May 8, 2012                        HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS                    Vol. XLVII No. 28


The House met at 1:30 p.m.

MR. SPEAKER (Wiseman): Order, please!

Admit strangers.

Today we want to welcome to the Speaker's gallery a member from the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary, Sergeant Suzanne Bill, and from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Corporal Colleen Fox.

Welcome to our Assembly.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: We will hear in a few moments why they are joining us today.

Welcome.

Statements by Members

MR. SPEAKER: Today we have members' statements from the Member for the District of Mount Pearl South; the Member for the District of Bonavista South; the Member for the District of Port de Grave; the Member for the District of Signal Hill – Quidi Vidi; the Member for the District of The Straits – White Bay North; and the Member for St. John's East.

The hon. the Member for District of Mount Pearl South.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. LANE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to stand in this hon. House today to recognize a historical gem contained within the District of Mount Pearl South.

Admiralty House Museum and Archives was originally erected in 1915 for the British Royal Navy. It was later restored by the City of Mount Pearl. The museum chronicles events such as the history of the HM Wireless Station Mount Pearl, the development of wireless technology, the training of the Royal Naval Reserve in World War I, the life of Commander Sir James Pearl, the history of Mount Pearl, and the tragedy of the S.S. Florizel. The museum is also surrounded by beautiful gardens and walkways, enjoyed in the summer for weddings and picnics.

Mr. Speaker, I would ask all members of this hon. House to join me in congratulating the staff and volunteers of the Admiralty House Museum and Archives on the tremendous work they are doing in the preservation of our history.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. LITTLE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am honoured to rise in this House today to congratulate the five senior students from Discovery Collegiate High School of Bonavista, who won the finals in Safework Newfoundland and Labrador's game show Who Wants to Save a Life.

This is a travelling youth trivia game show put forward by the Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission, designed to educate youth about workplace health and safety. The strategy was launched in 2008 and this season featured more than thirty-five games at various high schools throughout the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Discovery Collegiate placed first at one of the four semi-final competitions and went on to win the finals, which was held at Empire Theatres on May 2 of this year. Each team member was awarded a certificate, jacket, and $1,000 scholarships. Their school also received $5,000.

The team's teacher, Nicole Waye, is to be commended for her time and commitment to her students. The team members: David Cox, Crystal Mouland, Cole Hayley, Kaylin Mouland, and Brittany Short did a phenomenal job and should be proud of their accomplishments.

Mr. Speaker, members of the House, please join me in congratulating these five students of Discovery Collegiate on their recent victory.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. LITTLEJOHN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I stand today in this hon. House to recognize the Bay Arena Pee Wee A Hockey Team on an outstanding season. The team won the Joe Lamontagne Invitational Triple A tournament in Nova Scotia and then won the Provincial Championship in Grand Falls-Windsor.

Their win in Nova Scotia was not an easy one for this team. It started out very poorly due to weather when half the team was stranded in the Province, causing them to default their first game. In a true show of sportsmanship, the organizing committee rescheduled the game until the next day and with a victory over Cole Harbour, the Rovers were on their way. In an overtime thriller, the Rovers beat TASA Ducks 4-3 with only forty-seven seconds remaining in overtime. This is the first team from the Bay Arena Minor Hockey Association to win a Triple A hockey championship outside the Province.

The Rovers then went undefeated to win the Provincial Championship in April in Grand Falls-Windsor. This team is truly worthy of our recognition today.

The team is comprised of: Ryan Petten, Mark Barrett, Colin Parsons, Blake Mercer, Mackenzie Shephard, Michael Hopkins, Noah Mercer, Zach Bennett, Cameron Chipman, Mason Oates, Owen Petten, Kyle Tetford, Brandon Crane, Cameron Simms, Jacob Russell, Matthew Ackerman, Jarrod Mercer, and coaches: Nelson Bennett, Scott Mercer, Craig Mercer, Lindsay Petten, and Trevor Dixon.

I ask all hon. members to join me in congratulating this team on a tremendous season.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for the District of Signal Hill – Quidi Vidi.

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

I rise today to pay tribute to a remarkable woman who recently celebrated her one hundredth birthday. We have had a lot of these lately in the House.

Nora Theresa Alteen is a well-known, much loved member of the Province's vibrant Lebanese community – of which I am also proud to be a part. Her parents, Simon and Rose Tuma, immigrated from Lebanon, eventually settling in Corner Brook and establishing S.E. Tuma Jewelers on Broadway in 1921.

When young, Nora was well known for her singing and acting. The operatic quality of her voice led potential patrons to encourage her to pursue a career. She chose instead her family obligations.

At twenty-seven, she married Nicholas Alteen from Amherst, Nova Scotia. They opened National Shoe Store, also on Broadway in Corner Brook in 1939. Nora ran it single-handedly after her husband's tragic early death, while raising six children. Nora lived in the home that she and her husband built until last fall, when she moved to St. John's to be near her children. She still enjoys reading, cooking, and sewing, and over the past few years has made more than 200 quilts for the Janeway and the Children's Rehabilitation Centre. Remember, I said she is 100.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all hon. members to join me in congratulating Nora Theresa Alteen on 100 years of a well-lived life.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for The Straits – White Bay North.

MR. MITCHELMORE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise today to congratulate Nicholas Castle and Clara Humby of Cloud River Academy for participating in the Forum for Young Canadians in Ottawa. I had the good fortune of participating in the forum in 2002, and I can tell this House it is an experience that has a lifelong impact.

Now in its thirty-seventh year, the forum invites 315 Canadian youth every year to Ottawa to get an up-close look at how the country is run. The invitation is extended to smart, engaged, and opinionated fifteen to nineteen-year-olds. For a week in the fall and the spring, youth like Nicholas and Clara meet MPs, Senators, and others who work to make things happen. They learn to collaborate and share ideas, and turn those ideas into community action.

Mr. Speaker, I only hope that Nicholas and Clara had a similar experience to the one I had, and that they made friends, as I did, and that experience will stay with them for the many years to come. More youth from this Province should have this opportunity, and I ask all hon. members to join me in congratulating them on this initiative for getting involved.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for St. John's East.

MR. MURPHY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise today to salute a teacher in my district who recently received national recognition for her work. Debbie Shortall, the physical education teacher at Vanier Elementary, was recently awarded the Physical Health and Education Canada/Wintergreen's National Physical Education Teaching Excellence Award – a long title – 2012, or the PETE award for short. The PETE award is given to one teacher from each Province, with three of those winners also receiving national honours. Debbie, in addition to being this year's honouree from Newfoundland and Labrador, is one of only three national winners, the only one from an elementary school.

The PETE award is the only one in the country for teachers of physical education. It honours experienced teachers who conduct quality physical education programs, serve as a positive role model for students, and participate in professional development opportunities.

Debbie, as any of her students can tell you, is the perfect recipient for the PETE award. Her positive attitude and enthusiasm are key factors in motivating them to participate in physical activity.

Debbie Shortall will travel to Halifax for the PHE National Conference this weekend to receive her award.

I ask all hon. members to join me in congratulating her on her fine achievement.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Statements by Ministers.

Statements by Ministers

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Child, Youth and Family Services and the Minister Responsible for the Status of Women.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS JOHNSON: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in this hon. House today to share with you an exciting event taking place in our Province this September. For the first time in Atlantic Canada, the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police will be co-hosting the 50th Annual International Association of Women Police Training Conference here in St. John's from September 9 to September 13.

We are thrilled to have this opportunity to showcase our Province and the strides we are making to ensure women are represented in policing and justice in Newfoundland and Labrador. Mr. Speaker, over 50 per cent of all recruits to the RNC are now women, making our police force a national leader in the recruitment of women. As well, the new head of the RCMP for Newfoundland and Labrador is a woman. Chief Superintendent Tracy Hardy will begin her new position in the coming months.

At this year's conference, we are expecting approximately 1,000 women and men in policing and justice from about forty-five countries worldwide. Delegates will participate in training and learning opportunities that address global issues of importance to women in policing, including operations, leadership, and professional development.

One of the highlights of the conference is sure to be the Parade of Nations. To begin the conference, delegates wearing their traditional dress uniforms will march through the historic streets of downtown St. John's. This march will certainly be a remarkable sight to behold.

Mr. Speaker, I am also pleased to announce that the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador is sponsoring the pinnacle event of this conference, the Premier's International Awards Luncheon, where outstanding female police officers from around the globe will be recognized in the areas of leadership, commitment, and bravery. The International Award for Police Officer of the year will also be presented at this prestigious event.

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to recognize the hard work of conference directors, RNC Sergeant Suzanne Bill and RCMP Corporal Colleen Fox for their continued efforts to deliver a world-class event here in our Province.

Thank you very much.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Burgeo – La Poile.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. A. PARSONS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

It is an honour to be able to stand for the second time in two days and speak about the exciting times in our Province when it comes to our police forces. A very big welcome to the corporal and sergeant for being with us here today.

This is very much an exciting event, bringing together people working in law enforcement from all around the globe. It is sure to be an incredible and a mutually beneficial experience. It is going to be quite a spectacle to see all the uniforms from around the world in this parade. I hope I can take this in and observe this in person.

As in all realms, increasing the participation of women is key to ensuring that programs and services reflect the needs of women and children. Issues like violence against women certainly transcend all nations. Big kudos to the sergeant and to the corporal for taking the lead on such a tremendous thing and bringing an experience like this to our Province; thank you very much.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. John's Centre.

MS ROGERS: Mr. Speaker, I thank the minister for an advance copy of her statement.

This is truly exciting news and I congratulate these RNC and the RCMP, and conference directors Sergeant Suzanne Bill and Corporal Colleen Fox. Both forces have come a long way with the recruitment of women and it is a good thing.

Over 50 per cent of recruits are women, but we need that percentage reflected in promotions through the ranks. We must be mindful of the glass ceiling that exists in other workplaces and make sure that women get every opportunity for advancement.

Congratulations once again on this fantastic achievement.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Recreation.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. DALLEY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise in this hon. House today to highlight Sportfest 2012 taking place at the Techniplex in Pleasantville from May 10 to May 12.

This is the second year for Sportfest, a fun-filled, interactive sports festival hosted by Sport Newfoundland and Labrador. Sportfest is a great way for our youth from Kindergarten to Grade 9 to try a wide variety of sports and other physical activities.

Last year's inaugural event was a great success, with thirty interactive booths and participation from almost 5,000 people, including 3,200 students. The goal of this year's festival is to once again help inspire our young people and get them moving in the right direction towards a more physically active life.

Mr. Speaker, the provincial government is partnering with Sport Newfoundland and Labrador for Sportfest and contributing $25,000 to support this event. We are committed to encouraging young people in this Province to get involved in sport and fitness, and to lead active, healthy lifestyles.

In addition to Sportfest, our work in promoting participation in recreation, sport, and physical activity among young people continues with a number of initiatives.

For example, the after-school physical activity pilot project is providing young people in Grades 4 to 9 with opportunities to be more active after school. Twenty-five school and community partnerships are working together to get kids moving and having fun through such activities as swimming, bowling, and outdoor activities.

The inaugural Women in Sport Conference, hosted by School Sport Newfoundland and Labrador this past weekend at Memorial University, provided education and professional development for high school students and adults interested in the subject of physical activity, recreation, and sport for females.

In addition, the over forty provincial sports organizations we support provide opportunities for participation in sport for thousands of young people in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Sportfest is open to the public on Saturday, May 12 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. All are welcome to visit and experience some of the great activities and sports demonstrations, including tennis, bowling, curling, and much more.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Bay of Islands.

MR. JOYCE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank the minister for an advance copy of the statement. I congratulate the minister and the government for helping out with activities in Newfoundland and Labrador. As we know, we have a high rate of obesity in Newfoundland and Labrador, and a study by Memorial that one in four in preschool are overweight. Anything we can do to promote this – Sportfest, Minister, is a great way to get youth involved.

Congratulations also to Sport Newfoundland and Labrador for their involvement all across the Province to get all the youth involved in teen sports and participation. Anything we can do as Legislative people, we should promote, because it is going to help. As we all know, diabetes has become an epidemic in Canada. If we can get people involved with sports, it will definitely help with other medical issues. Congratulations to the government. Keep up the work and promote as many youth.

If I can have just one minute, another thing about Sportfest and Sport Newfoundland and Labrador, on the heels of Rodney King in LA back twenty years ago; just after they had the Rodney King incidents in LA and they had all the riots in East LA, a soccer coach from the World Cup in soccer went to East LA and went on this small soccer field. All the national media asked this coach: Are you making a difference in LA? What the coach said to the media was: I can guarantee you two things. When the players on my field, they are under my control; when they are with me, they are under my influence. So to all the people who coach sports in Newfoundland and Labrador, keep up the good work.

Congratulations to the government. Keep promoting sports in Newfoundland and Labrador, because that is where our youth are going to be and that is where our future leaders are going to be.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. John's Centre.

MS ROGERS: Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the minister for an advance copy of his statement.

Physical fitness is a very important aspect of a person's well-being. It is essential that it is promoted in the schools throughout a person's entire education. The after school pilot project is a great step forward, but I would like to see this project now move from the twenty-five initiatives to a permanent project for all students Province-wide. Everyone benefits from physical fitness and team sports. It is time, Mr. Speaker, let's play ball.

MR. SPEAKER: Oral Questions.

Oral Questions

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

MR. BALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Minister responsible for Fire and Emergency Services has repeatedly stated that proper protocol was followed by FES-NL in all aspects of the search for Burton Winters.

I ask the Premier: When was the last review of emergency protocol completed, and will you please provide a copy of this review to the House?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. O'BRIEN: Mr. Speaker, there is an ongoing process in regard to protocols in the establishment of Fire and Emergency Services, both on ground search and rescue, and actually, volunteer fire departments as well.

There have been a number of meetings this spring, two or three between the various components, DND, the RCMP or the RNC, in the case of regional jurisdiction, and along with Fire and Emergency Services. That is really a living thing. We try to meet at various times to fine tune the process in regard to any ground search and rescue or the provision of any kind of services to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I gather from that, there is actually no set protocol.

Mr. Speaker, the president of the Civil Air Search And Rescue Association, CASARA, publicly stated that they have a written agreement on emergency response, and that all other provinces in Canada have taken part in this; however, talks here in Newfoundland have not gone anywhere.

I ask the Premier: Why hasn't the Province completed an agreement with CASARA to provide emergency response services when required, and will the Province now initiate steps to include this group?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, talks with CASARA have taken place in this Province over the last twenty years, both under Conservative Administrations and Liberal Administrations, and we have not been able to come to a place where we are prepared to sign an MOU. It has just not been possible for a number of reasons, Mr. Speaker. However, Mr. Speaker, in the case of the ground search and rescue and the air support that was requested, all of the protocols were followed. There were spotters on all of the helicopters that were in the air, Mr. Speaker. The issue in terms of the search that was conducted for Burton Winters was the deployment of aircraft that could fly in poor weather or do a search at night, Mr. Speaker. The federal government has that infrastructure.

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. BALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Province has entered into an agreement with the RCMP to provide policing services to areas not serviced by the RNC.

My question is for the Premier: As part of the contract, does the RCMP report directly to the Minister of Justice?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Justice and Attorney General.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. F. COLLINS: Pardon me, Mr. Speaker, I wonder if the hon. member could repeat his question? I am not sure what the question was.

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

MR. BALL: Yes, my question: As part of the contract with the Province, does the RCMP report directly to the Minister of Justice?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Justice and Attorney General.

MR. F. COLLINS: The answer to that, Mr. Speaker, is yes.

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

MR. BALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, as I thought. Mr. Speaker, as part of the policing duties, the RCMP plays a vital role in all emergency situations. In the case of the Burton Winters tragedy, the RCMP was the first point of contact.

I ask the Premier: What role does the RCMP play in the fire and emergency protocol in Newfoundland and Labrador?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As has been said by the minister and by myself in this House day after day when questioned in Question Period, the policing agency in the jurisdiction where the search is being conducted is the lead agency, Mr. Speaker. They have at their disposal a number of resources, FES-NL is one of those.

They lead the search, they decide what happens. They engage, for example, the Canadian Rangers to work with them. They call on FES-NL if they require air support or some other services, Mr. Speaker. There are protocols in effect that are reviewed constantly and have been reviewed again as a result of this tragedy, Mr. Speaker, to determine what needs to be done.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I think everyone will realize where we are trying to get to is obviously with the communication breakdown between Sunday night and Monday morning. I will move now to another question.

Mr. Speaker, today the Mental Health Commission of Canada is releasing a very massive report on mental health strategy in Canada and it is entitled Changing Direction, Changing Lives. It is calling for the reconfiguration of health care services in the country. Mental health, as we know, affects one in five people, but sadly only one-third of those people who need mental health services actually receive them.

The question is for the minister: Why does Newfoundland and Labrador have the second-lowest per capita spending on mental health services in Canada?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the work we are doing and the expenditures we are making in terms of mental health and addictions in this Province have far exceeded anything ever done by members opposite when they were in power.

We have a strong working relationship, Mr. Speaker, with the Mental Health Commission. Officials from my department communicate regularly and have provided input into the strategy. In fact, officials from my department have often been sought out by that very same organization to provide help and to provide initiatives. This particular organization, the Mental Health Commission of Canada, is very supportive of all the work we are doing here in Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BALL: There is no question there is a lot of work to be done, because second to last is really not something that we should be proud of at this point.

Mr. Speaker, our Province has long wait times for mental health services. It is very common, actually, to have to wait up to a year to see a psychiatrist. I recently heard of an eighteen-year-old who had to wait two years to see a counsellor.

So I ask the minister: Why do we have such a patchwork of programs instead of a full mental health program in this Province?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: Mr. Speaker, I am pretty sure that those who are receiving services from officials and from health care providers within Eastern Health, Central Health, Western Health, and Lab-Grenfell, all of them would attest to the quality of services they are receiving. They would not describe that as patchwork service, Mr. Speaker.

Services that are provided in this Province are very comparable with services in other parts of this country. We are doing, I believe, an exceptional job in providing service to the members of the public who need that service.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It was a never question that people who are receiving the services think they are good services. The problem is that there are too many people who just cannot access the service right now. That is the problem right now in our Province.

Mr. Speaker, the Premier has stated in the media that Muskrat Falls is beyond the scope of most Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

I ask the Premier: How could you make such a comment to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador when they are really only trying to get answers on the Muskrat Falls Project?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, it gets a bit tedious having to correct the Leader of the Opposition day after day when he picks pieces from statements that I make.

I have never questioned the people of Newfoundland and Labrador's right to ask questions, ever. Mr. Speaker, when the PUB presents a report and quotes people in that report without giving their name or giving their background, so we do not know what the veracity is and we do not know from whence the knowledge or experience comes, making very serious statements about the development of hydro power in this Province, then I believe that I have the right to question. This is public consultation. If people have something to say and they are going to be quoted, we have a right to know who said it.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BALL: We would absolutely agree. No problem with the question at all. All they are looking for is good, accurate information. That is all they need. That is the reason why I asked the question. It is not beyond the scope of a lot of people. There are a lot of people who made submissions to the PUB. They took the time to go there, so they understood the project.

I ask the Speaker: last Thursday, the Minister of Natural Resources stated here in the House that by 2015, we could experience blackouts. He also stated that it will take five to six years to build Muskrat Falls, which he claims will be the solution to those blackouts.

I ask the minister: If what you say is true, what is the government's plan to those energy blackouts that residents will experience between 2015 and 2018?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Natural Resources.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENNEDY: Yes, Mr. Speaker.

I read that section today; by 2015 we will experience what are called brownouts, and then by 2020, we will not have enough energy.

Mr. Speaker, in terms of a period of time to build Muskrat Falls, we have been almost forty years at the Lower Churchill development now.

Mr. Speaker, the answer to the question is quite simple. What will prevent the brownouts and the blackouts between 2015 and 2020? Muskrat Falls.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We know it is not possible between now and 2015 to get this project completed, so you cannot seriously expect that Muskrat Falls is the solution to 2015.

What is the plan between 2015 and 2018?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Natural Resources.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENNEDY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I listened closely to the Leader of the Opposition yesterday as he talked about the need for power, the incremental need for power as it arises. What we are seeing, Mr. Speaker, is over a period of time, as you get more housing starts, more industrial commercial development, you need more power. What we will do, what we are trying to do here is ensure that before we reach the point where we will not have enough energy, Muskrat Falls will come on-line, which is currently scheduled for 2017. There is no indication at this point that we will suffer that lack of energy prior to 2020; it is in 2015 that the problems will start. What we will see, and what will happen. is that Muskrat Falls will solve these problems.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. Barbe.

MR. BENNETT: Mr. Speaker, on May 28, 2007 government issued a press release announcing approval in principle of the sale of FPI assets to OCI and High Liner. One component of the contract was a three-year agreement that compelled the two companies to co-operate in marketing local products.

I ask the minister: Did these two companies fulfill this obligation, and what was the value of these products?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KING: Yes, Mr. Speaker, they did fulfill their obligations. I do not have the value of the marketing initiatives in front of me.

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for St. Barbe.

MR. BENNETT: Mr. Speaker, the Mayor of Burin is in the paper today informing us that High Liner paid penalties to the Province because it did not meet annual employment commitments.

I ask the minister: Is the mayor correct and, if so, how much did the Province accept in penalties at the expense of the workers in Burin?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KING: Mr. Speaker, the member is correct. There were penalties paid. Some were the area of $4 million. The penalties were paid to the benefit of the workers, Mr. Speaker, because our government maintained that if the production levels were not where the agreement required, we would receive the money and it would be put in trust for a future benefit of the workers. We have used some of that in fact, Mr. Speaker, within the last year to support paying health benefits at a time when the plant was down for a period of time.

Mr. Speaker, it is highly insulting to hear the member opposite stand up and degrade the workers using those kinds of comments. That money was put there to make sure that we prolong the life of that plant and prolong any benefit we could possibly maintain for the workers, and we are going to use that money just for that, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for St. Barbe.

MR. BENNETT: Mr. Speaker, this agreement also required OCI to pay penalties for not keeping its employment level commitments.

I ask the minister: Were these penalties paid, or were concessions given freely to the company at the expense of plant workers in Marystown?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KING: Mr. Speaker, we are in challenging times; I have been saying that for a long, long time now. It is absolutely insulting at times to hear the language, in reference to workers in this Province, coming from the Fisheries critic opposite. As the member would know, during his government's tenure in 1990 we had three significant fish plants close: Trepassey, Gaultois, and Grand Bank. Mr. Speaker, it was the nature of the business of the day. The industry went through a significant change in the early 1990s. The same thing is happening today.

I guarantee you one thing, Mr. Speaker. We have assessed every single agreement that has been signed with OCI, with High Liner, and anything else relative to the sale of FPI. Every ability to impose a penalty or other restriction has been done; otherwise the companies have met their agreement.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for St. Barbe.

MR. BENNETT: Mr. Speaker, now that OCI has fled from Marystown and High Liner is leaving Burin and Fortune's future is in jeopardy, I ask the minister: What are the government's plans for the quota-holding company established for a nine-year period under the 2007 agreement?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KING: Mr. Speaker, Quota Holdco is a company that was set up by our government, by our initiative – the only one in Canada, I remind the member opposite – to ensure that the stocks or the quota allocated from the federal government to FPI stayed in this Province. So, first of all, I thank him for raising it, because it shows the strength of the leadership that came from this side of the House when we were going through a significant transition from FPI to a diversification in the fishery.

Mr. Speaker, that agreement is still in place. I say to the member opposite, there are still discussions ongoing about the future of Fortune, and we will continue to work hard and aggressively with Ocean Choice about potential operations there, and we will continue to work with any and all proponents who have an idea on something for Burin, or Marystown, or Port Union, or the plants in Labrador, or Jackson's Arm, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for Torngat Mountains.

MR. EDMUNDS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I notice the Member for Conception Bay South is not here, but I am hoping somebody will address the question.

Mr. Speaker, the federal government has identified 142 contaminated sites across Canada where pollutants need to be contained or eliminated because of a long-term or immediate threat to human health or the environment. Several of these sites exist in Newfoundland and Labrador, Mr. Speaker.

I ask: What is the provincial government doing, in co-operation with the federal government, to ensure that actions are being taken to contain or eliminate the dangers that exist in this Province?

MR. SPEAKER: The Minister of Service Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. DAVIS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yes, the Department of Environment and Conservation is aware of the 142 sites that were recently identified and discussed in the public media, and six of those sites are located within Newfoundland and Labrador. I can tell you that officials in the Department of Environment are very much well aware of these six sites in the Province, and we will work with the federal counterparts in relation to these six locations.

I would like to point out to the House that they are federal sites, they fall completely within the parameters and responsibility of the federal government, and we will ensure that we work with the federal government to maintain these sites and to look after these matters.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for Torngat Mountains.

MR. EDMUNDS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It has also been reported that the 142 sites identified are only a handful of the thousands of potential sites which need to be cleaned up.

I ask the minister: Has the provincial government, in conjunction with their federal counterparts, done a complete assessment of all of these sites of potential contamination in this Province, and have they been prioritized for a cleanup?

MR. SPEAKER: The Minister of Service Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. DAVIS: Yes, Mr. Speaker, the 142 sites that are being discussed here are sites where there are pollutants that need to be contained or to be eliminated within these sites. Again, I say, Mr. Speaker, that these sites are the responsibility of the federal government. The provincial officials with the Department of Environment and Conservation will continue to work with the federal government to see to it that these sites are looked after as required, Sir.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Third Party.

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

Mr. Speaker, yesterday in this House the Premier and the Minister of Fisheries made light of the 2010 MOU process and report by cherry-picking ideas from the report that they have been acting on. They ignored structural challenges that need to be dealt with if we are to have a sustainable, economically viable, and internationally competitive fishing industry.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the Premier: If she is not going to pursue the MOU recommendations, then what exactly is her plan?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday I encouraged the Leader of the Third Party to read the MOU. Mr. Speaker, I am going to give her the same advice today. Yesterday, we heard the former Minister of Fisheries speak about the fact that he was twenty-three months in that portfolio without a question from the Leader of the Third Party, Mr. Speaker. Now we know why, because she does not understand about the fishery.

The one thing that the MOU did not address, Mr. Speaker, the MOU did not address the structural problems in the fishery. It is one of the reasons we did not accept the recommendations.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Third Party.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Premier does not have a plan.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS MICHAEL: There is no plan. I think what a good plan would be, Mr. Speaker, is what she is refusing to do and insulting this side of the House.

I ask the Premier to strike an all-party committee to look for solutions to the crisis in the fishing industry. Will she do that, Mr. Speaker?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, it is not my intention to insult the Leader of the Third Party, but you need to come from an informed place in this House of Assembly when you are asking questions and asking for an all-party committee. Mr. Speaker, we have talked at length in this Province about the structural problems within the fishery. Mr. Speaker, I was in the meeting and put forward the idea of an MOU or an agreement in principle to try and deal with some of the structural problems in the fishery. The document did not do that, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: She needs to be aware of that if we are going to have an informed debate in this House, let alone an all-party committee, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Third Party.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am not sure the Premier understands how an all-party standing committee works. Such a committee on the fishery would be able to call witnesses, experts and others, and be a forum for public discourse, Mr. Speaker. Certainly the Premier does not think closed-door Cabinet meetings would be a better solution, does she?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS MICHAEL: Mr. Speaker, I ask the Premier: If not an all-party standing committee, then what does government intend to do behind their closed doors?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, an all-party committee says there is going to be a united effort to deal with issues. That means we all have to come from an informed place. There has to be a respectful acknowledgement of the work that has been done by all in this House, Mr. Speaker. Day after day in this House of Assembly the Leader of the Third Party demonstrates a lack of knowledge about what is being done on the opposite side, Mr. Speaker, and a complete ignoring of the positions that we have put forward.

Mr. Speaker, we have said we are ready, able, and willing to deal with the other stakeholders in the fisheries when they come forward to deal with these very important issues.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Third Party.

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

An all-party committee would become informed together, Mr. Speaker, because all of the information would be there for everybody to have at the same time.

Mr. Speaker, this government is not leading change in our fishery. This government is leaving change up to the global marketplace and corporations, and allowing change to happen on the backs of the workers, Mr. Speaker. As with everything else, this government has no plan and is letting down working people in the fishing industry. Yesterday the Premier said that government walks the walk.

Well, Mr. Speaker, I ask the Premier: How is government going to walk the walk when the oil dries up? What is the plan for rebuilding our sustainable, renewable fishery, Mr. Speaker?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, this comes from the Leader of the Third Party who stood in this House yesterday and recommended implementation of all of the recommendations of the MOU, a half-billion dollar investment by the people of Newfoundland and Labrador –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: – that would have seen plant workers left behind again and people in the boat, other than the license holder, left behind again. Mr. Speaker, I encourage her to read it. I encourage her to listen to the answers. I encourage her to find every resource she can to find something out about the fishery in this Province, so that if the day ever comes that we strike an all-party committee, Mr. Speaker, that she has something to bring to the table.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Leader of the Third Party.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS MICHAEL: Mr. Speaker, we have a moral, and indeed an ethical –

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Speaker will acknowledge the speakers before they start their comments or questions.

The hon. the Leader of Third Party.

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

Mr. Speaker, we have a moral, indeed an ethical responsibility to deal with the crisis in the fishing situation for the people of this Province. Government spends a lot of time talking about its equity investments in oil, Muskrat Falls, and aquaculture. Well, our fishery is a billion dollar industry.

I ask the Premier, Mr. Speaker: Where is the equity investment in the traditional fishery?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KING: Mr. Speaker, I have spent countless minutes and hours in Question Period –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. KING: - over the last number of days and weeks talking about investments in the fishery, and I am more than pleased to do it again. I would certainly do it outside the House if the member would like. I am talking about marketing, I am talking about investment technology, and I am talking about investment in product development.

Mr. Speaker, let's be very clear. This is a serious issue, and I ask all members to listen because it is very serious. What we have an obligation to do, Mr. Speaker, in this House is to debate what the future of the fishery holds and what it means in real terms for workers, not stand in our place and rant and suggest false hope to the people of this Province. There is a reality, Mr. Speaker. We went through it in the early 1990s and we are going through it today, but we will stand with the communities and get through it.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. John's Centre.

MS ROGERS: Mr. Speaker, mothers and fathers are calling me in absolute desperation trying to get help for their sons who have been kicked off methadone treatment and are now trying to detox themselves at home. Their sons are afraid, saying they fear they are going to die. Their parents are afraid, they are in a living hell and they are not the only ones. Mr. Speaker, there is an eighteen month wait-list for the methadone treatment program and the private doctors will not take these patients back or they wait-list them.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the Minister of Health: What am I to tell these families to do? What am I to tell these sons who are pleading for help to do?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: Mr. Speaker, the first thing that she should tell them to do is to call Eastern Health if they are calling from her constituency because we need professionals dealing with these people.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: Mr. Speaker, concern around addictions in this Province is something that we take very, very seriously and we have worked long and hard to ensure that the services we offer are the best services that we can possibly offer, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday I went through a full list of services that we are offering here in Newfoundland and Labrador, and I am prepared to offer up that list again, Mr. Speaker. The member opposite needs to understand that we take this issue very, very seriously, hence the work that we have been doing, particularly in light of the closure of a downtown drugstore here in Newfoundland and Labrador.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. John's Centre.

MS ROGERS: Mr. Speaker, these families have been calling Eastern Health and have been reaching out for help. Many of our citizens are dealing with severe drug addictions. They are sick, need help, and are crying out for help. If they were diagnosed with any other illness they would not have to wait eighteen months to get into a treatment program. Not treating these people in a timely manner means more crime and more prolonged suffering.

Mr. Speaker, what concretely is this government going to do to shorten the wait times for methadone treatment for those who need it?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, we have a new division within Health and Community Services that is called the Clinical Efficiency Division. That division in and of itself has been doing some work around this issue. Mr. Speaker, we are continuously trying to find new doctors who are willing to take on methadone patients or patients who potentially may need methadone.

Mr. Speaker, the other thing that we need to point out here though is that methadone is not the only solution. There are a number of options that are available and health care professionals have to make those determinations, Mr. Speaker, not elected politicians. Health care providers determine what it is that is necessary.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. John's North.

MR. KIRBY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

In our Budget Estimates meeting this morning we learned that the Harper government has recently cut almost $2 million in funding from this Province's labour market adjustment program for older workers.

Can the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills explain why this funding cut was not reflected in her department's budget estimates?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS BURKE: Mr. Speaker, when the estimates were completed we did not have the number from the federal government at that time so we proceeded with the number from last year. Since we have the number, it is what it is, it is $897,000. Mr. Speaker, despite the fact that there is a reduction in that particular program, this government is serious about helping individuals who want to attach to the labour market, no matter what their age is or what their circumstances are. We do have significant services available to the people of the Province, Mr. Speaker, and despite the fact that the federal government - and I cannot explain their fiscal decisions and why they do what they do - but despite the fact that we have a reduction in that particular program, it certainly does not reduce the commitment of this government to work with the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for St. John's North has time for one very quick question, please.

MR. KIRBY: Mr. Speaker, this funding was supposed to be used for older workers who have experienced layoffs and displacement. Now that the Harper government has cut funding that will be used to help these displaced, older workers such as –

MR. SPEAKER: I would ask the member to get to his quick question, please.

MR. KIRBY: Yes.

Can the minister explain how her department is going to make up the shortfall now that this funding has been cut, Mr. Speaker?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS BURKE: Mr. Speaker, that program would have assisted in the services that we provide. In saying that, we do offer a full range of services through the Department of Advanced Education and Skills. Mr. Speaker, we do not discriminate based on age and people fifty-five to sixty-five are welcome to avail of those services.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The time for Question Period has expired.

I want to remind members as well that it is inappropriate to refer to anyone who is absent from the House. If members are posing questions or making comments in the House of Assembly, it is inappropriate to make reference to who is in attendance or who may not be in attendance at that time.

The Member for Torngat Mountains.

MR. EDMUNDS: Mr. Speaker, that was pointed out to me, and I do apologize.

MR. SPEAKER: Thank you.

Presenting Reports by Standing and Select Committees.

Tabling of Documents.

Notices of Motion.

Notices of Motion

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

MR. KENNEDY: Yes, Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, that pursuant to Standing Order 11 –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. KENNEDY: – that this House not adjourn at 5:30 p.m. today, Tuesday, May 8, 2012.

Further, Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, that pursuant to Standing Order 11, this House not adjourn at 10:00 p.m. today, Tuesday, May 8, 2012.

MR. SPEAKER: I just want to remind the Government House Leader this is the notices of motion. Are you serving notice that you are intending to introduce such a motion? This is the section of the proceedings where we are doing notices of motion.

MR. KENNEDY: Yes, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Answers to Questions for which Notice has been Given.

Petitions.

Petitions

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for Bay of Islands.

MR. JOYCE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise today, Mr. Speaker, on behalf of a petition from the people of the Bay of Islands:

WHEREAS the lack of cellular phone coverage in Lark Harbour, York Harbour, and Frenchman's Cove is a major concern for residents, especially in times of emergency; and

WHEREAS the lack of cellular phone coverage restricts and negatively impacts local businesses in the area as compared to most areas of the Province; and

WHEREAS the tourism destinations in our area are without cellular phone coverage, causing a safety concern and inconvenience for the tourists who visit; furthermore, the lack of cellular phone coverage can be a deterrent for people in choosing our region as a tourist destination; and

WHEREAS the residents of Lark Harbour, York Harbour, and Frenchman's Cove should have the same cellular phone coverage available as other areas of Newfoundland and Labrador that, in some cases, have long had such service;

WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly pray and call upon the House of Assembly to urge government to support our request to obtain cellular phone coverage.

As in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr. Speaker, this is an issue that is all across Newfoundland and Labrador. I know that ministers over there are attentively listening. I ask the minister if there is some way that we can all work together to find some comprehensive plan for all of Newfoundland and Labrador. We just had public meetings in Lark Harbour and Cox's Cove on this issue with a local provider. We acknowledge that this is a provincial issue. It is just not down into one area of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is a major concern. It is a restriction on business, it is a restriction on tourism, and it is also a safety concern.

I urge the government if there is some way that we can come up with a provincial strategy with some carrier through Newfoundland and Labrador so that we can start. I know it is going to take time. I know it is going to develop over time, but we need to start and try to provide some strategy from the government to all of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

I know to the people in York Harbour, Lark Harbour, and Frenchman's Cove, it is a deterrent for business mainly. It is a bad deterrent for business and safety concerns – there is a lot of fishing out in Lark Harbour, York Harbour, and on the other side also, Cox's Cove, McIver's, a lot of people's safety, a lot of tourism and there are many, many incidents whereby people were out and got lost on the mountain. They could not find them. They had to get search and rescue.

I am not sure of what the government's strategy is on this, Mr. Minister, but I urge the government to try to develop some provincial strategy so that we can start the planning for all of Newfoundland and Labrador, so that eventually, in the remote parts of the Bay of Islands, we can have cellular coverage.

Minister, I know it is a big step for any government to provide it, but we have to start somewhere. I ask the House to urge the government to try to come up with some strategy.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, for the time to present the petition.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for St. Barbe.

MR. BENNETT: Mr. Speaker, I rise today in this hon. House of Assembly for the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador in Parliament assembled. The petition of the undersigned residents humbly showeth:

WHEREAS home care allows the elderly and people with disabilities to remain within the comfort and security of their homes, home care also allows people to be discharged from hospital earlier; and

WHEREAS many families find it difficult to recruit and retain home care workers for their loved ones; and

WHEREAS the PC Blue Book 2011 as well as the 2012 Speech from the Throne committed that government would develop a new model of home care and give people the option of receiving that care from family members; and

WHEREAS government has given no time commitment for when government plans to implement paying family caregivers;

WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly pray and call upon the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to implement a new home care model to cover family care givers.

In duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr. Speaker, the type of challenges faced in rural communities by people who require home care are significantly different from the challenges faced by people in larger centres. That is not to say that people in larger centres do not face challenges and that they should not have family members who are qualified be permitted to provide care.

In rural areas, quite often it is not possible to find somebody who is qualified. There may well be family members who are willing to take training – and training is readily available – and they may be able to accept this as their form of employment and provide family home care services to a loved one while making a valuable contribution to society, and even lessening the cost of health care that would otherwise have to be provided.

Mr. Speaker, the petitioners in this case are from the towns, generally, of Port Saunders and Port au Choix. They are very insistent there is a hospital there. They understand the benefit of home care and they petition to have this change made as soon as possible.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Torngat Mountains.

MR. EDMUNDS: I thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I forward the following petition.

To the hon. House of Assembly of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador in Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS the Premier has the authority under the Public Inquiries Act to establish a public inquiry into matters of public concern; and

WHEREAS there have been several tragedies in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador where search and rescue responses have been called into question; and

WHEREAS Burton Winters' tragedy has increased awareness of search and rescue capacity in Newfoundland and Labrador; and

WHEREAS the Maritime Search and Rescue Sub-Centre in St. John's is scheduled to be closed on May 8, 2012;

WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly pray and call upon the House of Assembly to urge the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to establish a public inquiry into search and rescue in Newfoundland and Labrador.

As in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr. Speaker, I cannot remember what number is on this petition, but I would like to point out that some of the names attached to this petition not only come from my District of Torngat Mountains, but they come from people in the community of St. John's, from all over this Province. The petition that I am forwarding today, Mr. Speaker, has names from the District of Terra Nova and from the District of Gander. This petition comes from all corners of this Province.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to point out the last clause in this petition:

WHEREAS the Maritime Search and Rescue Sub-Centre in St. John's is scheduled to close on May 8.

Mr. Speaker, that is today. I would like to have called it an honour, but I regretfully attended the closing vigil yesterday at the small vessels harbour on the south side, and it left me with some level of discomfort knowing that we had lost another avenue for search and rescue.

Mr. Speaker, this whole process has been ongoing since the unfolding of the inquiries into the Burton Winters tragedy, and frustrations are high; I can see it from the family and I can see it from the petitioners around this Province. I can see it on the government side, too, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, from time to time over the last three months, we see new questions that arise that draw attention back to it and bring forward new recognition of the want for an inquiry. Mr. Speaker, I again ask the members of this hon. House to support this petition into the public inquiry.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. John's Centre.

MS ROGERS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

To the hon. House of Assembly of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador in Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned residents of Newfoundland and Labrador humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS as a result of a recommendation in the Green report about wrongdoing in the House of Assembly, there is now legislation that protects anyone who speaks up with evidence of financial abuse or other impropriety in the legislative branch; and

WHEREAS it is unfair for one group of civil servants to be protected by whistleblower legislation when another group is not; and

WHEREAS Justice Green stated that the financial wrongdoing in the House of Assembly might have been discovered sooner if whistleblower legislation had been in place; and

WHEREAS the Cameron Inquiry into ER/PR testing found that problems with tests would have come to light sooner, therefore lessening the impacts on patients, if whistleblower legislation had been in place; and

WHEREAS the Task Force on Adverse Events recommended an amendment to the Regional Health Authorities Act to provide legal protection for employees reporting occurrences or adverse events; and

WHEREAS whistle-blower legislation is in place elsewhere in Canada and the provincial government promised similar legislation in the 2007 election but has not kept that promise;

We, the undersigned, petition the House of Assembly to urge government to enact whistle-blower legislation to protect public sector employees in provincial departments and agencies, including public corporations, regional health authorities, and school boards.

Mr. Speaker, since the government did promise this in 2007 in their election, we are now into 2012, there is no good reason to even be considered as to why we do not have whistle-blower legislation, whistle-blower protection. It is about protecting our workers and it is also about protecting the people of the Province. It ensures a protection for all of us; it ensures security for all of us. To not do it is simply folly.

I will not say anything more, Mr. Speaker, because at this point I do not understand why this has not moved forward. There is no excuse for it.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. John's North.

MR. KIRBY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

To the hon. House of Assembly of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador in Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned residents of Newfoundland and Labrador humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS strikes and lockouts are rare, and on average 97 per cent of collective agreements are negotiated without work disruption; and

WHEREAS anti-temporary replacement workers laws have existed in Quebec since 1978 and British Columbia since 1993, and successive governments in those provinces have never repealed those laws; and

WHEREAS anti-temporary replacement workers legislation has reduced the length and divisiveness of labour disputes; and

WHEREAS the use of temporary replacement workers during a strike or lockout is damaging to the social fabric of a community, the local economy, and the well-being of residents, as evident in the recent use of temporary replacement workers by both Ocean Choice International and Vale in Voisey's Bay;

We, the undersigned, petition the House of Assembly to urge the government to enact legislation banning the use of temporary replacement workers during a strike or lockout.

As in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Today, Mr. Speaker, we have residents of Conception Bay South, Colliers, Portugal Cove, Dildo, Holyrood, Paradise, and Carbonear. The Member for Grand Bank might be interested, we have petitioners from Lamaline, Point May, Point au Gaul, Burin, Grand Bank, and other communities in the member's district.

Somewhat like the legislation that my colleague for St. John's Centre just referenced, this legislation, at least the Premier of the day gave us some cause to believe that after the eighteen-month strike that caused so much problem and damage for people who worked at the Vale site in Voisey's Bay, the Premier of the day, and I believe whomever was the Minister Responsible for Labour Relations of the day, said they would look into this and consider it.

That has been a considerable passage of time since those words were uttered, Mr. Speaker. I hope that the Minister Responsible for the Labour Relations Agency will make quick work of this now and heed the call of these petitioners and bring in this necessary legislation.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. John's East.

MR. MURPHY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise in the House again to present a petition on behalf of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

To the hon. House of Assembly of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador in Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned residents of Newfoundland and Labrador humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS the Burin Peninsula Highway is long and desolate, varying in elevation, with highway conditions that are often difficult; and

WHEREAS this stretch of highway does not have adequate cellphone coverage to allow for quick response times for people in distress who need help; and

WHEREAS the highway has innumerable hazards that have led to the death of travellers in this area; and

WHEREAS no highway cameras are currently operating to let travellers know about road conditions and warn of possible hazards;

We, the undersigned, petition the House of Assembly to urge the government to install cameras on the Burin Peninsula Highway that will allow travellers to check on the condition of the roads.

And as in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr. Speaker, I cannot reiterate how important this petition is, particularly to the people of the Burin Peninsula. This petition is signed by pretty much – it comes from well, basically every community I think is on this particular section of the petition from up and down the Burin Peninsula. Indeed, there are members of the general public who are signing this petition from all over Newfoundland and Labrador.

We all know the benefits of the highway cameras, not only to the travellers out there. It is also nice to know that there is a little piece of security and piece of mind knowing that somebody can get an update, for example, from the various news agencies whenever the pictures of the various highway conditions are advertised. It helps people make a good decision on whether to be travelling or not.

Mr. Speaker, I will leave this with the House, and hopefully the Department of Transportation and Works will take this into consideration. I think it is a very worthwhile venture. We all know that highway cameras are on the Internet now and everybody can see what is happening in other areas of the Province before they make those travel plans.

Again, Mr. Speaker, I thank you very much for the opportunity to speak to this matter.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

Orders of the Day

MR. SPEAKER: The Government House Leader.

MR. KENNEDY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I call from the Order Paper, Order 1, that this House approve in general the budgetary policy of the government.

MR. SPEAKER: Earlier, in Notices of Motion, I was deferring the notice to items five and six on the Order Paper.

MR. KENNEDY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I move, seconded by the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, pursuant to Standing Order 11, that this House not adjourn at 5:30 p.m. today, Tuesday, May 8, 2012.

Further, Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, pursuant to Standing Order 11, that this House not adjourn at 10:00 p.m. today, Tuesday, May 8, 2012.

MR. SPEAKER: It has been moved and seconded that the House do not adjourn at 5:30 p.m., Tuesday, May 8, and it has been further moved that the House do not adjourn at 10:00 o'clock p.m. on Tuesday, May 8.

All those in favour of the motion?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

MR. SPEAKER: All those against?

Motion carried.

The hon. the Government House Leader.

MR. KENNEDY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I call from the Order Paper, Order 1, that this House approve in general the budgetary policy of the government.

We continue, Mr. Speaker, with the Minister Tourism, Culture and Recreation, where he finished off yesterday.

MR. SPEAKER: The Minister of Tourism, Culture and Recreation.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. DALLEY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I appreciate the opportunity to finish up my remarks from yesterday. I started out yesterday, Mr. Speaker, trying to point out through the Budget debate back and forth and members opposite had an opportunity to question and criticize the Budget, but I wanted to point out a number of things from this Budget that is very important and continued contributions that our government is making through key sectors of our economy, key sectors of our Province. Ultimately, it will come down to members opposite will have to make a decision about supporting a Budget and ultimately deciding if they want to support the tourism, the culture and the recreation aspects of this Budget, which obviously all of their districts which they represent will be impacted as well. I want to make sure that I point out, Mr. Speaker, the good things that are happening through this Budget, so when they do actually vote on the Budget they will realize that they have an opportunity to support tourism, culture and recreation developments in their own districts as well.

Yesterday I spoke about the arts, Mr. Speaker, just to clue up in recognizing – the arts are very valuable and always have been in our Province in terms of our culture and heritage. Mr. Speaker, a lot of people are really passionate about the arts. Perhaps none any more than the member opposite in St. John's Centre. I appreciate that, but realizing as well, through all of this, we have to strike that balance. Mr. Speaker, without doubt, my experiences early on in this portfolio, the arts community is alive, it is vibrant, and it is exciting. In discussions I have had, Mr. Speaker, I think we realize probably more so than ever before it is receiving the recognition and appreciation in this Province that it rightfully deserves. Mr. Speaker, we are delighted. Delighted through this Budget and previous Budgets to continue to support the growth of the arts community and continue to support the great work they are doing, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. DALLEY: Mr. Speaker, a couple of other key areas that this Budget will support throughout the Province, and particularly within my department, is the area of recreation and tourism. I just want to speak a little bit about recreation before I speak about tourism. The Leader of the Third Party referenced today in one of her comments during Question Period, as with anything else, no plan. Mr. Speaker, when we look at the development of recreation, or the arts, or tourism for that matter, we do have a plan. We are guided by a plan in which stakeholders, the people around this Province, have had input and opportunity to work for us and lay out the direction that we want to go in. Certainly, active, healthy living is part of our recreation strategy from 2007.

Mr. Speaker, the investments in this particular Budget allows us to continue in that direction. We have three overarching governing bodies in this Province: Recreation Newfoundland and Labrador, School Sport Newfoundland and Labrador, and Sport Newfoundland and Labrador. Within that, there are some forty provincial sports organizations. This Budget will allow us to continue to support them in their operations. That is absolutely critical because within that, in order for us as a government to achieve one of our mandates and encouraging active healthy lifestyles, we are going to rely on these organizations that ultimately rely on the thousands of volunteers in the Province. It is through that structure that we are able to reach out to communities and continue to support the growth of recreation and sport throughout the Province for people of all ages.

Mr. Speaker, this Budget will also allow us to continue to invest in the summer games and winter games. The summer games are in Harbour Grace-Carbonear this year. The later winter games will be in the Clarenville area. Mr. Speaker, this will allow us, again, to provide opportunity for youth to come together and not only engage in sport and competitive fun, but to build character, to build interpersonal skills, all kinds of aspects, along with an active, healthy lifestyle. Again, a good, strong investment from this Budget.

As well, Mr. Speaker, a part of this Budget will be continuing our National Travel Subsidy, allowing our athletes and teams an opportunity to be exposed to what is taking place in other parts of the country. We also have the Labrador Travel Subsidy, Mr. Speaker – an absolutely critical subsidy that we provide for teams in and out of Labrador. Again, it is important that they are able to connect and be a part of whatever is happening in sport and recreation in the Province.

Added to that, this Budget will allow us to continue with the Premier's Athletic Awards. Mr. Speaker, these are relatively new awards in which we have worked with Sport Newfoundland and Labrador and other sporting organizations, where we recognize our elite athletes who are dedicated, put the time and effort into it, and recognize the support of their coaches, enable them to advance to another level, whether it the provincial level, national level, or international level.

In this Budget as well, Mr. Speaker, a critical part of our Budget this year in recreation will be able to continue the investments in capital: capital recreation programs, community recreation development grants, seniors' community recreation grants. You see, we went through a period of time, perhaps in the 1990s, where recreation seemed to hit a low and there was very little funding to help support communities and community groups; we lost some direction in recreation, Mr. Speaker. In recent years, we have reinvested and we have refocused; we have over $70 million invested in recreation since 2007. That is allowing young people and people of all ages to be active, engaged, to have the opportunity, and to help upgrade facilities. It is a way to achieve that objective and certainly support the many volunteers who are doing this work out into our communities.

A specific program that this Budget will allow us to continue is the automated external defibrillators, Mr. Speaker, recognizing our demographic in the Province and encouraging active healthy living of all ages. These defibrillators will allow and encourage people and give them a sense of comfort. Those of us, particularly, who play rec hockey – it is nice to know that there is a machine available if we need it. Mr. Speaker, in partnering with the Heart and Stroke Foundation through their program Restart a Heart campaign, we are having great success with that as well.

As referenced earlier today, Sportfest will take place over the next few days, a great activity developed by Sport Newfoundland and Labrador, Mr. Speaker, to engage youth, to expose them, to encourage them – not only the youth, encourage parents to be supportive of their children. We all know that is the route to ensure that kids are actively involved in sport and recreation. Mr. Speaker, that will take place over the next few days, along with the after-school initiative that was earlier referenced. This Budget is critical for recreation for us to continue our efforts.

Another key sector, Mr. Speaker, is the tourism sector. I do want to reference that a little bit, because the Budget allows us to continue on this path that we are on. In reference to ‘no plan', Mr. Speaker, in 2009 we released Uncommon Potential, Vision 2020. It was a tremendous strategy brought together by all stakeholders, which reshaped and realigned the tourism industry in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Mr. Speaker, through our provincial tourism board, through Hospitality Newfoundland and Labrador, through our destinations management organizations, and working with the profit and non-profit sectors, we are able to align the efforts in this Province with a very clear focus. We have had absolutely tremendous success. Mr. Speaker, our numbers have been growing despite challenges in the world economy, fuel prices, and the Canadian dollar.

When other provinces are in decline in tourism, we continue to be on a rise. The reason for that, Mr. Speaker, is we have been very strategic in our efforts, one, in terms of aligning and building a model for tourism in the Province, and secondly, obviously, our ad campaign. We have had tremendous success with the Find Yourself campaign. We have been able to double our budget from $6 million to $13 million in advertising and marketing, but, Mr. Speaker, what we have truly done is build on the strength of this great Province, and that is our people, our culture, and our environment.

Mr. Speaker, through that we have been able to build some 147 awards, but I think the true test and the success is the fact that our numbers are growing, we are getting great feedback, and the Province is certainly on the map as a key destination for an authentic, unique experience. Again, what this Budget will allow us to do is to continue that and continue a key part of supporting the tourism industry in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Mr. Speaker, another aspect of tourism that we are able to do as a result of this Budget is to continue to support the DMOs in their advertising, encouraging packaging on-line. We are able to invest in the shoulder seasons and events like Trails, Tales and Tunes, and Roots, Rants and Roars. We are able to focus on product development and work with different areas and regions that obviously have their own strengths, and to build opportunities to take a look at ways to overcome barriers and build on these strengths.

As well, Mr. Speaker, this Budget will allow us to invest in digital and on-line marketing, again, a key area where we are seeing rapid growth. We will develop this year a mobile app called Trip Planning, recognizing that some 80 per cent of our visitors now are using a mobile device. Mr. Speaker, the reality is that is the direction, and we are able to invest and keep up with that particular advancement. We have done work on winter tourism; we will continue the fabulous product from our snowmobile trails to Marble Mountain and other outdoor activities, recognizing the value to our smaller communities and smaller businesses.

Mr. Speaker, we have invested in VICs and continue to do so to provide that service to both resident and non-resident visitors. As well, we have done an exit survey where we will do some work to help continue to guide us in the right direction for tourism growth in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Mr. Speaker, when I talk about tourism and the arts and culture sectors of our Province, and the recreation sector, we are obviously driven; we are driven by co-operation and we are driven by a collective vision that has been laid out in all of these sectors, Mr. Speaker, and we continue to have success. We are not where we want to be. We will continue to invest; this Budget will allow us to do that and we will continue to look for partnerships and encourage private investment to help improve the economy, to help support the volunteers in the non-profit sectors, Mr. Speaker, to continue to make Newfoundland a great place for Tourism, Culture, and Recreation, right across the Province, from Labrador to St. John's and all around the coast.

Mr. Speaker, this Budget has been a very positive Budget for our department and we will continue to make the right investments.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Justice and Attorney General.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure today to rise in this hon. House and speak to Budget 2012: People and Prosperity. This is the seventh occasion now I have had to speak to budgets. It is always a privilege, a pleasure and a great honour, in fact, to be involved in Budget preparation for the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Mr. Speaker, this Budget is a budget of responsible investment. It speaks to a secure future and it makes a number of significant measures to improve conditions for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador. I am not going to speak in any detail, Mr. Speaker, on the substantive content of the Budget. Other speakers have done that, and I am sure will continue to do so, but just a highlight. Budget 2012 does make significant measures to improve and strengthen health care, especially in the areas of long-term care and community support, breast cancer screening and shorter wait times, significant investments there. Significant investments, Mr. Speaker, in sustaining economic activity in this Province, a significant investment in child care, in apprentices, in public infrastructure. Again, this year we are spending $900 million in public infrastructure. Mr. Speaker, seniors, one that I am particularly interested in, I must say we continue to advance the situation of seniors.

Mr. Speaker, I want to talk about, for a minute, the economic situation that we find ourselves in at this point in time and a level of economic prosperity that we have developed over eight years of this government, nine years of this government. Just a few interesting facts, Mr. Speaker, I think are worth repeating. For example, Mr. Speaker, we have not borrowed in this Province since 2004. Standard & Poor's gave us a credit rating of A+. We have a ten-year plan to reduce our net debt per capita to the national average. We have already reduced it by 26 per cent since we took over. These are significant achievement and significant facts that bear repeating.

The Minister of Finance, in his Budget presentation, Mr. Speaker, indicated that the economic indicators for the year 2011 were good. He made reference to the fact that GDP growth was up, investment was up, retail sales were up, exports were up, employment was up, and so on, and that the indicators for 2012 were looking good as well.

Now, we do have some problems coming up in the next two years because of the closing down of two of our offshore projects. White Rose and Terra Nova are going to be shut down for several months and production will drop as a result of that. The economy is still expected, Mr. Speaker, to remain strong. Real GDP will remain unchanged because of the fallback of the oil production projects, but the economy is expected to remain strong. Areas such as employment, for example, will remain strong, personal disposable income, rental and retail sales, capital investments, mineral shipments, and so on. All of these things are going to stay strong for 2012. As the minister says, Mr. Speaker, the economy is booming on all cylinders and it is expected to stay that way for the coming year.

Mr. Speaker, this government will, as it has done in the past, continue to practice prudent spending and continue to maintain a balance in spending based on what is affordable. We have committed, Mr. Speaker, in this Budget to spending within our means. Over the last few years when we had big surpluses, we were able to spend money significantly in infrastructure developments and we do that in good times, when you have money to spend.

Now, Mr. Speaker, we have to cut our garment according to our cloth. The revenues are not going to be as good, so we are going to be more prudent in our spending. We will spend within our means, like any responsible household would do or any responsible family would do. That is what this government is all about, Mr. Speaker, responsibility.

Mr. Speaker, if I could speak about the Budget process for a minute. Cabinet ministers were involved in the Budget process. It is a very intense and comprehensive exercise. It provides each minister with the opportunity to do an in-depth analysis of his or her own department, what programs are working, what programs are not working, what programs need more investments, and what programs can be cut back.

I remember when I first came into the portfolio, it was in the fall of 2007, and my experience with budgeting at that point in time, Mr. Speaker, was to sign the back of my cheque. That is the only budgeting experience that I had. I soon learned, Mr. Speaker, in getting involved in the budgeting process in the Department of Justice, I heard such things as lapsed funds, re-profiling of funds, ‘JVing' of funds, terms that I had never heard in my life.

Mr. Speaker, it was baptism by fire, because I was appointed in October and the Budget process was underway, so I had to dive in and learn all about the Budget process. Mr. Speaker, there is no better way to learn about your department than get involved in the Budget process. It gives you an insight as well into the tremendous responsibility you have as politicians, as members of this government to act fairly and wisely, Mr. Speaker, to spend properly the taxpayers' dollars. It is not our money. It is not the government's money; it is the people's money. Mr. Speaker, we have a tremendous responsibility to invest it prudently and wisely to secure a good future for our future generations. That is why we were elected. That is why the people of this Province elected this party to run this Province. They did not elect the Liberals, they did not elect the NDP, they elected the PC Party of Newfoundland and Labrador to run this Province, and it is based on the prudent fiscal policies that we have had over the last eight years.

Mr. Speaker, as the minister and preparing for the Budget process, you advocate for your department. There are things in the department that needs investment, there are things you want to see grow. There are new initiatives you want to take on. You try to advocate for your department. Every minister goes to the Budget process with a wish list of things they would like to have for their department. Mr. Speaker, you also realize that you have to be part of the team with a central focus on what is best for the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. You have to take part in that activity. You do not always get what you look for. You do not always get what is on your wish list because what is important, Mr. Speaker, is what is in the best interests of the Province.

Mr. Speaker, the overriding intention of this Province in developing this Budget was not to leave a burden for our children, for our grandchildren, not to come to the Budget presentation with an $800 million debt or a $700 million debt. That was the Premier's direction, Mr. Speaker. Under the leadership of this Premier and the Minister of Finance, our task was to make sure that we cut our garment according to our cloth and develop a Budget that is in the best interests of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, keeping in mind the future generations of this Province. A tremendous responsibility, Mr. Speaker, on the government side to decide how to spend the people's money, how to develop programs, how to invest in programs and at the same time keeping the future in mind. As I mentioned, this is my seventh Budget that I have been involved in. It has not only been a tremendous responsibility, Mr. Speaker, but it is also a tremendous honour and privilege to be involved in that.

Mr. Speaker, as politicians we all have the opportunity on occasion to attend high school graduations and proms, and speak to young people. I have been doing that for many, many years, long before I came into politics. As a school board official and district superintendent, I attended many high school graduations, brought many greetings and gave addresses to high school graduates. There was always the question, Mr. Speaker, trying to come up with the right clichés to address young people. Telling them: you are going out in the world, you are starting the next phase of your life, there are limitless opportunities out there; the same clichés every year that people give to young people graduating from high school.

Since I became a politician and represent the government at high school graduations, I have taken a new perspective on that. I try to tell young people that there is a very close connection between government and young people and how it is very important for government to be represented in high school graduations where young people gather, because the focus of government, Mr. Speaker, is or should be young people, securing a future for the next generation. That is what I try to tell these people because they sit in front of me in high school graduations, the next generation is you. Our focus as a government is to make sure that we secure a good future for you in this Province, and that governs all policies, all activities of this government. That has been the focus of this government, Mr. Speaker, and I am proud to be part of it. It is that responsibility that is reflected in the Budget brought down by the minister a short time ago.

Mr. Speaker, with all budgets, Oppositions have a role to play. They have a role to play. They question budgets and where spending is taking place, how much spending is taking place, where spending should be taking place, and where it is not taking place. As a rule, they point out the things that are not in the Budget. Mr. Speaker, you could never have a Budget that includes everything. You could never have a Budget that includes all the things that Opposition people want.

Now, I must say, the Liberals have been reasonable in their opposition to this Budget.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. F. COLLINS: They make statements of where money should be spent, where money should not be spent, but that is par for the course. They give some credit where credit is due, and that is par for the course as well, but, Mr. Speaker, I cannot say the same for the Third Party. I cannot say the same for the Third Party. I do not know where they are in terms of what they expect in a Budget process.

AN HON. MEMBER: They do not know (inaudible).

MR. F. COLLINS: They obviously do not know themselves, but I hear the Third Party day after day after day rise in this House - when they respond to ministerial statements, for example, you always wait for the word but; everything is great, but you should spend more - all the time, every time it comes up.

Mr. Speaker, I call them the universal party because they want to have universal home care, they want to have universal child care, they want to have universal long-term care, they want to have universal housing. There are not enough money trees that could be grown, Mr. Speaker, to fund the program.

They come from a position that they know that they are not going to be elected as the government, although sometimes I get the feeling they think they are. They have no responsibility to be accountable. They do not have to cost their initiatives. We should be spending millions on this, millions on that, and millions on something else. It is inexplicable that they should get themselves elected and then take that irresponsible approach on behalf of the people who elect them. It makes no sense whatsoever.

They talk about motherhood issues. Child care is a motherhood issue. Home care is a motherhood issue, and housing. These are things that resonate with people, but they lead people in the wrong direction – I better be careful of my parliamentary language here – by suggesting that unending amounts of money can be spent on these things. It is inexplicable that they can take this position day after day.

The Premier mentioned earlier today that the Third Party suggested that we implement all of the recommendations of the MOU in fisheries. Half a billion dollars and they did nothing to restructure the fishery. Spend it; I have heard, no, this is not a year to be paying down on debt. This is a time when we should be spending more on social programs. Mr. Speaker, the responsibility factor is just not there.

I have not heard the same degree from the Liberals. I will give them credit. Certainly, from the Third Party, I have no idea where they coming from in their constant demand for more spending by this government. It makes no sense whatsoever.

They talk about all-party committees. The Leader of the Third Party wants an all-party committee on everything, an all-party committee on this, and an all-party committee on that. They feel that they should be part of government. With that kind of approach, who would want them?

Mr. Speaker, I just want to mention a few things with respect to my own department, the Department of Justice. As I mentioned earlier, as ministers we advocate for our departments. There are lots of things we would like to see and a lot of things we would like to have. We do not always get them. When the Budget process starts, Mr. Speaker, you have a list that wide and then as it goes through all the processes and departments it narrows down. By the time you get to the Budget presentations, it is this wide. Even then, you have to make concessions.

Mr. Speaker, there are three foundations of a good justice system: policing, courts, and corrections. These are the foundations of a good justice system. This is one of the safest provinces in Canada to live, thanks to the great police system that we have had, Mr. Speaker. The last few days in this House we have had a lot of references made to policing in this Province and how proud we are of the police force that we have.

Mr. Speaker, this government had the foresight back in 2004 to predict, or to see that with the development of industry and commerce in this Province, crime follows, unfortunately. Social conflicts and social problems follow development. As a result of that, this Province invested heavily in its police forces. This Province happens to have, Mr. Speaker, a unique model in that it has two provincial police forces, the best model in the country. Our government fully supports them. We have made significant investment; we have increased the Budget since 2004 by $52 million. We put an extra 145 sets of boots on the streets. That commitment to our police forces parallels the commitment that they make in turn to their communities.

Mr. Speaker, just a few weeks ago I had the honour to announce that we had reached a new service agreement with the RCMP ensuring the status of the RCMP in this Province for the next twenty years. We were very fortunate, Mr. Speaker; after two years of deliberations and discussions we have now changed our relationship with the federal government to a partnership, a full-scale partnership as opposed to a client-based model. That provides the Province with enhancements and more control with respect to financial spending, accountability, and cost containment. We have made tremendous improvements in these areas.

Mr. Speaker, through the Budget just brought down we mentioned an additional, this year, $4.1 million in the new agreement. Part of that $4.1 million, Mr. Speaker: $3.9 million this year for infrastructure developments. As a result of that investment, new detachments will be built in St. Anthony. The work is already ongoing in St. Anthony and that will continue; a new detachment in Twillingate, a new detachment in Clarenville, in Rocky Harbour, and in Whitbourne over the next five years, part of a five-year plan. Mr. Speaker, with the plan being a twenty-year plan we can do that in five-year increments, so over twenty years there will be four such plans that will enhance our infrastructure development throughout this Province.

We also provided funding for another Child Exploitation Unit with the Newfoundland Constabulary. We also, Mr. Speaker, invested significantly in the continuation of the new RNC complex, which will be the historic home and operation headquarters of the RNC.

With corrections, Mr. Speaker, obviously the big need in corrections is down by the lake of HMP. We are currently in the process of assessing all our infrastructure correctional facilities in this Province to see what it is that we can do to hold the fort while we are looking for a solution for HMP. Mr. Speaker, we are continuing to do that, we are assessing our infrastructure projects, and we hope to have some recommendations for the government in short order.

We have not stood still, Mr. Speaker. As a result of the Decades of Darkness report, seventy-six of the seventy-seven recommendations of that report have been implemented. We have made great improvements; we have invested $7 million in our correctional facilities and made significant infrastructure improvements and program improvements.

Mr. Speaker, we have funded significant advancements in the Stephenville correctional institution. We have also put $800,000 in a new ventilation system at HMP. We put $1 million into Clarenville. We put the money in our courts. We had a $20 million courthouse in Corner Brook; we continue to spend money in our court facilities around the Province. We have put a security screening program in place in Atlantic Place.

Mr. Speaker, we continue to invest in our corrections systems and we will continue to look to a solution for the long-term correctional needs of this Province. Since we are housing federal prisoners in this Province, we still hold that the federal government has an obligation to come to the table with regard to that. We will stick to that commitment.

Mr. Speaker, my time is running out before I got halfway through my report, before my comments. I never did get a chance to get to my district at all. Rather than just give that short shrift, Mr. Speaker, I will stop there. Thank you for the opportunity to speak to this Budget. It is certainly a Budget in the best interests of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. I am very honoured and it is a great responsibility to be part of it.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for Lake Melville.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RUSSELL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Let me first just say what an absolute honour it is to speak to my first Budget here in the House of Assembly. As my colleague for the District of Mount Pearl South said yesterday, with the numbers we have on this side from the overwhelming mandate given to us by the people back in October 2011, this is an absolutely wonderful opportunity for us in the back row here to get up and say a few words about the Budget and what it means to our district.

First, Mr. Speaker, I would just like to say that while I was watching the proceedings today it dawned on me – and first let me say that I love this job, I really do. I have a big family in this House and it is not unlike my house back in Labrador where I have a big family as well. It reminded me today of my two young nephews coming to visit. I have an older nephew in the form of the Opposition and a younger nephew in the form of the Third Party. With my older nephew, not matter what you say to him – I say: Eat your grill cheese. He says: No, it is no good. I say: Well, drink your juice. He says: No, I do not like it. It is no good. So my point being, it does not matter what you say it is going to be the opposite. He is going to come back to you with a little sass and that is going to be the end of it. When it comes to my younger nephew, Mr. Speaker, he is much younger and he is only now starting to speak. So it is very reminiscent of the Third Party, I think. It is pretty much gibberish, Mr. Speaker. You cannot really tell what is being said. Words are being thrown out all over the place. In the case of the Third Party, buzz words, that is really unintelligible at this point.

I would just like to say we do have a great big family in here and it is wonderful for me to be able to get up and speak to this Budget here today.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RUSSELL: Mr. Speaker, just let me start by saying that I am truly pleased with this Budget. I am happy to be part of the government that can run a tight ship – be financially prudent and responsible and still act with a social conscience, even though we are anticipating that deficit for this year and the next one, Mr. Speaker. Basically with the offset payments ending from the Atlantic Accord and with Terra Nova and White Rose projects going down for scheduled maintenance, that is $1.1 billion, Mr. Speaker, that we are not going to have as revenue this year. I tell you, I think that our Minister of Finance should really be commended because we are doing an excellent job of staying the course towards continued prosperity, even without that $1.1 billion, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RUSSELL: I think that people have feared the absolute worst when it comes to Budget time, especially knowing that we were going to be projecting a deficit, Mr. Speaker. We managed to keep our commitment to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador in keeping the momentum going, to keeping our focus on increasing the quality of life for people in the Province without having to adopt that slash and burn mentality that everybody had assumed was coming. We can indeed stay the course, Mr. Speaker, and manage that $258 million deficit for 2012-2013, but I think simply our prosperity in this Province cannot be contained. By the time we get to 2014-2015, we will be right back into the surplus mode.

Back to where we should be and back to where we have been for some time, Mr. Speaker, because the Province has recorded cumulative surpluses of approximately $5.5 billion in six of the last seven years, and in that time - I cannot get up here and speak to this Budget without mentioning the fact that we have been continuously mindful of our debt and our debt structure, Mr. Speaker. We have reduced that of course, as everybody knows, by $4 billion since 2004. That is an impressive debt reduction, and it is also very impressive in terms of our debt expenses.

So, we have reduced our debt to unprecedented levels and we have also made unprecedented levels of investment and maintained our economic momentum. Very few provinces anywhere, Mr. Speaker, could boast such as a claim. Absolutely, I say we should give ourselves a hand for that one, because we are doing great.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RUSSELL: We are a leader in this country, Mr. Speaker, when it comes to such things.

I would just like to say, well, how does this debt reduction serve the people, Mr. Speaker? As noted by my colleague yesterday, and as noted in the Budget: in 2004, 23 per cent of our gross revenue was consumed by our debt expenses – 23 per cent. Now that is a lot. We have come now up into this Budget to 10.8 per cent, in terms of our revenues being used to service our debt, Mr. Speaker. What does that mean to the people of the Province? It means hundreds of millions of dollars used for programming, for all programs and services that our people need, tax cuts, and also initiatives to support and continue the growth that we are experiencing in our Province. That is no small feat.

So, this plan, Mr. Speaker, is all about that momentum. It is about maintaining all the momentum we have gained since taking government back in 2003. We are indeed a have province; never have we been more prosperous and never has there been such a feeling, a sense of optimism. No matter where you go, no matter which district you are in, no matter who you are talking to, people are optimistic, and they think that the best is certainly yet to come.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RUSSELL: I tell you what, Mr. Speaker, people know that our government is fiscally responsible and socially progressive, and I mean that. We use our prosperity as a means of extending these benefits back to the residents of our great Province, Mr. Speaker, and give back we will.

This Budget will benefit our people, it will benefit our Province, and it reflects responsibility, Mr. Speaker. It reflects a conservative approach with our reduced rate of spending growth. While we are being practical, we are still going to put all those essential programs out there, all those services to Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, as a result of our current and our future prosperity. These truly, truly are exciting times for our Province, and we will have to be responsible, but we also, Mr. Speaker, have to be bold in order to carry our prosperity forward. So it is clearly time, I think, to stop reflecting on investments that were never followed up on in the past and to make our own destiny. I think this destiny, Mr. Speaker, is based on renewable energy.

Basically, the topic of the day has certainly always been Muskrat, and it has been for some time, the development of the Lower Churchill, Mr. Speaker. You can break it down and simplify it if you like. If you listen to the Minister of Natural Resources, it comes down to simple points such as the need for power. Will we need that power? We have heard the minister say today that by 2020, there will be a definite need, and by 2015 we are certainly going to be seeing hiccups in our grid, Mr. Speaker. So it is obvious we need that power. That has to come.

Will Muskrat be the lowest-cost option? Well, Mr. Speaker, we have had a lot of analysis thus far. We have had Navigant and Manitoba Hydro, we have had the Consumer Advocate, and we have economists such as Wade Locke. We are seeing everybody come back with one resounding note all about this particular development: this will be the lowest-cost option and the best course of action for the people.

Yet, Mr. Speaker, we are still going to come back to this House. We are still going to engage in full debate. Hopefully we get to the position where we can sanction this project, once we are absolutely sure and being responsible once more as a government that this will be the best option for the people.

I just want to talk about how this relates to my district, Mr. Speaker, in terms of the development of Muskrat Falls. Basically, we are going to see $450 million in income for Labradorians – $450 million in income. That is a lot of money.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RUSSELL: We are going to see people get jobs. We are going to have 2,700 people working during construction, Mr. Speaker. We are going to have businesses in full flight. Everybody is going to be basically seizing the day and seizing the opportunity that is put before them. Everybody is going to be benefiting from that development.

Not only that, we are seeing a buzz in my district, Mr. Speaker, from the children, the kids, and all the young students who are out there. They want opportunities. When I was campaigning in Lake Melville, they said: Mr. Russell, Keith, what are you going to do? Why do we all have to go away to Alberta to work? Why do we all have to go away? There is nothing here for us. With 5 Wing Goose Bay in a downturn right now, they are saying: What are you going to do for us? I told them one thing and one thing only: I am going to push the development of the Lower Churchill. I am going to make sure we see prosperity in our region, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RUSSELL: This government is very progressive. It is very bold. It is very responsible, Mr. Speaker. We understand that we cannot have all of our eggs in one basket. We understand that we need a diversification of revenue sources in order to maintain the momentum we have developed up to this point and in order to ensure that the next generation, my children, your children, all of our children, and even the children from the people across the floor here – they have to have a future. It is as simple as that.

They throw out those bogeymen, Mr. Speaker, about Muskrat, about the doubling of rates, and all of that stuff. We have heard the minister say it comes down to this: We need Muskrat, we need that additional power, and we need that green, renewable energy in order to stabilize the rates for the people of the Province, Mr. Speaker. It is as simple as that.

When I talk about being progressive and being bold, Mr. Speaker, right now we depend on oil and we are subject to the whim of the markets and to the oil pricing. I tell you what; we have to find a way when those reserves dry up. We are always going to be looking, we are always going to be exploring for new patches of oil, absolutely. We have to find a way so that when our rights to the Upper Churchill development revert to us, and those oil reserves are gone, that we are still in a position of power. A power, Mr. Speaker, where we have power and control of our own destiny, and we have control of our own energy corridor in terms of green, renewable energy from the Lower Churchill, Mr. Speaker. Nobody can argue with that simple fact is that at that point in time, whether that is around 2041 when we are thinking that we are going to get – those oil resources are going to dry up and that we get our rights to Upper Churchill back, we will be in a position of control, control of our own destiny, Mr. Speaker, and that is for sure.

In terms of my own district, when it comes to Muskrat Falls, Mr. Speaker, we are already seeing a lot of people generating interest. We have a migration from the North Coast of Labrador and the South Coast of Labrador. People are all coming to Lake Melville to make their own way. They know what is coming. They know that prosperity is there, not only with the Lower Churchill but we also have a lot of other developments on the horizon as well. Labrador West, Mr. Speaker, with the mineral shipments coming out of there, $4.7 billion I believe it was in the Province. Unbelievable and that is only going to keep continuing to grow. This is simply the greatest time in our history, Mr. Speaker, in terms of prosperity. The Province knows it, and we know we are going to continue this momentum. We are in great shape and I think the best is truly yet to come.

Anyway, Mr. Speaker, before I move on to the other issues that are affecting my district in Labrador in general, I would just like to say too that the one thing, me as MHA for Lake Melville, I cannot wait until that day comes when we get independence from being held hostage by Quebec, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RUSSELL: When we have control of our own destiny, that is a day that I am going to be proud to say – hopefully I will be around and hopefully my children will be able to enjoy, Mr. Speaker. We will debate this in the House again and we will get close to sanctioning. I hope that we have a very spirited, a very heated and a very educational debate on Muskrat Falls when the time comes. I believe in my heart, Mr. Speaker, that this is the way to maintain our prosperity for the people who live here and work here and for our future generations.

Moving on to talk a little more about Labrador and Lake Melville in general, this Budget, Mr. Speaker, has several things and I am going to get into them. We have a focus on Labrador, we have a focus on infrastructure in Labrador, and we have a focus on Aboriginal people in Labrador, Mr. Speaker. This Budget has been building on the achievements of the Northern Strategic Plan. We have $158 million investment in Labrador, basically to make sure that we have a very vibrant, social and economic future, Mr. Speaker.

The first one I would like to talk about just a little bit is the Trans-Labrador Highway, Mr. Speaker. Budget 2012 gives me $65.8 million for the last two tenders for Phase I of the Trans-Labrador Highway. I tell you what, Mr. Speaker, people in my district are very pleased that we are going to make that investment now in this fiscal year. I tell you, this is now, Mr. Speaker, more than $250 million invested in Phase I alone.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RUSSELL: That makes that one of the largest infrastructure projects in the Province's history, Mr. Speaker, and I am quite happy to say that connects right into my backyard.

We listened to the Member for Labrador West talk yesterday about where this all came from and what the condition of the road was in years gone by. I would just like to say very quickly, Mr. Speaker, that I remember hunting on Churchill Road with my father as a young boy and I tell you, in the wintertime you could not even drive up there in a car or a truck. We left from my home on Ski-Doo, we went up there and I tell you the hills – the hunting was great, don't get me wrong, and it was beautiful scenery. Now, just a short few years later, here we are where we have a road that is accessible year round. I tell you, Mr. Speaker, I just came back from Churchill Falls just this past weekend where I attended the high school graduation of the Eric G. Lambert School there, Mr. Speaker, and I tell you the road was exceptional. Of course, it is even going to be better when we have a little more blacktop on there. I tell you we are getting there, the people know we are getting there, and the people know that we are committed to infrastructure in Labrador as well, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RUSSELL: Before I move on from Churchill Falls, I would just like to say too in terms of what our government likes to foster, which is a great Province to live in where you can become educated, where you can get a good job, where you can succeed in life.

Mr. Speaker, I would just like to say on behalf of the grads at Churchill Falls, we had fifteen graduates, every single graduate in Churchill Falls is continuing into post-secondary education. I would like to applaud them for that, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RUSSELL: With the help of Nalcor, they had a wonderful graduation. It was a beautiful ceremony. I tell you, these are going to be contributing members of our society; hopefully, the majority of them will stay right here at home in Newfoundland and Labrador, Mr. Speaker.

I have just a few other points. I would like to talk about a few other things that are happening in Labrador and in Lake Melville in general. Mr. Speaker, this was already mentioned by my colleague, the Member for Labrador West, the Minister of Labrador Affairs. We have $25.7 million, Mr. Speaker, to continue the Labrador West health centre, making that overall investment $90 million. That is just wonderful.

We also have over a quarter of a million dollars, $276 million to be exact, to enhance dialysis services in the Lab Health Centre in Goose Bay, right in my district, Mr. Speaker. I tell you what, I did get a number of concerns from constituents while I was campaigning and I still do about the accessibility of dialysis and how they do not want to be travelling outside of their hometown, and rightfully so. I would like to thank the government and the Minister of Health for that contribution as well. We have $275,000 for the ambulance base in Cartwright. The South Coast road, Mr. Speaker, it is a long drive. I think that people who are going to be making use of that road and the ferry services to get to the Island portion of the Province will have that piece of mind to know that we do have something there just in case there is a need for it, Mr. Speaker. We also have over $100,000 for a pharmacist's position in the Jackman Memorial Hospital in Labrador City too. It is good for the people of Lab West, absolutely.

Very quickly I see my time is winding down, Mr. Speaker. I would just like to talk about a few other things that are happening in Labrador. As mentioned by my colleague for Torngat Mountains, across the way, $2 million to remediate the former US military site in Hopedale. We have $750,000 from the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Recreation for the Labrador Travel Subsidy Program to enable 1,500 athletes from Labrador to travel to the Island portion of the Province, to develop their skills in sports, to compete, and to get a trip out here and meet other great people from the other side of the Province. We have $560,000 to staff some of the people in Child, Youth and Family Services on the North Coast in Hopedale and Nain – always a welcome investment. Housing is very hard to find on the North Coast, I will tell you that, Mr. Speaker. Any little bit of help will always be appreciated.

Also, I would like to thank the Minister of Environment and Conservation for an additional $522,000 to continue the management efforts of the George River caribou herd. This is very important, Mr. Speaker. Just last year my son got his first animal. It was a wonderful experience for my father and for me, as father, and my son to get out there. What a wonderful trip. I tell you what, Mr. Speaker; we have to preserve that resource. Nobody will doubt the importance of that resource, especially people who live in Labrador. Basically, we know that the herd is in sharp decline, we know that something has to be done, and I would like to thank the government for erring on the side of caution and for engaging in conservation to make sure that we do have a chance of bringing that herd back up to a healthy population, and I think we certainly do, Mr. Speaker.

I would like to talk about some specialized services with an Aboriginal focus that is going to happen in Labrador. Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, in our Innu communities within Labrador we do have a disproportionate amount of issues when it comes to addictions. This is true across Canada and certainly across Labrador in terms of the struggles that Aboriginal populations have and the realities that are there.

We are putting $282,000 toward healing initiatives, which will help aid the communities in getting over these issues. It is certainly a welcome investment. As our government also does, Mr. Speaker, and takes these issues very seriously, I would like to personally thank them for that commitment.

When it comes to an Aboriginal theme, Mr. Speaker, we also have over $200,000 for Memorial University's Native Liaison Office. I tell you what, Mr. Speaker, even when it comes from my District of Lake Melville, as Aboriginal students get out of high school and they go to a post-secondary institution, it is a difficult change, if you will, where they have to basically go away from home for the first time; especially if you are coming from some of the more remote communities. To have somebody there who knows where you are coming from and knows who you belong to, it is certainly a welcome sight when they are going into the next path or the next stage of their life, in terms of getting an education.

Mr. Speaker, I see I am running out of time. By leave?

AN HON. MEMBER: By leave.

MR. SPEAKER (Kent): By leave.

MR. RUSSELL: Thank you.

I would also like to recognize the 5 per cent increase in the Status of Women Centres in Happy Valley-Goose Bay and Labrador West, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RUSSELL: Absolutely. Up to $128,000 annually, up from $55,000 – that was their budget back in 2004. I tell you what, that is most appreciated. We also have $125,000 for the Inuit Women Capacity Building Project. So, basically, before I go on to a few other small things here, I would just like to say that total spending through the Northern Strategic Plan and other Labrador-related initiatives will exceed $3.5 billion by the end of this fiscal year.

AN HON. MEMBER: How much?

MR. RUSSELL: Mr. Speaker, $3.5 billion.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RUSSELL: That, Mr. Speaker, is a commitment to Labrador.

Mr. Speaker, I am taking up way too much time here today. I tell you what, I could get up here, as any member from this side of the House could certainly do, and talk for hours and hours and hours about all the good things that are in this Budget, and I am really hopeful that I will get another chance before this is all gone. So, I will close.

In closing, I would just like to say, to put it simply, this Budget is about the efficient use of the revenue dollar of this government, Mr. Speaker. It is about strengthening our economy, and it is about debt reduction. It is about making the absolute most of every single dollar for use in programs, tax cuts, and those initiatives that will facilitate, as I said before, and continue the growth in our Province and provide a legacy we can all be proud of for the next generation, so all of our children will have something to just walk into, to be able to own, and to hopefully be able to maintain the momentum that we have started at this point in our lives, Mr. Speaker.

So, basically, although it takes surpluses to further reduce the debt, I believe we are on the right track. We are being frugal during these tough times, and even though we have a small deficit, albeit a manageable deficit I will say, Mr. Speaker, and we have to trim off a little edges from time to time, we are definitely on the right track.

I think that while we continue to maintain our focus, Mr. Speaker, on what is going to be one of the most important things to this government, to this Province, and to the people of this Province, is to maintain a focus on the transformation of our economy. By using our non-renewable resources, Mr. Speaker, as a means of catapulting us into a renewable resource-based economy, this will in effect liberate us from the dependence and exposures to the realities of oil and oil markets and pricing. This, Mr. Speaker, is what it takes to be successful.

We are headed in the right direction to take this Province to even greater levels of prosperity. This Budget and our government, Mr. Speaker, are visionary. This is leadership, Mr. Speaker, and this is a great time to be a Labradorian or a Newfoundlander.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Member for Port de Grave.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. LITTLEJOHN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I was not sure I was going to get the opportunity to stand up today; my hon. colleague was on a roll. He was on a roll. The other side of that is, Mr. Speaker, I am nearly afraid to start. The wealth that the hon. member speaks about is wonderful. It is a significant investment by our government in Labrador and a commitment by our government in Labrador for many years.

Mr. Speaker, I am certainly honoured to stand here today and speak to my first Budget. It has been a long time coming and I look forward to having the opportunity to speak not only today but in coming days as we go forward in the Budget Debate.

Mr. Speaker, I have to make one comment. I listened to our friend the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Recreation. Being a former employee of the Department of Tourism, Culture and Recreation, Mr. Speaker, I have to concur. In terms of the Department of Tourism, Culture and Recreation, they do have a plan and they do have a direction. Mr. Speaker, I know for a fact that we went through some dark days in the late-1990s and the early-2000s. Through the planning that the department has done in recent years, the department certainly knows where it is going. I look forward to the progress that my colleague has in pushing the department forward.

Mr. Speaker, I have come to realize over many years that it has to be easy, as the Minister of Education referred yesterday, it has to be easy to sit on the other side of the House, ask questions, put doubt in people's minds, sometimes put suspect in people's minds that government does not care and they do not want to do things, but, Mr. Speaker, that is part of their job, I guess. I was pleased yesterday to hear the Official Leader of the Opposition give us some credit. I am still always waiting though, Mr. Speaker, I am always waiting. As the Minister of Justice said, there is always the "but" and then comes the negativity. They cannot give credit where credit is due. This is a good Budget, Mr. Speaker.

Imagine, Mr. Speaker, if you took out of your household 20 per cent of your budget and you had to bring in a budget that serves the people of Newfoundland and Labrador. That is what this Minister of Finance did, Mr. Speaker, he took a billion dollars away from our Budget and he brought in a great Budget that serves all the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. LITTLEJOHN: Mr. Speaker, in talking about my district; in my district people need to remember that budgets are done and they are very difficult to do, but budgets are done in the best interests of all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. Not all the time, Mr. Speaker, can you be mentioned in the Budget because it is a natural sense that people want to see their town, their community, their interests named in the Budget. That cannot always happen, Mr. Speaker. It cannot always happen because that is not the way it works.

When we are doing budgets, Mr. Speaker, there has to be some priorities set. Having priorities set, Mr. Speaker, is the only way you can get through a budget, but people want to hear their name. They want to get mentioned, and that is a natural thing. They go about and they say: Glenn, but there is nothing in the Budget for us. We did not hear about Colley's Point school; we did not hear about roads being paved; we did not hear about any work, any major projects in the district.

Mr. Speaker, there are good things in the Budget for a district like Port de Grave, many good things in the Budget. A point in case, Mr. Speaker, since my recent election in October we have spent over $1 million in improved infrastructure in schools in our district, $1 million since last October. I think that is significant, Mr. Speaker, but sometimes that goes unnoticed. That goes unnoticed because it is not a major project. It is not a health centre; it is not a hospital in Western Labrador. It is not something major that gets named in a day in and day out basis, but, Mr. Speaker, we get our share. We are on the radar. We have had conversations with the Minister of Education and he is committed to coming out and meeting with us, and I am very pleased. He is very open to that, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, there are other things in the Budget that will benefit us over the long run. Mr. Speaker, we cannot always have our name in the highlights. Because our name is not in the highlights, we are going to get our share. This Budget allows for us to get our share, and I want to tell the residents of our district that we will certainly get our share during 2012-2013.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. LITTLEJOHN: Mr. Speaker, one of the members got up just a little while ago and talked about fiscal prudence, this government, and what they have done since 2003. When you can operate and not borrow since 2004, you have done a pretty good job of governing and you have done a pretty good job of having fiscal prudence. Mr. Speaker, we have to remember as a government when we have those good times, we have to be able to invest and take care of ourselves in downturn.

The Minister of Finance has talked about that endlessly in the last little while. He has talked about the fact that we cannot slash and burn. Every time we have a downturn in the economy, whether it is the local economy, the world economy, or the national economy, we just cannot go slash and burn. We have to plan, Mr. Speaker, and that is the reason we have a ten-year plan to reduce personal income levels to the national average. These things have to take place, and it takes a plan. The Minister of Finance did this in this Budget.

Mr. Speaker, speaking about my district, in my District of Port de Grave, we have a high volume of skilled workers – many skilled workers – who are looking for jobs in Hibernia, Come By Chance, Vale Inco. Yes, Mr. Speaker, we have workers in my district who travel to Alberta and are looking to come home. In this Budget, I was pleased to see, through Advanced Education and Skills, that there is $4.1 million to advance and support apprenticeship training. Mr. Speaker, there are not many days go by in my office in the Port de Grave district that we do not get a call from a young person, or in some cases people who are trying to retrain, looking for an opportunity to go to work in one of the major projects in and around our district.

I was very pleased to see in the Budget as well, Mr. Speaker, the expansion to our Apprenticeship Wage Subsidy program. This will provide work experience, particularly for first-year and second-year apprentices. One of the biggest factors right now in trying to get a job in some of these major worksites is the fact that you have to have your journeyperson. Until you can get your journeyperson, Mr. Speaker, the chance of getting employment is a little slim. Because of the expansion in our Apprenticeship Wage Subsidy program, we will allow another 100 people to get trained this year and get better opportunity. I look forward to that.

Another thing that was introduced through Advanced Education and Skills was the Apprentice Tracking System, Mr. Speaker. That is important because sometimes in the past, before the tracking system was implemented, people got lost. They got lost in the system. They did not know how to go about it. Now, Mr. Speaker, by us being allowed to track these students, we are going to be able to help them out. We can get them a wage subsidy support, we can get them in contact with the right people to get them back on track, and we will be able to assist more people get employment in this Province.

Mr. Speaker, I cannot stand here today and not devote some time to municipalities. I think most people would expect me to speak to municipalities. We have heard a lot about MNL and they want a new funding formula and all of the rest. The minister has outlined very clearly, Mr. Speaker, that the funding formula is just not the MOG. The MOG is only one small portion of the funding formula. Mr. Speaker, when we are talking about a new funding formula, it has to be sustainable. It has to be able to sustain our communities into the future. If we cannot sustain our communities into the future, then we are all in big trouble. We have to have a new formula. The minister knows we need a new formula, and I am sure in consultation with the people in MNL we will get a new formula that will work for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians well into the future.

A couple of good things that came out of this Budget, Mr. Speaker; we have to remember – and people forget this sometimes – the federal government has decided that they are not going to support infrastructure in provinces until 2015. This government has stepped up to the plate and put $130 million over two years into multi-capital works – $130 million, Mr. Speaker, I think that is a significant investment.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. LITTLEJOHN: Mr. Speaker, communities out there need infrastructure. They need new water systems. There is a lot of work to be done, and I have heard it. I have lived it, Mr. Speaker, and I know there is a need out there. The need is great. As the minister has stated many times in this House, Mr. Speaker, there is over $700 million worth of asks, and $130 million some people may say will not go a long way, but $130 million invested in the right way can go a long, long way in solving the needs of many communities in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Mr. Speaker, I think it is significant as well that this government maintains the Municipal Operating Grants. We went through a period of time in Newfoundland and Labrador where every year we feared losing more and more money in the Municipal Operating Grants. This government made a commitment last year and maintains its commitment this year of an additional $4.7 million to maintain Municipal Operating Grants for another year. That is a good thing as well, Mr. Speaker.

I think sometimes when we are talking about municipalities we forget about the cost-shared ratio for capital works and multi-capital works. I do not know if this Province did anything better to serve the people of Newfoundland and Labrador than when they changed the cost-shared ratio, Mr. Speaker.

AN HON. MEMBER: Hear, hear!

MR. LITTLEJOHN: I do not know if they did anything ever better. My colleague from Mount Pearl South agrees with me.

Mr. Speaker, when the cost-shared ratio was 50-50, many, many communities just could not avail of the opportunity to put capital works in their community. Be it a new water system, be it water and sewer systems, anything a municipality had; at 50-50, you just could not do it. Now, Mr. Speaker, with the new cost-shared ratio for communities less than 3,000 at 90-10, for communities between 3,000 and 7,000 at 80-20, and for communities above 7,000 at 70-30, it has been a world of difference.

Communities have been able to access funds that they have never had before, Mr. Speaker. Communities have been able to purchase fire services. They have been able to do water and sewer. They have been able to upgrade their water treatment systems. Communities all over this Province have certainly benefited greatly from this new cost-shared ratio.

Not only that, Mr. Speaker, the minister goes back and makes another good point. The minister makes a point; I know Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador came out and they talked about the HST. They talked about rebating the HST back to municipalities. We have not gone all the way there, but we do rebate the HST on any capital works projects at the 90-10, 80-20, or 70-30 level. I think that is significant savings for municipalities as well, Mr. Speaker.

Municipalities in our Province need a new deal, there is no doubt about it. I am confident through this Budget and through the next coming Budgets, Mr. Speaker, we will get a new deal for municipalities. I think there are significant things in this Budget that will help municipalities.

Mr. Speaker, in the District of Port de Grave, to relate it back, we will get our share of that multi-capital works and capital works projects for water and sewer, for paving, for recreation projects in our district; some of that will come back. Though we have not been mentioned specifically, Mr. Speaker, we will avail and we will get some of those programs back in this Budget.

Mr. Speaker, as well, if I got up here – the Minister of Fisheries was giving me a little dig a little bit earlier. He said, Glenn, you are going to have to say something about the fishery. Well, the main thing I want to say about the fishery, Mr. Speaker, is that most people in our districts, particularly the harvesters, are very proud of the new marketing plan. The new marketing plan is something that they are proud of and they want to hear more about. As this year goes on they will hear more about it.

Mr. Speaker, we have to talk about some of the good things we have done over the last seven, eight, or ten years in government here. Just some highlights: 35 per cent decrease in our net debt since 2003 – a 35 per cent net decrease in our net debt since 2003. It has gone from $11.9 billion to $7.8 billion. That is putting hundreds of dollars in people's pockets. Every day we hear the Opposition saying we need more money, we need more money. Well, Mr. Speaker, we have put hundreds of thousands of dollars back in people's pockets through good fiscal management.

Mr. Speaker, in a three-year period, our government has provided accumulated tax relief in excess of $750 million. There are initiatives in this Budget that go to that tax relief. We can look only at the 35 per cent reduction in fees, licence fees for seniors, all fees, licences, hunting fees, and all the rest. We have put $750 million back in people's pockets in a three-year period.

I want to go back and speak a little bit more about that billion dollars we lost, Mr. Speaker. We had to develop a Budget this year with a billion dollars less. Alone we lost $536 million just from our Atlantic Accord – cut, gone, $536 million. I see my friend from the Bay of Islands looking at me and giving me a little bit of a smile, Mr. Speaker. In actual fact, I think: what we have done with a loss of a billion dollars. We are going to see our two FPSOs go off for a refit this year and that will add up to the other $400 million to make that billion dollars. Mr. Speaker, that is not easy. That is not easy.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Member for Bay of Islands, on a point of order.

MR. JOYCE: I was not smiling at the bad news, Mr. Speaker. I was just noticing, that was what this government touted, that they had the Atlantic Accord solved back three or four years ago; now we are seeing that we do not have the Atlantic Accord.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

There is no point of order.

The hon. the Member for Port de Grave.

MR. LITTLEJOHN: The hon. member loves to get to his feet, obviously. Mr. Speaker, in my time remaining I just want to remind you that I think when you lose $1 billion and we come in and we do a good job, I think it needs to be recognized. We have done a good job.

Mr. Speaker, this Budget reflects the fiscal prudence of this government since it took over office in 2003. This government reflects the responsible and it secures the future for all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, not only Newfoundlanders and Labradorians on this side of the House, Mr. Speaker, but Newfoundlanders and Labradorians on the other side of the House. What we need to do, Mr. Speaker, over the next few days is to ensure that we support this Budget, approve this Budget because it is a good Budget for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

Mr. Speaker, I know I have a couple of minutes left, but I am going to give somebody else a turn here. I look forward to having another opportunity to speak to the Budget, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you so much.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. John's South.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. OSBORNE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I am going to have a look at the Budget of 2003 which was the last Budget of the Liberal Administration, and compare it to the Budget of 2012, which is the most recent Budget of our Administration. It is easy, Mr. Speaker, for people to get up and say we are not doing this right or we are not doing that right, or we need to spend more money on this, or we need to spend more money on that.

I believe, Mr. Speaker, if we compare both Budgets, the proof is in the pudding. The proof, Mr. Speaker, is in comparing the last Budget of the Liberal Administration with the Budget that we most recently brought in. I think for any member sitting opposite, the lessons that will come out of comparing these Budgets, may in fact convince many of those members to vote for our Budget. I believe, Mr. Speaker, there is very little that we can really complain about when we look at our Budget, the most recent Budget of this Administration and the things that we have done as a government.

Mr. Speaker, just to start it off, we will look at comparing what this Province received from the federal government in terms of transfer payments in 2003 versus what we are receiving from the federal government today, the reliance, basically, that the people of this Province have on the federal government. Mr. Speaker, in 2003, approximately $1.5 billion was transferred from the federal government to this Province. That is $1.5 billion, which was 37.3 per cent of all of the money that the provincial government spent in 2003, or proposed to spend. When you look at what we are receiving from the federal government today, again, our reliance on the federal government then versus our reliance on the federal government today, in other words, we are becoming more self-reliant. We are becoming as a Province, as a government, and as a people more self-reliant. I think that is part of the reason the people of Newfoundland and Labrador are proud to be Newfoundlanders and Labradorians today. I think that is part of the reason we have a renewed sense of pride or a new sense of pride, I should say, because we no longer rely on the federal government. We are becoming more and more self-sustainable and self-reliant.

Mr. Speaker, compared to the $1.5 billion transferred from the federal government to this Province in 2003, today it is $600 million, less than half. Now, keeping in mind that the Budget overall has almost doubled, we are receiving less than half of what we used to receive from the federal government in 2003. It is 9.1 per cent of all of the money spent by this Province is now received from the federal government, compared to 37.3 per cent received in 2003. Are we becoming more self-reliant? Yes, we are. Are we becoming better managers of our money? Yes, we are. Are we able to do things better today than we did in 2003? Absolutely, Mr. Speaker, absolutely.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. OSBORNE: If you look at other provincial sources of revenue, in 2003 versus what we are doing today, we are taking money in from offshore royalties. There is absolutely no doubt about that. We have received some criticism, Mr. Speaker, from people who oppose this government, on the money that we invest in resource development, in particular in renewable resource development.

The merits of the Lower Churchill are still being debated and hotly contested. There are people who agree and people who disagree. The reality, Mr. Speaker, is that if we are going to continue to be self-reliant as a people and become more self-reliant, as non-renewable resources become ‘deplenished', we need to find new sources of either non-renewable resources, renewable resources, or both.

Our reliance on resource revenues in this Province is pretty strong, so we are investing in resource development considerably, far more today – and I will get into that a little more a little bit later. We are investing in resource development in this Province. We have taken a bit of flack from people who oppose this government on doing so. Other sources of provincial revenue – we have reduced that, our reliance on provincial revenues, to 11.4 per cent, down from over 16 per cent in 2003. We found new ways to generate revenue in this Province.

I am going to talk a little bit as we get into this about increased employment rates, the fact that there are more people working in this Province today than there were in 2003, and the fact that there are less people relying on social services. There are less people unemployed today than in 2003. Nobody is naive enough to believe that with a stronger economy, a more vibrant economy, that it does not widen the gap. We have spent money on poverty reduction as well. It is not a magic wand; it does not eliminate people's reliance on social benefits. There are housing issues and there are other issues that this government has been trying to focus on as well with our increased spending on poverty reduction. We will talk a little bit more about that as I get into this as well.

If you look at corporate income taxes – and anybody who pays attention to politics in this Province, Mr. Speaker, will understand that we as a government have heard huge criticism that we are too easy on business; we are too business friendly in this Province. I will say that we have to be business friendly in order to improve the economy, and we have been. We have been blamed for being too business friendly in this Province, for taking it too easy on corporations.

Mr. Speaker, again the proof is in the pudding. One of my colleagues just said that corporate Newfoundland and Labrador drives the economy and that is absolutely correct. Mr. Speaker, we will prove, through this debate, that we have given huge income tax cuts, we have given tax breaks, we have reduced the amount of income tax that people in this Province pay, yet our corporate income tax, the reliance on that has gone from 3.1 per cent in 2003, when the government of that day would say we were cash strapped, 3.1 per cent of all of the money that was spent in 2003 came from corporate income tax. Mr. Speaker, today it is 11 per cent. To those who say that we are taking it too easy on corporations, giving them a free ride, I say that is not the case. They are paying their share and we are demanding that they pay their share. They are an economic generator. They have played a huge role in improving the economy in this Province, but we have not given them a free ride, by any means.

Mr. Speaker, you look at our reliance on tobacco tax. We have reduced our reliance on tobacco tax in this Province and in part because of provincial government campaigns to reduce people's reliance on the addiction of nicotine and smoking, but we have reduced our reliance on tobacco tax. We have reduced our reliance on the Newfoundland and Labrador Liquor Corporation. In 2003, 2.8 per cent of all money spent in this Province was generated by Newfoundland and Labrador Corporation. Today, that is down to 2.1 per cent.

We are better at managing our money and we are finding new ways of generating economic wealth for this Province. The same thing with gasoline tax; we have reduced our reliance on gasoline tax from 3.4 per cent to 2.6 per cent in this Province. We are becoming better masters of our own destiny in Newfoundland and Labrador.

The sales tax – and anybody, again, who pays attention to politics in Newfoundland and Labrador realizes we have eliminated sales tax on certain items such as home heating, automobile insurance, and others. We have reduced our reliance on sales tax from 14.9 per cent to 13.5 per cent. Personal income tax – and this is where we will talk a little bit more about that because this government has continuously, Budget after Budget, found ways of easing the burden on the average person in Newfoundland and Labrador: the taxpayer. We have found ways of reducing taxes, eliminating other taxes, and easing the burden on the average Newfoundlander and Labradorian.

Mr. Speaker, the reliance on personal income tax in 2003, 17.5 per cent of all money spent in 2003 was generated through personal income tax. Today, Mr. Speaker, that is down to 14.4 per cent. We are demanding less of the taxpayers in Newfoundland and Labrador as we are becoming more self-reliant. The tax burden, the amount we are charging taxpayers in this Province is less today than it was in 2003.

Mr. Speaker, that is where the money comes from, the money that this Province generates in order to spend. We look at where the money goes. Mr. Speaker, in 2003, the health budget in this Province – and this is important, this is very important, because everyday in Question Period we hear: You need to spend more money on health. Everyday in the media, the Opposition raises the issue: You need to spend more money on health.

Well, Mr. Speaker, in 2003, $1.236 billion, a little more than $1.2 billion, was spent on health care in Newfoundland and Labrador by the provincial government. Today, Mr. Speaker, that has almost doubled from $1.2 billion in health care spending to $2.4 billion in health care spending in this Province. Mr. Speaker, we have almost doubled the health care budget since 2003. We have been in government in this Province less than ten years, and we have almost doubled the health care budget.

Now, Mr. Speaker, we also have to be responsible. You could triple the health care budget, or quadruple the health care budget, and it is not going to solve every health crisis. That is impossible. You will never, ever solve every health crisis in any jurisdiction, no matter how wealthy they are and no matter how much money they spend on health care. We have almost doubled the health care budget from 2003 to 2012. In nine years, the health care budget has almost doubled.

Mr. Speaker, you look at education. In 2003, $818 million was spent on education in this Province. That is now up to $1.23 billion. So $1.23 billion in this Province is now spent on education. I think that is something to be proud of, Mr. Speaker. We have frozen tuition fees at our post-secondary education institutions. We have provided better grants at our post-secondary education institutions. We have eliminated school fees at our primary and elementary schools. We have eliminated schoolbook fees at our primary and elementary schools, and we are spending more money on education. We are spending more money where it counts, because in order to continue with a prosperous economy you need an educated population. We understand that, and we have spent more money on education in this Province.

Mr. Speaker, on social benefits in this Province, on social welfare it is called in the books - I am almost embarrassed to say that but that is what it is called in the Estimates books, social welfare. That is what it was called for many years. In 2003, there was $564 million spent on social welfare in this Province. Today, we are spending $825 million on social welfare in this Province. Mr. Speaker, we have increased substantially the budget going out in social benefits to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador and there are fewer people relying on it. There are fewer people relying on social benefits in 2012 than there was in 2003. We are reducing the reliance on social benefits but we have increased the amount that goes out in social benefits.

Mr. Speaker, you look at transportation costs in this Province. Things like fixing your roads, and anybody who cares to think back to the Trans-Canada Highway or any of the trunk roads or the access roads, the Placentia Access Road or the Burin Peninsula Highway, or any of those other trunk roads in this Province, in 2003 they were in deplorable shape. I know that, Mr. Speaker –

AN HON. MEMBER: The Northern Peninsula.

MR. OSBORNE: The Northern Peninsula is one. You did not have to look very far to see roads that were in terrible, terrible shape in this Province. I remember, I was in Opposition at the time and we did not have flight budgets to fly to Gander or to fly to Deer Lake or Stephenville or Labrador to build a foundation to form government.

We travelled by automobile 95 per cent of the time, so I saw the roads firsthand, almost every trunk road in this Province, as one of the members of Opposition, as we travelled this Province building our party so that we could provide better governance. I know from travelling those roads that those roads are in much better shape today than they were in 2003. Almost every road in this Province is in better shape today than it was in 2003.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. OSBORNE: In 2003 we spent $121 million on transportation. Today, we are spending $275,000 on transportation. More than double the amount, Mr. Speaker, we are spending on transportation today. The proof is in the pudding.

We can hear petitions or we can hear complaints that we need to spend more money to fix this road or to fix that road. You will never have every road perfect all the time in the Province because our climate is a harsh climate; it is hard on roads. Almost as quick as you fix a road you have a pothole in it the following year. The reality is our roads are in better shape today than they were in 2003, and that is a fact.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. OSBORNE: Mr. Speaker, on natural resources, trade, industry, tourism, in 2003, we were spending $144 million. That is now $256 million, a substantial increase. We are putting money where it counts, we are making strategic investments, and the investments we are making are sustainable investments. We know we just cannot put money in today and expect the next generation or the next government to have to continue to provide that level of funding. We understand that our investments have to be sustainable. If we commit money to a department or invest money in a certain area, we understand that it has to be sustainable. It is not just money that goes in this year; it is money that goes in year, after year, after year.

Mr. Speaker, you look at our debt charges – and this is substantial. This is a prime indicator of good governance; it is a prime indication of how we are providing better government today than we did in 2003. In 2003, $556 million a year went to servicing the Province's debt. You keep in mind, we have brought the Province's debt down from almost $12 billion to less than $8 billion, so we are reducing the debt in this Province. We are ensuring that our children, and their children, and their children will not be saddled with the burden of debt the way this generation was.

This Province, the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, owed almost $12 billion when we formed government in 2003. That is down to less than $8 billion today. Our debt servicing costs, Mr. Speaker, have gone from $556 million in 2003 down to $361 million today. We are doing a better job of managing government.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I remind the hon. member that his time for speaking has expired.

MR. OSBORNE: Mr. Speaker, I ask for leave, because I have many more –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: By leave.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. John's South, by leave.

MR. OSBORNE: I thank the Opposition and I thank the members of the House for giving me leave, because I do have many more good points to make, Mr. Speaker.

We have reduced our debt servicing charges from $556 million a year down to $361 million a year, which means that we are doing a better job of managing. We are managing not only the money that we are spending, the investments we are making, the strategic investments; we are doing a better job of paying off the Province's debt. That is shown in the numbers. Nobody can argue with that, because the proof is in the pudding.

Mr. Speaker, we were talking a little about resource development in Newfoundland and Labrador. The only way to ensure we have sustainable future is to ensure that we have revenue in the future and to ensure that the people of the Province have a sustainable revenue base so that we can continue to provide the services that we provide. In 2003, we had $8,494,000 invested in resource development. Today, keep in mind, we have gone from a little more than $8 million in resource development to $713 million invested in resource development today. Mr. Speaker, I think that speaks for itself.

The only way we can ensure a sustainable level of revenue for the future generations is to ensure that we have resource revenue, both renewable and non-renewable resource revenue, for future generations. That investment, Mr. Speaker, is an important investment. It is an investment in the future. It is not just investing in bricks and mortar; it is investing in ensuring we have a sustainable base of revenue for future generations.

Mr. Speaker, you look at the investment in public buildings. When we formed government in 2003, we had crumbling infrastructure. The $12 billion in debt in this Province is one way of measuring debt, but a source of debt that the Province had that was not measured, that we did not quantify, was the infrastructure debt. We had buildings that were crumbling in this Province –

MR. JOYCE: I withdraw leave, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I ask the hon. member to conclude his remarks.

MR. OSBORNE: Mr. Speaker, I will make one final point and then I will take my seat. I thank you for the extra time.

The money we spent on public buildings, not including road upgrades but public buildings, in 2003 was $7.3 million a year; that is now over $30 million in 2012; over $30 million, better than four times the amount spent on maintaining our infrastructure in this Province.

Mr. Speaker, I know that leave has been withdrawn. I have several other points to make; I will be on my feet again to speak on this Budget.

Thank you for your time.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Member for Lewisporte.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. VERGE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is certainly a pleasure to rise today and to speak for twenty minutes or so on the Budget. Before I start to actually get into the context of my remarks, it is really the first opportunity I have had since the election to thank the people of my district for putting their confidence in me and voting me back into the House for another term. I certainly appreciate their support and by no means take it for granted.

I have had some people ask me actually since I assumed the role of Deputy Speaker, some people have said: As a Deputy Speaker, can you really speak in the House in favour of government? Aren't you supposed to be impartial? I would just like to explain to people that as Deputy Speaker or as the Assistant Chair of Committees when we sit in the Chair we are charged with the responsibility of being impartial, but when we are out of the Chair we can actually be partisan. The Speaker himself is the person who is objective at all times. Those of us, the Deputy Speaker and the Assistant Deputy, we can speak and we can be partisan. Some people do wonder about that and I have had some people ask me about it.

I might also take a minute to address those people who are watching the broadcast this afternoon and they are seeing several government members get up one after another and speak. I would explain that right now we are speaking to the sub-amendment that was put forward by the Leader of the Opposition on the Budget. What has taken place over the last week or so is that all members in the Opposition, all eleven members, have spoken to the sub-amendment and eleven members have spoken on this side. To give an opportunity for the rest of us elected officials who are sitting on the government side – and of course we have thirty-seven members as opposed to eleven on the opposite side – then to allow fairness, the Government House Leader is giving us the opportunity to speak today. There are several government members coming up, one after the other. It is important, it is great, and I really appreciate that opportunity because as elected officials we all have a story to tell. We all like to be heard and to speak so that our constituents out in our districts can see us and hear what we have to say on their behalf in the House of Assembly.

Mr. Speaker, I want to talk mostly in the area of fiscal responsibility. One of the things that I have really appreciated since becoming elected in 2007 and being part of a government I have always felt that our government has been wanting to operate in a realm that is responsible. We do not want to overspend when money is coming in. We do not want to under spend. We want to do what is responsible as we lead the Province in a direction that we feel is the right direction.

Fiscal responsibility, I believe, is as much a moral concern as it is an economic concern. Fiscal responsibility is essential to creating a better, a stronger, and a more prosperous Province for the present and for the future. Our children deserve that, and we need to be wise in a way in which we use the resources and spend the money of the people. We cannot saddle tomorrow's generation with overburdening debt. We have recognized that and we have acted in what I believe is a very responsible manner. As evidence of our sound fiscal management and policies, you need to look no further than the tremendous strides that we have made in debt reduction, in reducing our net debt, which we have reduced from $12 billion down to a projected about $7.8 billion. That is a decrease of 35 per cent. That is a significant decrease.

In a world where there does not seem to be a whole lot of pressure on people when it comes to assuming debt, we have seen a lot of people fall into pretty harsh financial times because of overburdening themselves in debt. During these times when there has been a lot of uncertainty in the global economy and a lot of uncertainty all around us, in these times we have managed to reduce our net debt as a Province by 35 per cent. In actual dollars, I think that comes to about $8,000 for every man, woman and child in this Province.

I listened to the Minister of Finance actually deliver the Budget, but prior to that I listened to him deliver the mid-year fiscal update. Some of the comments he made that I thought too really emphasizes how we as a government operate. He said, "In spite of this current period of prosperity, we can't lose sight of the future. We have to continue to be fiscally responsible in the next few years as we prepare our budgets and insure that our expenses continue to be sustainable over the long term." The minister said to reporters, "Higher production than originally anticipated has led to a significant surplus…" last year and we used that money again to pay down debt. That is what I feel the people of the Province would have us do. That is what I feel is the right thing to do. That is what I feel is protecting our future and the future of our children. The whole approach of fiscal responsibility, Mr. Speaker, has been talked about by the Minister of Finance, but I have also heard our Premier talk about it on many occasions.

I want to take a couple of minutes, Mr. Speaker, because I have not really had the opportunity in this sitting. I want to take a couple of minutes to speak about our Premier. I believe our Premier is a very intelligent, a very wise, a very honest, and I believe that she is a very passionate and a very tireless person. These are tremendous characteristics. I also believe that our Premier has a tremendous vision for this Province.

She was in my district last summer, somewhere around July or August month, and she came out to announce that we were going to be building a new indoor swimming pool in Lewisporte. This swimming pool will be used by the people throughout the district. A lot of people came out to the announcement and there was a lot of excitement around that. Lewisporte has been looking for a new swimming pool for years. The town council had been lobbying for it. There are some people on council who had been lobbying for it for years, and a lot of members of the community. They came out to listen to the Premier and to find out what the announcement was. After she had left, people came up to me after and talked about how pleased they were to meet our Premier, how pleased they were to see her firsthand, and how impressed they were with her approach. A lot of people used the phrase: She is down to earth. She made people feel comfortable. I just wanted to take a few minutes to personally thank her for the job she is doing. I believe she is doing a tremendous job and I feel very fortunate to be working with this very competent person.

Again, I am going back to the whole area of fiscal responsibility, Mr. Speaker. Our Premier delivered a speech on January 31, 2012 to the Board of Trade. I just pulled a couple of quotes from that speech that I wanted to share with you. One of the things she said was, "What I believe all of us imagine for Newfoundland and Labrador is a future in which our children and our grandchildren, instead of looking back on the opportunities we might have squandered, look back with gratitude on the legacy we build – a legacy of growth that is sustainable, grounded not in things that pass away, but in things that endure."

She went on to say that there are three significant challenges. In that whole speech, she talked about three significant challenges that face us in the future. The first one is the challenge to deliver vital public services and at the same time decelerating or slowing down the growth of our public spending. That was a challenge that this Budget addressed, Mr. Speaker.

The second challenge she talked about was the shift from an over-reliance on non-renewable energy. We have all heard that the oil is going to run out someday. We have to have a backup plan. We need to plan for the future. The challenge is to shift from that over-reliance on the non-renewable energy and the non-renewable resources. That is one of the reasons that as a government we are looking at Muskrat Falls and we are looking at the Lower Churchill. We have a vision for the future. Muskrat Falls is one of those projects that will help us as we give up our reliance on non-renewable resources in the future.

The third thing she talked about is the challenge that we as a government face in taking advantage of the opportunities that are on our doorstep.

Mr. Speaker, there were lots of things here that I wanted to address, and in twenty minutes, it goes by pretty fast. I want to talk about Muskrat Falls in particular. I want to talk about that project for a while.

Muskrat Falls, Mr. Speaker, on the project side of it, is a generating station that will have a capacity of 824 megawatts of power. You will have a concrete dam that will be constructed in two sections; the north dam will be thirty-two metres high, 432 metres long, and the south dam twenty-nine metres high and 325 metres long. It is a big project, Mr. Speaker.

The transmission line interconnection between Muskrat and Churchill Falls will be located north of the Churchill River, parallel to the existing right-of-way. The Labrador-Island Transmission Link will be constructed from Muskrat Falls to Soldiers Pond. It will be approximately 1,100 kilometres long. Again, Mr. Speaker, it is a big project. The Labrador-Island Transmission Link will cross the Strait of Bell Isle and have a capacity of 900 megawatts.

I know the public has been quite concerned about the Muskrat Falls Project. People that talk to me are excited about it. They are excited about the possibilities; they are excited about the economic spinoffs that will come from this project.

I have also heard people wonder about the project and wonder if it is exactly as we put forward as a government. That is fair game, Mr. Speaker. I think when you are talking about spending $6.2 billion, it is good that people wonder. It is good that people ask questions. I have heard the Premier and I have heard the Minister of Natural Resources say that they appreciate that and they invite that kind of feedback.

We are looking at 8,600 person years of direct employment; that is peak employment, during construction, of about 2,700 people in 2013. The total income to labour for the business, and business for Newfoundland and Labrador, will be $1.4 billion, Mr. Speaker. We will end up with an electricity system that will be 98 per cent carbon free.

Mr. Speaker, all of that sounds good, it sounds big, but a lot of people have asked me: What is Muskrat Falls going to do with my electricity rates? From the information that I have garnered, at this point in the project, at this point in its analysis, which has been basically Decision Gate 2 numbers that we have looked at thus far, we have watched electricity rates gradually climb over the last number of years, Mr. Speaker. Whether we do Muskrat Falls or we do not these electricity rates will continue to rise, but when we do Muskrat Falls, what we expect is that we will reach a point where the rise will not be as steep. They may rise, but only a little bit each year; they will actually stabilize and give us more stability and higher rates well into the future.

I heard the Minster of Natural Resources again share some figures. One of the figures that he shared: if your monthly electricity bill is $400 in 2017, with Muskrat Falls it will be $416 by 2025. If we do not do Muskrat Falls, we look at some sort of an Isolated Island option, then we will be looking at $454 by 2025. I see that the projection is that the electricity rates will actually stabilize. I think that is a good thing.

Now, we have been studying the Lower Churchill for quite a while, and I have done some analysis. I am by no means an expert here and by no means as knowledgeable on this file as would be the Premier or the Minister of Natural Resources; however, I have asked some questions because people in my district have asked me questions. On that level, I have asked questions and I have been able to go back and give them answers.

I sum it up like this, Mr. Speaker. I have heard, for example, presentations from the CEO of Nalcor. I have had the opportunity to ask some questions about the project, and I have drawn some conclusions. One conclusion, Mr. Speaker, I have come to is that Ed Martin is a smart man. He knows what he is talking about. I am convinced he knows what he is talking about. I believe he is interested in Newfoundland and Labrador. He is one of our own. I believe that he wants what is best for the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. I think the man is an energy expert. Mr. Speaker, I have to say, what he has told me I believe him, I do believe him.

Now, some people might say: Well, that is pretty naïve of you. You are just going to believe what Nalcor gives us. Nalcor is our company. Ed Martin does not have anything to gain here. Whether we do Muskrat Falls, or we do Isolated Island, or we do wind, or we do some other hydro or whatever, he is still going to have his job. He is still going to be working. It is not like this is his business and he is going to make multimillions here. I do not have any reason to mistrust what the man is saying. I understand it is a lot of money so people want to delve into it a little further. We have done that. We said: Okay, let's go out and get some more opinions on this.

What we have in Newfoundland, some people might say it is not good enough. I do not agree with that, but I certainly have no problem with going out and getting some other opinions. We went to Navigant, Manitoba Hydro, and our Consumer Advocate. All of these people said: Yes, we believe that we need the power. We had the Leader of the Opposition here today talking about potential blackouts. From what he was saying, I believe that we need the power.

I went down and I listened to the economist Wade Locke when he did his presentation at the university. I sat in and I listened. Regardless of what you think of Mr. Locke as an economist, because some days the Opposition people think he is the best thing since sliced bread and some other things, if he comes out with an opinion that is not what they want to hear then they call into question his conclusions. Regardless of what you think, I believe the man was very sincere when he did his presentation at the university that night.

Mr. Speaker, I see my time is up. If I could have another few minutes to clue up, by leave.

MR. JOYCE: Yes, to clue up.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Lewisporte, by leave.

MR. VERGE: Thank you.

I will not take very much longer. I say to the member, thank you very much. To the Member for Bay of Islands, thank you, Sir.

These people who believe that Muskrat – number one, we need the power; number two, it is the lowest cost option we have at our disposal. We have members of the NDP, Jack Harris, the former Jack Layton, and the Premier of Nova Scotia. We have the person who has expressed interest in being Leader of the Liberal Party, Mr. Dean MacDonald, are all saying they think Muskrat Falls is a good project. We have Ed Martin, we have the Minister of Natural Resources, we have the Premier; a lot of people think this is a great project. We have the experts, and their findings and recommendations have been verified and justified by many other sources. We are in need of extra power.

I say to the Member for Bay of Islands, yes, I am not saying that everybody out there thinks that we are right on. There are some people and there are some former PCs who think: yes, we are not doing the right thing, but that is fair. We are looking at the evidence. I am convinced, I am satisfied, and I believe I will be more satisfied when we get Decision Gate 3 numbers because I believe that will verify more.

I have heard the minister say, I have heard the Premier say, if there is anything about this project that is not in the best interest of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador than they are willing to walk away from it. I think we are all on the same page. We need the power; we want the lowest cost option. We are relying on people that we trust to give us some numbers, give us the facts, and I think we are doing the right thing. As we move a little further a long, we get our Decision Gate 3 numbers, we debate it in the House, and then I think we will be even closer to sanction. I am looking forward to that day, Mr. Speaker, I am looking forward to seeing this great project start and get off the ground.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Exploits.

MR. FORSEY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for the opportunity to speak on the Budget today. There is a lot of good news in this Budget 2012, People and Prosperity, for the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Before I do, I would like to refer back to a statement that was made here today in the House by the Leader of the Third Party. As my colleague the Minister of Justice said earlier, they want universal everything, but they do not know where the money is coming from – I guess the money tree, like everybody else says there is. Apparently in their platform, they were going to cut 1 per cent across the board, but they do not want us to make any changes to any programs in our Budget. Their plan was to cut 1 per cent across the board.

What was interesting in her question today – and this is the Leader of the Third Party. She asked the Minister of Fisheries: What are you doing for the traditional fishery? I know that she has not been involved in the traditional fishery much since the House has been open. After that question today, I doubt very much if she was ever involved in the fishery. The traditional fishery that we know, that we all call traditional fishery, certainly went out the door in 1992, if not before that. I recall growing up on the Northeast Coast in a fishing community, as a lot of my colleagues did, mostly when we said fish, it was cod. Cod was salted; it was salt bulk. We shipped salt bulk, that is how it was done.

In the smaller outports at that time, Mr. Speaker, there was not much communication to other bigger centres. The boats and the ships would have to come around and collect the fish at the end of the summer, which was the cod. There was also some capelin at the time. There was dried capelin. That was a fairly big industry, and there was some squid. A lot of it was either done by handline and a lot of it was done by cod trap.

That is the type of traditional fishery that Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are familiar with. The fishery today is not the traditional fishery that we know was in the question that was asked today by the Leader of the Third Party. I say, Mr. Speaker, for the information of the Leader of the Third Party, we are being more innovative today with the fishery, and a lot of money is going into such things as aquaculture.

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Fisheries actually told us a little while ago about the positive work being undertaken by the Marine Institute's Centre for Fisheries Ecosystems Research, in part through funding from the provincial government. In 2010, the provincial government announced over $11.7 million to establish the centre, a total of $6.5 million was for human resources and operational costs, and $5.3 million for chartering an offshore fisheries research vessel, the Celtic Explorer. Approximately $3.8 million has been provided through Budget 2012, Mr. Speaker, for the next instalment of our government's five-year commitment.

That is in part of what we are doing for the fishery, Mr. Speaker. The centre's activities in the past year have been quite important and include the inshore cod survey in Trinity Bay and work on determining cod stock distribution and structure. Mr. Speaker, Budget 2012 contains investments totalling $4.5 million to expand this critical component of our fishery.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. FORSEY: For the information of the Leader of the Third Party, I thought I would put that in there. I can go on and talk about the good news and the good investments.

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. FORSEY: The Leader of the Third Party, I say. The Third Party, yes, where I would imagine they will be for some time, providing they do get any seats to come back in the House in the year of 2015, I believe it is.

I could go on about the good news in aquaculture, Mr. Speaker. We have some aquaculture on the Northeast Coast. We have a very important shell fishery on the Northeast Coast, but the traditional fishery it is just about non-existent, Mr. Speaker. I know on our coast, fishermen, these are licensed core fishermen, got a quota for cod for 3,750 pounds. That is it. By the way, the quotas, we know, are governed by the federal government.

Years ago, during the traditional fishery, when they used the cod traps, and they used the skiffs, and they used the hand lines, and they used the trawls, cod fish was the thing, and there was really no quota; whatever you could bring in the merchants would take, but not today, Mr. Speaker. That is for the information of the Leader of the Third Party. I thought she might need a little lesson in traditional fishery.

Now, there is a lot of good news in this Budget, a lot of good news. A lot of good news in Budget 2012, I say, Mr. Speaker, but rather than leave out some of my colleagues on the other side – I listened to the Member for Torngat Mountains and I did not want to leave him out, because apparently he has missed a lot of the good news and good investments in Torngat. I love talking about the Province, anywhere in the Province: on the Island, in Labrador. I worked in Labrador for three years, in Lab West, travelled Lake Melville, travelled Southern Labrador; going to do it again this summer, I say, Mr. Speaker.

The member prior to the new Member for Torngat Mountains was also a minister. I will just take a quote that she said; she said she wanted to, "bring the Aboriginal lens to all activities of government that concern Aboriginal people." Mr. Speaker, she did that with knowledge, dedication and passion, and Labrador reaped the rewards for her efforts.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. FORSEY: I know that my two colleagues on this side from Lab West and Lake Melville understand the big investments in Labrador. This is just for information of the general public out there today watching, Mr. Speaker, and for the information of the newly elected Member for Torngat Mountains. It is too bad that he did not realize these investments when he was getting up and saying that we are not doing anything for Labrador. I specifically direct it to his district, Mr. Speaker, not Lake Melville, not Lab West.

Mr. Speaker, under the leadership of the minister or the member for that district previously, who was the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, there was an investment of $2.2 million to place five full-time mental health and addictions counsellors in Nain, Hopedale, Makkovik, and Natuashish, and to provide the necessary accommodations and supports.

AN HON. MEMBER: How much?

MR. FORSEY: I will repeat that: $2.2 million, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. FORSEY: An investment of $357,000 to support programs and services in the Innu communities of Natuashish and Sheshatshiu, I say, Mr. Speaker. Six hundred and fifty-six thousand dollars was provided over the next three years to support Memorial University's Native Liaison Office, which provides Aboriginal students with information on services, course selection, registration, tutoring, and accommodations, and serves as the centre for social and recreational activities. That is for Torngat Mountains. That is related directly to Torngat Mountains, I say, Mr. Speaker.

There is $1.2 million committed for Newfoundland and Labrador Housing Corporation to construct four public housing units for low-income residents requiring smaller housing units in Hopedale, I say, Mr. Speaker. This was already told to us by the Minister of Transportation and Works, who is responsible for housing as well, and is doing a good job of it. This investment, Mr. Speaker, represents a first step toward addressing a need identified through the Poverty Reduction Strategy consultations that took place in 2010.

To stick with the district so the member for that district can get a good lesson on the investments down there and so he will not be getting up and asking what we are doing for his district, a commitment of $6.3 million made to support ongoing remediation efforts at the former military site in Hopedale, with funding of $2.2 million; that was in the 2011-2012 Budget, Mr. Speaker. Oh, and a very interesting one: $1 million was allocated for the implementation of a three-year Labrador caribou management initiative, with a total three-year commitment of $1.9 million.

There is $1.5 million for an assistance plan for Inuit communities on the Northern Labrador Coast, where homeowners face unique and difficult challenges associated with the registration of home heating oil tanks to meet compliance with heating oil storage tank regulations. That is a tongue twister almost, Mr. Speaker. This assistance will greatly reduce costs for homeowners to a figure more in keeping with other parts of Labrador, Mr. Speaker.

Before I get into some of the other good news in Budget 2012, just a couple of more little tidbits for the Member for Torngat and I can conclude that particular area of the Province, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, $213,500 in funding for the Torngat Wildlife and Plants Co-Management Board; $213,500 for the Torngat Joint Fisheries Board; $52,000 for commissioners public hearings on the draft land use plan for the Labrador Inuit Settlement Area; $34,000 for the Dispute Resolution Board, which will deal with any disputes under the Labrador Inuit Land Claims Agreement; $20,000 for the Regional Planning Authority for the Labrador Inuit Settlement Area to complete a draft land use plan for submission to the provincial and Nunatsiavut governments, Mr. Speaker.

That is for the information of the newly elected member of Torngat Mountains. When he gets up again and says we are not doing anything for his district, well we can refer him back to Hansard on this particular day. We will keep telling him – we will probably just send him a copy if he wants, that is not a problem either, or he can get Hansard if he like.

Mr. Speaker, I was interested in what the Minister of Justice had to say today. Along with the recognitions that were in his minister's speech today, he went on to say that the provincial government continues to support both the RCMP and the RNC in Newfoundland and Labrador. Since 2004, policing budgets have increased by over $52 million and there are an additional 145 uniformed police officers on the street, I say, Mr. Speaker.

Budget 2012, People and Prosperity, provided funding for an RNC officer for the Child Exploitation Unit and $4.1 million towards the new RCMP contract, Mr. Speaker. That was good news because it was only a few years ago after – actually when I was elected in 2005, this government had been in since 2003, a big thing, at that time, there were a lot of break and enters. I know that the minister said with economic growth and so on there is also going to be some crime that we are going to have to deal with; however, back then it was growing at that time. The plan at that time was for safe and secure communities, Mr. Speaker. There were major investments in enforcement regarding additional enforcement officers. So today, as the Minister of Justice said, there is now an additional 145 uniformed police officers on the street. That is certainly good news for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, when this government came to power in 2003, programs, services, and infrastructure were seriously lacking. We have wisely used the resources available to us to make Newfoundland and Labrador a better place to live and work. I remember my first Budget – and I have heard several members today talk about this is their first Budget and I heard my colleague for St. John's South saying about the 1990s, when he came in, so he seen many Budgets.

Excuse me, Mr. Speaker, I do have a tingle in the throat and I do have a touch of the flu as well.

In 2006, Mr. Speaker, I remember reviewing a Budget with expenditures of $4.9 billion. This year, Mr. Speaker, it is $7.9 billion. That is a phenomenal amount of money that sometimes it is even hard to comprehend how much it is really, so we have to use our resources that is available to us wisely.

About a third of our provincial revenues come from oil royalties. We must remember that it is a non-renewable resource – I do not know if I am going to be able to finish; it is just too much good news. I do have a touch of the flu, Mr. Speaker. What I wanted to say is that in Budget 2012 –

MR. JOYCE: (Inaudible).

MR. FORSEY: I say to the Member for Bay of Islands, there is very little written on this paper, but if he wants it he can have it.

Budget 2012 reflects responsible, fiscal management while protecting key public services and focusing on economic growth.

I know my time is getting short, and my voice, I am losing it, but I would like to say under this government, Mr. Speaker, this leader and our Premier, we will continue responsible investments. This is something that is really near and dear, is the supporting of apprentices, fostering a thriving skilled labour force.

Mr. Speaker, I would just like to quote. When we talk about investment in education, especially in the skilled workforce, I had an e-mail. We do not get very many of these, but I had an e-mail from a constituent who has two sons. As a parent, she said they were seeking employment and started out as apprentices. What she is saying in her e-mail is we need to inform potential employers of the income subsidy which is available to them. She goes on to say in her e-mail: I am so grateful that my sons have the opportunity to complete their apprenticeships here in their home Province. How many times has it been said: our youth, our future? We need to be in a position to keep them here. She says: Congratulations to the government for taking this initiative. Mr. Speaker, that is the kind of good news that is there. There are people out there who are recognizing and appreciating it.

With that, Mr. Speaker, I thank you for the time. I see my time is up and my voice is just about gone.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER (Verge): I recognize the Member for Humber West.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. GRANTER: Mr. Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to be able to stand in this hon. House to have about twenty minutes to speak to this forward-looking Budget, as many have done over the last few days and have continued to do today on this side of the House.

Mr. Speaker, there is a difference between a government that is forward thinking, a government that is visionary, a government that lays its foundation based on principles rather than a government that is reactionary, a government that is immediate and one that acts without ever planning out the future, Mr. Speaker. There is a real big difference between those two kinds of governments. We had seen all kinds of examples, Mr. Speaker, from the other side of the House over the past few weeks and over the past few months, and even during the election. No vision, no costing, just asking for more, more, and more. The people of the Province, Mr. Speaker, know and understand that better. If the people watching and listening at home would also follow-up on Hansard, they would know about the many, many times the Third Party in particular have asked for more, more and more without regard for who will pay for asking for more, more and more.

Let me take a few examples this afternoon and tell the people of the Province who are listening today on the broadcast, who will pay for the more, more requests from, especially the Third Party, as they have enunciated over the last number of the months. The people of the Province, Mr. Speaker, will pay for the requests that the Third Party have been asking for over the last number of months. They will pay heavily for the irresponsible and indiscriminate requests from that particular party. Every single day they have stood on their feet in this House and asked for more of this, more of that, and more of something else, more of this and more of that.

One day a member opposite will stand and ask for more of this. Another day, another member from the party will ask for more of that, and they continued today in Question Period. The problem with that, Mr. Speaker, it is similar to a kid in a candy store. You cannot have it all, and you cannot have it all at once, Mr. Speaker. Like families, governments need to cost things out. That is what sets us apart from the parties opposite. We have seen the ridiculous requests from the Third Party and from the Official Opposition, their reckless past that put this Province on the brink of bankruptcy leading up to 2003, Mr. Speaker.

The people of this Province will not forget. The people of this Province have not forgotten about the mass layoffs, about rollbacks, leaky roofs, obsolete medical equipment, very little seniors' benefits, antiquated curriculum in schools, no new schools, increased tuition year after year at the College of the North Atlantic and Memorial University of Newfoundland, no reduction in student aid, Budget after Budget with tax increases, and no relief for workers, no relief for seniors, and no relief for students in Newfoundland and Labrador. That is what we had from the parties opposite, Mr. Speaker, in Budgets past.

The hon. Member for St. John's South earlier this afternoon did a wonderful job comparing the Budgets of prior to 2003 to the Budgets since 2003, and the current Budget that we are talking about and speaking about in this hon. House today. This government has taken a different approach than the governments of the past. This approach has worked for the last number of years, Mr. Speaker, and this government knows and understands that this budgetary process will work for this year and for the years to come. I say that to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

We realize that there were years, and years, and years of neglect from past governments. We have invested heavily into infrastructure and into programs over the past eight or nine years, Mr. Speaker. I want to say to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador today that we will continue to invest in the people of Newfoundland and Labrador. We will continue to invest in programs and we will continue to invest in infrastructure all over this great Province, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. GRANTER: Mr. Speaker, I find it strange that the Leader of the Third Party has sat in this House, has lived in this Province, and has seen the incredible investments this government has made on all kinds of existing and new programs, yet she can stand in this House day after day, and especially on May 1, when she said, and I quote from Hansard, "What is it that this government is truly investing in, Mr. Speaker?" Let me repeat again: "What is it that this government is truly investing in, Mr. Speaker?"

She says that she has read the Budget documents. She says that she has read every single important word up to this point. I say, Mr. Speaker, that she is selective in her choice of words that she has read the Budget document.

The people of this Province see the investments, Mr. Speaker. Students see the investments, seniors see the investments, businesses see the investments that we have made. Boards of trade see the investments, the police forces that were represented here today in the House see the investments, school boards see the investments, health boards see the investments. It seems everyone sees the investments, have seen the investments since 2003, but the Third Party, Mr. Speaker, cannot see the investments and continue to ask for more, more, and more. It reminds me of a song from the past, I think, More, More, More.

This government will continue to deliver more, Mr. Speaker. I have to say that we will deliver more to the people, every person in the Province, in a responsible manner in this Budget and in Budgets to come. We will continue to build on the last nine years or so. We will continue program enhancement and infrastructure growth, Mr. Speaker.

We will never forget the people and communities of this great Province no matter what situation they find themselves in. I refer to the hon. Minister of Fisheries who said that and stressed that in this House, with the difficulties that some of our fishing communities are having over the last few days and the last few months. The hon. Minister of Fisheries, I know, said a day or so ago, or yesterday, to stress the fact that we will never, ever forget the regions of the Province, every region of the Province, no matter what situation, what difficulty, what challenge that they find themselves in. We will provide hope for them, Mr. Speaker, and continue to provide hope for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

We talked about the oil and the riches of our oil. The oil-rich reserves belong to all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, Mr. Speaker. They belong to all of us. The members on this side of the House over the last number of days have done a wonderful job articulating to the people of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador what we have done with the resources that we have gotten from our offshore oil. It just does not belong to the Avalon Peninsula; we spread the resource throughout every nook and cranny in this Province, Mr. Speaker, and we will continue to do so as the weeks and the years go by.

I want to say that my District of Humber West and indeed the West Coast, the entire West Coast, is a beautiful place to live. It is a beautiful part of the Province. It is a great place to raise a family. They have benefited from the last eight or nine years of this government, Mr. Speaker. It is a better place to live because of the investments that we have made on the West Coast of Newfoundland and Labrador.

I just want to say, just briefly, and I will speak about it a little later, that the investments to come in health care and education in the next little while in the Corner Brook area will solidify the community as a modern, diverse, and fantastic place to live. I will speak to that in a while, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, principled leadership is the kind of leadership shown by this government. This Premier has shown principled leadership. This Finance Minister who sits in front of me in this hon. House has shown principled leadership year after year after year as a Finance Minister. Principled leadership, Mr. Speaker, sets us apart; it is what sets us apart on this side of the House to members on the other side of the House. We make our decisions based strongly on sound principles.

We are not a reactionary government. Time and time again we have shown this over the last nine or so years; Budget 2012, Mr. Speaker, perpetuates a plan for this year and for the future. Someone once said that efficiency is doing things right but effectiveness is doing the right things. This government, I will always say, does both.

By doing so, Mr. Speaker, by being efficient and by being effective, it creates sustainable development, all the while being fiscally responsible. This is recognized by the rating agencies throughout North America and throughout the world. It is not just our government saying it, Mr. Speaker; others are saying it as well. They are saying it within our own boundaries, they are saying it in the boundaries of our Federation of Canada, and they are saying on the North American markets.

The people of this Province support a government that is visionary, a government that is forward-thinking, and a government with a plan not just for the short-term but a plan for the long-term, Mr. Speaker. That is what sound governance is all about. Our government stands on sound governance.

That is why we see investments this year in the Budget in our children as well as long-term sustainable energy development as examples of this forward thinking, Mr. Speaker. I am pleased to be part of government that makes decisions which are principled, efficient, and effective; anything but decisions made that way will send us down a deep spiral to debt and unsustainable development.

Let me be clear this afternoon: our government is not taking this Province down that road ever again, Mr. Speaker. The people of this Province see a brighter day and a brighter tomorrow for all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. This government is taking the wealth generated in our non-renewable resources and spreading the resources all around the Province for this generation and the next.

Mr. Speaker, when this government took power, we were on the brink of disaster. Member after member after member in this House has stood and spoken about that. The people of the Province can remember the government going to the media and talking about the financial situation this Province was in. I remember it, Mr. Speaker, as a member of the public service. Debt per capita was at an all-time high. Infrastructure was crumbling beneath our feet. Roofs in our public institutions were leaking and falling apart from years of promises but no action and from years of much neglect. Doctors and nurses were working without modern-day, necessary, and up-to-date equipment, and in the end it was the patients of Newfoundland and Labrador who suffered, Mr. Speaker.

When I became vice principal of a junior high in Corner Brook, each and every morning I would go to that school after a rainy night and I would empty the garbage buckets that had filled with water the night before. That was less than twenty years ago, Mr. Speaker – yes, less than twenty years ago, leaky roofs and failing infrastructure crumbling beneath our feet is what we had to endure in the public service and also in the Province.

As a young teacher, I lived through years of public salary freezes and rollbacks. I taught in classrooms with little or no technology, Mr. Speaker. I used textbooks that were extremely old and falling apart, not at the least that had an antiquated curriculum. I spent more time collecting fees, Mr. Speaker, from parents to pay for this and to pay for that, locker fees, school fees, book fees, and the list went on, and on, and on. Getting used furniture from anyone who would donate it to equip rooms, schools, and buildings; attending garage sales in the summertime to get physical education equipment for the fall opening. Things have changed, Mr. Speaker. Things have changed greatly.

When I left Corner Brook Regional High last February and entered provincial politics, I left a school with a double-sized gymnasium, a school with a fitness centre, a school with two skilled trades suites – yes, two skilled trades suites.

AN HON. MEMBER: How many?

MR. GRANTER: Two skilled trades suites; a school with computer labs filled with the most up-to-date computer equipment; a school where every teacher and every student had access to an interactive white board and its technology; a school with a modern cafeteria; a school with a modern resource centre; and a school with a staff and students second to none, whom I am always glad and forever will call my friends.

Some people would argue that they have changed, because all of a sudden we came into a wealth of dollars and resource dollars. No, Mr. Speaker; it is akin to a lotto winner who wins millions only to find that they have squandered it in a few months down the road. No, Mr. Speaker, things have changed, because this government made, and continues to make, decisions based on sound principles. That is why they have changed in this Province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. GRANTER: Decisions that were grounded in the best interests of all Newfoundland and Labradorians. We have invested heavily in infrastructure and programs and reduced our debt by billions of dollars, as has been alluded to here today.

We have not squandered those dollars from our rich resources. We have invested and continue to invest in the people, programs, and infrastructure of Newfoundland and Labrador for all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, Mr. Speaker. We are doing what every Newfoundlander wants us to do. We are investing today for a brighter tomorrow.

As a former educator, I believe education is a key to present and future economic growth and development in this Province. I have worked over the last twenty-three years with students, some of the brightest in the Province, some of the brightest and dearest in the country; they have gone on to become some of the brightest students in the world, Mr. Speaker. We are competing with the best in the world and we have to create the best in the world. The education system in Newfoundland and Labrador is doing just that.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. GRANTER: We have seen and continue to reap the benefits from these investments over and over again, Mr. Speaker.

I remember those days in education. I would ask the parents to try and remember those days in education and grasp, as the hon. Member from St. Johns today did, how far we have come in Newfoundland and Labrador in the few short years, Mr. Speaker, based on principled decisions and working together. If we continue to make our decisions based on principles, sound principles based on fact, and by working together with industry and all of our people in our Province, we will be on the right road to prosperity and continue on the road to prosperity, Mr. Speaker.

As the Minister of Education, I believe, alluded to yesterday, our per-pupil investment at the K-12 level has increased from $7,412 to $12,605 this year – a massive increase of 70 per cent, Mr. Speaker. The government, as you know, eliminated standard school fees, which were a burden to all families. I know they were a burden, because I lived it. I saw parents coming to school who could not afford to pay for school fees. It was nightmare for some of them. It was a heavy burden, especially on parents who probably would have had two or three children in the school system. I would say to the Third Party: That is an investment in people that we listen, and we have invested in people by eliminating school fees. This Budget has dollars there to keep that investment, Mr. Speaker.

We have extended the free textbook policy to include all students in the public K-12 system. I want to repeat that: We have extended the free textbook policy, Mr. Speaker. I remember parents, at the high school level especially, coming into the school and if they bought all new books, not going to the used bookstore, if they could actually get the book, could have to spend up to $1,000 if they had two children in high school. Add on school fees on top of that, and that was a burden for parents to get ready Labour Day weekend for the upcoming school year. We eliminated that for them, Mr. Speaker. That is an investment, a good investment, and we will continue to do that.

Mr. Speaker, not only that, but we have taken the antiquated curriculum that we have had for years, and we have done away with it and we have invested in new modern technologies, a new modern curriculum, skilled trades program, which promoted young women to enter skilled trades, to get them interested in skilled trades. We know that it is paying off, Mr. Speaker, and that is an added benefit.

Mr. Speaker, they always say when governments start to cut they cut into the arts programs. I want to say to the members opposite, especially the Third Party, this government continues to invest in music, theatre, and visual arts programming through our annual connections budget – thousands and thousands of dollars. I remember seeing all kinds of new trombones, saxophones, pianos, guitars, speakers, theatre lighting, and mobile theatre lighting in our schools for our students. Wonderful investments for the students of Newfoundland and Labrador, and we continue to do that.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. GRANTER: I do not have a dollar value on it there, Mr. Speaker, but I know that we continue to invest in those kinds of resources for each and every student in every school in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Mr. Speaker, we continue to invest in our children. The provincial government has invested more than $115 million for new and ongoing infrastructure projects throughout the Province in Budget 2012; $6.9 million in new funding for major infrastructure projects: Portugal Cove-St. Philips, Paradise, Conception Bay South, Flatrock, Pouch Cove, and Bauline area. Also, Mr. Speaker, and I have to say, since I only have a few seconds left, $8.5 million, I believe, for the redevelopment of the former Regina complex in Corner Brook, with millions to go there next year. Also, there is money to look at the future development of schools in the Corner Brook and area region, Mr. Speaker. I know my time is running short.

AN HON. MEMBER: By leave.

MR. GRANTER: Thank you, by leave. They said I should lower my voice, but I will take a by leave. I appreciate it.

MR. SPEAKER (Wiseman): Order, please!

I remind the member his time has expired.

MR. GRANTER: By leave?

MR. SPEAKER: Does the member have leave?

AN HON. MEMBER: By leave.

MR. SPEAKER: By leave.

MR. GRANTER: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, hon. members, and the Third Party.

Funding will also be allocated to investigate the feasibility of a new school for Gander, while further support will be provided to allow for ongoing planning related to the reorganization of schools in Corner Brook, as I just said, Mr. Speaker. I can list the millions and millions of dollars – $79 million – but I am not going to, because I am at leave. I am not going to list off all the schools that are being built in the Province this year and next year, but only to say that never, ever, in the history of Newfoundland and Labrador have we seen the investments in infrastructure for schools and hospitals and long-term care and road construction and bridges and all those kinds of things. Never before have we seen that kind of investment –

MR. MARSHALL: More to come.

MR. GRANTER: Mr. Speaker, and more to come, as the hon. Member for Humber East, the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board, just referenced to me.

I just want to clue up by saying to the people of Corner Brook and region that this government has not forgotten the people of Corner Brook. This government has invested heavily in Corner Brook and area, Mr. Speaker. It delivers on its promises. There has not been a promise that we put forward that we have not delivered on.

I just want to take thirty seconds, if I have to beg the opposite members. International size soccer pitch, a new courthouse, a new eye care centre, redevelopment of the former Herdman Collegiate – which started out, by the way, I believe at a few hundred thousand dollars when the Opposition were looking at redoing Herdman Collegiate. I believe it was a few hundred thousand, if not it may have been just the low millions, but when it was finished, I believe it was in the area of $20 million – $20 million from a few hundred thousand. That was plaster and paint that they were going to put on it, Mr. Speaker. We ended up with all of the things that I listed off four or five minutes ago, Mr. Speaker.

A new administration building for Grenfell Campus, a new science lab for Grenfell Campus just went to tender, the metro units, Margaret Bowater Park, fire trucks, Dunfield Park Community Centre, investment in Summit home care in Humber Heights, in Minister Marshall's district. I would say to the people of Corner Brook, the difference between this government and the government's of the past, is that, as my grandmother also would say to me, a promise made is a debt unpaid. This government, Mr. Speaker, delivers on its promises. The people of Corner Brook know we will deliver on the new hospital.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for Kilbride.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. DINN: What did you say, Mr. Speaker?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. DINN: Mr. Speaker, when I was at city council, we had a town crier. I would say if Corner Brook enlisted my colleague here in front of me as the town crier, he would definitely outcry the City of St. John's town crier, but a great man indeed.

Mr. Speaker, this has been my first opportunity to speak since the House opened, so I will take a couple of minutes to thank the people who voted me back in as their Member for Kilbride. I appreciate your support. I want to thank – it never ceases to amaze me that people who volunteer, they help you get elected and put in so much time free of charge. They are very dedicated people. I want to thank my campaign team, all the work that they did putting up signs, re-putting up signs, because some of the signs used to fall down sometimes accidentally on purpose. Anyway, I would like to thank those people very much. I thank my family, too, and my wife. A couple of years ago – I think the first time I became elected I never mentioned my wife. I spent four years on the couch after that. So, I thank you, Patsy, for your support and my family.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. DINN: You are never too old to learn, no, sir - a good few nights.

My district, as you know, has over 10,000 voters in my district. During the election campaign I had a few heated arguments with people who said, I never saw you for a long while. My comeback to them was always: Have you called? It is impossible for any of us as MHAs to go and knock on people's doors and tell them we are here. People have to be aware that they must contact us. Anyway I –

AN HON. MEMBER: Twitter.

MR. DINN: Do not say Twitter; I have no use for that stuff. When you say Twitter, I think of partridge.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. DINN: That is the extent of my Twittering.

Anyway, there are 10,000 voters, many, many constituents, but I tell them this: Feel free at any time to contact me. My contact information is very available, and I get all kinds of calls. The same as the Third Party are always mentioning, about people who have difficulty with Income Support, apprenticeship programs.

It was only yesterday that I actually got a job for a young fellow who was signed up last week with an apprenticeship program. This young man is an apprentice carpenter, and he actually – I think his father might have been on Open Line one day. He is deaf, and I had two jobs for him in a day, just picking up the phone and calling people that I know. This apprenticeship program is a tremendous program. I would say in the last six months, a year, I have had probably a dozen or more students over to sign up for this program, and it is something to be commended.

Anyway, I only have a few minutes before I have to suspend the debate until after supper. I probably will not be able to talk after supper, because I have chicken coming.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

AN HON. MEMBER: Partridge?

MR. DINN: No, not partridge. I like to take a nap after eating at suppertime. So, I did not want to get in too far into what I actually have to say.

I will mention that my district and the people in my district, and some of my own colleagues have worked over the years to get a high school for the West End of St. John's. This year in our Budget, there is $12 million to start the construction of that school. Back in 2000 – what was the year that was closed, when Beaconsfield – the high school came out of Beaconsfield in 1999? I think the Liberals closed it and made it a junior high school. We lost a high school. At the public meetings that took place at the time, arguments were made that this area in Kilbride was prime for development. That development has taken place. Today there are many, many new houses in the Kilbride area, many. If they had to listen at the time, we would not have had the problem that people had to deal with over the years. Most of the high school children, or adults I should say, from my district go to Bishops College. The younger students go to Hazelwood Elementary. I have technically just one school in my district. There are another ten that my constituents, the children, go to. So, there is a lot of involvement with them.

Anyway, I have to watch that time very closely. I think a couple of years ago, I got up talking; I had five minutes, did not know the difference and went on, and they told me to go home out of it, right – could not come back talking anymore.

Anyway, in my district – and my colleague, the Member for Ferryland, can verify this – small business is very, very important. Today, I was looking down and just going over a list of the kind of businesses that are in the area, businesses that provide employment for many people. I am going to refer back to this when we come back after supper; I am going to mention some other places that are not as business-friendly as we are, and what has happened.

In my district, there are many, many small businesses – many. I was only thinking that you have landscapers and pavers, take-outs and restaurants; you have all kinds of business. I must have been up to about fifty different types. All of these provide employment for people, every one of them. Small businesses are the backbone of the economy of this Province.

I think I will suspend debate now, because I am going to probably get into what I did not want to. I will suspend debate now, and I will get back after talking about the economy, which is what I wanted to talk mostly about, okay?

MR. SPEAKER: Does the member want to move that the debate now adjourn, and have it seconded by a colleague?

MR. DINN: I move adjournment of debate, and get my colleague – where are you from?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. FORSEY: Exploits.

MR. DINN: Exploits. I thought you were from Grand Falls.

Anyway, moved and seconded, okay? So moved.

MR. SPEAKER: It has been moved and seconded that the debate now adjourn.

All those in favour, ‘aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

MR. SPEAKER: All those against, ‘nay'.

Motion carried.

The hon. the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture.

MR. KING: Mr. Speaker, given the hour of the day, by leave, I ask that we adjourn for a break and resume at 7:00 o'clock.

MR. SPEAKER: Does the member have leave?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: By leave.

MR. SPEAKER: The House now stands recessed until 7:00 p.m.


May 8, 2012                      HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS               VOL. XLVII No. 28A


The House resumed sitting at 7:00 p.m.

MR. SPEAKER (Verge): Order, please!

The Member for Kilbride, to continue with his comments.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

AN HON. MEMBER: How was the chicken?

MR. DINN: The chicken – I have had better. I have had better lunch.

Mr. Speaker, there are a number of topics I could discuss or get into. I am interested in the affordable housing situation. I had some takes of my own on that I have discussed with other people in the past, but I will not get into that now. I have some comments, if I get time at the end, about Muskrat Falls. Incidentally, I fully support that – fully.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. DINN: I have some numbers that I worked out, actually. At today's price of oil, supplying oil to Holyrood over thirty years, you will be spending $5 billion or $6 billion, depending on if the oil goes up or down, based on 25 per cent usage of that place; not every day, just 25 per cent at the time it is being used.

Anyway, I will not get into that. I want to talk about the fiscal path that we have put this Province on.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. DINN: Back in 2003-2004, out government put this Province on the fiscal path that we have stayed on. Because we did that, our economy is probably one of the best in Canada.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. DINN: As a matter of fact, I would say it is probably one of the best in North America, one of the best in America, one of the best in the western hemisphere, and probably ranks pretty high in the world economies.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. DINN: It is doing very, very well. That is not just coming from our members. Ministers, government members, and the Premier would probably note that we have always noticed that; we know what is going on, but there are other people also saying that. There was a letter on my desk a month or so ago that I kept from the Newfoundland Employers' Council. I will just quote something that they said in that: We commend your government for taking a responsible approach to the Province's finances, to a strong focus on reducing unfunded liability, eliminating deficit, and working towards a competitive tax regime. These people recognize the good things that are going on.

There was a man here, a fellow, Pierre Gratton – I think he was here a couple of weeks ago – President and CEO of the Mining Association of Canada. He said that the outlook for Newfoundland is very positive.

Even a former federal environment minister, Jim Prentice, applauded our Premier a week or so ago on our Lower Churchill Project. He thought it was one of several major projects that are going to take place in Canada, and he kind of gave the indication that we should proceed with that, and it is a good thing.

We are not only saying that, these people are not; many commerce groups, many banking agencies, bond rating agencies, and anybody who is an economist of any worth are noting the good things that are happening in this Province. These people recognize it.

Actually, I can remember in 2009 when we were here in the House of Assembly and the world was going into a kind of recession. There was a worldwide recession taking place and some of the leading economists in the world were saying: Here is how to get out of that mess that is coming or that you are into. Lower your debt, lower taxes, and spend money on infrastructure. We have done all of that and today our plan is one that these people still recommend for the countries that are having problems.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. DINN: We have paid down our debt. We have lowered taxes, invested in infrastructure, and negotiated very good resource deals for the good of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador. The day of giving away is gone. I think that is very important.

Anyone who is an economist, they generally have performance indicators for different economies and governments. One of the factors or indicators that they use is the level of investment in an economy. This Budget year, 2012-2013, investment in Newfoundland is going to be $9.6 billion, up 30 per cent from last year. That is very, very significant.

Employment is growing. That is another factor, how employment is doing. Employment in Newfoundland has been growing for the last number of years. Actually, it is at the highest levels it probably ever was. Unemployment numbers are going down. You also have personal and disposable income rising. They have been rising in this Province for the last few years.

AN HON. MEMBER: Mine was rising until I got married.

MR. DINN: That is right. Now it is cut in half.

Personal and disposable income is growing here in this Province, and that has been going on for a number of years. Consumer confidence is high. Retail sales are high. Population is growing. Housing and construction starts are staying stable, and they are still pretty high compared to what they were before. We have paid down our debt and we have the highest credit rating I think we have ever had in the history of this Province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. DINN: One of our members mentioned today, the Member for St. John's South, that we are saving about $250 million a year now in interest payments on our debt.

Over the last several months, I have been keeping an eye on what is going on in the rest of the world. I have been watching the economies in Europe and in the States. If you look at what is going on in Europe for example, countries in Europe have overspent for decades. They are now reaching a point where they are having very, very serious trouble.

I think it was only this past weekend in Greece they had an election. They could not even establish a government; they have to have another election. There are very serious problems in Greece. I can remember this past February watching TV and they were rioting in the streets of Greece because they were in a position where they had to get bailed out. They were in debt so much that they could not afford to go on any more.

In order to get bailout money, Germany and France and some of other banking agencies of the world said that Greece had to curtail their spending. They ended up laying off 15,000 public service workers and had to cut a lot of the programs that they had brought in the past. The people were very upset over that in Greece, they did not agree with it and they thought they should keep spending, spending, spending and spending, but it could not happen.

I saw a man on TV one night; he was a diplomat from Britain. He was interviewed on one of the American stations. He said that there has been very, very few private sector jobs created in Britain in the last eight or nine years. The reason he said that is because so many entitlements have been brought in for British people over the last number of years that people who own businesses will not hire them any more. If they have a store, they would rather close the store up for two or three days a week than hire extra people. He said if you hire them, you have to pay them all kinds of benefits, pay for all kinds of holidays, child care, daycare, all kinds of stuff. He said if you hire them, it is almost like you own them and their families, so they do not hire any more.

I was reading in the paper the other day that Spain is having a terrible time. Unemployment in Spain is 24.4 per cent. Youth employment, people who are under twenty-five years old, the employment rate for them is 52 per cent in Spain. Spain has to take a lot of drastic measures. Their economy is shrinking. They now see that taxes have to rise and wages are going to drop.

Anyway what is going on in Europe, I mentioned Greece, Britain, Ireland, Portugal, and Italy have all had their troubles. What they are doing, they have taken a fiscal path that is directly opposite of what we are doing. They are not paying down debt; they are accumulating debt. They are not looking at what is going on in the future. They brought in programs not even considering that they had to be sustainable sometime. One of the foundations of our economy, of the fiscal path we have put ourselves on, is sustainability. We do not want to bring in stuff that we cannot forward. We do not want to bring in programs that in two or three years' time, if the revenues drop, we are going to have to cut them out. It is better to take an opportunity to take your time and analyze them. Just because you are flush with cash now, does not mean that you should spend, spend, and spend.

One of the most interesting things that I see happening is what is happening in the United States. We talk about going in debt in Newfoundland – people are concerned about it – going in debt in Canada. Do you realize that the United States of America are going in debt $4 billion a day. Every man, woman, and child in the United States owes $46,000, and that is going up from $13 to $15 a day, every day. What they have done, they are spending without any control. They are putting themselves in a position where they too are going to have difficult times ahead. I think, as a government, we are on a path, economically, that is quite the opposite of the direction that these countries are going in.

We have heard in the House in the last few days about all-day kindergarten, universal child care, universal home care, and affordable housing. I can say this to you: This government, and no government, can provide the level of affordable housing for people in the future – nobody. You cannot expect governments to pick up the tab for housing. It cannot be done. If you do, you are going to have very, very few years of success. We have to take our time and make decisions that are sensible and sustainable.

One of the things we can say that is kind of traditional for Newfoundland is that we are hard workers. I can remember, for years, Newfoundlanders were known as hard workers. We cannot, Mr. Speaker, expect to get a share of the pie without working for it.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I remind the member his time for speaking has expired.

MR. DINN: I do not need too much leave, anyway. I am just about finished. I do not have time to go into Muskrat Falls.

MR. SPEAKER: Does the member have leave?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: By leave.

MR. SPEAKER: The member has leave.

MR. DINN: No, I have had enough. That is good.

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for Kilbride, by leave.

MR. DINN: Just to clue up, Mr. Speaker.

If you evaluate our economy on the performance indicators and compare what is going on in other countries, you can see that we are doing very well while they are not.

I thank you for your time.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Minister of Innovation, Business and Rural Development.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HUTCHINGS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I want to thank the hon. Member for Kilbride for his thoughts on the Budget. I certainly appreciate him. I work closely with the hon. member, we share districts. We work very closely together in the area of the Goulds and a portion of St. John's. The gentleman has a long history in municipal politics and brought it to provincial politics. He is a great asset to me in the area in terms of dealing with municipal issues.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HUTCHINGS: Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to stand and speak to the Budget. This is my sixth Budget since being elected in 2007. I have the privilege of serving the people of the Ferryland District.

This is a Budget, again, Mr. Speaker, since we have come to power, has been from a visionary government, looking at where we are, getting our financial house in order, strategically looking at what we need to do in the short term as a Province to build our Province, but certainly long-term, five, ten, fifteen, and twenty years down the road. We are making investments today, taking strategic directions that are going to help us, today's people of Newfoundland and Labrador, and certainly the next generation as well as we move forward.

Mr. Speaker, this Budget: People and Prosperity, reflects on where we have come from in terms of our financial situation. Not too long ago we were approaching almost $12 billion in debt. This year we will be down under $8 billion, which is truly tremendous when you think about it, a Province of half a million people, what we have done and where we come from. During that period as well, we have had the ability to make massive investments in all kinds infrastructure, whether it is schools, health care, business development, and all areas, Mr. Speaker. We will continue to do that, and continue to build and look to the future.

Mr. Speaker, I just want to talk about some of the issues in terms of my department, IBRD, in terms of budget items, the vision we have of where we are going, what we are doing, and where we need to go. It is so important, and my colleague from Kilbride mentioned small business and how important small business is to all areas of the Province and what has been done. They are the drivers. We often say they are the drivers of the economy, the small employers all over the Province in terms of what they do, employing Newfoundlanders and Labradorians and driving the economy.

This Budget, too, Mr. Speaker, I want to mention, talks about strategic investments. With everything that is happening in the Province, we know we need to build a skilled workforce to meet the labour demand of today and of the future. We are building to do that, looking at over $100 million in apprenticeship programs and continued funding through the new department of EAS. As well, support post-secondary students, which is so important.

This Budget and our government have always been about sustainability, investments today for the future but sustainable. Sustainability related to - we often hear about our oil revenues, investments today, non-renewable. We made smart investments over the past number of years, this year and into the future, that has payback in future years so we have the sustainability we need for our people of Newfoundland and Labrador. That sustainability I think is highly reflected in the work we have done in our post-secondary institutions. In terms of our youth, having a very educated population, high edge, moving forward, twenty to thirty years –

MR. DINN: (Inaudible).

MR. HUTCHINGS: The Member for Kilbride, yes, indeed, thirty years maybe in the teaching profession. Well done, well respected.

MR. DINN: Twenty-nine.

MR. HUTCHINGS: Twenty-nine, okay.

Mr. Speaker, yes, it is about education, about Memorial, about the College of the North Atlantic, about the Marine Institute, about the massive investments we are making there and the people we are turning out, the young people who are competitive, competitive industries here but competitive around the world. Countries from around the world recognize the institutions we have here, the work we are doing, the type of people and the excellence that we are generating in terms of the professional ability and it is known around the world.

Mr. Speaker, this Budget looks at families and certainly children. A 10-Year Child Care Strategy which is so important, that has been recognized by this government as needed, strategic; $18.4 million over the next two years to enhance the foster care experience for children and current and potential foster parents, which is very important. I know firsthand, Mr. Speaker. Two years ago we opened a new child care centre in Bay Bulls in my district, forty-eight child care spaces, and state-of-the-art. It is reflective of what we saw in that particular area of what needed to be done. We built that infrastructure, and it is there now for that area of my district. We see tremendous growth in terms of new families, a lot of young children. The overall development of our youth is so important, our young children, and that is meeting that need.

Mr. Speaker, we are continuing to invest in health care. A significant portion of our overall Budget is in health care and how important that is. This Budget looks at new breast cancer screening exams for the expansion of the Breast Cancer Screening Program for women from age forty to forty-nine. I congratulate the Minister of Health and Community Services on going forward with such an important initiative and the importance that is to our population.

All of us as MHAs look at the Prescription Drug Program; we deal with a number of people in regard to that. Again this year, an overall investment of $155 million, so we are investing where we need to. From that perspective in terms of our seniors, how important that is for our seniors' community and the role that the drug program plays for them.

Over the past number of years hundreds of millions of dollars in health care infrastructure, again this year we are giving $81 million to upgrade and build new long-term care facilities. We look at our demographics and what the needs are, and meeting that need in terms of investments in that type of infrastructure.

Mr. Speaker, in terms of tax savings, personal and corporate and the business community, we are leading the way in terms of monies back in people's pockets in terms of personal income tax. A number of initiatives, personal income tax reduction, Supplementary Child Care Tax Credit, low-income for seniors and the Residential Energy Rebate. Mr. Speaker, in 2006, about $500 million has been put into this and it is back into the pockets of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

Mr. Speaker, two incentives in my area. We look at, as I said, small and medium enterprise, and how important they are. We have a suite of services and programs, tax incentives for business owners of $91 million this year in the Budget. We will be moving forward with that, recognizing when employers have more money in their pockets that they can reinvest and do the things they need to do to have a successful business, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, when we look at the economy, I think it was mentioned earlier, in terms of where we are and in terms of things going well. When we look at 2012 and what the future holds, we are looking at employment growth, unemployment to decline. Personal income and disposable income, we are looking at growth there of over 5 per cent. That is key, Mr. Speaker, in terms of looking at an economy. How are you doing? Is retail spending up, personal income growth? Those kinds of things are clear indicators of an economy that has continued to move along, has continued to prosper and do what needs to be done.

We look at things like retail sales tax growth; it has continued to grow as well. Overall capital investment, Mr. Speaker, is up 30 per cent to almost $9.6 billion – again, a buoyant economy. There is investment for corporate community and infrastructure being built.

Our other industries like the mining industry continue to grow and prosper. The commodity market is doing quite well in certain area around the world like India. China continues to build, which with our mining and what is happening in Labrador is certainly a very bright spot for us overall in terms of our economy and business community. Shipments are expected to increase by 24 per cent and continue to grow.

Mr. Speaker, we have invested heavily in tourism. A huge part, when we talk about SMAs, is the tourism industry and the role they play in all areas of the Province, certainly in rural Newfoundland and Labrador. The investments we have made: $11 million or $12 million, I think it is up to now, in terms of the tourism industry and the investments we have made in marketing Newfoundland and Labrador. The advertising has won awards, all kinds of awards, for the great work that they do in terms of exposing Newfoundland and Labrador to the rest of Canada and certainly around the world – incredible in terms of the work that has been done. It has gone very well, Mr. Speaker, in terms of what we have done and what we continue to do.

Mr. Speaker, I want to touch on some of the investments, too. As I said, my department again this year will be investing in high-speed Internet. Last fall we made a significant announcement in terms of services in Labrador, the Northern Peninsula, and Central Newfoundland. Again this year we will be moving forward and looking at, particularly, the high-speed.

We made a commitment in the Blue Book in October when we went to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador that we would continue the investments that we have made, continue to make that and reach out to as many parts of Newfoundland and Labrador in terms of the high-speed that we possibly could.

Since coming to power, we have increased access by 312 per cent and invested $27 million; approximately another $114 million we have been able to leverage to the private sector, federal government, and other agencies. So we recognize the importance from a community development point of view, business, and social development. We are going to continue to build our capacity.

Mr. Speaker, again, in terms of what some hon. members have mentioned in regard to cellphone coverage and the importance of that in terms of telecommunication, we certainly recognize that in our Blue Book as well. In October we said we would work with the private service providers to see if we could find a strategy and a solution to come forward to deal with those areas in regard to cellphone coverage.

It is extremely important, as I have reiterated here in this House, that the telecommunication industry is a federally regulated industry by CRTC as well as Industry Canada, and we play the role as facilitator. We use taxpayers' money, funds, to partner with the private service providers; they tell us they cannot go into particular areas because of the business case, so therefore we partner with them. We try to partner with them where we can, where we have the funds to do so and it is in the best interests of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador. We will certainly look to continue that dialogue which I have started as minister, and will continue to do it to meet the challenges as best we can as we move forward.

Mr. Speaker, I spoke about sustainability and diversification of the economy in looking at our non-renewable resources. One of the areas – there are many – that we have seen great success is the ocean technology sector. This year we will be investing in the OceanTech Intelligence program. The industry now is up to well over fifty companies and now up to $500 million in terms of exports. Very well-educated, good companies with established people working in them, doing work around the world: Brazil, China, all other different companies down in the Eastern US, as well, working with the Marine Institute and the technology we have there and the expertise we have there.

We certainly agree we are getting recognized around the world for the work we are doing, so we are going to continue to build on that and continue to build out with that ocean technology sector to the north, Arctic opportunities. We all know in terms of surveillance, search and rescue, different other issues in terms of exploration in the north, how important that is; we continue to do that. We invested in St. Anthony, significant wharf infrastructure, maybe a jump-off spot sometime in the future in terms of Arctic opportunities; we are looking for that and pursuing that in terms of tremendous opportunities that exist.

Corner Brook, another area we will be been looking at in terms of opportunities there, expanding out the ocean technology sector; (inaudible) and that area out there, there are opportunities there and we plan on exploring it, diversifying the economy, and doing it through that, Mr. Speaker, which is (inaudible).

Mr. Speaker, other areas that we have looked at again through my department; as I said, we are very committed to small- and medium-sized enterprises, a $50 million fund again this year. Look at start-up modernization of companies, growth, and business venture in key sectors, Mr. Speaker, that have gone quite well.

Mr. Speaker, $4.8 million is allocated for the Regional/Sectoral Diversification Fund. Most members in here are involved with different activities in their communities. I think everybody can relate to different programs under this fund. Regional economic infrastructure and certainly the overall diversification of local economies are so important.

Mr. Speaker, another program that has gone very well is the Workplace Enhancement Program. It is $2.1 million this year. I hear from employers of small and medium enterprises that have availed of this. It is a tremendous program in terms of up-scaling skills of employees. Accessing funds has been extremely successful. Whether it is new technology, certification, or whatever it is has been extremely successful. It is really meeting the needs of small and medium enterprise employers out there. It has gone extremely well. We will continue to support that because these are the kinds of programs that business is telling us they need. It is going well, so we will continue to support them.

Mr. Speaker, as well, NLOWE, the Newfoundland and Labrador Organization of Women Entrepreneurs, we will continue to support that. It is very successful in terms of enterprises that are being created. We see that as well in terms of building on things – a lot of good things – that are happening in the economy.

Mr. Speaker, I just want to give a couple of examples of projects, very successful ones that are underway or starting. I had an opportunity some weeks back to meet with the company that is coming in to the St. Lawrence Fluorspar Mine down on the Burin Peninsula, Mr. Speaker. It is a $100 million project. The provincial government is in for $17 million. It is a tremendous project looking at possibly 375 from the construction phase and 250 when it is up and operating. I was speaking to the operators. A Canadian company has partnered with a company in France. It is a very good company and a very good partnership. It is great news for that industry and that employer. From my discussions with them, there may even be further opportunities to move forward based on what they have seen to date. So that project initially will be wharf infrastructure and docking infrastructure. That could even get started this year. We are certainly looking forward to that. That is (inaudible).

To the hon. member, I spoke of cellphones earlier. I do not know if you were listening, but I did speak of cellphones and what we are going to do in terms of moving that file forward. I thank him for his input, but we will move forward on that project. I hope you are talking to your federal colleague. As I said, it is under CRTC. It is part of the telecommunication package. We understand that, and we are going to work with the service providers. They need to come to the table. We encourage them to come to the table and discuss with us. We have to invest taxpayers' money. We will do what we can; I have started to engage with them already and speak to them. The CRTC, as you may be aware, they decided they are going to put – Industry Canada is going to put spectrum up for sale. Hopefully that will help in terms of different areas. I do not know how you feel about that sale of spectrum; you could get up and speak on that if you like. It is positive and there are some opportunities, especially the rural areas of all Canada, Newfoundland and Labrador. We will see how it goes. It could be very good. We hope it will be; we suspect it will be.

Mr. Speaker, overall, to clue up, I have a couple of minutes left, this Budget is about a continuation of what we started in terms of fiscal prudence, in looking at living within our means but financially being prudent, looking to the future. In 2007 – I did not mention – our Energy Plan, looked at as being an energy warehouse, and building all the assets we have here. In terms of building that warehouse, I think we are on our way towards doing that. Muskrat Falls, we will make a sanction decision on that later this year. As reiterated and indicated by my colleague for Kilbride, he supported it; I certainly do as well. From an overall economic development point of view, it is where we need to go, it is required, and we need it. It continues on the road of when we talked about our Energy Plan and what we need it to do for Newfoundland and Labrador.

As well I mentioned earlier in terms of sustainability, I want to re-emphasize again in terms of our investment in our post-secondary institutions, our youth, in the innovation side of things, promoting new technologies, new industries; there are exciting things happening. I had an opportunity on Friday night to be at the Marine Institute for the ROV competition, various schools from all over the Province, high school students in to compete – very excited, very leading-edge technology. I spoke to a young man there actually who worked with one of the oil companies. He had gone through the Marine Institute, had done I think it was mechanical engineering, was now employed with one of the oil companies and doing quite well and was accessing the opportunities that exist for our young people in the Province. There are so many more.

We will be there to support them, we will be there to support the business community, Mr. Speaker, and to drive the economy to make sure what is happening continues to happen. This is a Budget for today, Mr. Speaker, a Budget for this year. We will move forward over the next four years, make the choices we need to make to continue to improve the lives of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: I recognize the Member for Conception Bay East – Bell Island.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. BRAZIL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to be able to address this House, particularly around this historic Budget that has been brought down and we are now debating in the House of Assembly. I do that with some trepidation, because I just received a picture of my daughter blowing out her candles at her seventeenth birthday; it makes you realize why all of us here, including the members opposite, sacrifice themselves to run for elections: so that they can come in and be able to represent the people, make decisions that are in the best interest of everybody, and hopefully, at the end of the day, have a legacy that continues through the next generation and the generations beyond that. So, Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to speak here.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. BRAZIL: Mr. Speaker, since I started as a civil servant in the 1980s, this is my twenty-eighth Budget that I have had to either analyze, because as part and parcel of my responsibilities it had an impact on the budgets that I dealt with, or because of my political affiliation, I wanted to be a student, to know where we were moving as a Province.

I used the word earlier, historic, and I say historic not because it is the largest one we have ever used, or because it is the biggest surplus that has been shown, but because when we faced a $1 billion loss in revenues, through fiscal management, proper leadership from the Premier, to the minister, to the Cabinet, we found a way to minimize – and I really want to emphasize minimize – the impact on the citizens of this Province, Mr. Speaker, a very minimal impact for such a loss of revenues.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. BRAZIL: Hats have to go off to the Minister of Finance and his staff for doing due diligence and finding ways to be able to address the shortfall in revenues, but I would be remiss, Mr. Speaker, if I did not identify an issue on something that as a former civil servant I took exception to; that is a statement made by the hon. the Member for St. John's North on the On Point television a few months ago when I was on it, when he stated publicly that the minister and his staff were incompetent.

Mr. Speaker, I do not have to defend the Minister of Finance. The Minister of Finance's credibility is second to none, provincially and nationally.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. BRAZIL: Mr. Speaker, somebody who served as a civil servant for twenty-six years found it as an insult that civil servants who could not defend themselves would be attacked by a politician on an online show.

Mr. Speaker, I want to make it clear to my hon. Member for St. John's North that the civil service in this Province, we are very respectful of, we are very proud of –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. BRAZIL: – and, Sir, we do everything to support what they do. Particularly those in the Department of Finance have done more than due diligence and a very professional job to make sure that any impact on the citizens in this Province is very minimal.

I also want to note, Mr. Speaker, that there is a lot of important positive things that have come out, not only out of this Budget. When I reflect back since the 1980s and what I have been involved in, some of them were very lean budgets. Some of them have been very bad for the people that we serve. Some of them did not have any vision. Some of them did not have a plan. This Budget, Mr. Speaker, has all of those, all of the positive things that I just mentioned. The negative things we do not even take into account. It has vision; it has bringing into account the needs of the people. It has putting our fiscal responsibility as one of the forefront issues that we face. It also has full planning, looking for the future, making sure the generations are taken care of, Mr. Speaker. We have done that by introducing a number of important programs and services that are going to benefit the people in this Province and are going to set us on the road to prosperity where we already have a far distance down that road.

We talk about infrastructure investment, Mr. Speaker: water, sewer, road, airstrips, all kinds of healthy positive things that we need, life safety around water and sewer, and how we bring that up to par to where we need to go. We have changed our whole infrastructure process with the municipalities. I give credit to the ministers who have worked very closely with the citizens out there and the respect of stakeholders and making sure their input was taken into account when we look our fiscal process. Health care, Mr. Speaker – every day is great for me; I get on television every day because the minister can get up and talk about new programs that we have, defend the great job we have been doing, show how we now invest more per capita than any other province when it comes to supporting health care in this Province, Mr. Speaker. That is a positive part of this Budget that we have.

Programs for persons with disabilities, we are the ones that brought in the persons with disabilities office. Only recently, another announcement was made where we access supports and services for persons with disability to make sure that they can be inclusive in society, that they can be productive citizens, that they can be engaged in employment.

Our immigration strategy, Mr. Speaker, we got to a process where we know we are going to have a shortage here with workers; we know we need to be opened up to be a multicultural society, how we have engaged that culture, how that culture has come here and added to our society. That is a lead that we have taken, setting the tone across this Province, Mr. Speaker.

Student aid, second to none. We see what is happening in Quebec now; Quebec is below us now. Obviously we are leading the pack here. There is no revolt from students in this Province, because they understand; they respect what we are doing, but more importantly, they support what we are doing, because we engage them, we ask them: Are there loopholes that we need to fill? Are there gaps in the services? Are there ways we can improve it? We engage that and through the respect of ministers and then through Cabinet, decisions are made that are in the best interest of those citizens.

The retention and attraction strategy, Mr. Speaker, we spent three years on one of the best programs and services to engage young people in this Province, to attract them back, those young people that we lost who were well-trained and well-experienced but who wanted to be home to their native land. We did manage to do that through some of the programs and incentives that we brought in.

Mr. Speaker, we introduced over the last three years forty-one new initiatives and those initiatives were about attracting our citizens back here, particularly our young people, our skilled young people, but also was retaining those who were here. No longer do they have to wait for the process or expect the process when they graduate that they must leave to find proper employment, to get good job security, to make sure that they have good benefits.

Mr. Speaker, what was introduced by this Administration over the last three years is second to none. It has been a template for a number of other provinces and other countries that want to take how we engage programs and services to keep our educated, dedicated young people in this Province.

Broadband, you heard the hon. minister speaking before me talk about how we have invested in that, how we want to bring technology to all parts of this Province from Labrador, to Carbonear, to Bell Island. We have moved it dramatically forward. It takes a bit of time; it takes a major investment, which we have done. It takes developing partnerships with some of the other stakeholders and some of the manufacturers of the services. We have done that and we continue to do it, announcements again in this Budget that will move us to the next level of broadband being accessible for all citizens.

We talk about one very near and dear to me, and it is probably my Achilles heel: the ferry replacement strategy. We have been criticized for that over the last short period of time. We realize we have some challenges. Do not forget, Mr. Speaker, when I was in the civil service and I was chair of the ferry users committee, we looked at all the needs. Going back into the 1980s, the previous PC Administration had a strategy in place; it was building boats. It built the Flanders, the last boat before this Administration built the last two boats. It had a second boat to come out the second time. When the Liberal Administration took over, all cancelled. No vision about where we are going to be down the road.

AN HON. MEMBER: That is what happened?

MR. BRAZIL: Yes. We ended up inheriting a mess when we took over nine years ago, Mr. Speaker. We have started the process. Do not forget, we not only inherited a mess around ferry replacement; we also inherited a mess fiscally. What we had to do, for the first three years we had to get our own fiscal house in order. We did that. Then we announced the ferry replacement strategy.

As the minister has noted a number of times, there are two vessels already in the water and a third one very close to being developed and moved out. Announcements last week, my colleague there from Fogo: another one going to put in, ready to go, call for proposals in the next year or so, moving that one forward. Then we will move forward on the other boats, six more that are in the process to be done. As we move down the line, all the other ferry services that are needed will get proper ferries so that we have proper planning so that people do have viable, affordable, accessible transportation to and from no matter where they live, Mr. Speaker, and that is what we have been doing.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. BRAZIL: Our prescription drug plan, Mr. Speaker; as we assessed what our needs were, as we looked at the generic plan process, we have come up with a strategy that saves money on one hand, but gives us the opportunity to invest it back into our plan so that more seniors have access to it, that drugs are going to be cheaper for them, that more drugs can be added to our plan, that we have other monies to be put into other services that could be offered through pharmacies or in other areas, another positive that came through our health strategy.

Mr. Speaker, also, our apprenticeship support initiatives, particularly around years one, two and three, are second to none in this country right now as we enhance our employers to develop processes around apprenticeship and how we engage those in the skilled trades. We are moving that forward as we invest every year more and more. We are getting more and more apprentices staying here so that our job shortage we are anticipating in the near future will only be fictitious. We will be able to handle that as we move some of our major projects forward. The industry itself is very much supportive of what we are doing.

Innovation and research, particularly around oil and gas, the fishery, forestry, aquaculture, and these types of things, are second to none, Mr. Speaker – second to none. We know the challenges in the fisheries. We know what the minister has been doing to try to move things forward. We know we are going to have to take a step back to take two steps forward, but that is what we do. We do planning, Mr. Speaker. We do not just throw good money at bad. We do some planning, we move things forward, and we put things in place that are in the best interests of everybody involved.

The mining industry, Mr. Speaker; we see what is happening on the Island part of it, but we see the boom in Labrador. That is because the industry has faith in what we are doing in this Province. It has faith in our policies. It has faith in our infrastructure, how we train our people in that industry, and how we support the industry.

AN HON. MEMBER: Good investment climate.

MR. BRAZIL: The climate here is exactly that. It is good investment. People want to invest in Newfoundland and Labrador and we get a fair deal because they know we are going to work with them in a fair manner and make sure that what is in the best interest of everybody is put in place.

A healthy society, Mr. Speaker; we have involved stakeholders so that we develop programs and services that give every opportunity for every citizen here to have a healthy lifestyle, be it in mental health or be it in addiction services. We have announced only recently two new addictions services being opened for young people and an adult addictions counseling service out in the Harbour Grace area. We have also increased the number of addictions counselors we have. We have partnered with a number of other agencies – major improvements when it comes to the mental health process. We will be working with the federal Mental Health Strategy to see how we can implement and piggyback on some of their programs. They do the same with us because we are taking major steps in moving the mental health situation forward.

We also look at a safe and rewarding lifestyle for people in this Province. We have engaged physical activity for seniors and young people, addressing issues around obesity. We have partnered with schools, we have partnered with youth agencies, and we have partnered seniors' organizations to make sure every citizen in this Province has an opportunity to have a lifestyle that is healthy and engaging. They all become part and parcel of what they want to do. Not everybody is going to be engaged in every program and service. If they want to have a choice of doing something that engages them in their respective communities, be it a rural, small community or a major urban centre, people in this Province, the citizens, deserve it, and we are the Administration that has been offering that to them.

Income Support, Mr. Speaker, was announced and talked about today. The largest increase in Income Support came this year in the Budget. When we were dealing with fiscal restraints, we realized those most vulnerable and those who were trying to be able to support to move forward are the ones who needed extra support. I give credit that we managed to move that forward and that is through proper leadership and fiscal management.

We have also built in all kinds of other supports under Poverty Reduction for single parents, enhancement as they make that transition to the workforce and the extra supports they do; into child care, the supports that we have put into those types of things; into transportation modes, as I said, we support those types of things. All that fit very well with our Poverty Reduction Strategy, Mr. Speaker.

Our Poverty Reduction Strategy is about one major emphasis: it is about giving people the opportunity to take stake of their own lives and, as they see fit, move their agendas forward. Their agendas could be that they are quite comfortable finding employment six months of the year; it could be that they want to go on and become rocket scientists. We want to be able to put the processes in place and the supports that whatever it is holding them back will be eliminated, Mr. Speaker.

Business incentives, reducing business tax, investing in business, co-operating with businesses, being innovative, investing in technology – all things that we have been doing through supports from the line departments and collectively as an Administration.

We must go back to the reality: we do not have a bottomless pit of money and we do have a responsibility because we have a debt. We have a looming debt that we do not want to pass on to the next generation. We have been addressing that: billions paid down on the debt when people would have thought in the last number of years in a recession it would be impossible. We have done that. That has saved us fiscally because we now have more money to invest in social programs, and we have managed to do that.

Mr. Speaker, too often we hear colleagues on the opposite side of the House talk about the glass being half empty. Mr. Speaker, the glass is not half empty by any stretch of the imagination. It is the opposite; it is half full and it is flowing higher and higher because of fiscal responsibility, because of proper investment, because of partnerships that we have developed, Mr. Speaker. They are just a number of the important things we have done.

Mr. Speaker, I want to talk about a few things just in my own district. For those who know, you do not have to go very far to listen to the Open Line shows and watch CBC, NTV, and all the other accesses there for communications and realize there are challenges in my district because it is a very unique structure. We have Bell Island, which is 15 per cent of my district, an isolated, restricted access by ferry service of which we already talked about that we have some challenges that we are working on, improving on. We have Portugal Cove-St. Philip's, a fringe urban centre now that is in the midst of its growth period that does not have a lot of infrastructure process put in place that we have to deal with, which is 55 per cent of my district. Thirty-five per cent of my district is Paradise, which is now a booming metropolis. We also have to deal with some of the issues there.

Mr. Speaker, when I was first elected or first campaigning and I met with all three mayors and tried to access what was needed, there was a common goal between all three: infrastructure, water, sewer, road work, and recreation, all these things that were necessary. Bell Island had its uniqueness with the transportation link, something that we will address, and I do not mind saying working with the Minister of Transportation, we are getting closer and closer to being able to address that with some of the announcements on our new ferry vessel strategy.

We also had some issues in Portugal Cove – St. Phillips outside of infrastructure and they are things that continue to go on. I worked with the respective ministers and the municipalities, and we are doing that. Their need there for an education institution, they needed to have a middle school so that the families coming in, the young families, would not have to bus their kids or drive their kids into St. John's where they have no attachment, where they can make Portugal Cove – St. Phillips its own community. Mr. Speaker, as the Minister of Finance announced and the Minister of Education knows, we have announced that. The next phase of a new school will have a K-9 school system in Portugal Cove – St. Phillips that has been announced. The process now, the investment of $1.6 million to do site preparation, design, and this type of thing has started. Next week, Mr. Speaker, we will be meeting with the school council of Portugal Cove – St. Phillips with the officials from the school board to look at how we move this forward. It is a positive thing there.

In Paradise, after meeting with the residents and that, we have invested heavily into infrastructure, particularly around water, sewer, and road improvements. One of the big key components that was missing there was recreation, a recreation facility. I do not mind saying, Mr. Speaker, working very closely with my colleagues, particularly Mount Pearl North and Topsail, we were very happy to be able to announce with the Minister of Municipal Affairs a multiplex recreation centre for Paradise.

Two of the key things that were part of my agenda item when I was elected: one, improving the ferry service for Bell Island, which we are getting closer and closer to doing, and also building a system in place in Portugal Cove – St. Phillips for educational enhancement. We have done that; with the announcements coming down in the next few years, we will have the opportunity to cut the ribbons and have the families there to be able to access education as they see fit and need. In Paradise, getting the recreation facility; as we do all that, we still invest in infrastructure, Mr. Speaker: water, sewer, and road improvement and all the other necessary things that make a viable community attractive to the citizens.

Mr. Speaker, I am just going to talk about a few things in my district: investment in the Bell Island ferry service, continuously into the millions per year; hospital service, the hospital on Bell Island, new equipment upgrading of the building itself. Infrastructure, $5 million just in water; sewer investment, road investment – it is actually embarrassing, Mr. Speaker, if I said how much I have received in the last eighteen months for road investment just for Bell Island. Life safety equipment –

AN HON. MEMBER: How much? Give us a little number.

MR. BRAZIL: It was $2.7 million just for that. Now I have everybody else after the minister.

Life safety equipment, Mr. Speaker: a $240,000 fire truck and another $50,000 for a breathing apparatus for the fire department. Continued increase for the Town of Wabana's infrastructure operational grant; education – both schools added infrastructure.

One of my colleagues here talked about Smart Boards. I was embarrassed when I was on Bell Island last week; every classroom has Smart Boards and additional ones. All of the high technology that you could use over there is second to none. The students love it, the teachers love it; we are moving that educational institute forward over there. Radio Bell Island, Mr. Speaker, funding that came through the hon. minister there to reunite the community, to give the community an opportunity to have dialogue and be inclusive; recreation areas, playgrounds – the first time in twenty-five years, a state-of-the-art playground was built on Bell Island.

Education, Mr. Speaker, Levels I, II, and III; the Liberal Administration, thirteen years ago, closed the college over there, made Bell Islanders have to use the ferry service, fourteen to eighteen hours a day to be able to go over to achieve Levels I, II and III. Mr. Speaker, this Administration brought it back to Bell Island. No longer do people have to go to the services; we are bringing the services to the people. Twenty-nine graduates we have had in the last three years over there, second to none. Eighteen of those have gone on to post-secondary, Mr. Speaker.

The Boys and Girls Club program is second to none. Investment continues and we increase it: day care subsidies, particularly for the low-income families; the WISE program; the third program that we have had over there, Jumpstart, that we invest in; the update on Bell Island is second to none. KidSport, our JCP, our CEEP programs – again, second to none.

Mr. Speaker, all I talk about in the tens of million dollars is just for 15 per cent of my district.

AN HON. MEMBER: Imagine if you had more time.

MR. BRAZIL: If I had more time I could talk about the other $100 million that we invested in part of this district.

Mr. Speaker, my time is gone. If I could have some leave?

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

AN HON. MEMBER: By leave.

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for Conception Bay East – Bell Island, by leave.

MR. BRAZIL: Mr. Speaker, I will just take a minute to talk it about again. These are things that we have done for a community; we get criticized because of one little challenge that we have right now and that is the ferry service that we are working very diligently to improve, Mr. Speaker.

The things that we have for the other parts of the district as Portugal Cove – St. Philip's becomes a viable community: just opened a pharmacy there, three doctors in with a clinic. They had no access to health care prior to that. Pharmaceutical home delivery for seniors in that area; a recreation facility that we are negotiating is now being built. The new school will add to it, the whole infrastructure, as we move forward in new development in that area – Paradise, as we move up in St. Thomas Line for the new infrastructure for road access.

Mr. Speaker, I have a very vibrant district. I am very proud of what is being done there, but I look forward to how we are going to move things forward, because we have a fiscal plan, we have responsibility for what we are doing, and we will make sure that the next generation and generations beyond that will be able to benefit from what has happened.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I recognize the Member for Terra Nova.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

It is, as everyone says, a pleasure to speak here in the House today. After hearing my colleague talk about Bell Island and his district, I almost want to move there. The improvements and the investments there have just been outstanding. I think it is a common thread. I listen to all of the speakers here today and there seems to be a positive trend.

I was thinking to myself: Why is it so positive today? Why is it so optimistic? Why are people at home actually watching this tonight and feeling good about the whole thing? It is because the government members are speaking. We do not have the NDP talking about doom and gloom. I listen to it day after day, obviously, as we all do. I have to say, Mr. Speaker, it almost talks you into a depression. You wonder: Is everything you see from day to day out in your districts and what you see happening in the Province all false? Is it not happening? Obviously, what we see and what they perceive are two very different things. I am here to say, as everyone else has said here today, it is so refreshing to hear the optimism – the optimism, Mr. Speaker. It is fantastic. This is what makes Newfoundland great, and it is great.

I tell you what, if I was from another Province, I had this station by satellite, I was sitting down watching it, and I heard the crowd across the way talking, I would think: My God, what are they doing down there on that rock? What a desolate, poor, dark spot they live in. I can guarantee you, those who are watching out in TV land now and watching us, it is not at all like that – not at all.

Now, I want to take a brief minute here because, of course, we are discussing the Budget, but I can deviate for that just for a second. I just want to throw out a couple of thank-yous because I have not had the opportunity since the election. I just want to thank, again, as some have said before, my family for their support, and my campaign manager who – I will not give his age totally – falls in between seventy-years-old and eighty-years-old. He is as spry as a young fellow, Sam Saunders, and he did an absolutely fantastic job as campaign manager. I want to thank everyone who put in everything into the district. It was a fantastic turnout and if you look at the numbers here in the House, many of us had a fantastic turnout. Again, I want to thank all of my supporters and everybody who put time in. It is greatly appreciated.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. S. COLLINS: Last week, Mr. Speaker, I had the opportunity to attend a graduation in Glovertown. It was only sixteen short years ago in 1996 that a young Sandy Collins graduated. Many people here, I would say, could have taught me for many years, Mr. Speaker. It was so good to see. What an inspirational group. What a happy bunch. What a great group with so much good stuff.

I was thinking: How was it when I graduated? Let us rewind now. 1996 was not that long ago, as I said, sixteen years ago. I can remember because I emceed that grad. I remember I was up talking. I can remember making a joke: I cannot wait to get out of this school and I cannot wait to give her to the mainland because that is where the opportunity is going to be. I have to go. I knew there were not many opportunities here, as did all of my classmates. I think if you look after I graduated, a year or two after I graduated, many of my classmates were gone. Many of them have not returned. Thankfully, a good number that have are starting to return now and are building homes back in Glovertown, which is fantastic.

The difference between sixteen years is tremendous – absolutely tremendous. When I finished high school, I came into Memorial for five or six years and completed my degree and whatnot. I remember I had the opportunity to travel abroad, and I travelled to South Korea where I taught English. I remember, just after meeting a bunch of school teachers at the place where we taught, we went out for dinner that night. Everybody was not really acquainted, so we did not really know where everybody's roots were.

I can remember sitting around the table, and I distinctly remember this. It was one of those conversations that stand out in your head. It still irks me to this day. We were sitting down to the table and I remember this gentleman from California. We were talking about world economies and this and that. Of course, the United States was on its high horse during that time. They were saying: Well, how is Canada? What is the economic situation like in Canada?

I remember the gentleman that was sitting across from me, he was from Ontario, I do not remember specifically where. He went on to talk about Canada, the economic status of Canada, where it lied, and all that good stuff. I remember he said: It is all bright and sunny, except when you get to the Atlantic Provinces. Again, not knowing where I came from, he said: Specifically, Newfoundland and Labrador. I remember I marked down a couple of things. He said: Poor and dysfunctional. I remember those words. They stand out to me. I can remember being so inflamed. He went on to say something and I tore a strip off of him after, but much of what he said I could not refute, and that was the saddest part about it.

I was just thinking: Where were we back then? We were politically dysfunctional, so that was true. Giving away our resources and mismanaging funds is what we are famous for. We are laughing stocks. That is what we are famous for, absolutely. We were nearly bankrupt – nearly bankrupt. Imagine a Province almost bankrupt. We were a recipient of hundreds of millions of dollars in transfer payments form Ottawa. That was our key industry.

What are you known for? We are known for many things now, many industries. What we were known for then? Transfer payments were our bread and butter – transfer payments. How shameful.

Our key industry, the fishery, was still reeling from the effects of the moratorium and that was all in slings. We had low a GDP, high unemployment, dilapidated infrastructure right across the Province, particularly in rural Newfoundland and Labrador, under-funded health care, under-funded education, crippling interest rates on student loans, which I well know about, as well as some of the highest personal income tax in the country. We were viewed undoubtedly as second-class citizens.

Another thing that sticks out in my head is one of those things you hate to think about. I do not know if you folks remember back in 2005, Margaret Wente wrote an ignorant, gross, horrific column in the Globe and Mail. If I may just share a couple of things, let us just see where we were, do you know what I mean? Let us see where we were. I will not read the whole article: Newfoundland reminds me of a deadbeat brother-in-law who hits you up for money a few times too often. He has been sleeping on your couch for years and now he has the nerve to complain that it is too lumpy.

She goes on to say: Over the years, those of us not blessed to be born on the rock have sent countless cakes its way in the form of equalization payments, pogey, and various hare-brained make-work schemes. In return, surly Islanders have blamed us for everything from the disappearance of the cod stocks to the destruction of the family unit, because if people had to work more than ten weeks before they collect EI, they might have to move away.

Newfoundland's population has dwindled to something less than that of Scarborough. Because of stupendous political malfeasance, it is at least $11 billion in debt, but it still has several federal seats, and so we send more money so that people can stay in that scenic villages where they were born, even though the fish are gone and there is no money for work and never will be, unless you can steal some telemarketing from Bangalore, India. Rural Newfoundland, along with our great north of 60 is probably the worst vast scenic welfare ghetto in the world.

I will close with this: But Scarborough supports itself, and Newfoundland does not, and I wish Danny Williams would explain why it is not a good idea to keep picking the pockets of Chinese dry cleaners and Korean variety-store owners who work 90 hours a week in order to keep subsidizing the people who live in Carbonear, no matter how quaint and picturesque they are.

AN HON. MEMBER: What would the story be now? Tell us what she would say now.

MR. S. COLLINS: Now, just imagine; I can remember exactly where I was when I read that article and it still burns me to the bone when I read it. It was not that long ago; it was only 2006 – only 2006. Can you imagine someone writing a column like that about us now? I can guarantee it would not happen. Why would it not happen? They would have no reason to.

Just imagine where we have come and where we are. It is outstanding to think – in six short years – this missus, this absolutely loon up in Ottawa can write this article, and she had people, obviously, up in the mainland agreeing with her. Again, some of it – based on some of the facts that I stated before, about being politically dysfunctional and almost bankrupt – was true, even though most of what she said was gibberish altogether.

Just think, could that ever be written now? I can guarantee you not. It is through hard work and it is through a plan that we have put in place since 2003 that has changed around. Who would have thought, back in 2003, we would be standing here talking about this article and saying she is an absolute loon, because it obviously holds no relevance whatsoever. We are leading the country in so many aspects. Who would have thought that? I would not have at that time. I did not see it until a PC Government came on scene; they fixed the mess that was handed to us, and boy, was there ever a mess. Holy Lord, was there a mess, but we have done our work and we continue to do it with this latest Budget again, another fantastic piece of work

So, now let us fast-forward today, about a decade later. What a difference. Personal incomes at an all-time high and consumer spending, of course, reflecting that; declining unemployment rates; tuition freeze, which I am going to speak about in a second, as well as interest-free on the provincial portion of student loans; among the lowest personal income tax in the country; population increases, after so many, so many years of decreases. Our net debt, as a percentage of our GDP, has decreased from 63.4 per cent to 26.2 per cent; our debt has been slashed by approximately $4 billion. I always say, when I say billion, you have to watch my lips; I say billion, not million.

I think we lose sight of things, because how much is a million? I do not have a million dollars. I can not tell you how much a million is. I sure as heck do not have a billion dollars. So, what I want to do is, if you will for one second, let me just –

AN HON. MEMBER: Use your calculator.

MR. S. COLLINS: I could use my calculator, but I will not use my calculator. Instead, what I am going to do is give you a little analogy: exactly what is a billion? I am going to put it in perspective, because I think when people put this in perspective, they get that ‘aha' moment, and the light bulb comes up above their head and they say, wow, a billion dollars; that is quite a bit.

A million seconds is twelve days ago – a million seconds, twelve days ago. A billion seconds, any guesses? Twelve days is a million; a billion seconds, thirty-one years. Thirty-one years, that is a billion. So, a million is a lot; a billion, you cannot even fathom that. We have reduced our debt by $4 billion, and we have done that while at the same time increasing social spending. It is fantastic, absolutely fantastic.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. S. COLLINS: Mr. Speaker, the Province now has the highest credit rating, which has been said before; again, we all know how credit ratings work. It works no different for us than it does for the Province. It is based, of course, on your track record, as well as your future success and your prospects. Mr. Speaker, never before has this Province had a track record we could boast about, and certainly never before has our future looked this bright. By the very fact that we are worried today about having enough Newfoundlanders and Labradorians to fill the jobs we have coming up, we are doing something right. We are doing something right.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. S. COLLINS: What a worry to have: how are we going to get enough people to fill the jobs? Again, if someone said that to me ten years ago, I would say, buddy, you are off your rocker. Imagine, trying to find people to fill jobs in Newfoundland, but that is where we find ourselves because of good planning. That is where we find ourselves. We are no longer a have-not Province and no longer do we have to go to Ottawa with cap in hand. There was nothing worse than that, you know, being kicked when you are down, and that is what we did. That is what we had to do; we had to go for equalization payments. If we could not get equalization payments, we could not pay the bills. That is as plain and simple as it is.

Do we go to Ottawa with cap in hand now? No, we do not. Do you know what we go to Ottawa with now? We go with a cheque, because now we are paying in. Our money goes to the other provinces, Ontario and Quebec, the former powerhouses. We are paying their equalization payments. We are paying.

AN HON. MEMBER: We are happy to do it, proud to do it, proud to be able to help out.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. S. COLLINS: That is the thing; things have taken a total flip-flop, and I am glad to be on this side of it, obviously.

If I can – I have seven and a half minutes left – I would like to address the Third Party.

AN HON. MEMBER: What about the Third Party?

MR. S. COLLINS: As a back-bencher, of course, Mr. Speaker, you do not get an opportunity to get up during Question Period, even though sometimes you get the itch; you want to jump up because there are questions you would love to be able to answer. There is so much stuff that flies across. I will not say what flies across, but there is so much stuff that flies across the floor.

AN HON. MEMBER: Hear, hear!

MR. S. COLLINS: I just want to talk about a few things. What infuriates me probably the most is when you have the Leader of the Third Party getting up talking about rural Newfoundland and Labrador. What a sad face she puts on; the poor people in Newfoundland and Labrador. Can I tell the hon. member across the way: her party is eighty per cent urban. She has one member who is from rural Newfoundland and Labrador, who does not speak a whole bunch, but when he does, it is good; he knows a little bit more about the fishery than most over there.

She talks to me and other people here from rural Newfoundland and Labrador and she educates us. She educates us on rural Newfoundland and Labrador. It is unbelievable to think. I do not know, and I should not bring up the past; in whatever case, she represents the St. John's district, which is all well and good, but do not stand across the way, throwing – and the thing is, they never offer solutions.

AN HON. MEMBER: Never.

MR. S. COLLINS: Never. Mr. Speaker, do you know what would be wonderful in Question Period is to allow us to ask questions, because I am dying to know what their plan is. Obviously, they have a lot of plans. They tend to tell people on the protest lines – and I say, that is the gravy, that is the meat and bones of the NDP.

AN HON. MEMBER: The fish and gravy.

MR. S. COLLINS: The fish and gravy of the NDP – if there is a protest, I am there. If there is a rally, I am there. If there is something going on with a union, does not matter what the union is, I am there. Why are you there? I am not sure, but I am going, and I will find out.

What kind of way is that to propose governing people? I liken it, Mr. Speaker, to the tail wagging the dog. I said it before; when we were talking about generic drug policy pricing, I said about the Official Opposition: we do not sit over here and we do not propagate one interest group; we do not push one interest group. We are about the betterment of the Province as a whole, every district, forty-eight districts.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. S. COLLINS: It is just as much relevant today, as I say, we do not propagate or we do not push one view, one union, or whatever the case. When you have an interest group or a union pushing your party, directing your party and saying which way they should go, I have a big problem with that. I have a very big problem with it. I would go as far as saying it is perverting the system. It is not right – it is not right.

As elected members here, we stand and sit here in this hon. House to represent every single member, every single person, in this great Province. We do not push a single group. I think to do so is shocking and irresponsible, but I will leave that where it is.

I wanted to talk a little bit about education. I would probably venture to argue that I am probably one of the only members here who has a student loan in the House of Assembly. I look around at some others; the Member for Kilbride, I think, is still paying off his student loan too. I may be one of the only few. Of course, any time I hear things coming down the tubes with interest free and those types of things, it is fabulous. I get to see those benefits first-hand. I took a look, of course, at the Budget this year and saw some great things with education; $66 million to reduce student debt in Budget 2012 alone. That is broke down, of course, $44 million to MUN and CONA to continue the tuition freeze, which I spoke about earlier. Since 2005, Mr. Speaker, $183 million has been invested in the tuition freeze.

AN HON. MEMBER: How much?

MR. S. COLLINS: One hundred and eighty-three million dollars.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. S. COLLINS: We talk about the tuition freeze and the amount of investment, and then we have the Member for St. John's North who supposedly spearheaded the whole thing, he does not support it. Not a good word was spoken. I would urge him to stand on his feet and tell us about it. He has never once supported it, which I think is absolutely shocking. It is ridiculous to even suggest such a thing. Mr. Speaker, $19 million for the continuation of up-front, needs-based grants and $3 million for the continued debt reduction programs.

I went to Stats Canada Web site and I got a few little interesting tidbits – because people may say: Well, you are doing all of this, but is it working? What do you have going on there in Newfoundland and Labrador? What is the situation in universities and the cost of tuition and whatnot? I just took little tidbits from Stats Canada Web site. Tuition fees rose in all but one province, Newfoundland and Labrador, where they have been frozen since 2003.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. S. COLLINS: Fees for graduate students rose in every province except Newfoundland and Labrador; increases ranged from 0.1 to 5.5 in Ontario.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. S. COLLINS: It keeps going, Mr. Speaker.

Ontario, at plus 6.1 per cent, recorded the largest increase in international undergraduate tuition fees, while they remained unchanged in Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. S. COLLINS: In 2011-2012, additional compulsory fees for undergraduate students ranged from $212 in Newfoundland to $1,399 in Alberta. For the same provinces, compulsory fees for graduate students range from $229 to $1,333. We are always either the best or on the lowest end when it comes to dollars. It is unbelievable. Just to show you how that translates: average undergraduate tuition fees for Canada for full-time students by province – in Canada the average was $5,366; in Newfoundland, $2,649.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. S. COLLINS: Almost half.

The member next to me mentioned it. Before, we used to always say Newfoundland has the lowest fees next to Quebec. We would always say it, but there was Quebec. We do not have to say that any more. If you have been watching the news, in between all of the protests, burning cars and knocking down buildings – of course, their tuition has not gone up, but the fees that are going to be associated with it are. So, at the end of the day their fees have risen. Newfoundland and Labrador are once again leading the country.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. S. COLLINS: The part that I am particularly proud of – all that stuff was really good. Okay, we do not charge a lot for education, but obviously we probably have a sub-par educational system. Memorial is probably not that good, is it? Well, you do not charge that much; you cannot possibly be that good.

I am sure everyone is familiar with the Maclean's university rankings, so I looked back at 2011. I said: Where does Memorial rank? It must be really low because we do not charge much; it must be really low. So I looked there and I said: My God, what is this? Top five, and has been for a number of years. Not only is it the lowest tuition, we have one of the best universities in the country.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. S. COLLINS: Mr. Speaker, as I said, it has been so refreshing to be able to stand up today, it has been a big lack of gibberish and dark and doom and gloom, and it has been such a great time.

I was speaking to my wife and I said: Tune in tonight. She usually does not like watching it. She said: My God, how can you sit there and listen to that? I said: Tune in tonight; you are going to hear the real story, the true story, the story that we know, not the third story, not their edition, not their version, but the real story. I think that is what we are hearing and we are going to continue to hear it –

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. S. COLLINS: By leave, please?

MR. SPEAKER: Does the member have leave?

AN HON. MEMBER: By leave.

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for Terra Nova, by leave.

MR. S. COLLINS: I said: Tonight, we are going to hear the real story; the story that, obviously, we know and we like to share with the rest of the Province. I think people generally understand this; they generally do. You do not have to look any further than the numbers in this House. People get it.

We did have an anomaly the last time around which was called the orange crush. If I can, I would like to address it just for a second because that is what it was. It was an orange crush. There was something that swept right over. Do you know what? I wonder what happened because I followed the election quite closely and there was a quote by the late Leader – God rest his heart – Jack Layton of the NDP, and I am sure many are familiar: "My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we'll change the world." I would like to look across the way and I would say: What happened to that vision? Because we are not seeing it in this Province; it is despicable (inaudible) –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. S. COLLINS: I always wanted to quote Jack Layton in the House of Assembly. It is very poignant words, and the thing is that man obviously had a lot of support. Why did he have the support? Because he had that vision and he had that optimism. This party does not have that; you do not have optimism. Doom and gloom is all it is every day, day in and day out. You know when you wake up in the morning you are going to see the sky, you know when you wake up in the morning you are going to see a negative news release come out – every time. It gets to the point where you just have to throw up your hands and say: Boys, what are you trying to accomplish. What are you trying to do?

This is a great Province, stop trying to rip it down, work with government, with the people of the Province who elected you, and make this a better place for you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Member for Mount Pearl North.

MR. KENT: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Good evening and it is great to be in this House. Mr. Speaker, it is particularly great to be on this side of the House, because what –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENT: – we are witnessing today and what we are witnessing this evening in this debate on our provincial Budget is real energy, Mr. Speaker. You can feel it here this evening, and it is hard to follow some of the speakers who have preceded me because of the energy and excitement that they have brought to this debate. That is what this government is all about, Mr. Speaker. We have got exciting ideas for the future of this place. We have got visionary, progressive leadership that is full of energy, Mr. Speaker. The theme of this year's Budget is People and Prosperity – Responsible Investments for a Secure Future. Those are things, Mr. Speaker, that the crowd opposite would know nothing about.

We live in an amazing place. It is a place that we are all proud to call home. This is a government that deeply cares about this place and deeply cares about the people that are in it. When I think about prosperity, prosperity is about reaching our full potential as a people and as a Province. It is about achieving every single thing that we put our minds to. It is about pursuing a brighter future and creating the kind of place that we can all be proud of.

Mr. Speaker, if the folks opposite were to craft a Budget document, instead of people and prosperity it would probably be called something like, I do not know, doubt and despair. Instead of responsible investments for a secure future, we would probably see: irresponsible statements and no future, because that is typical of what we are seeing from the parties opposite so far in this sitting of the House, Mr. Speaker.

AN HON. MEMBER: You are not going to listen to the good news. It is such good news. They are not going to listen.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENT: There we go again, Mr. Speaker; this government can hardly contain its energy and enthusiasm for this Budget and for the future of this great place that we are proud to call home.

Mr. Speaker, prosperity is also about fiscal responsibility. Once again, we are delivering a Budget that is all about fiscal responsibility. We are looking towards the future by investing in infrastructure in virtually every corner of this great Province, investing in social programs. You certainly will not hear the Third Party acknowledge that, Mr. Speaker, because it is all doom and gloom and the sky is falling.

Mr. Speaker, we are also continuing to reduce the net debt that we face as a Province. All of these things are going to lead to a better life for the people of this Province, for our children and our grandchildren. Never before have we seen such dedication to strategic long-term thinking and long-term planning. Never before have we seen it before this government took office.

Mr. Speaker, I want to talk about responsible investments in this Budget that matter to all of the people in the Province, and certainly the people that I represent in both Paradise and Mount Pearl.

Over the last five years I have talked to many apprentices in this Province and people who have chosen to pursue the skilled trades in this Province. I was pleased to see that in this Budget over $100 million is being invested in new and continued funding to increase apprenticeship training, to support post-secondary institutions and students, and to enhance workforce development.

We are introducing a journeyperson mentorship program, and that is not all we are doing, Mr. Speaker; we are expanding the Apprenticeship Wage Subsidy Program. We are also expanding the registration of pre-apprentices in the Apprentice Tracking System. We are establishing a Workforce Development Secretariat. As previous speakers have mentioned, Mr. Speaker, in terms of our investments in post-secondary education, the tuition freeze is continuing, we have non-repayable grants for post-secondary students, and there, of course, is no interest on the provincial portion of student loans. All of these investments in post-secondary education and in the skilled trades are making a real difference in our economy here in Newfoundland and Labrador.

The infrastructure investments continue, Mr. Speaker, as we have seen over the last eight or nine years. In Mount Pearl and Paradise specifically, in the last numbers of years, we have committed funding for a new arena for the Town of Paradise; we have seen two brand-new schools open their doors, one in my district, Elizabeth Park Elementary in Paradise; we have seen improvements to virtually every school in my district; we have seen a second ice rink added on to the Glacier; an entire revamping of the Reid Centre and Glacier facilities ongoing with the new swimming pool opening over the next year or so; and we have seen record investments in roads, water, and sewer, not only in rural parts of Newfoundland and Labrador, but certainly in the urban centres as well, particularly in Mount Pearl and Paradise.

This Budget contains close to $900 million of investments in infrastructure improvements. I was pleased to see continued investment in the Provincial Roads Improvement Program. I was also pleased to see the commitment to the continued construction of the Team Gushue Highway, which will certainly benefit residents of Paradise and Mount Pearl, and indeed residents of this region, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, previous members have touched on our investments in health care this afternoon, and we are seeing in this Budget, the 2012 Budget, a continued investment to improve access to the vital health care services that people of this Province need. Nearly $3 billion is being invested to improve health care for all residents of Newfoundland and Labrador; over a half of a million dollars to expand breast cancer screening in existing sites, targeting women age forty to forty-nine, an important investment and certainly a response to great research and to concerns that have been raised by people in the Province.

We are seeing improvements to prescription drug programs, Mr. Speaker, $7.1 million to enhance the 65Plus Plan to protect seniors from paying more for drug costs. We are seeing over $4 million being invested in coverage for new drug therapies, Mr. Speaker. These investments are making a real difference. In terms of health care and family care, an additional $14 million is being invested this year in the Provincial Home Support Program, which will make a real difference in the lives of families throughout Newfoundland and Labrador.

Mr. Speaker, I have mentioned some of the investments in post-secondary education; I have mentioned a new elementary school in my district. In the K-12 system, we are seeing an increase of $18.2 million this year over last year in this Budget. We are also seeing $115 million in new and ongoing infrastructure projects; this is including funding for potential new schools in the Province's growth areas like the Town of Paradise, Mr. Speaker.

When I talk to people across the country, Mr. Speaker, and I tell them what I do for a living and who I work with every day, they say to me: I am surprised to hear about all of these investments in social programs from a conservative government. They say: what we hear about Newfoundland and Labrador, the word conservative does not jump to mind. It is impressive because this is a government that is leading the country in investing in strong social programs and people across the country are recognizing that. It is the progressive part of the Progressive Conservative Party, Mr. Speaker. We are committed to real fiscal responsibility, but also making sure that we make sound investments in social programs that are going to make a real difference in the lives of the people in this Province.

You will never hear the Third Party talk about our recognized Poverty Reduction Strategy. This year alone we are going to be investing over $150 million in that strategy to help the Province's most vulnerable people. That is an increase of over $11 million from last year alone.

Let me tell you about some other things that you will not hear the Third Party talking about, Mr. Speaker. We are investing this year –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. KENT: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We are investing over $200 million to enhance a number of vital program areas. Child care, if you listen to the NDP, you would say there is no child care at all in Newfoundland and Labrador, but we are making real investments and real progress in the area of child care.

We are making real progress in the area of protective intervention for children and youth. We are increasing regulated child care spaces and we are providing operating grants to child care centre operators. If it was up to the Third Party, those independent private child care operators in this Province would all be gone, they would all be run out of business; we are committed to ensuring the growth of child care spaces, both public and private, here in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Mr. Speaker, since the riveting Budget Speech by the Minister of Finance, I have had a number of calls to my office from seniors applauding the announcement for a reduction in drivers' license costs, vehicle registration fees, and other licenses and fees for things such as hunting, fishing, cutting wood, and camping for our older population. This is something that has been well received, particularly by older persons who are living on fixed incomes throughout the Province and certainly in my district as well.

Mr. Speaker, there is such excitement in the House, not only on this side; the Member for the Bay of Islands cannot contain his excitement this evening, so come join us if you wish. Actually, I take that back.

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

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for Bay of Islands, on a point of order.

MR. JOYCE: I cannot contain my excitement, because I was so happy to see him at the Liberal fundraiser last Wednesday night.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: There is no point of order.

The Member for Mount Pearl North.

MR. KENT: They cannot contain their jealousy, Mr. Speaker. They would love nothing more than to see myself or some of my colleagues at their fundraising dinners. It looked like a few of them were gathered for coffee at the Delta last week. I hope their event was successful, but I assure you that the hockey games I was attending was much more successful and certainly more exciting, and there was probably a lot more intelligent conversation and activity as well.

Anyway, I would like to back to the mater at hand, the Budget that we have tabled for consideration in this House. In the time I have left, I would like to talk about a few more things that I think are important for the people of my District of Mount Pearl North, and people throughout the Province to know.

It is great to see that the economy of this great place remains strong. We are making strategic investments in building a skilled labour force that will meet the demand that other members this evening have talked about. We are anticipating continued employment growth here, Mr. Speaker. We are anticipating growth of 1.8 per cent over the next year, and we are going to see continued significant activity in major sectors as well.

I am proud to be part of a government that is investing in families and that is investing in children. As I mentioned a few moments ago, we are committed to increasing regulated child care spaces, and we hope to do so by more than 600 over two years, through our 10-Year Child Care Strategy. Now, long-term planning and putting strategies in place to meet our goals as a government is something that the crowd opposite would know nothing about. It is all doom and gloom, and fear and despair. The reality is that in areas like child care we have a plan and we have a plan that is working. The strategy is hopefully going to make child care more affordable, and it is going to strengthen our overall child care workforce as well.

I am also very proud to be part of a government that is deeply committed to a greater focus on foster care. We are seeing over an $18 million investment over the next couple of years that is going to enhance the foster care experience for children, and also for current and future foster parents, Mr. Speaker, and I hope we will have an opportunity in this House to talk more about that in the days and weeks ahead.

As I mentioned, we are committed to continuing to improve health care. We remain committed to continuing to provide tax savings for residents and for businesses as well. When I look back, compared to 2006 – so just over five years ago – residents, compared to then, will continue to save in excess of $500 million annually through a number of tax initiatives. They include initiatives such as the personal income tax reductions, the Supplementary Child Care Credit, the Low Income Seniors' Benefit, the Residential Energy Rebate, and the list goes on, Mr. Speaker.

Business owners and operators here in our Province can also take advantage of the strong tax regime that we have here, over $91 million in continuing incentives and credits in this year's Budget.

Mr. Speaker, in terms of the Budget, I would also like to remind the people in this House and the people of the Province that we are renewing our focus on eliminating our deficit. At the same time, we are also doing everything we can to protect key public services and to also ensure continued economic growth.

The deficit for the year ahead is now projected to be $258.4 million; that is $238 million lower than previously forecast, so we have almost cut it in half once again, Mr. Speaker. We are anticipating surpluses based on our long-term planning by the fiscal year 2014-2015. We are absolutely committed to our long-term goal of reducing our net debt, and that is going to have huge benefits for all the people of the Province in the long term.

Mr. Speaker, in the few minutes I have left, I have to decide what pieces of this great Budget to talk about. I would like to talk a little bit more about Newfoundland and Labrador's workforce. I can safely say, and I think all members, on this House of the House anyway, will safely say that this is a wonderful time to work and to live in Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENT: That is not what you will hear across the way, Mr. Speaker. If you were listening to that crowd you would pack your bags and move away, but it truly is a wonderful time to live here, to work here, and to raise a family here. We are currently witnessing unprecedented development. We have post-secondary education that has never been more affordable and never been more accessible. We have increased labour demands, as the Member for Terra Nova quite eloquently stated a little while ago. It is an exciting time to do business here, it is an exciting to work here, and it is an exciting time to live here, Mr. Speaker.

In terms of economic development and the link to education, this is a government that has a great track record for investing in post-secondary education. Our students, our future leaders are getting quality education at the best tuition rates possible, Mr. Speaker. We are committed to assisting Newfoundland and Labrador students so that there is a bright future here, not only today but tomorrow in Newfoundland and Labrador.

I would like to give you a couple more examples of things that are happening in post-secondary education that I think are worth noting. In this Budget 2012, we are seeing an over-$2 million investment to increase base funding at the Marine Institute. That is going to do a number of things, Mr. Speaker. There is going to be new and also expanded educational programs, we are going to see more research, we are going to see more student services, and all of that will help lead to continued growth in the ocean sector.

We are also investing close to $2 million to expand the Faculty of Education at Memorial University. This is going to increase our enrolment capacity, it is going to enhance international recruitment, and we are going to see enhanced co-op placement services as well, all within the Faculty of Engineering at Memorial.

I want to talk a little more about energy, Mr. Speaker, in the few minutes that I have left. There is no shortage of energy in Newfoundland and Labrador and there is certainly no shortage of energy on this side of the House, Mr. Speaker. We are seeing over $2 million in investments in Budget 2012 to ensure a solid foundation and a great business environment to facilitate growth in the energy sector throughout Newfoundland and Labrador.

Unlike the Liberals, Mr. Speaker, unlike the Third Party, we have a plan for this Province. We have a plan for this place. We also, as part of that, have a Newfoundland and Labrador Energy Plan that is all about building a clean energy future here. It is about protecting the environment, it is about responsible resource development, and it is all about protecting the long-term interests of the people of this Province.

We hear lots of talk of Muskrat Falls. I have had a chance since the House has been sitting to talk about Muskrat Falls, and I am sure I will have more opportunity as the sitting continues. I want to talk about some other things that are happening in resource-based industries to create energy opportunities in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Nalcor Energy is going to continue to strategically invest on our behalf, Mr. Speaker, to develop our oil and gas industry. The returns from this non-renewable sector are actually being used to build a renewable energy future for Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. KENT: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

An example of these kinds of investments that we are seeing in this Budget alone: $3 million for geoscience mapping that is going to help maintain strong investments in exploration, and it will probably lead to new developments as well, Mr. Speaker.

In our agri-food sector, we are investing $2.5 million this year in a program that has been hugely successful in this Province, a provincial-federal partnership, the Growing Forward Program. It supports farmers and producers and allows them to strengthen the agriculture and agri-foods industry right here in Newfoundland and Labrador and ultimately may lead to increased food production, and certainly lots of great things in terms of food security and food safety as well.

There is much else in our Energy Plan, Mr. Speaker. We have $1.5 million in this Budget to support a number of new initiatives, an energy innovation roadmap to help identify key opportunities to stimulate and also influence future energy innovation and other strategic investments in the Province, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. KENT: I see I only have a few seconds left on the clock. I am proud to be part of a government that is investing in energy. I am proud to be part of a government that is filled with energy, optimism, and excitement for this place that we call home, Mr. Speaker. I am proud to be part of a government that is making strategic social investments in children, in families, in health care, in social housing, which I did not even have an opportunity to speak about in the short time that I have had this evening. I hope I will have a chance to touch on that at a future opportunity as well.

We have a vision for this place. We have a plan that is good for industry in Newfoundland and Labrador. We care genuinely about the people of this Province and the future of this Province and it is for that reason that I will be supporting this Budget and I certainly will not be supporting the ridiculous sub-amendment that has been put forward by the crowd opposite.

Thank you for the opportunity, Mr. Speaker, to participate in this Budget debate.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I recognize the Member for Bonavista North.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. CROSS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is certainly a privilege and an honour to stand for the first time to bring a few comments about this marvellous Budget that we are talking about.

It is hard to understand how two groups of people sitting so close together can have such diametrically opposing views of what is good for this Province. It is just utterly ridiculous.

My wife said to me a few days ago, she said: what are you looking at? I tried to look at her so lovingly, because I am in this place, and I am here because of her great wish that not only now when I look at her do I say I love you, I am also saying thank you. You have to have that special twinkle in your eye when you want to be so happy to be in this place, and Mother's Day is coming up pretty soon.

I want to also mention the excitement of tonight. Most of the hon. speakers have gotten up here, Mr. Speaker, tonight to talk about the addresses that are coming. I can remember back in our first meeting after the election and our Premier, I know she was trying to motivate us, and she was trying – I do not know if she really meant what she said; I am sure she does, because she always means these things. She told us that we have the strongest caucus that she can remember, and tonight I think you see that. You can see, like in most teams that are in the playoffs in hockey this year, the team that has four good lines, and they can throw player after player over the bench and go out and do their role-playing and their jobs. We have our superstars in the front benches, but we have our role-players back here, and we are proud to do that role. We are proud to stand up here.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. CROSS: We are the backbone, as hon. Cabinet minister says.

AN HON. MEMBER: A wishbone, you have the wishbone (inaudible).

MR. CROSS: And there is a wishbone and a herring bone on the other side.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. CROSS: When the first backbencher got up to speak on this Budget, the Member for Mount Pearl South, he stood for about thirty, forty seconds, and I said: he has my speech, and then the next speaker got up, he has part of my speech, and everybody that has been here. I realize that this Budget is just one Budget we are talking about, and we are talking about it honestly, how we feel and what it can do to improve the conditions that are here.

So, I would say to our Minister of Finance that we have got to say a very, very big thank you to you for your efforts, for your record –

AN HON. MEMBER: What a minister.

MR. CROSS: Yes, what a minister, what a minister, I will say it.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. CROSS: The great leadership, the great motivator he is for the officials in his department, because when he stands to deliver a Budget, he exudes so much confidence, and the great understanding he has for that. You feel like he is happy to present it; it is not a chore. That is the privilege of being in this House. When it becomes a chore, it is time for all of us to leave.

When the Member for Mount Pearl South was up, I was thinking, how many times in twenty minutes can I say ditto, because I felt like he stole all my thunder. But I would like to go back, because I have a little thunder of my own.

AN HON. MEMBER: Ditto.

MR. CROSS: Ditto.

I listened intently, and I imagined on each section of the Budget, I thought, like I did in most years: how does this Budget impact me? How does this Budget impact my family? Also, this year I am saying: how does it impact my district? How does it impact my Province?

This Budget shows that the minister and his department have a collective finger on the economic pulse of this Province. The prescription for the future indicates good health financially after a minor blip, and this good health will continue in all sectors of our Province. Now, what I realize is the comments that came, especially from the Third Party, I think I just figured it out. The minister and the accounting officials in his department have been counting the beans, but I just discovered where the money tree is going to come from, because they are going to take the beans home, plant them in their backyard, and the next morning hope the beanstalk and the money tree has grown. That is the only analogy we can create. It is a fairyland or a Disneyland mentality. We all realize that the previous Administration, when our economy was in need of a transfusion, we had Dracula at the end of the heel. The Budget then was controlled by Count Dracula, to the point that it sucked the very good out of our Province.

The measures taken by this Administration cannot be looked at and measured in the last twelve months; no more can they be looked at and measured in the next twelve months. It is a longer term. It is a forward, vision thinking government. Over the last three-quarters of a decade, the steps that this government has taken in prudent, fiscal responsibility is enabling a prosperous future for this Province. The collective actions of the past government enable us to embrace these next two years. Yes, embrace the next two years. I think of them as a hiccup, because we have forecast for lower income and lower revenue. We do not have to tear down all that we have built up in the last seven to eight to nine years.

In this time when our revenue would be about a billion dollars less, what have we done? We are still advancing new programs. We still give no personal income tax increases. We are adjusting the course. Corrective measures are in place, and as our minister gives us the confidence, steady as she goes.

Fiscal responsibility is essential to creating a better economy, a stronger and more prosperous future, a foundation that is secure for our generations. Wise financial choices we are making today, no matter how small they may seemingly be, will pay major dividends. To think how a small investment can cause a stir. The wise investment into the sealing industry in the last little while was a very small economic cost at the time, but I went to visit Greenspond, one of the great historic sealing communities in our district. I went there to attend a concert. The buzz on the wharf was the Burtons got four or five this evening; the Burry's got half a dozen this morning. They were talking about the seals for the first time. This old fellow I bumped into at the concert, he said, you would never believe how good it is to feel this way. I never thought I would say some of these comments again, that the boys were out and it is not is it a great day, but it is how many this crew got, how many that crew got, and the excitement and the buzz was there. That minor investment by our Fisheries and Aquaculture Minister and his department has really, really put a good buzz back in a good historic community in this Province. There is going to be a lot more buzz in a lot more historic communities in the next few months and years.

AN HON. MEMBER: A good investment.

MR. CROSS: A good investment.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. CROSS: This Administration's choice to reduce the debt is probably going to be seen as one of our strongest actions in securing the birthright of future generations. Our massive in excess of $12 billion debt has been in decline since this Administration took over. It has shrunk by 35 per cent, over $4 billion.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. CROSS: These facts have been said by several people but we need to keep saying it. That is the information that we need to know that the electorate and the people who we are talking to really need to get this message. This provides us more scope in dealing with current revenues.

Eventually, we could lead to a day where instead of me – and I am just thinking this now. Instead of here trying to think, and I am going to get up and say ditto to some of the comments from our ministers and members here, I am going to change it slightly. Instead of going from d-i-t-t-o, I am going to go d-e-b-t dash and a little zero, debt – 0. We can reach it with this philosophy, ditto, debt – 0.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. CROSS: Projections for –

AN HON. MEMBER: They never got it yet.

MR. CROSS: No, they do not have that yet.

AN HON. MEMBER: No, it is over their heads.

MR. CROSS: No, no. It is probably going to go – I can remember a few days ago the Minister of Municipal Affairs was talking and the Member for Mount Pearl North was doing like this and saying it is all going over my head. So I guess the last comment has flown over a few heads.

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible) Twitting and getting it on the computer.

MR. CROSS: The doom and gloom now could be called Twitter Little, the sky is falling. The impact is positive. Projections for 2012 and the measures that have been taken by this government are very positive. Even with reduced revenues and all of the other factors that come with that, instead of a message of doom and gloom, what do we see as this positive impact: employment growth up 1.8 per cent; unemployment rate at a thirty-six-year low, down .4 of a percentage point; personal income growth up 5.5 per cent; retail sales growth passing the $8 billion mark, growth of 4 per cent. Capital investment in this Province is up by 30 per cent, mineral shipments up by 24 per cent. Tax relief in the last three years alone has left more than $750 billion cash in the pockets of Newfoundlanders.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. CROSS: You will hear much of the same statistics because most of our members are speaking about the same nuts and bolts in this Budget. We have to speak to some of the general comments as well. Time does not allow us to get into every single aspect of this Budget, but between the collective comments from all members tonight, tomorrow, the next day, and the next night, we will probably educate you in all of the areas where this will be respected as a very, very good Budget in this Province. Maybe it will convince them.

Most people, when they listen to the Budget and most people when they listen to most of the politicians – if it does not impact you directly, as the Member for Port de Grave said today, then you probably do not really pay attention to it to the same degree as you should.

I would like to speak about Bonavista North for a moment or two. It is a typical rural Newfoundland district. It is a great place to be, it is a great place to live and bring up your family. I have to say one thing to our hon. colleague from Humber West, born and bred in New-Wes-Valley: I am not used to being the quiet one in town, but in this hon. House, I do not have much choice; we are going to have the competition.

Individual expenditures, when they started coming in around 2005 in Bonavista North, is when we started seeing investment getting back into rural Newfoundland and into our districts. We lost fifteen years of investment. We had lots of infrastructure projects in place, but after fifteen years of red rule, we were set back quite a ways. Even with the austerity measures that we may have to put in place, we are still investing in water and sewer installations and water treatment upgrades.

Just recently we announced that the joint councils committee in the region of Bonavista North were hiring a water treatment specialist to share resources between the councils, supported by this government and this minister. Lift station repairs – there have been various harbour authority special assistance grants announced recently. Community enhancement spending is important. Job creation projects, even though they are not dependent the way they should be, we need them to get us through certain seasons and to connect to the industry. If anyone looks through my district, you will see individual projects and improvements that are bettering the place of this district in this Province.

I would like to switch gears a little now and speak a little more in general terms. Even in the greatest of times, as well as in challenged times, we need financial management. This government sought through all departments to reduce expenditures, reductions that should not negatively affect services. As a result of this, nearly $40 million was saved, savings coming primarily from reducing administrative costs that affected areas and budgets for travel, professional services, and purchased services. It also saw forty-five temporary or contractual positions not refilled.

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. CROSS: Something is burning.

In 2004, debt expenses consumed 23 per cent of our gross revenues. To put that in perspective for most people who are listening on the cameras tonight, because I think most people here understand it: almost one-quarter out of every dollar. You think about credit card purchases; you put in your credit card, and after the month is up and the interest has started piling, if you add the cost of all of the annual fees and all of these things, by the time you start paying for what you have bought, you are paying 25 cents, just about, out of every $1 towards paying for your purchases. That is where we were in 2004.

In Budget 2012, debt expenses are budgeted to be slightly less than 11 per cent of gross revenues. This means it is only costing us just a little more than 10 cents to finance our debt. This allows us to make more productive use of each revenue dollar, Mr. Speaker.

Debt reduction is not the end in itself, but it is a means to strengthen the economy. No one reduces their debt, no one goes about cutting out all of your debt that you have, stops spending completely, and stuffs whatever you have excess in your mattress. The cash flow that you get from these revenue surpluses, you must invest it in the right areas to ensure that the money keeps flowing in the black year after year. Just to get rid of our debt is not the end in itself. That is the means that would lead us to be able to use our wealth to a greater fashion.

I am checking through my notes just to see because I, like most people, have a lot more here than I need for the time given. Probably the thing that might be closer to my heart and something I could speak about is the Access. Inclusion. Equality. program. On April 19, the provincial government launched a strategy for inclusion of persons with disabilities: Access. Inclusion. Equality. These are such strong, strong, individual words, but team them together they can make a world of difference for someone who is suffering with a disability. It is another responsible social investment by this government to support the inclusion accessibility for people who have an affliction.

I just need to speak for a second about how important and how these boundaries are. It is no secret that one of my children has a disability. Jeremy, my youngest son, is afflicted with cerebral palsy. Just to think, one simple little example of how something so simple can impact –

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. CROSS: By leave for thirty seconds?

MR. SPEAKER: Does the member have leave?

AN HON. MEMBER: Leave.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Bonavista North, by leave.

MR. CROSS: Jeremy is confined to a wheelchair, but that has not confined his vision of where he wants to be and what he wants to do. His entry into my life made me a much more patient teacher; it made me a much more patient parent. It had challenges that, unless you travel through that life and you see life through that lens, you never really appreciate what is going on.

Just to think about some of the simple things that happen; this past November, Jeremy was out back of Bay D'Espoir. About eight years ago he convinced me that he wanted to get a hunter education course, a hunter safety course. This year he finally got a licence. Of course, it was a family thing that everybody wanted to do. Uncle Vernon and another man, Ray Buffett – the Member for Fortune Bay – Cape La Hune knows who they are – we had Jeremy up in the backwoods behind Bay D'Espoir and he came home with a sixteen-point bull.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. CROSS: I venture to say that it was the first time a wheelchair had ever ventured in that area of the back country. It was something so simple as being able to do that. Right now he is doing a course and he was in the House of Assembly gallery a few days ago. In another ten months or so he will be graduating from the course he is doing, and look out, then; he will be back to the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills looking for programs to gainfully be employed. These simple things we do make so much difference in the lives of someone who needs that extra boost to make the playing field level.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. CROSS: This movement is a very, very good step in that direction. I just had to get that personal comment as a way of applauding this government.

Mr. Speaker, I thank you for the time today, tonight. I hope the comments I have said are appreciated for what they are: humble words from a humble man, lucky to be here because the trust has been given to me. I would just like to say that when the voting comes I am going: no to the sub-amendment, no to the amendment, yes to the Budget.

I am appreciative of the approach of this government; it is one that I guess we have heard the phrase: when all is said and done, there is much more done than said.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I recognize the Member for St. John's West.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. CRUMMELL: Mr. Speaker, I would first like to acknowledge the Member for Bonavista North. What a tremendous and inspiring story he just told us. It really puts everything into perspective in what we do and say in this House and the things that we want for our children, for people with disabilities, how we want to move the needle forward. I just wanted to give him another hand for what an inspiring story.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. CRUMMELL: Mr. Speaker, I rise in this hon. House today to speak on Budget 2012: People and Prosperity – Responsible Investments for a Secure Future.

Mr. Speaker, this Budget demonstrates how fiscally responsible this government is. It demonstrates that our government is socially responsible and it demonstrates our government is serious about creating a positive climate for sustainable development.

Mr. Speaker, the story of Newfoundland and Labrador's recent success is not one of an overnight success. Rather it is a story of several years of putting the social and economic foundations in place one pillar at a time with an eye to the future. The attitudes and capabilities of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians both in private and the public sector resulted in decisive and effective policy response by our government that was the precondition to growth. Mr. Speaker, we plan to continue down this path to even greater prosperity.

Mr. Speaker, I believe when the definitive history of our years in power is written, it will be said that we had a vision. It will be said that we had a vision that focused not exclusively on three main pillars; it will say our responsible fiscal management created the right conditions essential to new growth. It will say our socially progressive programs and policies made us a kinder, gentler society and it will say we wisely invested our revenues from non-renewable resources to secure a renewable future for generations to come.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. CRUMMELL: Mr. Speaker, this government has a clear future vision of where we are going and a sound strategy on how to get there. We firmly believe it is a vision shared by most Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. Mr. Speaker, as I look to Budget 2012, I see our government focusing on these three strategic pillars that will perhaps have the greatest impact on our future.

With regards to our vision of socially progressive programs and policies, we need to look no further than a social housing plan, Secure Foundations, introduced in 2009. I know some of the members opposite have spoken about a social housing plan and they say it is no plan at all. I have spoken in the House before about our social housing plan; we certainly know that this plan is a living, breathing document that has valuable elements to it, that is going bring us forward. We are committed on this side of the House to making these things happen and make this place a better place to live for everybody.

In 2009, our government introduced a social housing plan, Secure Foundations. We had eighty-seven organizations participate in meetings held across the Province. This came from the people of this Province. This came from the key stakeholders in this Province. These included tenant associations, community centres, non-profit community groups, municipalities, housing developers, private sector landlords, community-based service delivery organizations, and social advocacy groups, as well as a Poverty Reduction Strategy, Provincial Healthy Aging Policy Framework, and the provincial policy framework for mental health and addiction services.

Extensive consultation resulted in the strategic action parties found in that plan. The social housing plan had strong linkages to many key social initiatives that include a mix of housing policies and programs from investments in new and existing housing stock to build housing sustainability to help prevent homelessness. This ten-year plan will be updated regularly to respond to changing needs. I truly believe, as one of our pillars in our social responsibility, that social housing plan has a role to play.

Mr. Speaker, as we look at the 2012 Budget, there are several great things happening in housing in Newfoundland and Labrador. It is not all totally doom and gloom. There are some challenges out there and we are committed on this side of the House to try to meet these challenges and work with community groups to get us to a better place. It is a very, very complex situation, but there are things that we are doing this year, in the year of restraint, to make things a bit better.

For instance, we have committed for $1 million in additional funding to expand the Rent Supplement Program, bringing the total investment to $8 million in Budget 2012; $1.8 million for the rent-geared-to-income adjustment program, which helps to keep more disposable income in the hands of lower income tenants; $892,000 in eight Newfoundland and Labrador Housing Community Centres and eleven neighbourhood centres; $1 million invested in the Provincial Homelessness Fund; and another $4 million invested for the Residential Energy Efficiency Program, which provides an average household energy savings of 35 per cent and a cash savings of nearly $800 per year, per household.

Newfoundland and Labrador Housing Corporation's programming promotes housing stability for vulnerable people and is designed to help individuals stay in their homes or obtain affordable housing. Investments include, this year again, $8 million to the Provincial Home Repair Program. This program provides approximately 2,500 low-income homeowners with home upgrades; $5.4 million is going to be invested this year in the Affordable Housing Initiative to enable approximately 245 additional affordable housing units to be constructed. The total three-year investment for this program is $16.2 million. This plan that we have in place is moving forward, it is living, it is breathing. We are putting more resources behind it; it is a very good plan.

Newfoundland and Labrador Housing Corporation will contribute $2.7 million through Budget 2012 towards the federal-provincial Affordable Housing Initiative. This investment is part of the provincial government's overall three-year strategy, an $8.1 million commitment which will generate a total of $16.2 million in federal-provincial funding and create 254 new affordable housing units Province-wide. We are moving forward, moving forward, moving forward.

Mr. Speaker, another associated progressive program our government introduced in 2006 is a Poverty Reduction Strategy, which is actually part of our housing strategy as well. Our government is very proud of having received national attention for the initiatives we have put forward under this strategy. Our government has been recognized right throughout Canada and right throughout North America with our poverty reduction initiatives.

Past poverty reduction highlights include: $1.5 million to develop an Adult Dental Health Program, and an additional $2.4 million in funding for the Supportive Living Community Partnership Program for a total of $4.8 million; double that amount was available in 2010-2011. One million dollars over the next two years in the Positive Actions for Students Success Program, PASS program, which currently supports over 250 disengaged or at-risk young people across the Province so they stay in school; an additional $150,400 for the Murphy Centre in St. John's to expand access to its academic programs – actually, I am at a function with them on Friday morning – and an additional $225,000 for the Newfoundland and Labrador Housing Corporation's Education Incentive Program.

This year under our Poverty Reduction Strategy, our total investment to prevent, reduce, and alleviate poverty totals $150.8 million this year alone. We have increased funding by $11.3 million from the previous year. We are continuing to support progressive indexation of Income Support rates and the Adult Dental Health Program. New investments to enhance benefits to services with the Income Support program include: elimination of the requirement for Income Support recipients to apply for Canada Pension Plan benefits at age sixty, and we spoke about this in the House more than once in the last few days; this will mean an estimated $500,000 in income for seniors. One hundred and ninety-five thousand dollars this year to expand the Earned Income Supplement program, assisting working single parents on Income Support to achieve increased financial independence. We will also provide an additional $5.1 million to continue to index Income Support rates. This will help ensure increases in cost of living do not impact individuals and families who receive benefits.

Mr. Speaker, just looking at two elements of our social safety net, I just want to draw attention to the Poverty Reduction Strategy and our housing strategy. I think that we are being very responsible and we are doing the right things. We are moving the needle forward, and when we have more resources, we will do more as a government to make sure we are not letting those less fortunate fall through the cracks.

Mr. Speaker, with regard to our second pillar of responsible fiscal management, our good government's balanced investing of millions of dollars in infrastructure, including roads and highways, wharves and bridges, water and waste, schools and hospitals, while at the same time paying down our debt to unprecedented levels, as well as investing in our future. Mr. Speaker, almost $900 million will be spent on infrastructure through Budget 2012.

I am pleased to say in the House here this evening that about $30 million will be spent in my District of St. John's West. Continued construction work on the Team Gushue Highway, and the planning and the site preparation for the new west end high school is going to go ahead as planned; great work, not only for the constituents of St. John's West, but certainly for the region as a whole. Mr. Speaker, there are many more members of both sides of this hon. House who are pleased with that $900 million infrastructure program for 2012. In every single district in this great Province there is work being done out of this fund.

Mr. Speaker, continuing on the theme of responsible fiscal management, I would like to call out a few more facts about our government demonstrating its vision of sound financial management of the taxpayers' dollars in creating the right conditions for prosperity for future generations. As we look at the Budget for this year – it has been mentioned a few times in the House, but I will mention a few things again – we decreased the net debt by 35 per cent over the last few years, by $4.1 billion. Unemployment growth was 1.8 per cent, unemployment rate decrease of 0.4 per cent, personal income and disposable income growth of 5.4 per cent, retail sales went up by 4 per cent, and the list goes on and on. A capital investment increase of $9.6 billion – there is just a myriad of key economic indicators to suggest and to show us that indeed our economy is prospering and good things are happening.

Mr. Speaker, here is where I want to spend a little bit more time and think a little bit more outside the box. The third main pillar in our vision for a prosperous future is the use of our non-renewable resources to secure a renewable future. We are not just talking about our energy future, we are talking about the most important renewable resource in our history, and that is the fishery. So, here I am from St. John's West, but I come from a heritage of fishermen, and I would like to touch on the fishery just briefly.

Mr. Speaker, we acknowledge there are major challenges in the fishery and there is work to be done. Our commitment to the fishery is equal to any other jurisdiction that we spend money in. Our work is ensuring a solid foundation for the fishery of the future. A viable fishery will continue without question; our commitment is strong. We seek and support transformational change such as fishery science, marketing, research, and development. Our focus is the future, and one that is profitable, sustainable, and rewarding for all those involved.

Mr. Speaker, when we talk about building a strong economy using revenues from non-renewable resources, we must talk about the oil and gas industry of today and the energy resources of tomorrow, and the fact that the evidence is mounting supporting the development of Muskrat Falls. This Province's first comprehensive energy plan focusing our energy was developed to prepare Newfoundland and Labrador to capitalize on the extraordinary energy resources of our Province. Mr. Speaker, this far-reaching plan encompasses the development of all of our energy resources and takes us out to and beyond the return of Upper Churchill in 2041. Newfoundland and Labrador's Energy Plan supports a clean energy future based on the protection of the environment and responsible resource development.

So, to support energy developments, Nalcor Energy will continue to strategically invest in further developments in the Province's oil and gas industry, but returns from this non-renewable sector will be used to build a renewable energy future in the hydro-electric sector.

Mr. Speaker, as we move to Decision Gate 3 regarding Muskrat Falls and possible sanction, there are other facts we need to consider to fully understand why this development is a good development, not only for Newfoundland and Labrador, but for Canada and the world.

Power generation, Mr. Speaker, is by far the world's biggest industry, and why is that? Why is power generation the biggest industry in the whole world? Energy security, Mr. Speaker, is the number one priority for every nation in our global community. Prosperity of nations can be traced to energy security. You look at the whole world; you look at the superpowers in the past, where did their prosperity come from? It came from energy security.

Sixty-five per cent of all energy produced and generated in the world comes from thermal generation in today's world. The world today consumes 32 billion barrels of oil a year, and this number is growing because of economies like India, China, and Brazil.

Mr. Speaker, the world's growth pattern is unsustainable. The way we produce and use energy is causing climate change and other environmental problems. Thomas Homer-Dixon, the director of the Waterloo Institute for Complexity and Innovation, recently wrote that the most important future trend "…is a multi-decade shift from fossil fuels to carbon-free energy…" This shift to carbon free energy will dwarf all past transitions combined.

Mr. Speaker, when we look to our future, and I am talking ten, twenty, thirty years out, and in particular our energy future, we have a vision. When we plan for the future, we need to get it right. Common sense and future trends show we as a Province and as a global community will likely face major challenges and changes in how we generate energy. We can either get ahead of it or be left behind.

While we as a government are committed to Muskrat Falls, and we have committed it would only be developed if Decision Gate 3 information shows that it is the least-cost option to meet electricity demands on this Island while supplying power for the industrial development in Labrador, we need to think about the global implications and the Canadian-wide implications of this project as well. This will only be developed in the best interests of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador. Of that we are sure of.

Mr. Speaker, I have one other thing before I close that I just want to say. I just want to put one more thing in perspective I was just thinking when one of our members was up talking earlier. When you look at Newfoundland and Labrador, we are 500,000 people spread out over God's creation. I was in London, Ontario a few years back and the Greater London, Ontario is about the same size as the population as Newfoundland and Labrador.

When we talk about the cost of delivery of services in our Province, a big chunk of our money goes towards the cost of delivering these services. We have to maintain roads all over this Province, all over this Island and Labrador. You know what, that is okay; we do not mind that. We want to make sure rural Newfoundland is alive and well and we will do everything we can to support rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

A lot of the money that we generate that comes from taxes ends up going into that cost of delivery of services, whether it is health care, whether it is education, whether it is transportation, whether it is ferries. People have to understand that is a dynamic that is not totally unique to Newfoundland and Labrador; in most places in Canada, the average province, 80 per cent of the population lives in urban environments. In Newfoundland and Labrador, it is only 40 per cent; 60 per cent are rural. The mix is about close to that. We need to understand that.

When we talked about much money we have, we are a have Province, and why can't we deliver these universal programs right across this Province, it is difficult to do. We have to have money to be able to deliver down long roads where there are no gas stations to stop between. We have to maintain these highways, we have to plough the snow, we have to put blacktop on it. We have to make it all happen.

When you are thinking about the delivery of services, what we do with the money that we have, we are doing a tremendous job here in Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. CRUMMELL: Absolutely.

Mr. Speaker, in closing, I just want to say that this Budget is a good Budget. Despite what the naysayers say, Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are rejecting pessimism. The once-poor cousin of Confederation has taken its true place and we are leading Canada in growth and in confidence.

Once again, this Budget demonstrates our fiscal responsibility and our social responsibility. We are serious about creating a positive climate for sustainable development.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Port au Port.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. CORNECT: Merci, Monsieur le Président. Je suis très honoré ce soir de prendre la parole sur le Budget 2012 qui a été de présenté le 24 Avril, 2012.

AN HON. MEMBER: Bravo.

MR. CORNECT: C'est vraiment un plaisir, Monsieur le Président, de faire partie d'un parti, d'un équipe, d'un caucus, d'un gouvernement, et avec notre premiére ministre, qui a une vision, Monsieur le Président, qui a une détermination pour assurer en avenir de prospérité et d'espoir ici dans la province de Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. CORNECT: Nous sommes ici dans cette place, Monsieur le Président, parce que notre gouvernement –

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I am very reluctant to do this. Obviously the member is speaking quite eloquently, but I want to remind the member that Hansard does not provide translation, so your comments will not be registered in Hansard because we cannot do a translation. For other members of the House, I want you to know we do not provide a (inaudible). I remind the member, in terms of his commentary in French, if he is repeating it in English then we are able to capture it, but if you are doing it in both, or simultaneously, then we will not be able to capture it.

MR. CORNECT: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It will be in English as well. I am very honoured and privileged to speak my language in this House of Assembly today.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. CORNECT: Nous sommes ici, Monsieur le Président, parce que notre gouvernement est ici pour assurer que la province a un plan économique et social qui est vraiment fort, Monsieur le Président, qui va aider à avancer nos rêves et nos aspirations.

Je suis très fier d'etre réélu pour la troisième fois pour représenter la circonsciption de Port-au-Port. J'aimerais les remercier pour leur confiance en moi et en notre gouvernement. Merci aussi à ma famille, mes amis, et mon équipe d'election pour leur appui et leur travail pendant la dernière élection.

Je suis, Monsieur le Président, ici member de l'Assemblée législative pour représenter les intérêts et pour travailler fort avec notre équipe, notre caucus, pour faire de Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador, la meilleure place à vivre et à travailler.

Mr. Speaker, I am certainly delighted and honoured to take some time tonight to speak on the Budget that was delivered on April 24. Budget 2012: People and Prosperity – Responsible Investments for a Secure Future contains priority investments that benefit residents and the Province overall, and which are supported by this government's vision of Newfoundland and Labrador and where we want it to be in the next generation, where prosperity we have achieved, and will continue to achieve, Mr. Speaker, is accessible for all in all parts of the Province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. CORNECT: This Budget includes measures to strengthen our health care system, sustain economic activity, improve care, support apprentices, foster a thriving and skilled labour force, and further strengthen public infrastructure. Our government, Mr. Speaker, has unveiled a strong economic and social plan that balances responsible fiscal management with priority investments.

Mr. Speaker, the plan, the vision, the focus, the determination, the expertise, and the responsible fiscal management have strengthened our economic and fiscal foundations. In 2004, shortly after we received the government from the previous Liberal Administration – an Administration of doubt, fear –

AN HON. MEMBER: Doom and gloom.

MR. CORNECT: Doom and gloom, like the Member for St. John's North – debt expenses consumed over 23 per cent of our gross revenues.

In Budget 2012, debt expenses are budgeted to be 10.8 per cent of gross revenues. This allows us, Mr. Speaker, to make much more use of every dollar that is generated in revenue. Debt reduction, Mr. Speaker, is not an end in itself, but a means to strengthen the economy. Mr. Speaker, we remain committed to tax relief.

Mr. Speaker, we have presented to the people of this Province our vision and our priorities through our Blue Book, our Speech from the Throne, and now our Budget 2012. Our Premier and our government are quite clear that we have to live within our means. Mr. Speaker, this is the right approach.

Good government, Mr. Speaker, is about balancing all its needs and setting priorities for implementation and success. It is about listening to people and seeking their input through consultations and dialog, unlike the Third Party, who do not want us out in the Province speaking to the people so we can put the plan of the people before the people. We do that, Mr. Speaker. We listen. It is about developing strategies and programs to help our families, to help our children, to help our communities, and to help our seniors. It is about working with industry and business to grow our economy. By working together, Mr. Speaker, we can ensure the maximum benefits are reached for our people. It is about creating opportunities for our people through skills and trades development, and to prepare them for the work that is hitting our Province with a fury. It is about investing in our health care, our infrastructure and our roads, our municipalities, our communities, our tourism, our culture, our recreation, our environment, our natural resources, and, yes, Mr. Speaker, even in my language.

Mr. Speaker, I want to talk about the investments in health care. This year, our government will invest more than 40 per cent of the entire provincial government Budget – that is over $3 billion, Mr. Speaker – to maintain and to improve upon health care services and to increase access to health care. Physician recruitment and retention continues to be a top priority for our government. There are currently 1,096 physicians practicing in our Province. That is the most we have ever had in our Province's sixty-three-year history. This includes 542 general practitioners and 554 specialists working right here in Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. CORNECT: Mr. Speaker, our government has committed $5 million to reduce wait times for joint replacement surgeries and emergency room care, with $1.4 million for the first year of the joint replacement strategy and $3.6 million for year one of the emergency department strategy.

Mr. Speaker, we are also expanding the Breast Screening Program to include people aged forty to forty-nine with an additional $508,000; $4.4 million for the coverage of new drug therapies, which is badly needed in our Province. Mr. Speaker, an investment of over $37 million over the next four years to support our pharmacies including those operating in rural Newfoundland and Labrador. In addition, $29 million will be provided over four years for enhancements to the 65Plus Plan which will protect seniors from paying more for their drug costs. These investments, Mr. Speaker, will be realized through savings from the introduction of the provincial government's new generic drug pricing model.

Budget 2012, Mr. Speaker, also includes an investment of $67 million to the Adult Dental Program which was implemented in January of this year. The Adult Dental Program will provide enhanced diagnostic and therapeutic dental services to approximately 98,000 adults in the Province. The new program provides examinations, extractions, and fillings, as well as dentures, and is available to clients who are enrolled in the Newfoundland and Labrador Prescription Drug Program, Foundation Plan, the Access Plan, and the 65Plus Plan. An additional $14 million for the Home Support Program will also be implemented in this Budget.

Ceci Monsieur le Président, ca fait le coeur, je suis très, très passionné quand on met des programmes en place qui aident le résidents de la province et surtout les résidents de ma circonscription. Parce que je suis fier de faire partie d'une équipe qui va faire une différence pour nos gens.

Mr. Speaker, I want to share with my colleagues in this hon. House some of the investments made in the District of Port au Port since 2007 in health care: a sixty-four-slice CT scanner for Sir Thomas Roddick Hospital, endoscopy unit at Sir Thomas Roddick Hospital, urology outreach program at Sir Thomas Roddick Hospital, increased dialysis services at the hospital as well, repairs and renovations to the Lourdes Medical Clinic, repairs and renovations to the Bay St. George Medical Clinic to accommodate new physicians, support for healthy living initiatives, provincial wellness grants and seniors' recreation grants.

Mr. Speaker, we believe also that education and the K-12 system is the key to future economic growth and development of this Province. Again, Budget 2012 is investing in our children. We know from our experiences, from what experts tell us, and from the consultations we do, that a well-educated population is the key to a healthy and prosperous future.

We are investing more than $115 million for new and ongoing infrastructure projects throughout the Province in this Budget. Approximately $79 million has been allocated for ongoing major capital improvements in the Province. An additional $29.3 million has been earmarked for priority repairs and maintenance to school facilities throughout Newfoundland and Labrador, including window replacement, roofing and siding, electrical and plumbing upgrades. Schools in my district, as well, Mr. Speaker, have certainly seen these improvements over the past number of years.

Since 2004, Mr. Speaker, over $567 million has been allocated for the K-12 infrastructure program in Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. CORNECT: Also provided is $537.8 million, Mr. Speaker, more than 62 per cent of the entire K-12 budget, for teachers' salaries; substitute teachers, student assistants, professional development and various services for teachers.

Mr. Speaker, this year's Budget also invests approximately $1.7 million for the second-year implementation of the Province's Early Childhood Learning Strategy, Learning from the Start. It is part of the three-year $4.8 million investment that focuses on the years from birth to age three. Mr. Speaker, the 10-Year Child Care Strategy will allow parents to pursue education or employment by increasing child care spaces for children under the age of two, as announced in 2011 under the Family Child Care Initiative. This is the second year of the two-year pilot Family Child Care Initiative. We will maintain the child tax credit, and we will focus on retaining and recruiting early childhood educators, providing grants for child care centre operators and targeted expansion of affordable regulated child care spaces.

Our approach, Mr. Speaker, is to be creative and innovative. We have been working with schools, school districts, parents, stakeholders, and more importantly, students themselves. We care about our students' achievements, Mr. Speaker. The investment we make in our children's education is producing excellent results. We have been investing in class size, teacher allocations, and curriculum to ensure the best possible educational results for our children.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. CORNECT: The Department of Municipal Affairs, Mr. Speaker, has an excellent relationship with municipalities, communities, and its leaders throughout this Province. I know firsthand the respect the hon. minister and this government has with municipal leaders and administrators in the Province. The hon. minister has visited every municipality in my district and his message is very clear on our direction as a government over municipalities and communities in the Province. His message is that he is ready to work with them in the best interest of all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. CORNECT: Mr. Speaker, that is exactly what we have been doing. Our government has worked with our municipalities and communities on a variety of issues. Our continued support to them is evident in the very important projects we support. The governance support we provide and the guidance which we offer help find workable solutions for them to work with. We continue to fund projects for recreational facilities, municipal capital works, and waste management. An investment of over $130 million over the next two years for new municipal infrastructure projects will certainly go a long way in improving Newfoundland and Labrador municipalities and communities.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. CORNECT: In addition, Mr. Speaker, to the $17.8 million provided to communities on an annual basis through the Municipal Operating Grants, or MOGs as we refer to them, the provincial government has maintained the additional funding level of $4.6 million that was provided last year. Now, I want you to take note of this. In my district, these significant increases meant a total of $134,703 more money to do more projects in municipalities in my district.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. CORNECT: The town of Cape St. George, Mr. Speaker, saw an increase of $14,640, Kippens $16,436, Lourdes $9,481, Port au Port East $12,621, Port au Port West-Aguathuna-Felix Cove $12,438, and the Town of Stephenville, an increase of $69,087. This sustained funding is needed and it is welcomed news by municipalities and their leaders in my district.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. CORNECT: Mr. Speaker, our government will continue to consult with municipalities on the development of a new formula that is equitable and sustainable. Mr. Speaker, I know that it is going to be done. When our hon. Premier says that it is a promise, I know that it is a promise that will be kept, and we can bank on that.

In the District of Port au Port, Mr. Speaker, there has been funding for community employment enhancement programs, brush cutting alongside the road, upgrades to water supply systems, upgrades and renovations to municipal buildings, integrated community sustainability plans, fire protection equipment, pumper trucks, debt servicing subsidies and, Mr. Speaker, upgrades to the municipality roads.

Mr. Speaker, almost $900 million for infrastructure improvements such as major road projects, replacement of aging ferries, construction of new schools, hospitals, and repair and maintenance or redevelopment of existing buildings. Our Province's investment in road and bridge work will be $165.1 million –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. CORNECT: – which will leverage, Mr. Speaker, an additional $60 million from the federal government for a total of $225.1 million, and most of that, Mr. Speaker, is going out in rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. CORNECT: Mr. Speaker, we must continue the great work that has been accomplished thus far.

Monsieur le Président, il faut continuer le travail qu'on a accompli jusqu'à date.

We must not let the naysayers and doubters out there on the other side stray us from achieving our goals of being a strong and vibrant Newfoundland and Labrador –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. CORNECT: – that offers equal opportunity for each and every resident to achieve prosperity. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to be a part of a government that is dedicated to working on achieving long-term success and prosperity for this Province and its people. I am also deeply proud to be part of a government that is committed to working in the best interests of its entire people.

Mr. Speaker, there is certainly a renewed and a revitalized energy in Newfoundland and Labrador and it is because of this Premier, this government, and us.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. CORNECT: Thank you, Monsieur le Président.

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. PEACH: Mr. Speaker, that certainly is a challenge for me to follow, I must say. You said earlier, Mr. Speaker, about my colleague from Port au Port, how he was speaking French and Hansard could not read him. That goes for me too, Mr. Speaker, because most times when I am up they cannot read me either.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. PEACH: I heard that the hon. John Efford was worse than me.

Mr. Speaker, it gives me a great pleasure to stand in this hon. House this evening and take my place as the Member for Bellevue, represent the District of Bellevue, and talk on Budget 2012.

First of all, Mr. Speaker, before I get into my notes that I have here, I want to say that today I received a phone call that was very saddening to me. I lost a great friend today in Norman's Cove; not only a great friend, Mr. Speaker, but a great person who had campaigned strongly on my campaign, partly the reason why I am here tonight. He is going to be missed by me and by many people in the town of Norman's Cove. My condolences go out to his wife Dianne. Mr. Gord Hudson was the man's name, and my condolences go out to his wife Dianne and his son Corey tonight, Mr. Speaker.

I would like to commend, Mr. Speaker, and say thank you to the Minister of Finance, to our Premier, to our Cabinet, and to our government for bringing out and bringing down a good Budget, a Budget that will take us through 2012 and into 2013 with good fiscal management.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. PEACH: A Budget that is maintaining our strengths while embarking on new initiatives. There are so many things that I can speak of that are good for the people of my district and throughout the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador; however, time will not permit me to talk about them all tonight, all the good things, Mr. Speaker. Our government is proceeding with its vision, a vision where we will see our strengths in health care, early childhood learning, skilled trades, apprentice and journey persons programs, fisheries renewal, roads and infrastructure that will benefit rural Newfoundland and Labrador communities.

Mr. Speaker, some of the things I want to talk about tonight that are really important to my district are the fishing industry and the sealing plant.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. PEACH: Also, Mr. Speaker, I want to talk about housing, and I want to talk a little on the roads in my district. Mr. Speaker, I want to talk first on the fishery because my background on the fishery goes back to quite a few years and I want to talk about the past, the present, and the future.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. PEACH: Mr. Speaker, if you look at what is happening today with closures in the fishery, we saw that many years ago. We saw closures in the fishery.

When I was growing up as a child, my father and grandfather fished on the Labrador at the salt fish. On the island where I lived, in Flat Island, in Port Elizabeth in Placentia Bay, every fall you would see the schooners come in and take the loads of salt fish and carry it off. My father used to always have a stage where he would have the quintals of salt fish that would be for their winter sale. Then long after the salt fish started going off, along came the fish plants.

Under Joey Smallwood, we resettled back in 1966 to Grand Bank, a new salvation where my father went to work in a fish plant for the first time. As he went to work in the fish plant in Grand Bank, I was in school at the time. When I came out of school I got a job in the fish plant that I thought would probably be a future employment for me. I went to work in the fish plant, and then I moved on with the fishermen's union and throughout the years as president of the local in Grand Bank. Then I moved on as a business agent, a part-time business agent at the time, and then after that I went into organizing for the union.

Mr. Speaker, back in 1985 something happened in Grand Bank that turned my life around. Something happened in Grand Bank and something happened in Burin. I was turning on the TV the other night and I saw the scrum that our Minister of Fisheries was doing, and shortly after that I saw Mr. Gus Etchegary make a comment. He made a comment based on what our minister said about the fuel costs and different things that was happening in the fishery today that was causing the Burin plant to close.

Mr. Speaker, it was only a short time ago, and some people have short memories, that back in 1985 Mr. Gus Etchegary was the manager and the owner of the plant in Fishery Products in Marystown and Burin. He, at that time, closed down the plant in Burin, Mr. Speaker. What was the reason back then? That is when it all started, back in 1985. That is when the fishery started going downhill in 1985.

Then, in 1985, we also had Bonavista Cold Storage, which was owned by the Russells, Roy Russell. He walked away from the fishery in 1985 and left the plant in Grand Bank in receivership. In comes somebody from an auditing business, took over the plant and started running the fish plant in Grand Bank. For the first six months the plant was going good. We thought we had new owners coming in and everything was going to look good, and suddenly the doors closed. The doors closed, Mr. Speaker, in the middle of July. We were left with a big problem, because we had 1,125 workers in Grand Bank and I would say that Burin had pretty close to the same over there. It was a sad day on the Burin Peninsula back then.

AN HON. MEMBER: Explain it to them.

MR. PEACH: Well, I am trying to give them a lesson on where we were, where we are now and what happened over the years. I am hoping that I am going to be able to point that out to the people on the opposite side because I think some of them do not really know where we came from and where we were at years ago.

Mr. Speaker, I lived through those days. My father, my family, and everybody else lived through those days on the Burin Peninsula, not only the plant workers who were working because there were plant workers in Marystown and there were plant workers in Fortune who lived through the same thing that we had in Grand Bank and Burin because we stood side by side to try to save those plants. Our Premier is pretty familiar with this because our Premier was part of the town council in Burin at the time. She had to make decisions for her town at that time and had to take strong approaches to save the plant in Burin.

Mr. Speaker, what happened shortly after that, the federal government made an announcement that they were going to bring Fishery Products International, Bonavista Cold Storage and the Lake Group together as one. They called it Fishery Products International. Then, Michael Kirby Task Force came on scene.

I heard from the Third Party today in Question Period: Why don't we have an inquiry? We have had all of that. Going back to 1986 when the Michael Kirby Task Force was on the go, there were three or four people who went through the plants. They put together a report on the fishery. If you were to read that book - if the people in this House have never, ever read the Michael Kirby Task Force Report you should get it and read it because what is happening today is exactly what was said back then in 1986. They are pretty close to it now. The plants, he said, would close. He said in twenty years there will be plants closing. The small boat fishermen would be starting to fall off and the crews on the small boat fishermen would be crewed on the sixty-five and fifty-five footers. That is what is happening. We are seeing that. In every port in the Province of Newfoundland today we are seeing that happen.

AN HON. MEMBER: You have to get out in rural Newfoundland to understand that.

MR. PEACH: Yes, well, you have to live in rural Newfoundland to understand it.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. PEACH: Mr. Speaker, we have heard from time to time what happened to the cod fishery and how the cod fishery was destroyed. I am going to speak a little bit on that too, because I lived through that as well.

Mr. Speaker, back in the early 1980s, late 1970s, there was a group of scientists who went down off Cape Bonavista. I remember quite well when we all were called into the Battery Hotel; the scientists were up at the head of the table and they were telling us about the massive amount of cod that they found down off Cape Bonavista, so many miles wide, so many miles long, so many fathoms deep. If you do not know how much fathoms are, it is like that.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. PEACH: I am talking to the fisheries critic over on the other side, on the Opposition; I am talking about deep, not wide.

Mr. Speaker, at that time, the scientists said if you fished this fish properly, it would be a twenty-five lifespan. Go back before that, there was never any Northern cod; when John Cabot came over and discovered Newfoundland, we had cod in abundance. It was always Newfoundland cod up until the scientists found this Northern cod down off Cape Bonavista.

What happened then, Mr. Speaker? The Russells and the Etchegary and the lake groups went down and they started fishing the cod. They loaded the boats up with cod – loaded it up. They had side trawlers at that time, Mr. Speaker, and the side trawlers could not hold the fish that they wanted. What did they do? They went and they took the side trawlers that they had and they buried them out in deep holes in Fortune Bay and in Burin Bay. They are out on the bottom now, Mr. Speaker. There are people who are around the Island diving to see small boats, to see old wreckages and that on the bottom. Go out in Fortune Bay and Burin; there are a lot of boats out on the bottom out there that were sunk by these companies years ago.

Then, Mr. Speaker, they went and they bought some boats from over around Norway, large boats, 350,000-pound vessels that could bring 350,000 pounds. They went down off Cape Bonavista, and because the ice used to be down off Cape Bonavista in the wintertime, they could not fish through the ice. Then what happened, they came back. The companies went and they put the boats into the Marystown Shipyard and then they put these big balls on the front of them. They sent them down through the ice, broke the ice so they could get the fish under the ice. They scooped up the fish that were down there. The scientists warned them that if they did not fish it properly, they would only get twenty-five years. That was in around 1980.

Then in 1992, we had a moratorium. The fish were gone. The trawlermen used to come into the board when I was on the board of the union; the trawlermen used to come in, they used to say to Richard Cashin back then: Richard, if something is not done with this fishery, we are not going to have a fishery. That was back then. That was back then, Mr. Speaker, and I am going to tell you there are trawlermen out there that can show you pictures of fish; when they had loads of fish on the boat down off of Cape Bonavista, they would call into the plant owners and they would say, we have a load aboard now, the holes are all full, what are we going to do? We have a bag of fish coming in now, the last one; we do not have any room, what are we going to do? Put it on deck. Put it on deck, he used to say to the skipper, and bring it in, if you can get it in; when they go away from the fish, the fish would float away off the deck of the boats and float behind the boats. You could see the cod fish, big cod fish, Mr. Speaker, floating up back 200 and 300 feet and perhaps further behind the boats. There are pictures of that, Mr. Speaker. There is evidence out there of that happening.

Then we have people, then we have the activists coming on TV and on the radio and on Open Line shows saying, oh, the Spanish ruined the – the foreigners ruined the fish. We ruined the fish ourselves, Mr. Speaker. The people in those plants ruined the fish themselves. They done for what is happening today.

In 1992, a moratorium was struck and things started to change, Mr. Speaker. Things changed drastically in the fishery. After a couple of years' break, with the moratorium, the crab fishery opened. You talk to any harvesters out there today, the fishery is good. The fishery is good for the harvesters. The cod fish now are sitting in the back pockets of the trawlermen, of the large boat fishermen. They do not want to fish the cod because the crab is so good of a price and there is so much crab out there that they do not want to fish it. Other plants are suffering because of it; the plant workers are suffering because of it. That is what is happening to our fishery today.

Some things there, we do not have control over that, Mr. Speaker; our government does not have control over that. That is all controlled by the federal government, the regulations of the federal government. Until some things change with the federal government and somebody up in Ottawa realizes that we have a fishery – and I think sometimes that Ottawa is much the same as the people on the other side here, Mr. Speaker; they do not know one thing about the fishery. The only ones that they depend on are the couple of people that we have in White Hills, and some of them do not even understand.

You know, it really hurt me down deep when I heard that Burin was closing; it hurt me down deep, because I had a little bit of a relationship with Burin. A lot of people in Burin do not know this, but I was vice-president of the industrial section, which was the plant workers, back when the plant closed in 1985. Richard Cashin called me one day and he said: Calvin, I want you to go to Ottawa. I said: What for? He said: Well, I want you to go up and lobby for some money for the plants in Burin and Grand Bank.

At that time, I was never aboard a plane. I said: How am I going to get aboard of a plane? I was never aboard of one. He said: Well, if a baby can go aboard, you can go aboard. Anyway, I went into the airport and I was walking around, a bit worried. I did not know what I was going to do. Then I saw a couple of children there and the first thing came to my mind: Well, if they are going aboard, I suppose I will have to go aboard too.

Anyway, I was off to Ottawa, Mr. Speaker. The first fellow I met in Ottawa was Brian Tobin. Going down the steps the next morning was Brian Tobin. He shook hands with me and said: What are you up here for? I said: I am up here looking for some money for the plants in Grand Bank and Burin. He looked at me and said: Good luck to you. That was the words he said to me: Good luck to you. He never even offered to give me a hand in meeting the people or whatever. That was the government that was in power, their government. So I said: Well, I might as well turn around and go back home.

I spent a full week there. I had a good many meetings with Romeo LeBlanc, who was really upset because of some of the things I said to him. Mr. Speaker, I never had any indication whatsoever that we were going to get any money from Ottawa. I never had any indication whatsoever.

AN HON. MEMBER: How much? How much did you get?

MR. PEACH: I had $687,000 for Burin and I had $850,000 for Grand Bank.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. PEACH: Mr. Speaker, Romeo LeBlanc did listen, he did listen, but I cannot thank Mr. Tobin. Our member at that time was Roger Simmons. I certainly could not thank Brian Tobin, but I did get the chance to say one thing to him at a meeting over in Chance Cove, one night when I was over in Chance Cove. I told him at that time, and I make no bones about it, going back that many years. I said to him for a joke at the time, because nobody knew what my affiliation was with the parties: Mr. Tobin, you told me I was not going to get any money. I told him the figures I was going to get and I said: Just imagine if I was a Liberal what I would have gotten.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. PEACH: Mr. Speaker, what I am trying to point out is that what is happening in the fishery today is not just what is happening in the fishery yesterday or today. It has been happening for years. The fishery has been changing from one to the other for years.

The salt fish co-operation in Newfoundland, I remember when I used to go in and meet with the salt fish co-operation and the small boat fishermen on the wharves. The trap fishermen could not sell fish up to eighteen inches. If you looked in the harbours, they had them dumped in the harbours. Back then it was a laugh. A trap load of fish coming in, in a skiff and it was a laugh back then to see the fish on the bottom. You could almost walk on it in the harbours, Mr. Speaker. You could almost walk on it, and the salt fish co-operation would not buy it. Then after a while the salt fish co-operation went, that closed up. That salt fishery that was there is gone now.

There is a small amount of salt fish still being developed, but to make the best of it, the biggest sore of it all was when the hon. John Efford became Minister of Fisheries and opened up every stage, every store, everyplace that you could put a fish in and licensed them as a fish plant. Then we ended up with over 200-and-some-odd fish plants in the Province and no fish to go into them. That is what is happening today. That is what is happening today, Mr. Speaker.

I went through the fishery. I worked in the fishery. I had a full-time fishing licence. I worked in a fish plant. Mr. Speaker, I seen it all up through the years but I cannot really grasp what the critic of the Opposition says sometimes when he wants to keep the plants open, when I know that some of those plants are only open for three weeks out of a year. Three weeks out of a year when there could be one plant where there is five, that could be given at least six or seven months out of a year. That is the difference in the fish plants. These are the kinds of things that are happening, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I remind the member his time has expired.

MR. PEACH: By leave, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: I remind the member his time has expired.

AN HON. MEMBER: Leave.

MR. SPEAKER: The member has leave.

MR. PEACH: I am just going to take a minute to clue up because I will get a chance to get on my feet again, Mr. Speaker. I had so much to talk about but the fishery is my heart and soul, has always been my heart and soul.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. PEACH: My district is made up of mostly fishing communities, and as long as I am their member, Mr. Speaker, the fishery will always be most upfront with me. They can be assured of that, that I will always be there. My heart will be there and they can depend on me anytime when there is a fisheries issue to speak to me on it and I will be representing them on anything that they want me to represent them on, Mr. Speaker.

I want to say that there were other issues I wanted to speak on, housing programs, prescription drug plans. Mr. Speaker, I think I will sit down now and leave it for another time. I am sure I am going to get a chance to speak again before it is all over.

Thank you very much.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. KENNEDY: Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Being 10:00 o'clock, I do move, seconded by the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills, that this House do now adjourn.

MR. SPEAKER: It has been moved and seconded that this House do now adjourn.

Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

All those in favour, ‘aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

MR. SPEAKER: All those against, ‘nay'.

Motion carried.

Tomorrow being Wednesday, Private Members' Day, this House stands adjourned until 2:00 p.m. tomorrow.

On motion, the House at its rising adjourned until tomorrow, Wednesday, at 2:00 p.m.