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January 22, 2015

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS

Vol. XLVII No. 61

The House met at 1:30 p.m.

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

Admit strangers.

Statements by Members

MR. SPEAKER:

Today we have members' statements from the Member for the District of Humber

Valley; the Member for the District of Virginia Waters; the Member for the

District St. Barbe; the Member for the District of Baie Verte Springdale;

the Member for the District of Trinity Bay de Verde; and the Member for

the District of Bonavista North.

The hon. the Member for the District of Humber Valley.

MR. BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

recognize Angie Parsons of Deer Lake on being named the 2014 Community

Impact Award winner by the Newfoundland and Labrador Organization of Women

Entrepreneurs NLOWE. The award

is given annually to an entrepreneur whose business has had a significant

social and economic impact on their local community.

Mr. Speaker, Angie Parsons is the owner and operator of

Royal K-9 Spa, Resort and Training Facility in Deer Lake; her business

offers grooming, training classes and boarding for dogs, as well as a retail

store.

Angie is a devout advocate for pets and pet owners

throughout the Province. Along

with her business, she is involved with the local SPCA, the Deer Lake

Chamber of Commerce, and Junior Achievement.

Mr. Speaker, NLOWE continues to support and encourage

women entrepreneurs to pursue growth opportunities, with programs and

services which are offered all across the Province.

Small businesses continue to be the backbone of many local economies

in Newfoundland and Labrador.

I ask all members of this House to join me in

congratulating Angie Parsons on her Community Impact Award and wish her

success in her future endeavours.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for the District of Virginia Waters.

MS C. BENNETT:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise in this hon. House today to recognize the recent

recipients of the Silver Level of the Duke of Edinburgh Awards in December

2014. In December, seven

students from the District of Virginia Waters were presented their award by

the Hon. Frank Fagan, Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland and Labrador.

To achieve this, participants completed a balanced

program of leisure-time activities and met the prescribed standards in four

important areas of self-development, including community service,

adventurous journey, physical recreation, and skill development.

I extend congratulations to Bobbi-Glenn Butler,

Nicholas Henderson, Leslie Jamieson, Mark Oake, Logan Slade, Clare Snow, and

Zhang Zhipu on their achievement.

This program helps to shape the lives of young

Canadians as they take on new challenges, giving back to their communities

and achieving success while developing self-confidence, motivation, and

life-long friendships. The Duke

of Edinburgh Award began as a program to help young people develop a sense

of responsibility to themselves and their communities.

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

congratulating these individuals who are making a difference in the lives of

their communities, and to the many young Canadians who achieve milestones

through personal discovery, self-reliance, and perseverance in a

non-competitive format.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St. Barbe.

MR. J. BENNETT:

Mr. Speaker, I rise in this hon. House today to commend and thank all

members of Come Home Year committees for the committed effort they make to

organizing, fundraising, and carrying out Come Home Year celebrations in

their respective communities.

The degree of effort and the lengths to which these

often unrecognized people, who still live in our rural communities, go to

host family and friends who have moved away is remarkable.

The efforts they expend to keep alive our traditions, as well as our

friendships, deserve commendation.

Come Home Year celebrations do more than just bring our people

together, they also inject badly-needed private money into our rural

communities, many of which have limited economic bases.

Come Home Year celebrations for 2015 and 2016 are

planned in many of the three dozen communities in the District of St. Barbe,

as well as throughout our Province.

I thank all volunteers for their work, and I look forward to

attending several Come Home Year celebrations, just as other members will be

attending in theirs.

Mr.

Speaker, I also ask all members of this hon. House to join me in recognizing

Come Home Year committees on the commitment they make to their respective

communities.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Baie Verte Springdale.

MR. POLLARD:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As a

teen she wanted to be a missionary, but due to World War II, chose instead

to become a Salvation Army Officer.

Stationed in many small communities, she performed both clergy and

teaching duties in one-room schools.

Over the years she added town clerk, President of the local Women's

Institute, running a homeless shelter in Toronto, volunteer chaplain at the

Valley Vista in Springdale, and an author to her long list of leadership

roles and achievements.

Upon

her official retirement, Dr. Gladys Osmond turned to writing.

From a few letters to a young member of the Armed Forces, her efforts

grew to writing over 500,000 letters to soldiers wherever they were

stationed all around the world.

Her home was filled with letters and photos from the men and women serving

on land, sea, and air.

She

has received numerous awards for her efforts, including the Caring Award,

the Canadian Forces Medallion for Distinguished Service, Honorary Doctor of

Laws from Memorial University, and the Order of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Wednesday, January 14, 2015 Gladys passed away suddenly at the age of

ninety-one. Without the

advantages of power, position, or money, Gladys truly made a lasting impact.

Honourable members, please help me celebrate the life of Dr. Gladys Osmond.

Thank you very much.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Trinity Bay de Verde.

MR. CROCKER:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

rise in this hon. House today to recognize two members of the Pharmacists'

Association of Newfoundland and Labrador who are residents of the District

of Trinity Bay de Verde.

Mr.

Kevin Banton is a pharmacist who lives in the Town of Heart's Delight

Islington where he owns and operates Welsh's Pharmacy.

this year's PANL Annual Conference, Mr. Banton was presented with the 2014

Pharmacist of the Year Award.

The nominees for this award come from the public and are given to

pharmacists who go above and beyond their regular roles in providing

extraordinary services.

the same conference, an Honorary Lifetime Membership Award was presented to

Mr. Dave Dawe in recognition for his long service to the pharmacy

profession. Mr. Dawe is a

resident of Heart's Content where he owned and operated Dawe's Pharmacy

until retiring in October 2014.

While Mr. Dawe is now retired, Mr. Banton continues to exhibit the qualities

that earned him this award in providing admirable service to local

residents.

ask all hon. members to join me in congratulating Mr. Banton and Mr. Dawe on

these well-deserved awards and wish them all the best in the future.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Bonavista North.

MR. CROSS:

I am very proud to rise

today, Mr. Speaker, to recognize Blake Welcher, a remarkable young man of

thirteen years from Valleyfield, Bonavista North and commend him for his

very thoughtful and humanitarian action.

If I may, Mr. Speaker, I would like to use Blake's words in a letter

to a young girl, Abigail Winter, who is afflicted with Cerebral Palsy.

His short letter is self-explanatory and his words are more

appropriate than mine.

Merry Christmas Abigail, I have collected squares from all over the world to

make a blanket for you! I

mentioned you to some of my online friends and they wanted to help do

something special for you, and so it began.

We started a projected called Let's make Abigail a blanket.

They were so happy to make blanket squares and send them to me to

make your blanket. We hope you

enjoy the blanket and know that it was made with love.

identifies squares from Massachusetts, England, Texas, Missouri and Michigan

among other places.

Blake Welcher, you are proving that a spirit of compassion, love and respect

is alive in our next generation, and I am sure all members will join me in

saying you are and will be an inspiration for others.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

would like to take a minute to welcome to the gallery, the former Deputy

Premier of the Government of New Brunswick, Ms Alda Landry.

Welcome to the House of Assembly.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Statements by Ministers.

Statements by

Ministers

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Fisheries and Aquaculture.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. GRANTER:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, I rise in this hon. House to recognize the important contributions

of people working on coastal management area committees throughout the

Province. Earlier this week,

these talented and dedicated individuals came together for a workshop in

Corner Brook to share ideas and generate new initiatives, and their efforts

are greatly appreciated.

Mr.

Speaker, these valued volunteers have played a key role in advancing our

government's Coastal and Ocean Management Strategy and Policy Framework from

the time it was established in 2011.

Our collaborative efforts fall under six main areas of activity:

maintaining healthy marine environments; promoting social, cultural and

economic sustainability; monitoring coastal land use; balancing competing

needs and interests; managing coastal and marine infrastructure; and

addressing climate change.

Our

government is very pleased to partner with members of the five coastal

management area committees located throughout the Province.

These individuals work with government representatives to increase

knowledge and public engagement on issues that affect their local coasts.

Examples of initiatives supported by these coastal management area

committees include community beach cleanups, youth education projects, and

World Oceans Day celebrations.

Mr.

Speaker, I want to take this opportunity to extend special thanks to the

Humber Arm Environmental Association, known regionally as ACAP Humber Arm,

for hosting the coastal management area committee workshop I mentioned

earlier in my statement. Led by

Executive Director Sheldon Peddle, this group has spearheaded many important

projects. They have supported

our government's efforts to monitor and mitigate the impact of green crab.

They have also created unique youth engagement initiatives like

Trading Books for Boats, which gives junior high students an opportunity to

take to the open water to learn about coastal and ocean ecosystems.

This work is a fine example of how our coastal management area

committees are using creative approaches to increase public awareness about

the importance of ocean environments off our coasts.

Mr.

Speaker, our government has made coastal management a priority because we

appreciate the fact that the ocean environment is deeply linked to our

Province's culture, heritage, history, recreational enjoyment, and economic

prosperity. On behalf of the

provincial government, I thank everyone playing a role in advancing the

importance of marine stewardship, and look forward to continued

collaboration in the future.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Carbonear Harbour Grace.

MR. SLADE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, I thank the minister for an advance copy of his statement.

More than ever, proper coastal and ocean management is needed to

ensure our waters and ecosystem is safeguarded.

I express gratitude to all of those in our Province who have shared

their ideas on how to achieve a balanced approach to responsibly sharing our

shores and our waters.

Mr.

Speaker, I have no confidence that this government is dealing with the more

serious issues which affect our coastal areas.

I think of the Manolis L ,

the purpose of changes to the Placentia Bay pilotage requirements, and even

the aquaculture challenges faced on the Province's South Coast.

No leadership by this government.

Also, I remind the minister that a core part of managing our coastal areas

is to safeguard our wild fish, which has dropped of this government's agenda

long ago.

call upon this government to step up its game on the coastal ocean

management and, since it has been over five years, it is time government

produce a strategy report on the coastal and ocean strategy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of

the Third Party.

MS MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

too, thank the minister for an advance copy of his statement.

Of course I agree that marine stewardship and coastal management are

vital to the interests of this Province, and I congratulate the commitment

of the many volunteers working on the coastal management area committees.

would like to point out to the minister, however, that towns on the South

Coast of the Island portion of the Province have waited for years to set up

a marine conservation area.

Three years ago, government refused to approve a feasibility study that the

federal government was willing to pay for.

Government made this decision without consulting with interested groups;

another example that although this government talks a lot about

consultation, they do not understand what real consultation entails.

I also question their commitment to the coastal preservation when

they would not do that study.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Environment and Conservation.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. CRUMMELL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, I rise today as the Minister Responsible for the Office of Climate

Change and Energy Efficiency to provide my hon. colleagues with an update on

the excellent progress made as part of the HotShots initiative.

Mr.

Speaker, our government launched the HotShots initiative in October 2014 to

raise awareness about the importance of energy conservation among students

in Newfoundland and Labrador. I

am delighted to confirm that this initiative has been rolled out to all 263

public schools in the Province.

part of the initiative, resource packs have been provided to all schools,

including French versions to schools within the French school district.

This resource includes facts about where energy comes from in

Newfoundland and Labrador, the benefits of saving energy, and how students

can reduce the amount of energy they use.

All of these resources are also available for download online.

have also launched a new curriculum-based Web site as part of the HotShots

initiative. Mr. Speaker, this

Web site provides teachers of Grade 6 and 9 science with links to online

resources about energy conservation.

These resources link directly to curriculum outcomes for these

courses, equipping teachers with exciting new tools to teach students about

the importance of saving energy.

Mr.

Speaker, through an innovative partnership with Newfoundland Power and

Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro, we are also delivering presentations to

primary and elementary schools.

These presentations provide students with tips to save energy and empower

them to take action within their homes.

Over 140 classes have received these presentations since October.

Our

partnership with Newfoundland Power and Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro also

includes two contests for students to communicate the importance of energy

conservation, through which they can win prizes for their schools.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to encourage students through our Province

to enter these contests and help raise awareness about saving energy.

More

information on this initiative, including the resource packs, presentations

and contests, can be found at HotShotNL.ca.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

The Straits White Bay North.

MR. MITCHELMORE:

Mr. Speaker, I thank

the minister for an advance copy of his statement.

Climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time.

Incorporating this into the grade school curriculum is crucial to

raising young people to become engaged and responsible citizens.

wonder, though, if they are telling these students about all the vacant

schools throughout the Province with the heat and lights left on.

This government has done a woefully inadequate job of securing buy-in

from the public at large in energy conservation.

Incentives are needed to encourage homeowners to make energy

efficient choices.

is ironic the minister is not standing in the House to read a statement of

how the ENERGY STAR window rebate program was cancelled as of just three

weeks ago. It is shameful I say,

Mr. Speaker. As per usual, this

government's failure to lead by example is evident in their piecemeal and

inconsistent approach to tackling climate change.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

St. John's East.

MR. MURPHY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

thank the minister for the advance copy of his statement here today.

It is good to see government promoting the conservation of energy.

The reality is, though, that this government cut financial

initiatives like the EnerGuide for Houses Program that would have allowed

people to conserve energy rather than just talk about it.

do not know the future, Mr. Speaker.

Energy efficiency was cut before.

Programs like REEP may be at risk of government cuts again,

considering the fiscal situation we find ourselves in as a Province here

today.

Thank you very much.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

Before Question Period, I would just like to take a moment to also recognize

the Mayor of Grand le Pierre.

His Worship Paul Bolt is in the gallery today.

Welcome to the House of Assembly.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Oral Questions.

Oral Questions

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of

the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The

federal government has said that the Budget is delayed until at least April,

ask the Premier: Does this mean that you will not bring down this year's

Budget until the end of April at the earliest?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. WISEMAN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The

timing of a Budget on the calendar is not as important as ensuring that the

Budget is informed. There are a

number of things that impact our Budget in a big way.

One of them is obviously the price of oil.

There is a high degree of uncertainty of what that will look like for

the next twelve months.

The

second thing, Mr. Speaker, in as much as we no longer receive equalization

payments from the federal government, there are significant transfer

payments from the federal government that still comes into our revenues.

Obviously, whatever the federal government does in their Budget

forecasting will have a huge impact on us.

Some

of the commentary that they may have about the economy moving into next year

and other financial implications for the current spot we find ourselves in

as a nation, that all of that will have an impact on our Budget process.

So, being informed, Mr. Speaker, is much more important than the

calendar date.

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of

the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Well, I doubt any of the variables that you just mentioned to the minister,

not much of that is going to change.

Keep in mind in last year's Budget we forecasted over a $500 million

deficit, and at that point, right up until September, the price of oil was

fairly stable.

Mr.

Speaker, with the required time to debate a Budget in this House, it is

likely that this year's Budget will not be passed until June.

Meanwhile, the Premier refuses to immediately cut the size of his

Cabinet and his five parliamentary secretaries; a move that would save

almost $500,000 over the next five months, something that this Premier can

do right away.

ask the Premier: Why do you not have the courage to cut your Cabinet and cut

those parliamentary secretaries today?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

the minister has referenced, and I have referenced myself throughout the

last number of days in the House here, and publicly as well, and as they

have thrown back at me many times.

So I know they are getting it, because I have said that everything is

on the table, Mr. Speaker. I can

continue to say that.

There are positions that are held by members of my government and my caucus

that include that review. Mr.

Speaker, I would trust that the member opposite would be supportive of

looking at their own positions in their own party, in their own Opposition,

as the opposition group of Opposition House leaders and Whips and so on.

I would expect all of us to have a review of all those positions, Mr.

Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of

the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

know the Premier understands or should understand the role of the House

Management Commission in this House of Assembly, and of course the Green

Report that will review compensation, benefits for all MHAs, which comes

after the next provincial election.

I am sure the Premier understands all that.

Probably what he does not understand is he does not need any

permission from either of those groups to do the right thing.

Cut the size of Cabinet; reduce your parliamentary secretaries like

all other Maritime Provinces have done.

They have none at all, yet our Province continues to have five.

Mr.

Speaker, with everything on the table, I ask the Premier: With everything on

the table, is the Muskrat Falls Project on the table?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

his point on positions in the House, I think it is important that we

identify that there are number of roles within the House that both parties

have that give them opportunities.

They do extra functions and roles in the House, but they also receive

extra compensation. For example,

House Leaders receive extra compensation, caucus chairs

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

PREMIER DAVIS:

party Whips, Deputy

House Leaders, all receive extra compensation, have to

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

PREMIER DAVIS:

I have struck a chord

over there, Mr. Speaker.

So,

members of their own caucus

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

PREMIER DAVIS:

all receive extra

compensation for some of their roles

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The

hon. the Premier, to continue.

PREMIER DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

Members opposite have roles and functions that they carry out while they are

in the House that they receive compensation for in their roles throughout

the year that they receive extra compensation for.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

PREMIER DAVIS:

Mr. Speaker, my point

is that when we are going to do a full and complete review I have said I

am willing to review the roles and functions and additional duties that

members of my caucus have and have been assigned to them, and I would

certainly expect members opposite to do the same thing.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of

the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Absolutely, Mr. Speaker,

the Management Commission is a great group of people, controlled right now

by government. The cutting of

Cabinet members is not controlled by people in the Opposition, so I would

expect the Premier to stop really dodging the issue here; that is all you

are doing. The issue at hand is

reduce the size of your Cabinet; do the right thing.

Have the courage that you say it takes to make those tough decisions.

Cut those parliamentary secretaries, I say Premier.

Why aren't you doing this?

Mr.

Speaker, the Province has also several equity investments in our Province

right now. These range from

offshore oil developments to aquaculture initiatives.

ask the Premier: Are the Province's equity investments on the table?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. WISEMAN:

Mr. Speaker, I hate

repeating myself and I do not always like quoting other people either

frequently, but let me try it again.

The Premier has said numerous times in this House and outside the

House, I myself have said outside this House and here in Question Period,

that as we go through the Budget process we are examining all aspects of

government's operation, all aspects of the boards and agencies that do work

on behalf of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

We are examining all of the revenue streams.

We are examining all of the expenditure items.

We are looking at how we are going to manage our way through this

difficult time we find ourselves in as a result of world oil prices.

need to map out a way forward to get us through not just this year, but we

need to map out a plan to get us through the next five years, Mr. Speaker.

That is what the Budget process will be involving itself in this

year.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of

the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

agree with the Minister of Finance; no one likes to repeat themselves.

So, this is a question you will not have to repeat the Premier;

because the Premier did not answer this question when I asked is Muskrat

Falls on the table.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. WISEMAN:

Mr. Speaker, as we

examine all the aspects of government's operations together with its boards

and agencies, as I have just described, one of the things that we need to

make sure that we do is we make strategic decisions, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. WISEMAN:

We look at the kinds of

investments we have made into our future because we need to be careful, Mr.

Speaker. Whatever we do today,

recognize this is just not going to have an impact on the next twelve months

because that is the Budget cycle.

We make decisions in this House and as a government we make decisions

every day that affects the lives of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, not

just today but well into the future.

So,

any decision we made during this Budget process will be of the view not

just look at this year's fiscal cycle, but for the long-term sustainability

of programs and services, all in the best interests of Newfoundlanders and

Labradorians for the long term.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of

the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

asked that question to the Premier.

I asked that question to the Minister of Finance.

Now I am going to ask this question to the Minister of Natural

Resources because he likes hat tricks.

I know this guy likes hat tricks.

ask the Minister of Natural Resources: Is Muskrat Falls on the table?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER DAVIS:

Mr. Speaker, I never

like to interfere with a good hockey game, I can tell you that.

Mr.

Speaker, as the member opposite is asking this question, it comes to mind a

very important consideration that we are making that I think it is valuable

in discussing here today. It has

to do with infrastructure investments because we have made commitments on

projects.

have plans that are at various stages in projects.

There are projects that are very, very early in concept and thought

and idea. There are projects

which have had an amount of engineering and design work completed on them.

There are projects where tenders have been issued, inviting tenders.

There are projects where tenders have been awarded and waiting for

the work to get underway. There

are projects that are in some stage of completion.

Some, where the current contracts have been completed and where more

need to be done.

Mr.

Speaker, we have to be cognizant of all of those factors as we made our

decisions and move forward.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of

the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Well, I guess I got the hat trick all right; the hat trick was there was no

answer by either one.

Mr.

Speaker, the Province is a 4.9 per cent equity shareholder in Hebron.

The project has seen its budget balloon to $14 billion.

ask the Premier: How much money will there be in next year's Budget for the

equity position in Hebron?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. WISEMAN:

The process has already

started, Mr. Speaker, for the Budget process.

Every year in the House, regardless of what government is here and

what time the House sits, every year the Opposition stands well in advance

of the Budget and starts asking questions: What will be in the Budget?

What will not be in the Budget?

It is standard. Go to

Hansard. It has been there for

decades. We are now starting the

process again. I suspect over

the next while as we sit in this House, members of the Opposition will raise

and lobby for things to be in the Budget and will ask questions about what

will be in the Budget.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. WISEMAN:

As always, Mr. Speaker,

the Budget is read into the House of Assembly by the Minister of Finance.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. WISEMAN:

It then provides a

proposal as to what is going to happen over the next twelve months.

The only thing different this year is we are going to lay out what it

is going to be in this Province and what the fiscal position will be over

the next five years.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of

the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

really find that question very difficult to take.

I asked about a Budget process.

Prior to that Budget process there is a construction

schedule that

would outline well in advance of this project how much money would be

required. All I did was ask the

Finance Minister, does he know that answer.

you know how much you have to put into Hebron this year as part of the

Budget process to meet the construction

schedule for Hebron?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. WISEMAN:

Mr. Speaker, Nalcor, as a

corporate entity, has many interests.

They have interest in oil and gas.

They have revenue generation from its power generation.

It has an investment in Muskrat Falls.

It creates an opportunity to return dividends to the people of

Newfoundland and Labrador.

What

we are trying to do, Mr. Speaker, given what has happened with oil and gas

because they have a revenue stream, because they have an interest already in

an oil position in the Province.

They have a revenue stream from their equity.

What we are trying to do is to understand clearly over the next five

years what Nalcor's earnings will be from its revenue-generating operations,

what an equity requirement will be, whether it is Muskrat Falls or oil and

gas. That will factor into our

forecast.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Virginia Waters.

MS C. BENNETT:

Mr. Speaker, the

Finance Minister has said that he will release his Budget after the feds

release theirs in April because of the uncertainty about transfers; however,

it is not necessary to wait.

Last year, New Brunswick released their Budget before the federal

government.

ask the minister: Why can't we do the same?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. WISEMAN:

Mr. Speaker, just think

for a moment. Just look at the

world global economic position today versus twelve months ago.

Look at where we were as a Province.

Look at where we were as a nation.

Look at the stability that existed last year and some degree of

predictability that existed last year, and look at where we are today.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. WISEMAN:

Let me quote from the

Governor of the Bank of Canada a couple of days ago, Given the speed and

magnitude of the oil-price decline, there is substantial uncertainty around

the likely level for oil prices and their impact on the economic outlook for

Canada.

You

could not quote him last year for saying that because there was a lot of

stability. We have a very

different time today.

Circumstances in this Nation, circumstances in this country are very

different. So the degree of

predictability is different today than it was yesterday.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The

hon. the Member for Virginia Waters.

MS C. BENNETT:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

realize that the minister has admitted to an issue with math, so let me help

him. Last year, for every dollar

the federal government gave Newfoundland, they gave New Brunswick $4.

New Brunswick got millions more than us, yet they do not have to wait

for the feds.

ask the minister: Why can't you release a Budget on what the Premier called

yesterday his government's financial crises?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. WISEMAN:

I think the member

finally gets it. I think she

finally gets it. What she is

finally recognizing and acknowledging, if you are a province that is

receiving a lot of equalization payments, then you have a stable income.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. WISEMAN:

We have, however,

graduated to a point where we are now generating most of our own source

revenues. As she would know, as

an entrepreneur who has had some degree of success, there are risks when you

rely on your own revenue generation and not relying on handouts from

somebody else.

Mr.

Speaker, we will reap the benefit of having high oil prices like we have and

we will get the value of that, but there is a risk associated with that.

When oil prices drop, we find ourselves in a spot we are now, but

when you are receiving continuous payments from the federal government,

there is no risk.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The

hon. the Member for Virginia Waters.

MS C. BENNETT:

Mr. Speaker, let me

make this really simple for the minister.

Muskrat Falls is the biggest capital investment this Province has

ever made. When people make the

biggest purchase of their lives, a house for example, they have to put away

money to make sure they can pay the bills.

This government did not, and now you want to do a five-year plan, now

you want to be accountable.

Mr.

Speaker, I ask the minister: What are you trying to hide by not releasing

this Budget?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. WISEMAN:

As she is making it

abundantly clear to all of us, who obviously in her mind do not understand

anything, let me try to slow down a bit.

Let me try to be very deliberate in my explanation, because clearly,

Mr. Speaker, if you think about what has happened in this Province in the

last ten years, when she says about putting money away, we have put money

away. We have put $6 billion

into infrastructure.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. WISEMAN:

Six billion dollars into

infrastructure, critical investments for the future, and have not had to

borrow for it. We have returned,

on average, $700 million a year in tax returns back to the people of

Newfoundland and Labrador

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. WISEMAN:

contributing $3 billion

to the economy. That is what we

have done, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Burgeo La Poile.

MR. A. PARSONS:

I ask the minister:

What is our deficit this year?

Mr.

Speaker, we asked yesterday for public Mahoney Commission documents that are

relevant to the Bill 42 debate.

The Government House Leader said he would look into it.

ask the Government House Leader: Where are they?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, the Mahoney Commission in 1993 was a commission that looked at

electoral boundaries, and as I looked into this yesterday, I learned that

the government of the day, which happened to be a Liberal government, did

not disclose the documents that had been directed by Mr. Mahoney.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

PREMIER DAVIS:

In fact, when we went

searching for the documents, we found that they had been transferred to a

long-term storage facility outside of Confederation Building.

I can tell you the minister worked very hard with officials to find

those as quickly as possible.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

PREMIER DAVIS:

Mr. Speaker, all this

happened

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

PREMIER DAVIS:

All this happened,

Mr. Speaker, the first request was made, as I understand, around 10:00 a.m.

yesterday. By 12:30 the

documents were located and they had to be transferred here to Confederation

Building. They arrived around

2:00 p.m. Just a few minutes

before, the members opposite went on the attack as if we were trying to do

something to protect those documents, Mr. Speaker.

It is a large number of files

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

PREMIER DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Burgeo La Poile.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Mr. Speaker, the

first thing I would say is that the Premier is factually incorrect in much

of the answer that he just gave.

The

second question is: Where are the documents now?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

was yesterday morning, as I understand, the first request was made.

I do not know if I can say if I am factually incorrect that efforts

were made yesterday. I could

tell the member opposite efforts were made yesterday to locate them as

quickly as possible. The

documents were brought here to Confederation Building around 2:00 p.m.

yesterday. I can tell you that

the Government House Leader is in a position today to be able to table some

of those documents, and he will be doing so this afternoon, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Burgeo La Poile.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Mr. Speaker, I am

glad to hear that they will be tabling some of the documents.

I wonder what will happen to the rest of the documents.

Mr.

Speaker, there are some serious rumours about significant cuts coming to

health care boards in this Province.

There are thousands of people working in our health care system and

they are worried about their future.

ask the minister: Will he confirm that each of the health care boards is

being notified that significant cuts are coming?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KENT:

Mr. Speaker, it does not

come as any surprise that members of the Opposition will be trying to

instill fear in public servants and the public as well.

Of course we are having ongoing Budget discussions with the four

regional health authorities.

are into a Budget process that is clearly a tough Budget process, given the

financial situation that we face.

That is going to require tough decisions.

It means that we are going to have to make tough choices, and I am

working closely and my officials are working closely with our regional

health authorities as we work through that process.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Burgeo La Poile.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Mr. Speaker, the

Minister of Finance said that the Budget is going to be delayed; however,

people within the health care system know now that the cuts are coming.

ask the minister: Will you be keeping these health care workers in limbo

until after you introduce the Budget, or will you be making the cuts

earlier?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KENT:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

can assure the member opposite and I can assure the public that no decisions

have been made about any potential changes or cuts to any of our services

within health care. Clearly, we

are going to have to do things differently.

Our level of spending around health care in this Province is not

sustainable; forty cents of every dollar is being spent on the delivery of

health care services and they are important services that impact everybody

in Newfoundland and Labrador, but we have to find new ways forward.

We have to find better ways to deliver services.

We are going to work closely with staff within the health care system

to find some of those solutions.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Bay of Islands.

MR. JOYCE:

Mr. Speaker, in this time

of fiscal restraint, the Premier says everything is on the table; yet we see

a former Premier who was in the office for only eight months, can pay his

secretary for three years at a cost of approximately $275,000 to review his

files as a minister, and that he will keep as his personal collection his

quote.

ask the Premier: How can you justify keeping Tom Marshall in a suite of

offices while the current Member for Humber East has to rent office space in

Corner Brook?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

There has been a long-standing policy in government

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

PREMIER DAVIS:

whereby certain

benefits were afforded to Premiers once they left office, Mr. Speaker.

They have been around for a number of years, but I can assure you and

I can assure the member opposite that even that is under review, and that is

on the table as well.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Bay of Islands.

MR. JOYCE:

I hear the Premier saying

it has been around a long time, but you are the one saying this is a crisis,

so it is time to look at every possible avenue.

Mr.

Speaker, government members are paying rent in Corner Brook myself

included. The Member for Humber

East is renting office space in Corner Brook, who was not allowed to move

into the office of the Member from Humber East who just resigned.

A former Premier for eight months now has a three-year option for

suites in Corner Brook.

ask the Premier: Do you think the former Premier requires a suite of offices

for one secretary, costing taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. WISEMAN:

Mr. Speaker, the Premier,

I think, answered the first question, which was all aspects of government's

operations are under review.

Whether it is the benefits that are being paid out to former Premiers and

as the Premier said, this is a benefit.

It is nothing new. There

is nothing cynical about this.

Former Liberal Premiers have had this.

I suspect that all Premiers since the beginning of time have had

this. I remember going back to

comments in the media when Premier Moores left, Premier Peckford left, and

Premier Wells left. Every

Premier who has left has had this same benefit.

Premier Grimes was the last Liberal Premier to leave

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. WISEMAN:

and those benefits have

been extended to all former Premiers, but this is the first Premier who has

ever said that it is under review and we are going to give it a very sharp

scrutiny in this Budget process, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Bay of Islands.

MR. JOYCE:

I say to the minister,

this is the first Premier who has ever been in the office less than a year

to receive it, Mr. Speaker.

ask the Premier: If you want to save money, why don't you ask the minister

to get something less affordable and let the Member for Humber East move

into a suite of offices, which was renovated for the member himself in

Corner Brook, so that you save taxpayers' money in the interim?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. WISEMAN:

Mr. Speaker, I would not

stand in the House and say this was the first I assume that the member

opposite has checked to ensure that Premier Tulk did not get this benefit

when he left. I am sure he has

checked that. He would not get

in this House and say something unless he had verified it; I am certain.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. WISEMAN:

I say, Mr. Speaker, he is

obviously speaking with some confidence and that is all the more reason why

the Premier is adamant and has been clear that he is prepared to look at

everything and all things that we do including the size of Cabinet,

including the members who have extra pay in this House, whether it Committee

Chairs and other sorts of stipends they get paid in the House.

He has put everything on the table for review, including what

Premiers get when they leave office.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of

the Third Party.

MS MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

the last few weeks we have seen in the media and heard from constituents

about problems with the care of residents at the new St. John's long-term

care facility. We are hearing

about residents being bedridden or not receiving adequate personal care due

to lack of staff and supplies.

ask the minister: Is his department doing a study of all the staffing needs

at this facility?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KENT:

Mr. Speaker, we are

certainly proud of the investments we have made to improve long-term care in

Newfoundland and Labrador and we recognize there is still more work to do.

The facility in Pleasantville is a beautiful new facility and we

believe that residents are getting excellent care there.

However, the concerns that have been raised recently are of great concern to

us. I have spoken personally

with the CEO of Eastern Health who has taken it upon himself to arrange

meetings with people involved to investigate all of the concerns that have

been raised. He does also intend

to meet with the resident council, which contains family members and

residents, to ensure that any concerns about patient care are adequately

addressed.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of

the Third Party.

MS MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

ask the minister: Is he going to get a full report from the CEO about these

consultations?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KENT:

Mr. Speaker, I am in

constant communication with our regional health authorities, as are

officials at the Department of Health and Community Services.

We will ensure that any concerns that have been raised here are

followed up.

terms of the staffing shortages, I have spoken to those issues in this House

on several occasions. We have

plans in place to ensure that we attract the staff we need.

We are pleased that new LPNs have arrived and are completing their

orientation and training. We

look forward to opening up even more beds at the facility.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of

the Third Party.

MS MICHAEL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The

minister has just now given me the answer to my two questions one is, give

us an update on how many vacancies are still there in staffing, and tell us

how many beds are still empty?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KENT:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

number of the beds have already been opened.

There may be several more that still will open in the weeks ahead.

I will get the exact numbers and certainly provide them to the hon.

member.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of

the Third Party.

MS MICHAEL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

are still hearing of patients lying in hallways because hospital beds are

not available. Much of the

backlog is due to patients waiting for long-term care.

would like the minister to tell me: What is the current wait-list for

long-term care under Eastern Health?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

MR. KENT:

Mr. Speaker, the precise

numbers on the wait-list, I would certainly be happy to provide to the hon.

member. I know that the opening

of the new facility in Pleasantville has made a positive difference.

are exploring other solutions as well to address the waitlists, because the

reality is in every one of our hospitals in Newfoundland and Labrador we

have long-term care patients who are tying up acute care beds.

That is a concern for government; it is a concern for our regional

health authorities. We are

striving to find solutions, because it is not just a problem in Eastern

Region. In fact, one of the

longest waitlists we have in the Province is actually in the Central Region.

So we are working to explore solutions for each region of the

Province when it comes to long-term care.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

St. John's East.

MR. MURPHY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, government has taken the position that a reduction in the number of

sitting MHAs can address part of the dire fiscal situation in the Province.

the Premier telling the people of the Province that democracy is tied

directly to the price of a barrel of oil?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. WISEMAN:

That is a ludicrous

question when you stop and think of it for a moment.

There is no price on democracy, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. WISEMAN:

Men and women have given

their lives for democracy, and to try to trivialize that by talking about a

democracy and the cost of democracy and what we are trying to do as a

government to ensure that the size of this House of Assembly needs to be

appropriate given the population that we have.

We look at that in relation to other parts of the country and the

representatives that they have in their Legislatures.

Mr.

Speaker, we support the notion that every person in Newfoundland and

Labrador needs to be appropriately represented in this Legislature.

Leaders of all parties well, except the Leader of the Third Party

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The

hon. the Member for St. John's East has time for a quick question.

MR. MURPHY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

This

House used to have fifty-two seats before a drop in oil revenue hit the

provincial piggy bank, and now we find ourselves in this situation all of a

sudden.

What

makes the Premier think that less representation is going to be better

representation in this case?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance has time for a quick reply.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. WISEMAN:

I will be quick, Mr.

Speaker.

The

fifty-two seats had more to do with the 560,000 people than it had to do

with the price of oil, and today we are talking about Newfoundland and

Labrador with about 515,000 people.

It is a very big difference, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The

time for Question Period has expired.

MR. WISEMAN:

Mr. Speaker, a point of

order.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance on a point of order.

MR. WISEMAN:

Mr. Speaker, as a former

Speaker, I am somewhat sensitive to this.

During Question Period, the Leader of the Official Opposition, in standing

in preparing for a question, indicated to the Premier that the Management

Commission was controlled by government.

I just want, for the record, to clarify and ask the member to stand

and apologize to you. Because

clearly, the Management Commission is made up of equal representation from

the Opposition and from government, and you, as the Chair, are the other

person on that. So, to suggest

that government controls the Management Commission is to suggest that you

are not independent and you are controlled by the government.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. WISEMAN:

I say, Mr. Speaker, your seat, your position in this House is as an

independent. You are elected by

this Assembly and you have that independence.

I ask the member to stand and withdraw.

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

There is no point of order.

The

hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services standing on a point of

order.

MR. KENT:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Very

quickly, just to the question the hon. Member for Signal Hill Quidi Vidi

raised in Question Period. The

number of beds currently not open is thirty and they will be open in April.

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

There is no point of order.

Presenting Reports by Standing and Select Committees.

Tabling of Documents.

Tabling of

Documents

MR. SPEAKER:

Pursuant to

section 8 and

section 10 of the Public Tender Act, I hereby table the report of Public

Tender Act exceptions for the month of October, 2014, as presented by the

Chief Operating Officer of the Government Purchasing Agency.

Further tabling of documents?

The

hon. the Government House Leader.

MR. KING:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Members would recall, yesterday I was asked in Question Period, by the

Leader of the Opposition, a number of questions around the request for

documentation relative to a previous review of electoral boundaries.

I am pleased today to be able to table a number of documents for

members to peruse at their leisure.

There are two boxes here which represent presentations and audio

tapes. Further documentation

should be available within a couple of hours, later this afternoon.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Further tabling of

documents?

Notices of Motion.

Answers to Questions for which Notice has been Given.

Petitions.

Petitions

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Virginia Waters.

MS C. BENNETT:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

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

Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned residents of

Newfoundland and Labrador humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS the electoral boundaries commission was legislated to be appointed

in 2016 to determine any changes to electoral districts in the Province; and

WHEREAS the undersigned agree with a reduction in the number of electoral

seats; and

WHEREAS the appointment of the electoral boundaries commission in 2016 would

have allowed the time necessary to properly carry out the necessary public

consultations; and

WHEREAS the appointment of the electoral boundaries commission in 2016 would

have allowed sufficient time necessary to properly evaluate the population

and demographics of each district and properly calculate the necessary

adjustments for the change in the numbers of electoral districts; and

WHEREAS the appointment of the electoral boundaries commission in 2016 would

have allowed sufficient time necessary to properly evaluate the geographical

implications of the change in the number of electoral districts; and

WHEREAS the government is attempting to change legislation to appoint the

electoral boundaries commission early;

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

House of Assembly to urge government to ensure that, with or without the

completion of work of the electoral boundaries commission as a result of

appointing a commission early, it will not interfere with the legislated and

mandated requirements to hold a provincial election in 2015.

Mr.

Speaker, earlier the Finance Minister said being informed is much more

important than a calendar date.

Mr. Speaker, in the Province of PEI it took 970 days from the completion of

the report to the general election.

In the Province of Nova Scotia it took 380 days.

In the Province of New Brunswick it took 517 days.

In the Province of Quebec it took 791 days.

That is just from the end of the report to the election.

Ontario it took 1,050 days from the completion of the report to the general

election. In Manitoba it took

1,418 days from the end of the report to the general election.

In Alberta it took 665 days until the end of the report to the

election; 551 days in British Columbia; 627 days in the Northwest

Territories, and 870 days in Nunavut.

Mr.

Speaker, today is January 22, and we have 246 days before this government

has to complete a report and get the work done to get an election called on

September 25. Mr. Speaker, the

people of the Province do not want this legislation to delay a general

election.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

St. John's North.

MR. KIRBY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned residents of

Newfoundland and Labrador humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS people with disabilities in Newfoundland and Labrador especially

those who have mobility issues or use wheelchairs face particular

difficulties during times of significant winter snowfall; and

WHEREAS persons with disabilities who have low incomes, who have no one to

help clear their snow and no opportunities for assistance face isolation and

frequently are prevented from going to work, attending school, keeping

medical appointments, shopping for groceries and carrying out other

necessary responsibilities because accumulated snow at their place of

residence impedes pedestrian and wheelchair access; and

WHEREAS the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador supports access, full

participation, and equal opportunity for all Newfoundlanders and

Labradorians, regardless of ability;

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

House of Assembly to urge government to work with the City of St. John's and

other municipalities in Newfoundland and Labrador, as needed, to create a

volunteer matching service or other low-cost solution to snow-clearing

problems faced by persons with disabilities.

in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr.

Speaker, this petition is signed by constituents of mine in the District of

St. John's North. I had a call

from a constituent just after the Christmas holiday, as I have had every

year since I got elected in 2011, about her difficulty getting out of her

home as a result of the snowfall.

My constituent is an amputee who has other health issues, and she

basically has significant disability and significant mobility problems.

looked around, searched the Internet, looked at what other jurisdictions

were doing across Canada and a lot of municipalities in Canada have services

that are volunteer services.

Some of them are called Snow Angels.

There is a similar service that is co-ordinated by the Seniors

Resource Centre here in the Province, but there is really nothing in this

Province and in the City of St. John's in particular, at least, for persons

with disabilities, to help them pair up with somebody to help them clear

their snow.

this instance, my constituent's nine-year-old son was out trying to get the

snow cleared out so his mother could get out of the house.

I do not think that is sensible at all in this day and age.

urge the minister responsible to take a leadership role here, to be

proactive and not reactive to the problems faced by persons with

disabilities, to reach out to the City of St. John's and to see if something

cannot be done in co-ordination with the city, through the Province, to help

these people who clearly need help with snow clearing.

Thank you.

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The

hon. the Member for The Straits White Bay North.

MR. MITCHELMORE:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

We,

the citizens serviced by Curtis Hospital located in St. Anthony,

Newfoundland and Labrador, petition the Government of Newfoundland and

Labrador and Labrador-Grenfell Health to retain the midwives and allow them

to continue to perform all of their duties at Curtis Hospital.

Our

midwives offer services that cannot be duplicated and which cannot be

replaced. The level of care they

offer and the knowledge and training they have in the area of obstetrics is

immense. It will be a great

disservice to the people of this area if our midwives are no longer

available to care for the people here.

Privatizing midwifery or waiting five to seven years for regulation,

as stated by government, is unacceptable.

We have an operational model of midwifery here in St. Anthony that

has been delivering outstanding care for over ninety years.

We,

the undersigned, petition the House of Assembly to urge the Government of

Newfoundland and Labrador and Labrador-Grenfell Health to preserve our

midwifery services at Curtis Hospital.

Mr.

Speaker, this petition is signed by residents of Savage Cove, Green Island

Brook, Flower's Cove, Green Island Cove, Bird Cove, and Plum Point.

This is a matter that when we look at primary care and we look at a

number of issues of where we are moving forward with health care because I

know the minister had talked about spending forty cents for every dollar on

health care in the Province. If

we look at the health care professionals and allowing them to practice the

full scope, there are ways of which we can have smarter spending in health

care and providing better health care outcomes for the people of the

Province.

St. Anthony, this hospital is providing midwifery services for almost 100

years. For over ninety years

this service has existed. If we

look at where the service could be expanded when you look at the recruitment

and retention of obstetricians, general practitioners, there are ways in the

system of which, with the proper regulations, we could offer midwives not

only in St. Anthony but in other areas in a publicly-funded setting.

We could also have private midwifery in larger metro areas.

The

safe delivery of health care can be provided, but also all the other work

that midwives do in terms of the prenatal and postnatal services that they

offer families, not just the women who are pregnant but the whole family in

terms of helping and making sure that those who are pregnant get the proper

adequate care and that we are able to meet the health care needs of people.

This could be done in an efficient way and it should be done.

This is something that the Minister of Health should focus on in

making sure that those regulations are in play and that we do not lose

midwifery in St. Anthony on the Great Northern Peninsula.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for the opportunity to present this petition on

behalf of my constituents.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

St. John's Centre.

MS ROGERS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned residents of

Newfoundland and Labrador humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS the Family Violence Intervention Court provided a comprehensive

approach to domestic violence in a court setting that fully understood and

dealt with the complex issues of domestic violence; and

WHEREAS domestic violence continues to be one of the most serious issues

facing our Province today, and the cost of the impact of domestic violence

is both great economically and in human suffering; and

WHEREAS the Family Violence Intervention Court was welcomed and endorsed by

all aspects of the justice system including the police, the courts,

prosecutors, defence counsel, Child, Youth and Family Services, as well as

victims, offenders, community agencies, and women's groups; and

WHEREAS the recidivism rate for the offenders going through the court was 10

per cent compared to 40 per cent for those who did not; and

WHEREAS a budget for the court was only 0.2 per cent of the entire budget of

the Department of Justice;

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

House of Assembly to urge government to reinstate the Family Violence

Intervention Court.

in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr.

Speaker, I am not exactly sure how long I have been presenting this

petition. It is pretty well

close to two years now. With our

new Premier, whose background is policing, if anybody in this House should

know the effects of domestic violence, if anybody in this House should know

how important the court system is, how important the police system is, how

important the support systems are in the area of domestic violence, it

should be our current Premier.

Mr.

Speaker, the police fully endorsed the Family Violence Intervention Court,

because often they are the first responders and they know, they see, the

devastating effects of family violence.

The Family Violence Intervention Court was a court that really fully

dealt with the root causes of domestic violence.

reduced recidivism which is exactly what we want to see happen.

We want to see the rate of recidivism reduced, and that means that

people will not reoffend. That

is exactly what we wanted to see happen, and that is exactly what this court

did. For $500,000, that is what

this court did, and it did it protecting the people, the women and children

of this Province.

Mr.

Speaker, the current House Leader, he will go down in history to be known as

the one who cut this court for no good reason, for $500,000, when it served

such a vital function in terms of addressing the root cause of domestic

violence in this Province.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Cartwright L'Anse au Clair.

MS DEMPSTER:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS most communities in the District of Cartwright L'Anse au Clair do

not have adequate broadband services; and

WHEREAS residents

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MS DEMPSTER:

businesses, students,

nurses, and teachers rely heavily on the Internet to conduct their work and

cannot afford to wait until 2016 or longer to access a potential plan in

partnership with the Muskrat Falls development; and

WHEREAS there are a number of world-class tourism sites in the region,

including a UNESCO site at Red Bay, Battle Harbour Historic Site, and the

Mealy Mountains National Park;

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

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

work with the appropriate agencies to provide adequate broadband services in

communities along the Labrador Coast.

in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr.

Speaker, I have presented numerous petitions in this House on the need for

an increase to the broadband service in the district and I will continue to

do that. We have twenty-two

communities in the area and we have at least half, or more than half of

these communities that have exceeded capacity.

They are closed to sales, several of them with major tourism sites.

Mr.

Speaker, as we look at this technological age that we are now living in,

everybody likes to be connected.

We certainly see indications of that here in the House every day.

I do not think there are too many who go without their devices for

very long periods of time, unless they are sleeping.

Mr.

Speaker, even for fisher people in the district, they are more and more

having to rely upon Internet to renew applications and licences.

Professionals who are there, schools, the streamlining is very, very

slow. Every single day I receive

after midnight or before 5:00 a.m.

I would urge the government to continue to work with service

providers. There was $305

million in the federal budget. I

am not sure what portion of that was coming to Newfoundland and what it was

earmarked for.

Mr.

Speaker, we are talking about a fiscal crisis here a lot.

Sometimes with a tiny investment and when you are drawing tourists

to the area, 450,000, I believe it was in this Province who visited National

Historic Sites last year.

Sometimes we have to put a little bit of money in to expect a whole lot of

money back.

will continue to stand and petition and draw attention to the serious

broadband need in an area where, I might add, there already is a very, very

small cell service. These people

are left in a very difficult situation.

Businesses to do their work are hurting, individuals, and students.

I hope we will hear some news that some improvement is coming very

soon.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Burgeo La Poile.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

have a petition to the hon. House of Assembly.

The

petition of the undersigned residents of Newfoundland and Labrador humbly

sheweth:

WHEREAS the electoral boundaries commission was legislated to be appointed

in 2016 to determine any changes to electoral districts in the Province; and

WHEREAS the undersigned agree with a reduction in the number of electoral

seats; and

WHEREAS the appointment of the electoral boundaries commission in 2016 would

have allowed the time necessary to properly carry out the necessary public

consultations; and

WHEREAS the appointment of the electoral boundaries commission in 2016 would

have allowed sufficient time necessary to properly evaluate the population

and demographics of each district and properly calculate the necessary

adjustments for a change in the number of electoral districts; and

WHEREAS the appointment of the electoral boundaries commission in 2016 would

have allowed sufficient time necessary to properly evaluate the geographical

implications of a change in the number of electoral districts; and

WHEREAS the government is attempting to change legislation to appoint the

electoral boundaries commission early;

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

House to urge the government to ensure that, with or without the completion

of the work of the commission as a result of appointing a commission early,

it will not interfere with the legislated and mandated requirement to hold a

provincial general election in 2015.

in duty bound your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr.

Speaker, I am happy to stand here for the first time this week and enter a

petition on this matter, and happy to enter one that is signed by members of

my constituency who have some concerns about this whole thing that was

sprung on this Province roughly a week ago.

It was very quick, and a lot of people it is taking them back, and

we are back here in an emergency session to talk about it.

They

have no problem with a reduction in seats in general.

That is not their issue, but they are worried about the possibility

that this stretches out an election which this government made legislation

to ensure would happen this year in the fall.

It was the will of the people.

That is what they want to make sure happens.

They do not want this commission to be done as a means of delaying

that election.

Again, that is what is out there.

That is what people think, and that is their concern.

We have to ensure that does not happen because that is not what

people want. That is the purpose

of this House, to ensure that we do the people's will.

That is why we were elected here.

I am

happy to stand here and present this petition on behalf of my constituents.

We hope this matter which we are about to debate today is done

properly. I also look forward to

having the rest of the documents we requested to ensure that we have an

adequate, full and informed debate.

We have asked for documents that probably should be considered when

we get into this matter. We look

forward to hopefully getting them and that the minister did not redact them

too much along the way.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Conception Bay South.

MR. HILLIER:

To the hon. House of

Assembly of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador in Parliament

assembled, the petition of the undersigned residents of Newfoundland and

Labrador humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS the electoral boundaries commission was legislated to be appointed

in 2016 to determine any changes to electoral districts in the Province; and

WHEREAS the undersigned agree with a reduction in the number of electoral

seats; and

WHEREAS the appointment of the electoral boundaries commission in 2016 would

have allowed the time necessary to properly carry out the necessary public

consultations; and

WHEREAS the appointment of the electoral boundaries commission in 2016 would

have allowed sufficient time necessary to properly evaluate the geographical

implications of a change in the number of electoral districts; and

WHEREAS the government is attempting to change legislation to appoint the

electoral boundaries commission early;

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

House of Assembly to urge the government to ensure that, with or without the

completion of the work of the electoral boundaries commission as a result of

appointing the commission early, it will not interfere with the legislated

and mandated requirement to hold a provincial general election in 2015.

in duty bound your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr.

Speaker, I, too, am proud to stand here this afternoon and bring forward

this petition on behalf of people from the beautiful District of Conception

Bay South, all signed, the correct address and properly indicated.

Article 3.1 of the House of Assembly Act talks about, the resignation of a

Premier indicates that within a year we should have a general election.

Mr. Speaker, there are people in this Province now who feel that we

should be having a general election based on that article.

The Official Opposition has not taken that stand.

Mr.

Speaker, last winter and spring with the non-crisis of DarkNL and the Humber

Valley Paving fiasco, we had a large portion of the population of this

Province demanding that we hold an election.

Mr. Speaker, at that time the Official Opposition took the stand that

we would not be expecting a provincial election.

Mr.

Speaker, in the fall, when we ended up with a new Premier and the fiasco

that went with his appointments and so on, there was a significant portion

of the population of this Province calling for a provincial election.

The Official Opposition at that time did not take that stand.

Four, five, six, seven resignations and subsequent by-elections, Mr.

Speaker, a significant portion of the population of this Province was

calling for a general election.

The Official Opposition at that time chose not to.

Mr.

Speaker, I have a petition, my colleague has a petition.

My colleague earlier had a petition.

We are supporting the people of this Province who are now calling for

an election.

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

remind the member his time has expired.

The

hon. the Government House Leader.

MR. KING:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

move, seconded by the Minister of Municipal and Intergovernmental Affairs,

that we move to Orders of the Day.

MR. SPEAKER:

The motion is that we

move to Orders of the Day.

All

those in favour, 'aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

All those against, 'nay'.

Carried.

Orders of the Day

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government

House Leader.

MR. KING:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

First of all, I move, seconded by the Minister of Municipal and

Intergovernmental Affairs, Motion 3 of our Order Paper for today, under

Standing Order 11, that the House not adjourn at 5:30 this afternoon,

Thursday, January 22, 2015.

MR. SPEAKER:

The motion is that this

House not adjourn at 5:30 o'clock today.

All

those in favour, 'aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

All those against, 'nay'.

Carried.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government

House Leader.

MR. KING:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Again, I move, seconded by the Minister of Municipal and Intergovernmental

Affairs, pursuant to Standing Order 11, the House not adjourn at 10:00

o'clock this evening, Thursday, January 22, 2015.

MR. SPEAKER:

The motion is that this

House not adjourn at 10:00 p.m.

All

those in favour, 'aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

All those against, 'nay'.

Carried.

The

hon. the Government House Leader.

MR. KING:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

adjourn at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, January 26, 2015.

further give notice, under Standing Order 11, I shall move that the House

now adjourn at 10:00 p.m. on Monday, January 26, 2015.

Mr.

Speaker, as per Standing Orders, I would like to inform the House that the

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. KING:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As I

was about to say, as per our Standing Orders I would like to inform members

of the House that the Striking Committee has met and the following members

will be appointed to the Standing Orders Committee of the House: the Member

for Trinity North; the Member for Grand Bank; the Member for Signal Hill

Quidi Vidi; and the Member for St. John's South.

Mr.

Speaker, I am not sure of the procedure if I need to make a motion or just

inform the House of that.

Perhaps you could advise.

MR. SPEAKER:

Just give the Speaker a

minute. I am just going to check

that.

MR. KING:

Do you want a motion?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government

House Leader, yes, a motion will be in order to that effect.

MR. KING:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

is so moved by myself as Government House Leader, seconded by the Member for

Burgeo La Poile.

MR. SPEAKER:

The motion is that the

Standing Orders Committee is to be comprised of the members mentioned by the

Government House Leader.

All

those in favour, 'aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

All those against, 'nay'.

Carried.

The

hon. the Government House Leader.

MR. KING:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

this time I would like to go back to our Order Paper and call Order 3,

second reading of a bill,

An Act To Amend The Electoral Boundaries Act, Bill

MR. SPEAKER:

Bill 42.

The

hon. the Member for Cape St. Francis.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. K. PARSONS:

Thank you very much,

Mr. Speaker.

is indeed another privilege to get up here today.

First of all, I know on behalf of a lot of people on this side of the

House, and I am sure everyone in the House, it is nice to see the Member for

St. John's East back here. My

condolences to you and your family.

I know it is a hard time to be going through, but I am sure all of

our prayers and thoughts are with your family.

It is nice to see you back here.

Mr.

Speaker, I always get up and I always start off my speech by saying the

beautiful District of Cape St. Francis.

I do not know, if I get elected the next time, if I will be using the

beautiful District of Cape St. Francis.

It may be some other name.

I saw a couple of ones out the other day when people had it done up,

it was called Torbay and some other names that they had there also.

Whatever it is, it will be.

I do

believe in the amendments that we are bringing here today.

I am going to give you the reasons why I believe it is important for

us to do this. I look back and I

look at my district and the historic years of my district, I look back at

the people who represented it and I always get up and I always speak about

it because I am pretty fortunate.

I know there are some other members here in the House who had their

fathers represented in certain districts.

When

I look at the people who came before me, I get the privilege every now and

then to speak to Mr. Tom Hickey who represented the area.

Tommy is an interesting character.

He is a hard fellow. I

always see him; I meet him at a lot of funerals.

If he can get a hold to you and hold onto you, he will talk about

politics, the district, what it meant, how it was years ago, how things have

changed, what they were like in his times, and what they were like today.

When I do speak to him, Mr. Hickey is a wonderful man.

I am proud to be able to be the fellow who followed him.

Then

I go back and I look at when I first started in politics.

When I first started in politics the district that I represented was

called St. John's East Extern.

St. John's East Extern took in, I think, almost nearly all of Virginia

Waters. It went right up to

Airport Heights, it went right down to Wedgewood Park, and it went right

around the whole area. It went

down as far as Virginia Park and that area.

It was a huge, huge area.

can remember being a young fellow from Flatrock not knowing many townies at

the time and it was a new area for me.

It was a new area for my father actually too when he first got

involved. Back then I think a

lot of it, PCs, Liberals, NDP, everyone had their thing.

As the election came forward, people came out and we met wonderful

people.

remember one gentleman in particular he is deceased now was Mr. Paul

Reynolds who happened to be the Mayor of Wedgewood Park.

He was the mayor at the time and that was part of St. John's East

Extern. He became a very good

friend of mine, a very good friend of our families and everything else, but

that was all through politics.

When I look at being a politician, I look at the responsibilities of what it

takes to be a politician. I

really believe every person in this room here it is a privilege.

It is something that people gave us a privilege to be here.

listened to the Open Line host and one day I him talking.

He said those bums in there do not want to be in there.

If they do not want to do the work, then get rid of them.

Yes, you get rid of us.

If you do not want it, get rid of us.

If we are not doing what you elected us to do, that is what you are

supposed to do. Do you know

what? We should all take the

privilege that they gave us and make sure we do our work.

Mr.

Speaker, I look at an MHA like myself, I came into this fully aware of

everything was in front of me because I was fortunate enough to be in a

family who had a father who was an MHA and I saw what he did over the years.

We, as MHAs and I am sure that there is nobody in here who wants to

lose their district; nobody in here wants to say I am going to lose a

certain part of my district or whatever.

I know in my area I enjoy the events that I go to.

Since I was elected, I have been here now probably six-and-a-half

years, I would say I am after meeting more people in Bauline, for example,

the smallest community in my area, I would say in Bauline before I was

elected I might have known twenty people.

Bauline has a population of 400; I know over 200 of them and call them by

name now because of this job that I have.

That is a privilege to me to be able to know these people, know that

I am working for these people. I

do not want to lose Bauline. I

do not want to lose Pouch Cove.

I do not want to lose Flat Rock.

I do not want to lose any of them, but that is not my choice.

That is not my choice.

will be a commission that is going to be set up that is going to be

independent, that is going to look at everything, and it is not going to be

about Kevin Parsons. It is not

going to be what Kevin Parsons wants.

It is going to be what is best for the people of Newfoundland and

Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. K. PARSONS:

That is what this is

all about. This is not about

and I heard members get up here and they talk about their districts and they

talk about everything else and how they want to maintain what they have, and

I respect it. I do not want to

lose anything that I have now. I

figure I have a bond down there with the people who elected me.

Now,

they can get rid of me. That is

no problem at all. I have no

problem, but I can assure them that I am doing the best I can for them.

I think that at the end of the day when they come down and mark their

X or whatever they have to do that hopefully they will see the same thing,

and that is why we are all here.

someone says to me listen, we do not want to bother you; I say, do not be so

foolish. What are you bothering

me about? You are not bothering

me. You are my boss.

You are the person who put me where I am.

As long as we all keep that in the mind that we are here, that our

bosses are the people that elected us.

is not what we want. It is not

what I want. It has nothing to

do with everybody in this place.

This is for the betterment of Newfoundland and Labrador.

I listened to the Member for Cartwright L' Anse au Clair today when

she talked about technology and I look at her over there today and she is on

her device, and we all are do you know what?

When my father was the MHA for St. John's East Extern, he had one of

those bag phones. I do not know

you if remember them. They were

the big old phone; it was like you took it out of your that is what he

used.

Technology today, he never had that.

When he went down in the district and he had to go get a letter off

somebody or a picture that somebody had, he had to go get it right to their

houses. I received more messages

yesterday on Facebook than I did on anything else, than I did by e-mail, by

text or anything else. There

were messages given to me on Facebook.

Technology has changed, everything has changed, and the way we do our jobs

has changed. I answered all of

them on Facebook. A friend of

mine he calls it 'bookface'. He

does not call it Facebook. Are

you on that 'bookface', he says.

I say, I do not know. Do you

know what? He texted me about

three weeks ago, and I never ever thought he had a cellphone.

I did not know he had a cellphone.

So,

as times change, we have to change.

That is my whole point here today.

Technology is a fantastic thing.

Sometimes I think it is a little bit too much sometimes, because I

like to do the personal thing myself.

I like to be able to go to the person and talk to them.

A lot of times when people send me this big, old long e-mail, I will

just send it back to them and say give me your number.

I would just as soon talk to them as get into the and that is the

way I like doing things. Now,

some other people like doing it in different ways.

Today, technology has changed.

When you look at forty-eight members for 500,000 people and listen, I am

not going to get up here today and tell the commission, or the people who

are on this commission, how to cut things up.

That is not me; that is not the way I am.

I think if there is a judge who is appointed to this, I am sure he

will have the best technologies in the world to be able to do what he can

do, and he will have the people on the commission who will do it properly.

I am

not going to question them, and I am not going to question but the only

thing I do question. I heard

today, and a lot of times you get up and people are, oh, you cannot do it in

time. Well, do you know what?

Let's give them a chance to do it in time.

I am going to state here today in the House of Assembly that I want

to see an election in 2015. I do

not want to wait until 2016. I

want an election this year, and so does everybody here.

All

we heard today on the petitions, a couple of them: You cannot do it in time.

The rest of them: oh, they are going to try to drag it out to 2016.

I spoke to a lot of constituents this weekend, talked to a lot of

people in my area, and that is the one thing they do not want.

Honestly, they do not want to see an election in 2016.

They want an election in 2015, and so do I, and so does our Premier,

and so does this government; and I am sure, so does everybody on the other

side of the House. It is not

about us trying to drag anything out here.

This is all about one thing, doing the right thing, and this is the

right thing to do. There are a

couple of reasons why it is the right thing to do.

listened to the Minister of Finance the other day as he stood up and spoke.

He said, okay, we will wait until 2016 to do this.

So it gets done in 2016, and we are all in the House.

Everybody here is in agreement that it should be reduced.

It should be reduced, no doubt about it.

There is nobody in this House who does not believe that this Assembly

should be reduced to a certain number of seats.

have different values, but they are pretty close.

I heard the Leader of the Opposition say forty; I heard our leader

say thirty-eight. That is not

too far off, as far as I am concerned.

We all agree to that. We

all agree that it has but if we wait until 2016, Mr. Speaker, we are

waiting until 2019, at the end of 2019, almost to 2020.

We are waiting too long.

If this is done in 2016 and we cut this back to thirty-eight seats, what do

you do? What do you do with the

ten other seats that are left there?

Cape

St. Francis is gone. I am joined

with my friend from Conception Bay East Bell Island, say for example.

We have one district there, and he is representing that district.

That is the district he is going to represent.

We are wasting people's money, and we will be wasting people's money.

This job should be done before the election.

It should be done so we do not wait three or four years for it to get

done after an election. I

believe it should be done now.

All I am saying here today is give the commission that is going to be set up

time to do it. They will have

the time to do it. We all want

an election in 2015.

Today's technology is amazing. I

was looking at a Crown land issue with a guy.

He came into my office and we just went on Google map, went in and

googled. The piece of land stood

out, and we even went down as much to see where the boundary lines and

everything else was on the piece of land.

Technology has changed.

This

process can be done in the time frame that we are allowing.

It can be done, and it will be done.

We will have an election in 2015.

That is what the people want, and that is what we want in this House.

It is so important.

Another thing that people say to me all the time is, why are you doing it?

Well, the number one reason is because it is the right thing to do.

Number two is I look at the financial situation of the Province

today. Yesterday, the big

shocker was the interest rate dropped by a percentage in the Bank of Canada.

Nobody saw it coming.

This time last year nobody saw the price of oil at $47 a barrel.

We never saw it coming.

have economists all over the world looking at the situations.

They are in Alberta, Canada, Russia, you name it.

Any oil producing country in the world is really scrambling now

because of the revenue they are losing.

We are no different. We

have to have a look at what we are doing.

Mr.

Speaker, I explained to a guy on the weekend a reason why you do it.

Sometimes we all get in situations some of us now, not all of us

where your family, probably it could be a layoff, it could be a death, it

could be a divorce, it could be anything, and the household income changes.

When the household income changes, you cannot expect if I am in my

household and I am used to driving the biggest truck, burning all the gas

and everything else, and all of a sudden the money that I had in my

household has shrunk by a large margin, I cannot expect my children to take

all of the cuts and cut it down.

I have to lead by example, and that is what our Premier is doing.

People say, oh, everything is on the table.

Yes, it is all on the table.

Why are you doing it now?

It has to be done now. In order

for us to be able to do this before the next election, this is the time we

have to do it. This is not a

rush. This is just saying

listen, we had better get back in the House.

This is what we want done and this is the reason why we are doing it.

It is the same thing as your family.

It is the same thing as what you do in your family.

You have to make decisions that will affect your family because you

want the best for the Province.

That is what we are doing here.

laugh; it really, really gets to me when people say it is only $2.5 million.

Wow, $2.5 million. Okay,

if you do not do it how about if a person gets laid off, that is only

$50,000? Is that what you say to

the person who is getting laid off?

If there is something that we have to do as a government to all the

different organizations that we help, okay, last year we gave you $10,000,

this year we may only be able to give you $5,000.

Do we say it is only $5,000?

It is not $5,000 to those groups; $2.4 million, $10 million savings

is huge. It is huge.

Whatever the deficit is this year, if it is $1 billion, you are not going to

find $1 billion in one smack just like that.

There are going to have to be different things.

That is like the Premier stated in this House day after day since we

got here. Everything has to be

on the table. Everything has to

be looked at. That is the reason

why we have to start with this.

This is a start.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER (Cross):

Order, please!

MR. K. PARSONS:

This is what this is,

a start. It is pretty amazing

when you think about it. Here we

are, we are in here voting to eliminate ten jobs among ourselves.

I do not think there are many organizations where everybody would sit

down and think about eliminating ten jobs.

Do you know what, Mr. Speaker?

It is the right thing to do.

The

reason why it is the right thing to do is because we are responsible to the

people who elected us. They are

our bosses. Like I said earlier,

my boss is the people from the District of Cape St. Francis, the people who

elected me. My job every day is

to serve the people from Cape St. Francis, the people who elected me.

I believe this is the right decision to take.

I think we have to do it.

I think it is important that we do it.

Do I

want to lose a part of my district?

Like I said earlier, I love the community of Pouch Cove.

I always tell everyone and they all know this anyway down our way.

Everything you do in Pouch Cove is about a grub job, about a feed.

Every time I go down there they want to feed me.

You can tell by looking at me that I enjoy it a lot.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. K. PARSONS:

Do you know what?

I do not want to lose any of my communities, but I have no say in

that. That will be up to the

commission. That will be up to

them.

I am

sure everybody in this House has people who they have met through politics

that means a lot to them. I have

a lot of seniors. I love going

to seniors' functions. I think

they are the people who did so much for us; it is time for us to do it for

them.

There are so many different programs that you can help people out with.

That is what we are about as politicians.

We should be here for the right reason.

The right reason is to help the people who elected us .

That is why this is important.

Mr. Speaker, I just want to talk about the reasons why

we have to do this. It is

important. I know everyone, as

they got up today, were talking about time.

Let's give the commission I do not mean to take my full twenty

minutes here today, but I probably will.

Let's give them the time to do their work.

I am sure they can come back, with the technologies of the day, and

they will be able to do it.

The last time I heard it took about nine months to do

it. I am sure with what we have

today and the technology, we can cut that down because technology has

changed like you would not believe.

I have watched, a couple of people are after sending me

I have done it myself, looking down at different districts, looking at the

population of districts and everything else.

I know everyone has their own conclusion of how this is going to

work. I am not saying take seats

away from anyone. No one wants

to see their district lose, but my point today is it is something that needs

to be done; it is the right thing to do, and give the people who are going

to do it the opportunity to try to do it.

Do not just cut it down right off the bat.

Let's see if this can be done.

Everyone in this House, like I stated earlier, I have

heard it so many times and you hear it in the media, they are only trying to

drag themselves on. They are

trying to keep themselves in power more.

Not so, Mr. Speaker. I

can tell you right now, Kevin Parsons, the Member for Cape St. Francis,

wants an election in 2015. So

does everybody else on this side.

So does the Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Mr. Speaker, by eliminating whatever number of seats,

ten seats or whatever we are going to do here, it not only takes members.

There are people we feel loyal to.

It is the loyalty you have to your staff who work for you.

It is not only ten members in here who will lose their jobs.

It is also the CAs from everyone.

I know the Member for Torngat Mountains stated the

other night, he said, it will affect you more than it will affect us.

Obviously, there are twenty-nine of us over here on this side of the

House and there is a less number over there.

This move is going to affect a lot of people.

I personally do not like to see anybody lose their job.

I hate to see anybody lose their job.

I would rather see taxes go up or whatever, but I do not want to see

job losses.

Do you know what?

Reality is not what you want sometimes.

Reality is do the right thing.

You have to make sure that whatever is happening, that you are the

person who is leading.

I have to give our Premier he is pretty strong on

this. For him to come into the

House and do this, it shows great leadership on his behalf.

I must say, as a new Premier, he is not here very long, but I have to

say I support him 100 per cent.

I think he is doing a great job.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. K. PARSONS:

Yesterday was a great example in this House of Assembly.

I applaud the Member for St. John's Centre.

This was a great day in the House of Assembly yesterday.

I was very proud to be here, as to be part of what we did here

yesterday.

Mental health is a huge issue all over this Province

and we, as parliamentarians, came together yesterday and we made a decision

that will affect them for years to come.

It will affect all of us, because one in five but that is what we

are here for. We are here to

make the right decisions. Mr.

Speaker, the right decision is to have the number of MHAs reduced before the

next election, and the right decision will be to have the election in 2015.

Thank you very much.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

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

MS ROGERS:

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

I am happy to stand today to speak to Bill 42.

I did have the opportunity to speak to the hoist amendment that was

introduced by our leader in a previous debate on Tuesday, and now this is my

first opportunity to speak to the entire bill.

I believe, Mr. Speaker, that in some ways the direction

of the debate in this House has been skewed, and that in fact what we should

be talking about is not the number ten, not how many seats will be cut, not

about our economic situation due to the price of oil, but what we should be

talking about in this House is how do we achieve the best possible

governance for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

That is the main question.

That should be the directive to the electoral boundaries commission.

We do not know, Mr. Speaker I am very, very

disappointed in the Premier for (

a) having just pulled what it seems to be

the number ten out of the air, because he still cannot explain to us, or

refuses to explain to us, or is unable to explain to us how he reached the

number of ten. He has admitted

that there was no consultation outside of his own, perhaps, Cabinet, or his

own caucus.

Mr. Speaker, the decision on how we govern ourselves as

a people is one of the most fundamental decisions that we can make as a

legislators. Our governance does

not belong to the forty-eight members here in this House of Assembly.

Who we are, as a people, and how we decide to govern ourselves, is a

decision that is made by the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

The results often of those decisions result in

elections and the choosing of the representatives who come and do the work

on behalf of the people in this House.

I am very concerned, extremely concerned that this Premier has, again

without any sense of transparency or accountability, decided that ten seats

must be cut. Maybe he is right;

I do not know. Maybe he is

wrong, I do not know but to have pulled that number somewhere and then he

will be giving instruction to the electoral boundaries commission to cut ten

seats from this Legislature.

Mr. Speaker, it is very interesting to see what the

possible ramifications of this are.

Before I get into that, the Premier himself and his Minister of

Finance has stood up in this House in the past week and several times talked

about how vulnerable we are right now in our Budget, how precarious our

economic situation is, yet he has also said that Newfoundland and Labrador

has a strong economy. I am not

quite sure how we make sense of all that.

They seem to be conflicting messages.

Perhaps they are not, but they seem to be in some ways.

If, in fact, we are in such a precarious economic time

because of the price of oil, then one would think what we need most is

stability. What we need most is

to know that we have the people we need in order to do the governance that

we need, particularly in a time of precarious economic times.

The other issue is that we know that the government has

said repeatedly in the past three days, the Premier has said in this House,

he has said it in the media, he has said it in public meetings that

everything is on the table, and what he is signalling is that we are going

to see cuts. The Minister of

Finance said here today we must make strategic decisions, and the Minister

of Health said we must make tough decisions.

In this time again of economic vulnerability,

precarious economic times, where tough decisions supposedly will have to be

made, now more than ever do the people of Newfoundland and Labrador need to

have ample

representation in this House because if tough decisions are to be made, we

need to make sure that everybody is represented in this House.

I am

not so sure that is going to happen in an adequate fashion with the time

frame that government has laid out for an electoral boundaries commission

and in order for all of the work that has to be done to reduce this House by

ten seats.

The

issue is not about whether ten MHAs are going to lose their jobs.

The issue is not about whether or not ten constituency assistants who

work really hard, Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the constituents that is not

the issue about who is going to lose their jobs.

Again, I believe that what should be foremost in any direction from this

government to an electoral boundaries commission is how we can best achieve

governance in our Province in this particular time in our history.

Particularly, keeping in mind our precarious economic situation, the

tough decisions that have to be made.

Tough decisions which the Minister of Finance said he will make

strategic decisions that will affect people twelve months down the road

decisions that will not just affect people today, but decisions that have

long-term sustainability.

rush into something like this in this time when we need stability seems

foolhardy to me and to our caucus here.

I think many of the MHAs who have stood up, many of my colleagues who

have stood up today and in the past three days have shared similar concerns.

Not only do we hear those concerns here in this House, we also hear

concerns from experts in the area of constitutional law, experts in the area

of legislative laws, and in governance.

They also are raising red flags and saying this is not the way to do

it.

Mr.

Speaker, we have had a history with this government of rash decisions, tough

decisions that they have had to reverse.

Decisions, for instance, in 2012-2013, rash Budget decisions that

affected particularly the Department of Justice, where the Crown experienced

deep cuts, where the sheriff's office experienced deep cuts and many of

those cuts had to be reversed.

also saw the knee-jerk reaction, the decision to name the Department of

Justice the Department of Public Safety and that decision had to be

reversed. Decisions that seem to

come out of the blue. If we

actually used our legislated committee structure, this kind of legislation

would have gone to committee. It

would have been much more thought out.

There would have been discussion which would have affected the

quality of debate in this House as well.

This

is a major decision. This is

just not a tough Budget decision.

This decision should not be about a deficit.

Again, it should be about what is the best possible governance that

we have. I believe, in fact,

what is happening today is a decision about communications.

It is a decision that is pandering.

It is decision that is pandering in the same way by changing the name

of the Department of Justice to the Department of Public Safety.

It is that same kind of decision.

It is a decision that government hopes will pander to a notion that

government is overblown and that MHAs are overpaid.

believe that the people of Newfoundland and Labrador will not be fooled by

this. The people of Newfoundland

and Labrador have been forewarned that we are in such tough economic times.

The people of Newfoundland and Labrador know how important,

particularly at this time, it is to be fully represented, to have their

voices in the House of Assembly.

When

I did speak to the hoist motion, Mr. Speaker, I talked about the possibility

of looking at a reality check.

What I was looking at was, really, how possible is it to do the work that

government is going to task the electoral boundaries commission with?

I have found my papers here and I would like to take a look at that

again.

Mr.

Speaker, before going there, I believe that some of the decisions that are

going to be made here, possibly tonight maybe we will have to go at this

again next week; I do not know.

If, in fact, the Premier directs the electoral boundaries commission to cut

ten seats that will violate our elections act in some cases.

We may see court cases.

We may see people of Newfoundland and Labrador bringing the government to

court because they are not adequately represented.

our current electoral act it says that there is a tolerance for a 10 per

cent variance in population rates in the city areas, in more municipal

areas, and a tolerance for up to 25 per cent variance rates in coastal

communities that are not connected by roads.

The possibility of fulfilling the directive by this government will

violate those variances, which may enable districts to go to court and to

challenge the decisions that this government is making about electoral

boundaries.

For

those reasons I think that this cannot be done as quickly as government

thinks that it can be done. The

process of governing this Province does not belong to elected officials.

The process of governance and how we live our lives together as a

people belongs to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

To do this process without extensive consultation would be a

violation of that principle.

Mr.

Speaker, I am not so sure that the directive this government is giving to

the potential electoral boundaries commission is in the best interests of

democracy. This directive has to

be in the best interest of democracy and it has to be in the best interest

of good governance. Those must

be the guiding principles, not about saving money by cutting ten seats.

Perhaps that is what the commission will come up with.

For the commission to truly be an independent commission whose sole

purpose is to ensure the best possible governance that we have, then they

must be unfettered and they must be allowed to do their work from their

seats of expertise. To do

anything else is tying the hands of the commission.

think it would be very interesting to see in fact, once the commission is

appointed, whether they accept that they will do this within the time frame

given, and whether they will accept the directive and the number ten.

They may not. They may

refuse to do that. One would

hope that what they would take as their guiding principle is to ensure that

we have the best possible governance available to the people of Newfoundland

and Labrador.

all know that our governance is about how we live our lives together, how we

make our laws, how we use our resources, how we plan our resources, how we

ensure that our economy is strong and vibrant, how we make sure that we have

proper health care, that we teach our children, that we care for our

seniors, and that everybody has a place to live.

That is what our governance is all about.

The

reality check, Mr. Speaker I would like to take a few minutes to go back

over that again. January 19-22

this week we in the House of Assembly will debate and possibly the changes

to the Electoral Boundaries Commission Act will be passed.

January 13, the Chief Justice has thirty days to appoint the Chair of

the commission. Government has

already said that the Chief Justice said he can do it faster.

So,

say, that appoints somebody by January 30.

There are then five days for the Speaker of the House of Assembly

no more than five days after the Chair is in place to appoint a Chair.

Then by May 31, the commission will submit the report to the

Department of Justice and Public Safety 120 days.

Four months after they are appointed, they will submit their report

to the Department of Justice and Public Safety.

The

month of June, the minister presents the report to Cabinet, tables it in the

House of Assembly, which will pass or not the amendments to the House of

Assembly Act specifying thirty-eight districts, if, in fact, the commission

follows the directive from the government.

That gives from June to September.

Elections Newfoundland and Labrador says it must have four months in

order to prepare the maps, the districts in order to prepare everything

for an election.

That

brings us to the end of September.

That is if there is no glitch in the system, that is if the

commission can, in fact and again I said a few days ago, Mr. Speaker, just

as sure as the sun rises every day, just as sure as the sun sets every day,

commissions take longer than their allotted time.

also spoke with an expert in this area of political science and he said

never, ever has this ever been done in under a year in the history of the

country. It has never, ever been

done in under a year, particularly because the public, the people of the

Province, have to be consulted and they have to be thoroughly consulted.

He said this was never, ever done under a year.

We are talking about a few months here, Mr. Speaker.

So,

the last legal date to drop the writ for our election is September 25,

because of the election of a new Premier.

So it is not possible; the days are simply not there.

We know, unless the process is even more truncated than what it is,

that it is not possible to meet the date of September 25, the last legal

date to drop the writ.

Mr.

Speaker, I find it astonishing that this government would do this at this

time. They have been in power

for how many years, ten years?

The current Premier has been the Premier for how long, six months?

Has it been that long? I

am not exactly sure. To do this

now, to put everything under the gun, to put everything up against the wall

on one of the most important decisions we can make as to how we govern

ourselves as a people, I believe this to be foolhardy.

I believe this to be a travesty in many ways.

Perhaps what will happen because of the directive to change the boundaries,

to reduce representation by ten seats again, which the commission may find

is an appropriate thing to do; I do not know.

Perhaps this government will become known by the people perhaps in

The Straits White Bay North and St. Barbe, will they become one district?

Perhaps this government will become known as the government who took

away representation from the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

I dare say that many, many people of Newfoundland and Labrador will

see that.

All

of us, every MHA in this House, was sent a paper from Professor Russell

Williams about his understanding and the possible scenarios of what will

happen if, in fact, ten seats were cut.

He looks at the legal acceptable variances and he is forewarning what

may happen and I encourage I am sure every one of my colleagues here in

this House has looked at his paper and looked at the graphs that he has

presented for us. I am sure

people will have questions about it.

Again, I feel that it is unfortunate what this government has done.

I do believe that it is the same kind of pandering as naming the

Department of Justice, the Department of Public Safety.

I do

not believe that this is in the best interest of the people of Newfoundland

and Labrador.

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The

member's time has expired.

MS ROGERS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Seniors, Wellness and Social Development.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am

always amazed when I listen to, I will not say all members of the NDP, but

some of the members of Third Party, Mr. Speaker.

There is always a tone that we are tearing the world apart, or we are

making decisions that are going to be totally detrimental to the world.

There is never enough of anything.

There never seems to be anything right.

have been here now for going on eleven years and I do not think I have heard

there might have been one or occasions, but, my gosh, it is demoralizing.

I find it just demoralizing.

Just listen to some of the words that the Member for St. John's

Centre just talked about: that we are making a decision that is foolhardy;

this is a travesty that we are taking away representation of the people of

Newfoundland and Labrador.

Mr.

Speaker, does she think that any of us on this side as members are going to

sit and support a decision that takes away the representation of people in

the Province? That we are going

to, somehow or another, take away democratic rights of the people of this

Province? I, for one, would not

ever sit as part of a decision that is going to take away the democratic

rights of my constituents.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN:

Never.

We will debate and there is no doubt about it, I have gotten some

e-mails from those who are in political science fields.

Some people are going to offer opinions.

Democracy, Mr. Speaker, that is what that is.

That is democracy, that we have the right to send something on these,

or to send something in writing.

We will make those decisions.

you look at other jurisdictions in the country that have decided, based on

the numbers, these are the numbers that an MHA or an MLA represents, and if

the geography comes into play and the numbers are a little higher than we

have in the Province, is she saying then that democracy may not be working

in Nova Scotia, or New Brunswick, or Ontario, or Quebec?

That is what she seems to be saying.

Another one that has bothered me, Mr. Speaker, she is saying that we retain

the number of seats. Somebody

mentioned here earlier today, I believe, there was a population of 560,000

people in the Province and there were fifty-two.

What she is professing is that no matter if the numbers drop or not,

Mr. Speaker, we maintain. That

is what she is saying, it does not matter.

If the numbers go down, no matter what the dollars are that we spend,

we maintain status quo. Mr.

Speaker, the logic of what she is saying in any case

MS ROGERS:

A point of order, Mr.

Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

St. John's Centre on a point of order.

MS ROGERS:

Mr. Speaker, I believe

that the hon. member across the floor is actually misrepresenting what I

said. I said that the commission

should decide the number. I did

not say what he said I said, Mr. Speaker, no way.

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

There is no point of order.

The

hon. the Minister of Seniors, Wellness and Social Development.

MR. JACKMAN:

There is no point of

order, Mr. Speaker.

I am

actually impressed she got up. I

am actually impressed. The

logic, Mr. Speaker, just escapes me.

Mr.

Speaker, we look at the numbers.

We look at the dollars, and the dollar savings that have been talked about

is $2 million or $2.5 million. I

do not want to misrepresent the NDP, but I thought the issue was raised the

other day, this is minimal savings.

Mr.

Speaker, I would ask them to go and speak to some group who is looking for

$3,000, some group who is looking for $100,000, or some senior or some

low-income person to say that a savings of $2 million is somehow trivial.

It is not in my books, Mr. Speaker, and not in a lot of the

constituents that I speak to and the groups who are seeking dollars.

Anything, Mr. Speaker, that we can do to save dollars we should be looking

at, and where should we start?

We should start with ourselves first.

We start with ourselves.

Mr. Speaker, we can come in this House and we can