May 1, 2007 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS

Vol. XLV No. 5

The House met at 1:30 p.m.

MR. SPEAKER (Hodder): Order, please!

Admit strangers.

This afternoon we are very pleased to welcome in the Speaker's gallery

councillor Seamus Butler, a member of the Longford County Council and visiting

Newfoundland for meetings with the Minister of Municipal Affairs; and also Mayor

Tom O'Brien from the Town of Stephenville.

Welcome to our House.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

Statements by Members

MR. SPEAKER: This afternoon we have members' statements as follows: the

Member for the District of Humber Valley; the Member for the District of

Bonavista North; the Member for the District of Bellevue; the Member for the

District of Mount Pearl; the Member for the District of Carbonear-Harbour Grace;

and the Member for the District of Labrador West.

The Chair recognizes the Member for the District of Humber Valley.

MR. BALL: Mr. Speaker, I rise in this House today to recognize an

exceptional town in my district. The Town of Jackson's Arm recently held their

annual volunteer appreciation banquet to honour their volunteers.

Recently, we celebrated Volunteer Appreciation Week in our Province. What

made Jackson's Arm situation unique was the magnitude of the volunteers in

their town. The population of this small rural town in White Bay area is only

374. Even though they have lost forty-six residents since the last census, the

town still honoured ninety-seven residents who volunteers in some capacity in

the town. That is almost 26 per cent of the overall population.

Mr. Speaker, the Town of Jackson's Arm is a model of how important

volunteers are to the survival of our small towns. These individuals volunteered

in such areas as their council, the volunteer fire department, firettes, the

church groups, recreation committee, their ambulance brigade, Orange Lodge and

so on.

Not only was it amazing the magnitude of the volunteer base in this town, but

also the variety of ages of the volunteers. The majority of the volunteers

present were over fifty-five years old. One lady was actually the second oldest

resident in the town. Two others of the volunteers present had just celebrated

their sixth wedding anniversary.

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

congratulations to the Town of Jackson's Arm, a town with the need and the

heart of survival for all challenges. Through the assistance of their phenomenal

volunteer base, this town is a model town for all Newfoundland and Labrador and

a great example of the importance of volunteers.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HARDING: Mr. Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge the contribution

and offer congratulations to an organization in Bonavista North dedicated to

preserving our heritage and strengthening our culture. The Cape Freels Heritage

Trust, operators of the Barbour Living Heritage Village in Newton, have long

been one of Newfoundland and Labrador's staunchest and most active groups

participating in the preservation and presentation of our rural culture and

heritage. Their dedication to preserving our past has contributed greatly to the

development of a vibrant tourism industry on the Northeast Coast of our

Province. Through the preservation of our past, they are helping define our

future and change the way we think about life and opportunities in rural

Newfoundland and Labrador.

Recently, at the seventh annual Joe and Clarice Goodyear Business Achievement

Awards Gala hosted by the Gander and Area Chamber of Commerce, the Barbour site

was presented with the Customer Service Award for their efforts during the past

year. The award was sponsored by Scotiabank and is given annually to a business

that promotes the objectives of consumer service and provides a consistently

high level of customer service. Through hard work and dedication, the Cape

Freels Heritage Trust are blending essential elements of culture and commerce in

a way that is helping redefine rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

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

Cape Freels Heritage Trust on their award and their continued efforts to

preserve our culture and heritage.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BARRETT: Mr. Speaker, I rise in this House today to extend

congratulations to the Crescent Collegiate Drama Club in Blaketown, who earned

the First Place Award in the Western Avalon Regional Drama Festival.

The annual event, hosted at St. Catherine's Academy in Mount Carmel on

March 3 and March 4, showcased the talent of seven schools in the region. For

the third time in five years, the Drama Club at Crescent Collegiate in Blaketown

has earned the first place award.

Mr. Speaker, Crescent's drama entitled, Wait, Wait, Bo, Bait , is a

comedy based on the frustration of waiting and longing for something to happen.

Members of the Crescent Drama Club include: Katie Phillips, Brittany Gosse,

Simone Dubeau, Stephanie Banton, Maria Drover, Matthew Feltmate, Greg White,

Rodney Jerrett and Laura Thorne. Teacher Laurie-Ann Reid and colleague Debbie

Phillips direct the Drama Club.

Mr. Speaker, along with the award for Best Play, the school also earned

another for Best Female Actor. The award was presented to Katie Phillips of

Markland for her spectacular performance on stage. They are now eligible to

attend the provincial festival to be held in Stephenville from May 3 to May 5.

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

congratulations to the Crescent Collegiate Drama Club, who took First Place in

the Western Avalon Regional Drama Festival, and wish them luck at the

Provincials.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of Mount Pearl.

MR. DENINE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Today, Mr. Speaker, I would like to pay tribute to the nominees and winner of

the 2006 Mount Pearl Citizen of the Year.

The City of Mount Pearl, in conjunction with the Mount Pearl Kinsmen Club,

host this event each year,

whereas they select someone from the community for

this very prestigious award. To be nominated as Citizen of the Year is a reward

in itself. It is a reflection of a person's commitment to enhancing the lives

of others and making the City of Mount Pearl a better place to live.

Mr. Speaker, the nominees for 2006 are: Dorothy Miller, Sally Seward,

Rosalind Pratt and Patrick Walsh. The award ceremony was held during Volunteer

Week, and the winner for the 2006 Citizen of the Year is Patrick Walsh.

At this time, I would like to mention a few of Pat's contributions to the

city. He serves as a lector and Eucharist Minister in Mary Queen of the World

Parish. He coached many school sports teams in soccer and baseball. He was part

of the Mount Pearl Frosty Festival Committee. He chaired the Promotional Tour

Committee for the 2000 Provincial Summer Games in Mount Pearl. He was a member

of the Provincial Archives Advisory Committee. He is past-president of the

Family History Society of Newfoundland and Labrador, and a member of the

Provincial Council of the Association of Heritage Industries. He is a founding

member of the Mount Pearl Heritage Committee and was Chair of Admiralty House

Museum Board of Directors. He is Chair of the Mount Pearl Public Library

Committee and he serves on the Provincial Information and Library Resources

Board.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all members here today to join with me in congratulating

all the nominees, and special congratulation to the 2006 Citizen of the Year,

Mr. Patrick Walsh.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Carbonear-Harbour Grace.

MR. SWEENEY: Mr. Speaker, I rise today to extend congratulations to the

Carbonear Collegiate Sentinels Male and Female Wrestling Teams who won the 2007

School Sport Newfoundland and Labrador High School Provincial Wrestling

Championships.

Carbonear Collegiate, who hosted the event, added to a collection of male

victories from 2003, 2005 and 2006, while female teams scored previous victories

in 2003 and 2006.

The male Sentinels totalled ninety-four points that resulted in seven of

eighteen possible gold medals in their division, along with five silver and four

bronze. Meanwhile, the female team received five gold medals along with four

silver and a bronze.

Mr. Speaker, members of the male team include: Andrew Chenard, Jonathan

Rockwood, Justin Cole, Jason Fitzpartick, David MacKenzie, Adam Butt, Kyle Snow,

Karl Oates, Justin Burden, Korey Hearn, Dave Peach, Steve Snook, Mikey Hearn,

Adam Comerford, Garrett Mangrove, Kyle Verge, Stephen Way Bishop, and coaches

Robert MacKenzie and Randy Ralph.

Members of the female team include: Justeen Farrell, Victoria Ralph, Catrina

Winsor, Ashley Butt, Marlana Penney, Ashley Guilfoile, Rachel Wrice, Crystal

Clarke, Amanda Kelloway, Jessica Green, Sarah Pritchett, Jessica Laing, Molly

Reichel, Kristi Bourne, Kim Reynolds, and coach Frankie Ralph.

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

congratulations to the Carbonear Collegiate Sentinels male and female wrestling

teams on wining the 2007 School Sport Newfoundland and Labrador High School

Provincial Wresting Championships.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Labrador West.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. BAKER: Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House today to congratulate Sister

Henriette Essiambre, a member of the Sisters of the Holy Rosary in Labrador

City, Wabush.

Sister Henriette was recently honoured by the Catholic Missions in Canada

with the prestigious Saint Joseph's Award. This national award honours

outstanding missionary service to the Catholic Church in Canada.

Sister Henriette, the first Religious Sister to receive this award, has

served the church for over fifty years as an educator, a school administrator, a

parish pastoral animator, and in the past several years as executive assistant

to Bishop Douglas Crosby, OMI.

She spent most of her ministry in the Diocese of Labrador City-Schefferville,

but worked in education on the West Coast of Newfoundland for a few years.

"She is a worthy recipient of the honour," said Bishop Crosby,

"and we are very proud of her! The sisters have done so much to build the

church in Northern Canada; it is wonderful to see one of them recognized for her

good work. They are unsung heros!"

The award, which is an Inuit stone carving of St. Joseph, was presented to

Sister Henriette at a gala dinner in Toronto on April 25.

Mr. Speaker, I would ask that all members join with me today in

congratulating Sister Henriette on being presented with this prestigious award.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Statements by Ministers.

Statements by Ministers

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

Development.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. TAYLOR: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to inform my colleagues today about an investment

the provincial government is making in a Burin Peninsula company.

Recently, the Department of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development approved

a $250,000 loan from its Small and Medium-sized Enterprise Fund for Dynamic Air

Shelters Incorporated of Grand Bank.

Dynamic Air Shelters manufactures inflatable shelters for the promotional,

medical and first response markets, and inflatable industrial shelters for the

oil and gas industry. Last year, the company closed its Calgary production

facility and transferred its production equipment and raw material inventory to

its manufacturing facility in Grand Bank.

Since moving its manufacturing headquarters to Grand Bank, Dynamic Air

Shelters has aggressively pursued new markets, including participating in our

department's trade missions.

Recently, the company attended an event in Western Virginia and promoted its

industrial shelter product line to key decision makers with a US firm that

provides services to many US oil refineries. Dynamic Air Shelters is now hoping

to be identified as a firm that can provide solutions in temporary shelter and

structural requirements for firms serving the oil and gas refinery sector.

Mr. Harold Warner, President of Dynamic Air Shelters, says the company's

rapid growth has resulted in significant staff level increases over the past

eight months. Rapid increases in growth can result in working capital challenges

and strains on equipment and infrastructure. Mr. Warner says that Dynamic's

ability to respond to these challenges, while reacting to upcoming increases in

production, has been improved significantly as a result of the Department of

Innovation, Trade and Rural Development's assistance. He adds that the

co-operation between government and his innovative and dedicated staff have

propelled an enterprise that truly represents the great opportunities that exist

for companies that manufacture in rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

Mr. Speaker, this company has positively affected the economies of Grand

Bank, the Burin Peninsula, and the Province overall. This funding will help the

company to continue its impressive growth and ensure that employment levels are

maintained and built upon. I congratulate Dynamic Air Shelters on its

achievements to date and wish them every success in the future.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. PARSONS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Unlike this company name, this minister is neither dynamic but he is full of

hot air, talking about this loan here. Let's give credit where credit is due,

I say. This company was brought to the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador by

the former Administration, the Member for Grand Bank when she was the Minister

of Innovation. I say congratulations to the company ownership and their staff

because they made it work - they made it work. Here we are with this minister

and this government trying to take credit for something that they had nothing to

do with. I say to the minister, this company also had EDGE status. Maybe if the

minister -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Chair recognizes the Opposition House Leader.

MR. PARSONS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I say to the minister, as well, this company was given EDGE status when they

came here. I cannot say the same if you compare this enterprise to what is going

on in Port aux Basques as we speak. Forty jobs have been lost because this

minister sat on his duff and did not even have the EDGE committee get together

to decide if Petro Field Industries that we could have brought in from Alberta

to create forty jobs, would have gone ahead if he and his incompetence hadn't

led to that not happening. Instead of that, the minister goes on an Open Line

show and slams the mayor because the mayor speaks out about concerns that he

has.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the member has about ten seconds left to respond.

MR. PARSONS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I say to the minister, when and if he ever gets off his duff and does

something, maybe then he can get up and crow about it, but until such time as

that, he should stay in his seat and not try to take credit for something he has

nothing to do with.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

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

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

I thank the minister for the advanced copy of his statement. I, too,

congratulate this company on its initiative.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

Colleagues, I am asking for your co-operation. The Chair has recognized the

hon. the Member for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi and I ask all members to listen

attentively as she makes her presentation.

The hon. the member.

MS MICHAEL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As I was saying, I do congratulate this company on its initiative to come to

Newfoundland and to open its plant in Grand Bank. I am delighted to see the

government giving it support but I would also encourage the Minister of Rural

Development, and I am emphasizing the rural development part now, to look at the

fact that our communities have a lot of innovative ideas. Twenty years ago,

twenty-five years ago in this Province, we used to put money into working with

communities to develop their ideas. I really would encourage the minister in his

department to start meeting with his people and to start looking at what could

be done -

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. member's time has elapsed.

MS MICHAEL: Leave, please?

MR. SPEAKER: By leave?

AN HON. MEMBER: By leave.

MR. SPEAKER: Leave has been granted.

MS MICHAEL: Just to say, Mr. Speaker, that rural development must be

rooted in the people in the communities and I would like to see money going into

the people in the communities in this Province to come up with their innovative

ideas. I would encourage the minister to look at that.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Further statements by ministers?

The hon. the Minister of Education.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS BURKE: Mr. Speaker, on Thursday, May 3, 170 students will arrive in

Stephenville for the start of this year's Provincial High School Theatre Arts

Festival. High school students from eleven schools across the Province will

enjoy three days of workshops, perform plays, and receive guidance and advice on

theatre arts.

The festival represents the culmination of hours of hard work and dedication.

Students, teachers and volunteers have all worked diligently over the past

several months to win regional competitions and secure a place at the festival.

They deserve to be commended for their commitment to the performing arts.

This is the thirty-first year for the provincial High School Theatre Arts

Festival. Mr. Speaker, a clear indication of its success. And for the first

time, students representing the Francophone school district will be

participating. They will perform their play in French and will receive their

adjudication from a French drama instructor.

The Department of Education is proud to support this student festival. We

have invested approximately $50,000 in this initiative. Students experience the

thrill of performing on stage, improve their public speaking skills, learn how

to collaborate, and gain self-confidence. The provincial showcase has turned

into an annual highlight, not only for the students participating, but for the

entire community. I know that Stephenville is very excited to be hosting this

festival this year.

Mr. Speaker, government is proud of its commitment to the students of this

Province. Cultural Connections, government's $10 million provincial arts and

cultural strategy for K-12 education, aims to increase the presence of cultural

content in the school curriculum, and foster links between artists and students

in the school environment.

This is just one of the many initiatives that our school communities are

embracing. From promoting healthy living to the introduction of skilled trades

training in high school, our students have the opportunity to explore their

interests and develop their skills in a whole range of areas.

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of this hon. House, I send best wishes to all

participants in this year's festival and thank everyone involved for making it

what I am sure will be another successful year.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank the minister for an advance copy of her statement.

I, too, would like to wish the participants in this High School Theatre Arts

Festival the best of luck this week. I would also like to congratulate the

Francophone School District for their participation. I understand it is the

first time they have been at this festival, so it is good to see that happening.

Mr. Speaker, it is unfortunate that there are only eleven schools

participating. I am sure they did have regional competitions, but it is

unfortunate that more schools haven't participated throughout the Province.

The reason for that, I guess, is that not all schools in the Province,

especially those in rural communities, have theatre arts programs. I know there

are very few if any in my district, and the reason for that is probably because

they don't have the teachers to offer the program.

I know that the students and the teachers work very hard on this theatre arts

initiative, Mr. Speaker. My wife taught theatre arts for a number of years, and

I know that the teachers put a lot of effort into this program, and I also know

that the students put a tremendous amount of effort into it. I would like to

just congratulate them and wish them all the best this week.

Thank you.

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

MS MICHAEL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank the minister for the advance copy.

I, too, congratulate the schools that took

part in the festival, especially

the schools from the Francophone community. It is a wonderful venture.

I would like to think that these children, these students, would believe that

they could go on in theatre arts as a career if they choose. It disturbs me that

we have the lowest per capita support of the arts in all of Canada. I would

encourage the government, if they want this kind of venture with the students to

be successful, to look at increasing the money that goes into supporting the

arts in this Province, or else these children won't be able to choose a career

in the path they might want to go.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Further Statements by Ministers.

Oral Questions.

Oral Questions

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

MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

My questions, or at least some of them, are for the Minister of Fisheries.

Mr. Speaker, over the past few months the Minister of Fisheries and

Aquaculture has stated a number of times that any deal to sell FPI would be

contingent upon the federal government transferring the company's quotas to

the Province. Yesterday, the minister backtracked and is now referencing only

the groundfish quotas, not the more lucrative shrimp and scallop quotas.

I ask the minister: Why is your government backing away from its previous

commitment to secure all quotas, including the shellfish quotas, for the benefit

of the people of this Province?

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

Aboriginal Affairs.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, it would be quite an exercise, indeed, to get

inside the mind of the Leader of the Opposition.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. RIDEOUT: Never, Mr. Speaker, until yesterday, was it ever suggested

that this government was backing off on the acquisition of quotas to the

government and to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador. That was a figment of

the imagination of the Leader of the Opposition that got a genesis here

yesterday and turned into some kind of a press manifesto later in the day,

yesterday afternoon.

The fact of the matter is, Mr. Speaker, that we have said consistently, right

from the beginning, that it would be a condition precedent of any deal that we

would be party to, to allow FPI to divest itself of its assets, that its

groundfish, licences and quotas had to revert to the people of Newfoundland and

Labrador. We have been consistent in that. We have said that from day one. We

have never changed our position on that. We never, ever, ever said all quotas.

Any phrase using all quotas is a figment of the imagination, the fertile mind,

of the Leader of the Opposition, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Chair recognizes the Leader of the Opposition.

MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is no trouble to know when you got these fellows on the ropes, they start

to insult you personally. I guess that is a trait they picked up from the

Premier, who happens to do it all the time.

I say to the minister, if it is just a figment of my imagination, boy, you

should talk to the press because every time you made that statement it has been

reported. I will show it to you, where you said it in The Telegram and

other newspapers around the Province.

Now, Mr. Speaker, in a recent news story in The Telegram - and I will

quote him, because that is where it comes from right there. In a recent

interview with The Telegram , the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture is

quoted as saying: Unless the government is convinced that the sale of some or

all of FPI's business units is indeed in the best interest of the Province, no

such transaction will be brought forth for the Legislature for consideration. He

is saying that if it is not in the best interest of the Province, no part or all

of FPI will be sold.

I ask the minister: How is the sale of the marketing division and the

secondary processing division of FPI beneficial to the interests of the people

of the Province?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, I thought I was paying the Leader of the

Opposition a compliment when I referred to him as having a fertile mind. I am

sorry if he took it the wrong way. I certainly did not mean it to be derogatory

or insulting, or anything of that nature.

How can the sale of the marketing arm and the secondary processing units of

FPI be in the best interests of the people of this Province? They can be in the

best interest of the people of this Province, Mr. Speaker, if we have a company,

like Highliner seafoods, for example, who is well known to the people of

Newfoundland and Labrador, who has done a lot of business over the years in the

fishing industry in Newfoundland and Labrador; a well-known, trusted, reputable

Canadian company, a successful Canadian company.

If that firm is prepared to make long-term commitments to the fishing

industry and to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, they are prepared, Mr.

Speaker, to do that in terms of the Burin operation. They are prepared to do

that in terms of marketing for other fish companies in Newfoundland and

Labrador, and in Atlantic Canada. That is the kind of business that FPI was

involved in and promoted, up until now. That is the kind of business activity

that Highliner is prepared to continue to involve itself in and promote. That,

Mr. Speaker, we believe is in the best interest of the people and the fishing

industry of Newfoundland and Labrador, and it is why we are prepared to support

it.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. REID: I say to the minister, it was the secondary processing and the

marketing division of FPI that kept FPI alive during the moratorium. Now it

going to be sold off to a Nova Scotia firm, and the only asset that is going to

remain here in the Province is the plant in Burin. The profits from the plant in

Burin and the marketing division in the United States now will go back to Nova

Scotia, not to this Province, I say to the minister.

Mr. Speaker, the minister did not provide any information yesterday on FPI's

seafood company in Great Britain. The minister has now had twenty-four hours to

go back and try and ascertain who that division of FPI will be sold to.

I ask the minister: Who will be buying the seafood division in Great Britain

of FPI? Is John Risley involved in it, and how much is it going to be sold for?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, what the Leader of the Opposition fails to say,

of course - conveniently fails to say - when he talks about profits from Burin,

or profits from the marketing arm, or profits from Triton, or profits from

Bonavista, going to individuals, those profits, if they are made, are going to

the people who own Fishery Products International. They are going to the

shareholders, at the moment, of Fishery Products International.

If there are profits made in operating Marystown - or, excuse me, in this

case Burin - and the marketing arm, they will go to the owners of High Liner.

That is where profits go at the end of the day.

Now, in return for that, they provide jobs, good-paying jobs, long-term jobs,

to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, and we consider that to be in the

best interest in the long term of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

As to the seafood company that FPI purchased in the United Kingdom some time

ago, as of this moment that company has not been sold; there is not any plan to

sell it. If it is to be sold, this government and this Legislature, as per the

laws of this Province, will pronounce on that matter as well as pronounce on any

other matter related to the sale of assets of FPI.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would assume that if FPI is selling its marketing division and its

secondary processing division and its shrimp division and its groundfish

division, I would assume that they are also selling the seafood division. I

thought, after this deal went through, FPI would not exist. So, if FPI does not

exist, who is going to own the seafood company in Great Britain, I say to the

minister?

Mr. Speaker, there also appears to be very little mention of Fortune in any

of the discussions that we have heard so far. I ask the minister: Are there

talks ongoing to sell the Fortune plant to Cooke Aquaculture, and will there be

any quotas transferred from FPI, or whoever picks up FPI, to that facility in

Fortune?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, you talk about Jekyll and Hyde. I mean, this is

the same Leader of the Opposition who, a few months ago, was swinging from the

rafters in this Chamber because FPI, at that time, had purchased a seafood

company in the United Kingdom.

Mr. Speaker, FPI purchased that for about $40 million. It is my understanding

they could unload it today for about $80 million and turn a tidy profit. Now

that they are in a position of maybe doing that at some point, the Leader of the

Opposition is on his high horse riding in another direction. There is no way of

pleasing this hon. gentleman, so I suppose we may as well give up on it.

I know there was a question and I am not quite certain what the question was.

I believe it got lost in the rhetoric of the question itself, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I was on record and I will still be on record: FPI should not have used the

sweat equity that the workers in Newfoundland did to buy that facility in Great

Britain. I was opposed to it then and I am opposed to it now.

All I am asking you is: Who is going to buy it and who is going to make the

profit off it? Because it is not going to be the plant workers who work for FPI

currently in this Province, I say to the minister.

He can talk about swinging off the rafters all he likes because I think that

is where he is most of the time, swinging off a rafter.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. REID: Mr. Speaker, let's change gears a little bit here.

Because of ice conditions on the Northeast Coast of our Province, the crab

and shrimp fisheries have not started yet. As a result, fish harvesters and

plant workers - some plant workers - now find themselves out of work, no EI

benefits, and no chance of making an income in the foreseeable future, in the

next few weeks.

I have written the federal Minister of Fisheries, Mr. Hearn, and the federal

minister responsible for Employment Insurance, Monte Solberg, asking for an EI

extension but I have not received a response back from him yet.

I ask the minister: Have you written or conversed with either of these two

ministers about an EI extension to fishermen or fish harvesters and plant

workers along the Northeast Coast? If you have, have you received a response,

and what response was that?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, it is a strange old world out there indeed when

it is wrong to buy a seafood company for $40 million and then it is wrong to

hold on to it because its value has doubled and now it is worth $80 million and

perhaps the best thing to do is sell it, Mr. Speaker, pay off the money that you

borrowed to buy it, and invest the money into other aspects of your business.

Something wrong with that.

I never professed to be a business person, Mr. Speaker, have not got a

business clue in my body, never paid a payroll in my life, but even my

elementary sense of business tells me there was something right about that whole

process, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: Now, Mr. Speaker, in terms of making representation to the

have received representation from the hon. the Member for Torngat Mountains in

terms of Aboriginal fishers in the north. We passed that representation on to

because of ice conditions now along the Northeast Coast. We are part of that. We

have made similar representation in person and in conversations with ministers

and others. I have not received any personal reply. Whether there is anything at

the office that has come in, in the last twenty-four hours or not, I do not

through the Employment Insurance Commission, will be cognizant of the events

that are facing our fishers and our harvesters and do the right thing and allow

for an extension of EI benefits.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I say to the minister that his elementary sense of economics might say that

FPI did the right thing by spending $40 million on a plant in Europe and selling

it for $80 million, but does his elementary sense of economics - can he tell me

how that benefitted the 2,000 employees of FPI in this Province? Because I do

not see them being benefitted. None of them have seen any work on the Burin

Peninsula or the South Coast in the last two-and-a-half years, I say to the

minister.

Mr. Speaker, the Premier is on record as stating that FPI workers should take

a wage cut in order to keep their jobs. Meanwhile, Premier Williams just gave

his staff, in his office, salary increases which amount to nearly $100,000. Some

of these wage increases amount to $13,000 a year - a wage increase of $13,000 a

year - more than any of the fish plant workers that we have been talking about

in this House for the last two days are going to make next year or made last

year, I say to those opposite.

I ask the Minister of Environment, and the member representing the plant

workers in Marystown and Burin: Do you agree with the Premier, that fish plant

workers should take a pay cut while his staff, his own personal staff on the

eighth floor, should receive massive increases in pay?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, I think everybody knows that the small number

of people who work in the Premier's office and assist the Premier, as leader

of the government, in overseeing and managing and providing day-to-day advice on

running government departments, government operations that are, I think,

budgeted now to be something in excess of $5 billion, those people are working

day and night, seven days a week, twelve months a year, to provide advice to the

leader of the government.

Mr. Speaker, all that has been done in the reclassification and the

reorganization of staff in the Premier's office is to bring those who were at

the ADM level closer to the ADM level of pay across the system, and those who

should have been at the DM level closer to the DM level of pay across the

system. That is what has happened in the Premier's office, Mr. Speaker. Those

staff are worth their weight in gold. They provide great service to the people

of this Province -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: - and they are working for a Premier who has contributed

more in three or four years to the growth and the betterment of the people of

Newfoundland and Labrador than practically every other Premier who went before

him.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I did not think the Member for Burin-Placentia West would stand up to the

Premier about his pay increases while saying that the fish plant workers in his

district should take a cut, because he did not stand up for the fishermen in his

district last year, or the year before last, when they brought in that ill-fated

raw material sharing plan. There was only one individual who stood against the

Premier on that, and it was Fabian Manning, so I guess the Member for

Burin-Placentia West is protecting his own skin.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Chair recognizes the hon. the Leader of the Opposition.

MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the Premier stated that these significant pay increases were

necessary to ensure that his staff did not leave or did not quit and seek

employment opportunities elsewhere. I doubt that there are many opportunities

out there that would pay more than they are receiving now. Meanwhile, by

suggestion, the Premier is saying that people working in damp, cold fish plants

are worth less and should have accepted salary cuts.

I ask the Minister of Environment, the member representing those plant

workers on the Burin Peninsula: How do you justify your support for massive

salary increases in the Premier's office while agreeing with the Premier that

fish plant workers in your district should take wage cuts?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, in his

preamble, the Leader of the Opposition

talked about a former member of this House who stood with certain people when

certain events were unfolding in the fishery. Well, Mr. Speaker, we just saw a

couple of days ago in Ottawa an example of where that member stands in terms of

what is unfolding in Newfoundland and Labrador today.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: God willing, that person will have the ability and the will

and the desire to stand for the people of this Province again, Mr. Speaker,

against his own government, as he allegedly stood against this government when

he was in this House.

Now, I suppose if you want to carry on that kind of foolishness and drivel

coming from the Leader of the Opposition, it can go on forever; but, Mr.

Speaker, the bottom line is that we are talking about salary increases over a

period of time given to some people in the Premier's office whose salaries

were way below - significantly below - that kind of work done by other people

across the system. They have been brought up to a more comparable level, a more

equitable level. They deserve every cent of it and this government, Mr. Speaker,

does not make any apologizes for paying people who work in the Public Service an

appropriate amount of compensation for the work that they do for the people of

Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. REID: The minister might think that it is drivel, standing up for

your constituents, but I will let the constituents in the member's district

decide if it is drivel or not, I say to the minister.

Mr. Speaker, here are a couple of examples of the salaries and the positions

in the Premier's office. Upstairs we have an individual by the name of Brian

Crawley, Chief of Staff. He will make $131,000 this year, a raise of 8.1 per

cent. Elizabeth Matthews, Director of Communications, will make $102,000 this

year, an increase of 13.8 per cent. The Director of Operations will make

$82,000, an increase of 16.8 per cent.

I ask the Minister of Finance: Do you support such significant wage increases

for the Premier's staff when your department imposed a two-year wage freeze on

all public sector employees and just gave them a modest 3 per cent increase?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, let the record show, and the people who might

be watching this know, that when questions come from the Opposition they are

supposed to be directed to the minister of the department responsible, or the

Premier, if he is in his seat, or the Deputy Premier, in my case, or the

Government House Leader, not to a minister who has no responsibility for that

particular department, Mr. Speaker.

Everybody knows that. The Leader of the Opposition knows it, but he is trying

to be cute, Mr. Speaker. He is trying to be just as cute as he is listing out

those salaries that he just listed. He did not say, Mr. Speaker, for example,

that Elizabeth Matthews, the Director of Communications in the Premier's

office, with her reclassification and her salary increase, will still make less

money than was paid to the incumbent who worked for Premier Grimes when he was

there, $103,000.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Chair asks the Government House Leader to complete his answer.

MR. RIDEOUT: It is so backupable', I say to the hon. Member for Bay

of Islands.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: Neither did the Leader of the Opposition say that the

Director of Operations in the Premier's office, who is getting a bit of a

salary increase, is doing the work of two people who were there under Premier

Grimes; neither did he say any of that, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: All of which I lay before the people of Newfoundland as backupable',

Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Chair recognizes the Leader of the Opposition.

MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

To quote the minister's own words, it is not backupable'. Those

figures are not backupable', the ones that you just gave.

Let's talk about positions, I say to the minister. Mr. Speaker, the Premier

recently hired, a new position, a Deputy Chief of Staff. A new position that

pays $95,000 a year. His Special Advisor - I do not know what that individual

does up there. I think he sold insurance before he went up there though. His

Special Advisor is going to be paid $93,000 a year, an increase of 8.2 per cent.

His Principal Advisor is going to be paid $90,000 a year, an increase of 8.2 per

cent, I say to the minister. These are significant pay increases, approved by a

Cabinet, while we have home care workers making minimum wage and no action by

this government to address the issue.

I ask the Minister of Health: Do you agree with these high wages in the

Premier's office while there is a shortage of home care workers because of the

$7 an hour that you want to pay them?

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Chair recognizes the Government House Leader.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition can go from

minister to minister to minister to minister, but the answer is coming back

here.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: Because the question, if the Speaker wished, or if the

government wanted to, could ask that the question be ruled out of order. We are

not interested in that, Mr. Speaker. The Leader of the Opposition can ask what

he likes, he can do what he likes, he can dance how he likes, he can wish what

he likes, but the fact of the matter is, Mr. Speaker, as I have said it before,

there was an increase for staff in the Premier's office as a result of a

reclassification, as a result of looking at their work, to bring some of them up

closer to the ADM level across the system; to bring others who were at the DM

level closer to the pay already being paid to deputy ministers throughout the

system.

Mr. Speaker, nobody mentioned that the Deputy Minister to the Premier - the

Leader of the Opposition knows this but he is not going to throw it on the

floor, just as he knew about salary levels for people when they were the

government in the Premier's office. Nobody mentioned that the Deputy Minister

to the Premier, for example, has resigned from his position, is no longer on

staff, and that as a result of that happening, the overall salary complement

paid to people in the Premier's office, even with those raises, is less than

it was last year. Nobody has mentioned that.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Opposition, time for one short

question.

MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, what the minister is forgetting here is that all of these are

political appointments, not civil service appointments. They are all political

appointments. It is obvious that this government, and especially the Premier,

has no problem giving money to his friends, his associates and his political

cronies.

Mr. Speaker, the Premier's manager of Community Outreach, Ms Kim Puddister,

just got a 16.5 per cent wage increase. She now makes $80,000. This individual

is also a member of the so-called Tory by-election in the box theme. That is

what they call it, a by-election in a box. She is part of that team. As a matter

of fact, it appears that the only outreach that Ms Puddister did since January -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I ask the member if could put his question quickly.

MR. REID: No problem, Mr. Speaker, no problem. If I were not so rudely

interrupted, I would have had it finished.

As a matter of fact, it appears that the only outreach that Ms Puddister did

since January was outreaching the Tories in the districts of Port au Port,

Humber Valley and Labrador West. She spent most of her time working on

by-elections this winter.

I ask the Deputy Premier: Will you table in this House of Assembly all travel

and entertainment expenses, and annual leave claimed by Ms Puddister since

January to determine how much time was spent and how much money was spent of

taxpayers' dollars to fund Ms Puddister's expenses during these by-election

campaigns?

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I would ask the Government House Leader to keep his response short so we can

have the allocated time for the Member of Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi.

The Chair recognizes the hon. the Government House Leader.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I will attempt to be just as short as the hon. Leader of the Opposition, for

sure.

I want to say this, Mr. Speaker, right off the bat. I want to pay my tribute

to that Tory in the box theme. I want to tell you -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: I want to say how pleased I am that that theme delivered

seven out of eight by-elections, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: There is the crowning jewel up there.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: I suppose I should, Mr. Speaker -

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, yes, they won Humber Valley, but it certainly

was not a landslide. Hold on to it. Seven votes can disappear pretty quick

between now and October.

I should say, Mr. Speaker, I think I have run out of time.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Chair recognizes the Member for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi.

MS MICHAEL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

My question is for the Minister of Health and Community Services, directly to

the minister.

The shortage of foster homes in this Province has led to a situation where

young children are being placed in apartments and cared for by social workers.

This shortage is reaching a crisis point because families do not want to operate

foster homes when fees are still too low, in spite of the small increase

announced in this year's Budget, and when they cannot get the supports they

need from government.

My question for the minister is: What will your government do to address the

critical shortage of caregiver homes?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. WISEMAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As the member just alluded to, we are into the second year of a three year

commitment we made to increase the rates paid to foster homes in this Province.

We are working very closely with the Foster Family Association to recruit new

homes, to recruit people into the system. She may have been listening to the

media in recent months, where they have undertaken a massive media campaign to

attract more homes, attract more families to become foster parents.

One of the things though, she did talk about, which is very important to

note. First and foremost, our child, youth and family provisions of services to

children and youth in this Province, our first priority has to be their safety.

At any time, if we find that there is a child at risk, the first decision has to

be to remove them from that situation and provide supportive services,

regardless of whether it is in a foster home, which would be most ideal, but if

not, we have to think first of the child and to make sure that they are not left

in an unsafe environment.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Chair has allocated time for one brief supplementary.

MS MICHAEL: One point before my supplementary. I would like to point out

that what has been put in last years, this years, and next years budget is well

below what the Foster Families Association has been asking for. So my direct

question is related to resources for the families.

Out of the fifty-one new social workers announced yesterday as part of

improvements to Child, Youth and Family Services, will some of these positions

be earmarked for in-care services to improve foster families' access to social

workers?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. WISEMAN: The short answer: Yes.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The time allocated for Question Period has expired.

Presenting Reports by Standing and Select Committees.

Tabling of Documents.

Notices of Motion.

Answers to questions for which notice has been given.

Petitions.

Petitions

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Conception Bay South.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

I am here to present a petition today on behalf of over 5,000 residents who

signed a petition in Conception Bay South, Conception Bay Centre and into the

Topsail district as well, Mr. Speaker. It is concerning the Holyrood Thermal

Plant.

Mr. Speaker, I will just read the prayer of the petition.

WHEREAS the Holyrood Thermal Plant has been in existence since 1969; and

WHEREAS this facility is emitting thousands of tons of sulfur dioxide along

with hundreds of other toxic chemicals into the atmosphere, our water supply and

our food chain; and causing unnecessary harm to our environment; and

WHEREAS this facility has been ranked among the top ten polluters in Canada;

and

WHEREAS this facility is causing considerable health concerns for our

residents; including our children and seniors;

BE IT RESOLVED that we, the residents, are requesting the House of Assembly

to urge Newfoundland Hydro and the Department of Environment to begin the

process of reducing or possibly eliminating these emissions from this facility

by installing precipitators - and they have scrubbers in brackets;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we request the House of Assembly ensure that this

expense can be cost-shared between Hydro, the provincial Department of

Environment, the federal Department of Environment, and the rate payers of

Newfoundland Hydro, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I attended a press conference this morning and I would like to

acknowledge some of the people who were in attendance. The Deputy Mayor of

Holyrood was there. There were a number of people from the environmental care

committee of Holyrood; Mr. Jack Swiminer; Mr. Joe Byrne; as well, Mr. Speaker,

Mr. Gary Goobie was there who took the time, as a resident, and went around and

collected quite a few of these names and put the petition together; as well as a

Ms Megan -

AN HON. MEMBER: Parsons.

MR. FRENCH: Parsons, there we go, Ms Megan Parsons. I know here uncles

would certainly kill me if they realized that I stumbled on her name; but

certainly Ms Megan Parsons who spoke very effectively about some of the concerns

that she had as a younger person and certainly as a person with diabetes as

well.

I also want to acknowledge the fact, and they as well will sign the petition

with me, that the Member for Topsail was also at that presentation this morning.

As well, the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Recreation, the hon. Tom Hedderson,

was also there and is also very, very concerned about the emissions at the plant

in Holyrood.

Mr. Speaker, if I could, too, I want to acknowledge the work of the community

environmental groups, the community care environmental group from Holyrood as

well as one from Seal Cove that has probably been in place even longer than the

one in Holyrood. They certainly brought this to my attention first when I was

elected and it is something that we have been working on, I guess, from day one.

Mr. Speaker, just to give a little bit of history, I guess there have been

some minor battles won. First of all, of course, was the Community Liaison

Committee.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. member's allotted time has expired.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: By leave.

MR. SPEAKER: By leave?

AN HON. MEMBER: To clue up, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Leave has been granted.

MR. FRENCH: Thank you.

Could I say, Mr. Speaker, there has been significant progress made, and I

want to acknowledge Mr. Ed Martin at Hydro for taking the time to meet with us,

to meet with me, I guess, within the first week he was on the job, I believe, to

go over some of these issues. We have made some minor progress in the last

couple of years.

First of all, the Community Liaison Committee, we now have local residents

sit on the Community Liaison Committee. They meet on a regular basis, and the

residents are informed of what is happening at Hydro. Previous to that, there

were leaders from municipalities who sat on the Community Liaison Committee but

it was certainly nothing like the actual residents of this facility sitting on

this committee and certainly being able to find out all the information that is

available on, I guess, a month-to-month basis.

As well, Mr. Speaker, we were successful in getting some additional

monitoring sites, which is certainly noteworthy, and, of course, the reduction

of the sulfur in the fuel by 50 per cent, and that will decrease the Pms, what

we call Pms, which is really the ash or the flake or the particulate matter as

referred to from dropping on places, Mr. Speaker. Now, don't get me wrong,

that is still a very, very, very, big concern; however, it has reduced it by 30

per cent or 40 per cent and that is something that I can only thank the

residents and the local committees for keeping this on the public radar, Mr.

Speaker, and encouraging Hydro to invest that extra $7 million to $9 million per

year to get that down.

Mr. Speaker, like I said earlier, that is certainly only a minor battle that

has been won. The war on emissions is far from over. Currently, as this House

knows, the people in my district know that there is -

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The members who granted leave have asked the Chair to assure that the member

makes his concluding comments very quickly.

MR. FRENCH: I appreciate that, Mr. Speaker, and I know that members of

the Opposition realize the importance of this for the residents of my district,

and I appreciate them giving me the time to have these few words, Mr. Speaker.

As I was saying, we have a long way to go. Government is now in the process

of releasing its energy plan, which will dictate how the energy throughout this

Province is going to be obtained and how it is going to be used in the coming

days and months. When we have that energy plan, it is from that, that major

decisions will be made on the Holyrood facility.

Mr. Speaker, if I could just clue up by saying -

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

Leave has been withdrawn.

Further petitions?

The hon. the Member for Carbonear-Harbour Grace.

MR. SWEENEY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Bay North, Trinity Bay area.

WHEREAS conditions on Route 70 passing through Victoria and Salmon Cove are

badly in need of repair; and

WHEREAS the traffic travelling over this road includes school buses,

commercial trucks, patients going to hospitals, and children walking to and from

school; and

WHEREAS this route is part of the Conception Bay North Highway and it has

deteriorated severely over the past number of years;

WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, call upon all Members of the

House of Assembly to see that this

section of road is brought up to proper

standards.

Mr. Speaker, this is the same group of people who petitioned this House last

year. I find myself in the same situation as I was last year this time, speaking

out for these constituents and the constituents from an adjoining district on

the North Shore of Conception Bay.

Mr. Speaker, they travel this road every day. It is the main highway, and the

road is not fit to drive over. Last year, in response to the petitions, the

government did half of the road, but what they failed to do was to address the

worst part of that particular highway. The part from the school, the Persalvic

school in Victoria-Salmon Cove area, to Salmon Cove itself, and through the

community of Salmon Cove, was not touched. There are bridges there that are

inches above the pavement. There is no surface left on the bridges. Every time

somebody goes out, they are in risk of doing damage to their vehicle and

suffering personal injury.

Mr. Speaker, this has gone on too long and without due care. It was so silly

last year to see those pavers move into the area and pave half the highway that

needed to be done. I do not know what the government attempted to prove by doing

that. Why not just continue? For the little bit of money that was involved, they

could have easily continued to come down and put a surface on the rest of that

highway.

Mr. Speaker, government has to show compassion. We have just had a Budget.

The funds for highways have not improved very much, considering the fact that

the cost of asphalt has gone up now to $200 a ton, three times from what it was

three years ago, maybe four times. The money that is being wasted in this

Province in the Premier's office and other places, that $100,000 would have

gone a long way to fulfilling the needs of these people and making the highways

safe for them to travel over.

Mr. Speaker, little children this winter walking to school because of the

government's bus policy of having to walk because they were within a certain

distance of the school, dodging the buses and trucks and everything else that

were going along that highway. These people deserve better. They are

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, like all of us. The very least that you can

ask for in this Province is a decent road to drive over.

Mr. Speaker, I am sure I will continue this petition at a later date and I

thank you very much for your indulgence.

MR. SPEAKER: Further petitions?

Orders of the Day.

Orders of the Day

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

MR. RIDEOUT: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Motion 1. We will continue with the Budget debate.

MR. SPEAKER: Motion 1 has been called.

The motion is that this House approve in general the budgetary policy of the

government.

The last speaker was the hon. the critic on the Opposition side.

Members to speak - the hon. the Member for Windsor-Springdale.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HUNTER: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I am indeed proud today to get up and have a few words to say on

the Budget and just allude to some of the aspects of the Budget and, of course,

how they affect my district in Central Newfoundland.

I was very proud last week when we talked to the people in Central

Newfoundland who really commended our government on doing such a job of putting

forward such a great Budget, probably the best Budget this Province has ever

seen.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HUNTER: We all can see the effect of bad budgets in the past and, of

course, bad decisions by governments in the past. It is good to see a bit of

light now when we start to see our economy and, of course, our infrastructure

and everything turning around in this Province. You do not have to look very

hard to see that.

In the past couple of years, Mr. Speaker, we have been having to deal with

situations where we had to be very prudent on how we spent the tax dollars of

this Province; but now, with the turnaround and with the Atlantic Accord and

with such hard work of the Premier and his Cabinet, we see benefits. We see

benefits, of course, when it comes to our resources now. We see our mining

resources, our minerals, at higher prices, the highest prices in decades. Of

course, the oil prices are fairly high. That gives an opportunity for this

Province to do some good planning into the future with the money that we get

from royalties of our resources. We need to be very careful in how we do that.

Mr. Speaker, as I was going down through some of the items in the Budget

Highlights book, it is hard not to think positive. It is hard not to be happy

and excited for the future. I mean, you only have to look at the tax reduction

plan for this party, that we have come up with, the largest tax reduction in

history for the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Of course, a lot of

people will avail of this and it will put more dollars in the pockets of our

people in the Province which will, of course, stimulate our economy, especially

in rural Newfoundland, Mr. Speaker, when a couple of hundred dollars here and a

couple of hundred dollars there in people's pockets could make the difference

of small businesses surviving in rural Newfoundland.

I guess that is the whole intent of having a good Budget. We need a good

Budget to put more money back into the system, more money in the pockets of

people of our Province, so that they stay in their communities and support the

small businesses in their community. A tax reduction of over 2 per cent in most

cases will put a lot of dollars in the pockets of our people in this Province.

Mr. Speaker, even small business will benefit greatly in this Budget. The

corporate income tax threshold increased from $300,000 to $400,000. It is only

$100,000 we might say, but that will help a lot of businesses and put a lot of

money back in circulation for these businesses, and I am sure small business

today in this Province will appreciate that.

Mr. Speaker, we even see in our Budget the elimination of 170 fees reduced or

eliminated for an annualized savings of approximately $3.4 million. These fees

and reductions might not seem like much to a lot of people, but to a lot of

people when dollars count it makes a big difference.

I like the investment that this government has been making in our health

care. We have been investing a lot of money in our health care, probably the

most in history for this Province. Mr. Speaker, no one can deny the fact that

health care is changing from day to day. The cost of health care in increasing.

It is the biggest part of the Budget of this Province, almost $5 billion that we

are budgeting, and our health care budget is getting up there to about $2

billion now. It is increasing every day, it is increasing every year, and we

have to find ways not only to make health care more affordable and more

accessible, but we must be very careful on the spending of health care. We do

not want to see all of our Budget being put into health care, even though we

would like to, but there are a lot of other things in the Province that we need

to address.

Sometimes we just look at the needs of our seniors. One good thing I see here

in the Budget, too, is an investment of $4.2 million. We will increase the low

income seniors' benefits threshold for senior couples by about $10,000, and

that will ensure more seniors can avail of the programs and some 3,800 senior

couples will receive a cheque for $768 as a result of this initiative. With our

senior couples in the Province today, they are finding it difficult, and every

dollar that we can put into these senior couples' pockets is certainly going

to make life a lot easier for them. I am really glad to see that part of our

Budget. It makes a lot of sense to have these initiatives. It makes a lot of

sense to promote them. It makes a lot of sense to encourage them.

We do have a lot of low-income people in our Province, a lot of people who

need help. It could be as simple as getting a roof repaired, or some other minor

repairs in a home for the lower-income people of our Province. One good

initiative that this government has taken on, of course, is the Provincial Home

Repair Program. It was formerly called the RRAP program. I remember back a few

years ago when you could just go down to a local town office and sign up for a

RRAP program; but, guess what? Back in those days the federal government

contributed about 80 per cent of the cost of the RRAP program and it made it a

lot easier and it served a lot more people because of the federal government's

input into it.

Today, this Province recognized the need for it and the Province decided that

it is a very worthwhile program and that we would take it on alone. This year,

the Province will start a new program which will, in the next six years,

increase the provincial contribution to another $24 million. That is doubling

the provincial contribution of this program. The funding committed will help to

address over 4,000 applications now that are on the waiting list. Every MHA, of

course, who deals with areas that depend on low-income homes that need home

repairs, we all are familiar with dealing with the regional offices, trying to

get applications approved and trying to get inspections done, trying to get the

work done and trying to keep it within, of course, the scope of the criteria of

the program. This is going to make a big difference and mean a lot to a lot of

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians who need those minor repairs.

I know in my area, we have a regional office in Grand Falls-Windsor and we do

have a couple of thousand applications that are back three years. We are

starting to catch up now. We will probably be doing 2004 applications this year

in Central. This extra money that we are going to put in this program is going

to make a big difference in trying to clean up the backlog and, of course, these

applications that are two and three and fours years old. The people who are

going to avail of these programs certainly appreciate that, and they certainly

will know that this government is making every effort in meeting the needs of

the low-income residential problems that we have in rural Newfoundland and

Labrador.

We do recognize, of course, the need for low-income housing. We recognize the

need for special housing for disabled people. We have a fair number of units

that are totally disabled accessible and we probably need to do a lot more than

that, but we are going in the right direction. Disabled people in this Province

today, and people with special needs, recognize that it is a big problem and we

are doing all we can to correct that problem, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, as I alluded to earlier about the health care, we are going in

directions that we have never gone before in this Province, and people are

staring to recognize it. This government is now investing $22.3 million for new

diagnostic and capital equipment, and that will represent a $12.3 million

increase above the base funding. This investment will purchase two new linear

accelerators to expand radiation treatment capacity at the Dr. H. Bliss Murphy

Cancer Clinic, cardiac cath lab equipment and monitors, a Bi Planar Angiography

machine, a new X-ray machine for the Carbonear General Hospital, a CT Scanner

for diagnostic imaging at Western Memorial Regional Hospital, and a CT Scanner

for Sir Thomas Roddick Hospital in Stephenville.

Mr. Speaker, it is so hard to get to the areas where this testing is done.

Then, when you get there, sometimes your appointments are cancelled or delayed.

The more equipment that we put in the system, the more expertise we have and the

more manpower we have to operate them, makes life a lot easier for the patients

of the Province.

I know personally, from experience dealing with constituents of mine, having

to come to St. John's for diagnostic testing, and, of course, certain

surgeries and stuff, particularly dealing with cancer issues. To drive from

Grand Falls-Windsor all the way to St. John's and find out that your testing

has been cancelled or your appointments have been cancelled or delayed or

sometimes postponed, makes it really hard on the patient and makes it hard on

the family, especially the low-income families who can barely afford enough

money to get here for one trip, can barely get here physically because of their

health problems. The last thing we want to see and the last thing anybody wants

to see is a patient having to go through that type of situation. This government

has recognized the problems that we have had in these situations. We are

committed to making it better, making it easier and, of course, making it easier

to fund a trip for anybody in this Province to get these very necessary

diagnostic tests and appointments and surgeries that they need in their health

care. This government should be commented for the efforts we have been doing in

health care, and we have been looking at the situation of all these people

throughout the Province. The more equipment, the more testing, and the more

manpower we can have certainly is going to be a big plus for the people of this

Province.

One thing I noticed here in the Budget outlines, Mr. Speaker - and it might

be only a small item, but I think it is going to make a big difference to a lot

of people. This was an issue concerning speech language with special needs. In

the outline it says, "In order to address the wait list of 200 children and

the wait time in some areas up to a year for preschool therapeutic speech

language pathology services, we will provide $396,100 to create five new

positions."

Now, in a $5 billion Budget, $396,000 does not seem like a lot of money, but

I know from people I have talked to, these five new positions will make a lot of

difference in the lives of a lot of children, and we recognize that. We received

letters from parents throughout the Province who needed help - and the children

needed help - for preschoolers. That problem was addressed in this Budget. The

minister, the Premier, and the Cabinet looked at these problems. They may be

only a small number, but it is a big problem for a small number of people. We

did address it, and I am very proud of that.

Another big issue in the Province, Mr. Speaker, and of course it is all over

the Province, and that is dealing with mental health issues. This year we are

dedicating $1.6 million to strengthen the Province's mental health and

addiction services. That is including $800,000 to implement a new mental health

care and treatment act. Also, $800,000 to continue implementing our mental

health policy framework with specific initiatives, such as the anti-stigma

campaign, additional addiction counsellors and mental health case managers and

supportive care for clients.

Also, in that, too, Mr. Speaker, there would be $575,000 to address the

gambling problem. A lot of times we just look at these issues and we know they

are big problems but nobody wants to talk about them. In my district we have a

mental health clinic and office in Grand Falls-Windsor. I deal with a lot of

constituents and I tell you, this is a very important issue. It is very

important and big enough of a problem that it needs to be given a lot of

attention.

I am very proud that this government has recognized the problems and

recognized the need for more funding in budgets to deal with mental health

problems and, of course, to deal with addiction problems. We can see great

benefits in the future when we address problems such as these. Maybe they are

not the problems, the big multi-dollar problems that everybody gets excited

about and wants immediate action, but these problems are big in the minds and

the lives of the people who are dealing with them. I am so proud that this

government has dealt with issues like this and we will see great benefits, as I

said, in the years to come, Mr. Speaker. I am sure constituents of all of us,

their families really appreciate the help that we are trying to give to the

people in this Province dealing with mental health issues.

Mr. Speaker, there are a lot of items in this pamphlet about what this

government has done in this Budget. It will take a long time for us to sit down

and go through every one of them but I am sure my colleagues, we are going to

have lots of time to deal with all of the issues, all of the good things in this

Budget. Everyone of us can specifically pick out items that we are happy with,

and of course the feedback from our constituents are happy with.

I just like so many of them, there is no way that I am going to be able to

get into all of them, but to just pick out a few items here. The funding for the

Kids Eat Smart Foundation, that will increase by $250,000, in addition to the

$500,000 in core funding. That is a great initiative, and I do not think there

is anybody in this House today who would not see great benefits in their own

districts with this initiative.

The new funding that we have this year in the Budget is going to be really

appreciated by a number of people in the Province. That is the new funding that

we allocated for the Provincial Eating Disorders Program, and that comes to

$228,800. I mean, that is definitely a good step in the right direction. Our

health is depending on how we live and the problems that we have in our own

personal lives, eating disorders and everything, that is going to make a big

difference to our health care. When we can put money into a program that is

going to help people like that, then I think it is an investment into the future

health of our residents in this Province.

Mr. Speaker, another good initiative that I have just come across in the

Budget - and of course means a lot to me and is near and dear to my heart,

coming from a Central Newfoundland forestry area. We are very proud to see that

this government will invest $19.9 million to upgrade the provincial water bomber

fleet. This is a very, very important initiative. I do not know if the people of

the Province realize how important our forestry is to us, but when we do have a

disaster and do have a major forest fire it could destroy not only the forests

in the Province, but it could destroy the lives and livelihoods of a lot of

families in this Province depending on the forestry. We recognize that.

We recognize that our equipment, our firefighting capabilities need to be

number one, topnotch with the equipment, and the bombers itself being topnotch.

This year we are going to invest $19.9 million to do that. That is a great

initiative. It is a good thing, even though it is one of those issues that a lot

of people probably do not even notice, probably do not even care, especially in

areas were there is probably no forests. I can guarantee you that in Central and

Western Newfoundland, where we are really depending on the forestry for our

livelihoods, this initiative is going to be well welcomed and hopefully we will

not have any serious fires where we have to put this equipment out to be used. I

certainly would rather see it being parked and be used for training rather than

be out there fighting very, very large forest fires which is going to take away

that very valuable resource that we do have.

Also, Mr. Speaker, this government will provide $1.2 million to establish

fire and emergency services for Newfoundland and Labrador. That is a very

important initiative. I mean, with the disasters we have been having in the last

number of years and with the numbers of people moving away who have expertise in

emergency and fire fighting, emergency services, we need to make sure that this

Province is well protected and well served in emergency services. We don't

have to go back very far, when we look at the disaster in Badger that devastated

the lives of many people. Many homes were lost and, of course, it was a very

trying time for a lot of people. We need to be prepared with not only emergency

and fire fighting capabilities, but emergency care services to be able to handle

disaster situations.

I have to commend out fire departments in rural Newfoundland and all these

little communities that go out and train on their own time, volunteer and spend

a lot of money to do this. I really thank our fire departments and emergency

services response teams, the Exploits Valley search and rescue team and many

more in the Province.

Mr. Speaker, I know my time is up but I would like to thank our volunteers in

the Province for the great job they are doing to protect us. I am sure I will

get a chance to have another few words. My colleagues are all anxious to get up

and have a few words to say.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Carbonear-Harbour Grace.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SWEENEY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would like to use my twenty minutes this afternoon to go through some of

the items in the Budget; some of the things, I guess, as most people realize,

that affect the people of rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

Mr. Speaker, my colleague from Windsor-Springdale just highlighted some of

the things he saw that reflected good things to his district, and he also

outlined some of the shortcomings that are going on in this Province right now

and the need to do more. The only thing he didn't say was how lucky his

government was to fall into this big pot full of money and have the luxury of

being able to present this great Budget in an election year; the great October

Budget, I have to say, Mr. Speaker. That great October Budget! That is what we

will call this; the election Budget.

Mr. Speaker -

MR. WISEMAN: You are paranoid, aren't you.

MR. SWEENEY: No, I am not paranoid at all, I say to the Minister of

Health; I am not paranoid at all, not one little bit.

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Health over there, I would like for him to go

out to one of his clinics and take one of those suppositories they are handing

out there and take some of the pressure off his head so I can get my speech in.

Anyway, Mr. Speaker -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

AN HON. MEMBER: How low can you go, eh? How low can you go!

MR. SWEENEY: Stay tuned.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I know all hon. members are anxious to hear the presentation made by the hon.

the Member for Carbonear-Harbour Grace. To that end, I ask members for their

co-operation so we can hear his speech in relative silence.

The Chair recognizes the Member for Carbonear-Harbour Grace.

MR. SWEENEY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would like to say to the Member for St. John's Centre, he will have his

turn. He can get up and speak when he is ready.

Mr. Speaker, some of the things that were in there, there is no dispute that

the books for the kids, the new school announcements, those things, yes, they

were the proper thing to do; there is no question about that. You cannot refute

any of that stuff.

In my own district, the enhanced CAT scan and mammography equipment, there is

no question, the new X-ray equipment, there is no question, it is badly needed

and the people out there are entitled to it, just as well as every other

resident in this Province; there is no question about that.

Mr. Speaker, right in the middle of that, last week or the week before, I

lost almost 100 jobs in my district. There are close to 100 people out there now

who are not sure what their future holds for them. Just this morning, I dropped

off a young man at the airport on his way to Alberta. There is nothing in there,

Mr. Speaker, there is nothing in that Budget, I tell you, to help those people.

Mr. Speaker, this government has gone on now for almost five years, I guess,

as an Opposition, and as a government, and they have not outlined their rural

plan. We questioned it back in the spring of 2003, almost four years ago now. I

questioned it: What was the rural plan? The leader at the time, the Premier

today, said: No, we are not going to release it because the Liberals will steal

it from us. They will take it from us.

Well, there are people out there still waiting, Mr. Speaker. Twenty-five

hundred people left this Province, or are in the process of leaving this

Province, as a result of a job fair here last week, here in this fair city, in

Mount Pearl, over at the Glacier. Twenty-five hundred people were hired -

instantaneously they were hired - interviewed and hired. One guy went over to

see what it was all about and he realized that there were opportunities there

for him, and within twenty-four hours he was back with his resume and he was

hired.

Mr. Speaker, if things are so great and so rosy here in this Province, why

are people still leaving? There has not been any amount of work in this Province

since the Voisey's Bay project shut down, since the Bull Arm site closed. We

have not seen anything materialize from that, Mr. Speaker. Here we have, in

Marystown, two fabulous yards up there with very little employment taking place.

Mr. Speaker, if this government had such a great plan that they were afraid

to show to us four years ago, five years ago, why are these facilities laying

dormant? Why are they mothballed? Mr. Speaker, somewhere people are out there

saying, well, I don't think I can wait any longer. There are places in this

Province where people are saying, I cannot wait any longer. I cannot wait for

2010 or 2015; I have my children right now who I need clothes for. They have

their own personal needs. They need a roof over their head. They need heat,

light and shelter, Mr. Speaker, things that are ordinary things in this

Province.

Mr. Speaker, there is a little hope in all of this. A senior taking an

ambulance, for instance - and there were decreases in fees, Mr. Speaker, there

is no question about that. This government saw fit, this year, the election

year, to drop fees, but everybody out there will tell you who put the fees up.

Everybody will tell you who put them up. The fees went up to $27 million, and lo

and behold this year dropped $3.4 million. One of them dropped back to zero;

but, guess what? You have to die to get the benefit from that one. It's a

death certificate, Mr. Speaker, you have to die to get the benefit from it, to

save $25.

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible) within twelve months, too.

MR. SWEENEY: Yes, my colleague tells me you had better get it in twelve

months or you will not receive the benefit of it.

Mr. Speaker, I am trying to find out what happened to the polar bear fees.

What happened there? I do not know how many of them were shot in this Province

last year, Mr. Speaker.

AN HON. MEMBER: I thought it was illegal to shoot them.

MR. SWEENEY: As a matter of fact, I think it is illegal to shoot a polar

bear in this Province.

Mr. Speaker, filing of a statutory declaration, you are going to save a whole

dollar with the registration of deeds. Just imagine, Mr. Speaker.

The interesting thing about it, though, Mr. Speaker, when you go and licence

your car, when you have to stroll in and licence your vehicle to get back and

forth to work, if you are lucky enough to have a job, it is going to cost you

$180. If you are fortunate enough to have a computer, or a friend or a buddy

across the garden who has a computer, you can amble over there and save yourself

10 per cent, save $18. Now, I am going to tell you, I do not know a lot of

people out there in a lot of these places who has a computer. I do not know if

anyone has checked, but the Internet fees are roughly $40 a month in most cases.

That is if you have Internet services in your community. As I understand it,

there are parts of communities still waiting for this great fibre optic to be

warped in through and lights going everywhere and all kinds of things happening.

AN HON. MEMBER: With thousands of jobs created.

MR. SWEENEY: Thousands of jobs created, my colleague says.

What else is there? Oh, yes, the same thing with a motorcycle. You can save

yourself 10 per cent, too, if you go online.

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. SWEENEY: No, I do not think, because from what I understand, there

will not be any layoffs because it is taking months now for those stickers to

get to the mail after you go online and do it. It is not what you call a speedy

process. It is not going to be beamed back to you, if anyone out there in TV

land today watching this think they are going to go online and are going to get

their stickers right back to them. That is not going to happen. It is not going

to pop up - your printer is not going to spit out the stickers for you, I will

tell you that right now. A friend of mine has a new car bought and he is still

waiting for his stickers. He was at my house on Saturday and he said: How long

does it take to get those stickers? I said: My son, buy another car and you will

find out.

Anyway, Mr. Speaker, there were reductions in fees, but the reality of it all

is, and the reminder to everybody out there - and I am sure they will be

reminded between now and October when they go to the polls - is that they are

still paying $180 to licence their car, to go around and beat the front-end, the

struts out of it as they go along. I have travelled the highways in this

Province and I will tell you, there is not a bridge in this Province that is not

out there to attack you. I would love to have the plywood contract for this

government for making signs saying: Bump. Because there are signs out there

everywhere. The roads are littered with signs. Look out for bumps.

I will tell you, Mr. Speaker, when a person goes to work in the morning and

he comes home in the evening with his tire in the backseat of his car and the

front of his car hooked up on a tow truck, he will ask the question: What did I

spend the $180 on? What benefit is that? Because we were all told back in 2004

when these fees went up: Now, listen, this is good for you. This is going to be

good for you because we are going to increase the amount of money we are

spending on the highways in this Province. Well, let me tell you how much. I

have some stats here, some figures - from the Auditor General, by the way, the

government's keeper of the books.

In 2001, road construction and maintenance in this Province, $98.6 million

was spent; 2002, $101.3 million was spent; 2004, $65.6 million; 2005, $56.6

million. Mr. Speaker, these are all amounts that were less than the previous

years before the fees went up. So what happened to the money? What happened to

the money? The extra fees that were being collected by this government, what

happened to it? Where did it go?

MR. REID: Giving the Premier's staff a raise.

MR. SWEENEY: My colleague says it was giving the Premier's staff a

raise. That is so true, Mr. Speaker. That is so true. The Premier's staff did

get a big raise. I hope for the benefit of this Province, that the Public

Relations person and the Director of Communications when they are with the

Premier today, wherever he is, giving his pep talk for this Province, I hope she

is earning her money. I truly hope it, because we need a message in this

Province going out to the rest of the country and the rest of North America that

Newfoundland and Labrador is a friendly place to do business. We need that. So I

hope the Director of Communications, when she gets her computer keyed up today,

for $102,000 a year, I hope she can get that message out there. I know she has a

lot of difficulty working to get a positive message out there because the

Premier himself says he is hard to get along with. Even Steve in Ottawa knows

that now; his buddy, Steve.

MR. JOYCE: Even the Speaker of the Chair knows that (inaudible) Trevor

Taylor.

MR. SWEENEY: Yes, that is right. Everybody knows how difficult he is. So

these people, yes, they have their job cut out. Whatever duties they are

performing in the Premier's office, let's get the positive message out

there, that the people of this Province need some help.

Mr. Speaker, there is another issue that has been kicked around for a while,

and before I do that, the Deputy Premier today made reference to salaries. I

want to point out that the last year, in 2003, Roger Grimes was Premier, there

was less than $900,000 spent in the Premier's office, with fifteen staff

members. This year, in the Budget, in the government's very own Budget, there

is over $1.3 million, with twenty-one staff members. They were not backupable'.

These are facts that came from two government documents. One hasn't been voted

on and approved in this House yet, but the other one was. Mr. Speaker, it is

important that the facts come out. It is great to get up and say something, but

the reality of all of this is that the people of this Province want results,

they want leadership, and they want hope too, by the way.

It is great for the Premier to stand up and say, I am not getting paid, but I

say to the Premier, get paid and be accountable to the people for your salary.

It is great to step back when things get hot: I am not getting paid, I deserve

better than this. It is great to say that. But at the end of it, Mr. Speaker,

what do we really want in this Province?

Mr. Speaker, the people in your area tonight don't want what they are

facing, the uncertainty of work, the uncertainty of their plants. What is going

to happen when FPI is dissected and sold off in pieces? This has been going on

for a long time, this FPI thing. They failed under their approach with us when

we were the government. We wouldn't allow it to happen. Now they are coming

back again in another form. Mr. Speaker, at the end of the day those quotas, all

those things in these communities, belong to the people of this Province. These

people deserve better than to be held out there right now on the whim of

somebody who is waiting to see whether or not they are going to give them a job

or what the deal is going to be.

Mr. Speaker, I mentioned out-migration when I started and the 2,500 people

who got jobs last week. There are people going all the time, they are leaving.

It is sad, actually, when you drive through a community and you see so many

houses boarded up with plywood, the windows boarded up; very sad. That

represents, Mr. Speaker, in most cases, a lot of cases, young men and young

women taking their families and moving off to another Province. These are

meaningful assets, great contributors to the economy of this Province, and there

are too many people going.

I have to ask: What has this government done to create meaningful employment?

What have they done in this Province in their four years now, almost four years,

to generate and rejuvenate the economy of this Province? When we look at

budgets, those are the things we can say. We can talk about schools, but when we

talk about schools we talk about the school that is not going to be built in

Carbonear until 2010. In the meantime, the little kids and little children in

Carbonear are squat into little classrooms with no air and no ventilation. One

of the highest rates of sickness in a school in this Province was experienced in

Carbonear this past winter.

Mr. Speaker, when we talk about schools, we will talk about the school that

is closing in Harbour Grace, a fairly modern school, for no particular reason,

because it did not fit into the school board's plan.

Mr. Speaker, one of the things that I have noticed in this Province in the

past couple of years is that people have lost hope. They are not out there

protesting any more. They are not crying out for what they want. I have never

heard such a silence from the municipalities in this Province. I spoke to a

couple of them and I said: You know, you were always vocal a few years ago. You

know what the results were? Well, it is no good to talk to this government. If

you do, if you speak out, you are liable to get your head chopped off. You lose

whatever chance you have of getting something.

That was evident the other day when the Minister of ITRD tackled the Mayor of

Port aux Basques, and my mayor, from Carbonear, when he raised an issue about

the Summer Games, the brutal attack that was put to him.

Mr. Speaker, you can go in Cabinet and make these decisions, but then the

Premier says: Well, I need these people around me, up here on the eighth floor,

to run this government; it is a $5 billion operation.

When I was in Cabinet, it was always the Cabinet running it. We did not need

all these people on the eight floor, paid all kinds of salaries. As a matter of

fact, there were at least six people less.

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. SWEENEY: I say to the Member for Terra Nova: Go pick up the Budget

for 2003 and you will see it there.

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible) 2002?

MR. SWEENEY: The same thing.

Anyway, Mr. Speaker, the Member for Terra Nova, I am afraid his Kool-Aid is

wearing off over there this afternoon.

When you get into a situation, Mr. Speaker, of the state of the roads that

are in this Province, the condition of our side roads, our inner sections, our

bridges, the condition of some of our schools - not all of them are going to be

done. Our health care is not all perfect; there is money put in there. The pump

for diabetes, insulin pumps, I called the Department of Health yesterday: No,

you have to call the Janeway. I called the Janeway: No, no, we are only

compiling a list here. We do not know for sure ourselves yet what is happening,

so you are going to have to go back to the Department of Health.

Here are people out there making long distance calls to and from the

Department of Health, the Janeway, trying to find out if their child is

eligible. Here is the government, another classic case of rolling out something

without the mechanism in place to put it out there for the benefit of the

people.

MR. SPEAKER (Fitzgerald): Order, please!

I remind the hon. Member for Carbonear-Harbour Grace that his time for

speaking has expired.

MR. SWEENEY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am sure I will be back at a later date.

Thank you.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Member for Kilbride.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. DINN: Mr. Speaker, I stand today in the House to show my hope and

support for this Budget that was presented last week. I want to congratulate

Minister Marshall and the other ministers of our government for such a great

job.

The people in this Province, I think, today, contrary to what we are hearing

from the other side, are looking at this Budget as something positive. I went

around a lot of places in the last week and I might have heard one or two minor

criticisms of this Budget, which I will refer to later on; but, generally

speaking, people in the Province are feeling good about this Budget. They now

see some hope. They are finally seeing us turn the corner in this Province.

Mr. Speaker, I, myself, think this is the best Budget in the history of

Newfoundland -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. DINN: - and I have heard on Open Line and other places that

(inaudible).

MR. JOYCE: Who wrote that for you? (Inaudible).

MR. DINN: I am sure I did not ask you to write it.

Anyway, to go back -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. DINN: That does not bother me, to be quite honest with you. That only

gets me going a bit better.

Anyway, to go back to what I was saying, I think this is one of the better

Budgets ever produced in this Province.

I have been following municipal politics and provincial politics for years,

and I have watched budgets year after year after year, and I do not think there

are too many times that a government has presented a Budget with a $260 million

surplus.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. DINN: As a matter of fact, it used to bother me to no end to see

deficit after deficit after deficit, and debt being accumulated for future

generations of this Province. We finally see a government that is tackling,

doing something about, the debt that has been accumulated. We are finally

looking at it and saying we cannot burden our future generations with such a

burden. I think it is time, and it is really good news, and the people of this

Province, I am sure, recognize what is going on.

I have heard criticism that this is an election Budget. One of my colleagues

said yesterday: If this was an election Budget, why would we have a surplus of

$260 million? Why wouldn't we spend that and make ourselves look even better?

I would think you would spend it all.

Anyway, in this Budget there is good news for many sectors of our society -

many. The general taxpayer, it is the first time in my time in politics, and in

following politics, that I actually saw a tax benefit across the board. Usually,

you have a tax benefit that is helping one sector of the population. This one is

across the board, benefitting everybody who pays taxes, income tax especially.

One of the things I like tremendously in this Budget is the help that we are

giving post-secondary students. Post-secondary students now can get, based on

need, $70 a week contribution to their expenses. This means that in the future

these students will not have to be borrowing as much money and be in debt as

much as they were in the past. Also, reducing the debt that former students now

have by 2.5 per cent is significant. It means a lot to these students over a

twenty year period when they might have to pay this back.

Park users are benefitting from this. There is a reduction in park user fees.

People who hunt and fish have a reduction. Seniors - there are many benefits in

here for seniors, even though we do not realize it. Small business corporations.

People who buy a vehicle, if you buy a vehicle today or tomorrow or the next day

for $40,000 you will save $400, which is significant for someone buying a

vehicle.

People using the ferries of this Province are being benefitted - people in

tourism. Our farmers are getting benefits from this Budget. We also have people

in the arts society. Low-wage earners are getting benefits - skilled workers.

Skilled trades students are having benefits here. Parents and their school

children - school children, there are many benefits. Parents will not have to

worry about having to purchase school books. I spoke to a lady last week, Mr.

Speaker, who has three children going to high school. A tremendous savings next

year for this woman, just on school books alone.

People who need drug treatment, they are being helped. The drug program that

was announced a week or so ago - I think it was last week or probably the week

before - by our Minister of Health, did not specify that it was for one group in

our society. Again, across the board, which is very important, I think, to the

people of Newfoundland. People who need medical help, it is going to be easier

because of the initiative that this government is taking to buy new equipment

and everything else and upgrade our hospitals. All of that is going to help a

lot of people.

Teachers; contrary to what some people think, teachers are going to be better

off. Nurses, social workers, people addicted to gambling, our schools, our

hospitals, our towns and cities, our roads. There are benefits in this Budget

for all sectors. This Budget I said is good for a lot.

I have heard criticism in the last two days that this does nothing to create

work. I beg to differ. Only yesterday we had a news release from the Minister of

Health and the Minister of Justice with 100 new jobs included. The RNC are going

to get twenty-two new positions. Social workers, another fifty-one of them.

In the education field, our minister announced a few weeks ago that 131

positions would be retained. Now, if they had not been retained that would mean

that these jobs are gone. So you can add them to the net job gain in this

Budget. We also had thirteen new teaching positions added to help us look at

overcrowding in classrooms in our urban centres. There are twenty-five new

teaching positions in math; thirty-nine nurses have been added to the list; five

new speech pathologists; ten career information officers. To me, that adds up to

over 300 new jobs just on these initiatives that I mentioned here alone. Now I

do not know all of the details, the fine print in all the different departments,

but I am sure that the number of jobs created are much more than 300.

There are many, many other seasonal jobs, and not even seasonal. I guess

these could be ongoing for a number of years, depending on how long the

construction takes. There are many jobs in this Budget related to the amounts of

money that this government has offered in infrastructure. There is 5,700 person

years of employment in this Province because of our infrastructure investment of

$2 billion over three years. We are into the second year of this now. There are

two vessels being built at a cost of $15 million; $13.3 million is going to go

to refit government vessels that already exist. There is $5 million for

maintenance and construction of terminals and wharfs - and porta-potties, I

guess.

There is $16 million going into agriculture. There would be $9 million for

agriculture. I have talked to farmers, if farmers get extra money, farmers will

hire more people. I talked already to some farmers, they are waiting now to go

in when the snow goes to clear some land. When they clear land, they do not go

in with a pick and shovel. They will hire men in their communities with heavy

equipment. They will go in and clear the land and do whatever has to be done.

Also, $10.1 million is earmarked for Baie Verte and Rambler Mine's

environmental cleanups. This money will provide work. It is not going to be

taken and a consulting firm spend it all. There are going to be a lot of people

out in that area working when this cleanup takes place.

There is $4 million over four years for provincial park enhancements. People

have to be hired to do that work. It is not going to be done just with the money

alone. There is $1 million for five new career information centres; $14.8

million for new school construction, maintenance, repair and renovations to

schools. There is $15.3 million for a new academic building at Sir Wilfred

Grenfell College; two new student residence will be built, one in Corner Brook

and one in St. John's; $1.3 million will be used to build a regional office

for central housing mortgage corporation in Corner Brook; $67 million for health

care facilities; $11.3 million for the construction of a courthouse in Corner

Brook. Mr. Speaker, all of this construction money, all this money that is going

to be used for infrastructure, will provide jobs for people. These projects will

be tendered out and when they are called, people will go to work and they will

be working until those projects are finished.

That is direct jobs. When you build on or your renovate or you build a new

building, the people in the area who have businesses also benefit. There are

materials, supplies and furniture. All of this stuff will be bought and very

often it is bought from local dealers, and all of these people will benefit. The

whole economy of Newfoundland and of the whole area where these projects take

place will benefit when these projects do take place. It is a matter of many

millions of dollars being spent to the benefit of everybody in Newfoundland. You

will find people who are working on these projects will have more money to

spend. They will be buying cars, buying new furniture, and technically spending

their money. It is all good.

I didn't mention Labrador at all.

AN HON. MEMBER: You better.

MR. DINN: I was just going to get to that. Labrador is probably getting

more attention now than it ever got in its history, with the present minister

that we have.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. DINN: I will use one of his statements: What a minister!

There is a lot of attention being given to Labrador, because I, myself, think

that Labrador has great potential. With the investments that are being made in

Labrador, Mr. Speaker, I think you are going to find out that the returns are

going to be beneficial to the whole Province as time goes on.

I find it very difficult to criticize this Budget. Granted we couldn't do

everything that we wanted to do. If we could do everything we wanted to do, we

would probably end up giving $1 million to everybody in Newfoundland. That would

be the best thing you could do. This Budget does an awful lot for the people of

Newfoundland. It is hard to criticize this Budget seriously. I would say anybody

who heard that Budget - and I saw some people on the other side the other day

when it was being presented by our minister, I thought they were ready to clap.

I wouldn't blame you if you did, because it is time for us in Newfoundland to

clap, because we are finally turning the corner.

Like many people in Newfoundland, I am thrilled with this Budget and I am

looking forward with anticipation to next year's Budget. I would say this:

Stand by. Do not adjust your sets.

AN HON. MEMBER: Stay tuned.

MR. DINN: Yes, stay tuned, because next year in 2008 it should be much

better.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Member for Fortune Bay-Cape la Hune.

MR. LANGDON: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. LANGDON: I have to tell it as it is.

Mr. Speaker, there is no doubt about it, there were a lot of good things in

the Budget that was presented. It would be foolish for me to say that there were

not many, many, good things. No matter who is in government, when good things

are done for people you applaud it. We are not here for ourselves; we are here

for the people we represent.

The thing that I feel good about, in a way of speaking, even though I had no

direct

part in that Budget, over the last six years when we were in government,

and being a part of Cabinet, some of the decisions that we made in bringing

projects to this Province are today reaping benefits for people in government -

yes, I sit across the floor - but for people who are in Newfoundland and

Labrador.

The Hibernia project, the Terra Nova project, the Husky or the White Rose,

the Voisey's Bay project, if I stand to remember correctly, there is more than

a billion dollars of revenue that comes to government because of these projects,

and the money that we spend in health, the money that we spend in education, the

money that we spend in community development, came from these projects of which

I had a part, and obviously people on the other side know that and recognize

that. Am I proud that came to fruition so that benefits could come to the people

of this Province? You bet I am, so that the people in the Province can benefit

from some of the things that we did.

There are some areas that were in the Budget that were disappointing, that

more money or some money was not done to address. First of all, coming from a

small rural community and representing a rural, rural part, a remote rural part

of the Province, one of the things that I was looking forward to and I thought

might be in the Budget was an increase in Municipal Operating Grants for small

towns. It was not there.

For the last four years these grants had been frozen, and what we find in

many of the municipalities, in the small municipalities that we represent -

there was an

article in The Telegram only a few days ago about half of

the people who make up the councillors in the rural parts of the Province are

fifty years of age and over. Only 3 per cent of the people who represent

councils, or are on councils, community or town councils in the rural parts of

the Province, less than 3 per cent are under thirty. These are not good figures.

In many of the smaller communities they cannot find people to fill up the

slates, and they are operating at less than capacity. In some cases five in some

of the smaller towns and the local service districts, and seven in many of the

other towns. They cannot find these many people to operate. People are gone, and

there are no two ways about it.

Any of the people who sit in this House recognize the difficulty that these

small communities have in being able to balance their budgets. In fact, it is

practically impossible to do so. Those small councils that are in the rural

parts of the Province, the smaller communities, struggle. Do you know what? They

are volunteers.

I was at a volunteer dinner in Milltown, Head of Bay, not too long ago, Mr.

Speaker, and one of the last things that was done at that particular gathering

was that one of the volunteers got up and thanked the council for sponsoring

that dinner and recognizing that they were volunteers as well.

In many of our smaller communities there are volunteer fire brigades, and all

of these people are volunteers. They get no money. They volunteer in the best of

times and in the difficult times, and whenever there is an emergency called, or

it is required for them to go, they go and do yeoman service and a professional

job at the same time, but there was nothing there for them. There was nothing

there in the Budget for the volunteer fire brigades, and I thought they would

get something there.

The other thing, too, Mr. Speaker, not too long ago the minister did a

Ministerial Statement in the House and I had the opportunity to respond to it at

the time and point out to the minister that this year, in 2007-2008, the amount

for infrastructure in Newfoundland and Labrador this year is $70 million. Last

year it was $100 million. That is $30 million less for this year's budget than

last; $30 million less to be spent in many of the communities in the rural parts

of the Province that we represent.

The other thing, too, is the 30 per cent threshold. I have explained that

here, and many of the people on both sides of the House understand that. In many

instances, when I had an opportunity to be minister for a few years in the

Department of Municipal Affairs, we paid for many of the smaller communities, up

to 90 per cent of their share of the 30 per cent of the one-third that they had.

Now, with 30 per cent, many of them are not even filling out applications to

apply for these particular infrastructure upgrades and extensions because they

know that they cannot afford it, and that is sad. That is very, very, sad to see

that happen.

The whole idea here is that what we see in this Budget that was not there was

disappointing. I think there could have been something there. The Member for

Kilbride just spoke and talked about a $229 million projected Budget, and that

is a fair chunk of money, and I know that members opposite want to spend it

wisely, but I am sure that if it were several million for many of these smaller

rural communities it would have been a really good gesture on government's

part for them to have done that, but it did not happen.

That is one of the things that I see that was neglected in the Budget, and

The Federation of Municipalities, I have to say to you, were very disappointed

that it did not happen. They had lobbied government very hard, to think that it

was going to happen, but it did not. It did not materialize, and they were very

disappointed that it did not happen in this Budget.

Another area, too, Mr. Speaker, when we talk about money for roads, the

minister talked about it is probably more money than we have ever spent on roads

in the Province. I have a copy here from the Auditor General's report, January

2007, and it talks about the amount of money that has been spent on roads since

2001 up to 2006. They are very interesting figures, Mr. Speaker, if you would

look at them. What the Auditor General did say here, he says that it shows that

road construction activities decreased significantly from 2001 to 2005. In 2005

there was only $36 million of road construction, actually constructed.

I can see why that would happen; because, I tell you, that year, in 2005, I

was given, I think it was $500,000 for my district for roads. When the tender

was called, it came in way over the $500,000. What had happened, of course, the

cost of asphalt had gone right through the roof and one kilometre of road is

nearing, today, to repave it and to redo it, close to $200,000 a kilometre. That

is a lot of money, and it will not go very far. So, in 2006 there was only $58

million of road construction. I am telling you, even though this year, as the

minister said, there is $60 million, it is not going to go very far.

I think of the Bay d'Espoir highway which I had almost every year some

money put into - not a lot because there wasn't a lot of money that we could

have, but it is on par from 2001 to 2006. We did recap a lot of it. In that area

right now, on the Bay d'Espoir highway going into St. Alban's, we need about

120 to 150 kilometers of road to be recapped. The road is in a deteriorating

situation and getting worse because of the economic activity with all the

tractor trailers going down with feed for aquaculture. The road is really

deplorable. Going into Harbour Breton and causeway hill, I am telling you if

something is not done with that in a very short time, the pavement will have to

be taken up, it will become just gravel.

If we were to look at the cost of road construction today, about $200,000 per

kilometre, and we need about 120 to 150 kilometres of road to be done, that is

$24 to $30 million needed just to do that road. That is a lot of money.

Obviously, getting $1 million a year to do it, it is going to take a long, long

time for that to happen. I think there could have been more done to address

that.

One of the other things in the Budget that I don't think went far enough -

and obviously, when you put money into schools that is good; bricks and mortar

and you pay for school books for families. That is good. There is nobody who can

say anything negative about that. One of the things, when I heard it, I had to

ask myself was I hearing right. When you talk about how there were 7,900

students who were eligible for the first time to get grants and student loans

when you go to a post-secondary school like Memorial University, the Marine

Institute or to the College of the North Atlantic, I said: 7,900? What happens

to the other 13,000 then, students who attend those particular institutions,

those that don't qualify for loans? They are not eligible for any grants

either. So we are not taking care of half of the students in post-secondary. I

don't think that is right. I do not think that a student who attends Memorial

University or the Marine Institute or the College of the North Atlantic should

be refused a grant because his mom or his dad and their income combined should

be $50,000 or $60,000 or even $70,000. That is not right. You are discriminating

against those students and families.

We all know, for example, if you live in the City of St. John's and your

family is making $75,000 or $80,000 salary a year, it sounds like a lot f money.

Fifty per cent of it goes into income tax. Then you have to pay your mortgage,

then you have to pay all the other things besides. There is no way that family

can afford to pay for the education for their student without going getting

loans. What did the government do for those students? They said: Well, okay, you

can get loans but it is prime plus 2 per cent, I think is what it was. I do not

think that is right. I really do not, as one member here. I think government

should have gone further than that and allowed any student attending Memorial

University - they should have gotten a grant.

I remember when I attended university, way back in the 1960s, when Joey was

Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador at the time. Many things he did wrong and

lots of things he did right. Hindsight is always 20/20. Do you know one of the

things that I did get benefit from? I got free tuition, and a lot of people my

age got free tuition at the time. In addition to that, we got $100 a month

living allowance. As a result of that, we had to go back into the rural parts of

the Province and teach for two years if we were to get the $100 a month. There

is no incentive here, and I do not think all the moms and dads and the fathers

and moms, as I said, and guardians who are looking after those children - our

young people who go to university, they should not be deprived. Something should

have been done for them, but it was not. Less than half of the student

population is taken care of in that situation. There is something wrong with

that. I think that it is being very selective and these people should not have

been left out. They should have been able to qualify for a grant as well.

One of the other things, as we are talking about education and teachers and

so on. It is great that the government kept in 137 teachers, they did not take

them out. They are in the schools and everybody will benefit from that. There

were twenty-five extra math teachers who were hired to go into district school

offices. I am not sure how much that would help, after being a teacher in a

school. All of us realize that a lot of times we do not get the help that we

need from the school board offices, not down into the classrooms. So I am not

sure about that.

The thing is that there are situations in many rural parts of the Province

when we talk about selection of courses. The