Newfoundland and Labrador Hansard — Members' Statements; Statements by Ministers — 5 May 2010 (46th General Assembly, 3rd Session, Vol. XLVI No. 16)
2010-05-05
Newfoundland and Labrador — Debates (Hansard)
May 5,
2010 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS
Vol. XLVI No. 16
The House met at 2:00 p.m.
MR. SPEAKER (Fitzgerald): Order, please!
Admit strangers.
Today the Chair would like to welcome Futures in Newfoundland and Labrador
Youth to the House of Assembly. The members are Greg Knott, Brian Ash, Jan Reid,
Kate MacDonald and Anthea Allen, Jessica Clowe, Amanda Lush and John Mercer.
Welcome to the House of Assembly.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
Statements by Members
MR. SPEAKER: The following members' statements will be heard: the hon.
the Member for the District of Topsail, the hon. the Member for the District of
The Straits & White Bay North, and the hon. the Member for the District of St.
John's East.
The hon. the Member for the District of Topsail.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. DAVIS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in this hon. House today to recognize eight individuals
who have completed the requirements for the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award. From
Conception Bay South: Mr. Andrew Abbott, Ms Amanda Burry, Mr. Stephen Burry, Ms
Sarah Fagan, Ms Stephanie LeDrew and Ms Laura Power. From Paradise: Mr. Michael
dependent on the youth participating in the following: providing a service to
others, expeditions and explorations, specific skill development and physical
fitness.
The Duke of Edinburgh Program provides the youth of our Province the
opportunity reach their full potential. We are very fortunate to have youth in
our Province who strive to reach their goals. Their determination and dedication
sets a positive example for all youth in our Province, in that anything they set
their mind to they can accomplish. They are truly an inspiration.
With programs and opportunities like the Duke of Edinburgh there are no
limits on what youth can accomplish when they are supported.
Mr. Speaker, I ask all hon. members to join me in congratulating these award
recipients and wish them well for the future.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of The Straits & White
Bay North.
MR. DEAN: Mr. Speaker, I rise in this House today to congratulate
participants of the Northern Region High School Drama Festival which was held a
short time ago. Four plays were performed onstage, three of which by students of
my district and many awards were presented, recognizing the student's talents,
hard work and dedication to drama in the region.
From Bayview Regional Collegiate, Eli Pilgrim won for Best Male Actor, Viki
Burden received an award for her outstanding performance and Jeff Patey received
honourable mention for his performance as well.
From Canon Richards High School, Staci LaValle received the award for Best
Supporting Female Actor, Chelsea Patey won for her outstanding performance and
Robyn Moores received honourable mention. Canon Richards was also the recipient
of the Best Sound and Best Lights awards.
As well, Mr. Speaker, from Harriot Curtis Collegiate, Kathryn O'Reilly was
awarded Best Supporting Female Actor, Chelsea Patey was recognized for her
outstanding performance and Kimi Green received honourable mention.
Mr. Speaker, I ask all members of this House to join with me today in
congratulating these students for their remarkable contribution to drama in this
Province and to show appreciation for the teachers who work tirelessly with them
in showcasing their talents.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
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.
This past February, the Newfoundland and Labrador Youth Parliament celebrated
its fiftieth anniversary. During their session, delegates aged fifteen to
twenty-three came from across the Province and were assigned a provincial riding
to represent. The session's government introduced resolutions on various issues
which were critiqued by the Opposition, and debated and voted on by the members.
One of the features of youth parliament, Mr. Speaker, is that even though
they are assigned to various parties they are not required to go along party
lines, and essentially it is an opportunity to express their opinions as they
see fit. Individual members were also given a chance to present their own
resolutions and vote on both serious and lighthearted topics.
The Newfoundland and Labrador Youth Parliament first met in 1960 as the Older
Boys' Parliament of Newfoundland. In 1967, the name was changed to Newfoundland
Youth Parliament to accommodate girls being permitted to sit as members, and
this was the first time in Canada that this had happened.
Youth Parliament offers the youth of Newfoundland and Labrador a unique
opportunity to become actively involved in the parliamentary process and opens
many doors to those who attend. Many youth parliamentarians have gone on to
become successful in their professional lives, some have sat in the House of
Assembly and many work in the provincial government.
Mr. Speaker, Youth Parliament offers youth a chance to learn how the
parliamentary system works and they are given the opportunity to offer their
ideas in a forum where their voices can be heard and possibly influence change,
as the result of each Youth Parliament is sent on to the government.
Mr. Speaker, it has been my privilege to sit in on a few sessions of Youth
Parliament over the last few years. It is encouraging and inspiring to see these
young people debate the issues presented, engage in the thrust and parry of
parliament, and while keeping their composure and wits about them.
Mr. Speaker, I ask all members of this hon. House to join with me in
congratulating Newfoundland and Labrador Youth Parliament on fifty years of
operation. I do however leave you with a word of warning. Look over your
shoulder, they are gaining fast!
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: Statements by Ministers.
Statements by Ministers
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. DENINE: Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House of Assembly today to
acknowledge May 2-8 as Emergency Preparedness Week in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Recent events across the globe have heightened our awareness to the fact
emergencies can happen at any time, anywhere, without any notice. However, we
can look at our own communities across this Province for positive examples of
how residents have learned that preparation is the key.
Earlier this year, a number of communities throughout the Bonavista and
Trinity Bay areas were impacted by an ice storm, resulting in downed power lines
and treacherous travelling conditions. While the municipalities worked in
conjunction with the local emergency responders and Newfoundland Power officials
to supply the power to community reception centres and eventually restored
electricity, able-bodied residents showed that they were well prepared to take
care of themselves until the necessary repairs were made. As communities across
the Province continue to look at ways regional co-operation can assist in
emergency planning, residents need to look at their own level of preparedness.
Emergency Preparedness Week is an opportune time for all residents to ensure
that they are prepared for the many emergency situations that can arise. While
Emergency Preparedness is a shared responsibility among all levels of
government, being ready for the potential challenges truly begins at home.
This week is designed to heighten awareness and encourage Newfoundlanders and
Labradorians to take concrete action. Everyone, Mr. Speaker, should be ready to
cope on their own for at least the first seventy-two hours, to allow the first
responders to help those in urgent need and residents are encouraged to follow
three simple steps: know the risks in your region, make an emergency plan, and
assemble an emergency kit.
There will be a number of opportunities this week throughout the Province to
learn more about what you can do to help prepare yourselves and your family for
emergency situations. I encourage families to make it an event take advantage
of the information and work together to develop their own emergency kit.
Disasters can strike at any time, but hopefully planning for the
possibilities will help the residents meet their immediate needs during an
emergency and assist in speedy recovery.
Mr. Speaker, residents, in order to get prepared, can visit two Web sites
within the government Web site: www.gov.ca/fes and www.epweek.ca.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of The Straits & White
Bay North.
MR. DEAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
First of all I would like to thank the minister for an advance copy of his
statement. Being prepared for an emergency is always wise; it is always an
important exercise that we should go through. Having a week of awareness to
focus the public on this issue is very important to the people of our Province.
We take so much for granted in life and our lives are so busy that it is easy
to forget about being prepared for an emergency. This week should prompt all of
us to think about the risk of any emergency as well as the emergency plan, the
resources that we might need and so on.
Emergencies can happen anywhere and any time. Here in Newfoundland, where our
weather can be severe and our geography diverse, it poses even more of a risk to
our citizens. Living up on the Northern Peninsula, the type of outdoor life that
we enjoy is not only treacherous just during the winter months but we are
involved in fishing and skidooing in the winter, logging activities and so on,
then emergency preparedness is very important.
I would be remiss if I did not say that we have enjoyed a part of that
emergency preparedness in having our air ambulance there for the last fifty-five
years. We will miss that and so on, but again to the point that emergency
preparedness is very necessary. Yes, even having things like bottled water
available might help you in that situation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of Signal Hill-Quidi
Vidi.
MS MICHAEL: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
I, too, thank the minister for the copy of his statement. I am very happy to
acknowledge, along with the minister, the Emergency Preparedness Week; it is an
extremely important time of raising awareness. I encourage all communities,
organizations, individuals and families to look at the measures that are being
suggested by the minister to help them in time of emergency.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
The Chair is having difficulty hearing the hon. the Member for the District
of Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi.
The hon. the Member for the District of Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi.
MS MICHAEL: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
I would like to point out to the minister as well that there are emergencies
of a less catastrophic nature than some of the ones he has talked about. They
are emergencies that sometimes require being able to call for emergency help;
thus, I am bringing up the issue of our lack of universal 911 services in this
Province.
In 2006, the Auditor General highlighted the lack of a 911 service in this
Province and we know that we are the only Province in Atlantic Canada without
province-wide coverage. We have been listening now for over two years. We are
being told that studies are being done and we are still waiting. So, part of
emergency preparedness for the whole Province, Mr. Speaker, will be getting 911
in place as soon as possible.
Thank you very much.
MR. SPEAKER: Further statements by ministers?
The hon. the Minister of Human Resources, Labour and Employment.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MS SULLIVAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to inform this hon. House about the great success
of one our government's initiatives aimed at making Newfoundland and Labrador a
Province of choice for our young people to live and work.
As part of our Youth Retention and Attraction Strategy, the Williams
government recently committed $60,000 to help expose the Province's youth to the
diverse cultures, traditions, and employment opportunities available to them in
Labrador.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MS SULLIVAN: Mr. Speaker, we understand that the most effective way to
understand diverse cultures is to share space', and with that knowledge,
earlier this month, twenty-four young people from the Island spent five days in
Happy Valley-Goose Bay talking to Aboriginal elders, learning Inuktitut, taking
survival instruction, visiting nearby communities such as Sheshatshiu and going
on outdoor adventures.
These young people not only experienced the history and culture of Labrador
first-hand, but they were also exposed to its present economic success and
future potential as a result of attending presentations by Nalcor, the Iron Ore
Company of Canada and Aurora Energy.
Mr. Speaker, to quote one of the youth participants, "Experience Labrador was
amazingthe trip, the people, everything about it. I couldn't ask for a better
experience, and I now know that there are many more amazing opportunities and
things to see."
Mr. Speaker, this government considers investments in our youth a key
priority and this focus is a provincial one, not just here on the Island. I am
sure I speak for my colleagues, the Minister of Labrador Affairs and the
Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, when I say that it is extremely important for
our next generation of leaders and entrepreneurs to know that Labrador is a
place where you can build your career and follow your dreams.
This trip was organized by the many enthusiastic employees of Futures In
Newfoundland and Labrador Youth, known as FINALY. They strive to provide
participants with rewarding experiences and awareness of future opportunities
for employment across the Province.
This government's commitment to FINALY is another example of how we are
creating a Province of choice for young people here in Newfoundland and
Labrador.
Mr. Speaker, in closing, I encourage all members of the hon. House to stay
tuned for future initiatives aimed at ensuring we have the solid foundation we
need to attract and retain young skilled workers, as we continue our future
growth and prosperity in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of Port de Grave.
MR. BUTLER: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I want to thank the minister for an advance copy of her statement and to say
that we agree, this is a great initiative, one that we hope will provide our
young people with the opportunity and an incentive to stay right here and find
employment in the great Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. To know that this
is a part of the Youth Retention and Attraction Strategy, I think it is
wonderful that they learn about the opportunities that are available in
Labrador. As many members reference here from time to time, their future life,
in my future life I had the opportunity to work in Wabush one time with Scully
Mine, and I know what the Big Land is like and, hopefully, one of those days I
will get the opportunity to visit the full coast.
Mr. Speaker, those young people, like they stated with regard to Experience
Labrador, it was an amazing trip and they saw the amazing opportunities that are
available. I guess we all know the famous Harry Martin, how he sings of the
virtues of the Big Land, and I think in his song it says it all.
I join the minister, the two ministers for Labrador and my colleague, the
Leader of the Official Opposition, in saying that we know there are tremendous
opportunities in Labrador for future generations. We hope to see the investment
continue with the Experience Labrador program and it is a wonderful way to
educate our young people and to be able to find good paying jobs right here in
our Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of Signal Hill-Quidi
Vidi.
MS MICHAEL: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
I, too, thank the minister for the advance copy of her statement.
I am very pleased to learn about this great initiative. The youth retention
strategy, using initiatives like this one and the others that they have, really
has the potential to be an excellent opportunity for the young people of the
Province. It also is good for the government to get involved in initiatives like
this because I think it gives the government, as well, an awareness through the
eyes of the young people what it is that we need here in the Province to help
them with regard to the retention issues.
We also have to remember that we have many students out there with $50,000 to
60,000 debt loads and they are having trouble surviving in the Province, and we
are losing some to out-migration. Recent polls have indicated that
Newfoundlanders and Labradorians would like to see a continued reduction of the
cost of post-secondary education until it is eliminated. So I do encourage the
government to continue looking at the issue of moving towards not having any
post-secondary tuition fees in this Province, as has happened in other parts of
the world.
I was glad to hear today in the Estimates meeting, Mr. Speaker, that the
government is going to be increasing the number of internships within
departments and agencies in government. I think that is a real move in the right
direction, and I encourage government to continue looking for ways, even through
the government departments and agencies, to help graduates to find work and find
the training that they need.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER: Further statements by ministers?
The hon. the Minister of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SKINNER: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, as a government, we like innovators. Innovators are catalysts
for strong and diverse economies. They have the ability to introduce new ways of
doing things, to increase competitiveness, and to improve productivity across
traditional and knowledge-based industries.
Newfoundland and Labrador has the ingredients to be an incubator for
innovators. It is home to world-class research and academic institutions and to
private sector enterprises rich with an entrepreneurial spirit. In an effort to
support innovators and foster an environment that encourages greater levels of
innovation, the provincial government has embarked on an aggressive course of
action.
At the heart of our approach was the 2006 release of the four-year $20
million innovation strategy entitled, Innovation Newfoundland and Labrador: A
Blueprint for Prosperity. This strategy laid the framework for a broad range of
initiatives geared towards increasing the Province's communications capacity,
establishing the Research and Development Corporation, developing a five-year
strategy focused on stimulating growth of the ocean technology sector, and by
creating a genetics research facility at Memorial University.
Through the innovation strategy's two funding programs the
Commercialization and Innovation Enhancement program the provincial government
has invested in organizations and small businesses in a variety of sectors,
including life sciences, biotechnology, and information and communications
technologies.
Examples of these investments have included $225,000 in Smart Labrador to
collect and record traditional knowledge in a digital format; $100,000 for the
purchase of testing equipment at the College of the North Atlantic in Port aux
Basques - testing that measures the strength of materials in the automotive,
aerospace and construction industries; and most recently, Mr. Speaker, $500,000
in Dynamic Air Shelters to increase its ability to satisfy requirements of its
industrial customers.
The voice of the advanced technology sector the Newfoundland and Labrador
Association of Technology Industries described the programs as adding value and
enhancing business opportunities. Additionally, the strategy laid the starting
point for important partnerships between the provincial government and industry
to emerge partnerships that assist industry to achieve its goals.
To ensure that the momentum garnered over the last four years continues, the
Department of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development is currently reviewing the
programs and examining potential areas of focus that may be targeted in the
future. This process will include valuable dialogue with industry, research and
educational institutions, and government partners to identify opportunities for
improvements and our next steps.
Mr. Speaker, capturing the input of our partners will allow for a renewed
strategy one that furthers the success achieved in its first four years well
into the next decade.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of The Straits & White
Bay North.
MR. DEAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I would like to thank the minister for an advance copy of his statement.
Certainly, recognize the importance of government being in favour of innovation
and supporting those who are involved in it any way they can. As he mentions,
Smart Labrador in particular, seeing some of the advancements that they have
done and the successes they have had is a great thing.
Innovation comes from a person who has an idea and a different way of
addressing a problem, basically. Today's innovators most often come from today's
students who are tinkering and dreaming and who eventually bring that to
fruition and make it something of a reality. Thomas Edison, one of the twentieth
century's greatest innovators said that innovation is 1 per cent inspiration and
is 99 per cent perspiration. That certainly would bear true.
If government wants to foster innovation, then I would suggest it needs to
ensure that the people have every opportunity to develop their skills and an
innovative outlook. In that regard, I would suggest to the Minister of Education
that it is important that our schools continue to offer that to our children and
that we give them an exciting, interesting and stimulating educational
environment. I am sure that we will see much innovation in years to come.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of Signal Hill-Quidi
Vidi.
MS MICHAEL: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
I, too, thank the minister for the advance copy of his statement. I am going
to make one point; people may not understand why we say that all the time. The
ministers do not have to give us the advance copies and we appreciate getting
them. I also appreciate having this update from the minister on the innovation
strategy and the actions to promote competitiveness and innovation. I am glad to
see important investments in the areas that he has talked about, the
communications technology, testing equipment and other examples of advance
technology.
I say to the minister, I would also like to see a more aggressive course of
action to promote innovation in value-added production based on our resources in
forestry and fishery. We need research and development to find better ways to
to expand broadband in rural areas. How are innovators in rural Newfoundland and
Labrador supposed to thrive when they are hamstrung by this government's failure
to live up to their commitment to provide broadband to all areas? This is a
crucial component in the future of the Province and I hope that we are going to
hear more word from the government on it, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you.
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, earlier today the Minister of Health launched into another
tirade against the Province's doctors, even dismissing a letter from their
association asking to get back to the negotiating table and to find a solution
to the current impasse.
Mr. Speaker, adding comments like Mr. Ritter is publicly challenging the
Premier. Mr. Speaker, we all know that Mr. Ritter is representing the doctors of
this Province. The minister went on to say that Mr. Ritter is trying to show
Danny who is boss.
Well, I say to the minister today: What kind of an attitude is this, and when
are you going to discontinue with your unprofessional behaviour and start
dealing with the doctors in this Province, work out a solution so that our
patients can have good care?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. KENNEDY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I always welcome the opportunity from the Leader of the Opposition to allow
me to put good news out there, and that is what I will do again today.
We currently, Mr. Speaker, have 1,075 physicians working in this Province,
more than we have ever had in the past. In fact, Mr. Speaker, the number has
increased significantly, at least by 18 per cent since 2003. Mr. Speaker, in the
last year we have had now - the number has increased, for example, by
thirty-three physicians in the last year. We have twenty-eight physicians coming
into the next graduating class who will practice in this Province.
Mr. Speaker, we have heard that the shortage of psychiatrists well, what we
have seen since 2003 is that the psychiatrists have increased in this Province
something from forty-five to sixty-eight. So, Mr. Speaker, there is a lot of
good news out there, something that we are doing, it is working. We are
recruiting and retaining physicians, Mr. Speaker. So with or without Mr. Ritter,
we will continue to do the same.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Opposition
MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The minister knows and the government opposite knows and they have said it on
more than one occasion, we have to pay big dollars to get the best expertise,
and that applies in the corporate world.
I say to you, Minister: Why doesn't it apply in the world of health care in
this Province where we need to keep doctors and we need to keep professional
services? I ask you today, Minister: Will you stop the nonsense that you have
been getting on with and settle this particular deal with the physicians in this
Province?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. KENNEDY: Yes, Mr. Speaker, I would say that if anyone knows about
nonsense it should be that person over there, and there is no excuse for the way
she gets on. We can see why she is at 6 per cent in the polls. I can only hope
that she is around for the next election, so good luck to the Liberals when you
elect your leader.
Mr. Speaker, in this Province right now we have a 24 per cent offer on the
table, another $79 million. When you look at the salaries of our physicians,
they range from up - there is one physician who makes as much as $1 million. We
have physicians, Mr. Speaker, who makes $450,000 - I am looking at a list -
$861,000.
So what we have, Mr. Speaker, is a situation where these individuals are well
paid. We recognize that they have to be well paid, but, Mr. Speaker, let me put
this to you, our recruitment and retention efforts are working and, despite the
babbling of the Leader of the Opposition, we will continue to do the things we
are doing and it is working.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
What the minister fails to point out is that there are many people in this
Province without a family physician. There are many areas of the Province
without psychiatric services. There are many people who are on a wait-list
today, I say to you, Minister, to get diagnostic testing done in this Province,
and what are you doing? You are the one who is babbling on in the public and in
the media.
Mr. Speaker, this morning the minister indicated that Mr. Ritter, the CEO or
the Executive Director of the Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association,
would be even unable to reach a deal.
I ask the minister today: Are you suggesting that Mr. Ritter will have to go
before you are prepared and your government is prepared to deal with the doctors
in this Province? Is that what you are saying, Minister?
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. KENNEDY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, what I am suggesting is quite simple. We have a 24 per cent
offer on the table, but it is not quite as simple as 24 per cent across the
board. What has to happen in order to attain Atlantic parity, some physicians
may get 10 per cent or 12 per cent; some others may get 32 per cent. So,
essentially, it is Mr. Ritter who will determine who is going to get what. All
we are saying is that we have seen nothing to date with the attitude displayed
by this individual, with his challenging ways, that he can reach a deal.
Now, I am pleased to say Minister Marshall has just pointed out to me -
that there will be a meeting between Minister Marshall and Dr. Lewis on Friday
morning and we are hoping that we can get a deal. Mr. Speaker, we cannot forget
what we have done. We have increased the size of the medical school from sixty
to eighty seats. We are offering retention bonuses and recruitment incentives
that are working. Mr. Speaker, what we are seeing are more doctors come to this
Province and stay with a 72 per cent retention rate of doctors graduating from
MUN (inaudible) -
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Mr. Speaker, it is obvious from the Minister of Health that it
is all about getting control for him and not about getting a deal. In fact, if
the Minister of Finance is wise at all, Mr. Speaker, he will keep him away from
the bargaining table and maybe they will be able to get a deal.
Mr. Speaker, at the press conference this morning, the Minister of Health
again attacked the psychiatrists in our Province and instead of addressing the
huge gaps that exist in our mental health services, the minister prefers to
launch into insults and attacks on this particular group of overworked and under
resourced professionals.
I ask the minister: Why are you continuing to attack the very people who are
trying to maintain stability in a system of health care that is filled with
holes?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. KENNEDY: Mr. Speaker, I did not launch into an attack on
psychiatrists. What I said today was that psychiatrists play a very important
role in our society, but they are not the only way that we go about dealing with
mental health. In fact, contrary to the information being put out by the Medical
Association, we have seen an increase in our psychiatrists since 2003 from
forty-three to sixty-eight.
Now, what I did indicate today that I think will be of significant interest
to members of this House is that we recognize the difficulty with recruiting and
retaining psychiatrists, for example, in Labrador and some of rural communities.
So, we are going to aggressively pursue now a Telehealth and telepsychiatry
project where we can look at having psychiatrists and counsellors provide
Telehealth service and hopefully that will alleviate some of the concern, Mr.
Speaker.
I have met recently with Dr. Ladha and Dr. Attwood. There is no launching of
a tirade against the psychiatrists. What we are simply saying is that we
recognize that there are still gaps, but we have gone a long way towards filling
the holes.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The minister knows that there are gaps in psychiatry in whole regions of this
Province. I say to you, Minister: At one point when there were actually
psychiatrists in Northern Newfoundland and Labrador, Telehealth was the system
they used to provide a lot of those services.
Mr. Speaker, in a new advertising campaign launched today by the government,
they tout the fact that Newfoundland and Labrador spends approximately $4,500
per person annually for health care services; the most money spent of any
Province on health care in the country.
Meanwhile, Mr. Speaker, the Canadian Consumer Health Index report also states
that Newfoundland and Labrador's per capita spending is perhaps the most glaring
case of throwing good money after bad in Canadian health care. They indicate
that Newfoundland and Labrador
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
MS JONES: - Mr. Speaker, is at the bottom of the pack when it comes to
providing
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
I ask the hon. member if she has a question, if she would pose it now.
MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
They indicate that Newfoundland and Labrador is at the bottom of the pack
when it comes to providing quality care.
I ask the minister today: Why are you not prepared to do a full review of the
health care system in this Province? Obviously, there is a problem.
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. KENNEDY: Mr. Speaker, this is a prime example of the Opposition
Leader again speaking out of both sides of her mouth. On the one hand we are not
spending enough money, give us a third airplane and spend money everywhere. On
the other hand we are spending too much money.
Mr. Speaker, the statistics show that we are spending $1 billion more than
when the Liberals were in power. Now, I will be the first to accept that we have
to look at whether or not that $2.7 billion is being spent as effectively and as
efficiently as possible. Mr. Speaker, let one thing be understood by the people
of this Province, we are spending the money, we are trying our best and we will
fix up this system.
Mr. Speaker, mental health and addictions is a prime example of the
significant investment by this government where we are trying to get out there,
not simply rely upon doctors but use community groups, use peer support groups
and to help people help themselves; $300,000 out in the hands of those community
groups goes a long way I am proud to say.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The minister knows it is not about spending more money; it is about spending
money properly. This is a government that has continued to do one-off deals in
health care and not deal with the real issues and do the reviews that are
required to provide a better service for the dollars that we are investing.
I say to you, Minister, at the Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association
information session this morning, doctors highlighted the major gaps that exist
in the Province's palliative care system. While there is some semblance of
service in St. John's, in rural areas - rural areas, once again I say to the
minister - there is a significant disadvantage.
I ask the minister: With an aging population base and aging family doctors
who administer this service, why has your government not developed a succession
plan to address this particular crisis?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. KENNEDY: Mr. Speaker, this is another example of the nonsense that
comes out of the mouth of the Leader of the Opposition on a daily basis. On the
one hand she is saying you are spending too much money, on the other hand you
are not spending enough money; give the doctors everything they want. Well, we
cannot do that without money.
The issue, Mr. Speaker, of health care in rural Newfoundland is one that we
are addressing. We have an aggressive infrastructure budget and we are dealing
with our infrastructure. For example, in all areas of this Province, be it Lab
West, Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Flower's Cove, Corner Brook, Grand Falls-Windsor,
Gander, the list goes on. Mr. Speaker, what we are also looking at is this whole
issue of our aging demographic and how we are best going to serve the needs of
these people. We will, as I have indicated in terms of our long-term care
strategy, engage in a consultation process in the upcoming months and hear what
people have to say.
We recognize, Mr. Speaker, that there have to be creative and innovative
solutions to the problems, but the fearmongering and scare tactics of the
Liberals will not work with us, Mr. Speaker. We will continue to do what we have
to do to spend money wisely.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Opposition House Leader.
MR. KELVIN PARSONS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The Minister of Education has indicated that he will be launching an external
review of the $5 million mistake related to the College of the North Atlantic in
Qatar. We have yet to hear anything about this review.
I ask the minister: Has a consultant been hired, what are the terms of
reference of this review, and when will it be completed?
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
The hon. the Minister of Education.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. KING: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
As the member opposite is fully aware, we announced about seven or eight days
ago we would do an external review, and I do not have the name of a consultant
to announce today. I will have that in a couple of days, and I will have a term
of reference and more information I can share.
I can tell the member opposite and members of the House that we are engaged
in discussions with the Qatari officials. Officials from my department,
officials from the college, and other government officials have been engaged,
and we have started collecting information and data that will be used to inform
and to facilitate the external review. At this point in time, Mr. Speaker, I do
not have all the information the member is asking, but at such a time that I do,
I will certainly provide it here to the House.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Opposition House Leader.
MR. KELVIN PARSONS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
There is significant confusion taking place related to the $5 million
overpayment at the college in Qatar. The more the minister speaks, the more he
seems to contradict himself. As reported in Qatar's Gulf Times , Enid
Strickland, the President of the College of the North Atlantic campus in Qatar,
she says the errors originated in this Province. Yet, as reported today, Mr.
Terry Styles, the Chair of the College of the North Atlantic, hand-picked by
this government, could not answer specific questions related to the problems.
I ask the minister, as stated by Ms Strickland: Is the lack of oversight here
in Newfoundland and Labrador what caused the problem in this case?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Education.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. KING: Mr. Speaker, for the benefit of members of the House, I am
having difficulty understanding the conclusion drawn by the member opposite that
comments made by Ms Strickland and Mr. Styles can be attributed to me not
knowing what I am talking about. I did not make the comments by either of those
two individuals. I have been very clear from day one in this House that the
action this government has taken has been very proactive.
I think the member opposite is fully aware as well by the press release
issued yesterday by the college, Mr. Speaker, that the college themselves
acknowledge it was their mistake. It was not a government mistake. They also
acknowledge, Mr. Speaker, that the action being taken by this Administration is
the appropriate action to try and determine exactly why the errors were made
and, more importantly, what has to be done to correct the problem.
Now I say to the member opposite, if he wants to spend his time reading
newspapers in other parts of the world: Go ahead, fill your boots. In this part
of the Province, Mr. Speaker, we spend our time focusing on local issues that
matter here in this Province.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Opposition House Leader.
MR. KELVIN PARSONS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
There is no doubt the reason for the confusion. We have Mr. Styles, the Chair
of CNA saying one thing, we have Ms Strickland the Chair over in Qatar saying
one thing, and we have the minister out saying something else. Yet, the only
person who knows the truth and is not allowed to speak is Ms Madill, because she
is muzzled by the government. So there is no reason, minister, why there is some
confusion out there.
Mr. Speaker, in his press release announcing that problems had been found the
minister stated, "I want to assure employees of the Qatar campus that they will
continue to receive their current salary for the remainder of their contract."
Meanwhile, Ms Strickland stated in the Gulf Times that new contracts had
been signed with the affected staff and the situation had been addressed.
I ask the minister: Which version of events is factual, your statements or Ms
Strickland's?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Education.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. KING: Mr. Speaker, let me remind the member opposite and members of
this House why exactly employees who have senior positions in government and in
the private sector, why exactly there is a confidentiality clause in contracts,
Mr. Speaker. It is because of the kinds of information that individuals deal
with. It is the kinds of personal and private information, Mr. Speaker, that
individuals deal with.
In the college system, for example, that employee will be dealing with
sensitive information around student information, family information, challenges
and issues that come before them on a daily basis. They would be charged, Mr.
Speaker, with securing all of this information in the performance of their duty
for the organization. They come about the information because they are under the
employ of the organization. That is why the confidentiality clause is there, Mr.
Speaker.
I say to the member opposite, he had no trouble in 2003, Mr. Speaker, when
the Minister of Fisheries and the Minister of Justice of the day had contracts
with confidentiality clauses in them for their senior officials.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Opposition House Leader.
MR. KELVIN PARSONS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I see we got a long ways there with that answer, figuring out who is telling
the truth, him or Ms Strickland. Anyway, we will leave that for another day.
Mr. Speaker, on Thursday the minister indicated that he may, may - he said
first he would not, but he said on Thursday in the scrum last week, he said: We
may look for repayment of monies that should not have been paid to staff in
Qatar. The Chair of the College of the North Atlantic, Mr. Terry Styles, says:
no action is likely to recover the cash.
Now I ask the minister: Why is Mr. Styles saying one thing and he saying the
opposite? Will we be attempting to recover the money that should not have been
paid or not?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Education.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. KING: Mr. Speaker, it is becoming very redundant to provide the same
answers to this House when the member opposite obviously has no interest in what
is happening with the College of the North Atlantic and has no interest in
protecting that college from what is happening here right now. The member is
more interested in going on and on and on and fabricating things.
Mr. Speaker, I have been very clear from day one, and what I have said is if
individuals have signed contracts and the contracts have been honoured then we
will honour those contracts. If individuals have been paid monies that they have
not been entitled to by contract, then they can expect that we will look for
repayment, Mr. Speaker, the same as we would do in any instance in this
Province.
I read the press release, Mr. Speaker. I have it right in front of me, and
Mr. Styles has said nothing different. He said in the press release, I could
quote it if you want me to: that the individuals who have contracts, and the
contracts were honoured by the college, will continue to be honoured. Mr.
Speaker, nothing different than I have been saying all along.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Opposition House Leader.
MR. KELVIN PARSONS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I say to the minister, the only thing we are interested in pursuing is the
truth and trying to get the facts out here rather than leaving the situation
muddled and fuddled as this minister continues to do.
Now, Mr. Speaker, last Tuesday the minister stated: It is only about a month
and a half ago when the former President of the College decided, without the
proper authority and authorization, to sign a one year extension to the current
contract in Qatar.
I ask the minister: What is the nature of this extension that you referenced?
When did you first find out about it, and what actions did you take as minister
once you were made aware of it?
Let's see if we can get some straight answers on this
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
The hon. the Minister of Education.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. KING: I say to the member opposite, if he would mind to sit back and
listen to what I am trying to say, Mr. Speaker, you will get straight answers.
The problem is not with the straight answers, it is getting straight questions
that are relevant to the issue at hand, I say to the member opposite.
Mr. Speaker, I made the statement in this House that in the context of
discussing the employment relationship and our relationship with the College of
the North Atlantic. I made the statement to demonstrate the question was asked
at that time about the relationship between this government and the College of
the North Atlantic and the kind of support, or lack of as the member opposite
suggested, that we have been providing.
Mr. Speaker, I talked about that issue in the context of demonstrating that
even in the face of adversarial or potentially adversarial situations, we have
been there to work with the College of the North Atlantic. I am pleased to say
to the member opposite I am sure he is not going to be pleased to hear this -
I met with the College of the North Atlantic board of directors only two nights
ago, and they reaffirmed their commitment and support for the actions that this
government has taken in support of the college.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of The Straits & White
Bay North.
MR. DEAN: Mr. Speaker, the Premier recently received a letter from St.
Anthony Mayor Ernest Simms outlining concerns about Health Minister Jerome
Kennedy's behaviour at a recent meeting involving the Town of St. Anthony and
the request of the air ambulance decision.
In the letter Mayor Simms stated: Council members were completely taken aback
by the callous remarks and insinuations put forward by the minister, and we felt
threatened. One of our councillors actually broke down and cried.
I ask the Premier: Is this the kind of behaviour you condone in dealing with
people in this Province who disagree with your policy decisions?
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
MR. KENNEDY: Yes, Mr. Speaker, I was present at the meeting with the
mayor of St. Anthony and town councillors. There were, in fact, three different
meetings; one that took place I think two weeks before the other.
Mr. Speaker, I indicated in an e-mail to the mayor after the first meeting
that the decision was made, that we would not be changing that decision. They
came in two weeks later, they had a report from Labrador-Grenfell employees that
they wanted to provide to us.
Mr. Speaker, I was probing as to what the numbers meant. It turned out that
the numbers being provided by the Labrador-Grenfell employees were not accurate.
The numbers - that is all I said to the individuals there - they have to be
accurate. In fact, Mr. Speaker, at the end of the meeting I complimented the
mayor and the town councillors of St. Anthony for their passion and their
commitment to the town and indicated that despite that decision, it would not
change.
Whatever, Mr. Speaker, the perception might have been of the mayor, I cannot
change that, but that is not what happened that day.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of The Straits & White
Bay North.
MR. DEAN: Mr. Speaker, that is a totally different version of events than
what the mayor has said in his letter. I have a copy there; I would be willing
to table it so that each person can read it.
Also, the chief air ambulance pilot from the Province was a part of that
delegation from Labrador-Grenfell. Mayor Simms states that this individual was
contacted by the CEO of Labrador-Grenfell Health before the meeting took place
and attempted to intimidate him. He also states that the Minister of Health
attacked his delegation during the meetings and asked the pilot if he was
willing to put his job on the line for his beliefs.
I ask the Premier again: Why is your minister threatening public servants in
this Province for simply telling you that a mistake is being made in a policy
decision?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: Mr. Speaker, I am sick and tired of the tactics of the
hon. members opposite. There is nothing further from the truth. I spoke with the
minister before he went to that meeting. I spoke to him after he went to that
meeting. Obviously, emotions are running high in that particular area; I
understand that. The callous remarks if you want to talk about callous
remarks, we can talk about the remarks that were made by people in the lobby out
there.
Those remarks were said and we just said fine, we will take them with a grain
of salt, as difficult as they are. The remarks that were made, of course, by the
NDP candidate up there on Facebook or whatever the heck she was on were
despicable. The Leader of the New Democratic Party did not even stand in this
House and separate herself from those remarks or withdraw those remarks or
penalize the candidate, but those things went on.
I can tell you, categorically, under no circumstances did my minister behave
in the way that you are alleging and that is not correct.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
I ask members to direct their remarks to the Chair.
The hon. the Member for The Straits & White Bay North.
MR. DEAN: Mr. Speaker, I am assuming that is suggesting that our mayor
and councillors and people who were in that meeting were lying because the
letter very clearly states the tone and the tactics of the minister that day. I
just accept it as it is suggested.
The Minister of Health and the Premier continually state that the Town of St.
Anthony was consulted during this review. In actual fact, the mayor says a
consultant and an official from the Health Department simply dropped by for a
chat, as he put it in the letter, again, because he had a bit of spare time
between flights from a meeting in Flower's Cove and going on to Happy
Valley-Goose Bay.
My question again is: Why is this type of coffee break meeting why is it
sufficient consultation to be listed in the report by Wes Drodge?
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. KENNEDY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, the one thing I do know is that the hon. Member for The Straits
did not request a meeting prior to the report being prepared. I did not hear any
submissions nor did I see anything in writing from the Member for The Straits &
White Bay North. So that is one thing we do know for a fact.
Mr. Speaker, in relation to the meeting, there was a
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
MR. KENNEDY: We spent five or six hours in the meeting.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
I ask the hon. minister to conclude his remarks.
MR. KENNEDY: Yes, Mr. Speaker, there were other officials present at this
meeting. We have received a lot of e-mails that have been very emotional from
the people of St. Anthony. I certainly have not replied to any one in a way that
is disrespectful. Mr. Speaker, on that particular day we certainly questioned
and probed the numbers that were being put forward. Do you know what, Mr.
Speaker? At the end of the day they accepted that the numbers (inaudible).
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
The hon. the Member for the District of Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi.
MS MICHAEL: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, the Premier said on Monday in response to questions about the
current environmental assessment disaster in the Gulf of Mexico that he wants to
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
I ask members to my
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
The Chair has recognized the hon. the Member for the District of Signal
Hill-Quidi Vidi and the hon. member has four minutes to ask questions and
receive answers here in this House. I ask members not to interrupt and allow the
hon. member for the time that she has been allotted.
The hon. the Member for the District of Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi.
MS MICHAEL: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
I was talking about a comment made by the Premier with regard to his belief
in best practices and the fact that he is in constant contact with his C-NLOPB
about what is happening in the Gulf of Mexico.
Mr. Speaker, being in constant contact with the C-NLOPB is not the same as
questioning whether the C-NLOPB can do its job when it comes to safety and the
environment. The Province's ownership stake in the offshore which I agree with,
I agree with having an ownership stake, places this government in a conflict of
interest when it comes to protection of workers and environment in the offshore.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
MS MICHAEL: Mr. Speaker, I ask the Premier: Will he promote the
establishment of an independent agency to protect our workers and environment in
the offshore?
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for her question.
I just want to clarify that I said the government was in contact with the
C-NLOPB; I did not say myself personally. As I understand, I think some of the
senior officials right now are in Houston.
From a perspective of monitoring this, we are monitoring it very, very
closely. As a matter of fact just before I came to the House today, I was in a
discussion, a conference call with senior officials to get an update as to
exactly where we are, what our response protocol was, what we would do in the
event of an oil spill. As I was going through that process, I was considering to
myself it would not hurt to have someone independent, whether on a contractual
basis or whatever, right now to look and see exactly where we stand vis--vis
best practices, where we are in our own offshore here in Newfoundland and
Labrador and to monitor exactly what is going on in the Gulf of Mexico. So, I
share your concerns generally as to what degree we go, but I do not think it
hurts sometimes to have an objective analysis of exactly what is going on.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of Signal Hill-Quidi
Vidi.
MS MICHAEL: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, as I have mentioned in this House before, Norway set up an
independent petroleum safety agency whose job is to protect workers and the
environment, and it is separate from their petroleum board. One of the reasons
they did that was to have a group that was objective with the companies they are
working with. Because the petroleum board there, just as here, works to promote
the offshore oil development through land sales and at the same time, being
responsible for environment puts them a bit in conflict.
So, I ask the Premier: If the Premier would recognize that kind of an
independent agency as a group that would be more objective with regard to
working with environment issues and safety issues?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: Mr. Speaker, I cannot react on the fly to that because
there are some significant constitutional issues. For example, Norway is a
country, and our country is Canada, we have the Accord issues, we have the
constitutional issues that are there in the offshore. So what our jurisdiction
would be to set up any kind of an independent board when it comes to issues such
as safety, which are now governed by the C-NLOPB, we may be restrained. It is
certainly something - I would certainly have a look at that model to see if, in
fact, it works in any manner whatsoever.
However, what we can do within our authority as a provincial government - and
as I said before, I would certainly like to have somebody now just exactly
monitor what is going on to make sure that at the end of the day what we do here
in Newfoundland and Labrador is as good or better than anywhere else in the
world.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The time allotted for questions and answers has expired.
The Chair would like to remind hon. members when they are providing
ministerial statements or when they are asking questions or answering questions,
I remind hon. members again not to refer to members by their given names. Refer
to ministers by the executive position that they hold, and refer to other
members by the district that they represent. The Chair continues to rise on this
situation that personalizes debate, and I hate to interrupt during Question
Period, but I ask all members to kindly uphold that long tradition of debate in
the House of Assembly.
Presenting Reports by Standing and Select Committees.
Tabling of Documents.
Notices of Motion.
Notices of Motion
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Government Services.
MR. O'BRIEN: Mr. Speaker, I give notice that I will ask leave to
introduce a bill entitled,
An Act To Amend The Accident And Sickness Insurance
Act, The Automobile Insurance Act, The Insurance Adjusters, Agents And Brokers
Act, The Insurance Contracts Act, And Life Insurance Act. (Bill 18)
I also give notice, Mr. Speaker, that I will ask leave to introduce a bill
entitled,
An Act To Amend The Insurance Companies Act No. 2. (Bill 19)
MR. SPEAKER: Further notices of motion?
Answers to Questions for which Notice has been Given.
Petitions.
Petitions
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of The Straits & White
Bay North.
MR. DEAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Again today it is my pleasure to stand and present a petition in this hon.
House of Assembly on behalf of the residents of my district who are requesting
that we maintain our air ambulance service there.
It reads: The petition of the undersigned residents;
WHEREAS it has been brought to our attention that the air ambulance service
is being removed; and
WHEREAS St. Anthony Airport can provide the most optimal service to the whole
of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador; and
WHEREUPON the undersigned your petitioners humbly pray and call upon the
House of Assembly to support and maintain the air ambulance service in the St.
Anthony area and furthermore will proceed with strengthening the service with
the placement of a flight team specialist located in St. Anthony.
And as in duty bound your petitioners will ever pray.
It is my pleasure to present that this afternoon. I go back again to the
letter from the Mayor of St. Anthony that has been so discredited here this
afternoon in the House of Assembly by our Premier suggesting that basically it
is a pack of lies what is stated there.
Again, not being consulted properly further speaks to the insignificance and
the injustice that is contained in this report that has been the premise of the
Minister of Health's decision. For a delegation of professionals, retired school
teachers, business people and other people who serve as volunteers on a town
council, for them to be invited to this city, along with one of the
professionals from the health care in operating the air ambulance program there,
for them to be invited here and to be intimidated, accused and so on, as they
were by the Minister of Health, I think it is a very sad thing. It speaks to the
process, it speaks to the (inaudible) of it, it speaks to the incorrectness of
it. I want to quote from that letter from the mayor, which I am willing to
table.
It says, for the most part - and I speak truly, sir, in his reference
speaking to the Premier. He says: We all felt as though we were on trial for a
crime which we knew nothing about. If this is a fabricated story, then I want to
suggest to this House today that it certainly would be out of character with
Mayor Simms to put forth those things and to have the support of the town
council. He talks about the arrival for the meeting on April 13 and 14 with the
minister. In fact, he says: At 2:00 p.m. we met with Mr. Kennedy and honestly,
he says - and here is a man who is sixty years of age or so, retired from his
teaching career. He says: Honestly, I have never witnessed such an outburst of
sarcasm, insinuation and accusations in all my life. We felt threatened, as I
mentioned a moment ago, and one of my councillors actually broke down and cried.
I had the privilege of speaking to that councillor who cried that afternoon
in a meeting with a minister of this government. I can tell you that she was
very taken back by what took place and so on.
Again, on the second day - after having to leave and come back and to kind of
help get some statistics to agree with the statistics of the department and so
on. Coming back on the second day they again referenced the fact that they were
severely attacked and Mr. Farrell was asked by Mr. Kennedy to put his job on the
line for his beliefs regarding his response and presentation. Again, he says,
you can probably understand why we felt as if we were on trial.
Mr. Speaker, the intensity and the fierceness of the attack was something
that would be
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
I remind the hon. member that his time for presenting the petition has
expired.
MR. DEAN: - not something this government would want to take forward.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Orders of the Day
Private Members' Day
MR. SPEAKER: It now being 3:00 o'clock and this being Private Members'
Day, I call on the hon. the Member for Torngat Mountains to put forward her
debate on her private member's resolution.
The hon. the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, and the Member for Torngat
Mountains.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MS POTTLE: Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to stand today and talk on this
private member's resolution, as I indicated on Monday, which was a motion that
was seconded by my hon. colleague for Topsail.
The member's resolution reads as follows:
WHEREAS innumerable women throughout history have suffered many forms of
violence, and far too many continue to suffer today despite all the efforts to
curb violence against women; and
WHEREAS the provincial government has been proactive in preventing violence
against women and promoting non-violent behaviours through a range of
initiatives, including the ongoing Violence Prevention Initiative, the Family
Violence Intervention Court, support for transition houses and women's centres,
and other measures; and
WHEREAS Violence Prevention Initiatives are most effective when individual
citizens, families, organizations and communities take an active role in
condemning violence against women and promoting non-violent behaviours at all
ages;
BE IT RESOLVED that this hon. House expresses its support for the
government's Violence Prevention Initiatives and urges all Newfoundlanders and
Labradorians to do their
part in making our society safer by taking
responsibility to condemn violence against women and promote non-violent
behaviours at all ages.
Mr. Speaker, this year's Speech from the Throne highlighted the fact that
many women in our Province are particularly vulnerable because of the violence
they suffer. Mr. Speaker, violence is rooted in inequality and takes many forms.
Beyond the physical, women in our Province experience sexual, emotional,
psychological, spiritual and cultural violence as well as verbal and financial
abuse and neglect.
All forms of violence, Mr. Speaker, against women are equally damaging. Our
government's response to violence in the Province is our Violence Prevention
Initiative. This six-year $12 million strategy is ensuring that we have the
tools to help communities and agencies work toward the elimination of violence.
We know that there are many barriers to a woman leaving a violent
relationship, and much victim blaming happens. Too often, Mr. Speaker, we hear
questions such as: Why doesn't she leave the relationship? Why doesn't she just
pack up her clothes, throw it in a suitcase; and, if there are children
involved, why doesn't she just leave home?
The real question that we should be asking is: Why doesn't he just stop being
violent? Why is he harming and abusing a woman that he claims he loves? Why does
he do these things? That is the real question that we should be asking, Mr.
Speaker: Why doesn't he stop being violent?
National data indicates that separation is a particularly dangerous time for
women, and I know of an example of a lady that is in a relationship in my
district. She was asked: Why don't you just leave? She is in a violent
relationship. Her spouse would be physically violent, and there were children
involved, so it is a very sad situation. She was asked: Why not just leave? Her
response was: I am safer where I am. I am safer where I am.
That is pretty sad. At least at night, she said, I know where he is; he is
not stalking me. She knew that, if she left, her life was in the danger. If she
stayed there, she was going to get the physical abuse. She can tolerate that,
but having to leave her children at the hands of a man who so-called loved her
was the reason that she stayed. She stayed because she feared for her life.
Although more married women are killed by their spouses, the rate of homicide
is greatest for women after separation. So, in the back of her mind, even though
she may not have known this statistic, it is actually true: women are more
susceptible to being killed by their spouse once they leave, or try to leave.
Mr. Speaker, only 4 per cent of women are unable to identify who their abuser
is. Sadly enough, 85 per cent of the time when a woman is in an abusive
relationship, or is abused, it is at the hands of the spouse or her partner
someone who is supposed to provide love, care, comfort and warmth. Eighty-five
per cent of the time it is at the hands of a spouse or partner.
Mr. Speaker, some other statistics say that women are more than twice as
likely as male victims to be physically injured by their partners twice as
likely. That is very sad, Mr. Speaker. They are six times more likely to receive
medical attention. That is just heartbreaking, and I know of cases where women
had to go for medical attention: gashes on their faces, or body parts broken.
I was in a community over the winter, and community members told how a woman
was abused by her spouse and had to be medevaced to Happy Valley-Goose Bay for
treatment - broken bones, broken ribs - very, very sad.
Women are five times more likely to be hospitalized due to injuries. Again, I
know a lot of cases of women in these situations. I know of an incident where a
young lady - and when I say young lady, I mean a teenager in a relationship -
where the extent of her injury caused her to have to come to St. John's for
treatment. The extent of her injury was so bad that she had to come for medical
treatment in our major health care facility here in St. John's. Now, you can
only imagine the extent of that injury if she had to be sent out here.
Women are three times more likely to have to take time off work to deal with
consequences of violence. Mr. Speaker, I have worked with women who stayed home
because they have had bruises, black eyes, swollen lips, gashes; they are too
embarrassed to come out. They stay home, and sometimes they stay home because it
is the demand of their abusive partner: I don't want you out in public and
people seeing what I did to you, because they may point fingers at me. Stay
inside until everything heals and nobody knows about it - is basically what they
are telling them.
Women are twice as likely to report chronic, ongoing assaults. Normally, Mr.
Speaker, when a woman is in a violent relationship it is not a one-time deal; it
is ongoing. It is chronic, in some cases chronic. I know a lot of examples where
women I know I have a friend of mine who went her entire life, and to this day
is still being beaten at the hands of someone who claims that he loves her.
There are many characteristics of abused women. There are very many negative
impacts to a person, and to a woman in particular, when they are abused. Some
women may have addiction problems, and I know in a lot of cases that is the
case. They turn to alcohol or smoking cigarettes or drugs or whatever, just to
try to deal with some of the pain that they are incurring. Some have mental
health problems. I know of a lady who had to be sent out of town because, after
being beaten so much, she is now mentally challenged. She was never like it. It
was only at the hands of someone who claimed that he loved her that she became
like this.
Women usually lack concentration; they miss work. They have low self-esteem
and, when at work, they have low levels of energy. Statistics will say that a
lot of times they are absent from work, but I know of women who are glad to go
to work because that becomes their safe haven. That becomes a place to get away
from the situation for four, five, six, seven or eight hours a day. That is
their time to be able to socialize with members of their own sex, because they
do not get out often. They are home, they are abused, they are restricted as to
what they can do, so getting out and finding a job sometimes is the highlight of
their life.
I know of an incident where a female in a very abusive relationship is
working for an employer and the abusive husband came to her workplace one time.
She managed to hide away until he left the building. It was very frightening for
everyone else involved as well.
Women in abusive relationships also, when there are children involved, they
have disrupted parenting skills. These families become dysfunctional, and
sometimes you will see children acting out in schools, and things like that, and
we wonder why. If this is the behaviour they are seeing at home, by someone who
claims that they love their wife, we wonder why, but it all makes sense, Mr.
Speaker. It all makes sense, why children go to school and they are acting out,
and things like that, if they are seeing this negative behaviour at home.
Mr. Speaker, I have indicated a lot of examples here, but this is why our
work on preventing violence and advancing the status of women in Newfoundland
and Labrador is so important. In Budget 2010 our commitment to the Women's
Policy Office to provide leadership on the prevention of violence and to advance
on the status of women in Newfoundland and Labrador is $4.7 million. Over half
of this funding, Mr. Speaker, is to assist with violence prevention against
women and other vulnerable populations in Newfoundland and Labrador. The
remaining funding will improve access to services for women, as well as build
capacity and increase awareness on other critical issues of importance to the
women in this Province. I must stress, Mr. Speaker, that this important work
could not be done without women and our community partners whom are dedicated to
preventing violence and advancing the social and economic status of women in
this Province.
We have many key players in our Province. We have many women's organizations,
many partners out there that we support. In our Budget of 2010 we had
announcements specific to Aboriginal women in our Province. We provided funding
to the Newfoundland Aboriginal Women's Network, of $100,000, Mr. Speaker, that
will help them continue the very good work that they are doing over in Western
and Central Newfoundland for their membership.
There was an announcement for $125,000 for Inuit women in the five Inuit
communities on the North Coast of Labrador so that they could deliver workshops
in their communities: on capacity building, on awareness. It is nothing more
than empowering women, giving them the strength, giving them the tools to combat
violence, poverty, you name it.
We also had a number of initiatives announced through the Violence Prevention
Initiative that went to our Innu women up in Sheshatshiu. There was money
announced for the members of the NunatuKavut, the former Labrador Metis Nation;
they were given money in our last fiscal year. The Flat Bay Indian Band was
given money for a project that they were doing. The Nunatsiavut government was
given money for a couple of projects that they did. All of this money was going
towards Violence Prevention Initiatives. Also, there was money given to the St.
John's Native Friendship Centre; $27,000 was given to them. That is important,
too, because we have a lot of Aboriginal women living in our urban centre here
on the Avalon Peninsula. Supporting our St. John's Native Friendship Centre is
important because, regardless of where you live - urban, rural, wherever - a lot
of women still encounter family violence.
I was pleased, too, with the announcement for additional funding for the Nain
shelter. I visited the Nain shelter over Easter and spoke with one of the
workers. There were a couple of clients there. They very much appreciate the
service that is provided in their community. It is not easy for an individual
living in a remote isolated community to uproot and go to, say, the Libra House
in Goose Bay. So, if we are able to provide those services in the community, it
really, really benefits and they very much appreciate that. That is why I was
also pleased with the support going to the Rigolet shelter, another isolated
community in Northern Labrador.
We also, Mr. Speaker, are continuing to fund the women's centres in
Newfoundland and Labrador, an increased budget for them, grant money of
$115,762. We continue to support the provincial Transition House Association of
Newfoundland and Labrador; we increased their monies to $105,000. The Family
Violence Intervention Court is another great initiative of this government. It
is a pilot project, hopefully something that is going to really work, and we are
expecting to unroll that very soon. I think I am looking at the Minister of
Finance, because he was the Minister of Justice at one time $519,000 is
allotted for that project, Mr. Speaker. We continue to support the provincial
Sexual Assault Crisis & Prevention Centre; an annual grant of $100,000 is going
to them. We have ten regional violence prevention co-ordinating committees
across the Province; their annual grant is $70,000 each.
MR. SPEAKER (T. Osborne): Order, please!
I remind the hon. member that her time for speaking has expired.
MS POTTLE: Can I have leave to finish?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. member has asked for leave.
Does the hon. member have leave?
AN HON. MEMBER: By leave.
MS POTTLE: I appreciate that. Thank you very much.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs.
MS POTTLE: Thank you.
Just to clue up, a couple of other initiatives that I just wanted to mention
here, is our support for the Multicultural Women's Organization of Newfoundland
and Labrador, an annual grant of $100,000. We have to support the women who are
coming into our Province as well, Mr. Speaker, and they very much appreciate
that.
Our Provincial Advisory Council on the Status of Women, Mr. Speaker, we
continue, and this year we are providing $451,000. That is a 72 per cent
increase since 2003. They provide some valuable information to this government,
and we very much appreciate their services.
I would just like to clue up by saying that we are going to continue to fund
the annual meetings of the women's councils. We are going to fund again this
year an Aboriginal Women's Conference. The Aboriginal Women's Conference is
something that I have been very pleased to be able to attend since I have been
here in government. They do some great work and they are able to bring together
Aboriginal women from across this Province, and it is great networking for them
as well.
We are also going to do a provincial Violence Prevention Initiative
Stakeholders Conference, Mr. Speaker, and I am pleased to say that was announced
in this Budget as well.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I stand today to speak to the motion put forward by my colleague, the Member
for Torngat Mountains, and I certainly appreciate her introduction of the
motion, Mr. Speaker. It was a very heartfelt and passionate speech, and I am
sure there is no one in this House who would underestimate the number of women
whose lives she has affected over her time in her position, and as a member of
the Aboriginal community.
Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, Newfoundland and Labrador remains a Province of
Canada that is still inflicted by violence against women, and violence against
women of all stripes of society. Whether those women have disabilities, whether
they be of one persuasion sexually or another, women who are Aboriginal and
non-Aboriginal, they are all impacted. Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, what we
continue to see are statistics that are far too high, far too alarming, and
impacting so many women out there in our society today.
Violence in society, Mr. Speaker, does not just impact women, but it often
impacts a lot of children, as well. We have seen many cases of that, and there
are lots of statistics of violence against children in our society.
Mr. Speaker, when you have violence against women, it comes in all different
forms. Mr. Speaker, whether that be through harassment, through bodily harm in
some way, through assault of one form or another, through sexual assault and
other kinds of sex crimes, it is all constituted as violence against another
person.
Mr. Speaker, I guess the work in Newfoundland and Labrador in fighting
violence against women, unfortunately, started a very long time ago. It probably
started as early as 1925, and probably even before that, but it was during those
years, through the decades of lobbying governments and officials, that women
really started to take a position on the public stage in this Province. Women
fought to become voting members of society so they could be better equipped to
influence public policy and advance the concerns which affected women in our
communities. These and those days, Mr. Speaker, one of those concerns very
evidently highlighted was domestic violence, and child welfare issues.
Unfortunately, today, women and men continue to fight, Mr. Speaker, to
counteract domestic violence and other forms of violence in our community. Mr.
Speaker, it has become a growing problem and unfortunately it is not restricted
to just larger centres as we often are led to believe and think. Violence
against women and children is in every single community across this Province and
every part of this country.
While a lot of it, Mr. Speaker, can arguably be connected to alcohol and drug
abuse and addiction, while a lot of it can be connected to poverty and social
welfare issues, while a lot of it can be connected to low incomes and high
unemployment levels, it is not always the case. In fact, Mr. Speaker, domestic
violence occurs in homes of the most affluent people in our society. They occur
in the homes of some of the most prominent Canadians as we have just seen with
the case that is going before the courts in Canada today with General Russell
Williams.
Mr. Speaker, it is not just restricted to the issues of poverty and
addiction; however, we have also seen many cases where those connections are
made. There are many of us, and I am one of them, who still fundamentally
believe that if we are able to deal with issues around addictions and around
alcoholism and around poverty, that we can also reduce the levels of domestic
violence and sexual assault and physical assault that occurs within our society,
but it is not restricted to that.
Mr. Speaker, one in five homicides in this country has involved domestic
violence. Eighty per cent of the women in Newfoundland and Labrador who face
violent experiences, it is from their spouse or partner. As the member said when
she introduced her statement, most of the time it is from someone they love or
someone who loves them and is supposed to protect them. In recent years we have
seen more than twenty women violently killed in our own Province by someone whom
they have loved, who have loved them or was to protect them.
Mr. Speaker, those statistics are not just numbers on a page. We can all put
names to these cases, to these women, to these families. We can identify the
communities from which they come. We can talk about the kind of life in which
they have led. Many of them being individuals who have contributed to their
community, who were involved in volunteer activities, who worked in a normal
job, who cared for children and who were a mother and a sister and a daughter.
Mr. Speaker, it does not change the fact that they are not being abused. It does
not change the fact that these individuals often have lives that none of us are
aware of. I would think that all of us know someone very personally and very
intimately who has been a woman who has been affected by violence in her life.
Mr. Speaker, one of the things that we are seeing in this Province because I,
like the member who introduced this motion today, have been around many cases of
family violence, unfortunately. I have had to not had to but I guess I have
been in the presence and have spent time with many women who have had to leave
their homes in the middle of the night, who have had to seek refuge in a
neighbour's house, in a family member's house when there were not always
shelters - because in many parts of our Province we do not have women's
shelters, even today.
Mr. Speaker, we know the trials and tribulations that go with that. While it
is hard to leave, many times it is as hard to stay away and that is the one
thing I have noticed. Even though a woman may be violently abused in her own
home, in her own kitchen, in her own bedroom, maybe violently, sexually and
physically abused, day in and day out, and when they finally gain the courage to
be able to walk away from that situation, which is not always easy, it is also
about having the courage to stay away. In a lot of cases these women leave and
although they have family support and they have friends supporting them, all too
often they start feeling that they have become a burden in some way and they
start looking that their only other option and their only way out is to go back
to the situation from which they have come. Unfortunately, I have seen that
happen as well.
Mr. Speaker, having the supports in our communities and in society is very
important. I know of cases, Mr. Speaker, where women that I have known and have
been friends of mine that I actually visited at women's shelters in this
Province, when they have had the courage to leave the relationships that they
were in and they sought refuge in these shelters, but while they were there,
over that course of four to six weeks with their children they did feel a level
of protection and security, but there was a level of agony that came with waking
up every morning, of knowing that you are responsible not just for yourself but
for your children, wondering every day where I will go from here. Trying to find
affordable housing is always one of the biggest issues that I see these women
deal with.
Mr. Speaker, we know that there are people out there - we fund groups like
women's centres and others to help bridge the gap between women who find
themselves in these kinds of situations and help them bridge the gap from a
shelter to new living arrangements, but it is not always easy. When you look at
the statistics in St. John's today where you have a rate of less than 1 per cent
of vacancies in the Province when it comes to housing, it is not easy. Even the
head of Newfoundland and Labrador Housing - I do not have his quote in front of
me right now, but I remember not too long ago when he was talking about the huge
wait-list that they have for these housing units.
So, Mr. Speaker, it is difficult. It is hard to walk away, but it is really
hard and difficult as well to take that next step when you have to deal with
these kinds of challenges. Some of these women are in a situation of
affordability, and they can just move on and make a transition much easier than
others. There are a lot of women who need to depend upon social housing to make
that transition. I think that we have to make more of an effort to ensure that
that kind of housing is available to them.
In fact, Mr. Speaker, in Labrador City recently there have been a number of
people in this community who are speaking out against the issues around housing
because it has become a major problem in that community as well. The community
has become more industrialized. You have more of a transient population, you
have more people moving into this particular community and you have higher
levels of women seeking refuge in a shelter. I remember back a few months ago,
even when I was there and was actually in the office of the women's shelter, and
at that time they were completely full and had been for a period of time. They
had no more vacancies. They were actually looking for independent arrangements
in the community so that women who were affected by physical and sexual violence
and assault, Mr. Speaker, that they would have a safe refuge for them.
Unfortunately, there are regions of our Province where these numbers are
continuing to increase, and we do not necessarily have the facilities to be able
to provide for the kind of transition that these families and women need to
make. In Labrador West today, Mr. Speaker, there isn't affordable housing for
any of those people. We have students who are on wait-lists up there, sleeping
on people's couches to try and go to school and get an education because there
is no residence and there are no accommodations. We have women and children who
are seeking refuge wherever they can find it; the women's centre in Hope Haven
has been doing a remarkable job at trying to address that problem. Mr. Speaker,
it is a problem that they cannot address when there are no vacancies available.
This is the situation that they find themselves in.
One of the things I would like to encourage the minister to look at in her
capacity, is that in areas of the Province where these problems do exist, is
look at emergency funding for these shelters so that they can go out. If they
have to pay more money for that first month to find a refuge for a woman and her
children coming out of a violent relationship, then they have the financial
ability to do it. It may not cost a lot of money at the end of the day, but it
may help another eight, ten or twelve women in this Province who need that kind
of a service. Right now, Mr. Speaker, we are seeing situations where they do not
have that alternative available to them.
Just recently, Mr. Speaker, you remember hearing the story in the news - I
have the
article here, I am not sure of the date that it was. It was the story
about Colleen Cromwell and her three children who were living in the Province
with nowhere to live. In fact, Mr. Speaker, they saw themselves in a predicament
one night where they actually spent the night in a storage container where they
had stored their belongings. Then after that, Mr. Speaker, they set up in a car,
a Pontiac Pursuit; a woman and her three children living in this car for about a
week in our Province. This was just recently in the last few months, because
there is no housing and no accommodations.
Mr. Speaker, while we all work to counteract the statistics that are out
there in terms of violence against women, we also have to be very cognizant that
encouraging women to get out of the situation that they are in also means
providing a path for them to stay out of that situation. We go out every day and
we educate women in our communities that you do not have to be a victim; you do
not have to tolerate being abused physically or sexually in your own home or in
your own workplace. Mr. Speaker, when they are able, when they get the courage
to make that transition, we need the supports in place in our society to allow
them to do it effectively and appropriately. Part of that, of course, is
counselling programs and part of it is providing services for children who are
very often impacted by this as well.
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
I remind the hon. member that her time for speaking has expired.
MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
If I could just take a couple of seconds to clue up?
MR. SPEAKER: Does the hon. member have leave?
AN HON. MEMBER: Yes.
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I say to the hon. House Leader, I certainly will not use up any of your
valuable time but I did want to say that I want to support the motion that has
been put forward by my colleague and ask that she would take some of those
suggestions under consideration because I know that this is an issue that is
important to her and I ask that she would give some consideration to that, Mr.
Speaker.
Thank you.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of Topsail.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. DAVIS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I rise this afternoon to speak to this private member's resolution, a
resolution that I was quite pleased to be able to second as it is brought
forward today.
Mr. Speaker, as a former police officer here in this Province, I have had
many experiences, unfortunately have had many experiences over the years in
attending to, as a front line police officer and as well as investigating
matters related to violence against women and family violence; and family
violence circumstances that at times have had some very devastating effects on
individuals and families, and far too often on the children of Newfoundland and
Labrador.
Mr. Speaker, my colleague, the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, as well as the
Leader of the Opposition have brought forward some important statistical
information, some important factual information in their presentations today. I
think it is a wise fact to discuss, and I am going to discuss some as well
because I think it is very important to understand how prevalent violence
against women is in our communities today.
Some of these numbers are staggering. Of the 217,000, almost 218,000 women
over the age of fifteen residing in Newfoundland and Labrador, it is believed
that just under 109,000 will experience at least one incident of sexual or
physical violence throughout their lifetime. As I said, Mr. Speaker, this number
here is staggering in itself. What is even more upsetting is that unfortunately
only 10 per cent of women will actually report the victimization to police. This
is a very, very low number, Mr. Speaker, considering the high number of women
who will experience violence throughout their lifetime and having only 10 per
cent who will ever report is a very low number.
Between 1975 and 2004 there were twice as many women than men in Newfoundland
and Labrador that were victimized or victims of spousal homicide; again, twice
as many women than men, another very staggering number. In Newfoundland, 43 per
cent of incidents of spousal violence against women involved physical force and
6 per cent of violence against women involved weapons. Again, this is very
concerning. It can be very devastating and it can have a major and a devastating
impact. These types of numbers are far too high, Mr. Speaker.
Between 1999 and 2004, in Canada the overall rate of spousal violence against
women actually declined. Now, it was a very small number. It was only
approximately 1 per cent number decreased, but what is more concerning is for
that same time period Newfoundland and Labrador was the only jurisdiction,
during this five-year period, to show an increase in spousal violence against
women. Again, it was a small increase of 2 per cent but it is going in the
opposite direction of where the rest of the country has gone and these numbers
are not acceptable.
In the two-year period between 2006 and 2008, the Royal Newfoundland
Constabulary reported that over 2,500 violent crimes against women had occurred
in their jurisdictions; again, another very high number and another very
unacceptable number. During the same time period, the RCMP in Newfoundland and
Labrador reported just over 1,800 women were assaulted by a partner, at which
constitutes 73 per cent of all family violence incidents responded to by the
RCMP in Newfoundland and Labrador. Mr. Speaker, this is over 4,300 incidents in
both policing jurisdictions to take in the entire Province of Newfoundland and
Labrador during a two-year time period; 4,300 incidents in just a short two-year
time period.
The hon. the Leader of the Opposition has referred to some of the admissions
to some of our shelters in Newfoundland and Labrador and we know that during
2007-2008 there were just over 1,100 admissions. That is three admissions every
day of the year, and that is admissions of women, dependent children to all
residential shelters in the Province; and 56 per cent of women escaping violent
situations come to these shelters with children. The far majority of those
cases, approximately 59 per cent, are cases where children are under the age of
ten years of age. These are children, we have to remember, very young children
who have been exposed to domestic violence. We also know that almost
one-quarter, 24 per cent of women residing in shelters are repeat clients, a
number that is much too high.
Mr. Speaker, in the Speech from the Throne this year this government has
continued to help change attitudes about violence against women through its
Respect Women Campaign, and has committed in this year's Throne Speech to
continue to make violence against women as unacceptable as any other violent
crime. I support this work and I support this initiative. This initiative will
have efforts to stay vigilant in addressing the root causes of violence against
women in this Province and government is providing leadership in education and
awareness on this topic in all regions a very important move for short term
and long term.
Mr. Speaker, in June of last year, I was quite pleased to have been present
when the Violence Prevention Initiative launched this very successful Respect
Women public awareness campaign. The implementation of this public awareness and
education campaign is a priority of the Violence Prevention Initiative, and
through this approach government will increase its awareness and change
attitudes to prevent violence against those most at risk in our societies.
With government and community representatives working together and this is
the only way this can work is if we work with our community partners. Government
developed this innovative and unique campaign with an intergenerational
approach. The campaign delivers positive messages around showing fairness and
respect and equality towards women.
Government is primarily targeting men with this campaign. I can tell you from
my own experiences it is a very different approach; it is a very new approach
from what I have seen anywhere else. Many campaigns in the past have focused on
women, but this new approach focuses on men engaged in healthy living and
healthy activities. Through the use of print, television advertisements,
bookmarks, as well as posters and the Web site respectwomen.ca government
has been encouraging all men to take responsibility for preventing violence
against women.
The campaign demonstrates a unique approach to violence prevention. The
intergenerational piece highlights men as role models who play a key
part in
shaping the beliefs and values and attitudes of their sons, their grandsons,
nephews and younger brothers. The belief is that if a young boy is taught to
respect women at an early age, then we have tackled a major obstacle in
preventing violence against women in the future. This will achieve short-term
and long-term results.
The messages are quite simple and I know that, as I have mentioned, many
people are aware of these initiatives and I will get to some more information
shortly relating to that. The messages are very, very simple. It is very
straightforward in the wording used: I will show him how to share. This is a
core value used quite often by parents as they teach their children and raise
their families. I will show him how to tie his shoes. I will show him how to
spell his name, how to catch a fish. I will show him how to throw a ball. I will
show him how to play golf. These are very fundamental core activities that
parents and adults share with their children.
As well, the message goes on: I will teach him how to respect women. It makes
respecting women a core and basic value in raising children and raising
families. It makes it acceptable. It makes it as straightforward as teaching a
child to tie their shoes, or to share, as we all do.
Visitors to the respectwomen.ca Web site will also find links to other
elements of this campaign, which include print ads and television ads; they are
all available on the Web site. I encourage all to take a few minutes to visit
the Web site. It has some very good information there. It also has a variety of
topics which may be beneficial to anyone who wants to visit there. It includes
other aspects, such as tips to prevent male violence against women, information
if someone has committed intimate partner violence, how to help someone who is
violent. There are descriptions there and explanations on different forms of
violence and abuse, because there are many forms of violence and abuse in
relationships and in our communities, and some are not easily identified by the
community or individuals, or not seen to be forms of violence and abuse. There
are also facts on violence against women. There are many aspects there, Mr.
Speaker, on the Web site that are very informative and can be very helpful, and
I encourage people to visit it.
Now, with a campaign like this, it is very important to have a means to
measure the campaign, to get a grasp on the results of the campaign. The Respect
Women campaign aired on television for a total of twenty-three weeks during 2009
and 2010, but prior to the release of the campaign a pre-evaluation survey was
conducted in the spring of 2009, and then there was a post-evaluation survey on
the campaign that was completed in October 2009. Now this was only ten weeks
into the campaign. Even though the campaign ran for twenty-three weeks in the
past year, the post-evaluation was actually conducted only ten weeks into the
campaign. There are some very interesting information and results from the
campaign that were learned.
We know that over 50 per cent of respondents - 219,000 adult residents -
became aware of the campaign. That is over half of the adult population in
Newfoundland and Labrador. Over 90 per cent of these people became aware of the
campaigns through television, a very effective medium, which is more than
199,000 residents. This shows that we are indeed reaching people through our
television ads.
Twenty-four thousand more people were able to identify the family as the
relationship in which acts of violence are more likely to occur, and that was an
increase of almost 6 per cent; 22,400 more residents identified emotional
violence as a form of male violence against women, a 5 per cent increase.
Although the television campaigns aired for only ten weeks prior to the
post-evaluation survey, it already demonstrates a significant shift in public
attitudes, which is the core value of this campaign. One of the core values of
this campaign is to shift attitudes.
Fifty-six thousand more residents of Newfoundland and Labrador believe that
society as a whole is responsible for combating and eliminating male violence.
This is a whopping increase of 13.6 per cent; a big, big increase in a very
short period of time. As well, 33,500 more residents believe that increased
education through schools and government programs will help eliminate male
violence against women; that is an 8 per cent increase. Again these numbers, Mr.
Speaker, are simply outstanding and it shows that this program and these
government initiatives are on the right track with our social marketing efforts
to raise awareness and changed attitudes towards violence.
Mr. Speaker, there are some significant decreases as well that were noted
through this campaign and they were very positive decreases. They relate to
victim blaming; 21,000 less residents identified women as being responsible for
combating and eliminating male violence against women, which is a 5 per cent
decrease. As well, just over 10,000 less people identified the victim as
responsible for combating and eliminating male violence against women; a 2.5 per
cent decrease. Again, these are very encouraging results from this campaign.
Mr. Speaker, this campaign like many others, if we look back years ago - and
if I can make a comparison to impaired driving, drinking and driving, driving
when impaired by a drug. Many years ago it was not widely socially unacceptable
to drink and drive. We know that the criminal penalties for drinking and driving
and driving while impaired were much less than they are today. Socially, it was
not deemed, broadly, as being unacceptable.
Well, those attitudes on impaired driving and drinking and driving have
changed over constant messaging, over hard work by good community groups, by
increased penalties for such activity. Today, I know first-hand that more people
than ever before will pick up a telephone and contact the police when they
believe somebody is drinking and driving or driving while under the influence of
drugs, more than ever before. There are calls made to the police from parties,
in social gathering, when they see someone is leaving to get in their car after
consuming alcohol or consuming drugs and they do not want it to happen. It is
not socially acceptable.
Mr. Speaker, through campaigns such as respectwomen.ca campaign and other
initiatives, we need to continue to send home these messages to ensure that
violence against women can be ended so that it becomes socially unacceptable, so
all of the community will stand up and take action to eliminate this.
One of the other initiatives - if I can take a couple of minutes, Mr.
Speaker, to discuss initiatives of government occurred back on July 1, 2006
when the Family Violence Protection Act became law in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Now this new piece of legislation, it is a new law, allows for police officers,
lawyers and victims of violent relationships who did not have the tools before
to help them escape from and remove themselves from violent circumstances and
violent difficulties. These were for emergency and urgent situations.
Traditionally, when police attended such circumstances they did not have the
ability quite often to look after the circumstances in a manner that was safe
for the victim, but under this new act, this new piece of legislation, it gives
a new opportunity for safe measures. Under this new law a mechanism is now in
place to obtain what is referred to as an Emergency Protection Order. It is
often referred to as an EPO. An EPO is a court order that can be granted by a
provincial court judge in emergency or urgent circumstances when immediate
safety measures must be provided for protection of a family when family violence
has occurred. Most often, an EPO can be obtained within a twenty-four hour
period, which is relatively a short period of time.
There are several options under an EPO that are available to a person who
files for an application that will allow to give them protective measures. One
of those is a provision granting the applicant exclusive occupation of a
residence for a defined period of time. Mr. Speaker, as well, a second provision
of that is allowing the directing of a police officer to remove a respondent
from a residence immediately, or within a specific period of time. There are
several provisions available, from the providing of utilities, providing
transportation, a car, a home, food and other provisions that in the past had
been obstacles for women when they were trying to leave a violent relationship
or domestic violence situation. This family protection orders I know are used
quite regularly by police in Newfoundland and Labrador today.
Mr. Speaker, to sum up, as individuals and community leaders we need to make
an effort to raise awareness of violence against women and the role we can all
play in the elimination of violence against women. I am calling on you, and the
people of Newfoundland and Labrador, to help prevent violence against women
before it starts; to reach out and take action.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of Fortune Bay-Cape la
Hune.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MS PERRY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
It is a great privilege for me to rise in this hon. House today to address
this most important motion as we continue to take a strong stand against
violence. All across this Province, great efforts are being made towards
creating more peaceful communities and increasing awareness about the issue of
violence against women. It is critical that we do so, I say, Mr. Speaker,
because this is a very, very serious issue for Newfoundland and Labrador.
Nearly half of all women in this Province will, at some point in their
lifetime, be a victim of either sexual or physical victimization. Yet, only
about 10 per cent of these will actually report this victimization to police. We
have come a long way in providing supports to women who do find a way out, but
we still have a great deal of work left to be done. Incidents of domestic
violence occur in all cultures and people of all races, ethnicities, religions,
sexes and classes have been reported as perpetrators of this violent, serious
and hidden criminal act.
As legislators we have a very important role to play in preventing violence,
from enacting laws to creating awareness and to allocating funding. Our
government is very committed to tackling this issue and we are contributing $9.2
million over six years to raise awareness, support victims, and to find the
long-term solutions, Mr. Speaker, that will help eliminate this problem of
violence.
My colleagues here today have quite eloquently talked about many of these
initiatives we are undertaking and I look forward to our continued efforts for
the women of Newfoundland and Labrador. I want to reiterate some of them that
have been mentioned and talk about a few others as well.
Some of the things we have done, as a government, include designating the
month of February as Violence Prevention Month, to increase awareness across the
Province as a whole against all types of violence, not just violence towards
women but violence towards all members of our society. We have doubled our
investment in the eight women's centres across the Province.
As Minister Pottle said earlier, we are investing $451,000 now to the
Provincial Advisory Council on the Status of Women. We have funded ten regional
violence prevention co-ordinating committees and we provide financial support
for the Sexual Assault and Crisis Prevention Centre, as well as the provincial
Transition House Association of Newfoundland and Labrador. In addition, sessions
for Aboriginal women covering: dating violence, bullying, emotional and
physiological abuse, sexual assault, Aboriginal leadership and governance were
offered all across this Province, including in my district at Conne River. I
thank the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs for her outstanding support and
leadership on this issue.
In addition, Mr. Speaker, within the Department of Justice there is an
ongoing Violence Prevention Initiative. We have thirty-seven adult probation
officers in the Province and they have received mandatory training in domestic
violence intervention just this March. The abuse intervention program is a
collaborative, therapeutic approach to working with men, emphasizing a narrative
therapy approach and EPOs are now equipped with the enhanced skills to provide
therapeutic intervention to male domestic violence offenders, both individually
and in a group setting.
Mr. Speaker, my district of Fortune Bay-Cape la Hune has experienced some
horrific cases of violence that have tragically resulted in the death of loved
ones. We know all too well about the permanent devastation that family violence
causes.
I would like to take this opportunity to commend the Central West Committee
Against Violence for the remarkable work it is doing in Central Newfoundland. It
is a centralized service that is truly reaching out to all the surrounding rural
areas and assisting us tremendously. This year, they have embarked on a very
powerful initiative to remember and honour women who have been killed in
domestic violence. It is called the Silent Witness Project. Silent witnesses are
red, life-sized wooden silhouettes and they are crafted to represent women
eighteen years of age and over who have been affected by violence in their
lifetimes and killed by their partner, ex-partner or intimate acquaintance. It
aims to create awareness about the tragedies of domestic violence and to promote
united action to end domestic, as well as all other forms of violence.
On February 3 of this year, two silhouettes were unveiled for Jenny Hull and
Goldie Loveless, two beautiful, young, vibrant women with children who
tragically lost their lives in murder suicides. It was powerful, emotional, and
moving, and it has left a lasting impact for our entire community as we fight to
stop the abuse towards women. It was a very special way to allow our community
and friends to show their compassion and provided us with a very important
opportunity to learn about how we can all play a role in eliminating violence.
Mr. Speaker, in talking about the devastating impact of violence, I would
like to also take a look at some of the statistics. Approximately 89 per cent of
women residing in shelters are victims of violence. Among these, approximately
97 per cent are fleeing psychological abuse, 73 per cent physical abuse, 45 per
cent harassment, 44 per cent threats, 42 per cent sexual abuse, and 36 per cent
financial abuse.
Separation is a particularly dangerous time for women, but, as I have already
discussed, not every woman can escape. You heard Minister Pottle talk about what
we often hear from people, they ask the question: Why do people stay in these
abusive relationships? She made a very good point. The more important question
that we should be asking perhaps is: Why do men abuse? There are many reasons
why women stay including: financial stability, fear of losing custody of their
children, and fear for their very own lives. However, how violence affects
victims depends on other aspects of their lives such as: age, ethnicity,
background, education, and sexual orientation, to name a few.
These multiple dimensions are weaved into all life experiences, and I will
talk a little bit again going back to how we felt as communities when the
tragedy struck. It hit the families, devastated the families, will forever
devastate the families. Not just the families of the victims but the families of
the abusers and the entire community was taken aback, and I do not know if we
will ever really full recover. The aura in the community, the sadness, the fear,
it was prevalent everywhere you went and the pain will never ever, ever be
forgotten. We have to, as a society and as a people, commit to never allow these
types of situations to ever happen in our communities again.
Mr. Speaker, it is clear that governments alone cannot put an end to violence
in our society. Each and every one of us has a role to play. Violence destroys
people, relationships and families. As I said throughout my speech today, it has
devastating long-term effects on its victims and their families. However, what
is most important and why we are discussing this today and why we are bringing
in initiatives to bring in awareness is because this violence is preventable.
There is strong evidence to show that intervention can reduce and prevent
violence.
I would like to take a moment here - many people, as we know, across this
Province listen to this hon. House and the discussions we have. There is a very
important message that I would like to portray here today and that is: In our
role that each and every one of us has in preventing this violence, if you are a
person who is being abused know that there are supports out there, know that
there is help available to get, and please contact someone and try to remove
yourself from the situation. If you know of someone who is being abused, let
them know they do not have to live with it and that there is help if you look to
the sources that are out there.
Also, if you know someone who is an abuser, let them know that you do not
condone their behaviour and you will not tolerate such behaviour any longer.
Look for the warning signs. It could be your sister, your mother, your cousin,
your friend, someone very, very close to you. If someone you know and love is
showing up with bruises that cannot be explained, or if they are becoming
reclusive, drawing away from society, or if they are turning to substance abuse,
a problem they never had their entire life, find out what is going on and help
them escape the situation.
Another group I would like to speak to today, as we all play our role in
preventing this, is if you are an abuser, stop, step back, take a good hard look
at what you are doing, not just to the person you are hurting, but perhaps your
children, to their families, to your very own family. The pain and suffering of
our actions extend far beyond the individual that you are abusing. Seek
professional help and turn your life around; save your life and someone else's.
Mr. Speaker, we have talked a lot today about violence against women, but
that is not the only form of violence in our society. Violence also exists
towards children, seniors and persons with disabilities. These are, perhaps, the
most vulnerable groups in our society. The violence does not just have to be
physical. It can be sexual, financial, verbal or emotional. It can occur in
intimate relationships or it can occur between strangers. Again, we all have a
role to play in putting a stop to it by letting society know, by letting people
know that this type of behaviour is simply not acceptable.
I guess why we are focusing perhaps on women in particular today is because
the statistics do tell us that violence against women tends to more severe and
more frequent, with greater physical and physiological injuries.
I am very pleased, Mr. Speaker, that we have taken the time to put this
motion on the floor of the House today as we continue to try and increase
awareness to people of just how devastating the situation is. You may or may not
have been touched by it in your life, but certainly you have a role to play in
ensuring that this type of abuse ceases in our society.
The prevalence and severity of violence against women by their intimate
partners in Newfoundland and Labrador cannot be tolerated. This issue will not
be ignored in our Province, and we must continue to fight to prevent these
violent acts from happening and to ensure that every woman is given a chance to
live freely and in peace. It is essential that we all work together to support
each other in our efforts to eliminate violence in this Province. We no doubt
will have many challenges as we move forward, but there is no better goal than
the one we are working towards a safe and healthy province where all people
can enjoy a wonderful quality of life.
So, as we discuss this motion here in the House today, and I have no doubt
that this motion will pass unanimously, let's think about the women in our
lives, let's think about the men in our lives, let's think about the people who
are impacted by this tragic behaviour, violent and criminal behaviour, and let's
all make an effort to do our part, each and every one of us, to put an end to
this. To say: No, we do not tolerate it; no, we do not condone it. If we see it
happening, let's each and every one of us do our part to put a stop to it.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER (Kelly): The Chair recognizes the hon. the Member for Signal
Hill-Quidi Vidi.
MS MICHAEL: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
I am quite pleased to stand this afternoon and to speak to the member's
motion that is on the floor of the House today. I cannot think of anything that
would be more important for us to deal with. There are many things that we do
have to deal with in this House and all of them are of great import. Some of
them economic, many social, but when it comes to violence, I think that we have
to say it is the most important.
When we talk about violence between people, very often we do necessarily go
immediately to thinking about violence against women because, unfortunately, in
our society that is a core imbalance that exists in our society, and that is the
imbalance between the genders, the imbalance, systemically, between men and
wome