of the other outside

agencies that would know how you deal with these types of things. What they sat

out then was the philosophy and the process that would be used.

Mr. Speaker, they are about to roll that out. They have now started to put in

place the infrastructure. They will be adding additional resources, people with

specialities in the IT industry, those who have a speciality in being able to

deal with national and international police forces, those who will be able to

deal with particular avenues of investigation.

Mr. Speaker, what they want to be able to do is identify where we are in the

crime spree here and what it is that we are going to have to deal with. What

they have identified and while we were talking about this and we had a

briefing on it, we had an open discussion with the members there. I had

experienced my stories in my previous life of being at different conferences and

I had spent nearly thirty years in working with youth at risk and child

exploitation. We talked about where we were. For a number of years, Newfoundland

was on the low end, and that was in a positive way. There was not a lot of gang

activity. There was not a lot of infiltration by biker gangs. There was not as

much exploitation of children because we were not on the radar.

Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, this is one of the bad things that come with

prosperity and I guess it comes with the global entity now, and the ability for

the media to know who you are. As a result, we have people who are targeting

this Province, and they are targeting some of the vulnerable people that we have

here. They are targeting because it is all about finances. They want to be able

to gain money for whatever crime that they are involved in.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER (Littlejohn): Order, please!

MR. BRAZIL: As a result, Mr. Speaker, we talked about how we have moved

very quickly. At one point we were not even on the radar. Even the national

stats would say Newfoundland does not register here, but in the last five years

it started to move forward; in the last year-and-a-half, dramatically. We now

know there is infiltration by other police forces into some of these biker

gangs, some of these organized crime groups. Newfoundland and Labrador is

actually being targeted, actually on their radar, as to how they organize and

how they get some of their members down here and how they look at can they set

up a legitimate business so they can move their money through it and gain

through proceeds of crime.

As a result, this joint effort here between the two task forces and the

Justice department will now start addressing that as a collaborative effort.

What we have looked at here, Mr. Speaker, is that there are many advantages

to working together, as I mentioned earlier. You now cover not only this whole

Province from the tip of Labrador to Conception Bay, but you also cover

nationally and internationally because both of these police forces have the

ability, have the resources, and have the contacts because of their former

investigations and because of the officers that they have recruited over the

years and the expertise and the training that they have had, to be able to use

that expertise to make sure every resource is at their disposal to address

certain issues relevant to this.

They want to enhance the relationship that they have with the communities.

They want to be able to use agencies that are out there. We have the Department

of Justice, we have the penitentiaries, and we have all the agencies who work

with children who are exploited, or work in the areas of rehabilitation around

drugs. We also have people who we know work in areas where there are

questionable proceeds of crimes and how the money is being laundered. As a

result here, all of that expertise will come together and they will be

segregated so at the end of the day people will have a speciality to be able to

address those types of issues.

We have a very strong policing model; we always have. For the last sixty

years, Mr. Speaker, the RNC has been very active everywhere here or the RCMP,

I should say, has been very active here since Confederation. The RNC and the

Rangers before that have been very active in community policing, very active in

protecting our society. Again, that would continue.

The benefits here we are going back and saying there are some

jurisdictions. We are not the first and we are not the lead on this, but far

from it are we the last. There are three other jurisdictions that are doing

similar here. We have had the ability to gain from that, to be proactive, and

move things forward. That is where we go as part of this.

It should be noted, this is not a pilot, Mr. Speaker, by no stretch. We want

to make it clear to the people of this Province that we have invested over $1

billion in police forces since this Administration came in. Every year since

2003, we have increased the amount of money we put into policing in this

Province.

That shows the commitment of this Administration, this Premier, the Minister

of Justice, and this caucus about protecting the citizens in this Province. We

are now saying we can invest more money, get a better bang for our dollar, use

the expertise we have, and make sure that we in the best efforts here address

issues before they occur. That is where we have really gone.

This is going to be a permanent entity, Mr. Speaker. There will be additional

officers dedicated to it. There will be all kinds of resources. It is a living

entity. Every year it will be reviewed; it will be resourced accordingly. If it

is identified that the trends have changed and there are more resources

necessary, that will be all addressed. Both police forces then will use existing

resources they have to make sure things can work in a very expeditious way.

They also want to really make sure that the victims themselves are also

supported. That will be done with the partnerships that are going to be

developed in the communities. There are a number of agencies there. One good

thing about the police forces in this Province, they do not work in isolation.

They understand the benefits of the community. They understand the benefits of

agencies that are supported by government, supported by the private sector, and

communities themselves. They understand the volunteer sector. They are going to

use all of those resources. They are going to collaborate and engage all of them

to make sure the citizens in this Province are protected, and particularly the

ones who this program is going to be set up to address.

I would note and I would hope as this is being presented, discussed, and

debated that the hon. members in the Opposition would support this

wholeheartedly. I would think the Opposition Government House Leader, who noted

that this is a great investment for the people of this Province, would get up

and support that, and particularly, with his legal background, would see the

benefits. He has worked in the legal profession. I expect nothing but a

wholehearted, 100 per cent support in this House for this resolution.

I do want to stress, Mr. Speaker, that this is a proactive approach. We have

taken the lead like we have on numerous programs and services. We want to be

trend-setters. We want to be trend-setters not because it is stylish, but

because it is the right thing to do and it benefits the people in this Province.

This investment is a start in making sure that we use the partnerships we

have, and we resource them properly, so that we can address those particular

needs. We know as we develop as an economic forecaster and we move forward, and

the benefits of this Province from our financial investments are going to be

amassed, that we know we are going to face some social issues. As part of that,

we want to make sure they are less of a burden on the citizens here, and the

fact that we have the resources to deal with those. That is where we are, Mr.

Speaker.

Two police forces coming together, again, as I said earlier, is another

opportunity not only to collaborate in this entity, but also to look at what

other things they do here and how we can work together. It has to be kept in

mind that criminals do not worry about jurisdictions. They do not stop at the

border of Outer Ring Road because it is the RCMP's jurisdiction and change what

they are doing. So now we have a better opportunity to share information, to

know who the bad guys are, and to know who they are associated with. Those are

the benefits we are going to do as we move this forward.

It is also going to look at how, Mr. Speaker, we are better going to be

equipped to identify those on an international basis who may want to exploit the

citizens in this Province. We now look at media and we are looking at social

media and what impact that has. We now know people in various parts of this

country and internationally are identifying particular people here. They are not

only identifying victims; they are also identifying their partners in crime. It

is very easy for them to check records. It is very easy for them to make

contacts to identify who in here can be their avenue for exploitation. We have

to be very cognizant of noting those now.

The fact is the two police forces in their own jurisdictions would have that

information at their disposal. They would know who it is that are on their watch

lists. They would know who could be drawn into from a national or an

international crime spree. They would know exactly, Mr. Speaker, who it is that

are at the most risk of being able to take advantage of the good citizens of

this Province. That is why this collaboration and this task force is going to be

an extreme benefit to the people of this Province.

In talking to both police forces, they see the benefit to each other, too.

This is not an, us and them. That is the one thing, and I really got that in the

meeting we had with them. It was not an, us and them. It was the opposite.

Normally in jurisdictions federally and provincially, there is always a little

tug of war, but far from it. Not only was it very cordial and open, but it was

very supportive in the sense that both realize they have specific talents and

specific experiences. They want to build on that. They want to take that and

learn from it, and share the resources they have.

Mr. Speaker, I see this as moving very quickly, but quickly in a sense that

we do not have to spend time, a two to three or four-year process of recruiting

new officers, training new officers, getting them familiar with the landscape,

the demographics, the crime sprees, the partners, the agencies that we normally

deal with and how the justice system works here. It is the opposite.

These are two entities that have already been doing an unbelievably positive

job in dealing with issues like this who are now going to break down any

barriers and break down the fences. There are no jurisdictions. What this is, is

a common goal by two common agencies who have, with the support of this

government and multiple agencies and organizations out there, come together and

address the particular needs of supporting and protecting the citizens of this

Province.

Mr. Speaker, from my perspective, it was an honour to be able to do this and

put it forward. I know my colleague from Port au Port will speak very highly of

that also.

Mr. Speaker, I am going to turn it over to somebody in the Opposition now to

say some words about it.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

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

I am happy to stand here today and speak to this private member's resolution.

It is a very short one. It is a very simple one, but that makes it even easier

to agree to and support.

I will be the first one to say that many of the PMRs that are entered in this

House, especially the ones after the Budget, were very much back patting

initiatives but this one I think is very honourable. It is the right move and it

is the right step to take.

How can anyone not support the establishment of a Task Force on Child

Exploitation and Drugs and a joint effort between the RCMP and RNC? I will say

in my preface, very clearly we will be supporting this resolution. We think it

is the right step to take.

I just want to take some time over the next fifteen minutes to speak to not

only the resolution but what the resolution hopes to combat and the money that

has been allotted, what that hopes to do. Also, maybe some background on justice

and policing in the Province.

I think the first thing I like about this again, this is nothing new. This

was something that was announced pre Budget. There was a big splash about it, as

there should be because it is good to see. These are major issues.

We hear about child exploitation, we all know of the drug issue. We hear

about the prosperity in this Province. We hear about the Alberta money, the oil

money, and the oil and gas money. With that come a lot of social ills. There are

a lot of social ills that come with that. One of those is drugs. I have had a

number of conversations with various members of the police forces and they tell

us it is huge. It is absolutely huge. It is one of their biggest fears.

You hear about the drugs that may have been popular twenty to thirty years

ago and now you hear about what is popular in this Province. For a lot of us, it

is names and terms and drugs that we have never heard of that are so scary. It

is absolutely frightening when you see the effects that they have on people.

The thing about it, it is affecting all courses of society. It is affecting

the vulnerable people. It is affecting lower-income people, but it is affecting

people within the highest income brackets as well, because many of these people

have the money, the income to support these habits.

One thing I would like to see and I will talk a bit more about this after. I

guess the first issue is the combating of the problem on a law enforcement side.

What I have done is I have had an opportunity to review the press releases and

to review the information that was announced by the minister, by Chief Johnston,

and by our Assistant Commissioner, Ms Hardy. I have had an opportunity to speak

to both individuals, the best of the best, people that we are very proud of to

have leading our two police forces in this Province.

I have more of a familiarity with the RCMP. Being from rural Newfoundland and

Labrador, I always had the RCMP presence. I have especially had the good

fortune, once I started practicing law, and especially now after being in

politics, of speaking to members of the RNC. In fact, today I was down at the

Adventist Church, along with the minister, and along with the Member for St.

John's Centre to pay our respects on the Memorial Day. It was a great service.

It was a nice way to thank not only our members who have passed in the line of

duty but our members who still serve us every day.

What we have here is a million dollars that is allocated to the task force.

It will be a joint effort. We are dealing with things like organized crime. Now,

when we think about organized crime sometimes we have an antiquated notion of

what organized crime is. A lot of us have had absolutely no exposure to it, but

if you see some of the I use the term, gangs. Gang implies something a bit

different, but these outfits, these operations are complex and they are coming

from all over the world.

One only has to look at actually, it was a report done by CBC's David

Cochrane. I think he may have won an award for it. It was Operation Roadrunner,

and just to see the coverage of that. I do not know if members in the House saw

it, but just to see a plane landing on Bell Island and dropping off drugs and

leaving again. It is actually mind blowing when you are watching this footage.

I thought it was great that the media took the time to do such a great report

to show the average Joe and people, all of us, to see what is actually going on

that we do not see, but the police see it. They are monitoring it. They are

following it, and any more money that we can put into policing efforts to combat

this, because it is not just the drugs. The drugs often tie into the other seedy

aspects of our society.

There are a lot of issues we hear about that are associated with this. That

is why, when you bring in the child exploitation, and the organized crime goes

hand-in-hand with drugs. What this is leading to is we talk about the people

distributing and producing the drugs, that is one thing, but I have a big fear

about the people who are consuming the drugs. The people consuming the drugs are

often finding themselves in a lot of trouble, and it is not just in the justice

system. It is people that even if they are not caught up in the justice system

for the sale or the possession of illegal narcotics and drugs, they are people

who are getting hooked, and that is where we need to continue on.

Now, government has made some steps in that direction. We have addiction

centres coming. I believe there is one in Grand Falls-Windsor. I believe there

is one in Carbonear.

AN HON. MEMBER: Harbour Grace.

MR. A. PARSONS: Harbour Grace, sorry; I get the districts confused

sometimes.

These are steps in the right direction, but what I would always say and I

know government will not confuse what I am saying here. They sometimes say we

oppose for the sake of opposing. In this case, I am not opposing; I am saying

let's continue to do more. Right now, when it comes to methadone, there is still

a five-month waiting list when it comes to treatment; it is a five-month waiting

list. I know we are working at it, but we cannot stop and we cannot settle until

those wait-lists for treatment are reduced.

I do not know about other members, I would assume that they have, but when

you are dealing with constituents who come in and they are trying to get in

out my way they go to Humberwood. I am sure a lot of members have had

constituents who have had to go to Humberwood. Trying to get in there, the

wait-list is huge.

We have to deal with these people. They are good people, but they have a

problem and they are looking for help. The longer that it takes to address that

problem, the longer their life is on hold and the longer they are unable to make

any progress whatsoever or, in many cases, contribute they cannot contribute.

I commend government's efforts here and anything we can do to support the

police, peace officers, and the support staff in that effort that is great. I

know government did not expect me to commend everything. I commend this, but I

would say I still have concerns over the cuts from the past Budget, which this

went hand in hand with it.

We had this announcement which was good, but we did see a $3.8 million

decrease in funding to the RCMP in the Budget. On one hand we are putting a task

force together, which is good, but on the other hand we are seeing positions cut

in the forces which is contradictory in many ways. We saw ten officers again,

I make a point that I made earlier in this House that I found out on the

weekend. Sometimes this can get complicated because the RCMP is federal but we

have a provincial contract with them so there are pots of money.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. A. PARSONS: What is going on is there are empty positions in the RCMP

that are not cut, but there is no plan to fill them for the foreseeable future.

That is what we are being told.

These members are not going to speak out. That is just against what they do.

These guys, the rank and file, they do their job, they want their comrades, they

want their brothers in arms to be there, but they cannot say what they want.

I put this out there. We have to make sure that we continue providing the

resources, and there was a significant cut. The amount of money cut to Justice

may not have been as high as other cuts, but the effects were certainly profound

and felt by a lot of people. It did have a big effect. It certainly got a lot of

notoriety and news.

It was not just officers, too. It was the civilian members and public service

members in it. It is a lot of these people who are not on the ground doing the

actual police work, but they are behind the scenes doing that critical work that

contributes to investigations, that contributes to the logistics, and that

contributes to the smooth running of an operation. We saw a significant decrease

in funding to the RNC as well. Again, there were seventeen positions cut in the

RNC. A lot of times we had information management, laboratory, clerks, and

communications.

Do not confuse this with my support for the initiative that is being

described in the private member's resolution. That is there and I support it

whole wholeheartedly, but one cannot mistake the fact there were cuts to RNC,

cuts to RCMP, and cuts in their ability to their jobs. That is both rural and

urban. We are seeing that everywhere. We saw detachments cut. We saw positions

cut.

The other thing I have a concern about is with this cut. We saw the Family

Violence Intervention Court cut. That is one, but there was also another one

that got some talk. Actually, I remember in the last Estimates I had a

conversation with the former Minister of Justice, and that was about the drug

court.

Now, that is something that if you talk to a Crown attorney or if you talk to

a defence attorney, we need to recognize the fact that not every offender is the

same. A lot of these offenders, whether it be individuals with mental health

issues or individuals with drug addiction issues, we have to recognize that when

it comes to the court process and the sentencing. We have to recognize that. We

do not need to waste our resources.

Sentencing has to take into account all the factors of the offender. The

principles of sentencing demand that, and your background can play a role in how

you are sentenced. It seems to me quite logical and evident that if somebody has

a drug addiction issue or a mental health issue, and many times these go hand in

hand, obviously, then we have to take that into account. There should be a court

that can handle this.

The prosecutors, the Legal Aid people, and even private defence attorneys are

saying, look, they are getting lost in the shuffle. They are getting lost in the

shuffle here and we cannot have that. The easy thing to do is to just set out a

punishment that might be house arrest or it might be incarceration.

Incarceration is obviously needed and it is a good thing, but it is not always

beneficial depending on the offender. We take something like house arrest. That

is a great thing as well. Of course it might get a little harder with the

probation officers being cut in many areas. A lot of times there may be concerns

that come out of that. I hope not. I did have a good chat with the director of

probation services who has assured me that service will be provided. I tend to

believe what she said and I think she is a fine individual.

When we talk about the sentencing, we need to make sure the programs are

there. Part of this drug issue, it is not just the deterrence and catching the

people distributing it, it is treating the people who are the market. We have to

look at the market for these drugs. We have to try to do whatever we can to make

sure that the people who are afflicted with these addictions can be given that

treatment.

I urge government to continue on with the progress that they have made in

that regard with the addiction centres. Let's not stop there; let's not rest on

our laurels. Let's reduce the wait-list. Let's make sure that the funding to

Justice does not get cut. Let's make sure that there is more for addiction

services. With the prosperity that is driven by our oil and our gas, which we

are all reaping the benefits of, come the downsides to that. We need to address

the downsides to that as well.

I have taken the opportunity I have looked over and I do not have enough

time to talk about it all. Actually there was a Standing Senate Committee on

Human Rights that dealt with The Sexual Exploitation of Children in Canada: the

Need for National Action. It is something that we do not hear a lot about all

the time but one case is too many one case is way too many. When you do hear

about it, it is often grotesque and sick. I have no sympathy for the offenders

of this nature.

Anything we can do to increase the police presence and the police ability to

prosecute and investigate these and it goes into the minister's statement that

was made yesterday about cyber-bullying. With the oncoming and the huge

their children are doing, who they are communicating with. It is scary.

My child is not old enough to do that yet, but many members here have

children who are. It is absolutely frightening to think that our young ones are

out there and can be stalked by predators. Anything we can do to look at that, I

say you continue on with it.

In the interest of time, Mr. Speaker, I would just like to say that I

appreciate the opportunity to speak to this PMR. I look forward to the comments

by other members, and I will take my seat at this time.

Thank you.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Port au Port.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. CORNECT: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am delighted to stand in this House this afternoon to second the motion

that supports the establishment of a Task Force on Child Exploitation and Drugs,

a joint effort between the RCMP and the RNC as put forth by my colleague, the

hon. Member for Conception Bay East Bell Island.

Indeed, it is a privilege and an honour to stand today and speak on this

motion. When you can bring forth a motion or resolution that helps and protects

our people, it is indeed a good thing. Mr. Speaker, I cannot foresee any

circumstance under which there will not be unanimous support for this private

member's resolution.

Budget 2013, A Sound Plan, A Secure Future provides $1 million to form a

new integrated policing task force for the Province; a first, Mr. Speaker, in

our Province's history. This is the first of its kind in Newfoundland and

Labrador.

Mr. Speaker, there are many advantages of the two police forces working

together. They will combine their efforts, their resources. This new force will

have access to the whole Province, a free flow to protect the people from every

corner of our Province. They will be able to work in the east, the west, the

north and the south. They will be able to work in every community where need be.

There will be no boundaries, Mr. Speaker, for this new task force.

This combined team, Mr. Speaker, will now be able to work on all related

issues together rather than separately. They will combine their expertise and

intelligence to combat crime in this Province. Their focus will be, and they

will target on crimes together. The task force will investigate organized and

serious crime, such as illegal drug activity and child exploitation.

This government is very committed in investing in our families and in our

children and youth because when we do this, Mr. Speaker, we are protecting the

core values and we are setting priorities to mirror these needs. This government

is committed to ensuring that all communities in our Province are safe for our

families and our children. Ensuring the safety for our families and children is

a key and very important priority for this government.

This government's commitment, Mr. Speaker, is to ensure that there is a

secure environment which will enable our children and our grandchildren to

prosper and to achieve all their goals and ambitions and to go on to become the

next leaders of our communities. To help ensure that this is the case, Mr.

Speaker, the task force we are creating will combine and consolidate resources

from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, RCMP, and the Royal Newfoundland

Constabulary, the RNC.

Each police force will bring its unique strengths and skills to this new

force. This joint initiative, Mr. Speaker, this new creation between our two

police forces in the Province, the RMCP and the RNC, together they will bring

more than fifty police resources to their disposal. These resources, Mr.

Speaker, will include crime analysis, investigators, computer forensic

specialists, and any other specialized members of the RCMP and the RNC that are

needed to combat crime in this Province.

Mr. Speaker, they will also have the capability and the capacity to reach out

for assistance and extract resources from beyond our Province as well. The task

force will be able to draw the expertise they need to effectively do their job

from other enforcement and social agencies. They can also reach out to the CFSEU

around the world. That is the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Units if

needed.

This new task force, Mr. Speaker, will be an intelligent base entity that

will serve to protect our people. Together, the RCMP and the RNC will form a

major and necessary tool in the Province's fight against child exploitation,

illegal drug trafficking, and organized crime.

Mr. Speaker, as I have said, there are many advantages of these two police

forces working together. In fact, it is the current trend across the country

that police forces consolidate or combine to facilitate their efforts to fight

crime. In fact, our police forces made visits to other police detachments across

Canada in such places as Toronto and Regina to seek out best practices and to

tailor our task force to best fit our Province.

As my hon. colleague, the Member for Conception Bay East Bell Island

already said, Mr. Speaker, this is not a pilot project. This is not a one-year

thing. This is a permanent entity for the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

It is here to stay.

We expect, Mr. Speaker, great things from the experts of this task force. It

is a proactive approach. We are protecting all residents, but especially the

most vulnerable in our society. Newfoundland and Labrador is evolving and so,

too, will crime evolve.

Mr. Speaker, combining our forces in this co-operative approach to community

and family safety has proven to be a very successful model in other parts of

Canada, particularly as the criminal landscape evolves and pushes beyond

community and regional boundaries. The Province's two police services have

worked together. In fact, many specialists are working now together, and

successfully, I say, on matters and issues affecting our people to assure that

our communities remain safe.

Mr. Speaker, this new and innovative combined task force, our new police

team, will certainly bring a level of co-operation to an entirely new level here

in our Province. I believe this model will be key. It will be a role model for

other jurisdictions in the country to take heed to, and certainly learn from.

As we all know, Mr. Speaker, crime knows no boundaries. As this new task

force will combine its resources, its knowledge, its innovation, and its

determination to deal with the issues, this piece of work clearly spells out our

total commitment to combat crime in Newfoundland and Labrador. This task force

will employ experienced police officers who have the skills already. Officers

and resources will be pulled out of the existing resources from the RCMP and the

RNC to make up this unit. In Newfoundland and Labrador we certainly have the

best in our police forces.

They will work, Mr. Speaker, from their own dedicated facilities in order to

enhance their ability to share intelligence and expertise to solve serious

crime. We know this undertaking in the creation of this task force is huge and

important. This undertaking will change the culture of law enforcement and

criminal investigation in Newfoundland and Labrador forever, a change for the

better.

Mr. Speaker, there have been significant investments in recent years to both

the RCMP and the RNC. Just last year, we increased the funding to the RNC for

the Internet Child Exploitation Unit. We announced funding for the new RNC

headquarters which will open later this year. Also, a new collective agreement

with the RNC was signed recently. With the RCMP, we just signed a twenty-year

agreement that will see that force continue to work to protect the residents of

Newfoundland and Labrador. Our history with both police forces is proud. It is a

proud history. A history that is second to none in this country.

Mr. Speaker, this resolution comes to the floor of this Legislature today as

we celebrate National Police Week. We all know how respected members of our

forces are in our communities, the invaluable work that they do to protect our

interests. Every day, they go about protecting our communities so that we can

continue to live in a free society. National Police Week is also a time and

occasion to highlight, celebrate, and to say thank you to the police officers

for the work they do to make our Province safer to live and work for our

families and our children.

Our most valuable and our most important resource are our children and our

grandchildren. Their protection, Mr. Speaker, is a key focus of this government.

That is why we have put this task force in place. With this initiative we are

ensuring the protection, the safety, and the well-being of all of our children,

our families, and our communities. I have no doubt that this establishment of

this joint task force will have a major impact and will play a major role on

reducing crime in our Province.

Mr. Speaker, that is our commitment to the people of the Province of

Newfoundland and Labrador.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BENNETT: Mr. Speaker, few crimes met with more revulsion in our

society than the sexual exploitation of our children or anybody's children. My

party will be wholeheartedly endorsing and supporting this private member's

resolution.

We would like to speak to areas further that we feel that the Province could

go. As I have said on occasion, it is the role of Opposition to criticize, to

oppose, to support and when government does something right, maybe to enhance

and push it further down the road, or sooner.

Mr. Speaker, this initiative will enhance the apprehension of people who

commit offences against children. I think all of us share a common concern, a

common point of view, and maybe a common experience when we see some of the

ravages of child sex crimes.

I worked in the legal profession for a number of years. Colleagues of mine on

the prosecutorial side one particular individual was a prosecutor who was

assigned to prosecute child sex crimes. There are few lines of work that will

actually eat the individual, will destroy the prosecutor, more than day after

day after day interviewing small children and their parents who have been

sexually abused. Having to take these cases to trial and having to go to trial,

maybe with a child testifying from behind a screen, maybe with a child who is

too nervous to testify, when you know the offence was committed and you know

that the victim will suffer the scars of that offence for a long, long time to

come.

People who are abused in various ways never really get over the nature of the

abuse. One of the real tragedies about child sex crimes and child exploitation

is that it is carried out primarily against little girls but there are also

young boys who are sexually exploited. Generally, these offences are carried out

by people that they know. These are not strangers. These are not people who

snatch them in a shopping centre or who run off with them. These are often

family members, friends, and acquaintances, people who gain their confidence and

sexually abuse and exploit them.

Mr. Speaker, in many cases, by the time they reach the teenage years,

particularly if the sexual abuse has been at home, those victims have no place

to go and they hit the streets. When they hit the streets they are invariably

drawn into the drug trade, invariably they are exploited by others, invariably

they are pimped out and often they suffer short, unhappy, miserable lives.

Mr. Speaker, one of the areas where I wish that our Province would go, in

addition to this, is if we were to follow the Manitoba blueprint. Manitoba

introduced legislation in 2002 similar to this legislation. One of the guiding

principles of Manitoba's sexual exploitation strategy was to ensure the

participation and involvement of experiential youth and adults.

Mr. Speaker, this means that people who were victims of abuse themselves were

involved in the strategy. I am not going to criticize the proposal that this has

to do with apprehension, punishment, and ideally prevention or rehabilitation;

but in the case of sexual predators, quite often there will be no

rehabilitation. Quite often that person will need to be incarcerated,

warehoused, and not permitted back to live among other people, to live among a

normal society, because that person, in many cases, will always be a predator

simply waiting for an opportunity to take advantage of somebody else.

Mr. Speaker, one of the areas that I believe that society generally could go

is that we could do more to educate our children in the younger years and the

earlier years. I know we have an aversion to discuss things like sex and sexual

exploitation and good touch, bad touch, and what is right and what is wrong, but

many children grow up in homes and whatever home you grow up in, you assume that

your home is the way that everybody's home is. In many cases, there are small

children who grow up and they are being sexually abused at home. They do not

know that everybody else's life is different; many other people's lives are

different.

So, Mr. Speaker, at this point with the identification and apprehension, and

ideally, conviction of people who were involved in sexual exploitation, if we

could certainly maybe go downstream to earlier years and possibly in our schools

that we could educate children at a younger age to know what is right and what

is wrong, and who is it safe to go to, and who can you talk to so that the

children are not so traumatized that they are afraid to speak to somebody. Is

there somebody they can speak to? Is there somebody they can discuss this with?

Mr. Speaker, one of the issues in crime and prevention is that sometimes we

look to apprehend people and to punish them, but the quickest way to reduce

crime is the certainty of apprehension and how quick someone is dealt with.

The Minister of Justice will confirm that. Undoubtedly, he has referred to

Ruby on Sentencing many, many times. It is the certainty of getting caught and

how quick a person is dealt with. If there is little possibility of getting

caught and this thing is going to be postponed and postponed and postponed and

maybe it is going to fall off the rails and three or five years after a charge

is laid, it takes that long to get something to trial, then there is much less

deterrent; but if we are well equipped to identify, apprehend, charge quickly,

get matters on toward trial really quickly and then deal with offenders in a

quick rate, it is much more likely that the rate of this type of crime or, in

fact, any type of crime would be reduced.

People, when they are out waiting for a trail, are at high risk to offend,

and judges can only do so much with the tools that we have available.

Restraining orders do not mean much to someone who will be restrained. An amount

for bail does not mean much to somebody who is simply waiting to reoffend,

someone who is a predator by nature.

Mr. Speaker, there are some people who participate in crimes of opportunity.

There are other people who simply look for opportunities. Some people need to be

removed and incarcerated, away from society, but most of all the victims, for

sure, need to be educated as soon as it is reasonably possible to do so, to

identify when bad things are happening and someone to turn to so that the crimes

do not continue and the crimes does not get worse.

The people who we see who are involved in various types of sexual

exploitation in their teenage years generally did not start out in their teenage

years being sexually exploited. Generally, they started out being sexually

exploited at a much earlier age. Generally, by somebody that they trusted,

somebody they loved, and somebody who they ought to have been protected by, not

someone that they needed to be protected from.

Mr. Speaker, we will support this private member's resolution and certainly

look forward to moving forward even more so in this particular area.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Cape St. Francis.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. K. PARSONS: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

It is indeed a privilege to get up here today to speak about this motion

brought forward by the Member for Conception Bay East Bell Island. It is a

very important motion and I think it is a motion that we should be able to get

full support from this House because, like I said, it is so important and it is

a great investment that our government is making here.

To listen to the different members across the way, even as unusual as it is

to see the Member for St. Barbe support this government, it was nice to see what

he did that time, support this bill, and see how important it is. Also, the

Member for Burgeo La Poile, who yesterday said he was not anti-everything, but

I thought he was, today he even got up and said some good things about what we

are doing with reference to this bill and money this government is investing.

It is a great opportunity for me, too, Mr. Speaker, to be able to get up here

and talk about our police forces in this Province. I wanted to particularly

today mention the RNC. I believe most of the members in this House will agree

with me when I talk about our RNC officers. I know I am very proud of the force

we have here. Like the Member for Burgeo La Poile, he mainly dealt with the

RCMP. In my taking, where I am from in the Northeast Avalon, we deal with the

RNC.

The RNC officers who are there today, I know quite a number of them. I had

the opportunity to play hockey with most of them. I see what they do in their

communities. I see fellows like Eddie Oates, who is an inspector in the RNC

right now. I know the time and devotion he does for kids in minor hockey, minor

soccer, and different things he will go out and volunteer his time at. There are

so many of them, the ones I know, fellows like Robert Bradbury, Tony Walsh,

Warren Sullivan, and these fellows, who spend so much time with minor hockey.

They are great leaders in our communities. The RNC are a very proud force. Our

members of the RNC are great individuals and they give back to their communities

as well.

Also today, Mr. Speaker, I look at some of the young members coming in the

RNC. I know we have a former member here in the House, the Minister of

Transportation, who is an RNC officer and is well respected as he did a lot of

volunteer work as councillor in CBS and a lot of volunteering in Ride for Dad

and stuff like that he does. That is part of the RNC motive.

The young people coming in today, it is very interesting because I know my

assistant, Barb, her two boys are in the RNC and one just recently got in last

year, how difficult it is to get in today. Young people look at the profession

and they look at it as a great profession. If there was something you wanted to

do, that is a great profession you could have and be very proud to become RNC

officers. I look at young people down our way who really want to get into the

RNC because of the profession it is.

They look at the leaders who were in there in the past and they look at these

fellows as role models. It is so good to see young people. I am not sure how

many applications go in a year to try to apply to the RNC, but I know quite a

number of them do. The young people have to qualify, they have to show their

leadership skills, and they have to show how much they volunteer in their

communities. It is not only a written test. It is what you do for your fellow

person and how you are in your community, how you are respected in your

community.

Mr. Speaker, I look at the overall investment that this government is doing

when it comes to the Department of Justice. If you look, we spent this year in

our Budget over $240 million. Again, Justice is a huge department and there is a

lot of different ways to invest your money, but in the RNC, just in salaries

alone last year, we invested $41 million. I would say well deserved salaries,

too, Mr. Speaker.

As the Member for Port au Port mentioned about different things we are doing

with our investments, this year we are going to invest $46 million in total in

the RNC, but it is for their new headquarters down there. I think it was a $9

million investment that we put into their headquarters. So we are making sure

that our RNC officers have the best possible facility and also they are equipped

as well as any force in this country.

Mr. Speaker, our total investment in police protection in the Province is

huge: $128 million. Like I said, I think most members of this House are very

proud of the force that we have in the RNC and I know members who deal with the

RCMP are very proud of the RMCP also.

My father was an RNC officer. He had many jobs, but he was an RNC officer and

he always told a couple of stories about, when he grew up, different things that

happened to him while he was an RNC officer. The funniest one he ever told me,

he was down to St. Bon's and the Guards were playing at the old stadium. This

guy went out and ran around the ice. Somebody told him you are going to have to

go out and get him. He said every time he fell down the place went up. He got a

standing ovation for buddy who was running away from him.

I am sure that times when he was an RNC officer, which was back in the 1950s

and 1960s, how things have changed, how they have changed from what people have

to deal with today. Back then, I am sure that it was a fight down in the bar on

Water Street was probably the biggest thing that they had to deal with, or a

disturbance, serious things, but not what our people have to deal with today. It

is so important that we look at how we make sure that we have the best equipment

and the best forces in place to combat the crime that is out there today.

Just another little stat about the RNC. This year there are 102 female

officers and there are 307 male officers; average-wise, that is one of the

highest in all of Canada. I commend the RNC and I commend the leadership of the

RNC to make sure that we have more women in policing. It is very important that

women do be involved in policing because one time I think it was mainly

considered a male-dominated employer; but right now today, with 102 women in the

RNC, I think that is just outstanding and I think it is a show of great

leadership in the RNC.

Mr. Speaker, when we look at this new force that is being set up, it is a

joint force. When I was looking at different things about it, I read about what

the two leaders in and it was really nice to see actually. I think it is a

change, it is a shift when you see Chief Johnston and I think it is Commanding

Officer, Assistant Commissioner is her title, Tracy Hardy. It is so nice to see

these two forces working together. I do not believe it was always like that. I

believe there was animosity or they did not work as good together before. I

think it is really good.

With what is out there today you cannot be localized. We have to have the

broad outlook. To have the RNC and the RCMP working together is huge. Like I

said, the co-operation between these two forces makes everything work better.

When two of these forces work better, it means our communities are going to be

safer. That is the goal of what is happening here.

Mr. Speaker, this joint force that is going to be set up is going to have one

inspector. As far as I know and from what I have understood so far, is the

inspector say for two years will be from the RNC and then it will rotate to an

inspector from the RCMP. Both forces will jointly have their person in charge,

but they will do it on a two-year basis. That is what I understand.

There are going to be two constables. They are going to be mainly in charge

of the proceeds of crime. They will be in charge of making sure as the member

also said, they were looking at all the monies and everything that was dropped

off over on Bell Island. I am sure they will have a look at monies and

everything, the proceeds that are coming in.

There are also two civilian analysts, and I guess they will check everything

across the country to make sure we have best practices with everybody else. Then

the very important

part is two computer forensic people. They can go into

computers if there is a threat out there that somebody is luring people on the

Internet, which from what we see in the news these days happens quite a bit.

Then we have two people there to look at that.

The other big thing about this unit, Mr. Speaker, is that this unit will not

be housed at the RNC, nor will it be housed at the RCMP down in the White Hills.

They will be off site. They are going to be in a separate area so the people

will not be looking at this as an RNC thing or an RCMP. It will be a separate

site that this place will take the total investment this year is over $1

million. It is $1,038,000, which is a huge investment, and which is a great

investment. Mr. Speaker, like I said, co-operation between the two units is

great.

Mr. Speaker, we have been doing a lot. When you look at our Province and how

things have come and where we have come from in the last number of years, our

social because this organized crime and these predators are out there and they

are looking for the most vulnerable people in our society. It is very important

that our government makes important investments in the social part of our

society.

I look at what we do for the younger people in our society. I think the

better we can