March

12, 2012 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS

Vol. XLVII No. 6

The House met at 1.30 p.m.

MR. SPEAKER (Wiseman): Order, please!

Admit strangers.

Statements by Members

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

for the District of Port de Grave; the hon. the Member for the District of

Signal Hill Quidi Vidi; the hon. the Member for the District of The Straits

White Bay North; the hon. the Member for the District of St. John's East; the

hon. the Member for the District of St. John's South; and the hon. the Member

for the District of Burgeo La Poile.

MS JONES: A point of order, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: A point of order, the hon. the Opposition House Leader.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, having had the opportunity to review Hansard for March 8, I rise

on a point of order regarding unparliamentary language that was used in this

House by the Government House Leader.

We all have a responsibility for maintaining the decorum the House of

Assembly, but that responsibility, some would argue, falls more directly on the

Government House Leader's shoulders. The person in this position has a

responsibility to set an example and set the tone for others in the House

through the ways in which he acts. The person in this position should know the

rules and follow those rules.

For this reason, I want to bring the Speaker's attention to comments made by

the Government House Leader on March 8 on page 146 of Hansard in which he said,

and this was in response to my arguments, "Mr. Speaker, what we have now is a

situation that has gone from bad to worse, and the minister can speak to this.

She states unequivocally that there was no apology. So what we have now is

someone is lying, and we have to get to the bottom of this, Mr. Speaker".

Mr. Speaker, the use of the word lying, I submit, in this context is clearly

unparliamentary. It implies a deliberate attempt to mislead this House and there

are many precedents in this House and in other Parliaments where this type of

language has been ruled unparliamentary. I ask that the Speaker make a ruling

upon this, and in addition, I call upon the Government House Leader to withdraw

these remarks and apologize to the House of Assembly.

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

MR. KENNEDY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I withdraw the remark and apologize.

MR. SPEAKER: Thank you.

The Speaker has not had an opportunity to review any of the records from that

proceeding, but given the member's withdrawal of the comments and apology

MS JONES: That is perfectly fine.

MR. SPEAKER: Thank you.

Members' Statements.

The hon. the Member for the District of Port de Grave.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. LITTLEJOHN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise today in this hon. House to congratulate three outstanding teachers

from Amalgamated Academy in Bay Roberts who received the Prime Minister's Awards

for Teaching Excellence.

The award recognizes teachers from across the country who exemplifies best

practices in education. To paraphrase, three is definitely not a crowd when

Catherine Downey, David Gill, and Corey Morgan get together. When they team up

magic happens and Amalgamated Academy turns into Amalgamated Media Production

Company. These three educators make it their mission to help students find ways

to express themselves and discover their creative self. Whether they are

creating graphic design assignments or a video news report, these students feel

empowered and proud to show it off.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all members in this House to join me in recognizing these

three outstanding educators for their achievement.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Signal Hill Quidi Vidi.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS MICHAEL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise today to pay tribute to a great event, a great tradition, and two

great groups of talented young musicians. The Kiwanis Music Festival has been

part of the cultural fabric of St. John's since 1952. Many who have grown up in

the city have some memory of competing in the festival, whether as an individual

or through their schools.

Speaking of schools, Mr. Speaker, I invite the hon. members in the House to

join me in congratulating today two schools in my district who won in this

year's Group Rose Bowl competition. The Holy Heart Chamber Choir won the Choral

Group Rose Bowl and the St. Bonaventure's College Jazz Band won the Instrumental

Group Rose Bowl. Both schools have long and proud musical traditions. In fact,

Mr. Speaker, I was a member of the very first Holy Heart choir, and I am

thrilled to see the commitment to excellence in music education continue.

I am quite pleased to have the opportunity to congratulate I invite the

members to join me the two groups and their directors: Susan Quinn and

Vincenza Etchegary.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of The Straits White

Bay North.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. MITCHELMORE: Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to recognize two businesses

in my district for their contributions to the Province's tourism industry.

Hospitality Newfoundland and Labrador hosted the Tourism Excellence Awards Gala

on February 25. Barbara Genge of the Tuckamore Lodge in Main Brook was this

year's winner of the PRIDE Award, given to an individual or business for raising

the profile of the bed and breakfast industry.

Mr. Speaker, Barb Genge has operated the Tuckamore Outfitting and Wilderness

Lodge for the past twenty-six years and can truly be considered a leader in our

Province's tourism industry.

The H. Clayton Sparkes Accommodator of the Year Award recognizes dedication

to service, commitment to the tourism industry, and community contributions.

This year, the award was given to Hotel North of St. Anthony and Happy

Valley-Goose Bay.

Judy and Lloyd Hillier invested in the region when they purchased the vacated

Vinland Motel in St. Anthony. Now renamed Hotel North, the purchase is a

thriving addition to the Hilliers' chain.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the hon. members to join me in congratulating these award

winners.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. MURPHY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I stand today to pay tribute to a remarkable woman, a

constituent of mine who celebrated her one hundredth birthday on March 1 of this

year.

Viola Winsor was born Viola Janes in 1912 in Broad Cove, Blackhead, Bay de

Verde. She had three brothers and one sister. All five were schoolteachers for

at least a part of their lives.

Viola came to St. John's to study teaching when she was sixteen years old,

and taught in a few communities until she married. She then turned her attention

to the domestic front, eventually raising two children as well as caring for her

mother and mother-in-law.

Her son Dean is a social worker in British Columbia, and her son Len is a

commercial pilot here at home.

Viola maintained a lifelong interest in music and in gardening. She taught

music, as well as playing in her local church.

On Thursday, March 1, Mr. Speaker, I had the great honour of sharing in Ms

Winsor's one hundredth birthday celebrations in St. Pat's Nursing Home, along

with her many friends and family members.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all hon. members to join me in wishing Ms Viola Winsor

congratulations on her milestone birthday.

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 rise today to recognize and congratulate the Gateway Status of Women

Council, which celebrated its thirtieth anniversary during their annual Bread

and Roses Dinner in Channel-Port aux Basques on March 1, 2012.

It was my honour and a privilege to be included in this celebration, which

recognized its founding members and all the members and staff who have ever been

a part of the organization. Guest speaker for the event was my colleague, the

Member for Cartwright L'Anse au Clair. Her message was both entertaining and

inspirational and the event was sold out well in advance.

The staff and the board of the Gateway Status of Women have worked diligently

over the past thirty years to improve the lives of women and their families in

our area. They have made tremendous strides over the years and should be very

proud of their accomplishments.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all members of this House to join with me in extending

congratulations to the Gateway Status of Women Council on their thirtieth

anniversary. May you continue to thrive and grow for another thirty and beyond.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Statements by Ministers.

Statements by Ministers

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENNEDY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise today in this hon. House to commemorate the anniversary of Cougar

Flight 491, and the unspeakable tragedy that occurred off the shores of our

Province three years ago, on March 12, 2009.

Mr. Speaker, March 12 marks a sad day in our Province's history, one which

will never be forgotten and one which has touched all Newfoundlanders and

Labradorians, as well as individuals throughout the country. I stand today to

pay tribute to the seventeen lives lost, and to send our thoughts to those left

behind. It is a tragedy which will forever remind us of the harsh environment

and conditions of the North Atlantic, and the importance of a strong safety

culture for those who make a living from the offshore.

Worker safety and environmental protection are paramount in our Province's

offshore, and tragedies like Cougar Flight 491 are a reminder that constant

vigilance is necessary to mitigate the risks as we strive to ensure a safe

workplace for the men and women of our Province. We have accepted, Mr. Speaker,

all twenty-nine recommendations of Commissioner Robert Wells' report of the

Offshore Helicopter Safety Inquiry, including Recommendation 29, which calls for

a separate stand-alone safety regulator.

Mr. Speaker, Newfoundland and Labrador's offshore oil industry has

unfortunately experienced two tragic helicopter crashes at sea. It would be

remiss not to reference the other tragedy the loss of six individuals on March

13, 1985, when a Universal helicopter under contract from Petro-Canada crashed

near Argentia. Our government has committed to commemorate the lives lost in the

pursuit of a livelihood in our offshore oil industry. We are currently seeking

input from families to determine how best to honour their memories.

Mr. Speaker, we understand well the dangers associated with the Province's

offshore, and will continue to advocate for the safety of offshore workers to

ensure that they have the best protection possible in their travels to the

offshore.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank the minister for the advance copy of his ministerial statement.

It is indeed with heavy hearts today that we do remember the March 12 tragedy

and the seventeen people that were heading to their work on the offshore

platforms. I do believe it is appropriate that we remember the six people today

in the Universal helicopter that was under contract with Petro-Canada. These

twenty-three tragedies remind us of the harsh environment that our offshore

workers work in on a daily basis.

I think it is appropriate that we do recognize Mr. Robert Decker today as the

lone survivor that day, as he was one of those workers who were heading to work

offshore, and also the search and rescue people who were involved in the search

and rescue. They even put their own lives at risk that day, so we really need to

recognize and thank them for their efforts.

These two anniversary dates remind us of the importance of the availability

of search and rescue in our Province and the work that Justice Wells has done,

especially in recommendation 29, the implementation of the independent and

stand-alone regulator.

Mr. Speaker, we remember this day, March 12, it will be forever ingrained in

our thoughts and we continue our prayers for the family.

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 his statement. I am pleased

to be able to join with the other parties in the House to send our deepest

condolences to the families and loved ones of the seventeen people who died

three years ago, as well as those who lost loved ones in 1985.

I think what we can do today is to promise not just condolences, Mr. Speaker,

but an awareness of how dangerous the offshore oil industry is and a commitment

to working together, all parties, so that we can say to offshore workers and

their families, we will do everything we can to make sure your loved ones and

you, the workers, are as safe as possible.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Further statements by ministers?

The hon. the Minister of Education.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise today to recognize March as Youth Science Month in schools throughout

Newfoundland and Labrador.

Each year, students around the Province compete at school and regional fairs

during the month of March. It is an excellent opportunity for these students to

showcase their knowledge and to continue to develop their science skills.

As in the past, several students will also attend the Canada Wide Science

Fair, which is taking place in Charlottetown, PEI in May. If past years are any

indication, these young scientists will do us proud.

Mr. Speaker, in today's classrooms, students actively learn about the

fundamental principles of science, and how to apply this knowledge to the world

around them. Recognizing this, in recent years our government has invested $5.6

million in K-12 laboratory upgrades and science equipment.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN: We have also renewed curriculum so that the entire K-12

science program is now aligned with the pan-Canadian framework for science.

Allow me this opportunity, Mr. Speaker, to thank and congratulate the many

teachers who spend countless hours organizing science fairs and mentoring our

students.

We support their efforts in many ways, including through a unique partnership

with Parks Canada which allows teachers to take

part in summer institutes at

various national parks in the Province. Through these experiences, our teachers

can further explore the world of science and bring that knowledge back to their

students.

I invite my colleagues in this House to join me in recognizing Youth Science

Month, and in encouraging students to participate in the school science fairs

taking place.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

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

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

to recognize Youth Science Month and to thank the students, the teachers, and

certainly the volunteers for their engagement in this, in competition, in fairs

and in general the process of active participation in science, in learning and

in education.

Science fairs are great opportunities for young minds to meet and to share in

creativity and ingenuity. A great example of ensuring students around this

Province have equal access to science education was the 2010 Memorial University

project. It was an award-winning Let's Talk Science project where they used

state-of-the-art communications and media technologies and allowed Grade 6

students from all across the Province to join together and take

part in these

activities, which originated from Memorial University here in St. John's.

As the MHA for Burgeo La Poile, I can appreciate the benefit of exposing

kids in rural areas to the benefits of the urban area and seeing what is here

and being able to take

part in higher education. I would like to wish our

students every success in their travels in the upcoming Canada Wide Science Fair

and to again join the minister in recognizing March as Youth Science Month.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. KIRBY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

would also like to commend the Province's students and teachers for the efforts

they have put into school science projects and fairs.

We know, Mr. Speaker, that lab upgrades and equipment cannot completely

compensate for high school classes that are too large or teachers who do not

have enough resources or supports. Teachers in all fields are saying that they

need more regular hours of professional development to keep up with the best

practices in education across the country.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: With leave of the House, I would like to go back to members'

statements. I missed the Member for St. John's South.

The hon. the Member for St. John's South.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. OSBORNE: We will forgive you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I had the pleasure of attending the 2011 Employer of Distinction

awards ceremony, which was sponsored by the Newfoundland and Labrador Employers'

Council.

Approximately 220 employers, business leaders and guests attended the awards

ceremony on February 16 at the Sheraton Hotel in St. John's, where Newfoundland

and Labrador Liquor Corporation was named Employer of Distinction in the large

employer category, and St. Jude Hotel was named Employer of Distinction in the

smaller employer category.

Both organizations were recognized by the judges for their importance of

human resources, best practices in overall strategic planning for their

businesses. This commitment to engaging and developing their workforce is

evident in the overall business success of both of these employers.

Steve Winter, President and CEO of Newfoundland and Labrador Liquor

Corporation, accepted the award on their behalf, who were recognized for their

strong focus on performance planning and coaching, for their proactive and

progressive relationship with their union, and their attendance management and

support program, which resulted in a 30 per cent reduction in sick leave usage

since 2007.

Newfoundland and Labrador Liquor Corporation's focus on creating excellence

in their employees has resulted in 82 per cent of their staff reporting to be

extremely happy and proud to work for that organization in a recent employee

survey. It has also resulted in a record-breaking performance in each of the

past three years, with a percentage revenue growth of more than 17 per cent.

St. Jude Hotel was recognized for their commitment to training and

professional development for their staff; their focus on flexibility in

scheduling, job sharing, and the value of diversity in their workforce to deal

with labour market challenges; as well as their comprehensive Occupational

Health and Safety program that has reduced accidents in the workplace. This

initiative will be showcased in an upcoming edition of the Workplace Health,

Safety and Compensation Commission's WorkSafe news. General manager Sheila

Kelly-Blackmore accepted the award on their behalf.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate both these organizations, and all

other organizations that were shortlisted for awards during the recent award

ceremony, and the Newfoundland and Labrador Employers' Council for their

involvement in that organization as well

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Oral questions.

Oral Questions

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. BALL: Mr. Speaker, three years ago the offshore industry was forever

changed by the tragic crash of Cougar Flight 491. It appears that the federal

government is not onside with the establishment of an independent offshore

regulator.

We asked the Premier the question last Thursday. She referred the question to

a planned meeting with the federal Minister of Natural Resources. I ask the

Premier: What were the outcomes of this meeting and when should we expect a plan

to follow through on the recommendations of Justice Wells?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Mr. Speaker, I did have an opportunity to meet with

the federal Minister of Natural Resources on Thursday and I did raise the issue

of the C-NLOPB and the need for a stand-alone regulator in terms of

recommendations

MS JONES: (Inaudible)

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Mr. Speaker, I cannot answer with the Opposition

House Leader talking. I cannot hear myself. If you could maintain some order,

Sir, I would appreciate it.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I had a meeting with the minister. I again reiterated our

position that we supported Justice Wells' recommendation. The minister told me

that they had certainly moved beyond review, because that is what they had been

saying to us over the last year, and that they were at least considering the

stand-alone regulatory function of the C-NLOPB.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BALL: Mr. Speaker, we have not seen any positive outcomes from the

meetings between the Premier and the Harper Conservatives on the recommendations

of Justice Wells. It appears that Thursday's meeting was much the same.

My question again is for the Premier. It is clear that the lobbying efforts

with the federal government to establish an independent offshore safety

regulator have failed, so we ask the Premier: What are the next steps?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I realize that the Leader of the Opposition is new to his

position. I would recommend to him that he familiarize himself with the Atlantic

Accord Acts. Mr. Speaker, he will learn upon his perusal of those acts that I do

not have definitive authority with regard to the offshore. The C-NLOPB, Mr.

Speaker, is an organization that comes out of the Atlantic Accord. It is under

the purview of Newfoundland and Labrador and the federal government, although,

Mr. Speaker, it operates arm's length from both those governments. To do any

piece of work with regard to the Atlantic Accord requires legislative changes in

this House of Assembly in concert with, Mr. Speaker, legislative changes in

Parliament, in the federal Parliament. Newfoundland and Labrador cannot act

independently of the federal government.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BALL: Thank you.

I do remind the Premier that influence is probably what is required here and

we need to know. This has been a long time now, so the people of the Province

are asking, and you say you support the recommendations, so we are just asking

what the next steps are.

Mr. Speaker, in the Muskrat Falls loan guarantee, the Memorandum of

Agreement, it specifically states that once the federal government receives the

data room and the detailed representations of the credit rating agencies this

is for the entire project they will produce a term sheet on the loan guarantee

within eight weeks. This was the information the federal minister mentioned last

week. The Premier claimed to not know much about this information.

I ask the Premier, now that you know what information they require I would

imagine coming out of the meeting last week have you provided the federal

government with access to the project's data room, and if not, when do you plan

to do so?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the federal government is not awaiting any information from the

Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, or from Nalcor. The information they are

waiting on, Mr. Speaker, is from Emera in Nova Scotia, and I understand that has

already been provided or is in the process of being provided.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BALL: Mr. Speaker, three times last week the Premier spoke publicly

about budget cuts, and each time there was something different. On Monday, it

was 3 per cent across the board, on Tuesday it was $1 million with several

exemptions, and then on Friday it was cuts to temporary and contract workers on

top of the 3 per cent. I think even in the media this week, the Premier

recognized the fact that it was confusing.

I ask the Premier: Do you have a clear plan for imposing these cuts on the

people of Newfoundland and Labrador, and when will you finally state how many

people this will impact and how many jobs will be lost?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, last week I did speak of a review of all of the core mandates of

departments within government with a target of a reduction of 3 per cent in our

expenditures with a number of services that we provide ring fenced, such as

income support, policing, child, youth and family services, and so on. Mr.

Speaker, at no point did I talk about $1 million. When I was asked, did we have

a target, I said something less than $100 million, Mr. Speaker. It just is part

of the good stewardship of governance, of good fiscal management, to be

constantly reviewing your programs to see if they are meeting the objectives and

goals that you set out when you designed them, Mr. Speaker. It is always a wise

practice to follow.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. EDMUNDS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, it appears that both the Minister of National Defence and the

federal minister of Labrador's solution to the change in protocol for search and

rescue in Newfoundland is: Don't call us, we'll call you.

Mr. Speaker, my question is to the Premier. It is obvious that your

government's lobby to the federal government on search and rescue has failed. In

light of this, will you now agree to an all-party committee to lobby for

increased search and rescue services and infrastructure in Newfoundland and

Labrador?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, sometimes it is hard to follow the advice of the Official

Opposition. For eight years they were telling us that we should be mending our

fences with the federal government. I can give you Hansard quote after Hansard

quote where that when you try to talk to people and try to get along with

people, that you will get more as a result of that. Then, Mr. Speaker, when they

felt that we were making some efforts to communicate and at least make our

arguments to the federal government in a way that would make them hear what we

had to say, Mr. Speaker, we are being critiqued for that.

Mr. Speaker, I am not going to pay a whole lot of attention to their critique

of how we handle matters with the federal government. The people of Newfoundland

and Labrador have a legitimate expectation from the federal government that they

provide services to the people of the Province. I will at every opportunity hold

them to that responsibility.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. EDMUNDS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It now appears that the federal government has completed their investigation

into search and rescue protocol following the death of young Burton Winters from

Makkovik.

My question is to the Premier, Mr. Speaker: Has your government received a

copy of the investigation, and when do you plan to table that report in this

House of Assembly? Mr. Speaker, I ask that the provincial government's own

review also be tabled in the House of Assembly.

Thank you.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Municipal Affairs.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. O'BRIEN: Mr. Speaker, we have not received a copy of the report in

regard to the review that the federal minister had in his department. As well, I

would like to remind the hon. member that the case is not closed from a policing

force jurisdiction. There is not much we can actually table in this House at

this particular time, but when the reports become available I will be willing to

table them in this House.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Cartwright L'Anse au Clair.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Minister of Finance last week requested $140,000 to hire former Auditor

General John Noseworthy to complete a business transformation project. The

contract was awarded without a job competition, which came as no real surprise

as this particular department or the original department, HRLE, was criticized

by the current AG for 68 per cent of its temporary employees being hired without

a job competition.

I ask the minister today: How can the minister rationalize hiring a failed

Tory candidate months after an election without a job competition?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS BURKE: Mr. Speaker, as the Premier had indicated, all ministers are

looking at the mandates of their departments. The Department of Advanced

Education and Skills is a new department with a new mandate and there is a fair

bit of work to be done.

It is felt that the skills that Mr. Noseworthy would bring to this

department, understanding government programs and processes, and being able to

help us look at our mandate and look at the way we deliver services whether it

is in-house or through our community agencies, will assist us so that we will be

able to meet the mandate of the department, and do it in a most effective and

most efficient way we can.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Cartwright L'Anse au Clair.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The former Auditor General, John Noseworthy, who today is the newest

political hire of the PC government, in the 2009-2010 AG report actually went

out and criticized the rehiring of teachers and other government employees who

were already receiving a pension, saying policy restricts the hiring of

pensioners to positions where no other qualified candidates were available.

I ask the government today: Can you outline exactly how John Noseworthy, a

government pensioner and the AG who criticized this practice, was the only

qualified candidate in Newfoundland and Labrador?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS BURKE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, with the new Department of Advanced Education and Skills, we are

certainly at a point where we want to make sure that we understand the mandate

of the department and we line up our programs and the services to make sure that

they meet that mandate.

Mr. Speaker, no one can argue that Mr. Noseworthy has a unique set of skills.

He understands government, the programs of government, and the processes that we

follow within government. We want to make sure that we have a department that is

set up that helps us meet our mandate, Mr. Speaker, which is to ensure that

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians have the opportunity to participate in today's

labour market in this Province. We are at a point where we have never been

before as a Province. We need to make sure that the department is set up

appropriately and that we make sure we channel the funds that we have within

that department in the most appropriate manner.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Cartwright L'Anse au Clair.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is obvious they do not know what their mandate is. They have collapsed two

major departments, post-secondary education and HRLE, into one department. They

have developed a mammoth unit that covers everything from Income Support to

post-secondary education, student aid, poverty reduction, inclusion of people

with disabilities, employment services in the Province, and the immigration

program as well.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the government today: Is this business transformation

project being implemented simply because the department has a failed model in

place that is absolutely too cumbersome for one agency to even handle?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS BURKE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, if you look at the former Department of Human Resources, Labour

and Employment, the Newfoundland and Labrador Housing Corporation, the Labour

Relations Agency, and the Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission

has been removed from that department. The department was actually bigger in the

former configuration than what it is right now, Mr. Speaker. What has been

added, with all of those components removed, has been the post-secondary

division of the Department of Education.

Mr. Speaker, when we look at being able to advance the skills of the people

of this Province it is a natural fit that under our employment programs we also

include our post-secondary institutions because they play a critical role in

helping the Province move the people forward to take the opportunities that will

be available.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. JOYCE: Mr. Speaker, the Municipal Affairs strategic plan for

2008-2011 clearly indicates that by 2011 the Department of Municipal Affairs

should have implemented a new municipal fiscal arrangement with MNL. MNL had an

emergency meeting today, Mr. Speaker, to protest the government's inaction on

this issue. They had a press conference later; which again, I was the only MHA

to attend.

My question is to the Premier: Why did your government fail to follow-through

on its commitment to municipalities in Newfoundland and Labrador and download

your fiscal mismanagement on municipalities?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister for Municipal Affairs.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. O'BRIEN: Mr. Speaker, I was not at that meeting as well, but I tell

you right now that I do not have any fear of not being there because I meet with

municipalities all across Newfoundland and Labrador each and every day, as I

have been with Municipal Affairs thus far, and also with MNL.

I respect the right of Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador, and all

municipalities to advocate and lobby on behalf of the people who live in their

communities, but I would also like to remind them, or ask them to remember the

tremendous investment that we have made, this government has made, over the last

number of years in municipalities across Newfoundland and Labrador to the point,

Mr. Speaker, that municipal capital works has grown four times to what it was in

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. O'BRIEN: I certainly agree with their (inaudible) and should remember

where their investments are coming from.

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

MR. JOYCE: No fiscal arrangement, Mr. Speaker, I might add.

Mr. Speaker, the commitment to a new fiscal arrangement in the 2008-2011

Strategic Plan was made when government was flushed with money and spent like

drunken sailors. All of a sudden, we have to ask our municipalities to carry the

financial burden of your mismanagement.

My question is to the Premier: How can you expect municipalities to believe

your commitment in the Throne Speech, change it two hours later in the media,

and now say the issue is too complex? When can municipalities expect a new

fiscal arrangement with this Province?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to be in a government that is reviewing MOGs,

because they need to be reviewed. I will just remind the member opposite that I

was President of the Federation of Municipalities, or a director on the board,

when they brought in the MOGs that we are adjusting now. We were brought up to a

hotel, locked in a hotel room in an afternoon, given what the MOG was going to

look like. We were not allowed to take a note or a piece of paper from the room,

and the minister just went out after and held a news conference and said we all

agreed with it.

Well, we are not going to do that, Mr. Speaker. We have taken a review of

MOGs. We hope to have it completed here, but we have not finished our

consultation with MNL. We did not ask them to shoulder the burden

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: for an ineffective MOG system, Mr. Speaker. In

fact, we put 4.6 extra million dollars in our budget last year. Mr. Speaker,

that is how we look after municipalities.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BENNETT: Mr. Speaker, CBC reports that the failed Department of

Business shovelled out $20 million taxpayer dollars over eight years to create

less than 100 jobs. Unbelievably, this department also spent another $16 million

just to hand out the money.

I ask the Premier: How can she justify spending a whopping $360,000 for every

job created?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Innovation, Business and Rural

Development.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HUTCHINGS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, our department, or the former Department of Business and

certainly INTRD, now the Department of IBRD is engaged in a number of

activities in terms of business, concerning business attraction, sustaining

business, and expanding business. Through the Department of Business, we

approved $20 million; about $15 million were dispersed. A total of 385 jobs were

established for that. That is all part of enticing business to Newfoundland and

Labrador, recognizing the great Province we live in, recognizing the robust

economy we have. We will continue to modify our programs to move forward, to

continue that investment, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you very much.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Leader of the Third Party.

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

Mr. Speaker, it is very disturbing to hear the Premier talk about cuts to

government spending and its implications for loss of positions in government

departments. I understand that in November, CUPE asked government for a media

blackout on all issues pertaining to public sector negotiations.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the Premier: Why is she persisting in publicly raising

issues which would normally be left for the negotiating table?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the review that we are doing within government right now has

nothing to do with negotiations. Mr. Speaker, we are called upon by virtue of

being the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to be stewards, to be good

fiscal managers. We always have to be looking at how we are going to spend the

people's money.

Mr. Speaker, in her own platform, she was going to do a reduction of 1 per

cent that is $80 million. What were you going to cut, if you were not going to

cut programs, if you were not going to be creative in ensuring that money was

being spent in the most positive way?

Mr. Speaker, we have clearly outlined that permanent employees are not going

to be affected. Mr. Speaker, we ring fence certain important services that are

provided to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador. The rest, Mr. Speaker, is

very fluid, because we have to look before we decide what we are going to do.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

The Premier might say what she wants about saying that she is not talking

about the loss of jobs, but that is the message that is coming across. That is

certainly what was expressed today by one of the major public sector unions in

this Province, Mr. Speaker

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS MICHAEL: when they came out and talked about the fear that is in

their workers right now.

I am saying to the Premier, Mr. Speaker, I am asking her: Is she deliberately

trying to undermine the negotiations between government and the public service

sector unions, because that is what is going on?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

This, from the Leader of the Third Party who was going to reduce the Budget

by $80 million; this from the Leader of the Third Party who wants to do a health

review. What do we get, and what have we had in every health review that we have

ever had done in this Province, but only cut, slash, close clinics, close

hospitals, close beds. That is what reviews do, Mr. Speaker; that is what they

recommend. Yet we hear her ask for them every day every day.

Mr. Speaker, I am going to be straightforward with the people of the

Province, including the people who work in governance. We are having a review;

we are trying to reduce spending; we are going to protect jobs as best we can,

Mr. Speaker, but we have to provide efficient, effective service for the people

of Newfoundland and Labrador. That is our first priority.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

I will just recommend to the Premier that she keep her comments for the

negotiating table.

Mr. Speaker, in her response to the Speech from the Throne, the Premier

indicated the Budget would be brought down in March. This weekend the Premier

said, through the media, that the Budget would be brought down in April,

possibly late April.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the Premier: What happened during the five days between

the Throne Speech to the taping of her interview to delay the Budget almost a

month?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I remind the Leader of the Third Party that there is a significant exercise

that goes on in government once the Budget is brought down, Mr. Speaker, and it

is called Estimates. I know you are going to get up and say yes, you know

everything there is to know about Estimates. Well, we want to make sure she

knows everything that we can possibly put in there about Estimates. We are

moving along in this exercise, Mr. Speaker, and we want to ensure that in terms

of any change in services that we provide or any reduction in government's

budget is reflected in the Estimates Book so that we can have a full discussion

and they have an opportunity to question us on this when we go through Estimates

after the Budget is brought down, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

I have one thing to say to the Premier before my next question, you have had

five months: What has this government been doing in the past five months?

Mr. Speaker, when questioned about the creation of an independent offshore

safety authority as recommended by Justice Robert Wells, last week Harper's

federal Natural Resources Minister mentioned possibly creating a separate

division of safety within the C-NLOPB instead. Mr. Speaker, Justice Wells was

clear in his recommendations, he preferred the creation of an independent

offshore safety authority.

I ask the Premier: Will she give this House and the people of the Province

her assurances that she will insist to her federal counterparts that they create

the independent authority outside of the C-NLOPB?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Mr. Speaker, I respectfully suggest to the Leader of

the Third Party that she focus those remarks at Mr. Harris, the NDP MP, and Mr.

Cleary, the two NDP MPs who are in Ottawa to lobby and focus on issues of

importance like this very important one. They are there to make the arguments to

Ottawa. On behalf of the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, on behalf of

the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, in my role as Premier, Mr. Speaker, I

will stand up, will defend and will advocate for the positions that we have put

forward here that we have signed on to, such as the establishment of an

independent regulator.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. MURPHY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

My question is directed to the Minister of Municipal Affairs. Municipalities

are facing an everyday challenge in finding funds for basic services like water

and sewer. As late as today, Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador has asked

for a new fiscal arrangement between municipalities and the Province to help

meet that direct need.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the minister: Can he confirm that municipalities will not

see a new fiscal arrangement in this year's Budget as the media has been

reporting?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Municipal Affairs.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. O'BRIEN: Yes, Mr. Speaker, what I have committed to is to work with

Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador and municipalities in general in regard

to meeting their needs.

To build on what the Premier was saying in reference to a question on the

other side of the House in regard to the fiscal arrangement that was instituted

back in the 1990s, that was a system that was unaffordable, unsustainable;

unaffordable to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador and the government. When

we go down that path we will have something that is affordable and sustainable

to the people and the government of the Province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. MURPHY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would suggest to the minister and the hon. members on the other side that

the gas tax is a great sustainable way of supporting municipalities. I suggest

to them to look at it in that regard. Mr. Speaker, municipalities are in urgent

need of a new fiscal arrangement now to meet the service needs of

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

Mr. Speaker, I will ask the minister: Why did his government decide not to

enter into a new fiscal arrangement with the municipalities this year knowing

that, of course, for the last five months we have been waiting for the

government to act here in the House to find us some answers to these questions?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Municipal Affairs.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. O'BRIEN: Mr. Speaker, I know the hon. member is a new member in this

House and he should probably do a little bit of research in regard to the

significant investment that this government has made to municipalities in

Newfoundland and Labrador over the last five years.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. O'BRIEN: Hundreds and hundreds of millions have been invested in

municipal works projects right across this Province, in the City of St. John's,

up on the Northern Peninsula, in Labrador and everywhere, all over this

Province. That is the way we support municipalities.

As I said in my last answer, when we enter into a consultation process

whatever comes out of that will be affordable and will be sustainable to the

people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. MURPHY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the government is rushing ahead with plans for Muskrat Falls

power and municipalities will be expected to pay higher electricity rates in the

coming years. I certainly hope that municipalities will get some extra funding

to cover those electricity costs. Mr. Speaker, I have been talking to mayors and

councillors across the Province who tell me that they do not know if they can

keep the lights on in their hockey arenas.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the minister: How does this department plan to address

municipal funding needs so that they can cover rising electricity costs in the

future?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENNEDY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

One of the reasons that the cost of electricity is going up so much in this

Province is the price of oil. Holyrood, at its peak, burns 18,000 barrels of oil

a day. Oil prices will continue to rise, Mr. Speaker, we are told by the

experts.

The cheapest way to deliver power to this Province, and to ensure that

electricity rates stay down, is through Muskrat Falls. What Muskrat Falls will

do, Mr. Speaker, is it will provide cheaper and more stable electricity rates.

So, in fact, the municipal leaders in the Province should be very thankful that

we are bringing Muskrat Falls on stream, if we sanction it. Also, there are

significant economic and environmental benefits 2,700 jobs at peak employment,

Mr. Speaker, with first jobs going to people from Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. MURPHY: Mr. Speaker, the minister got up and just talked about oil

prices. So I will ask him this question, and I will also forward it to the

Minister of Municipal Affairs as well. We know that oil prices are rising, so of

course, along comes rising fuel costs, for example, to keep some diesel motors

and dump trucks and everything going.

I would like to know what the government over here is going to be doing as

regards to addressing the inequities that we are going to find in municipal

budgets when it comes to fuel costs.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Municipal Affairs.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. O'BRIEN: I would like to remind again the hon. member I know he is

new in the House, and he needs to do a little bit of research. As the Premier

referenced in her answer, we invested $4.6 million extra into municipalities

last year, in Municipal Operating Grants, to address those very issues. Also, it

is incumbent on municipalities to have the right taxation base in place to

support their operations as well. So, this is not just about a one-way street

here, this is a two-way street, a partnership in regard to supporting all

municipalities in Newfoundland and Labrador. That is the way it works.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS MICHAEL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the only external independent expert panel to look at the

Muskrat Falls proposal says government must work with the Town of Happy

Valley-Goose Bay, Nalcor, and other relevant agencies to develop a low-income

housing strategy with measurable targets to deal with the anticipated

in-migration of the workforce necessary to complete the project.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the minister: What is her government doing with regard to

starting to get plans in place around the recommendation that has been made by

the environmental assessment panel?

MR. SPEAKER: There is time for a very brief answer.

The hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.

MR. HEDDERSON: Moving forward with any partner, whether it be Happy

Valley-Goose Bay, whether it be any community in Newfoundland and Labrador to

make sure that with megaprojects or any projects, that we are doing the right

thing with regard to housing in Newfoundland and Labrador, that is a commitment

of this government and we will continue with that commitment.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The time allocated for Question Period has expired.

Presenting Reports by Standing and Select Committees.

Tabling of Documents.

Tabling of Documents

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

MR. KENNEDY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, today I would like to table a number of documents related to the

Muskrat Falls Project which have been submitted to the Public Utilities Board.

Over the last week, Mr. Speaker, there have been requests by members of the

Opposition to table certain documents. Mr. Speaker, what we are going to table

today represents the full body of the information, which is available publicly

through the PUB Web site. These documents include the following, Mr. Speaker:

Requests submitted by Nalcor; the request for information from the PUB, 162

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. KENNEDY: from the Consumer Advocate, 278; from Manitoba Hydro

International, 130. There are 118 public exhibits, Mr. Speaker; sixty-eight

confidential exhibits that have been redacted; Nalcor's submission to the PUB;

final written submissions from Nalcor and the Consumer Advocate; public

presentations made to the PUB; and comments and additional information.

What we are tabling in this House today, Mr. Speaker, represents thousands

and thousands of pages of documents, many of which contain the answers to the

questions that have been asked. Mr. Speaker, I would ask to table those

documents now. My understanding is that they are in the

MR. SPEAKER: I would ask the Pages if they could deliver the documents in

question.

MR. KENNEDY: Mr. Speaker, there are boxes to come out. I would like the

binders to be taken out of the boxes. Where are we going to put them? They are

not going to fit there, Mr. Clerk; not there either.

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. KENNEDY: No, we would like to have them brought out.

MR. SPEAKER: I would ask the Pages if they could bring them to the Table,

please in front of the Table.

[Documents delivered to the Table of the House]

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

Further tabling of documents?

The hon. the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. MARSHALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I do this a lot, and in The Telegram the other day they

said that when I table I do it quietly. I just want to make sure that everybody

knows that I am tabling pursuant to

section 26(5)(

a) of the Financial

Administration Act, I am tabling one Order-in-Council relating to funding

pre-commitments for the 2012-2013 year.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Further tabling of documents?

Order, please!

In accordance with

section 19(5)(

a) of the House of Assembly Accountability,

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

Assembly Management Commission meetings held on March 23, June 7 and December

14, 2011, and the in-camera meetings held on March 30 and May 25, 2011.

Notices of Motion.

Notices of Motion

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

Board.

MR. MARSHALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I give notice I will ask leave to introduce a bill entitled, An

Act To Amend The Liquor Control Act. (Bill 11)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Further notices of motion?

The hon. the Member for St. John's West.

MR. CRUMMELL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I move the following private member's resolution on Housing, seconded by the

hon. Member for Mount Pearl North:

WHEREAS the provincial government laid out its long-term vision for social

housing in 2009 in Newfoundland and Labrador Housing Corporation's ten-year

Social Housing Plan for Newfoundland and Labrador, entitled "Secure

Foundations", and supported this strategy with a significant investment in 2011;

and

WHEREAS key investments by the provincial government to provide housing

assistance to those with the greatest needs include:

5,573 rental units Province-wide through the Newfoundland and Labrador

Housing Corporation;

rent subsidies for people living in 1,732 rental units;

capital funding for approximately 1,100 new affordable housing properties in

the private and supportive living sector in dozens of communities throughout

Newfoundland and Labrador;

financial and training support to 1,026 partner-managed units;

over $16 million annually to help close to 3,500 people with low incomes stay

in their own homes through the various programs for homeowners, such as the

Provincial Home Repair Program, the Residential Energy Efficiency Program, and

Home Modification Program; and

an investment of $4.8 million per year through the Supportive Living

Community Partnership Program to provide operational funding for community-based

organizations that create housing supports for people with complex service

needs;

THEREFORE

BE IT RESOLVED that this House expresses its support for the

provincial government's ten-year Social Housing Plan for Newfoundland and

Labrador, entitled "Secure Foundations", and the investments it is continuing to

make to provide assistance to Newfoundlanders and Labradorians with the greatest

housing needs.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

Petitions.

Petitions

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Cartwright L'Anse au Clair.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I stand in the House today to present a petition on behalf of women who are

advocating for changes to benchmark screening for breast cancer in the Province.

WHEREAS breast cancer is the most common cancer among Newfoundland and

Labrador women, excluding non-melanoma skin cancer, with approximately 370 women

to be diagnosed with breast cancer in Newfoundland and Labrador this year; and

WHEREAS we have one of the highest mortality rates from breast cancer and

breast cancer in young women tends to be more aggressive; and

WHEREAS the benchmark for Newfoundland and Labrador's organized breast

screening program is age 50; and

WHEREAS women aged 40 to 49 are not eligible to participate in Newfoundland

and Labrador's organized breast screening program, while women aged 40 to 49 are

eligible in the provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Nova Scotia, Prince

Edward Island, Northwest Territories, and Yukon; and

WHEREAS there is evidence that routine mammography screening of women in

their forties can reduce mortality from breast cancer by at least 24 per cent,

but Newfoundland and Labrador still does not allow women in that age group to

self refer into their breast screening program; and

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

House of Assembly to urge the government to allow women aged 40 to 49 to be

eligible for breast screening to begin at age 40 and that all women be able to

self refer through Newfoundland and Labrador's screening program.

Mr. Speaker, this issue, I have been bringing it to the House of Assembly now

for a year. I have dealt with two particular ministers in trying to advocate for

changes in the breast screening program in this Province. I understood from the

minister's comments in the House the other day that they have completed their

report, the Cancer Control Advisory Committee that was tasked a year ago to do

that, and I would encourage the government to make a decision to reduce the age

for breast screening, to allow self referrals of women throughout our Province,

and to do so as early as possible, because we really do feel we have the

equipment in the Province now. We have a lot of new mammography equipment. We

feel that it is geographically well positioned. We also know, Mr. Speaker, that

it is only 65 per cent take up on the usage of that equipment, so there is room

to grow the program in Newfoundland and Labrador and broaden it. We want to see

government do just that and reduce the age for screening of women in this

Province.

Mr. Speaker, government opposite likes to talk about how they are on the

cutting edge of doing things. They are getting to the bottom of the pile in

Canada today in establishing good benchmark screening programs for women across

this country. They are lagging behind many of the provinces that have already

re-introduced this legislation and many of the other provinces, Mr. Speaker,

that are already in the works of passing new legislation to do just that. I

would encourage the government to do so as quickly as possible.

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

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

I have a petition here today.

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

Parliament assembled. The petition of the undersigned residents humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS hundreds of residents of the Southwest Coast of the Province of

Newfoundland and Labrador, including residents of the communities of Fox Roost,

Margaree, Isle aux Morts, Burnt Islands, Rose Blanche-Harbour Le Cou, Diamond

Cove and La Poile, use Route 470 on a regular basis for work, medical,

educational and social reasons; and

WHEREAS there is no cellphone coverage on Route 470; and

WHEREAS residents and users of Route 470 require cellphone coverage to ensure

their safety and communication abilities; and

WHEREAS the Department of Innovation, Business and Rural Development recently

announced significant funding to improve broadband services in rural

Newfoundland and Labrador; and

WHEREAS the residents and users of Route 470 feel that the Department of

Innovation, Business and Rural Development should also invest in cellular phone

coverage for rural Newfoundland and Labrador;

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

House of Assembly to support the users of Route 470 in their request to obtain

cellular phone coverage along Route 470, and as in duty bound your petitioners

will ever pray.

Mr. Speaker, this is the second time I have risen on this petition, and I

intend to keep rising on this petition until we have some action taken. I would

note a couple of things. Actually, I had a call - I believe it is the Clerk's

Office that makes sure these are done right. We had a call asking was there a

typo because I did two petitions last week, one for Route 470 and one for Route

480. I said, no, it is not a typo. I have two separate roadways in my district

that are not covered with cellphone service. These people have to drive over it

everyday to get the services that they need and they deserve cellphone coverage.

Again, that just gives you an idea there.

The other thing I would note is that we are talking about emergency plans

under the municipal sector, and these are due in at the end of May. One of the

big parts of this planning cannot even be done, none of these communities in a

lot of my district cannot even have cellular phone coverage; they cannot put

this into their emergency planning.

I intend to keep raising this. I am looking forward to a strategy being

developed and then the implementation of that strategy so that the people in my

district, and I am sure in many districts across this Province, finally get the

cellphone coverage they deserve and that they need in this day and age, 2012.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Cartwright L'Anse au Clair.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Today I rise on a petition. It reads, the petition of the undersigned humbly

sheweth:

WHEREAS Labrador is a vast land mass with many isolated communities; and

WHEREAS unfortunately search and rescue assets were not adequately deployed

during the search for Burton Winters; and

WHEREAS it is clear that permanent search and rescue assets are required in

Labrador;

WHEREUPON your petitioners call upon all Members of the House of Assembly to

urge government to do a full investigation into the Burton Winters tragedy and

search and rescue in Labrador, and lobby the federal government to establish

permanent search and rescue capability at 5 Wing Goose Bay.

As in duty bound your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr. Speaker, this is the same petition I presented, actually, last week in

the House of Assembly. There are a number of these petitions that are

circulating right throughout Labrador, and I understand on the Island portion of

the Province as well. I had hoped that this week, Mr. Speaker, I would not have

to bring another petition on search and rescue back to the House of Assembly. I

hoped that wiser heads would have prevailed within the federal government, that

we would have seen a better outcome on search and rescue last week than what we

saw.

My colleague, the Member for Torngat Mountains, was one of a number of people

who met with the federal minister in Happy Valley-Goose Bay on Friday to learn,

Mr. Speaker, that the only change that is going to occur in search and rescue in

this Province is that you do not call us, we will call you. That is the change

they have made in protocol. As opposed to when you call for help and you do not

get that help, the onus is no longer on you to call back for help, the onus is

now going to be on them to follow up if they have something available to follow

up with.

Is that a solution to our problem? I do not think so, Mr. Speaker, absolutely

not a solution. In fact, Mr. Speaker, one would have been amazed to know that

even if you do call for help, that the very powers that be that you call

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS JONES: - do not take the opportunity to call you back at any

particular time. That should have been an automatically given protocol that

should have already been in the system. So, the fact that it is being added

today does not give me any greater level of comfort that search and rescue

services in Labrador, or anywhere in Newfoundland and Labrador, has been

improved or strengthened in any way.

Mr. Speaker, the petition is asking the government opposite to use some

influence with their Harper friends, their Harper family in the federal

government, because so far they have not had any success on any files in

influencing the federal. So, do some work on search and rescue and see if we can

get that moving.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Orders of the Day.

Orders of the Day

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

MR. KENNEDY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the hon. the Minister of Finance and

President of Treasury Board, to ask leave to introduce a bill entitled,

An Act

To Amend The Revenue Administration Act, Bill 5, and I further move that the

said bill be now read a first time.

MR. SPEAKER: It is moved and seconded that the hon. Minister of Finance

and President of Treasury Board shall have leave to introduce a bill, and that

the said bill be now read a first time.

Is it the pleasure of the House that the minister shall have leave to

introduce the bill, and that the said bill be now read a first time?

All those in favour, aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

MR. SPEAKER: All those against, nay'.

Carried.

Motion, the hon. the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board to

introduce a bill, "An Act To Amend The Revenue Administration Act", carried.

(Bill 5)

CLERK: A bill,

An Act To Amend The Revenue Administration Act. (Bill 5)

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

MR. KENNEDY: Tomorrow, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Tomorrow.

On motion, Bill 5 read a first time, ordered read a second time on tomorrow.

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

MR. KENNEDY: I move, seconded by the hon. the Minister of Service

Newfoundland and Labrador, to ask leave to introduce a bill entitled,

An Act To

Amend The Consumer Protection And Business Practices Act, Bill 6, and I further

move that the said bill be now read a first time.

MR. SPEAKER: It is moved and seconded that the hon. minister shall have

leave to introduce Bill 6, and that the said bill be now read a first time.

Is it the pleasure of the House that the minister shall have leave to

introduce Bill 6, and that the said bill be now read a first time?

All those in favour, aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

MR. SPEAKER: All those against, nay'.

Carried.

Motion, the hon. the Minister of Service Newfoundland and Labrador to

introduce a bill, "An Act To Amend The Consumer Protection And Business

Practices Act", carried. (Bill 6)

CLERK: A bill,

An Act To Amend The Consumer Protection And Business

Practices Act. (Bill 6)

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

When shall the bill be read a second time?

MR. KENNEDY: Tomorrow, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Tomorrow.

On motion, Bill 6 read a first time, ordered read a second time on tomorrow.

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

MR. KENNEDY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the hon. the Minister of Justice and

Attorney General, to ask leave to introduce a bill entitled,

An Act To Amend The

Provincial Court Act, 1991, Bill 7, and I further move that the said bill be now

read a first time.

MR. SPEAKER: It is moved and seconded that the hon. Minister of Justice

and Attorney General have leave to introduce Bill 7, and that the said bill be

now read a first time.

Is it the pleasure of the House that minister shall have leave to introduce

Bill 7, and that the said bill be now read a first time?

All those in favour, aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

MR. SPEAKER: All those against, nay'.

Carried.

Motion, the hon. the Minister of Justice and Attorney General to introduce a

bill, "An Act To Amend The Provincial Court Act, 1991", carried. (Bill 7)

CLERK: A bill,

An Act To Amend The Provincial Court Act, 1991. (Bill 7)

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

When shall the bill be read a second time?

MR. KENNEDY: Tomorrow, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Tomorrow.

On motion, Bill 7 read a first time, ordered read a second time on tomorrow.

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

MR. KENNEDY: Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the hon. Minister of

Justice and Attorney General, to ask leave to introduce a bill entitled,

An Act

To Amend The Family Violence Protection Act, Bill 8, and I further move that the

said bill be now read a first time.

MR. SPEAKER: It is moved and seconded that the hon. Minister of Justice

and Attorney General shall have leave to introduce Bill 8, and that the said

bill be now read a first time.

Is it the pleasure of the House that the minister shall have leave to

introduce Bill 8, and that the said bill be now read a first time?

All those in favour, aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

MR. SPEAKER: All those against, nay'.

Carried.

Motion, the hon. the Minister of Justice and Attorney General to introduce a

bill, "An Act To Amend The Family Violence Protection Act", carried. (Bill 8).

CLERK: A bill,

An Act To Amend The Family Violence Protection Act. (Bill

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

When shall the bill be read a second time?

MR. KENNEDY: Tomorrow, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Tomorrow.

On motion, Bill 8 read a first time, ordered read a second time on tomorrow.

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

MR. KENNEDY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the hon. Minister of Municipal Affairs, to

ask leave to introduce a bill entitled,

An Act To Amend The Municipalities Act,

1999 And The Urban And Rural Planning Act, 2000, Bill 9, and I further move, Mr.

Speaker, that the said bill be now read a first time.

MR. SPEAKER: It is moved and seconded that the hon. Minister of Municipal

Affairs have leave to introduce a bill entitled,

An Act To Amend The

Municipalities Act, 1999 And The Urban And Rural Planning Act, 2000, Bill 9, and

that the said bill be now read a first time.

Is it the pleasure of the House that the minister shall have leave to

introduce Bill 9, and that the said bill be now read a first time?

All those in favour, aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

MR. SPEAKER: All those against, nay'.

Carried.

Motion, the hon. the Minister of Municipal Affairs to introduce a bill, "An

Act To Amend The Municipalities Act, 1999 And The Urban And Rural Planning Act,

2000", carried. (Bill 9)

CLERK: A bill,

An Act To Amend The Municipalities Act, 1999 And The Urban

And Rural Planning Act, 2000. (Bill 9)

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

When shall the said bill be read the second time?

MR. KENNEDY: Tomorrow, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Tomorrow.

On motion, Bill 9 read a first time, ordered read a second time on tomorrow.

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

MR. KENNEDY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the hon. the Minister of Justice and

Attorney General, to ask leave to introduce a bill entitled,

An Act To Amend The

Interjurisdictional Support Orders Act, Bill 10, and I further move that the

said bill be now read a first time.

MR. SPEAKER: It is moved and seconded that the hon. the Minister of

Justice and Attorney General shall have leave to introduce a bill entitled, An

Act To Amend The Interjurisdictional Support Orders Act, Bill 10.

Is it the pleasure of the House that the minister shall have leave to

introduce Bill 10, and that the said bill be now read a first time?

All those in favour, aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

MR. SPEAKER: All those against, nay'.

Carried.

Motion, the hon. the Minister of Justice and Attorney General to introduce a

bill, "An Act To Amend The Interjurisdictional Support Orders Act", carried.

(Bill 10)

CLERK: A bill,

An Act To Amend The Interjurisdictional Support Orders

Act. (Bill 10)

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

When shall the bill be read a second time?

MR. KENNEDY: Tomorrow, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Tomorrow.

On motion, Bill 10 read a first time, ordered read a second time on tomorrow.

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

MR. KENNEDY: Mr. Speaker, I call from the Order Paper, Order 1, Committee

of Supply.

MR. SPEAKER: It has been moved and seconded that I do now leave the Chair

for the House to resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole to consider Bill

Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

All those in favour, aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

MR. SPEAKER: All those against, nay'.

Carried.

On motion, that the House resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole on

Supply, Mr. Speaker left the Chair.

Committee of the Whole

CHAIR (Verge): Order, please!

We are going to resume Committee of Supply, resolution of Bill 2, respecting

the granting of Interim Supply to Her Majesty.

Before I recognize any speakers, I have a ruling on a point of order that was

raised March 8, 2012 at 3:53 p.m. by the hon. the Government House Leader.

Having reviewed the Hansard as well as the video of those proceedings at that

time, I do rule that there was no point of order.

Do we have speakers to

I recognize the hon. the Minister of Education.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN: Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Chair, I am going to just take a few minutes to speak a little bit about

learning. Mr. Chair, I guess the question I would ask all the members of this

House and to folks watching: If we were going to invest in learning, what would

be the best place we could start? Mr. Chair, I guess if we think as parents and

as teachers, and I will throw in the researchers as well, all will tell you that

the best place to start is young, with our youth. The earlier we can start, the

better I think the return will be for our investment.

Mr. Chair, I am very proud to say that I have eight grandchildren and one

more on the way in April, so do not say we are not doing our part for the

population. We are doing our part for the population, Mr. Chair. I come from a

large family, my wife comes from a large family, and I have always treasured

children. Any of us who have been around young children, all you have to do is

just look at them from the time zero to two and three, especially around the two

years of age. It is always amazing to see how much they pick up in those

critical, critical years.

My son sent me a video the other night of our granddaughter, who is a

year-and-a-half, who had been sleeping in her crib; all of a sudden they hear

footsteps, and she has learned how to get out over that crib in a blink. It is

amazing to see how they model and how they follow the example put before them.

Mr. Chair, this is exactly where we have begun. We have established an early

childhood learning and education; we have developed the Department of Child,

Youth and Family Services. Mr. Chair, I will contend to anyone in this House and

in this Province, it is one of the best investments we will ever make as a

government, because it shows our commitment to our children.

My Department of Education works very, very closely with the minister in the

Department of Child, Youth and Family Services. We have to, because both

departments are committed to our children. Mr. Chair, I am just hoping the

Member for St. John's North who stood up the other day and said that the only

thing that he has seen so far that we have committed is $100,000 for a

promotional campaign, I believe were his words. First off, I hope that he is not

dismissing that. If he is, Mr. Chair, he is missing the point entirely on early

childhood education, because this campaign will be about promoting understanding

of learning, activities that you can do with your children. Mr. Chair, he

apparently has not done his research, because last year in

MR. KIRBY: A point of order, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Chair, I was referencing the Early Years Study 3 document last week

(inaudible). Mr. Chair, it says that the document is available for download and

printing off the Internet. That is what I was discussing in debate last week. I

have done the research. The report is over here on my desk, in fact, because I

went and downloaded it, and I printed and read it. I suggest that the Minister

of Education do similarly.

CHAIR: I ask the member to state his point of order, please.

There is no point of order.

I recognize the hon. the Minister of Education.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN: Very sensitive, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Chair, I will continue. Last year, in Budget 2011, we invested $4.8

million for our zero to six strategy, and we have invested this year - Mr.

Chair, we have started already. I have commented publicly on the kits we will be

passing out to parents at ages two months, four months, six months, going on

forward from that. In that, Mr. Chair, will be some reading material, some other

items that parents will be able to use with their children. Mr. Chair, the

reason for it is we want to put in the hands on our parents tools that they can

use with their children at a very early, early age, because it is that window of

opportunity that we have. That critical area from zero to three is where we

started.

Mr. Chair, anyone who sits down and reads a book to a child and sees that a

young child enjoys that book, chances are over the next two and three and four

years the adult will become tired and sick of reading it, but they will read it

over, and over, and over again because it is something that is very important to

that child. Shortly after you might find that a two year old will be seated,

will be having a book in front of them and you will find they may be turning the

pages in the right direction, which might seem very simple to all of us, but to

learn that behaviour, Mr. Chair, as a child of two years old, it is critical. It

is critical as part of their development, it is part of their understanding, and

it is part of their comprehension, which we have started at a very young age.

Mr. Chair, the other thing is the framework that is being developed up to six

years of age. It is all aimed at making sure that our children have a good start

to their education and learning. The best place that we can start is to put

things in the hands of the parents who work day in and day out with their

children.

Mr. Chair, if anyone misses that point of the earliest of intervention in our

young children, they have not understood learning. The process that we have

entered into, it was not something that all of a sudden someone said okay, let's

do up these kits, let's do this promotional campaign and we will put $4 million

or $5 million into it. That is not how things happen. Mr. Chair, involved in the

development of this process and these activities have been educators, long-time

educators in the Province who were recognized for their excellence in education;

Memorial University, the Department of Education because the research component

of it is very, very important.

As I have already said, Mr. Chair, we recognize the importance of zero to

three years. The kits that we are passing out to parents, they will be

distributed through our public health nurses because parents bring their

children in for regular checkups with the public health nurse. It is through

that distribution we will ensure that these parents get those kits. If there is

one thing we can be sure of, Mr. Chair, is that parents love their children. As

part of that love, they will bring them to the pre-school checkups, the public

health nurse sessions; therefore, we can ensure that these materials will be in

the hands of parents. There will be suggestions about the types of activities

that can be done with the child. As I have said those critical zero to three

years became the starting point whereby we introduced that part of our $4.8

million strategy.

Mr. Chair, as we go through and continue this process, the people of the

Province can rest assured that my department and while I am in this capacity,

and Minister Johnson in her department as the Minister of Child, Youth and

Family Services, that we will continue to work closely so that the two of us

working jointly will give it our best efforts to provide to the parents of our

Province, to the children of our Province, the best start that they can possibly

get in that earliest of education. I go back, Mr. Chair, in my last ten or so

seconds to have everyone in this Province, in this House, members opposite, to

recognize the importance of the zero to three years and the zero to six years.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

CHAIR: Order, please!

I recognize the hon. Member for Cartwright L'Anse au Clair.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I am certainly pleased to stand today and have a few words with regard to

Interim Supply that we are debating in the House of Assembly.

Mr. Chair, I was going to actually get up on Thursday and have a few words,

but I guess a couple of reasons one, my new colleagues are so eager and they

cannot wait to be on their feet in the House of Assembly. One thing I can tell

you, it is quite different from the last session that I spent here when I was

every day, Mr. Chair, not getting an opportunity to sit down. Well, now I have

to say that we have some great MHAs on this side of the House, Mr. Chair, who

want to be up on their feet debating the issues in their districts, talking

about the issues that are important to the people of this Province. So, Mr.

Chair, I sat back on Thursday and I listened very attentively as they rose one

after the other and spoke to some very important issues very passionately.

Mr. Chair, I did want to just have a couple of words, because it was

International Women's Day on Thursday. Most people in the Province certainly

will remember that, because it was the government who railroaded the day when

the walked in with their point of privilege, of course, which they had given no

notice to me of prior to the House. I absolutely was not aware of it until the

Government House Leader stood in his place. Mr. Chair, we dealt with the point

of privilege on Thursday, and my colleague the Member for St. Barbe dealt with

it in the way that he should have dealt with it. Mr. Chair, it does not

withstand the fact that there are rules in this House and often times, although

we know the rules, we try and use them to our advantage.

Mr. Chair, I have to point out something, because sometimes I sit back and I

listen and I listen very clearly to what members have to say and I listen to how

they say it. When I was sitting here on Thursday and I was listening to the

comments that were being espoused and I was reminded, Mr. Chair, of another

time, of several times, when members of the government opposite made no bones

about going out there and publicly expressing themselves in the Province. I had

to go up and look for an article, and I did, and it was Eastern Health, they

should be shot over at Eastern Health. I remember that very clearly, Mr. Chair,

when the former Premier, who was a Conservative Leader of which many of the

members on the other side sat in the caucus with, stood up, Mr. Chair, and said

it was disgraceful and that they should be shot over there. Who were the two

individuals who were in charge, who were being referenced? Vickie Kaminski, who

was the CEO, and Pat Pilgrim, those were the two women who came out and had to

try to defend themselves.

At the time, the Premier, the current Premier, was the Minister for the

Status of Women in this Province.

AN HON. MEMBER: What did she say?

MS JONES: Not one word, not one word did the Premier, the Member for

Virginia Waters, who was the Minister for the Status of Women when one of her

colleagues said that the people at Eastern Health should be shot, ever stood in

this Province, Mr. Chair, and espoused one word over violence against women, not

one word, or violence in the workplace, or violence, or harassment, or abuse in

any way, shape or form. Not only did the Premier, the Member for Virginia

Waters, when she was the Minister for the Status of Women, bury that, hide it,

duck and not speak about it, but so did everyone else on the other side,

including the Government House Leader, who stood in his place the other day on

the remarks and how terrible they were on International Women's Day.

I am not arguing the merit, Mr. Chairman, of what the Member for St. Barbe

said, whether it was right or wrong. What I am arguing is that what is good for

the goose is good for the gander. If you are going to say something, practice

it. If you are going to preach it, do it, follow it. That is what I say to the

members opposite.

In addition to that, Mr. Chair, the Member for St. George's Stephenville

East, I believe it is, and the Minister for Advanced Education and Skills were

also in the House at that time, sat in the government at that time, was the

Government House Leader at that time, when her Premier went out and made those

remarks toward many women who worked at Eastern Health, to many public servants

who worked for the government, to many people, Mr. Chair, to the point that

there was actually fear, there was actually fear down at Eastern Health as to

how they would be treated in the workplace and what would happen.

Mr. Chair, I am all about taking what is dished out, but I am going to tell

you one thing: If you are going to dish it out you had better be prepared to

take it yourselves as well, and you had better be prepared to practice what you

say.

Mr. Chair, I am not talking, as I said, and I want to clarify that, I am not

talking about the merit of the comments that were made by my colleague, or

whether they should have been made or should not have been made, whether you

should ever say to a minister, I am going to vilify you on Open Line or not, I

am not debating whether that is good, bad, or indifferent. What I am saying is

that if you are going to allow your own members in your own government when you

are the Minister for the Status of Women to go out and say that people should be

shot at a workplace because of their actions or what they have done and not

stand up to it, well then, Mr. Chair, do not speak out of both sides of your

face, you cannot have it both ways.

Anyway, Mr. Chair, I have other issues that I want to raise today in the

House of Assembly, some very important issues. I think before I get to my full

list that I have there, I am going to speak about the John Noseworthy piece for

a second. Mr. Chair, I could have laughed when I sat in my place in Question

Period and I heard the Premier get up and say that Mr. Noseworthy was the most

suitable man and he was going to get the job done. I am sure she felt that way

too when she ran him on her slate to take out the Leader of the NDP in Signal

Hill Quidi Vidi. He was not the best man for the job that day, I say to the

Premier and the government opposite. He was not the best man for the job that

day, so we will see how he does in the new position that he has now been

hand-picked and endorsed to fill.

Mr. Chair, the reason I am bringing up the Mr. Noseworthy piece in the House

of Assembly today is because if you want to talk about hypocritical opinions in

this Province, I have never seen such a hypocritical act in all my life as I

have seen and witnessed in the last week when the Minister of Finance tabled

that in the House of Assembly on Monday, and I will tell you why. When John

Noseworthy was the Auditor General for this Province and, in fact, the

minister who just hired him to go to work in her department was the Minister of

Human Resources, Labour and Employment at the time. Mr. Chair, when he was the

Auditor General in 2009-2010 when the Auditor General's report came down, what

was in the Auditor General's report? It was written about public servants and

teachers in this Province who are collecting a pension and going back to work on

the government, getting a government cheque. It talked about teachers in

particular, Mr. Chair, because what the new regulations were that were passed in

the House of Assembly and I was a part of it is that in areas where it was

difficult to recruit teachers in this Province, they would allow teachers who

are retired and collecting a pension to go back and fill those positions and

still be permitted to collect their pension for a period of time; there were

some limitations around it.

Mr. Chair, I actually supported that, and I still support it today. I will

tell you why I support it today. I support it today because there are many

schools in rural areas like the ones in my district that cannot always recruit

teachers that are highly qualified in certain areas. So they have no other

choice but to go back and get retired teachers who are willing and prepared to

fill some of those vacancies.

Mr. Chair, John Noseworthy, when he was the Auditor General, had a problem

with that; he had a huge problem with that. He wrote chapters about it in the

AG's report, how it was a shameful, awful, ridiculous thing that was happening

that you would have a retired teacher out there going back into a classroom in

rural Newfoundland or Labrador, Mr. Chair, and teaching and collecting a salary

and still getting a pension; but, he had no bones, I would not think, accepting

the job offer when the minister or the Premier called him up this week that

allows him to collect his pension, Mr. Chair, and allows him to collect his

$140,000 a year in pay.

AN HON. MEMBER: How much?

MS JONES: Mr. Chair, $140,000 that is what he is getting paid:

$140,000. That is what the AG is getting paid. The very person, Mr. Chair, who

felt that you should not be able to get a pension if you are a teacher and go

back in the classroom, is now today getting a pension and collecting $140,000 in

salary on the backs of the taxpayers in this Province. Now, you tell me if that

is not the most hypocritical thing you have ever seen in your life.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

CHAIR: The hon. the Member for Bonavista South.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. LITTLE: Thank you, Mr. Chair, for giving me the opportunity to speak.

I would like to start by saying what a great honour and privilege it is for

me to stand in this House today, to be part of this wonderful government, to

represent the wonderful people of the District of Bonavista South. I feel it is

appropriate for me to speak on the fishery, ladies and gentlemen.

Fishing and aquaculture is an industry that provides our Province with more

than $1 billion in revenues annually, and a successful fishery is the biggest

mainstay for the constituents of the District of Bonavista South. With many

fishery operations and enterprises throughout the district, the strength of this

industry ensures for a prosperous economy.

Based on the current fishery issues in this Province, I would like to speak

about the Ocean Choice International operation and closure in Port Union. It is

very unfortunate that the plant was damaged by Hurricane Igor. Furthermore,

there were major shrimp quota reductions. The people of Bonavista South district

are faced with a major setback because of this closure. I have arranged and

attended meetings with a number of members of community leaders from Trinity Bay

North, with Ocean Choice International officials and government officials. As a

result of those meetings, an acceptance letter of the plant closure has been

received from the Trinity Bay North Town Council. The workers of the Port Union

plant, the Town Council, OCI plant have agreed to move on and look at other

alternatives, Mr. Chair. Some workers have found employment at the Bonavista OCI

plant. Other workers have found employment elsewhere and the rest of the workers

will need transitional assistance, Mr. Chair. This government will support these

people with services such as transitional employment counselling, short-term

employment, intensified regional economic diversification efforts and

educational and training programs, Mr. Chair. Assistance and direction from the

Government of Newfoundland and Labrador is evident. The Department of Fisheries

and Aquaculture launched a number of programs under the Fishery Industry Renewal

Strategy intended to revitalize the fishing industry.

We are spending approximately $11.75 million annually on fishery science

research, Mr. Chair. Other initiatives that support our plan for the future

include $100 million for fishery loan guarantees and $80 million for the MOU

marketing guarantees. These programs allow us to adapt to change in resource and

market conditions that make the industry more economically viable and

internationally competitive. This will help us get back on our feet ultimately,

Mr. Chair.

I am confident through the perseverance and resourcefulness of the people,

there will be better opportunities in the future for our district and for this

Province as a whole. The fishing industry is very complex. The Minister of

Fisheries and Aquaculture is continuing to consult with all stakeholders in the

industry, Mr. Chair. Newfoundland and Labrador is becoming a province being

sought after for lucrative and challenging employment opportunities. This shift

in the labour market is due to the forecast and creativity of today's

government. One of the many great examples is the project of Muskrat Falls. Our

government has realized that developing the power of resources of the Lower

Churchill is the key to a sustainable future for our Province over the long

term.

Muskrat Falls is a venture that will pay for itself through low energy costs,

new export revenues and a new opportunity for economic development here in

Newfoundland and Labrador. The Muskrat Falls project is in the best interest of

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, Mr. Chair. Through studies conducted by

Memorial University economists, MHI and other energy experts, it has been

determined that we do need this power and that Muskrat Falls is the least-cost

future loan guarantees, or equivalent financial supports. Our government's

vision is to take us from an oil-reliant economy to a renewable resource energy

economy. Affordable clean, green energy that is what we need in this Province,

Mr. Chair.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. LITTLE: This project will create many jobs. The Minister of Natural

Resources has done many press releases, talked on Open Line shows, he did

question and answer sessions, very open and transparent on the Muskrat Falls

project, Mr. Chair. As laid out in our energy plan of the Blue Book, the people

of this Province are in favour of us implementing the strategies that will

benefit Newfoundland and Labrador in the future. This Province is a leader in

economic growth. We have an economic burst of energy that will help strengthen

Canada, Mr. Chair. This is such an exciting time for our people. I am so proud

to be part of this government that will take our Province to a level of

prosperity such as it has never seen before, Mr. Chair.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. LITTLE: Newfoundland and Labrador holds such riches, with all of its

natural resources, intelligence, and hardworking people. Now, under the guidance

and leadership of our Premier, a bright and promising future lays ahead for this

Province, Mr. Chair.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. LITTLE: At this time in history I am very optimistic. We are making

the right decisions as a government, Mr. Chair. I appreciate having the

opportunity to stand for a few minutes and speak to the Interim Supply bill.

I want to speak on the economic performance of our Province and the economy,

both of which have been incredibly strong in 2011 and indeed, over the past

eight years. In the past eight years, we have seen tremendous growth in this

Province. We have had six of the last eight years of surpluses. When you

consider how much this government has paid down on our provincial debt at this

time, it is really an outstanding achievement, Mr. Chair.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. LITTLE: This government has managed to decrease the provincial debt

from a high of $12 billion in 2004 to just under $8 billion today, Mr. Chair.

Because of this great management we have exercised as a government, the Province

has received the highest credit rating in its entire history, an A +

rating.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. LITTLE: That is one indication the economy of this Province is in

excellent shape. What is even more remarkable is that we achieved this without

cutting into key initiatives; social programs that improve important services to

our people throughout this Province.

We did not get our debt down through cuts in funding or tax increases. No, we

managed to reduce our debt by over $4 billion through excellent fiscal

management, Mr. Chair. This government was smart and proactive, accelerating the

pace of growth into public investments. While the rest of the world was

struggling through a recession, we were pushing ahead, investing in the Province

and in the people, Mr. Chair, our unprecedented investments in infrastructure,

roads, highways and so forth. Many people throughout this Province have

certainly seen the greatness of what this government has done in the past. We

knew that by investing in this area we would stimulate and diversify

Newfoundland and Labrador's economy.

Infrastructure spending in 2010-2011 generated approximately 7,740 person

years of employment, Mr. Chair. Our investment in infrastructure has meant more

employment for the people of this Province. Our employment rates have increased

steadily and we have come through the global recession in better shape than many

regions throughout this country. Employment for Newfoundland and Labrador has

increased by 2.7 per cent, which gives us the second-best growth in the country

amongst the provinces. This is really something to be proud of, Mr. Chair.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. LITTLE: Along with our job growth came population increases, because

people saw a future here in this Province that was bright and promising, Mr.

Chair. New houses are going up all over this Province. In fact, our new housing

developments remain strong at 3,488, Mr. Chair. The fact is that this Province

is the place to be now, a have Province.

CHAIR: Order, please!

MR. LITTLE: Thank you, Mr. Chair.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

CHAIR: I remind the member that his time for speaking has expired.

AN HON. MEMBER: Do you want time to clue up?

MR. LITTLE: I can clue up, yes.

CHAIR: Does the member have leave?

MS JONES: Yes, sure, to clue up.

MR. LITTLE: Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I recognize that my time is up, and I do appreciate the opportunity to have

enough time to speak and highlight some of government's great achievements, Mr.

Chair.

This Province is moving forward with a government that is very optimistic

about the future, and we are here to assist the people of Newfoundland and

Labrador.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

CHAIR: The hon. the Member for Cartwright L'Anse au Clair.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I will just finish my comments, Mr. Chair, with regard to Interim Supply and

the Committee. Mr. Chair, a few comments I want to finish up on before I move on

to some of the other things is with regard to John Noseworthy, because not only

was it the piece about the pension piece but it was also the piece about

temporary employees. We cannot ignore the fact that in the recent report by the

current Auditor General he pointed out to all of us the number of temporary

employees that are within government, especially within the Department of Human

Resources, Labour and Employment. In fact, Mr. Chair, what he said is that 68

per cent of those particular temporary jobs were hired without any job

competition whatsoever.

When I saw the piece on Noseworthy and I knew it was done without a job

competition, it did not come as any great shock to me because that has been the

pattern of the government opposite. Absolutely no accountability when it comes

to the spending of the public's money and hiring people within the public

service; because, Mr. Chair, if there was, they would be out actually

advertising and hiring people for these jobs as opposed to just appointing them

to temporary positions which are continuously rolled over and rolled over and

rolled over with no job competition at all. That is public service money, it is

not political appointments. It is not political appointments; it is the public

service that you are dealing with.

In addition to that, Mr. Chair, it was only a few months ago that this AG's

report was tossed on the desk of the government outlining all these temporary

jobs across government, how it was being done with no accountability for the

taxpayers' money; yet, they go out and they do the very same thing again. Only

this time they do it in the wake of the Premier's comments on her cuts to the

Budget, of which we are finally getting clarified, because she has changed her

story now three times, Mr. Chair. In six days, we had three different stories on

where the Premier is going with reductions in the Budget and cuts to the Budget.

Now, Mr. Chair, we know it is going to be targeted at temporary workers and

contractual workers within the government, which obviously has the unions all up

in arms right now in terms of: where is this going and what does this mean for

us? Mr. Chair, I think we need to get some of this clarified, and the earlier we

can get it clarified maybe the earlier we can get this done.

That is my piece on John Noseworthy. The only thing I would say to the

government opposite is that you better get a good contract and you better get a

confidentiality clause right in the midst of it. In light of my dealings with

Mr. Noseworthy, I can tell you that you are going to need a confidentiality

clause because the first day you are on the outs and he is walking, we will see

what he is going to be preaching on that particular day.

Mr. Chair, those are my comments on that piece. I would now like to talk a

little bit about the search and rescue services. I actually just took five

minutes and had a conversation with the Minister of Municipal Affairs with

regard to search and rescue simply because he is responsible for emergency

measures in the Province, but also, Mr. Chair, he was a commanding officer of

the Canadian Rangers in our Province for a long time and understands how search

and rescue works, as do my colleague, the Member for Torngat Mountains, who was

also a part of search and rescue on the ground volunteer groups and have been a

part of the Canadian Rangers as well.

I guess, Mr. Chair, it is really difficult in the wake of what has happened

in Labrador and what is happening with the closure of the sub-centre in St.

John's and to know that the best that the federal government could produce for

the people of Newfoundland and Labrador on Thursday of last week was a phone

call, and that was what they gave us. That is the new change in protocol. Right

now for search and rescue in Newfoundland and Labrador it is a phone call one

call. You do not have to make the call; that is the real benefit. You do not

have to make the call; they are going to make the call. That is the change that

we are seeing. Now, how sad is that when you look at the context of what we are

dealing with, with search and rescue today in Newfoundland and Labrador? It is

quite evident that the Harper government has lost their way and has lost focus

of what the priorities are for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

Last week when I spoke in this House, I talked very extensively about our

dependency on the sea, on the fishing industry, on the offshore oil industry. I

talked about our culture and how we are nomadic people. We travel the land; we

travel the water. I talked about the coastline that we have that surrounds

Newfoundland and the full coastline of Labrador. I talked about the fact that we

live in the Arctic Region. That we deal with all kinds of not just geographical

pressures but climatic pressures in the work that we do. Yet, Mr. Chair, the

federal government is not listening to the people of this Province and they are

not listening to the government opposite. The Premier may get offended by my

colleague's questions today in Question Period but she has to accept the reality

that if they are not listening to you, as the Premier in this Province, who says

that we need to improve search and rescue in Newfoundland and Labrador, then

that should be an indication that something else needs to happen. That is the

indication to me right now that something else needs to happen here.

We can have great search and rescue groups out there on the ground all over

the Province, and we do, many men and women who volunteer, who know the

environment in which they lead those searches better than anyone else in the

world. Mr. Chair, gradually we are giving them the tools to try to do their job

better. Last week the government and I commend you for that announced

$500,000 to buy new cameras for all of these search and rescue groups that will

help them identify individuals who are lost in storms or at sea. Mr. Chair, I

commend the government for doing that. At the same time, we cannot leave all of

our dependency into a group of volunteers who have the bare essentials with

equipment to do the job that they set out to try to do.

Mr. Chair, when my colleague was leading the search in Torngat Mountains for

Burton Winters, I heard many stories from him and from others in the community

when I visited there about how they spent hours and hours out on the land, how

they did not want to give up. How they were frozen and frostbitten, and how they

were to their waists in slob, ice and everything else in the search, Mr. Chair,

because they did not want to give up. They needed to have resources and that is

the message we have to send to the federal government. I know that the Premier

and the government opposite have been reluctant in putting in place an all-party

committee, but I am going to tell you something, there is something to be said

when everyone rallies together as Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. There is

something to be said for that.

I know the Premier said today you always criticize when we are not on good

terms with the Prime Minister and good terms with the government, so now we

befriended them and we are on good terms with them. It is not about good terms

or bad terms; it is about having influence over what is going to happen in this

Province. There is no greater influence that you can have than over saving lives

of people. That message has to get to the federal government, and frankly I have

no confidence in Peter Penashue to deliver that message for the people of

Newfoundland and Labrador. He proved that to us on Thursday and Friday when he

went to these families, he went to the people in his riding and the people of

this Province and said that we are going to make a change and the best we can do

for you is give you another phone call that is the best we can do for you.

Frankly, I have no confidence in what happens there.

I am hearing all kinds of stories. I am hearing about Griffon helicopters in

Goose Bay on those days that were in hangars broken down. Why were they in

hangars broken down? Why were they not out working and operating? The Province

needs to get the answer to that question from the feds. They have to get the

answer.

Why is it that a call went out at 6:30 in the evening and the minister's

office, who was the first line of contact provincially through EMR, never got

the call until the next morning? What happened in that gap? Somebody has to tell

us where that time frame lapsed. What happened here? These are questions we need

answers to, and we are not getting them.

Mr. Chair, it is not good enough to say that we are going to do the best that

we can. Sometimes we do the best that we can and we do not get the results that

we need, so how do we do it a different way? That is why I am imploring on the

members in the House today: Rally together, put your all-party committee in

place. We will all be a part of it. Let's do it unitedly. We can make a

difference. I honestly believe that we will have more impact and that we will be

a stronger force to be reckoned with on search and rescue than we are going to

be as one lone person who is going to the government.

The Premier, with all due respect, if you were able to have influence over

this decision, you would have had it by now. We are not seeing it, and that was

obvious on Thursday, so it is time to do something differently.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

CHAIR: The Chair recognizes the hon. the Minister of Municipal Affairs.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. O'BRIEN: Yes, Mr. Chair.

I am happy to get up and talk to this bill once again. This is a clearly a

fine place, the House of Assembly of Newfoundland and Labrador. We all in here

take our jobs really seriously, but I have some concerns when I hear things

being said in this House of Assembly in regard to spending like drunken sailors

and having no fiscal arrangement with municipalities and Municipalities

Newfoundland and Labrador. I have real concerns with that, Mr. Chair, because it

certainly gives a different impression of what I get from municipalities, as I

met with them over the past year in Newfoundland and Labrador; I would say out

of 273 of them, I have met with probably 250 of them. They were really, really

happy in regard to the way we have supported Newfoundland and Labrador

municipalities for the past number of years.

Mr. Chair, in regard to question period, I mentioned as well that I have no

problem in regard to Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador, or municipalities

in general, or any group that has any business with government, to advocate and

to lobby. That is their job; that is the reason why we meet with them. We have

to hear their concerns. We have to hear their challenges. Then we have to try to

seek solutions, but these solutions have to be realistic as well. They have to

be sustainable; they have to be affordable to the people of the Province and

especially the government of the day, which is this government that I stand here

with now in this House of Assembly of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Back in the early 1990s, there was a Municipal Operating Grant developed. It

was developed entirely within government. Municipalities Newfoundland and

Labrador, the Federation at that particular time, to my knowledge, was never

consulted in regard to the development of that formula. Never, never consulted,

not at all; never consulted whatsoever. It was brought up to a hotel, they were

sent into a room under locked doors, they were given the formula and told, this

is what it is going to be. That is it; there were no consultations and that.

I had a meeting back on the morning of March 6 with Municipalities

Newfoundland and Labrador. I told them and it was a great meeting between

myself and the president or executive director, and some of my staff and I

expressed to them that yes, we do probably need a new fiscal arrangement, or at

the very least, explore Municipal Operating Grants and the way we do business

with municipalities. As well, there had to be a piece of work happen within the

Department of Municipal Affairs to give us the starting point in regard to that

consultation process. We had to have that, Mr. Chair, because you do not just

start at the bottom. They have a piece of work to do as well, regarding the

development and the process of collecting data that would help in forming any

type of formation of a new formula when it comes to Municipal Operating Grants.

That is the way it starts.

So, I had committed to that meeting to start a process in that development,

regarding Municipal Operating Grants in general. Then, that very afternoon, they

put out a notice to all municipalities that they want to have an emergency

meeting in regard to the new fiscal arrangement. I found that very concerning,

for the simple reason is, as a minister, I have met with Municipalities

Newfoundland and Labrador municipalities, and I have always been up front with

them. I told them that the election, the process that we went through September

and October of 2011

CHAIR: Order, please!

MR. O'BRIEN: we went through that process and there was not enough time

between the end of that particular election and now, to inform the budget

process in any kind of a way to develop a formula. I was not about to, as a

minister, the Minister of Municipal Affairs, and also as a government, to jam

something down their throat, which is what happened in the early 1990s.

I also want to remind the hon. members who might be able to remember back or

had any participation in regard to that process back in the early 1990s, it was

developed, and it was jammed down their throats without any consultations. More

importantly, Mr. Chair, it was tore to pieces only four years after that. There

was a sum of money, so many millions of dollars, I cannot remember, maybe in the

forties, or fifties or sixty million dollars attached to that particular

Municipal Operating Grant. Then lo and behold, they found out that they could

not sustain it, they could not afford it and then they cut it. That was only

four years after it was developed, I say to the hon. member across the House. He

has to do his research and know his history in regard to politics in

Newfoundland and Labrador before he makes the comments.

This government, since I have been here anyway, since 2003, and since I have

been a minister since 2006, we have shown responsibility, we have shown

leadership in that we do not do anything that is not sustainable, that is not

affordable to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador and this government, for

the long-term, Mr. Chair. We do not want to be tearing the guts out of a new

Municipal Operating Grant or any kind of fiscal arrangement with our

municipalities unless we can sustain it. Not only for four years, not only for

eight years, not only for sixteen years, not only for twenty years but a long

time in the future where we can have healthy communities. If we do not have

healthy communities, Mr. Chair, well we do not really have a healthy Province,

do we not? That is what I say, so that is what we have to do.

To speak to a fiscal arrangement, in the past - not that it had a guarantee,

but when times were good in Newfoundland and Labrador this government saw fit to

really invest in municipal infrastructure in Newfoundland and Labrador. Millions

and millions and millions of dollars have been spent over the last four or five

years. Millions of dollars spent in rural Newfoundland and Labrador, millions of

dollars spent in cities like Corner Brook, Mount Pearl and the City of St.

John's. Millions of dollars spent in such communities as Clarenville, as Gander,

as Happy Valley-Goose Bay and all those kinds of places that we see gaps in

regard to their infrastructure needs.

That is exactly what we did, millions and millions and millions of dollars,

to the point now that I have 570 active projects in Newfoundland and Labrador on

a carry-forward basis worth $318 million in this Province. That work is going to

happen over this summer or this season, and over the next season and on and on.

That is the way it works, Mr. Chair, and that is the way we see the importance

of investing in our municipalities and the importance of investing in municipal

infrastructure and their requirements throughout Newfoundland and Labrador.

Mr. Chair, there are other areas that we have invested in as well that cannot

be forgotten, and that is in our Fire and Emergency Services. Only just last

year we invested a lot of money and bought twenty-two fire trucks across

Newfoundland and Labrador. I can attest right now that those trucks were

well-received, well-deserved, and did not go unnoticed in addressing the needs

around the Province in our fire halls to enable those volunteers to deliver the

services they volunteered to do. That is what we have.

Not forgetting as well, Mr. Chair, we invested $79 million in multipurpose

and recreational facilities in last year's Budget, in this Province, throughout

Newfoundland and Labrador. Two or three of them on the Northeast Avalon

Peninsula, one on the South Coast, one in Western Newfoundland and Labrador, two

on the Northeast Coast of Labrador; which they never, ever had any government in

the past actually invest in that kind of infrastructure on the Northeast Coast

of Labrador. I hear it time and time again that they are a forgotten land, but

this government did not forget that land, I can guarantee that