March

15, 2012 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS

Vol. XLVII No. 9

The House met at 1:30 p.m.

MR. SPEAKER (Wiseman): Order, please!

Admit strangers.

The Speaker is pleased today to welcome to the galleries the members from the

multicultural community newcomers and community partners.

Welcome to our Assembly.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

Statements by Members

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

District of St. Barbe; the Member for the District of Terra Nova; the Member for

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

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

of Bellevue.

The hon. the Member for the District of St. Barbe.

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

the organizers and participants of the 8 th Annual Snowmobile Ride for

Breast Cancer Research, which took place on Monday, March 12.

There were close to 300 people in attendance. The event was so successful

this year they may need to find a larger building to accommodate everyone next

year. Almost every business in the area donated a prize, so it was a real

community effort between participants and local businesses to raise money for

this event. These dedicated women raised a total of $18,450, and one lady

herself raised over $3,000. A moment of silence was held for those named who had

passed away from cancer.

I would like to recognize, in particular, the hard work and excellent

organization of this event by Donna Grimes and Betty Dempster, as well as all

the volunteers who committed their time and their energy to make this such a

successful event.

I would also like to congratulate and thank those involved in this wonderful

event, and ask all hon. members to also recognize them for their efforts.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of Terra Nova.

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

I rise today to commend the Traytown Junior Recreation Committee that was

organized by Judy Tulk back in 2010, and since that time they have accomplished

great things.

Recognizing the need for more recreational opportunities in their community,

they refurbished the old town's dilapidated playground as well as restoring the

local outdoor ice rink. Through hard work and dedication, both projects were

complete successes. Next, the committee plans to construct a beach volleyball

court and, Mr. Speaker, considering their track record, I do not have any doubt

in my mind they will achieve their goal.

This committee has formed key relationships with the town council, local

recreation committee, the Department of Tourism, Culture and Recreation through

its capital grants program, and even the Canadian Armed Forces who provided much

needed skilled labour to the group, free of charge. Not only have these projects

given the town and its residents tangible assets, equally as important, it has

served as an exercise of community building.

I ask all members of this hon. House to join with me in congratulating this

fine group of young people and thanking them for setting an example to others on

how young people can effect positive change in their communities.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of Port au Port.

MR. CORNECT: Mr. Speaker, I rise today in this hon. House of Assembly to

congratulate the business recipients in the Stephenville-Port au Port-Bay St.

George area who were recognized for their business accomplishments at the Heart

of the Community Gala in Stephenville during Business Week 2011 which was held

this past fall.

Mr. Speaker, Noel Estoppey of Domino Pizza House was honoured with the

Life-Time Achievement Award at the Gala. Claude, his father, started the

business in Stephenville forty-nine years ago. Domino Pizza House is well known

for its excellent food and notably for its charitable community spirit.

Ten additional businesses were also recognized with the Heart of the

Community Awards: Callahan's Contracting, Holiday Inn Stephenville, Romain's

Farm, Sew Much More, The Gravels Development Group, Tabletop Family

Chiropractic, Deb's Airport Caf, Arlim Company, E.H. Scott Sales, and

Stephenville Theatre Festival.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all hon. Members of this hon. House of Assembly to join me

in congratulating the businesses that received these awards and to wish them a

strong and prosperous future here in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. CROSS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise honourably today to congratulate and recognize fantastic achievements

of the Crystal Gliders Figure Skating Club, who skate out of the Beothic Arena

in Bonavista North.

I would like to preface this year's accomplishments by a short comment about

last year; the synchro teams competed in the 2011 provincial competitions and

returned with one bronze medal in the Beginner 2 category.

This year, teams came away with four medals and, to top it off, they set two

provincial records. The Loop Lightning earned bronze in PreNovice and the Kitti

Koasters skated to bronze in Beginner 1. However, the biggest achievement came

from the Krystal Blades and Krystal Koasters, who both skated their way to

record-breaking gold medal wins.

The Blades captured gold in Elementary with a score of 26.55, while the

Koasters earned gold in Beginner II with a score of 13.49. Both scores were

overall skill records for skating skills.

The feat is pretty outstanding, considering each synchronized skating team,

their blades actually hit the ice surface for roughly forty-five minutes of

practice each week.

I respectfully express congratulations, and feel confident I am joined by all

members of this House to extend congratulations to coach Claudia Drover, and

each and every individual athlete and parent involved. Enjoy your medals,

ladies, and one gentleman. Although they looked great on you, your smiles were

much nicer.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. CRUMMELL: Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to offer

congratulations to Heather Strong and her Newfoundland and Labrador curling

team, who recently represented our Province at the 2012 Scotties Tournament of

Hearts.

Heather Strong and her St. John's Bally Haly team consisted of Laura Strong,

Jen Cunningham, Stephanie Korab and Noelle Thomas-Kennell, who won the right to

represent the Province when they captured the provincial curling championship in

January. The rink is coached by Jamie Korab.

Mr. Speaker, Heather Strong's name has been synonymous with championship for

many years. She is a ten-time provincial ladies champion and has represented our

Province at the Tournament of Hearts nine times.

This year's women's Canadian championship curling field was again a very

competitive one. Heather said that her rink's goal was to represent the Province

as best they could and they certainly put forward a tremendous effort.

Mr. Speaker, Heather Strong and her team are wonderful ambassadors for the

sport of curling and for our Province. I ask all hon. members to join me in

congratulating Heather, Laura, Jen, Stephanie, Noelle and Jamie on representing

Newfoundland and Labrador at this year's Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. PEACH: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise in this hon. House today to talk of a remarkable couple that has

reached a milestone in their lives. Albert and Harriett Piercey celebrated their

seventieth wedding anniversary January 2012 with family and friends.

They are a true testament to a happy couple of seventy years marriage. There

are not many who can attest to this accomplishment.

Albert is ninety-five years of age and Hattie turned ninety just a week

before their anniversary. Both are of sound mind and have a lot of memories of

their wonderful life together. They raised a family of eleven children ten are

still living, sixteen grandchildren, and twenty great-grandchildren.

On January 8, I had the privilege and pleasure of joining them in the

celebration of their seventieth wedding anniversary.

Mr. Speaker, both are thankful for their good health and strength. I ask that

all members of this hon. House join me in sending a well-deserved congratulation

to Albert and Harriet Piercey for their seventieth wedding anniversary.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Statements by Ministers.

Statements by Ministers

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS BURKE: Mr. Speaker, I rise today to inform this hon. House that March

18 to 24 is Multiculturalism Week in Newfoundland and Labrador a time to

celebrate how people of all cultures are making tremendous contributions to this

Province.

To support the future prosperity of our Province, this government first

launched an immigration strategy, Diversity Opportunity and Growth, in March,

2007. Today, multiculturalism thrives in Newfoundland and Labrador. Through our

Provincial Nominee Program, people from eighty-five different countries have

settled in fifty-eight communities many providing valuable services in often

difficult-to-fill positions.

Mr. Speaker, throughout our history, Newfoundland and Labrador has always had

a strong sense of identity. We are renowned for our warmth, our generosity, and

for extending a warm welcome to people the world over.

Working in areas from medicine to engineering, from education to hospitality

and many more, immigrants and international students are making significant

contributions in our communities.

As part of this year's Multiculturalism Week, Mr. Speaker, there are numerous

community activities organized with strong support from all regions. At

Confederation Building, multi-coloured lights will be lit once again next week

to celebrate Multiculturalism Week and to symbolize the bright, prosperous and

vibrant future for Newfoundland and Labrador. We encourage homeowners to do the

same.

Mr. Speaker, the provincial government is proud of the many talents that

newcomers bring and the contributions they make to this Province.

I invite residents and my colleagues in this House to celebrate

Multiculturalism Week an important reminder that when we encourage immigration

and multiculturalism, we build vibrant communities, enrich our future, and make

connections to the world.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

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

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

would also like to welcome our guests today, the members of the Multiculturalism

Society. One of the great things about this country is the cultural mosaic that

we have established here; our Province, well-known for its hospitality, has

always been a melting pot and been shaped by immigration.

People from all over this world have been welcomed here and they have made us

a better place. They have contributed to so many valuable sectors of this

Province, and certainly our economy. Memorial University has been a tremendous

driver in this regard, as international students are attracted to our low

tuition and our world-class programs such as our medical school and our marine

studies. We used to have to go out and see the world, and now the world is

coming here to see us.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

MR. KIRBY: I thank the minister for the advance copy of her statement,

Mr. Speaker, and I am happy to welcome our guests here today.

I am happy to recognize Multiculturalism Week and honour groups like the

Association for New Canadians, the Refugee Immigrant Advisory Council, the

Multicultural Women's Organization of Newfoundland and Labrador, and others.

Their ongoing work helps newcomers adapt to our Province and to make our culture

even richer. I would like to commend their efforts and the workers in the Office

of Immigration and Multiculturalism for continuing to work with people who come

to this Province from all around the world.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Further statements by ministers?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS JOHNSON: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize National Social Work Month and express

gratitude to all social workers in Newfoundland and Labrador for their

exceptional service.

National Social Work Month is held annually in March and serves to highlight

the continued dedication of our social workers, who provide supportive services

to the most vulnerable populations in our Province. Our Province is very

fortunate to have such accomplished and compassionate social workers. I am

pleased to extend a thank you to these professionals for their valuable

contributions and outstanding commitment to those who benefit greatly from their

support.

There are over 1,400 registered social workers in the Province practising

across a broad scope of service areas, including hospitals, seniors'homes,

child protection, corrections, addictions, mental health, and schools, to name a

few. Of these social workers, approximately 340 work with the Department of

Child, Youth and Family Services. They are a key driving force in our goal to

revitalize our child protection system.

The theme for National Social Work Month 2012 is Social Workers: Building

Relationships, Strengthening Communities, Partnering for Change. This theme

highlights the importance of working together, and our government remains fully

committed to working collaboratively with all our stakeholders and social

workers.

Mr. Speaker, I would also like to recognize an outstanding individual in the

field of social work whose dedication and leadership skills earned her a

Distinguished Service Award from the Canadian Association of Social Workers.

Wanda Lundrigan was nominated by the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of

Social Workers and selected as the winning representative for this Province.

Wanda is in the gallery today with her parents, her son, and her colleagues, and

I certainly welcome her here.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS JOHNSON: Over the course of her thirty-two-year career in social work,

Ms Lundrigan has served countless individuals and groups and has been a valuable

member of the Department of Child, Youth and Family Services as Assistant Deputy

Minister of Service Delivery and Regional Operations.

I ask all hon. members of this House to join me in offering congratulations

to Ms Lundrigan and to acknowledge all social workers for their positive impact

they continue to make in the communities they serve throughout our Province.

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.

Also, I would like to thank the minister for an advance copy of the

statement. We would also like to welcome and recognize Ms Wanda Lundrigan on her

Distinguished Service Award; a very sincere congratulations to her on her career

thus far.

We want to acknowledge and recognize the tremendous work that social workers

do in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. They often deal with people at

their lowest points in life. For example, Newfoundland and Labrador is facing

growing concerns facing problematic substance abuse. There has been a growth in

illicit drug use, and there are high rates of problematic alcohol consumption

and prescription drug abuse amongst the population.

Social workers are dealing with more cases in addiction services than they

have ever seen. We also have over 700 children in care, and of those over 200

are from Aboriginal communities. Social workers have to deal with these

difficult issues, not just working with the children but working with the

families as well.

There are many social workers in our Province who are doing tremendous work

and very difficult jobs. We appreciate their effort and significant contribution

to our Province.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS ROGERS: Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the minister for the

advance of her statement. I would like to congratulate the amazing, incredible,

Wanda Lundrigan for the work that she has done so compassionately and so

expertly on behalf of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Myself, as a graduate of the MUN School of Social Work, I know the vital role

that social workers play in our society. I would like to thank them all for

their compassion, expertise and commitment in doing their work, often in

difficult circumstances, and with limited resources. It is my hope that the

government will see the benefit of providing resources for ongoing professional

development and training to enable these very dedicated workers to employ their

best practices in all the work that they do.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Oral Questions.

Oral Questions

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

MR. BALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

This morning the provincial government released the Lower Churchill

generating project from environmental assessment. In doing so, they completely

dismissed Recommendation 4.2 of the Joint Review Panel which called for an

independent analysis of the other alternatives to meet the domestic energy

demands.

I ask the minister: How can you dismiss this recommendation when the panel

clearly demonstrated that Nalcor had not considered all options?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENNEDY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We have certainly looked at all of the materials that were in the

environmental assessment report. There is an interesting quote, though, I would

outline to the member opposite in the federal government release where they

indicate that they have done their own economic analysis and that they agree

that Muskrat Falls is the lowest cost option, and that is something that will be

taken into account in the federal loan guarantee.

We have looked at all options, Mr. Speaker. The environmental assessment

panel looked at the environment. Navigant did a report, and Manitoba Hydro did a

report. We are satisfied, as is the federal government obviously, that Muskrat

Falls is the lowest cost option. I think that is pretty obvious.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BALL: I will remind the minister it is the lowest cost of two options

but, Mr. Speaker, the government also dismissed Recommendation 4.1, which called

for a separate and formal review of the projected cash flow of the project. The

panel called for this review to be made public, and it is also something that I

have also asked for in this House.

I ask the minister: Why did you not commit to a formal and a public review of

the financials of this project, and will your government commit to review this

before the project is sanctioned?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENNEDY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Joint Review Panel looked at the issues affecting the environment and we

certainly considered those, as has the federal government; however, when it

comes to the economic analysis or the other options these are things that are

certainly within our ability to have done. Mr. Speaker, Nalcor has looked at

these issues, again, the federal government has indicated that they have

conducted their own economic analysis.

I do want to correct, Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition when he said

we have only looked at two options, we have looked at all options. We have

looked at wind, we have looked at natural gas, we have looked at LNG, and we

have looked at pipelines. I say to the Leader of the Opposition: What option is

it that we have not looked at?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BALL: What I would like to see and what we have been consistently

asking for is if the reports are done, make them public, that is all we have

been asking for.

Mr. Speaker, there are a number of environmental issues raised in the

recommendations of the Joint Review Panel on the Lower Churchill generation

project. For example, Recommendation 6.5 recommends that a pilot study for

methylmercury be conducted by the federal government, and the federal government

is not committed to doing this study.

I ask the Premier: What assurance does government have from either Nalcor or

the federal Department of Natural Resources that these pilot studies would be

conducted?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. FRENCH: Mr. Speaker, if you try to do a pilot project with something

like the methylmercury, Mr. Speaker, what you are talking about doing is

interrupting the ecosystem of another river to see what the potential outfalls

would be from another one. This type of thing, Mr. Speaker, is not transferable

from one river to another, so it made no sense. We believe you would be doing

more damage by doing a pilot project to another river, Mr. Speaker, when it

comes to sedimentation and many, many other issues, so it was decided not to do

a pilot project.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BALL: Mr. Speaker, patient monitoring systems are used in hospitals

all across our Province, in ICUs, intensive care units, and in emergency rooms.

We understand that there is a potential province-wide health and safety issue

with some new patient monitoring systems. So far, we have seen hundreds of

occurrences recorded with this new equipment.

I ask the Minister of Health and Community Services: Why has this issue not

been addressed to protect the health and safety of thousands of our patients who

use these monitors?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, we continue to make millions of dollars of investments in health

in this Province. We will continue to do so, and we will see evidence of that

throughout the next four years as well. Patient monitoring is something that is

exceptionally important to us. We will continue to follow that process as well,

and the investments will follow.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BALL: I guess I understand from the minister's response that she is

probably not aware of this issue. If you make investments, outcomes are what are

important. We have been saying that for quite some time. We have also been

informed there is a petition that is actually circulating and signed by critical

care nurses at Eastern Health. We understand that this has the support of other

health care professionals. It appears that Eastern Health is ignoring the health

and safety concerns of professionals who are using this equipment.

The last time Eastern Health and government, as we know, ignored a major

issue we ended up with the Cameron inquiry. I ask the minister: Why isn't

Eastern Health, or your department, acting on this immediately?

MS JONES: It is a pretty serious issue.

MR. BALL: It is.

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: Mr. Speaker, I take exception to the fact that the hon.

member opposite is inferring that Eastern Health would ignore anything to do

with the health and safety of anybody here in this Province of Newfoundland and

Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: The fact there may be a petition out there, which

incidentally I have not seen; it has not come to my office.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS SULLIVAN: The fact that there may be a petition out there is not any

indication of the fact that Eastern Health has received a petition or that

anyone has ignored an issue in this Province, Mr. Speaker. What we do in this

Province is we pay attention to whatever is needed in terms of health and

well-being of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BALL: Mr. Speaker, I just ask the minister: Are you aware of the

issue, and are you willing to do something about it?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: Mr. Speaker, Eastern Health is more than capable of dealing

with operational issues that come before them, and I have every confidence that

all issues that they need to address are being addressed.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I understand now that the second round of testing of the Charlottetown school

is completed, and it does show the presence of mould and poor air quality.

I ask the minister if he will confirm for me today that this is the case, and

if so: Are you now ready to move to bring mobile classrooms into this community

for temporary measures until a new school can be built?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN: Mr. Speaker, let me be very clear up front. I spoke to

members of the community out in the lobby just a few minutes ago. Student safety

will never be compromised by this government, or, I do not think, by anyone at

all. Now, respecting the board's authority in this, the board officials are on

their way to Charlottetown, Labrador right now; there will be a meeting convened

tonight, and the member opposite is right, the results of the second test are

back. The preliminary results are back there is further analysis being done

but board officials will discuss with the larger community tonight what the

results are, and then a way forward.

One thing that is critical here, Mr. Speaker, is that this is not a remedy

that can be found in a week, but we have to have students back into a learning

environment, and I would ask for the co-operation of the community in that

regard.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am well aware of all that the minister speaks of, however, the question

was: Will you confirm that the second round of testing that was done still is

showing that there is mould and poor quality in this school, and will you

outline for the people of this community, who are very frustrated, what the

temporary measures are, and if you are prepared to bring in the mobile units

until a new school can be built in this community?

Mr. Speaker, they are looking for answers and they have been waiting for

weeks for the government to move on this.

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN: Mr. Speaker, I indicated yesterday that in the first round

there was some mould found. The second set has shown some mould now the full

extent to it I am not aware of, but in terms of temporary arrangements, my

understanding was that there were some facilities that were arranged to have

students engaged, and then the parents decided to take the students out.

Mr. Speaker, this is going to be a lengthy process. There is no quick fix

here; therefore, to think that if this is a tactic to get us to make a quick

decision, Mr. Speaker, we simply cannot do that. I am asking the community to

work with the board and government, and we will find the solution here, and it

will be that these students will eventually return to a safe environment.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BENNETT: Mr. Speaker, this government has failed to provide

leadership in labour relations, most recently with scab labourers hired by OCI.

We hear today that our displaced trawlermen have been forced to chase our fish

and their jobs to Nova Scotia.

I ask the Premier: Will she now act to settle this dispute on behalf of the

OCI trawlermen?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister Responsible for the Labour Relations

Agency.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. FRENCH: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Let me say as minister of labour and on behalf of the government, this is a

very unfortunate incident that is happening, and we want to do everything in our

power to expedite a negotiated settlement between both parties, Mr. Speaker. It

is with that in mind that this morning I had a conversation with labour

officials and asked the conciliator to make contact with both parties and ask

both of them on my behalf to come back to the table and commence negotiations,

Mr. Speaker. There is nothing that anybody would want more than this government

than a settlement to be reached.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BENNETT: Mr. Speaker, a Nova Scotia business professor publicly

stated that current guidelines on fleet separation and owner-operators in the

fishery ensure vibrant and healthy rural communities.

I ask the Premier: If she has not strayed from these policies that she

indicated in the House last week, has she outlined this position to the federal

government, and if so, will she table this document?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KING: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank the hon. member for the question. I think the Premier has actually

been very clear on government policy on that many times over the last five or

six days, as have I been, in public statements and in meetings with the federal

minister. This government will stand and support the harvesters, inshore and

offshore, in Newfoundland and Labrador. Our policy has not changed; we have

communicated that to the industry, and we have communicated that to the federal

minister.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. A. PARSONS: Mr. Speaker, yesterday I asked the Minister of Advanced

Education and Skills whether seventy-one agencies delivering employability

programs should issue layoffs this Monday, given their contracts expire in two

weeks. The minister provided less than nothing in her answer.

I ask the minister: Hundreds of people need an answer. These programs are

essential to keeping rural areas alive, and this is federal funding. What is the

holdup, and when will you notify the organizations?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS BURKE: Mr. Speaker, the funding is federal through the LMDA but it is

devolved through the Province and we certainly make the decisions on the

spending of the money. It is related to the skills development of the people in

Newfoundland and Labrador.

Mr. Speaker, we recognize the work that is being done by the third parties.

We will be looking at all the services that we deliver through the Department of

Advanced Education and Skills. We will be seeing what services provide the best

opportunities for the people of this Province to be able to attach to the labour

market. As we do that review, Mr. Speaker, we will be in contact and in

communication with our third party deliverers.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. A. PARSONS: Mr. Speaker, representatives of these seventy-one

agencies are actually afraid to come forward and ask government these questions

themselves.

I ask the Premier: The recent heavy-handed cuts to the FFAW have intimated

local organizations from speaking out. How can this government assure people

that free speech does not have a cost?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS BURKE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would like to inform the hon. member that since being the Minister of

Advanced Education and Skills I have had many conversations with people who are

attached to the EAS offices. I have certainly heard some opinions expressed by

them. I have also had the ability to consult with many of the staff across the

Province and I have not heard or have not witnessed anyone who seemed to be

afraid or would not speak out or would not answer a question, or was afraid to

send me an e-mail or talk to me.

Mr. Speaker, I also want to reiterate, as I have on a number of occasions

here in the House of Assembly, that this is a new department. We are in a new

economy right now. Things are changing in the labour market, and because we have

done things for many years does not mean that today as we move forward it has to

be the same way. We need time to look at all our services and to make sure that

it is the most effective delivery.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. EDMUNDS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Animal Health and Protection Act has been before the House of Assembly

now for almost two years. Until this act becomes law, it cannot be implemented

by law enforcement and animal rescue groups. In the meantime, animals suffer at

the hands of the cruel and the neglectful.

I ask the Minister of Natural Resources: When will this act be proclaimed?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENNEDY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Animal Health and Protection Act will level fines for those who commit

crimes, Mr. Speaker. It is enforcing the acts and the definition of cruelty to

animals and it will strengthen provincial legislation. We are currently in the

process of developing those regulations, Mr. Speaker, and we expect to have all

that done in the very near future; however, there is still

an act in place.

Also, Mr. Speaker, we still have to come back to the basic fact of human

compassion in dealing with animals. We have to expect people to act in a certain

way. The police still have abilities and authority to investigate. What we are

doing, we are very concerned about the way that people treat animals because the

way that people treat animals oftentimes can be a reflection of the way they

treat other people. Mr. Speaker, we are very concerned with this act and we will

move to the regulations.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. EDMUNDS: Mr. Speaker, the hon. minister has stated that there is a

mandatory training program.

I again ask the question, Mr. Speaker: When will this training program be

developed and when will the act be proclaimed?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENNEDY: Mr. Speaker, as I indicated recently, we are working on the

enforcement issues. The enforcement issues are a little bit complicated, Mr.

Speaker, and we will work our way through them. Up until that point, Mr.

Speaker, the police forces in this Province have the ability to investigate

complaints that may arise and make charges as they are appropriate. Also, Mr.

Speaker, the

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible) municipalities have the right.

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

MR. KENNEDY: Also, Mr. Speaker, municipalities oftentimes have

enforcement officers and they have the ability to investigate. Again, Mr.

Speaker, I come back to the basic human decency of human beings and that they

have to be responsible for the protection of animals. What we are seeing, Mr.

Speaker, is a concern out there in our society, and that is a concern that is

reflected by our government and will be reflected in this legislation which will

be brought in very soon.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. EDMUNDS: Mr. Speaker, the Province's chief veterinarian is warning

that Labrador is on the verge of a rabies outbreak. There are already major

concerns with respect to animal control in many Labrador communities such as

lack of infrastructure to handle such an outbreak.

Mr. Speaker, my question is to the Minister of Natural Resources: Given this

public health concern, is the department prepared to implement the appropriate

measures to ensure protection from this deadly disease?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENNEDY: Yes, Mr. Speaker, this government is always going to

implement measures that protect and further public safety. The chief

veterinarian, Mr. Speaker, reports to the deputy minister who then reports to

me.

We are aware of what is going on in Labrador. We follow it on a daily basis,

Mr. Speaker, or as these incidents arise. I can assure the member opposite and

all people of this Province that we take all of this very seriously, especially

health concerns like rabies, and that our department is on top of it and doing

what they can and will do whatever is necessary.

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.

Mr. Speaker, government has rejected the first two recommendations of the

only truly independent external review of government's Muskrat Falls project,

which the environmental assessment panel recommends to be done before

sanctioning. Mr. Speaker, government's response to the recommendations is a

blanket rejection without any in-depth explanation.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the Premier: Will she explain to this House the basis for

the rejection of the two recommendations?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENNEDY: Mr. Speaker, the member opposite wonders sometimes why I do

not answer her questions; well, I just counted four questions in there, so I

will just try to pick one and answer. I assume she is talking about the economic

analysis and the need for a least-cost option analysis.

Mr. Speaker, analyses have been conducted. It is pretty obvious to everyone,

including the Premier of Nova Scotia, who, by the way, you should read his news

release today a very, very good news release supporting this project from an

NDP Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENNEDY: It might be helpful if I could make a suggestion to the

Leader of the Third Party that she have a conversation with Premier Dexter. He

could probably educate her on the benefits of this project, not only to the

people of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, but to the people of

Atlantic Canada and Canada as a whole.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

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

It is obvious I asked one very specific question; he could not answer one.

It is a good thing I did not ask a multiple of three or four.

Mr. Speaker, government does not accept the Joint Review Panel's

recommendation 4.2, which says there needs to be an independent analysis of

alternatives to meet domestic demand for electricity.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the Premier: Did government do a full analysis of each

point made in recommendation 4.2? There are eight. Did they do an analysis of

each point, and if they did, would the Premier share this analysis with the

House?

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.

This was an environmental assessment panel; we certainly take into account

all of their comments on the environment. When we look at least-cost options,

Mr. Speaker, it becomes very simple. Nalcor gave Decision Gate 2 its greeting.

Natural gas was eliminated, Mr. Speaker. Wind was eliminated except to the

extent that it could be integrated into the system when it is fixed up.

Mr. Speaker, what is left? That is why I keep saying to the Leader of the

Third Party what is left? What are the options you are talking about?

Mr. Speaker, we have refurbished Holyrood and we have Muskrat Falls. Again, I

say to the Leader of the Third Party: Do you accept we need the power? Because

if you do, we have to do something about it.

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.

Mr. Speaker, we asked Nalcor for the detailed analysis of alternative energy

options supposedly they did. We were told that whatever they had was on the

public record. Mr. Speaker, the panel judge the information on the public

record was not as adequate, as we have decided.

Mr. Speaker: Will the Premier share with this House the analysis that was

conducted that led them to decide that the panel was wrong?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENNEDY: Mr. Speaker, it seems to me that there are breaks in the one

big happy family theme, because we have Mr. Mulcair, who apparently supports the

project; we have the late Mr. Layton, who supported the project; we have Mr.

Harris, who supports the project; we have Premier Dexter, who supports the

project; and the Leader of the Third Party does not support the project, based

on her analysis. Well, Mr. Speaker, for a full year she did not know that

Muskrat Falls existed in this House Muskrat Falls or the fishery and now she

is an expert.

Mr. Speaker, we have conducted an analysis it becomes very simple, Mr.

Speaker; we cannot build a 650-kilometre gas line, we cannot import natural gas,

we cannot develop 300 to 500 megawatts of wind, so what is left? We have Gull

Island which we would love to do. Muskrat Falls is the least-cost option, Mr.

Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I point out to the government

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MS MICHAEL: Mr. Speaker, I cannot answer.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Leader of the Third Party.

MS MICHAEL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would point out to the minister, Mr. Speaker, that the panel pointed out

quite rightly that the choice by Nalcor of the one-island-only option was based

on what we do not know, they did not know; that is why we keep asking for the

analysis of the other alternatives.

Mr. Speaker, the Joint Review Panel recommended Nalcor examine the suggestion

made by the Helios Corporation that an 800 megawatt wind farm on the Avalon

Peninsula would be a viable energy alternative to the Muskrat Falls proposal, in

terms of supplying domestic needs economically. Mr. Speaker, government did not

accept this recommendation as one of the parts of 4.2.

So, Mr. Speaker, I ask the Premier: Will she share with this House the

analysis on which they based the decision to reject that recommendation?

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.

Does the member opposite not accept that Manitoba Hydro International, who

were hired by the PUB, independent of Nalcor, and independent of this government

that that is an independent report? Is that what she is saying? Is she

criticising not only the PUB, but Manitoba Hydro?

Mr. Speaker, Manitoba Hydro International was clear: we can incorporate 80

megawatts of wind into the system when fixed up in 2025. Mr. Speaker, we have

unlimited wind potential in this Province, and we will develop wind if and when

we can. Right now, we have a couple of wind farms ongoing. This is a classic

example, Mr. Speaker, of seeing what she wants to see and not taking into

account the facts. So, do not let the facts get in your way.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS MICHAEL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I do not need the minister pointing his finger at me. If somebody is ignoring

the facts, he is ignoring the fact that Manitoba Hydro was only permitted to

analyze the two options that Nalcor had already decided upon. The PUB was only

permitted to analyze the two options given to them; they were not allowed to go

out of that framework. That is a piece of fact I would like the minister to

think about, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, another recommendation rejected by this government was that

there needed to be a more thorough examination of the potential for renewable

energy sources on the Island; wind, small-scale hydro, tidal, to supply a

portion of Island demand as a better energy option to the Muskrat Falls.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the minister: Could we have some facts in answering why

they rejected that recommendation?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENNEDY: Some facts, Mr. Speaker, we are going to need energy in this

Province, we need power. It is going to cost money. We need more power; the

price of oil is going up. Holyrood costs more money, so we refurbish Holyrood at

a cost of $600 million to $800 million, it does nothing for the environment. We

develop small hydro and wind, Mr. Speaker, seventy-seven megawatts of small

hydro and we develop wind. Mr. Speaker, it costs $2.2 billion more than the

Muskrat Falls option.

Muskrat Falls is clean, renewable energy. It has the support of the Premier

of Nova Scotia, has the support of the federal government who have conducted

their own economic analysis, Mr. Speaker, and concluded that the loan guarantee

is appropriate, not just from a political whim but from an economic analysis.

What more does she want?

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.

Mr. Speaker, government actually did say with regard to Recommendation 4.1

that it accepts in principle that a review of the project's financial viability

is required prior to sanction.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the Premier: Will she tell this House what government will

do to ensure Nalcor confirms, prior to sanction, that Muskrat Falls will in fact

provide significant long-term financial returns to government for the benefit of

this Province?

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.

What Muskrat Falls does, Mr. Speaker, it not only provides energy to the

Province at present it sounds like she is against Labrador mining developments

also because they cannot go ahead without power. It provides power for the

mining companies, Mr. Speaker.

Do you know what it does, Mr. Speaker? It provides a future for our children

and our grandchildren. It allows for us to develop a renewable energy source,

Mr. Speaker. As we utilize our oil, the non-renewable energy is used to develop

a renewable energy economy, Mr. Speaker, consistent with the energy plan. The

difference between this side and that side, we have vision, they have tunnel

vision.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS ROGERS: Mr. Speaker -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

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

MS ROGERS: Mr. Speaker, the rent supplement program through the

Newfoundland and Labrador Housing Corporation helped 1,732 families, many of

them seniors and people with complex needs. They helped them this year. It was a

wonderful program but it was exhausted months ago. There are at least 13,000

tenant households paying more than a third of their income on rent and many of

them are paying half their income on rent.

As rents skyrocket, Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the government: Will the

government expand their rental assistance program to help more of the thousands

of families who cannot afford their high rents province-wide?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister Responsible for Housing.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HEDDERSON: Mr. Speaker, what a difference a day makes. Yesterday, we

did not have a plan. Yesterday, we were not investing. Today, the hon. member on

the other side is telling us to increase our investment. I do not know what they

are asking I have to say, Mr. Speaker. I will say that the plan we have in

place, Secure Foundations, is a solid foundation for us moving forward and

addressing the needs of the people in this Province with regard to housing. I

stand by that. Again, I challenge the member opposite to come forward with,

let's say, more creative solutions than just simply what you have just put

forward.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS ROGERS: Mr. Speaker, the affordable housing initiative that was a

joint federal-provincial and municipal program has proven to be a successful

program for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS ROGERS: - even with the challenges for both developers and non-profit

groups that had to access it. Also, in the latest proposal call there were more

applications than the money could accommodate, approximately double the amount,

and many of the projects were affordable housing for seniors and people with

complex needs province-wide. Many community groups and housing groups have asked

that the Province provide a stand-alone unilateral program for 2013 to bridge

the gap

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister Responsible for Housing.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HEDDERSON: Mr. Speaker, I am trying to find a question in all of that

rhetoric but I did find something that came across, and it was the success that

this government is having in support of affordable housing.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HEDDERSON: Mr. Speaker, 1,100 over the last number of years, and I

will leave it at that.

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Presenting Report by Standing and Select Committees.

Tabling of Documents.

Tabling of Documents

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

Board.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. MARSHALL: Mr. Speaker, pursuant to

section 26, subsection 5(

a) of the

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

funding pre-commitments for the 2012-2013 fiscal year.

MR. SPEAKER: Notices of Motion.

Notices of Motion

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

entitled,

An Act To Amend The Pharmaceutical Services Act. (Bill 12)

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

Petitions.

Petitions

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am pleased to rise and present a petition with regard to family based

caregivers in the Province. It says:

WHEREAS home care allows the elderly and people with disabilities to remain

within the comfort and security of their own homes, and allows people to be

discharged from hospital earlier; and

WHEREAS many families find it very difficult to recruit and retain home care

workers for their loved ones; and

WHEREAS the PC Blue Book 2011, as well as the 2012 Speech from the Throne,

committed that government would develop a new model of home care and give people

the option of receiving that care from family members; and

WHEREAS government has given no timelines on this commitment or indicated

when they plan to implement pay for family caregivers;

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

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

implement a new home care model to cover family caregivers in the 2012-2013

Budget.

Mr. Speaker, this petition is being submitted by people from all different

areas of the Province. In fact, this one here, I think all of the names on it

are from St. John's no, some from Mount Pearl on this petition as well.

Basically, what they are asking is that the government implement a program to

pay for family caregivers in the Province, as per the commitment that they made

to the people in the election last fall. It was in the middle of the campaign,

Mr. Speaker, when the Premier committed that she would ensure that there was pay

for family caregivers in this Province.

As we know, there are so many cases all over Newfoundland and Labrador where

people have to care for elderly parents, adult children and so on, and they are

not able to work they have to give up their jobs in order to do that. We get

e-mails all the time. You can go to any area in this Province, Mr. Speaker, and

you will meet a family who is in that predicament. Last fall, Mr. Speaker, in

the news there were two very prominent cases in this Province of where there

were families who could not find care at all for their adult children. They were

older people and they were not able to look after their adult child any more,

although they had cared for them for over forty years. That child had

developmental and physical disabilities and no other family member could care

for that person unless they gave up their job to do so, and that meant they

would not have enough income to supplement their families.

So, Mr. Speaker, family caregiving is a very important issue in Newfoundland

and Labrador, especially when we have cases where long-term care facilities are

filled, where there are wait-lists in almost every area of the Province right

now for long-term care. Especially, Mr. Speaker, in cases where people want to

stay close to home, even though they may have the option for personal care at

level one and level two, that option is mostly only available to people who live

in more urban or specific rural areas of the Province. It is not available to

every area. I am blessed because I come from a community that has a personal

care home for level one and level two, and I have family who are actually in

that home. We have the option to be able to use the facility, it is in our

community, and it is readily available to us. There are lots of areas of the

Province like that, where that service is available, but there are lots of areas

where the service is not available and it is not an option. In cases like that,

Mr. Speaker, they need to have some other supports. We are asking the government

to make good on their promise.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. KIRBY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise again today to present a petition on behalf of the residents of

Newfoundland and Labrador. This is the fourth time, so members will be getting

used to hearing this. This is a petition regarding needed changes to the

Department of Education school bus transportation policies. It reads as follows:

WHEREAS the school district restructuring has resulted in longer bus travel

times and more hazardous winter travel for rural students of all ages; and

WHEREAS due to recent school closures, children living within 1.6 kilometres

of school face increased barriers of congested streets and busy intersections in

the walk to school, and parents without cars are having more difficulty getting

children to different schools on foot; and

WHEREAS only those child care centres outside the 1.6 kilometre zone and

directly on bus routes are included on kindergarten noontime routes, causing

hardship for working parents; and

WHEREAS the 1.6 kilometre policy has been in place since 1975, and student

transportation policies have not been reviewed through public consultation since

1996; and

WHEREAS parents are expressing the need for more flexible policies for

student transportation and school restructuring to meet the current needs of

school children;

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

conduct a review of school bus transportation policies and school restructuring

to ensure safe and quality education for all school children in the Province.

As in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr. Speaker, I took this petition on for a review of school busing

regulations in response to the concerns of a constituent. It is interesting;

when I was walking around my district going door to door, getting petitions

signed, I had an elderly grandmother in the district say to me that she thought

that our school children are, I quote her, our most precious cargo. It was

really interesting to hear people laughing at that in the House of Assembly here

when I say that, because I really think people need to have more respect for

where parents are coming from.

This policy has been in place for almost forty years now. The public needs to

be served with programs and services, Mr. Speaker, that are designed for the

twenty-first century. They deserve better than forty-year-old policies on

busing. Many new housing developments on the Northeast Avalon have been built

without any sidewalks whatsoever. In my district that is the case, in Paradise

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. KIRBY: in Mount Pearl, parents and school councils are e-mailing me

and telling me that we need this change. I also have been getting petitions from

across the Province as I said. This particular petition today has petitioners

from St. John's, and also Musgrave Harbour and Lumsden.

I thank you again, Mr. Speaker, and I hope the government will see fit to

heed this request from their petitioners.

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 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 South Coast of the Province of

Newfoundland and Labrador, including residents of the communities of Burgeo,

Ramea, Grey River and Francois use Route 480 on a regular basis for work,

medical, educational and social reasons; and

WHEREAS there is no cellphone coverage on Route 480; and

WHEREAS residents and users of Route 480 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 480 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 480 in their request to obtain

cellular phone coverage along Route 480, and as in duty bound your petitioners

will ever pray.

Mr. Speaker, I am here reading a petition of this nature for the fourth time

since we opened the House of Assembly last week and I certainly intend to keep

rising and raising this issue.

I have taken the opportunity to write to the minister responsible for this

department. He is certainly aware of this issue and I would say that this is an

issue of concern to everybody here because my estimation is that one-third of

the districts in this House have issues with cellphone coverage certainly a

lot of members on the other side, a lot of members on this side. This is an

issue of provincial concern.

I am getting tons of feedback on this, Mr. Speaker. The petitions are going

out, they are getting signed, I am getting phone calls, I am getting e-mails, I

am getting Facebook messages, I am getting tweets. This is an issue in 2012.

This is not an issue from 2000; this is a 2012 issue. There is no reason that we

cannot have this service in this Province. Again, I am hoping that the minister

will present us with the strategies for this implementation of cellphone

service. I look forward to working with him to get that service in this Province

for all the members of this House.

There are members here again, I would say the Member for Gander, he may

have it. I would certainly say the Member for Cartwright L'Anse au Clair, the

Member for Fortune Bay Cape La Hune; this is an issue all over this House.

Again, Mr. Speaker, this Route 480

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. A. PARSONS: is a 150-kilometre stretch of roadway, very desolate,

and people have to drive this roadway every day for every service that they want

to get, Mr. Speaker. Again, I am going to keep raising this. What I would say is

that three and a half John Noseworthy contracts will cover cellphone coverage

for a lot of people in this Province.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise today to present a petition with regard to search and rescue services.

This is not the first time I have presented this petition, but as they come in I

will continue to present them. This one, of course, has signatures from Goose

Bay, Natuashish, Postville, and I think it is Northwest River and Mud Lake, Mr.

Speaker. It says:

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.

Mr. Speaker, people are continuing to circulate these petitions throughout

Labrador because they do not feel like this issue or situation is anywhere near

being addressed. In fact, they have begged and pleaded with the Province and the

feds to act accordingly, to carry out a full investigation to find out what

really happened. What was the cause? What was the breakdown in communications?

Why is it that a call could go out for search and rescue services at 6:30 in the

evening and not reach the people that it should have reached until the next day?

Why is that, Mr. Speaker? Why is it that it took two days to get search and

rescue equipment in the air and on the ground in that North Coast community to

respond to this emergency? Why is it, Mr. Speaker, that there were Griffon

helicopters broken down in the hangar in Happy Valley-Goose Bay? Why is it, Mr.

Speaker, that there were three Cormorant helicopters in Gander and none of them

were discharged? That is the answers that people are looking for. They want to

know why there was not a response mechanism that worked.

The federal Minister, Peter MacKay, and the Member for Parliament for

Labrador, Peter Penashue, came back and said they did a review of protocols.

What was their response? Don't you call us, we will call you. That is the only

change. Instead of you calling back search and rescue when they do not respond,

now they are going to call you back in a few hours when they have something

available. Mr. Speaker, that is not the answer this family is looking for and it

is not the answer that people in Labrador are looking for. Mr. Speaker, they

deserve better and they will keep petitioning the provincial government to stand

up and be the person that fights this in Ottawa on their behalf to ensure that

they get some results and they get some answers.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. KENNEDY: Mr. Speaker, the Orders of Day.

Orders of the Day

MR. KENNEDY: I move, pursuant to Standing Order 11, that the House not

adjourn at 5:30 o'clock on Thursday, March 15, 2012, and I further move, Mr.

Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 11, that the House not adjourn at 10 o'clock

on March 15, 2012.

MR. SPEAKER: 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'.

AN HON. MEMBER: Nay.

MR. SPEAKER: Motion carried.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Government House Leader.

MR. KENNEDY: Yes, Mr. Speaker.

I call number 1 from the Orders of the Day, Mr. Speaker, Committee of Supply.

MR. SPEAKER: It is moved and seconded that I do now leave the Chair for

the House to resolve itself into Committee of the Whole to consider Bill 2.

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 resolved 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 debate on Bill 2, Interim Supply.

I recognize the hon. the Minister of Municipal Affairs to pick up where he

left off last time. I think he had seven minutes left to speak.

The hon. the Minister of Municipal Affairs.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. O'BRIEN: Yes, Mr. Chair.

I must start off my speech in regard to being amazed. After we won the

election in October, all we heard in regard to the open lines and Tweeting all

over the place, whatever Twitter-twa'and Twitty-twist'is, in my world,

because I am not into it that much, I hear all about it in regard to having this

House of Assembly open.

We witnessed a person out on our lawn in front of the House of Assembly in

all kinds of weather, ended up shaving his head in order to get the House open

and that kind of stuff. Just that time when we were voting in regard to having

the House proceed here and go on beyond, the Third Party voted against it. I

cannot understand that, Mr. Chair, after hearing so much on Open Line and on

Twitter box'; I just cannot understand it.

I will tell you one thing, Mr. Chair, I will not need a Twitter box'to get

my word out here in the House of Assembly in regard to the fiscal arrangements

and all that kind of good stuff that I have in Municipal Affairs from my point

of view as being the minister. I want to be quite clear in regard to this House,

to the municipalities in Newfoundland and Labrador. I want to be quite clear to

every member in this House of Assembly, and I want to be quite clear to the

people of Newfoundland and Labrador that we are committed to having healthy and

sustainable communities in this Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. I will

tell you something in regard to moving forward and consulting and developing a

new fiscal arrangement with municipalities in Newfoundland and Labrador on a

go-forward basis and you heard me say in this House that we have to have

something sustainable and we have to have something affordable. Do you know

something? We did not need a new fiscal arrangement to have this government

invest in municipalities in Newfoundland and Labrador. We did not need one. We

did not have to be asked.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. O'BRIEN: As soon as we saw that we had surpluses and we had good

times and became a have Province in Newfoundland and Labrador, we started to

invest in our municipalities, because we knew it was the right thing to do. We

invested where it was key to municipalities, in their municipal infrastructure.

That is exactly where we did it. The thing that is most important to all

municipalities in Newfoundland and Labrador is necessary infrastructure, and we

have invested over $500 million in municipal infrastructure since 2008. Now,

that is called responsible government.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. O'BRIEN: That is called a partnership of both levels of government.

This is the kind of stuff that we did as a government. We did not wait to be

asked, we did wait to be lobbied. We did not wait at all, we just invested. We

invested in the right places, we strategically invested. We did not waste our

dollars; we got the bang for our money. We invested in important infrastructure

such as clean water and dealing with waste water. Not to count the significant

investments that we have made in Municipal Operating Grants. We had a one-time

increase last year of $4.6 million. The Community Enhancement Programs, it was

never mentioned in this House of Assembly not counting fire trucks, which is a

municipal responsibility. These are all municipal responsibilities in other

jurisdictions in Canada. In other provinces in Canada, municipalities actually

have to bear 100 per cent of that cost. In some cases, they have to bear 100 per

cent.

As a matter of fact, New Brunswick has now started to reduce their

unconditional grants. They have done that this year. The reason why they have

started that process is because it is unsustainable; it is not affordable by the

Province of New Brunswick. That is the reason why. Where are we to? We are

absolutely supporting municipalities in Newfoundland and Labrador. Instead of

going the other way, we are actually supporting them. Then you have people out

there such as the Third Party

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. O'BRIEN: Then you have the Third Party out there talking about a new

fiscal arrangement and all that kind of good stuff, listen to them, give it to

them, do not analyze it to see exactly what the domino effect of it is. They do

not even understand in regard to the HST portion of municipal capital works that

it does not really mean a lot to small municipalities, not at all, because we

build in the portion of the HST in the actual funding. So, the most that they

would pay is their actual ratio. That is the most they would pay. With 90-10,

they would only pay 10 per cent of the provincial HST portion which is just

about nothing, it is minuscule. It does not mean a lot.

If I am going to enter in regard to consultations and determining a new

fiscal arrangement for municipalities, I am going to make sure that I have a

bang for my dollar, that I do make them healthy, that I do make them

sustainable. That is what I want to do. We have done that over the last while. I

see the hon. member from the Northern Peninsula shaking his head up there when

he had major investments in his district, and he can say that. When I sit down,

get up on your feet and name them off. Name them off over the last number of

years and how many times I have been in your district announcing fire trucks and

your new ice surface up there and all kinds of stuff in St. Anthony and all over

your district, CEP and everything else. Get up and give it where it is, give

credit where it is due, to the government that has invested in the Northern

Peninsula; we did not forget it.

I remember being up in the Northern Peninsula and I said to a person that

prior to 2003, I went up on the Northern Peninsula on a holiday and the highway

up there was nothing but a cow path. I would like for somebody to drive from St.

Anthony today down to Deer Lake and come back and tell me exactly what it is

like, since we took government.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. O'BRIEN: That is the kinds of things that we have done. I find it

amazing how you can get on your feet and talk about this, that, these, and those

and forget about all the good things that has happened and this kind of stuff.

You do not make any sense. You talk about a money tree out in your backyard.

That is all you do. You talk about everything this, that, these, and those and

everything else. No substance to it, none whatsoever. No thought, all fluff

all fluff. They only talk about their 1 per cent across the board reduction in

government budgeting in their NDP Book, and then all of a sudden they are in

here spending all kinds of money. They are talking out of two sides of their

mouth. Anyway, they do not make any sense.

Listen here, I want to be quite clear and serious here, in regard to a new

fiscal arrangement, when it comes to a new fiscal arrangement it has to be both

ways. It cannot just be municipal government and not the provincial government.

It cannot be just provincial government and not municipal government, it cannot

be. You have to consider things that we pay for now in regard to policing

services like the RNC, right now we are funding 100 per cent of policing

services in the City of St. John's, Mount Pearl and the area, in Corner Brook

and Labrador West to a tune of about $46.4 million.

CHAIR: Order, please!

MR. O'BRIEN: By leave, Mr. Chair, a couple of seconds?

CHAIR: Does the member have leave?

AN HON. MEMBER: By leave.

CHAIR: By leave.

MR. O'BRIEN: The RCMP on a 70-30 share from the federal government, we

absorb $64.6 million of that. If you were to pass that along to municipalities,

that is not sustainable. You cannot have it, but then you cannot have it in both

hands either. We have to enter into a serious discussion with regard to the full

fiscal arrangement something that is sustainable and affordable to the people

of Newfoundland and Labrador, this government and municipalities.

In closing, I would not want to enter into that and develop a fiscal

arrangement that we are going to tear the guts out of four or five years down

the road, Mr. Chair.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

CHAIR: The Chair recognizes the Member for the Bay of Islands.

MR. JOYCE: Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I stand to offer a few words today on this debate also. Mr. Chair, I have to

respond to the Member for Mount Pearl North yesterday when he was criticizing me

personally in the debate with Newfoundland and Labrador Housing. Obviously,

someone wrote his speech beforehand just to attack me personally, which is

obviously a part of it.

He forgets, the Member for St. John's North, the Member for St. John's West

came over and thanked me for my support and thanked me for my positive comments

that I put forward. He came over and said, Ed, thank you very much. The minister

who was sitting there, that I spoke to after, he said thanks; they were great

comments, they are great input. Even the Member for Humber West, when we were

discussing it, we were acknowledging each other, how much we deal with

Newfoundland and Labrador Housing and the complications. Yet the Member for

Mount Pearl North had to get up because someone prepared his speech. I can tell

you one thing, when you were up to the Liberal convention in Montreal, going to

run for us against Harvey Hodder, you did not have that speech; I can guarantee

you that.

Mr. Chair, I am going to change my focus or when you are down on Portugal

Cove Road

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

CHAIR: Order, please!

MR. JOYCE: when you and your friend were having breakfast, came over to

Gerry Reid, and shook his hand. He said: Gerry, I am going to run if Harvey

Hodder does not run for you; save me a seat. I even have the weight lost; I am

ready to go.

Go ask Gerry Reid; that is not what you were saying then. Anyway, Mr. Chair,

a bit of co-operation here I just heard the Minister of Municipal Affairs

stand up and speak. Of course, with the new idea of co-operation that I have

always had, but now people are understanding more and more. The minister did

give a new fire truck. It was part of the responsibility, I gave a new fire

truck to the town of Meadows; it is going to be delivered in probably May or

June. Well-deserved, and I am such a nice guy, I am hoping he made a

commitment yesterday, he made a commitment that he is going to show up when the

new truck is delivered and I am going to hold him to it.

I am such a nice guy, I am even going to let him deliver the keys to the

mayor. I already told the mayor that he is going to present the keys to the

mayor, because he made a commitment that he is going to show up and I hold him

to it. I said before, and I made the commitment before, that if there is

something positive in the Bay of Islands, I will recognize it. This fire truck

that the minister did deliver is a positive because there is the largest K-12

school in the Province in the Town of Meadows; there is a senior citizens home

and this fire truck is well-needed. I am glad that the commitment was made and

it is being ordered and it will be done.

The Minister of Service Newfoundland and Labrador made some statements the

other day that I just cannot let pass, where he was saying he was twenty-five

years in the Constabulary

MR. DAVIS: Newfoundland and Labrador.

MR. JOYCE: Newfoundland and Labrador.

He made the statement the other day, talking when he was in the constabulary,

and I respect what he did when he was in the constabulary and I respect all

people who work in the constabulary and all throughout the Government of

Newfoundland and Labrador, but I always find it that when you are out, you

should not go back and just criticize. For example, cars that should not be on

the road; I asked the minister, how many cars were in accidents because of

faulty cars that he is blaming this government for, the previous Liberal

Government none. How many accidents were caused? None, as I expected.

My other question is, how many cases were thrown out because of a lack of

equipment? None that is right, the minister just said zero. What I am saying,

you cannot all of a sudden just criticize the past because you think, we are so

good. If you are so good on your own merits, you would not have to criticize the

past. Minister, you do not need it, you do not need it. You had a reputation, a

great reputation in the constabulary, and keep it that way. That is what I say.

There is no need to criticize the superiors at the time and that. There is no

need. You had a fine reputation, and keep it that way.

The Minister of Advanced Education and Skills spoke the other day, and I

agree with her comments when she was talking about down in Long Harbour, Vale

Inco. She was talking about 98 per cent employment. This deal, Mr. Chair, was

known as the Voisey's Bay deal. This is a deal that the Liberal Government put

through and the minister was saying the other day about

AN HON. MEMBER: Who put it together?

MR. JOYCE: The Liberal government put it through, 98 per cent employment

in Newfoundland and Labrador. It was a deal that we struck, the same deal when

some of those members were on this side over here. Some of those people were on

this side over here saying, you could drive a Mack truck through it, there was

more off-ramps then the 401, but yet the minister stood up the other day talking

about what a great employment, 98 per cent in Newfoundland and Labrador.

That brings me back again to Muskrat Falls. This brings me back to Muskrat

Falls. One of the reasons why the deal with Voisey's Bay was so strong was

because we took the deal; we presented the full deal in the House of Assembly.

We debated it back and forth, there were changes made during the debate and that

is what strengthened the deal. This is all I am saying is that it should be an

option for the government to bring it to the House, bring it down so we could

strengthen the deal.

If it is such a good deal and we can make positive comments, either side, it

is better off for all Newfoundland and Labrador. That is the only point I am

trying to make here. If it was good for Voisey's Bay, Mr. Chair, it should be

good for this. We all can have an opinion on it. We all can go out and seek some

input from professionals so we can strengthen the deal. If the deal is going to

go ahead, we strengthen it for Newfoundland and Labrador, Mr. Chair. That is

all.

There are a lot of issues I would like to bring up, Mr. Chair, and I will

over the debate, all throughout the Budget Debate; like twenty-four hour snow

clearing or call-in for snow clearing. I know I wrote the minister several

times, it is a big issue out our way. Cellphone coverage is a big issue all

across the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The long-term care facility, I

mentioned it to the minister. Minister, with all due respect and I ask you to

look into it, and I do. We called today; there are fifteen beds still not open.

The tender has not been called, Minister, please.

MS SULLIVAN: (Inaudible) on that.

MR. JOYCE: Okay, thank you. Thank you, Minister, for that and I know

the minister will, and thank you for that, Minister.

One other thing I have to bring up is the Corner Brook Pulp and Paper, the

Kruger mill in Corner Brook. Mr. Chair, it is not very often that I do this,

because people do not think but I think everybody, we need to dial down the

rhetoric on Corner Brook Pulp and Paper. It is a very important issue. I

honestly do not think there is any member on this side or any member over there

who wants to see that mill closed for any reason, I just cannot believe it. I

cannot believe it is possible, I just do not; I really do not. I feel for the

sake of all the workers, some of them are my family, friends. I know the Member

for Humber West has a lot of friends; the Member for Humber East has a lot of

friends. We should just dial down the rhetoric for Corner Brook Pulp and Paper.

I am not saying that we cannot bring things forward, and I will give you a

good example. The Member for Humber East mentioned about the money that was put

into Kruger before. What we have to do is ensure that if there is money put into

Kruger, it is for the longevity of the mill. I will give you a good example. It

was about two years ago, there was money put in for a transfer of land to the

government. When the Auditor General looked at it, the Auditor General said he

could not find any deals or any transactions of what was transacted. There were

a lot of questions. Was the money put towards the longevity of the mill? These

are just comments. I am not saying that no, it should not have been done, but

this is where it is not out in the public. This is where it is not put in there

so that everybody can see where the money was spent and what was done in the

mill to ensure the longevity of the mill. That is one of the things.

The $5 million last year for training, and this is something that the

minister can look into, I say. What it is, there was $5 million last year put in

for training. A lot of people in the mill do not realize where the money went. I

do not know if the money was spent, what it was spent for, but a lot of people

in the mill the lack of education on the people in the mill, where did the

money go? How did it go?

Another thing we have to look at in the Corner Brook Pulp and Paper industry

and in Kruger, one thing. When there were forty-seven people laid off, there

were a lot of younger ones laid off. I understand that, and I understand the

government cannot force them, but with $50 million in six years and dealing with

them, is there any way that government can go to Kruger and say is there any way

for example, I know three or four people within the next three or four months

are going to retire anyway, they are going to retire. If there is any way that

we can say: okay, can you bridge that gap for those people? I know a lot within

the next year are going to retire. Is there any way we can bridge that gap so

they can move on somehow and keep young people in the Corner Brook area? That is

a big concern for a lot of the younger people in Corner Brook. These are issues

that I bring forward, not in a critical way, but it is just some way that if we

can help out the young people in the Corner Brook Pulp and Paper.

I know, Mr. Chair, my time is up, but I ask all people in this House, because

I have a lot of friends, a lot of family still in the mill. Let's dial down the

rhetoric. Let's all try to work together, give some positive comments on it.

Let's try to help out.

Time to clue up, Mr. Chair?

CHAIR: Does the member have leave?

AN HON. MEMBER: By leave.

CHAIR: The hon. member, by leave.

MR. JOYCE: Just dial down the rhetoric, because if the mill closes it is

going to be devastating to Corner Brook, it is going to be devastating to a lot

of people, and it is going to be devastating to a lot of people I know: the

Member for Humber West, the Member for Humber East, and for all the Province of

Newfoundland and Labrador.

Whatever the government can do to help keep this mill going is going to be

appreciated by everybody, myself included.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

CHAIR: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Chair.

It is my pleasure today to stand and have a few more words in the debate on

Interim Supply. I would like to begin to say that I absolutely support the

remarks made by the Member for the Bay of Islands. Corner Brook Pulp and Paper

is extremely important, not only to the people in the Corner Brook region but to

all of the Province, Mr. Chair. We have been very supportive of that industry.

We have done much to try and increase its viability. There has been an

investment of over $50 million in Corner Brook Pulp and Paper in the last five

years. We continue to try to find innovative ways to work together, to ensure

that the mill has the capacity to withstand the volatility that still exists in

the world market of pulp and paper.

We hope, and experts in the field tell us that they expect the capacity issue

to be dealt with in the next year or two and that this industry should settle

down and be sustainable. We are going to do all that we can and all that is

reasonable for us to do as a government, Mr. Chair, to ensure that Corner Brook

Pulp and Paper remains in that mix of pulp and paper companies not only in

Canada but in the world.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: I would also say to the Member for Bay of Islands

that we have learned a thing or two since Voisey's Bay. While he waxed

eloquently about it, I think the ringing criticism that we all remember from the

Voisey's Bay debate in this House was there were enough loopholes in that

contract to drive a Mack truck through it. Unfortunately, that was the case.

An opportunity arose in November 2010, when we were supposed to have the

development plans for the hydromet facility submitted by Vale Inco, and they

were not able to meet their deadline. Because they were not able to meet their

deadline, there was an opportunity for us to reopen parts of the contract.

Because we had that opportunity, we were able to go in and we were able to

negotiate definitive benefits for the people of this Province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: All Vale Inco was required to do, under the Liberal

agreement, was to use their best efforts to ensure that there were business

opportunities in this Province and to ensure that there were opportunities for

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians to get employment. That is all that was in the

original agreement.

Because we were able to reopen the contract, there was a very intense

negotiation over several months, and we were able to ensure that 70 per cent of

the benefits that would come from that hydromet facility would be reaped here by

the people of Newfoundland and Labrador and the businesses of Newfoundland and

Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: While having the development is a good thing, I would

not get that enthusiastic on the other side of the House about patting yourself

on the back because you certainly have a thing or two to learn about

negotiation. You did in Voisey's Bay, and you certainly did in the Grimes deal

on the Lower Churchill. We hear the former Leader of the Liberal Opposition and

the current House Leader for the Opposition wax eloquently in this House day in

and day out about power for development, mining developments specifically in

Labrador. I congratulate her for that. That is extremely important. There are

huge opportunities for mineral development in Labrador to benefit the people in

Labrador, first, and then the rest of the Province and the rest of the country;

however, when she was a minister in Roger Grimes government and they negotiated

the deal with Hydro-Quebec not one kilowatt hour of power was destined for

Labrador. Every last kilowatt was going to Quebec. What a difference time makes.

Again, it is the same old attitude that we have seen: Do not do as I did, do

as I say not acceptable. There has to be a principled approach to development

here in this Province. Far too long, for over 500 years our resources were

developed to the benefit primarily of others. That ended eight-and-a-half years

ago.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: That is why we are so happy today to learn that

Muskrat Falls has been released from environmental assessment.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: This is a significant milestone as we move towards

Decision Gate 3 and make the decision as to whether or not we will sanction

Muskrat Falls.

Mr. Chair, for the last four months we have heard members from the Opposition

put up a hue and cry about the House not being open because they wanted to be

here. Yes, you wanted to be here to discuss important issues like the

development of Muskrat Falls. Yet, not one new piece of information, not one bit

of analysis, not one new question, Mr. Chair, with regard to this project. Now,

I know what we have been doing since October 11. We have been doing the Budget.

We have been doing health care strategies. We have been running the Province. We

have been preparing legislation. What have they been doing, Mr. Chair?

Diddly-squat, I say to you; diddly-squat.

Mr. Chair, we have heard the Leader of the Third Party ask questions today

about alternatives. We have heard the Leader of the Opposition talk about

alternatives to Muskrat Falls and give us the analysis why you cannot use LNG.

The minister has risen in his place time and time again and talked about his

conversations with Wood MacKenzie, he has talked about his conversations with

PIRA, and he has talked about his conversations with Ziff Energy.

These are all public companies providing services out in the business domain.

I would love to hear from the opposition parties, why they have not interacted

with these companies. They are not run by us; they are not operated by us; they

have no vested interest in us, and if you do not like those, you can find

others. The world is full of expertise. The Leader of the Third Party could get

herself to Brazil to investigate how Vale Inco operates in Brazil; surely, God,

you could contact Wood MacKenzie, or Ziff Energy, or PIRA internationally

renowned experts in the energy field and ask a few questions. I am sure that

they would give you the same answers that they have given us, and that the

minister gives you day after day that are available to you on Nalcor's Web site,

on the PUB's Web site.

Mr. Chair, we have had the environmental assessment panel come back and say

this is the least-cost option; the benefits of developing Muskrat Falls outweigh

any negative impacts. Mr. Chair, we have had Navigant test the methodologies and

assumptions used by Nalcor. Mr. Chair, we have had MHI come in and say of all of

the options and they looked at ten different options they say that Muskrat

Falls is the least-cost option. More than that, not only have they confirmed the

assumption that we are going to need more power, they say that we have

underestimated the amount of power that we do need.

Mr. Chair, we have a transmission system that can only bear eighty megawatts

of wind. That has been validated by MHI. The Member for St. John's North shakes

his head; stand and give us your analysis. Show us show us your report. Stand

up and show us what it is you have. Instead of saying, give us the information,

you show us where the analysis is flawed.

Mr. Chair, none of them have been able to do it. None of them have any

expertise in power development that I know anything about. Obviously, in the

year that they were not asking questions, they were not looking for answers

either, either from us or from anybody else.

Mr. Chair, Muskrat Falls is the least-cost option, a wonderful project, first

of all for Labrador and then for the Province.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

CHAIR: Order, please!

The Chair recognizes the hon. the Member for Burgeo La Poile.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

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

That is what I call anti-climatic, people.

It is an opportunity and an honour to stand up here again today and get to

speak on behalf of my district and certainly for the people of this Province.

What I would say, we have not gone to see these companies; we have spent all of

our money on FOI requests. All of our money has been spent on FOI requests,

because we are trying to drag information out. I will just put that there.

We want to talk about Voisey's again. I would say that we should refrain from

going back to revisionist history where there were no loopholes in that deal,

that deal did fine; but if we want to talk about deals, there is a lot of money

possibly on the chopping block from Hebron being gone. Again, it goes both ways

here. I will put that out there.

I am going to revert to the story I was telling last time I had an

opportunity to speak. That goes right over to the hon. member, the Minister of

Tourism. I am going to take you back to my district, because as great as my

district is, we do have some difficulties there, some difficulties that deal

with the basic necessities of life the basic necessities of life. When we talk

about how great things are and I have great natural things going on in my

district, but we are missing out on some necessities there.

I think I ended off in Burnt Islands, so I am going to keep on going down the

coast. Down the coast we have Rose Blanche-Harbour le Cou, which is home of the

Rose Blanche Lighthouse, which is an amazing piece of work about 10,000

visitors per year, a beautiful facility. It is just hand built with stone and

slate. Have you ever been out there, minister? I hope you have been out there.

It is fantastic. You should come out and see it during tourism week this year.

When you get down there and I am going to sort of cross paths here now in a

second but when you get down there you have to take the ferry from Rose

Blanche

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

CHAIR: Order, please!

MR. A. PARSONS: over to La Poile. Again, you are not going to hear what

I have to say if you are not going to listen.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

CHAIR: Order, please!

MR. A. PARSONS: Now, listen.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

CHAIR: Order, please!

Thank you very much.

One observation that I have made since sitting in this Chair, when we are

calling for order it would be advisable, I think, if the people who are speaking

at the time and this is no aspersion to the present speaker would stop their

speaking so that we can restore order. If you continue speaking when we are

calling for order, it makes it much more difficult.

I now recognize the hon. the Member for Burgeo La Poile again.

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

It is hard to hear when there is some noise in the air.

Anyway, we are going to take the ferry across to La Poile now. That ferry, it

is funny when you go down there, there is a sign that says: Ferry to La Poile

and Grand Bruit. If you did not know, Grand Bruit has been resettled but the

sign is still there, three years later. What does that say about tourism when we

go down there and there is still a ferry to somewhere that has been resettled

and it has been empty for three years?

We go down to La Poile, it is a beautiful spot if you have not been to La

Poile, you probably have heard about it in the news lately. La Poile is the

community that has no cellphone service, and in the winter a storm knocked out

the power. After twenty-four hours, their battery pack was gone for their phones

so they had no phones. No land lines, no cellphones, a helicopter could not get

in, and a boat could not get in. These people were there and if it was not for

their resourcefulness, they could have had a hard time and thank God the weather

let up after three days.

This comes back to the basic necessity of cellphone technology in this day.

La Poile is a beautiful community. The boat to get there is not such a fun ride,

I think I have already told you that story, I think I mentioned that one. If you

were to go past La Poile you would go to Grand Bruit, but it is not there. So

what I am saying is that if we are going to work on tourism, we need to work on

signage. Signage, I believe, falls under the purview of the Minister of

Transportation. We need to work on our signage. That is not a slight, that is

just saying what is actually factual reality. There is a sign

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. A. PARSONS: Oh, signage is tourism. Well, this is on you too,

Minister. That sign needs to be fixed. If we have tourists coming off the Marine

Atlantic ferry and they are looking around and they see a ferry to Grand Bruit,

how do they not know the difference? Actually there are two signs that say Grand

Bruit, still.

When I go down to La Poile and I look at the ferry

schedule of La Poile, it

still references Grand Bruit and that does fall under the Minister of

Transportation. There is a sign down there that still references Grand Bruit, it

has been gone for three years, they have been resettled out of their homes, but

still it remains. This needs to be fixed. I do not care what department it is

under. It is just a fact that if we are going to improve tourism on the

Southwest Coast, we have to have updated signage for tourists who are coming

over to explore this beautiful Province.

My district, I ended off there, but actually if I were to go past

Stephenville, past the highway, I hit the Burgeo Highway, 150 kilometre stretch

of road again, no cellphone service. I have talked about this ad nauseam. The

Minister of IBRD probably is sick of hearing me talk about cellphones at this

point, but the fact remains there is none there and there is none up there for

the Minister for Labrador either. So, again, you know what I am talking about,

no cellphone service. There is no cellphone service up in many parts of Labrador

either.

Anyway, I go down to beautiful Burgeo and the Burgeo sandbanks. Now if you

have not been down there, it is world-class, just an absolute beauty of a place;

but, again, it is not being promoted enough. We have a great, great tourism

program, but we need to put more money into exploring other areas of this

Province. More exposure I would say to you more exposure.

Now, when there is Burgeo, you take the ferry over to Ramea. Ramea is home to

the Rock Island Festival, beautiful spot. Again, it is fantastic. The Member for

Fortune Bay Cape La Hune would know what I am talking about, Ramea is

beautiful. It is very closely located to Franois which is in her district.

Ramea, I can go over to Grey River, a tiny little community, just absolutely

pristine and beautiful. They have some environment issues down that way that I

have been talking again to the Minister of Environment about, but the thing that

ties this crowd in together, they have no cellphones either. No cellphones

there. Again, many members on the other side can talk but I say to you, I

estimate one-third of this Province, one-third of the districts are not covered

by cellphone service. So it is not just my problem, the problem goes over there

as well.

I am going to take a little trip away from tourism and I am going to talk to

a current issue, because I hear the Minister for Advanced Education and Skills

talking to me. What I would say is that we have a serious issue there. We have a

number of community organizations that are looking at the possibility of having

to issue pink slips on Monday, and all they want is an answer. I do not care

what anyone says, a lot of these crowds are afraid to speak. They are afraid to

speak out. They are scared to death. There is no whistle-blower legislation

either, that I am aware of, that will protect these people. These are people who

are providing services to various groups, whether it be people with

disabilities, to women, to students, trying to help them get employed. Like I

say, it is a double-edged sword here. Not only are we talking about the ones who

are currently employed, having their employment taken away from them, who is

going to help the people that they are trying to help, the unemployed? A

double-edged sword. I believe the Member for Terra Nova, there might be a centre

in your district as well. There might be a place in your district as well.

Again, what I am saying is of provincial concern. There are places in

Stephenville, places down in Grand Bank, places in Marystown, places in St.

John's, and places in my district. This is going to affect a lot of people. I

asked some simple questions today. I wanted answers on whether these groups were

going to have to issue layoff notices or not. I do not have the answers, and

this concerns a lot of people who are on Monday wondering about are they going

to have jobs come April 1.

Again, I ask this in all seriousness, I am hoping the minister will speak to

me on this, or speak to the people and reassure them that their jobs are safe.

This is a huge thing, and I know that government is currently looking at cuts or

reductions or efficiencies whatever part of the vernacular that you want to

put in, it all amounts to the same thing but these people deserve to know and

they deserve to know now.

There are so many other issues I have, I feel like I am getting counted down

here again. I do not know what else I am going to get to speak about. Well,

since the minister is here, why don't we talk about health care? Why don't we

talk about health care? There were a lot of questions asked today. I am hoping

that these questions are going to be answered soon. I do not know if they are on

your plate or not, or if they are just sitting there locally, but we need to

answer these questions, okay? I do not even want to get into the issue that is

still there, which comes down to the skin surgery. You look at these people and

tell me that is not a medical emergency, a medical necessity.

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. A. PARSONS: You are telling me that it is not?

AN HON. MEMBER: Emergency?

MR. A. PARSONS: Yes, their general practitioner did. You are going to

tell those people that this is not medically necessary? We are going to pay for

bariatric surgery which has results that could end up in this, but that

part is

not covered.

Again, Mr. Chair, my time has run out. I thank you for your time.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

CHAIR: The hon. the Minister of Fisheries.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KING: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

It is indeed a pleasure to rise today and to give my maiden speech for my

second term in the House. I have to compliment the member opposite, I tell you,

he reminds me a lot of the previous Member for Burgeo La Poile. There is no

doubt about that, no doubt about that. He has flair. I am still waiting for more

use of the Joe Chesterfield, and I am sure that is going to come in the

MS SULLIVAN: Uncle Joe to you.

MR. KING: Yes, Uncle Joe, that is right. I am sure we are going to see

that in due time.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KING: Mr. Chair, first of all, a couple of quick comments to

congratulate all members who are returning to this House, and of course, a

number of new members who are sitting on both sides. Congratulations to all of

you. It is a place where we have lots of heated debate, and probably going to

have some shortly, but it is an honourable place where we have an opportunity

and a privilege to represent people throughout the Province. So all of you, I

certainly congratulate you and wish you nothing but the best.

I want to take a few moments, Mr. Chair, to have a chat about a topic that

does not seem to get a lot of attention in the House. I am taking time today

during this debate where we have latitude to talk a little bit about the

fishery. As many people know in the Province, we have had a number of fairly

significant challenges over the last several months in this Province. Some

challenges are of an operational nature and some challenges certainly are more

along the labour lines.

Mr. Chair, I will touch on a number of them very briefly. We had the OCI

decision around the closure of the Marystown and Port Union fish plants, and an

alternate proposal to see further processing at Fortune which had considerable

debate from many in the Province. At this point in time, we do not have a

sufficient resolution to move forward there. I am pleased to say to members of

this House that government is indeed moving forward with the Port Union group.

They have asked for our support. They recognize that their plant is permanently

closed and have asked for our support. The member who sits on the government

side has been working diligently with me, Mr. Chair, to move forward on that

issue, and we are certainly going to do that. We will step up with some

employment supports, we will provide some community economic development

opportunities in the area. For those who are interested, my colleague, the

Minister of Advanced Education and Skills will be around and giving support to

provide for retraining opportunities and funding, Mr. Chair. I am very pleased

to acknowledge that as well.

The Marystown issue, as many would know, we, as government, provided some

short-term employment supports for a number of employees within the last seven

days. We did that, Mr. Chair, in spite of the fact that there still seems to be

a labour dispute versus a permanent plant closure acknowledgement there. We did

that because we recognize the challenges that some of those individuals face

when they are nearing the end of an opportunity to qualify for Employment

Insurance.

The other quick comment, Mr. Chair, I would like to make is we have had some

discussion in the Province around the DFO policy review, if you want to use that

word. I forget the exact title of it, but policy review. I have to say, as

Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture for Newfoundland and Labrador probably one

of the single greatest challenges is that people do not understand the

difference between federal policies and responsibilities, and provincial

policies and responsibilities. It is not only people, Mr. Chair. It is not only

people of the Province; it is people in this House of Assembly who do not

understand that.

Just this morning, for example, I had a call from an individual who is

frustrated because they fish a species where they want to have a longer boat.

They want a larger boat so they can go further offshore and be safer for them

and their crew. The issue is a federally regulated issue. The reason they called

me is because they went to the federal government who consulted the union and

the union said no, they did not agree with the fisherperson, so they landed on

the provincial government doorstep. Mr. Chair, that happens every single day

when you are the Minister of Fisheries. The challenge is that all members of

this House do not take an opportunity to provide factual information and help

people understand the process.

Mr. Chair, that is indeed a challenge. Probably a greater challenge, Mr.

Chair, is you see these trivial releases go out sometimes from members opposite,

yet very few questions of substance are being asked in the House of Assembly,

and I reference my Opposition critic who continues to put out press releases

without significant debate in the House of Assembly.

I say to the member opposite, I reference a couple of things in particular

that are so far off the wall. Number one, suggesting government take back a

quota when either A, the member is spreading information that he knows is not

the most accurate information in the world, or else he just does not understand.

The fact of the matter is that the quotas attached to Ocean Choice International

have nothing to do with this government; they are regulated through NAFO and the

federal government.

If the member wishes to challenge that, I invite him to stand when I am

finished because I think members on this side will provide some latitude today,

if there is any interest on the other side, in talking about issues in the

fishery. For some reason those issues do not come up in Question Period for any

degree of time where we can have the debate. I say to the member opposite, if

you would like to have a talk about that then I would invite you to get up,

stand and share some of your vision and your views for the future because this

is the place to do it.

I also reference my colleague opposite from the Third Party. I certainly

welcome him as a new member to the House and congratulate him. I wish him the

best of luck, because I think he is going to need it. He has raised a number of

issues and I am only going to touch on a couple here today, Mr. Chair. Probably

the single biggest issue that I want to raise here is the member sits here day

after day after day with very few, if any, questions on the fishery. Today, a

press release goes out from the member opposite asking the Minister of Fisheries

for Newfoundland and Labrador important questions. It is the same party for

months, upon months, upon months called on us, through the public forum, to open

the House of Assembly because there are important issues to debate.

Let's be clear, members in this House do not debate through Twitter, contrary

to popular believe. I have said that, Mr. Chair, I do not engage very often but

I did engage a couple of nights ago to say that if you have important questions

on the fishery or sealing because I would love to talk about all of that today

that this is the place to do it. Not only is it the place to do it, you have

an obligation and a responsibility, when you put your name on the ballot to get

elected to represent the people, you have a responsibility to raise those issues

on the floor of the House of Assembly, I submit to you, and I invite you to do

that today.

There are a couple of things that I would like to reference in particular.

The Third Party, Mr. Chair, and in fact one member opposite there today keeps

referencing, on any number of occasions, members opposite as being temporary

members that would be my word or holders of seats because the Third Party

claims that there is a number of seats that they would like to take, including

one neighbouring me in Burin Placentia West, Mr. Chair.

Let's be clear and I can produce this, I have a document here somewhere, a

press release and a letter that the party opposite were certainly not very

truthful in the election when they ran in that district because their own party

policy, which I can show you if you want to see it, is that they support no

shipping out of unprocessed materials from this Province. Now, Mr. Chair, let me

tell you the first thing that means, if they ever, ever win the government it is

the end of the lobster fishery because that is all we have, except for a small

amount of processing, is live lobster because that is what the market calls for.

So, let's be clear upon that, it is the end of the lobster fishery. Second, Mr.

Chair, unfortunately, if the local candidate and the party had been truthful

with the people on the Burin Peninsula, they would have told them that their

policy would not have closed the Marystown plant three or four months ago, it

would have closed it about eight years ago because the only thing that kept the

Marystown plant going was the ability to ship product out of this Province to

subsidize the entire operation of the company and keep workers in Marystown.

Mr. Chair, I challenge the member opposite and my critic to stand up today

and let us have a chat about the fishery and let us raise some issues, but let

us raise issues of substance. I am not going to use all of my time, I am going

to let you get up because I have a number of things I would like to talk to you

about. I ask you all to be hon. members in this House and if you are going to

come forward, you present information that is factual and that is accurate and

present information that shows where you stand on issues, not trivial press

releases calling the minister to resign because he made a joking comment to

ministers in this House. If you want to be taken seriously, you do not put those

kinds of press releases out. You tell people how you would do things differently

and you challenge me to ask me how I can improve things, and I will certainly do

that.

With fifty-three seconds, I am going to take my seat and I challenge the

members opposite to stand and talk about the fishery, please.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

CHAIR: Order, please!

The Chair recognizes the Member for St. John's North.

MR. KIRBY: Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I was challenged by the Premier earlier. I was hoping to have an opportunity,

the honour in fact, to follow Newfoundland and Labrador's first female Premier

in debate, but I did not get a chance, so maybe I will get a chance to do that

at some point.

I just want to say, off the top, thank you very much to the Minister of

Finance. The last time I spoke in debate this is my fifth time on my feet in

debate on the Interim Supply bill the Minister of Finance got up and gave some

very honest answers to questions I was raising around Corner Brook Pulp and

Paper. I have great respect for the Minister of Finance. He conducts himself

with the dignity and good comport that we would expect from Members of the House

of Assembly. I just would say to the Minister of Finance that we do know that

the price of newsprint has rebounded on world markets in recent months, so that

really is something that should factor in the equation on the future of the mill

in Corner Brook. I reiterate my earlier statements about the need for

investments in infrastructure for the long-term viability of the mill.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. KIRBY: So, I just want to say we are hearing a lot of yelling

again, but that is okay; people like to yell, and sometimes they wait their

turn. We are hearing a lot about people needing to do their research, Mr. Chair,

and I agree. In order to have a plan, you should do your research. This

government should do its research but it is more and more apparent to me, Mr.

Chair, that this government has no plan, no plan whatsoever.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. KIRBY: If you just give me an opportunity to speak, if I can have an

opportunity to speak well, just to reference yesterday, for example. We had a

Private Members'Day, and members of this government got up and boasted about

its record on housing. There has been significant inaction on this file on the

issue of affordable housing in this Province, there is a refusal, a refusal to

acknowledge that there is a crisis in housing in this Province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. KIRBY: You can laugh all you want. The minister responsible for

housing in this Province, he is over there laughing away. He can laugh all he

wants, that is fine. I do not think it is laughable, Mr. Chair, that there is a

crisis in housing in this Province right now. There is no strategy here and

you cannot take a bunch of disparate statements and try to bundle them together

and say that that is your strategy. That is not a strategy; that is a laundry

list. So yesterday we had a litany, just a list and a list, so we put it all

together that is supposed to be a strategy. I will make an analogy. You can

have all the parts of a Ski-Doo, Mr. Chair, laid out in the shed, or in the

garage, or in the back yard all the parts of a Ski-Doo, you can have the skis,

you have the engine, you can have the windshield, you have the seat; you have

all the parts of a Ski-Doo, but you do not have a Ski-Doo. All you have are

parts of a Ski-Doo, and you cannot just jump on the Ski-Doo and go, because it

is just parts, it is not something that is complete. So you cannot just get up

and list things and say, well there is the strategy, because that is just a

laundry list of spending.

So that is not a plan. There is no plan for housing. You have to admit that

there is no plan for housing. It is like the infrastructure strategy. The

Auditor General went looking for the infrastructure strategy and he found a

laundry list. That is all they had, no plan whatsoever no plan whatsoever. We

also have no plan for whistleblower legislation, no plan whatsoever. We have

seen no serious plan on this, Mr. Chair, despite the fact that it was quite a

long time ago we had a recommendation from Justice Derek Green after the

spending scandal, saying that we needed to have whistleblower legislation in

this Province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. KIRBY: Whistle-blower legislation is not funny at all. The Premier is

over there having a great laugh at my suggestion that there should be

whistleblower legislation. I do not think that there should be any this is not

a laughing matter at all.

There is no plan; this is a government with no plan, making it up as they go

along. No plan to deal with the housing crisis, no acknowledgement that there is

even a crisis. The Province does not have a formal infrastructure strategy;

there is some $5 billion in spending for which there is no plan. There is also

no plan for child care. They keep saying, Mr. Chair, that at some point there is

going to be a ten-year strategy for child care. We have not seen that. At the

rate that this is being dragged out, that is going to be a grandchild care plan,

not a child care plan. There is no plan no plan for child care.

Another one here, back in 2007 this government announced that it would

develop a Strategic Adult Literacy Plan for Newfoundland and Labrador. Money has

been spent on that; money has been spent in this area and resources have been

dedicated to it. Stakeholders have said what they want to see, government asked

stakeholders what they wanted to see and they provided briefs, they met with

memb