Newfoundland and Labrador Hansard — Members' Statements; Statements by Ministers — 12 May 2015 (47th General Assembly, 4th Session, Vol. XLVII No. 13)
2015-05-12
Newfoundland and Labrador — Debates (Hansard)
PDF Version
May
12, 2015
HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS
Vol. XLVII No. 13
The
House met at 1:30 p.m.
MR. SPEAKER (Verge):
Order, please!
Admit strangers.
Statements by
Members
MR. SPEAKER:
Today I am pleased to
hear members' statements from the Members for the Districts of Bellevue,
Fortune Bay Cape La Hune, Bonavista North, Trinity Bay de Verde, St.
John's Centre, and Burgeo La Poile.
The
hon. the Member for the District of Bellevue.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. PEACH:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
rise in this hon. House today to recognize the graduating classes of 2015 in
the great District of Bellevue.
May 1, 2015 I had the privilege of attending the graduation at St. Joseph's
All Grade School in Terrenceville.
There were thirteen graduates.
Then, on May 2, I had the opportunity to join my colleague, MHA for
Placentia St. Mary's and Attorney General, to attend the graduation of
Crescent Collegiate in Blaketown, with eighty graduates.
This
past weekend, May 8, it was my pleasure to attend the graduation of
Tricentia Academy in Arnold's Cove, where there were thirty graduates.
There are two other high schools in the District of Bellevue: Swift
Current Academy, with ten graduates; and Fortune Bay Academy, with eight.
want to congratulate and thank the principals, teachers, and staff of each
school for the great work they do preparing the students for their future.
Without your professionalism, these graduating classes would not have
been a success.
ask all Members of the House of Assembly to join me in congratulating the
graduating classes of 2015 on their accomplishment today and their years of
hard work and dedication.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
the District of Fortune Bay Cape La Hune.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MS PERRY:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
rise today to congratulate Devin and Bob Benoit for their remarkable
achievement of being amongst the strongest powerlifters in Canada.
This incredible father-son duo provides each other the support and
encouragement that is essential to excel in this sport.
With
a first place win in the eighty-three kilo weight class, at the National
Championships in St. John's last month, Devin is a three-time National
Champion. We cannot wait to see
how he does at the World Championships in November.
His awesome numbers were squat, 518 pounds; bench, 297 pounds; and
deadlift, 508 pounds.
Bob
is extremely proud of his son's success and has great reason to boast,
himself. Competing at his first
nationals in the 120-plus kilo class and competing for the second time with
his son, his numbers were: squat, 425 pounds; bench, 335 pounds; and
deadlift, 518 pounds.
Without using any lifting equipment other than a belt, Bob placed in fourth
place with a perfect lifting experience that was nine for nine in lifts.
Their commitment to chasing their dreams to gold together is truly
inspirational to us all. I ask
all members to join me in congratulating Devin and Bob and wish them the
best of luck in their upcoming competitions.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
the District of Bonavista North.
MR. CROSS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I am
sure you have all heard the riddle: What's the hardest thing about learning
to skate? Answer: the ice.
Let me tell you, Mr. Speaker, that answer is about to change.
The new answer is: competing against Crystal Gliders.
the Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial Figure Skating Competition for
thirteen years and under two members of Bonavista North's own Crystal
Gliders Figure Skating Club placed in the top six.
Stacey Wheeler of Greenspond and Amber Gray from Lumsden qualified to
perform at Skate Atlantica at Halifax on March 28, 2015, competing against
twenty-two other young ladies from the Atlantic Provinces.
Surely a dream come true for the young athletes representing their
club and their Province at such a tender age.
They are barely in their teens, yet both have been skating for over
ten years under the tutelage of Claudia Drover, their coach and motivator.
Parents say both girls spend countless hours utilizing skating video and
YouTube until they master the spins and jumps.
Their natural ability, coupled with their desire to compete at a very
keen level, has boosted their success.
Mr.
Speaker, I ask you and all hon. members to join me in congratulating Stacey
and Amber on their recent success, and I am sure there is more of the same
in the future.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Trinity Bay de Verde.
MR. CROCKER:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr.
Speaker, I rise in this hon. House today to recognize Danielle Seward of
Heart's Delight-Islington.
Danielle's brother Shane was born in 1985 with a rare neurological disorder
called Hypomelanosis of Ito. At
that time, Shane was the first person to be diagnosed with this condition in
Newfoundland and Labrador.
Unfortunately, Shane passed away in February 1995, at the age of nine.
Danielle and her parents, Bev and Clyde Seward, began fundraising for the
Janeway when Danielle was only four years old.
This year will mark Danielle's twenty-third year participating in the
Janeway Telethon. The first two
years were alongside her brother Shane and the rest have been in his memory.
Danielle volunteers countless hours each year for the Janeway and
this is her eighth year as a telethon coordinator.
May 1, family and friends gathered in Heart's Delight-Islington for this
year's event, A Night for Shane.
A night of great local entertainment.
That evening alone raised over $3,000.
Through their efforts, the Seward family has raised over $30,000 for
the Janeway in Shane's memory.
ask all hon. members to join me in congratulating the Seward family for
their continued fundraising efforts in Shane's memory.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
St. John's Centre.
MS ROGERS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Today I am happy to acknowledge and congratulate the Froude Avenue Tenant
Association that is having its AGM at the Froude Avenue Community Centre
in the heart of St. John's Centre.
The Association is poised to do incredible work to support their
community.
Tenant associations plan activities for seniors, youth, and children.
Among their activities are: social events and outings for seniors,
after-school activities for youth and children, parties to celebrate special
holidays. They organize events
to celebrate the accomplishments of tenants, proudly spreading the news of
successes in their community.
They also make sure that folks who may be sick or in need of support are
given that help.
The
Froude Avenue Tenant Association works together with all members to identify
needs in their neighbourhood and to come up with solutions that work.
This is community building at its best.
Many members of the Association have been long-time members
dedicating hours and hours of volunteer work.
As well, there are younger folks who join in.
I want to thank these volunteers for the work they do to ensure that
their community is safe and supportive for every member.
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.
rise today to recognize and congratulate the Piranha Swim Club, out of the
Bruce II Sports Centre, in Port aux Basques on raising more than $8,000
during their annual Swim for Hope on March 27.
The Piranha Swim Club started in 2003.
The current members are seven to sixteen years of age and the club is
a member of Swimming Newfoundland and Labrador.
Swim
for Hope is a provincial event held each year to raise money for the Dr. H.
Bliss Murphy Cancer Care Foundation.
This is the Swim for Hope's nineteenth year.
The charity event is a twelve hour relay and this year the local Swim
for Hope team competed against six community challenge teams.
These teams included teachers, local residents, parents of the
Piranhas, and others. The event
ended with more water fun, plenty of food and games for the participants.
The
Swim for Hope Team, along with countless volunteers, did a tremendous job
and are to be commended for their hard work and dedication for this worthy
cause.
Mr.
Speaker, I ask all members of this House to join with me in extending
congratulations to the Port aux Basques Piranha Swim Club on another
successful Swim for Hope.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
Statements by Ministers.
Statements by
Ministers
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. KENT:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I am
pleased to rise in this hon. House today to recognize May 11 to 17 as
National Nursing Week in Newfoundland and Labrador.
The theme for 2015 is Nurses:
With you every step of the way.
This theme speaks to the broad scope of health services our nurses
provide and this week is an excellent opportunity to recognize their
contribution to our health care system.
currently have 6,342 registered nurses working in our Province.
This represents the second highest per population ratio for
registered nurses anywhere in the country.
Newfoundland and Labrador is also fortunate to have the highest per
population ratio in Canada for licensed practical nurses, with 2,383 LPNs
working in our Province.
Nurses play an invaluable role in our communities.
With a vast array of duties delivered in a number of settings, from
long-term care facilities and emergency departments, to frontline health
services in schools and clinics, nurses are often the first point of contact
for patients when they enter the health care system.
Nurses also play an important role in post-secondary education,
administration, research and policy.
They are responsible for providing direct care to patients, mentoring
new employees and students, and ensuring that everyone under their care is
treated respectfully.
Nurses often act as emotional support and provide reassurance that helps
ease the minds of patients and their families during difficult times.
Our nurses demonstrate humility and empathy, as well as a tremendous
work ethic and steadfast dedication to helping those who are most in need.
We continue to support nurses by negotiating competitive collective
agreements, implementing recruitment and retention initiatives, and
providing financial support to nursing students.
Mr.
Speaker, as part of our government's five-year strategy to reduce emergency
department wait times, Budget 2015 includes an investment of $938,300 to
provide approximately seven new full-time triage nursing positions, which
will make a real difference in ensuring all patients are assessed and
triaged quickly by a qualified nurse upon arrival in emergency departments
across the Province.
Mr.
Speaker, we applaud every nurse working in our Province.
I encourage everyone in Newfoundland and Labrador to recognize the
tireless efforts of nurses during National Nursing Week, and to acknowledge
their dedication to patients and to families.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Burgeo La Poile.
MR. A. PARSONS:
Thank you, Mr.
Speaker.
thank the minister for an advance copy of the statement.
We, as the Official Opposition, would also like to recognize May
11-17 as National Nursing Week.
We also want to thank nurses for their hard work and their dedication to
improving health care in our Province.
They affect the lives of many patients and their families, and they
are obviously invaluable in all our communities.
They
are highly skilled individuals who contribute significantly to our health
care system. Health care remains
a top priority for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, and nurses are a large
part of that care.
have some of the poorest health outcomes in Canada the highest rates of
diabetes, stroke, cancer, just to name a few.
Our health care system needs to be more focussed on health outcomes,
and I think we can continue and should be listening to nurses to hear what
they have to say as front-line workers in our system.
Nurses can and should play an important role in improving the health
and wellness of the people of our Province.
again, thank you to all the nurses here in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Signal Hill Quidi Vidi.
MS MICHAEL:
Thank you very much, Mr.
Speaker.
too, thank the minister for the advance copy of his statement.
I am very happy and very pleased to be able to stand and recognize
the nurses in our Province, both the Registered Nurses and the LPNs.
They truly are the first line of defence in our health care system.
They are the first ones that people interact with in our
institutions.
also want to recognize how overworked these nurses are, Mr. Speaker.
Our institutions are understaffed, whether we are talking about
long-term care or the hospitals.
Our nurses are overworked. They
cannot do the work that they really want to do in the positions that they
are in. We should be utilizing
them much better in primary health care and base them in the community.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Environment and Conservation.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. CRUMMELL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr.
Speaker, the diverse range of outdoor recreational opportunities offered
through our impressive network of family-friendly campgrounds and day parks
has something to offer everyone.
I am pleased to rise today in this hon. House to encourage all members,
residents, and visitors from far and wide to explore and enjoy Newfoundland
and Labrador's great outdoors this summer.
Mr.
Speaker, we may not always have perfect camping weather, but that certainly
does not deter the thousands of campers who flock to our provincial
campsites each year. In advance
of this year's camping season, we launched a new provincial campsite
reservation service, designed to better meet the needs of outdoor
enthusiasts Province-wide.
Developed by renowned campsite management provider, Camis, the new service
requires users to pay both the reservation fee and campsite fees at the time
of reservation. This approach is
designed to deter clients from failing to cancel reservations when they do
not intend to show up.
The
new service improves the customer experience in other ways as well.
For example, users now have the ability to search based on campsite
availability instead of campsite category and a more streamlined campsite
numbering system has been implemented to replace the use of letters.
In addition, the campers now have the option of paying for a vehicle
entry fee at the time of reservation, thereby allowing for a speedier
check-in upon arrival at the park.
The
response to this new service has been overwhelming positive, Mr. Speaker.
During launch week alone, more than 4,200 reservations were made
through the service, and staff received a number of positive, unsolicited
public comments on its ease and efficiency.
The new system is working extremely well, and is expected to result
in increased usage of campsites during the 2015 camping season.
Mr.
Speaker, spring has sprung and the camping season is just around the corner.
Seven of our thirteen provincial camping parks open for the season on
Wednesday May 13
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR. CRUMMELL:
followed by additional
park openings May 22 and May 29.
For anyone who has not already done so, I encourage you to visit the new
reservation system at
www.nlcamping.ca ,
book your campsite now, and get out and enjoy this Province's impressive
network of provincial parks and natural areas this summer.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
The Straits White Bay North.
MR. MITCHELMORE:
Thank you, Mr.
Speaker.
thank the minister for the advance copy of his statement.
Certainly we can agree that Newfoundland and Labrador has immense
beauty and pristine natural areas, and our provincial parks are a great
opportunity for people to get out and enjoy outdoor recreational activities.
Although it is disappointing that almost half of them will not be
open even for the May 24 long weekend which is coming up, as the minister
stated.
certainly support more efficient ways of conducting government business.
More services could be offered online, and it is good to see that you
can now reserve online for camping at our provincial parks.
One of the things I noticed when I went to the website, though, and
tried to use it on my BlackBerry that it does not work for mobile.
There is no dot mobile option at this point, so there is a way to
make improvements so that people can have greater access.
well, though, I think that we really do need to look at this year's Budget
which does increase camping fees by 20 per cent and that there were cuts
made to the Burnt Cape Ecological Reserve for
interpretation.
So, when you look at natural areas, we do not have another Mud
Immortal.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
St. John's East.
MR. MURPHY:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
thank the minister for the advance copy of his statement today on parks.
Mr. Speaker, at the same time, realizing that they have a reservation
system; at times it does have issues.
No doubt, the system is probably going to experience a little bit of
overload. Usually it happens in
the first week or so of the system use.
Mr.
Speaker, we also encourage residents and visitors alike to use these parks
wisely. They are pretty much a
provincial treasure of ours. We
also have to note as well that because of the use of these parks, we believe
there is a need for further study on the need for more parks in this
Province. We do know that
outdoor recreational activities are increasing.
Mr.
Speaker, just to sum up, again we urge caution over the weekend.
Keep in mind the road traffic this weekend is going to be very heavy
and we urge safety. Practice
safety, think safety first of all.
Thank you very much.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Seniors, Wellness and Social Development.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. JACKMAN:
Mr. Speaker, I rise today
to note that May is Better Hearing and Speech Month in Newfoundland and
Labrador, and across Canada.
Yesterday, I joined representatives of the Newfoundland and Labrador
chapter
of the Canadian Hard of Hearing Association, and other organizations, to
officially sign a proclamation to that effect, in an effort to help promote
awareness of hearing loss and speech-language disabilities.
Mr.
Speaker, the Canadian Hard of Hearing Association of Newfoundland and
Labrador is a non-profit, charitable organization committed to the
prevention of hearing loss. It
is the only organization in the Province which exclusively represents people
who are hard of hearing. Since
its inception in 1994, it has made steady progress in developing programs
and services for its clientele.
The
Provincial Government's Disability Policy Office works with all government
departments, agencies and community organizations to develop policies and
programs to help ensure the inclusion of all people in all aspects of
society. Budget 2015 allocates
continued operational funding for the organization, and we have also
partnered with the Hard of Hearing Association on a variety of specific
initiatives over the years.
Mr.
Speaker, communication disorders such as hearing loss and speech language
disabilities affect about 50,000 people in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Many people benefit from early detection, appropriate therapy,
medical intervention, assistive technology, and inclusion strategies.
many of you may know, I have dealt with a loss of hearing myself, and have
worn two hearing aids for several years.
Mr. Speaker, I believe
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR. JACKMAN:
I hear what I want to
hear.
believe, Mr. Speaker, I have worn them for about thirty years.
I will say to anybody who wears them, you would not survive without
them.
The
improvement in these devices, even over the past few years, has been
remarkable, and I am fortunate to have been able to benefit from advances in
assistive technology.
Mr.
Speaker, I invite my colleagues to join with the Canadian Hard of Hearing
Association Newfoundland and Labrador, the Newfoundland and Labrador
Association of Speech Language Pathologists and Audiologists, and the
Hearing Instrument Practitioners Association, to help promote public
awareness about hearing loss and speech-language disabilities.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Conception Bay South.
MR. HILLIER:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
thank the minister for an advance copy of his statement.
I am happy to rise in this hon. House and recognize May as Better
Hearing and Speech Month. This
issue has been near and dear to the hearts of my household as my son is an
audiologist here in the Province.
Such
observances give us pause to reflect on the challenges those with
communications disorders face, and to celebrate achievements in technology
and programming to mitigate these challenges.
Persons with communications disorders can experience exclusion in
day-to-day interactions; interactions many of us take for granted.
Given only one-in-five people who
could benefit from a hearing aid actually uses one, point to the importance
of raising awareness around communications disorders.
Speech-Language & Audiology Canada have launched a seniors' communications
health campaign as part of this year's Speech and Hearing Month.
They pointed out that, People who have hearing loss are 2 to 5 times
more likely to develop dementia. and that at least 30 per cent of people
who suffer a stroke experience language loss thereafter.
the minister stated, early detection and intervention is key.
The recommended wait time for preschool children for therapy for a
speech sound disorder is three to six months.
As of July 2014, the wait time for children to receive treatment for
speech-language pathology was seventeen months from the time of referral.
Government committed in Budget 2015 to improve wait times.
Mr. Speaker, we hope that those wait times are improved for children
with hearing disabilities.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
St. John's Centre.
MS ROGERS:
Thanks, Mr. Speaker.
thank the minister for an advance copy of his statement.
I thank the Hard of Hearing Association for their work.
Bravo.
While listening to the minister talk about how hearing aids have improved
and how fortunate he is to benefit from that, I am thinking about the many
seniors with very modest incomes who cannot afford hearing aids and do not
qualify for assistance. Many do
not meet the very strict income criteria of the Provincial Hearing Aid
Program. Those who do qualify
have to wait at least a year for an appointment with an audiologist before
they can get their hearing aids.
all know how difficult life can be, the frustration and isolation that can
come with a hearing disability.
So I urge the minister to look into these barriers for seniors who need
hearing aids and to help seniors get the hearing aids that they desperately,
desperately need.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
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.
There are 182 contaminated sites in our Province.
The Auditor General said that the financial liabilities of these
sites should be included in the Province's financial statements, but we
learned last night at Estimates that this work on the inventory has not been
completed.
So I
ask the Premier: The AG identified this over a year ago; why has this work
not been completed?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Environment and Conservation.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. CRUMMELL:
Mr. Speaker, we are
following the advice of the Auditor General.
The impacted sites liability assessment program actually has been
ongoing for the last year, and I am happy to say in the House today that
work has been completed. We will
be submitting it to the Comptroller General and on to the Auditor General in
the coming days and weeks as we vet it through.
So,
that work has been done, and we look forward to releasing it to the public
in the coming weeks.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of
the Official Opposition.
MR. BALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Well, the AG said that government will ultimately have involvement in all
contaminated sites in the Province.
The Abitibi sites alone are estimated to be $265 million.
So I
ask the Premier: What is the total amount of the environmental liabilities
in our Province?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Environment and Conservation.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. CRUMMELL:
Mr. Speaker, I would just
like to correct the Leader of the Opposition.
The number he is referring to as a liability for Abitibi is a
textbook quote in terms of a liability that has not been researched and
found and work done on it. They
just take a number out of the book just to put it down as a liability
number.
Mr.
Speaker, that site is being remediated; there is work being done on that
site. So, we do not know what
the exact cost is going to be at the end of the day.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR. CRUMMELL:
With regard to the total
cost, we will not know that either until the program
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR. CRUMMELL:
assessment has been
done, and we will release all that to the public.
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of
the Official Opposition.
MR. BALL:
Mr. Speaker, there seems
to be some confusion on the minister's part here.
Just a few minutes ago he said that the reports would be submitted,
would be made public. I just
mentioned that $265 million.
Will
the minister please clarify: Are the reports done or not?
What is the value of the contaminated sites at Abitibi?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Environment and Conservation.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. CRUMMELL:
Again, Mr. Speaker, all
the work has been done. The
report will be submitted to the Auditor General in due course.
That is going to happen in the coming days, and at the appropriate
time that will be made public. I
cannot be more clear than that.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of
the Official Opposition.
MR. BALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Last
year, government accepted all the pre-existing environmental liabilities at
the Come By Chance refinery without knowing the extent of those liabilities.
An environmental assessment has been planned the minister just
spoke to that. Last November,
the minister said: We expect the assessment to happen in short order.
ask the Premier: Has this environmental assessment been completed?
If so, what is the extent of that environmental liability?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Natural Resources.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. DALLEY:
Mr. Speaker, just by way
of an update, there was a commitment that there would be an assessment done.
It is not completed yet, Mr. Speaker.
It is ongoing. We are
fully committed to make that available to the public, but it is not
completed.
Bearing in mind, as well, that our commitment around the facility was we
had to make a choice around doing some work around assessing the
environmental liabilities, which we believe, Mr. Speaker, it has been a long
history and we think it is going to be okay.
The other side of that was we either do that or we put 600 people out
of work. We were not prepared to
put 600 people out of work.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of
the Official Opposition.
MR. BALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Well, no one asked the question about putting 600 people out of work.
What we asked was: What was the extent of the environmental
liability? The minister clearly
can answer that.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Hear, hear!
MR. BALL:
He talked about it last
fall. He is still talking about
it. The work is not being done.
Will
the minister finally tell us: Who is actually doing this work?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Environment and Conservation.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. CRUMMELL:
Mr. Speaker, the terms
and conditions of the sale of the refinery to the proponent was part of
that. The environmental
assessment was their responsibility.
have taken responsibility in that liability agreement concerning the
environmental issues around soil sediment, ground water, and surface water.
That is all that we are responsible for, Mr. Speaker.
The proponent that has taken over that site is responsible for
everything else on that site.
Mr.
Speaker, the liability agreement is for a ten-year period.
If the company ceases to operate for more than one year, they assume
all responsibilities for the environmental impacts that are on the site.
That
is the short of it, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of
the Official Opposition.
MR. BALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Government ran a $924 million deficit last year and is running a $1.1
billion deficit this year.
ask the Premier: If all of the environmental liabilities for their 182
contaminated sites were included in your Budget documents, how would this
change the financial picture of the Province?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Environment and Conservation.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. CRUMMELL:
Mr. Speaker, generally
accepted accounting practices requires us to identify those liabilities, to
have them on our books. I spoke
earlier that the report is being finalized.
It is going to be ready to present to the Auditor General.
Ms.
Speaker, we will make that all public, but it will on our books as
liability, not as a debt.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of
the Official Opposition.
MR. BALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Well
just to clarify, this work has been ongoing we understand from the
minister that it is going to be soon or very soon.
Will
the minister at least give the people of Newfoundland and Labrador some kind
of time frame when they can expect this information?
Is it a few weeks, will it be June, will it be May, will it be July?
When will it be?
You
are the minister of that portfolio, the Premier is sitting there.
You really do not know what the environmental liabilities are in this
Province?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Environment and Conservation.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. CRUMMELL:
Mr. Speaker, we are
talking about 182 sites that we have identified, that we have done the work
on, we done the assessments on.
Mr. Speaker, there has been a lot of work that has gone into this.
Again, we are at the very final stages.
It will be up to the Auditor General to have a look at that, get his
set of eyes on that. When he is
ready to release that, and when the government is ready to release that, we
will do so when it is appropriate.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of
the Official Opposition.
MR. BALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Well, I remind the minister, it was the AG who said it needed to be done.
The new act to provide the public with access to information and
protection of privacy, which was prepared by Justice Clyde Wells and his
Committee, and which repeals Bill 29 received approval in this House, in
committee level, on April 28.
The new bill is of extreme importance to the people of this Province.
It only takes the third reading in this House which can be
accomplished today and signed by the Lieutenant Governor to make this bill
law.
ask the Premier: Why is your government delaying the passage of this very
important legislation?
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Justice and Public Safety.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. KING:
Mr. Speaker, there is no
delay on the moving forward of the legislation for the bill that the member
is asking about. The standard
procedure in this House is that we take bills through first reading, second
reading, committee, third reading, and royal assent, and it happens at
various stages. The last couple
of days we just happened to be debating the Budget but he can expect that
third reading on this bill will be coming, I would say, within the next
three or four days.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Bay of Islands.
MR. JOYCE:
Mr. Speaker, 911 is the
major life and safety policy in our Province.
In Estimates this morning, I was denied an opportunity to probe the
911 Estimates. There are a
number of questions that need to be answered.
ask the minister: Is this the open and accountable government you are trying
to promote or are you trying to hide behind Bill 29 one more time?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister
Responsible for Fire and Emergency Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. KING:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
are very proud of the fact that it was our government that brought forward
the 911 bill for this Province.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. KING:
We are very proud of the
service that we are providing all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians with this
bill.
There is nobody hiding, Mr. Speaker.
As the member would know, in Estimates this morning, Estimates is
intended for members of the committees to explore the government funds that
have been appropriated for various departments.
The member would also recognize, because he said himself towards the
end: If you don't mind, I will move away from this now.
I have some policy issues I want to raise on 911.
Estimates concluded at the end of a little over three hours, Mr. Speaker.
Members who were present this morning can attest that I made the
offer to the hon. member to have my officials and myself available for
follow-up discussions on policy issues or we could debate it in the House of
Assembly.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Bay of Islands.
MR. JOYCE:
I am not sure about the
minister, but when you transfer $500,000 from the 911 to the government,
that is a budgetary item; when you transfer $150,000, that is a budgetary
item.
Mr.
Speaker, I ask the minister, seeing he shut it down this morning.
It is a question they would not answer this morning.
Mr. Speaker, you heard yesterday in Question Period emergency
responders are asking for a dispatch system for 911.
Your officials have continually said that a dispatch system would
overwhelm the system and cause problems for the public service answering
points.
ask the minister: In openness and transparency, will you table the
evaluation that you have completed to verify that the 911 system would be
overloaded with dispatch callers?
I ask you to table that report, as you used it publicly yourself.
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister
Responsible for Fire and Emergency Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. KING:
Mr. Speaker, we have
established 911 in this Province as an emergency response, and the member
opposite is fully aware because he is making the most protest of the current
system of anyone in the Province.
The
reality is that the system is set up so that emergency zones are established
throughout all of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
In those zones, they determine the agency that responds to calls when
they arrive. Corner Brook and
St. John's use the standard operating procedures that are consistent, Mr.
Speaker, with other jurisdictions across this country I might add.
When
a call is received, it is then transferred to the first lead responder who
makes a determination on whether other responders are required and then they
follow through on that service.
It is a very clear process, Mr. Speaker.
I have outlined it on many occasions but it is clearly not an
Estimates discussion, it is a policy political discussion that we are having
here.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
The
hon. the Member for Bay of Islands.
MR. JOYCE:
Mr. Speaker, if I am the
only one complaining, who is the fire chief from Pasadena who was on CBC
this weekend? The fire chief
from Cox's Cove is complaining, the fire chief in Meadows is complaining,
the fire chief in Hughes Brook Irishtown complained about not getting a
call.
ask the minister again: As you told all of the volunteer firefighters in
this Province that we cannot have dispatch because it would overload,
wouldn't you do the respect of those volunteers and table that report?
I am sure that you would not make such a decision without having the
report completed.
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister
Responsible for Fire and Emergency Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. KING:
Mr. Speaker, I accept the
debate on policy and I expect a political debate, but I am certainly not
going to sit here in this House and have the member suggest or insinuate
that I, or anybody over here, have disrespect for firefighters in this
Province. It is absolutely
ridiculous.
all have firefighters in our own communities and we value what they do every
single day.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. KING:
We go to events.
We celebrate what they do in saving lives and responding to
emergencies, Mr. Speaker.
This
is a political debate, nothing more than that.
Our government brought it forward.
The member does not like it for his area and he is playing politics
with the situation.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
The
hon. the Member for St. Barbe.
MR. J. BENNETT:
Mr. Speaker,
yesterday the Minister of Child, Youth and Family Services said they do
everything they can for youth who have signed service agreements with the
department. Clearly, there are
gaps in service, if youth receiving services from CYFS are dying in the
transition to adulthood.
ask the minister: What action will you take on the Committee's
recommendations to improve the transition for youth receiving services?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Child, Youth and Family Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. S. COLLINS:
Thank you, Mr.
Speaker.
would say to the member opposite, if he wants to come to my office, as he
has done before, and have a briefing with regard to youth services, I would
be more than happy to do so. We
have made great progress in the last number of years, particularly since
2011 when we made improvements to the legislation.
We continue to do improvements to that legislation and the work that
is done around it.
has to understand I believe he understands it, but he would just rather
not hear it it is a voluntary service, so we can only do so much when a
child turns into a youth at sixteen years of age.
It is a voluntary service.
We try to work with that individual to try to bring them in under our
umbrella of services; however, it is a voluntary service.
As I said, we have made great progress and I certainly hope to see
that progress continue.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
St. Barbe.
MR. J. BENNETT:
Mr. Speaker,
briefings are where they tell us what they are doing.
In here is where we actually force them to do something.
Youth who sign themselves out of care face a considerable transition to
adulthood. The fact that they
require protective intervention in the first place speaks to the exceptional
challenges they will face in transition.
We can infer from the Committee's recommendations that transition
supports are not adequate for vulnerable youth.
ask the minister: Will you adopt the recommendations of the Committee to
ensure youth transitioning out of care are adequately prepared?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Child, Youth and Family Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. S. COLLINS:
Mr. Speaker, again,
we strive as a department to make sure that transition goes as well as it
possibly can. The member
mentioned you are talking about vulnerable youth; you are talking about
vulnerable children who turn into the youth age.
We want to work with those individuals.
Again, it is a voluntary service.
I do not know what the member is suggesting, whether we take those
people and we make sure they have the services against their will.
It is a very delicate piece of work, but we want to make sure that we
work with other departments such as AES to be able to help with that
transition so that person aging out of the child system going into
'youthhood', if I could use that term, that they are provided with every
opportunity to make sure that that transition is successful, and we do that
on a daily basis.
Again, I will go back to the progress we have made, particularly since 2011.
We have made great progress, and I hope to see more progress
continue.
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR. S. COLLINS:
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Burgeo La Poile.
MR. A. PARSONS:
Mr. Speaker, in
Budget Estimates for Justice this morning the Attorney General indicated
that $100,000 was being budgeted to research and develop a model for a
domestic violence court in Labrador, but the Attorney General refused to
commit to actually establishing a court in Labrador.
ask the Attorney General: Will you commit now to ensuring that a domestic
violence court is established in Labrador?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Attorney
General.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. F. COLLINS:
Thank you, Mr.
Speaker.
Mr.
Speaker, this government has committed to reinstituting or creating a
domestic violence court in St. John's and also to extending that court to
another site on the West Coast of the Island.
As well, we have committed $100,000 to do a study in Labrador to see
what kind of a therapeutic treatment court might be the best suit for
Labrador.
That
is what the money is for, Mr. Speaker.
The therapeutic treatment approach of these courts will be different
for Aboriginal clients, because we would want to involve the community and
the Aboriginal culture into that treatment.
That is what the money is there for, Mr. Speaker, and that is what
the government is committed to.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Burgeo La Poile.
MR. A. PARSONS:
Mr. Speaker, I have
asked several times this morning and I have asked again here now, the
Attorney General has had several opportunities to clarify his government's
plans for a domestic violence court in Labrador.
All he has committed to was spending the money to research it.
The people of Labrador are more interested in actually getting the
court.
ask the Attorney General again: Will you now commit to treating the
residents of Labrador fairly and ensuring they actually get a domestic
violence court as has been committed to the rest of the Province?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Attorney
General.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. F. COLLINS:
Mr. Speaker, I am
sure the people of Labrador are committed to just and fair treatment and the
administration of justice, so is this department, so is the Department of
the Attorney General. That is
why, Mr. Speaker, we want to look very closely at what is the best kind of a
model that suits Labrador; that is what we are doing here.
Until such time as we have all of that put together, then we will
decide what and where and when the court goes in Labrador.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Mount Pearl South.
MR. LANE:
Mr. Speaker, in the
Auditor General's recent update of recommendations made since 2009 he noted
that in 2010 he made a number of recommendations related to real estate
regulations. Five years later he
notes only half of these recommendations have been implemented.
ask the Minister of Service NL: Why have you not taken action to implement
those recommendations?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Service Newfoundland and Labrador.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. CRUMMELL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr.
Speaker, there are no concerns with regard to the protection of the public,
and we do take the Auditor General's comments certainly in context.
We are doing the work that needs to be done around that.
What
he was referring to more than anything was the there are issues around the
Automated Licensing and Enforcement Registration Tracking System.
It is a system that we use through OCIO to track what is happening in
the industry.
Mr.
Speaker, the industry in Newfoundland and Labrador is only so big.
We are able to do that work in other ways, but we need to upgrade
that system. We plan to do that
hopefully in the coming while.
Right now, there are no budget recommendations around to enhance that
system, and we are working towards that.
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Mount Pearl South.
MR. LANE:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
sounds pretty non-committal to me.
Mr.
Speaker, Service NL has held public consultations for amending the
Residential Tenancies Act. It
also held consultations for a statutory review on the workers' compensation.
ask the minister: Why did you amend your insurance legislation so that
agents no longer have to submit audits of their trust accounts without
consulting with key industry stakeholders?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Service Newfoundland and Labrador.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. CRUMMELL:
Mr. Speaker, again, we do
certainly look at the Auditor General's concerns and we take them very
seriously. We have the highest
reporting standards in Canada for a Province.
Provincially, we have the highest in Canada for reporting standards.
Mr.
Speaker, we do have a small industry; similarly, we are a small Province.
We are managing that industry very well, we believe.
In terms of consultations, right now the changes that we have made
are aligned with other jurisdictions in Canada.
The
mainland companies that do business here in Newfoundland and Labrador were
asking for this. The work that
was being done before, companies that were based in Newfoundland and
Labrador were doing that work, but the mainland companies found
difficulties. It was difficult
for us to make them be compliant with the legislation.
We thought it would be easier
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Humber East.
MR. FLYNN:
Mr. Speaker, at
yesterday's Estimates for the Department of Business, Tourism, Culture and
Rural Development, the minister would not commit to fill the promised
position for the tourism officer in Labrador that has been vacant for two or
three years.
So I
ask the minister: Given that this position was to be filled within weeks of
last year's Budget, why are you breaking your own commitment yet again to
the people of Labrador?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Business, Tourism, Culture and Rural Development.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. KING:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
have a number of resources that are serving the people of Labrador through
my department, not only through the Tourism branch but through the old
Innovation, Business and Rural Development branch.
I am certainly quite happy with the level of service that we provide
there.
As I
said to the member yesterday in Estimates, my answer has not changed on
that. There is a vacant position
there and we are currently assessing whether we will refill the position and
in its current location, or whether we will fill it and move it into a
different location, or whether we will not fill it at all.
When I make a decision, I will gladly share it with him in the House
of Assembly.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Humber East.
MR. FLYNN:
Mr. Speaker, Labrador has
world-class attractions which speak directly to the kind of tourists we
would like to see visiting our area, including a world heritage UNESCO site
at Red Bay, a national park, and the finest hunting and fishing in all of
North America, just to name a few.
Yet, this portion of the Province has been ignored.
So,
I ask the minister: Will you review this knee-jerk decision and hire a
tourism officer for Labrador to help build on the region's tourism
potential?
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Business, Tourism, Culture and Rural Development.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. KING:
Mr. Speaker, nothing
could be more ridiculous than to suggest that we have ignored the
opportunities for tourism in Labrador.
We spend about $13 million a year right now on advertisements,
tourism ads that bring people to the Province, to the Island of Newfoundland
and also to Labrador, Mr. Speaker.
We have helped grow the tourism industry there because of significant
investments by our government.
So,
to stand here and suggest that we are ignoring tourism in Labrador is
absolutely terrible and ludicrous.
We will continue to invest in tourism in Labrador as we have always
done and help grow the industry there as we do on the Island part of
Newfoundland and Labrador.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Conception Bay South.
MR. HILLIER:
Mr. Speaker, in the
Provincial Healthy Aging Policy Framework, government set the following
goals: promote the national goal of a 10 per cent increase in physical
activity among seniors and explore the feasibility of provincial seniors'
games.
ask the minister: To what degree has your department achieved these
important goals for seniors?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Seniors, Wellness and Social Development.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. JACKMAN:
Mr. Speaker, I think all
the hon. member has to do is to look at our record of investments in
seniors, from seniors rec grants to seniors' wellness grants.
Take a look at some of the funding that we have approved over the
last number of years, Mr. Speaker, just to see how active our seniors are in
Newfoundland and Labrador. That
speaks to the record itself.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Conception Bay South has time for a quick question.
MR. HILLIER:
Mr. Speaker, seniors have
seen a significant increase in their fees to participate in swimming
programs at provincial pools.
The fees have gone from $20 to $50 for a twenty-session swim pass, much
higher than municipal rates in Mount Pearl and Conception Bay South.
Wellness programs and physical activity for seniors promotes healthy
living.
ask the minister: Why are you defying your own healthy aging framework by
making it too expensive for seniors to use provincial pools?
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Seniors, Wellness and Social Development has time for a quick reply.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. JACKMAN:
Mr. Speaker, I will
answer in line with what I responded to yesterday.
The pools that he is talking about are three that have a unique
arrangement. These three pools
now we have brought in line comparable and in some cases lower than all the
other jurisdictions across the Province.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Signal Hill Quidi Vidi.
MS MICHAEL:
Thank you very much, Mr.
Speaker.
Yesterday, the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills told this House
that the government is reorganizing health care through consolidation into
one entity as has happened with the school boards.
ask the Premier: Will he confirm that Budget 2015's plan for a stand-alone
shared-service organization of the regional health boards is actually
consolidation into one health authority?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. KENT:
Mr. Speaker, I obviously
have to begin by thanking the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills for
answering the questions yesterday.
be clear, what we said during the Budget and what I have said numerous times
since in this House is that we are going to consolidate back office
administrative functions of the four regional health authorities and the
Newfoundland and Labrador Centre for Health Information.
It will be a stand-alone public body.
It will improve the efficiency of our health care system and allow
our regional health authorities to focus on what they are in place to do,
which is deliver quality health care to the people of Newfoundland and
Labrador.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Signal Hill Quidi Vidi.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MS MICHAEL:
I invite the minister to
read Hansard, Mr. Speaker, and hear what the Minister of Advanced Education
and Skills said. He said it
would be the same as we have done with the school boards.
What they did with the school boards was one school board.
I want a straight answer and the people want a straight answer.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MS MICHAEL:
Are you headed towards
one health authority Premier?
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. KENT:
Mr. Speaker, we have
unique geography in this Province.
Our population is dispersed despite the fact that we only have just
over 500,000 people in this Province.
If we had intended to consolidate the entire regional health
authorities, we would have done so.
believe the best structure for health care and health care delivery in
Newfoundland and Labrador is the one that we have proposed.
It will allow the four regional health authorities to focus on their
real mandate, which is delivering health services, while consolidating the
back office stuff and finding efficiencies in information technology,
finance, payroll, marketing and communications, areas where it makes sense
for the health authorities to work together and act as one.
is a sensible approach, but she is probably against that too, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Signal Hill Quidi Vidi.
MS MICHAEL:
Thank you very much, Mr.
Speaker.
ask the minister, since they are using what happened with the school boards
as the model that is what the minister said I ask: How much did the
Province?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. KENT:
Mr. Speaker, there will
be real savings by consolidating back office functions within our regional
health authorities, functions like purchasing and human resources, to name a
couple of others. We are going
to create a stand-alone shared services organization that will work closely
with our regional health authorities.
As a result, there will be significant savings.
This
has nothing to do with school boards, Mr. Speaker, and the member opposite
knows that.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
St. John's East.
MR. MURPHY:
Mr. Speaker, documents
related to the operations of the new 911 service in the Province reinforced
the term two-tiered. There is a
distinct difference between a call taker and a dispatcher.
ask the minister: Why the two-tiered set-up of 911 in the Province?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister
Responsible for Fire and Emergency Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. KING:
Mr. Speaker, I am not
sure where the member is getting his information.
fairness to the Member for Bay of Islands, we had a good discussion on 911
today. The member who asked the
question did not attend the Estimates, but clearly he is missing information
to ask that kind of a question.
There is no two-tiered system.
About fifteen minutes ago I outlined the process of how calls are received
and transferred, and that is the process.
If regions of the Province and municipalities of the Province choose
to add on to that service, it is well within their jurisdictional
responsibility, but the Province does not offer a two-tiered system.
We offer one level with common standard operating procedures across
the entire Province.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
St. John's East has time for a quick question.
MR. MURPHY:
Mr. Speaker, shouldn't
the department worry first over giving everyone the same 911 service as we
have here in the Northeast Avalon?
That is the question everybody is asking.
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister
Responsible for Fire and Emergency Services has time for a quick reply.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. KING:
Mr. Speaker, we have done exactly what the member is asking.
We have made 911 available across the Province.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR. KING:
It seems to get the
Opposition members going, the fact that they did not bring the policy
forward. It was our government
who took the forthright and the initiative and the vision to do it.
have a consistent service across the entire Province, Mr. Speaker.
I am not sure where the member is getting misinformed in his
questions.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
The
time for Question Period has expired.
Presenting Reports by Standing and Select Committees.
Tabling of Documents.
Notices of Motion.
Answers to Questions for which Notice has been Given.
Petitions.
Petitions
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
St. Barbe.
MR. J. BENNETT:
Thank you, Mr.
Speaker.
petition to the hon. House of Assembly of the Province of Newfoundland and
Labrador in Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned residents
humbly sheweth:
WHEREAS the communities of New Ferolle, Shoal Cove West, and Reefs Harbour
have always relied on the fishery as a means to earn a sustainable income;
and
WHEREAS the main employer for these three communities has been a seafood
processing plant located in New Ferolle; and
WHEREAS this plant was seized by the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador
as a result of mortgage arrears; and
WHEREAS the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador then permitted an
outside operator to operate the plant but that operator became insolvent and
closed; and
WHEREAS the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador then sold the plan to
another operator for the sum of $1 and has not operated the plant but
instead has stripped most, if not all, of the equipment from the plant
instead of operating it;
WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly pray and call upon the
House of Assembly to urge the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to
find a local operator for this plant so that people can go back to work
in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.
Mr.
Speaker, in the community of New Ferolle, there is excellent infrastructure
where people can carry on the fishery in a modern, contemporary, small-scale
multi-species plant. There is a
significant sized cold storage.
It is an older plant that has been used for a variety of buying purposes,
there is an office building, and there is a fish plant.
The fish plant is the one that was expropriated not expropriated,
it was repossessed by government.
The
government has let this go through a succession of owners and none of the
owners have had very good results.
In the most recent go around, the plant has been sitting vacant,
sitting idle, licences are assigned to that community, to that operator with
no work, nothing happening for the people in the community.
The
people are looking for employment.
If this plant were operational it could probably employ on a
large-scale basis maybe 150 to 200 people, but on a small-scale basis thirty
or forty or fifty people throughout the entire season.
This is a plant that the Province seems to have washed its hands of
and it is providing absolutely no direction whatsoever in order to get this
moving.
This
is a petition from the people of the three communities New Ferolle, Reefs
Harbour, and Shoal Cove West requesting that the government take action
and move forward on this issue.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
The Straits White Bay North.
MR. MITCHELMORE:
Thank you, Mr.
Speaker.
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 government has a responsibility to ensure that Internet access is
broadly available so people have the right to be able to access the Internet
in order to exercise and enjoy their rights to freedom of expression and
opinion and other fundamental human rights; and
WHEREAS the Town of Goose Cove still remains without broadband services; and
WHEREAS residents rely on Internet services for education, business,
communication, and social activity; and
WHEREAS wireless and wired technologies exist to provide broadband service
to rural communities to replace slower dial-up service;
We,
the undersigned, petition the House of Assembly to urge the government to
assist providers to ensure the Town of Goose Cove is in receipt of broadband
services in Newfoundland and Labrador.
in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR. MITCHELMORE:
Mr. Speaker, this
petition is signed by all residents there from Goose Cove.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR. MITCHELMORE:
I would just like to
say that I have presented a number of petitions on broadband Internet in the
House of Assembly, but they are dwindling in the numbers that I can present.
There are really two towns, Goose Cove and Bide Arm, that are still
without service.
Goose Cove has a significant opportunity when it comes to looking at
broadband service and when it comes to business development in the town.
It would be a great opportunity to establish new business to provide
taxation base in that town to help for sustainability.
It is just 7.9 kilometres from the Town of St. Anthony.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR. MITCHELMORE:
When you talk about
growing population and growing economy and talk about creating sustainable
communities, advancing broadband Internet is one of those.
We have a real opportunity here to work with providers, to work with
private and community economic development groups to lever and put together
a good proposal and see that happen for those eighty-four householders in
Goose Cove, so that they could have broadband Internet as other communities
in the region.
Government has invested in seeing communities outlying St. Anthony right now
this will come on stream in just a couple of weeks.
Hopefully we will see that move forward when it comes to Goose Cove
as well. I did not see any
mention to broadband Internet in the Speech from the Throne or the Budget,
but I do understand that there is money that could carry forward.
hope to see greater partnerships happening in advancing business in the
region. I look forward to having
further discussion with the Minister of Business on this particular matter
on behalf of my constituents of Goose Cove.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Signal Hill Quidi Vidi.
MS MICHAEL:
Thank you very much, Mr.
Speaker.
the hon. House of Assembly of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador in
Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned residents humbly
sheweth:
WHEREAS computer science is the new literacy, and is a vital skill for the
digital age; and
WHEREAS computer science is a growing field of employment, and is one of the
highest paid academic majors; and
WHEREAS computer science education in Newfoundland and Labrador is not
keeping pace with computer science education in other provinces; and
WHEREAS the public education system has a duty to expose students to a wide
variety of subject areas and careers;
WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly pray and call upon the
House of Assembly to urge government to consider adding mandatory computer
science subjects to the public education curriculum.
in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.
I am
very honoured today, Mr. Speaker, to stand on behalf of the Code NL, the
organization that has been circulating this petition.
It has been a while since they have sent the petition to me, and I am
very happy to once again stand and speak of the concern that people have
that they themselves and their children are not getting the opportunity for
a full education in this age of technology.
Code
NL has been studying this issue and knows well that we need to be training
more people locally in computer science, because the demand will increase
here and computer science will contribute to the economy.
Code NL says we are way behind other provinces; our education
curriculum is not keeping pace.
There are two unrelated courses in the system: one, which is a course that
is offered in a handful of urban schools; another is a course in robotics
that is offered in twenty schools in the Province.
These are just individual courses.
We do not have a real computer science curriculum;
whereas in
Ontario, they have ten interrelated computer science and computer technology
courses in Grades 10 to 12 offered in a sequence.
So I
encourage the Minister of Education to bring us up to date in this Province.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Conception Bay South.
MR. HILLIER:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
petition to the hon. House of Assembly of the Province of Newfoundland and
Labrador in Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned residents
of Newfoundland and Labrador humbly sheweth:
WHEREAS the Town of Conception Bay South is the second largest municipality
in the Province with a population of approximately 26,000 people; and
WHEREAS recent dangerous incidents on community streets have highlighted
concerns of high speed and inadequate traffic control in Conception Bay
South; and
WHEREAS residents, organized groups, and the town continue to raise
awareness about pedestrian traffic along main streets and the lack of police
presence in Conception Bay South; and
WHEREAS residents are increasingly concerned about safety in their
community;
We,
the undersigned, petition the House of Assembly to urge government to review
the level of policing in Conception Bay South, with an objective of
increased policing services and improving public safety for residents.
in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.
Mr.
Speaker, this is a petition I have brought forward on several occasions.
I would just like to start right from the very beginning and point
out that in no way am I criticizing the work that RNC officers do in the
Town of Conception Bay South.
They continually present themselves in a most professional manner as they go
about their daily work in making Conception Bay South a safer place for all
of us to live.
speaking with residents, I feel the issue here is tied more to the degree of
policing, the perception of residents, and the visibility of police in the
community, Mr. Speaker. Time and
time again residents will talk about never having seen a police car go up
their street.
Mr.
Speaker, the Premier is fully aware of that because, obviously, at one point
he was a member of the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary.
He was a ward councillor in the Town of Conception Bay South.
I know as the MHA for Topsail, that members of council in Conception
Bay South have continually kept him in the loop about their concerns of
policing in the community.
Mr.
Speaker, at one point in time the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary had a
neighbourhood policing office in the Town of Conception Bay South.
That has been phased out since
AN HON. MEMBER:
In Manuels.
MR. HILLIER:
In Manuels, that is
right, Cherry Lane. That has
been phased out since 2013 and has really not been replaced.
The
Minister of Justice will tell us that the philosophy of our local police
force has changed and is now focused on intelligence-based policing, as
opposed to community-based policing, which was the way the police force
focused when we had our own little substation there in Conception Bay South.
Mr. Speaker, this may very well be the case, but it does not make any
difference to the people of Conception Bay South as they are still concerned
about not seeing a regular police presence in the community.
Mr.
Speaker, as I have gone through the community, there are two areas of focus.
One is the whole concept of
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
remind the hon. member his time has expired.
MR. HILLIER:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker,
will get the rest in next time.
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Cartwright L'Anse au Clair.
MS DEMPSTER:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
the hon. House of Assembly of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador in
Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned humbly sheweth:
WHEREAS Route 510 from L'Anse au Clair to Red Bay is in deplorable condition
and requires immediate upgrading; and
WHEREAS the condition of the highway is causing undue damage to vehicles
using the highway and is a safety hazard for the travelling public; and
WHEREAS both residential and commercial traffic has increased dramatically
with the opening of the Trans-Labrador Highway and increased development in
Labrador; and
WHEREAS cold patching is no longer adequate as a means of repair;
WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly pray and call upon the
House of Assembly to urge the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to
immediately allocate resources to Route 510 from L'Anse au Clair to Red Bay
that allows for permanent resurfacing of the highway.
in duty bound your petitioners will ever pray.
Mr.
Speaker, I have been up numerous times over the last couple of years on this
petition for the people of Cartwright L'Anse au Clair, and indeed the
people of all Labrador who travel this stretch of highway, and I will
continue to do that. Route 510
from L'Anse au Clair to Red Bay
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MS DEMPSTER:
In Question Period today
there were some questions around a tourism development officer for Labrador.
My colleague for Humber West talked about the tourism opportunities
there. I am going to be talking
about that later today. It is
all part and parcel and it fits together to entice tourists to come into the
area and for us to get in on that one billion dollar industry that the
Premier talks about is a priority for him and this Province.
Mr. Speaker, we have to have roads that are safe to drive on.
went on the website today for Transportation and Works, and several lines
there in the things they value, safety was at the top.
Well, I can tell you, Mr. Speaker, that anybody, especially people
who are not familiar with just how dilapidated that the road is, it is
decades beyond its expiration date.
If you get off the ferry after dark, that is if you can get through
the ice, and you get off and you are driving that road, you are taking your
own life in your hands. It is a
very serious threat to safety.
Mr.
Speaker, I said it here before and I will say it again, where is Route 510
on this government's list of priorities?
Where is it? Because if
they are out doing roadwork and they are allocating resources according to
need and there is a stretch of road in the Province that is worse than this,
I would love to go and see it. I
would love to go there.
Mr.
Speaker, I am concerned about the children who are bused every day on this
road. My heart goes out to the
people with broken femurs who have to travel by ambulance on this.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MS DEMPSTER:
It is time for us to get
our priorities in order and to let these people know where they are on the
list of priorities for roadwork because the road is in an extremely bad
shape, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
Orders of the Day.
Orders of the Day
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Government
House Leader.
MR. KING:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR. KING:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
appreciate the encouragement from members opposite.
this time we will call Motion 1 from the Table, that the House approves in
general the budgetary policy of the government, the Budget Speech.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
Motion 1.
We will resume debate on the Budget Speech, debating the
sub-amendment.
recognize the hon. the Member for Kilbride.
MR. DINN:
Mr. Speaker, it would be
nice if I had a wall or something here so I would not be drifting over away
from the microphone. I think
this comes from my teaching days where you would be up talking to a class
and you would wander around all over the place.
want to address some of the comments made last week about unemployment and
employment here in this Province.
We were kind of accused as a government of creating unemployment
problems here, that we have done nothing to stimulate the economy or to
create jobs.
want to go back to the year 2000, that is fifteen years ago.
At that time, in 2000, the unemployment rate here in Newfoundland and
Labrador was 16.6 per cent.
AN HON. MEMBER:
How much?
MR. DINN:
It was 16. 6 per cent.
was a very difficult time to find a job.
Graduate students from MUN and the trade schools were vying or
competing with other people for truck driving jobs.
They were looking for delivery jobs and department store jobs.
mentioned before in the House of Assembly, there was a company on Topsail
Road that advertised for a van driver's job in the local media.
Five hundred people showed up at the door of that company looking for
that job. Some of the people who
showed up were people with university degrees and other trades.
those days it was not uncommon to see a dozen people or more every morning
at construction sites looking for a job.
Also, in those days there were many, many you would not see help
wanted signs like you do today.
If you look around today you will see a lot of help wanted signs.
These signs are at take-outs and other food establishments.
You will find them at home care facilities; farmers are even looking
for workers.
was only recently I had been talking to a young farmer who spent months
looking for someone to go to work on his farm.
After several months, he did find somebody he could hire.
I have had other farmers phone me, saying, do you know anybody I can
hire to take a job to go on the farm?
I have had companies, when I walk in their yard or something, or see
them at a facility or at a business somewhere else, they say, do you know
anybody looking for a job? Very
often, you did not know anybody because they were not there.
This was not the case years ago.
Back
in the 1990s, it was difficult for students to find a job.
I taught school for many years and during those times it was rare to
have five or six people in your class who worked after school, people who
had a part-time job.
Today that is not the case.
Today any student who wants to work can probably find part-time employment.
Very often it is not difficult for them to get summer employment
either. That was not the case
ten or fifteen years ago. It is
interesting to note too that many of those students who do work are helping
to finance their own education, which is very good.
I think it helps them avoid debt later on in life for their
schooling.
Last
week, I spoke to people at the Goulds Recreation Committee.
Myself and the Member for Ferryland were at a volunteer reception for
young people at the Goulds Recreation Committee.
Some of those people told me that it is getting increasingly more
difficult every year to get staff for summer employment to staff their
programs.
Ten
or fifteen years ago, this was not the case.
In those days, ten or fifteen years ago, it was not unusual to have
ten times more resums than the jobs that you had available.
People in the Kilbride recreation program tell me the same thing; it
is getting harder to get young people to go to work in the summertime.
So there is work out there.
is also interesting to look at the unemployment statistics for this Province
in previous years to get a true perspective of today's situation.
Did you know that in 1985 the unemployment rate was 20.2 per cent in
this Province? In 1992, 1993,
and 1994 it was still 20 per cent.
In 1995, 1996, and 1997 it was 18 per cent or a bit higher.
In 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003 it was 16 per cent and a bit
higher.
2004 it was 15.6 per cent and for the next nine years, it went progressively
downwards to 12.3 per cent. In
2013, 2014 it was below 12 per cent for the first time in many, many, many,
many years, probably the first time ever since they started keeping
statistics. Actually in April
this year, this past month, we had a modest gain in employment in this
Province.
is also interesting to note that if we have such a serious unemployment
problem, we note that we are bringing in temporary foreign workers.
Why would you bring in temporary foreign workers if there is no
unemployment problem, or if there is one?
You would be looking at your own environment to solve your problems;
you would not have to bring people in.
To me, the fact that we have to do this means that the unemployment
problem is probably what it always was for the last number of years.
No matter what happens, I do not think that you will get the
unemployment figures down much below ten, no matter what we do.
There are also accusations that we ruined the economy.
Remember, we are part of a global economy, subjected to the ups and
downs of foreign commerce. If
the Chinese do not want to buy iron ore or they want to pay a lower price
for it, then you know what happens.
Oil prices went down; you cannot blame the Premier of this Province
or this government, especially the Minister of Finance, for the fact that
oil has gone down. You might say
that you should have predicted it, but I am sure, like some of us have said
in the last few days, Saskatchewan, Alberta and those people are in the same
boat. None of them knew how to
predict either, so you could only make a guess at what it was going to be.
From
what I can see also, it is just not just rabbit and partridge populations
that are cycling. I think the
economies are also cycling. If
you look over the last number of years you can see periods of time when the
economy was up, followed by a few years when it went down.
This has been going on for as long as I can remember.
Back
in the 1980s and the early 1990s I had a landscaping business.
During that time, in the 1980s things were booming.
I write everything down, as you probably noticed
AN HON. MEMBER:
(Inaudible).
MR. DINN:
You noticed now, did you?
Anyway, during those times I used to have a book with two or three pages
that I could never keep up on. I
always had work, work, and work.
A few years after, in the early 1990s, she went that way; I would have two
or three items in the book that I had to do.
That went on for a few years, then it went up again, then it came
down again. It went up and now
it is down again for a few years.
I believe myself that we are in an environment now where some of the
stuff that we have done in the past, we are much better off than we were
when we had the last real bad downturn.
think that we are cushioned now for a quicker recovery actually.
I do not think it is going to last five years.
I think that in three years' time you are going to see things getting
much better.
AN HON. MEMBER:
(Inaudible).
MR. DINN:
You can write that down
if you like.
The
fact that economies are cycling is reality; this is nothing new.
Budget 2015-2016 deals with issues.
This government is dealing with issues.
I am glad to see that our Premier
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. DINN:
I am having difficulty to
hear myself here now.
I am
going to wait until I get attention again now.
MR. SPEAKER (Littlejohn):
Order, please!
MR. DINN:
Budget 2015-2016 deals
with issues. Our government
deals with issues. The present
Premier is dealing with issues.
The size of the public service in this Province was a big issue.
People have said it is too large.
Experts say that our public service is too large.
We have more public servants per capita than any other province in
this country.
the Budget year like we had coming, in the crunch that we had, we found
ourselves in the situation where our first reaction could have been layoff a
lot of people, send them out the door, but we did not do that.
Now, there are some people, some groups around that would have been
happy that we did that, but we did not do it.
As a government we decided to approach the size of public service
with an attrition plan, an attrition plan that does not lay off 1,200 people
today or tomorrow. Actually, if
it was not an attrition plan and we had planned to cut 1,200 jobs, they
would be gone now. They would
have got their yellow slips or their pink slips last week.
So,
these people would have been gone.
We decided that we would cut the public service as people retired,
and this would allow us and allow people more time.
People do retire, and I think the Attorney General mentioned
yesterday that 400 to 500 people retire per year from the public service.
So, this attrition plan should work, knowing how many people do
retire.
Losing 1,200 jobs or employees all at once would have a tremendous negative
impact on the commerce of this Province.
Can you imagine the trickle-down effect of 1,200 people not having
jobs, losing their jobs all of a sudden?
These are people who are buying houses, buying cars, buying
groceries, buying, buying, and buying.
We would have lost all this economy
AN HON. MEMBER:
(Inaudible).
MR. DINN:
It will be back, don't
you worry.
Two
or three months prior to the Budget, I had a number of people working in the
public service contact me. They
contacted me by phone. I met a
number of them over in the cafeterias here in the Confederation Building.
I visit the cafeteria very often.
I think I eat four or five times a day when I am here at
Confederation Building, so I run into people fairly often.
Some of those people were able to come to me and tell me they were
very, very worried, prior to the Budget coming down, that they were going to
lose their jobs very concerned.
They thought they were going to be out the door any time.
spoke to some of them on the phone and I talked to others, like I said, in
the cafeteria and other places outside these buildings.
These people were worried to death.
I am glad to say that after Budget day these people still had their
jobs, especially those at the lower end of the seniority scale, the young
people who would have been the first to go if layoffs had to occur.
These would be the young people just starting their lives, just
starting their employment lives.
They would have been devastated.
know a couple of these young people in my district.
They had gone back to school, they had gotten off Income Support, and
they were very, very happy working.
If they had to be laid off they would have been devastated.
I can tell you that now, I know.
I do not know how they would have dealt with it.
also had an issue with public pensions.
This government has taken a leadership role in finding a solution to
the liability associated with pension benefits that would have severely
impacted the Province's net debt.
Over the past year we have worked with unions to formalize agreements
that protect the defined benefit plans for approximately 97 per cent of plan
members.
are going to continue work in 2015 and 2016 to address the remaining
unfunded pension liability. I
think that is tremendous. When
you look at figures that we had last year and the year before, given to us
about public debt, a big part of that public debt was pension liability.
We have taken steps to address this.
Budget 2015-2016 puts a plan in place for fiscal recovery.
We have mapped out a strategy for going forward with an emphasis on
trying to stop deficits to reduce debt, and we put in a generation plan with
seed money set aside for future downturns in the economy.
This is facing problems head on and making corrections when they are
needed. We saw, as a government,
that we had a problem and we found a way to deal with this problem.
Budget 2015 and 2016 could have been much worse.
We could have cut many existing programs.
In a budget situation like we found ourselves in we could have
balanced the books by raising taxes a lot more than was done by cutting
services, and laying off employees.
We took a more balanced approach.
Programs for seniors are mostly still in place.
Funding for community groups stayed the same.
Tuition freezes and needs-based grants are still in place, or still
around for secondary students.
There is still a free textbook policy in place for K to 12 students in all
of our schools. Drug programs
are untouched, some are actually enhanced.
The
Rent Subsidy Program is funded again, helping many people.
I do not know how many of you people realize the impact of a Rent
Subsidy Program. If we put a
million dollars in rent subsidies, you are helping probably anywhere from
150 to 250 people with each million.
We have gotten $9 million or $10 million into rent subsidies.
It could be more than that.
I am not sure of the exact number.
So you multiple 150 or 200, probably use 200 as a round number and
times that by ten and you will know how many people you are helping.
These are vulnerable people, people who do need the help, people who
are finding it hard to exist in this economy.
Skill trades programs are included in the 2015-2016 Budget with
improvements. Grant programs for
farmers were not cut. Farmers
can still apply for a Growing Forward 1 program, Growing Forward 2.
It is very important for farmers.
The
Land Consolidation Program is still funded.
For those of you who are not aware of the importance of that program,
the Land Consolidation Program is there to help people, who have farmland
they do not use anymore, sell it to the Province and then the farmers can
use it. It is good for the
people who have the land, who have land that is zoned agricultural and
probably will remain zoned for a long, long time, and it also helps farmers
who are looking for land.
was very interested yesterday when the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture
and Forestry you have a lot of titles mentioned in the House of Assembly
that they are now working on plans to address the issue of food security, a
pet peeve of mine. We bring in
about 90-odd per cent, roughly 90 per cent of the food that we use in this
Province. Having a plan in place
to address that is very, very important.
I do
not know how many of you are aware of it, but if the boat stopped bringing
food here there would not be too many days before you would be short.
I would not, okay. A lot
of you people would not have food.
AN HON. MEMBER:
You would share with
us.
MR. DINN:
No, you would not come to
my place because it is well guarded.
should also mention that Budget 2015-2016 could have eliminated all
infrastructure spending. We had
an adequate excuse to say we cannot do any more, but we did not do that.
We still chose to do roadwork, to build some schools, ferries, but we
did have to put aside some of the large projects until the slowdown is over.
People are complaining that we have not started the Waterford Hospital.
We have not built a prison.
We have not done the hospital in Corner Brook.
The hospital in Corner Brook is on the way.
It will take time.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. DINN:
Yes, it will.
The
west end high school was four or five years getting done.
It will be open this year.
It does not happen all of a sudden.
You are talking many millions of dollars, a lot of money.
We are not in a position to take all of this stuff on today.
I suppose we could have borrowed and had a $3 billion debt, but we
did not.
Budget 2015-2016 could have been worse, like I said before, but we chose to
take a balanced approach. I am
glad we did.
time is nearly up. I have
seventeen seconds fifteen, fourteen.
Thank you very much for your time.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Trinity Bay de Verde.
MR. CROCKER:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The
Member for Kilbride is a hard act to follow.
Mr.
Speaker, it is my pleasure to stand this afternoon and represent the people
of the District of Trinity Bay de Verde and take some time to talk about
Budget 2015.
First, I am going to talk a little bit about my district.
I guess some of the ramifications of Budget 2015 on my district and
some of the issues that I found in my district in the short time I have been
the member, since November, about six months, I guess.
Mr.
Speaker, when you look at Trinity Bay de Verde, the major issue always
comes back to the fishery. One
thing I have seen in my time around the House of Assembly in the last year
or so, first as a staff person, was the co-operation between all three
parties when it came to the inshore shrimp.
Inshore shrimp, Mr. Speaker, in the District of Trinity Bay de Verde is
huge. The economic impacts that
we face every day are beyond compare I guess to most districts in the
Province. I am just going to
give you some numbers.
Mr.
Speaker, in looking at the report of the FFAW, in Bay de Verde last year
there was 3 million pounds of shrimp landed; in Old Perlican, 3.3 million
pounds of shrimp. Alone, shrimp
in Old Perlican and Bay de Verde accounted for over 6.3 million pounds.
The economic impact of this to the local district and to the economy
of the Bay de Verde Peninsula Routine Maintenance and Fuel in 2014: Old
Perlican there was a total of $515,000; Bay de Verde, $418,000; and Hant's
Harbour, $22,000.
These are small municipalities, Mr. Speaker.
When you look at the tax base of these municipalities you look at
Bay de Verde for example. Bay de
Verde's tax base is 44.5 per cent revenue from commercial taxes.
I can assure you that is all fish plant.
Other than one or two small local stores, 44.5 per cent of the tax
base in Bay de Verde is the fishing industry.
When you go and look at Old Perlican, it is a little bit of a larger
town, and a bigger commercial tax base.
Even so, 39.8 per cent of the tax base in Old Perlican comes from
commercial enterprises.
our population ages, we also look at these communities again.
I do not mean to single out these two communities, but these two
communities are so important and this industry is so important to our
district. Mr. Speaker, 46.2 per
cent of the people in Bay de Verde work directly in the fishing industry.
In Old Perlican, it is 43.9 per cent of the working population.
AN HON. MEMBER:
How many?
MR. CROCKER:
It is 43.9 per cent in
Old Perlican work in the fishing industry.
Mr.
Speaker, I encourage government, the Opposition, and the Third Party to stay
working diligently for the shellfish industry in our Province.
Mr.
Speaker, also in Budget 2015 there was some more money allocated for the
Heart's Content Cable Station, the Provincial Historic Site.
The renovations have started there over the winter.
They are continuing on the exterior and they are nearing completion.
MR. A. PARSONS:
(Inaudible).
MR. CROCKER:
Well, that is coming, I
say to the Member for Burgeo La Poile.
was a little disappointed to learn yesterday in Estimates, Mr. Speaker, that
under the heading of special celebrations there has been no money directly
earmarked for the 150 th anniversary of the landing of the first
transatlantic cable, which would be next year, 2016.
So, I encourage the minister and I encourage the government to look
at the 150 th anniversary of the transatlantic cable in Heart's
Content, and ensure that the proper funding is in place next year for those
celebrations.
Mr.
Speaker, the Member for Burgeo La Poile just reminded me of a picture that
I took back late last fall. It
was in front of the cable station 149 years since the transatlantic cable
was landed ironically that was somewhat the birthplace for
telecommunications in North America, and now it is a dead zone when it comes
to cellphone coverage. The
District of Trinity Bay de Verde has little or no cellphone coverage in
talk about economic diversification as we look around.
One of the failures of this government over its twelve years in
office is a failure to diversify the economy, because one of the things that
is so important in rural economies is cellphone coverage.
Again, cellphone coverage was not mentioned in Budget 2015.
Mr.
Speaker, another issue I hear lots of in my district, both from individuals
and municipal councils, is their inability to access Crown lands for future
development. Now, I know the
minister a couple of weeks ago addressed this in an announcement, and I do
hope that the Department of Municipal Affairs addresses this issue as soon
as possible to ensure that municipalities and private business people in
districts, in rural districts, have the ability to develop.
Mr.
Speaker, I guess I would be remiss if did not take advantage of some of
these nice, glossy documents provided to us by the government at taxpayers'
cost. I was impressed on Budget
day, there was it was about that thick, a nice, glossy document.
Let me just cherry-pick a bit around a few of them.
I will not go in too deep, but I will cherry-pick some stuff.
The
first one, obviously the title of the Budget is
Balancing Choices for a Promising
Future . Twelve years in, the
government now decides that they are going to balance our choices for a
promising future. Mr. Speaker,
here are some of the highlights of Budget 2015.
This is the government's document; these are some of the highlights
of Budget 2015. The deficit for
2014-2015 projected at mid-year was $916 million; revised upwards, $924
million. That is a result,
according to this glossy document, of the decrease in oil revenues.
The
ironic part, Mr. Speaker, when oil was $103 a barrel back in the spring or
late winter of 2014, this government in its last Budget projected a deficit
of over $500 million. So even
when oil was at its highest, oil was at its highest peak or some of its
highest peak, $103 a barrel or somewhere in that vicinity, we were looking
at a Budget deficit last year of over $500 million.
This was not sprung on us overnight.
This has been coming for a while.
It is like the freight train.
Budget 2015 outlines a five-year fiscal recovery plan.
I guess, Mr. Speaker, we are going to recover from the twelve years
of mismanagement. I would think
it is a five-year plan to recover from the past twelve years.
By the way, we are going to return to surplus in 2020 and 2021.
Again, that is on projected oil revenues.
The Member for St. John's East pointed out yesterday afternoon that
looking that far into the future at oil revenues is probably not a safe bet
is that fair, Mr. Murphy?
After ten years of significant growth, economic conditions in Newfoundland
and Labrador have weakened but they are expected to rebound by 2019.
It is good to know. Mr.
Speaker, the government produces a five-year plan for recovery, and I think
it is a five-year plan from recovery of twelve years of mismanagement.
Mr.
Speaker, one move the government did make in Budget 2015 was an increase in
the HST, 2 per cent. The HST,
being obviously a consumption tax, is going to affect each and every one of
us in this Province. It is going
to take an already slower economy or a slowing economy and slow it even
more. It is going to affect
those in society: our seniors, our lower income people; they are the ones
going to be affected the most. I
know, Mr. Speaker, that the government is going to tell us oh no, that is
okay; we are going to give them back that money in October with a $300 tax
credit and we are going to increase the threshold.
Mr.
Speaker, for the senior paying a heat bill in February or the parents buying
sneakers and school supplies in September, that $300 in October is not going
to help. That $300 cash infusion
in October is not going to help the other eleven months of the year.
Mr.
Speaker, the government also made a move in this Budget quickly to remove
the Residential Energy Rebate.
Again, that is another move that is going to affect likely our seniors and
most vulnerable again.
Mr.
Speaker, I think a week before the Budget the Member for Conception Bay
South entered a private member's motion for a seniors' advocate, similar to
the Advocate we have for children in our Province.
It was astonishing that day to hear the members opposite say how
one member, I think it was the Member for Exploits, made the comment that we
do lots for seniors. Mr.
Speaker, we can never do enough for our seniors.
They are the people who have built our economies; they have built our
communities. So when it comes to
providing for our seniors, I do not think we can ever do enough.
I am
going to put down this little glossy document and go yet to another one,
same title, Balancing Choices for a
Promising Future . I am going
to go to 2015 Expectations: Economic growth is expected to remain subdued in
2015. Real GDP is forecast to
decrease by 0.3 per cent.
Household income is expected to increase it is an increase, Mr. Speaker
by 0.2 per cent. By the way, as
household income increases by 0.2 per cent, consumer prices are expected to
increase by 1 per cent, and we are going to add a 2 per cent HST increase on
that. The modest increase in
household income will certainly be offset by the government's increase in
the HST.
Employment is expected to average 234,000, down from 2014, so employment is
down. Retail sales are expected
a modest decrease of 0.3 per cent to $8.9 billion.
Mr. Speaker, my guess would be, and I am not an economist by any
stretch of the imagination, but once January 1, 2016 comes and we bring in a
2 per cent increase in the HST, if government predicts a modest decline this
year in retail sales, look out in 2016.
Oil
production is supposed to decrease; the Province's population, decrease;
mineral exploration is also going to decrease; fish landings in our Province
are going to remain stable.
Well, Mr. Speaker, stable is good; we can handle stable.
This government also has to prepare for the return of groundfish.
was in Grates Cove; it will be two weeks this Saturday, I met with the
Harbour Authority. One of the
things that the seventeen crews that fish Grates Cove were talking about is
they have a quota, I think it is 3,000 pounds currently.
Seventeen crews in Grates Cove fishing 3,000 pounds of cod.
We have to ensure with the federal government that the basic
infrastructure is in place and our marketing is in place so that when cod
does return, we are ready for that change.
Mr.
Speaker, another expectation of the government's Budget this year is a 9.6
per cent decline in housing starts.
It is quite interesting that is the government's document.
Yesterday in a couple of news articles the Minister of Finance I
have an
article here from The Telegram . The
minister acknowledges the Province is in a recession.
In another
article the Minister of Finance says: economic indicators
are strong, despite recession.
Economic indicators, Mr. Speaker I just spoke of some of the economic
indicators. GDP in 2015 is down,
final domestic product is down, household incomes are down, disposable
income is down, retail sales are down, and the Consumer Price Index is up.
AN HON. MEMBER:
That is not a good
thing (inaudible) inflation.
MR. CROCKER:
Yes, that is inflation.
Yes, you are correct.
Housing starts, as I just mentioned a moment ago, are down 9.6 per cent.
Unemployment is up, the labour force is down, and the population is
down. Mr. Speaker, I am happy
that the Finance Minister sees the positive indicators, despite we are in a
recession.
Bear
with me, Mr. Speaker, there is so much in these documents.
I will put that one down and go to another one.
MR. S. COLLINS:
Do you want me to
sing a song in the book?
MR. CROCKER:
No, I say to the Member
for Terra Nova, there is no need for him to sing this afternoon.
want to refer back to another glossy document.
This glossy document is called
Securing the Future: A 10-Year Sustainability Plan for Newfoundland and
Labrador . This stability
plan and we know this government has lots of plans, lots of paper, and
lots of glossy documents. This
one is dated March 26, 2013, so a little over two years ago, at which time
the government was going to eliminate the deficit this year actually
government is going to get rid of the deficit; 2015-2016, the deficit was
gone.
Government at that time, Mr. Speaker, was committing to long-term planning.
I find there is one interesting
section in the sustainability plan;
it is on page 14. The Auditor
General warns back in his 2012 report, and I quote, World oil prices are
highly volatile and production levels related to non-renewable resources can
vary significantly. Therefore,
changes in these factors can result in significant changes in revenue from
year to year .
AN HON. MEMBER:
That was only three
years ago.
MR. CROCKER:
Yes, three years ago the
Auditor General said this is one of the government's glossy documents
world oil prices are highly volatile.
We knew that three years ago, but oh no, we did not plan.
We never, ever considered it.
There was never a rainy day fund.
remember one of the things in the early 1990s when the Chrtien government
came to power in Ottawa and I guess I am a little biased.
One of the things, probably the best Finance Minister in Canadian
history, Paul Martin, always did was he had a contingency fund.
He built a contingency fund into his Budget because Canada is a
natural-resources-based economy.
One thing we know about economies based on natural resources is it is
volatile. We look today at Lab
West and we see the changes in iron ore prices and the havoc that is causing
in Lab West, but to offset that we have to plan.
Now,
after twelve years of government, and their new eight pillars pillar
number eight is a legacy fund or a heritage fund or some kind of fund.
So seventeen years after taking power good planning seventeen
years after taking power this government is going to plan for a rainy day,
Mr. Speaker. Seventeen years
after taking government.
2021, I say to the member, I think this government is going to be ready to
plan for the future.
MS C. BENNETT:
(Inaudible).
MR. CROCKER:
Yes, good point, I say to
the Member for Virginia Waters.
By that time, we will have $14 billion in debt.
just have to refer back to something very early here in the two-year-old
plan. Here we go: In 2004, when
our Administration took office, we inherited the structural deficit of
almost $12 million. Now, we will
dispute that number. I think it
was more like $9.3
AN HON. MEMBER:
Billion.
MR. CROCKER:
Billion, sorry.
That is a B. Yes, B for
Bob.
the last ten years this government has taken us 180, plus a few billion.
In 2004, we had a $9.3 billion structural deficit, and in 2019 this
government is telling us that we are going to have a $14.9 billion
structural deficit. Mr. Speaker,
astonishing. It is almost double
in seventeen years.
see my time is running out, Mr. Speaker.
I am only about 25 per cent through my glossy documents but I will
get another couple of opportunities in the coming days and hopefully at that
time I will get through the rest of my glossy documents.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Seniors, Wellness and Social Development.
MR. JACKMAN:
That is it, Mr. Speaker,
that is one of them.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. JACKMAN:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
is a pleasure to get up and speak to the Budget.
I am going to take a little bit of a
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR. JACKMAN:
I am going to take a
little bit of a different approach, I think, Mr. Speaker, but before I get
into that I would like to just speak to some of the points that the member
just talked about.
Mr.
Speaker, the volatility of oil has always been there, there is no doubt
about that. I think if a lot of
people had tried to predict where it was going to be about a year and a half
ago, even though people will talk to volatility, I do not think anyone would
have predicted it would have gone to where it is at this particular point.
much as the member might want to paint the terrible stories and whatnot, I
just want to point out a couple of things to him.
That since they have been recording unemployment statistics
nationally, 2013 and 2014 were the lowest numbers of unemployment that
Newfoundland and Labrador ever had.
The lowest it has ever had.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. JACKMAN:
Mr. Speaker, there is
another statement I would ask the member to go and take a look at.
There was a May 8
article that came out and quoted Stats Canada.
In terms of Atlantic Canada, it says that Newfoundland and Labrador
was the only province that saw job gains.
As a matter of fact, Mr. Speaker, some 2,200.
I want to speak to the people of the Province through this means,
those who are listening, please do not take the message that everything is
doom and gloom.
Mr.
Speaker, I think the Premier said it.
I heard him in an interview one day and he said, this is a bump in
the road and we are asking the people of the Province to work with us.
Things are going to be okay.
We will get through this and continue the good work that is going on
in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Mr.
Speaker, we in this House are called upon from time to time to get up and
speak for ten, fifteen, or twenty minutes
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR. JACKMAN:
and oftentimes, Mr.
Speaker, we are called upon by someone who leading a piece of legislation
and say, would you mind getting up to speak?
Oftentimes we get up on very short notice and speak in this House,
Mr. Speaker.
speaking to the Budget, I thought what I would do is I would take it from
two perspectives: one is the challenges that we were faced with and how we
dealt with them. Do you know
what, Mr. Speaker? The second
point, this is the Budget we are going to be taking to the people of the
Province in an election, and these are the people who will judge.
I am going to ask something of the people who speak here now shortly.
Mr.
Speaker, I have sat around a Cabinet table for eight years, a little over
eight years, and I have been through a budget process eight years in a row.
I am going to tell you, Mr. Speaker, the discussions we had around
this Budget were more intense.
It was longer than either of the previous years that I have sat around that
table.
looked at decisions, we brought forward suggestions, proposals were brought
forward, we assessed them, we reassessed them, we put them in, we took them
out, reconsidered, and, Mr. Speaker, like I said, there was more discussion
went into this Budget from what I have sat around the table in the past
eight years than I have ever seen before.
Mr.
Speaker, I would just like to outline the approach.
I will say to the members who are heckling a little bit, I am not
here, standing up and speaking to this Budget in a joking way.
I am serious when I speak about it, and speak about the direction
that we had to take.
MR. J. BENNETT:
You should be wearing
black.
MR. JACKMAN:
Mr. Speaker, the Member
for St. Barbe suggests we should be wearing black.
I hope the people of the Province are paying attention to those kinds
of commentaries because that will tell you the difference between that crowd
and our crowd.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. JACKMAN:
Mr. Speaker, I am
thinking that he is suggesting we wear black because it is doom and gloom.
We on this side certainly do not believe that.
Mr.
Speaker, I will say to you that when we went into the Budget process, just
through my Department of Seniors, Wellness and Social Development, we could
have cut funding to community organizations and sports groups.
We could have cut funding in the Poverty Reduction Strategy.
We could have cut funding for the supports that we offer to seniors.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
There are many conversations going on both sides of the House and it is very
difficult to listen to the hon. minister and hear the hon. minister.
If we could, on both sides, can we carry our conversations on both
sides?
Thank you.
The
hon. the Minister of Seniors, Wellness and Social Development.
MR. JACKMAN:
Mr. Speaker, we could
have cut dollars from the Disability Policy Office.
In AES, we could have cut Income Support.
We could have cut JCPs.
We could have cut the apprenticeship programs.
We could have cut training programs.
We could have laid off people, but we did not do that.
said that we needed to be measured.
That is why, Mr. Speaker, we came up with the attrition plan.
The purpose of the attrition plan is that as people retire we replace
a certain number. If we had gone
with layoffs, who would have been the first ones who would have been laid
off? The young people who are
entering our workforce, so we did not want to go there.
Mr.
Speaker, I caution people because there has been commentary made in this
House. The Member for Virginia
Waters has said it on occasions.
It has been in the newspaper.
She has tipped her hand. She has
indicated there will be cuts.
The one thing that she has not figured out yet is where.
MS C. BENNETT:
Mr. Speaker, a point
of order.
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Virginia Waters on a point of order.
MS C. BENNETT:
Mr. Speaker, I
correct the minister on the opposite side and say that what I have clearly
said repeatedly is respecting the public sector, but more importantly,
cutting the waste out that this government continues to waste today.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
There is no point of
order.
The
hon. the Minister of Seniors, Wellness and Social Development.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR. JACKMAN:
Mr. Speaker, I will tell
you
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR. JACKMAN:
Mr. Speaker, when you see
a response like that, and the onslaught of applause, that tells you are
hitting a nerve. You are hitting
a nerve.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. JACKMAN:
I will credit people
they are the ones who will see through it, Mr. Speaker.
The
second thing we had to do we had to be measured because you did not want
to go in and just throw everything into disarray.
Mr. Speaker, the second thing we had to do is we had to be balanced.
We knew there were things that we had to do, but we had to be
balanced. There were things that
could be cancelled. I will say
to the people in my district, we have approved dollars for a protective
custody unit a dementia unit in my district.
Mr.
Speaker, I would say to the people, just be a little bit wary, just be a
little bit wary as to if you are hearing comments from the Member for
Virginia Waters talking about she is going in, she does not know where, but
she is going to just be wary of some of the things that might disappear.
we had to be balanced.
AN HON. MEMBER:
Fear mongering.
MR. JACKMAN:
Someone across the floor
is saying fear mongering. No, I
give the people of the Province more credit than that.
They will decide.
had to find balance. We knew
there were projects that had to be done.
It is quite obvious and evident to people around the areas in Gander,
I will say, and on the Avalon, out around Bay Roberts, schools have to be
built. Students have to have
places whereby they have to sit.
There are places, Mr. Speaker, where students have to sit.
We have the demand of increased population growth; therefore, we have
no choice. There are other
projects in schools that need to happen.
There are renovations that have to be carried out.
So,
Mr. Speaker, we were measured in our approach and we were balanced in our
approach. There were some
projects that we have heard in the media that people are disappointed that
they did not get the go-ahead.
Well, I would ask those people to recognize that we do face this bump in the
road and that we would ask that they work with us, because we still are
committed.
heard an interview around the Waterford Hospital and I will tell you, in
that intense debate that was one that we did have a lengthy discussion on.
As the minister has indicated, as we have said, we are still
committed to that project, and we would ask people just to bear with us.
So,
Mr. Speaker, we had choices to make.
We wanted to be measured and we wanted to be balanced.
So where are we now?
That leads me into my second part.
We are now we know it, that sometime this fall we are going to be
heading into an election. What
we are going to have to do is we are going to have to trust on the people to
decide. Everyone knows that
ultimately it is the people of the Province who will decide.
Mr.
Speaker, we have heard on several occasions, they have talked about
misspending and we went and did projects that we did not plan.
Well, whether they like it or not and I do not like going to
history too much, but there were many projects that we had to get into.
remember early when we came into power, if there was one thing that we heard
over and over again, was about mould in schools.
I come from that in my previous career, Mr. Speaker.
We heard about those projects that required mould remediation.
We had no choice. We had
to go down that road. That is
where we did go. The number of
schools that we built, we have gone down that road.
Let
me tell you, I will just reflect a little bit on the Burin Peninsula.
The CT scan was a piece of equipment that was required.
One of the biggest issues that residents faced at that particular
point, and I really felt for the individuals who needed that service, that
for three days a week the people had to leave the Burin Peninsula and they
drove either an hour-and-a-half to Clarenville, if they could get in, or
more of a requirement is they drove three times a week into St. John's,
received dialysis, and then had to drive back.
Mr.
Speaker, when I leave government, if there is one thing that I can say that
I am more than proud of being a part of was putting that dialysis unit down
there.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. JACKMAN:
That means that an
individual can now get in their vehicle and the longest they probably have
to go it about thirty to forty minutes.
I know people who are in that and I know how draining it is on them
to receive dialysis. I can only
imagine that three-hour drive one way, six hours on the road, three times a
week to receive dialysis.
So,
Mr. Speaker, put all the political rhetoric aside, I do not care what
anybody says, we did not have to do that and we could have continued the old
practice, but that was a worthy, worthy investment.
Mr.
Speaker, another one
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR. JACKMAN:
The Premier, the Minister
of Health, a number of us, went out in Paradise and went to the announcement
around the private-public non-profit partnerships.
That will be the creation of 360 beds.
Now there has been some question as to where
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
ask hon. members if they want to have a sidebar conversation, they take it
outside of the Chamber.
The
hon. the Minister of Seniors, Wellness and Social Development.
MR. JACKMAN:
Mr. Speaker, I never did
think I would spark that much reaction, but it is getting there.
About the creation of 360 long-term care beds do you know the biggest
question I received on that?
When will they be available? The
minister has gotten into the recognition that we can do these more cost
efficient, we can do them faster and with our aging demographics, it is
where we need to go.
Mr.
Speaker, I have to say another one.
The Member for Virginia Waters got up the other day and spoke to what
we have done, how we have neglected Corner Brook pulp and paper.
Mr. Speaker, we offered $110 million support, and I will tell you the
other thing that I am not that fond of hearing.
She made this comment; the Office of Public Engagement, she referred
to it as the department of clickers.
Now, Mr. Speaker, the Office of Public Engagement has gone around the
Province and has held multiple sessions to seek input from people.
have been to a number of those sessions and you know the difference in
those. Oftentimes when they hold
these sessions, you will get three or four people who parade to a microphone
and they are the ones who put their views forward and oftentimes that is
what dominates the conversation.
The Office of Public Engagement, through the use of new technology, as she
refers to it as clickers, have engaged more people.
I have heard from people who have attended these sessions and they
have said they very much appreciate the opportunity to provide their input.
Mr.
Speaker, I have also heard some commentary about Nalcor, whether we should
be investing in Nalcor. Somebody
said something to me a couple of years ago that really resonated.
They said they want Nalcor to become Norway's Statoil.
Anybody who follows Statoil Statoil is a renowned recognized entity that
goes all over the world to make investments in the oil industry and the
returns go back to Norway. Mr.
Speaker, that is what we need of Nalcor.
That
is why I can guarantee you, anybody who asks me publicly where I stand on
our financial support for