The House met at 2:00 p.m.

MR. SPEAKER (Wiseman): Order, please!

Admit strangers.

The Deputy Government House Leader.

MR. KING: Mr. Speaker, I rise today at the earliest possible occasion to raise a point of privilege before the House. I refer to O'Brien and Bosc, page 141, where this House attaches great importance to matters involving privilege before the House. I am aware that there is a formal process to be followed. We have followed that process and notified the Speaker of the same, and indeed this is the earliest opportunity to raise this privilege. The privilege, Mr. Speaker, is in relation to the actions of the Member for St. John's North.

Mr. Speaker, before we move forward, it is important to recognize the purpose of a point of privilege and that is to maintain the respect and credibility due to and required of each House in respect of those privileges, to uphold the powers, and enforce the enjoyment of the privileges of its members. Mr. Speaker, a question of privilege is indeed a very serious matter that is not to be taken lightly.

We recognize that there are many new members in this House of Assembly, many members who are learning the ropes for the first time, and we certainly do appreciate that and we have some tolerance for it; but, last evening, as a preamble to my motion, the hon. Member for St. John's North, who is also the critic for Advanced Education and Skills and an educator himself, made a very disparaging comment against a member in this House respecting the level and the quality of their education.

I raise that, Mr. Speaker, because we find it very offensive and very condescending, particularly when we reference the circumstances we live in today in Newfoundland and Labrador where many people are out of work, many people look at advanced education and furthering their education as an opportunity of hope. To hear a leader present the kind of statement that was made in this House last night, I believe, sets a very poor example.

Mr. Speaker, all of us are here in this House, we were elected by people of the Province who have faith in us and they look to us for leadership. This Legislature, as all of us recognize, is an institution where we enjoy rights and privileges as hon. members duly elected to sit here, to take our place here, and to represent the constituents who put their faith and their trust in us.

Mr. Speaker, we also recognize that debate can get heated. There is banter back and forth at times. There are differing views and differing perspectives. We always tend to do so with respect to the greatest level we possibly can, Mr. Speaker. Incumbent upon all of us is that, when we disagree with a point that is made in this House and we have a reason to challenge something that has been said, we have a right and obligation to stand in this House and raise it in the context of where the debate is occurring: in the Legislature.

Mr. Speaker, I am also very aware, as you are and every other member of this House, that social media is playing a much greater role today in politics than it ever has. We recognize that members on all sides of the House have, in fact, embraced that and are using it as an opportunity, from our perspective, to try to promote the policies of our party, in this case the government. In other cases, you may challenge other policies.

We have had discussions, Mr. Speaker, and you were part of those discussions with representatives of the other parties opposite here, and thought at some point that we had come to an agreement about the kinds of things we might engage in using Twitter, in particular, and the kinds of things we might not engage in. I admit today I think that agreement is done. On behalf of government, we see there is no longer an agreement, at least not between the government and the NDP, respecting the trend we have seen in using Twitter, Mr. Speaker.

Last evening, Mr. Speaker, we had debate here. We had good debate here. A number of members on this side of the House stood and presented some very personal, very real human stories to their district, to people they represent, and to their own personal lives, Mr. Speaker. A lot of members stood. I can name them off, but I do not need to because they are in Hansard.

Mr. Speaker, close to midnight last night, the hon. Member for St. John's North made a post on Twitter that we see to be very serious, very offensive, and indeed very unparliamentary to this House. He accused a government member of lying in this Chamber. Mr. Speaker, what that does, besides the fact that it is a serious breach, it calls into doubt the honesty and the integrity of all members on the government side of the House. For that reason, we see this as a very serious breach of conduct for this House. If this statement had been made, Mr. Speaker, in a public forum by the member opposite, responding to another comment by another member in a public forum, then I would suggest fair game. While I think there has generally been a rule, as long as I have sat in this House, that – with the exception of a couple of slips, most of us tend to treat each other with a degree of respect and we do not stoop to those kinds of attacks, personal and otherwise. To be fair to the rules of this Legislature, Mr. Speaker, I would see that as a little less serious.

This statement, however, Mr. Speaker, is very serious, because the member took the debate that occurred in this Legislature and extended the debate. He chose not to debate it in the House of Assembly where he has been elected to stand on behalf of the people and present his views, but rather chose to extend the debate in a manner that - their trend is developing, because Twitter seems to be the mode of operation – extended the debate from the House of Assembly through Twitter and proceeded to call someone a liar in this House. What is probably worse, Mr. Speaker, was, either by choice or by lack of integrity, he did not identify the person he was making the accusation against. Now, Mr. Speaker, it does not take long to count up the members on this side of the House. With the greatest respect to members opposite in the Opposition, it did not reference you, it referenced the government members. You can do the counting.

A lot of people on this side of the House take great offence to that, Mr. Speaker. Even if he had identified the member, I think we would take great offence to it, but the fact that you cast aspersions on the way this House operates, that you sit in this House for almost six hours or six-and-half hours yesterday between the afternoon and the evening, with all kinds of time to stand to your feet and raise a point of privilege, to raise a point of order, and to do the honourable thing, Mr. Speaker. Remember, we operate on the basis that we get elected to this House as hon. members who come in here with integrity and the ability to do the job and represent the people who voted us in.

The honourable thing to do is to stand on your feet in this House and either debate it in speaking time, or you raise a point of privilege or a point of order, Mr. Speaker, and challenge the member whom you think is actually lying, but to walk away – and we all understand the world of social media and Twitter. It can be a real curse for everybody, because there is nothing easier than standing behind a keyboard when you do not have to face the cameras and the audience and members in this House and defend your actions and take heat for your actions if people challenge you back. It is very easy. I have a Blackberry, Mr. Speaker, like everyone else. It is very easy to do when you do not have to face the person that you are accusing and stand up and defend it and debate it, but, Mr. Speaker, we see it as very serious, a very serious challenge in the highest level, to contempt in this House.

With that said, Mr. Speaker, based on what I have shared with you, based on information that we have found in O'Brien and Bosc, as well as the House of Commons procedures, Mr. Speaker, I call upon you, as Speaker of the House, to rule that this member, in fact, is out of order and that your ruling would ask for an immediate apology, not only to members of this hon. House, but indeed to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador who ought to be, and are, insulted by that level of decorum by a member elected to hold higher standards in this House.

Thank you.

MR. SPEAKER: Comments to the point of privilege.

The Member for St. John's North.

MR. KIRBY: Yes, Mr. Speaker.

I withdraw those comments without reservation.

MR. SPEAKER: The Deputy Government House Leader.

MR. KING: I would ask the Speaker to consider a request that an apology be forthcoming. It was very insulting and very offensive to this side of the House, and to stand up and say I withdraw the comments is not enough. The member ought to do the right thing and apologize or let the Speaker make the ruling.

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

MR. KIRBY: Yes, Mr. Speaker.

I apologize for those comments without reservation.

MR. SPEAKER: The Acting Opposition House Leader.

MR. A. PARSONS: Mr. Speaker, again, I just stand to speak to this and say I leave it to your direction as to how we proceed.

MR. SPEAKER: As the Deputy Government House Leader indicated, he had communicated with me this morning and shared his intent to introduce this issue this afternoon in the House. I have had an opportunity to reflect on what we just heard and the request before the House. I do accept, on behalf of the House, the member's apology, but given the issue raised and the significance of it, and embedded in the statement there is another issue with respect to social media that is important I think. I would like to share some comments that I believe should guide the House and its members in their conduct. Let me share with you what I would like for you to take under consideration, because it will guide what I do from the Chair in issues such as this when it arises, and should it arise anytime in the future.

In an hon. House with hon. members, it is not possible to make a stronger accusation than that a member is lying. In the cut and thrust of debate, language is often heated and perhaps does not always maintain the degree of civility that we would all hope. Nevertheless, heated debate is one thing, accusations of lying is quite another, not merely a difference of degree but a difference of kind.

As all members know, an accusation of lying made in the House would be quickly followed by a demand from the Chair that the remark be withdrawn and such an accusation is, in our quaint jargon, unparliamentary and would not be tolerated by the House. In this instance though, the events, the Member for St. John's North accused the member, or a member, of lying in the House, through the use of social media. By doing so the Member for St. John's North dodged a swift demand for retraction which would have resulted from an accusation if it were made in the House.

If two members are debating an issue outside the House on an Open Line show or a panel discussion of some kind, and one were to accuse another of lying, that would be regrettable and as such touches all members generally. However, to use social media outside the House debate itself, to charge that one member lied in the House, does not live up to the standard of conduct which we expect from elected members.

The members of the House of Assembly, no matter how strong the policy and political differences, share a common bond which cannot be set aside. No member is an island unto themselves; what touches one member touches all of us. When a member acts with compassion and generosity, that reflects well on all of us. When a member acts less than honourable, that too reflects on all of us.

When members speak in this House we accept them on their word as hon. members. No member may accuse another member of lying. The assumption in this Chamber is that honest and sincere men and women are striving for the betterment of their Province, and they are candid and honourable in their debate.

Members have an obligation to this institution, in addition to what they feel their obligation may be to their party, or to their district, or to others. It is easy to forget this in the heat of a political debate. I encourage all members to keep this thought foremost to set an example for those who will follow us in this Chamber.

As a Speaker, I feel a responsibility to members of this House of Assembly which is perhaps greater than my authority. At times, I might even wish that my authority over how members conduct themselves would extend outside this Chamber; however, outside of this Chamber members must govern their own conduct in light of their own conscience.

In the case at hand though, it appears that the offensive tweet by the Member for St. John's North was sent at 11:39 p.m. on May 8. Here is a point I would ask you to keep in mind, or one of the points I think it is significant to be guided by: had this accusation of lying been sent while the House was sitting so as to escape being sanctioned for unparliamentary language while still making the accusation, I believe it would be a prima facie case of privilege. I remind all members of the privilege they enjoy as members of this House and with that privilege comes a responsibility that all of us have to maintain the integrity of this House.

This was a very serious issue raised in the House today and I would ask all members to be guided by my comments as we conduct ourselves in the future.

The Leader of the Third Party.

MS MICHAEL: A point of privilege, Mr. Speaker, if I may.

MR. SPEAKER: Please.

MS MICHAEL: Of course, I had no idea this was coming to the floor today and I have listened very carefully to what you have said. I appreciate the points that you have made and I think they will give guidance to all of us in the future.

There is something I would ask the Speaker to consider, because I do not know the answer to this question, Mr. Speaker, and you may be able to give it now or you may want to think about it and respond at a later time.

You were quite correct that sometimes in this House we all, in a moment of heated debate, say things that we may regret after we say them; sometimes they are points that should not have been said, et cetera. Sometimes people quote other people; sometimes members of the House quote another member of the House during a debate. Sometimes those quotes are interpretations. I may have done it myself sometimes. I do not know, I very well may have. Sometimes they are interpretations; sometimes they are put out on the floor as actual things that somebody has said.

If those words that are being quoted or being interpreted are words that happened here in the House at some time, they can then be verified; we can go to Hansard. If somebody quotes me, for example, and I say I really did not say that, and I go Hansard ,and I see what I actually said and it was not what was said here in the House, at the moment I come to that realization, the House is probably closed, because I have waited, I have checked Hansard, et cetera. I now know that I was quoted incorrectly; I am presuming that I could call a point of privilege the next day.

That is what I am asking for your ruling on. Can I call a point of privilege, then, over the fact that somebody in the House during a debate quoted me but the actual quote could be verified in Hansard, and in actual fact what was in Hansard was the opposite, maybe, of what I was quoted as saying? I think that is something that we need to consider, because I think sometimes that has happened here in the House. I think we need a ruling on that as well, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: The Deputy Government House Leader, to the point raised by the Leader of the Third Party.

MR. KING: Mr. Speaker, I wanted actually to respond to the previous point of privilege, but I would ask for clarification. The rules of the House are very clear that you raise a point of privilege at the earliest possible convenience. The point of privilege I raised today occurred at 11:30 or 11:40 last night. This is the earliest possible convenience.

I would ask the member before the House considers a point of privilege if she would state the time she is referring to. If, in fact, it happened in the afternoon, it ought to have been presented at some time last night before 10:00 o'clock.

MR. SPEAKER: The Leader of the Third Party.

MS MICHAEL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I was not referring to the timing of the House Leader's point of privilege today. I was putting out a what-if. If things went the way I talked about, then can I get up the next day with regard to something –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS MICHAEL: – that I have verified for myself was incorrectly stated the day before in a session, or am I going to be told that what I said, even though it is Hansard, does not count? I was doing a what-if. I was not referring to the timing of the House Leader's point of privilege today.

MR. SPEAKER: The Deputy Government House Leader.

MR. KING: Mr. Speaker, I would ask you on a point of order to consider that you cannot raise a point of privilege on what-if. The member opposite is challenging an interpretation of either O'Brien and Bosc, the rules that govern that House, or the Standing Orders, Mr. Speaker. There is no point of privilege in that, that ought to be referred through the House to the Speaker's Office or to the Standing Committee that deals with such. I see no point of privilege here.

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for Signal Hill – Quidi Vidi has raised a question. I will take your point as a question of clarification, because it is inappropriate to raise it as a point of privilege because appropriate notice has not been given and you have not laid out the rationale for that point of privilege. It is not a point of order, but I do respect the question you have posed.

Let me give you an answer: It is extremely difficult to give a hypothetical answer to a hypothetical question. Points of order and points of privilege are raised in this House periodically, and when they are, the member raising them lays out the rationale for the point being raised at the time. Frequently, you have to consider the issue being raised in the context. The Speaker is left with the information shared by the member raising it and guided by references like O'Brien and Bosc, our own Standing Orders, and comments that others may provide to the point of order or point of privilege being raised.

It would be difficult for the Chair to give you an answer to a hypothetical question. Should you feel at some time, or any member of this House feel, that there has been a brief of their privilege as a parliamentarian, then I suggest you be guided by our Standing Orders and guided by references such as O'Brien and Bosc to help frame your issue that you may want to raise, and introduce it on the floor of the House. In the case of a point of privilege, as was done earlier today, to provide appropriate notice to the Speaker and that way we are able to address the issue when it comes to the floor of the House.

The Government House Leader.

MR. KENNEDY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Acting Opposition House Leader has raised the issue of Question Period today. This being Wednesday, Private Members' Day, normally at 3:00 o'clock I think the Standing Orders require that we move to the private member's motion. Mr. Speaker, we would certainly be willing to do whatever adjustments or guidance is needed to ensure that Question Period takes place.

MR. SPEAKER: This being Private Members' Day, the hon. the member raised an issue of Question Period and the timing of debate. What would happen at 2:30 p.m., we will proceed to Question Period. Between now and 2:30 p.m., we will start with the Orders of the Day which starts with members' statements. We will have a time for maybe three or four members' statements, but at 2:30 p.m. we will proceed to Question Period.

MR. SPEAKER: Today we will have members' statements for the Member for the District of St. John's South; the District of St. Barbe; the District of Fortune Bay – Cape La Hune; the District of Mount Pearl North; and the District of Bellevue.

The Member for the District of St. John's South.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. OSBORNE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Today I pay tribute to Mildred Kelly, a businesswoman and a strong supporter of church and community, who passed away recently at the age of eighty-seven.

As she took her final journey to her resting place, her driver stopped in front of Kelly's nursing home, which she owned and operated for decades, as a tribute to her and her mark on the personal care home that she took so much pride in.

Mildred, who grew up on Carter's Hill, was known as a hard worker who would be up early enough to prepare breakfast for the residents, start lunch, clean the bathrooms, make beds, and fix anything that needed repairs from toilets to toasters. She was known as a cook, baker, electrician, and plumber. While it is said that she was a hard worker and a tough woman, she was also known as having a heart of gold.

I ask all hon. members to recognize and pay tribute to Mildred Kelly.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for St. Barbe.

MR. BENNETT: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise in this hon. House today to acknowledge the hard work of the Red Ochre Regional Development Board.

The Red Ochre Board is one of the two Regional Economic Development Boards that serve the Great Northern Peninsula and their mandate almost precisely envelops St. Barbe district. Serving three dozen communities stretching from St. Barbe in the north to Trout River in the south, the Red Ochre Regional Board is the singular economic development entity that covers the entire district.

Under the long-term oversight of its Executive Director, Sean St. George, this board has provided economic development ideas and communication, and has delivered services to the communities of St. Barbe District for many years, and their contribution cannot be easily overstated.

The Red Ochre Board is governed by a board of volunteers drawn from various communities in the district. Some of the unique challenges found in St. Barbe include Gros Morne National Park in the southern half of the district, while the northern half depends on the fishery.

Matching these two economically diverse but seasonal industries is a continual challenge and the Red Ochre Board, located in Parsons Pond, continues to meet that challenge. That challenge has not gone unnoticed and it is in recognition of their effort that I recognize them today.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Fortune Bay – Cape La Hune.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS PERRY: Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate participants of the Central Newfoundland Kiwanis Music Festival from the great District of Fortune Bay – Cape La Hune.

Caisie Watkins won Vocal Concert Group and a Kelly Family award in the Rose Bowl competition. Whitney Willcott-Benoit received four awards for best vocal solo, sacred music, folk music, and the Ron Ennis Award for best traditional folk performance. Kendra Willcott-Benoit won the Adjudicator's Award for outstanding solo voice and best performance in vocal quick study. Michaela Benoit received Best Performance for Sacred Music. Sarah Collier, Taylor Collier, and Kendra Willcott-Benoit won best performance by a vocal trio. Sarah also won for Best Performance in Newfoundland Music. The Bay d' Espoir Academy Dolce Singers received the Adjudicator's Award for Choir. St. Ignatius Youth Choir won the Howell Memorial Award and the Cecilian Training Chorus won best performance by a choir.

I also extend congratulations to the Cox, George, Burke, Collier, and Willcott-Benoit families, and accolades for Destiny Benoit, the Bay d' Espoir Academy Choral Speech Group, the St. Ignatius Youth Choir, Sarah and Taylor Collier, Kendra and Whitney Willcott-Benoit, and Garrison George, who performed at the Stars of the Festival.

Thanks as well to Brenda Jeddore and Valerie Coombs. You dedication to fostering exceptional music talent in our region is very much appreciated.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Mount Pearl North.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENT: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise in this hon. House today to congratulate Elizabeth Park Elementary on the celebration of its first birthday. The school, faculty, and students celebrated the one-year anniversary of the new school earlier this year.

After being relocated at the School for the Deaf temporarily, the students, staff, and families of Paradise Elementary and now Elizabeth Park Elementary did the best they could with the situation at hand. The Department of Education, in co-operation with Eastern School District, worked tirelessly to build two new schools for the students of Paradise; while that happened, the teachers and students commuted to another school outside of their community for a period of time. Their temporary home was still a strong, vibrant school community.

It is hard to believe that more than a year has passed since Elizabeth Park Elementary has opened its doors to welcome students back home. Not only are the students and faculty enjoying their new school closer to home, but they are enjoying a state-of-the-art, energy-efficient, and environmentally friendly school.

I am sure that everyone would agree that this new school, located on Ellesmere Avenue in Paradise, is a great addition to our community.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all members of this House to join me in congratulating Elizabeth Park Elementary, the staff, faculty, and students, on the celebration of their first birthday.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. PEACH: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I stand today to recognize a young man of New Harbour, Mr. Matthew Williams. In the 2012 March edition of the Newfoundland Sportsman magazine, Matthew's story, "Chasing His Dream," was featured. Matthew is a highly respected and active member of his community through his involvement with the church and the Community 5 Lion's Club.

Matthew is a person living with Down Syndrome and just a few short years ago, he was granted the opportunity to complete the Hunter's Safety Course – which, I might add, he passed with flying colours, thus completing a portion of his dream.

The following year, Matthew applied for a moose licence, but was unsuccessful in the moose draw. This did not discourage young Matthew. Determination set in, he applied of the caribou licence, and his application was met with success.

In the fall of 2011, Matthew, his father, uncle, David and cousin, Nelson, set out on the hunt, Mr. Speaker. Matthew triumphed; on November 11, he shot his first caribou. His dad said it was a tear-filling moment for him, but for Matthew, it was a dream come true.

I ask all hon. members of this House to join me in congratulating Matthew on his very first successful caribou hunt.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The time for Question Period is now, 2:30, but I understand there is a time-sensitive document that needs to be tabled.

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

MR. DAVIS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am pleased to stand today to table the annual report of the Board of Commissioners of Public Utilities on operations carried out under the Automobile Insurance Act for the period of April 1, 2011 to March 31, 2012.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Oral Questions.

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

MR. BALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday I asked the Minister of Justice if he would confirm that the RCMP reported directly to him. The answer came back that they do. We all know that during the search for Burton Winters, the first call was made by the RCMP in Makkovik to the RCMP Support Services.

I ask the Premier: Have you asked the RCMP why they did not contact Fire and Emergency Services until 8:00 o'clock on Monday morning?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, yes we have. Mr. Speaker, when I stood in this House yesterday and said that we had reviewed all the circumstances with regard to the search and rescue efforts with regard to Burton Winters and that we were satisfied the best judgment was used that could be used, that the expertise that was available on the ground guided the actions of the people who were involved in search and rescue. They had a strategy discussion on that Sunday night, and given all of the things that they considered when they learned that this young man was missing, they decided to wait until the morning, reassess the situation then, before they called in air support.

MR. SPEAKER: The Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Minister Responsible for Fire and Emergency Services stated yesterday that the rescue protocol is what they call a living document or an evolving process, so I do not know what happened between Sunday evening and the next morning of course.

What steps do we now take to ensure that police officials who work in remote areas of the Province understand this protocol, and what protocol is in place when they make a call for search and rescue?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, we are a very large geographical area with many, many communities spread out along our coastline and a very small population. In our many communities, in our many organizations, in our airports and so on, Mr. Speaker, we have emergency plans for search and rescue, for some catastrophic accident in a community. These communities, these organizations, all have emergency plans in which volunteers play a critical role, the policing jurisdiction plays a lead role, and municipalities play a lead role, Mr. Speaker. These protocols are well established, laid down in emergency plans, Mr. Speaker, and are followed on a regular basis all throughout this Province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL: Thank you.

I have seen some of those emergency plans and they are not living documents, they are not evolving. They are usually very set type plans, which are important.

Mr. Speaker, on November 27, 2011, a fire claimed the life of a fifty year old man, and a sixteen year old was charged with manslaughter and arson. The Child and Youth Advocate is committed to investigating the matter and determine if the services provided by the government departments and agencies met the needs of the youth.

I ask the minister: What is the status of this investigation, and when do you expect to see it completed?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Child, Youth and Family Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS JOHNSON: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As the member would know, we cannot speak to individual cases, particularly with youth. I can tell you that the investigation is ongoing. However, it is with the Child and Youth Advocate, so that is individual of our department.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

According to documents that we received from the department back in 2011, we have about eighty children and youth who are living in independent or alternative-type living arrangements. At the same time, we have just over 600 living in foster care. While foster care living arrangements are actually monitored or the facilities are inspected, we understand there is no formal review for those ALA type living arrangements.

I ask the minister: Why don't we have such a system in place so that we can ensure the quality of homes for our children, the same standard that they would have in the other arrangements?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Child, Youth and Family Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS JOHNSON: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is a very difficult situation when you have to remove a child, but we only do it when it is absolutely necessary to do so. Children come into our care if they are at risk of maltreatment or have been maltreated.

Mr. Speaker, ALAs are not the most ideal situation for our children. There are thirty-nine children in ALAs as of today. Mr. Speaker, two weeks ago in the Budget we announced our new Continuum of Care strategy, $4.1 million this year and $14.3 million next year. The goal of that is to eliminate ALAs. In the interim, there are standards for ALAs, most certainly.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL: Maybe in the follow-up question we will get an answer if indeed they are actually being inspected.

We have been made aware of a sixteen-year-old who has signed a voluntary youth agreement with Child, Youth and Family Services and is now referred to as an emancipated youth. The supportive housing that he is living in is really a safety hazard. We know that the room, when he went in there, there was no key to it. We know that the window was not operating.

I would ask the minister: How is it that our youth in need of care and protection are ending up in substandard housing rooms that are really not fit to live in?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Child, Youth and Family Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS JOHNSON: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition is confusing the two. Children in our care would be in foster homes, group homes, and so on. When you turn sixteen, you are under a youth service agreement, Mr. Speaker. We provide all kinds of supports to those youth in terms of funding for residential placement, job finding, and all kinds of life skills, Mr. Speaker, but it is up to the youth to find the living accommodations. We will certainly work with them, but it is their role to find their place.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BALL: This is a sixteen-year-old and it is certainly substandard living accommodations, I can assure you that.

Mr. Speaker, recently government has stated that Muskrat Falls is a $2 billion equity investment. When you look at the commitments that are being made right now to infrastructure plans, and you look at the Muskrat Falls and the $2 billion that will require, I ask the Premier: At what point will government see a return on this investment of $2 billion?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENNEDY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As we have said on a number of occasions – I think the Minister of Finance has also said – this does not go to net debt, Mr. Speaker. What we are doing is we are building a revenue generating asset that will pay for itself. What we will gain, Mr. Speaker, is not only more stable and eventually cheaper electricity, but we also gain an asset that will continue to produce revenue for 100 years. In terms of when it will produce revenue, what we know, Mr. Speaker, there is an internal rate of return or an equity return built in for the Province. Mr. Speaker, we know that it will pay for itself.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL: Any time you borrow, you are going to accumulate debt. All I was asking is when are we expected to see the rate of return. The financial rate of returns – that would be done with any pro forma when you look at an equity investment.

Can you tell us exactly when you expect to see the rate of return? We already know that you can actually predict fifty-year oil prices so when can you predict the rate of return?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENNEDY: Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I have used the figure that, for example, the average ratepayer in the Province who burns 1,517 kilowatt hours of energy per month will in 2017, based on Decision Gate 2 numbers, pay $232. That $232, Mr. Speaker, includes the cost of building the project, the maintenance and ongoing operation. It also includes monies for the payment of debt services and the rate of return. It is all built in to the $232. What happens, Mr. Speaker, the internal rate of return, unless for whatever reason government chose to waive it, would be paid back from the time the project commences.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL: Let us not forget that Nalcor has at least $3 billion in debt associated with this too. All I am asking is if you are doing the pro forma on it, when do you expect to see money come back to the government so they can use for those services?

Yesterday the Minister of Natural Resources again stated that the Province will experience brownouts in 2015. He stated that the solution to the 2015 problem was Muskrat Falls. This will not be completed until 2017.

If Muskrat Falls is the solution, what is the plan for the two years of brownouts, or are just the energy demand numbers wrong?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENNEDY: Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker.

What happens is if there is not enough energy, Mr. Speaker, we can experience temporary shutdowns, for example, as happened one time in 2011. The plan to get us from 2015 to 2017 is the building of a fifty-megawatt combustion turbine, which will be installed at or near Holyrood, Mr. Speaker, and then will be called upon to meet peak demand, if needed.

What we are always looking at, Mr. Speaker, is peak demand, to have enough energy to satisfy the needs of the Province in that coldest day in the winter. It does not mean that every day in the year we will burn that much energy, but we have to be ready, Mr. Speaker. So, we have looked at that possibility and we feel confident that this one turbine would solve the issue.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL: I am absolutely glad to hear that today because I expected that was your answer yesterday.

On March 29, I asked the Minister of Natural Resources about a study on natural gas that was commissioned by Nalcor to EnerSea Transport in 2007. This was never made public, as we know, and at the time the minister was going to get some answers on this. It has been six weeks now.

I ask the minister: Can you provide us the details of this study and would you table the findings?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENNEDY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am not aware of any study that was commissioned on natural gas in 2007 by the Department of Natural Resources. The only study that has been commissioned is one that is currently been undertaken, a report being undertaken by Ziff Energy out of Calgary. It comes as a result of the issue of natural gas having been raised. Mr. Speaker, what we have done is we have asked Ziff Energy to look at not only the importation of natural gas and the construction of an LNG terminal, but we have also asked them to look at the building of a pipeline from the Grand Banks and whether or not that would be economically feasible and gas would be available. Mr. Speaker, again I am not aware of the report referred to by the member opposite.

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

MR. A. PARSONS: Mr. Speaker, Budget 2012 announced $3.7 million for programs and services at Memorial University's Faculty of Engineering and the Marine Institute. What was not announced is that government has instructed Memorial to find $3.85 million in administrative savings. This nets a negative $150,000 investment in new operational funding for Memorial.

I would ask the minister: Can you please explain the discrepancy and why the whole story was not announced?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS BURKE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Through deliberations and meetings with the President of Memorial University and members of the executive, there was a request for government to provide additional funding for the engineering program and as well money for the Marine Institute. Mr. Speaker, we delivered on those requests.

In saying that, Mr. Speaker, there was also an announcement by this government that I would assume was shared with everyone in the Province, including the Opposition, that we were going to have a 3 per cent reduction in our departments across the board, but we did not want it to affect our programs. Like any institution, we have asked the university to find 3 per cent, and with the budget that the university has and the administration they have, we feel that is a reasonable request.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. A. PARSONS: Mr. Speaker, Budget 2012 has allocated $2 million less than it had committed to as part of a three-year deferred maintenance program at Memorial.

I ask the Premier: The university relies on commitments from government to plan for capital development and to engage other capital donors; how reliable are your commitments when this desperately needed funding is being pulled out from under the university?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS BURKE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We had a deferred maintenance plan for Memorial University. We anticipated it would be $12 million this year, but it is $10 million. In addition to that, Mr. Speaker, Memorial University this year will receive $40 million for their new residences, 500 beds in St. John's, and at least 200 in Corner Brook; there will also be more than $11 million to renovate the existing residences at Memorial University. Mr. Speaker, in addition to that, there will be $4.7 million for lab improvements at Memorial University.

Mr. Speaker, we are committed to that university and our money is there to help.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BENNETT: Mr. Speaker, Canada is currently negotiating a trade agreement with the European Union called CETA that is expected to be concluded later this year. There have been concerns raised about what this Province will be asked to give up, especially on the fishery.

I ask the minister: Has our Province formulated our position on the fishery and if so, have we coordinated with other fishing provinces in this country?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HUTCHINGS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the Canada-EU agreement is on the road to an agreement in terms of negotiations that are ongoing. I believe they have just completed their tenth session. Obviously, as a Province, we see great possibilities in terms of this agreement.

The hon. member mentioned fishery. Certainly, we look at the tariffs into Europe; the reduction or elimination of those tariffs is certainly priority for us. We were pleased last week to see the federal government indicating an ambitious trade agreement would see that as part of it. We certainly support that for our communities, our regions, and what it would mean for the fishery of Newfoundland and Labrador. We continue to monitor the file, engaged in the process. Our officials are fully engaged. We are looking forward to being part of a successful trade agreement.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BENNETT: Mr. Speaker, I ask the Premier: What is she doing to guarantee the Harper government will not sell out Atlantic Canada, the Atlantic Canadian fishery, like he did back in 2009 when he signed a new treaty with the EU that had been voted down by the House of Commons?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HUTCHINGS: Mr. Speaker, any agreement that we are supportive of is in the best interests of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, making sure that all our industries, it is a benefit to them. This is an agreement between twenty-seven states of the EU. It is a population of 500 million people; they have GDP in excess of $17 trillion.

Our businesses, our companies, and our people are ready to compete; they are competing on the world market. If this agreement is what Newfoundland and Labrador can support, we will be there to support it and support our businesses and all those who are exporting today and can export in the future to continue to build our economy, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BENNETT: Mr. Speaker, I ask the minister: Will he disclose to the people of the Province what the European trade negotiators are seeking from our fishery? I think that they should know what rights this Province may have to give up to the advantage of Central Canada.

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HUTCHINGS: Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his question. I note that this is a negotiation between Canada and the EU. You go to a negotiation; I am not sure if he is familiar with the process, but you do not lay everything out on the table for everybody to see what the negotiation is all about.

As I said, we are fully engaged as a Province; our officials are fully engaged. At the end of the day, the benefits for this are tremendous for Newfoundland and Labrador. We will make sure that any agreement that we support is in the best interest of Newfoundland and Labrador, the fishery, and all industries in Newfoundland and Labrador, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

I ask him to make his question very quick.

MR. BENNETT: Mr. Speaker, I appreciate that the minister may have been misled by the comments from his side. He did not actually answer the question.

I asked what are the Europeans asking, not what are we asking. What are the Europeans asking for us?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Innovation, Business and Rural Development – a quick answer, please.

MR. HUTCHINGS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I did understand the question. Once again, we are not opening the table up to what everybody wants in a free trade agreement. We are fully engaged with the chief negotiators from Canada. As I said, my officials are in touch; we are monitoring where it is going to and from in terms of across the table and what the issues are.

Once again, the fundamental issue at the end of the day is we will support any agreement which is in the best interest of Newfoundland and Labrador, continues to grow our economy, and continues to drive our industries, as we have done as a government since 2003. If that is there, and if that is on the table, Newfoundland and Labrador will support it, 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, yesterday the Premier said the MOU on the fisheries did not address structural problems in the fishery, which is one of the reasons her government rejected it. Mr. Speaker, government was a signatory to the process and was part of the process –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS MICHAEL: – from beginning to end under the direction of the Minister of Fisheries of the day

Mr. Speaker, I ask the Premier: If government thought the process was going astray, why didn't they say anything during the twenty-month, $800,000 process?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KING: Mr. Speaker, we are very familiar with the MOU and we are very familiar with why we arrived at having to have a process to develop an MOU. If members opposite had paid attention last night to the Member for Bellevue they would have gotten a real good lesson in what has happened in the fishery in the last twenty years, let alone casting aspersions and doubt on the validity of what the man said, who stood in the fishery and worked on it all his life. He shared very clearly the challenges with the fishery.

Mr. Speaker, the MOU challenges, we recognize the challenges, and government was fully engaged. The partners in the MOU process were told upfront that if they were coming for a recommendation of a cash bailout of hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayers' money and going to leave plant workers behind, we were not going to support it.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS MICHAEL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As I said, the Premier said the government rejected the MOU because it did not address structural problems in the industry. Mr. Speaker, government was an active part, as has been acknowledged, of the development of that document right from the beginning and was part of all discussions, of which there were many.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the Premier: Will she table all correspondence, including the minister's, between the signatories during the MOU process which related to worker adjustment?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KING: Mr. Speaker, I will gladly provide and offer today, to provide the member opposite with a Coles Notes abbreviated version of the MOU, because there is obviously something missing. Either it has not been read by the member opposite, or certainly not the MOU that we are working from.

Mr. Speaker, let's be very clear. There were four or five key ingredients in the MOU: the Lobster Sustainability Program, done; the fish plant worker adjustment program, done; the investment in technology and fisheries adjustment strategies, done; the investment in marketing in this Province, in process; and the Fisheries Loan Guarantee Program, stay tuned.

Mr. Speaker, the only thing that was not done was what we said upfront that we were not going to do, was put hundreds of millions of dollars into the pockets of harvesters and not look at the plant workers.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS MICHAEL: Mr. Speaker, I suggest that after all the times I have been told that I have not read the MOU –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS MICHAEL: – I would like to point out to everybody watching this House I have read the MOU more than once. This minister has to realize that doing that is not getting them anywhere. Mr. Speaker, I asked for certain documentation, it has not been offered to me.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS MICHAEL: So we will go the route to get that documentation, Mr. Speaker, because worker adjustment was one of the big issues. The correspondence on worker adjustment is important, Mr. Speaker, and I will get that information.

Mr. Speaker, right now I want to know why this government is not holding a high-level meeting with all stakeholders to talk about how we are going to move forward with regard to the structure of our fishery, not cherry-picking, but the structure?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KING: Mr. Speaker, there is absolutely no reason for the Leader of the Third Party to get upset with me and shout at me, I can hear very clearly what she is saying. I am merely pointing out to her the inaccuracies of the statements that she is making relative to the MOU process.

Now, people in this House, I think, are getting a very clear picture of the fishing policy of the Third Party, Mr. Speaker. We have already heard about the fishing gravy policy, which no one understands who grew up in rural Newfoundland and Labrador. We are hearing now that the member has no idea of the initiatives that the MOU and the partners to that support, because she is the only one who is not accepting that we are doing the things that the industry asked us to do.

So, Mr. Speaker, I am not sure what else to say to the member, except once again, I will provide you with a brief to help you clearly understand what it is all about.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Leader of the Third Party.

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

Mr. Speaker, if the minister answered my questions I might not have to ask him again.

Mr. Speaker, something has to happen, the Premier is letting rural Newfoundland crumble. Unfortunately, government's mismanagement is not limited to the beleaguered fishing industry. Yesterday, the Premier issued an ultimatum to Kiewit, giving them a week to make a deal to build a third ferry in Marystown. Mr. Speaker, this is an ultimatum levelled at workers.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the Premier: What plan does she have for the workers of Marystown if Kiewit calls her bluff?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am going to say to the Leader of the Third Party, an excursion around the bay once a year will not tell you about the reality of lives in rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Now, Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House the majority of MHAs come from rural districts, and if she wants to know what we do about communities that are in trouble, Mr. Speaker, I refer her to Stephenville, Grand Falls-Windsor, Hermitage, Harbour Breton, Belleoram, Mr. Speaker, we can go –

AN HON. MEMBER: Arnold's Cove.

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Arnold's Cove - when this government did not have a copper, Mr. Speaker, when we were facing bankruptcy we found $3.5 million to buy quota to save the plant in Arnold's Cove, Mr. Speaker, when we did not get one phone call from the people across the way.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. KIRBY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. KIRBY: Our office gets regular calls from desperate parents whose children have autism spectrum disorder. They tell us that students are –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

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

MR. KIRBY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

These parents tell us that students with autism are not getting the support they need in school; as a result, they are falling behind in key achievement areas such as reading and mathematics.

Will the Minister of Education tell us what this government is going to do to support students with autism in our schools? What is the plan to help these students, Mr. Speaker?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN: Mr. Speaker, I could speak to the $15 million we have put into special education services, but I will speak specifically to autism. Since 2009, we have put $1 million into working with autistic students in our schools.

Just about a month ago we had a renowned world expert who spoke to seventy-four teachers within our school system. Mr. Speaker, that is all about providing supports and better educational opportunities for the autistic students in our Province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. KIRBY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Parents and teachers are at their wits' end trying to support students with autism. They are counting on this government to deliver on their promise of inclusive education. So far we have seen very little – very little in the way of new supports for students with autism.

Mr. Speaker, when is this government going to admit its dismal failure to provide services to students with autism, and when is it going to get serious about helping these students get the supports they need?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN: Mr. Speaker, it is too bad, it is really too bad the member opposite has not taken the time to go to some of the schools.

The Member for St. John's Centre and I went to Bishops College just a little over a week ago where they won an Inclusion Award, Mr. Speaker, for their initiatives within the school system. That is one school that is an example of many across this Province who provide quality, inclusive education for the students of our Province. He should take the time to look at some of the practices that are being carried out.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. MITCHELMORE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, every season 30,000 people come from all over the world to visit L'Anse aux Meadows, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Government widely promotes the opportunity to discover the mysteries of this magical place; unfortunately, visitors also discover that they are cut off from their worlds as there is no cellular or broadband coverage.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Recreation: What is his plan to fix this unacceptable situation?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister Responsible for Labrador Affairs, and the Voluntary and Non-Profit Sector.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. McGRATH: Mr. Speaker, we are very aware of the amount of people that visit L'Anse aux Meadows and many other areas in our Province. We are working very closely with the feds; through our work with them we realize that the broadband is not there. We will continue to work with them and improve on it. We already made announcements just a little while ago, an announcement of $24 million for broadband within the Province, so we are working on that.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. MITCHELMORE: Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Recreation says his department is developing a tourism-related mobile app in recognition that 80 per cent of visitors now use a mobile device. Certainly this is timely and innovative. There is no cellphone coverage or broadband coverage at L'Anse aux Meadows, this UNESCO World Heritage site.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the minister: Why would the government develop the software but not provide the basic supporting infrastructure?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HUTCHINGS: Mr. Speaker, I reiterated here before in the House our commitment to telecommunications, in particular high-speed Internet, over the past number of years, and the commitment we have made since coming to power – an increase of 312 per cent. We will continue to do that.

Mr. Speaker, last fall I had an opportunity to make an announcement that saw upgrades on the Northern Peninsula, certainly in Labrador, on the South Coast, and in Central Newfoundland and Labrador. In October we made the commitment to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador; obviously they accepted what we put out to them. We are sitting here as the government and we said to them that we would continue to move in the next four years in continuing to increase high-speed Internet around the Province.

In addition, Mr. Speaker, we worked with service providers for cellphone coverage to see what we could do in terms of building that capacity.

The issue here, Mr. Speaker, is this is a federally regulated industry. There are private service providers; they need to come to us and partner with us. When they do and when it is in the best interest of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians and we can make a case to do it, we will be there, but it is the private sector and the federal regulators need to (inaudible).

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Member for St. John's East, for a very quick question.

MR. MURPHY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yesterday in the House the minister referred to an investment in defibrillators as part of a strategic investment towards heart health in the Province. The minister refers to these as being an excellent investment –

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The time for Question Period has now expired.

MR. SPEAKER: This being Private Members' Day and according to Standing Order 63(7), I now call upon the Member for Mount Pearl South to introduce the private member's motion that stands on the Order Paper in his name.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. LANE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I move the following private member's motion, seconded by the Member for Port au Port:

WHEREAS over the course of the next ten years, Newfoundland and Labrador is projected to see some 70,000 job openings; and

WHEREAS our government since 2003 has laid the foundation for this growth by commissioning and delivering on both the White Paper on Public Post-Secondary Education and the Skills Task Force to prepare our people; and

WHEREAS our government, since the release of the Skills Task Force Report in 2007, has invested approximately $95 million in the areas of apprenticeship, science and technology, training and infrastructure; and

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. LANE: WHEREAS Budget 2012 invests $4.1 million in new funding to support the following initiatives to advance apprenticeship opportunities and support women and other under-represented groups in skilled trades in Newfoundland and Labrador, including, 1) a Journeyperson Mentorship Program to help increase the number of certified journeypersons available to provide required workplace training for apprentices; 2) expansion of the Apprenticeship Wage Subsidy Program that helps provide work experience to apprentices, with a focus on first and second-year apprentices including those from under-represented groups such as women and persons with disabilities; and 3) registration of pre-apprentices in an Apprentice Tracking System to assist students completing entry-level skilled trades programs to secure employment and progress to journeyperson status; and

WHEREAS Budget 2012 also invests $200,000 to establish the Workforce Development Secretariat, which will focus on ensuring that labour market policies and programs are strategically aligned to develop and deploy a highly trained and skilled workforce that can meet evolving labour market demands; and

WHEREAS a further $10.8 million in federal funding administered by our government through the Labour Market Development Agreement and Labour Market Agreement will support training and programs such as the Apprenticeship Wage Subsidy and the Office to Advance Women Apprentices; and

WHEREAS our government has extended the public post-secondary tuition fee freeze in 2012-2013, expanded the Student Financial Assistance Program to increase the study period exemption from $50 per week to $100 per week, and continued the up-front, needs-based grants and the interest-free student loans as part of its progressive commitment to provide students in this Province with the best student aid program in the country; and

WHEREAS our government is also investing to expand programs such as Memorial University's Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science and the oceans sector of the Marine Institute, while also investing in new and improved infrastructure at our public post-secondary institutions;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that this hon. House supports the initiatives the provincial government is taking to prepare Newfoundlanders and Labradorians for career opportunities in the skilled trades in our Province.

Mr. Speaker, it certainly is my pleasure to stand in this hon. House to speak to this motion. As has been outlined by my colleagues over the last number of days in the Budget discussions, and certainly as I outlined when I had my first opportunity to speak on the Budget, we all know that once this government came into power in 2003, Mr. Speaker, we were practically on the verge of bankruptcy. Thanks to strategic planning and thanks to making investments in our future, this government has turned the corner and Newfoundland and Labrador has certainly turned the corner for sure.

We have seen tremendous growth, Mr. Speaker, in our economy. As I said, it is in large part due to strategic investments that we have made in creating a climate in which business can thrive in Newfoundland and Labrador. It is also due to a number of great deals that this Province has signed to bring this wealth to our Province. It just does not happen overnight. There was a lot of work, there was a lot of strategy involved, and there was a lot of planning on our part. We were able to sit down and negotiate deals, which were in the best interest of Newfoundland and Labrador. We have seen that in oil and gas, we have seen that in mineral exploration, and so on, Mr. Speaker.

Throughout that process, we have certainly engaged all of the stakeholders and we have ensured that all of these investments we have made and all of these deals which we have struck have been done so that we can maximize the value to Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. We have seen that, Mr. Speaker, in terms of the royalties we have received as a result of these great deals, royalties that we could take and invest in our Province, in our infrastructure, in our schools, in our hospitals, and so on. We have also seen us step up as a Province and as a people and take an equity stake in our natural resources. That is bringing even more additional revenues to this Province.

One of the other areas, Mr. Speaker, where we have benefited from these deals that we have signed and will continue to sign in the future, is that we have ensured the maximum employment opportunities for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador. We certainly see the benefits in terms of the activity that is occurring and the jobs that Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are currently enjoying. We have seen this, Mr. Speaker, whether it be in the oil and gas industry, we are seeing it at Voisey's Bay, we are seeing it at Long Harbour, we are seeing it at Come By Chance, we are seeing in Labrador West, and the list goes on. These are very high-paying professional jobs, Mr. Speaker, and it is great to see.

Mr. Speaker, in addition to that we have seen an awful lot of spin off come our way as a result of these deals which we have signed. You look no further than here on the Avalon, but it is not just the Avalon. If you look around the Avalon, look in the St. John's area, the Mount Pearl area in my district, and you look at all the development that is occurring. If you look in the downtown in terms of retail shops opening up and the construction associated with that. If you look at new hotels going up, Mr. Speaker, you look at all the residential growth that we are seeing. All the people who are being employed as a result of that, Mr. Speaker, it is absolutely phenomenal, and we are seeing it all throughout the Province.

We are also seeing a lot of public investment which is also creating jobs, Mr. Speaker, in terms of the highways, water and sewer jobs all across the Province and in all of the municipalities. There is no doubt, Mr. Speaker, that we are seeing a boom in employment in this Province.

Mr. Speaker, as great a boom as this is, we have only just begun. This is just the beginning, and we are anticipating that we are going to see a lot more growth into the future, Mr. Speaker. That is why this government had a vision when it came into power in 2003. That is why we saw the Skills Task Force put into place in 2006, where we actually went across the Province, we engaged with the general public, we engaged with communities, we engaged with industry, we engaged with labour, Mr. Speaker, to find out what we could do to prepare ourselves for the boom that we knew was going to occur here in Newfoundland and Labrador.

As a result of that, Mr. Speaker, in 2007 there was a report issued by the Skills Task Force. There were a number of recommendations, Mr. Speaker. As a result of that, we as a government since 2007, have continued to invest into areas such as the skilled trades which is really what this private member's motion is all about – into the skilled trades so that we could prepare our people, Mr. Speaker, to take advantage of all of the prosperity, all of the employment opportunities which were going to occur here in Newfoundland and Labrador.

As a government, Mr. Speaker, we are actually projecting 70,000 new jobs over the next ten years – that is 70,000 new jobs. That is in addition to all the prosperity we currently see. All the jobs that are currently here in Newfoundland and Labrador, we are expecting 70,000 new jobs, and these are all going to be very good paying jobs, Mr. Speaker.

So, Mr. Speaker, as a result of that, it is important that investments be made. Mr. Speaker, we have seen, as a government, the importance of investing in education to help prepare us for that, and also the importance of, in particular, investing into the skilled trades. That is why, Mr. Speaker, since the release of the report in 2007, this government has invested $95 million, I am going to say it again, in apprenticeship, science and technology, training, and infrastructure; and in particular, post-secondary infrastructure.

That is why, Mr. Speaker, in Budget 2012 we are investing an additional $4.1 million in new funding. Those are going to support three key programs, as was outlined in the motion. The first one, Mr. Speaker, is the Journeyperson Mentorship Program. This program aims at increasing the number of journeypersons which are going to be available to provide workplace training for apprentices. When people decide they want to get into the skilled trades, obviously there is an educational piece that they have to enter into first, initially. Then they need to get their on the job training, and that is done over a number of years. I believe there are four phases that an apprentice would go through to become a journeyperson. Mr. Speaker, as we go through that, we need to have journeypersons available in the workplace who are going to mentor these people, going to take them under their wing in the workforce to provide them with the mentorship and the training they need so that they can move on through their program and eventually become journeypersons themselves. So, that is one key investment we are making.

Another investment that is being made is the expansion of the apprenticeship wage subsidy program. That is basically an incentive program, Mr. Speaker, which would provide an incentive to employers for taking on apprentices. That is very important, as well, Mr. Speaker, that we provide those incentives so that the employers out there will take on these new apprentices so that they can achieve their journeyperson status.

The third initiative, Mr. Speaker, relates to the registration of pre-apprentices in an Apprentice Tracking System. This is a tracking system that is going to be put in place so we can, first of all, assist students in completing their entry-level skilled trades programs. It is also going to assist them in getting job placements, Mr. Speaker, and getting them connected with journeypersons that are going to give them that on-the-job experience. It is also going to progress them right through their various stages of apprenticeship so again, at the end of the day, we will have more skilled journeypersons in place to be able to take a number of the these jobs which are going to be coming available.

Mr. Speaker, Budget 2012 also invests an additional $200,000 in the establishment of the Workforce Development Secretariat. This secretariat is going to be put in place to oversee labour market policies and programs and to ensure that we have the appropriate number of qualified people available for all of the various skilled trades positions which are going to come open – not just the skilled trades required today, but the skilled trades that are required into the future. This secretariat is going to be able to monitor this to make sure that we can match up the requirements in industry with the journeypersons that are going to be required to fill those positions.

Mr. Speaker, in addition to this, as is mentioned in the motion as well, we are also administering $10.8 million in federal funding. This federal funding is going to be supporting the training and it is going to be supporting the Wage Subsidy Program; in addition, Mr. Speaker, it is going to be aimed at advancing women in the skilled trades, which is very important for this government.

As a government, since we came into power, we have certainly emphasized the importance of providing opportunities for women to enter the workforce. We have recognized that women have certainly come into their own in many sectors, but one of the areas where women are still underrepresented is in the skilled trades, Mr. Speaker. Part of the targeting of this initiative is going to be putting programs into place to provide more opportunity for women to actually enter the skilled trades. I think that is absolutely fantastic, Mr. Speaker. I applaud that move, for sure. Being a father of two daughters myself, I am so appreciative that these programs are going to be in place to help assist them if they should choose to enter the skilled trades.

MR. SPEAKER: May I remind the hon. member that his time has expired.

MR. LANE: By leave, Mr. Speaker, just to clue up?

MR. SPEAKER: Just for a few moments to clue up, I understand.

I remind the member he will have fifteen minutes to clue up at the end of this debate as well.

MR. LANE: Okay, Mr. Speaker. I am going to clue up for now, but just to say that it is a tremendous program; these are investments we are making for our people, for our Province, and so proud to be able to stand up and speak to it today.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JOYCE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank you for the opportunity to stand and have a few words here on this. I just find it strange that it is coming through under the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills for an apprenticeship program to keep our brightest youth and people in Newfoundland and Labrador. When we had a chance to keep Eddy Campbell here, she did not want Eddy Campbell here. He is off in New Brunswick somewhere. If we are going to be consistent, we have to be consistent all throughout.

Mr. Speaker, we see the workforce and the apprentices program. We have been saying this since 2003. When Voisey's Bay first started, we all said that we were going to need these skilled people, we were going to need the training. From 2003 up to 2012, we have been hearing: we are doing it, we are filling it, the positions are going to be filled, we are doing the training. Now we see, we went out and hired the former AG, John Noseworthy, to develop the program in the minister's department for it. It is the kind of stuff that we see here in this motion that you just question.

I will say up front there are a lot of good things in the Budget for apprenticeship programs and for people who want advanced skills and trades.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JOYCE: I will say up front, there are a lot of good things here. There are a lot of good things. I will have some things to say that I will be voting for the motion; there may be one small amendment to it, but I will be voting for it, because I think any advancement that we have for our youth to move ahead and to keep them home, I am all for it. I will be voting for the private member's motion from the member opposite, because there are a lot of good things in it, I say to the government opposite.

Mr. Speaker, I will just go through a few things here. There is going to be 70,000 job openings; 57 per cent of these openings will be through attrition, so we need to have these positions filled. We need them. As we all know, our workforce is getting a bit older and with that number we need this done as quickly as possible so that we can fill the positions and also give a lot of our youth an opportunity to stay home, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, when we talked about the shortage – and I am glad to see that the government now is putting a bit more of a concerted effort into this apprenticeship program and into the program across Newfoundland and Labrador, because as I mentioned earlier, back in 2003 when we knew Voisey's Bay was going to go and we knew we had oil development, we knew that there was going to be a skills shortage and we knew we had to make plans. It is never too late. Sometimes you wish things had been done earlier, but I am just glad now that the government is moving ahead with it and making some positive initiatives.

I will just go through the member's motion here, "…$95 million in the areas of apprenticeships, science and technology, training and infrastructure". I guess the minister – and I am sure she will speak on this – can explain how much of this $95 million is actually going for the apprenticeship program; some may go for infrastructure, for other buildings within the department. How much is actually going for the apprenticeship programs for the people, for training, for travel, for accommodations, for developing the new programs that we are going to need in the future, look down the road five or ten years? How much of that $95 million are we going to actually be used toward it?

One of the greatest concerns of some of the people who I speak to who are trying to get in the program, is some of them are – and then I heard the Minister of Fisheries yesterday talk about how someone last year went and got his Adult Basic Education, and this year he graduated. I mean, congratulations, but in a lot of these cases – and I say to the minister, because he is well aware of it, and I say to the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills – some of these older people, they have families, they have commitments, some have mortgages, some have car payments, some have children who may be going to school or going through education. So we need to try to find some way we can increase some kind of subsidy for those people, because as we all know, the demographics are changing in Newfoundland and Labrador. A lot of people now who go back to school, if it is because they cannot find employment, or because in some cases either the fishery is failing, or other areas are failing, if they go back, they have a financial burden. I am not sure how much of this $95 million is associated with it. I am sure that there is a certain amount. If there some way that we can look at and tweak some of this for special circumstances, I say to the member to look at that so that we can ensure that some people with special circumstances, instead of just having a guideline for one, you have to fit in this box, that we could make sure that other people who have special circumstances can be helped out, because everybody needs a helping hand.

I go to the member's motion here, "… a Journeyperson Mentorship Program to help increase the number of certified journeypersons available to provide required workplace training for apprentices…" From my understanding, there is going to be about 140 who can go through this program. I would put forward that we would probably need a few more – a lot more, actually – if we are going to develop the program where we are going to need enough to carry on throughout the year. It is a great program. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the program. If we could increase it somehow, expand it, and accelerate it in some way to ensure that we can bring in more people involved.

We have here: expansion of the Apprenticeship Wage Subsidy Program. I know one of the members was out speaking at a chamber a few days ago. I know this is a concern for all of government. This is not unique to this government. This is not unique to the previous government. This is not just unique to Newfoundland and Labrador. It is to try to encourage businesses to use people coming out of school. That is a concern. It is always a concern. Even sometimes the Wage Subsidy Program is not good enough. For some reason, it is not being used enough. This is not a criticism on the government because it has been ongoing well before this government took over and it has been ongoing outside of this Province. If we could find some unique way that we can attract businesses to come in and help out people coming out of school, to give them that time they need through the apprenticeship program so they can get their hours and become journeymen.

In many occasions, we see a lot of our youth, Mr. Speaker, who have to go away to fulfill their obligations to finish their education. I am not sure what can be done. I just encourage that we all sit down and come up with some unique ways. I know there are wage subsidies put out there. I know there are a lot of initiatives put out there to try to entice businesses to hire apprentices. If there is any other way we can help, because there are a lot of youth who just have to leave and go away because of it, I encourage the government to go ahead and try to encourage business.

The other one here, and again I go back, is the "registration of pre-apprentices in an Apprentice Tracking System to assist students completing entry-level skilled trades programs to secure employment and progress to journeyperson status". We all thought that was done. Anytime there were questions, and I go way back to 2003, 2004, 2005. We thought there was a program in place. We were always told that there was a tracking system. I can even go back well before, and this is not a criticism on government. I always assumed that in the department there was always a tracking system, and obviously I was wrong. All my comments here now are not criticizing the government, it is just something that – if this is what we need here to ensure that we know what our job pool is and what we can do to help out, and as other programs and jobs come up that we can be in contact and ensure that they are following up on their apprenticeship, I say it is a great move. I think it is a great move. I will just continue on and say to the government, to continue on with it.

I see here, "WHEREAS Budget 2012 also invests $200,000 to establish the Workforce Development Secretariat, which will focus on ensuring that labour market policies and programs are strategically aligned to develop and deploy a highly trained and skilled workforce that can meet evolving labour market demands". My understanding it is going to be one person doing this? It is not? I am just wondering, is $200,000 enough to carry on with this program beyond?

This is just a question. Is this enough money to ensure that this program will be carrying on further down a number of years to ensure that it is going to be around and just not done for one year and then dropped? That is why I ask that, I say to the member and to the minister.

AN HON. MEMBER: The minister will address that.

MR. JOYCE: The minister will address that. That is good, yes. That is my concern with it.

The next one, WHEREAS the $10.8 million in federal funding. I have a little beef with that federal funding, Mr. Speaker. I know the Minister of Fisheries was involved with that, I think he was the Minister of Education at the time. When there were over 300 people who were involved, who actually started school, some of them, and assumed they were going to be approved in the schools in the trades that they put in. I heard everybody saying: oh, there was lack of funding, lack of funding.

Mr. Speaker, I went back a year prior and there was more money announced from this agreement. What tweaked me is when a person from the department sent out a memo saying you could not move money around in the department. I remember at the time there were over 330 students affected by this. I know the minister at the time stood up and was out in public, because I was on Open Line at the time, saying there was no funding for the program. If you go back a year or a year-and-a-half prior, how much money was announced for different districts around from this same agreement. When a statement came out, and I still have it in my office, whereby we can move money around in the department, it begs me to differ.

Was money moved from this department or was it just not managed properly, so that when students - some of them, Mr. Speaker, actually started school, were in school sitting down for three and four days, then getting a letter saying that – that has to stop somehow. We cannot put that many people through that, Mr. Speaker, because at the time it was very distressful on a lot of people. When you hear about the $10.8 million in federal funding, I have to question, because of this here, how it was spent. Because I know some personal circumstances of that, and I sat down with some people. I was not in government at the time, Mr. Speaker. I was a candidate at the time when this happened but I met with some people out in Corner Brook, individuals, and they were under the assumption they were going to be approved for school but they were not, Mr. Speaker. I ask the minister to ensure, well before school, if there is federal funding there for people, that they be approved. Then they will know well before the school year if they get the funding or not, so to take away the stress. I think it is a great fund. I think it has helped a lot of students. I think it will help a lot of students in the future, but that is one thing I noticed that I had to bring up.

Then I also noticed they extended the post-secondary tuition freeze in 2012-2013, a great move. I cannot do anything but compliment the government on that and I hope we continue it on for the future. That is a good move. The $50 per week to $100 per week; again, as I mentioned earlier, it is a subsidy for people. Mr. Speaker, study period exemption; that is good. It is a good program to help students out. Again, I am just glad the government is in a financial position to help out because we need to help all of our students who can go and provide the training that they need.

Mr. Speaker, I have to bring this up, and it was brought to my attention. This is a prime example of some of the issues that we are facing. We have carpenters working in government - and I will use Western Memorial, for example - carpenters at Western Memorial who are trying to get a pay scale from the government, what their pay scale is, but out in the private sector they are getting paid over $10 an hour less in the public institutions than they are in the private institutions. What is happening, Mr. Speaker, and you see it more and more, is that a lot of these people who are in these skills in the public sector are leaving their positions and either going out west or trying – so a lot of the public institutions just are not getting the skilled people that we need, and the highly trained ones, because there is a gap – about a $10 or $11 –

MR. SPEAKER: I remind the member that his time has expired.

MR. JOYCE: By leave, just to clue up?

AN HON. MEMBER: By leave.

MR. SPEAKER: By leave.

MR. JOYCE: There is about a $10 or $11 gap, Mr. Speaker, in that. So, I do not know what the minister can do for that, because it is a government program. I know that these people out there working, these journeymen working, the carpenters working in Corner Brook, are actually trying to get a copy of their pay scale and they cannot even get it. There was a new pay scale that was developed by government and they cannot even get a copy. I know they are $10 less than the public – $10 or $11.

The last thing I will bring up – and I do not know if this is possible because of the skills shortage – the private institutions that are in Newfoundland and Labrador, if we can attach them somehow until we get caught up, instead of the public institutions, to get caught up, because there are lot of private institutions out there that can help out to help us with the crunch that we are in now for the skilled trades. The minister would have that information, but that is just an option if there is any way that we can tap into that to bring us along until we get to the level were we can graduate enough students.

So, Mr. Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to speak. I will be voting for this here, because there are some good things in this private member's motion that will help a lot of apprentices, and a lot of people in Newfoundland and Labrador. I will be voting for it. I just say to the government: Just ensure that when students come through that we can do everything we can to bring them along and not set up roadblocks. Let's help them all through.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I am extremely happy to stand and speak to this particular motion. I am happy to see that the Member for Bay of Islands is supporting our motion here today, Mr. Speaker, and it only makes good sense because this is a great motion. When we are talking about supporting the young people of Newfoundland and Labrador, it makes great sense that we work together in this House of Assembly, and that all parties support the young people of Newfoundland and Labrador, Mr. Speaker. The initiatives that the provincial government has proposed, is proposing, and has already implemented in Newfoundland and Labrador for career opportunities in the skilled trades of this Province, I think are commendable, and I am really happy to be able to stand and speak to them.

Mr. Speaker, our Province, as all would know, is a Province of great opportunity. It is a Province that has a great and prosperous outlook for the future for our children and our grandchildren. I am reminded every time I speak and every time I have conversation with my own colleagues that we come to this House and our primary focus, Mr. Speaker, is on ensuring that the people of Newfoundland and Labrador are well looked after, but particularly in ensuring that our children and grandchildren are going to have a future in this Province. That is one of the things we are able to do when we provide for them good education and good opportunities. The skilled trades are one of those exceptional opportunities. In this Province, we are very happy to be able to acknowledge the fact that there is a lot of growth, there is a lot of advancement, and there is much opportunity for our children and grandchildren. This is a Province, Mr. Speaker, that is being watched nationally and internationally, and sets a mark on the stage that is unprecedented in our history in terms of leadership, in terms of sound decision making around fiscal policy, and around supporting Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. What we are debating here today, Mr. Speaker, is another example of that leadership.

We heard much debate yesterday, for those of you who were able to tune in yesterday, and talk about the good things that are happening here in Newfoundland and Labrador. We heard much debate about all that is good and all of the opportunities that exist. That is why preparation that we are doing around skilled trades is so important, Mr. Speaker. I would just like to highlight for a couple of seconds if I could, because I do not want to lose too much time from talking about skilled trades and those opportunities, the reason why the opportunities exist, some markers, and some of the things that show us that in Newfoundland and Labrador we need to ensure we are looking after our skilled trades and that we are looking after apprenticeship opportunities as well.

It comes from our economic indicators in this Province, and they are vast. Our Real GDP growth, Mr. Speaker, is 4.3 per cent. It is the one of the highest among all provinces in this country. Investments increased by 21.9 per cent to $7.4 billion. Mr. Speaker, that is due in large part to the developments of our major infrastructure projects here in Newfoundland and Labrador. Those are areas, Mr. Speaker, where we need our young people. Those are areas where we need our apprentices, where we need our journeypersons, and where we need our skilled trades.

Our construction industry, Mr. Speaker, has posted record levels of employment, but also of reinvestment, again, a testimony to the fact that our skilled trades people are in demand. Exports grew by 2 per cent. Employment grew, Mr. Speaker, by 2.7 per cent to reach 225,000 participating in the labour market this year. That is pretty impressive as well.

We can look at other things such as the average weekly earnings and disposable incomes and so on, but I would like to talk as well about the mineral industry in this Province. Mineral shipments - I think Newfoundlanders and Labradorians will be encouraged to hear this – increased by 22 per cent to $4.6 billion. That is the highest shipment value, Mr. Speaker, on record. Mr. Speaker, all of this points to, and I can go on, I have pages of information that I could bring to your attention, but all of this points to the fact that there is a demand and a need for us to ensure that we have skilled trades persons, that we have apprentices, that we have journeypersons out there who are going to be able to step up to the task and are going to be ready to help us as this Province continues to grow here in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Mr. Speaker, it was referenced earlier that 70,000 positions are going to be required within the next ten years. It bears repeating, 70,000 is an astronomical number of positions that we are going to be looking for. Again, it came about as a result of good, responsible management here in the Province, certainly of our natural resources, and certainly came about as a result of our investments in many of the megaprojects here, but, Mr. Speaker, it is also indicative of our retirement. We have a large number of retirees, of older workers. About 12,000 I think of our opportunities will come from there.

When we take a look at what the needs are, if we look at JOBSinNL, which is a wonderful Web site. If there are members here who have not used that, JOBSinNL is a wonderful, wonderful Web site that allows our people to go in there and post their resumes, it allows the employers to advertise there and it allows the instant link between the two. That will show us the demand is out there. If we look at any of the evening papers, we can see that demand is out there and so on.

Mr. Speaker, from time to time there are barriers that have been presented to our young apprentices and our journeypersons, particularly to our apprentices, and I think we have to address those. We have to talk about those as well because good planning ensures that we take a look across the whole spectrum and ensure that we have filled all gaps, if you will. So it is important to address the barriers, too.

One of the greatest barriers that we faced here was the global recession of 2008. I think we can all recall that time, but it was certainly a time when significant investment was made into our infrastructure projects and that helped generate many trade opportunities here for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. Mr. Speaker, quite often what was happening because of the recession is that our younger and inexperienced apprentices were competing with older, experienced apprentices who are now out of work as a result of that global recession. That certainly was one of the barriers that was faced and is something that we came to terms with and came to understand. I recall from my own time, which was around about 2009, being in the former Department of HRLE, those were some of the conversations that were held. How do I compete out there with these older and more experienced apprentices?

Another barrier that existed for us had to do with journeypersons on staff already and the necessity of them supervising and mentoring. Well, Mr. Speaker, we know, we understand that when there are projects on the go, when there are time sensitive projects on the go, it is very difficult sometimes to supervise and to mentor and so on; therefore, journeypersons were sometimes reluctant to take on apprentices. Mr. Speaker, we recognize that. We put programs in place to help that, Mr. Speaker, and I think we have seen some results from that which would indicate to us now that apprentices are being taken in, in these situations and we are able to move forward. Sometimes there was an unwillingness as well, when we look back to those early years when we were trying to make sure that we were able to move forward and analyzing the kinds of initiatives that we needed to put in place. Sometimes we realized as well that there was a little lack of enthusiasm, if we can say it that way, or an unwillingness to hire the inexperienced worker. Again, we stepped up to the plate and we put in place projects and programs and services that could help in those sorts of initiatives as well.

Major construction, Mr. Speaker, brings with it a whole wealth of opportunities, but generally speaking the major construction projects that have existed out there have been with time constraints as well. We are anxious to get major projects done and done well, so sometimes people who bid and win those contracts do not have the time to invest in apprentices learning as they go. Mr. Speaker, once again, this government stepped up. We provided opportunities, and I think we have seen some of the results of that now.

Mr. Speaker, I want to talk about, not just the barriers. My colleagues who will speak after me are going to talk about some of the actions to date that have increased those apprentice employments and they will talk to the initiatives that were implemented in some detail, so I do not want to do that. I want to move forward and talk about a couple of the other points that I think are really important in terms of how we have dealt with and how we have positioned every Newfoundlander and Labradorian to make a difference and to be able to be part of the labour market here in Newfoundland and Labrador in terms of apprentices and in terms of skilled trades.

In terms of education, Mr. Speaker, it is important to note that we had at one time very few seats in our colleges in Newfoundland and Labrador that were dedicated to apprentices, but in 2006 we created 939 new seats in the skilled trades at the College of the North Atlantic. In 2010, we created another 1,369 seats at the College of the North Atlantic. Mr. Speaker, my college in Grand Falls – Windsor, or at least the college in Grand Falls – Windsor - I get pretty attached to it – was one of those areas. I am really happy to report that in answer to some of the difficulties that were being experienced out there in terms of skilled trades, but also in recognition of the fact that Grand Falls-Windsor had at that time a large surplus of people who had been laid off from Abitibi Consolidated, one of the initiatives that was put in place in Grand Falls-Windsor was to construct and develop programs and to open up a new convertible skilled trades section for the College of the North Atlantic.

Mr. Speaker, that new skilled and convertible trades area is open; there are two programs running in it right now. From every bit of feedback I get, it is being met with a lot of positive success, Mr. Speaker. Fifty-six per cent of our seats in terms of the training of skilled trades are now offered in our private colleges. Right throughout Newfoundland and Labrador, opportunities are existing.

Mr. Speaker, I want to speak as well about opportunities for women in the skilled trades, because it is a very important part of who we are in this government. We are about providing opportunity for everyone, Mr. Speaker, for all people in Newfoundland and Labrador. I will speak to two things. I want to speak about opportunities for women in skilled trades; I also want to speak about opportunities for Aboriginals within our skilled trades area and other persons who are vulnerable and quite often have difficulty attaching to the labour market.

Let me start with women in the skilled trades. Partnerships we have created in terms of organizations such as the Women in Resource Development Committee and programs such as Techsploration have really paid dividends for us, Mr. Speaker.

I want to speak a little about the Techsploration program. It is a program that I have had opportunity to witness and see in action in a couple of sites. I have seen it in a tour that I did in Stephenville. I have actually had opportunity to go and visit with the young participants. These are young children, aged – I do not want to nail down an age, but they would be elementary to junior high students who are learning a little bit about the skilled trades by doing some hands-on work; a tremendous program, Mr. Speaker, that is, I am sure, making a difference to us and opening up the trades to women.

Female participation in the Futures in Skilled Trades and Technology Program in K to 12 in our schools, Mr. Speaker – and I know that first hand; I get opportunity to be in and out of our schools. As a former teacher, I am very aware of the programming and the curriculum within our high schools and within our junior high schools. This particular piece of curriculum is valued.

Contracts awarded are valued at $700,000 to the Office to Advance Women Apprentices. The IBEW – over the last three years anyway, Mr. Speaker – have really helped promote and enhance placements for women within the skilled trades area as well.

I had some opportunity last year in my former portfolio in Innovation, Trade and Rural Development at that time to go out to the college of carpenters and millwrights in Paradise and see some of that work in action, see some of the women who are there, and see the work that is happening. I spoke to one young lady who was studying at that time to be a carpenter. What she was able to tell me and the excitement that she was able to show around where she was with her program and what we can expect of her as she moves into the workplace, Mr. Speaker, was truly phenomenal. I think the MHA for Topsail was with us that day as well. It was really and truly an inspiring experience to hear what that lady had to say to us about that program.

There are a number of other programs that we could talk about in terms of opportunities for women within the skilled trades. Mr. Speaker, I would be remiss if I did not mention how actively our former Premier and our former Minister of Natural Resources and now Premier have been in terms of the energy resource-based companies in this Province. In a first for this Province, in an offshore development, the Hebron Benefits Agreement requires the development and implementation of a Gender Equity and Diversity Program for the Hebron Project. That is a first, Mr. Speaker. That is something that is the envy of many provinces right across this country.

Mr. Speaker, I am going to talk a little bit as well about support for Aboriginals. Through the Labrador Aboriginal Training Partnership, approximately $30 million was invested to provide Aboriginal people in Labrador with increased employment opportunities, another exceptionally good program, especially as we see some further developments happening in Labrador that are going to task upon us the requirement to ensure we have a skilled labour force there. Mr. Speaker, that program, the LATP, has also successfully delivered a total of 1,558 training interventions and 258 training recipients have found employment, with approximately 75 per cent of those individuals working in the trade that they had studied.

Mr. Speaker, I realize my time is done, if I could just have a minute to clue up.

MR. SPEAKER (Verge): Order, please!

Does the minister have leave?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: By leave.

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

MS SULLIVAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the Department of Advanced Education and Skills will continue to work with the Labrador Aboriginal Training Partnership as well to advocate for federal resources in order to secure those educational opportunities and training opportunities for Aboriginal people.

Mr. Speaker, again I make reference to our Gender Equity and Diversity plan in the Hebron agreement where we saw opportunities for women. Mr. Speaker, written in that agreement as well, we will see opportunities to provide training and recruitment for other disadvantaged groups. Particularly we talk about those people with disabilities within our communities, who have so much to offer and can do so much valuable work for us. Mr. Speaker, again, if I had more time there is so much more I could talk about.

The bottom line is that in Newfoundland and Labrador there are tremendous opportunities. We are on the cusp of great things, greater things than we have already achieved, Mr. Speaker. We are in the process of preparing a workforce to ensure – continuing to prepare, Mr. Speaker, this is not something that we have just started. We are continuing to prepare a workforce to ensure that the opportunities for our children, our grandchildren, are in good hands, and that this Province continues to prosper. I am very happy, Mr. Speaker, to support this motion.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I recognize the Member for St. John's North.

MR. KIRBY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am pleased to speak on this resolution, and what a resolution it is. It is quite the laundry list of program spending. This is a government that likes to make lists of spending, but it is not a government that always likes to keep its promises, Mr. Speaker. I know the resolution references student loan policy. Just a few months ago during the election, the Premier said she would phase out the student loan program and replace it with grants. Should she be elected, she would phase out the grant program over four years, and that was her promise.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. KIRBY: Just a few weeks before the Budget, Mr. Speaker, the Premier and the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills, they went to a photo op down at MUN and they repeated the very same promise, that they would phase out the student loan program and replace it with grants. When the Budget was finally delivered, there was no mention of that promise at all. It was completely forgotten. That is not the only thing that was forgotten either. Because the Premier and the minister, who just a few weeks before were lining up for a photo opportunity with students – well, this year they even forgot to invite the students to the Budget lockup. I believe that is the first year in the almost ten years that the Conservatives have been in power that students have not gotten an invitation to the Budget lockup. I think that is a real shame that a government promises one thing when it is convenient, and forgets about those promises when it is convenient for them. So it is shameful, Mr. Speaker.

There is no doubt that post-secondary education –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. KIRBY: – and training is more accessible today in this Province than it was just a generation ago. More than one government, Mr. Speaker, has played a part in that, but we cannot continue –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Speaker is having trouble hearing the Member for St. John's North. I would ask all members for their co-operation.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Member for St. John's North.

MR. KIRBY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Member for Burin – Placentia West says that there is no Oz, but I sat here quietly and let the others across the way have their opportunity to speak. I would appreciate if the heckling gallery across the way would give me an opportunity to say the few words that I have, Mr. Speaker.

As I was saying, we cannot continue to use the approaches of the past if we are going to increase participation in the system further to move beyond where we are now. It will not happen and that goes for apprenticeships, and that goes really for any college or university program in this Province. Here in Newfoundland and Labrador right now, the baby boom generation is moving quickly towards their retirement years. At the same time, we have a population of high school graduates that is declining every year. We have to increase participation in education and training for important economic and labour market reasons. We fail this task, Mr. Speaker, at our peril. We need only consider labour market projections that project that within ten years the majority of jobs that are going to be created, the new jobs in Newfoundland and Labrador are going to require some level of education and training, some two-thirds of the new jobs to be created.

We have recently experienced the impact of inaction on this front, and it has serious implications. The skilled labour shortages that we are seeing right now have sent a ripple effect throughout the provincial economy. They are standing in the way of improvements in worker productivity, they are reducing our economic competitiveness as a result, and they continue to discourage, firms, companies from relocating in this Province. Unless something is done, skilled labour shortages in this Province will continue to discourage firms, companies, from investing in Newfoundland and Labrador. They will prevent employers from hiring new workers. In the case of health care, Mr. Speaker, skilled labour shortages are impacting on the quality and accessibility of care. We have to have creative planning in any new strategies or policies to increase –

MS SULLIVAN: A point of order, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Minister of Health and Community Services, on a point of order.

MS SULLIVAN: Mr. Speaker, I would ask that he give some specific examples, the Member for St. John's North, as to the quality issues that have been created by skilled trades shortages as he describes them in the health care system.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

There is no point of order.

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

MR. KIRBY: I said skilled labour shortages, Mr. Speaker. Of course when there are not physicians in communities that impacts on the quality and accessibility of care. I am talking about –

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. KIRBY: Yes, that is right, labour shortages.

If the approaches that government have used in the past worked, they would be working now, so we need to have new approaches. With respect to apprenticeship in particular there are many ways that we can improve and modernize the system, but first we really need to get a better sense of how the system is actually functioning. One of the reasons why we do not have a greater number of journeypersons to supervise apprentices in the Province right now is that many apprentices do not complete their certificate of qualification. They do not end up writing the Red Seal exam.

As I understand from sitting in and asking questions of the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills in the Estimates Committee, this government in fact does not even have an official definition of what constitutes successful completion of apprentices. There is no definition of the ideal period of time that an apprentice should take to complete their training. That is the sort of detail that we need. Obviously we are going to know the rate of completion for apprentices; we will need to know how to count and calculate those completions. That would be a good place to start, Mr. Speaker.

We know there are a variety of barriers to completion for apprentices. There was a survey done here in Newfoundland and Labrador in 2003, I believe, Mr. Speaker, that found that almost one-third of women who did not complete their apprenticeship did not complete because of family-related responsibilities. In the same survey, only 8 per cent of men gave that reason in comparison, so obviously child care, home care, and elder care play a role in completion for women. That needs to be considered in any plans for modernization and expansion.

Another problem that we have is that we export a lot of journeypersons. Many of them are working out of the Province or leave altogether, so they are unavailable to train apprentices here. They are training apprentices in Alberta, in Saskatchewan, in the Territories, in other parts of the country, and other places in the world. They are lost to our system entirely. We need to find a way to retain them, keep them in the Province.

In some cases apprentices actually believe that they will be penalized if they complete their certification, that they might lose their job because their employer is reluctant to pay an increased salary. Many apprentices believe that. Many journeypersons tell us that one route to increasing the number of skilled tradespeople in Newfoundland and Labrador is introducing more compulsory trades; I understand right now there is only one compulsory trade and that is the electrician trade, I believe the minister said in Estimates. This is one route to increasing the number of apprentices, increasing the participation of employers, and increasing the number of apprentices who actually successfully complete their programs.

As I suggested to the minister in Estimates, I would also encourage the government to look at expanding the numbers of designated trades currently available in the Province, the numbers of plans of training that exist for designated trades. I think we should also consider increasing the number of trades that can actually be trained for here in Newfoundland and Labrador, because some trades are recognized here in Newfoundland and Labrador, they are designated, but the training for those trades is not actually delivered at the College of the North Atlantic or one of the private training institutions.

Government has introduced an Apprenticeship Wage Subsidy Program in an effort to attract more apprentices and I applaud that, but the uptake really has been modest so far. If the target of 500 that the department has this year is really going to be achieved, I would suggest that the department, the government, needs to be more assertive in marketing that program to potential apprentices and potential employers who might participate in the apprenticeship program.

Another idea that has been adopted in other provinces is the idea of combining apprenticeship certification with a college technician or technology diploma program, mapping the curriculum together. These dual-credential programs provide training in the apprenticeship competencies, but they also see that students receive the college-level instruction that they need to achieve college-level program outcomes. It nicely combines two different programs. This is another innovative approach, a different approach that could encourage more youth to enter and complete skilled trades training.

If we are going to deal with the ongoing skill shortages that we have, we will also have to do a better job of providing training opportunities for disadvantaged and under-represented groups. We have to increase participation levels of people in our outport communities and our more isolated communities. People in our outport and rural communities and people in Labrador often cannot access training opportunities. That is mostly because the distance to the nearest institution or the nearest facility that is providing training is a barrier and is too far to go.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. KIRBY: In many cases, potential students face other issues. We will need, for example, to increase participation levels for people with low literacy, for Aboriginal people, for people with a disability, and also for older learners. I think we also have to consider the challenges of visible minorities, immigrants, homeless families and individuals, and those who live in inner-city neighbourhoods here in the City of St. John's. We should also recognize that issues such as lack of academic preparation, poverty, inadequate housing, racism and discrimination, substance abuse, and other barriers also exist. In the end, this lack of access to post-secondary education and training limits their participation in our society.

What about the situation faced by adult and older learners in particular? Despite all the government rhetoric about lifelong learning, we know that the adult education participation level has really remained stagnant since the end of the TAGS program in the 1990s. We also know that a large proportion of our adult population has literacy skills that are considered to be necessary to participate in the knowledge-based society and economy. There is a dire need for us to provide opportunities for older learners to improve their skills –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. KIRBY: – and get the training they need, Mr. Speaker, to enable them to more fully participate in the economy and to contribute to their communities as they would like to do.

What has this government done? Back in 2007, government announced that they would develop a strategic adult literacy plan. After five years, this government has produced no adult literacy plan, nothing. We are not talking about ABE here. We are talking about adult literacy, there is a difference. It continues to be –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

Again, the Speaker is having trouble hearing the Member for St. John's North. I ask all members again for their co-operation. I am reluctant to ask any individual member for their co-operation by naming them, but if you leave me with no other choice I will have to do that.

Let's go back to the Member for St. John's North.

MR. KIRBY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Member for the District of Grand Bank was very concerned at the beginning of this session about decorum and respect for members of the House of Assembly. Now he is here catcalling me and interrupting me across the House, Mr. Speaker. I would question that.

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

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Minister of Fisheries on a point of order.

MR. KING: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I appreciate the opportunity. Just to be clear, I was not talking about a point of decorum in the House. I was kindly offering the member some factual information to correct what he was saying. Adult Basic Education is actually free in this Province, so there are no barriers related to cost to access that.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

There is no point of order.

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KIRBY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I will conclude my comments. Obviously, Mr. Speaker, we know that government's job in this area is far from done. We have to do far more. The apprenticeship participation and completion problems that exist, they can be fixed, but they will not be fixed if government remains fixated on the policies of the past. If those policies were working, they would be working now, we would not have these problems.

We need bold new ideas. We do need visionary leaders in this Province to bring forward new ideas. We need them now; we need them now more than ever, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you very much.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS BURKE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I could hardly contain myself, because I wanted to get up and address some of the comments that we just heard from the Member for St. John's North. Before I even get into the points I want to make, I need to address some of the issues that he just talked about.

One thing that he talked about was populations in our communities who would be considered marginalized and that they do not have access to education. Let me say something, Mr. Speaker, whether we are talking post-secondary, whether we are talking Adult Basic Education, whether we are talking the K to 12 system, what this government has done to make education accessible and affordable to all residents of this Province is unprecedented.

To start with, Mr. Speaker, we have introduced free textbooks for all grades in the K to 12 system, we have eliminated school fees. Mr. Speaker, we have had a tuition freeze that costs us $183 million that we have maintained since we have come into government. Mr. Speaker, on top of that, for individuals who needed Adult Basic Education, Adult Basic Education in Newfoundland and Labrador is offered through the College of the North Atlantic and through community organizations that receive grants from the Department of Advanced Education and Skills. Mr. Speaker, for the marginalized populations who need to attend ABE, guess how much it costs?

AN HON. MEMBER: How much?

MS BURKE: Nothing.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS BURKE: When we are up trying to paint a picture in the House of Assembly, we have to be accurate about the facts and figures of what comes into education in this Province.

Mr. Speaker, the other comment I wanted to take issue with is the fact that the Member for St. John's North was standing up saying that this government has to be bold and introduce new policies. If anybody out there understands this government, or me as a minister, there is one thing we are not afraid of, and that is being bold and taking new ideas and initiatives and making them work in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS BURKE: I will also caution, and I will also throw this out as a challenge. When we make bold changes or we do things differently, the first thing we hear from an Opposition, or from the Third Party, is going to be: What do you mean you doing that? You are changing that. You cannot change that. What do you mean you are going to change the way you do your funding, or you are going to allot it differently, or you are probably going to change things? Mr. Speaker, when we do things and we have to make the way we offer services in this Province, we cannot have it two ways. We cannot have the Third Party telling us to do something differently and then when we do it, to stand up and say: What do you mean you are doing it? How can you dare change something?

Mr. Speaker, the policies that we are working with right now will need to be updated in the way we do things in this Province. We have been proactive and we have had our Skills Task Force, we have had the recommendations from the Skills Task Force, and, Mr. Speaker, we have acted. So, because we see this motion on the paper today, it does not mean that this is the first time we have taken action in the area of apprenticeship or skilled trades.

Mr. Speaker, for example, the seats in the skilled trades at the College of the North Atlantic have increased by 46 per cent between 2006 and 2010. What that means, that 46 per cent means that in 2006 we had 939 seats in the skilled trades and, today, we have 1,369 seats.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS BURKE: Mr. Speaker, we have also eliminated fees to apprentices in this Province. They no longer have to pay for their registration, or their certificate renewal, or their exams. Mr. Speaker, that is important and that is a help as well.

Last year in our Wage Subsidy Program, 344 apprentices were able to find work; otherwise they would not have been able to move through the system. Mr. Speaker, we also had $5.5 million for government departments, boards, or agencies to be able to hire apprentices. Under that program, Mr. Speaker, another 100 apprentices were able to get work placements. On top of that, as we talk about the contributions and the fact we understand women have significant challenges to become apprentices at times, Memorial University participated in this program and every single apprentice hired by Memorial University was female.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS BURKE: Mr. Speaker, it is interesting to note how we go about making changes. We do not just sit back and haphazardly say what we think should happen. I heard a lot of that come from the Member for St. John's North. This government listens, we consult, and we make sure we understand what the stakeholders are saying and what they need before we institute any changes.

Mr. Speaker, on March 4 we had the opportunity to have a forum at the Sheraton Hotel. There were 300 people at that forum. Mr. Speaker, that was followed up by a forum last Friday on May 4. The forum last Friday was attended by people in Stephenville; I attended that session. My colleague, the Minister of Health and Community Services, attended a session in Grand Falls-Windsor. My colleague, the Minister of Labrador Affairs, attended a session in Lab West. Those sessions, whether in St. John's or across the Province, were attended by apprentices, by training providers, meaning our instructors either at the College of the North Atlantic or the private institutions. There were journeypersons, there were employers, and there were employees, union representatives, and representatives from industry associations. We asked a variety of questions, we got feedback, we had discussion, and we will base our policies and our changes on what we are hearing directly from the people affected by the apprenticeship program, Mr. Speaker. We are not going to sit back and make the decisions all on our own. There are a lot of challenges, but we have to make these changes.

Mr. Speaker, what is interesting to note is that in years past the people of Newfoundland and Labrador were faced with a labour shortage. That meant that the policies and the programs of the day were developed to meet the labour market demands at that time. Mr. Speaker, there were not available jobs; there were things very different in this Province. People went to the College of the North Atlantic, or they went to other post-secondary institutions at that time, including the university. Mr. Speaker, the first order of business for our young people when they graduated from their program was to leave Newfoundland and Labrador because there was no opportunity in this Province. Mr. Speaker, it is not like that today. We understand that in the next ten years there will be 70,000 job openings in Newfoundland and Labrador. We have to look at what those jobs are, what the incomes are, where they are going to be located, and how people can access that information and make informed decisions about their education.

Mr. Speaker, things change, and we realize that so what we did ten years ago, what we did fifteen, what we did twenty years ago in this Province are not current and not the way we need to do things today. One thing we all remember was the IT industry when that came on line. People trained for that, they came out of programs and everyone thought that was the way of the future. It was the way of the future, but technology changes and we have to be able to adapt. Jobs change all the time, work changes, but we need to be able to make sure that we understand that labour market and we have the available programs to meet those needs in the community, Mr. Speaker. We also want to make sure that as we move forward we bring in changes that will be appropriate. In order for us to do it, we developed the Workforce Secretariat in the Department of Advanced Education and Skills.

I know the Member for Bay of Islands asked about that and wondered if $200,000 would be enough for that. We do have one new position which is our assistant deputy minister who heads up this Workforce Secretariat, but we did not necessarily have to hire other people to form that secretariat and the work we do. We have people who are employed within the department, who have the expertise, who do the research in the labour market, are able to put the information together and be part of that secretariat. The secretariat was more to be able to bring the internal resources that we already have together so that it is a unit that works well and guides the work of the department and therefore the work of government as well.

In this year's Budget we introduced $4.1 million with regard to the apprenticeship program. Mr. Speaker, that allows us, number one, to expand the apprenticeship program and to expand the wage subsidies for the apprenticeship program in Newfoundland and Labrador. We have been told that works very well and that the employers and the apprentices themselves would like to see that expanded, and that is exactly what this funding will do.

The other thing we are going to bring in, Mr. Speaker, is a journeyperson mentorship program. I know for a fact that the Member for St. John's North asked some questions about that in Estimates. I do not think he understands what we are trying to do; he challenged it. Again, that came directly from people in the field who said that is absolutely necessary for us to look at and to try to be able to move the apprentices through their programs. That is extremely important, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS BURKE: Another initiative that we are bringing in – and there were questions asked about, well, what does that mean, the tracking system; the question was: Well, don't you already have a tracking system?

What we have right now is a registration system, so people, once they become apprentices, they register. We can go into the registration base and we can tell you how many people are registered in what profession and where they are at any particular time. It is only a registration; it does not necessarily track or be able to allow us to extract information that can assist individuals.

What we would like to do through the tracking system is be able to look at cases that are caught, that they cannot get that first job or they cannot move into their second placement. We want to be able to make sure we can identify people who experience barriers, whether it is Aboriginals, or women, or people with disabilities. If they are in the tracking system and we see they are having difficulty moving through, that is when we can intervene and help them and make sure that they are the individuals who benefit from our Wage Subsidy Program, the people who are experiencing the barriers. This new tracking system should allow us to more effectively be able not to just give numbers or registration, but be able to identify some of the issues in some of the trades in certain areas, help us intervene, and help move people through so that they can have a very successful career as a journeyperson.

Now the next question I would like to address is again from the Member for St. John's North. He just cannot seem to understand. Now, Mr. Speaker, I can give information, but I cannot make him understand what I am trying to say. He wants to know what we consider success. Well, success is when you get your journeyperson designation. That is why you go to school, that is why you do your work placements, that is why you do your block training: because you can be a journeyperson. That is what success means.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS BURKE: Mr. Speaker, success is not: oh, can you do it in two years, three years, or four years? Success means you get that designation. That is extremely important.

Mr. Speaker, the other bit of information that I want to talk about, because it is extremely important when we talk about apprenticeships or any type of post-secondary education in Newfoundland and Labrador, is our investment in the infrastructure in Newfoundland and Labrador for post-secondary education. Mr. Speaker, we realize that going to school is more than just a tuition that people pay. Sometimes people have to leave their communities. They have to move to other communities. Mr. Speaker, we are ensuring that we build that infrastructure.

We are doing renovations at Paton College at the university – $11 million this year. Forty million dollars this year for the new residences, for 500 beds in St. John's and at least 200 new beds in Corner Brook, Mr. Speaker. We are also continuing with the shop modernization of the College of the North Atlantic, extremely important, so that the people who study the skilled trades are able to use the most modern, up-to-date equipment that we can provide.

We also built a new College of the North Atlantic in Labrador West. The students in Lab West, who sometimes feel isolated because of travel, were going to an old primary school in order to study. Mr. Speaker, we put a brand-new school there to assist them, and not just the residents, but the industry that is in Labrador as well, because they certainly play a large role in the decision that the people in Labrador City and Wabush make regarding their future and their education, Mr. Speaker.

The tuition freeze again, Mr. Speaker, came with great investment from this Province. We believe fundamentally that education and the priorities for this Province are our young people.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS BURKE: When I hear comments from the Member for St. John's North that education is not accessible in Newfoundland and Labrador, I hope he takes time to look at every single province in Canada. He will soon learn that the education that the people of Newfoundland and Labrador have available to them is probably the most cost-effective place that they can study anywhere in Canada, and probably get the highest-quality education that they would get anywhere in Canada as well, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS BURKE: Mr. Speaker, this motion today is not about this government just starting to work in the area of apprentices and post-secondary education. It is an affirmation of what we have been doing. The young people, the labour market, and what is going in Newfoundland and Labrador is a cause for optimism.

Mr. Speaker, when you hear members from the Third Party get up day after day and talk about doom and gloom and negativity, and what is going on in this Province, it makes you realize that they are in a bubble and they do not understand the real environment that we have in this Province. Mr. Speaker, I challenge each and every one of them to get out into rural Newfoundland and have a look and talk to the people and never mind doing a chili tour when they get out there and understand exactly what is happening.

Mr. Speaker, to clue up, all I want to say is this government is committed to the education of the people of this Province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Member for Burgeo – La Poile.

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

It is an honour to stand and speak to this private member's resolution today. It is a fortuitous occasion here. I was supposed to speak but the Member for the Bay of Islands was so passionate about the issue that he had to get up. The Member for St. Barbe was good enough to make sure that I get to speak to this.

It is an important issue for me for two reasons; one, I am the critic for this department, being the Department of Advanced Education and Skills. The second part would be that I live in a district where we do have a College of the North Atlantic, a post-secondary institution which is such a crucial part to our district and to the Town of Channel-Port aux Basques and the Southwest Coast region.

Overall, this is a good motion. We are all on the same page here and we are all looking forward to the same thing. One thing, I just have to digress for a moment and speak to the member who moved the motion. He stood up, and it seems to be a common occurrence here. He talked about how in 2003, how he stood up and the place was in shambles and there was nothing going on. What I would say is that many of the things going on that are causing us to need more employment were struck during the previous Administration, such as Voisey's Bay and Hibernia.

What I would say is that as a member of the Opposition – I have said on many occasions that my job as a member of Her Majesty's Official Opposition is to hold the government accountable. I have said time and time again that my job is not to just criticize for the sake of criticizing, our job is to also give credit where credit is due, and that goes both ways. This motion that has been put here today is a step in the right direction. I commend that, but I have to remind the member who put it forward that things were not that bad in 2003. There were a lot of good things that were done and we are reaping the benefits of it now.

One thing I just want to mention as I move forward in this is that I did have the opportunity and the pleasure – a lot of us new members are going through Estimates for the first time and it is very much an enlightening experience really to see how government works and how the money is being spent. It is so important, and we are very lucky to have that privilege.

We sat down with the minister the other day to go through the Estimates for this department, and this is a new creation. I think the department is a step in the right direction. We recognized the need here in this Province and we have put together a department. I guess the second part of that is we do have a department, where it is new it also has many moving parts to it. There are so many different aspects – actually, three hours in Estimates was not enough time to ask all the questions that we had. In fact, just going through it, there are so many different areas to this department, whether it be Income Support, whether it be apprenticeship. In fact, we did not actually get to ask the questions on the different headings related to Memorial University or the Marine Institute or the College of the North Atlantic. So I am hoping very much that I will get that opportunity before the Budget Estimate Committees are done, to at least sit down and ask these questions. It is important for us, for all of us - our job as Opposition is to ask questions and in order to do that we need to be fully informed so that we can ask the right questions and make sure that the taxpayers' money is being spent in the best possible manner for the best interests of the people of this Province.

The department itself is a step in the right direction but I think the trick here with everything is to make sure that not only - good intentions is one thing but we must make sure that the follow through is there. There are a lot of things that were good intentions that just never panned out. We have to make sure that as we move forward this department becomes streamlined and works to our best advantage.

One area that is very near and dear to my heart - and I have talked to the minister on this, we have had very good conversations on this - is the College of the North Atlantic, which is a fabulous institution in this Province, one we should all be proud of. There are great people working there and we are putting through a lot of students who are contributing to the Province. Again, as I stated earlier, we do have a College of the North Atlantic in Port aux Basques. This College of the North Atlantic services people from not just the Southwest Coast area, but people from all over the Province, and certainly outside the Province as well. The college has been there for years. I can remember driving by, it used to be West Viking and now we have the CNA, as it is referred to.

The only issue I have with the College of the North Atlantic in our town, it is doing so good that they are tapped out in terms of their infrastructure. They have such a good thing; we have a non-destructive testing component to our college that is world class. That speaks to the investment that has been made and it speaks to the quality of the staff who is there. Again, I will put a name out there. We have a gentleman named Jan Peddle who is the current administrator. He is a fantastic individual and does great things. The issue again that we have is that the physical space for this college is exhausted. We cannot cram any more into what is there. We have other great programs there, including the welding program. We have wait-lists for NDT. We have cabinetry. There are so many programs, but the NDT one itself this is one that has wait-lists. We have people coming from all over, especially from the mainland, coming in.

Again, what I am calling on – and I have spoken to the minister about this and my hope is that we can expand on the infrastructure for the College of the North Atlantic in Port aux Basques. I guess it is sort of two birds with one stone here because not only will it contribute to the issue we are all talking about and this resolution speaks to, which is the workers shortage that we have in this Province, but again, it would also be a great investment in rural Newfoundland and Labrador. Again, when we have those students coming to a place like Port aux Basques and to the South West Coast, they contribute to the local economy. We have more staff coming there, moving there, and living there with their families. It does a lot to drive a rural area.

One thing I would say is that there are limitations that we are dealing with when it comes to this. The fact is – and I have talked to people – we have situations where there are wait-lists for urban colleges of the North Atlantic, the metro college, whereas we could actually take more in our College of the North Atlantic in Port aux Basques and those other rural areas. Again, it is that age-old question: How do we get them out our way instead of maybe waiting to go to the college in the metro area? I think, like a lot of things with rural Newfoundland and Labrador, we have to show people, maybe invest in this, or entice people to come out here. How do we do that? There could be a number of ways. Maybe there are grants, wage subsidies, book subsidies, something along those lines. Again, I am tossing out ideas because we all want the same thing. We want to make sure that we can get as many workers trained and contributing out there, working in this Province with all of the work that is going on here, especially up in Labrador.

That is just one thing there. We have to find a way to get the people there. The second part of that is we have people coming to our town, but we are having trouble when it comes to providing them with something like housing. That is an issue that, again, we are dealing with everywhere. We had a housing crunch and it is certainly felt on the Southwest Coast. Newfoundland and Labrador Housing has been out, they have held symposiums, they have held meetings, and they have recognize the issue, but we need to find a way to address that issue. We have students who, when they are getting ready to figure out where they want to go, they will look into Port aux Basques and they will say: Well, I might not be able to get accommodations there. There is that drastic a shortage. There is a trickle down there, and some of it is because we have seniors' housing shortages. If we could have seniors get into theirs, theirs become open. It is a good thing we have so many people who want to get there. We just have to find a way to put them there.

That is just one thing I wanted to speak to. We have a great thing there. The purpose of this resolution is to say: Look, we know there are challenges; let us work together to address these challenges in the best interest of all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

I will just quickly move on here with a couple of points I would make. They have been addressed by the Member for Bay of Islands previously and they have been mentioned by the minister. There are a lot of good things that were introduced in this Budget to address this issue. One of them is something like the Workforce Development Secretariat. There has been money invested there. My only point to make to that is, like anything, we must assure the follow-through is there. We must make sure that these developments actually do what they were intended to do, that we do not just put it out there and not give it the follow-through and support to make sure it covers off the issues it was intended to address in the first place.

Again, we have the Apprenticeship Wage Subsidy, another great thing. We have a real problem going on with trying to get apprentices matched up with journeypersons. We have this step here. We helped 344 apprentices last year and hoping to help more. The only issue we have is we need to get more. How do we do that? I know we are working on that. One of the issues – and the minister can correct me if I am wrong – is sometimes it is a matter of putting these apprentices in touch with the employers to make sure this works. I think that is something we discussed in Estimates. We need to make that connection. We need to get that connection there. Good ideas, and hopefully they are going to pan out and address this concern that we all have. We have these big projects here, but we just do not have the workforce that is going to cover it. A lot of these openings that are coming are through attrition.

Mr. Speaker, there are many points and I am glad I have had the opportunity to speak to them. At this time, I am going to move an amendment.

I, as the Member for Burgeo – La Poile, move, seconded by the Member for St. Barbe, that the following words be added immediately before the period at the end of the resolution clause, and it would state: while recognizing the need for further action in this regard.

On that, I will make that amendment, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The House will take a very brief recess to consider whether the amendment is in order.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

We have considered the amendment as put forward by the Member for Burgeo – La Poile, and the amendment is in order.

The hon. the Minister of Fisheries.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KING: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am certainly very pleased to speak today to this very important motion before us, looking at continued government support for workforce and apprenticeship support, and I am going to speak to the amendment in just a few moments.

It is a very important debate we are having here today, Mr. Speaker. When we put the whole issue of the skilled trades and apprenticeship and technology training in context, we have had a very storied and stellar past as a government in investing in that area. I just take people back to a time when it was our government who took the initiative in co-operation with the trades councils and members of industry to form the Skilled Trades Taskforce, Mr. Speaker. That was an opportunity for all us in the Province to come together and to talk about the future, what was in store for the future, what kinds of activities we ought to be investing in, and what kinds of initiatives we ought to bring forward as a government that will support not only the present challenges and the present demands with respect to skilled trades, Mr. Speaker, but to forecast for the future and look at where we ought to be going there. The skilled trades forum, above all else, I think was a great success story oftentimes overlooked by some members, particularly the Third Party.

It was that organization and that exercise that resulted in recommendations from industry, Mr. Speaker. Sometimes it is overlooked by members who speak a little bit perhaps ill-informed of the topic, to suggest that what government is doing is not working. In fact, what government is doing is taking the lead of industry.

I was a minister responsible for this at one point in time, and a number of my colleagues who are still here on this side of the House also had that privilege and that honour to work with industry, to work with the apprenticeship file and work with the tradespeople in the Province. It is their direction that we are taking, Mr. Speaker, and we have been taking.

We have made some very, very significant investments in apprenticeship and skilled trades in this Province, Mr. Speaker, including the pre-training, increasing the number of seats available for students at the College of the North Atlantic. That was an issue that we heard over and over, Mr. Speaker, that there were students who wanted to retrain or go back to school, come out of high school and start their training career and the opportunities were limited. It was our government who invested significantly in that to increase the number of seats.

As well, Mr. Speaker, a very strong direction that we took was an agreement that was reached with the Government of Alberta. As a number of speakers have referenced here on a number of occasions, we have a workforce in Newfoundland and Labrador that commutes, a fair-sized workforce that commutes back and forth to Alberta for employment. A challenge that existed, Mr. Speaker, was that the experience and the hours that they accumulated in Alberta were of no value to them for the Newfoundland apprenticeship program in accelerating and moving through their program.

Our government negotiated an agreement, Mr. Speaker, that allowed those hours to be transferable, reciprocated from one Province to the other. Mr. Speaker, you need not take my word for it in the House; talk to people in the industry who are involved, talk to tradespersons who work in Alberta, who have worked in Alberta in the past, and ask them about the benefits of that. I will tell you, Mr. Speaker, the feedback that you are going to get is going to be very, very positive; there is no question about that.

Mr. Speaker, we also made changes to the journeyperson apprenticeship ratio which allowed us by way of work terms to place more apprentices out in the system with journeypersons and thereby increase the opportunity. For those who are not aware, apprentices need placements with journeypersons, work experience where they can accumulate hours, work time, through a log process, kind of like the skilled trade version of doing an internship if you were a teacher, or a co-op program if you were a business student at Memorial. They need that experience with journeypersons in order to accumulate their experience and allow them to progress through their program to become a Red Seal in whatever their chosen trade is, Mr. Speaker. Those have been very, very significant initiatives.

Mr. Speaker, we all recognize that we are not without our challenges. We have been recognizing that for some time. Mr. Speaker, for that reason, I say to the Member for Burgeo - La Poile, I am very pleased to support this amendment that would simply support government's motion by adding on that we recognize the need for further action in this regard. Mr. Speaker, we recognize that. We recognize 100 per cent that there is going to be further action required. Let me tell you that in this Budget we recognized further action was required.

I commend the member for bringing that motion forward. I thank him and the Member for Bay of Islands who spoke very positively because they recognize that they represent constituents who are benefiting from what is happening in apprenticeships. I thank the members opposite for sharing positive comments on behalf of their constituents who have benefited from the many positive initiatives that this government has brought forward.

Mr. Speaker, when you talk about new things required, we announced $4.1 million in this year's Budget. That was because we recognize that we have to continue to do more to support apprentices in the Province and support their opportunity and ability to move through and gain their journeyperson status. A significant investment, Mr. Speaker, in advancing apprenticeship opportunities, supporting women and underrepresented groups, and opportunities for our own people here in Newfoundland and Labrador who want to retrain and perhaps pursue different careers. We announced funding for a Workforce Development Secretariat.

Mr. Speaker, we recognize that all of those things are important, but they are still not the end result. We have to continue to make changes. The Member for Burgeo - La Poile is absolutely correct.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KING: We will continue to do that, Mr. Speaker. We have announced some significant changes in the skilled trades area in this Province over the last seven or eight years, Mr. Speaker, because they were required. Mr. Speaker, there always will come a time when you will look back at initiatives that you currently do and say: Is it time to change? Maybe that initiative has run its course and it is time to try something different. That is what we are continuing to do.

That is why it is always a pleasure, and it is a pleasure today, to support recognition in the amendment that governments have to be open to change, as our government is, Mr. Speaker. We are always open to listening to the industry; we are always open to listening to what industry has to say in driving the agenda, Mr. Speaker. Let's be clear, none of us in here are experts on the skilled trades. Granted, there may be some here who have gone through the program, but we are not experts by any stretch of the imagination.

I think it is a great amendment and I am looking forward to all parties, and all members in this House standing to support that, because I think it reflects a reality, and the reality is, Mr. Speaker, that we have challenges in Newfoundland and Labrador. We have approximately 10,000 jobs, I believe it was that we identified. I will check my notes here. I am sorry, 70,000 over ten years; 70,000 jobs are going to be open over ten years. Mr. Speaker, we want to fill those jobs with Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. We want to target individuals coming out of high school and looking to choose a career that is going to land them a great income, that is going to allow them to settle back and live at home, in any part of the Province they choose; hopefully rural Newfoundland and Labrador, Mr. Speaker, because it is a great life out there, contrary to what you hear here sometimes. We recognize that, but we also recognize that we have other challenges.

While some members in the House make light of this, there is a reality that we are going through a significant shift in the fishing industry in this Province, Mr. Speaker. We have people that we need to help. We have people we need to help and we have people we are going to help. That is why I support this change, that we recognize further action is required. I will tell you what, further action is coming you can count on that. We are going to work with the people on the Burin Peninsula, we are going to work with the people in Labrador, and we are going to work with the people in Jackson's Arm. Any and all other communities where there are significant changes in the fishing industry, Mr. Speaker, we are going to work with them. The question was asked today: What are we doing? Let me tell you, Cabinet is meeting, committee members are meeting, we are working with people in the communities and we are going to address the challenges that exist, Mr. Speaker.

I will conclude, watching my time, by simply saying that I thank the member for the amendment. I think it is a good amendment. It adds strength to an already sound, solid motion and I look forward to every member in this House standing in their place supporting this motion.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Member for Mount Pearl South, to close debate on his motion.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. LANE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, there were a couple of points when I spoke the first time that I did not get an opportunity to cover, so I just, very quickly, want to make a couple of quick points.

I spoke to the fact that this motion is really supporting women and giving women every opportunity to enter skilled trades in the workplace, and how important that is. Another thing though, Mr. Speaker, which I never mentioned - I never had an opportunity and I do want to mention - is people with disabilities. I think it is very, very important. This government has put numerous programs in place over the last number of years in terms of accessibility and so on, trying to make life better for people with disabilities in this Province. Certainly, one of the focus areas here under this program, this initiative, as well, is to allow people with disabilities, to put the programs in place to allow people with those disabilities to be able to enter the skilled trades. I think that is definitely a real plus of this initiative here, Mr. Speaker, for sure.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. LANE: Yes, hear, hear! on that one, for sure.

Mr. Speaker, there are so many good things – this whole motion really speaks to where we find ourselves today as a Province, as I said earlier, because of the strategic investments that we have made as a government, because of the great deals that have been signed, and because of the optimism we have for the future, because we know what is yet to come in terms of mineral exploration here on the Island, certainly in Labrador.

Should sanctioning occur on Muskrat Falls in the fall, we know that there is going to be a great boom and a great need for skilled trades; this motion is just basically strengthening our resolve to ensure that we are ready as a Province to meet those needs so that we can ensure employment for our people, that we can keep our young people home here in Newfoundland and Labrador; not only keep our people home, but bring our young people back home, young people who have had to leave over the years in search of work, to have the opportunity to be able to actually bring those people back home to Newfoundland and Labrador where they belong with their families, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, one of the interesting points I want to make relates, I guess, to the motion, but it relates to what I have seen here in terms of parties working together for a common cause. One of the things that I have heard from the Opposition, particularly the Third Party, is talking about is this whole idea of us working together for a common cause. Sometimes, I mean, let's face it, in the political world there are going to be differences. We are not going to agree on everything. Sometimes there is political rhetoric that goes back and forth, but sometimes, Mr. Speaker, there is an opportunity; when we have a motion such as the motion we have here today, there is an opportunity for all parties to recognize the good in that motion and what we are trying to do for our people, to put our political differences aside, Mr. Speaker, for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

I want to commend the Official Opposition; I want to commend the Member for the Bay of Islands and I want to commend the Member for Burgeo – La Poile, because they recognized, as it relates to this particular motion, what we are trying to do. They realize, they are using some common sense here, and they are looking at what is good for the people of their district, what is good for the people of this Province. They are joining us in support of this particular motion.

Mr. Speaker, they have made an amendment and we support that amendment, no different than when there was a private member's motion brought in by the Official Opposition in support of the fishery; we made an amendment to that. We all agreed that motion was a very important motion in support of the fishery, in support of our people, in support of our Province. Both the government and the Official Opposition, in the case of the fishery, all stood up and supported the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. LANE: The Third Party, Mr. Speaker, did not. They did not support the fishery, and it was absolutely shameful. They could attend all these union rallies so that they could engage in photo opportunities, Mr. Speaker. They could visit picket lines and bring turkey pies, but at the end of the day, when a motion came to the floor of this House of Assembly in support of the fishery, they voted against.

Mr. Speaker, I hope they are not going to do the same thing here again today. I hope they are not going to do that. They had one person who spoke in the House of Assembly on this motion, the Member for St. John's North.

MS MICHAEL: A point of order, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Leader of the Third Party, on a point of order.

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

Mr. Speaker, we follow protocol in this House and we have followed protocol today in terms of the order in which we speak. The members of this party, we could only speak once; that is the reason why one person spoke, Mr. Speaker. I think –

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

There is no point of order.

MS MICHAEL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Back to the hon. the Member for Mount Pearl South.

MR. LANE: As I was saying, Mr. Speaker, the Third Party put up one speaker, which was, and in fairness, and it is true –

AN HON. MEMBER: Do not be fair.

MR. LANE: Do not be fair. It is true, they put up one speaker; that is what they were entitled to put up. I am not talking about the fact that they only put up one speaker. I am talking about the fact, Mr. Speaker, that the speaker who they put up, the Member for St. John's North, the content of what that member said – this is a good news story for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador. That is what this is, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. LANE: Mr. Speaker, I am so sick and tired day after day in this House of Assembly, listening to the negativity, the doom and gloom, the sky is falling – just like Chicken Little, or Twitter little – the sky is falling. I am getting tired of it. We are doing a lot of great things in this Province for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, and we are going to continue to do that, Mr. Speaker. That is what we are going to do.

I certainly hope, Mr. Speaker, that this time around, unlike the last time around when the Third Party decided to vote against supporting the fishery, they are going to vote and support skilled trades in Newfoundland and Labrador. I certainly hope, Mr. Speaker, that they are going to vote and support our young people.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. LANE: I certainly hope they are going to support women in skilled trades, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. LANE: I certainly hope, Mr. Speaker, that they are going to support persons with disabilities in skilled trades.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. LANE: I certainly hope that the views expressed by the Member for St. John's North were his own views. I hope it was not the party's views. We are going to find out very shortly. I hope that the Leader of the Third Party managed to talk a little bit of sense into him, can bring him onside, and show that they have a little bit of unity.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Member for St. John's North, on a point of order.

MR. KIRBY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

When I rose to speak, I talked about the need for a modernization and innovative approaches to apprenticeships, so that is what I spoke about.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Speaker will decide if there is a point of order.

The Member for St. John's North, on a point of order.

MR. KIRBY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The member is referencing disadvantaged and under-represented groups, and I completely agree with this government's sentiment on the need to help those groups. That is what I spoke about when I –

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

There is no point of order.

The Member for Mount Pearl South.

MR. LANE: Mr. Speaker, I am going to conclude. I think I have said enough. I think our message is quite clear.

Mr. Speaker, this is about, as I said, supporting our economy. This is about supporting our children. This is about supporting our businesses. This is about supporting women. This is about supporting persons with disabilities. That is what this about.

The Official Opposition has categorically, as far as I am concerned, indicated their support. I am very confident that they are going to support that. I would now challenge the Third Party to do the right thing this time around and support the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

Is the House ready for the question?

AN HON. MEMBER: Yes, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Shall the amendment as put forward by the Member for Burgeo – La Poile carry?

All those in favour, ‘aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

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

On motion, amendment carried.

MR. SPEAKER: Shall the amended motion carry?

All those in favour, ‘aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

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

Carried.

AN HON. MEMBER: Division.

MR. SPEAKER: Division has been called.

Call in the members, please.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

Is the House ready for the question?

AN HON. MEMBER: Yes, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: All those in favour of the motion, as amended, please stand.

CLERK: Ms Dunderdale, Mr. Kennedy, Ms Burke, Mr. King, Ms Sullivan, Mr. O'Brien, Mr. Jackman, Mr. Hedderson, Mr. Felix Collins, Mr. Kent, Mr. Forsey, Mr. Granter, Ms Johnson, Mr. Hutchings, Mr. Davis, Mr. McGrath, Mr. Sandy Collins, Mr. Brazil, Mr. Little, Mr. Hunter, Mr. Osborne, Ms Perry, Mr. Dinn, Mr. Cornect, Mr. Littlejohn, Mr. Crummell, Mr. Pollard, Mr. Cross, Mr. Peach, Mr. Lane, Mr. Russell, Mr. Ball, Mr. Andrew Parsons, Mr. Joyce, Mr. Edmunds, Mr. Bennett, Ms Michael, Mr. Kirby, Mr. Murphy –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

CLERK: Mr. Mitchelmore, Ms Rogers.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

CLERK: Mr. Speaker, the ayes forty-one, the nays zero.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The motion, as amended, is carried.

The hon. the Government House Leader.

MR. KENNEDY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It now being 4:58 p.m., I move, seconded by the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, that this House do now adjourn.

MR. SPEAKER: It being Wednesday, in accordance with Standing Order 9, the House stands adjourned until tomorrow, Thursday, at 1:30 p.m.