May

24, 2012 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS

Vol. XLVII No. 37

The House met at 1:30 p.m.

MR. SPEAKER (Wiseman): Order, please!

Admit strangers.

Before we start today's session, I want to welcome to the Speaker's gallery

two special guests today visiting us from Quebec. We have the Deputy Speaker of

the Quebec National Assembly, Mr. Franois Ouimet.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: With him is the Parliamentary Relations Advisor, Richard

Daignault.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Welcome to our Assembly, and I hope you enjoy your visit to

Newfoundland and Labrador.

Statements by Members

MR. SPEAKER: Today, we have members' statements from the Member for the

District of Burgeo La Poile, the Member for the District of Bonavista South,

the Member for the District of Humber West, the Member for the District of

Torngat Mountains, the Member for the District of Bay of Islands, together with

the Member for the District of Conception Bay East Bell Island.

The hon. the Member for the District of Burgeo La Poile.

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

I rise today to recognize and congratulate Mr. Scott Francis, of Isle aux

Morts, upon his recent receipt of the Most Deserving Official Award for the

2010-2011 hockey season. Scott was recognized for his officiating skills by

Hockey Newfoundland and Labrador and Hockey Canada. Scott was a former member of

the Port aux Basques Minor Hockey Association and was presented with the award

on May 4 by his former coach, Mr. Joe Lane.

Scott has been officiating for seven years. He previously won the Most

Promising Official Award for the 2007-2008 season. In 2010 he was selected to

attend a program of excellence training camp in Gander, and from there was

selected to officiate at the Atlantic Challenge Cup. Scott is currently

certified as Level 3, and hopes to write his Level 4 test soon.

This past year, Scott played with the Port aux Basques Junior Mariners and

was a mentor to younger players. He is currently studying engineering at

Memorial University in St. John's, but still plans to referee games on the East

Coast when he can.

I ask all members of this House to join with me in extending congratulations

to Scott Francis for all of his hard work and dedication to this country's

favourite game.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. LITTLE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, hon. colleagues, I rise in this House today to recognize and

congratulate Mr. Ryan Furlong, who was one of only eight youths in this Province

to receive a URock Award during the 2012 URock Volunteer Award Show, that took

place on May 12 of this year.

Ryan is a resident of Plate Cove West and at the young age of eighteen, it is

commendable that he commits so much of his time volunteering. At school, he is

president of the student council and he coaches the junior boys' volleyball

team. Ryan is a member of the Centre for Distance Learning and innovation

advisory group and a member of his school's social justice club, working to

address serious issues of cyber-bullying. He sits on the provincial board of

directors for Newfoundland and Labrador's Youth Parliament and he is a youth

representative for Bonavista area Youth Network, focusing on enhancing

educational and recreational opportunities for youth in rural communities.

Mr. Speaker, I am so proud of this young individual and I ask all members of

this House to join me in congratulating such an outstanding member of our

Province, Mr. Ryan Furlong.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Humber West.

MR. GRANTER: Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to stand in this

hon. House to congratulate the organizers of the Corner Brook Achievement in

Community Awards held on May 15. I want to congratulate all nominees as well as

all winners of individual awards.

Specifically at this time, I want to congratulate both Sheldon Peddle and

Robert Leamon who were recognized as Citizen of the Year and Youth Citizen of

the Year respectively.

Sheldon was recognized for his tireless commitment to the enhancement of

Corner Brook through his volunteering and support of environmental and social

causes. Sheldon was also recognized as the community environmental leader as

well.

Robert, a Memorial University Grenfell Campus student puts many hours of

volunteer work to aid his fellow students. He was a part of Grenfell's first

Relay for Life, helped established the Bay of Islands Radio, volunteers as a

firefighter and is a youth representative for the Blow Me Down Cross-Country Ski

Club.

I ask all hon. members to join me in congratulating both Sheldon and Robert

on their achievements and in making Corner Brook a better place to live.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

MR. EDMUNDS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise in this hon. House today to congratulate Sophie Pamak, Twiggy as she

is better known as. Sophie is a home care nurse in the community of Hopedale,

and this year she is the recipient of the First Nation Inuit Health Branch Award

of Excellence in nursing.

This is a national award, Mr. Speaker, that has three categories. It is a

very prestigious award, and the residents of the North Coast of Labrador are

very pleased that Sophie has been recognized for her efforts and her

contribution to her nursing profession and to her Aboriginal community.

Sophie is a beneficiary of Nunatsiavut Government and a fluent speaker in

Inuktitut, Mr. Speaker, a trait that has helped her tremendously in applying her

profession in the community of Hopedale, especially to her elders.

Sophie travelled to Ottawa earlier this month to accept her award and the

scholarship that she can use for professional development.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all hon. members to join me in congratulating Sophie Pamak

on receiving this Award of Excellence.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Bay of Islands.

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

long-time volunteer from the Town of Irishtown-Summerside in the Bay of Islands.

Randell Loder has been volunteering in the Town of Irishtown-Summerside for

over fifty years, having served with various organizations during that time. He

has been a member of the Summerside Lions Club for over thirty years and is

still active with the club today. He was a councillor with the Town of

Irishtown-Summerside for seventeen years and he is still active with the St.

Paul's Anglican Church committee. Mr. Loder has also been a member of the

Summerside Recreation Committee, and for many years he was involved with the

Summerside 4-H Rockets.

On May 17, Mr. Loder celebrated his eighty-fourth birthday with family and

friends. He remains in good health and resides with his wife, Dulcie, in

Summerside.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all members to join me in extending congratulations and

best wishes to Mr. Loder on his many years of volunteer service with the Town of

Irishtown-Summerside and wish him continued good health.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for Conception Bay East Bell Island.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. BRAZIL: Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the members of the Portugal Cove

St. Philips Lions Club on their tremendous success during this past year. The

Portugal Cove St. Philips Lions Club was chartered in 1976 and has nineteen

members who work year-round to make Portugal Cove St. Philips a better place

to live.

In 2012, the Portugal Cove St. Philips Lions Club was one of only a few

clubs in our Province to receive the International Lions Club Excellence Award.

The award is granted to a club that meets several criteria, including: good

standing; community service projects; net growth in membership; raising the

club's profile; receiving leadership training for club officers; and meeting

international standards.

A President's Excellence Award was granted to Club President Bradley Moss for

overseeing this development. He is a third generation Lion who has been a member

for eight years and president for the last three. Mr. Moss is a 2011 recipient

of the Melvin Jones Fellowship, which is one of the highest honours that can be

bestowed on an individual Lion.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all member to congratulate the Portugal Cove St. Philips

Lions Club.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Statements by Ministers.

Statements by Ministers

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in this hon. House today to emphasize our government's

commitment to the recruitment and retention of qualified health care

professionals throughout the Province.

Since taking off, this provincial government has established numerous

programs and initiatives to improve recruitment of various health care

professionals. These include student bursaries, grants, travelling fellowships,

signing bonuses, and seat purchases in health sciences programs offered outside

of the Province.

Mr. Speaker, the total current investment in recruitment-related programs and

initiatives is $7.1 million annually. Many of these initiatives secure

commitment to work in rural and remote areas of the Province and there has been

strong uptake of these programs. Our commitment to enhancing health care through

the recruitment and retention of health care professionals in rural areas of the

Province has been demonstrated time and time again.

We invest $2.8 million annually in the medical-dental student and resident

bursary program to ensure more of our graduates stay right here in Newfoundland

and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: Many of the students who accept bursaries practice in rural

areas and all dental bursaries are for rural practice.

Mr. Speaker, our government has committed to increasing the Province's

medical school seat complement to eighty-four seats by 2013, from the current

sixty-four. We are working to improve accommodations for medical students in

rural areas of Newfoundland and Labrador. Students tell us that if they have a

positive experience during their rural placement, they are more likely to return

to practice in the area upon graduation.

There are now twelve nurse-specific recruitment and retention initiatives in

place, made possible through an investment of more than $2.5 million annually.

These initiatives include the Bachelor of Nursing Bursary Program, Rural Nursing

Incentive Program, and the Nurse Practitioner Bursary Program.

Mr. Speaker, as a result of these efforts, the Province currently has more

doctors and nurses than it has ever had in its history.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: In 2011-2012, practicing licences were issued for 1,096

physicians, 6,307 registered nurses and nurse practitioners, and 2,685 licensed

practical nurses.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I want to thank the minister for the advance copy of her statement. We are

certainly pleased to see that government has invested into the recruitment and

retention of health care professionals. We certainly acknowledge just how

important this has been, especially in rural areas.

One of the things, as we define rural areas, we did some interviews with some

health professional students just last week. Their definition of rural areas was

just twenty kilometres outside of St. John's. I do not think many of us in this

room today would consider rural to be a place like Corner Brook would be

considered rural. We are happy to see that we have seen significant improvements

in the program, happy to see that our doctors and physicians finally got to

Atlantic parity. We do realize that these recruitment and retention programs are

having a significant impact.

One other thing that came out of the interviews that we did was that most

students considered when we asked what was inhibiting people from going to

rural Newfoundland, it was spousal employment that by them was said to be the

number one reason why they would not relocate to a rural area. The other one was

the availability of community services like child care and high-speed Internet.

In one particular case that I know of, even in my own district we lost a

physician because of the availability of the Internet in the practice. Matching

the community to the individual is extremely important.

One area of health that we have not discussed here today was physiotherapy

we understand that physiotherapists right now are in demand across the Province

and indeed, the improved role that nurse practitioners can do, and filling the

role, and the need for hard-to-fill places in rural Newfoundland. These are

significant improvements, we will acknowledge that, but there is more work to be

done with other health care professionals.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

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

I too thank the minister for the advance copy of her statement. I would like

to commend the willingness of government now to work with physicians and nurses'

organizations on the serious recruitment and retention issues in this Province;

it is essential. I am glad to see incentives to increase the number of medical

and dental school graduates practicing in this Province, especially in rural

areas.

National research tells us that an effective way to recruit and retain more

physicians is to relieve the pressure on doctors, especially in rural areas, by

using nurse practitioner-led primary health care teams that would be both

urban emergency room settings as well as rural and placing nurse

practitioners, as well, with specialists. We need to maximize the use made of

nurse practitioners in our future health care system. That in itself will be an

incentive for more nurses to move into this field.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Child, Youth and Family Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS JOHNSON: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize that May 27 to June 2 is Early

Childhood Educators' Week, a week-long celebration that serves to highlight the

professionals who make an incredible contribution to the care and development of

children in Newfoundland and Labrador.

There are approximately 850 certified early childhood educators across the

Province working in a variety of settings, including child care centres, family

child care homes, and family resource centres. Many others work as instructors

and consultants in a variety of sectors.

Our government provides an annual early learning and child care supplement to

early childhood educators working in regulated child care.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS JOHNSON: Full-time Level II's working in centre-based care receive an

annual amount of $6,660 and Level I's receive $3,330. Level II family child care

providers receive $4,660 per year and Level I's receive $2,330. Level II early

childhood educators who own and operate their own centres and who work directly

with children in these centres receive $4,660 per year.

We also provide a $5,000 bursary to graduates of the two-year early childhood

education diploma program. This bursary requires a two-year return in-service

agreement. Summer institute bursaries of $1,200 are also available to those

students who are upgrading their credentials via the distance education program

at College of the North Atlantic. As well, our government provides an Early

Childhood Education Entry Level Supplement of $500 per year for those enrolled

in upgrading to a Level I Child Care Services certification.

These early childhood educators are an asset to the children and families

they work with, and to the Province as a whole. Through play-based learning,

early childhood educators provide support and guidance to children as they learn

to explore the world around them, interact with friends, ask questions, and

solve problems.

By helping to set the stage for learning and development, early childhood

educators are not just supporting our children, they are shaping the future. Our

government certainly recognizes the vital role that these professionals play in

our communities, and we will continue to support them in their important work.

In Budget 2012, we announced significant investments in child care, including

the ten-year Child Care Strategy, which will see government double its annual

budget for child care by 2021-2022 to approximately $56 million.

Under the strategy that will be released in the coming weeks, our government

will implement a number of initiatives to address the recruitment and retention

of qualified early childhood educators into the child care system. These include

enhancements to Early Learning and Child Care Supplements and improvements to

the process for attainment of a Level I certificate through post-secondary

education, workplace training, and prior learning recognition. These initiatives

reflect what we heard from early childhood educators during the Province-wide

consultations on the ten-year Child Care Strategy.

I would like to thank the Association of Early Childhood Educators

Newfoundland and Labrador and all early childhood educators, some of whom are in

the gallery today, for their hard work and commitment to helping our young

children reach their full potential.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Burgeo La Poile.

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

I would like to thank the minister for an advance copy of her statement.

I, too, would like to congratulate and thank the Association of Early

Childhood Educators Newfoundland and Labrador and other early childhood

educators for their dedication to our youth. We all know that these childhood

educators are a key to helping our children develop to their full potential. The

only issue that we have is that we need more of them, there is not enough. There

are key issues in the child care sector that need to be addressed, and that is

the lack of available trained workers. We are glad to see the government has

recognized this issue and is making changes to ensure that we are going to

improve this area.

A 2009 report, Mr. Speaker, stated that 50 per cent of daycare centres in

this Province were finding it difficult to recruit staff and 80 per cent of

centres said they had difficulty recruiting qualified staff. They have empty

rooms simply because they do not have the staff to fill them. These are very

cost-effective means of strengthening society as a whole and ensuring that our

children are getting the best possible start. We are very interested in learning

more about this initiative. We absolutely need to recruit and retain more of

these educators, so therefore we commend government for this initiative and we

thank the educators for all the work that they do.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

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

I am pleased to recognize Early Childhood Educators Week, next week. Early

childhood educators are deserving of recognition and much more. They are

essential to our society but often undervalued. The ECE profession involves

considerable training to achieve competence, and given that the pay is so low it

is important that they have access to bursaries such as these. Although wage

supplements are important, they are no substitute for a Province-wide wage

increase to all Level I and Level II early childhood educators to match the

competence level in this profession.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Oral Questions.

Oral Questions

MR. SPEAKER: The Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Premier has stated that her questions on search and rescue have not been

answered by the federal government and that they failed their humanitarian

responsibility. Two months ago Minister MacKay told us that he would co-operate

with an inquiry into search and rescue in the Province. Yesterday, Minister

Penashue reiterated that the feds would co-operate and stated it was the

Premier's responsibility to call one.

I ask the Premier: It is now clear that the federal government will

co-operate with an inquiry, so I ask the Premier, will you call one?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, in my very first conversation with Minister MacKay in February

about this issue, Minister MacKay made a pledge of providing information to the

Province with regard to the Burton Winters search. Unlike the Leader of the

Opposition, Mr. Speaker, I have pursued those answers, and I will be filing in

the House today the correspondence that I exchanged with Minister MacKay.

We have the answers with regard to deployment of federal resources in this

search, Mr. Speaker. We are not satisfied with the information, the explanations

that have been given. We have said so to the federal government. We have asked

them to review their protocols, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Quite frankly, that is the reason why the public inquiry would sort all this

out really. We have seen many other inquiries in this Province and these

include: Wells, Cameron, Lamer, the Ocean Ranger commission. All of these

inquiries have produced good recommendations that are providing for a safer

environment for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

I ask the Premier: Seeing the benefits that came out of these inquiries and

knowing that there is no downside to calling one, why do you continue to refuse

to call an inquiry into search and rescue in our Province?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, inquiries have served Newfoundlanders and Labradorians well on

very specific issues, but not every issue requires an inquiry. We are often

called, sometimes almost on a daily basis in this House, for an inquiry into

something or other.

Mr. Speaker, they were very definitive questions that needed to be answered

with regard to the deployment of federal government resources. Federal

government resources that we know do not have a dedicated responsibility for

ground search and rescue in this Province, Mr. Speaker, but a long-standing

practice of responding when requested in a humanitarian effort in search and

rescue. We do not believe that they lived up to that long-term practice.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We have been four months now and we still have not clarified this situation

in search and rescue in Newfoundland and Labrador. A public inquiry is the way

to go in our opinion.

I ask the Premier one more time: What is standing in the way of calling for a

public inquiry?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is true, in the months that have followed the Burton Winters tragedy there

has been quite a lot of information brought into the public purview, Mr.

Speaker. I encourage the Leader of the Opposition to have a good look at that,

to have a good look at the timelines. There is an explanation for everything

that took place.

The question remains around why cormorants were not dispatched from Gander on

the morning of January 30, Mr. Speaker. Minister MacKay and JRCC have provided

answers to that question. It is the same answer: they will give an inquiry. What

we are saying, Mr. Speaker, is the explanation is not satisfactory and you need

to review your protocols.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BALL: We have asked for the review of protocols and we have gotten

two different answers, quite frankly. One was that the protocol was an evolving

situation and the other one was a plan. The other thing too, to the Premier, we

do not have access to all of this information yet. We are still waiting on the

documents from Minister MacKay.

Mr. Speaker, the new EI rules released today by the Harper government appear

to take aim at frequent users and the workforce to accept lower-paying jobs.

I ask the Premier: How will these changes affect Newfoundlanders and

Labradorians who rely on this program and will you be discussing this with the

Prime Minister?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS BURKE: Mr. Speaker, we recognize that the EI program in Canada is a

hallmark program. It is one that supports people when they find themselves in a

crisis or unable to work for some reason, or for people who are in seasonal

employment, and it bridges them from one season to another. We want to ensure

that the changes that are brought in by EI certainly benefit Newfoundland and

Labrador and the workers in this Province. We have many people who work in the

fishery who are in seasonal work. Mr. Speaker, we also have an economy right now

where we are able to train people so that they will be able to meet the labour

gaps that we see in this Province.

I will have the opportunity to speak with Minister Finley about these changes

sometime this afternoon, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Premiers of Nova Scotia and PEI are warning Ottawa it is wading into

dangerous political waters on EI reform, calling for a public debate on the

issue of seasonal work. Not surprisingly, our Premier was not mentioned in this

response.

I ask the Premier: Will you now stand with those two other Premiers from the

Atlantic Provinces for the need for a public debate?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I will point out to the Leader of the Opposition again today

that, in fact, Newfoundland and Labrador has led the discussion on EI reform at

the Council of the Federation. We have made our views known to the federal

government, Mr. Speaker.

EI is an important program to Newfoundlanders and Labradorians generally, Mr.

Speaker, but to the fishery it is a very particular program.

The food production around the world is subsidized. There is no such direct

subsidy for the fishery in this country even though there is for agriculture

activities, Mr. Speaker. We point this out to the federal government on a

regular basis. If you are going to remove eligibility for EI for fishers, then

you have to compensate with some kind of other support program.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. BALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Well, in all due respect to the Premier: This is what you call leading

debate? If this is what we get, those types of changes, I really think we need

to actually change the approach.

The new EI rules will require frequent claimants to expand the scope of their

job searches. Also, job ads will be e-mailed to claimants.

So I ask the Premier: What does expanding the scope of job searches mean? How

will Newfoundlanders without Internet access receive the e-mailed job ads?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS BURKE: Mr. Speaker, as I said, we want to look at the changes to

ensure that the changes brought about by the EI system do not affect what we

consider some of our seasonal industries or our fishing industry. With regard to

how they will roll out some of the supports that will help people conduct job

searches, we will certainly explore that with the federal government.

Mr. Speaker, the Department of Advanced Education and Skills has a number of

career information centres across the Province and we also provide supports for

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians who are looking for work. We want to make sure

we provide the necessary supports to help people attach to the labour market.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

A few days ago we learned that the federal government will no longer be

funding the Province's Regional Economic Development Boards. This means these

boards could see cuts of 75 per cent of their operating budget. The minister

said a few days ago there would be no additional funding forthcoming. The

Premier said yesterday there was a suite of programs that was inside of

government. I do not think we can ignore that these are grassroots organizations

that plan and develop future initiatives in many rural communities across the

Province.

I ask you: In the absence of these organizations, who will be moving forward

with the rural agenda in economic development?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, this government has been engaged in rural development from the

very first day that we took over as Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, as

I pointed out in the debate, an exercise that had not happened in this Province

for a number of years prior to our government being elected in 2003. Sometimes I

think these organizations by former Administrations were used to fob off

responsibility. When they came to the table of organizations like ACOA, they had

nothing to bring, because they were volunteer organizations.

Mr. Speaker, as I said before, $2.6 million is what the Liberals had

designated for rural development in this Province in

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Mr. Speaker, fobbing off responsibility is what the government

is doing with boards like the Rural Secretariat, which are completely

ineffective. Economic development boards, Mr. Speaker, are the people on the

ground that develops the proposals and the applications, who have a vision to

move forward with economic development and come to government to access those

suite of programs that you have.

If they do not have the resources and the tools to do that, how will they

diversify in rural communities around this Province?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, as I was saying in my earlier response when we came to

government in 2003 the Liberal Administration, the former Liberal

Administration, had designated $2.6 million for economic development annually in

this Province, Mr. Speaker. Today, we have over $200 million annually available

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: to communities and business people in this

Province, Mr. Speaker, for economic development; over $5 million available

directly to community organizations to leverage out other funding for economic

activities in their part of the Province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Opposition House Leader.

MS JONES: Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, we have a regulation in place in the Province which states that

crab harvested in 2J on the Coast of Labrador must be landed and processed in

Labrador. Mr. Speaker, previous operators of the crab plant in Black Tickle are

now landing as much as 400,000 pounds of 2J crab in Quebec and selling it to

Quebec processors.

I ask the minister: What steps can be taken to ensure that this crab stays in

Labrador and Labradorians reap the benefits of that resource?

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KING: Mr. Speaker, the current policy of this government around crab

in that particular zone is as the member illustrated, that any crab that is

landed either on the Island part of Newfoundland and Labrador, or in Labrador,

must be processed in Labrador. The policy was put into effect a number of years

ago and it has been maintained by our government because we see the value of the

benefits that would accrue to the people of Labrador.

The challenge we have today, Mr. Speaker, is that the assignment of quotas to

fishing enterprises and all restrictions, or landing requirements, or lack

thereof is the responsibility of the federal government. The only jurisdiction

that the Province has is once the fish is landed either in Labrador or on the

Island part of the Province. I say to the member opposite that I am certainly

not happy at all to see that happening. I think it is disgusting that someone is

catching our resource and taking it to

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Opposition House Leader.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, a lot of this crab going to Quebec means that there is going to

be fewer jobs and fewer hours of employment in Labrador plants. The plants that

are currently in operation and licensed can handle the additional product.

I am asking the minister today: Is there any kind of way that we can

strengthen the adjacency restrictions in 2J at all to prevent that crab from

going out of the Province right now?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KING: Mr. Speaker, the short answer without a second opinion to

the member opposite, is no. We do not have any jurisdiction whatsoever over

quotas. We have expressed on many occasions both myself and the Premier to

the federal government that we think there ought to be more requirements around

quotas, so that if you hold a quota you hold the opportunity to harvest a

resource so rich and so valuable to this Province that you ought to live up to

expectations around where it is landed and where it is processed.

The challenge for us, Mr. Speaker, is that we do not have jurisdiction over

that. We can only advocate, as we continue to do both myself and the Premier

at every opportunity, and that is why we continue to try and talk to the federal

government and find a way forward through negotiation advocacy, Mr. Speaker.

It is a serious issue, I fully understand where the member is coming from,

and I support her in trying to get that landed back in Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Opposition House Leader.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Will the minister confirm that it is because of the absence of provincial

government funding initiatives for enterprises that they have been forced to go

to private companies to buy out their vessels, to buy out their licences, and

now it is these private companies that are controlling the fishery in this

Province because they are telling me that it is the private company that is

telling them that they have to go to Quebec and sell this crab?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KING: No, Mr. Speaker, I absolutely cannot confirm that. What I can

say is that our government has continued to invest in the fishery. I have talked

many times in this House about what we have done to support processors. Just

last Friday, my colleague, the Minister of Innovation, Business and Rural

Development had the opportunity to not only announce but strengthen the

Fisheries Loan Guarantee Program.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KING: Mr. Speaker, as I have said on many occasions in this House,

the fishery is a business, and how business transactions occur is operating

outside of the sphere of government. Individuals are choosing to get their

finances in many types of forums, Mr. Speaker. Some are community business

development corporations, some are banks, some may be private loans. Government

does not intrude in the day-to-day lives of operators to regulate that kind of

operation.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Opposition House Leader.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

In the last couple of months the Province has seen a number of closures of

fish plants and the displacement of a large number of our dedicated workforce.

While a workers adjustment program will assist some, it will not meet the needs

of all of our older workers.

I ask the Premier today: If the Province is prepared to step forward and lay

money on the table? They said they had 30 per cent to commit to an early

retirement program, are you prepared to step up now and put a program in place

for early retirement of displaced fish plant workers?

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KING: Mr. Speaker, the closure of fish plants is absolutely number

one on the priority for the Premier, for Cabinet, and for this government. We

recognize the challenges that exist. It is why a number of years ago it was our

government that put in place the fish plant closure program to provide a suite

of programs including economic development opportunities, wage subsidy

opportunities, and an employment program to assist a one-year transition for

workers.

We fully recognize the challenges that are there. It is why we also put on

the table a 30 per cent contribution to a retirement package. I can confirm

today, on behalf of government and the Premier, that that still stands. Mr.

Speaker, we have to get the federal government onside and we continue every

single moment an opportunity that we get to advocate with the Prime Minister and

the federal minister, but they have to come to the table if there is going to be

any meaningful package for workers.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank the minister for his response.

I would like to ask the Premier, in light of that: If and when she gets a

meeting with the Prime Minister, will the early retirement program for the

displaced plant workers in this Province be one of the priorities on your agenda

for discussion?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, these are serious issues. When we have a discussion with the

Prime Minister we put issues that are important to the people of the Province on

that agenda, Mr. Speaker. That is what I will do. I encourage the Opposition

House Leader to do the same, and this time she might take her leader with her if

she gets an opportunity to meet with the Prime Minister.

All of us should be advocating strenuously on behalf of the people in

Newfoundland and Labrador. It is what we do every day, Mr. Speaker, and it is

what we will continue to do.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

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

Mr. Speaker, one of the reasons the Premier gave for not calling a public

inquiry into the death of Burton Winters evaporated yesterday with the

revelation the federal government will co-operate with a provincial public

inquiry.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the Premier today: What is the rationale that she is now

giving for not calling a public inquiry in this instance, not in others, but in

this one?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, as I said earlier in Question Period, when we first discussed

this issue with Minister MacKay back in February, he offered to provide any

information he had. Mr. Speaker, we have taken him up on that order and we have

laid out a timeline, Mr. Speaker. We have been able to identify quite clearly

where the issue arose. That has been articulated very clearly by the people in

Labrador, by Burton Winters' family and by our own analysis, Mr. Speaker.

I have asked Minister MacKay for an explanation of the gap that occurred on

January 30 in the search when there was a five-hour period that they were not

engaged in the search. The answers are not satisfactory; the protocols need to

be changed.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Leader of the Third Party.

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

It is the protocols that I am concerned about and the Premier's interest in

getting them changed. A public inquiry with the full involvement of both levels

of government and other interested parties could result in the development of

fail-safe protocols, Mr. Speaker.

I ask the Premier: Would she please put in place an inquiry to develop

appropriate protocols for search and rescue so that needless tragic deaths never

happen again? That is the action I am looking for.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Then the very first thing that the Leader of the Third Party should do, Mr.

Speaker, is find out who has responsibility for what. Mr. Speaker, we have no

responsibility for the deployment of federal government resources, nor would any

inquiry or recommendation coming out of any provincial inquiry have the

authority to demand, or command, or require the federal government to change any

of its protocols. They do not have a specific responsibility in ground search

and rescue, Mr. Speaker, as I have said a number of times. They respond as part

of a humanitarian effort. We think they failed in this case, in this instance,

on Monday, January 30, and we have pointed that out, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Leader of the Third Party.

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

I think the Premier fully understands the interface between both, and people

have to work together in the two sets of protocols.

Mr. Speaker, Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador is concerned about the

void that will be created with the loss of the RED Boards cut by the federal

government. MNL insists these boards play an important role in co-ordinating

municipalities and developing and encouraging the capacity building necessary

for regional economic development. Their loss will be another serious blow to

municipalities across the Province.

I ask the Premier: Will she direct her Minister of Innovation, Business and

Rural Development to meet with MNL to outline to them how government will

address their concerns?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I have had the privilege since I was a very young woman to be

engaged in community. There was a time when I served as a member

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: of a town council, Mr. Speaker, directly involved

in economic development in a community. I served as a member of a REDB. Mr.

Speaker, I also had the privilege of being minister of the lead business

department in this government.

I understand the efforts of community volunteers, Mr. Speaker. We cannot

backfill every void left by the federal government or any other agency, whether

it is municipalities or anybody else. We will continue to support where we think

it is appropriate.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

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

So I guess the answer to MNL is that they are not going to sit and talk with

them.

Mr. Speaker, just a year ago this government was praising RED Boards and the

important work they do. The minister at the time was effusive in her praise,

noting that the work RED Boards were doing was "essential in enabling small

firms to compete nationally and internationally." She said their work allowed

them to "punch beyond their weight." What a difference a year makes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the Premier: Will she acknowledge the importance her own

Administration has placed on these boards and find the funding to allow them to

continue?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I am so delighted to hear the Leader of the Third Party

acknowledge all of the economic activity that is going on in rural parts of the

Province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: It is the first time in the number of years she has

been here that I have heard any such affirmation come from her on economic

development in Newfoundland and Labrador. To use the familiar expression from

one of her colleagues: Bravo.

Now, Mr. Speaker, what is important is to put real tools in the hands of

people who are trying to drive economic development in our Province. We do that

through our lead Department of IBRD, we do that through our Regional Economic

Development offices, we do that through MNL and what they are doing, we do that

through ACOA and what they are doing, and we do it with the $200 million

annually

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for The Straits White Bay North.

MR. MITCHELMORE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the Sandy Cove plant owned by 3 T's Limited was closed in 2009

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Member for The Straits White Bay North.

MR. MITCHELMORE: Mr. Speaker, the Sandy Cove plant owned by 3 T's Limited

was closed in 2009 for failing to meet basic federal safety standards and

therefore could not meet minimum processing requirements. Despite this, it

appears the licence was retained until recently.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture: Why did his

department extend the licence of the operator who did not have an operational

plan and could not meet basic operational standards?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KING: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank the member for the advance copy of the question.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. KING: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for that protection.

The plant in Sandy Cove was indeed licensed to a company

named 3 T's in 2003. It operated until 2009. For two years, Mr. Speaker, the

plant was inoperable, no processing at all. As per provincial policy we removed

the licence from the plant in 2011. I say to the member opposite, I understand

the concern for the plant and the community and I would certainly implore upon

the company to do the right thing and fix the plant.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Member for The Straits White Bay North.

MR. MITCHELMORE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

At least now the people of Sandy Cove have an answer.

Mr. Speaker, the system has failed the people of Sandy Cove. A processor was

able to retain his licence for more than two years when the plant was deemed

unsafe, creating unemployment for local plant workers and limiting options for

the harvesters to sell their catch. Mr. Speaker, DFA has stood in the way of

economic development in this area and the people of Englee know the consequences

of continued government inaction.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the minister what plans his government will make to

quickly remediate the site and help the region in new economic developments.

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KING: Mr. Speaker, I would implore upon the member opposite to try

and bring some consistency to his message. For a number of days he has been

asking me about opening plants all across this Province and why we are not doing

more. Today he is asking me why we did not close Sandy Cove earlier. Mr.

Speaker, I say to the member: shameful, if that is the view you have for rural

Newfoundland and Labrador that you want to close plants at the very first sight

of trouble.

Mr. Speaker, let's be very clear here that the onus to cleanup a dilapidated

fish plant does not rest with this government. It rests with the company. I say

to the member opposite, and I say to the company 3 T's: do the right thing. The

community and the workers have been loyal and committed to you over the years

and helped you earn money from that plant. Do the right thing; go back in that

community and fix it up, or take it down and leave the community in good stead

like it ought to be left.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. MURPHY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

While the Province has banned the use of some chemical pesticides for

cosmetic use of lawn care, other pesticides are used in a wide variety of uses.

We have learned of a company that has now been charged with the use of a

chemical pesticide in the agriculture industry.

Will the government table a list of all chemicals currently used in the

practice of aquaculture in the Province?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Environment and Conservation.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. FRENCH: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I too would like to thank the hon. member for an advance copy of his

question, Mr. Speaker. They have been very kind to us today, the members of the

Third Party, and shared their questions with everybody in government, I believe,

so thank you very much.

Mr. Speaker, we recently banned five pesticides here in the Province because

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. FRENCH: a number of people believe that they were cosmetic

pesticides, and that is what we did. Certainly, if the hon. member would like to

see which chemicals are banned in that field, we would be more than honoured to

share with him. I am sure the hon. member knows about the pesticide ban. He was

going around shopping, looking for them a while back, Mr. Speaker, so I am sure

he is well-aware of all the pesticides banned in this Province.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. MURPHY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Cooke Aquaculture is facing serious charges with the illegal use of

pesticides in two other provinces.

Can the minister assure this House and the consumers of fish products that

his department has been taking the proper steps to monitor the aquaculture

industry to ensure this does not happen here?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KING: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

A very good question, and I do not often do this lately but I will thank the

member for the question because it gives me an opportunity to talk at length. As

I said a few days ago here, Mr. Speaker, our Province is leading the country and

perhaps leading North America in biosecurity of the aquaculture industry.

I remind people that it is our government that invested significantly in a $1

million-plus facility in St. Alban's, Mr. Speaker, where we have veterinarians

and top-qualified and trained staff who deal on the leading edge of aquaculture.

Mr. Speaker, I also say to the member opposite that it is our government that

invests in biosecure wharves around the aquaculture industry to ensure further

protection. We also engage in the fallow field concept, Mr. Speaker, so that we

allow the process.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The time for Question Period has expired.

Presenting Reports by Standing and Select Committees.

Tabling of Documents.

Tabling of Documents

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to table a series of correspondence between myself

and Minister MacKay, Minister of National Defence.

MR. SPEAKER: Further tabling of documents?

The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.

MS SULLIVAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, in accordance with the requirements of the Transparency And

Accountability Act, it is my pleasure to table the 2011-2014 activity plan for

the Health Research Ethics Authority.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury

Board.

MR. MARSHALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Pursuant to

Section 26.(5)(

a) of the Financial Administration Act, I am

tabling two Orders in Council relating to funding pre-commitments for the

2013-2014 fiscal year relating to paving contracts on the Trans-Labrador

Highway.

MR. SPEAKER: Further Tabling of Documents?

Notices of Motion.

Notices of Motion

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

MR. KENNEDY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I give notice under Standing Order 11, that I shall move this House not

adjourn at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, May 28, 2012, and further I give notice, Mr.

Speaker, under Standing Order 11, that I move that this House shall not adjourn

at 10:00 p.m. on Monday, May 28, 2012.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Further notices of motion?

Answers to Questions for which Notice has been Given.

Answers to Questions for which Notice has been Given

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS BURKE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I started to answer a question that was put forward by the

Member for Burgeo La Poile yesterday and I did not have an opportunity to

finish my answer, my response, because at 3:00 o'clock on Wednesdays we have to

go to private member's motion, so I will continue my response here today, Mr.

Speaker.

I will provide some context, rather than just starting in the middle of what

I was speaking about, as to what I was answering. I will just go over the

introduction to make sure people understand what it is I am continuing with

today.

There was a question tabled by the Member for Burgeo La Poile regarding the

business transformation project for the Department of Advanced Education and

Skills. As I said yesterday, as confirmed by an Order in Council tabled in the

House of Assembly on Thursday, March 8, 2012, former Auditor General John

Noseworthy has been retained by the Department of Advanced Education and Skills

as a consultant to complete an assessment of current programming and business

transformation for the Department of Advanced Education and Skills.

This department was created to help address labour demand and has a mandate

to ensure Newfoundland and Labrador has the highly-educated graduates and

skilled workers needed for this fast growing economy. Given this new mandate, a

comprehensive transformation plan is needed to ensure all departmental policies,

programs, and services

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS BURKE: are streamlined and best fitted to meet the growing labour

demands of Newfoundland and Labrador. That was basically why we undertook the

business transformation process, and yesterday I spoke about it, and I will

continue now where I left off with that yesterday, Mr. Speaker.

Immigration will be another key source of specialized labour, and we will be

working with business and industry to maximize the opportunities for older

workers to remain in the labour force for longer periods of time. As a new

department, AES brings together substantial fiscal resources, human resources,

and educational and training infrastructure. The department fulfills its mandate

through a spectrum of services, supports, and strategies in the following areas:

helping employers with accessing and keeping skilled workers, supporting

delivery of post-secondary education, administering the Student Financial

Assistance Program, providing programs and supports for apprenticeship and trade

certification, offering career development and planning services, providing

employment and training supports, delivering Income Support and other financial

supports, leading the Poverty Reduction Strategy, leading the provincial

inclusion strategy, engaging youth, and increasing the recruitment and retention

of immigrants.

I will now get into an overview of the project. The department has

substantial resources available to it, but as a new department, all these

resources have not yet achieved a unified and consolidated focus on labour

market development. The program review and business transformation project

therefore encompasses the development and discharge of a comprehensive plan to

review and evaluate the full suite of programs and services offered by the

Department of Advanced Education and Skills as well as the development of a

business transformation plan. The required outcome is the refocusing of the

department's policies, programs, and services to position it to deliver on its

mandate in a timely fashion.

Included within this project's scope will be the programs and services for

which the department has a direct role in delivering. As well as those programs

and services that are delivered by community-based organizations funded by the

department, the department's executive team will determine whether programs and

funding instruments of the department are congruent or can be made congruent

with the department's mandate.

The programs and policies and supports which do not meet the test of

congruency will be terminated or transferred to other departments of government.

Within this context, the consultant will carry out the following role. I will

now discuss the role of the consultant. The consultant will provide analysis,

advice, and recommendations on business process improvement, program efficiency,

program consolidation, change management, monitoring, and evaluation. These

activities will be carried out consistent with direction from the deputy

minister regarding the department's mission, goals, priorities, values, and

intended client outcomes.

The consultant will report directly to the deputy minister but will interact

on a regular basis with the minister. Small, project-specific teams will be

established on an ad hoc basis from existing staff resources with subject matter

expertise. Administrative support will be provided by staff in the minister and

deputy minister's office; otherwise the consultant will work independently. The

consultant will be expected to provide status updates on a minimum of a weekly

basis. It is anticipated that this project will be a minimum of one year in

duration.

I will now speak about the goals of the project: to enhance the delivery of

services to clients by streamlining service delivery and realignment of

available resources; to evaluate and/or develop a plan to support external

evaluations of all programs being delivered and/or funded by the department; to

reduce, simplify, and streamline the department's suite of programs consistent

with the department's mandate and strategic plan to support the development of

the Province's labour force; to provide advice and recommendations on the

transition from independent branches into an effective, single, integrated,

organizational entity, while balancing the needs of the different groups which

often have conflicting operational priorities.

I will now speak about specific functions and expectations. The consultant is

responsible and accountable to provide professional counsel to facilitate and

implement change management, identify, prioritize, and facilitate program and

policy evaluation, and develop a

schedule of continuous improvement activities

and other planning initiatives. The consultant will examine the programs,

services, and delivery methodology of the former Department of Human Resources,

Labour and Employment, and the Advanced Studies Branch of the Department of

Education, and recommend standardized approaches to achieve synergy and program

supports, and efficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of programs and

services.

The consultant will review the current business processes with the goal to

simplify and streamline how clients move through and are supported by the

department, and recommend processes and structures to effectively carry out its

mandate. The consultant will recommend initiatives to support and strengthen the

efficient and effective delivery of integrated services throughout all programs

and services consistent with the strategic direction of the department. The

consultant will make recommendations relating to the consolidation of numerous

programs and services in order to transform these functions to align with a

continuum of supports from social and employment supports through to

post-secondary education and ultimately to work.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Environment and Conservation.

MR. FRENCH: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I could not hear you over the applause from the previous answer to the

question.

I want to thank the Member for Torngat for his questions. I want to get a

chance to respond to some of his concerns, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the provincial government takes site remediation very seriously

and is committed to following through on its commitment to access and clean up

specific contaminated sites in our Province. Public health and safety remain a

priority of our government, and our significant commitment to our ongoing

remediation efforts certainly speak to this. An assessment of all provincial

contaminated sites would be a very costly venture for the provincial government,

amounting to tens of millions of dollars. Money spent on such an exercise would

be much better spent on actually cleaning up these sites, Mr. Speaker.

The provincial government endeavours to use the best science available when

it comes to remediating impacted sites in our Province. As science changes, the

ranking of the sites would also change and the original assessments would be

outdated. Therefore, such a ranking system would not be financially prudent or

responsible and would be using funds that could otherwise be spent on actual

remediation.

What is important to understand is that we use an informed risk assessment

approach to evaluate impacted sites in the Province. Sites are evaluated and

ranked according to the risk that they pose on human health. Whether provincial

or federal, if an immediate human health risk is identified for the people of

our Province, immediate action is taken. The remediation effort at Buchans is a

perfect example of how impacted sites in the Province are given government's

attention. An immediate action is taken when a human health risk is identified.

In Budget 2010, the provincial government committed $9 million to remediation

efforts in Buchans. Areas of exposed concentrated mine tailings from the former

Buchans Mine, known as the Tailings Spill Area, Mucky Ditch, and Tailings ponds

were the major contributors to the dispersion of heavy metal impacted tailings

throughout the town. I also want to acknowledge the work of the member for that

area as well, Mr. Speaker.

Our government responded to the human heath concerns in the area, and this

work has been completed. Given the sources of the impacts have been addressed,

only the residential and public spaces impacts remain. Budget 2011-2012

allocated $5 million for a three-year program to remediate the soil in the

public and residential areas of Buchans. As part of this multi-year funding

commitment, $2.5 million was allocated in Budget 2012-2013.

A Risk Management Plan was developed by an outside consultant who recommended

the removal and capping of impacted soil on four impacted public areas ball

field, tennis court-hospital, memorial, and the museum as well as 234

residential properties. This initiative will see the soil in the residential and

public areas of Buchans remediated to a level that does not pose any

unacceptable risks to human health. I am pleased to report this is the last

outstanding immediate human health-safety issue related to the former

Abitibi-owned Buchans Mine site.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. FRENCH: A commitment of $6.2 million was also made to support ongoing

remediation efforts at the former military site in Hopedale which I am sure

the Member for Torngat is certainly well aware of, Mr. Speaker with funding of

$2.23 million in Budget 2011-2012, and an allocation of $2.03 million in each of

the following two years. A consultant was retained to complete an extensive

environmental assessment in Hopedale, as well as human health and ecological

risk assessments at the former US military site and the subdivision area.

Following completion of these assessments, a remedial action plan was developed.

The provincial government continues to move forward with its work plan

regarding remediation efforts in Hopedale and, through a stakeholder advisory

committee, will continue to work closely with the Nunatsiavut Government and the

Hopedale Inuit Community Government to ensure they have input into this project.

The initiative will continue to focus on efforts to have soil in the residential

and public areas of Hopedale remediated to a level that does not pose any

unacceptable risks to human health or the environment. These commitments are

testimony to the great emphasis we place on our environment and the remediation

of areas of concern that pose an immediate human health concern. It also clearly

demonstrates that our government is responsive to the needs of our residents and

to the needs of our environment.

While the value of a good inventory of impacted sites is indeed recognized by

our government, our main focus continues to be on addressing the remediating of

these sites. We are confident in the experience and expertise of staff who

continuously do a good job of identifying priorities that are of significant

human health risk.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Justice and Attorney General.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. F. COLLINS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, on March 21, the hon. Member for Burgeo La Poile placed a

question on the Order Paper to ask the hon. Minister of Justice and Attorney

General to lay on the table of the House any analysis, reports, or projections

which the provincial government has compiled in relation to the cost and impacts

for this Province of the recently passed federal government Bill C-10,

An Act to

amend the Criminal Code. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased today to stand and address

that question 5 on the Order Paper.

Mr. Speaker, the federal government's Safe Streets and Communities Act, Bill

C-10 is, as I have said before, a significant piece of legislation. It has some

positive components to it, Mr. Speaker, as we have seen; for example, the

Protecting Children from Sexual Predators Act is a part of that omnibus bill.

The Increasing Offender Accountability Act is also in that bill, as is the

supporting victims of terrorism act. There are some very positive pieces of

legislation in that omnibus bill, Mr. Speaker.

Other proposed changes, Mr. Speaker, involve complex amendments. We are

continuing to review that legislation. We continue to analyze what impacts those

acts may have on our judicial system, everything from prosecutions to

corrections. This is a significant piece of work, Mr. Speaker, and the four

Atlantic Provinces have committed to join together and do this analysis

together.

There has been a long-standing committee of Atlantic Heads of Corrections who

meet regularly to discuss issues relating to corrections. By working together,

this group is able to pool resources and do in-depth analyses, which is mutually

beneficial for all Atlantic Provinces. It also allows them as a group to compare

data with the larger provinces such as Ontario and Quebec.

This working group, Mr. Speaker, of the Atlantic Heads of Corrections is

currently reviewing the projected costs associated with criminal law amendments.

It has held face-to-face meetings as well as numerous teleconference calls.

Following a review of recent and proposed criminal law amendments, the working

group is now examining the issue with regard to the range of potential impacts

on the Atlantic Provinces.

We have provided information along with the other provinces and this is

currently being compiled. This information was gathered for the retrospective

analysis which examines the impact of the legislative amendments. A consensus

methodology for the prospective analysis will investigate the potential impacts

of recently passed amendments to criminal law in Canada. This methodology is

intended to be a very practical analysis.

Mr. Speaker, the central variables to be looked at are based on a number of

admissions and the average length of sentence, and include five to ten years of

data to examine any historical trends. Historical data was used to inform

changes in sentencing practices for applicable offences affected by legislative

change and to predict potential growth in the coming years. The goal of the

predictive analysis is to determine how many offenders will be in custody in

Atlantic Canada, and for how long.

In addition, at the federal-provincial-territorial meetings of Ministers of

Justice in January, which I was pleased to attend, this topic resulted in some

discussion. The federal ministers agreed on the need for continued collaborative

dialogue in managing the shared FPT responsibility in criminal justice. The

federal minister stated that the views of the provinces and the territories

would be considered regarding the coming into force of amendments included in

Bill C-10, and that the staggered implementation of amendments to the Criminal

Code, the Youth Criminal Justice Act, and the Controlled Drugs And Substances

Act within a reasonable time will facilitate preparation for implementation for

all jurisdictions.

We know, Mr. Speaker, that other provinces are in the process of making

policy directions and initiatives in light of passing Bill C-10, and we will

monitor what other jurisdictions are doing to determine if these initiatives

would be applicable to our own circumstances in Newfoundland and Labrador, and

we are currently interested in reviewing such initiatives as Bill C-10 is being

rolled out.

With respect to impact on prosecution, Mr. Speaker, we will also review our

own discretionary policies as they relate to the Criminal Code and the Youth

Criminal Justice Act. The hon. Member for Burgeo La Poile, as a lawyer, would

know that we have certain discretionary policies within our own prosecution and

within the legislation itself; we will continue to review that, and we will

continue to monitor the other jurisdictions in this regard, as I just pointed

out.

Mr. Speaker, the Department of Justice remains committed to ensuring the

safety and security of individuals and communities throughout Newfoundland and

Labrador. In April 2008, my department launched a review into the state of adult

corrections in Newfoundland and Labrador. It was clear from the Decades of

Darkness report that adult corrections had issues which needed to be

addressed. I am certainly pleased with the progress that has been made on the

recommendations contained within the Decades of Darkness report. In fact,

seventy-six of the seventy-seven recommendations contained in the review have

either been fully addressed, or are in various stages of progress. This report

is a living document, Mr. Speaker, which will continue to guide and direct adult

corrections well into the future. Approximately $7 million have been allocated

towards adult corrections, since we received the report.

The improvements we have made have helped to revitalise the Adult Corrections

Division of the Department of Justice to better meet the needs of inmates,

corrections officials, and indeed, the general public. We are doing our part to

ensure the corrections system in our Province continues to improve. Our

government is committed to providing a correctional system that works for

everyone, including employees and inmates, and we will continue to look at ways

to ease inmate capacity as well as provide adequate facilities across the

Province.

Mr. Speaker, I will have more to say on this later when I have the

opportunity to address questions 13 and 14, which are also on the Order Paper.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Petitions.

Petitions

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

MR. EDMUNDS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I bring a petition to the hon. House of Assembly of the Province of

Newfoundland and Labrador in Parliament assembled, the petition of the

undersigned humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS there is no cell service in Nunatsiavut; and

WHEREAS many individuals travel in close proximity to their respective

communities and are subject to accidents and/or misdirection; and

WHEREAS cellphone coverage could well have prevented the death of young

Burton Winters;

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

House of Assembly to urge the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to work

with the appropriate agencies to provide cell coverage to the Labrador North

Coast.

As in duty bound your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr. Speaker, there are many areas in our Province that does have coverage,

and I think we are all glad for it. It was indicated that, I believe it was 85

per cent coverage in our Province. As well pointed out by my colleagues, Mr.

Speaker, there is a remaining percentage that does not have coverage, and one of

those areas is Northern Labrador.

Mr. Speaker, the telephone system in Northern Labrador is run by microwave

towers and line of sight, and this is also how cell coverage works. The point I

am making here, Mr. Speaker, is that the infrastructure is in place, it just

needs to tie into service. I know that it does cost a significant amount of

money; however, the infrastructure, as I said, is already there, it is already

in place. Not only would cellphone coverage bring an increased capacity for

development, which would be an investment as defined, but, Mr. Speaker, it would

also help bring the North Coast of Labrador up to standards that most of the

rest of the Province enjoy.

I humbly ask that all members of this House urge this government to push

forward and to tie in the northern part of our Province, Mr. Speaker, with the

rest by using the infrastructure that is already in place, and to work with it.

It works well with the telephone communications and I see no reason why it could

not work with cellphone coverage.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for The Straits White Bay North.

MR. MITCHELMORE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I stand to present a petition once again for the removal of the Englee fish

plant.

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

Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned residents of Newfoundland

and Labrador humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS the provincial government refuses to admit that they have a role to

play in the removal of the condemned Englee fish plant; and

WHEREAS the Town of Englee has exhausted all avenues over the past seven

years, lobbying government for removal; and

WHEREAS inaction has resulted in economic loss for the town, delay of new

infrastructure and has become a concern of public safety as large debris has

fallen into a major shipping route;

We the undersigned, petition the House of Assembly to urge the government to

immediately order full removal and environmental clean up of this condemned

property of former fish plant in order to restore public confidence in the

system and settle land issues to permit new wharf development to provide

residents of Englee with a mechanism to revitalize a presently devitalized

economy.

As in duty bound your petitioners will ever pray. Sincerely, the undersigned.

Mr. Speaker, it is quite nice to hear the Minister of Environment

Conservation highlight all the money that is being invested in site remediation

when it becomes a health and safety concern for the public. That is certainly

something that we are seeing in Englee, where we have an environmental

assessment that was complete through the Department of Fisheries and Oceans

federally, through public works. They have outlined a number of hazardous

materials and chemicals, PCBs, things that are quite dangerous. The roof has

collapsed. It is a grave environmental concern to contaminate our waterways, it

is a main shipping route, and this is something that this government should

really look at addressing. It is spending money in other sites doing the

remediation and the removal. We have hindered an economy here and it is

something that this government has not done all that it can do when it comes to

looking at the appropriate site remediation. There are certain ecological risks.

There is a social responsibility for doing this. It comes out of neglect from

all the years, the past eight years. We have a structure that is completely in a

deplorable condition.

I am not against having fish plants operable, but these two sites in Sandy

Cove and Englee are calling for the removal. If the licence, and if the quotas

associated with any licences, can be moved around to create regional

opportunities, then certainly that is great. The people would like to see that.

They would like to see the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture start working

with the people of Englee again, and other areas, to see the action that is

needed.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

MR. KIRBY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise to present a petition for anti-replacement worker legislation. To the

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

Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned residents of Newfoundland

and Labrador humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS strikes and lockouts are rare, and on average 97 per cent of

collective agreements are negotiated without work disruption; and

WHEREAS anti- temporary replacement workers laws have existed in Quebec since

1978, and in British Columbia since 1993, and successive governments in those

provinces have never repealed those laws; and

WHEREAS anti-temporary replacement workers legislation has reduced the length

and divisiveness of labour disputes; and

WHEREAS the use of temporary replacement workers during a strike or a lockout

is damaging to the social fabric of a community, the local economy, and the

well-being of residents, as evident by the recent use of temporary replacement

workers by Ocean Choice International and by Vale in Voisey's Bay;

We, the undersigned, petition the House of Assembly to urge the government to

enact legislation banning the use of temporary replacement workers during a

strike or a lockout.

As in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr. Speaker, petitioners today are from Spaniard's Bay, Port au Port, Indian

Bay, Holyrood, Gambo, Carbonear, Broad Cove, Torbay, Colliers, Northern Bay,

Job's Cove, Burnt Point, Broad Cove, Trinity Bay, and St. John's.

Members will recall that Vale used scab labour during two different labour

disruptions at Voisey's Bay. The first strike was two months long and the second

was far longer, eighteen months, and that ended only after an industrial inquiry

commission was called at the time and appointed to find a resolution to the

dispute. It is clear that these labour disputes were exasperated by the use of

replacement workers, by scab labour. With anti-scab legislation, we would more

likely see fewer strikes and shorter labour disruptions. There would be a less

likelihood for aggressive and potential violent confrontations at the site of

labour disruptions, and provide for a greater labour stability in the Province,

Mr. Speaker. There could be more trust and more economic security as a result,

and provide an even playing field for both workers and employers.

I encourage the members to urge the government to act on the concerns of

these petitioners as soon as possible, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you.

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for The Straits White Bay North.

MR. MITCHELMORE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned residents of Newfoundland

and Labrador humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS in the District of The Straits White Bay North, despite the $4

million Rural Broadband Initiative announced on December 22, 2011, only one

community, Ship Cove, is slated for broadband coverage; and

WHEREAS the communities of Pines Cove, Eddies Cove East, Bide Arm, North Boat

Harbour, L'Anse aux Meadows, Great Brehat, St. Carols, Goose Cove, Grandois, and

St. Anthony Bight still remain without services; and

WHEREAS many small businesses within the district rely on Internet to conduct

business; and

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. MITCHELMORE:

WHEREAS broadband Internet permits a business to be

more competitive than the slower dial-up service; and

WHEREAS broadband Internet enhances primary, secondary, post-secondary, and

further educational opportunities;

We, the undersigned, petition the House of Assembly to urge the government to

reinvest in the rural broadband initiatives in Newfoundland and Labrador.

As in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr. Speaker, I just want to highlight that the RED Board in my district, the

Nordic Economic Development Corporation, really spearheaded getting rural

broadband. They made sure that thirty-six communities on the Northern Peninsula

tapped into the BRAND initiative by the federal government. Seventy per cent of

that funding came from the federal government. The Province, the Department of

Innovation, Trade and Rural Development at the time, committed only $85,000. The

remainder was made up by the provider.

Mr. Speaker, if the Province at the time had committed more money, then we

would not have seen such a scattered demographic and pockets of broadband

coverage in some of the communities like Pines Cove, Eddies Cove East, Bide Arm,

and L'Anse aux Meadows would have gotten coverage. We would not have to be

spending millions of dollars to try to fill these gaps right now. It is

something that comes at a time when it is too little, too late. If you do not

put the investment in early and have a strategic plan when it comes to

telecommunications services, the people of the Province, especially in rural

Newfoundland and Labrador, are certainly going to pay for it. We are certainly

seeing that.

Now, with cutbacks to the RED Boards, where are we going to see a lead agency

that is going to take on, pressing and pressing to ensure that rural broadband

initiatives are taken in Newfoundland and Labrador? The CRTC is going to demand

that coverage be taken all across Canada and that we get 100 per cent coverage

for broadband Internet. This is something the Province is going to have to come

to grasp with, and $2 million in Budget 2012, Mr. Speaker, is not going to cut

it.

Thank you.

MR. SPEAKER: Orders of the Day.

Orders of the Day

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

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

I call from the Order Paper, Order 1, that this House approve in general the

budgetary policy of the government.

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I just have few minutes left, so I will finish up my debate from

a few days ago. Of course, one of the pressing issues because there are many

issues that are facing the Province, especially in light of all the cuts that we

are seeing by the federal government right across the Province, and right across

the country; I do not know if it seems like we always get hit harder here in

Newfoundland and Labrador, or it is just our perspective on how we look at

things when it comes to losing services that we rely upon so very heavily.

Mr. Speaker, over the past number of weeks and months we have constantly seen

a cut of services from a federal perspective in Newfoundland and Labrador,

obviously downloading more on communities, more on regions, and more on the

provincial government. While, Mr. Speaker, we wish that there was another way,

we also know that we have a responsibility to fight back and lobby for better

services and better treatment, but also to be able to step up and ensure that we

can maintain the integrity of a lot of these programs and services.

When I look at things like CAP sites, for instance I have a number of them

in my district, they have been ongoing for a number of years, almost twenty

years in some cases these particular sites are very critical in communities

where there is no other high-speed Internet access for people to be able to

communicate and access the outside world. I look at things, Mr. Speaker, like

the outreach employment offices that have been in districts like mine; fourteen

of those offices have closed across the Province in the last year alone. These

were front-line services for people in all of our communities who need to get

access to Old Age Security programs, Canada Pension programs, Income Supplement

programs, all services that are offered by the federal government and delivered,

at one time, as close as you could to the people that needed it; even then, it

was hours away driving distance. Now those services are not going to exist

anymore, leaving rural Canadians, Mr. Speaker, and people in our own Province

with nowhere to turn to get access, other than a machine at the end of a

telephone when they dial a 1-800 number, and that is not acceptable either.

Mr. Speaker, more so than that, we have seen cuts that could endanger the

lives of people in our Province, cuts to marine safety services like we are

seeing in St. Anthony right now. I listened to Dwayne Cull on the radio a few

days ago talking about how devastated he was to see the marine radio services

being taken out of his community. I know the people in my district use that

service a lot, especially those who are going 100 miles offshore to fish on a

regular basis. That is their landline. That is their lifeline in terms of

something happening and reporting any events that could occur when they are that

far away from home on the sea in some pretty harsh conditions at times.

Mr. Speaker, I look at search and rescue and how important that is to the

people of our Province, how critical it is to saving the lives of

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. How many times have we seen it? How many times

have we seen a boat lost at sea where they have been able to pick up that phone

and make that call, where you had people at the end of the line who could

dispatch the services that were required immediately because they understood the

geography, they understood the landscape, they understood the dialect; they were

able to respond to what was a critical situation where time was of the very

essence in saving those particular lives.

Mr. Speaker, what we are seeing from the federal government today is a

complete disservice to the people of this Province. What we have seen in the

response to the Burton Winters tragedy was totally inadequate and would not be

tolerated in any other parts of this country, I would suggest to members. We

have been encouraging the provincial government to step up, to act on behalf of

the people of this Province, to do a full inquiry into search and rescue. Do not

wait until we have another disaster. Do not wait until another life is lost. Do

what is the best thing to do, the most positive thing to do, Mr. Speaker, and

that is to do a public inquiry.

The Premier has said time and time again the responses that they have

received from Peter MacKay have been inadequate. They have said time and time

again that there are gaps in the information. They have said that there was bad

judgment calls on behalf of the people who were in place to make decisions. How

can the Premier stand in her place and say those things day after day but not

want to do an inquiry into what happened? How can we correct it? Where did we go

wrong?

We have been served well by inquiries in this Province. I look at the Cameron

Inquiry, because I was one of the people in this House of Assembly, and Hansard

will show, who stood every single day asking the government of the time, of

which many of you were a part of, for an inquiry into the ER-PR testing, the

faulty hormone testing. Every day you stood and said there was no need to do an

inquiry. After weeks and weeks you come to realize that the inquiry was

warranted. As a result, there were sixty recommendations that were passed down

as a part of the Cameron Inquiry. These recommendations have served to improve

the health of women and men in this Province. They have served to restore

confidence in our health system. There is no downside to this inquiry.

Mr. Speaker, the Premier stood day after day and said she had written the

federal government, written Peter MacKay. Today, she tables in the House

correspondence, and not one letter from the Premier of this Province, not one.

She stood and mocked my leader because he was not there when I went in to meet

with Peter MacKay in Ottawa, although he did show up immediately after; he was

there and he got to speak to minister, Mr. Speaker. He did not come back and

deceive anyone. The Premier stood day after day and said: I have written Peter

MacKay, and I have written the federal government.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER (Verge): Order, please!

MS JONES: Not one letter has she signed that she has tabled here today.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS JONES: Every letter came from the Minister of Municipal Affairs, Mr.

Speaker, so if the Premier has letters that she claims she has written, it is

time for her to table them in the House of Assembly.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to stand here today and speak t Budget 2012 that

is aptly entitled, I believe, People and Prosperity Responsible Investments

for a Secure Future .

Mr. Speaker, as you can tell from the rhetoric that is happening here on the

floor of the House before I get to that, I think I need to address some of

what we have been hearing as it relates to what it is that we are talking about,

generally speaking.

What we are talking about when we talk about this Budget is we are talking

about vision. We are talking about leadership, and yet I hear the person from

the other side of the House stand just before me and criticize the leadership

that we have been exhibiting on this side of the House, Mr. Speaker, and that is

unacceptable.

When we are standing here to talk about the Budget of Newfoundland and

Labrador, and she stands and simply criticizes for the sake of simply

criticizing

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS SULLIVAN: or criticizing for the sake of political gain, Mr.

Speaker, I find that totally unacceptable. If we want to talk about leadership,

then let's really look at leadership here.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I ask all members for their co-operation, please.

The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.

MS SULLIVAN: Mr. Speaker, if we want to talk about leadership here in the

House, if that is what she wants to talk about during the Budget, then let us

talk about leadership here. That is exactly where I am going to go at this

particular point in time, because the skills that we have seen, the vision that

we have seen, what we experience and what the people of Newfoundland and

Labrador experience in terms of the leadership of this Party, and in particular

of our Premier, Mr. Speaker, is exemplary.

Not just today, but in the nine years that our Premier has represented this

Province in all of the roles, in all of her portfolios, we have seen nothing but

exemplary leadership.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: Mr. Speaker, let us just take a few minutes to look at some

of that: the energy plan that has been developed for this Province, for the

Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, to take us into the future, to secure for

us the kind of future that we all want for our children and grandchildren. Mr.

Speaker, the architect of that energy plan was our current leader.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: The architect of that plan that will develop for us where it

is that we need to be going was the then-Minister of Natural Resources and the

Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador. Now, Mr. Speaker, that is leadership.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: Mr. Speaker, that particular plan sets out for us a vision

and a direction that is going to lead us well into the future and that is going

to deliver on the promise of a secure future for Newfoundlanders and

Labradorians, Mr. Speaker.

There are many other ways that we can talk about leadership in terms of what

it is that this government has to offer. Of course, we all know that has been

the choice of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador three consecutive terms

now, Mr. Speaker; three huge majorities were returned and returned and returned

three times.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: Why? Because we have good leadership, Mr. Speaker, because

we have that vision; it is that vision that underscores everything that we do

over here. This is about looking at opportunities, Mr. Speaker. This is about

finding a way forward, yes, in difficult times, but it is not about bending to

political whim.

Time and time again, when we sit around our caucus table, when we sit around

our Cabinet table, Mr. Speaker, time and time again we are reminded by our

leader that if we are going to have success in this Province and the other

parties might want to take some note of this if we are going to have success,

we are going to have success because we go back to the touchstones and the

values that brought us here in the first place. Those values have to do with

being true to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, not about making

political decisions, not about grandstanding, not about saying what you think

people might want to hear, because sometimes, Mr. Speaker, decisions are tough.

The easy decisions anyone can make, but when it comes to making principled,

sound decisions in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, let me tell you,

the people of Newfoundland and Labrador were 100 per cent correct when they

chose this Premier. I have no doubt about that, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: Mr. Speaker, let us just highlight a few more examples of

why it is that the people of Newfoundland and Labrador have been so right so

many times. Mr. Speaker, this government has a track record of supporting people

in Newfoundland and Labrador when they need support. Particularly when times are

tough, Mr. Speaker, and we have seen evidence of that a number of times. When we

look at what happened in Stephenville, Mr. Speaker, when we see that a mill like

AbitibiBowater pulled out of Stephenville, left people high and dry there in

Stephenville, this government came forward and said, we understand where you

are, we understand what is happening out there. We will appoint a ministerial

task force and we are going to work with you and we are going to make a

difference. Well, guess who chaired that ministerial task force, Mr. Speaker? It

was the then Minister of Natural Resources, or I think maybe INTRD at that time,

and the current Premier of the Province. Now, Mr. Speaker, look at Stephenville

today. Stephenville is a thriving, prosperous community.

AN HON. MEMBER: Who would have thought?

MS SULLIVAN: Who would have thought that could have happened after that

point in time is absolutely correct. That area of the Province, that region of

the Province is thriving. Mr. Speaker, it is thriving because of leadership, it

is thriving because of vision, it is thriving because people on this side of the

House were able to see opportunity, were able to work through difficult times,

see opportunity, and under the guidance of our Premier were able to find the

right opportunities to make that area of the Province prosperous once again.

That, Mr. Speaker, is leadership.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: Mr. Speaker, I look back and I see my colleague up here from

Fortune Bay Cape La Hune, and she can tell a story about the difficult times

that were experienced in her area of the Province.

If we recall the Open Line shows, day after day after day that said, you have

to find a way to renew the traditional fishery down here. You have to find a way

to keep us on track doing what we always did down here. Well, Mr. Speaker,

again, we are talking about difficult decisions that had to be made, because

that was not the right decision. That was not the way to go. That would have

been the easy way to go but it was not going to be sustainable, Mr. Speaker. It

was not going to take the people of the Coast of Bays to where they are today.

Where are they today, Mr. Speaker? They are at a point where they are

exceptionally successful. The whole area of the Coast of Bays is alive, and they

are seeing progress like they never saw before. Why is it, Mr. Speaker, I ask

you to stop and consider once again? Because this government, with this vision,

and with this Premier who once again played a huge role in that, Mr. Speaker,

went there and supported the people.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: Now, Mr. Speaker, again, it is not about making the easy

decision, it is not about making that decision that says, let's run out there

and do what we think ought to be done right now for political reasons. It is not

about that, and, Mr. Speaker, no one knows that better than I do.

I know that from my experience in Grand Falls-Windsor Buchans and the whole

of the Central region, Mr. Speaker. When AbitibiBowater pulled out of Grand

Falls-Windsor, let me tell you that was a difficult day, that was an

exceptionally difficult day. The days and the weeks and the months that followed

were exceptionally difficult, Mr. Speaker, were very, very hard for the people

of that region.

We had men, Mr. Speaker, primarily, there were some women in that mill but

primarily men in that mill who did not know where to turn, who did not know

where the next cheque was going to come from, who did not know how they were

going to survive. Now, Mr. Speaker, that is not a real easy thing to face when

you are the MHA in the area and you are representing the area. When you are the

government of the area, that is not very easy to face either.

Mr. Speaker, AbitibiBowater made their choice and they left. We said to them

under the guidance again of the Minister of Natural Resources, the current

Premier, we said to them, we are not going to let you go. We are going to be

with you, we are going to walk this journey with you, we are going to find a way

forward and we are not going to take the cheap, easy decisions to do it either,

Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. O'BRIEN: Where are they today? It is one of the most prosperous

communities in Newfoundland and Labrador.

MS SULLIVAN: That is right, I hear my colleague behind me commenting.

This area of the Province, the town that I know and love and am so proud of, Mr.

Speaker, is one of the most prosperous areas and is enduring and enjoying one of

the most prosperous times it ever had. The reason is because we were there for

them, Mr. Speaker. We carried the day and we will continue to do that.

Forty-three million dollars in severance, Mr. Speaker, that they never would

have seen from AbitibiBowater, never would have seen; $100 million pumped into

the area overall to make a difference. Why, Mr. Speaker? Because this government

has vision, because this Premier, the minister at the time, was able to say we

will lead the way for you. We will show you how to get there.

Mr. Speaker, there was opportunity on many occasions to sell out. There was

opportunity to make a decision that could have seen the use of the fibre out

there given away, given to a particular company here, there or anyway. Again, we

do not make the real easy decisions. We make measured decisions, Mr. Speaker. We

make decisions that are going to see to the long term, to the sustainable future

of a region, Mr. Speaker. That is what we have been doing in Grand Falls-Windsor

and we will continue to do.

Mr. Speaker, our region of the Province is going to survive. I invite members

opposite to come out not just on Labour Day, Mr. Speaker, or not just during

election time. Come out; come and see all of the excitement that exists in that

town. Come out and see that the retail sales that are happening out there are

beyond where they were when the mill was operating. Come out and see that

residential

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MS SULLIVAN: He is coming good.

Come out and see that all of the economic indictors that can make a

difference in the community are evident in every way. Take a drive down to

Harmsworth area, take a drive up to Peddle Drive, and take a drive down to the

Grenfell area, all brand new areas of the Province, Mr. Speaker

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS SULLIVAN: Again, I need to point out to you that the reason for it is

not simply because it happened. It is because of leadership, Mr. Speaker. It is

because of vision. So when I hear members opposite stand every now and then and

say there is no leadership over here, I want to point out to you that you are

very short visioned' in that; you are not seeing it. This Premier has vision;

this Premier has displayed it over and over and over again.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: Mr. Speaker, I hear some talk about the cuts from Ottawa. We

understand that. You do not have a monopoly on that. We get it. We understand

and feel the cuts that are happening, just like anybody else does, Mr. Speaker.

We are looking to find our way forward there too. We invite you to join us; not

be critical, but join with us to make a difference there. Are you contacting

your Liberal friends up there? Are you contacting your NDP friends in Ottawa?

You sent them there. What are they doing for us?

Now, Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House we have tried just about

everything that we can think of. We have tried from the perspective of arguing

with them, of fighting with them, of being the fighting Newfoundlander, Mr.

Speaker, the ABC campaign, let's take down the flag. What did that get us? Tell

us what that got for us.

Mr. Speaker, while that was happening, we were hearing people on the other

side of the House saying to us do not be doing that.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS SULLIVAN: How are you going to make your way forward if you continue

to do that? How are you ever going to be heard in Ottawa if you continue to do

that? That was the criticism they levelled over here when that was the approach

that we took. Mr. Speaker, now we try the other approach. We are trying the

power of our arguments. We are trying to be in the room. We are trying to make a

difference. Now, Mr. Speaker, the criticism is: What are you doing? You are not

standing up for us. How do we win with you people? What is it you really want,

or do you know?

Mr. Speaker, the people of the Province know though. The people of

Newfoundland and Labrador know and that is why they elected the Premier they

elected. That is why they rejected that side of the House

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: and then said this is the Premier we want. This is the

leadership we want. We know that in the end she will prevail, because, Mr.

Speaker, we have seen evidence of that so many times.

AN HON. MEMBER: What about the MPs?

MS SULLIVAN: What about the MPs I am hearing some of my colleagues

asking. I do not know what about the MPs. What are they doing? I am looking for

those answers too. What are they doing? They were elected to go to Ottawa but

what are they doing, what have they accomplished for us to this point in time?

Nothing that I am able to hear absolutely nothing that I am able to hear.

Mr. Speaker, one of the things that I would want to see and hope that it

will happen at some point in time is that we will come to a point where we

recognize and at least we are able to say to each other the way forward is not

the easy way, the way forward is a measured approach to how we make a

difference. That is what the people of Newfoundland and Labrador want, Mr.

Speaker. They showed us that in the last election. They do not like nasty, they

do not like criticism, and they do not like going after the jugular. What they

want is measured, sound, organized approaches to the problems of Newfoundland

and Labrador. They want research; they want us to find a way forward.

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MS SULLIVAN: As somebody said, they do not want us to be seen holding

hands and singing necessarily as we have seen in a few places and a few

protests. That does not work, Mr. Speaker. Not that we should not stand up, Mr.

Speaker, we are not saying that at all. We are saying for heaven's sake, let us

let experience be the teacher here; let us let experience show us what we can

do. Mr. Speaker, our experience has shown us that when we take that measured

approach, when we follow the leadership that we have seen from our current

Premier over the last number of issues that we faced in this Province, then we

are going to see a difference.

Mr. Speaker, it is not happening like that; it never does. It did not happen

like that in Grand Falls-Windsor, it did not happen like that in Stephenville,

and it did not happen like that in the Harbour Breton area. It happens when we

take the time to sit down and to work it through. Mr. Speaker, that is what we

are doing here in all of these issues.

Mr. Speaker, if you think about some of the accomplishments of this

government that are reflected in this particular Budget because it means that we

have monies to spend. I want to talk about the mining industry; I want to talk

about the oil and gas industry a little bit and the leadership that has been

shown here in this Province. What we see here and what we are experiencing here

are some of the best rewards that have ever come from the proper use of these

resources.

Let's think about the royalty regimes, for example, that have been negotiated

and negotiated by who, I might point out, Mr. Speaker?

MR. O'BRIEN: By the current Premier.

MS SULLIVAN: Exactly. My colleagues are helping me here because it is so

obvious. They are negotiated by our current Premier; some of the best royalty

regimes ever seen in this Province, heralded by many around the country

MR. O'BRIEN: In the Province? In the world.

MS SULLIVAN: That is exactly right, heralded by many, but again done

under the watchful eye of our current Premier.

Mr. Speaker, let me tell you something else. The women of Newfoundland and

Labrador get it. The women of Newfoundland and Labrador understand experience

and they understand how differences can be made when we sit and make a

difference. Let's look at some of the things that have happened in this

particular Province in relation to women's issues.

One of the things that we have to talk about first of all would be the real

gender equity agreement that allow women to take their place in the economy, in

the society, and their place in Newfoundland and Labrador as they could never

contemplate having done before.

AN HON. MEMBER: It is about time.

MS SULLIVAN: Mr. Speaker, about time is right, as I hear one of my

colleagues saying. It did not just happen, Mr. Speaker. That was something that

was worked at, that was fostered, that was designed, and that was promoted by

our current leader, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: Again, Mr. Speaker, that is why the people of this Province

have chosen this government to be here because they really do recognize

leadership when they see leadership. There is no question about that, Mr.

Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I had intended to talk a fair bit about the Budget itself, but

having been thrown off by the speaker who spoke before me, in terms of talking

about lack of leadership. I really thought it was time that we did a lesson here

in terms of what leadership really does look like. That is a very small portion

of what I can point out in terms of what leadership looks like.

Mr. Speaker, I just want to end with this. When we sat down then to do the

Budget this year, we knew were facing deficit. We knew what was coming over the

next year or so. We knew we had to make some hard choices, but this government

is not afraid of hard choices, Mr. Speaker. So we made some hard choices, but as

we sat around the table to make those decisions, there was one thing that was

immediately evident to all of us. That was the Premier's resolve to make sure

that the cuts we had to make, the decisions that we had to make were clearly

balanced and were clearly couched in the credo that what we do has to be the

best thing for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

She looked at me at that time and said: In terms of health care, do not

impact the front lines. The front lines of health care are so important. We have

to be concerned about the people of Newfoundland and Labrador. I heard her say

to the Minister of Child, Youth and Family Services: Minister, you have to get

this right, because our children are our most important resource. Our children

are precious, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: Mr. Speaker, that is leadership. At a time when we know we

have to be so fiscally prudent and responsible, direction was given to make sure

that the areas where we focused were going to mean a meaningful, a profitable

future for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, especially our children and

our grandchildren, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the lesson on leadership has only just begun here. I think the

members opposite need to work with us, to understand that working with us is

what moves us forward, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you so much. This Province is in good hands with the Leader

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Member for St. John's Centre.

MS ROGERS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am happy to rise once more in the House to speak to the Budget. The title,

People and Prosperity carries with it a promise; a promise of prosperity and a

promise of a Budget that is focused on the needs of the people of Newfoundland

and Labrador, putting people first. The title promises that the focus is on

people.

We know, Mr. Speaker, that prosperity equals success. It is the condition of

enjoying wealth, success or good fortune. We have seen great growth in many

areas in our Province in the past decade. As a result of that, we have seen

investment in infrastructure and programs that help us with our day-to-day

living, with some of the larger basic tools that we need in order to get on with

life. Now is not the time to stop. Now is not the time to simply tread water or

to stay in place, because to do so, in fact, means losing ground.

Many of our average working families are scrambling in their daily lives. The

are trying to cope with the demands of modern-day life, trying to balance family

life, work, budgets, scrambling to find affordable daycare for their children,

care for the elderly members of their families or the infirm, trying to find

affordable housing. Mr. Speaker, this Budget does not deliver on the promise to

them. This Budget stops us in our tracks rather than continuing to compel us

forward into a fully modern society that invests strongly in its citizens and

provides supports and services that allows each and every citizen, each and

everyone of us, to get on with it, to be part of both creating and sharing in

our collective prosperity.

In this time of prosperity, what do the people of Newfoundland and Labrador

need? What do we all have a right to expect? Because this prosperity does not

belong to the government but to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador all of

the people of Newfoundland and Labrador - what would make sense in a Budget

focused on prosperity and people? Prosperity is not just about amounts of money

invested, but it is about whether those investments are good, sound investments,

investments that bring returns. We know that we all know that. So, to assess

whether the

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS ROGERS: investments in this Budget are good, sound investments, one

must look at the returns it brings to the people.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS ROGERS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is undeniable that great gains have been made in several areas for the

people of Newfoundland and Labrador over the last decade. People, prosperity,

and to add to that, pride when we have pride in ourselves as the people of

Newfoundland and Labrador, then we invest in ourselves because we know we are

worth it; we know that it is worth it. It is the responsibility of legislators

to direct the resources and prosperity of the Province to address the needs of

the people in order to facilitate and enable all of us to live fully, and to

participate fully to each and everyone's full capacity.

This Budget, to deliver on its promise, should be delivering programs and

services that are for the collective good of the people of this Province. It

should be relieving some of the incredible burdens that people carry that

prevent them from fully participating in our society. In health care, we need

universal home care. We need publicly-funded, administered home care. Because

the people of this Province want it, they need it, and they have a right to it.

There is no longer any valid reason to deny the people of Newfoundland and

Labrador this basic service, a service that is available in other provinces.

This is possible, attainable, and all it takes is political will.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Speaker has asked for order now several times. If members continue to be

disruptive, I will have no choice but to name them by the district. So I would

ask all members for their co-operation, please.

The Member for St. John's Centre.

MS ROGERS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

A universal, publicly-funded, and administrated home care program would

generate employment. It would free up families to carry on with their work and

with their lives. It would ease overburdens on more expensive hospital services

and long-term facilities, thereby actually saving the Province money. It would

allow seniors and the infirm the dignity to have choices on how and where they

will live. The benefits far outweigh the costs, and we all know this to be true.

It has been proven to be true in several jurisdictions.

I would like to tell the story of a few people in my district. Rose Marie, a

woman in her early fifties with severe diabetes, had one of her legs removed and

then a year later had her other leg removed. Confined to a wheelchair, living in

her house alone and could not get the full amount of home care that she needed

in order to be able to live in her home, but decided to anyways; and, at night,

somehow has to figure out how to get herself around in her home, how to get

herself in and out of her bed, while she was convalescing. Mr. Speaker, she

could have gone to live in a much more expensive long-term care facility rather

than living in her home and being independent with just a little more help far

more economical to the Province, far more humane to the Province.

Bradley, a young man who uses a wheelchair who is deaf, who is a talented

artist, who needed just a few more hours of assistance to help him live

independently at home, but it was denied. Today, he called and informed us that

he is heading off to Ontario where he knows that there will be more support and

better opportunities for him.

Mr. Rose, in his early eighties, his wife with Alzheimer's, when I visited

him last he was worn out trying to care for his wife in his home, but it is what

they wanted. With a universal home care program, it would be more possible. He

was worn out trying to find and hire and supervise and pay for home care. It was

breaking him.

Mr. Speaker, this is not what prosperity looks like. So many families in

Newfoundland and Labrador have had family members who have had to move away for

work or education, thus leaving a smaller family support system in place. Our

elderly and infirm can no longer rely on immediate family members to be their

caregivers. Also, we have the fastest growing aging population in the country.

We have to develop a new innovative, comprehensive, and more cost-effective way

of addressing the home care needs of this growing population. In the far run and

in the future, it is more humane and it saves us money.

Seniors; there are but crumbs for seniors in this Budget. We need a universal

pharmacare program for our seniors. The present systems falls short. What kind

of prosperous society has seniors sixty-five plus worrying about how they are

going to pay for medication they may need that keeps them alive. The cut-off

ceiling for the drug card is a little more than $16,000. With the increase in

the cost of living, food, housing, transportation, and heating, $16,000 as a

ceiling for eligibility is way too low. The Access program is simply not

comprehensive enough, particularly if you are just on the borders of

eligibility. This is 2012; in a time of prosperity our programs should and can

do better than this. We can afford more than crumbs for our seniors.

In the area of housing, in the Budget document The Economy 2012 , in

the Real Estate section, the government boasts, "The residential housing market

remained strong in 2011. Housing demand reflected solid economic conditions, low

interest rates, optimism about future major projects and growth in a number of

households." It sounds like a good thing. It also states, "Housing starts and

residential sales activity remained high and residential prices reached record

levels. The residential rental market remained strong in 2011 with low vacancy

rates" and stronger rates. It goes on to say, "It is expected that improved

labour markets, positive net-migration and higher housing prices will continue

to keep vacancy rates low" the average of 1 per cent to