MR. SPEAKER (Hodder): Order, please!

Admit strangers.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

This afternoon we have members' statements as follows: the hon. the Member for the District of Grand Bank; the hon. the Member for the District of Lake Melville; the hon. the Member for the District of Carbonear-Harbour Grace; the hon. the Member for the District of Gander; and, the hon. the Member for the District of Port de Grave.

The Chair recognizes the Member for the District of Grand Bank.

MS FOOTE: Mr. Speaker, I rise today to extend congratulations to the Lawn Mustangs. The senior boys at Holy Name of Mary Academy in Lawn claimed the 2006 provincial 2A high school basketball championship banner last weekend.

Nine teams participated in the tournament which was co-hosted by the champions and the St. Lawrence Academy Blues. The Mustangs captured a thrilling 59-58 home court victory over Dunne Academy of St. Mary's. It was their first provincial basketball title since 1991.

James Grant was named the team's Most Sportsmanlike Player for the tournament. Team members include: Robert Lambe, Travis Edwards, Andrew Strong, James Grant, George Edwards, Jonathan Dunphy, Kenny Edwards, Justin Keating, Justin Power, David Baggs, Gerard Lundrigan, Lyle Edwards, and coach Scott Bishop.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all members of this House to join me in congratulating the Lawn Mustangs on their provincial win.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of Lake Melville.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House today to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of a constituent of mine, Mr. Don Davis. Mr. Davis first came to Happy Valley-Goose Bay as a young man of eighteen, back in 1956, and as of March 7 of this year has lived in the area for fifty years. For the last forty-eight years he has been employed on the Base in a variety of positions which I would like to recognize today.

He first went to work as a cleaner, for nine months in 1956, and in January of 1957 went to work as a trainee in the steam plant on the Base in Goose Bay. He worked there for a year before being promoted to turbine operator, where he stayed for ten years. He then moved into the position of lead boiler operator, where he stayed until 1991, before becoming maintenance foreman at the Steam Plant until his retirement in 1996.

Mr. Speaker, however, he did not stay idle for long as he came back to the Base in 1998 as an employee of Serco, as a 3^rd Class Engineer at the Steam Plant. In total, he has worked sixteen-and-a-half years for the Americans at Goose Bay, twenty-three-and-a-half years for the Department of National Defence, and the last eight year with Serco.

Mr. Davis is a credit to his employers, past and present, and to the Base as a whole, for his strong dedication and commitment to his career.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask all Members of the House of Assembly today to join me as we congratulate Mr. Davis on fifty years of employment at the Base in Goose Bay.

Thank you very much.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. SWEENEY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am please to rise today to congratulate the Carbonear Collegiate male and female wrestling teams who have each won banners at the 2006 School Sport Newfoundland and Labrador High School Provincial Wrestling Championships held on February 17 and February 18, hosted by Templeton Academy.

The Boys Sentinels captured seven out of eighteen possible gold medals, along with four silver and two bronze. The Ladies Sentinels secured three gold, three silver and two bronze medals for forty-six team points. Twelve senior high schools from around Newfoundland and Labrador attended the two day tournament.

Mr. Speaker, wrestling has come a long way in the Trinity-Conception area in recent years. According to their coach, Randy Ralph, wrestlers leave school, go on to universities and compete at national levels. Over the past four years, Carbonear Collegiate has won a total of five provincial banners.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all members of this House to join with me in congratulating the Boys and Ladies Sentinels on winning banners at the 2006 School Sport Newfoundland and Labrador High School Provincial Wrestling Championships.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. O'BRIEN: Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the life of a long-time resident and accomplished educator from Gander. Mr. Eric Norman recently passed away after a four year battle with cancer. Mr. Norman was sixty-eight years old and lived each day to the fullest, as he kept active within the Town of Gander and within the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. He was the Chair of the Council of Canadians with Disabilities and he established the local chapter of Whole Accessibility Group.

Mr. Norman was also well respected in the field of education. As a teacher and an administrator in the Province, Mr. Norman spent many years leading his colleagues in the development of the best possible educational options for students. He has often been called an innovator and a leader in curriculum development. Mr. Norman's commitment to Newfoundland and Labrador also came through in his work with this Province's artists. He established a visiting artists program that saw people like Fergus O'Byrne and Cassie Brown visit schools to read and speak with students.

It was not only in his passing that Mr. Norman drew praise. When he retired fifteen years ago, a book of tributes was published. In one contribution Ms Helen Porter said it all. She wrote: Eric Norman's name should be known to and remembered by everybody interested in the literary history of this Province. I cannot think of anybody else who has made such a valuable contribution.

Mr. Speaker, I ask that all members of this hon. House join me in recognizing the life and accomplishments of this tremendous Newfoundlander and Labradorian.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BUTLER: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am pleased today to rise to congratulate Jessica Mercer, a student of Holy Redeemer, Spaniards's Bay, who is the regional winner of the Brown Bag Project, sponsored by the Citizens' Crime Prevention Association of Newfoundland and Labrador.

The Brown Bag Project is an anti-drinking and driving awareness project carried out with Grade 4 and Grade 5 students throughout the Province.

The Citizens' Crime Prevention Association of Newfoundland and Labrador heads up the competition. This association is committed to identifying and eliminating problems, such as drinking and driving, and providing supports wherever needed.

Mr. Speaker, students were asked to draw a picture on the brown bags that expressed anti-drinking and driving messages. Each regional winner is selected at random. More than 12,000 brown bags were distributed to the schools. Those bags, Mr. Speaker, will be redistributed for use to the liquor stores throughout the Province to promote the message during Victoria Day weekend.

I ask all members of this House to join with me in congratulating Jessica Mercer, regional winner in the Spaniard's Bay area.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Statements by ministers.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Education.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS BURKE: Mr. Speaker, tonight teachers from across Newfoundland and Labrador will gather in St. John's for the inaugural Arts Work Conference.

Teachers from every region of the Province will connect with the many dedicated artists who bring our rich culture and heritage to life.

Over the next two days, teachers will interact with artists through workshops and presentations. This, in turn, will help them deliver exciting and innovative classes in art, music and theatre arts.

In addition, Mr. Speaker, I am especially pleased today to inform my hon. colleagues that we will invest $25,000 to bring back the Visiting Artists Program - which was the victim of funding cuts in the mid 1990s. We have heard that this program was highly valued by our teachers and students and that exposure to different artists can have a tremendous impact on our students.

In response, we will partner with the Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers' Association and the Arts Council to establish a Visiting Artists Program. It will significantly increase the number of local actors, writers and visual artists who will visit our schools and work directly with students and teachers. The aim of this work, Mr. Speaker, is to make it possible for teachers in every school in Newfoundland and Labrador to invite artists into their classrooms. It will also complement our ArtsSmarts and Learning Through the Arts programs.

The new Visiting Artists Program and the Arts Work Conference are excellent examples of the many initiatives stemming from our three year, $10 million Cultural Connections Strategy.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS BURKE: We are making great strides in increasing cultural content in the school curriculum and fostering links between artists and students in the school environment.

I am very proud of the investments this government is making in arts and culture, from the Cultural Connections Strategy, to the recently announced investment of over $17 million for the Province's first cultural plan.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS BURKE: We have much to celebrate during this Month of the Arts, declared yesterday by my colleague, Minister Tom Hedderson.

I would like to acknowledge the organizations that have worked tirelessly on our first Arts Work Conference: the Arts Council, the Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers' Association, the Eastern School District and The Rooms. I wish all teachers an exciting and informative session.

We are already looking forward to future conferences to be held in different regions of the Province and, of course, the launch of the new Visiting Artists Program later this month.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

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

First of all, I want -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Chair recognizes the Member for Port de Grave.

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

I want to thank the minister for an advanced copy of her statement and to say that we, on this side of the House, welcome all the teachers to the Arts Work Conference here in St. John's this weekend. I can assure you that we are very positive and welcome anything for the cultures and arts in this Province of ours.

Mr. Speaker, I know that the minister announced they are putting $25,000 back into the program. I hope that the Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers' Association and the Arts Council will be putting more money than that into it, because if they are going to try to get artists to every school in this Province, I do not think the $25,000 will go very far.

The other thing, I would also like to acknowledge the other organizations and thank them for their support in organizing this conference this weekend.

I will also say to the minister and the hon. members opposite, if they would give me another second, I want to say, Mr. Speaker, she said that they were pleased to bring back the funds that were victimized during the mid-1990s. Well, I say, Madam Minister, we would like for you to bring back some of the 500 teachers you slashed over the last two years, and then this program will be a truly good announcement, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

Colleagues, we have only just begun the afternoon and we are doing statements by ministers.

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

MR. HARRIS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is nice to -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. HARRIS: Perhaps I should ask for leave first, Mr. Speaker, before I -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. HARRIS: Perhaps I should ask for leave -

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I am asking members -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please! Order, please!

I am asking all members for their co-operation.

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

MR. HARRIS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is nice to see the Minister of Education with a smile on her face when she delivers a statement in the House. It is a lot more fun than tearing up consultants' reports or speaking in Answers to Questions on school closures.

Mr. Speaker, this is clearly a positive statement and a positive step. Support for the arts and the arts community has been a long-standing part of our Party's policy, and this member's. In fact, Mr. Speaker, you might have noticed that the story, the film biography of Tommy Douglas, noted at the end one of the firsts for the Saskatchewan government was that the Saskatchewan government or Tommy Douglas was the first provincial government in Canada to provide funding for the arts and an arts council. It is something that we support very much, Mr. Speaker.

You are looking at your stopwatch. I am going to ask for leave in advance of your statement, Mr. Speaker. May I have leave to continue, ladies and gentlemen?

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The member's allotted time has expired. Does the member have leave?

AN HON. MEMBER: By leave.

MR. SPEAKER: By leave.

MR. HARRIS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The arts, particularly the arts in the classroom, is a very important part of our cultural heritage. Not only do students get a chance to experience, through the ArtsSmarts program and other programs, actual participation in arts activities themselves, whether it be visual arts or otherwise, but the visiting artists who travel around, whether it be performing artists, visual artists, playwrights or whatever, are able to not only show students parts of our culture but also inspire them to have an interest in our culture, and potentially being artists or writers or performers themselves.

It is a very positive hands-on program that offers a lot to our students across the Province, and I, for one, am very glad to see that this program is continuing and being restored as the minister has said.

MR. SPEAKER: Further Statements by Ministers?

Oral Questions.

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

MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

My questions are for the Premier.

Mr. Speaker, there are 350 people without work at the Fortune FPI plant since last April, I believe. There are another 650 people who have been without work in Marystown since early January. That is when they normally go back to work. The Premier involves himself personally in the oil and gas industry, but he says and does nothing about our fishing industry.

I ask the Premier: What discussions has he personally had with FPI in the last couple of weeks to try and do something to get those 1,000 people on the Burin Peninsula back to work?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER WILLIAMS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, unlike previous administrations we have very competent Ministers of Fisheries, and they handle the affairs in the department. They are interested in finding out what is going on. They know what is going on. As a matter of fact, our Minister of Fisheries today is attending a very important meeting on behalf of the people of the Province to deal with a very important industry, which is the sealing industry.

You can see by the results that we have had from the Larry King show, you can see by what is happening with Costco, you can see by what happened to Pamela Anderson the other night, that we are winning this war on seals, and he is at a very important meeting (inaudible).

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER WILLIAMS: Having said that, as recently as last week, we had a senior level meeting in government with senior ministers, caucus members, with regard to the FPI matter. When it comes to dealing with the company directly, the Minister of Fisheries has been dealing on that matter.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Premier always resorts to personal attacks when he does not want to answer a question. I asked him if he had any meetings himself, personally, with FPI. He just answered no, he has not.

Mr. Speaker, the Premier is willing to do battle with the largest oil companies in the world, but he allows FPI and its board of directors to run roughshod over thousands of people in this Province.

I ask the Premier: When are you going to stand up for the people in towns like Marystown, Harbour Breton, Fortune, Bonavista, Burin, Triton, and Port au Choix? I ask the Premier: When are you going to do something for those people?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER WILLIAMS: We stand on our record, Mr. Speaker.

The Member for Bellevue, for example, knows what we did in Arnold's Cove to stand up for the people in his district. Three hundred people, basically, saved their jobs. Never had an approach from you, never had a conversation with you. You never knocked on the door, you never inquired, you never bothered. Now, all of a sudden, every pretends they are really interested. Well, we are extremely interested in the people in Marystown, extremely interested in the people in Burin, and extremely interested in the people in every community in this Province, and we will stand up and we will fight for every single one of them.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER WILLIAMS: The minute I sit down and I have a meeting with FPI, you will be on your feet saying I am a buddy of Mr. Risley.

Well, let me tell you very clearly for the record, I am certainly not a buddy of Mr. Risley or anyone on that board.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Premier talks about his and his government's record. We have Stephenville closed, we have Harbour Breton closed, we have Fortune closed, and we have Marystown closed. Most of the areas in rural Newfoundland today are closed.

Mr. Speaker, the Premier's Minister of Fisheries has said on several occasions, both in and out of the House, that he is prepared to amend the FPI act to strengthen it for the people of this Province.

I ask the Premier: Is this just another one of the Minister of Fisheries' many rants, that he is apt to do in recent days, or can we reasonably expect to see amendments to the FPI legislation before this House closes, or are we going to be called back later in the summer, when FPI itself wants to amend the act, like we did last summer?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. TAYLOR: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I will just remind the hon. Leader of the Opposition that, when the FPI Board of Directors changed in 2001, his Premier, the Premier that he was the Minister of Fisheries under, when he was visited by the new Board of Directors, informed everybody in Newfoundland and Labrador that he did not have enough interest to ask the people any questions about their plans for FPI.

Maybe, Mr. Speaker, if the Premier of the Province in 2001, the hon. Roger Grimes, and the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture at the time, the Member for Twillingate & Fogo, had enough interest to ask some questions, we would not find ourselves in the situation that we are here today.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. TAYLOR: As it stands, Mr. Speaker, this government has been consistently asking questions of FPI. We have had access to their books. We are doing an evaluation of the financial state of FPI. We have indicated our willingness to amend the FPI Act, if required; and, if we have to come back the middle of July to do it, we will. I do not know if they are willing to be here but we will be, Mr. Speaker!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. REID: A final question, Mr. Speaker.

I say to the minister, in the words of his leader, the Premier: Harbour Breton did not close under my watch. Fortune did not close under my watch. Marystown did not close under my watch.

When are you going to do something? Don't say, if the legislation is required. When are you going to change the legislation so we can put those 1,000 people back to work? - something they were doing when I was the minister!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. TAYLOR: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I will say to the Leader of the Opposition, Mr. Speaker, that he sowed the seeds in FPI. He sowed the seeds. He and his government sowed the seeds of destruction that we are seeing in the fishing industry today.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. TAYLOR: It was his government that licensed all the shrimp plants. It was his government that licensed all the crab plants. It was his government that sat and did nothing about the structural problems in the fishing industry while the Canadian dollar was at sixty-five cents and they could get away with it, and the price of crab was at $2.50, and the price of foreign-sourced cod was at $2,000 a ton.

Mr. Speaker, the world has changed. The price of foreign-sourced cod is $3,500 a ton today, and the Canadian dollar is at eighty-six cents. If he does not recognize that, make no wonder he did no more with the fishery when he was Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture than he did.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Opposition House Leader.

MR. PARSONS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

My questions are for the Premier. They relate to the cessation of negotiations between the Province and the Hebron-Ben Nevis ownership group.

Premier, you were prepared to accept a 4.9 per cent equity position - and apparently that was acceptable to the partners, according to your statements. Would we have compromised any managerial and operational input by accepting a 4.9 per cent equity state versus your original request for 8.5 per cent?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER WILLIAMS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

In your own works, hon. House Leader, we do need the equity position. That is what this hon. gentleman said in an interview just two nights ago: We do need the equity position. The Premier is quite right on that. We should wait if we have to wait.

Two nights ago you agreed with the fact that we are looking for an equity position. We have a 4.9 per cent agreement on an equity position. That was a number that could have facilitated a deal. If we had that equity position, we could probably get, on a return from it, with above $50 oil - probably $140 million a year from a 4.9 per cent equity position. If that is ten years, that is $1.4 billion. What else do you want?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. PARSONS: Premier, I guess you did not get the question I asked. It had nothing to do with the economic return we would have on the equity share.

My question was: Does it make a difference in terms of the Province's managerial and operational input if we have a 4.9 per cent share versus an 8.5 per cent share? That was my question. It is not related to the economics of what the share would generate.

This was my question: Does it make a difference to us if it is a 4.9 per cent versus 8.5 per cent in terms of managerial and operational input? Because it is my understanding that if you own less than 5 per cent - and I stand to be corrected, that is why I am asking the question. If you have less than 5 per cent, you do not have any say in managerial and operational operations.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER WILLIAMS: Mr. Speaker, the hon. gentleman does not need to be corrected or stand to be corrected. He knows what I said when I was asked questions over the last two days.

The reason we went from 8.5 per cent to below 5 per cent was because 5 per cent was a critical turning point in the joint venture agreement. The partners could not unanimously deliver more than 5 per cent to the Province of Newfoundland. Under that circumstance, there would be absolutely no agreement whatsoever. Four point nine percent is critical because when you get to 5 per cent there is an absolute veto right on all decisions.

This Province, in order to achieve 4.9 per cent, which could probably give us $1.5 billion additional return over time, was prepared to concede a veto right. We are not interested in a veto right on the project. That is the reason.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. PARSONS: Thank you.

I appreciate the straightforward answer.

Premier, you told this House yesterday, when questioned about the negotiations, that the negotiations ended because the Hebron-Ben Nevis ownership group had reverted to the January 26 position. Two answers later you said that the group had gotten cute - was your word - and they tried to change their January 26 agreement. Given your use of these two, very different words, the January 26 position and the January 26 agreement, which is it? Because depending on whether January 26 was a position of theirs or an agreement that you had, it makes a lot of difference, and I think we ought to know what was what.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER WILLIAMS: Mr. Speaker, if we had an agreement on January 26, what did we spend the next seventy days talking about? Really, (inaudible).

It was a January 26 position. That is exactly what it was. It was a position that had been negotiated down from their position over the course of two months. That is what was done between Mr. Martin and Mr. Bates, with intervention by us at certain points in time. What they did on last Thursday night, when we finally got down to the two final issues - which was equity and super royalty. When we had agreement on those issues, they reverted to the January 26 position, which included investment tax credits, which would have cost the Province about a half billion dollars. So, you had four companies that, collectively in revenues last year, made $590 billion and were looking for our Province to give them another half billion dollars. That simply was not on.

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

MR. PARSONS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Premier, could you tell the House if it is correct that the Hibernia ownership group are now not going to go forward with their planned expenditures in the tune of millions of dollars? As I understand it, they had a planned expansion of the Hibernia production facility to develop the Hibernia south project. Is it correct that they do not intend to go forward with that now?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. E. BYRNE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I do not know if the member opposite is taking a shot in the dark or if he has some information, but there is no planned expenditure for Hibernia, in what he is talking about. If there is, it would be coming forward to the Canada-Newfoundland Offshore Petroleum Board as the regulator. Following that, they would have to file a development plan application. Following that, with the decisions on that, they are all fundamental decisions, it would have to come to the desk of the provincial government, who have absolute control and right over fundamental decisions.

To the best of my knowledge, and this is to the best of my knowledge that was updated very recently, there is no development plan application before the Canada-Newfoundland Offshore Petroleum Board. There is no plan for the further expansion yet, I might add, from the Hibernia Management Development Company, and when and if that comes, we will deal with it on its merits and on the face of it. But, if the member has some additional information that he would like to offer, that he believes he has, than I would like to hear it.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

My questions are for the Minister of Health.

On Tuesday the minister misinformed the House, saying that drugs for MS patients and for patients suffering from various forms of arthritis are fully covered by the Province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS JONES: This only applies to people - Mr. Speaker, the minister knows that this only applies to people on social assistance and with drug cards.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Chair recognizes the Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair.

If the member is putting a question, I would ask her to do so.

MS JONES: Mr. Speaker, the minister fully knows that this applies only to people on social assistance with drug cards. Mr. Speaker, of the 1,030 people in the Province diagnosed multiple sclerosis, only 400 of them actually -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I am asking members for their co-operation and I ask the member now if she would put her question.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Of the 1,030 people in the Province diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, only 400 of them actually receive the therapies that are prescribed. The rest cannot afford it.

I ask the minister, was this a right choice to exclude the other 600 patients?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. T. OSBORNE: First of all, Mr. Speaker, let me say that I take great offence to the member's comments. There was no misleading of the House here. MS drugs and drugs for arthritis - which is what she asked about last week in the House. MS drugs were made available eight years ago. Arthritis drugs were made available last year. They are available under the Prescription Drug Program, as are any other drugs available under that program, to everybody in the Province who qualifies. This year, Mr. Speaker, in this year's Budget, we doubled the number of people who qualify under the Prescription Drug Program for those drugs.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair.

MS JONES: Mr. Speaker, I ask the minister to qualify his statement by saying these drugs are only available to people on social assistance, and that is the fact of the matter. There are 600 people out there today in our Province who cannot afford these drugs which cost them anywhere from $17,000 to $28,000 annually.

I ask the minister: Every other province in Canada has a co-pay system for all patients who want to use those drugs, why isn't he prepared to implement the same?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. T. OSBORNE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, drug cards in this Province are provided on an income-tested basis, not only to social services but on an income-tested basis. In this year's Budget we increased the threshold to allow for people who earned an income, so that the number of people in this Province go from approximately 20 per cent to approximately 40 per cent. That is a huge number of the people in the Province who now have access to affordable drugs.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair.

MS JONES: Mr. Speaker, can the minister confirm that the threshold that has been raised to $30,000 for families with an income of $30,000 does not provide them free drugs, but in fact only provides them a subsidy, and in some cases that subsidy is as low as 30 per cent.

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. T. OSBORNE: Again, Mr. Speaker, drug cards are provided on an income-tested basis. Under what we have announced in this year's Budget, the subsidies for people who are working who will now qualify for drug cards on an affordable basis are as high as 70 per cent as well. They range from 30 per cent subsidy to a 70 per cent subsidy. The fact of the matter is we have now made available, to 20 per cent of the people of the Province, drugs on an affordable basis, up from approximately 20 per cent. Now, 40 per cent of the people of this Province have access to affordable drugs. It is a heck of a whole lot better than they provided when they were in government, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair.

MS JONES: Mr. Speaker, in light of the government's new fiscal wealth, not only are these patients going without drugs, but many of them are losing the nursing resources they have. As of Friday, the multiple sclerosis nurse who provides services out of St. John's to a large part of the Avalon, to the Burin Peninsula, is having her position terminated.

Can the minister tell me why that is?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. T. OSBORNE: Mr. Speaker, I am not aware of that. I will certainly look into it. I do know that under this year's Budget we are providing an additional thirty-nine nursing positions throughout the Province. I will look into this particular situation because I am not aware of it.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair.

MS JONES: Mr. Speaker, maybe the minister would like to tell patients like Brenda Hickey of Harbour Breton that her arthritis medication is covered, because it is not. The mother of two is laid off from FPI, no longer with any health insurance, and now she finds herself in a position where she has to buy very expensive drugs and therefore she is going without them.

Mr. Speaker, this program is not looking after middle-income and low-income earners in the way that it should. When are you going to use some of the surplus money that you have, to ensure that people like Brenda Hickey have the coverage they need?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. T. OSBORNE: Mr. Speaker, this government is committed to providing quality health care and to providing affordable drugs to people in this Province.

Mr. Speaker, I have great sympathy for the person that the member opposite has just inquired about. I have great sympathy for any individual in this Province who has to face the cost of catastrophic drugs. The reality is, we are moving in the right direction. We can only do so much within available resources. We have increased, this year, the number of people who qualify for affordable drugs by 100,000 people.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. T. OSBORNE: This individual, hopefully, this year, Mr. Speaker, under the new program, will qualify for a subsidy under the provincial drug program.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair.

MS JONES: Mr. Speaker, Brenda Hickey has psoriatic arthritis, and Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are three times the national average when it comes to this disease. So, given the fact that there are about 2,500 people in our Province affected by this disease, today 150 of them are going without medication, I say to the minister. That was information confirmed by the physicians. One hundred and fifty of them affected by psoriatic arthritis today are going without medication, three times greater than the national average. Can I ask the minister if he will provide the money to cover drugs for these people?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. T. OSBORNE: Mr. Speaker, I will remind the member who, at one point, was the Minister of Health, of two things. First of all, I find it very unfortunate that she will bring personal cases to the floor of the House of Assembly without first approaching me and asking me to look into these individual cases. Furthermore, when the member was Minister of Health, they did not double the number of people who qualified for affordable drugs in this Province.

This government, in this year's Budget, has increased the number of people who qualify for affordable drugs by almost 100,000 people. This government is showing compassion for the people who cannot afford drugs. We are making drugs affordable.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. R. COLLINS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

I want to ask the minister what his department is doing about the fact that, in this entire Province, there are six orthodontists who mainly travel through the larger centres of the Province so that people can come in and have access. I want to ask the minister if his department is actively seeking the services of more orthodontists to come into the Province?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. T. OSBORNE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank the member for his question. This is an important question.

There are services of an orthodontist provided in Happy Valley-Goose Bay. Unfortunately, I know residents of your district have to make travel arrangements from Labrador West to Happy Valley-Goose Bay. It is a serious issue.

Unfortunately, the orthodontists are a fee-for-service provided throughout the Province. I will undertake to look into your question, to look into the issue. Unfortunately, as well, specialized services such as this, retention and recruitment is an issue. It is an issue for every province in Canada. We will look into it, and we are trying to improve specialized services throughout the Province where the services are not up to what we would see as acceptable standards.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. R. COLLINS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I raised this with the minister this morning, earlier, during the Budget Estimates Committee meetings, but I want to ask the minister this question: If we cannot bring the orthodontists to where people are - there are over 100 people in my district who are going without this service today. I want to ask him: If the orthodontist can travel to one region of Labrador, to Happy Valley-Goose Bay area, will the minister allow people from other regions of Labrador to access the medical transportation subsidy to get their kids to where the orthodontist will be?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. T. OSBORNE: Yes, Mr. Speaker, we will look into that. Obviously, there could be implications for all services in all regions of the Province when we take a move like this. I understand the implications for your constituents, and it is an issue that we will look into.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Grand Falls-Buchans.

MS THISTLE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

In the past two years we have witnessed this government throwing career civil servants out the door to make way for their political cronies. In fact, another assistant deputy minister was fired on Monday. The amount allocated in the Budget for severance has gone from $7 million to $8 million a year, to $13 million to $17 million a year.

I ask the Minister of Finance: How many civil servants were fired last year, and how many are you firing this year with the extra $6 million severance of the taxpayers' money you have in the Budget?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SULLIVAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I will tell her, as a result of this Budget, out in health boards and elsewhere, and in the direct government departments, probably 400 people more will be working in this Province over last year. I will tell her that.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SULLIVAN: I will tell her that some appointments of government are at pleasure and the responsibility of individuals in that position. When they were in power they had a track beat. Three got a call at their supper. Deputy ministers got a call at suppertime from somebody else in the Province, from staff in the Premier's Office, telling them not to come to work any more. That is the way they treated people here. At least people here have the courtesy to talk to individuals if services may not be needed any more, and do it in an appropriate manner.

There are always changes in government. On any given day there could be 100 people change within government, within the public service generally. We have a large public service. Changes occur on an ongoing basis there, and whatever we did is not a fraction of the way that they treated individuals and people here when they were in power.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Grand Falls-Buchans.

MS THISTLE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

There can't be too many out there now without a job, by the sound of things.

Mr. Speaker, a few short years ago the current Minister of Finance and others on that side of the House stood shoulder to shoulder with public sector pensioners in this Province and told them they deserved an increase in their pension. Now in the third year of their mandate and flush with cash, this government has once again ignored pubic sector pensioners.

I ask the minister: When is he going to live up to the commitment he made to those retired workers?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SULLIVAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Pensions are determined on two things. They are determined on amount of years of services, and are based on a percentage of the salary for each of the years you work. That is what pensions are based on, and there is also an indexation of pensions in our Province.

What we have done, what that government failed to do - they raided the pension plans of the Province - we are prepared to put in excess of $3 billion into the pension plans, Mr. Speaker -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SULLIVAN: - to ensure that the people who are getting a pension today will be able to get one in the future. That is what we are doing here, to an unprecedented level in the history of our Province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Member for Grand Falls-Buchans.

MS THISTLE: Mr. Speaker, I say, thank God we are surrounded by oil, because there was nothing this crowd over there did to create a revenue surplus here.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS THISTLE: Mr. Speaker, public sector pensioners have been left out of this year's Budget. Despite the massive increase in severance costs, there is not even a token increase for pensioners. Those are the same pensioners who got no break on heating costs, no break on government fees, no break on gas prices.

I ask the minister - his Budget slogan is called: The Right Choices. Do you think you have made the right choices when you forgot those retired workers and so many other average working people in our Province?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SULLIVAN: Mr. Speaker, the hon. member and others have become so used to being in a deficit that they have become comfortable and they do not want success when it hits them.

What we have done in this government - and I met with pensioners and I explained to pensioners in the last few months - I have indicated that what we are trying to do is not just assist pensioners -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SULLIVAN: They don't want to hear the answer, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. SULLIVAN: We do not just want to assist the pensioners who worked for government. We want to assist the pensioners, and people who have no pensions, who have incomes of $10,000, $15,000 and $20,000 and $30,000. We have addressed all low income people in the Province, regardless of their source of income. That is the honourable way to go! It is the appropriate way to go! Treat everybody alike, regardless of where their cheque comes from. That is the philosophy of this government.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

We have time for one short question and a short reply.

The hon. the Member for Fortune Bay-Cape la Hune.

MR. LANGDON: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

My question is for the Minister of Municipal Affairs.

Mr. Speaker, the problems facing these rural municipals are serious and solutions have to be found. My question is: Given the government's enhanced financial position, will the government consider raising the Municipal Operating Grants to small rural communities?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. J. BYRNE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The hon. member knows full well that when they were in power they cut the Municipal Operating Grants from $40 million down to $21 million. Two years ago, when we found the mess the previous Administration had, that we had to face when we took over government, we announced that there would be an impact of $5 million over three years for fourteen municipals.

Mr. Speaker, we are doing what we can for the rural municipals in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. We have been committed to that and we will continue to work with the rural communities in Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The time allocated for Question Period has expired.

Presenting Reports by Standing and Select Committees.

Tabling of Documents.

MR. SPEAKER: In compliance with the Public Tender Act, I am tabling the Report of the Public Tender Act exceptions for the months of November and December, 2005, and for the months of January and February 2006.

Notices of Motion.

Answers to Questions for which Notice has been given.

Petitions

Orders of the Day

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

MR. E. BYRNE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Motion 1, that this House approves in general the budgetary policy of the government.

MR. SPEAKER: Motion 1.

I do believe that the last speaker was the Member for Fortune Bay-Cape la Hune. I believe his time had expired.

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

MR. E. BYRNE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure - I want to take a few moments to speak to the Budget, and particularly to the Department of Natural Resources today, about some of the initiatives that we are moving forward. These initiatives all relate to rural Newfoundland and Labrador, Mr. Speaker.

But, before I do, before I go there, I think it is important to ask some questions. We know today, for example, that the Member for Bay of Islands said that he would not resign his seat, only for Premiers. The Member for Grand Falls-Buchans said her seat is her seat. So, throughout the course of the day we will all get a chance to talk to members on which one of them - because the new Leader of the Liberal Party, in his condemnation of government, in combination, Mr. Speaker -

AN HON. MEMBER: You are not as good as Roger.

MR. E. BYRNE: And nor would I want to be as good as Roger at what he did either, let me say to the member opposite.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. E. BYRNE: As a matter of fact, I say to the -

MR. JOYCE: On a point of order, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

A point of order has been called by the Member for Bay of Islands.

MR. JOYCE: Mr. Speaker, what I did say is that I would do it for certain Premiers, but it would not be for that Premier. That Premier waltzed into the Bay of Islands during the last election and made about five commitments that they are still waiting to meet. So, it would not be for that Premier, I can guarantee you that.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

There is no point of order.

The Chair recognizes the hon. the Government House Leader.

MR. E. BYRNE: It is always nice to provide an opportunity for members opposite to swallow themselves whole, because what he just said - nor would we expect him to do it for our Premier, but what he really just said is that he would not do it for his own leader, Mr. Speaker. That is exactly what he said.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. E. BYRNE: Now, let me get back to the point that one member opposite raised. He said: You're not as good as Roger Grimes was. You know, I think if I were to leave politics today, or someday when I do, I would have to put that on my resume, I say to the member opposite.

Mr. Speaker, the most important matter between us today is the Budget. I want to talk about some of the initiatives that we have taken with respect to the Department of Agriculture and how those initiatives lends itself to the further expansion and development of rural parts of our Province.

I would like to speak, first of all, to the Department of Agrifoods and the agrifoods initiatives that we are undertaking.

Mr. Speaker, last year we put in place the largest Land Consolidation Program in the Province's history. Why did we do that? We did it for a specific reason. Because there was an opportunity to double the size of an industry. In doing so throughout the course of the last year, over a five-year period, we have taken the opportunity to continue to purchase that land and to put more acreage into production. I am happy to report, Mr. Speaker, that we built upon that this year. This year we increased, to historic levels, the limestone assistance program, we have increased resource agricultural roads, all in rural parts of our Province, and we added capacity and salaries to veterinarians at the animal health division.

I say to the Member for Port de Grave - one second - was it you singing out to me there? Was it the Member for Port de Grave? I thought he might have been talking to me. Maybe the Member for Port de Grave is going to resign his seat for the leader. Is that what you were saying?

MR. BUTLER: No. (Inaudible).

MR. E. BYRNE: Oh, so the Member for Port de Grave is not going to resign his seat either. Okay.

Mr. Speaker, I was right in the middle of talking about agrifoods - I will get back to it in a second - and the Member for Port de Grave was saying something. Now we know the Member for Grand Falls-Buchans is not going to resign her seat. The Member for Bay of Islands, the Member for Port de Grave and the Member for LaPoile - when the Premier asked, are you going to resign your seat, you said no. Who is it? That leaves Carbonear-Harbour Grace. Is the Member for Carbonear-Harbour Grace going to resign his seat for his leader? He is not saying anything. He has been around a while. He is smiling.

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. E. BYRNE: I'll bet ya! I don't think the Member for Carbonear-Harbour Grace - as a matter of fact I heard that he wouldn't. In the absence of any retort, I can assume that he wouldn't. So that is one, two, three, four of them. There are not many left.

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

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

A point of order has been raised by the Opposition House Leader.

MR. PARSONS: Just so the hon. Government House Leader doesn't unintentionally have a false rumor out there with respect to me saying no, I would like to clarify that I did not say that I would not resign for Mr. Bennett. I am not usually taken to egotistical rantings, but I would like to think enough of myself, and that I am so valuable to caucus, that the member wouldn't ask me to resign for him.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

There is no point of order.

I recognize the Government House Leader.

MR. E. BYRNE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I think we are on to something. It think we are on to something here. We have lots of time to talk about agrifoods but this important, and I am going to tell you why it is important in a few moments.

We have the Member for Burgeo & LaPoile, the Member for Port de Grave, the Member for Grand Falls-Buchans, the Member for Bay of Islands, and the Member for Harbour Grace-Carbonear who we know will not give up the seat for his leader, because their leader said: A number of caucus members - let me quote it, so we all understand. Here is what he said: I had offers from members in our caucus that I would run in a seat if I wanted to run.

All right, so there are five right now. Now, the Member for Bellevue is not going to give up his seat for nobody, because I am not convinced he would find a seat anywhere else, to be honest with you. I do know for a fact, I say to my colleagues, and the Member for Bellevue is not going to challenge me on it, that seat he is not giving up because he is not going to have it for much longer; and, if he did give it up, he does not know what seat who would end up in.

So, that is Grand Falls-Buchans, the Member for Bellevue, the Member for Bay of Islands, the Member for Port de Grave, the Member for Burgeo & LaPoile, and the Member for Harbour Grace-Carbonear, who are not going to give up their seats for their leader. Now, that leaves only three more. That only leaves three more. Four more, sorry, four more. That is, the Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. E. BYRNE: Now, who is it? Is it the Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: No, no.

MR. E. BYRNE: Who has heard that?

My colleague from Lake Melville tells me -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. E. BYRNE: One second now, this is important. I am going to get through them all.

My colleague from Lake Melville tells me that he has heard, on good authority, that she is not going to give up her seat. That is what I heard. So, we now know it is not the Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair, because if what I am saying was incorrect she would be the first one over there standing to her feet to correct me, wouldn't she? Absolutely.

What about the Member for Grand Bank? We do know she wanted to run federally, and that is fair enough. That is not a slight, because that is what a politician's life is like, but it begs the question: Did the Member for Grand Bank offer to give up her seat for Mr. Bennett, the new Leader of the Liberal Party?

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. E. BYRNE: Oh, she won't tell me. Now, Mr. Speaker, do you know something? With a new leader coming in - and I have been in that position myself - when it starts to happen and you want to give up a seat.... I was a student at university when the hon. Clyde Wells was elected, and the member for, I think it was Exploits -

AN HON. MEMBER: Windsor-Buchans.

MR. E. BYRNE: Windsor-Buchans, right. Windsor-Buchans, Graham Flight, said, I will give up my seat - and they were proud to do so. They were proud to do so, because they were going to be elected the next Premier.

Now, the Member for Grand Bank will not tell me if she did or she did not, which tells me she did not.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. E. BYRNE: Exactly right, exactly right, because she might be of the same view as the Member for Bay of Islands, that they only give it up for Premiers, not for people who will never be Premier, Mr. Speaker.

So, who else do we have left? The Member for Torngat Mountains. Now, absolutely not. I know that for a fact myself, for a fact myself, that the Member for Torngat Mountains will never give up his seat. He is going to stay, that is what I understand, and stay until the next general election. That is my understanding. Now, if I am wrong I am sure he will tell me if I am wrong, but that is my own personal understanding.

Now, who else is left? I think that is all of them.

AN HON. MEMBER: No, no, they have one more.

MR. E. BYRNE: There is one more? Who is it?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. E. BYRNE: Hold on. The Member for Fortune Bay-Cape la Hune. You know, the Member for Fortune Bay-Cape la Hune, I will say, was elected in 1989 - I was elected in 1993 - was always a courteous member to new members coming in. I can say that honestly.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. E. BYRNE: I can say that honestly and without fear of contradiction, that he is an hon. gentleman and was always courteous. Specifically I can speak for my own experience, but I do know that he is here until the next general election, because he is the type of hon. man who is not going to desert his constituents once they gave him a mandate to do it.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. E. BYRNE: So, it cannot be him.

Now, we have the Member for Torngat who is not doing it, the Member for Grand Falls-Buchans who said to the Premier: My seat is my seat.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. E. BYRNE: I can tell you, the Member for Twillingate & Fogo, who is now the Parliamentary Leader, the Leader of the Opposition, having sat in that seat, I know he is not going anywhere.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. E. BYRNE: I know he is not going anywhere, absolutely not. The Member for Twillingate & Fogo is not going to give up his seat. The Member for Burgeo & LaPoile basically just told us he wasn't going to. The Member for Grand Bank said: You would never know.

I can tell you this: If they thought that the new leader was going to be the next Premier there would be a stampede. We would know then, wouldn't we? So, we know she is not. We know the Member for the Bay of Islands - because he said, himself: I don't give up my seat. I only do it for Premiers. That is what he said. The Member for Port de Grave is not going to do it. The Member for Bellevue will not stand up and correct me when I say that he is definitely not going to do it. The Member for Fortune Bay-Cape la Hune, because he is an hon. man, will not do, and the Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair is not going to do it.

Let me say, Mr. Speaker, it begs the question, when Mr. Bennett says, I had offers from members in our caucus, I could run in their seat - no wonder he asked the Premier to appoint my colleague Wally Young so he could run in his seat. No wonder!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. E. BYRNE: No wonder!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I want to remind members - it happened earlier this afternoon and it just happened again - we should refer to members of this House by their electoral district or by their position in the House, and refrain from referring to people by their ordinary names.

The Chair recognizes the hon. the Government House Leader.

MR. E. BYRNE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I apologize to the House. It is an oversight. When you are dealing with close personal friends, it is natural to call them by their first names.

My point was this: The new Liberal leader said that members in his own caucus were willing to give up their seats, and not one of them today stood and said they would do it. As a matter of fact, there is a serious point in all of this. While there is a bit of a jest going back and forth about it, the fact of the matter is this: When you say outside of here, or in the political arena, that there are people willing to give up their seats, and people are denying it in the place today, I make the point strongly, and as strongly as I can, is it any wonder that he got on provincial TV and asked the Premier of the Province to appoint my colleague from St. Barbe to a public service position somewhere? I think - what did he say?

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible) nice appointment.

MR. E. BYRNE: If the Premier would like to make a nice appointment and Mr. Young, our present member, would let me run, then I would be happy to run in St. Barbe.

The fact of the matter is this: Nobody offered to give up their seat for the Liberal leader, not one person opposite. That is why he probably asked the Premier to make a nice appointment for Mr. Young.

The fact of the matter is this -

AN HON. MEMBER: They only give it up for Premiers.

MR. E. BYRNE: They only give it up for Premiers.

The fact of the matter is this: When it comes down to the type of life that we live in this House, as elected people, sometimes if you put yourself out there you have to deal with the consequences and the realities of what putting yourself out there means.

Mr. Speaker, I did not want to digress too much from my conversation today. I know that the Leader of the New Democratic Party did not give up his seat for him, because that was announced some time ago, and I wish him well.

Mr. Speaker, back to the Budget debate. I will say that some of the initiative taken within the Department of Natural Resources, and I just talked about some in agriculture, are extremely important. They are important for the dairy industry. They are important for the fur industry. They are important for the improvement and expansion of infrastructure, on farms and producers in this Province. They are important in the support that we provide to the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Agriculture, and the support and leadership that they provide on behalf of their membership in working with our department. Where do those activities take place? All in rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

Last year, for example, the provincial agricultural industry was worth $550 million; employed directly and indirectly 6,000 people; expected to double in size for a couple of reasons, but expected to double in size over the next four to five years, driven by the expansion in the fur industry. Talk to my colleague from Bonavista South or talk to my colleague in Exploits, and talk to my colleague in St. Barbe or my colleague in Trinity North or Trinity-Bay de Verde. Talk to my colleagues in rural Newfoundland and Labrador and they will tell you about the expansion that is happening in agrifoods, being driven by the industry and the opportunity, being supported, like never before, by a government that has instilled confidence in them to make the type of investments that they want to make. Mr. Speaker, that is what this Budget is about with respect to the Department of Natural Resources.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. E. BYRNE: If you want to look at the agrifoods industry, this year in June we will be hosting the Federal-Provincial Territorial Ministers' Meetings on the agrifoods side in St. John's. A little known fact when I first became the minister in travelling to these meetings, most people outside of this country, and I would even bet my bottom dollar that many people in the Province today do not know how, comparatively, our agrifoods industry stacks up against the rest of the country.

Last year, the national average for growth in agrifoods was about 1.2 per cent. Last year the growth in the agrifoods industry in Newfoundland and Labrador was 7.7 per cent. We led the country in growth; anticipated to lead it again this year, the year after and the year after that. Most people do not realize, for example, that we have the most diversified agrifoods industry in the country and amongst the most diversified agrifoods industry in North America. Just think about what that means. Unlike other jurisdictions across the country, we are not overly or singularly dependent upon a single commodity. For example, in Alberta, Alberta beef is the big player in the industry. So, we are not overly dependent upon one commodity. There is a diversification that is in the industry that allows us to roll with the changes and fluctuations in the market.

Here is another interesting statistic. Nationally, 13.2 per cent of every producer's income in the country comes from the federal government or from the industry. So, they are dependent for about 13 per cent of their income in other jurisdictions on federal income support programs for the agrifoods industry; less than 1 per cent in Newfoundland and Labrador. That talks about how innovative we are. It talks about how determined our producers are, but it also speaks to the diversification and how diversified our industry is.

Do we have things that we have to do? Do we have challenges in front of us? Yes, we do. Are we on a path to overcome those and to take the industry from here to another level? Yes, we are. And that is where we are headed to and we are doing it in partnership and in co-operation with the industry itself, with the organizations; whether it be the livestock council, Fur Breeders Association, the dairy industry, the egg industry, the poultry industry, the horticulture association. We are doing it from -

MR. FITZGERALD: (Inaudible).

MR. E. BYRNE: Exactly, as my colleague from Bonavista South said, and he hears it. He represents a district where significant agrifoods producers in his area - like I do. The district I represent has sixty-six different producers in agrifoods. You would not think that for on the outskirts of the city. Sixty-six different producers exist in the District of Kilbride - in the Gould-Kilbride area - from a variety of backgrounds. But, the point that the Member for Bonavista South said - and he is absolutely correct - that we are building this industry in partnership with producers, with their associations, from the ground up and will continue to do so.

You want to have a look at the mining industry today and some of the initiatives that we have just undertaken. The exploration that is about to occur in mining in this Province this year will hit some 50 per cent to 55 per cent. A significant increase over last year. A significant increase over two years ago; about a 60 per cent rise, in many ways. Analysts will tell you - mining analysts and people who have been around in the industry for some time - that once you get into that level of exploration commitments in the Province, and once that sort of level and capacity of exploration money starts to be spent, that it is not a matter of if anymore, it is just the matter of time of when some huge developments are going to occur.

Now this year, what did we do for the mining industry? I know earlier this year I appointed a ministerial advisory committee on mineral matters representing all facets of the mining industry to work with the department, to work with government, and, in particular, to work with myself as the minister, to look at the types of programs and incentives that we could enhance or look at that was needed in the industry.

Here is what they told us: Minister, we need to be a leader in the mineral incentive program. We are competing, in particular, with the Province of Quebec and the Province of Manitoba when it comes to exploration commitments. So, we need to incent - and we understood that. If you look at the marketplace and the price for base metals and the price for gold and the price for uranium, for copper, for zinc, it is on the rise; being driven by an insatiable Chinese market, primarily - other reasons, but primarily that - being driven by that insatiable appetite. So now is the time, we felt, to invest in a significant way to try to incent more exploration.

They told us that we needed to invest in our geoscience and our geotechnical capability, that we needed to get up to scratch, or more capacity, from that point of view. These are things the department was looking at anyway, but it was nice to hear it back from the industry.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. E. BYRNE: Yes, Mr. Speaker?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. member's time has expired.

MR. E. BYRNE: Just a second to clue up?

MR. SPEAKER: Leave as been asked to make some concluding comments.

AN HON. MEMBER: By leave.

MR. SPEAKER: Leave has been granted.

MR. E. BYRNE: Thank you.

I will clue up on the mining stuff and I will have a chance, maybe at another point, to talk about the other divisions.

It was nice to hear the feedback from the industry in terms of what they needed and what they wanted from us. We did two of those things: Historic commitment on funding to the Mineral Incentive and JCEP Program. For every dollar that we invest in that program we know that there is $1.41 invested back in the Province. Not a bad return, I say to my colleagues.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. E. BYRNE: Two-and-a-half years ago there was about 2,400 people employed in the industry. Today, we anticipate it could reach 3,200 to 3,300. Where is that taking place? It is taking place in Labrador. It is taking place in Central Newfoundland. It is taking place in rural Newfoundland and Labrador, and we will continue to invest in that industry. We will continue to work and watch the markets, and work with our ministerial advisory committee on mineral matters; continue to work in partnership with the industry, so that maybe next year, if we need to move in another direction to incent other opportunities, then we will be a position to do that, Mr. Speaker.

So, on two fronts, with respect to the initiatives within the Budget, from agrifoods and mining. These are tremendous industries that bring tremendous wealth to rural parts of our Province; that help diversify and level out, in a bigger way, and spread wealth out in a bigger way, to every nook and cranny in Newfoundland and Labrador. The more that those industries grow, Mr. Speaker, the more that rural Newfoundland and Labrador grows, and that is what we are about.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Grand Bank.

MS FOOTE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I consider it a privilege, actually, to have an opportunity to stand and speak to the Budget. I have to say, I would have thought that most members in the House of Assembly would have felt the same way, but having listened to the Government House Leader today take thirteen of his twenty minutes - wasting thirteen of his twenty minutes I would suggest - trying to determine who had offered to step aside for the Liberal Party Leader to sit in the House of Assembly, begs the question, Mr. Speaker, how serious they actually consider the problems facing Newfoundland and Labrador, particularly rural Newfoundland and Labrador. The Government House Leader, of all people on the other side of the House, who would have wasted so much time on such a frivolous matter, to suggest that he needs leave now or needed leave to focus on other divisions - when he wasted thirteen minutes pointing to each member in the Opposition asking such a ridiculous question when it is nobody's business but our own, who decided what to do and for whom.

The reality of it, Mr. Speaker, is that of anybody, I would have expected better from the Government House Leader. Maybe the Member for Lake Melville would have gotten on with that foolishness, maybe the Member for Trinity North or the Member for Gander, but not the Government House Leader, the person who is supposed to be a role model, to set a standard in this House for the people in this House, particularly those in the government side. Is it any wonder, Mr. Speaker, that we have to question the sincerity of this government when it comes to dealing with the serious issues facing the people of Newfoundland and Labrador. They are serious issues, but you would never know that the government understands these issues or even appreciates them from the time that the Government House Leader took today to spend on such a frivolous matter, when you have so many issues and so many people leaving this Province. It is really a sad reflection on the Government House Leader in whom we have a lot of respect, whom I had a lot of respect for, Mr. Speaker, up until I saw that charade today. I have to question his understanding and appreciation for what is truly happening in rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

I stand here because I represent a rural district, I represent the District of Grand Bank, and I can tell you that there are hundreds of people, if they are watching today, who would be amazed by the display that they saw by the Government House Leader; a gentleman who will stand here and talk about different initiatives that his department has undertaken that will help rural Newfoundland and Labrador move ahead, that will help rural Newfoundland and Labrador survive. To waste thirteen of twenty minutes doing nothing but that silly charade, again people who are watching this, particularly rural Newfoundland, would have to question the government's sincerity.

Lets talk about rural Newfoundland and Labrador, because that is what we have to be concerned about. We have to talk about the thousands of people who are leaving our Province, and it is primarily from rural Newfoundland and Labrador. We talk about job fairs taking place in this Province where you have about 2,000 men and women lined up trying to find a job, looking to Alberta, looking to Ontario, looking everywhere but in Newfoundland and Labrador, because the jobs are not existing here, particularly when you look at what FPI is doing in this Province. We have men and women leaving and taking their families with them. I do not understand why the government does not understand the impact this will have on our Province. It will have an impact on our Treasury, certainly, because once the people leave that impacts on our equalization formulas, of course, and the money that we get through our equalization formula. The fewer people, the less money we get in this Province from the federal government, and of course, the fewer people we have, the less money being spent in this Province, the less money going back in the provincial Treasury to help with things like roads and infrastructure, water and sewer, all of these very important services that are needed in Newfoundland and Labrador.

I do not understand why the government is not acknowledging that this is a serious issue. To have spent thirteen of twenty minutes talking about anything but the serious issues facing this Province, when speaking to the Budget, shows me, again, that this government does not have an appreciation for what is happening, particularly in rural Newfoundland and to people whose families are so adversely impacted by what is happening, and the fact that there are no jobs here and people are lining up by the thousands trying to find employment elsewhere.

We talk about shortage of skilled labour. Well, why is that? I know the minister, when he read a Ministerial Statement the other day, talked about, you know, how we are no different than any other province in this country. I will bet you any money that Newfoundlanders and Labradorians would be working here in Newfoundland and Labrador if the jobs were here. I do not know what would happen in New Brunswick or what would happen in P.E.I. or Ontario or Alberta or any other part of this country, but I know that Newfoundlanders and Labradorians would much prefer to be working here at home where a lot of their family members are. If we want to talk about the reality of the situation in terms of the lack of a skilled workforce, it has nothing to do with the fact that people do not want to be here or we haven't trained enough people. We have trained hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people to work in the trades in this Province, but where are they? They are working in the trades in other parts of this country. Why is that? Because jobs just do not exist here for them.

Here we have a government that says it is committed to helping create employment opportunities, to working with the private sector to identify job opportunities, in trying to diversify the economy, but it is not happening. If it was happening, we wouldn't have a shortage of skilled workforce, we wouldn't have 2,000 people lining up in the last number of days at various job fairs wondering how they are going to support their families. We wouldn't have so many people in Alberta wondering when they are going to be able to come home, people by the way who were hinging every hope on the Hebron/Ben Nevis pilot project going ahead, people who were hoping that they would be able to come home. Now, of course, they are having to rethink their futures as well.

It is a serious issue and I would expect the government to take it seriously. After today's display by the Government House Leader, I have to question whether or not they are really taking this seriously. Anybody watching today would have to be of the same opinion.

Let's talk about the fishery, because the fishery today is a shadow of what it has been in the past. We have so few people actually working in the fishery that we would have to question why that is and why this government hasn't been more aggressive in dealing with one of the largest employers in the Province, and that is Fisheries Products International.

I heard the MP for Random-Burin-St. George's actually say this morning that he was shocked that the Speech from the Throne federally had no mention whatsoever of the fishery, none whatsoever, despite Prime Minister Harper coming to this Province and talking about offshore jurisdiction, that he really was going to push that, that he was going to make sure that was taken care of. We talked about, when he was here, an early retirement plan, but we are not hearing it now. There was no mention in the Throne Speech federally - but we shouldn't be surprised, Mr. Speaker, that there was no mention of the fishery in the Throne Speech federally, because if we look at our own Throne Speech here, two lines on the fishery. Two lines on the fishery in the Throne Speech. It says, "Together, we will also work to ensure that we benefit from our natural resources, particularly our important fish resources, through increased investments and resource, product and market development." That is one line. Second line, "We will also contribute to the recovery and future management of cod, which have been, and will continue to be, vital to our Province's future prosperity." Two lines about the fishery, the fishery that has been the backbone of the economy of this Province since this Province existed.

Lo and behold - well, today we finally managed to get the Premier to his feet on the issue. I expect that is probably the first time in a long time because, even though the questions have been put to him, he has usually let the Minister of Fisheries take them. Today he stood, and I was actually hoping that he would answer my colleague's questions; but, no, no answers about this most important resource industry in our Province. No answers that people could take any comfort from, anyone watching out in the Province, looking at this today, expecting to hear from their Premier what exactly his plans are with respect to the fishery. No answers. In fact, it became more of a personal attack.

What I have said time and time before, personal attacks say more about the person making them than about the person about whom they are being made. I say that the Premier, whenever he gets on with his foolishness of, instead of answering questions, being personal in his responses.

I know that on the Burin Peninsula people are hurting. I know that people are leaving, and that is hurting even more. It is hurting the Burin Peninsula, it is hurting the entire Province, because you have to realize that when an area of the Province is doing well, and because, of course, we do not have all of the different services available in rural parts of our Province that you would find on the Avalon Peninsula, you will find people coming in from the different peninsulas, in to the Avalon Peninsula, to shop, to spend their hard-earned money, and it is not happening. It is not happening because the money is not being made, and there is no money to be made, on the Burin Peninsula, especially when you consider that FPI said it is getting out of the groundfish fishery. They have closed Fortune, just like they closed down Harbour Breton.

We have maybe half a workforce being considered for Marystown, and then only because there are 115 positions - not 350 positions, but 115 positions. So, what does that tell you about the length of time that these people will actually get in terms of work? Very little. FPI has just washed its hands of the workforce on the Burin Peninsula, people who have worked so hard to help build this company.

What is the government doing about it? Absolutely nothing. Rhetoric, that is all we get. Promises to do this, and promises to do that. Then they talk about a Budget and talk about, in glowing terms, what they are doing to build rural regions.

Well, I read it and I can tell you that, as I read all of these points with respect to building rural regions, all I could think about were the people in my district, in Burin-Placentia West, on the entire Burin Peninsula, who do not know but any of this is good to eat. They know it is not good to eat, though. They know, because they know, as good as the government makes this sound, or wants it to appear to Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, especially those in rural Newfoundland - and they talk about, you know, aquaculture. That is primarily for rural Newfoundland and Labrador but, be realistic, it is going to take time. It is going to take time.

What happens in the interim? What happens to all of these people that FPI has put out of work? So, while you can speak in glowing terms about your initiatives, and how important they are, you must acknowledge that this is not going to help people who are hurting today. What do we do? Cut them adrift? It is not their fault.

We have a piece of legislation in this House of Assembly that governs FPI, an act. It is the only company, so far yet, anyway - I don't know what the Premier plans to do about oil and gas, but so far it is the only company - that is governed by an act of this House, and that is for a very good reason. That is for a very good reason. This company was created by taxpayers' dollars. Both federal and provincial governments came together and created a company that would ensure stability of employment in this Province, in rural Newfoundland and Labrador in particular. That is why we have the FPI Act. That is why the government has authority. That is why the government can come back to this House and amend that act, and strengthen it, to make sure that FPI does not continue to ride roughshod over Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. But what is this government doing? Absolutely nothing. Absolutely nothing. They will stand in the House and say: Oh, we can do this. We can do this. We keep saying: Well, if you can do it, do it.

MR. REID: What are they waiting for?

MS FOOTE: What are you waiting for? Until we turn off the lights and put the gate up to the Burin Peninsula? We know what is happening on the Connaigre Peninsula. Harbour Breton doesn't have a prayer, and it is going to happen on the Burin Peninsula as well. FPI has already said: No plans for Fortune.

Do you know something? The employees of FPI at the plant in Fortune are still hopeful, are still hopeful that this government will come back and make amendments to the FPI legislation, that they will say to FPI: If you want to continue to operate in this Province and enjoy the access to the quotas that you have, then you have to consider reopening the plant in Fortune. You have to consider making sure that the workforce continues in Marystown. You have to acknowledge that these people are the ones who helped to build your company.

Instead, we are not seeing that, and I can only imagine what the powers-to-be at FPI - I think the committee now actually are kind of making all the decisions at FPI, actually comprised of John Risley, Rex Anthony, a good Newfoundland, and George Armoyan. Those are the three individuals now who are determining what is going to happen with FPI, and it begs the question: When is the government going to step up to the plate, just like the Premier has done now with the oil and gas sector? He is being forceful, he is being determined, and he is playing his cards right, but why can't he do the same for the fishery? Why is it that he does not have the same level of commitment or show the same interest in the issues around the fishery as he does around oil and gas? Maybe it is not as sexy. Maybe it is not something that you can get as excited about if you have never lived in rural Newfoundland and Labrador; if you have never stood shoulder to shoulder with people in rural Newfoundland and Labrador; if you have never had a discussion with someone from rural Newfoundland and Labrador about how the crisis in the fishery is impacting their lives. Maybe that is why the Premier cannot relate to what is happening in the fishery. But I am begging him, I am imploring on behalf of the people that I represent, and the people on the entire Burin Peninsula and the Bonavista peninsula - because if I were in Bonavista today, I would have no level of comfort that I would there tomorrow working at a plant for FPI. No level of comfort whatsoever.

So, on behalf of rural Newfoundland and Labrador, those communities that survive because of the fishery, I am asking the Premier to get personally involved. I know Allan Moulton of the FFAW has said that they have asked the Member for Burin-Placentia West to speak to the Premier, to get a meeting with him; not with the Minister of Fisheries or the Acting Minister of Fisheries, or with their member, for that matter, because they speak to him, I understand, fairly often, but they want to speak to the Premier. They need to hear from the Premier.

I understand that the Member for Burin-Placentia West was actually put in Cabinet because of the dire situation on the Burin Peninsula. I do not know what that says about the member from the Northern Peninsula or Bonavista, but, particularly, the Northern Peninsula because that is a serious, serious issue, what is going on in the Northern Peninsula as well. But, anyway, I am pleased we have someone from the Burin Peninsula in Cabinet, but it is not producing results. Two weeks and no meeting with the Premier, when you have a peninsula that is dying down there. The meeting still hasn't happened. So, I do not know what it is, what is going on here, why the fishery is not getting the same attention as the oil and gas sector, but both, I would venture to guess or I would say, at least in my opinion, are equal, and should be receiving the same treatment. Because I can tell you, that you can be flushed with cash but when you look at rural Newfoundland and Labrador -

MR. SPEAKER (Fitzgerald): Order, please!

I remind the hon. Member for Grand Bank that her time for speaking has lapsed.

MS FOOTE: Leave, Mr. Speaker?

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

AN HON. MEMBER: By leave.

MR. SPEAKER: By leave.

MS FOOTE: Thank you.

I appreciate the time to clue up.

Again, I say when you talk about the fishery and oil and gas and all the money that will flow to this Province, or is expected to flow to this Province - I guess it will not be as much if we do not get the deal on the Hebron-Ben Nevis - but with the oil and gas money that we are looking forward to, you know, so little of that - the benefits of that are not seen in rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

The fishery is important. I do not know how many more times or how many ways I can say it. It is important. I do not know if you have to be from rural Newfoundland and Labrador to understand that, to appreciate that, if you have to actually live among people who work in the fishery to understand that and appreciate that, but it is. Take my word for it, it is important.

When we talk about tourism being an alternative; sure, tourism is important to this Province, but, you know, we don't get a lot of tourists in this Province during the winter season, not as many as we would like to get, and they are selective about where they go. In terms of the fishery, it has been and should remain the backbone of the economy in rural Newfoundland and Labrador, and it can if this government will make the right decisions, be more aggressive on this file, and if the Premier will give this file the same attention he has given to the oil and gas file. They are equally important. One shouldn't be getting the Premier's attention more than the other. That is what I am asking the Premier today.

You talk about your Budget, you talk in glowing terms about the money that you are putting into initiatives that you say will be helpful to rural Newfoundland and Labrador. Well, maybe they will be down the road, but I am asking you today to think of the people who are lining up at job fairs looking for employment opportunities because they want to work. We all know that the majority of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are hard-working people and they want to work. The reality is they want to work in their own Province. I repeat again, there wouldn't be a shortage of skilled labour if the jobs were here. There wouldn't be a shortage of skilled labour if this government, working with the private sector supporting existing businesses in this Province, came out with a strategy, because they are really good at strategies. Why don't you come up with a strategy to help existing businesses in this Province to maybe hire more Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, maybe to even pay them more. At least our people would have employment opportunities at home and we wouldn't have to worry about a shortage of skilled labour.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Member for Mount Pearl.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. DENINE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Today, I am pleased to get up and talk on the Budget that was presented last week.

Mr. Speaker, I listened to the hon. Member for Grand Bank and all of the sudden for two and a half years we were responsible for everything that is happening here today. The out-migration occurred in the mid-1990s, on through the mid-1990s, and into the early 2000s. Mr. Speaker, what happened was, they never had any vision beyond one year at a time. That was evident in all of their budgets that they brought in, because all of the budgets that they brought in were either on one-time money or false expectations. They know themselves that when they brought in budgets they would take from the roads agreement, the Roads for Rail agreement, one-time equalization payments, with no thought, Mr. Speaker, of where the money is going to come tomorrow. They spent the money as they saw fit.

Mr. Speaker, they also mentioned, over there across the way, they talked about different places like Harbour Breton. What they want to do is, they want to leave the impression that we have closed the door on Harbour Breton. Mr. Speaker, nothing could be further from the truth. We have not closed the door on Harbour Breton. As a matter of fact, we are actively pursuing every opportunity we can to help Harbour Breton.

They talk about Stephenville, the number of people, when the plant closed down there. The Stephenville mill was not closed down because of the lack of effort of this government.

MR. E. BYRNE: We actually signed a deal.

MR. DENINE: We signed a deal. We gave it everything they wanted. Then they went to the union to see what else they could get. It was not the fault of this government. All of our efforts that we put on the table, all of the things that they wanted on the table, were there because that is what they asked for. That was not this government's fault; that was Abitibi.

Mr. Speaker, right after the Budget Speech, I had to do an interview with CBC. It was myself, the hon. Member for Grand Falls-Buchans, and the hon. Member for Labrador West. The hon. Member for Grand Falls-Buchans, who is the Finance critic -

MS THISTLE: Buchans.

MR. DENINE: Buchans, that is what I said. Put on your earpiece, because you are probably not hearing correctly.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. DENINE: Her first comment was, Mr. Speaker, there is nothing here for the ordinary Newfoundlander and Labradorian in that Budget Speech. She says it is true, but she never once, in her speech for four hours, mentioned that, because she did not want to defend that issue, because there is an awful lot in here for ordinary Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

This speech was a good speech, a good Budget Speech, and it was accepted very well, Mr. Speaker, in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. DENINE: They said, tell us a few things. If the hon. Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair would stop there and listen, I will tell her a few things on what went on in this Budget.

What happened, Mr. Speaker, in this Budget, there was a one-time infusion of money of $100 million into education, the biggest infusion of money in the history of Newfoundland and Labrador - one-time money. We saved 151 teaching positions in Newfoundland and Labrador. I ask you: Are they not ordinary Newfoundlanders and Labradorians? The answer to that is yes, they are. Ask the NLTA and they are 110 per cent supportive of this.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. DENINE: Mr. Speaker, we are also reviewing the teacher allocation formula. There will be an independent committee to look at that. They will come back with recommendations to the minister, and that will be brought forth to Cabinet and on to caucus for consideration

Mr. Speaker, when they do that review, are they doing that for the ordinary Newfoundlander and Labradorian? The answer to that is, yes, they are doing that for the ordinary Newfoundlander and Labradorian. So that is another thing that is there for ordinary Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

The next one is the review of the ISSP. The Pathways system that is in our current education system, they need support. We listened to the teachers. We listened to what they wanted, and we are going to put a committee together to come back with recommendations.

Mr. Speaker, those are children within our system who need a different stream of education to achieve their goals in life, to become educated, to become productive members of society, to feel good about themselves, to get their morale up, and their ideas about themselves moving forward. Is that not ordinary Newfoundlanders and Labradorians? The answer to that is, yes, of course it is. There is no question about it, they are ordinary Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, because they cover every part of this Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Every district represented by every member in this House has some sort of affiliation with all of that. The teachers, the ISSP, and the allocation formula, that is for ordinary Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

AN HON. MEMBER: Some of our most vulnerable Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

MR. DENINE: The most vulnerable is right, my colleague.

Mr. Speaker, we are also looking at school fees, $6.3 million elimination of school fees within our school system. That is a very, very excellent strategy, an excellent announcement, and I know the hon. critic from Port de Grave would certainly support that because, when he got up to speak on the Budget - and I will tell you right now, I think when it comes to the vote on the Budget he is going to support this. He is going to support the Budget because there are a lot of good things in that, and he is nodding his head. There are a lot of good things, and I thank him for that.

The school fees elimination does an awful lot of things, and I want to take a little thing the minister said during the press conference. She alluded to the fact that, when children go to school in September, they are all dressed in their fine clothes. The parents, the guardians, are going out buying new clothes for them to go to school. Mr. Speaker, that is a financial burden on each parent and each guardian in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. When they go to school, what happens is that they feel good about themselves because they are back talking to their friends. Then, all of a sudden, what happens is that they then have to say to their parents or guardians: We have to come up with $50 or $60 or $70 for school fees.

All of a sudden, because of the fact that they had to spend the money on all the new materials that they needed for school, like clothes, et cetera, et cetera, the parents are saying: Well, what is going to happen? Where am I going to get the other money to come with that? Where am I going to get the money to come up with the school fees? Then they go back to the school the next day and they feel bad because they do not have money for school fees.

Mr. Speaker, that now is eliminated. That now is no longer in existence. As of September, there will be no more school fees. I ask the question to the Finance critic from Grand Falls-Buchans: Are they not ordinary Newfoundlanders and Labradorians?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. DENINE: They certainly are ordinary Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. Do they all come from urban areas? The answer to that is, no. This is Province-wide, urban and rural, so when they get on the bandwagon over there, the soapbox, and say there is nothing there for rural Newfoundland, I just mentioned four or five things that are both for rural Newfoundland and urban Newfoundland, Newfoundland and Labrador as a whole, not just segregated in any way, shape or form, but Newfoundland and Labrador as a whole. That is what we are doing over here, and we have vision because we are doing that.

Mr. Speaker, we are also doing a task force on skills, a Skills Task Force, and that is going to basically lay the ground work for us to see what we are going to need for skills in the future.

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. DENINE: No, hon. Member for Port de Grave: You may be used to putting reports on the shelves but we are not. Check our Blue Book and we are there.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. DENINE: Mr. Speaker, that Skills Task Force will come back with a vision of where we want to be in the future. Now, if the previous government had any vision, we would not be in a lot of the problems we have here today. They talk about out-migration and lack of skills. Lack of skills did not occur in exactly two-and-one-half years when this government took over. It never did. There was a long term lack of interest in developing skills, and that was the thirteen years by the previous government: No vision, no forethought, nothing to see what would happen to Newfoundland and Labrador in the future. That is exactly what happened, lack of vision and lack of leadership.

Mr. Speaker, we are also putting millions of dollars into the university and the College of the North Atlantic; $45 million approximately going to the College of the North Atlantic and Memorial University -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. DENINE: - long time overdue! - for infrastructure and operating expenses.

Now, what happened is that I was talking to a gentleman the other day - I will not tell you who he was, but there was a new building built in the St. John's area and since the building was opened there has not been one dollar spent on the infrastructure of that building. It was left to decay. They built it and ignored it. That is what happened, and that is what happened, Mr. Speaker, last year when we had an infusion of $16 million to do with the envelope of the schools in Newfoundland and Labrador because they were neglected for so many years. Mr. Speaker, did we not do that for ordinary Newfoundlanders and Labradorians? We certainly did.

Mr. Speaker, there is another thing that we did. A couple of weeks ago we made an investment that was never made before in the history of Newfoundland and Labrador, and that was the $17.6 million provided for the cultural grant.

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. DENINE: Yes, capital expenditures; $17.6 million to our cultural societies of Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. DENINE: Mr. Speaker, that was for ordinary Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, both urban and rural.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. DENINE: Mr. Speaker, if you had to see the announcement that was made and see the expression on their faces - there was people literally with tears in their eyes. It was the first time that they were recognized by the government as an investment in the future of Newfoundland and Labrador. That was important.

Mr. Speaker, I would love to be one of those people who could sing and dance and whatever, but unfortunately I lack those skills. Probably some people say I lack a lot of other skills, but that is okay, that is up to question. Mr. Speaker, I look at this as an enhancement of Newfoundland and Labrador. Think about the accolades that all our performers have given. I look at my own school that I retired from, O'Donel High. I witnessed AIDA that they put off and, Mr. Speaker, it was absolutely fantastic. It was great skills, excellent workmanship. The people who put it on, the directors were fantastic, the kids sang, the actors were just superb. That is only one small minute overlook of what the talent of Newfoundland and Labrador is. The Ennis Sisters, Great Big Sea, Kevin Collins, Buddy Waisname and the Other Fellers, and I hate going on because there are so many more there that are excellent embassadors of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

Mr. Speaker, I ask you again: Is this not for ordinary Newfoundlanders and Labradorians? Yes, sir, it is. I hope the critic, the Finance Critic, the Member for Grand Falls-Buchans, will have the -

AN HON. MEMBER: Fortitude.

MR. DENINE: - fortitude - that is a good word, thank you - to come back and say that Budget was for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, the ordinary people.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. DENINE: Mr. Speaker, then we go on to a number of other issues. Our strategy was to put more money into health care. That is a strategy that - I hate to use the word strategy because it is foreign to the other side. As the Finance Critic pointed out, she could not understand the word surplus. What was surplus or a balanced budget? They never brought in a balanced budget with any vision. They brought in balanced budgets on one time money. That had no vision, Mr. Speaker.

Fifteen point six million dollars in new funding to be invested to prevent and treat cancer; $3.3 million, Mr. Speaker, for two new bunkers to house two new radiation treatment machines at the Dr. Bliss Murphy Centre for Cancer, two - not one, two. Mr. Speaker, we did not put one dialysis machine in Newfoundland and Labrador, we did not put two, we put three. The reason why I put it that way is because it brings back the vision of Mr. Smallwood, and they will certainly understand that part of it. We put three dialysis units in Newfoundland and Labrador, one in Happy Valley, one in St. Anthony and one on the Burin Peninsula. Now I ask them again: Is that not for ordinary Newfoundlanders and Labradorians? That is what it is. That is for ordinary Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, let there be no mistake about it.

Mr. Speaker, a number of years ago, in our first Budget when we came in, it was a very difficult budget. There was no doubt about that, it was difficult.

AN HON. MEMBER: No.

MR. DENINE: Now they say no. See will they agree with this part of it, because they never owned up to this agreement. What about the $900 million deficit that they left? Do I hear no on that one? No, because they have not owned up to that, they totally disowned that. Mr. Speaker, when there is something announced on this side: Oh, that was a Liberal initiative. Well, what about the $900 million deficit? Wasn't that a Liberal initiative, I ask you?

MR. TAYLOR: They had lots of initiatives, they just did not get around to implementing them.

MR. DENINE: That is right. Exactly.

Mr. Speaker, if you remember when our Budget came in, the cancer unit had to be postponed in Grand Falls-Windsor. We sat back on that and they hammered us on it.

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. DENINE: From Windsor-Springdale - that hon. member put an awful lot of thought, an awful lot of exercise and an awful lot of energy, into getting that for Grand Falls-Windsor. Let me tell you, it was not the other side.

Mr. Speaker, the point I am going to make on this is very simple.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order please!

The hon. the Member for Mount Pearl.

MR. DENINE: I guess the truth hurts, Mr. Speaker. What was that movie? An Officer and a Gentleman, you cannot handle the truth.

Now, Mr. Speaker, go back to my point. That had to be postponed and they were up dancing on their chairs. This side of the House understood that because we knew the necessity for that. Now, what do we have today? What do we have today for our money? We have two, one in Grand Falls-Windsor and one in Gander. A better vision than was put over there.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. DENINE: Again, I ask you, because the Finance critic from Grand Falls-Buchans said there is nothing here for ordinary Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. I ask the question again: Is that not for ordinary Newfoundlanders and Labradorians? The answer to that is, categorically, yes.

Mr. Speaker, there has been a significant number - I am going to move on to another topic, if I could. I see you looking at your watch and I know the time is drawing near, but that is okay. I have a few more other things to talk about.

I am glad the Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair is here to listen. She asked me: Enlighten me as to what was in the Budget. I hope I have done that so far. There are a few more things to come, so do not turn me off just yet.

Mr. Speaker, there will be an unprecedented investment in excess of $2 billion to modernize the Province's infrastructure and continue to grow our economy over the next six years. Two billion dollars! Not millions, two billion. Not one, not two - yes, it is two. I am sorry, I thought we had three.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. DENINE: I thought we had three!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. DENINE: Mr. Speaker, thank God they are alive over there because I said that with vision. I said that statement with vision.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I remind the hon. Member for Mount Pearl that his time for speaking has lapsed.

MR. DENINE: By leave?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

Does the member have leave?

AN HON. MEMBER: By leave.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. member by leave.

MR. DENINE: I said that for two reasons. One, I know we put $2 billion over the next six years, but I know there will be another billion over the next six years, so there is your three.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. DENINE: There is your $3 billion. It is not because it was not there, it is that we had vision for the future.

One-hundred and forty-two point two million dollars for road construction programs. Mr. Speaker, this is a very integral part of the whole infrastructure of the Province. When we talk about economic development and how we are going to grow this Province, we need a road network to make it happen. This here -

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. DENINE: One minute, okay.

Mr. Speaker, the spinoff from that $142.2 million is going to be enormous. Where is that money going to go? One, it is going to help the transportation network of this Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Two, it is going to help the workers who work on those projects of Newfoundland and Labrador. The third one I am going to get to because that is a bit of vision and they do not know that.

Mr. Speaker, I am going to clue up with this. The critic from Grand Falls-Buchans said: There is nothing here for the ordinary Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. I have spoken for twenty minutes on this - and probably a little bit longer because of leave - but I ask this question, and I ask it very sincerely, because this is a Budget that is embraced by all of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. Is this Budget not for ordinary Newfoundlanders and Labradorians? The answer to that is, categorically, yes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.

MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I always enjoy listening to the Member for Mount Pearl because I am supposed to speak for an hour here this afternoon and I said to my colleague across the floor there, the Government House Leader, I did not know what I could fill an hour with, but listening the Member for Mount Pearl, I guarantee you, we could speak for days. But, Mr. Speaker, before I get into that - maybe I will bring up his name throughout this speech in reference to some of the comments that he just made, especially pertaining to education.

First of all, I am a student of history, and in order to figure out where we are today in this Budget, I guess, you have to look at where we came from or from where we have come. In thinking about that, and having been around awhile and studying politics along with history, I realize more and more everyday that today's Premier - in campaigning and the promises that he has made, that he made during campaigning - probably pulled the biggest con game or shell game in the history of democracy. Because it is well known, Mr. Speaker, and it is a well-known trick - I say to Member for Mount Pearl, if he would listen he might understand or learn something. But it is a well-known trick of politicians that when you form a new government or when you defeat a government, the first thing you have to do - because you have made so many promises you know that you cannot live up to the commitments or the promises that you have made. So the first thing you have to do is come in and get someone to look at the books and then tell them, when you get them in to look at it, make sure that you come out with such an astronomical deficit that we cannot honour our promises, and that is exactly what this Premier did. He campaigned and made promises all over the Province.

In fact, Mr. Speaker, there was a lady on Fogo Island who told me, she said: Gerry, the next time you campaign, go out and make the same promises that the Premier made because whenever he ever ran into a group or an individual who asked for something during the election, he checked it off and said: No problem. I will do this.

What did he do just after forming government? The first thing he did was hire a group of financial so-called experts on the mainland, chartered accountants, to come down here and change the way of accounting; inflated deficits, showed a totally different set of books that were ever there before. Then, all of a sudden - then he made the famous speech on provincial-wide television talking about the state of the economy -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

There has been a lot of shouting back and forth the House as members have been identified by the Chair. I say to all members, that every member of this House is entitled to speak for at least twenty minutes on the Budgetary Debate. I ask members if they would hold their comments and hold their enthusiasm until they are recognized by the Chair and show the member who has been identified to speak some courtesy in being allowed to speak in silence.

MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, because that is what I tried to do when they were up speaking.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. REID: Mr. Speaker, that January evening when the Premier came on provincial-wide television and talked about the massive debt that his great-grandchildren were going to end up paying off and as a result of that massive debt, not only was he not going to be able to honour his commitments, but here is what he had to do. The first thing he said was the civil service - right out of nowhere, after telling the civil service that he would not do anything without consulting them first. The first thing he said was: there would be no raise for the civil service ; on that night in January.

Well, the Minister of Finance and the Premier got together shortly after that and in the Budget of 2004, as we will all remember: What happened? First of all, while the Budget was coming down I think we had somewhere in the area of 20,000 civil servants out on the street here in the Province. And what did he do? He laid off how many civil servants? I ask the hon. members opposite, who are in the government, who sit with the Minister of Finance, how many did he lay off? Because, at one point, he was talking 4,000. At one point he was talking about laying off 4,000 civil servants in this Province. I know for a fact that he laid off 500 teachers, or 489 teachers. That is what he laid off, Mr. Speaker. What else did he do? What else did he do because of his inflated Budget deficit? He went around the Province, especially in rural parts of the Province, and what did he do? He started closing things, cutting services, and raising fees.

Let's talk about what he cut. He walked into my district, for example, and he closed the courthouse. He walked into my district and he closed the social services office, and my district was not the only one, I say. There were many on the other side, on the government side of the floor, who lost social services offices, who lost courthouses, because I know that my colleague, the Member for Bonavista North, whose district abuts mine, lost a social services office. I think you probably lost a courthouse, too, I say to the hon. member. No, because you never had one, that is right. You lost a driver examiner and a whole host of things. Besides cutting these services that were provided under Liberal governments in the past, besides cutting those services, what did they do? They raised the fee for every other service that was provided to Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, but especially those in the rural parts of the Province.

Mr. Speaker, what else did they do? They closed thirteen highways depots in the Province. Where are they closed, I say to the Member for Mount Pearl, the one who gets up and waxes eloquently about all this government has done for rural Newfoundland and Labrador? It is not difficult to do that, sitting in Mount Pearl. It is not difficult to do that, sitting in Mount Pearl, when he gets up and he cannot even pronounce the word Buchans because he has never been there and does not know where it is, Mr. Speaker.

What did he do? He cut the services. He cut the highways depots. You have all heard, this winter, what has happened as a result of those highway closures. We all know what has happened. In fact, Mr. Speaker, some people went so far as to say that some fatal accidents were caused this year as a result of some of those highways depots being closed. Some people have gone that far, to say that, Mr. Speaker.

He increased every single fee that government had charged the people of this Province. In fact, he even went further than that because, knowing the Minister of Finance, he is not going to be outdone. He is a competitive individual. I know; I go to the gym with him. The people over there are worried, the people who work at the gym, because he is so competitive that, after not going to the gym for years and years and years, he goes over, jumps on a treadmill, puts her on bust, and he goes flat out. His color is so purple that they are worried that someone is going to have to do mouth-to-mouth on him one of these nights. I am not kidding you, they are worried about him.

Anyway, Mr. Speaker, not to be sidetracked -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

If the shouting continues across the House, the Chair will have no other recourse but to identify the people who are causing the disturbance. I ask if members would show respect to the member who has been identified, and allow the member to be heard in silence.

MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I hope you do identify them. Maybe I will do it.

Mr. Speaker, not to be outdone, because he has such a competitive spirit, not only did he raise every single fee that an individual in this Province has to pay for a government service, but he had to come up with a new one. He had to come up with a new fee that was never charged before. He had to find one. Now, where did he go to find it? Because, from the day you are born, you pay for a birth certificate and you pay for everything that is provided by government in some fee or another, right to the rabbit licence and the polar bear licence. He had to outdo everybody else and not only raise every fee but he had to dream up a new one. Guess what he came up with, Mr. Speaker? He knew that he got you coming into the world but, guess what? Every politician before him in the history of this Province forgot about getting you on the way out. So, what did he do? He brought in a new fee. He brought in a new fee, a death certificate. Now, can you imagine? Personally, that doesn't bother me because I would go out laughing, after I die, and say, well, that is one fee the government did not get from me; but, unfortunately, if I leave anything - my house, to my children - in order to settle the estate with government, they are going to be caught with the fee.

So, what did they do? They cut civil servants, they fired teachers, they closed courthouses, social services offices, highways depots. They jacked up every fee. Instead of decreasing the ferry rates, like the Premier promised, on every island community in the Province, he raised them. Then what happened?

By the way, in the Budget of 2003, the government of which I was a part, and proud to be a part - because, contrary to what the Member for Mount Pearl says about we did nothing for education, I beg to differ. In the last three years that we were in government we spent in the area of $250 million in those three years on new school construction and school renovations alone. If you do not believe that, I say, go check the Budget back in 2003. In that Budget of 2003, I might add, in that Budget of 2003, there was also an item listed there for construction of a cancer clinic for Grand Falls-Windsor. We put that in the Budget of 2003. We put a Grand Bank health care facility in the Budget in 2003. We put an auditorium for Goose Bay in the Budget in 2003. We put an extension to Leary's Brook Academy in the Budget in 2003. We put renovations to the tune of $12 million to Herdman Collegiate in Corner Brook in April of 2003.

Guess what happened, Mr. Speaker? Guess what happened? This government walked in here and said, we are cancelling these or postponing them. We are cancelling or postponing. The Member for Grand Bank had the steel up on a hospital in Grand Bank, and the Premier walked in and says, we are cancelling it. Who fought to get it back? She fought to get it back. Then my colleague from Mount Pearl had the gall to stand in the House of Assembly today and attribute the fact that the cancer clinic is going back into Grand Falls to his colleague from Windsor-Springdale.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. REID: Now, this -

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

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

On a point of order, the hon. the Member for Windsor-Springdale.

MR. HUNTER: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I cannot remember the hon. gentleman or anybody on that side attending any meetings that I attended with our caucus and Cabinet members about the cancer clinic, but I was there a good many times fighting for that cancer clinic.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HUNTER: So, until the Leader of the Opposition can prove to me that he or anybody on that side sat in meetings, or asked for meetings, in the last couple of years about the cancer clinic, then I have to say that they -

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. HUNTER: - had not much to do with that cancer clinic when we decided to do it.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

There is no point of order.

The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.

MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

He never even listened to the point I was trying to make before he was up on a point of order. The member opposite talked about what a great job this fella did, the Member for Windsor-Springdale, in getting the cancer clinic. All I am trying to say to you, Member for Mount Pearl, is the fact that the money was in the Budget in 2003 for the cancer clinic in Grand Falls-Windsor. This government came in and cancelled it. After two years, they come back and say, now we are going to give you what we cancelled. You want us to applaud him for that, do you? That is what you are saying.

The other thing, Mr. Speaker, the Member for Mount Pearl got up and talked about the fact that this government saved 151 teaching positions this year. Well, the question I would like to ask him is: Who did you save them from? Who did you save them from? You are the ones who laid off 500 in the last two years. Simply because this year you are saying, right now, that you are not going to lay anybody off, you are saving them from somebody. From whom are you saving them, I say to the minister? You are saving them from yourselves, and you expect me to applaud you.

Mr. Speaker, that is the Grand Falls cancer clinic. The Grand Bank health care facility apparently is going to go ahead now after you cancelled it two years ago, or some version of it.

The member from Goose Bay gets up and rants and tears and talks about how great this government is for putting an auditorium in Goose Bay, attached to the school that this government spent - and I have to say I visited that school and it is one of the finest in the country. In fact, I think it cost somewhere in the area of $12 million to $15 million. We put the money in the Budget in 2003 to attach that auditorium to the school in Goose Bay. This government comes along and says: We are not doing it. I say to the member: Who are you saving that from? I say to the Member for Lake Melville, that the children of Labrador would be performing today in that auditorium, as we speak in this House of Assembly, if you hadn't cancelled it two years ago. It would have been built now and people would be performing in it. Am I going to applaud you for that? No, I am not going to applaud you for that.

The extension to Leary's Brook school over here: Every one who has been in Leary's Brook, any student or any parent who has ever been involved in Leary's Brook in the last two or three years, knows there was $1 million in the Budget in 2003 for an extension to Leary's Brook. Is it built? No, because this government cancelled that extension two-and-a-half years ago. Now you stick it back in the Budget this year and say you are going to do it and you expect us to applaud you. Well, I am not applauding you. The kids should not have been cramped in that school for the past two-and-a-half years. That extension should have been built a year ago. Students should be into that extension by now.

Don't talk to me about the bifurcation road, when there are 350 people living on Change Islands who have to drive to a dirt road to get to the ferry, and you are going to spend $16 million on a bifurcation road. We will talk about that later, I say to the Member for St. John's North. That is what I will talk to you about. I will talk to you about the increased ferry rates, that people who put a car on a ferry on Fogo Island or Change Islands this afternoon have to pay $28. Then we will talk about the bifurcation road. I suggest now you be quiet over there, I might be talking more than an hour.

Mr. Speaker, what I am trying to say is that this government came in, inflated the deficit, shortly thereafter laid off civil servants, froze their wages for two years, closed down services in this Province such as court houses and social services offices, cancelled a whole host of projects that the money was in the Budget for in 2003, and comes back this year and says, we are going to put some of these things back in the Budget, we are still missing 2,000 or 3,000 civil servants, we have just laid off 500 teachers, and say: Applaud me, because I am not going to lay off any civil servants or cut any teachers this year. Applaud me, because we are going to do the projects that you announced two-and-one-half years ago. Well, Mr. Speaker, I simply cannot applaud people for that.

Then they talk about how there is something there for everybody. That is what they say. I say to my colleagues opposite, like the Member for Mount Pearl and the Member for St. John's North, any day you want to go I will take you to my district. I am not just talking about my district, I am talking about all rural districts in this Province. I will take you to mine, I will pay for the gas and, in fact, I will pay for your meals and the hotel room at the Quiet Cannon on Fogo Island, if you want to come with me. All you have to do is say the word and I will show you what is in rural Newfoundland and Labrador, or an example of what is in rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

I will take you, first of all, through the member's district who represents Bonavista North, because in order to get to mine we have to drive through his. I will show you Gander Bay Road and what the roads are like in Gander Bay North, because I have never heard their member speak about it. I have never heard the Member for Bonavista North stand in this House of Assembly and talk about Bonavista North and the condition of the road in Gander Bay. I will tell you, sir, there is no worse road in the country. There is no worse road in the country than that which is going down through Bonavista North in Gander Bay, except, I say to those opposite, the one that is on Fogo Island between Joe Batt's Arm and the centre of the Island, or the dirt road that is on Change Islands.

Yes, we can talk about $16 for a Bifurcation road between here and Mount Pearl, and, yes, we can talk about $6 million for a by-pass road from St. John's to Torbay. That is fine, I do not begrudge the people that, but do not tell me that things are rosy in rural Newfoundland and Labrador. Come to the ferry in Farewell and head out to Change Islands, and accompany me over the dirt road on Change Islands that we were getting paved before we lost the government. Come with me on the ferry to Fogo Island and drive the road between the center of the island and Joe Batts Arm. Come with me and pay for the ferry - but you will not have to because I already told you I would pay for you - and see that ferry rate gone up by 5 per cent this year for a total of 26.5 per cent in the last three years by this government. That is what you want me to applaud!

Come with me to the hospital that we built as the government for $14 million or $15 million with twenty beds in it, and I will take you to the rooms that are empty because there are no beds in them. You might find people lying on a cot in the hallway because you will not open all the beds. Come with me to New World Island this summer and pass a highways depot with no workers in it. That is what you should do. Come with me to the Town of Fogo where they have lost their social services office and they have closed their courthouse. Come with me to the rural parts of the Province where there used to be a service provided to them whereby you did not have to drive for two or three hours to go and get your driver's licence. They cancelled that, so that the people on Fogo Island now have to take a day off work, travel on a ferry that you have increased the rates on, drive over a road that is not fit to drive over to Gander, so your child can get his driver's licence, and then knock every shock and every moving part off the car on your way home that night.

MR. JOYCE: The Member for Exploits is laughing at you.

MR. REID: That is what he is doing, the Member for Exploits is laughing. He has not been here long enough, six months, to even know what is wrong in his own district. That is why, I say to the Member for Exploits, the mayor in the largest town in his district had to call us for me to get up in the House of Assembly and ask the Minister of Transportation, would he go out and sit down with the council so they could do something about the wharf. I say, I do not mind doing your job, but at least you should not be yapping about it. That is what I say to you.

Now, Mr. Speaker, everything is fine out in rural Newfoundland and Labrador! Let me tell you what I got in the Budget: Thirty-nine communities on Four Islands and I got half a million dollars for road work. In speaking to the previous Minister of Transportation who is now the Minister of Fisheries, a year ago sitting right here in an Estimates Committee, he told me that half a million dollars might get you three kilometers of pavement. Tell me what I am going to do with three kilometers of pavement in thirty-nine communities in rural Newfoundland. Tell me what you are going to do with it, and tell me that things are rosy in rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

I will tell you what I got out of the Budget, I got a half million dollars for road work. I got a 5 per cent increase for social service recipients, and you people were that happy you could not stay seated in your chairs, up patting each other on the back.

MR. DENINE: Are you happy about it?

MR. REID: The Member for Mount Pearl is asking me if I am happy about it. Yes, I am happy that you gave those people 5 per cent, but talk to the single able-bodied individual who is on social services in rural Newfoundland who is getting $89 a month.

I say to the member, you were a school teacher. I assume you know some math. Tell me what 5 per cent is of $89 a month. Tell me what 5 per cent is of $89 a month. I say to the member opposite, tell me. A man and his wife -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER (Hodder): Order, please!

I am asking members for their co-operation. We have a lot of shouting going on across the floor and it certainly does not add to good decorum in the House.

The Chair recognizes the hon. the Opposition Leader.

MR. REID: Mr. Speaker, there is no one opposite who can say that I harassed them this afternoon like they have been harassing me since I got up to speak. They just cannot take the truth. I think that is the ninth time that you - or the individual who was in the Chair before you just had to call a point of order in the last twenty-two minutes because they cannot take it.

Talk to me about a married couple who are getting $459 a month on social services and you give them 5 per cent. Ask them if they feel overjoyed, I say to the Member for Mount Pearl, because they are going to get a $5 or $10 a month increase? That is what I ask you.

Talk to the man on New World Island who called me last week and told me that he went to a hospital in Twillingate with chest pains. Talk to him! If you want his name I will give it to you outside. He told me I could use it in the House of Assembly, but I will not, but if you want it outside I will give it to you. How he was taken to the hospital in Twillingate with chest pains and they took him in the ambulance shortly after getting there and raced him to the hospital in St. John's. When he got here they did a stress test, a dye test and they did this balloon thing, where they opened the arteries in his heart. Guess what happened?

MR. HICKEY: Angioplasty.

MR. REID: Okay, you are right.

Guess what happened to him?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. REID: Oh yes, and here we have the great joker from Labrador, Lake Melville, who laughs at everything; who laughs and makes fun of everything.

Talk to me about the man who took the ambulance from Twillingate in the middle of the night, arrived in St. John's, they did the balloon thing on him and then when they told him they were going send him home, they said: Get your own way home. And because they did not ship him back to Twillingate in the ambulance, he was forced to pay for the ambulance from Twillingate to St. John's and also had to pay for the service of the accompanying nurse from Twillingate hospital. Had they shipped him back to Twillingate, it would have be free. But because it wasn't, he had to pay for the ambulance and for the nurse.

Now, let me tell you - to the Member for Lake Melville who is over there laughing and thinks this is rather amusing - that gentleman and his wife live on $7,700 a year on Canada Pension disability, and he had to pay for the ambulance from Twillingate to St. John's and he had to pay for the nurse. He is living on $7,700 a year. He cannot get a drug card, even though he is supposed to be taking pills for his blood pressure and everything else. Do you know the reason why he cannot? Do you know the reason he cannot get a drug card? He and his wife are living on $7,700 a year. Go out there. He said he will give you the documentation. Check it out. Do you know why he cannot get a drug card? Do you know why he couldn't get his ambulance paid for, I say to the Member for Lake Melville who is still grinning? Because the individual retired. He took a licence buyout from DFO eight or nine years ago and he got $9,000 in the bank. He makes $7,700 a year. Do you know what I said to him? Take the money out of the bank and put it in a sock. Do not let the government know you have it, boy, before you go and die because you cannot buy your pills. He said: No, I can't do it. I can't be dishonest. I have it there so I can bury myself and my wife.

And he is laughing at me? Don't talk to me about what things are like in rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

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

MR. SPEAKER: A point of order is raised by the hon. Member for Lake Melville.

MR. HICKEY: Mr. Speaker, I take great exception to the Leader of the Opposition trying to, with his charade to the Province here this afternoon, talk about that we do not care on this side about the particular situation. Let me tell you, Mr. Speaker, I have many people in my district who have to go for medical and I can tell you, they pay more than that when they have to look at an airfare. I can tell you that right now. So I will take no flak from the Leader of the Opposition.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

There is -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

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

MR. SPEAKER: A point of order is raised by the Member for Lake Melville.

MR. HICKEY: I ask the member - what is his district?

AN HON. MEMBER: Bay of Islands.

MR. HICKEY: Bay of Islands. I ask the Member for Bay of Islands to withdraw that comment that he just made about me, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Chair heard a number of people shouting but the Chair did not and cannot identify the person who was shouting out that time.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Chair recognizes the Leader the Opposition.

MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am glad to hear that the Member for Lake Melville got up and said we are going to look after those people. But, I will tell you what I will do tomorrow morning, because I know the gentleman I am talking about is probably watching this, I will tell him to phone you. I will tell him to phone you and maybe you can get your government to help him out. I will tell him to phone you and it is not just an individual from my district who calls me, I say to the Member for Lake Melville, who cannot get things. The individual I am talking about from my own district is not the only individual who finds himself in a situation like that in the Province. The Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair has mentioned a few here in the past few days. They are calling me and us from all over this Province because the lady who called my colleague today was not from her district. She was from Harbour Breton, and I am getting calls from all of your districts.

I only have a couple of minutes left because apparently the Lieutenant Governor is coming. I still have half an hour to speak, so I will speak my remaining half hour tomorrow, but I am getting calls. I got e-mails from the member for Trinity South's own district, asking me if I can raise the question about fish being shipped out of the Province for processing elsewhere when the plant in her own district is willing to buy that product, willing to process it and provide employment in Trinity Bay, in the New Harbour region, and this government is still giving exemptions to companies to ship that fish to China.

I have had calls - my colleague, who I consider a good individual and a good friend of mine from Bonavista South, got up last week and talked about the good things happening in his district. My computer lit up with e-mails from the district, wondering if it was his district he was referring to.

Mr. Speaker, we can talk, and I will talk for my remaining half hour tomorrow. I would like to go back to the Member for The Straits & White Bay North, have him stand on his feet and tell us about how rosy things are in that district, and we will talk about the plant in Roddickton or in Englee that is not open yet. We will talk about the lumber plant that burnt down that probably will never open again, and we will talk about how glorious things are on the Northern Peninsula, and then we will talk about how they are in St. Barbe. That is where I will pick it up tomorrow, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you very much.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

By agreement, we will suspend the regular business of the House at this hour. We need to take a very brief recess so we can get things in place. It will take us about thirty seconds, so the House will be in recess for about a minute or so.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

SERGEANT-AT-ARMS: Mr. Speaker, His Honour the Lieutenant Governor has arrived.

MR. SPEAKER: Admit His Honour the Lieutenant Governor.

SERGEANT-AT-ARMS: All rise.

Mr. Speaker leaves the Chair.

His Honour the Lieutenant Governor takes the Chair.

SERGEANT-AT-ARMS: It is the wish of His Honour the Lieutenant-Governor that all present please be seated.

Mr. Speaker and Members of the House, this is one of the few occasions when the Lieutenant Governor will be here in his or, I suspect soon, her own right, and it is a pleasure to be here. My speech will not be as eloquent or as long as the one I read two weeks ago, but I am, I hope, in far better voice.

I apologize if I have interrupted Private Members' Day, although I have done it many times in the past, in different circumstances, from both sides of the House.

AN HON. MEMBER: We are doing government business today anyway.

HIS HONOUR THE LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR: You are doing government business today. I suspect the Easter recess is upon us, unless things have changed.

I am here because I am going to ask the House to accept a gift from me, a gift which I think is redolent of the history of this place.

This House, not this particular Chamber but this House of Assembly, as I am sure you all know, goes back to the first day of January, 1833. There were no New Year's Day holidays in those days; the House met on the first of January. It met in a tavern. It did not have a proper place of its own, and I don't know whether the tavern was in business or not but you can be sure, I say to the Minister of Finance, that the Treasury was getting a slice of what was on the go, just like now.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

HIS HONOUR THE LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR: I do not know whether there is any truth in the story that the House met and neglected to pay its rent and that the Mace was distrained. I have never wanted to find the truth of it because it is too good of a story to disprove, should that be the case.

Perhaps I can tell you the members who were in that House. The first Speaker, as you know, was John Bingley Garland, who hangs just here. They represented nine districts, and I take some personal pleasure in that the names of each of those nine districts are carried on, in the names of one or more of the constituencies into which this House was divided in the most recent Redistribution Act, which I believe, if memory serves me, was about 1995. Certainly, the1996 election was the first one under the boundaries. I assume you will be changing them in due course, but that is for you to do.

Anyway, the House was born in controversy, and the House was born as a result of astute parliamentary tactics, and that is the point I want to make today.

To cast your mind back:1832 was the era of a great Reform Bill in the United Kingdom, in England, when the rotten boroughs were abolished and the new urban areas, the cities, the Northern cities, Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool, were given adequate, or something close to adequate, parliamentary representation. That was a titanic parliamentary struggle going on over two or three years.

At one point, one of the great unknown heros of our history, a man named Sir George Robinson who was the MP for Worcestershire - next time you have your Worcestershire sauce think of Sir George who was the MP for Worcestershire 174 years ago - took advantage of a situation when the government needed unanimous consent in respect of a supply bill. There had been petitions from Newfoundland for several years asking for a form of elected government. There was none. There were no elections of any sort being held in Newfoundland whatsoever.

Anyway, Sir George Robinson who had business interests here took advantage of the fact the government needed unanimous consent and he extracted a commitment from the Administration. It was led by Earl Grey. Earl Grey was a member of the House of Lords, as well as a man who liked a cup of tea. The spokesman in the House of Commons, a man named Lord Howick, made a commitment that Newfoundland would be given an elected Assembly. It was extracted from him - and you can go back and you read the Hansard - in the House of Commons, and then Sir George gave his consent and the supply measures went ahead. In due course, the Governor's instructions - Sir Thomas Cochrane was the Governor - were amended, and Cochrane was instructed to come out here and issue a proclamation calling for an election which was held in the fall of 1832, and the House, as I said, met on January 1, 1833.

The events called for satirical comment. I spent many years in this House and I hope I learned that we should not take ourselves too seriously, we should take our jobs seriously, take our responsibilities seriously, but don't take ourselves too seriously. These events called for satirical comment and it came in the form of this cartoon. This is called the Bow Wow Parliament cartoon. I do not know how many of you have had a look at it, but if you haven't, have a look at it. The next time you think that we are close to immortal remember the Bow Wow Parliament.

It was published in March 1832. The Chair is being occupied by the Speaker. It was passed after the commitment was extracted by Sir George, but long before the instructions were given to Cochrane, and the Speaker is bewigged and ‘begowned', being in a British parliamentary context, and he is putting the question. He is surrounded by members. All of them are Newfoundland dogs. The question is: All those in favour say, bow. All those against say, wow. And the bows have it. Of course, it has been known as the Bow Wow Parliament.

This is an original copy, but do not think it is all that valuable. It was printed as a broadsheet and there are still some around at Government House. I am proud to say we now have the copy which I think - it was the gift of Allan Perry - was owned by Garland himself, by John Bingley Garland when he was Speaker. It is hanging in my study at Government House.

In any event, Mr. Speaker, that is all I want to say. It is a reminder of our history, it is a part of our history. I think it is uniquely connected to this Parliament. Whether or not this is a Bow Wow Parliament I will leave it to members to settle. That is not my role. I act on advice. But the Bow Wow Parliament cartoon is very much a part of our parliamentary history here in Newfoundland and now in Newfoundland and Labrador.

I ask the House to accept it as an earnest of my deep respect for this place. Eight elections, ladies and gentleman, and twenty-three years taught me to respect this House and I do so, and to hold it in affection and I do so, both the House and the people for whom you speak.

There you are, Mr. Speaker. I hope you will find a place for it. I hope you will be able to take some pleasure from it and I hope you will remember how this House came to be 173 years ago.

Thank you very much.

[Applause]

MR. SPEAKER: Your Honour, on behalf of the Members of the Assembly and on behalf of the people of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, it is my pleasure to accept this gift from you as a long serving public servant of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, and to assure you that we will have this picture hung just outside the Chamber here. It will be there for all people to see and it will be hung there before tomorrow's sitting.

With that I invite you to come here. With leave of the House we have a photographer here who would like to take a picture of you and I, on behalf of all the people, you presenting and I accepting.

HIS HONOUR THE LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR: Is this a matter of unanimous consent, Mr. Speaker?

Where is Sir George now that you need him?

MR. SPEAKER: We can say all those in favour of giving consent, say Bow.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Bow.

MR. SPEAKER: And those against, say Wow.

We have no Wows.

HIS HONOUR THE LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR: I can tell you, Mr. Speaker, I have learned to tilt it forward, because otherwise the flash will just reflect on it. One more, please.

That is what you learn when you are the Lieutenant-Governor, I can tell you.

Thank you, Harvey.

SERGEANT-AT-ARMS: All rise.

[His Honour, the Lieutenant-Governor, leaves the Chamber. Mr. Speaker returns to the Chair.]

MR. SPEAKER (Hodder): Order, please!

This being Wednesday, and under our Standing Orders, this House now stands adjourned until tomorrow, Thursday, at 1:30 of the clock in the afternoon.