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March 13, 2019

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS

Vol. XLVIII No. 56

The

House met at 10 a.m.

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

Before

we admit strangers, just to advise my colleagues, I wasn't in the room yesterday

but we had a burning sensation, smell. I'm told that the Minister of

Transportation and Works and his team are on it; there's a belt that's

malfunctioning somewhere in the building. I don't know what the belt does

(inaudible).

Admit

strangers, please.

Orders of the Day

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government

House Leader.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Mr. Speaker, I move,

seconded by the Minister of Natural Resources, that the House resolve itself

into a Committee of Whole on Ways and Means to consider a resolution and bill

respecting the granting of Interim Supply to Her Majesty, Bill 55.

MR. SPEAKER:

It is moved and seconded

that I do now leave the Chair for the House to resolve itself into a Committee

on Way and Means to examine the Interim Supply Bill.

Is it

the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

All

those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

All those against, 'nay.'

The

motion is carried.

motion, that the House resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole, the Speaker

left the Chair.

Committee of the Whole

CHAIR (Warr):

Order, please!

We are

now considering the related resolution and Bill 55,

An Act Granting To Her

Majesty Certain Sums Of Money For Defraying Certain Expenses Of The Public

Service For The Financial Year Ending March 31, 2020 And For Other Purposes

Relating To The Public Service.

Resolution

“That

it is expedient to introduce a measure to provide for the granting to Her

Majesty for defraying certain expenses of the public service for the financial

year ending March 31, 2020 the sum of $2,864,878,600.”

CHAIR:

Shall the resolution carry?

The

Chair recognizes the hon. the Member for St. John's East - Quidi Vidi.

MS. MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Chair.

I'm

glad to have an opportunity to speak on some broader issues here in the House.

Since we are doing what we familiarly call the Interim Supply bill, it allows us

to look at how our money is spent. We know we need Interim Supply at this time

of the fiscal year because with a budget not in place – and we've been told by

the Minister of Finance that he intends to bring the budget in in April

sometime. With the fiscal year coming to an end, we have to make sure that we

approve the expenditure of money on April 1 in order to keep government running.

The

responsibilities of government is to take care of the people of the province and

to make sure the province works for the good of the people, and government has

programs and services to work for the good of the people.

One of

the things I want to talk about actually relates to that, because one of the

biggest expenditures that we have in our budget is education. That, along with

health, are probably the two biggest needs that people have and are the two

biggest expenditures that government has. Both of them are extremely important.

That's

why I think it's so important when it comes to education that we take seriously

the impact on families and on children of decisions that we make of how they're

treated, et cetera. I'm particularly going to speak to the issue of Bishop Feild

Elementary school. In the fall of 2017, Bishop Feild Elementary, as some of you

may remember, the building had –

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

CHAIR:

Order, please!

Thank

you.

MS. MICHAEL:

Thank you, Mr. Chair; I

appreciate that.

The

building had an accident, I guess, is the word to use, but part of the ceiling

in the gym fell down. And with any old building, obviously, investigation into

that fall of the ceiling led to looking at other issues in the building, and I

understand that and I think the parents understand it, too.

Since,

I would say, January of 2018, you had the whole fall with this being dealt with,

partial information being given to parents, not very much, very partial

information being given to parents, the children having to go from the east end

of St. John's to the west end of the city, to the former School for the Deaf –

of course, you know buses are in play, et cetera – but this was a tremendous

impact on the families and on the staff of the school.

Beginning with January of 2018, I was looking back over my records, I think it

was around January I really started getting letters from the parents who were

really stressed out, and stressed out because they didn't have information,

stressed out because anything they knew they were trying to get from what was in

the media, and there was very little in the media. They were writing ministers,

they were writing the school board, they were trying to get information about

how the school was going to be repaired, was the damage going to be repaired,

when were their children going to be able to get back to the school that many of

them walk to on a daily basis – what was going to happen?

The

utter frustration that came out in many of the letters, and the stress that came

out in the letters, it really upset me. And even now, when I go back and read

some of them, it really disturbs me; parents who sat down and took the time to

carefully write their own letters.

We have

a real complication when it comes to how we run in government, how we run silos.

We have the Department of Education, we have the Department of Transportation

and Works, and these became the two departments, and then, of course, you had

the school board. But in terms of government itself, these became the two bodies

that parents had to work with.

So,

once a decision was made, the educational side of it, those decisions were made,

the children were now going to school in the west end until everything was taken

care of, and the actual investigation into why the roof fell, the investigation

into the damage, the investigation into what happened, of course, was passed

over to Transportation and Works. You had two different departments responsible

for two different things, but it seemed like nobody talking to the other, and

nobody talking to the parents.

It was

only recently, about six weeks ago, that you actually had a full meeting where

information was put out, you had representatives from the school council, you

had the school board, you had representatives from Transportation and Works. But

this is 2019, so a year and a half later before there was really a meeting where

full information was given.

The

information now is that the date that parents thought the kids were going to get

back in the school, which was September 2019, is now changed to 2020. And we do

now have stuff in writing, on paper, from the minister. We do have commitments;

we do have signs that this is when it's really going to happen. But the process

has been horrible. We've got to learn how to deal better with our parents.

As an

individual MHA, I can do the job that I do. I go to the ministers, I try to get

the information and I try to get them to communicate but we have got to deal

with people better. We have got to let them know – what's wrong with letting

them know what the report is, seeing it, not having to ATIPP it? The first

report that was done – what's wrong?

I've

had to ATIPP a report right now that I still haven't received. We ATIPPed it

from one department and it's really the other department, now we're waiting for

it from the other department to really see what was found so that parents could

fully understand why things have taken so long. By the time the children get

back into their school, it will be two years and four months since the ceiling

fell. They could have been told every step of the way what was found, why it was

taking so long for tenders.

understand that sometimes there's a reason why it takes so long for tenders, but

these parents – they were, up to a few weeks ago, were regularly going online

trying to see were the tenders being called at the time they were told they were

going to be called, finding nothing; once again, contacting the minister;

copying me on it, my contacting the minister. I understand why delays can

happen. And I bet the parents of the children in Bishop Feild and other schools

where things like this have happened, they'd understand too if they were given

the information and not waiting for two years before there finally is a real

meeting that fully informs.

We have

got to learn how to deal better, and we've got to learn too how not to work in

silos in government. It's not enough for the Department of Education to say this

is not our responsibility now; this is the responsibility of Transportation and

Works. No, children not being in the school that they're supposed to be in are

the Department of Education's responsibility. So what goes on between the two

departments, in one department urging the other one to give the information

that's needed so parents understand, because I'm telling you the stress has been

terrible.

What

happens is you get all kinds of speculation going on publicly. Early on, people

were saying that's it; that's the end of Bishop Feild. We've heard they're going

to be getting rid of Bishop Field; they're going to be shutting it down. Then,

the parents get blamed because that kind of talk was happening, but that kind of

talk is going to happen if people aren't informed.

people aren't given the information then they're going to speculate. And, what

can I do as an MHA? Can I say, no, that's not the intent of government to close

Bishop Feild Elementary? Well, I didn't know that. I don't know that. We're

assured now that's not happening. We're assured it's opening in January 2020.

There seems like that definitely will be the case, but I'm urging this

government – we spend so much money on education. It's really important – let's

spend a little bit more money on making sure that communication takes place,

just a little bit more money even if it does mean sending out something through

Canada Post that may cost a bit of money, but give people full reports, give

people information. Don't hold people in the dark because they will speculate,

because they fear and fear brings out speculation. And then, children are

affected. Their education is affected because their parents are concerned.

So, I

really beg this government to think clearly about how they work with the people

in this province.

CHAIR:

Order, please!

remind the hon. Member her speaking time has expired.

MS. MICHAEL:

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

CHAIR:

The Chair recognizes the

hon. the Member for Bonavista.

MR. KING:

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

It's an

honour to rise in this House to talk about Interim Supply and what it means for

this province to get us through a hump between the end of the fiscal year until

the budget comes out. I certainly appreciate the work that the Finance Minister

has done on that. He and his staff have done an amazing job and I'm sure it'll

be another good-news budget come down this year.

I'm

rising today, Mr. Chair, to continue to talk about the good things that are

happening in the District of Bonavista. However, I'd be remiss if I didn't

address some unfounded accusations made about me by the Member for St. John's

The

Member accuses me of not caring about seniors, not caring about those living in

long-term care, or even caring about my constituents. That is on a Facebook post

she waited a week to put up, discussing a speech I gave in the House last week.

That's her words, not mine.

Mr.

Chair, our Government House Leader stated last Thursday in the House that facts

matter. Well, Mr. Chair, the fact of the matter is that the NDP or the former

leader from St. John's Centre does not hold a monopoly on caring about their

constituents or even social issues.

I can

stand here today, Mr. Chair, and say that it is very disingenuous and a low blow

to be such a part of petty politics just to score political points. I can stand

here, Mr. Chair, and be proud of the work that I've done over the past four

years.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KING:

I'm not going to go down the

same road as the Member for St. John's Centre because I actually believe that

she is doing a good job for the people in her district, for her constituents,

Mr. Chair. Much like all 40 of us in this House of Assembly care about the

seniors in our district, care about those in long-term care, care about our

constituents.

I can

stand here proud to say that I care very much for the people in the District of

Bonavista. I can proudly say that my constituency assistant and I have helped

hundreds, if not thousands of people, throughout my district. This includes

seniors, those who live in long-term care and their families. Those who require

travel assistance. Those who need help through Income Support or other social

programs. Those who need new dentures is often brought up. Those who need

housing. Those who are subject to domestic violence who need help immediately,

and I can go on, Mr. Chair.

It is a

fallacy for the Member for St. John's Centre to think that government Members do

not care about our constituents or the people of our province. It is a fallacy

for the same Member to think that the NDP has a monopoly on social issues. That

couldn't be further from the truth. Mr. Chair, facts matter.

provide social programs that we can afford, we need to have money to fund them,

an economy which provides revenue from government to fund them, that is why I am

going to take the rest of my time here today to talk about the new businesses

which have started in the District of Bonavista over the past number of years.

So I'd say to my friend from CBS, listen very intently.

Mr.

Chair, the Bonavista-Trinity Regional Chamber of Commerce grew from 80 members

in 2016 to 158 in 2018. I'm going to repeat that again because the Member for

Mount Pearl - Southlands –

MR. LANE:

(Inaudible.)

CHAIR:

Order, please!

MR. KING:

– is heckling me right now.

MR. LANE:

(Inaudible.)

CHAIR:

Order, please!

MR. KING:

Mr. Chair, the local chamber

of commerce grew from 80 members in 2016 to 158 this past year, which it

currently has. That is a significant growth; almost 100 per cent.

Some of

the new businesses that we have, and bear with me because there are quite a few:

Art Bonavista Productions Inc.; Bonabooch Kombucha Co. Imagine, kombucha being

made in Bonavista, it's amazing; Bonavista Adventure Tours, and both Jordan and

Bonnie were featured on Eastlink TV's Discover NL, and it was a great segment on

what they do. CareGivers, for those working in the home care industry; Discovery

Sea Adventure Tours in Dunfield; East Coast Glow. Mr. Chair, they're featured in

Vogue in the United States. They ship all over the world, so they're not just

pigeonholed in a small market. They ship all over the world and have a wide

following.

Maudie's Tea Room in Keels, another success story. The Mesh's store was featured

in Maudie , they kept the old style

and now they've developed that into a tea room to grow the tourism industry on

the Bonavista Bay side of the District of Bonavista; Round Da Bay Inn in Plate

Cove West; Fishing Stage takeout in Champney's Arm; PJ's Take-Out in Port Union;

Bon Appetit takeout; Saucy Mouth food truck. Saucy Mouth, actually, is a

business located here in St. John's and they pop up at a number of different

events, but they're set up in Bonavista in the summertime.

Moreish

Cupcakes and Treats, a cupcake and cake shop, and they're open through the year.

Masters Taxi in Bloomfield; Dunrovin gas bar and trailer park, and we actually

helped them get going through a traffic study paid for by the Department of

Transportation and Works due to a regulation where it said you had to put in a

left-hand turning lane. We worked with them to help them establish their

business and get all their Service NL permits.

Robin's

Donuts in Lethbridge, and I can tell you I stop in there every time I go

through. It opened in, I think, November or December.

AN HON. MEMBER:

Good food, good food.

MR. KING:

It is good food and good

coffee, but they're busy all the time. It's remarkable.

Beth's

Variety in Princeton. This couple moved to Princeton from Ontario, they have

family in that area, and they took over an old convenience store that was

already there, but they've set a community tone for that town, and they're being

successful right now.

Vera's

Villa in Musgravetown, a number of seniors' apartments; low-cost affordable

housing units in Musgravetown. Nish Body Products in Trinity; Newfoundland Salt

Company. Newfoundland Salt Company started here in St. John's but they decided

to move to Bonavista because the economic conditions made it very lucrative for

them to come there. Now they're successful; they ship around the world. You'll

see them at any event going on, craft fair, whatnot, here in the province and

around the country; another success. They started off with just salt and they

get into other salt products as well.

What's

left to be said about Port Rexton Brewing Co.? We're helping them right now with

a repayable loan to expand. Currently, the TCII minister – they have 16

employees and with the new expansion they're going to be able to hire three more

people. Nineteen people working in a craft brewing industry in a small village

in outport Newfoundland, it's remarkable. And then independent from Port Rexton

Brewing Co. but associated with them is Oh My Cheeses, a grilled cheese and

french fries stand who provide a great meal with the product at Port Rexton

Brewing Co. As well, I should mention that Port Rexton Brewing has a pop-up

store here on Torbay Road.

Bonavista we have, in the Raymond Guy building, Pretty Pink Boutique, and I've

bought some stuff there for my cats. We also have Simply Chic Consignment

Boutique, which I have some clothing that I have up for consignment. Rosewood

Suites at Trinity, an old tavern dating back to the early 1900's that's been

redeveloped into a number of suites, which we've supported by a repayable loan,

adding to the accommodations on the Bonavista Peninsula, which you can't get,

it's hard to book in the summertime. You can't go up the peninsula now and get a

room on the spur of the moment. You have to book well ahead.

Shannon's Pub & Grill; Sweet Rock Ice Cream, two locations, one in Bonavista,

one in Trinity, and this goes from Aunt Sarah's Chocolate.

Now,

Mr. Chair, I'm not even near finished of all the businesses that have started up

over the last couple of years, so I'm going to take a few more minutes when I

get a chance to finish this list off and continue talking about the good news in

the Bonavista District.

CHAIR:

Order, please!

The

Chair recognizes the hon. the Member for Mount Pearl North.

MR. LESTER:

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

gives me pleasure to rise to speak to Interim Supply, fully understanding the

concept of this is a bridging facility between fiscal year-end and the new

budget approval. I'd like to, first of all, comment on the speech just given by

the Member opposite there. It was very eloquent and well designed. I'd like to

congratulate his speech writer.

Let's

talk about deferred revenue. I know the Minister of Finance has often referred

to the oil that's being left in the ground on account of the shutdown at one of

our production facilities as deferred revenue. Deferred revenue is a great thing

because it's revenue we can draw on in the future. But it's only a great thing

if we, as a province or as a business, which our province is, are operating in a

surplus.

Right

now, because we're not pulling that money out of the ground, capitalizing on the

sale of that product, we are looking at a larger deficit than we had forecasted.

We are looking at having to borrow extra money. So, in the future, we have to

look at that oil in the ground, that not only does that oil have to get the

market value of the oil as it comes out, but it also has to pay for the interest

that's it's going to bear now because it's still left in the ground.

Everybody often hears of the phase: Oh well, it's water under the bridge. And my

understanding of water under the bridge is, okay, water goes under the bridge,

you can't really stop it, but it gone down the river and that's all you got to

think about it.

So,

let's talk about water over the dam. As recent, in the past couple of days, it's

been brought to this House that since August of 2016 we've been letting water

flow over the dam, power go in the lines, Quebec used our natural resource to

fatten their coffers when we really should be looking at how much can we tax

them for that. That should be more of a revenue for us.

And

this water over the dam, we can't stop that. That's going to run through every

day. So, that is lost revenue. That's the kind of revenue we really have to

focus on, and it's tragic that the people of this province have had to bear the

cost of government's expenditures through increased taxation.

Yes, we

brought the deficit down, but the only reason why the deficit has gone down is

because world commodity prices on our exports such as oil and minerals has gone

up, and, of course, the tax burden on the people of this province has also

increased. That's something that we have to change because every regime in

history that has relied on fixing their deficit or fixing a spending problem

with taxation has fallen.

I think

that we quote one of the more famous situations in which the Queen said: “Let

them eat cake.” Basically, that's what's happening. We're taxing our people to

fix our problems, but taxation does not fix problems, it only magnifies

problems. It delays a problem, but it does not fix it.

What

we've seen, and I've said it many times in the past week, is people do not have

the extra money to take out of their pockets to put into staying here in

Newfoundland and Labrador. We've become one of the more expensive places – well,

probably the most expensive place, taxation-wise, to live in in Canada. And that

is not going to encourage our young people to stay here. That's not going to

encourage our well-pensioned pensioners and seniors to stay here. They are going

to move. Those who have the opportunity to move have been leaving, be they the

young and well educated, the well established and well reputed or the well

pensioned. Those people are the ones that are leaving and those people are ones

that are taking the investments of our province out and contributing elsewhere.

In the

consideration of Interim Supply, as I said, I completely understand the process,

but it does give us the opportunity to speak to other larger issues that are

occurring throughout our province. I've heard Members from the Third Party, the

independents, our Opposition and, just most recently, the governing party speak

to the plight of our seniors. Those and others who are on fixed incomes and

lower end of the scale, they are the ones who have been most affected by the

increase of the cost of living.

It's

not that we're getting more bang for our buck. Our insurance is not giving us

extra coverage. We're paying 15 per cent extra. That 15 per cent extra is

necessary to carry on the duties of our lives. It's necessary to get back and

forth to work, necessary to get to our doctors' appointments, necessary to go

out and visit local businesses, take a trip down to Bonavista to see if what the

Member is saying is actually true. We need to be able to traverse around our

province and spread our money around. We need to open up our pockets and take

the money out, but what I found is even people who do have money in their

pockets are not spending it. They're worried about what's coming next.

I would

love to hear a good-news budget, because last year's budget was a regurgitation

of the year before. I do understand that the government has a responsibility to

generate revenue. Again, as I said, they can do it in two ways; They can do it

through taxation or they can do it through economic stimulus. And the bit of

economic stimulus that we have been seeing, being the exportation of our

minerals, opening up of new mines, that's all driven by world commodity prices

and government has little or no control over that.

Another

issue I'd like to speak to is, yesterday, the Member for Placentia West -

Bellevue stood up and spoke regarding the closures of several fish plants, and

he referred to the previous administration as being responsible. A fish plant

closes for one reason usually. Do you know what that reason is? It's the lack of

fish. It's the lack of raw product to put through that processing plant to make

it feasible.

As I've

said before, in the terms of Confederation, those sitting around the table

thought it was more important to maintain the control of the colour of our

margarine than the colour of our fishery – the colour of our fishery, than

control of our fishery. Right now, and in the past, federal governments of

different stripes be they red or blue, they have ultimate control of our

fishery. They have ultimate control of the supply.

Supply

is necessary to keep our plants moving. Supply is necessary to keep our workers

working, our harvesters moving and the rural economies moving along as well and

sustainable. We can't blame provincial governments for making the decisions, but

what we can blame provincial governments for is not lobbying hard enough against

Ottawa, against decisions that will affect our fishery.

We need

to lobby harder with Ottawa to have at least, at the very minimal, joint

management between provincial and federal jurisdiction over our waters that

surround our province. It's time that we even look, okay, we are an Island

economy, as much as we like to say we operate on a global scale, but basically

things that happen around our Island, being in our waters or under our waters,

are what's driving our economy. Everything else is very important – different

industries, it is always important to diversify of course. With the oil industry

and the subsequent supply chain that surrounds it, I mean that generates a lot

of activity.

So now

in times of us renegotiating the Atlantic Accord, we have to make darn well sure

that we're looking at further down the road, not just for an immediate cash

grab, we need to look at what's going to happen as our province and population

move along long after we're just nothing more than a memory. Things that we

decide today are most important for those of the future.

We have

to look past what we're going to do right now. We have to look into what we're

going to do right now is going to affect our future. At the same time we can't

ignore those, such as our seniors, who have contributed so much to our

population and to our province as where we stand today.

It's a

delicate balance, but we have to look at the positive aspects of our province

and we have to make our province a more affordable place to live, and the first

part of that is to reduce the tax burden on the people of the province.

We also

have to look at reducing the tax burden and the administration costs of business

because business is what's going to fix our economic woes. It's not going to be

government, but in order for business to fix that, government has to make

necessary changes and one is take the – I'm sure other governments have been

just as guilty, but the nepotism and partisan actions or appearances of certain

economic decisions are discouraging legitimate business from coming to

Newfoundland and setting up here in the province.

The

resources that we all occupy are not ours, they are only on borrow from future

generations.

CHAIR:

Thank you.

The

Chair recognizes the hon. the Member for Exploits.

MR. DEAN:

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

It's

indeed a pleasure to speak to Bill 55, Interim Supply. As well, it's indeed an

honour and a privilege to rise today representing the good people of the

District of Exploits.

In an

imperfect world, there's still some good news and that applies to districts,

provinces and countries, so I would like to speak, even with all of our

imperfections, on some of the positive things that are happening in my district.

I'll

list just a few but they're certainly not all of the great positive news that

this government has brought forward to the District of Exploits during our

tenure.

Capital

Works projects Grand Falls-Windsor: upgrades to road infrastructure. Grenfell

Heights: road widening, new water storm Phase 1. Bishop's Falls: Hamptons Hill

water tower replacement, lift station upgrades and road upgrades. Botwood:

engineering design for town hall/fire hall. Outfall Phase 1, Circular Road.

Northern Arm: extension to the water main. Point Leamington: new water tank and

pumping system. Phillips Head: water line repairs throughout the community.

Bishop's Falls: new town road booster pumps system upgrades; Riverside Drive

paving project. Botwood: Confederation Place water, sewer and road upgrades,

septic tank; Fernwood Drive sanitary sewer. Norris Arm: sewage lift station.

Pleasantview: water system upgrades.

Government has also provided $3.58 million to expand the waste water treatment

facility in Grand Falls-Windsor. This is in addition to federal and municipal

funding. This investment will allow for the addition of a secondary level of

waste water treatment at the facility. These improvements will ensure the

municipality can meet current federal waste water system effluent regulations,

and the upgrades will also provide the necessary capacity to provide residential

and commercial growth across the region.

Mr.

Chair, in the 2018 and 2019 year, our government funded $2.3 million to pave the

TCH from the Sir Robert Bond Bridge to Grand Falls-Windsor. In 2017-2018, they

provided $125,000 for a water main replacement in the Town of Point Leamington.

Under

the Small Communities Fund, we have provided $241,000 for a water main extension

in Northern Arm. Significant brush cutting has been realized in the district,

with more to come. Significant paving on the Botwood Highway has been realized,

as well as on Route 352 and in Northern Arm. We can look forward to more paving

on this route and others to be forthcoming under the recently announced Rural

and Northern Communities funding plan.

October 26, 2018, I was joined by the hon. Al Hawkins, Minister of Advanced

Education, Skills and Labour and MHA for Grand Falls-Windsor - Buchans, to

announce the official opening for the Sir Robert Bond Bridge replacement

project, and also included the reconfiguration of the Botwood interchange and

the east and west approaches to the bridge, as well as demolition and removal of

the former bridge and upgraded underpass for the nearby Newfoundland T'Railway

system. Motorists now encounter a more familiar and universal diamond

interchange and approach the bridge along a flatter, straightened portion of

road, which allows for increased visibility and safety, especially in inclement

weather. The project also has resulted in the relocation of Route 351

intersection with the Trans-Canada Highway for a safer location further from the

bridge.

The new

bridge first opened to traffic in October of 2017. The project was completed in

Infrastructure funding and represents a total shared investment of approximately

$22.5 million.

I wish

to express my pleasure upon the completion of the federally and provincially

funded replacement of the historic Sir Robert Bond Bridge. This occasion is

certainly significant to the District of Exploits, and provides an improved,

safer and more attractive and progressive thoroughfare in Central Newfoundland

to accommodate traffic from all regions of the province. It's a major element in

the province's plan for highway improvement.

well, the protective care unit at the Dr. Hugh Twomey Health Care Centre in

Botwood, a contract valued at approximately $600,000 to design a 20-bed

protective care unit extension which will bring the total numbers of beds in the

unit to 49. Residents throughout the district are proud of our Dr. Hugh Twomey

Health Care Centre and we are blessed to have a facility providing such

important health services in this area of the province.

diagnosis of Alzheimer's or dementia is life changing for an individual with

that disease, as I would well know, but also for the family and friends. As the

disease progresses so does the degree of care an individual requires. The

expansion of the special care unit at the Dr. Hugh Twomey Health Care Centre

will ensure that increasing numbers of individuals with Alzheimer's disease and

dementia in Central Newfoundland receive the care they deserve and provide great

comfort to families who can be assured that a high quality of life in a safe,

secure environment for their loved ones will be maintained.

addition to the extension of the protective care unit at the Dr. Hugh Twomey

centre, government has also announced a new long-term care facility, both to be

built in Gander and Grand Falls-Windsor as well. Government has also launched a

new primary health care reform initiative in Botwood. This involves working with

frontline providers at the Twomey centre to improve access to a variety of

primary health care services.

As part

of the services that will be provided Botwood will be the first community, and

is the first community to introduce remote mental health services using the

provincial Telehealth system. These remote mental health services will

supplement Doorways, the single session walk-in clinics which are now available

in Botwood and province-wide. I believe these initiatives are clearly

demonstrating our government's commitment to improving access to health care

services in the province and in the District of Exploits.

I'd

also like to acknowledge and mention the advancement and improvements made at

the Wooddale tree nursery, recently designated as a centre of excellence for

agriculture and forestry. I would also like to add that the agriculture and

farming industry throughout Central Newfoundland, and in particular in the

District of Exploits, takes a backseat to no one and the listing of assistance

provided by Minister Byrne's department towards those positive initiatives –

there's a litany of them, too many to name right now. For that, I know that the

operators are certainly thankful for the support of the government and the

department.

closing, Mr. Chair, I alluded to my connection with the Alzheimer's and dementia

health concerns. I got a mom and dad that are currently at the Hugh Twomey

Health Centre in Botwood, neither of whom are doing well. I guess it's only a

couple of days away, March 15 – the Ides of March is always what March 15 is

referenced as. Most people in this House and throughout the province would know

the background history of where that comes from. But it just so happens that my

dad's birthday falls on March 15 and, God-willing, in a couple of days, he will

reach his 81st birthday, and I'd like to wish my dad the happiest of birthdays,

even during these trying times.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. DEAN:

So with that, I've got some

more items that I hope I can bring forward and discuss at another time, but

thanks for your time and indulgence, Mr. Chair.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

CHAIR:

Thank you.

The

Chair recognizes the hon. the Member for Mount Pearl - Southlands.

MR. LANE:

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

It's

always a pleasure to be able to have the opportunity to stand and speak in this

hon. House. Of course, we're speaking to Interim Supply, so we have 10-minute

intervals. The good news is that unlike a bill, as long as there's an

intervening speaker, you can speak again. So I intend to speak again and again

and again on various topics and take every opportunity to do so.

I just

want to talk a little bit about tourism. This is something I've raised in the

past, maybe last year or year before, but I think it's always good to put these

things out there. The intent is not to be critical, just to point out some

observations. Before I do, I do want to say to the Member for Bonavista when he

spoke and he referenced the fact the Member for Mount Pearl - Southlands is

heckling me, what he didn't hear is that when he was talking about his district

and all the great things happening in Bonavista I said, you should call it

'Boom-avista,' because the place is booming, and I agree with him.

So I do

say, in all sincerity, I go to Bonavista at least once, twice a year. Myself and

my wife, we go there usually on a day trip. Sometimes we've stayed there, but a

lot of times it's on a day trip. It's a beautiful location. There's a lot of

history. There are tons of things to see and do, whether it be in Bonavista or

whether it be in Elliston. Of course, now we heard that there's going to be an

expansion in Port Rexton of the microbrewery. I haven't had the opportunity to

go there yet. I absolutely intend to go there this summer, though, and see what

they have to offer.

I say

to the Member that when we talk about tourism, the Bonavista Peninsula is an

absolute jewel, there's no doubt about it. From a tourist point of view, it is

an absolute jewel. We have many jewels throughout this province.

AN HON. MEMBER:

What about Twillingate?

MR. LANE:

The Member opposite said:

What about Twillingate? I say to the Member, I went to Twillingate – I can't

remember if it was this summer past or the one before, I think it might have

been the summer before, went through his area, went to Twillingate, went to the

Auk Island Winery, I think it's called. There were a number of attractions there

we went to see, and another absolutely spectacular part of our province. I

encourage anyone and everyone to certainly go out and explore Newfoundland and

Labrador. There's no doubt about it that we have so much to offer here to

tourists and we have so much to offer here to our own people, if they want to

take staycations and so on.

Anyone

that has this idea that there's nothing to do and see in Newfoundland and

Labrador, it really is a myth. There actually is a lot to see and a lot to see

outside of the St. John's metro area, an awful lot to see and I certainly

encourage people to do so.

We are

seeing increased rubber-tire traffic and so on here in the province. I think a

lot of it is due to the ads that have been done. Certainly, I believe it really

started with the former administration with some beautiful ads and then it's

been continued on by the current administration. I think it's really paid off

for sure in terms of getting people here.

I think

that Come From Away has absolutely

had a tremendous impact in driving people, driving traffic here to our province.

I believe that 9/11, which is what Come

From Away is all about, that really put us on the map. It was a sad time for

an awful lot of people, a lot of tragedy but it also opened up the world to

Newfoundland and Labrador and showed people what we're all about. I think that

has had an impact on bringing here to this province.

course, it's all about word of mouth. When somebody comes and they have a great

experience, they'll go back to wherever it was they're from and they tell their

family members, they tell their friends, their neighbours and more people come

to Newfoundland and Labrador.

I think

we've only starting to realize the opportunity we have with tourism here in

Newfoundland and Labrador. I think that there's still more that we can do. We

can still bring more people here, I think there's still more work we can do,

particularly on the shoulder seasons, I think they're called, in the tourism

industry, to stretch out our tourist season, and I encourage government to

continue down that road.

One of

the things, of course, we have to do; it's one thing to attract people here and

want them to come here and entice them to come here, but there are issues around

getting people here. When we look at the flight to Dublin, for example, that

WestJet flight that was cancelled and so on, that's not good for our province.

When we look at Marine Atlantic and ferry rates that continue to rise, that's

not good for our province.

actually have a Member here who kind of made a federal career out of bringing

that issue to the forefront, and so he's nodding his head in agreement with me

about that issue. But we have to ensure as best we can, particularly given the

relationship that the government continues to say you have with your friends in

Ottawa and so on, to try to ensure we have stability and keep rates as low as

possible on Marine Atlantic to bring people here, to make it more attractive for

people to come here to Newfoundland and Labrador.

We also

have to be working, obviously, with the airline industries and so on in the

development of packages, particularly when we talk about Dublin and that and to

continue to work to get that flight back and other flights here. Because we are

right on the edge, of course, of North America in terms of just across the pond

to Europe, to England, Ireland and so on, and it's really hard to take the

concept that you've actually got to fly – if you're going from London or Dublin

or wherever, you're going to fly over Newfoundland, land in Halifax, and then

fly back to Newfoundland. Or if you're in Newfoundland, you want to go there,

you got to fly to Halifax and then fly back over Newfoundland to go over across

the aisle. So, that is a problem. It's something that I believe we need to work

on.

Another

couple of observations, which I have raised in the past: signage. I say to the

minister, to the government, that I really believe that there are opportunities.

Again, I'm not being critical for the sake of being critical, but I do believe

there are opportunities when it comes to signage on our highways and on our

byroads and so on, to actually get people to those attractions; to get people to

where it is they want to go and the things they want to see. I have certainly

experienced, when going throughout the province, that there are times when there

may be a sign on the highway saying that there's a certain site or location or

whatever and you turn off the main highway, then you're driving and you're

looking for it and the signage to actually find what you're looking for,

particularly if it's a road off of a road, off of a road, the signage has not

necessarily been great all the time to locate what it is you're trying to find.

I live

here and I'm from here and I've been around, and I've even been to places and

went back a few years later and had trouble finding the place that I had already

been to because of some of the confusion with signs and so on. So, if I'm

someone from away and not used to the place, never been here, then I think that

sometimes it could be a challenge because of the signage.

When

you go to other places, most of us have travelled off the Island, if you go to

Florida, for argument sake – and I understand that we're not Florida, Orlando,

Disney and all that but still I think, just to make the point, you'll never get

lost there. The signage is perfect. Every road you turn on, there's a sign and

everything directing you exactly where you want to go.

I'm not

trying to compare us to that. I know we don't have the size, the scale and the

amount of people and all that, I get that, but the point I'm trying to make,

though, is that there's no doubt when you go to a lot of places, you can easily

locate where you're trying to find because the signs are so good, multiple

signs, directional signs and so on. I'm not being critical; I'm just saying it's

something that we can work on. It's room for improvement, that's all I say to

the minister, to the government.

The

other thing I think is important, I've noticed that there are places around the

Island, some beautiful places, but there are also sites or things listed in the

tourist maps or on a sign of a place and when you get down there, the place is

falling apart because perhaps it was put there a number of years ago, maybe it

done using JCP money and grants and whatever the case might be. It was built and

then there was never any plan or money to maintain it.

So, I

think it's important to do an inventory of that and we need to decide what are

the spots that we want to make available, to encourage people to go to, and what

ones do we do and which ones, perhaps, we're just not going to do; but you don't

want to have a situation where someone drives –

CHAIR:

Order, please!

MR. LANE:

– 30 kilometres down the

road, gets down the road and the place is falling apart either.

CHAIR:

Order, please!

remind the hon. Member that his speaking time has expired.

MR. LANE:

Thank you.

CHAIR:

The Chair recognizes the

hon. the Member for Lewisporte - Twillingate.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. BENNETT:

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

It's a

great honour to get up and speak today on Bill 55, Interim Supply. For the

general public listening and watching, being a money bill, it gives us the

opportunity to speak on some things happening within our district. In the

beautiful district and scenic District of Lewisporte - Twillingate there are lot

of great, positive things happening.

I'm

just going to start by talking about a couple of events I attended over the

weekend. This past Saturday night, the Lewisporte Regional Fire-Rescue held

their annual banquet and awards ceremony. The Lewisporte Regional Fire-Rescue

has been doing a fantastic job of protecting the community of Lewisporte and

surrounding communities. This is their 70th year in operation in the area.

This

past October, they expanded their operations to form a regional service, which

basically now they're taking in the community of Brown's Arm, joining in their

fire protection service area. So far, since October, that relationship they have

built and the fire protection that they are now providing to a much larger area

has proved to be very successful.

I just

want to say a bit hats off to the Lewisporte and Brown's Arm fire departments

for the relationship they have built and the work they're doing, and also to the

councils and the local service districts for their understanding and their

commitment to the communities to provide the best possible fire protection to

the area.

During

the ceremony, which MP Scott Simms also attended with me, there were a number of

recognitions given out for long-service awards and also firefighter of the year.

I'm just going to give a little shout-out to those members. Keith Budden and

Mark Woodford both received their long-term service awards for 15 years. Ken

Curtis and Brad Haggerty received a 20-year service. Todd Pelley also received a

15-year service pin. Also a good friend of mine that I've had the honour of

working with for 25 years when I was with the Town of Lewisporte, Darrin Ryan

received his service pin for 30 years. Darrin, two of his brothers and his

father have been in the fire department for many, many years now and they have

done a great service to our community. So, Darrin, if you're listening, which

you shouldn't be, you should be out working today but if you're listening, a

great congratulations there.

I would

be remiss if I didn't mention, Steve Cole, another good friend of mine that I

have had the honour of sitting with on several committees over the years. Steve

was given the prestigious award of the Firefighter of the Year, this year. It is

a great honour because Lewisporte Regional Fire-Rescue has approximately 35

members and they train every week; it doesn't matter what's happening. Probably,

with the exception of Christmas and stuff like that, they are training every

week and they are an exceptional fire department and I sing their praise every

chance I get.

Mr.

Chair, in addition to the Lewisporte Reginal Fire-Rescue, I have approximately

12 other firefighting stations in my district. The one in Twillingate, in

particular, services all of the Twillingate area, Twillingate Island. New World

Island, there are two fire departments. Summerford services, I think, 17

communities, so they are a true regional service. In addition, like I say, there

are a number of other fire departments doing great work to protect our

properties, our homes and also responding to motor vehicle accidents and other

things.

To all

firefighters, first responders, a big thank you for your dedication and the work

that you do, and also to their families. So often that these firefighters go

out, either on an accident call or a fire, and their spouses and families are

left home not knowing what they had to face and that. So, their work and

commitment is to be commended, Mr. Chair.

I'd

also like to speak a little bit on Education Week. Last week, we celebrated

Education Week throughout Newfoundland and Labrador. Friday, when I got back

into my district, I took the opportunity to go out and visit the seven schools

in my district. I had the opportunity to speak to a few teachers and the

administration. I just want to also commend them on the fantastic work they are

doing each and every day to help to build our future leaders within our

communities. So, Mr. Chair, a big hats off to all teachers and support staff

within our education system.

Mr.

Chair, on March 3, I had the opportunity to visit Pleasantview Manor, a seniors'

home in our community, where a gentleman from my district celebrated his 102nd

birthday, Mr. Victor Baker. Victor has been residing at Pleasantview Manor for a

number of years and, I have to say, is in good health for a gentleman 102 years

old.

During

my time to spend with him and have a chat with him, he was excited that spring

was soon coming. Victor, for the last number of years, has been planting all the

flowers and maintaining the flower gardens in the home, and he's looking forward

to doing that again this year at the youthful age of 102. So happy belated

birthday there, Victor.

Mr.

Chair, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that we do have some challenges in

our area too. Back in 2015, the Cottlesville fish plant burned down and shortly,

two years after, the shrimp plant in Twillingate also closed as a result of

quota cuts. I just want to reassure the people of the area that I have been

working with the owners of the plant and also with the town council of

Twillingate trying to diversify and trying to find some other areas that,

hopefully, if not in the shrimp processing, that in future years that some other

type of processing can happen and that plant will reopen.

It is

the backbone of Twillingate. Mr. Chair, at the high point there was over 500

employees working out of that plant, and shortly before it closed they were at

approximately 100 to 125 employees. So it did have a devastating impact on the

community of Twillingate, but they are a very resilient group of people and I'm

quite sure they will be working hard, with the support of government, to try to

get some action back into those plants down in Twillingate Islands.

In the

meantime, the Town of Twillingate have been diverse in a lot. They've been

getting into the tourism industry. As everyone knows, Twillingate is one of the

hot spots for Newfoundland and Labrador and they have been growing that industry

quite significantly over the last number of years.

colleague from Bonavista is talking about all the great business happening in

Bonavista, and Bonavista is a great community. It falls a little bit short on

the tourism numbers than Twillingate, but they're working as hard as Twillingate

Islands. There are a number of new businesses that have been opening over the

last couple of years in the accommodation sector, a new microbrewery has opened

up, Split Rock, and they are doing fantastic out there.

Last

year, there were two new business started. There was a kayaking touring business

that just opened up and without any advertising, marketing, Mr. Chair, they were

booked most all of the summer. So, this year, I'm quite confident that they will

be much more successful.

Also,

Mr. Chair, I'm proud that another business opened up last year providing

helicopter tours of Twillingate Islands and also going out towards Fogo Island.

Again, a business that just sprung up overnight by a person visiting the area,

saw the opportunity and now this year, Mr. Chair, they're going to be, I guess,

in full swing, operating helicopter tours during, obviously, the peak tourism

season when the icebergs and the whales are most visible out there. They're also

looking at more types of tours to extend on that shoulder season. So, great

things are happening in Twillingate.

Mr.

Chair, the community I am from, Lewisporte, has also suffered a loss there over

the last year with the closure of the freight service to Labrador. I don't think

it was a surprise to anyone. It was probably a matter of when rather than if.

Once the ferry service discontinued a number of years ago, I think the writing

was on the wall that eventually the freight service would also close, especially

with the Trans-Labrador Highway becoming more and more prominent.

Myself

and the Premier, the Minister of Transportation and Works and other ministers

have been working closely with the Town of Lewisporte to see how we can divest

in and make other opportunities for the wharf and for the infrastructure at

Lewisporte because it is a great facility, the wharf facility. It is something

that Lewisporte has been built on – and my time is getting near as I see – but I

can assure the residents of Lewisporte and the town council that future meetings

will be happening and we will look forward to building the community again.

Thank

you, Mr. Chair.

CHAIR:

Thank you.

recognize the hon. the Member for Conception Bay South.

MR. PETTEN:

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

It's a

pleasure to get up again and speak on Interim Supply. As previous speakers have

said, it's an opportunity to get up and speak about various issues of

importance, whether it be in your district, it could be in the province or what

have you.

I get

up because a lot of times I have issues that I care strongly about, as I have

often in my petitions, I'll refer to the 1.6 kilometre issue. It could be roads.

In my critic role it's the carbon tax, many things. Sometimes I even mention the

$40 million that we're spending on the grow op, but, today – I couldn't resist

that one in the meantime. I see the Minister of TCII looking over, so I couldn't

– that was just a polite morning little motion.

Today,

actually, I'm going to talk about his department but in a different form. I know

my colleague or Member for Mount Pearl - Southlands mentioned tourism.

Ironically, I had in my mind, I wanted to speak about tourism today, actually,

because I'm sure the minister is aware, I did have the opportunity to spend

several years in that department, working with the former minister. I went in

there not really knowing, other than what the bare bones of what tourism was

about, I guess, in the province.

After

spending, it was in excess of almost four years there, I learned an awful lot

about tourism and our tourism in the province and our tourism campaign. It's

something that, regardless of what side of the House you sit on, I think it's

something we all should be very proud of. It's an award-winning campaign. We're

after getting in excess, I think, in the vicinity of 300 awards, national and

international awards. It's something that, back in the day, I know back in the

time, it was years back, when we were trying to draw tourism, previous

administrations tried unsuccessfully, I guess, to try to boost the tourism

product in the province, and we had all kinds of initiatives and they were all

well intentioned.

As we

all recall, there were these waterslides popping up in all these communities.

You go in, there was a waterslide, there was go-carts; it was trying to attract

what we thought the tourists were looking for, because we thought – we went down

to Disney and we went to other places and they had all these theme parks and

that's what we thought people come to Newfoundland to look for.

We're

off the beaten path. In the tourism world, we're not on – Newfoundland is not on

the – we're a bit off the beaten path by virtue of, I guess, being out in the

North Atlantic.

Back in

2006, I think, was the launch of it, in the early 2000s. In 2003, when the

former – it was when the previous administration took over, there was a group,

and I give credit to the group, there's a group of individuals that were tasked

with developing a tourism model. How do we attract tourists to the province?

What do we do?

Incredibly, basically, the Coles Notes of it: Do nothing. This is who we are.

We're simple. It's rocks. It's roughed coastlines. There's berry picking.

There's mountains. There's hiking. There's camping. It's trails. That's who we

are. We're not Disneyland. We're not a theme park. We are who we are and they

called it the Find Yourself campaign.

Like I

said, it's after winning over 300 awards and still winning. It maybe even more

than that or close on it, I think it's around the 300 mark. I guess the one

thing with tourism in our province that we all look at, and we're doubling our

numbers, we're bringing our – the goals of doubling it to $2 billion.

I know

when we were in power, I think $1billion was a big deal because it was more

value. It was bringing in more revenue to the province than the fishery, which

is incredible when you think about it for Newfoundland because the fishery was

always, and still is, one of the main backbones of our province. It will always

be part of us, but it's incredible how we grew a tourism product to be able to

bring in that much revenue.

Now

we're in excess of that, obviously, and the current administration has continued

on with this tourism campaign, and it is doing good. I think everyone deserves a

lot of credit, but there are public service awards given out to the individuals

who developed this Find Yourself campaign. A lot of them are still within

government.

They

deserve probably the majority of the credit. It's fine to say, this current

administration, previous administrations, provided the funding and the

encouragement to develop and support, but these people, these individuals that

work in that department, and a lot of them, I think, I don't know, I haven't

been over around there in a long while now but the minister could probably tell

me, that a lot of those same people are still there. They are very unique,

talented people. They're not your – you don't come across a lot of these people

every day. They have a passion.

We all

have our passions. They have a passion for tourism. They have a passion for the

province and they believe in what they do. I know when I got there within the

department, we started working within. I was really struck by that.

We talk

about bureaucrats within government and they're all – everyone as bureaucrats

think all the targeted jobs they do in departments and files they all work on,

but these people got a love for it. They love what they do. It's a passion. It's

not something that's a 9 to 5 to them. They're always creative. Their minds are

always going, they're creative, they're thinking.

I think

sometimes we say our tourism campaign, our Find Yourself campaign – I know I

found myself saying it and many others may have – how well it's done. I think

sometimes we forget the reason that's done so well, and the reason we've

accomplished so much and where we are and what this has done to the province and

the province's economy, is those people.

I know

a lot of them individually, like I say, they're amazing. This passion will not

die. I ran into some individuals who are no longer with Tourism, just in a

coffee shop wherever, and the first conversation, besides the normal

pleasantries, how are you and hope all is well, they'll target, they'll mention

something about an ad or some part of the province they were, or one of our

UNESCO sites. It's just amazing.

I went

in there as a total – I wasn't tourism oriented, I didn't really understand

outside of a pin or a postcard or I saw these beautiful ads that were on

television and I thought they were amazing. That's all I knew; really bare

bones. When I left there, it left me with a totally different viewpoint. It

changes your thought process because tourism – even people say tourism on its

own is you're promoting your province, you're attracting people from outside the

province, outside of the country to come visit, spend money, build your economy,

and that's really, truly, I suppose, the business case for tourism.

What we

don't realize sometimes is when you turn on the television and you watch one of

those ads, and all of those, no matter what ad, what campaign it is, the winter,

summer, whatever campaign, these ads make us feel good. As a Newfoundlander and

Labradorian, you cannot feel anything other than pride when you watch those ads.

When you feel good, good things happen. If you feel good about yourself, you

feel good about the place you live. It helps your psychology. It helps us all,

it makes us a better place. It makes us better people because I think that it

helps build your confidence. I used to always say that those ads always put a

bounce in people's steps, and I really, truly believe that they did.

I'll go

back again and I'll thank the creative individuals. I know Target Marketing has

been the creative minds. They've done the productions. They've done a wonderful

job for the province over the years, and others as well, but the individuals

that's brought on these creations deserve a lot of credit, and they don't ever

get, I don't think, personally – we say it, but I don't think they ever get the

kudos they deserve.

Personally, it's something that I get up and speak a lot of times and I sit down

and I think: Why didn't I talk about tourism more? I understand tourism, and I

learned a lot. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot more I can learn, but I think

those people deserve a lot of credit.

keeping with those individuals, I guess, and our ads, just recently last

December past, my district, my community, CBS, hosted the Boost National Grand

Slam of Curling, which was a huge success, but in preparation for that and

promoting our town, we created, our town created an ad and they consulted with

staff from the Department of TCII, the same individuals. They assisted with the

creative minds to help them develop their own ad to promote the Boost National.

That ad was absolutely beautiful, but it still had that same theme, that same

sense of place that all of our Find Yourself campaign ads have had. Again,

that's another credit to them. That did well.

As a

matter of fact, we are playing host again this year. It was such a success that

they've announced that CBS will play host in December of 2019 to the Boost

National once again. Maybe we'll have a new ad, I don't know, maybe they'll do

some adjustments to the current ad.

Leaving

it alone, it's fine, because nothing is going to change, because the ads depict

nothing special. We are special, no doubt, but there's nothing new, there's

nothing created, this is who we are. We're water. We're rocks. We're trails.

We're a beautiful place that we're all proud of and these ads depict, they just

tell the story, and the story we tell each other. We know that we go outside the

province, we tell it. These ads tell the story much better than we can do it.

I just

wanted, in my final seconds, to just say thank you to all the people that have

been involved with that. We all should be very proud of the place we live and

very proud of the work that's been done by these individuals.

Thank

you very much.

CHAIR:

Thank you.

The

Chair recognizes the hon. the Minister of Tourism, Culture, Industry and

Innovation.

MR. MITCHELMORE:

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

appreciate that the Member opposite is given such accolades to Target Marketing

for having a 15-year relationship with government and doing such exceptional

work on the creative, and the staff at TCII and the tourism team that worked so

diligently in partnership so that we can continue to build on the momentum.

The

Member opposite has an incredibly beautiful district, Conception Bay South. I've

been out there many times. I've been out there with the Member for Harbour Main,

who also represents a portion of that area. We've seen where we've, at Manuels

River

interpretation centre, we've made investments in the trail networks to

create destination, to create sense of place and community in Conception Bay

South. That's one of the areas where you are seeing growth in tourism. You also

see the connectivity to the T'Railway and how we can do a lot of adventure

tourism.

Tourism

is, I would think, the largest employer here in our province with 20,000 people

employed, and the numbers are growing. Just five years ago that number was

18,000 people and we had 2,600 businesses in 2017. Last year, the numbers showed

growth that almost 2,800 businesses, many of them I think in the District of

Bonavista, in Twillingate and on the Great Northern Peninsula as well, we've

seen new businesses started in the tourism industry.

It's

exiting. I was at the Port Rexton craft brewery that they have and saw the

expansion, the jobs that are being created with the Member for Bonavista. Also,

there'll be a new craft brewery on the Great Northern Peninsula in St. Anthony

at the Clock Shop, that'll revive a heritage building, also create opportunity

and other economic benefits for the region.

One

thing, though, that I want to say to the Member opposite is that I disagree with

his statement of do nothing, because the people in the Department of Tourism,

the people in the industry that are working hard to get to those levels of

spending and to create all of these jobs are certainly doing a lot.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. MITCHELMORE:

They are working incredibly

hard. They are part of the process and when it comes to how we develop our

product, how we develop our experiences, this is a globally competitive

environment when it comes to how we grow tourism here in Newfoundland and

Labrador.

Ads are

one thing, and it's important to have that number one brand and that awarding

winning campaign. It's also equally important to have advance transportation

links to get people here and to have those people-based experiences and

opportunities once they come here. We know that we have so much to offer from

our four World UNESCO Heritage sites: Mistaken Point, L'Anse aux Meadows, Gros

Morne with the Tablelands and Red Bay, Labrador, and working on Discovery

Aspiring Geopark, which hopefully will have another UNESCO World Heritage site

in this province.

We're

working on Heart's Content with Valentia, Ireland to link the old world to the

new because, Mr. Chair, we have so many great opportunities here in our

province.

We have

$49 billion in economic activity that has been announced through government

initiatives and projects since we've started

The Way Forward .

I was

in my district and saw how – just in River of Ponds – small communities are

working hard and we have dedicated members on councils, some people serving 30

years, 20 years. They are very dedicated to their community and they're seeing

investments. They're seeing small business expand. They've been able to finally

upgrade some road infrastructure in their community. This comes when you work

together, Mr. Chair.

I was

at a meeting with the Town of Port Saunders to see their town centre. They've

been able to consolidate all of their organizations, their 50-plus club, their

Aboriginal women's group is operating out of this town centre building, along

with their town, all the community events. They just established a youth centre,

thanks to some support from the Department of Advanced Education, Skills and

Labour.

We see

as well that SEDLER opened up a satellite office for community employment

supports to help people with disabilities be able to attach to the labour force.

So, there are good things happening, Mr. Chair, in small communities when people

work together and find those partnerships and those opportunities.

I was

in Port au Choix for Ms. Eastman's 90th birthday. To get to hear, just two days

ago we made an announcement with the federal government in clean technology, in

fishing enterprises like with Ocean Choice International, with $1.4 million, Mr.

Chair, so that clean technology can be used to use that energy in a winch system

so that you're not using fossil fuels, that you can improve the bottom line.

I've

spoken to the community and to representatives at OCI, and they're eager to get

started even earlier in Port au Choix this year. They're quite excited about the

opportunities because trade agreements like CETA are reducing tariffs, which is

allowing for industrial product that would have been produced in other

countries, other jurisdictions, can now be done here in Newfoundland and

Labrador quite competitively, which is enhancing our competitive advantage in

the fishery. Those are very positive.

I have

to commend the Minister of Fisheries and Land Resources as well for releasing

the forestry action plan and all the initiatives. Finally, there is focus on the

forest industry as to how we can get more value-added product. The Great

Northern Peninsula has certainly suffered for years when it comes to stagnation

of forest industry, unlike some other areas of the province they've been able to

maintain sawmills, add value-added product and continue to great jobs. But when

you have two major mill closures in Stephenville and Grand Falls-Windsor, it

does have an impact. You need to find an outlet for your small diameter wood.

I was

very pleased to see that a company, Active Energy Group, looking to make a $20

million private sector investment with no government funds to create that outlet

and create those jobs and opportunities. As well I'm just as excited to see

opportunity in St. Anthony area with the Great Northern Port potential. The St.

Anthony area is very strategically positioned for international shipping. They

already have Eimskip operating; it's the second-largest international

containerized port in the province next to Argentia.

When we

look at Crémaillère Harbour, it's an ice-free port. It does present a strategic

advantage to do business activity and investment and present some long-term,

sustainable employment opportunities in St. Anthony and for the entire region.

Speaking of St. Anthony, we've seen where there's been investment in affordable

housing; $1.25 million to create 10 units because, as we age, our population has

different demands. So to see those units added will be very helpful to seniors.

I also

toured the John M. Gray long-term care facility in St. Anthony and to see the

work that was done by nurse practitioner, Lorraine Barker, and her spouse, Thom,

in partnership with the foundation and others who would've supported the Newell

family to see that the protective care unit now has murals and that it's a more

inviting behaviour. It's less institutionalized. It's stimulating for the

residents that are there.

That

was very impactful and powerful to see, and certainly leading to improvements

for the quality of life for residents that are residing at John M. Gray. Very

pleased to see that this nurse practitioner is here in the area and seeing a

number of clients from Shirley's Haven, John M. Gray and the community. A nurse

practitioner is a very valued member of the health care team and can certainly

play a tremendous role in primary care.

The

area of St. Anthony has just recently hired an audiologist. This was a service

that we've not had for some time, and there will be opportunity to have clinics

throughout Labrador as well to provide those much needed services. And there

will be more speciality services in this region and in this area.

I want

to highlight that this year has certainly faced some challenges when it comes to

the amount of snow that the Great Northern Peninsula has been facing, but I want

to commend the team at Transportation and Works for working hard and being

diligent, bringing in some additional equipment and deal with those tunnel

systems that exist in Goose Cove and Great Brehat and St. Anthony Bight and St.

Carols and Quirpon and Boat Harbour road, as well as Cook's Harbour and other

areas.

Just

yesterday, I saw an excavator on a mountain of snow by the Tim Horton's at the

Viking Mall parking lot. And these are the types of challenges that we have, as

well as the ice conditions with the new ferry system. I'm looking forward to the

ice moving off and the important movement of goods, people and services. It does

have an impact and I think that that's why it's so important that we continue to

look and advance a fixed link to have continuous movement of goods and services

and people. But that is necessary to also have a commitment from Quebec to see

Route 138 complete, and that's why it's important to continue those particular

conversations.

We've

invested in cellular coverage for 17 communities on the Great Northern

Peninsula. It's a $1.4-million project. There has been over $5 million in

broadband improvements slated for the Great Northern Peninsula, including Conche

and Cook's Harbour in particular, to deal with those issues.

Significant amounts of investment in roads because roads are critical, the

paving of the Conche road and Port au Choix. We've seen the tourism numbers go

up to 60 per cent in Port au Choix area. So I was very pleased to hear other

Members talk about how important tourism is to the Twillingate area and the

Bonavista area, and no different on the Great Northern Peninsula, Mr. Chair. So

I've very proud to help accelerate growth and see opportunities, even in your

District of Baie Verte - Green Bay, great opportunities there.

Thank

you.

CHAIR:

Order, please!

The

Chair recognizes the hon. the Member for St. John's Centre.

MS. ROGERS:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Chair.

I'm

happy to be able to stand once again and speak in Interim Supply. I would like

to talk about the situation of boarding houses, of temporary lodging,

particularly in my area of St. John's Centre where there seems to be a number of

them. But it's not only limited to St. John's Centre. We also know that there

are similar situations in Happy Valley-Goose Bay where there were boarding

houses, where there was an incredible housing crunch that was started because of

the construction in Muskrat Falls.

Often

what we see with our boom-and-bust economy is that one of the areas, one of the

most vulnerable areas that is hit is the issue of housing, affordable and

accessible housing. I'd like to talk a little bit about this. Mr. Chair, again,

it's a difficult topic. Some of the stories I will tell are difficult, but it's

about the reality of the lives of some of the people living in Newfoundland and

Labrador. It's kind of the underbelly of what we don't see so much in our

province. It's really hard for us in Newfoundland and Labrador where we pride

ourselves in our ability to take care of one another; we pride ourselves in our

sense of care and compassion for all people. That's what we do, so it's really

hard to see.

Unlike

larger cities like Toronto or Vancouver, or even in New York, where you see

homelessness on the streets, where you see people sleeping on the streets and,

in winters, trying to sleep over grates where the warm air is coming up, for

instance, from subway stations and that, we don't see that so much. We know that

there are situations of people living in makeshift shelters in different parts

of St. John's, in different parts of Labrador. We know that that is real but we

don't see a whole lot of that in terms of the real public display of the severe

issue of homelessness.

So, for

a lot of people, we figure it's not a big issue here in the province. Well, I'd

like to talk a little bit about, and describe a little bit of what I know to be

true and what are we going to do about it. I commend Newfoundland and Labrador

Housing for the work that they do. It's a program that we have for affordable

housing for people who are disadvantaged, or people who have low income. It's

not enough. It's not enough and lot of the housing in Newfoundland and Labrador

Housing was built in the '60s, in the '70s, when people had larger families.

Now, a lot of the homelessness we see are single people; single men, single

women, particularly seniors who can't afford housing.

So,

what Newfoundland and Labrador Housing has done to address that is to provide

rent supplements, but those rent supplements are always oversubscribed. There

are a lot of people who need rent supplements who cannot get them. They're also

not portable, which is a real problem, particularly for seniors.

I want

to talk a little bit about the boarding houses in my district and the rooming

houses in my district, and, again, a little bit beyond my district.

I got a

call from a gentleman who was staying in a boarding house that had three

bedrooms, and there were six to eight adults living in that boarding house. A

good number of the people were quite vulnerable. Their rent is paid by our

taxpayers' money. The house, because of some of the tenants finally speaking up

– and, again, tenants who are really vulnerable, who are homeless, put up with

some of the most incredibly difficult, difficult situations in some of these

boarding houses. I can describe some of them, but I know that even in my

describing them it will sound like I'm exaggerating. I would encourage people to

try and imagine the worst possible kind of place to live, and then you would

just start to begin to get to the reality of what some of these houses are like.

So, six

to eight adults – men – in this particular boarding house. There are only three

bedrooms. The house has now been condemned because of some of the folks speaking

out. Again, people are afraid to speak out because they have nowhere else to go.

A lot of these folks may be in receipt of income support for various reasons;

some because they've had accidents in their lives and are unable to do paid

work; some because they have had conflict with the law and they've been in

prison, they come out of prison, and it's really hard for them to get work

because they have a prison record. Some of them because they have very

persistent mental illness.

I have

a psychiatrist that I often do some work with in terms of helping some of his

clients who need advocacy around issues of income support or housing support who

says: Gerry, sometimes it makes no sense for me to even attempt to try and help

some of my patients because they don't have a safe place to live. If you have a

persistent mental health issue, if you're living with extreme paranoia or

extreme anxiety and depression and you don't have a safe place to live, it's

really hard to get stabilized. It's really hard to get well. It's really hard to

be able to take your medication because maybe you're in a boarding house where

other people are putting pressure on you and they want to take your medication

because people are dealing with addictions. So it's really, really tough.

We're

talking about houses, for instance, where there's payment of, at least – the

rent in most of these places, just for rent, is $600 a room and that money comes

directly from AES, which is our department that administers income support. It

comes directly from AES right into the pockets of the landlords. Those are

agreements that the people who are renting agree with their landlord. They have

to do a damage deposit and then their rent goes directly into the pockets of

their landlords.

there's any dispute, the landlord has control over that money. So, for instance,

there's one boarding house in my district, and I visited a number of times, and

social workers won't go in there anymore. If they really have to go in, they go

in by twos. No fridge, no stove, the dirt is not something where someone can

just clean up their room. The dirt is embedded in every place in the house. The

house probably hasn't been cleaned in 20 years at least. There are broken

lampshades, holes in the walls, windows that don't open, one raggedy towel for

all the men to share; no other towels. They have to provide their own cleaning

supplies. They have to provide their own toilet paper and there's nobody who

cleans anything.

Again,

we're talking about some of our most vulnerable people in society. People will

say: Well, why don't they just clean it up? But we're talking about people who

may not have that ability, who are dealing with depression, with anxiety, who

have been homeless a lot in their lives and who are afraid. Oftentimes, afraid

of the people that they're sharing a house with. There's oftentimes no

supervision. So this is our taxpayers' money.

You

have somebody who wants to leave that situation. They may complain, and they're

afraid to complain, but they complain, and then what happens is the landlord

kicks them out, keeps their damage deposit. It's midway through the month. They

also keep the rest of the rent and they are left homeless. They've got no income

support left for the month. They can't get their damage deposit to get another

place to live. They need a damage deposit, but they can't get their old damage

deposit back even though they may have done no damage.

These

are the stories we hear again and again and again and again, and the problem is

that there is no oversight. Some of our most vulnerable people live in

conditions that increase their vulnerability, that increase the danger in their

lives. I believe, Mr. Chair, that this is not how the people of Newfoundland and

Labrador want us to deal with this kind of housing.

Thank

you very much.

CHAIR:

Order, please!

The

Chair recognizes the hon. the Member for Placentia West - Bellevue.

MR. BROWNE:

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

It's

certainly not doom and gloom in Newfoundland and Labrador these days, I say. In

fact, there are a lot of good things, positive things happening in Placentia

West - Bellevue, representing parts of the Burin Peninsula and coming in on the

Avalon isthmus area of the province, as far as Long Harbour-Mount Arlington

Heights and Chapel Arm and Norman's Cove-Long Cove.

We have

such a storied district with so much industry; as I liken it to be the

industrial heartland of the Island portion of Newfoundland because there truly

is so much going on, and there's more happening.

MR. LETTO:

And Labrador.

MR. BROWNE:

I said the Island portion of

the province, I say to my colleague from Labrador. I certainly wouldn't want to

infringe on your highly industrial area that is seeing great success under your

stewardship as its MHA, I say to my colleague from Labrador West.

Mr.

Chair, there's certainly a lot happening in Placentia West - Bellevue that I

want to take an opportunity to highlight. We have, as I mentioned, so much

industry happening throughout the entire district. If you look at Bull Arm,

we've been discussing Bull Arm over these last number of days as it is now in

what I believe its rightful place in a new standalone oil corporation, separate

from the travails of Nalcor and whatever else they're doing in terms of utility

and hydro business.

It's

certainly the largest fabrication site in Atlantic Canada. There are great

things going to come from Bull Arm. The Minister of Natural Resources and I have

met several times now with the local communities that surround the site for

their input and to consult with them on how they see the future progressing,

because as the oil industry is evolving and changing, as we move towards

Advance 2030 , the needs for that site

will also change and we have to adjust to what the industry needs, Mr. Chair. So

there are certainly good things happening in Bull Arm. I've had a number of

meetings with proponents that are seeking to secure access to the site via the

RFP out from Nalcor, so we'll see where that goes.

Also

very proud, Mr. Chair, of Grieg aquaculture project, not all Members of the

Opposition, certainly in the Third Party, have been in favour of this project,

and I'll let them speak for themselves; but what I can say is that the people on

the Burin Peninsula certainly have spoken in favour of this project. They are

supporters of aquaculture.

We are

seeing a turn now in our economic fortunes because we've had such a history, Mr.

Chair, of boom and busts with the shipyard, with the Cow Head facility. We had

1,200 people just three years ago working on the Drilling Support Module for the

Hebron Project in Marystown, making top dollar, and those who weren't working

there, Mr. Chair, were renting out their homes to workers. So, there was a quite

a bit of affluence floating around at that time.

We're

now seeing us get to a place where there's stability and people have the

opportunity, if they wish, to plan to stay at home with their families, with

their children at night and earn a good wage at home. That's what we're seeing

with the Grieg project, some 800 jobs tied to that. The world's largest hatchery

to be built in the heart of Marystown, with marine sites through Placentia Bay

which, by the way, if you took all the sea cages that are proposed for the Grieg

project, you'd fit them in Paddy's Pond.

The

notion that this is taking over the bay, or taking over Placentia Bay, that's

not the case. It's really important as we have these conversations to get the

proper facts out there and have discussions. We can disagree, Mr. Chair, but

base them on the facts and not blow things out of proportion, as some Members

opposite certainly seem to enjoy doing.

But

we're also seeing, with the Grieg project, a budding supply sector being built

up around them. In fact, if you travel through Marystown today, there are pipes

everywhere. There's 15 kilometres of piping that has to fit into the new

hatchery. With the lack of laydown space around the hatchery area, it's being

put everywhere in town that they can find. It's quite amazing to see the

industrial revival.

course, that plays into what's happening in the former Marystown Shipyard, where

Marbase now will purchase directly from Kiewit – something that I believe is a

very positive development. The mayor of Marystown believes is a very positive

development. The president of Unifor Local 20 of the union workforce thinks it's

a very positive development. The president of the Chamber of Commerce for the

Burin Peninsula thinks it's a very positive development, Mr. Chair.

Everyone seems to be on board, except Members opposite. So, we hope that their

positivity will emanate on this project and we will see their support for the

people and the workforce of the Burin Peninsula, because we certainly didn't see

it when the two largest fish plants in the province shuttered on their watch.

But I

digress. So we're certainly looking forward to that opportunity coming to

realization, because that is very important. We need the stable, long-term

employment in our communities, and that's what we're working towards.

I also

want to take an opportunity to talk about the fishery. Recently, we had a major

announcement with the Atlantic Fisheries Fund. In Arnold's Cove the leading

groundfish processor exists, Icewater Seafoods. Just last week, I did a

statement on the passing of Mr. Wareham who had founded this company in his 60s

in 2004. So he obviously believed in the future of the cod fishery; he believed

in the future of Arnold's Cove. His son, Alberto, and the entire Icewater team

are taking that to the next level.

Just

through the Atlantic Fisheries Fund, we secured funding in my district for

projects in Southeast Bight, Arnold's Cove and Norman's Cove-Long Cove for $4.5

million, including $3.2 million of cost-shared funding for an ice management

system at Icewater. So we're very much looking forward to that.

I also

want to touch on the Live at Heart international musical showcase, which is kind

of an evolution in Europe. We're seeing these Live at Heart festivals where a

high number of bands, 30, 40, 50, go to one Live at Heart and then they go to

another Live at Heart, whether it be in Sweden or other places – in Norway

there's Live at Heart as well – and they travel to each other's festivals.

So, for

the first time in Canada, this past fall this was hosted on the Burin Peninsula.

We had people like Jamie Gair, Mike Brennan, Barry Stacey and Ben Wiseman to

thank for that, and they've done a terrific job. Myself and the Member for Burin

- Grand Bank had the opportunity to visit with them. There were producers here

from all over the world. In fact, Jeff Bova was one producer from Los Angeles,

who has produced with Eric Clapton, Celine Dion, Katy Perry, so this has been a

major, major development. We're hoping this is going to expand this fall,

especially with our connection now with Saint Pierre et Miquelon just off our

shores with access to the European Union. We're hoping this will grow. This is a

major economic opportunity, as well as a musical opportunity.

Myself

and the Minister Responsible for the Status of Women had the opportunity to be

at Smugglers Cove – which if you haven't visited it, it's in the minister's

district, it's truly out of this world – and this is where we had an opportunity

to meet up with some of these people, but there were also venues all over the

Burin Peninsula, including in Marystown, so that was very positive.

Mr.

Chair, I'm going to conclude today talking about tourism, as has been mentioned

by many of my colleagues. As I just alluded to, tourism is such on the rise in

many parts of the province and it's no different on the Burin Peninsula. We have

such opportunity with our connection and proximity to Saint Pierre et Miquelon.

Now, it's our challenge as a region to rise to meet that, to ensure that people

who are travelling down the highway to catch the ferry in Fortune can stay a

night or two along the way at different accommodations, enjoy different tourism

products, and we're seeing that rise.

Just

this year, of course, I'm very proud of the fact that the provincial tourism ad

was filmed, in large part, on the Burin Peninsula. It is stunningly beautiful,

Mr. Chair. In fact, it has the highest number of YouTube views – the highest

number of YouTube view; 680,000 views already. The next closest to it has only

400,000, and that was four years ago. So you have 400,000 views in four years

versus almost 700,000 views in four weeks. It's amazing what the beauty of the

Burin Peninsula can inspire in budding travellers coming to the province, and

I'm sure there are other factors involved as well in terms of making that video

the success that it has been.

We have

to thank our terrific team in our Department of TCII who have done a fantastic

job with these ad campaigns. I'm delighted to see that the beautiful scenes of

the still waters of Fortune Bay East or the vistas of Parkers Cove. These are

all beautiful. There were sheep in a dory, with the beautiful and historic

Collins Cove church behind it in the Minister Responsible for the Status of

Women's district. So it's truly remarkable, Mr. Chair, what's happening on the

Burin Peninsula, the positives that are happening.

The

best can only be yet to come, there's so much happening and I look forward to

continuing working with our communities to make our communities stronger and

even better in the future.

Thank

you, Mr. Chair.

CHAIR:

Thank you.

The

Chair recognizes the hon. the Member for Ferryland.

MR. HUTCHINGS:

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

It's

certainly a pleasure this morning to rise to speak to Interim Supply. For those

out there tuning in and listening, this is a process we go through every year in

preparation for the annual budget, to make sure funds are allocated on an

interim basis to get to the end of the fiscal year to make sure government

continues to operate and that amount of money is approved up to March 31, to the

end of the fiscal year –

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

CHAIR:

Order, please!

MR. HUTCHINGS:

– which, as I said, allows

to continue operation of government –

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

CHAIR:

Order, please!

Thank

you.

MR. HUTCHINGS:

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

As I

said, to allow for the continuing operation of government to March 31, the end

of the fiscal year.

couple of points this morning, due to the latitude that's permitted in regard to

speaking to Interim Supply, that I just wanted to talk to. A few issues related

to my district, the District of Ferryland, which takes in from Goulds, Ruby Line

and south right to St. Shott's. So it takes in a portion of the City of St.

John's as well a number of rural communities right down through the Southern

Avalon.

The

Minister of TCII did mention economic opportunities that are certainly related

to tourism. He did mention Mistaken Point and the UNESCO heritage designation of

the United Nations that was designated in 2016. He did allude to it and things

that have being done, but, unfortunately, we've had challenges with this current

administration in regard to the promotion and the funding and being able to

drive the opportunity that exists with that UNESCO designation, which is one of

four here in the province, but this one is operated by the provincial government

and not by Parks Canada.

terms of the plan and what was presented to UNESCO to get designation in Turkey,

where those meetings took place, there were a number of items in regard to a

management plan that need to be fulfilled in order to meet the obligations of

that designation. One of those was the infrastructure, working with a volunteer

group, the Cape Race - Portugal Cove South Heritage Inc. and that volunteer

group, the name has changed several times. That's the volunteer group that

within the management plan talks about the provincial government partnering with

that volunteer group.

They

own the

Interpretation Centre, which is the gateway to Mistaken Point and to

Cape Race and to the Myrick Wireless centre that is out at Cape Race. That

centre, in and of itself, in our time, we invested significantly in that. That

is the centre that sort of celebrates wireless communication. The Myrick family

and their presence over decades, centuries, really, in regard to Cape Race and

that area, but also recognizes the first SOS call from the

Titanic , that tragic event in the

Atlantic. That area was the first place to receive the message, a SOS call, from

the Titanic .

All

that's very historic and adds to the UNESCO designation and to Mistaken Point.

But with any regional economic opportunity, and certainly on the Southern Avalon

that is huge, there are needs for commitments and assistance to reach out to

those that are operating the site or involved in the site. That's where I get

back to the community group, that's the volunteer group on the ground, which is

partnering with the provincial government in regard to operating that site there

and being the gateway.

Some of

the things that we have challenges with, just in terms of operational funding

and making sure that there's enough funding there, initially, for a five- or

10-year period to lay out a plan to provide that funding so appropriate tours

can be done, the infrastructure is available and there are funds there for those

volunteers and advisory board now put in place, the advisory council, to be able

to give advice and direct the operations to make sure they maximize all the

opportunities.

Unfortunately, due to the lack of funding and lack of commitment we've seen by

this administration, we're actually seeing now, unfortunately, volunteer groups

out selling tickets, having dinners, having spins to try and raise money to

operate the facility in Portugal Cove South. Now, remember, Mr. Chair, this is a

world heritage designation.

You

look at how many designations are around the world and what it means and the

amount of traffic and the opportunity that that makes available. Since 2016,

we've seen the numbers rise in regard to visitations to Mistaken Point, but

we've also seen, unfortunately, people calling or people showing up but can't

get tours. I think this year, if my number is correct, there was around 600 that

called and weren't available to make tours. That's unfortunate. So, right now, I

think there are 24 that goes to the site each day. Not a large number, but if we

can accommodate more it drives economic opportunity.

What

we're seeing in the region is we're getting some small businesses set up in

Portugal Cove South and as well in Trepassey. We've seen significant investment

with the inn there and other small business as well, but it's about the influx

of traffic and what that means when people enter the region they stay, they

visit, they spend their money and drive local activity.

It's so

important that we have the support for Mistaken Point and, hopefully, in this

budget we'll see a commitment to that and see a new approach and supportive

approach that's needed to take advantage of this huge opportunity that exists

for that region.

It's

not just for that region, it's for the whole province. People fly in from all

over the world to visit UNESCO sites. They fly into St. John's, the Northeast

Avalon. If they're here to see this site, they may move on to see the other

UNESCO sites on the Island and on to the Labrador. So it's not about that region

or that community, it's about the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador and

recognizing what we have in that and how important it is to the province that we

make a commitment towards it.

The

other issue I heard my colleague across the way talk about was aquaculture.

Certainly, on a provincial basis, we, in our time in government, certainly put a

lot of investment into the aquaculture industry and what it has meant for the

province in terms of combined with the wild fishery at various times is over

almost $1 billion in regard to activity and what it brings to the Newfoundland

and Labrador economy. So, coastal communities in various regions of the province

where we've seen a downturn certainly in the fishery, that has replaced it with

economic opportunity that we continue to drive.

There

are three big players now in this province: Cooke, Marine Harvest and now with

Grieg coming in, in terms of the amount of volume and production they're

expected to bring is certainly significant. I know in 2015, and prior to that,

as minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, and as well Intergovernmental Affairs,

had opportunities to establish an MOU, memorandum of understanding, with the

Grieg group out of Norway and to look at enhancing the opportunities we have on

the South Coast, certainly Placentia Bay.

It was

an exciting time to share that information with them and encourage them to come

to the province and to make massive investments in regard to expanding our

aquaculture industry, and getting those volumes up to a point where you have

critical mass. Critical mass is so important in any industry where you're

allowed to get to that level. Then the business model is ripe for having small

businesses supply the support services that are required. So with Grieg and with

the production we have and helping getting to what their targets are, 40,000 to

50,000 tons, that allows us to provide those small businesses to grow to provide

those support services.

Now,

tied into that, we've had some discussion and a lot of discussion over the days

in regard to the sale of Marystown Shipyard and how that would be uses from a

conversion to a support facility, I think it's been called, for the aquaculture

industry. If so, that's certainly positive.

haven't heard yet who would use that facility. Would it be three of the major

players? Would they be able to provide the support services? All of those

issues, I guess, we're waiting to see, and how that would drive the industry

because there are things within the industry, you look at the feed that's

brought in, all brought in now for the aquaculture industry. You look at some of

those support services I talked about, cages, all those other things that

support that industry, that's all support that grows the industry as well.

Hatcheries, there are hatcheries in Stephenville. There's also one significant

to be built in Marystown, in that area. So all of that adds to the overall

industry and the importance for aquaculture and overall our fishing industry.

It's

certainly a pleasure today to get up and have a few minutes to speak to Interim

Supply, Mr. Chair. There are certainly good things happening in the province,

but as for areas like Mistaken Point, we need strong commitments from the

government of the day to exploit that to make sure we can maximize all the

benefits in the province.

Thank

you very much.

CHAIR:

Thank you.

The

Chair recognizes the hon. the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Environment.

MR. LETTO:

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

It's a

pleasure for me to rise today and speak on Interim Supply. The last time I rose

in this House I spoke on all the great things that are happening in Municipal

Affairs and Environment, but today I want to talk about the great District of

Labrador West and the great things that are happening there.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. LETTO:

Mr. Chair, where we've come

from in the last 3½ years has been really amazing with the iron ore industry. As

you know, the iron ore industry had taken quite a beating, but in the last

couple of years that's certainly rebounded and we're feeling the benefits of

that, especially in our mines in Labrador West.

certainly want to highlight some of the great things that are happening,

especially with Skully Mine, the reopening of the Skully Mine under Tacora

Resources Inc. It's amazing really to see the work that's going on there. When

and talking about all the great things that are happening within the project and

the facilities to prepare them for operations in early June.

You see

trucks being assembled, you see mills being rebuilt, you see additional silos

put on the load out, you see the installation of the manganese separators, you

see the realignment of the processing plant. It's all good stuff, Mr. Chair, and

it's done to make sure that this becomes a viable operation and it's there for

the people of Labrador West for many, many years to come.

We're

looking at – in the workforce – around 260 jobs that have started now. The

hiring process has begun and the target date for production, Mr. Chair, is June

3, 2019. So we look forward to that day when, once again, we'll see the steam

rising from the plants and the trains rolling –

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. LETTO:

– across the overpass. It

will be a great day for all of us in Labrador West.

Mr.

Chair, the Iron Ore Company of Canada continues to move ahead with the increase

in production. As we saw this past year – and by the way, I want to thank the

Minister of Natural Resources and her department for the work they have done to

make sure that we get back into operation – the Iron Ore Company of Canada, of

course, just opened another huge pit, Wabush 3, now known as the Moss Pit and

it's right behind the Smoky Mountain.

Many

people have heard of Smoky Mountain and the great skiing facility there. The

fact of the matter is you can still ski there. We're mining right behind the

mountain and because of that the Iron Ore Company of Canada put in all new lifts

for the ski hill, two brand new lifts. So, Mr. Chair, we're moving well ahead of

where we need to be. Certainly, we look forward to a great future there as well

with Smoky Mountain.

The

Iron Ore Company of course is the largest mine in Labrador City, Labrador West

and probably the largest mine in Canada. We are the iron ore capital of Canada,

by the way, so just not to confuse that with any other area of the province or

the country.

MR. BROWNE:

What about the mining

capital?

MR. LETTO:

We are the mining capital of

Canada and we're proving that time and time again.

course, right behind the IOC and Wabush and the reopening of Scully Mine, we

have Alderon that's back in the picture after a hiatus because of the downfall

in the iron ore industry and certainly we saw many casualties of that. So

Alderon is back in the picture and they're working towards a new project, the

Kami project. They have a robust

schedule put in front of them to start

construction in the spring, or the first quarter of 2020, if the funding can be

secured for this project. It's a considerable amount of funding that's required,

$1.2 billion, but if you look at their progress, they've partnered with a great

number of world-class organizations and companies to help them along with that.

We look

forward to the day when we see the announcement and hear the announcement from

Alderon that they're moving ahead with the Kami project, which will be another

significant boost to the economy. You're talking about a mine that's going to

produce 8 million tons a year and probably employ 300 to 400 people. Again, we

are very optimistic and hope that this will take place.

Right

across the border, of course, Mr. Chair, is the Bloom Lake operation and even

though it's in Quebec, we do reap a lot of benefits from that. All you have to

do to prove that is go to the industrial park in Wabush and talk to the owners

of the businesses there, the industrial businesses. They are the major supplier

for this mine, even though it's across the border in Quebec, like I said, but

they do supply a lot of goods and services to that mine. So what's happening in

Bloom Lake is a huge boost to the economy in Labrador West. It was great to see,

just probably about a year ago, that train rolling again across the overpass on

the Wabush highway. So, what happens next door certainly is good for all of us.

Mr.

Chair, I cannot get up and talk about the mining industry without remembering

the great folks of Wabush who were impacted by the shutdown in 2014. They're not

only in Wabush, they're not only in Labrador West. They're in every single

district of this province. We all have retirees and pensioners from Wabush

Mines, and the impact that they took when the mine shutdown and Cliffs pulled

out and left them hanging with an unfunded liability in the pension plan that

saw their pension plans cut by 25 per cent, in some cases, and lose all their

medical benefits. That was the first issue, actually, as I've said this in the

House so often, that the first day after I was elected, or just a couple days

after, I went along with the minister of Service NL, at the time, to terminate

the pension plan for the Wabush pensioners. It was not a pretty sight.

Since

then, we've done a lot of work, Mr. Chair. As you know, our government referred

it to the appeals court of Newfoundland and Labrador and we won our case, which

had a big impact. I still believe today that what we see now, today, is within

the next couple of months – I think May 1 is the deadline – you will see those

pensions back to about 94 per cent; 93, 94 per cent of the original pension,

which is great news. Great news for the people of Wabush and the pensioners of

Wabush who are, as I said, all over the province and the country.

There

are a lot of people who were involved in that. I have to single out one person

that I worked very closely with who was, herself, a pensioner of Wabush and

spearheaded a lot of the work that went on with regard to the court case and

recovering that, and that's Rita Pynn. As I said, she's a pensioner of Wabush

Mines, but she worked tirelessly and kept me in the loop, and I kept her in the

loop, and we worked together very closely to get to where we are today.

I know

there are others that were involved, but I just want to single Rita Pynn out

because of all the great work that she's done over the past four to five years

to get back the pensions that were taken away from them by Cliffs. So besides

that, as I mentioned, they also lost their medical benefits and last year – or

just a few months ago, actually, they were given a lump sum for the OPEBs that

they lost, their medical benefits.

We're

working now today – we're still working on that to make sure that does not

become a taxable item for them, because medical benefits, we believe, should be

exempt from taxation. That's something we're working on with our federal

counterparts, with the MP, Yvonne Jones, and others, to make sure that what was

given to them is not taken away again, because they don't deserve that.

Mr.

Chair, in closing, I just want to say that Labrador West is doing well. I thank

the people and all my constituents for their co-operation in the last four years

to get us where we are. There has been a lot of work done, we still got a lot to

do but I'm confident that we're on the right track and this government is on the

right track in improving the economy of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Thank

you, Mr. Chair.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

CHAIR:

Thank you.

Shall

the resolution carry?

All

those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

CHAIR:

All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

motion, resolution carried.

A bill,

“An Act Granting To Her Majesty Certain Sums Of Money For Defraying Certain

Expenses Of The Public Service For The Financial Year Ending March 31, 2020 And

For Other Purposes Relating To The Public Service.” (Bill 55)

CLERK (Barnes):

Clause 1.

CHAIR:

Shall clause 1 carry?

All

those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

CHAIR:

All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

motion, clause 1 carried.

CLERK:

Clauses 2 through 4

inclusive.

CHAIR:

Shall clauses 2 through 4

inclusive carry?

All

those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

CHAIR:

All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

motion, clauses 2 through 4 carried.

CLERK:

The schedule.

CHAIR:

Shall the

schedule carry?

All

those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

CHAIR:

All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

motion,

schedule carried.

CLERK:

Be it enacted by the

Lieutenant-Governor and House of Assembly in Legislative Session convened, as

follows.

CHAIR:

Shall the enacting clause

carry?

All

those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

CHAIR:

All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

motion, enacting clause carried.

CLERK:

WHEREAS it appears that the

sums mentioned are required to defray certain expenses of the Public Service of

Newfoundland and Labrador for the financial year ending March 31, 2020 and for

other purposes relating to the public service.

CHAIR:

Shall the

preamble carry?

All

those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

CHAIR:

All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

CLERK:

An Act Granting To Her

Majesty Certain Sums Of Money For Defraying Certain Expenses Of The Public

Service For The Financial Year Ending March 31, 2020 And For Other Purposes

Relating To The Public Service.

CHAIR:

Shall the

long title carry?

All

those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

CHAIR:

All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

motion,

long title carried.

CHAIR:

Shall I report the bill

without amendment?

All

those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

CHAIR:

All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

Motion,

that the Committee report having passed the resolution and a bill consequent

thereto, carried.

CHAIR:

The hon. the Deputy

Government House Leader.

MS. COADY:

Mr. Chair, I moved the

Committee rise and report the resolution and Bill 55.

CHAIR:

The motion is the Committee

rise and report the resolution and Bill 55.

Is it

the pleasure of the Committee to adopt the motion?

All

those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

CHAIR:

All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

motion, that the Committee rise, report progress and ask leave to sit again, the

Speaker returned to the Chair.

MR. SPEAKER (Trimper):

The hon. the

Member for Baie Verte - Green Bay and Chair of the Committee of Supply.

MR. WARR:

Mr. Speaker, the Committee

of Supply have considered the matters to them referred and have directed me to

report that they have adopted a certain resolution and recommend that a bill be

introduced to give effect to the same.

MR. SPEAKER:

The Chair of the Committee

of Supply reports that the Committee have considered the matters to them

referred and have directed him to report that the Committee have adopted a

certain resolution and recommend that a bill be introduced to give effect to the

same.

When

shall the report be received?

Now?

MS. COADY:

Now.

MR. SPEAKER:

Now.

motion, report received and adopted.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Deputy

Government House Leader.

MS. COADY:

Mr. Speaker, I move,

seconded by the Minister of Health and Community Services, that the resolution

be now read a first time.

MR. SPEAKER:

It is moved and seconded

that the resolution be now read a first time.

Is it

the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

All

those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

All those against, 'nay.'

The

motion is carried.

CLERK:

it resolved by the House of Assembly in Legislative Session convened, as

follows:

“That

it is expedient to introduce a measure to provide for the granting to Her

Majesty for defraying certain expenses of the public service for the financial

year ending March 31, 2020 the sum of $2,864,878,600.”

motion, resolution read a first time.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. Deputy Government

House Leader.

MS. COADY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I move,

seconded by the Minister of Tourism, Culture, Industry and Innovation, that this

resolution be now read a second time.

MR. SPEAKER:

It is moved and seconded

that the resolution be now read a second time.

Is it

the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

All

those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

All those against, 'nay.'

The

motion is carried.

CLERK:

Second reading of the

resolution.

motion, resolution read a second time.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Deputy

Government House Leader.

MS. COADY:

Mr. Speaker, I move,

seconded by the Minister of Children, Seniors and Social Development, for leave

to introduce a bill entitled,

An Act Granting To Her Majesty Certain Sums of

Money For Defraying Certain Expenses Of The Public Service For The Financial

Year Ending March 31, 2020 And For Other Purposes Relating To The Public

Service, Bill 55, and I further move the bill be now read a first time.

MR. SPEAKER:

It is moved and seconded

that the hon. the Deputy Government House Leader shall have to leave to

introduce Bill 55, the Interim Supply Bill, and that the said bill be now read a

first time.

Is it

the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

All

those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

All those against, 'nay.'

The

motion is carried.

Motion, that the hon. the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board to

introduce a bill, “An Act Granting To Her Majesty Certain Sums Of Money For

Defraying Certain Expenses Of The Public Service For The Financial Year Ending

March 31, 2020 And For Other Purposes Relating To The Public Service, carried.”

(Bill 55)

CLERK:

A bill,

An Act Granting To Her Majesty Certain Sums Of Money For Defraying

Certain Expenses Of The Public Service For The Financial Year Ending March 31,

2020 And For Other Purposes Relating To The Public Service. (Bill 55)

motion, Bill 55 read a first time.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Deputy

Government House Leader.

MS. COADY:

Mr. Speaker, I move,

seconded by the Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development, that Bill

55 be now read a second time.

MR. SPEAKER:

It is moved and seconded

that the said bill be now read a second time.

Is it

the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

All

those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

All those against, 'nay.'

The

motion is carried.

CLERK:

A bill,

An Act Granting To Her Majesty Certain Sums Of Money For Defraying

Certain Expenses Of The Public Service For The Financial Year Ending March 31,

2020 And For Other Purposes Relating To The Public Service. (Bill 55)

motion, Bill 55 read a second time.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Deputy Government House Leader.

MS. COADY:

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Member for Torngat Mountains, that Bill 55

be now read a third time.

MR. SPEAKER:

It is moved and seconded

that the said bill be now read a third time.

Is it

the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

All

those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

All those against, 'nay.'

The

motion is carried.

CLERK:

A bill,

An Act Granting To Her Majesty Certain Sums Of Money For Defraying

Certain Expenses Of The Public Service For The Financial Year Ending March 31,

2020 And For Other Purposes Relating To The Public Service. (Bill 55)

MR. SPEAKER:

This bill has now been read a third time and it is ordered that the bill do pass

and its title be as on the Order Paper.

On motion, a bill,

“An Act Granting To Her Majesty Certain Sums Of Money For Defraying Certain

Expenses Of The Public Service For The Financial Year Ending March 31, 2020 And

For Other Purposes Relating To The Public Service,” read a third time, ordered

passed and its title be as on the Order Paper. (Bill 55)

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Deputy Government House Leader.

MS. COADY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Noting

the time, I move that we adjourn until 2 p.m.

MR. SPEAKER:

And in accordance with

Standing Order 9(1)(b), this House stands in recess until 2 o'clock this

afternoon.

Thank

you.

Recess

The

House resumed at 2 p.m.

MR. SPEAKER:

Admit strangers, please.

Order,

please!

I'd

like to welcome the Members back. First of all, I'd like to draw your attention

to the Speaker's gallery today and I'd like to welcome Mrs. Keli Jo Healey. Mrs.

Healey is joining us this afternoon for a special tribute.

Welcome

to you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

I wasn't going to introduce

him but I am going to because there are not a lot of folks watching, but up in

the public gallery I have a friend of mine from St. John's, Mr. Fred Dodd.

Nice to

see you, Fred.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

Statements by Members

MR. SPEAKER:

For Members' statements

today, we will hear from the Members for the Districts of Exploits, Topsail -

Paradise, Torngat Mountains, Stephenville - Port au Port, Terra Nova and

Waterford Valley.

The

hon. the Member for Exploits.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. DEAN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, I rise in this hon. House today to recognize four members of sister

Lions Clubs, Bishop's Falls and Botwood in