March 15, 2005 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS Vol. XLV

No. 1

The House met at 2:00 p.m.

MR. SPEAKER (Hodder): Order, please!

SERGEANT-AT-ARMS: Mr. Speaker, the Justices of the Supreme Court have

arrived.

MR. SPEAKER: Admit the Justices of the Supreme Court.

SERGEANT-AT-ARMS: Please be seated.

Mr. Speaker, His Honour the Lieutenant Governor has arrived.

MR. SPEAKER: Admit His Honour the Lieutenant Governor.

SERGEANT-AT-ARMS: All rise.

Mr. Speaker leaves the Chair.

His Honour the Lieutenant Governor takes the Chair.

SERGEANT-AT-ARMS: It is the wish of His Honour the Lieutenant Governor

that all present please be seated.

Thank you.

HIS HONOUR THE LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR (Edward Roberts, ONL, QC):

Mr. Speaker, Members of the House of Assembly and people of Newfoundland and

Labrador:

This year, My Government will undertake a range of new and improved

initiatives to seize more effectively the opportunities to grow our economy,

invest in our culture, and demonstrate a strong social conscience.

But first, it is worthwhile to reflect upon one of the most important

developments in the history of Newfoundland and Labrador. On the fifth of June

in 2004, the Prime Minister of Canada accepted My First Minister's proposal

for the fair sharing of offshore oil and gas revenue. On the fourteenth of

February, this year, in 2005, following eight months of challenging discussions

new agreement on offshore revenues that enables Newfoundland and Labrador to

retain 100 per cent of its provincial offshore revenue, thereby truly making

this Province the principal beneficiary of our offshore resources.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

HIS HONOUR THE LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR: This was indeed a turning point in

our Province's history, a moment that will define our Province for generations

to come.

two billion dollars in lieu of revenue that will flow in years to come; however,

the total revenue over the life of the agreement will likely be even greater

than this. Still, the magnitude of the fiscal challenge our Province faces is

such that, even with this substantial new revenue, one cannot afford to waste

one precious penny. My Government is determined to invest the new revenue wisely

in ways that will generate the greatest long-term return for our Province and

enable future generations to share in the benefits of these nonrenewable

resources long after they are depleted.

My Government thanks Prime Minister Martin for recognizing our Province's

unique financial challenges and resolving to help us address them. Our Province

also recognizes the tremendous efforts of My Premier. He was tenacious and

determined in his fight for greater benefits for this Province. His spirit,

attitude and leadership have resulted in a brighter future for Newfoundland and

Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

HIS HONOUR THE LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR:

Mr. Speaker and Members of the House of Assembly:

Newfoundland and Labrador aspires to become one of Canada's brightest

success stories and to make even stronger contributions to the Canadian family

as a truly equal partner, in practice as well as principle .

Money aside, the true significance of the Atlantic Accord 2005 is pride.

During the difficult period of talks on the Atlantic Accord, our Province's

residents, expatriates, and supporters alike stood steadfastly together,

unshakable in their confidence and unwavering in their commitment to

Newfoundland and Labrador. Through media such as the worldwide web, movers and

shakers like Kevin McCann of the "FairDealforNewfoundland.com" website

demonstrated with competence the new attitude that has taken hold in

Newfoundland and Labrador. My Government is deeply appreciative of the

outpouring of support during this process and commend the people of Newfoundland

and Labrador for standing together for the greater good of us all. Even more

important than the revenue, this new attitude of pride and self-confidence is

the currency that will purchase our Province's success in the years ahead.

This new attitude is strongly reflected in our Province's culture. Our

stories, songs, traditions, and pictures have always reflected resilience and

tenacity in the face of great obstacles; but more and more, our cultural icons

are encouraging our people to aim higher. It is time to put the bountiful

resources of our Province to work for our people so that our sons and daughters

can remain here to raise sons and daughters of their own. These sentiments are

echoed in the powerful lyrics of bands like Great Big Sea, who sing:

In this beautiful life,

there's always some sorrow

It's a double-edged knife,

but there's always tomorrow

It's up to you now if you sink or swim

Keep the faith and your ship will come in.

This strength also sings through the songs of Ron Hynes, RASA, Shaye, Crush,

Kevin Collins, Pamela Morgan, Jason Greeley, The Flummies, Spirit of

Newfoundland, The Fables, Brothers in Stereo, The Irish Descendants, Jenny Gear,

The Carol Players, The Masterless Men, and so many other promising musicians. It

reverberates through the writings of ED Riche, Wayne Johnston, Lisa Moore,

Michael Winter, Ramona Dearing, Leo Furey, Nellie Strowbridge, Beth Ryan, Joel

Hynes and Michael Crummey, to name but a few. It is portrayed in the theatrical

work of Jillian Keiley, Lois Brown, and Donna Butt. It is reflected in the

photography of Sheilagh O'Leary, Brian Ricks, and Manfred Buchheit and the

paintings of Mary Pratt, Lloyd Pretty, Grant Boland, Shelley Cornick, Ian

Sparkes, E.J. Wareham, and a host of others. The spirit is framed in the films

of Paul Pope and Gerry Rogers. It shines through the works of Seamus O'Regan,

Rick Mercer, Rex Murphy, Mary Walsh, Gordon Pinsent, Robert Joy, Tina Maddigan,

and Sebastian Spence. And this is only the tip of the iceberg, the iceberg of

the talent that Newfoundland and Labrador is producing.

Through so many media in so many ways, our people and indeed the entire world

are beginning to see Newfoundland and Labrador as they have never seen it

before. Where once there was uncertainty, there is now renewed pride. Where once

there was pessimism, there is now renewed hope. Where once there was

powerlessness, there is now renewed confidence in our ability to shape our

destiny to our own design. If our grandparents could succeed in carving a home

here when the opportunities were so limited, how much greater our successes can

be with opportunities that are so vast.

Celebrating Our Culture

Mr. Speaker and Members of the House of Assembly:

With a new Atlantic Accord now successfully achieved, My Government is

prepared to move forward, in a much more visible and powerful way, with

far-reaching economic development initiatives and cultural policy strategies.

Now that our people have been reinvigorated by a renewed pride and hope for

our future, we as a society must not allow that sense of self-confidence and

optimism to fade. Rather, we must nurture and sustain our hope and pride so that

it propels our people to a brighter future. We can best build that brighter

future if tomorrow's leaders have a better appreciation of the legacy they

have inherited from our generations.

Music, drama, writing, film, and visual arts, along with other forms of

expression, allow us to capture and communicate our culture. In their Blueprint

for the Future, My Government stated that, "in its first mandate,

government will increase the presence of cultural content in the school

curriculum and foster links between artists and students in the school

environment." Through the implementation of a sustained, integrated, and

coherent strategy, Newfoundland and Labrador history and culture will be

affirmed as a key feature of the K-12 curriculum, and students will develop a

critical awareness of the role of the arts in creating and reflecting our

heritage. Students, and those who witness their expression of the arts, will

also come to respect the contributions of individuals and cultural groups to the

arts in both local and provincial contexts and will recognize the value of the

arts as a record of our unique experience.

The social, cultural, and economic benefits of My Government's cultural

strategy will be significant. Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, especially our

younger people, will grow in their understanding and appreciation of our unique

culture. Their sense of place will help build the confidence to carry the

Province proudly through the next generations.

To promote the arts generally, My Government will introduce a comprehensive

fine arts and culture strategy within the education system that includes

expanding the curriculum for the arts, music, theatre arts, fine arts, and

social studies; supporting professional development; promoting our culture

through the acquisition of works by local authors, artists, and performers; and

investing in the acquisition and repair of musical equipment.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

HIS HONOUR THE LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR: To promote collaboration with our

artists, My Government will work with the Province's writers and artists to

develop a new Artists in Schools Program to connect musical, dramatic, and

visual artists with students in classrooms, enabling them to benefit directly

from the inspiration and mentorship that our cultural muses can provide. There

will also be arts institutes where students can benefit from hands-on mentoring,

and fine arts conferences to facilitate teachers' professional growth.

The intent of My Government's actions is to promote our culture and instill

in our young people a stronger sense of pride in who we are as a people.

This renewed focus on identity and culture is nowhere more important than in

our Province's Aboriginal communities. My Government is committed to the

development of culturally-relevant curriculum, beginning with social studies and

art, to reflect the rich legacies of Aboriginal peoples. We will accomplish this

through provincial investment and through partnership, where possible, with

federal authorities at Canadian Heritage and Indian and Northern Affairs Canada.

The needs and aspirations of the Innu of Labrador are a priority of My

Councils, My Government is committed to a process that will ensure the education

system fulfils the needs of young people in the Innu communities. The ultimate

goal is to provide the Innu communities with the means to take control of their

own lives and their own collective destiny. Education is fundamental to the

success of that endeavour. All of our Provinces's young people deserve an

opportunity to acquire the skills and knowledge they need to reach their

potential, and My Government is committed to enabling this.

Mr. Speaker and Members of the House of Assembly:

Our culture not only inspires; it also employs. No area of opportunity for

business growth is more promising or exciting than our Province's cultural

sector. By blending the past and the present and combining outside and local

influences, contemporary creators have developed a distinctive "voice"

that is gaining recognition internationally. We are like no other place, and My

Government intends to nurture that uniqueness.

In our Province, culture is a driver of economic wealth and contributes to

better education, education, identity and social cohesion, community health and

quality of life. It also shapes the face of Newfoundland and Labrador that

greets the wider world.

To nurture our cultural strengths, My Government will bring forward this year

a Strategic Cultural Plan to promote our heritage, celebrate our identity, and

champion creativity.

To ensure the plan is comprehensive and effective, My Government will convene

a roundtable discussion with the arts and heritage communities on the proposed

details and, together, we will embark with them on a partnership of

strengthening our cultural identity, building a creative Province, and seizing

the economic opportunities for generations to come.

My Government looks forward to the opening of one of the most unique and

exciting cultural facilities in Canada. The Rooms will house the Archives, Art

Gallery, and Museum of Newfoundland and Labrador. The Rooms will offer a

combination of excellent programs and services, together with effective

educational and public outreach programs, and thereby make the institution

relevant and meaningful for every school-aged child and every adult in our

Province.

My Government will also create a Provincial Historic Sites and Monuments

Board to identify, designate, preserve, and celebrate the people, places and

events that embody the rich history of Newfoundland and Labrador.

My Government is delighted this year to join with the Roman Catholic

community of Newfoundland and Labrador in celebrating the 150 th

anniversary of the completion and consecration fo the Basilican-Cathedral of St.

John the Baptist in St. John's. Our Province celebrates with its Roman

Catholic community the remarkable contributions that the Church has made

throughout Newfoundland and Labrador over the centuries.

Newfoundland and Labrador is being discovered again, this time as a unique,

exotic, tourism destination. The Province's unique natural attractions, its

communities and its people, and its cultural heritage are powerful assets for

our tourism industry. From Mackinsons to Makkovik and from Roddickton to Ramea,

our visitors are captivated by the magnificent landscape and seascape, by our

unique history and culture, and by a pride that is unmatched anywhere.

Tourism is a real export earner and wealth generator for any destination,

particularly one that has the potential of this Province. My Government

recognizes that an investment in tourism will generate revenue in all regions of

the Province through increased visitors and increased capacity of accommodations

and activities, resulting in increased employment and revenue for tourism

operators and for the communities in which they reside.

My Government believes that, in order to reach our true tourism potential, we

must continue to market our destination professionally. It is through effective

and increased marketing efforts that we will continue to grow our share of

non-resident visitors and spending.

Fostering Economic Growth

Mr. Speaker and Members of the House of Assembly:

Cultural tourism is just one opportunity to foster economic growth. There are

many others. In all sectors of our economy, My Government will begin replacing

barriers to opportunity with bridges to success.

My Government has already outlined a comprehensive blueprint for economic

development. Newfoundland and Labrador competes for investment and export market

share against many other jurisdictions. Our economic future will be determined

by our success in reaching, and ultimately exceeding, not just our nearest

competitors in the rest of Canada and other North Atlantic countries, but also

the emerging economic powers of the Pacific rim.

The focus must be on building a competitive economy driven by private sector

firms selling in competitive markets and operating out of all regions of our

Province. The key to success will be our Province's performance in attracting

investment, driving innovation, and building and attracting new skills

throughout the Province.

Last year, My Government established a new Department of Business to

facilitate growth and investment throughout rural and urban regions of our

Province. My Government will strive to make Newfoundland and Labrador a more

business friendly location and work to ensure continued growth and investment in

our Province.

In its inaugural year, the Department of Business has undertaken a

comprehensive inventory of provincial business development programs. This

inventory will allow My Government to assess its business support functions and

help it to identify where enhanced measures will need to be targeted.

Small and medium size businesses are the backbone of our Province's

economy. To grow economic opportunities, our Province must nurture its business

sector.

The issue of poor access to capital is well documented as a major barrier to

business growth in Newfoundland and Labrador. My Government is preparing to

address this weakness with significant new initiatives to leverage business

success. In particular, My Government will create sources of capital to enable

businesses to establish, grow, diversify, and prosper.

The Department of Business has also undertaken a strategic audit of

government's branding practices. In order to identify ways to better position

Newfoundland and Labrador as an attractive place in which to visit, live and set

up business, My Government will be developing a major branding initiative.

My Government will create strong trade and marketing development units to

help businesses identify new opportunities for growth. We will also seek the

reduction of trade barriers.

To advance diversification, My Government have undertaken a range of

initiatives involving broadband, marine industries, provincial education export

strategies and the provincial nominee program. This year, My Government will

unveil a major Innovation Strategy that will develop an advanced technology base

in the Province, with a major emphasis on ocean technology and marine sciences

in the Avalon area and the emerging environmental sector in Western

Newfoundland.

In the months ahead, My Government will move forward with a Rural Development

Strategy for Newfoundland and Labrador. The departments of Business and

Innovation, Trade and Rural Development, in partnership with other levels of

government, regional economic development boards, small business, industry and

community organizations, will continue to implement a number of key initiatives

that are significantly benefitting our rural economies.

Last year, My Government established a Rural Secretariat to coordinate

initiatives to revitalize our rural communities. Following consultations, My

Government has recently announced a structure for the Rural Secretariat which

will enhance partnerships and decision-making between government and

communities. The structure will involve nine sustainable regional regions each

with a Regional Council, and a Provincial Council of the Rural Secretariat. The

Provincial Council will meet directly with Cabinet and ensure regional

perspectives inform public policy development and implementation.

My Government has recently hired a Chief Information Officer who will be

responsible for streamlining and enhancing service delivery, reforming

management and operational IT practices throughout government, and bridging the

role of government in public service delivery with the private sector. The new

Chief Information Officer has completed a review of the government's

information technology functions and found considerable opportunity for new

approaches. Strategic improvements will be made to My Government's IT

functions that will result in a more efficient, better organized, and accessible

provincial government.

Productivity, competitiveness and a stable labour climate are hallmarks to

economic growth. Last year My Government established the Labour Relations Agency

to work toward the improvement of labour relations in the Province and to

maintain a stable labour relations climate conducive to economic growth. This

year, government will enhance the role of the Agency in improving productivity

and competitiveness in Newfoundland and Labrador. The Agency will expand its

work with business and labour at the level of the workplace, and build strategic

partnerships with other government departments in the pursuit of economic

development.

Harnessing Our Natural Resources

Mr. Speaker and Members of the House of Assembly :

My Government will take the lead in harnessing our bountiful natural

resources for economic growth throughout Newfoundland and Labrador.

The people of our Province are determined to set the bar higher when

determining acceptable arrangements for the development of our resources.

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians must be the principal beneficiaries of these

developments. No longer will our people watch quietly as our resources create

opportunities for others at our expense.

My Government is delighted with the achievements of the Hibernia, Terra Nova,

and White Rose projects and is eager to advance development at Hebron-Ben Nevis

and exploration in the Orphan and Laurentian basins and offshore Labrador. My

Government will continue to work with developers to advance these and other

projects. My Government will stand by its belief that there must be no more

giveaways. It will explore opportunities to better harness these resources for

the greater benefit of all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

HIS HONOUR THE LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR: My Government is also pleased with

the successes and emerging opportunities in the mining and mineral exploration

sector and will foster continued exploration and development in Labrador and on

the Island.

My Government is in the process of developing a comprehensive Energy Plan to

define energy needs, opportunities, and costs. In January of this year, My

Government, in partnership with Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro, initiated a new

approach to development of the Lower Churchill hydroelectric resource. They

launched a Request for Expressions of Interest and Proposals for participation

in the development. The deadline for submissions is March 31 st .

Ministers will assess all options and proceed when they have identified the best

development concept. Their objective is to reach a development arrangement that

ensures the Province will realize significant, long-term economic benefits from

this untapped, clean, renewable energy resource.

In the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Mr. Speaker, My Government

will create a Seafood Diversification and Development Division to address

harvesting, processing, and marketing challenges in an integrated and

comprehensive manner.

It will also create a new Sustainable Fisheries and Oceans Policy Division

and expand its Planning Division to provide a better focus on fish and seafood

trade issues. These and other changes will allow the department to implement new

initiatives related to foreign overfishing, aquaculture, fish health,

price-setting mechanisms, ecosystems management, trade and tariff barriers, and

sustainable fisheries policy.

Earlier this month, My Government announced its intention to proceed with a

raw material shares system for the crab fishery on a two-year pilot basis. Under

the pilot project, the amount of raw material that seafood producers can process

will be capped as a condition of their crab processing licence. The system will

improve regional distribution of crab processing and provide for a more orderly

fishery for harvesters, processors, and fish plant workers. Our crab fishery is

threatened by declining prices, unfavourable exchange rates, excess inventory,

fish plant overcapacity, and the possibility of the federal government cutting

quotas. It would be irresponsible to sit idly by without acting to strengthen

the economic engine of our fishery. My Government has committed to restructure

our fish processing policies to promote sustainable balance and meaningful work

in our rural areas.

My Government's Department of Environment and Conservation will spearhead a

process to involve all sectors in identifying common values and implementing a

shared vision for sustainable development. The department will also provide

knowledge and support for environmental conservation so that our people can

benefit from our resources for generations to come.

Last year, My Government indicated its support for a proposal to create a

Centre of Environmental Excellence in Western Newfoundland, using as its

foundation the education, training, and research capacity of Memorial University's

Sir Wilfred Grenfell College and the College of the North Atlantic. The vision

for this centre of excellence is that it will serve as a catalyst for the

establishment of innovative companies. Advanced research and educational

programs would support and strengthen new business opportunities in such areas

as forestry, environmental tourism, and geospatial mapping. In the upcoming

year, My Government will finalize a concept in consultation with potential

partners and stakeholders, and then undertake a detailed feasibility study along

with a master plan.

Working With Our Communities

Mr. Speaker and Members of the House of Assembly:

My Government believes it is vital to help our Province's regions and

communities discover new opportunities for development by pursuing new avenues

of cooperation. My Government is committed to working with our communities to

capitalize on opportunities that, collectively, will provide a foundation for

future growth on a provincial scale.

A major obstacle to community development is deficient infrastructure.

Infrastructure is exceptionally expensive to construct and repair, but wise

investments reap sizeable dividends for local communities. My Government's

infrastructure strategy is to identify needs, to establish priorities, and to

locate funds to proceed with important projects in multiple areas of our

Province. Providing this funding earlier is enabling municipalities to plan

their activities better.

One of My Government's greatest concerns is the level of debt that many

municipalities are carrying and the inability of many of these smaller

communities to service their debt with an aging and declining population. These

demographic factors, compounded by economic challenges, have created

unsustainable fiscal realities for many communities. My Government intends to

work with the Federation of Municipalities to find creative, effective ways to

alleviate debt loads.

Several municipalities are also experiencing significant challenges in

obtaining and retaining appropriately-trained personnel to operate the

increasingly-complicated infrastructure needed to meet drinking water and waste

water standards. Having learned from the errors of others, My Government is

determined to protect our people from contaminated drinking water by working

closely with our municipalities to ensure they have access to the necessary

resources to carry out proper testing and proper reporting.

My Government will also invest in community recreation programs and

infrastructure to advance community cohesiveness, to support our athletes, to

enhance tourism opportunities, and to improve the quality of life of our people.

Our people have demonstrated an exceptional commitment to community service

and have built a formidable not-for-profit sector. Facing challenges from health

services to community development, groups of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians

have come together to provide solutions for many of our challenges. We need

these people and organizations more now than ever before. My Government is

determined to strengthen the relationship between the government and the

volunteer sector, to improve the grants process, and to identify opportunities

for cooperation and collaboration.

My Government is proud of the many varied contributions our citizens make to

their communities. Last year, My Government honoured the first recipients of the

distinguished Order of Newfoundland and Labrador. This year, we will build on

that tradition by honouring others whose contributions have made Newfoundland

and Labrador stronger and more vibrant.

Parenthetically perhaps I may add, with the leave of My Ministers, I am

wearing the Order of Newfoundland today - the first time, I believe, it has been

worn in the House of Assembly. It is a handsome Order and a handsome tribute to

the people of our Province who are awarded it.

To keep our communities safe and secure, My Government will continue to

invest in the strength of our police forces. We are deeply appreciative of the

tremendous work our police officers do to protect us and preserve the peace. The

recent tragedy in Alberta reminds us how much we should appreciate the

commitment and sacrifices of our police officers. To the families of Constable

Peter Schiemann, Constable Anthony Gordon, Constable Leo Johnston, and Constable

Brock Myrol, we offer our prayers and deepest sympathies.

Securing a Brighter Future for Labrador

Mr. Speaker and Members of the House of Assembly:

My government recognizes that the people of Labrador face unique challenges.

The barriers to development are pronounced in Labrador; yet, nowhere are the

opportunities for growth greater.

Last year, My Government announced Phase III of the Trans-Labrador Highway; a

new Upper Churchill recall agreement; the implementation of the Northern

Agrifoods Development Strategy; a reconfigured Labrador Coastal Marine Service;

air food lift support; and forestry agreements with the Innu Nation and the

Labrador M tis

Nation.

This year, in addition to the many Aboriginal issues addressed earlier, My

Government will move forward with initiatives to secure a brighter future for

all Labradorians.

My Government will commission the Department of Labrador and Aboriginal

Affairs to develop a Northern Strategic Plan to address the needs for social and

economic development in Labrador. The department will work closely with the

people of Labrador to ensure the plan reflects the priorities and the

aspirations of Labradorians.

My Government will continue to promote Labrador's tremendous tourism

potential through Destination Labrador.

On the 22 nd of January, history was made in the Northern Labrador

community of Nain. With an overwhelming mandate from the Inuit people of our

Province, the Labrador Inuit Association entered into a groundbreaking land

Newfoundland and Labrador to establish the Government of Nunatsiavut - "Our

Beautiful Land." For thirty years, community leaders laboured to reach this

agreement. Newfoundlanders and Labradorians congratulate the Inuit people of

Labrador for giving all of us a timely lesson on the importance of patient

perseverance. In the words of the Inuttitut language, " Sivunitsavut

pitsiatunejuk!" - "Our future is in great hands!", for those

of you who do not speak Inuttitut.

Having concluded the historic land claims agreement with the Labrador Inuit

Association, My Government is committed to working with the Province's other

Aboriginal peoples to achieve agreements and strategies to advance the

well-being of Aboriginal communities.

My Government, by requiring an adjacency principle, will ensure that

Labradorians are given opportunities to find employment on major development

projects in Labrador's communities.

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are especially proud of Canadian Forces Base

5-Wing Goose Bay. This world-class facility has trained flight crews from many

countries over the years and contributed greatly to world peace and security.

When its future became uncertain, My Government approached the Government of

Canada and the governments of other countries in a collaborative effort to

identify new uses that would secure a bright future for our base.

My Government was delighted in February with the appointment of General Rick

Province's most-distinguished sons, General Hillier has already been

significantly. My Government will work closely with General Hillier and the

federal government to secure new opportunities that will diversify 5-Wing Goose

Bay and sustain its operations for years to come.

On the 8 th of March in Labrador, My Government announced an

investment this year of at least $56 million to improve access to health

services, strengthen Aboriginal communities, build and repair infrastructure,

and expand economic opportunities. This was the strongest signal yet that My

Government intends to help Labrador thrive and prosper and see Labradorians

enjoy the same standard of living enjoyed by residents living on the Island.

My Government will also establish a branch of the Premier's Office in Happy

Valley-Goose Bay to ensure a direct conduit between Labrador and My First

Minister on the priorities, views and concerns of Labradorians.

Getting People Healthier

Mr. Speaker and Members of the House of Assembly:

While My Government is committed to move Newfoundland and Labrador ahead to

better economic times, it recognizes there are significant social barriers to

opportunity that we must confront together. My Government is committed to

bringing down these barriers, beginning with the barriers to good health.

A healthier society is a stronger, more-productive society. My Government

will promote wellness to keep people healthier; and when people do become sick,

My Government will provide funding to diagnose and treat them sooner and more

effectively.

Last year, My Government announced a new MRI for Corner Brook; expanded

dialysis services; an expanded dialysis services; an expanded provincial drug

program; new immunizations for children; a new Division of Aging and Seniors; a

new Chief Nurse position; a renewed commitment to smoke-free workplaces; an

OxyContin task force; and a financial commitment to improve the safety of our

personal care homes.

The First Ministers' Health Accord provides substantial additional funding

to Newfoundland and Labrador to enable the Province to reduce wait times and to

provide better care for patients. My Government will invest strategically to

achieve needed advances in health care delivery. Areas of focus will include

diagnostic services, vision restoration, joint replacement, cancer and cardiac

care, and access to services for residents of northern areas.

To ensure our health and community services system meets the needs of the

people it serves as effectively as it can, My Government will focus on planning

for the delivery of services in each region of the Province. These plans will

focus on the appropriate locations of services, the appropriate skill mix of our

service providers, the best means of integrating services, the delivery of new

models of primary health care, and strengthening of public health.

My Government is especially committed to secure and advance the quality of

care that our seniors receive. We must not and we will not forget the men and

women who contributed so much to our Province over the years and asked for so

little in return. With the best interests of our seniors guiding its actions, My

Government will move ahead this year to design and implement a long-term care

strategy in order to both increase the number of long-term care beds around our

Province and to identify other necessary supports to allow our seniors to remain

in their communities.

My Government believes that we can reduce the demands on our health service

by promoting health and wellness. Recent national reports indicate

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are among Canada's most obese and inactive.

The rate of childhood-onset diabetes is among the highest in the country. My

Government will foster a culture of wellness in our classrooms and develop a

planned and sequential health and physical education program in our schools to

inspire in our young people a lifelong commitment to regular exercise, healthy

eating and positive self esteem. My Government is also developing new nutrition

guidelines for schools that will ensure students are provided with healthy food

choices and given information about healthy eating. If we can support our young

people eating well and exercising regularly, we as a society will be healthier,

hardier, and happier.

My Government appreciates the recommendations it received from the Reid/Power

inquiry and OxyContin Task Force Report and will refine and implement a mental

health and addictions plan to ensure people in need of mental health and

addictions services are able to access them.

Addressing Poverty

Mr. Speaker and Members of the House of Assembly:

My Government recognizes the devastating effects of poverty and is committed

to taking steps to alleviate and reduce poverty.

Last year, My Government announced tax cuts for the poor; a home heating fuel

rebate; indexation of the Newfoundland and Labrador Child Benefit rate;

indexation of the Seniors' Benefit rate; an enhanced Mother Baby Nutrition

Supplement; an expanded Supported Employment Program for individuals with

developmental disabilities; improved delivery of income support and employment

and career services; a higher minimum wage; and funding for youth support

programs, including the unique Youth Promise Challenge and a new shelter and

resource centre for young people.

Building on several measures announced last year, My Government will refine

and implement a comprehensive Poverty Reduction Strategy in collaboration with

stakeholders both within and outside the government.

The best remedy for poverty is often a secure job. My Government will foster

stronger labour force attachment by taking an aggressive approach to assisting

income support clients, particularly youth, to access employment.

The Department of Human Resources, Labour and Employment will establish a

pilot Supported Employment for Single Parents Program in a region outside the

Avalon. It will implement a new earnings exemption model to better assist income

support clients who are employed.

My Government will integrate women's voices and perspectives, including

those of Aboriginal women, when formulating public policies. It will also

enhance the use of gender-based analysis across departments, agencies, boards,

and commissions to evaluate and advance the status of women in our Province.

My Government will continue its commitment to violence prevention through a

new violence prevention program with new management and leadership; new funding

to fight violence against Aboriginal women in Labrador; new funding for a

much-needed women's shelter in Hopedale; and new family violence legislation

that will be introduced.

There will be special measures to ensure that women share equitably in the

social and economic benefits of the Province and to address employment barriers

for women in non-traditional and resource-based industries. Women's

participation in leadership and decision making will also be advanced through

measures including supports for Aboriginal women.

Educating for Success

Mr. Speaker and Members of the House of Assembly:

Recognizing that education is the key to both personal and economic

development, My Government will help to bring down the barriers to learning so

that our students and graduates are better able to seize the opportunities

before them. Indeed, no issue is of greater importance, as Newfoundland and

Labrador looks to the future, than the need to prepare our young people for

success.

Healthy, safe and comfortable buildings are essential for schools to succeed

in their core mission of educating children. To ensure our schools meet this

standard, My Government will develop and implement a comprehensive capital

financing and maintenance plan. This year, it will move forward with several

major renovations of schools in various areas. My Government recently announced

funding to correct problems caused by water infiltration into school buildings.

My Government believes a solid education must begin early in a child's

life. To build on the work of the recently-established Ministerial Council for

Early Childhood Learning, My Government will recognize early childhood learning

as an important part of the education process and will explore opportunities and

options to ensure all children entering Kindergarten have had appropriate

learning experiences in their pre-school years.

Mr. Speaker and Members of the House of Assembly:

Education does not end with grade school. More and more, our students must

pursue post-secondary studies to gain the knowledge, skills, and credentials

they need to take on challenging careers and reach their potential.

Given the unprecedented demand for greater diversification and

improved sustainability, we recognize that the provincial public post-secondary

system must undergo change and renewal. Further, the increasing pace of change

requires us to constantly explore strategies to improve the way our public

post-secondary education system operates.

To accomplish this, My Government last year commissioned a White Paper on

Post-secondary Education in order to tailor the system to better prepare

students for opportunities here at home. This work is underway, and My

Government is prepared to begin implementing, in the year ahead, a range of

measures based on recommendations flowing through this process.

My Government is particularly cognizant of the need to modernize

post-secondary facilities to ensure our programs can prepare students to tackle

modern challenges effectively. My Government will ensure our facilities and

programs are modern and relevant to current and emerging needs.

My Government will also forecast skills requirements and plan ways of meeting

the labour force demands with local graduates.

My Government will also create a Labour Market Development unit to

consolidate related activities and positions. The demands on the provincial

labour market are changing rapidly, and it is vitally important that this

Province be well positioned to respond. A skilled, well-trained labour force is

key to the ongoing economic growth and prosperity of Newfoundland and Labrador.

There is no more important time for us to emphasize education than now. We must

maintain a viable post-secondary system while ensuring that our students have

the ability to compete with the best. We must all be partners in renewing and

expanding our higher education system for the next generation. The White Paper

on Public Post-Secondary Education will establish the foundation for our future

success.

Mr. Speaker and Members of the House of Assembly:

Even with a solid economic development agenda and a strong social conscience,

My Government cannot lose sight of the fiscal challenges that our Province

continues to face.

My Government commenced its term in November of 2003 with a mandate and a

plan to apply a new approach to governance in Newfoundland and Labrador. While

considerable work awaits our collective efforts, Newfoundland and Labrador is

closer to realizing its dreams today than when My Government first began.

No challenge in 2004 was greater than the Province's financial instability.

Newfoundland and Labrador was facing billion-dollar deficits that, within a

decade, would almost have doubled the Province's net debt without decisive

action to address the challenge head on. Independent auditors and advisors

expressed their concerns about the Province's fiscal sustainability, concerns

that My Government shares. Our children deserve a legacy of promise and

opportunity, not a stack of bills for the money we are spending today. That is

why My Government remains committed to the strategy it announced last year to

eliminate the cash deficit over its first term while significantly reducing the

accrual deficit. Achieving fiscal sustainability means making choices, and last

year, the responsible choices were difficult to make. By carefully balancing

expenditures, My Government secured and enhanced a host of social and economic

development programs that are vital to families and communities throughout

Newfoundland and Labrador. The result is that we have begun to get a better

handle on our fiscal challenges.

My Government invested in health care, education, justice and safety,

assistance for children and families, and support for Aboriginal communities. To

promote new opportunities, My Government invested in infrastructure,

municipalities, business growth, and resource development. To promote openness

and good governance, My Government brought forward measures to enhance planning,

effectiveness, and accountability.

This year and in the years that follow, My Government will continue to

identify and implement responsible measures that improve the way the people's

government functions.

Through the program renewal process initiated last year, My Government has

identified areas of strength and places where service delivery can be improved.

As the process evolved, so did our focus.

Program renewal cannot be an isolated initiative: it is also a frame of mind,

an attitude. Our public service must always be striving to improve, enhance, and

modernize programs and services.

Through program renewal, My Government has identified and started many

positive, forward-thinking initiatives, but others will take time and strategy

to implement.

In the coming year, My Government has plans for another extensive legislative

agenda. In the Spring sitting of the Legislature, amendments will be introduced

to the Smoke-free Environment Act to provide for a 100 per cent ban on

the use of tobacco in all public places. Amendments to the Wild Life Act

will be introduced to provide greater enforcement and increased penalties for

violations of the Act, especially related to inland fish species. And further

automobile insurance reforms are expected to be brought forward based on the

review by the Public Utilities Board and the Department of Government Services.

Building Stronger Federal-Provincial Relations

Mr. Speaker and Members of the House of Assembly:

My Government is also deeply committed to a continued partnership and

There have been tensions in recent months, but both sides are motivated to

build a smooth working relationship in order to advance the fortunes of

Newfoundland and Labrador and of Canada generally.

That desire resulted in the Atlantic Accord 2005. My Government is committed

to build on this success and other achievements, such as the welcome new

addition to health funding, foreign overfishing and 5-Wing Goose Bay. In

September of 2004, My Government was proud to be a part of an important

agreement among the federal, provincial, and territorial governments on the

provision of substantial new funding for health care. It was proud to help

strengthen Canada's Equalization Program . Additionally, at My Government's

urging, Prime Minister Paul Martin has drawn international attention to the

scourge of unsustainable foreign fishing on our continental shelf. There have

also been discussions and initiatives with respect to infrastructure, economic

development, education, research, the federal presence in this Province, and

many other issues.

Other significant issues await our concerted efforts in the months and years

ahead. My Government this year will focus on fisheries management,

post-secondary educational infrastructure, child care, pharmacare, home care,

regional economic development, culture, transportation services and

infrastructure, energy development, and a range of other priorities.

A Time for Heroes

Mr. Speaker and Members of the House of Assembly:

As our people and My Government work together to shape a brighter future, we

remind ourselves that we are limited only by the breadth and depth of our

dreams. In recent months, our people have dared to dream dreams that push far

beyond the limits of our circumstances. Our confidence in our future has never

been stronger than it is today. Our pride in ourselves has never been more

secure than it is today. Our hopes for tomorrow have never been greater, yet we

remain wholly grounded in reality.

Why? Because we have rediscovered something essential about ourselves that we

were in danger of forgetting. If tribulation had made defeatists of our

ancestors, none of us would be here. Our very existence is a testament to the

grit, determination, and humanitarianism of the heroes who built this place.

These soils are rich with their blood, these seas are salty with the sweat of

their labour. We are humbled by the magnitude of our legacy. We stand on the

shoulders of giants. How could we ever fall when we stand with heroes so great!

Let us never forget that these heroes stood, not alone, but side by side. At

Beaumont Hamel, they fought and died bravely, side by side. On the merciless

seas, they gave their lives, side by side. On the flakes and in the fields, they

worked themselves into early graves, side by side. We will not loosen this

albatross from our necks and achieve the prosperity we so richly deserve unless

we vow that we too will do so together, side by side.

The time has come for new heroes to step forward: men, women, and young

people who can build their community, grow our economy, foster cooperation, and

inspire the confidence we need to pursue our dreams together.

Mr. Speaker, Members:

We will not forget the legacy that makes us strong; but with renewed pride we

will build a new future, one of opportunity and self-reliance, one that is truly

deserving of its illustrious heritage. This year, we will seize the

opportunities to grow our economy and invest in our culture. And we shall do so

together, side by side.

Mr. Speaker and Members of the House of Assembly:

Estimates of expenditure will be laid before you in due course and you will

be asked to grant supply to Her Majesty.

I invoke God's blessing upon you as you commence this new Session.

May Devine Providence guide you in your deliberation.

His Honour the Lieutenant Governor and the Vice-Regal party leave the

Chamber.

Mr. Speaker returns to the Chair.

MR. SPEAKER (Harvey Hodder): Order, please!

The hon. the Government House Leader.

MR. E. BYRNE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I give notice that I will on tomorrow ask leave to introduce a bill entitled,

"An Act To Amend The Municipal Elections Act," Bill 1.

MR. SPEAKER: It is moved and seconded that the hon. the Government House

Leader shall have leave to introduce a bill entitled,

An Act to Amend The

Municipal Elections Act, Bill 1.

Is it the pleasure of the House that the hon. the Government House Leader

shall have leave to introduce said bill?

All those in favour, aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

MR. SPEAKER: All those against, nay'.

Motion carried.

Motion, the hon. the Government House Leader to introduce a bill, "An

Act To Amend The Municipal Election Act", carried. (Bill 1)

MR. SPEAKER: When shall the said bill be read a first time?

AN HON. MEMBER: Now.

MR. SPEAKER: Now.

CLERK (Noel): A bill, "An Act To Amend The Municipal Elections

Act," Bill 1.

MR. SPEAKER: This bill has now been read a first time. When shall the

said bill be read a second time?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Tomorrow.

MR. SPEAKER: On tomorrow.

On motion, Bill 1 read a first time, ordered read a second time on tomorrow.

MR. SPEAKER: His Honour, the Lieutenant Governor, has been pleased to

make a speech to the members of this General Assembly. I wish to take a few

moments to distribute His Honour's Speech to the members.

[Distribution of His Honour's Speech)

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS GOUDIE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, it is both an honour and a privilege to stand here amongst my

colleagues in this distinguished House of Assembly and speak to the Speech from

the Throne. I would like to thank His Honour the Lieutenant Governor for coming

today and delivering such an optimistic speech.

Today, I am feeling a sense of pride and optimism. It is the same way I felt

when I received the phone call that an Atlantic Accord deal was finalized, and

it is the same way I felt on Valentine's Day when the agreement was signed. It

is a feeling of renewal, as if we are embarking on a new journey. I am confident

I share this sentiment with the people of Humber Valley and every Newfoundlander

and Labradorian who stood shoulder to shoulder behind the Premier in our fight

for our fair share of offshore oil and gas revenues.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS GOUDIE: Like our Premier, our ancestors were a tenacious people who

braved the North Atlantic to provide for their families and build a future for

us. I am confident that it is this tenacity passed down through the generations

that made us so diligent in our pursuit of what is rightfully ours.

I am proud our government is taking measures to nurture this renewed sense of

pride by rejuvenating our unique culture and bringing culture and history back

to the classroom. It is so important that our children, the future of this

Province, know who they are and where they came from.

I applaud efforts to expand curriculum to include the arts, music, theatre

arts and fine arts, and efforts to promote professional development, acquire

local works and invest in instruments.

I am also proud of our government's focus on the rich legacies of our

Aboriginal peoples. I am pleased that government, in co-operation with the

provincial museum achieves and art gallery, will develop a virtual cultural tour

of key displays and materials at The Rooms to provide students with online

access to cultural materials no matter where they may live.

I am confident a cultural strategy will coordinate all of these efforts and

ensure we are properly developing and promoting our culture. The province's

unique natural attractions, its communities, its people and its cultural

heritage are powerful assets of our tourism industry. This government has

already made significant commitments to enhancing tourism, marketing and

infrastructure throughout the Province.

Mr. Speaker, Humber Valley is a hub for winter recreation on our Province's

West Coast, and we have truly benefitted from government's tourism

initiatives. I am pleased to hear today that government has renewed its

commitment to a prosperous and lucrative tourism industry.

Our rich history is a gift. It is one we love to share with the world in

great abundance. To put it into perspective, I would like to take a quote from

the Premier's recent speech to the Empire Club in Toronto. He said,

"Right across the country, we start our day with Shamus O'Regan on Canada

AM, and end it in the evening with Rex Murphy on The National. We begin the week

watching the intelligent humour and commentary of Rick Mercer on Monday Report

and we finish the week enjoying the satirical wit of the talented cast of 22

Minutes.

Our authors are award-winning, our bright young minds lead corporations

around the world and our musicians enjoy tremendous national and international

success. Our boys from Great Big Sea are the hottest ticket in town in Boston on

St. Patrick's Day! The endorsements do not come much better than that!"

Mr. Speaker, imagine, a Province of 517,000 people producing such talent, and

it can all be attributed to our rich cultural heritage.

Mr. Speaker, future success is contingent on how well we truly understand our

past, and today's Throne Speech is dedicated to making sure that happens.

I would also like to take this opportunity to highlight some very positive

initiatives aimed at enhancing education, social programs, and health care as

outlined in the Throne Speech. As someone who has worked for many years in the

health care profession, I am aware of the needs and challenges facing the

Province today. These health care initiatives build on government's inaugural

focus on ensuring our health care system properly meets the needs of the people

it serves.

Given our fiscal realities, I am pleased that government is steadfast in

using our precious health care dollars strategically, with a focus on thorough

planning as to where service locations will most effectively be utilized.

I support the focus on the needs of our seniors who have given so much to our

Province. It is our duty and responsibility to ensure they are properly cared

for.

Supporting addiction and mental health services is a must, as well as

promoting health and wellness, to reduce future demands on the system. Funding

from the First Ministers' Health Summit will most certainly help address

patient wait times and further improve services. I am pleased to be part of a

government who are taking this direction in the health care field.

Education is vital to prosperity and I am encouraged by plans set out today,

in today's Throne Speech, to strengthen our education system. Our young people

are the future of this Province and it is our responsibility to ready them for

tomorrow's world.

Government is committed to healthy, comfortable school environments,

indicated by major funding announcements to repair schools in desperate need of

maintenance and repair. I am encouraged with government's focus from early

childhood development right through to post-secondary education where we must

lay the foundation for a strong, well-educated labour force.

It is further encouraging that our government is committed to ensuring our

students and institutions will be able to compete with the best. Unfortunately,

Mr. Speaker, poverty continues to have devastating effects throughout our

Province. Last year, government implemented a number of initiatives aimed at

protecting the most vulnerable in society. These programs were successful but

they were only one step; we need to do more. The Throne Speech outlines plans to

build upon successful initiatives and outlines a number of measures aimed at

further addressing this problem, such as an aggressive approach to assist income

support clients access employment and a pilot project to assist single parents.

As a female member of this great House of Assembly, I applaud government's

efforts to integrate women's voices and perspectives in public policy making,

including those of Aboriginal women.

Mr. Speaker, today's Throne Speech truly strikes the right balance between

fiscal responsibility, economic growth and social development. It is an honour

to speak to such an optimistic Throne Speech. I move that a select committee be

appointed to draft an Address in Reply to the Speech from the Throne.

Thank you very much.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Burin-Placentia West.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN: Mr. Speaker, it is truly an honour to stand today in this

very prestigious House of Assembly representing the people of Burin-Placentia

West and seconding the motion to accept the Speech from the Throne.

I am confident that this, the Forty-Fifth Session of the House of Assembly,

will be a spirited one given its proximity to government's successful fight to

secure the offshore oil and gas revenues that truly belong to Newfoundland and

Labrador.

In achieving such a triumphant deal on the Atlantic Accord, government has

put a stop to years of resource giveaways and has publicly challenged lingering

stereotypes that paint us in a negative light. Our success has given

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians a renewed faith in the future of this Province,

and a renewed sense of pride.

These are not just my words, Mr. Speaker. They are the words of my

constituents. It is what I am hearing from South East Bight to Burin, and I am

confident it is the same sentiment my colleagues are hearing throughout their

districts.

Mr. Speaker, it is evident that today's Throne Speech builds on this

new-found pride. It is a continuation of our government's plan to reverse the

dire fiscal situation facing this Province, that has weakened our social

programs and suffocated economic development. Since assuming office, we have

made every effort to put our fiscal house in order. We have operated with

transparency and accountability, and we have managed the people's money with

only their best interests in mind. Each and every Newfoundlander and Labradorian

has pitched in, and today our Province is in far greater shape than it was two

years ago.

Today's Throne Speech outlines government's efforts to foster economic

growth. The Premier has consistently stated that economic growth is contingent

upon realizing what is rightfully ours from the federal government. Realizing a

minimum of $2.5 billion in offshore oil revenues is certainly a great place to

start.

It is encouraging that government plans to grow the economy by properly

developing our natural resources and ensuring that Newfoundlanders and

Labradorians reap our fair share of benefits. The achievements of Hibernia,

Terra Nova and White Rose projects, and the opportunities outlined today for

Hebron-Ben Nevis and the exploration in the Orphan and Laurentian Basins and

offshore Labrador are extremely encouraging. The comprehensive energy plan as

outlined is just one example of how government is focusing on strategic

long-term planning. As well, our government's approach to the development of

the Lower Churchill is fresh, visionary, and will ensure benefits for the people

of this Province.

I think our leader has demonstrated that the days of giveaways are long gone,

and this is the approach we will take with the development of the Lower

Churchill.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN: Yes, Mr. Speaker, resource development is of great

importance if we are going to reach our full potential; however, it is only part

of the solution. I am pleased that government is focusing attention towards

fostering the growth of our small and medium size businesses, especially in our

rural areas. Our economy will greatly benefit from more investment, good

initiatives such as venture capitals, funds, and a renewed focus on helping

businesses not only survive but thrive in this Province. A continued focus on

our areas of strength, such as tourism and marine technology, are evidence of

the smart investments for future gain.

development. I am pleased that the Department of Innovation, Trade and Rural

Development, and the new Department of Business are partnering with various

levels of government, regional economic development boards, industry, and

community organizations, to pinpoint meaningful ways to improve our rural

economies. People who were born and raised and continue to live and work in

rural Newfoundland and Labrador quite simply know where the opportunities lie in

their regions.

I communicate on a daily basis with people from my district who could give

you an earful on how to improve rural areas. It is advantageous that government

has created a Rural Secretariat to co-ordinate this flow of information and

ensure meaningful opportunities receive the necessary support.

Our rural economies will benefit from government's focus on supporting

small and medium size business. It is encouraging that government is focused on

removing the barriers that inhibit success, and will allocate investment capital

to give our businesses a push in the right direction. It is inspiring that

government is committed to readying our Province for the global marketplace by

fostering innovation, improving rural infrastructure, expanding information

technology, improving the labour climate, and building stronger skill sets in

our workforce. These initiatives outlined in today's Throne Speech can only

have a lasting impact on the growth of our rural communities.

This government has a heart and soul for rural Newfoundland and Labrador. I

am so proud of the initiatives undertaken by the Minister Responsible for Rural

Development. I look forward to seeing our rural communities thrive and prosper

for years to come.

Rural development is also contingent on a vibrant fishery. In the face of

dramatic changes over the past decade or so, our fishing industry is still this

Province's largest employer. With change comes new challenges, and I am

pleased to be part of a government that is willing to meet these challenges. I

am pleased that government is making every effort to make our industry reach its

potential and is willing to try to provide stability to the industry to make

life a little easier for processors, harvesters and plant workers. Previous

governments have commissioned report after report and these reports have sat

gathering dust on shelves. Our government is listening to the recommendations of

industry experts and is seeking input from stakeholders to ensure a stable

fishery in the future.

Before I conclude, Mr. Speaker, I would be remiss if I did not take a moment

to recognize a great leader, the hon. the Premier. His work on the Atlantic

Accord over the past year has been nothing short of outstanding. This is my

first opportunity to thank him on behalf of my constituents and all

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

Harry. S. Truman once said, "I studied the lives of great men and famous

women; and I found that the men and women who got to the top were those who did

the jobs they had in hand, with everything they had of energy and enthusiasm and

hard work."

I think this is an appropriate tribute to a great leader who truly has the

heart of Newfoundland and Labrador in mind.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN: Mr. Speaker, we have achieved a great deal in the past

sixteen months. There is still a great deal more to do. The plan set forth today

is the necessary next step. It is a plan that builds on the hard work and

successes of the past year or so, our renewed sense of pride. It is a very

impressive plan that will bring this Province another step closer to fiscal

prosperity.

Once again, it is a privilege to represent the people of Burin-Placentia

West. It is a great honour to second the motion that a select committee be

appointed to draft an address in reply to the Speech from the Throne.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. GRIMES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is a privilege today to rise again in this debate with respect to drafting

an Address in Reply to His Honour the Lieutenant Governor in delivering the

Speech from the Throne today.

On a ceremonial day like this with our special guests, the Justices, who have

now left, and of course our special guests here on the floor as well as all

those joining us in your gallery and in the public galleries, it is a pleasure

to be here to have another opportunity to see the government supposedly unveil

what its general plans are for the next year or so and the next period of time

in its mandate, and also to congratulate the Member for Humber Valley and the

Member for Burin-Placentia West in their representations in suggesting to the

House that we do say thank you to His Honour for the work he has done here today

in presenting and delivering the Speech.

I am sure now, in hindsight, that the Member for Humber Valley wishes she had

that last

part in her speech, too, about praising the Premier, because there are

opportunities around every corner, as you would know. The next time she gets a

chance, I am sure she will have something like that in her speech as well.

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. GRIMES: I understand.

Maybe she will get to say something nice about the Minister of Finance, when

he delivers a great Budget for us next week that everybody in Newfoundland and

Labrador will love.

Mr. Speaker, I will not say much about the Throne Speech today, and I say

that in this context: I did spend a little bit of time reviewing the speech we

heard last year around the same time. If you learn anything from a lesson in

history, it is that there was very little, if any, resemblance between what was

read here last year and what actually happened in the last year. I hope this

year we are wrong, because there were some good initiatives that I applaud that

were outlined in the Speech from the Throne today; but again unfortunately, I

say, if last year is any kind of a standard that we can use in terms of what to

expect from this government, there will not be much similarity in March or April

of 2006 to what we just heard today.

To make the point, just let me give two examples, Mr. Speaker. I do not

intend to prolong the debate today, or make my own version of what I think a

Throne Speech would be or should be if the Liberals were the Government of

Newfoundland and Labrador - I will not do that - but last year, Mr. Speaker, on

page 19 in the Throne Speech - I will give two examples. We heard a Throne

Speech in March, and then very early after that, in April, we saw something

happen that was - I will demonstrate, I think - very different. We heard a

Throne Speech in March, and I will point out again the second example, and only

last week we saw something that I believe the people of Newfoundland and

Labrador will see to have been very, very different. If there is any similarity

between what was said last year and what actually happened, it was probably

coincidental and by accident instead of by design. I hope there is a change this

year.

The first example, Mr. Speaker, is this: On page 19, last year - and I will

read the quote because sometimes I am accused of making it up. His Honour read

this last year, "My Government is working cooperatively and constructively

with our public sector unions to negotiate new collective agreements...".

Let me read it again, "My Government is working cooperatively and

constructively with our public sector unions to negotiate new collective

agreements..." because My Government believes that good government is about

developing solutions through constructive partnerships.

What did we see a month later? A public sector strike and a group ordered

back to work who were already gone back to work voluntarily, legislated back by

this group opposite, this government who wrote this and had the Lieutenant

Governor, His Honour, read it as if that was the plan, that was the intention,

that is what they believed in, that is what they thought the future held for

Newfoundland and Labrador.

Less than a month later all of us were bitterly disappointed - the hope and

the promise of the kind of language that says this is what we believe in, that

we will work co-operatively and constructively with out public sector unions to

negotiate new collective agreements, because good government is about developing

solutions through constructive partnerships. We saw a very different tale, a

very different story, and a very different reality unfold.

I hope that is not the case this year, because I like what I heard about

focusing on our culture, focusing on our tradition, focusing on our history,

being truly proud of who and what we are. I hope it is not just words. I hope it

is going to be reality this time instead of what we saw last year, which was not

this reality but a very different reality unfolding in the Province. That

happened within a month of the speech. Within one short month of the speech,

that very different reality unfolded in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Let me just take the members here - all members, and those who are listening

to us - to the concluding part of the speech last year at this time. It says: My

Government is delivering on its promise to consult before it acts.... Listen

clearly: My Government is delivering on its promise to consult before it acts

and to be inclusive when it consults.

What did we have unfold in this Province last week, at the tail end of that

same twelve month period? The introduction of a new quota system for the crab

fishery in Newfoundland and Labrador, in which the minister himself - who

noticeably was not accompanied by the Premier - in a press conference that he

attended by himself, said: we are introducing this new resource sharing system.

We have not talked to the FFAW, who only happen to represent the harvesters and

the plant workers who are two of the three people who are included in whether a

crab fishery proceeds on time with proper benefits for all the people involved.

In the first few days after the speech we saw something happen exactly the

opposite of what the speech of promise, hope, vision and direction laid out. In

the last days, just a couple of days before the new speech of promise, hope,

vision and direction was just so capably delivered by His Honour, we have

another contradiction. It cannot be described, Mr. Speaker, as anything other

than a complete, total, and absolute contradiction of what they said they lived

by, believed in, dreamed about, hoped for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians and

were committed to deliver, and promised to Newfoundlanders and Labradorians that

they would deliver.

Mr. Speaker, I say again, I am not, and have never been by nature, a negative

person.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. GRIMES: I always live by the credo that the glass is definitely half

full. I do not see anything as half empty. I see it as half full. I live by the

credo that attitude is everything, but I also live by the credo that if you are

going to have someone read a speech for you that says you are going to do it,

that is what you believe in and that is what your vision is for Newfoundland and

Labrador, then surely goodness you should try to live to it. Maybe some of the

members opposite might want to look back at it.

By the way, I have another list here - and I will not take the time today.

One, two, three, six, seven, nine, fourteen other examples, just like the two I

gave, that show what was said in a Throne Speech. In twelve short months the

reality of what unfolded in the Province was very, very different, and in most

cases, the exact opposite, Mr. Speaker.

Now, let me say it again, because I am not a negative person.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. GRIMES: I hope that the government has learned. I hope that they will

look back and say last year we said sixteen of those things, you know, and some

different things happened. Maybe it just got away from them a little bit. Maybe

they were focused on other issues. Maybe they just forgot what they said.

There were a lot of things said today - and I made notes of several of them

and I will read this in detail because I take it seriously, because it looks at

the plan. What we were asked to do today by His Honour was to look at the plan

laid out by this government as to what they are going to prioritize in this

year, what they hope they can really accomplish, what they are going to focus

on, how we are going to move forward in a more positive direction in the future.

You know everybody, including me, who heard that speech today and listened to it

intently hopes that it is true. So let's all hope, collectively, that last

year's experience was just a bad experience, that it is not really an

indication of what we can expect from this government.

Now, we only have one year of experience to judge them by and the one year of

experience - and I might have opportunities in other speeches during this

session to go through some of the other twelve, thirteen and fourteen examples

like I did today with these two. Hopefully, the government will learn from that

experience and they will not want to repeat that. They will not want to hear me

stand up here next year and wave around the new document and say: By the way,

there is another nineteen statements in there that they talked about last year

and they did not do them. I am sure they would like for us to get up and say: Do

you know something? The government should be congratulated because most of what

they said they would try to accomplish, they accomplished. Because we cannot say

that after this first year, Mr. Speaker.

Let me just mention a couple of other things, Mr. Speaker, before I stop for

the day, because I will have other opportunities. I have always, like other

members in this House, appreciated the opportunity as being an elected member in

a democracy to stand up, openly and freely in Newfoundland and Labrador, and say

your piece. That is the real beauty of the society and the Province and the

country that we live in, is that we can do exactly what we are doing here today.

I am sure that some of the members opposite were probably a little bit

disappointed to hear me point out those two examples and mention that there are

another fifteen or sixteen like it, because they like to forget those things.

But in a government, as an Opposition, part of our role is to make sure that

people do understand the entirety and the totality of what is happening, not

just a one-sided view that the government would like to have us believe is a

rosy picture of what is happening in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Just let me say one other thing - and this one is disappointing above all

else. Sixteen or seventeen months ago at the time of an election, after a decade

of out-migration, the Province was in a position, for the first time in over ten

years that out-migration had stopped, had halted - pardon my voice, I am not

used to speaking yet. Maybe later on in the session I will be able to speak for

a longer period of time without my voice cracking. But, in any event,

out-migration had stopped and for the first time in almost fifteen years

Statistics Canada was able to report that the population of the Province

actually grew. Now, not by a lot; by some 300. Of course members opposite,

including the current Premier, made some comments about that during the

election, saying: It is going to take us a long time at that rate to get them

all back. But we have a plan, and we particularly have a plan for rural

Newfoundland and Labrador where the out-migration is really occurring. Sadly -

and again maybe the members opposite do not want to hear that either, but the

report is in. One full twelve-month period on the job. October, 2003 to October,

2004, with a new group elected who had a plan to stop out-migration to save

rural Newfoundland and Labrador had criticized the fact that only 300 people had

come back. Guess what happened? Does anybody on the opposite side remember?

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. GRIMES: We had the largest workforce in our history building on three

years of it prior to that, but we had 2,077 fewer people in the Province. The

group who said they had a plan, the group who criticized the fact that

out-migration had stopped and pooh-poohed the fact that it was only 300 that

came back. Mr. Speaker, what happened? Two thousand and seventy-seven was the

decline in the population of the Province. People in this Legislature know that

quite a number of people did not leave the Province, they left other parts of

the Province and came to the capital city region, which means the rural

population declined by even more than 2,077 - probably by 4,077 or 5,077 - with

a group one year on the job who had a plan to save rural Newfoundland and

Labrador.

So, Mr. Speaker, in our role as the Opposition - I know we are going to have

a good session because they are sensitive. They are very sensitive. If you

mention issues that they do not want to talk about in their own caucus, they do

not want to acknowledge those kinds of things, so when they hear it for the

first time from someone else they get a little sensitive over it.

Mr. Speaker, let me tell you that, in our role as the Opposition we work with

and support the government when it is in the best interests of Newfoundland and

Labrador. We, like the rest of Newfoundland and Labrador, were very supportive

of what the Premier and the government were trying to accomplish, and did

accomplish, with the Atlantic Accord.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. GRIMES: We were very guarded in anything we did say, we did not want

to undermine any position. Believe me, I think every one of us here would

acknowledge that, that is in the best interests of Newfoundland and Labrador. We

will find out if it is going to be any kind of a help or assistance in Harbour

Breton over the next several months. We will find out if it is going to be of

any real benefit to people in Fortune in the next few months. We will find out

if it is going to be of any real benefit to the people on the Northern Peninsula

where the out-migration is still occurring, and now they have the disappointment

of believing there was going to be a fixed link built only to see that the

Premier has a feasability study that says it is possible, but I am not going to

do it now, not ever while I am the Premier, not while I am leading this

Province. He does a study, builds up the hope, and puts it away.

Those same people were on the news, some fourteen, fifteen, sixteen months

ago, saying: Sure, there are likely to be 6,000 or 7,000 of us working here on

the Norther Peninsula just building that tunnel. Well what do they have to wait

for now? They have to wait for this leader to leave. They have to wait for that

government to go. They have to wait for somebody else who is going to say -

MR. RIDEOUT: (Inaudible) a long time.

MR. GRIMES: Let me say this, I say to the Minister of Transportation. We

have a Premier who says, I am not even going to ask the federal government to

get involved in it, even though it is technically feasible and would require

$1.4 billion of public money. I am not going to ask any government to get

involved in that. During the election, compare that - it is almost like the

Throne Speech - to what he said. It in The Northern Pen in case you want

to look it up. I say, Mr. Speaker, to the Premier and the others: It is in The

Northern Pen . He said: Regardless of what it costs it is too important for

Newfoundland and Labrador not to do it. Now, there is the speech made. That is

almost like this document saying, we are going to negotiate the collective

agreements, and then you fire them on the street, provoke a strike and order

them back to work. Turning around to the people on the Northern Peninsula and

saying, we are going to do a feasibility study and no matter what it says, that

is so important to the future economy of Newfoundland and Labrador, all of it,

that it is too important not to do. Then the study comes in and says, yes, it

can be done, here is the price tag, and what does the Premier say? It will never

be done while I am here. I am not going to ask anybody for that kind of money. I

guess he saw a new reality - just changed his mind. Those are the kinds of

things.

We will continue, as I said, to support the government when they are doing

things that are in the best interests of Newfoundland and Labrador, but we will

also continue to ask the questions and hold them accountable and point out the

other side. There is one other thing, and this is a really sad thing to say as

well. Again I will give a couple of examples. There is already, with this

particular government, our experience of a year, a culture of hypocrisy, and we

have to point that out to people, just like I mentioned about the fixed link;

say one thing and do another.

Let me give you these examples of say one thing, do another. We have the

Minister of Finance, Mr. Speaker, talking about how every penny has to count: We

are desperate here. We can only do things that have to be done. He is going to

say the same kinds of things next Monday in the Budget. They will do some things

but he is going to say a lot of nos still. He is going to say: We have a couple

of billion dollars but that is no good to anybody. We have to be very careful

here, have to live within our means still. That speech is not going to change

very much. They say that you have to spend wisely, prudently, and only things

you can justify and only things that are priorities for the government.

Guess what we found out and discovered last year after the Budget, involving

the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Transportation? The Minister of

Finance, as an MHA for his district, had convinced the Minister of

Transportation to rebuild a cabin road in his district. The tender was actually

let, Mr. Speaker. The tender was let, the work was started, and it was only

because the Opposition raised the questions that it was cancelled after the

fact. This from a Finance Minister who then tried to say, I do not know how it

got on the list. I do not know how it got on the list. You talk about say one

thing and do another!

Mr. Speaker, then, of course, the big promise, that we will only do anything

if it happens by the Public Tender Act and we will not do any more political

patronage. I do not need to talk much about that. There are not many more left

now to give jobs to. I guess you are running out of buddies, I would say, Mr.

Speaker, to the government, have them just about all there.

Now, Mr. Speaker, on the tendering side-

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. GRIMES: On the tendering side, remembering - and it was said again

today, Mr. Speaker, that even with the $2 billion, every penny is precious. I

believe a phrase similar to that was said today: Every penny is precious and we

must go through proper procedures, because we will not do what the former

administration was accused of doing. We will do it differently, we will follow

the law, we will tender for contracts, and we will not engage in political

patronage.

You have the Premier himself in Corner Brook, a few weeks ago, after the

Accord, saying: Oh, that contact I gave to my buddies, yes, blame it all on me,

do not blame anybody else, blame that all on me. I gave it to a firm that I

happen to know that happened to be a co-chair of my campaign and it did not go

through a tender. Oh, by the way, he said to the Minister of Finance, it was not

very much money, it was only $200,000 or $300,000. We just heard today that

every penny counts, but $200,000 or $300,000 for an advertising contract for the

co-chair of the Conservative campaign, admittedly done by the Premier himself,

with no consultation with anybody - just like most of it is done - that is okay.

We happen to notice those things, Mr. Speaker, and we will continue to point

them out every time we notice them. We will point them out. I say this, Mr.

Speaker, for the benefit of the Member for Windsor-Springdale who has publicly

tried to set a new standard for debate in the Province. His new version of

public debate is, you can only discuss a public issue in St. John's, in the

Legislature, when it is open.

He was asked about an outdoor bill of rights, how it felt about it, and those

kinds of issues. In the local media , in Central Newfoundland, where we all grew

up, were raised and where we represent, his comment to the paper was: You cannot

talk about that publicly, you cannot debate that publicly, the House of Assembly

is not open. A brand new standard for public debate. If any of us, as elected

politicians, are asked a question about how we feel about any issue, we are

supposed to answer: Do not ask me that now, only ask me in St. John's when the

Legislature is open. Maybe that is what they have been told in their caucus.

Maybe, Mr. Speaker, that is what they have been told in their caucus.

Let me finish by saying this, Mr. Speaker, we are hopeful. Liberals, by

nature, are a hopeful, optimistic lot.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. GRIMES: This particular government, Mr. Speaker, has a golden

opportunity that no other government since Confederation has had. With the

equalization, health care, offshore accord, all of the other issues, the money

that has been given - yes, it is our money, but no other government gave it to

us. They all kept it themselves. This government gave it to us, rightfully so,

because we supported our government in getting it. There was a commitment made

in the election which was kept.

We will ask the Premier, the same standard that all Newfoundlanders and

Labradorians supported him in, which was generally this, that the Prime Minister

of the country made a commitment during an election, he should live to his

commitment. You will hear us say over and over again: We remember a Blue Book in

which there were a series of commitments made to the people of Newfoundland and

Labrador, and we will ask you to keep your commitments to the people of this

particular Province. You have the resources that no government in fifty-six

years has ever been able to even dream of or imagine, and we will ask that there

be a balanced approach in terms of investments in people which are investments

in the future which are investments in the Province. Those are the kinds of

things we will push for every single day, Mr. Speaker, as we continue to live up

to our role as the official Opposition in this democracy.

I thank you, Mr. Speaker, for the opportunity to speak today and again

congratulate His Honour for presenting the speech, the mover and the seconder,

and look forward to the full debate in the whole session.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. HARRIS: Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have an opportunity today to

rise in response to the motion to make an address in reply to the Speech from

the Throne.

As you know, Mr. Speaker, the Speech from the Throne is an opportunity for a

formal presentation on behalf of the government through the Lieutenant Governor,

to tell the public and the members of the House of Assembly of government's

plans for the year and plans for the future. I want to take this opportunity to

talk about some of those plans and talk about some of the things that we would

like to see, as part of the future, for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Let me say, first of all, that overshadowing our first session since last

fall is a great accomplishment that I think speaks well for the future of this

Province, and that is the achievement mentioned in the speech of a new

arrangement on the Atlantic Accord. We, in the New Democratic Party, are very

happy to see what has happened with the Atlantic Accord negotiations. We feel

that we played an important role, as a national party and a provincial party, in

helping set the stage for the promise and the commitment that was made by the

Prime Minister during the last election. It was out national party and our

leader who made a commitment on provincial resources long before the election

came about, and supported it strongly during the campaign.

I want to acknowledge and to commend the Premier in acting on behalf of all

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians in ensuring that the promise made by Prime

Minister Martin during the election campaign was kept.

This is a very important achievement because it does something that I think

speaks well to the future of this Province. The Speech from the Throne talked

about pride, and talked about what it means to us to have more control over our

future, but it also means that one of the achievements that this government set

for itself, as did others when they sought election, was to achieve some fiscal

stability and to ensure, in particular - and I want to recognize that the Speech

from the Throne talks specifically about this - to eliminate the cash deficit

over the first term as part of the plan of this government.

Well, in addition to the $2 billion that was mentioned in the Budget, there

is, of course, the full range of offshore oil revenues that will be available,

starting to ramp up very quickly starting this year, to the point that we will

have, over the next eight years, some $4.9 billion of revenue that was not there

before. This is a sustained number over the next seven or eight years that not

only helps to eliminate the cash deficit but also ensures that we are able to

build a fairer future for our Province.

We have to recognize that, though we have achieved much in the Atlantic

Accord, there are still great challenges in our area of offshore resources.

During the debate, of course, about the Atlantic Accord, the focus was on that,

but there are other issues such as the 8.5 per cent Hibernia share that was

contributed its efforts to get the Hibernia platform going by the reduction in

royalties, by the reduction in sales tax, by other concessions that were made,

Canada, as a country, put that share forward, has gotten its return, has made a

profit, and should pass that over to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador as

our share of the Hibernia project.

We would like to see progress, as well, in the area of offshore development

to ensure that the people of Newfoundland and Labrador are actually the full and

true and principal beneficiaries of our offshore resources. It is my assessment

that the true beneficiaries, the principal beneficiaries, of our offshore

resources are, up until now, the oil companies themselves, and we have to

address that in dealing with royalties in the future to ensure that we do become

truly the beneficiaries, as other oil-producing states are.

We also recognize the great step forward that was taken in January of this

year in the final agreement signing of the Inuit Land Claims Agreement and the

creation of Nunatsiavut. The Member for Labrador West and I had the privilege of

joining with the Premier, other members of the House of Assembly, and the people

of Nunatsiavut in celebrating that signing in Nain. It was a terrific step

forward and we look forward to seeing the progress that the Inuit people will

make under this new form of government that was created as a result of that

agreement.

We also look forward to seeing the development with the Innu people and the

Mi'kmaq people of the Island of Newfoundland in the future to achieve similar

recognition of the Aboriginal rights of people of this Province.

We know there are great challenges faced by some of our Aboriginal people,

and we have heard much about the difficulties faced by the Innu in Labrador in

the last number of months and years. I am pleased to see that the Speech from

the Throne recognizes the extreme importance of developing initiatives in

Aboriginal education that will hopefully allow the development of a curriculum

which is appropriate to the Innu culture and which will help them control their

destiny. It is a very important matter. In fact, I will go so far as to say that

it is a matter of life and death for many young people in this Province, of

Aboriginal ancestry, and we would like to work with the government and achieve

some progress in developing with the Innu people of Labrador a proper and

appropriate system of education, a proper and appropriate development that can

help to ensure that the Aboriginal people of Labrador can move forward, can

control their destiny, can maintain their culture, and can participate fully in

our society.

We, in the New Democratic Party, believe that the opportunities that have

been provided to us fiscally as a result of the achievement of the Atlantic

Accord and the ramping up of benefits over the next number of years can allow us

to pursue what we are prepared to call an agenda of fairness for the people of

Newfoundland and Labrador.

As we know, the achievement on the Atlantic Accord was based on a promise

made by the Prime Minister of Canada. We think that one of the first acts in the

new Session of this Legislature - and we hope we will hear from this in the

Budget - is that another promise made by the Government of Newfoundland and a

former Premier to the women of the public service is one that can be kept. The

pay equity agreement initialed and signed by former Premier Peckford, with the

public sector unions, was a promise made which acknowledged discrimination

against women in our public sector. We believe that promise should be kept.

Financial difficulties should not be allowed to trump equality for women. We

believe that fairness demands that promises should be kept, and that there are

no more excuses for not carrying out the commitment that was made by the

Government of Newfoundland and Labrador.

We acknowledge and support the efforts of the government announced in the

Budget to talk about a new continued violence prevention initiative. We were

concerned that might not continue after the end of March, and we are pleased to

see that will happen. We think this is extremely important for all people in our

society. Although initially it was aimed at violence against women, violence

generally is something that we should attempt to eradicate in our society,

whether it be in sports, whether it be in families, whether it be in our

schools. I am proud to say that we have another school which yesterday was

designated as part of the Peaceful Schools International program, Beaconsfield

Junior High, here in St. John's. I think that is something we would like to

see throughout Newfoundland and Labrador.

Fairness in our health care system, we believe, demands that some of the

drugs that are available in almost every province in the country for Alzheimer's

patients, for those suffering from multiple sclerosis, for suffers from

arthritis, are available to the people of this Province through the drug

formulary and to seniors who have drug cards. We also believe that there must be

a more comprehensive program that ensures that those who have significant drug

costs are not impoverished or required to pay the full cost themselves, without

a comprehensive program, and we want to see that increased.

In the area of medical transportation, we are delighted that the government

met its commitment to look after the discrimination that existed in Labrador

West for medical transportation to Goose Bay. We want to see a program developed

to look after medical transportation needs of all Labradorians when they need to

travel to the Island portion of the Province for medical care.

We want to see hospital care continue to provide for the needs of people, and

concerns raised recently by those in Stephenville and Port aux Basques about

losing medical services are of great concern to us in the New Democratic Party.

Home care is an extremely important means of allowing people who are unable

to look after themselves to stay in their homes, to receive the kind of care

that they need without being institutionalized. We think there are significant

to see a not-for-profit system supported strongly by government.

Some initiatives in education have been mentioned recently in terms of the

buildings. Obviously these are of great concern and importance, but we believe

our K to 12 system needs to be more secure and healthy for our children. As we

have heard in the Throne Speech, the needs of physical education, a proper

nutrition program - in fact, let's put an end to the junk food that we have in

our schools so that children do not have to be exposed to unhealthy eating

choices in a school environment where peer pressure often prevents people from

having a proper meal, proper nutrition choices. Also, we would like to see a

universal school meal program to ensure that the kind of educational

opportunities that we are making available are, in fact, available to those,

whether they are supplied with a meal at home every day or not.

Post-secondary education is extremely important to ensure equality of people

in terms of opportunity for the future. A strong public system must be

maintained. A significant issue that has arisen is in terms of the cost of

tuition, and I understand that this government has today made a commitment to

continue the freeze on tuition in post-secondary education. We are bucking the

trend. We are bucking a national trend in that area, and I think that is very

commendable, that we are going to continue to do so.

post-secondary education, whether it be through the College of the North

Atlantic or the university system, be supported by a needs-based grant system,

to ensure that those who have to endure extra costs because they need to travel

and support themselves while attending post-secondary education are able to do

so regardless of income. We want to see a strong trades training to meet the

skills needs of this Province as well, and we think that should be co-ordinated

by our College of the North Atlantic, with lots of consultation, of course, with

industry and government in terms of the labour needs, the labour market strategy

and the labour market needs.

Child care is something that we have seen a national initiative on, in recent

months, without much detail or substance, and I look forward to hearing from

this government specific plans to work on a universal system that will provide

for a transition to a not-for-profit system that will meet the needs of both

rural and urban families in the Province and provide a high degree of

consultation, because we do have to develop our own system here. We have seen

systems across the country, like in Quebec, that provide a model that is admired

across the country. We need to look closely at that but we need to develop our

own system to ensure that our needs are being met.

Also in education we have challenges in delivering French Immersion to people

in the Province. Recently, for example, a Labrador school board has sought to

eliminate Early French Immersion in Labrador West. We think this is a grave

mistake and, not only that, it deprives many families of an opportunity to

ensure that their children have access to this program. It is ironic that one of

our only border cities, Labrador City, had removed from its program Early French

Immersion. When you look in Labrador West and see jobs advertised, they want

people who are bilingual to take those jobs, and yet our school system is

removing the opportunity for Early French Immersion which helps people to learn

and also attracts families to this area.

We want to see - in fairness, there was some talk of automobile insurance and

new changes that might be made this year. We think that public insurance is a

part of fairness for people in Newfoundland and Labrador. We have a mandatory

system.

If I may quote from an individual who wrote to the Public Utilities

Commission as part of the recent hearings, his comments on insurance costs in

the Province, auto insurance, it says: Consumers are, in essence, being forced

by government to use a privately supplied service. We have no recourse and, as a

result, the insurance companies have a captive clientele. They are making

massive and obscene profits at our expense, and when we do need to make a claim

we are penalized by having our rate increased to cover the cost incurred. What

were we paying in for, for years, prior to having to make a claim? A gift? I

think it is time for government to step up to the plate and create a public

insurance system. Users of the existing system have been held hostage to private

companies for far too long.

That is a strong statement, Mr. Speaker, but it represents people's

concerns that we have a system where public liability in particular is

mandatory, and it is not fair if the best possible system is not available to

the people of the Province.

We hear, in the Throne Speech, about a new initiative with respect to mental

health and addictions treatment. We think that should be extended to people who

are severely compromised by gambling addictions. We have a significant problem

in our Province with people who use VLTs to the point that they destroy their

financial livelihood, their families, and sometimes themselves through suicide.

We collect over $100 million every year in gambling revenues mostly through VLTs.

These VLTs are designed specifically to extract money from vulnerable people

through psychological manipulation. That is the purpose of them, to take as much

money as they can from people through psychological manipulation. It is not fair

to them, it is not fair to their families, and it is not fair for the Province

to continue to extract this kind of money from vulnerable citizens.

We believe that the government should have an aggressive program to reduce

this kind of gambling. We should use the liquor laws to reduce the number of

machines immediately, we should increase support for problem gamblers, and we

also should implement and support a referendum option with the municipal

election next fall, as has been proposed by my colleague, the Member for

Labrador West.

Our resources, of course, are most important to our future, whether they be

the mineral resources underground, the oil resources, our natural resources such

as fishery and forestry, or our hydro electric resources. We welcome the

initiative of government with respect to a new sustainable fisheries program,

but we have considerable concerns about the fact that the main plank in this

government's platform on the fisheries this year is to support production

quotas for the crab industry without any consultation with some of the main

players who catch the fish and process the fish. Mr. Speaker, to have a plan

that is not supported by them, not made in consultation with them, and is

believed by them to be greatly disadvantageous, is a wrong plan for rural

Newfoundland and Labrador.

It is our belief, based on what we have heard so far, that what this plan

will do is turn over that resource to the very people who, for the last hundreds

of years, Newfoundlanders and Labradorians have complained about holding back

progress, the fish merchants, in this case the fish processors. We think this is

wrong and we think that this whole idea ought to be totally put on the back

burner until adequate consultation can take place to design the kind of system

that might make sense in keeping with what was contained in the Dunne Report,

based on consultation and agreement by all of the parties.

We support the development of the Lower Churchill power project on terms

acceptable to the people of this Province. We support a national power grid. Our

national party is the only national party that has yet to take a stand, and has

for some years, in believing that we should have a national power grid that

would allow this Province to participate fully in an electricity market without,

of necessity, being required to sell through only one player in the Province of

Quebec. We are delighted to see that Ontario has now made noises about

supporting a national power grid, and Manitoba has expressed interest as well.

project so that fairness can be obtained in the supply of power for our country

and support the Kyoto Accord and the need to develop clean power that is not

reliant upon fossil fuels.

We think substantial strides can be made, and should be made, in the area of

environmental protection. We want to see the banning of pesticides that are done

for cosmetic purposes. We would like to see some of the initiatives that are

being taken, by cities such as Mount Pearl and by towns around the Province in

terms of recycling and solid waste management, be more coordinated and be made

provincial programs. We want to see significant progress being made in the area

of conservation and assisting families to retrofit their homes so that they no

longer have to spend as much money on electricity or fuel to heat their homes,

and at the same time meet commitments under the Kyoto and provide jobs for our

people.

We have many ideas to present during this session of the House of Assembly.

We will support government when it is doing things that we believe in, as we

have done in the past, and we will support government in every effort to

eliminate poverty in our Province. I am glad to see that we have heard a

commitment from government for a comprehensive strategy to eliminate poverty.

Strategies - we have a cultural strategy, we have a socioeconomic strategy and

we have a strategy to eliminate poverty. That is one that I think is a very

significant challenge. It is not a matter of charity but a matter of justice,

and we will do everything we can to support efforts by this government to

undertake that challenge and to try to eliminate poverty in our Province.

I would suggest that we will not be doing so by pilot projects. There was

talk of a pilot project for single parents. Well, we had a pilot project for

seven or eight years in St. John's. We do not need another pilot project. We

know that these kinds of programs work. We need to ensure that they are

available to everyone. The single parents' program works. When you provide

support to single parents to go to work, when you give them education and

training, when you provide child care, when you ensure that they do not lose

dollar for dollar when they go to work, then goods things happen. We know that

this will work.

We have open to us, over the next number of weeks and months, the development

of a vision that is positive and good for the people of Newfoundland and

Labrador. We do not have an excuse for a budget that provides bad news and more

bad news to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador. We have, I believe,

achieved in the past year a change from the projected $360 million cash deficit

that was in last year's Budget, a situation, over the past year, where that

cash deficit has been eliminated. My prediction is that we will have, or be very

close to, a balanced budget when you look at last year's numbers. That means

that we do have opportunities for optimism, we do have opportunities for new

programs, we do have an opportunity to create a fairer Newfoundland and

Labrador, and we will be doing everything we can in this House of Assembly to

urge this government, to challenge this government, to ensure that it happens.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER WILLIAMS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Fellow Members of the House of Assembly, I rise this afternoon, first of all,

to thank His Honour the Lieutenant Governor for his usual passionate, articulate

and effective delivery of the government Throne Speech today.

I also want to extend by personal thanks to the mover, the Member for Humber

Valley, and the seconder, the Member for Burin-Placentia West, of the motion of

the Address in Reply. These two individuals are representative of all members of

this hon. House who work tirelessly on behalf of their constituents. We do not

just have movers and seconders on this side of the House, Mr. Speaker, we have

movers and shakers because we are shaking it up here in Newfoundland and

Labrador. We are doing a lot of good things.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER WILLIAMS: I also want to thank the Leader of the New Democratic

Party for his usual gracious and constructive remarks, and thank the Leader of

the Opposition for his usual rant, his double dose of negativity. I am sure by

his performance today, he has not disappointed his loyal colleagues and his many

supporters throughout the Province.

Mr. Speaker, in 2004 we successfully passed sixty-six pieces of legislation

through this Legislature. We anticipate another thirty to forty bills to be

tabled in this session, and I look forward to another productive, worthwhile,

energetic and combative session of the House of Assembly.

Mr. Speaker, I would also like, at this time, to extent a warm welcome to our

invited guests, some of whom have taken their leave due to other commitments,

the Honourable Chief Justices of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal, the

Honourable Judges of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador and the

Court of Appeal and the Provincial Court, the esteemed heads of Church and

State, the distinguished heads of our military and our police forces, our labour

leaders, our business leaders, our municipal leaders, other distinguished

guests, including former Lieutenant-Governors, former members of this hon.

Legislature, former Premiers and members of Parliament, members of the media and

the people of Newfoundland and Labrador who are with us in this Chamber today or

viewing us through televised proceedings.

I would also like to acknowledge my mother who celebrated her eightieth

birthday just two weeks ago, as she sits in the Speaker's Gallery.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER WILLIAMS: Mr. Speaker, what an extraordinary year this has been

for Newfoundland and Labrador. It is my fervent hope that when we look back upon

2004-2005, the history books will chronic this time as the turning point in our

Province's road to self-sufficiently and prosperity.

This was the year that Newfoundlanders and Labradorians stood united, stood

strong, and stood proud, and we demand it, our rightful place in this country.

I want to once again thank the people in Newfoundland and Labrador for having

the faith and confidence in our government in negotiating a new agreement on the

Atlantic Accord. It was an issue that was near and dear to the heart of every

single Newfoundlander and Labradorian. Yet they said to me that they had faith

we would only get the best for our Province. We stood our ground, Mr. Speaker,

and we got results.

I have always known of our people's tenacity, spirit, and pride. However,

this year we demonstrated just exactly how tenacious, how spirited and how proud

we really are. I have said it time and time again, I have never been so proud to

be a Newfoundlander and a Labradorian. Equally, Mr. Speaker, I have never felt

so humbled and privileged to be the leader of the youngest and the coolest

province in Canada.

This past year I saw the hope in the eyes of our youth, I saw the grit and

determination in the eyes of our seniors, I saw the pride in the eyes of our

ex-patriots and I saw the future in the eyes of our children. It was a poignant

and momentous year for Newfoundland and Labrador.

Mr. Speaker, no one can deny that we made dramatic steps forward as a

Province in the past year and though much has been achieved, there is still much

to accomplish. It is up to us as leaders to see that the job gets done. For the

first time ever, the eyes of all Canadians are upon us to see what will become

of Newfoundland and Labrador. They are looking to us to succeed and we will not

let them down.

In the past year our government has fulfilled many commitments that we made

to the people of this Province. Sometimes I think we focused so much attention

on the Atlantic Accord that we really did not even take time to blow our own

horn.

As Henry Ford once said, "Before everything else, getting ready is the

secret of success." Well, our government has spent the past year getting

ready. We have worked diligently behind the scenes to develop a relevant

Department of Business which will respond to the needs of industry and work with

them to grow our economy. We completed consultations and have moved forward with

a Rural Secretariat, and in a few days we will be rolling out our rural

strategy.

We transformed fourteen health boards into four regional, integrated health

authorities and successfully incorporated eleven school boards into five. Mr.

Speaker, we did this because we know that our precious dollars are better spent

in hospital rooms, in emergency rooms and in classrooms; not in board rooms, Mr.

Speaker.

We have invested extensively and focused the attention of the federal

government on Labrador, from 5 Wing Goose Bay to the many Aboriginal issues

which must be addressed. We have announced an innovation strategy, a venture

capital fund, more money for school repairs, increased enforcement for inland

fisheries, strengthened the aquaculture industry, created new policing

positions, implemented meaningful savings on car insurance, invested more money

in cancer and other drugs, opened a new MRI, started new recycling initiatives

and implemented election reform, and the list goes on and on and on.

Mr. Speaker, today's Speech from the Throne lays out our plan for the

future. It builds upon the foundation for success that we laid in our first

year.

As I have just outlined, our successes to date have been numerous and

significant. We are now perfectly positioned as a Province for economic growth,

stronger rural communities and healthy, safe and educated people, but we must

not lose sight of who we are because that is our greatest strength and that is

what sets us apart. I am so very proud that our government is focusing on

fostering and nurturing our Province's rich and unique culture. Our culture is

embodied in our people, and our people determine how our Province moves forward

in the future. In this way our culture is inextricably linked to our future

success. For this reason, our government is proud of our initiatives and

investments in our cultural communities. We must support our artists, writers,

actors, musicians, and entertainers. They represent our heart and our soul. They

manifest what we are all about. Not only are investments into our history and

our culture necessary, they are also wise. These are investments into an

industry that creates jobs, attracts tourists and spurs economic activity.

Mr. Speaker, the Aboriginal peoples of this Province contribute much to our

cultural landscape. Last month I had the honour and privilege of attending the

historic Labrador Inuit Land Claims signing ceremony in Nain. I am always deeply

moved by the rich and powerful culture, traditions and customs of our Aboriginal

peoples. Our government will continue to nurture, encourage and support our

Aboriginal people; not only their culture, but their education, their health and

their well-being.

Opportunities abound in Labrador, and our government has demonstrated

throughout the past seventeen months that we, indeed, have a vision for

Labrador. Despite our vocal critics, our government continues to spend and

invest in Labrador, including some $56 million in funding that we announced just

a couple of weeks ago. I was especially proud to announce funding for important

initiatives for women and children, in addition to infrastructure and health

care projects, to name just a few. We will continue to work with Labradorians to

identify the needs and opportunities and to invest on a priority basis.

Mr. Speaker, in a Province of 517,000 people, approximately, with a burden of

debt close to $12 billion, the new money from our offshore resources is needed

now more than ever. We now have the fiscal leg up to turn our situation around.

However, we all know that, though $2 billion sounds like an awful lot of cash,

it will only scratch the surface of our very serious fiscal situation. It is

only through the continued sound fiscal management of the past seventeen months

that we will, indeed, turn our deficits around. Our government is determined to

use this money wisely. We must create, in Newfoundland and Labrador, an economic

environment full of investment opportunities. We must cultivate a climate of

development potential. We must plant the seeds of investment today to reap the

rewards of success tomorrow.

Our government is proud of our plan to nurture and develop economic growth

and job opportunities unlike anything this Province has ever experienced before.

Not every venture will be successful, and as times change we will have to adapt

to new environments and new realities. However, armed with good planning, we

will overcome the challenges, face the obstacles head on and ultimately achieve

our true potential. Building upon our successes to date, we will continue to put

Newfoundland and Labrador on the world map as it has never been before.

We have experienced great success with our tourism marketing and our

government is proud to continue to increase in