March 13, 2008

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS

Vol. XLVI No. 4

The House met at 1:30 p.m.

MR. SPEAKER (Fitzgerald): Order please!

Admit strangers.

This afternoon we welcome representatives of the organization Waypoints,

formerly the St. Francis Foundation. The representatives here today include the

Executive Director, Ms Heather Modlin, as well as staff and young people who

partake in their programs.

Also this afternoon we welcome fourteen students from the Hospitality Tourism

Management Program of the Bay St. George Campus of the College of the North

Atlantic, in the Districts of St. George's-Stephenville East and Port au Port.

The students are accompanied by their instructors, Mrs. Donna Pippy and Ms June

Hynes.

Welcome to the House of Assembly.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

Statements by Members

MR. SPEAKER: Members' statements today will be from: the hon. the

Member for the District of Bay of Islands; the hon. the Member for the District

of Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair; the hon. the Member for the District of St.

John's East; the hon. the Member for the District of Port de Grave; the hon.

the Member for the District of Bellevue; and the hon. the Member for the

District of Burgeo & LaPoile.

The hon. the Member for the District of Bay of Islands.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. LODER: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, on Sunday, February 24, at 7:00 p.m., I attended a very special

church service at the Westside Pentecostal Tabernacle in Corner Brook.

The commissioning service recognized twenty-two men and women, seventeen of

whom are from the Corner Brook and surrounding area, who will be travelling to

the country of Guatemala.

These fine people will be volunteering their time and talents every day,

working day and night on the construction of the William Cornelius Vocational

Training Centre. The task force will be returning on March 15, and we would like

to pass on to the hon. members here today how this development will break a

crippling cycle of poverty in this country.

Mr. Speaker, we are proud of these Newfoundlanders and Labradorians and ask

all members to pray for their safe return for this unselfish work.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of Cartwright-L'Anse

au Clair.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise today to offer congratulations to Garreth Kippenhuck, a Grade 8

student at William Gillett Academy in Charlottetown. Garreth recently received

the overall award in the 2008 Heritage Day Poster Contest. This contest

recognizes young people's efforts to preserve and promote our heritage in

Newfoundland and Labrador.

Mr. Speaker, Garreth's poster was chosen from over 300 submissions from

thirty schools across the Province. His winning poster was entitled "Battle

Harbour" and depicted a beautiful painting of the Harbour.

The award was presented by Robert Parsons, Vice-Chair of the Heritage

Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador. Also on hand was the Minister of

Tourism, Mr. Clyde Jackman. Mr. Speaker, the presentations took place on

February 18 at Winterholme.

There were several other young people from across the Province who were also

recognized for their efforts and, Mr. Speaker, I want to acknowledge them. They

were: Jarrod Sharpe of Upper Island Cove; Jakob Walsh of Clarenville; and Emily

Synard of Rushoon. All of them were first place in their respective categories

as well.

Mr. Speaker, it was an honour to see Garreth and the other young people show

such an appreciation and pride for our heritage, and to see them be recognized

as they so aptly deserve.

Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate Garreth, and all of those who

participated, for a tremendous job, and I ask all members in this House to join

with me in extending to them our congratulations on participating and winning

the 2008 Heritage Day Poster Contest.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. BUCKINGHAM: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in this House today to pay tribute to one of my

constituents, from the District of St. John's East, for his long and

significant contribution to the political fibre of the City of St. John's.

Former Mayor Andy Wells has been a fixture on the capital city's municipal

scene for over thirty years, and in that time he has served as a councillor, as

the deputy mayor and as the mayor.

Mr. Speaker, while some people - perhaps many - may take umbrage with his

style and personality, no one should ever doubt his commitment to making St.

John's a better place in which to live and in which to do business.

In many ways, Andy Wells was the very definition of political. He played the

game, and he played it well; however, his best political quality may have been

just how accessible he was to any citizen who had a legitimate concern or

complaint, and in that way he will serve as a model for all who will follow him.

It is not my intention today to rise in this House and provide and in-depth

commentary on the legacy that Andy Wells may or may not leave behind. Rather, I

take this opportunity as a life-long resident of the City of St. John's to

formally thank Andy Wells for his dedication and service to its citizens.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BUTLER: Mr. Speaker, Ascension Collegiate, Bay Roberts, recently

celebrated their forty-second annual awards night. The 192 students who

graduated took home more than $110,000 in scholarships and awards during the

presentation ceremony.

The most prestigious award, the Governor General's Medal, was presented to

Stephen Coombs of Upper Island Cove. Stephen, who finished first in the

graduating class, won the Port de Grave Electoral Scholarship as well as several

other awards.

Mr. Speaker, Ascension Collegiate has a long-standing tradition of academic

excellence and provides the students with the best education available to them

in this Province. Congratulations, I say, to Ascension Collegiate, and sincere

congratulations to Stephen Coombs.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. PEACH: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise today in this great hon. House to congratulate Mrs. Lilly Williams and

Mrs. Laura Williams on their ninetieth birthday.

Mr. Speaker, Lilly and Laura are a set of twins who celebrated their

ninetieth birthday on January 10, 2008.

Mr. Speaker, I had the great privilege of attending their birthday

celebrations, and I enjoyed the honour of presenting them with certificates from

the great honourable members of government.

Mr. Speaker, these two very fine ladies are in good spirits and very fine

health. I do believe that these two ladies are our oldest set of twins in the

District of Bellevue.

Mr. Speaker, Lilly and Laura both are residents of New Harbour, and have

raised families as homemakers to fishermen. These ladies have raised their

families in New Harbour, and between them they have a large family whom they

adore very much.

Lilly and Laura are remarkable and admirable ladies who have shared ninety

wonderful years together, not only as siblings, but as twins.

Mr. Speaker, if I can, the Williams twins should be an inspiration to us all,

that many years of life are possible.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all members of this House to join me in congratulating and

wishing Lilly and Laura Williams a belated Happy Birthday and many happy

returns, with many more to come.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

LaPoile.

MR. PARSONS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise today to recognize and congratulate Mayor Brian Button of the Town of

Channel-Port aux Basques on receiving an award from the Department of Municipal

Affairs in recognition of his twelve consecutive years of service to that

community.

Mr. Button was first elected to council in 1993. At that time he was one of

the youngest Deputy Mayors in the Province. He served as Deputy Mayor for three

terms and was elected Mayor in 2005.

In addition to his duties as Mayor, he has served as Chair of the Recreation

Committee, President of the Port aux Basques Minor Hockey Association, President

of the Port aux Basques Chamber of Commerce, RCMP Auxiliary Officer, Secretary

of the Kinsmen Club, Member of the 1995 Come Home Year Committee, Member of the

Raise the Bruce Committee, Member of the Cabot 500 Committee, Member of the RCMP

Musical Rides Committee, Member of Soiree '98 Committee, Member of the LeGrow

Health Centre Foundation and a Member of the Relay for Life Committee, which

shows his dedication and commitment to the community.

Mr. Button was born and raised in Port aux Basques. He is married to the

former Shirley Ford and they have one daughter, Terri-Lynn.

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

congratulations to Mayor Brian Button on receiving this award. All the best to

Mayor Button and his family.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Statements by Ministers.

Statements by Ministers

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. WISEMAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise today to recognize Waypoints, formerly the St. Francis Foundation, on

thirty years of supporting youth and families in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Starting with just one group home in 1978, Waypoints has grown substantially

to become the largest organization of its kind in the Province, having developed

a unique, multi-pronged program that is responsive to the diverse needs of the

individuals and families it serves. This organization offers residential

programs, alternate living arrangements and family support programs. Indeed, the

organization has come to mean many things for youth in our "in-care"

program including a home, safety and compassion.

Mr. Speaker, along with my colleague, the hon. Minister of Human Resources,

Labour and Employment, also in attendance the Member for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi,

I was in awe of the significant and positive impact that this organization has

had on so many families and young people who needed support at challenging

points in their lives. In fact, there were two large salons full of current and

former client families who have benefited from their interaction with this

organization.

The success stories speak for themselves - youth from our "in-care

program" who are successful and productive adults in our society; youth who

are running marathons, rowing in the regatta and winning academic awards. These

are among the many good-news stories in our Province - stories that we don't

often hear about very often, but I can guarantee you, they are seen by this

government.

These stories are a testament to the hard work and dedication of the Waypoint

staff, some of whom have worked with the organization for over twenty years.

They represent the helping spirit so often seen in the people of our Province.

Mr. Speaker, I also had the honour of helping the foundation unveil its new

name and corporate logo. The new name, Waypoints, has been traditionally used as

a set of coordinates that set out a path on a journey and is very fitting in now

representing the assistance and guidance offered to youth and families by this

organization.

Our government values the important work of Waypoints, and I congratulate the

over 100 staff of this organization and its Executive Director, Heather Modlin,

and its volunteer board of directors led by Tim Turner, for their successful

thirty years, and I want to thank them for their unwavering dedication to youth

and their families of this Province.

Mr. Speaker, a great organization, doing a great job in this Province and I

really want to thank them for the work that they do.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We certainly want to recognize the tremendous work that Waypoints does in our

Province as well, and on the anniversary of their thirty years. We certainly

want to recognize their employees, their Executive Director, their volunteer

board of directors and all of those who participate and are involved with the

organization.

Mr. Speaker, there are many individuals and families in this Province who

have not only felt the compassion and the care of this organization, but have

been encouraged by the work that they do. They have become more self-reliant and

self-sustaining individuals and families because of the programs this

organization delivers.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased today to see the minister offer his support because

we all know that this is an organization today that is advocating for two very

important services in our Province. One, Mr. Speaker, is the foster care

families help line, which I think is a great initiative, one that will help us

expand the number of foster families we have and provide supports to those that

are there; hopefully, enabling us to meet the target needs for foster homes that

we require in Newfoundland and Labrador today.

Mr. Speaker, the other program that they are looking at is a family support

program, one in which counsellors will go into the homes and work with parents

in order to ensure that they become better parents to their children, providing

for healthier families throughout Newfoundland and Labrador.

So, I look forward to the day when the minister stands in the House and

announces that government will provide the financial resources to launch two

important programs for this group in Newfoundland and Labrador.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of Signal Hill-Quidi

Vidi.

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

It is a real pleasure and an honour for me to stand today, too, to

acknowledge the work of Waypoints. I was very pleased that I was able to be at

their event the other night when they had this tremendous celebration of the

thirty years. It was very personal for me because I was actually around

thirty-two, thirty-three years ago when people first started the notion and they

formed St. Francis Foundation, the work that went on before the actual first

house was opened.

It was a group of people with a wonderful vision of a new way of taking care

of children in need in our Province. As was pointed out by Tim Turner the other

night at the event, the change in name will not be a change from what their

foundation is based on, compassion, social justice, a real desire to take care

of kids in need, coming right from the needs of the kids themselves.

I would like to, if I could, Mr. Speaker, just take one moment to speak about

something that did happen the other night that I think was a tremendous model.

Children, young people involved in the foundation have been under their care -

if I may have leave, Mr. Speaker, just for ten seconds.

MR. SPEAKER: Order please!

Does the hon. member have leave?

AN HON. MEMBER: By leave.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. member, by leave.

MS MICHAEL: A new initiative that they have done inside of Waypoints is

to put a theatre group together, a black light theatre troupe. It was a

tremendous experience to have these young people put on for us, in this

wonderful format of black light theatre, a play that told us right from the

heart of the children, what children in care go through. They were children in

care, and one of the workers I know at Waypoint said to me, she had one person

sitting on one side of her who was twelve years old already in a program and one

on the other side who was twenty-five who went through the program, say to her -

I will not say her name yes, this is exactly what we experience. This is

what I experienced, and the younger one saying this is what I have experienced.

So, this method of giving the young people an anonymous way, through black

light theatre, to tell us what they are going through was absolutely a

tremendous experience. That is all I want to do today. I am not going to make a

political point here because I honour so much the work of Waypoint and the

people who founded it. It is so good to see you here today.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Further statements by ministers?

The hon. the Minister of Business.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. ORAM: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to highlight the success of my government in

strengthening Newfoundland and Labrador's brand identity.

The Province's new brand signature - our modern, unique trademark featuring

the image of the pitcher plant was launched some eighteen months ago. Since

then, we have worked to develop, strengthen and extend the reach of the brand

and we have seen it grow in prominence and recognition.

Part of the brand promotion was a striking animated video that heralds the

dawn of a new day in Newfoundland and Labrador. That video captured a

prestigious Silver London International Statue in television at the renowned

London International Advertising Awards this past November, and also earned a

finalist award in another category. That kind of international recognition is

something of which we can all be proud.

And, Mr. Speaker, the job of strengthening the brand is just beginning. There

is a continuous effort to ensure that when people see the brand signature, they

immediately recognize it as a shining symbol of Newfoundland and Labrador and

its creative, resourceful, confident and proud people, who are forging a bright

and prosperous future for our Province.

I am pleased to report that we have put in place a Brand Monitoring System

with the objective of ensuring the integrity of the brand signature is being

maintained as its use expands. This system will help reinforce a true brand

culture throughout government.

As part of this initiative, a new logo licensing program will be implemented

in the near future, and my department recently introduced guidelines governing

the use of the brand signature by third parties.

As a government, we are committed to taking the necessary steps to ensure

that the official brand signature is used and portrayed appropriately, so that

consistency, accuracy and high standards are maintained.

Mr. Speaker, our government's branding initiative is reinforcing positive

perceptions of our Province - in how we view ourselves and in how others see us

an attractive place to work, live and for people to do business. Our government

has been diligent in developing the brand, and the Department of Business will

continue to oversee this process. I want to acknowledge the support and

commitment of government departments and employees, and our partners in the

community who play an important role in promoting Newfoundland and Labrador's

brand.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. PARSONS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is kind of a tough announcement to respond to actually, because there is

not very much earth shattering information contained in this release; rather

fluffy actually.

This is the same program of course that cost us $25,000 to change the signs

outside the building and $1,200 to put new MHA signs on the buildings, and

hundreds of thousands of dollars in consultants fees. Notwithstanding the awards

that have been received so far, I would think the jury is still out on it yet.

It will take some time before we see if the branding initiative has worked; we

have not had it for very long.

The other thing that amazes me about it, I believe this is the same minister

who was responsible for the red tape reduction committee, which was to get ride

of red tape in government. He just announced in one piece of paper here today,

that under this branding thing alone we have a third party use policy, we have a

monitoring system being put in place, and a local licensing program.

Now that sounds like a department that is really working in the same

direction. Let's cut the red tape but here are three things that we are just

going to make you do now, some hoops you have to jump through in order to do

this branding piece. Now that is very good. I see this minister really knows

which way - he does not know if he is going or coming. I do not know where the

red tape fits on this. Anyway, I love to see these kind of announcements because

it shows just how focused he is in running this Department of Business. We look

forward to some really substantive issues.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

MS MICHAEL: Oh my! It is hard to know what to say, Mr. Speaker. I took a

lot of time the first time. It's going to be very short this time. I never saw

so much fuss made about something so unimportant in my life. That is all I am

going to say.

MR. SPEAKER: Further statements by Ministers.

Oral questions.

Oral Questions

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I understand there is a situation currently unfolding in the

Town of Spaniards Bay involving a volunteer fire department. It has been

reported - and, actually, I have spoken to the lady in question - that a

qualified female firefighter has been denied the right to serve with that fire

department for no other justified reason, other than her gender.

I have to ask the Minister of Municipal Affairs today: Are there any policies

in place, in your department, that protects the rights of women who want to join

volunteer fire departments?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. DENINE: Mr. Speaker, this government supports both sexes in volunteer

fire departments, male and female, and we support the contribution of all. As a

matter of fact, one of the first female firefighters that I taught is at St.

John's Regional Fire Department now, and that was the first female that was

there. So this government does support it.

To your question, that was brought to our attention today. The fire

commissioner is looking at it and making contact, and I will report back to you

when he does.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Mr. Speaker, we all know that the fire commissioner is unable

to speak for himself anymore in the Province because the Minister of Municipal

Affairs now has become the official spokesperson for the fire commissioner. I do

understand that this is addressed under the Human Rights Codes that is being

revamped in the Province today.

I guess my specific question would be to the minister: Is there any kind of

regulation or anything that is adapted in the Fire Commissioner's Office that

would directly apply to females becoming volunteers in departments and if, in

fact, this is in any way a legitimate reason to reject her? I know it is not

legitimate, but I am wondering if there is anything there that protects the

Spaniard's Bay Fire Department in doing this?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. DENINE: Mr. Speaker, as Minister of Municipal Affairs, and

responsible for fire and emergency services, I took it my responsibility to

answer the questions on behalf of my department and that is what I am here as

minister for.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. DENINE: As far as if there is anything else in that, and it needs to

be reviewed, we will do it accordingly.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I hope that we can have the results of that review in very short order.

Mr. Speaker, there is a waiting list of anywhere between two-and-a-half and

three years for children who have been recommended for audiology tests in the

Province. This testing has a huge impact on the educational plans for the child

involved and it determines the kind of treatment that children receive, and if

they require special technology to assist them in their school work.

My question is for the Premier. Premier, are you aware of the long waiting

list that exists in the Province today for children to have this test and, if

so, could you personally get involved to ensure that it is corrected

immediately?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. WISEMAN: Mr. Speaker, over the last four years our government has

made some major investments in health care. In fact, our budget has increased

over the last four years by over half a billion dollars, to deal with wait times

in a variety of areas, to deal with enhanced services and providing new programs

and services to the people of the Province.

Any time, I say, Mr. Speaker, with any program area that we have, long wait

lists is a concern of ours, and through this year's Budget process, as we have

in past years, we are evaluating programs and services with a view of making

some improvements, some enhancements, and we will, in this year's Budget, as

we did in the last three Budgets, continue to make further investments in our

health system to be able to address wait times in a variety of areas, I say, Mr.

Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Mr. Speaker, from the answer, I am not entirely sure if the

minister is even aware of the wait lists that I refer to.

We all know that government is having difficulty attracting these

professionals, even though funding is made available for the positions; but, Mr.

Speaker, we also know that there are services at the School for the Deaf that

are being diminished as well.

I want to ask the minister if he can tell me what solutions they can provide,

in the short term, to parents out there today who need this service for their

children immediately?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. WISEMAN: Mr. Speaker, any individual in the Province who is awaiting

service needs to be dealing directly with one of our four health authorities.

If you look at the area of speech and audiology in the last couple of years,

I think last year it was five new positions we created in speech language

pathology, for example, in the whole area of speech and hearing, so we have made

some major investments in those areas in the last couple of years, I say, Mr.

Speaker.

As I said a moment ago, on an ongoing basis we are looking at making

enhancements and improvements in our service, and through this year's Budget

process we will make some more.

If there are individuals out there today who, on an individual basis, have

some real difficulty with their wait time and some difficulty because of some

issues with respect to their children, I suggest that they, through their family

physician, deal directly with the regional health authority in their particular

region.

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

MS JONES: Mr. Speaker, it is through the regional health authority that I

have obtained the information that tells me there is almost a three year wait

list at the hospitals in St. John's for audiology testing. I also know from a

parent who has a child in Grade 3, that her child will not be scheduled for

testing until she reaches Grade 6.

Mr. Speaker, the minister needs to be aware that there is a private service

available in the Province to those parents who can afford it.

I ask the minister: Is he concerned that we have a two-tier system of service

for children who require audiology treatment in this Province? Those who can

afford it are getting it. The children who cannot are waiting three years.

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. WISEMAN: Mr. Speaker, I would not stand in this House today, or any

other place today, and suggest that a three year wait for audiology services is

a reasonable wait, and it is appropriate, and one that we would want to hold up

our hands and be proud of.

It is one of these things, I say, Mr. Speaker, as in other areas of wait

times, we have been trying to deal with through an additional investment of

resources, additional recruitment of human resources, to be able to enhance

those programs and services. This, too, is an area that we are evaluating with a

view to making some changes if we have the capacity to be able to do that, I

say, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Mr. Speaker, just a follow-up question on that issue.

I know that there are monies being provided for audiology positions. I also

know that there has been a long recruitment process and not any ability to fill

those positions, so I ask you today: For those children in our Province who need

the service and who cannot afford it, is government prepared to provide the

provision for them to access that service through private clinics?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. WISEMAN: What I can commit to, I say, Mr. Speaker, is that I will

have the officials in my department work with Eastern Health to look at the wait

lists that they have, to see if there is some way that we can actually address

those critical issues that may be facing some families and children today as we

speak.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the minister for his

answer.

Mr. Speaker, as a follow-up to a question that I asked yesterday in the House

of Assembly, the need for increased numbers of social workers in Northern

communities, I would like to point out that the caseloads ranging in the

Province in the 2003 assessment was that there were thirty caseloads per social

worker in regions like the Western Region of the Province. In Labrador, that

caseload was at thirty-eight. I am being told today that the caseloads for

social workers in Labrador have almost doubled from that period of time until

today. Mr. Speaker, again I have to reiterate the need for this service in

Labrador, and the crises developing there.

I ask the minister again today: Is there any set of supports that government

is looking at to put in place to try and retain and recruit social workers for

Labrador communities?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. WISEMAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As I said yesterday, over the last year in particular our government has made

a major investment in Child, Youth and Family Services. I think last year, on an

annualized basis, our investment was some $9 million. Included in that

initiative was - I just forget the number now a significant number of social

workers, and we have been very successful in recruiting a large number

throughout each of our regions.

Labrador has had some additional challenges because of some of the geography

issues that they are dealing with. In the Labrador region they sometimes have

difficulties, or a little more difficulty than in other areas, in retaining some

of the social workers, but they have had some success this year as well. They

have had some success in recruiting expatriate Newfoundlanders who want to come

back. They have been successful in recruiting some social workers in other

northern provinces. So, they have had some success, I say, Mr. Speaker, and we

are continuing to work with them to ensure that they have the tools that are

necessary to assist them further with their recruitment initiatives.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Mr. Speaker, the success that they have had certainly does not

translate into an easier workload for any of these social workers. We still know

that there are a large number of vacancies. Many of them are working in isolated

communities; they are working on call; they are working double time.

Again, I ask the minister: Are there any measures that they can put in place

to, number one, increase the quality of the work environment for some of these

social workers you are placing in these communities, and other benefits that you

can put in place to try and retain more of them?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. WISEMAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Let me repeat what I said yesterday. I think I said yesterday, in response to

a similar question, that we are, in fact, working with our four regional health

authorities to ensure that they have the necessary supports in place to allow

them to be successful in their recruitment efforts. So, we are working with the

Labrador-Grenfell Authority to look at what kind of initiatives might be more

appropriate, given their uniqueness because of geography and other issues that

they face in the north.

Working in the north is uniquely different than working in other parts of the

Island portion of the Province, so we are working with that authority to look at

what initiatives we may be able to do and put in place that would reflect the

uniqueness of that work environment.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition.

MS JONES: Mr. Speaker, my next question for the minister has to deal with

the fact that we are short six social workers now in communities like Makkovik,

Sheshatshiu, Nain, and I think in Wabush as well there is probably a shortage.

Mr. Speaker, there is a great complexity to the number of issues that social

workers deal with in these isolated, remote communities. At the present time

most of them get isolation pay in Labrador, and government provides for a $700

bonus, I think, a travel bonus, for these workers. Can the minister honestly

tell me that is adequate compensation to try and recruit people to work in the

remote isolated regions of our Province where the workload is twice the demand

as it is in the capital city?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. WISEMAN: Mr. Speaker, in addition to the answer I just provided a

moment ago on some initiatives that my department is involved with, with the

Regional Health Authority, to identify what might be some unique things we may

want to do to assist them with their recruitment efforts, my colleague, the

Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board, will be engaging in a very

short period of time with the union that represents employees in this Province,

in the negotiation process, to look at issues around compensation and benefits.

Those sorts of issues, I am certain, will be dealt with as a part of that

collective bargaining process.

To augment what might be happening with that, we are working, as I said a

moment ago, with the health authorities in looking at what we may be able to do

outside the context of the collective bargaining process and outside collective

agreements to assist with that recruitment effort.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Mr. Speaker, I talked earlier about how the root of many of the

problems for social workers in Labrador also lies with the foster care crisis

that we have been seeing happening especially in some of the Aboriginal

communities. Currently today there are no available foster care placements in

Labrador. Every single placement has been used up and many of the children in

these communities are now being sent to the Island portion of the Province for

foster care. Obviously, this is just adding to the trauma and the experiences of

some of these families.

I ask the minister today, what measures his department is taking to try and

increase the number of foster care placements available in the Labrador region.

Is there something they are currently looking at, and if so, what is it they are

doing?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. WISEMAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the unfortunate reality we find ourselves in as a Province

today, as we stand here and talk about children and foster care it is

unfortunate that children may find themselves in a circumstance where they need

to be taken from their homes and moved into foster care. When that happens we

want to make sure that we have an adequate supply of foster care families

available to them.

Recruiting foster care has always been an ongoing process, something that

each of our regional health authorities is involved with, together with the

Foster Families Association, and there has been some degree of success, I say,

Mr. Speaker. Over the last twelve month there have been some eighty-odd new

foster families recruited into the foster home system.

One of the unfortunate things though, during that same period of time others

made decisions that they wanted to move on and to not provide foster services

anymore. In Labrador, I think last year there was a total of thirteen new foster

homes recruited in the Labrador Region.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I ask the member to conclude his answer.

MR. WISEMAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I say, Mr. Speaker, just in concluding, it is an issue that we are very

aggressively pursuing together with the Foster Families Association. You alluded

earlier to an initiative of having a 1-800 number that people would call to be

able to get information about becoming a foster family. These sorts of things,

together with radio ads, are all a part of that ongoing initiative.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We also know that there are currently a minimum of twenty-seven Labrador

children in residential group home facilities outside of the Province. We

understand that it is costing approximately $20,000 per child, per month, to

keep them in these outside of the Province facilities.

I ask the minister: Is there any action in his department at the current time

to establish residential group homes in Newfoundland and Labrador so that we can

bring these children home and provide the care for them in our own Province?

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

SOME HON MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. WISEMAN: Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, there are times when children

who are taken into foster care need some very intense intervention, and we do

not have a network of therapeutic foster homes in this Province like they do in

other jurisdictions. I suppose it is fortunate, in some respects, that we are

able to access the therapeutic homes that are in Ontario. In an ideal set of

circumstances, we would be able to have a network of those in our Province.

There are a couple of things that are currently before officials in the

department now. One proposal, in particular, that looks at the capacity we might

have to be able to establish what might be the first, and that is something we

are giving consideration to as we speak. In an ideal world, that is what we

would want to have. Obviously, these people should be ably provided for in our

Province, but up to this particular point in our history, we have not had the

ability to be able to establish a network like they have in other jurisdictions.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Port de Grave.

MR. BUTLER: Mr. Speaker, snow tires are made with a special rubber

compound with specific tread design that works better in cold temperatures than

non-winter tires. Experts say all season and summer tires are ineffective on

roads during the winter and snow tires can prevent deadly accidents.

Today is very appropriate for me to ask the minister: Where is he at in terms

of his analysis of the mandatory use of snow tires in this Province, and can we

expect him to bring forward legislation on that issue during this sitting of the

House?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Government Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. O'BRIEN: Mr. Speaker, with the weather conditions today I sort of

anticipated the question from my hon. colleague.

He can be rest assured that I, as the minister responsible, and I probably

can speak for all my colleagues in this House of Assembly in general, that we

are always concerned with the safety of our travelling public. We also encourage

anyone who has the resources to put winter tires on their vehicles. Well,

certainly, we encourage them; but don't feel safe just because you have winter

tires because it is all about adjusting your driving habits to the conditions of

the road.

As a matter of fact, I witnessed that today in my office looking out through

the window, there was a car coming up Prince Philip Drive who was driving to the

speed limit, or even over the speed limit, when he got abreast of the

Confederation Building he did about four 360s and that was because he or she did

not adjust their driving habits to the conditions of the road. There is a lot -

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I ask the member to conclude his answer.

MR. O'BRIEN: There is a lot of consideration and a lot of analysis that

has to go into this very, very important issue. My mind is open, and certainly

after that analysis, I will come back to my colleagues with a recommendation.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Port de Grave.

MR. BUTLER: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

It is very ironic that this government recently joined the national Road

Safety Vision 2010 and their top recommendation is that each and every car in

Canada would have four winter tires this time of the year.

Mr. Speaker, Quebec has become the first province to require car owners to

install winter tires on their vehicles as part of a new road safety law aimed at

reducing fatal accidents. There are many other countries, like Finland, Sweden,

Latonia and Latvia, are among countries that have similar laws requiring drivers

to use winter tires.

I ask the minister: Can he share with us some of the factors he is

considering as he makes this decision - or it seems like he has made his

decision - that he will not be bringing in legislation at this time, and I am

wondering what information he based his decision on?

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Minister of Government Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. O'BRIEN: I wonder, is the hon. member suggesting that I might go to

Finland? Because I do not think I will get that approved to go out and do an

international study. In the meantime, we are not going to reinvent the wheel.

Quebec took several years in regards to having a look at this matter. They

passed a piece of legislation in their House of Assembly, or their House as

compared to ours. I am not sure if that actually has been proclaimed yet. It has

not been implemented. Their target date in regards to the implementation is the

2008-2009 winter. They are not there yet. They have a number of issues that they

have to work out. We are in conversation with them. There are other areas in the

world that have mandatory winter tire legislation but, again -

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I ask the hon. minister to conclude his answer.

MR. O'BRIEN: But, again, there has to be careful consideration and

analysis done before - because there are a lot of factors, taking into account

senior citizens, taking into account -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Port de Grave.

MR. BUTLER: God forbid! Mr. Speaker, I would not want the hon. minister

to go to any of those foreign countries. Maybe we should listen to what he told

us On the Go a few weeks ago when he said that if it is snowing in Newfoundland

maybe we should all stay home. I wonder who gave the order that we should all be

here today, slipping and sliding trying to get into the House of Assembly, or

maybe we should listen to the other comment that he made. He stated very clearly

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. BUTLER: Mr. Speaker, he made it very clearly that he would not

mandate it in the near future because it affected all the drivers in this

Province. That is what I say a minister who is really concerned about the safety

of our people in this Province.

Mr. Speaker, most car rental agencies in this Province do not offer cars with

winter tires, or if they do there is an extra charge.

I ask the minister: Will he make it mandatory that car rental agencies

provide cars with winter tires and make it mandatory this year?

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Minister of Government Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. O'BRIEN: Mr. Speaker, I think the hon. member is asking for a day off

but he is not going to get it in this House any time soon, I will guarantee you

that. In the meantime, he did not listen to my last answer very well as well.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. O'BRIEN: After consideration, careful analysis in regards to the

subject matter which has been done in Quebec, which took several years to do and

is not even implemented yet - well, once I have that data - as a matter of fact,

I might point out that our data now points that less than 1 per cent of

accidents and collisions today is attributed to a defect in tires, which

includes everything. So, again I go back, that sometimes regulation is not

always the answer. Sometimes education is the answer, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Opposition House Leader.

MR. PARSONS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

My question is for the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs.

We understand, minister, that there are meetings scheduled for next week

between the Labrador Mtis Nation and the Minister of Natural Resources who's

Conservation Officers laid charges against twenty-four Labrador Mtis hunters.

We understand also that the former Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, the current

Government House Leader, indicated in April of 2007 that charges would not be

laid against Labrador Mtis who hunted for subsistence purposes, yet these

charges were laid.

I ask the minister: Where do you stand on this issue, and do you agree that

these charges should stand?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS POTTLE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We enforce the policies of Aboriginal groups the same throughout the

Province. No one is being treated differently. This is before the courts, and I

have nothing further to say with regards to it yet.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. PARSONS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I can appreciate the Minister of Justice, who has already declined to meet

with the Leader of the Opposition on the issue because it is before the courts,

and I believe that is the proper course of action for the Attorney General, but

I do not believe it is the proper response from the Minister of Aboriginal

Affairs. She is certainly at liberty to comment on it, and give us her opinion

as to where she stands.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. PARSONS: Mr. Speaker, I ask the minister: Minister, in view of the

Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador Court of Appeal decision that came

out on December 12, 2007, just this past December, which was after some of these

charges were laid, is you department now prepared to recommend to the Department

of Justice and the Department of Natural Resources that the charges should be

withdrawn?

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Minister of Justice and Attorney General.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENNEDY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

One of the priorities of this government, and Justice, Aboriginal Affairs and

Labrador Affairs, has been to meet with Aboriginal groups in Labrador. We have

met and have been in Labrador on a number of different occasions. We have

declined to discuss the Metis hunters' case; however, the Court of Appeal

decision simply stands for the fact that there was a duty to consult on the

Trans-Labrador Highway, and we have done that.

We will not get involved in matters that are before the court. It is up to

the Metis to determine -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. KENNEDY: If they wish, they can challenge the matter in court and

they can put forward their Aboriginal claim. Until such time as the federal

government recognizes their land claims matter, that is the option that is open

to them.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Member for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi.

MS MICHAEL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

My question is for the Minister of Health and Community Services.

Since I have been in the House of Assembly, and before, the people of

Labrador West have been asking for, and are expecting, a new hospital to meet

their needs. The March 10 Throne Speech, however, referred to an investment in

the new health centre for Labrador West. The use of the term health centre is an

interesting twist in the language and is causing concern for some people in

Labrador, and it caused concern for me when I heard it.

I note in the fire commissioner's report of March 6, he talks about not

needing to put a sprinkler system in the William Jackman Memorial Hospital

because a new hospital is going to be built.

The different language is confusing people, so I ask the minister: Will he

please tell the House today what is planned for the new health facility to be

built in Labrador City, no matter what name it is given.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. WISEMAN: Mr. Speaker, if there is any confusion being created, it is

being created by the question.

Very clearly, if you look in Hansard, if you look in statements by this

government, any comments I would have made in the House, any comments my

colleague would have made, the Member for Labrador West, we have always said

that the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador is committed to building a new

hospital in Labrador City - period.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Member for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi.

MS MICHAEL: I am glad to hear it; I still have two more questions.

If the hon. minister looks in Hansard he will also notice that, every time I

asked for details about program, nobody gave me an answer, neither the minister

nor the Premier when I asked him on occasion. I have never gotten details on

program, and that is what people are looking for.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS MICHAEL: I will go on, then, since you are not going to give it to me

again today, because my question was: What is going to happen in the hospital?

That is what I asked, and you did not answer it.

My next question, then, because you are not going to answer it, is: Now that

we have a problem happening up there with regard to the site, and everything has

been put on hold again, can you give us some detail now about the status of the

plans for the hospital?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. WISEMAN: I just got a question, but in the

preamble she gave herself

the answer.

Right now, we have run into a bit of a snag. The land that we had decided to

build the building on, there have been some issues raised with respect to how

close it might be to the expansion of the mine site and, by that, then, how safe

might it be.

Until that evaluation is concluded and everybody better understands whether

it is an appropriate location and what impact expansion of the mine site might

have, we cannot do anything at all to expand any further planning to send

excavators into the ground or do anything else until that piece is done.

So, your initial observation about this being on hold for a little while is

an accurate one, and that is exactly where it is.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The time allotted for question and answers has expired.

Presenting Reports by Standing and Select Committees.

Tabling of Documents.

Tabling of Documents

MR. SPEAKER: The Chair would like to table a list of reports and

documents that was deemed tabled while the House was in adjournment.

There are some 100-plus documents here that have been tabled, and every

individual member of the House has received such copies. The Chair will table

them, and if members want to look at the list, or have not received their copy,

they can get it from the Table.

I table that as of now.

Further tabling of documents?

Notices of Motion.

Notices of Motion

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

MR. WISEMAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I have to get on the ball; I can see that.

I give notice that I will ask leave to introduce a bill entitled, "An

Act To Provide For The Protection Of Personal Health Information." (Bill 7)

MR. SPEAKER: Further notices of motion?

Answers to Questions for which Notice has been Given.

Petitions.

Petitions

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Port de Grave.

MR. BUTLER: I am sorry, Mr. Speaker, I believe it is catching.

Mr. Speaker, I want to stand today and present another petition with regard

to the long-term care facility for the Conception Bay North area. I won't go

into the full body of the petition because I have already read that before the

hon. House.

When we hear so much over recent days with regard to facilities throughout

our Province, I guess our area is no different. We have the Carbonear General

Hospital there, which is taking up a lot of the people who could be placed out

in a long-term care facility. We have the Harbour Lodge, the Interfaith Home and

the Pentecostal Home. Those facilities are getting up in years when it comes to

the age of a structure, and this is where the people are coming from, but I

guess the main concern is where we had been placed on a priority list through

the department, with a proper assessment done, back in 2000-2002, and the

Conception Bay North area was listed as being number one. All of a sudden we

find ourselves in sixth position, not a bad position to be in if government is

going to recognize us once again and say yes, you are in need of a new facility;

but, Mr. Speaker - and, we are not complaining because those people are getting

new facilities.

I know it was mentioned recently that, I think, Corner Brook and Clarenville

are just about coming on stream. I read in the Throne Speech there were a couple

of other facilities, Happy Valley-Goose Bay and Lewisporte, I think, that by

2010 will be on stream. That is all wonderful, Mr. Speaker, and we have no

problem with that, in supporting it totally.

I just want to call upon government to at least have another evaluation done

of the Conception Bay North area. If that area was in such a great need back

four or five years ago, surely something must have gone wrong if, all of a

sudden and I will use the expression - it is totally off the radar screen.

The people of the area are calling upon us. The need is there, Mr. Speaker,

and, between now and when the Budget comes down, hopefully something will be

announced.

I call upon my hon. colleagues across the way. I am surrounded by three

ministers, three people who are in the Cabinet. I believe they all have a strong

voice and can make it be known. The Member for Trinity-Bay de Verde, the Member

for Carbonear-Harbour Grace, the Member for Harbour Main and my hon. colleague

from Bellevue, people from his district use those facilities as well.

Mr. Speaker, I want to call upon government to listen to the prayer of this

petition and on behalf of the people of the Conception Bay North area, that they

would consider the possibility, sooner rather than later, of a new facility to

serve the seniors of the Conception Bay North area.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Further petitions?

The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise today to present another petition on behalf of the people in

Newfoundland and Labrador that are taking up the cause against drug addictions

in our society and are asking that the government look at establishing a

long-term drug and alcohol addictions treatment facility in the Province.

Mr. Speaker, I already outlined generally the reasoning for this petition on

the first day I presented it. Yesterday, I emphasized the impact of drug

addictions on families. Today, I would like to talk a bit, in presenting this,

about the impact of drug addictions on the community as a whole.

Mr. Speaker, we have seen and experienced in this Province first-hand what

the result of drug addictions are. We have lived, Mr. Speaker, in fear of our

homes being broken into, of our cars being stolen, of our workplaces being

invaded in the late hours of the morning, and being held at gunpoint or

knifepoint by people who are looking for money to fix their addictions. We hear

about it on the 6:00 o'clock news on many, many occasions about the kind of

crime that has been caused in our city due to the fact that the increasing

number of people who have addictions out there not being treated is adding to

this problem more and more everyday.

Mr. Speaker, I had an opportunity to be well educated on this issue by a man

in the name of Ron Fitzpatrick, an individual who has taken up the cause for

addicts and their families throughout our Province in the efforts of providing

safety and safety measures in our communities so that we can all feel safer in

our homes and in our workplaces. Mr. Fitzpatrick has worked with people who

suffer from addictions and understands the needs and the services that they

require. The work that he has done through an organization called Turnings has

certainly been able to advance the services that are required but also to

advance the education that comes with understanding addictions and the impact

that they have in our community.

I think probably the greatest stress of addictions in our society is that on

the criminal system. Mr. Speaker, not only do we deal with the fact that people

are being charged, people are taken into our courts on drug related crimes, and

there is a cost that is attached to all of that. By the time you get through the

court system, which is a heavy price that the Province pays and the government

pays, then many of these people are incarcerated and the cost then escalates for

the taxpayers and for the people of the community, sometimes in the amounts of

hundreds of thousands of dollars that are being paid out. In our Province,

already we know the cost of keeping one person in prison, if it is a male it is

$65,000 a year. Mr. Speaker, if you add on the price of remand hospital

treatments, it is likely to go up about another $80,000 a year.

Mr. Speaker, I know my time is almost up. If I could by leave, just for a

second there to clue up?

MR. SPEAKER: Does the hon. member have leave?

AN HON. MEMBER: Just to clue up.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. member, by leave.

MS JONES: Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, we also know that the cost of holding women in our

penitentiaries is even higher than that. The cost of four women is at $93,000 a

year. Anytime that you have escalated addictions in a region which is

contributing to a higher crime rate - which many of these cases end up in the

court system and then result in incarceration of individuals. At the end of the

day, the bill to the taxpayer is a very high substantial cost to the taxpayer of

the Province. That is why I support the petition that has been presented by

thousands of people in the Province asking the government to look at some kind

of a treatment facility that will help take drug addicts off our streets,

rehabilitate them, provide rehabilitation to their families as well so that we

can all enjoy living in a healthier society.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Further petitions?

Orders of the Day.

Orders of the Day

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

MR. RIDEOUT: Motions, Mr. Speaker.

Motion 1.

MR. SPEAKER: Order please!

The hon. the Minister of Government Services.

AN HON. MEMBER: Mr. Speaker, (inaudible).

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

MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, motion 1.

On behalf of the Minister of Government Services I ask leave to introduce a

bill,

An Act Respecting The Cost Of Consumer Credit Disclosure. (Bill 4)

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

Government Services shall have leave to introduce a bill,

An Act Respecting The

Cost Of Consumer Credit Disclosure. (Bill 4)

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

Services shall have leave to introduce the said bill?

All those in favour, 'aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

MR. SPEAKER: All those against, 'nay'.

Carried.

Motion, the hon. the Minister of Government Services to introduce a bill,

"An Act Respecting The Cost Of Consumer Credit Disclosure," carried.

(Bill 4)

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

MR. RIDEOUT: Motion 2, Mr. Speaker, that the Minister of Government

Services have leave to introduce a bill,

An Act Respecting Architects And The

Provision Of Architectural Services. (Bill 5)

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

Government Services shall have leave to introduce a bill,

An Act Respecting

Architects And The Provision Of Architectural Services. (Bill 5)

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

Services shall have leave to introduce the said bill?

All those in favour, 'aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

MR. SPEAKER: All those against, 'nay'.

Carried.

Motion, the hon. the Minister of Government Services to introduce a bill,

"An Act Respecting Architects And The Provision Of Architectural

Services," carried. (Bill 5)

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

MR. RIDEOUT: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Motion 3, that the Minister of Government Services shall have leave to

introduce a bill entitled,

An Act Respecting Embalmers And Funeral Directors.

(Bill 11)

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

Services shall have leave to introduce a bill entitled,

An Act Respecting

Embalmers And Funeral Directors. (Bill 11)

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

Services shall have leave to introduce the said bill?

All those in favour, 'aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

MR. SPEAKER: All those against, 'nay'.

Carried.

Motion, the hon. the Minister of Government Services to introduce a bill,

"An Act Respecting Embalmers And Funeral Directors," carried. (Bill

11)

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

MR. RIDEOUT: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Motion 4, that the Minister of Justice have leave to introduce a bill

entitled,

An Act To Amend The Access To Information And Protection Of Privacy

Act. (Bill 6)

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

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

Act To Amend The Access To Information And Protection Of Privacy Act. (Bill 6)

Is it the pleasure of the House that the hon. Minister of Justice and

Attorney General shall have leave to introduce the said bill?

All those in favour, 'aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

MR. SPEAKER: All those against, 'nay'.

Carried.

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

bill, "An Act To Amend The Access To Information And Protection Of Privacy

Act," carried. (Bill 6)

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

MR. RIDEOUT: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Motion 5, that the Minister of Health and Community Services shall have leave

to introduce a bill entitled,

An Act Respecting Registered Nurses. (Bill 3)

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

Health and Community Services shall have leave to introduce a bill entitled, An

Act Respecting Registered Nurses. (Bill 3)

Is it the pleasure of the House that the hon. the Minister of Health and

Community Services shall have leave to introduce the said bill?

All those in favour, 'aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

MR. SPEAKER: All those against, 'nay'.

Carried.

Motion, the hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services to introduce a

bill, "An Act Respecting Registered Nurses," carried. (Bill 3)

MR. SPEAKER: I just ask the hon. Government House Leader if he would

allow me one minute to consult with the Clerk. I see the Clerk trying to get my

attention. Maybe I am not following proper procedure here.

[Speaker consults with the Clerk.]

MR. SPEAKER: I say to the hon. Government House Leader, everything is

under control.

The hon. the Government House Leader.

MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, I never doubted for a moment that, in your

capable, competent hands, everything was anything other than under control.

Now, Mr. Speaker, we can move on to the routine business of the day. I would

like to call Order 1, which is Committee of Supply, and the motion is that you

leave the Chair, I do believe.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

Before we entertain that motion, I ask the Government House Leader - I think,

in consultation with him before the House opened, it was the intention to move

first readings of those motions?

AN HON. MEMBER: I don't understand.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. Government House Leader gave introduction to the

bills; and, with introductions, after the introductions, come first readings.

Parliamentary procedure is that we ask leave to do the introduction of the bill

and then we proceed to do first reading of the bill.

MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, my understanding is that we gave notices of

motion on those pieces of legislation today, and that today is another

parliamentary day so we call for first reading. When we do, when I call Motion

1, my understanding is that is first reading of Bill 4.

If we have not done something properly - or improperly - if we need to do

something to correct it, then I understand we have leave from the Opposition,

that those bills that were given notice of now be read a first time so that they

appear on the Order Paper the next parliamentary day in second reading stage and

are available for debate in second reading. That is the intent.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. minister is quite correct in what he is saying, but the hon.

minister has not moved first reading of the bills. The hon. member has

introduced the bills but has not asked that the bills be read a first time. That

is another procedure in the Speaker's handbook that he might see in front of

him there.

MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker.

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

MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, first reading of Bill 4.

MR. SPEAKER: It is moved and seconded that the said bill be now read a

first time.

Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion that Bill 4,

An Act

Respecting The Cost Of Consumer Credit Disclosure, be now read a first time?

All those in favor, aye'.

SOME HON MEMBERS: Aye.

MR. PARSONS: A point of order, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: All those against, nay'.

AN HON. MEMBER: Nay sorry, aye.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

Carried.

I wonder if the hon. the Opposition House Leader is going to respond to

something that we are doing here, or can we complete the act of first reading of

this bill?

MR. PARSONS: That is what I was trying to - I would like to have some

clarification, if I might, from the Chair, based on the comments

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Opposition House Leader.

MR. PARSONS: Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to have some clarification as well to the comments

that were made by the Chair to the Government House Leader, and his comments

back to you, because it was my understanding as well, of the process here, that

the introduction was actually done when the Government House Leader introduced

the bills the last parliamentary sitting day and said: These are the bills we

give notice of.

I took that to be that is the actual introduction phase and that today, when

he stood on his feet, he is doing the first reading phase. Now, that is my

understanding of the process but the Chair's comments have led me to question

whether I am on the wrong track as well. So I guess it is more of a learning

process for all of us here. I didn't hear any definitive directions from the

Chair after the Government House Leader's comments as to what we are or are

not doing today.

I am just wondering if the Chair can clarify that what the Government House

Leader is now doing is, in fact, first readings and not introductory comments.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

What the Government House Leader did on a prior day, which was yesterday,

which is the acceptable practice of this House, was to ask members and ministers

to give notices of motion. That was done yesterday.

On another parliamentary day the ministers and the Government House Leader,

through his direction, when we call Orders of the Day, will stand and introduce

the said bill. By parliamentary procedure it is always done by leave, to

introduce a bill. To go on further after the introduction of the bill, the bill

must be read a first time. The introduction of the bill and first reading is

done on the same parliamentary day. It is the normal procedure, in my

understanding, in talking with the Table Officers, that has always taken place

here.

Whether that is wrong or not, I can only refer to the wisdom of the Table,

but we are doing first reading of this parliamentary bill now after the

introduction, which the minister can do and the Government House Leader can do

with each motion that he has already given a notice of introduction, or that he

has already introduced to the House.

MR. RIDEOUT: My understanding, Mr. Speaker, is that we have now done

first reading of Bill 4.

MR. SPEAKER: No, we have not, I say to the hon. Government House Leader.

MR. RIDEOUT: Well, let's do first reading of Bill 4.

CLERK: A bill,

An Act Respecting The Cost Of Consumer Credit Disclosure.

(Bill 4)

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

When shall the said bill be read a second time? Now? Tomorrow?

MR. RIDEOUT: Tomorrow, Mr. Speaker.

On motion, Bill 4 read a first time, ordered read a second time on tomorrow.

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

MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, first reading of Bill 5.

MR. SPEAKER: It is moved and seconded that the said bill be now read a

first time, Bill 5.

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.

CLERK : A bill,

An Act Respecting Architects And The Provision Of

Architectural Services. (Bill 5)

MR. SPEAKER: Bill 5 has now been read a first time.

When shall the said bill be read a second time? Now? Tomorrow?

MR. RIDEOUT: Tomorrow.

MR. SPEAKER: Tomorrow.

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

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. Government House Leader.

MR. RIDEOUT: First reading, Mr. Speaker, of Bill 11.

MR. SPEAKER: It is moved and seconded that Bill 11 be now read a first

time.

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

All those in favour, aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

MR. SPEAKER: All those against, nay'.

Carried.

CLERK : A bill,

An Act Respecting Embalmers And Funeral Directors. (Bill

11)

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

When shall Bill 11 be read a second time? Now? Tomorrow?

MR. RIDEOUT: Tomorrow.

MR. SPEAKER: Tomorrow.

On motion, Bill 11 read a first time, ordered read a second time on

tomorrow.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. Government House Leader.

MR. RIDEOUT: First reading, Mr. Speaker, of Bill 6.

MR. SPEAKER: It is moved and seconded that Bill 6 be now read a first

time.

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

All those in favour, aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

MR. SPEAKER: All those against, nay'.

Motion carried.

CLERK: A bill,

An Act To Amend The Access To Information And Protection

Of Privacy Act. (Bill 6)

MR. SPEAKER: Bill 6 has been now read a first time.

When shall the said bill be read a second time?

MR. RIDEOUT: Tomorrow.

MR. SPEAKER: Tomorrow.

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

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

MR. RIDEOUT : Mr. Speaker, first reading of Bill 3.

MR. SPEAKER: It is moved and seconded that Bill 3 be now read a first

time.

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

All those in favour, aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

MR. SPEAKER: All those against, nay'.

Carried.

CLERK: A bill,

An Act Respecting Registered Nurses.(Bill 3)

MR. SPEAKER: Bill 3 has been now read a first time.

When shall the said bill be read a second time? Now? Tomorrow?

MR. RIDEOUT: Tomorrow.

MR. SPEAKER: Tomorrow.

On motion, Bill 3 read a first time, ordered read a second time on tomorrow.

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

MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, I move Order 1, that the House resolve itself

into a Committee of Supply to consider the matter of Interim Supply, which is

Bill 2.

MR. SPEAKER: The motion is that the House resolve itself into a Committee

of Supply and that I do now leave the Chair.

All those in favor, 'aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

MR. SPEAKER: All those against, 'nay'.

Motion carried.

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

Supply, Mr. Speaker left the Chair.

Committee of the Whole

CHAIR (T. Osborne): The hon. the Member for Mount Pearl North.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENT: Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, and good afternoon.

It is indeed a pleasure to rise today, first and foremost, to offer my

sincere thanks to the people of the District of Mount Pearl North. I am grateful

for the privilege they bestowed on me in the October 9 provincial general

election. I offer my congratulations to all hon. members who were elected in

this recent election.

I wish to thank the citizens of Mount Pearl for their continued support over

the past decade. I was first elected to Mount Pearl City Council in September,

1997. I served as Deputy Mayor for six years until I was sworn in as Mayor in

October, 2003. I thoroughly enjoyed serving as the city's mayor for four

years. While it was a difficult decision to leave, I felt I was ready for a new

challenge. I am thrilled to be a member of this House at such an exciting and

important time in our Province's history. I assure the people of Mount Pearl

that I will continue to work hard on their behalf.

It is also an honour to now represent the Town of Paradise in this

Legislature. Interestingly enough, I lived in the area of Paradise that I now

represent before moving to Mount Pearl twenty-eight years ago. Like Mount Pearl,

the Town of Paradise is a vibrant, growing community. In fact, Paradise

continues to be one of the fastest growing communities in Eastern Canada. I

thank the residents of the Elizabeth Park neighbourhood for their vote of

confidence on October 9. I pledge to be a strong voice for them in this House.

Mr. Chair, this session is not the first time that I have sat in this House.

For several years I was a member and a minister in the Newfoundland and Labrador

Youth Parliament. I stood in this very Chamber and passionately debated issues

of importance to young people in our Province. I am pleased to say that I

learned a lot from experiences such as this, and I intend to bring similar

energy, optimism and determination to my new role as MHA for the District of

Mount Pearl North.

Mr. Chair, I was both overwhelmed and humbled by the level of support I

received from the people of Mount Pearl North in the recent election, in which I

received 85 per cent of the vote. I recognize that with such support comes a

tremendous responsibility. I take this responsibility very seriously, and I

assure my constituents that I will represent them to the best of my ability. I

will bring their concerns, their ideas and their issues to the attention of our

government and to the attention of this House.

The people of Mount Pearl North, formerly known as Waterford Valley, have

been fortunate to have strong representation in this House for many years. I

want to acknowledge the tremendous contribution that Mr. Harvey Hodder made to

public life for over fourteen years in this House and for over twenty-three

years as a member of the Mount Pearl Council. Mr. Hodder accomplished a great

deal during his time in public life, and I congratulate him on a remarkable

career. I thank Harvey for the support he has given me, and I look forward to

his continued involvement in our district.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENT: Mr. Chair, as hon. members of this House are aware, public life

has both its challenges and rewards. I would like to take a moment to thank my

family and friends for their tremendous support since I entered politics over

ten years ago. In particular, I thank my parents, who are, and have always been,

my best campaign workers. I also thank my fiance, Janet, for her support and

her tireless efforts on the campaign trail. My family members and friends have

always played a prominent role in my success and for that I am extremely

grateful.

Mr. Chair, in progressive and healthy communities, such as Mount Pearl and

Paradise, volunteers play a vital role. I want to pay tribute to the dozens and

dozens of volunteers who were truly the heart of my campaign. I deeply

appreciate their commitment; I deeply appreciate their friendship.

I wish to thank the hon. Premier for welcoming me as a member of his team.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENT: I really have enjoyed working with the members of Cabinet and

our caucus over the last number of months, and I am incredibly proud to be part

of a team that has such a powerful vision for our Province and such a strong

desire to move Newfoundland and Labrador forward.

During the first four years in office, our hon. Premier and his government

made many tough decisions to get our Province moving in the right direction.

Getting our fiscal House in order is a critical first step in order to ensure

that our Province reaches its full potential. Beyond being fiscally responsible,

our government has addressed many important social needs that exist in our

communities. Throughout my time in public time, I have learned that good

government is about balance. That is why it was an easy decision to offer myself

as a candidate for the Progressive Conservative team.

As we saw earlier this week in the Throne Speech, our government remains

committed to striking the right balance. We will strive to be fiscally

self-sufficient, while also tackling challenges with socially progressive

approaches. I often say that there is a long road ahead - by providing strong

governance and having the courage to do the right things today, we can ensure a

prosperous future for generations to come.

Mr. Chair, while I was on the campaign trail, the residents of Paradise and

Mount Pearl expressed many concerns to me. These include matters related to

health care, education, employment, and child care, to name just a few. I

listened to concerns from working families, as well as from retirees who are on

fixed incomes. While people in my district acknowledged the fact that there are

challenges to be addressed, they are, at the same time, confident that our

government is working to meet these challenges. The people of Newfoundland and

Labrador can see the real progress that has been made. There exists a new sense

of hope. There exists a renewed sense of pride. There is a level of confidence

and optimism that has never been seen before in Newfoundland and Labrador. By

working together we really can be -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENT: By working together we really can be masters of our own

destiny.

Mr. Chair, while my district is geographically smaller than many others, a

considerable percentage of the Province's population resides in the City of

Mount Pearl and in the Town of Paradise. These communities contribute immensely

to the economy of our region and our Province. Of course, as these communities

continue to grow there are infrastructure needs to be meet. I am pleased that

this government is committed to the future and the sustainability of both

Paradise and Mount Pearl. I will do my part to advocate for continued

investments from these significant urban centres.

Mr. Chair, during the first four years of Progressive Conservative Government

under the leadership of Premier Williams, Newfoundlanders and Labradorians saw a

change in leadership but they also witnessed a change in attitude. The

philosophy of no more giveaways is a mantra now in Newfoundland and Labrador,

and one that is hugely supported.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENT: We are indeed a prosperous Province that has much to contribute

to Canada. We can and we will become a self-sustaining entity. We can eventually

be fiscally debt free and we can do all of this while still investing in

education, health care, economic development and other key priority areas. This

government's plan is a balanced one, one that touches every Newfoundlander and

Labradorian. Our government is doing good things and it shows. By working

together, by standing tall together, we can achieve our great promise. It is

very true that the future is ours.

Mr. Chair, it is a tremendous honour to serve as a Member of the House of

Assembly. Once again, I extend my gratitude to the people of Mount Pearl North.

I will listen, I will learn, and I will always represent my constituents to the

very best of my ability. I will contribute to the work of this government in

whatever way I can as together we move Newfoundland and Labrador boldly forward

to self-reliance. It is indeed a wonderful time to be a member of this House and

it is a great time to be living in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Thank you very much.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

CHAIR: Order, please!

The hon. the Member for Port de Grave.

MR. BUTLER: Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Standing ovation, I was the only one up and they did not applaud.

Mr. Chairman, it is a pleasure again today to be able to stand and make a few

comments with regard to, I guess, second reading on Bill 2, with respect to

granting Interim Supply to Her Majesty.

Mr. Chairman, first of all, I want to congratulate my hon. colleague on his

maiden speech, and all other members, whether they have given a member's

statement or their maiden speech here in this hon. House of Assembly.

Mr. Chairman, we are fairly freewheeling when we are into debate today, and I

want to go back to the questions that came up by our hon. Leader of the

Opposition, the Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair, with regard to the

audiology questions that she had asked.

First of all, I know the Minister of Health and Community Services did

mention in his response about the millions of dollars going into health - and

all of that is greatly appreciated, let me assure you - and how government was

working to try to eliminate the long wait lists that we have in various areas of

health care in the Province. He suggested to the hon. Member for Cartwright-L'Anse

au Clair that probably the people who are having those problems should contact

their general practitioners; however, after Question Period - and I want to say

that we were very pleased on this side because the Premier came over and

verified for us that he was not aware of this situation about the problems with

audiology in our Province, and the testing. He stated very clearly that he would

be checking it out to see what could be done, what avenues he could look into,

if funding could be made available, and what the lists are like with this

situation.

Mr. Chairman, my intent today was to give some information on this, and I

plan to go ahead with it, with the full knowledge that I am very thankful of the

Premier's promise to us.

There are many students in this Province who have problems and they require

this special type of testing. Mr. Chairman, with the official I spoke with, he

explained to me that this is a three hour test, but he stated very clearly that

at the present time it is not done anywhere else in the Province, only at the

Janeway here in St. John's.

They are getting a tremendous increase in referrals from guidance counsellors

throughout all of the schools in this Province, but he stated very clearly to me

the problem is the shortage that they encounter. They had a shortage of

audiologists two years ago, but he said it is more prevalent today and they are

in a very difficult situation.

I was advised that they did some testing last summer, but in the past twelve

months there has been very little done when it comes to the referrals that came

from the Department of Education. Yes, they were doing the work that was put

before them within the system, but, the special requests that were coming in,

they did very little over the past twelve months; however, I was advised, and we

appreciate it, that new equipment has been ordered and is on its way, that will

reduce the time limit to do this testing. Where a test now is probably three to

three-and-a-half hours, the time limit would be reduced and they would be able

to get more done; however, he felt that other centres should be set up to help

with this very serious situation.

At the present time, information is being compiled all around this Province

to find out how many individuals, how many young people, are affected and need

this special test to be done.

I was also told that approximately 99 per cent of the referrals that come in

from the outside are referrals from the Department of Education. I was also told

that there is an audiologist on staff at the School for the Deaf, but that

individual has been advised not to carry out any of this testing in relation to

the problems that many of our young people encounter.

I was also told that there are three vacancies at the Janeway at the present

time. One audiologist, apparently, is off on maternity leave, and there are two

vacancies. They are hoping to recruit two young individuals who will graduate

this year to come to the Janeway and help to alleviate this problem. If they do,

if they are successful, they will have a full staff and things should, I guess,

get back to normal in regards to the testing.

Mr. Chairman, the other comment that was made, it is very difficult to

attract individuals from outside of our Province because of the wage factor

those people are being paid. I have to say, apart from the comments that were

made today by the Premier, knowing that this is going to be looked into, all of

what I just mentioned is of very little consolation to the family in my district

from whence the call came and the Question Period today was built around.

Mr. Chairman, I had a call from the mother who told me that she had a

daughter who was presently in Grade 5. She checked with the Janeway and was told

that it would be three-and-a-half years before this testing could be done. She

was also advised by the staff at this particular school, the guidance counsellor,

that there was nothing else they could do really, from the Department of

Education's perspective, until this testing had been done.

To me, it is just terrible to know that there is a young individual out there

with a disability and it is going to take three and a half years that

student will possibly be in Grade 8 or Grade 9 before anything is done, to see

what can be done to assist that individual.

Mr. Speaker, how many other young people are affected the same way? To know

that their child has a problem and it is going to take such a long time to see

the proper number of people put in place so that this testing can be carried out

at an earlier date, and to make sure that something can be done to help them -

it is no disrespect to the people in the schools or the Department of Education

who are recommending this be done. That is the process they have to go through.

However, there is some, I guess, good consolation today to know that the Premier

has said he will step in here and see what can be done. I am sure, for those who

are listening, it will be a great word of encouragement to them, to know that

the time factor that is involved now may be reduced and something can be done to

help not only this child but many others around the Province.

Once the list is compiled and we know where all those students are from,

which centers they are from, I would suggest that government would go on the

recommendation of the individual who I spoke with, that this testing could be

set up on the West Coast and in Central Newfoundland as well as here in St. John's.

Apparently it is a tremendous burden to know and the doctors who are at the

Janeway feel sorry that they don't have the time to carry out this work on

behalf of the referrals that are coming from the Department of Education.

Mr. Speaker, seeing I am on the educational side of it and Budget time is

coming up, I guess I just want to mention an issue in regard to a couple of

schools in my own district. Hopefully there will be funding made available. I

have heard vibes that there may be some assistance coming. Just two years ago

there was an overcrowding problem at Coley's Point Primary, and I know the

school board and the Member for Grand Bank now, who was in with Avalon East

School District, attended the meeting where it was made very clear that due to

the overcrowding the Grade 4 students would have to be moved from Coley's

Point Primary to Amalgamated Academy, and in order for that to happen, new

classrooms had to be built onto Amalgamated Academy. Unfortunately, that did not

happen. The children were moved there last year. I guess through the difficult

times that they went through, the accommodations were made but I know they went

through a very difficult time. I am calling up on government - hopefully, this

is going to be announced in this year's Budget - that the renovations that

need to take place at Amalgamated Academy will take place.

The other issue with regards to the same two facilities is Coley's Point

Primary again. It is a wooden structure. I would say it is over forty years of

age. Really, that was where I was coming from yesterday when I asked the

Minister of Education about the safety and concerns, or if there are any within

the schools that we have today. We all know that everything cannot be corrected

at the one time, but I do know the consultant's report -

CHAIR: Order, please!

I remind the member that his time for speaking has expired.

MR. BUTLER: Just a few seconds to clue up?

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

CHAIR: By leave.

MR. BUTLER: I thank you for leave just to clue up. I am sure we will have

ample time to come back again.

With regards to the school at Coley's Point, the situation was that they

were deemed to have a new building constructed because of the old facility.

However, with the consultant's report, that report was null and void and today

we have a structure that is over forty years of age. That was one of the reasons

I asked the question yesterday to the Minister of Education: Has appropriate

fire inspections taken place in those buildings and everything deemed to be

appropriate, where we hear so much about in senior homes, hospitals, personal

care homes and so on?

With that, Mr. Chair, I thank you for the few seconds to clue up, and thank

you again.

CHAIR: The hon. the Member for Humber Valley.

SOME HON MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KELLY: Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Chair, what have I gotten myself into? I spent thirty years as a school

administrator, had to deal with discipline on a daily basis, I am opened up to

the task.

I am honoured to stand in this House of Assembly today as a newly elected

Member for the marvelous District of Humber Valley. The new district boundaries

include: Pasadena, Pynn's Brook, St. Jude's, Deer Lake, Reidville, Cormack,

Howley, Hampden, Beaches, Pollards Point, Sop's Arm and Jackson's Arm.

I am privileged to share the community of Pasadena with my good colleague,

Minister Marshall, who I have a lot of special respect and admiration for. I am

here because of the outstanding work of my campaign team whose tireless efforts

led to my victory on October 9. I sincerely thank them for their long hours and

dedicated efforts on my behalf.

I wish to thank the voters in the District of Humber Valley who placed their

confidence in me. Also, I was so fortunate to have the support of my wife,

Christine, and my family. I would like to acknowledge that my wife and my mother

are here in the gallery today. Thank you for coming.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KELLY: The District of Humber Valley is unique in many ways and has

immense economic potential. The region is fortunate to have broad economic

clusters that highlight the economic potential of the Humber Valley district.

These clusters include tourism, agriculture, forestry, mining, transportation,

and government services.

The tourism cluster is experiencing significant growth. Much of this growth

has been complemented by expansion at the Deer Lake Regional Airport. The Deer

Lake Regional Airport Authority officially opened the expanded facility in 2007,

marking less than three years since the organization decided to self finance the

$11.5 million project to double the terminal size and to make other

improvements. This airport terminal building is a state-of-the-art, comparable

in architectural detail and amenities to some of the best regional airports in

Canada. It truly is an asset to Western Newfoundland and the region it serves.

Not only is the current airport a significant economic employer, but the newly

expanded facility is an engine for economic growth.

Mr. Chair, in today's business

section of The Telegram , there is an

article on the Deer Lake Airport Authority and the significant contribution made

by outgoing Chairman Carl Stratton. Carl's contribution to this airport was

significant from day one. I strongly agree with the commentary by Jamie

Schwartz, the airport manager that Carl, " is resigning as chair at a

time when the airport is on solid ground and well positioned for future

success." Carl is to be commended for his foresight and leadership in

ensuring the airport grew into a more significant economic factor in the Humber

Valley region. I am very pleased that he will remain on to serve on the board of

directors.

Mr. Chair, the tourism industry is very significant to the economy of

Newfoundland and Labrador. In fact, one job in ten, globally, is connected to

the tourism industry. Our Province's unprecedented investment in the tourism

market is bringing dividends to the provincial economy. The tourism budget has

doubled in the last four years, and our government has reduced ferry rates which

will stimulate our tourism sector, but encourage tourists to see more of our

beautiful Province. It is so unfortunate that the federal government, through

Marine Atlantic, hasn't had the same foresight as our provincial government.

The tourism assets, in or near my district, are quite significant. The tourism

potential of Humber Valley is huge and work is being done to grow the industry

by many individuals involved in the tourism sector in Western Newfoundland.

The recent announcement of a new hotel facility in the Town of Deer Lake is

important in increasing the accommodation capacity in my district. The official

opening of the new Pasadena Ski Lodge, which Minister Marshall and I attended,

with nighttime cross-country skiing, came about as a result of significant

contributions from this government.

Since my election, I have had the pleasure of seeing more significant work

done to improve Sir Richard Squires Park, the brush cutting, roadside ditching,

campsite development, and dumping station are important improvements. Tourists

and local residents alike are amazed when they see the mighty Atlantic salmon

jump the falls.

Another cluster with growing economic significance is the agriculture-agrifood

sector in my district. There are a number of strawberry farms, dairy farms and

root crop farms in the Humber Valley. The Humber Valley Fall Fair is held every

September to showcase the diversity in my district. The government has provided

a $4 million fund for new agriculture and agrifoods development to support this

industry in our Province.

Historically, forestry has been a very significant economic cluster in my

district. My great-grandfather and grandfather moved to Howley in 1924 to

continue their careers in logging, having moved from Millertown. Prior to Howley,

they had been loggers in the A&D Company. My family has been involved, when

the bucksaw was an innovation over the crosscut. This little fellow from Howley

is very proud of his hometown roots. Modern logging has changed significantly

and technology has removed much of the human resource from the industry.

However, logging is still important throughout my district and it is comforting

to know that this government is committed to supporting an industry that is

still so vital to so many individuals and families in our great Province.

Mr. Chair, the government has invested $15 million through the provincial

silviculture program to ensure responsible management of the forest resource and

in the past two years has allocated an additional $7 million to construct 140

kilometers of new forest resource roads.

In the mining industry, exploration work is planned in oil, uranium and

precious metals in my district.

There are two fish plants located in Jackson's Arm. These plants are a

significant employer in the more rural parts of my district.

A significant economic cluster in my district is the provision of government

services. People are employed in health care, education, tourism, transportation

and other government services.

Mr. Chair, one of my primary roles as an MHA is to help individuals,

organizations and community councils with their issues. In my new role as MHA, I

want to make sure I am a strong voice for the people of Humber Valley.

Mr. Chair, the completion of the Nicholsville Bridge highlights $2.5 million

worth of transportation improvement slated for Humber Valley this summer. This

is part of the provincial government's $73 million roads program. Government

promised the people of Nicholsville a new bridge, they have been patient, and I

am proud this government is delivering on that commitment.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KELLY: Other work slated for the Humber Valley is the upgrading and

repaving of Route 420, Sop's Arm to Jackson's Arm.

Mr. Chair, I look forward to working with municipal councils and local

service districts in the next four years. I feel my background in municipal

government will be an asset in working with these organizations. I was elected

for three terms as a municipal councillor and recently resigned as mayor of Deer

Lake to enter provincial politics. My municipal experience included Western

Director with both the Municipal Assessment Agency and Municipalities

Newfoundland and Labrador.

Minister Denine has met with several councils in my district and I look

forward to working with the minister and government on the concerns of

municipalities.

Mr. Chair, I would like to acknowledge some of the positive work that this

government has done to support health care in our Province. This has included

new MRI machines, new long-term care facilities, funding for mental health

addictions, new vaccines, insulin pumps and improved dental care programs for

children.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KELLY: The addition of new drugs for cancer and Alzheimer patients,

as well as $4 million to add services for families of individuals with

disabilities is significant. Given the current demographics of our Province,

health care will continue to be a challenge and I look forward to working with

our government to find solutions to the challenges of today and tomorrow.

Mr. Chair, I am extremely proud to have been elected to the government with

such a strong record of achievement and success. Not only has the government

invested strategically to grow the provincial economy, but it has developed and

implemented an $11 million Poverty Reduction Strategy plan.

I was a school administrator in this Province for thirty years, and left at a

time when our education budget exceeded $1 billion, despite a significant

reduction in the student enrolment. Enrolment was 166,000 students in the 1970s,

and today we are in the 70,000 students range. Being a school administrator, I

witnessed poverty first-hand, and I applaud the efforts of this government to

assist low-income families.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KELLY: The elimination of school fees at a cost of $6.3 million was

quite significant. When I started teaching in 1977, the policy was free

textbooks from K-8. When I retired from teaching in 2007, the policy was still

free textbooks from K-8. I am so proud that this government has allocated $12.8

million to provide free textbooks from K-12 this school year.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KELLY: Too often I saw students making choices about which courses

they would take based on the cost of a textbook. This became particularly

evident when textbooks for a course changed and they could no longer get

second-hand textbooks.

Government has also made it much easier for high school students to attend

post-secondary education by freezing tuition fees. They have made it easier for

parents by reducing the parental contribution required from middle- and

low-income families.

At this time, I would like to congratulate the Minister of Education on the

new staffing allocation she announced for our schools yesterday. Well done,

Minister.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KELLY: Mr. Chair, in this modern age of technology, I am excited that

the government has made a significant investment to bring broadband to more

rural communities and to increase the competitiveness of our Province.

I would like to congratulate the Premier on his recent announcement that

Minister Hedderson will be responsible for working with the not-for-profit

sector. Volunteers play a significant role in the social, cultural and economic

development of the communities in my district. They are involved with sporting

groups, town councils, library boards, fire departments, festivals and events,

museums, zonal boards, church groups and service clubs. The contribution they

make is quite significant to the district and to this Province as a whole.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KELLY: A new group of volunteers in my district was recently involved

in restoring the Ford House in Jackson's Arm. Diane Curtis and her committee

recently used CEP funding to repair the roof and do renovations to this historic

home. The home is completely furnished, maintaining its historic character, and

still has three chamber pots by the bed upstairs. I didn't try to sit in one.

It will be a real treat for the community and tourists to observe early life

in a fishing community in our Province. I was so pleased to help this group with

initial funding for this very worthwhile cultural endeavour.

In conclusion, Mr. Chair, I appreciate the opportunity to address this House

today. On reflection, it is quite clear to me that the Danny Williams led

government has done an outstanding job in this Province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KELLY: This support was clearly demonstrated by the electorate on

October 9. Again, I am so grateful and humbled by the support I received from my

supporters in the District of Humber Valley. It is quite clear to me that this

government has not abrogated its responsibilities socially or economically. I am

confident that this team will further its economic and social agenda for the

benefits of all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

I would like to thank my colleagues in the House of Assembly, and their

support staff, for the encouragement that they have given me over the past five

months. This has allowed my transition to be so much smoother, and I am so very

grateful.

To my constituents, I will work diligently on your behalf over the next four

years on the issues you have brought to me. I look forward to continued

improvements in the lives of the residents of Humber Valley.

I am so proud to be a part of the Humber team with the Premier, Minister

Marshall, and my colleague Terry Loder, representing the Bay of Islands. I am

confident that we will continue to support tourism and the other economic

clusters that I have identified in this region and in the Province. With this

team, the hum on the Humber will never be stronger.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KELLY: I am excited about the opportunity to participate in the

management and growth of our beloved Province, Newfoundland and Labrador. I am

confident that the direction of our leader, Premier Williams, and his team, will

result in long-term sustainable benefits for the people of this great Province.

I fully recognize that challenges currently exist, and more are on the

horizon, but I do solemnly believe that the current government will continue to

meet and exceed the expectations of the people in this Province.

It has been a pleasure to address this House today, and I look forward to

making a contribution to my district and to the people of Newfoundland and

Labrador.

In the words of Henry Ford: If everyone is moving forward together, then the

success takes care of itself.

Colleagues, let's move forward together.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

CHAIR: The hon. the Member for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi.

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

I am happy to be able to stand again in the Committee of the Whole and speak

to the bill that is before us, the bill that allows Interim Supply so that the

government can go on after March 31 when the current Budget comes to an end. It

is very important that we do this. It is also a sign, though, that once again

our Budget is coming out in April. One would hope we could have an earlier

Budget, but that won't stop us from moving on.

I noted that when the Minister of Finance introduced the bill on the first

day that we started discussing it, he looked at the Budget that is coming to an

end on March 31 and pointed out things that he saw as being high points of that

Budget. I have to say that at the time I thought we were only getting part of a

picture.

One of the things that is in the current Budget that is coming to an end, and

that the minister spoke to, was the issue around taxation, and how people had

benefited from the decisions that were in the current Budget. He did talk about

tax benefits, and I am sure some of those benefits did benefit low-income people

and seniors, there is no doubt about that; however, what he did not talk about,

which was a bigger issue I think, was the tax cuts that were in the Budget that

is now coming to a close on March 31.

There is no wonder that he did not speak to the tax cuts, because when one

looks at the reality of those tax cuts I do not think it is something that we

should be happy with. When one takes the statistics from the Canada Revenue

Agency and looks at the tax cuts that were in our provincial government's

Budget for 2007-2008, and you take that information and graph it on a per

capital basis, what we find is pretty startling. It turns out that over half of

the taxpayers in this Province benefited from only 12 per cent of the tax cuts,

over half, and one-eighth of the taxpayers of this Province benefited from 43.6

per cent of the cuts. In other words, people on the extreme low end got precious

little and people on the upper end got quite a bit. I will put it in real

figures, Mr. Chair, that an individual on the very end of the taxpaying scale

actually made $15.19 this year because of the tax cuts;

whereas an individual at

the top end of the scale made $12,536 because of the tax cuts.

Now, I do not have a problem with tax cuts if the tax cuts are benefiting the

people who really need them. When I look at the tax cuts that were done by this

government in the current Budget that is coming to an end, I see that it did not

benefit those who really needed it. Some people in the middle got a little bit

of help, but again it was just a small amount of help in real terms and was no

help in comparison to what people at the top end got.

I am concerned as we are waiting for a new Budget and the minister is

finalizing that Budget. We will probably have to wait another month for it. I

hope that, in the time he is taking to put that Budget together, he will reflect

on these figures which are the real figures of what happened with the tax cuts

in this year's Budget. I would ask him, if he still considers that a tax cut

is necessary, that he realize who it is really necessary for, because the 12.7

per cent of people at the top end of the scale do not need the tax cut. If tax

cuts are only going to benefit those people who do not need it let's not do

them, let's find another way to help the people who need help, or if we are

going to use tax cuts, then do it in a way that is really going to help the

people in the middle and from them down, because they are the ones who really

need the help.

I agree with helping people in the middle income downward, but let's find a

way to do it that is really going to help them. I really do not think that it is

fair when I look at this that somebody who is at the low end of the scale can

say, oh my goodness, I might get an extra feed of fish and chips from Ches's

this year because of $15.19 that I made on the tax cut, while somebody else can

look at it and say, oh, we might get a dinner every week this year, an extra

dinner at one of the most expensive restaurants in St. John's with the tax

break we are making.

Let's think about it. Let's think about the imbalance in this system of

tax cuts. If the minister really wants to think about what is going to help then

think about some of the fees that are there or some of the extra taxes that are

there for people that are really adding to the burden that is on them, if we

want to help people in the middle to low income group.

Let's look at things like the tax on insurance, and I will not get tired of

bringing this one up because it is a tax that should not exist. It is a tax that

other provinces realize is not needed and should not exist. This levy that our

Province puts on insurance has to end. If we really want to help the people in

low income and up to middle or middle down, then let's do it where it is

really going to help them. Fifteen dollars from a tax cut is not it, but the

amount of money that could be saved on the insurance on one's house, that is a

lot. The amount of money that could be saved on the insurance on one's car,

that is a lot. It is a heck of a lot more than $15.

I am asking the minister to think about that as he is putting his new budget

together. He is taking the time to do that Budget, that is why we are here today

having this discussion, and I would certainly hope that he will give serious

consideration to doing a bit better than the last one. If we are really going to

talk about fees, as he did when he opened up this discussion and how the cutting

back on some fees really helped, let's look at the fees that are really going

to help. The first one I wanted to really push is that levy on insurance that we

don't need. That's a real difficulty for people; that is an added burden

that they don't need.

Let's look at another one, another tax that could help. I know that anytime

I have raised this it has been pooh-poohed but I am going to keep raising it,

and that is the tax on home heating fuel, no matter what the home heating fuel

is. To remove that tax, I know in the big scheme - I've heard it said by the

minister and by others on the other side of the House, if we can still use that

term in this sitting of the House, I have heard it said, oh, it's not that

much, it really won't help that much. You know what, removing the tax on home

heating fuel will help a lot more than that tax cut that gave somebody with

$11,000 an extra $15 in their pocket. They are paying that much on probably one

amount of oil for their furnace. It will help, and if we want to balance it out

and make it equitable, then you add the extra rebate for low income people on

top of that.

The Province as a whole is benefiting from the income from the oil production

in this Province. The Province as a whole, through the government, is benefiting

from the tremendous price that one gets now for a barrel of oil. The Province as

a whole is benefiting, but you know individuals want to benefit also and that

$15 a year for a person earning $11,000 is not much of a benefit. It is not much

of a benefit, so let's look at where we can benefit. Let's make sure that

the revenue coming in from the oil production is benefiting the individuals as

well; individuals who really need it.

CHAIR: Order, please! Order, please!

The member's time for speaking has lapsed.

MS MICHAEL: Could I just round it up then?

CHAIR: Leave to clue up?

AN HON. MEMBER: Yes.

MR. SPEAKER: By leave.

MS MICHAEL: Thank you.

I won't go into new points, Mr. Chair. I had other points but I might get

another chance to make some of these points. I will say, though, in rounding out

what I have been saying, that I am asking the Minister of Finance, as he takes

time to finish his Budget, to really look at things in his Budget that are going

to make a real difference in the pocket of people. If this government is really

concerned about poverty reduction, it has to remember that putting real money in

people's hands, in the hands of low income people, is where we have to go, and

that there are many measures hands, in the hands of low-income people is where

we have to go. There are many measures that can be done to do that, that they

have not contemplated yet, and I encourage the minister to do that.

Thank you.

CHAIR (Collins): The hon. the Member for Ferryland.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HUTCHINGS: Thank you, Mr. Chair.

It is a pleasure to stand in the House today to speak to Bill 2, Interim

Supply, to defray certain expenses. Before I do that, Mr. Chair, I would just

like to take a moment to congratulate some of my colleagues on their maiden

speeches, my colleague, the MHA from Lewisporte, my colleague from Humber

Valley, as well my colleague from Mount Pearl North. Welcome to the House.

The Member for Mount Pearl North, I had an opportunity a number of years ago

to work together with him in a volunteer capacity, Big Brothers Big Sisters and

he certainly has a strong background in volunteerism and in many facets of

working with people in our society. So, I certainly welcome working with him

over the next few years.

Mr. Chair, I want to take a few moments, just a little leeway here, to speak

to the residents of Ferryland district and say a special thank you to them for

re-electing me in October. I, myself, have just been sitting in this Assembly

for one year, and that was last February when I was elected. Certainly, a strong

mandate again in October for my candidacy but more importantly, I guess, or

bigger was the support for this government for the initiatives they are pursuing

and for the leadership of Premier Williams and the direction this Province is

going in, the plan that this government has directed. Certainly, they gave

strong support as we move forward over the next four years. Mr. Chair, a number

of initiatives, obviously, over the past number of years that this government

has committed to, just a few we look at in terms of health care, education,

roads infrastructure, communications, just to name a few.

When I was campaigning I wanted to note that with the electoral boundaries

change last year before the October election, I had the honour of picking up,

expanding my district. Actually, the community of St. Shotts in the southern

part of my district on the Southern Avalon, and had the opportunity last summer

to visit there with the MHA for Placentia & St. Mary's who was the member

at the time. We happened to visit there over the summer at St. Shotts Come Home

Year, a tremendous event. I had the opportunity to meet a lot of people there.

Then in the fall to meet with everybody in the community, certainly going door

to door, and since then have worked on a number of initiatives with them and

look forward to working with them in years to come.

As well, the electoral boundary changes resulted, I guess, in the northern

end of my district - some changes as well, where we saw a bigger part of the

Goulds become part of the Ferryland District. My colleague, the hon. John Dinn,

the MHA for Kilbride now, has a strong background, a strong history in municipal

politics. He was well-known in the region. I even had to convince some people at

the doors I knocked on that they could not vote for John Dinn, that they

actually had to vote for me. So, that was one of the challenges I had, but I

certainly look forward to working with those new residents of the Goulds which

became part of my district. Again, there will be a number of issues that we will

work on as we move forward.

Mr. Chair, a couple of items I wanted to talk to that highlight, I guess,

investments of this government and two of them are road infrastructure and

information technology. This government has made tremendous investments in both.

To highlight that, I will just revert to a conversation I had with a gentleman

from St. Shotts, actually, who operates a nursery sod farm. It is doing very

well. It has 100 acres. Obviously, he is involved with transportation, moving

his product in and out of the Southern Avalon and all of those challenges to go

with it, but he is doing well, employing six to eight people over the

summertime. We had a conversation. I had met with the annual general meeting of

the Southern Avalon Development Association. We were meeting outside and we

spoke of rural Newfoundland, where we needed to go, what the challenges were,

because there are challenges no doubt, what this government is doing and what it

needed to do. I guess