May 14, 2012                      HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS                    Vol. XLVII No. 31


The House met at 1:30 p.m.

MR. SPEAKER (Wiseman): Order, please!

Admit strangers.

Today we are joined in the galleries by sixty-one Grade 7 students from Lewisporte Intermediate in the District of Lewisporte. The students are accompanied by their principal Terry Spurrell and teachers Shelly Whiteway and Krista Lynch.

Welcome to our Assembly.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Today we also have five individuals from the Port Blandford – Winterbrook Development Association - Skills Link Group from the District of Terra Nova. The group is accompanied by the Development Association President Barbara Keats and the Co-ordinator Daphne Lodge.

Welcome as well to our Assembly.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

Statements by Members

MR. SPEAKER: Today we have members' statements from: the Member for the District of Ferryland, by leave; the Member for the District of Lewisporte; the Member for the District of St. John's West; the Member for the District of Kilbride; the Member for the District of Baie Verte – Springdale; and the Member for the District of Bonavista North.

The Member for the District of Ferryland.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HUTCHINGS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Mrs. Jennie Bidgood of the Goulds who passed away on March 27 at the age of eighty-six.

Jennie was raised on the land - she knew farming and together with her husband Roger, built a business that was based on the produce of the sea and the land. Today, the Bidgood's brand is synonymous with local goods and quality, with a unique Newfoundland flavour.

The Bidgood's developed a niche in the market before people defined the term niche market. Jennie was a successful woman entrepreneur before many of us came to realize the importance of fostering women entrepreneurship. The Bidgood's never forgot their roots.

Jennie supported Girl Guides, provided scholarships to schools and supported countless other activities. More recently, the Bidgood's supported heritage development in Petty Harbour and donated approximately thirty-eight acres of land for Bidgood's Park in the Goulds.

Jenny was a fixture in the store. Quick to laughter, full of understanding, kindness and generosity - she knew everyone and everyone knew her.

All hon. members please join me and my colleagues in extending sympathies to the Bidgood and Walsh families and in recognizing the contribution she has made to her community, her region and her Province.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for the District of Lewisporte.

MR. VERGE: Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize some of the tremendous things that have been happening at Lewisporte Intermediate School in Lewisporte. Lewisporte Intermediate is a school of 167 junior high students with a staff of nineteen and a tremendously supportive parental community.

Lewisporte Intermediate recently won a competition which will see one full class of students being awarded an iPad for next year. All textbooks, assignments and other work will be done digitally – no paper. The school has been chosen to take part in NASA's Grail Moon Cam project as part of their science program.

Their music program is second to none with many first place awards in various music competitions. One student, Chloe Gale won the Junior Rose Bowl Award this year – one of the most prestigious awards given out at the Kiwanis Music Festival. They have many sports banners hanging in the rafters, drama awards in the showcases, technology projects in cyberspace and an overall excellent academic program.

Members, please join me as together we recognize the staff, students and parents of Lewisporte Intermediate for creating a school we are proud to call our own. In closing, Mr. Speaker, I want to say happy retirement to Ms Freake.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. CRUMMELL: Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the Grade 3 class at St. Matthew's Elementary School and their teacher Mrs. Danielle Bishop.

The class is participating in a twinning program this year with the Grade 3 class at Presentation Primary School in Carrick-on-Suir in County Tipperary, Ireland.

Mr. Speaker, the boys and girls of St. Matthew's have been communicating with their new friends in Ireland since early in the school year with letters, cards and handmade crafts, as well as through the use of e-mail and Skype technology. My understanding is that when the students saw each other for the first time through Skype both classes cheered with joy.

Mr. Speaker, the students have been able to share information about their schools, homework, and past times but also about broader issues such as geography and the weather. This has proven to be a wonderful learning experience for the children and teachers alike on both sides of the Atlantic.

I ask all hon. members to join me in wishing the Grade 3 class at St. Matthew's Elementary and their teacher, Mrs. Danielle Bishop, the very best as they continue their correspondence throughout the remainder of the school year.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. DINN: Mr. Speaker, it is with great regret I announce the passing of Josephine Heffernan of Goulds on May 5, 2012. Mrs. Heffernan – Jose, as she was commonly known – was seventy-one years old, and for several years a very active volunteer in our community. Jose was, until her death, the Chairperson of the Goulds Daffodil Seniors Club, a very active club that has kept many seniors active and involved.

In 2011, the Goulds Seniors Daffodil Club applied for and was successful in acquiring a Provincial Wellness Grant. This grant offered seniors in our area opportunities for increased physical and social activity, as well as mini courses in personal and home security, first aid, as well as a beginner computer course. Mrs. Heffernan almost single-handedly looked after this program, including accounts payable.

Mrs. Heffernan leaves her husband Kevin after fifty-two years of marriage, and four sons, Kevin Jr., Cal, Glen, and Tim, nine grandchildren, six brothers and sisters, as well as a great many friends at the Goulds Daffodil Club.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all hon. members to join me and my colleague, the Member for Ferryland, in extended condolences to the family on the loss of such a great mother, wife, and volunteer.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Baie Verte-Springdale.

MR. POLLARD: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise in this hon. House today to applaud the efforts of the Baie Verte Sabres Under 15 Female Hockey Team. They captured the silver medal at the Provincial Tournament hosted by the Town of Baie Verte.

Members of the team are: Callie Whelan, Chelsea Greenham, Bailee-Lynn Jenkins, Crystal Sacrey, Hailey Austin, Abigail Robinson, Jessica LeGrow, Alaina Pardy, Kendra Goudie, Kaylie Goudie, Summer Barrett, Emily Chislett, Carrie Thomas, Amanda LeGrow, Terra Traverse, Renee Thistle, Megan Decker, Hailey Shelly, and Madison Northcott.

Coaches Jamie Bounds and Clem Thomas are to be commended for their time and effort put into motivating and building a strong team. In addition, Mr. Speaker, parents and volunteers are to be applauded for a stellar job in organizing such a successful tournament.

The gold medal game featured the Baie Verte Sabres and the Stephenville Jets. Fans were treated to lots of excitement as it took two extra sudden death periods of heart-stopping hockey for the Stephenville Jets to score the winner.

Mr. Speaker, I invite all colleagues in this hon. House to congratulate the Baie Verte Sabres Under 15 Female Hockey Team upon their achievement.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for Bonavista North.

MR. CROSS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Our Minister of Tourism, Culture and Recreation released a statement about the Arts and Letters Competition Awards referencing a very youthful David Blackwood last week in this House.

This year we see another young person from New-Wes-Valley receiving recognition in the Junior Division Prose Category. Bethany Kean, ninth grade student of Pearson Academy, daughter to Gail and Dean, penned a piece of fictional prose titled The Prey.

"Placing a kiss upon each of his small children's brows, he turned without a second glance and headed towards the door. A raw snake of cool air slithered through the weakness of his jacket as he took the first steps to what he was confident was going to be a very perilous day."

Such vivid diction from a tender teen is witness to Bethany's literary skill. This early excerpt from the winning entry certainly grabs the readers' interest and quickly her words have captured the reader, who has no choice but to read on. It suggests that she has honed her reading skills to polish her own craft of composition.

I humbly request today that all members of this House join me in congratulating my former student, Miss Bethany Kean. Let's hope we can all become fans of her future compositions.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Statements by Ministers.

Statements by Ministers

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. DALLEY: Mr. Speaker, I rise in this hon. House today to pay tribute to Mr. Don Johnson who passed away on Saturday. It is with fond memories that we honour his lifelong dedication to his family, to sport and recreation, and to our Province.

Mr. Johnson had many accomplishments throughout his life, including his role as a senior civil servant with the provincial Department of Rehabilitation and Recreation. However, most people knew him for his involvement with hockey for which he was well respected throughout this Province and the country. He was the first person from this Province to be President of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association and Chair of the 1978 World Junior Hockey Championship in Montreal. He was a member of both the Canada Games Council Hall of Honour and the Newfoundland and Labrador Sports Hall of Fame.

As a respected sports historian, Mr. Johnson still attended many sporting events at the age of eighty-two. In fact, he attended and spoke at the Don Johnson Cup held at the Jack Byrne Arena only two weeks ago.

He was so proud to see our athletes contributing at the national and international level and particularly representing our Province in the National Hockey League. Mr. Johnson dedicated so much of his life to better sport in this Province. He believed sport and recreation contributed immensely to an individual's character.

While he was born in Halifax, Mr. Johnson moved to St. John's in 1959 and was delighted to be a resident of this Province. His pride, passion, and love of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador were quite evident whenever he spoke at a sporting event. He wore his heart on his sleeve and everyone knew it.

Mr. Johnson could tell a story with the best of them, especially about his involvement with hockey at the national and international levels. Throughout his life he continued to make the game of hockey better.

I knew Mr. Johnson personally as he was a long-time family friend. Mr. Johnson was a man of great faith and great character. He was indeed one of the finest gentlemen in our sports community. I can tell you that first and foremost he was a loving husband, father, and grandfather.

At this time, on behalf of the sport and recreation community and members of this House, I would like to extend sincere sympathy to his family. Mr. Johnson will be missed.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I want to thank the minister for the advance copy of his statement.

As someone who has been around senior hockey for a number of years, I too was a personal friend of Mr. Johnson. I can remember even in recent weeks prior to going into the hospital, it would not be at all unusual to get up on a Saturday morning and there would be an e-mail in my inbox from Don Johnson offering some words of advice or making some suggestions about sports or politics, it really did not matter to him.

Needless to say, he was well respected within our Province and throughout the country. I believe, knowing that he was from Halifax, there was no question that Don Johnson was a Newfoundlander at heart. It did not matter what his birth certificate said; he was indeed a Newfoundlander and a Labradorian.

He was extremely proud of his membership in the Hall of Fame and for the recognition that he had, but if you talked to him, it was not for his own accomplishments – the fact that he was included with the members of Hockey Hall of Fame, no matter what group he was associated with; it was him being included with the other groups that made him proud. Needless to say, he was a unique individual and he was always inspiring. In particular, if you heard him speak about young kids and hockey, he was always motivating and always wanted people to be the best that they could be.

He was a storyteller, as the minister said. Going back to 2010, this is probably one of my best Don Johnson stories; it was just after the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. When he was asked to say grace at a particular function, this is what he did; he gave his grace – he would make a story out of it – and near the end of it, he bowed his head and he said: Dear Lord, thank you for Sidney Crosby. Those were his words in the grace, as he told a story on that event. I never forgot it.

I will say that he will be missed. We were looking forward to meeting with him in June in Gander at the Hockey Newfoundland and Labrador meetings; of course, there will be lots of stories to be told on that weekend about Don Johnson. We send our sympathies and condolences to his family Flo, Peter, Mike, and Cathy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS ROGERS: I would like to thank the minister for an advance copy of his statement as well.

We celebrate Mr. Johnson for his tireless support of sports, and hockey in particular. In his heyday, physical recreation was far more prevalent in the schools, which allowed more children the opportunity to participate. This served as a solid foundation for good health and fitness throughout their school years and beyond.

Today, let us celebrate the memory of Don Johnson by committing to improving physical recreation and sports opportunities for all young people in Newfoundland and Labrador. This would make him proud.

Thank you, Don Johnson.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in the House of Assembly to recognize May 13 to May 19 as National Police Week.

National Police Week highlights the dedication and high-quality policing that both the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary display each and every day. Both police forces are focused on building strong community relationships.

Mr. Speaker, National Police Week helps both forces achieve their goals of increasing community awareness of policing services. Throughout the week, a series of events will take place across the Province which will highlight this commitment to strengthen the close bond between policing and communities. Today and tomorrow, police and military will be available to meet with the public at a showcase being held at the Canadian Forces Station St. John's to discuss careers in policing and the military. Other events such as open houses, community lunches, and displays will be held at various venues during the week.

Perhaps one of the most touching events of National Police Week, Mr. Speaker, will be held on Wednesday. Every year, peace officers and supporters gather at the annual International Police and Peace Officer Memorial Service to remember and honour officers who have died in the line of duty. This service recognizes the role peace officers have in keeping all of us safe, and acknowledges that they often work in dangerous situations. I am honoured to represent the Province at this service this year, which will take place at the Seventh Day Adventist Church in St. John's. Throughout the year, citizens can also visit the Police and Peace Officers' Memorial here on the grounds of Confederation Building.

Mr. Speaker, the Department of Justice and the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador proudly support the men and women of the RCMP and the RNC. Since 2004, police budgets have increased by over $52 million and there are an additional 145 police officers deployed throughout the Province. Budget 2012 provided funding for an RNC officer for the Child Exploitation Unit, the continuation of the redevelopment of the RNC headquarters, and $4.1 million towards the new RCMP contract.

Mr. Speaker, I thank our police officers for the difficult work they do every day and encourage everyone to participate in the many activities planned for National Police Week.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

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

I thank the minister for an advance copy of his statement. While May 13 to May 19 might be the National Police Week, we all know that our police officers in this Province are highlighted each and every day, 365 days a year, for the work that they do for us. It also seems from the number of announcements that are coming out that our officers here in this Province are going a long way in highlighting what we are doing here all across this country, whether it be awards or the conferences, the national and international conferences that we are hosting here in September.

Again, it is nice to see our officers getting recognized for the great work they are doing here. My personal involvement, I think that officers, besides the work that they do, take the time to involve themselves in the community, whether it be through minor hockey or hospital foundations or church groups; they take the time out of their busy schedules to make sure that they become one with the community and that is how they are able to do such a great job.

These are people that put their lives on the line each and every day, and dangerous situations are certainly par for the course. You never know when an innocent call might turn into a life-threatening situation, so again we would wish all police officers in this Province, officers of both RNC and RCMP, best wishes for a safe work day each and every day.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS ROGERS: I, too, thank the minister for an advance copy of his statement.

Congratulations to the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary and the RCMP on the occasion of National Police Week. I would like to thank all those who have dedicated their lives to making our communities safer for everyone and I honour those who have lost their lives fulfilling this duty.

The career awareness efforts in recent years have brought many new, wonderful recruits into the police services. I commend the RNC and RCMP's efforts to work more closely with communities. This is essential to healthy communities. Thank you once again, RNC and RCMP.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Intergovernmental and Aboriginal Affairs.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. McGRATH: Mr. Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge the recipients of the 2012 URock Volunteer Awards.

The red carpet was rolled out this past Saturday night as we honoured this year's award recipients at a special gala event. Our winners blew us away with the work that they have done and continue to do, not only in this Province but around the world.

The URock Volunteer Awards were established to recognize the remarkable ways in which young people are giving back to their communities. Nominations are accepted in two categories: individuals and organizations or non-profits. Individual nominees are evaluated based on outstanding voluntary contributions and must be thirty years of age or under and a current or a past resident of Newfoundland and Labrador. Organizations or non-profits must be youth-led and are also evaluated based on their achievements and contributions.

Mr. Speaker, the sheer volume of contributions made by this year's nominees is extraordinary. For this reason, choosing just eight recipients was indeed a challenge. Our lengthy list of award nominees certainly signifies that there are countless young volunteers in our Province who deserve to be honoured for their efforts. Each with their own remarkable story to tell, they have all made tremendous contributions to their communities throughout Newfoundland and Labrador.

I would like to take a moment to acknowledge the recipients of the 2012 URock Volunteer Awards. They are Nathan Whalen of St. John's, Jenna Kelly of Spanish Room, Ian Locke of Meadows, Blair Trainor of St. John's, Regan Burden of Port Hope Simpson, Ryan Furlong of Plate Cove West, Christian Legge of St. John's, and the Holy Name of Mary Academy Eco Kids of Lawn. Award winners received custom-designed electric guitars and all guests enjoyed performances by some of the Province's top musical acts. The event was hosted by Newfoundland and Labrador's own actor and comedian, Jonny Harris.

As Minister Responsible for the Volunteer and Non-Profit Sector, I sincerely thank those who nominated these outstanding young people, and also those who came out Saturday night to support them.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all members of this House to join me in congratulating the 2012 URock Volunteer Award winners.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

I certainly want to join with the government, we as an Opposition, in acknowledging and congratulating the 2012 URock Volunteer Award winners. I know some of these young people personally and I know how successful they have been, not only in their endeavours as a volunteer, but also in many other things that they have been involved with in their lives.

Mr. Speaker, it has been said: never doubt that a small group of people can certainly change the world. Well, volunteers are one of those groups of people that continue to shape the world that we live in. As politicians and lawmakers we often have the opportunity to support projects and initiatives, but we know in our Province of Newfoundland and Labrador it is the many hands that give freely their volunteer times and efforts that really make these projects come to light. Whether it be in Daffodil Place or Ronald McDonald House, whether it be a local event or charity in a community school or some other hospital or facility, it is all of those people that put their time and energy into our Province that certainly shape what it is today and where we are.

Mr. Speaker, these young people are no exception. I think youth leadership is something that we should all encourage. One of those ways is encouraging them in their volunteer aspects of life. I support the minister and her government in rolling out the red carpet for these people, because they deserve it. They need to feel that kind of encouragement and support. Hopefully, Mr. Speaker, that kind of recognition will continue to allow the young people in our Province to grow, continue to allow them to contribute their skills and services as community leaders, and promote a culture of volunteerism for all young people in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Congratulations again to all of them. I know these awards are well deserved.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

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

I thank the minister for the advance copy of his statement. I am very happy to join with him and my colleague, the Opposition House Leader, in congratulating these young people in their achievements.

I join with my colleagues also in recognizing how important it is that the volunteer spirit of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians is being continued in our younger generation. Sometimes people complain that we do not have anybody to volunteer anymore and that we not have young people. That is not my experience.

My experience is that in every sector that I have seen, young people are out there doing volunteer work. They may not always be going into an established body in doing that work, but they are out there doing work that is extremely important for their community, as the work of these winners show. I think it is really good that we recognize these young volunteers, and it gives me real pleasure to recognize them.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Oral Questions.

Oral Questions

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

MR. BALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Premier stated that her government completed an internal review of the Burton Winters tragedy. However, the Department of Municipal Affairs has confirmed that they did not listen to the recordings from the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Halifax.

I ask the Premier: As part of your review, why did you not listen to these tapes?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, as part of our review, we certainly did review the written report of JRCC, which contained the contents of the tape recordings and which we supplementary received and have reviewed.

Mr. Speaker, the Opposition keeps calling for an inquiry into this matter. We have reviewed the protocols of the Province and confirmed that the first call received by Fire and Emergency Services took place at 8:19 in the morning, Mr. Speaker. That has been confirmed by the RCMP, confirmed by Fire and Emergency Services own logs, and confirmed by Bell Aliant telephone records, Mr. Speaker. We are searching out information from the deployment of federal resources, Mr. Speaker.

There is only one other place to look, Mr. Speaker, and that is the RCMP and Canadian Rangers. I can only assume his work is being informed by the Member for Torngat Mountains. Do you know something we don't?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BALL: It was clarified last week that the RCMP does report directly to the Minister of Justice, and we do know that the first call came out of Makkovik on that Sunday night. We understand now that that first call went to the home of an RCMP officer, not the RCMP headquarters as we had first thought.

Since your Minister of Justice has confirmed that the RCMP is under provincial responsibility: Did your internal investigation uncover this?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, in review of the search and rescue efforts for Burton Winters we have reviewed the Province's role in that effort. Mr. Speaker, Fire and Emergency Services provide supplementary service to ground search and rescue, which is conducted by the police agency that has jurisdiction in the area that the search was conducted. We know that there was a discussion between RCMP in Makkovik – the head of the ground search and rescue – and the person who was in charge of their command of Emergency Services that night. They fully assessed the situation, made the decision to defer the decision on whether or not to call in air support until the morning, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BALL: I guess the point that I am trying to make is that we understand the call actually did not go to the headquarters, but actually went to the home of another RCMP officer. The Premier has also stated in this House that the search and rescue protocols are well-established and that they are laid down in emergency plans.

The question is: Is placing a call to the home of an RCMP officer instead of RCMP headquarters part of a well-established protocol?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, protocols around on-call services are well-established within government and without around this Province. A social worker, for example, who might be on call for child protection might very well be in their home and receive a call. Then there is a protocol as to how you activate services beyond that, Mr. Speaker.

We know that RCMP in Makkovik made a call to RCMP command. There was a full discussion of the facts as they understood them in Makkovik at that time, they deferred the decision to call in support from Fire and Emergency Services until 8:19 the next morning, Mr. Speaker, when the first call was made.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BALL: I ask the Premier: Can you tell us when the call from the RCMP in Makkovik went to the RCMP command centre?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I do not have that information immediately at hand but we can certainly get that information.

Mr. Speaker, the Opposition has continued to raise questions around the way that this search was conducted and have called almost on a daily basis for an inquiry, Mr. Speaker. We are satisfied that the RCMP and the Canadian Rangers on the ground conducted the search in accordance with their training and best experience. We know that the call was made to Fire and Emergency Services and responded to appropriately. There are still questions we are waiting for answers from the federal government on, Mr. Speaker. Is the Leader of the Opposition, who has a caucus member who was on the ground, telling us that he knows something we do not?

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL: The reason why we continue to ask those questions is because there is no clarity around what actually happened on that Sunday night. We do not know today, for instance – this is some months later – if the call went to the house of an RCMP officer or indeed to the call centre.

Last week, the Premier cancelled the meeting with the Winters family because they wanted to ask questions that were technical in nature. The Premier stated that these technical questions would be better asked to the Minister Responsible for Fire and Emergency Services.

In the House you have answered a number of technical questions on this. Why would you not meet with the family to discuss these technical questions similar to the ones you have answered here in the House?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, my office was contacted a few weeks ago by the mother of Burton Winters' stepmother asking if she could come and have a conversation with me about Burton, because he was a fine young man and he was getting lost in the politics and the carry-on about the search and rescue. She wanted to talk to me about that and my view of an inquiry, and whether or not we had heard back from Minister MacKay. I was happy to agree to such a meeting, and I am still open to such a meeting.

We discussed in detail in our communications between my office and Mrs. Winters-Fost who would attend that meeting. Mr. Speaker, on Wednesday of last week I was told that technical information was being requested. If it is information they need, I need to do everything I can to ensure that they get the correct information; thus the referral to the minister's office.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL: Mr. Speaker, the Premier is actually – yes, they were looking for a public inquiry; that is what we have all heard since that. As we said, the family is asking for a public inquiry and the Premier has resisted those calls. Every day there is more and more information that comes out that seems to confuse the issue.

I ask you: What is standing in the way of calling for a public inquiry?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I have to have a substantive issue for calling an inquiry. In terms of our review, the Canadian Rangers, in concert with the RCMP – the RCMP in Makkovik headed up the ground search and rescue. They did that with the help and support of the Canadian Rangers, Mr. Speaker. They called in supplementary resources, as protocol dictates, when they determined they were necessary.

Our Fire and Emergency Services is there as a supplementary resource to ground search and rescue activities, Mr. Speaker. Protocols were followed and responded to appropriately. What is it I am supposed to inquire into?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BALL: I think what a public inquiry would do is it would actually take a good look at those well-established protocols. Most people in this Province, and the family, we are not comfortable that all the protocols were followed. As a matter of fact, I think that young Burton Winters is a substantive enough reason to do it. In light of the fact of what happened last week with the Maritime Search and Rescue Sub-Centre, what happened there is another good reason why we should do a public inquiry into search and rescue.

Last week the Premier stated that all marine emergency calls from the Atlantic region were temporarily routed to Italy. Other reports are now suggesting that only the Newfoundland and Labrador calls were routed to Italy. What is it? Are we getting the right or wrong information from the federal government?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. O'BRIEN: Mr. Speaker, I would like to correct the hon. member. First off is that the Premier did not state that all went to the emergency in regard to going to Italy. It was stated that Newfoundland and Labrador went there for a couple of days and then it was reverted back into the centre in Halifax after they closed the file in regard to a contract situation in Halifax. Now it is back into its rightful owners in regard to QEII and also the centre itself.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. JOYCE: Mr. Speaker, there is a 1 per cent vacancy rate and no regular inspections on rental units. This means landlords can charge the rates they decide regardless of conditions of the units. Rental units are becoming substandard with little oversight.

I ask the minister: What is your department doing to get control of the rental crisis with substandard units?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. DAVIS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Residential Tenancies Act governs the relationships between landlords and tenants in Newfoundland and Labrador. It has a variety of sections which help to administer rules and regulations around the relationships between landlords and tenants. It governs how rental increases or rental changes occur between the two parties, between the landlords and also between the tenants. It also deals with such matters as termination of leases, evictions, and so on. That is the act that we currently have in place in Newfoundland and Labrador that manages these affairs. It has a process for grievances to be filed and is regularly used by renters and by landlords in Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for Bay of Islands.

MR. JOYCE: Mr. Speaker, on Friday, we called the Residential Tenancies Division on behalf of a constituent evicted after complaining of flood damages, not unlike the story in The Telegram this weekend. We were promptly informed that all calls on behalf of constituents are now being routed to the minister's executive assistant.

I ask the minister: How are MHAs expected to represent constituents facing homelessness when calls on their behalf are being diverted for political purposes to your executive assistant, Minister?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. DAVIS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As I said in my earlier answer, there is a dispute resolution process in place at the Residential Tenancies Office. This process is broadly used by both renters of properties and as well by landlords of properties. If there is assistance being provided by my department to Members of the House of Assembly here, I invite any Member of the House of Assembly to contact my office directly. My executive assistant is available to members of the House on a regular basis, and we will make our best efforts to assist them in any way that we can.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for Bay of Islands.

MR. JOYCE: I would like to know where in the act it says that your executive assistant has to receive every call. It is a disgrace I say, Minister.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I ask the member to direct his comments to the Chair, please.

MR. JOYCE: I am sorry, Mr. Speaker.

The Residential Tenancies Act obligates landlords to ensure premises are fit for habitation and allows for the inspection of premises thought to be unfit. We are dealing with a constituent who made a complaint to the division – your division, Minister – for flood damage. The property was not inspected; instead, the tenant was evicted.

I ask the minister: Moving forward, will your division make these investigations mandatory to ensure landlords are complying with these regulations and not have these calls diverted to your special assistant?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. DAVIS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I cannot speak to an individual case, as the member opposite has addressed, and I do not think it would be appropriate for me to discuss an individual or private case, as the member opposite has chosen to do so here today.

I can tell you that there a large number of people who rent properties and rent dwellings, residential premises in Newfoundland and Labrador, and as well as landlords who avail of the services that are provided by the Residential Tenancies Office and that are provided under the act and the regulations that exist. There is a process that has to go through; it is a regulated process. It is there to provide a balance for both landlords and tenants as well. Sometimes, we know, it can be a very difficult process. It can be a very emotionally charged process as well.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for St. Barbe.

MR. BENNETT: Mr. Speaker, the Burin plant is slated for closure at year's end. The minister has announced a blue-ribbon committee to readjust the workers.

I ask the Premier: Even though she refused to meet with the workers from Marystown, will she meet with the workers from Burin, her home town, and help them find a long-term solution for the plant?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KING: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Just to be clear on the member's comments, this government, including the Premier, reached out at every opportunity to support workers and the entire fishing industry in Newfoundland and Labrador –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KING: – including the Marystown workers, Mr. Speaker. It was the previous Fisheries Minister, with some encouragement from myself as the local MHA, and the Premier, who insisted that we go back and try once again to get a deal for Marystown, which resulted in a three-year offer at eighteen weeks a year that the union asked him to reject. Let us be clear, it was the leadership on this side of the House that worked with the Marystown workers.

We will be there for the Burin workers, Mr. Speaker. We indeed did announce a ministerial committee and we will be moving forward in the coming days with that committee and its work.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for St. Barbe.

MR. BENNETT: Mr. Speaker, I thank the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture for his answer, but the question was to the Premier and whether she would visit with the Burin workers to work for a long-term solution.

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KING: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Let me very clear, we take this issue very seriously in the House. I, as one member and the Minister of Fisheries, am highly offended that the member would in jest refer to a ministerial committee as a blue-ribbon committee.

Mr. Speaker, this is serious stuff. We are talking about hundreds of people out of work on the Burin Peninsula, in plants in Labrador, and in other areas. It deserves more attention from the man who wants to be the Fisheries Minister, Mr. Speaker, than to stand in this House and poke fun at those people and the ministers on this side of the House who are going to step up, by making fun of the committee and what we intend to do. I say shame on the member opposite.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for St. Barbe.

MR. BENNETT: Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture has stated that it may take up to six rounds to complete the lobster buyout – six rounds.

Will the minister work with DFO, rewrite the program, pay fair prices to harvesters, and finalize this program this year?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KING: No, Mr. Speaker. No, I will not interject myself into an independent process that is supported by the industry to ensure that proper protocols are followed outside of politics, Mr. Speaker. This is an independent program supported by two levels of government and industry. It is run independent of government by the industry. I will not – as some governments previous to ours did – inject myself, make this a political football, and pick and choose who gets bought out in the lobster program. I will not do that.

I will ensure, though, that the committee that oversees that and we have some representation on, does due diligence and ensures that every consideration is made to expedite the process and that everybody is treated fairly and equally.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. A. PARSONS: Mr. Speaker, Budget 2011 allocated $11 million towards new computers and whiteboards for schools. Whiteboards are still in boxes at some schools, little to no training has been provided on operating or incorporating the equipment into the curriculum. Ironically, the department has not actually educated teachers on how to use the technology.

I ask the minister: Given there are no new monies in this Budget this year for professional development, what are your plans to address the gap?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN: Mr. Speaker, I would say the acquisition of 2,200 interactive boards and place them in classrooms, Mr. Speaker, it is certainly a first good step.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN: Secondly, Mr. Speaker, we provide in-services. Department officials, school boards provide in-services for the teachers. Mr. Speaker, just recently I was in to a couple of the schools. I have gone in and I have seen Grade 1 students using these boards, I have seen Grade 11 students using these boards. Mr. Speaker, I would say to the member, the system is working.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS MICHAEL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, over the weekend we learned that government did not include the military audio tapes in the review of the search and rescue service protocol surrounding the Burton Winters tragedy.

Mr. Speaker, would the Premier please explain clearly to this House why these very important audio tapes were not originally included in their review?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, they were not included in the review because there was a comprehensive translation of what had taken place in those tapes, included with the report we have had from JRCC. I have taken several hours this morning to listen to the tapes, Mr. Speaker. While there are nuances and so on, Mr. Speaker, I can safely say – I still have about a half hour of tape left to listen to but there is nothing new in the tapes that was not included in the report.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

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

Nuances are extremely important.

Mr. Speaker, Legislatures in Atlantic Canada have moved quickly to pass resolutions that support the owner-operator and fleet separation policies which are so essential to our inshore fleet. Atlantic MPs have met with the Premiers of PEI, Nova Scotia, and their Legislatures passed unanimous motions, and meetings are underway in New Brunswick and Quebec as well.

I ask the Premier, Mr. Speaker: Will her government introduce a similar resolution that states unequivocally her government's support of these two policies, and ask the federal government to clarify their position so that all three parties here can do the same thing?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KING: Mr. Speaker, we have had a discussion in this Legislature on many occasions now about a number of policies and procedures very important to the industry of Newfoundland and Labrador. We have talked about policies that we need to consider changing and we have talked about those that we feel we need to preserve. The Premier and I, as the minister, and this government, have been very clear on where we stand on the owner-operator fleet separation policies.

The only thing I suggest, Mr. Speaker, to be gained from a motion of this House is it will fish out where the Opposition party stands. By that suggestion, I am reading that they might not be totally clear where they are because we know where we stand on this side of the House.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Leader of the Third Party.

MS MICHAEL: It is a sad statement, Mr. Speaker, that they will not allow the three parties to vote together on something that is so important to the people of rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

Mr. Speaker, I hear from people around this Province that they want to see their MHAs working together. We are all here to make this Province a better place to live. While we are all here with the same goal in mind, we have many different ideas and approaches for reaching that goal. For this reason, Mr. Speaker, all-party standing committees provide the ideal setting for MHAs to come together to work on issues concerning the Province.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the Premier: Why does she continue to refuse to strike an all-party standing committee to discuss the current crisis in our fishing industry?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KING: Mr. Speaker, I think the member opposite needs to be reminded of some history. It was not long ago that we spent an entire day, two days actually, but the first day we spent here debating the fishery the member opposite never stood and said one single word. Today is not about fighting for the fishery, Mr. Speaker, it is about grandstanding and posturing for the public. If the members opposite are interested in fighting for the fishery they ought to be out there publicly supporting what we are trying to achieve with industry, because this government is working with industry, Mr. Speaker.

I say to the member opposite, with the greatest of respect, you do not need to ask members on this side of the House to bring a motion forward. Members on that side of the House can bring a motion forward any time they want and we will be glad to debate it in the Legislature. We can do it today and have it on the bill for Wednesday.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Leader of the Third Party.

MS MICHAEL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

While government seems to have no interest in an all-party committee to discuss the crisis in our fishing industry at least they now have this Cabinet committee, Mr. Speaker.

I ask the Premier: Will she tell the House the terms of reference for the committee?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, when a community finds itself in distress, mainly because an industry that is critical to the economy and that area, usually the most significant business or industry in the area fails, Mr. Speaker, then this government responds with a ministerial committee. We look at the needs of the people who are displaced, find opportunities to do transitional employment so they have income, Mr. Speaker, while they are able to explore, with our help and support, opportunities for certification or a new career. We also explore ways to diversify the economy, Mr. Speaker, and have been very successful in the past at that.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS MICHAEL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Minister of Fisheries mentioned in the media this weekend that MHAs not on the Cabinet committee may be involved in the process, depending on what areas are affected.

I ask the Premier: Will they be allowing Opposition members to take part in the committee's efforts?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KING: Mr. Speaker, I am not sure why she needs to ask the question if she has heard me answer it last week in the media. I was very clear that we are interested in working with communities and we will work with members.

I have had discussions with the Leader of the Opposition, with the Opposition House Leader, both of whom have industries in their communities that are affected. If there is something in Signal Hill – Quidi Vidi by way of a fishing industry that closes, I will invite that member to be part of it as well.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. KIRBY: Mr. Speaker, it has been well established that public libraries are important for literacy and life-long learning, vital in fact. Yet, this government has once again denied funding for new public libraries. Towns like Portugal Cove – St. Philip's in my district have repeatedly sought assistance for public library resources but this government continues to do nothing to help.

I ask the Minister of Education: Why is he standing in the way of improved literacy in Newfoundland and Labrador?

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

MR. JACKMAN: Mr. Speaker, I can assure you this minister is not standing in the way of literacy. My background is all about literacy. I am about promoting literacy and being a part of that, and, as the Minister of Education, I could not be prouder to be in this department.

Mr. Speaker, in terms of the libraries board, one of the things that I am taking a look at is the changing demographics, the changed use of technology and so forth. We are taking a look at the operations of public libraries to see how we can make them more effective, Mr. Speaker. We are not about chopping and cutting public libraries, Mr. Speaker.

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, I have been informed that the provincial government job ads will only be advertised on their Web site from now on and not in newsprint, such as The Telegram. Mr. Speaker, not everyone has access or can afford this technology. It sends the message that government is only interested in applicants who do.

Mr. Speaker, will the minister confirm that they are moving to on-line job advertisements exclusively and what this means for the applicants who live in the 200-plus communities in the Province that do not have access to high-speed Internet?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. MARSHALL: Mr. Speaker, government will be reducing the number of print ads. We found that the people who apply for positions with the civil service are asked to indicate where they first learn of the position. We found that less than 4 per cent of those applying were getting it from print. The great majority were getting it from the Web site. We will therefore put more of our effort into that and less into print, although there will be ads from time to time encouraging people to look for positions in the civil service. Technology is changing, young people are changing, and we have to make sure we use our recruitment and retention dollars in the most effective and efficient manner possible.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS ROGERS: Mr. Speaker, we know that Bill C-10 means increased downloading on the provincial corrections system in the near future and that the federal government has made it clear they have no intention to fund the construction of a new prison to replace Her Majesty's Penitentiary.

Mr. Speaker, given the poor conditions and increasingly overcrowded status of this aging penitentiary that makes it unsafe for both staff and inmates, what does the government plan to do to address this problem?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

Yes, we are well aware of the conditions of Her Majesty's Penitentiary. Mr. Speaker, we will have Her Majesty's Penitentiary with us for some time. If we were to get a new penitentiary approved tomorrow, it would still be five to six years before we would be able to get in.

We are currently, Mr. Speaker, assessing all of our infrastructure projects in this Province in corrections. We hope to have some proposals ready for government within the year with respect to how we can better organize our correctional facilities and make some recommendations to government in this respect.

Mr. Speaker, we have not been standing still. We have put $7 million into our correctional infrastructure in the last three years. We have had major additions and improvements to all our correctional facilities. We will continue to do so, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS ROGERS: Mr. Speaker, is the government intending to reassign the Whitbourne Youth Detention Centre for the purpose of dealing with the overflow from HMP? If Whitbourne is reassigned, what does the government intend to do with the youth who are being held in this institution?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. F. COLLINS: Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned earlier, we are in the process of assessing all of our correctional facilities to see how we can rearrange, modify, retrofit, or whatever to try to address our capacity problems in corrections. Whitbourne is certainly one of those facilities presently under study, Mr. Speaker, and part of the ongoing assessment. It will be part of the decision, Mr. Speaker, to inform us going forward.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Leader of the Third Party.

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

Mr. Speaker, both the City of St. John's and the District of The Straits – White Bay North –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS MICHAEL: – have fishing enterprises. Both my colleague from the District of The Straits – White Bay North and myself represent fishing people.

I ask the Minister of Fisheries: Will he be conferring with us with regard to the fishing situation?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. KING: Mr. Speaker, I have been very clear on all of my answers in here. We are concerned with all of the people in all of these communities that are seeing fish plant closures. I have had representation from members on this side of the House, my own district. I have had representation from members opposite. Mr. Speaker, we are going to work with those members and people in their communities to do the best that we can with a very challenging situation.

I am not aware that Signal Hill – Quidi Vidi has had a fish plant closure, nor am I advised that there is a permanent closure in The Straits – White Bay North. When I become aware of that, that member will be more than welcome to sit with us and meet, but she will not be a part of discussions with members from the Opposition or members in my party about their specific communities. It will be based on individual districts.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

Presenting Reports by Standing and Select Committees.

Tabling of Documents.

Notices of Motion.

Notices of Motion

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

MR. KENNEDY: Yes, Mr. Speaker, I give notice under Standing Order 11, I shall move that this House not adjourn at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 15, 2012.

Further I give notice, Mr. Speaker, under Standing Order 11, I shall move that this House not adjourn at 10:00 p.m. Tuesday, May 15, 2012.

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

MR. KIRBY: Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 63.(3), I hereby give notice of the following private member's motion that will be debated on Wednesday, May 16. The motion is seconded by the Member for St. John's Centre and it relates to the continuing problem of bullying in our schools.

WHEREAS education plays a critical role in preparing young people to grow up as productive, contributing, and constructive citizens; and

WHEREAS all students, teachers, and staff members should feel safe at school and deserve a positive school climate that is inclusive and accepting, regardless of race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, citizenship, creed, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, family status, or disability; and

WHEREAS everyone– government, educators, school staff, parents, students, and the wider community – has a role to play in creating a positive school climate and preventing inappropriate behaviour, such as bullying, sexual assault, gender-based violence, homophobia, and other forms of harassment; and

WHEREAS neither bullying nor harassment are yet mentioned anywhere in the Schools Act; and

WHEREAS bullying, harassment, and intimidation are as prevalent in our schools as ever;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that this House of Assembly urge government to address the issue of bullying and harassment in our schools as follows: Section 2 of the Schools Act is amended by adding the following definition: (c) "bullying" means repeated and aggressive behaviour by a pupil, teacher, or staff member where: (i) the behaviour is intended by the pupil, teacher, or staff member, to cause, or the pupil, teacher or staff member, ought to know that the behaviour would be likely to cause, harm, fear, or distress to another individual, including psychological harm or harm to the individual's reputation, (ii) the behaviour occurs in a context where there is a real or perceived power imbalance between the pupil, teacher, or staff member, and the individual based on factors such as size, strength, age, intelligence, peer group power, economic status, social status, religion, ethnic origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, family circumstances, race, disability, or the receipt of special education, and (iii) the behaviour occurs in the form of any physical, verbal, electronic, written, or other means.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a Bullying Awareness and Prevention Week be enacted twice during the school year – the weeks beginning the third Sunday in September and third Sunday in February.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the government create a bullying prevention plan that will be placed in legislation, which would be included in the curriculum, and would include reporting mechanisms and discipline structures between schools, school boards, and the department.

This motion is seconded by the Member for St. John's Centre.

MR. SPEAKER: The Leader of the Third Party.

MS MICHAEL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Standing as Leader of the Third Party and House Leader of the Third Party, this motion will be the private member's motion for Wednesday, May 16.

MR. SPEAKER: Further notices of motion?

Answers to Questions for which Notice has been Given.

Petitions.

Petitions

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

MR. JOYCE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I stand in petition again today. I will read the petition:

WHEREAS the lack of cellular phone coverage in Cox's Cove and McIvers is a major safety concern for residents, especially in times of emergency; and

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

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

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

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

As in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr. Speaker, I stand again today to present this petition for the residents on the north shore of the Bay of Islands in Cox's Cove and McIvers who do not have the cellular coverage that they deserve and should have. As I said earlier on many occasions, it is a bad thing for the tourists who come in and it is a safety concern for the people living there. There is a lot of fishing in that area. There is a lot of hiking in that area.

Also, it is a drawback for a lot of businesses that want to set up in those areas. To promote business, we need cellular coverage. It is almost a way of life now. It is a way of business. We do a lot of business on our cellphones throughout.

I am encouraged that the minister said he is in consultation with the federal government and some local providers to see what arrangements we can come up with. I encourage the minister again and I offer my services again, if there is anything I can do to help out with the local providers to sit down and come up with some concrete plan.

As I said to the minister on many occasions, this is not going to be done overnight. This is not something you can snap your fingers and do. I agree with the minister that this cannot be done overnight, but we have to start somewhere, I say, Mr. Speaker. We have to start to put a plan in place. We have to get all of the parties to the table. Sitting down and having a regular chat is not good enough. We need to sit down and try to come up with some concrete solutions and some concrete proposals that we can present to the federal government and present to the local providers so that we can get this cellular coverage for all of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, get it in place so we can go ahead and promote business, tourism, and safety reasons throughout Newfoundland and Labrador.

Once again, I encourage the minister to try to speed this up. I offer to the minister anything I can do to help this out. On behalf of the Official Opposition on this side, we will definitely do so.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

Your time has expired.

MR. JOYCE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

MR. MITCHELMORE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

WHEREAS in the District of The Straits – White Bay North, despite the $4 million Rural Broadband Initiative announcement on December 22, 2011, only one community, Ship Cove, is slated for broadband coverage; and

WHEREAS the communities of Pines Cove, Eddies Cove East, Bide Arm, North Boat Harbour, L'Anse aux Meadows, Great Brehat, St Carol's, Goose Cove, Grandois, and St. Anthony Bight still remain without services; and

WHEREAS many small businesses within the district rely on Internet to conduct business; and

WHEREAS broadband Internet permits a business to be more competitive than the slower dial-up service; and

WHEREAS broadband Internet enhances primary, secondary, post-secondary, and further educational opportunities;

We the undersigned petition the House of Assembly to urge the government to reinvest in rural broadband initiatives in Newfoundland and Labrador.

As in duty bound your petitioners will ever pray.

This petition is signed by a number of communities in my own district, namely Roddickton, Bide Arm, Conche, and it also goes to Hawke's Bay, as well as Port aux Basques, Port au Choix, and Port Saunders area, that have signed this petition. It really shows the support out there from communities, because there are so many; there are over 200 that do not have the access and there are many more that really do not have the true access to broadband Internet coverage when it comes to the actual upload and download speeds.

It is really imperative, the educational opportunities, as the Member for St. John's West had mentioned earlier today in this House, that people in their homes, in my communities, are unable to connect via Skype to have that reach to other parts, other worlds that are out there, to Ireland, to different parts of Europe, to have that connection with our history and have that educational experience. As well as in the community of St. Joseph's, the businesses closing: Great Calculations, an online accounting business. These businesses, if the basic service and infrastructure were there, we would have the ability –

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Chair has recognized the Member for The Straits – White Bay North in presenting a petition. I would ask all hon. members, if they have conversations they want to engage in, that they take those private conversations outside the Assembly.

MR. MITCHELMORE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

This business that can be located in a rural base is unable to remain in business because of unreliable cellular service that it is getting to tap into their business. That is how the service is.

I just go back to my renewed call to urge the House of Assembly to really develop an advanced telecommunication strategy that is inclusive of a rural broadband initiative, cellular, as well as telecommunication pieces.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

MR. BENNETT: Mr. Speaker, I bring this petition to the hon. House of Assembly for the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador in Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned residents humbly sheweth:

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

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

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

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

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

And in duty bound your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr. Speaker, when a benefit is announced the people who want to take advantage of that benefit expect that the results will be soon, and nothing is more pressing than in home care.

By way of another example, the Minister of Finance, in this Budget, announced discounts for seniors for certain licenses and benefits. People are phoning already and wondering, when will it come into effect? Clearly, it is not realistic to expect it to come into effect before the Budget is passed. Obviously, we know that, but when we hear something such as home care, which is so pressing, it is not just a daily occurrence for family members, it is an hourly occurrence, it is twenty-four-seven, all day long, all week long, all month long and all year long caring for some family members. This particular initiative by the government would be a great initiative. People are looking for relief in having this home care model revised, announced and upgraded.

Mr. Speaker, I know the names and family circumstances of many of these people. I recognize some of them as people who have contacted my office looking for home care, how to access home care benefits. They are very stressed and distressed. I am certain this is the situation throughout much of the Province and in areas where there are small communities not overly serviced with professional social workers, people who can help them and explain these circumstances to them. It is like a desperation plea. It is their petition and their plea to the government to implement this new proposed strategy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

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

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

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

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

WHEREAS the Cameron inquiry into ER-PR testing found that problems with tests would have come to light sooner, therefore lessoning the impacts on patients, if whistle-blower legislation had been in place; and

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

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

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

Mr. Speaker, at this point, it is unclear why the government is not proceeding on this promise that they made in 2007. The people of the Newfoundland and Labrador clearly want whistle-blower protection. There is no reason to not, and every reason to do this, to enact this legislation. It means we are talking about a safer community for staff, for clients, for general population, for everyone in Newfoundland and Labrador, in our education systems, in our health care systems, in our justice systems, in our child, youth, and family services. Again, there is no reason not to and every reason to proceed with this, it is time.

Mr. Speaker, this also would affect search and rescue operations, and we learned so clearly from the Cameron inquiry what it would have meant had we had whistle-blower protection in place. So, again, Mr. Speaker, it is time for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador to be protected by whistle-blower legislation, to have this protective right.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. KIRBY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

This is a petition for anti-replacement worker legislation or anti-scab legislation.

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

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

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

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

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

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

As in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr. Speaker, we have petitioners here from St. Philip's, Torbay, Paradise, St. John's, but also a significant number of residents from the communities in the District of Grand Bank, Lamaline, Point May, and Burin. I note that a lot of the people who are impacted by the recent use of scab labour by Ocean Choice International aboard the Newfoundland Lynx were indeed from communities on the Burin Peninsula. I spoke to many of them.

My family continues to farm down in that area. I will be, as I often do, going down again this weekend and be looking forward to speaking to my family and friends down in the District of Grand Bank about the need for this legislation and their support for it. I encourage the government to take heed from these petitioners in the near future.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Orders of the Day.

Orders of the Day

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I move, pursuant to Standing Order 11, seconded by the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, that the House not adjourn at 5:30 o'clock today, Monday, May 14, 2012.

I further move, Mr. Speaker, seconded by the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, pursuant to Standing Order 11, that the House not adjourn at 10:00 o'clock on Monday, May 14, 2012.

MR. SPEAKER: It has been moved and seconded that the House do not adjourn this evening, Monday, May 14, at 5:30 p.m., nor that the House would adjourn at 10:00 p.m. on Monday, May 14.

All those in favour of the motion?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

MR. SPEAKER: Against?

AN HON. MEMBER: Nay.

MR. SPEAKER: Motion carried.

The hon. the Government House Leader.

MR. KENNEDY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I call from the Order Paper, Order 1, discussion of the budgetary policy of the government. We will now be discussing the amendment proposed by the Opposition House Leader.

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

MR. MURPHY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It gives me pleasure again to talk to the Budget this time around. As time goes by, there are more things that come to light with every passing day.

Mr. Speaker, the theme of the Budget is people and prosperity. This Budget is all about having money, but with the people I talk to every day, this Budget is about having the money but not necessarily sharing it in all regards so that we can cover all the bases and so that the people's needs can be met. Having said that, in regard to this Budget, sometimes this Budget is a good hit and sometimes this Budget completely misses the mark. We will talk a little bit about that.

That is not to say I should be escaping my role in the House of Assembly. While my role is to oppose government and to hold them at account, at the same time as having said that, my role is not necessarily to disagree with the government in everything it has done. Sometimes they make a good policy decision, as in the drug coverage legislation and the changes to the regulations made just a few weeks ago. In some other cases, we have to work with government as regards the role that we are put forth in the House. We will get into a little bit about some of the policies of what this government has been doing in this Budget, or at least my interpretation of it.

We will start with the simple role of Municipal Affairs, one of my critic areas. Mr. Speaker, I had the utmost pleasure of being a guest at the Municipalities NL conference this weekend, a symposium that was held out in Gander. I want to, first of all, thank all of the mayors, councillors, and administrators from the various towns and communities here in the Province for their hospitality this weekend. There was a lot of great discussion around the table.

I was absolutely pleased and enthralled to hear the Minister of Municipal Affairs this weekend get up in his Saturday address and announce to the people there that there was going to be a discussion, if you will, of the new municipal funding formula, his search to find the same, and to know that they were going to be in consultation with municipalities, the cities and towns of the Province, in the search for that formula.

I guess I will start off with the minister's department here and say again how pleased I was to hear that they are going to be stretching out that hand, hopefully to get some input from the mayors and municipalities of the region, and to begin my remarks by quantifying a little bit and offering a suggestion to the government in that regard, that they look at the gas tax and the effect that an additional 2 cents off every litre of fuel that is sold in this Province can have on municipalities.

The simple fact is it can add quite a lot of money to the coffers and to the workings of municipalities in Newfoundland and Labrador. We do know that in the Budget documents, the federal budget contribution, federal gas tax came out to something in the order of $38 million. I like the idea of using the gas tax to start off with simply because that fund is always growing and has shown every year to be increasing. I believe that it is sustainable, even on the fact of removing the amount of $38 million if that is what it were to be this year. The fact is, that fund always grows, so I would ask the minister to please consider that particular option as just part of municipal funding.

The second thing that I would like to say is that I think that looking for the new funding arrangement comes a little bit late. I think that we have to address it sooner rather than later, so I am hoping that the minister is going to be expediting that search and finding an answer to funding municipalities sooner rather than later. The reason why I say that is pretty simple; it is because the year 2013 is a municipal assessment year and we have to know that government is going to be putting in more money for municipalities now rather than consumers and taxpayers having to pick up that extra burden in 2013 if we do not have an answer to the municipal funding issue. If government were to be responsive and be proactive in putting more money into municipalities, cities, and towns sooner rather than later, we can hope that we can at least litigate some of the cost to the consumers and taxpayers, to small businesses and large businesses that are operating here in the Province. I am hoping that Municipal Affairs and the Premier's Office will address this one sooner rather than later.

We hate to see anything downloaded; of course, we do know that the way that the economy has been going, it has been ever onwards and upwards in some regards that some people, in particular, are going to be touched without having a new formula put in place. We know that we are trying to keep seniors in their homes and we do not need extra cost passed on to seniors. The hope is that the Province, with more money going to municipalities, will hopefully – hopefully, I say – prevent the need for municipalities to have to do things like increase mill rates so that we are going to end up putting people into a hard position. We do hope that the government addresses that.

A couple of other things that we did not see in the Budget as regards to this; we did not see anything as regards to what the governmental policy can do to affect the municipal bottom line. Mr. Speaker, I personally would like to see this government lift the moratorium on any wind construction projects, for example, that have the potential not only to keep some elements of a municipality, for example, off the grid, but at the same time allow a municipality, a city, or a town to go ahead and start generating some revenue itself by putting electricity into the grid.

I am hoping that government is going to be able to take that one big step and be able to have municipalities generate electricity. At the same time as being able to do that, we would also be able to answer the question as regards to Muskrat Falls. I will connect that one up to Muskrat Falls; if a municipality, or indeed a service district, or a region wanted to get into generating electricity and putting it into the grid, we would be able to ask ourselves the question a little bit further about the vitality and the viability of Muskrat Falls. We will be able to answer that question: how much power do we need? Or, do we need the extra power?

If we are going to put extra electricity in the grid and at the same time help municipalities fund themselves, give them a chance to generate their own revenue, Mr. Speaker, they will go ahead and they will do it. One only needs to look at the situation in St. Anthony. Of course, a number of years ago they wanted to get into the generation of electricity up in that area. They are in one of the best regions of all for the generation of wind and the potential thereof.

Mr. Speaker, we have all these opportunities knocking at our doors. We have these opportunities knocking at our doors, but at the same time we are also seeing the door being closed to municipalities. I would hope that the minister would be able to go back and revisit that. I would hope that the Premier would be able to go back and revisit that as well. It is all hinging back on the whole Muskrat Falls argument that if we had several megawatts that were put into the grid, we would be able to answer that question as regards to how much power we needed.

The only other thing that I would like to say as regards to the Municipal Affairs end of things is the Multi-Materials Stewardship Board, and money for an education program as regards to the handling of chemicals, that sort of thing. I know that there is some aspect of Municipal Affairs as regards to the handling of garbage that would be handled through the Multi-Materials Stewardship Board. I also know, Mr. Speaker, that crosses over into Environment and Conservation as well. I will leave it at that one.

Next is Transportation and Works. I will say a few comments about Transportation and Works. The ferry replacement strategy right now is so far off that they need to start again. We only have two boats completed. One of them, as far as I know, Mr. Speaker, is still tied up at wharf side while the argument goes on between government and Kiewit over the financial dealings of the last two boats that were built. Things are being held up in this Province a little bit because of the argument that is being made over money. That we can understand in some cases but in this case I think that the people have been waiting long enough. It is time to go forward here.

One of the things that I hope the Department of Transportation and Works is going to look at is a little bit more security of the ferry link between Blanc Sablon, Labrador, and of course the Northern Peninsula. I think this would be a very good investment for government to undertake, is to make it a part of an overall government-wide service and perhaps in the very near future be able to construct a boat that would be able to run all year round over in that service. I think the people of Labrador and the people of the Northern Peninsula have been waiting long enough for this to happen. I think the potential is there, not only to open up Labrador a little bit more for access for consumer goods but it would also have a double effect by putting the hammer down in some cases when it comes to the pricing of goods and services. The second big effect, of course, you would have from that is being able to open up that second North American gateway for goods and services to leave from the Northern Peninsula if you will and enter into the North American markets. I do hope the Department of Transportation and Works will look at that.

As regards to roads, what more can I say besides - as regards to roads, question mark. I think a lot of people in this Province are talking an awful lot in these last couple of weeks about where the road construction strategy is going in this Province. I think it is lost in a pothole somewhere, Mr. Speaker, as regards to the amounts of money that are put into it. The people of this Province paid in approximately $168 million, $169 million in gasoline taxes this year. Between the ferry strategy being put a couple of years behind and the road strategy, we have not seen enough investment in our roads for the money that we are paying. It goes a long way to say that - when I say that. When it comes to the gasoline tax, we are paying an awful of money, Mr. Speaker. We are, and we are not seeing a return on our investment, as tractor-trailer drivers or as regular consumers or business people that are crossing the Island on a day-to-day basis.

Mr. Speaker, when I was on my way out to Gander I had an opportunity to talk to a few tractor-trailer drivers along the way who are disgusted in some places with the way the Trans-Canada Highway is but particularly some of the branch highways. For example, like the Bonavista highway is pretty hard in a lot of places and other areas of the Province. Need I say more? Route 360 on the South Coast is in absolute terrible shape. I also had a couple of suggestions from the drivers as regards to road improvements and the highway crossings in Labrador. We need to see good, strong investment in the Trans-Labrador Highway, and no doubt government is progressing with that, but the sooner the better.

As regards to bridges, in the 2010-2011 strategy book on the part of the Department of Transportation and Works, there was a strategy, Mr. Speaker, in that book to replace the Placentia lift bridge. The other frustration is that we have another project here to carry on the life of the present bridge for another five years. So they are still not going to see another bridge there.

The third thing I would like to see is regard to the possibility, if we cannot see a boat crossing over on the Strait of Belle Isle we certainly would like to seek another strategy when it comes to the fixed link proposal between Newfoundland and Labrador. I think the people of the Northern Peninsula have valid arguments. Again, I have said some of the arguments would be for the placing of a fixed link here when it comes to the cost of consumer goods. We are talking about our fishing industry, for example, on the Island portion of the Province would be looking for another gateway. We do not have to be as dependent on the ferry system, as it runs over to North Sydney now, if we had that second gateway.

The reality is that if we need to see something that is going to be really beneficial about the Muskrat Falls Project, I do not believe, personally speaking, that the running of wires on a good oyster bed and tearing up the bottom in that regard is going to be beneficial to the people of the Province. However, if you are going to have early access to the North American market, a bridge over the water and at the same time carrying the power from Muskrat Falls should be considered in this project.

A couple of years ago there was a study out - I think it was 2004-2005 numbers - that talked about the cost being $1.7 billion. There were economists out there talking about how bad of an idea it was. I think it is a great idea because there are ultimately benefits, not only for Newfoundland and Labrador, but as well for North America. We are talking about the potential to open up the whole North American market, not only for Newfoundland and Labrador, but we are talking about being able to access goods and services as well by a secondary route from North America to Newfoundland and Labrador. It will bring down the price of consumer goods in Coastal Labrador by that much more. I think that would be a very worthwhile project that government should undertake if it goes ahead with Muskrat Falls. Again, they have not reached the sanctioning decision on that, but I think it has to be given consideration rather than the environmental impacts of loosing some valuable fish grounds, too, at the same time in the Strait of Belle Isle. So that is what I have as regards to Transportation and Works.

The third department – of course one of my critic areas – is Environment and Conservation. Again, I have to ask about the benefits of talking about consumption rather than the fact of conservation. We do not see enough of it sometimes, but in this particular Budget I have not seen anything yet when it comes to a program of retrofitting or financing when it comes to industry, for example. I do not think it is strong enough. The other day, I think it was probably Wednesday or Thursday, there was a brilliant program – as far as I am concerned, it was anyway – through the Government of Manitoba that announced a type of financing that was a little bit innovative when it came to the residential aspect of it, not only to the residential aspect of it but to the small business aspect as well. It went on something like this: They would actually use the savings that a consumer would expect from doing retrofits, to actually use those savings to finance the retrofits that needed to take place. In other words, if you found that, for example, you were going to have a 30 per cent savings on your heat bill in the run of a year, they would take that 30 per cent and they would actually use that to do the financing to cover off the cost of the refit. So, I would like to see the government use a little bit more imagination when it comes to retrofitting.

The second thing that I did not see is a subsidy program for the installation of heat pumps or for systems that would take people off the grid. I think that is a very important aspect to consider. There are some people out there who are probably getting a little bit fed up with the way prices have been rising, and indeed, of course, consumers here in Newfoundland and Labrador are going to be forced to put up with another increase in prices due to the price of oil. Now, we have seen the price of oil stabilize somewhat and indeed start to show a little bit of a retreat. So, perhaps six months down the road with the way the European Union is going these days, we could end up seeing the price of oil tank again yet. I think that there are more troubles that are coming out now with the US banking system. In particular, banks like J.P. Morgan are reporting losses and everything.

I think that we are at a questionable point in our economic history right now where I think that there is going to be a little bit of instability. So, I do not see the potential for significant growth in the price of oil. I say that again because we have the provincial government projecting the price of Brent crude at $124 a barrel, and I think that right now at this juncture, before you have taken out the instability of the markets – and I would hope to be really wrong on this one, in one regard, that the Province's own budgetary numbers, like I say, are figured out to be $124 in Brent. I do not see that being realistic right with the way that the future of the European Union looks like, the instability of the economic markets over in Europe. I think there is more hope for the price of oil right now to fall rather than to increase. I think that the Department of Finance's numbers are a little bit bullish in this regard. It is only time will tell, Mr. Minister, that I may be proven right or wrong in that regard. Either way, I think right now there is a little bit of instability that has to be questioned about it.

I have a couple of other matters to talk about in the last two minutes that I have. I did not see an initiative again addressing the gas tax. Where the gas tax is going up and up probably over the last fourteen years or so – I think it was only in one year, 2003-2004 that it showed loss – I would have liked to have seen a little bit of fairness practised here on the part of the government on the other side and they could have addressed this simply by the way that the HST and the provincial tax is figured out on the price of gas.

Consumers in this Province could have been saving themselves an extra 3.5 cents a litre when it comes to their fuel consumption. We could have prices a little bit lower simply on the basis of how these numbers are figured out. We have the cost price of gas, then we have the provincial and federal excise taxes that are on top of it, and then we have the computation of the HST that is made.

I think that it would only be a simple stroke of a pen if the Department of Finance were to approach the federal government and the other Atlantic Canadian counterparts and ask them if we can redraw this just on the basis of simple fairness. We do not have to have this money in our own pockets; we can use this as a bit of an economic indicator if you will, or an economic boost to consumers out there to put disposable income back in their pockets. It may be a great small business initiative in that regard as well to put some dollars back into consumers' pockets in that regard.

I can see, Mr. Speaker, my time is running out. I will leave that for another day. The one thing that I would like the Finance Minister to put into consideration for next year, which is something that has been coming to me as of late, is the possibility of extending the removal of some of the types of insurance that are on heating systems, for example. We know that we have car insurance that has removed, but the next one possibly for Budget next year and for him to consider that I have been hearing out on the street is the insurance taxes that are on heating systems out there.

MR. SPEAKER (Verge): Order, please!

MR. MURPHY: Mr. Speaker, I will leave that as it is for now.

Thank you very much.

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for Mount Pearl South.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. LANE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is certainly a pleasure for me to stand here today. I said, the last time I spoke on the sub-amendment, it was great to have the opportunity to speak on some of the great items that are in Budget 2012. I certainly did not get the opportunity last time to even start on some of those items because it is quite easy to get off on a tangent sometimes, particularly as it relates to some of the commentary you hear from across the way.

Mr. Speaker, before I get into some of these items, though, I do want to once again put this into perspective in terms of budgets and who has to pay for this. I actually brought this up, I believe, the last time I spoke, and I have some positive commentary from people in my district who had heard me speak as it relates to the ordinary taxpayer. I think it is very important to realize, Mr. Speaker, that as a government, what we are really doing here is spending the people's money. The people's money in general is no different from our own budgets that we have at home. There are all kinds of things that we would like to spend money on; there are things that we have to spend money on. There are necessities.

There are things like shelter; there are things like food and so on. There are also things like TV, telephone, heat, and light, but then there are also things that are discretionary spending, Mr. Speaker. It is no different here when we are trying to run a government. There are certain things, there are certain core things, which society demands that we provide for our citizens, things like health care, things like education, and so on. Then there are other things which rate in importance, I guess it depends on your perspective.

It is important, Mr. Speaker, that as a government we find a balance to these things. One of the things I have seen as a government is that we have certainly been able to strike that balance. I think that is really the difference between this side of the House and, in particular, the Third Party, Mr. Speaker. It is striking a balance, realizing that people have to pay for these things. Going back to my example when I spoke last time, talking about that typical family in Newfoundland and Labrador, certainly a typical family in my district: a husband and a wife, both working, trying to pay the bills; they only have one job each. They probably have a couple of kids and they have to pay for their necessities, they have to balance their money, and they can only spend the money they have to try to provide for themselves, provide for their family, stay above water, Mr. Speaker.

When I listen to the member opposite, the Member for St. John's East – and I was not going to go there because, again, I had so many positive things I wanted to say about the Budget, and I am going to try and get to that. I just noted some of the things that the Member for St. John's East just said in his little spiel, Mr. Speaker. I heard him say: Not enough money for roads. Now, despite the fact that this government has put more money into roads, underground infrastructure, in the last number of years than ever in our history; despite the fact that the state that the roads were in, they were not potholes, they were craters when we took over this government; despite all of that, according to the member opposite, the Member for St. John's East, the Member of the Third Party, once again: Not enough money into roads.

I heard him say we needed more money from municipalities. Again, there has been millions and millions of dollars put into municipalities, Mr. Speaker. I know, and I have a background; I am glad that the member opposite had the opportunity to go to Gander to the Municipal Symposium to talk to a lot of great people out there doing a lot of great work. Mr. Speaker, I am well aware of all of these people. I was certainly one of them. My passion lies in municipalities. I spent six years as a city councillor and two years as deputy mayor in the City of Mount Pearl. I also served on the Board of Directors with Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador as the Avalon Director and had the opportunity to deal with many provincial issues in municipalities all over the Province.

I visited many municipalities, certainly on the Avalon, joint councils in Trinity Bay South, Conception Bay North, the Avalon Joint Councils, the Southern Shore Joint Councils, the Isthmus Joint Councils, the St. Mary's Joint Councils, and so on; I had opportunities to speak and to interact with many of these municipalities. I understand a lot of the issues they have, but I also understand, Mr. Speaker, that this government has made tremendous investments to help those municipalities over the last number of years.

I know in the City of Mount Pearl alone, the tremendous investment we have seen from this government, Mr. Speaker. The multi-year capital, in particular, comes to mind. The Multi-Year Capital Works Program in this Province, prior to this government taking over in 2003, used to be a 50-50 cost-sharing formula. This government initiated a new program for municipalities in terms of multi-year capital. For the larger municipalities it is all based on population, of course; the larger municipalities went from a 50-50 cost-share to a 70-30 cost-share, which meant now that the Province would pick up 70 cents of every dollar that was spent in infrastructure as opposed to 50 cents.

In terms of the mid-size municipalities, like the Town of Gander, Grand Falls-Windsor, and so on, we have an 80-20 cost-share. The Province is actually picking up 80 per cent, 80 cents on every dollar spent on roads and underground infrastructure. For small municipalities, the government went from 50-50 to 90-10, or picking up 90 cents on every dollar that is spent on roads and underground infrastructure, water systems, and so on. That was a tremendous boost right there.

In this year's Budget we have seen an increase to municipal operating grants for the smaller municipalities. We have seen another increase this year in the Budget for those municipalities in terms of Municipal Operating Grants.

In addition to that, Mr. Speaker, for example, if I look at the City of Mount Pearl, I look at over and above our cost-sharing ratios and a tremendous amount of money that has been put in, in terms of roads and underground infrastructure. We can look at recreation. We look at the investments that have been made up at the Team Gushue Complex with a world-class artificial turf, field, soccer hut, lighted field, and so on up there, and all of the improvements going up at the Team Gushue Complex. We look at the new Glacier Arena. Now, very shortly, tenders are going to be let by the City of Mount Pearl for a brand new swimming pool and multiplex, with an indoor walking track, an improved Reid Centre, a teen centre, a sports hall of fame, and everything. That is over and above that.

We look on a regional basis. We look at the money that has been put into the regional waste management facility at Robin Hood Bay. We look at the money that has been put into the Wastewater Treatment Facility on Southside Road. We look at the money that has been put in to upgrades to Bay Bulls Big Pond. Certainly, in this area alone, when we talk about money gone into municipalities, Mr. Speaker, this government has made tremendous investment. We have seen this right throughout the whole Province.

The hon. member was speaking about we have not enough money for roads and not enough money for municipalities. He talked about the bridges. He talked about the Placentia lift bridge, which we are committed to doing. In the meantime, we are repairing the bridge that we have. We are going to do proper planning. It is going to be safe for people. We are making that investment. No, no, we need that right now, regardless of the cost.

He talked about the ferries. Now, Mr. Speaker, we invested over the last two years. Last year we put two new ferries in service at $27.5 million a piece. That was the first time in twenty years, Mr. Speaker, that we have invested in new ferries. We also have plans underway for a number of smaller ferries for Labrador and so on. We have a third ferry, we all know about, that has been negotiated with Kiewit. We are still in negotiations and it is certainly our hope that we can resolve those negotiations and it can get built in Newfoundland and Labrador. The hon. member basically says: Enough is enough; just let the ferries get built. In other words, we are going to let a company hold us hostage. If they want to say the overrun is $1 million, $2 million, or $10 million, what odds. Give them whatever they like. Who cares? Pick the money off the money tree, Mr. Speaker, and give them whatever they want. Money is no object.

Mr. Speaker, also on this wish list, we have a fixed link between Newfoundland and Labrador. I am not sure how many billion dollars we are going to spend on that one. More money into energy conservation retrofits. We are going to take the tax now. In the meantime, while we are going to be spending all this money, instead of increasing our revenues, what are we going to do? We are going to take taxes off the price of gas. We are going to decrease our revenues in order to pay for all these additional services and programs. I am not sure where they learned how to budget, Mr. Speaker, but they must have gone to a different school than I went to.

Then we also talked about insurance, we are going to be cutting taxes on insurance as well. All with the stroke of a pen, that was the words that were used, Mr. Speaker. With the stroke of a pen we are going to cut these taxes. We are going to cut the taxes but we are going to increase the services, going to increase the programs.

Mr. Speaker, I have to be honest with you, everyday when I come here and I listen to the Third Party, you think I would be at a point after a while where I would say: Do you know what? It is only the NDP; it is only the Third Party. I am still amazed that they actually believe it. Not only are they trying to bring this philosophy – which is a bankruptcy philosophy. Not only are they trying to bring this bankruptcy philosophy to the House of Assembly, now I understand they are going to try to bring it to St. John's City Hall as well. That is the latest news. Now they are going to try to put a slate up in St. John's so they can bankrupt the city.

Mr. Speaker, I think it is important when we look at all the great things that are happening here, there cannot always be new spending. We have seen a lot of new spending, Mr. Speaker, but you cannot continue with new spending, particularly when we talk about operational spending. There is a big difference, Mr. Speaker, between capital and operational. You set aside so much money each year for capital expenditures. You build something new this year, next year that money has been spent but now you allocate money to build something else, so you do it over time.

When we are talking about increased programs constantly, once you take that on, you take it on forever. Every time you decide you are going to hire someone, you are going to create a new position, or two new positions, or ten, or twenty, or whatever it is, you are carrying that forever, year over year over year. Not only are you carrying the costs, the costs are increasing. As contract negotiations happen, and the cost of insurances go up, and benefits go up and everything else, those costs are escalating year over year. The fact that we can even maintain a lot of the great things we are doing is a positive in itself, when you consider the fact that revenues are not necessarily going up. We are still able to maintain so many good services and programs, but they just do not seem to get it. I do not understand why but they do not.

Mr. Speaker, I am just going to take some time now to talk about some of the positive things. As much as we hear about the negative, there are a lot of positive things happening here in Newfoundland and Labrador, a lot of positive things happening in this Budget, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, let's talk about education. I think it is fair to say most people in Newfoundland and Labrador, their two top priorities are health and education, no doubt about it. So, if we look at education, first of all, let us look at our K-12s. We have seen more money, again, more money in the last number of years invested in education than ever before in our history. There are new schools going up all over the Province. When we took over this government – as I believe I said before, I know people, because I worked in the safety industry before I came here to the House of Assembly; I know consultants who have made a living over the last number of years writing reports condemning schools.

Mr. Speaker, we have taken it very seriously, and we are investing in schools. There has been more money put into schools than ever before. We look at the whiteboard technology; I heard somebody on the opposite side during Question Period complaining about the whiteboards, that they are not operational. Mr. Speaker, we have put so much investment into these whiteboards. I was actually out to St. Peter's Junior High last week and met with the principal, as well as the principal of O'Donel; we were talking about this bullying and hazing issue that was going on and so on, trying to get a handle on that. While I was there, the principal took me in and showed me the whiteboard, and they were so proud of it, and what an impact it is having on the students. I can tell you what; they talk about people not being trained. I can certainly assure you that the staff at St. Peter's Junior High are well-trained. I was shown all the things that the students were doing, and all the learning opportunities that came with that technology.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. LANE: They also had another one of these boards that the staff actually used for professional development as well, a tremendous opportunity for professional development for staff. They were well versed in it. The principal of O'Donel told me they have them and they are very pleased and everything, as well. So, Mr. Speaker, that certainly speaks to some of the investment we have made in the K-12, and certainly we have made a lot more than that.

In terms of post-secondary, because we value education, Mr. Speaker, once again we have extended our post-secondary tuition freezes, to the benefit of students. We have expanded and enhanced student financial assistance programs with up-front needs-based grants, interest-free student loans. We are also investing in extending programs such as the MUN Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science and ocean sector at the Marine Institute. We are also investing in new infrastructure and so on in all of our institutions throughout the Province, Mr. Speaker. Those are just a few top-of-the-trees things that we have done and are continuing to do.

In terms of health, Mr. Speaker, which is another big one, over the past eight years we have invested over $800 million in health infrastructure – $800 million, just in infrastructure alone. Under Budget 2012, we are going to see more than 40 per cent of our total Budget going to health care, nearly $3 billion. That is $3 billion with a B, Mr. Speaker. Never in our history have we seen the type of investment in health care than we have seen under this government.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. LANE: I am glad to see the hon. members opposite are taking notes, and you should.

Mr. Speaker, we currently have more doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals than ever before in our history. We have invested in wait time reduction strategies for joint replacement surgeries as well as in emergency rooms. We are considered a leader in cardiac care. Imagine: people are actually coming from other parts of the country to Newfoundland. They are coming to see us, to learn from us in terms of cardiac care. What a boast that is, for sure.

We have seen in Budget 2012, Mr. Speaker, we are expanding our breast cancer screening program to include younger clients aged forty to forty-nine, who are referred by their primary health care providers, another great improvement. We are adding a new mammography unit to the James Paton Memorial Hospital in Gander and investing an additional $1.9 million to enhance dialysis to Harbour Breton, St. Anthony, Carbonear, Happy Valley-Goose Bay, and Corner Brook, Mr. Speaker. There are plans underway for a new hospital in Corner Brook. Yes, I would say to the Member for Bay of Islands, you will be getting your hospital in Corner Brook. We have invested almost $17 million into it up to date, Mr. Speaker, so that hospital in Corner Brook is definitely going to happen.

We are also investing another $230 million in health infrastructure in terms of: there is going to be work done on St. Clare's emergency, Waterford Forensic Unit, investment in a provincial PET scanner. There is work on the Genetics Centre/Faculty of Medicine at the Health Sciences, work on the Flower's Cove Health Centre, and work on health clinics in Marystown North and Glovertown. We have addictions treatment centres in Paradise, Harbour Grace, and Grand Falls-Windsor underway. We have a new regional hospital for Labrador West, continued redevelopment of the Central Newfoundland Regional Health Centre in Grand Falls, and planning for a new acute care facility, as I said, in Corner Brook, Mr. Speaker.

Budget 2012 is going to see an investment of $29 million over the next four years to enhance the 65Plus Plan to reduce the cost of prescription drugs for our seniors, which is another group that we certainly value in our society and, as a government, we are doing all we can to make life better for seniors, Mr. Speaker. We are investing approximately $37 million over the next four years to support pharmacies and we are also investing $4.4 million in the Newfoundland Prescription Drug Program to ensure access to appropriate therapies.

Mr. Speaker, in terms of health care facilities, programs, staffing, and prescription drugs, this government is stepping to the plate for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. LANE: Mr. Speaker, I only have a minute left. I realize I represent an urban district, but even though I was elected by the people of Mount Pearl South, I am still a Newfoundlander first and foremost. My roots are in rural Newfoundland and Labrador as I said in my maiden speech. I have people who have worked in the fishery, both in the inshore fishery, small boat fishery; people who have worked offshore; people who have worked in the processing industry – family members – and I know the devastation that is happening in some of these communities. I think it is important that we say that we are here for the people of rural Newfoundland and Labrador. Certainly, Mr. Speaker, as a member of this government and even though a represent an urban district, I want to say that I totally support the people of rural Newfoundland and Labrador and we will be there for those people.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. LANE: Mr. Speaker, here we go once again, I realize my time is up, I thank you for the opportunity and I hope I will have the opportunity to speak yet again because we have many good stories to say. We have a government that is working for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, and I am darn proud to be part of it, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Member for St. Barbe.

MR. BENNETT: Mr. Speaker, today in our Budget debate I would like to speak on Muskrat Falls. For better or worse, I have been so preoccupied with the fishery and with the Fisheries Minister that I have neglected to have much to say about Muskrat Falls. Having listened to both the Minister of Natural Resources and the Premier speak on Muskrat Falls, I think that it would be appropriate that I add my observations.

The role of the Opposition clearly is to oppose, but by opposing something can be strengthened, improved, modified, maybe done away with, but certainly that is the role of Opposition. The first question that needs to be answered is: Do we need the electricity? I will not talk for five minutes and then come down with the answer. Right off the bat I will say yes, I believe we need the electricity. We will need the electricity as time goes on. The more electricity we need, the better it will be, because that will mean we will have more action in this Province.

Mr. Speaker, just looking at the ordinary growth of the Province – and I know that critics have said look at the last ten years or so and there has been practically no growth in the consumption of electricity. Granted, it has been relatively minimal, but that is the past, and I would prefer to look to the future. For the critics who say we will not need the electricity, then I say that those critics have a doom and gloom outlook for the Province. They believe that we are not going to improve; they believe that our population will get older and shrink, and they are destined to assign this Province to simply failure in Confederation. The other side of the equation is that the more electricity we need, the more we are able to grow, the more we are able to develop, the more electricity we will need. Whether that is Muskrat Falls or not, I will get to in a little while.

Just on ordinary population growth, it has been widely reported now that the former Premier has a very large housing development. I say that is great. We need more people like the former Premier. Hallelujah for him going out into the private sector all over again, creating homes, generating employment, and driving our economy – so much the better. For projects like that, we will need more electricity.

Then we have manufacturing growth. If we look in seafood, mining, timber, even food production, we will need more energy if we do things right or do things well in this Province. I know we have a differing view on how seafood ought to be handled. As a matter of fact, I just came from an interview with somebody who had me pose with tins of kippers – which I was quite pleased to pose with. Hopefully, he will give the Minister of Fisheries equal time in The Telegram the next day, because I would hate to see him not have a chance to be able to discuss production of seafood in our Province. The more seafood production that we have, the more processing that we have, the more energy we will need. The more plants we are able to maintain, the more our Gross Domestic Product will grow, and the better it will be for our Province, and the better it will be for our small communities. So, do we need more electricity? Absolutely, yes, and if we do not need more electricity, then we have real problems.

In addition to seafood production, Mr. Speaker, there is mining. This Province has just started to move again in the mining sector, and thank God for that. This Province came into Confederation only a little more than sixty years ago. Most of the others had a seventy or eighty-year running start on us. So, we are the baby in Confederation and we are very underdeveloped and undeveloped. We have some mining exploration; hopefully, we will have far more mining exploration and we will find more minerals, and not just in Labrador. In the part of the Province that I come from, I grew up watching diamond drillers spend their summers and falls drilling and drilling. Yes, they found minerals. They found zinc and we had a zinc mine for a fifteen-year period or so. Even though that mine played out, the resident geologists say we never, ever struck the big one. We never hit the big load.

Mr. Speaker, if I had my way, from Gros Morne National Park north, we would be literally hand over fist with diamond drillers going night and day, drilling more holes and more holes into the ground. My belief is you cannot have that much rock and not have minerals. If we have minerals, we should not ship them out and send them away. We should mine the minerals to our advantage and we should process the minerals. That will take more energy. Do we need more energy? Yes, we need more energy.

Then, Mr. Speaker, we have the timber industry. The timber industry has so much potential that we are not really looking at, in my view, at this point. Sometimes it is difficult to look at the positive when things are not going well. Yes, we are down two paper mills. We have one paper mill, hopefully that will survive and hopefully will prosper. We have far too many trees for one paper mill, and trees do not stop growing. Trees grow and grow. Right now there is a glut of lumber. There is a glut of timber in North America, and we are facing a worldwide recession. What better time to reposition so we can have sawmilling return to the Province?

Much of the timbers in this Province are too far away from Corner Brook to make it viable to be shipped to Corner Brook. It simply would be too expensive. We have a pellet plant in Roddickton. Hopefully in the timber equation of the economy, we will be able to develop and we will be able to selectively harvest saw lumber and build building components. Why should we always be the ones to send out our wealth unprocessed? Europe will recover from the recession. The United States will recover from the recession. Building will continue. Building will resume. What better product to build with than lumber? Why would we not process lumber as far as we can process it down the value chain, package it up, and send it by water to Europe or wherever else? So for timber we will need more electricity.

Mr. Speaker, there is food production. I have heard recently that we are covering only approximately 1 per cent of our food production in this Province. We know that global warming is upon us. We know that a lot of agricultural areas will be hard hit by global warming. We know the population is expanding. We have viable food production farms in this Province.

In the community where I live, there is a dairy farm. There is a dairy farm and that family has cultivated 1,000 acres. They have 1,000 acres of land to grass. When a farmer from Saskatchewan visited a few years ago and asked friends of mine: How much hay do you get? He said, well we get two cuts a year. He said two cuts? We only get one cut in Saskatchewan, because it is dry in Saskatchewan. It is not dry here; it is not dry at all.

In Brophy Dairy Farm in Daniels Harbour, they have 500 head of cattle. They produce 6,000 litres of milk a day, and they do not have three-phase power. We have vast expanses of land, with 500,000 people. In many of those areas it is not all rock, it is not all bog, and it is not all water. A lot of it is forest that has been cut over. There are opportunities galore for people who want to get involved, and get involved in food production.

Then, Mr. Speaker, if you drive around the Province you will see piles of firewood that people use for heat. The time is coming when many of these people will no longer want to use firewood. They are getting a little older, it is a lot of work, it is messy, and it is not overly efficient. Just as sure as I am standing here, over time, even with no increase in population, as these people systematically abandon firewood they will go to electricity. If they go to electricity we will need more electricity. Then people will move away from oil, because oil is expensive and it is not very clean. It will become cost prohibitive.

In 1983, Mr. Speaker, I lived in Calgary, Alberta and oil, at that time, was $14 a barrel. The old oil guys that I came to know, because I was in the financial planning business and I knew a number of these guys and began to know their industry. From the outside I began to understand it a little bit. They lamented and said: $14 a barrel, we will never develop Athabasca; we will never get the tar sands to work. You could call them the tar sands then, it was still politically correct. You cannot call them the tar sands anymore. You have to call them the oil sands now. They said at $40 a barrel it will never happen. That was West Texas Intermediate, and Brent was a little bit less. Brent today is a little more than West Texas Intermediate, but oil today is $100 or more a barrel compared to $14 a barrel twenty-nine years ago. That is a 700 to 800 per cent increase.

If 35 per cent of our electricity is generated from oil - I understand that is the number - and is over $100 a barrel, and that goes up the same in the next twenty-nine years as it did in the last twenty-nine years, likely it will go faster and further because I am told that in the 1970s we crossed over when we discovered less oil than we consumed. We have been on a downward track on oil production versus its consumption. We are using more than we find over that period of time. If that goes up to $800 or $900 a barrel for oil and at 35 per cent, anybody can do the simple math. The simple math is that it will cost an arm and a leg to use oil. If we are generating electricity from oil, yes, we will have a problem.

Then I get to the question: Is this the lowest choice? Mr. Speaker, I do not know if this is the lowest choice or not. Is this the lowest-cost alternative? Natural gas has been discussed. Quite frankly, I do not know about natural gas to even have an opinion, but I am certain that others do and hopefully the government will investigate the possibility of natural gas.

The thing that really appeals to me is the Upper Churchill agreement will conclude, or be ended, or renewed in 2049 and this is twenty-nine years from now. Mr. Speaker, how much would it cost to bridge the gap between now and 2041 when the Upper Churchill comes back to us? I have heard the Minister of Natural Resources say well, it is not as simple as that because Hydro-Quebec owns 35 per cent. I think it is as simple as that because intelligent people, business people and their lawyers and their political leaders will always find a way to unlock value. If the Upper Churchill is 5,000 megawatts, there is no way that this government and Hydro-Quebec is going to sit around and let one drop of water run over the falls that we do not get some money for.

Whether we are dealing with Quebec or with Nova Scotia, it makes no difference to me whatsoever because having lived on the mainland for twenty years I can say with confidence that it is no better to be taken advantage of by somebody else than it is by Quebec. It does not matter if it is Quebec or Nova Scotia or whoever it happens to be, we have to look after ourselves and we will look after ourselves.

If it is 65 per cent for us and 35 per cent for them, then maybe we could joint venture with Hydro-Quebec for 35 per cent of theirs and 35 per cent of ours and make a deal, cash in and bring back the other 30 per cent. Upper Churchill is 5,000 megawatts and 30 per cent of that will be 1,500 megawatts. That is twice as big for 30 per cent as Muskrat Falls is. Muskrat Falls is only 824.

If it is more feasible – and I do not know this but certainly somebody with the resources of Nalcor and on the government side could calculate what would it take for us to bridge between now and 2041 when the Upper Churchill comes back. Smaller hydro has been mentioned. The first time I heard mention of Portland Creek development was from the Premier when she was Minister of Natural Resources. I said hallelujah, because I live five miles from Portland Creek. This would be a great development, this twenty-five or twenty-six megs. It probably would be 100-or-so jobs in construction; it probably would be ten or twelve permanent jobs. That would be a great development. There are other smaller-scale developments that might be possible for us to use for bridging between now and 2041. We could also continue to use Holyrood between now and 2041. Holyrood is going to be around anyway, so using scrubbers, clean it up a little bit and help get from here to 2041.

We also could use wind power – and I know that it is said that wind power is not reliable; it is not always blowing. Well, believe me, somewhere on this Island it is always blowing. In the Northwest Coast where I live in St. Barbe District, the Canadian Wind Atlas shows marketable power from wind 72 per cent of the time. So, if we have 72 per cent of the time, the rest of you folks should be able to cover off the other 28 per cent between down on the South Coast and out in Bonavista and up in St. Anthony. We may be able to have a large enough grid that we could feed into it with wind power and always have electricity, and have Holyrood for a backup. That might be enough to get us through to 2041, and then maybe we do not need Muskrat.

I know that it has been tossed around that the Anglo-Saxon route is the way to go. That has some real appeal to me, not necessarily to shut Quebec out of the equation, although that is not a bad idea in ant event, but Muskrat is not big enough to do that. Muskrat at 824, and the line underneath the water, I understand that the line is for 500 megs, and Emera has 170, and we get to use the other 330. Well, 330 is such a small quantity overall, it really would not make that much difference. If the Upper Churchill is 5,000, and what we can sell through the line is 330, then it really is only a drop in the bucket. Maybe the deal to do it is Muskrat, maybe the deal to do it is the whole Lower Churchill, Gull Island and all, bigger line – because this line simply will not have the capacity. Now, if it will not have the capacity, it means we will have to get started again. If we have done a deal on Muskrat and it is not a good deal, then we have this thing hung around our necks until 2041, and people will say: Why didn't you wait? Why didn't you look at all the options?

Now, granted, you cannot know if you have always looked at all the options, because as soon as you think you have looked at all the options, something else pops up. I am reminded of back in the late 1970s a couple of brothers in Texas tried to corner silver, the silver quantity in the world, the global silver trade – the Hunt brothers – because they had enough money. One of the statements attributed to Bunker Hunt was: If you know how much money you have, then you are not rich. He did not know how many billions he had, but what they did not count on as they drove price is silver in the Indian subcontinent, which people kept in their homes as poor person's gold. They melted it down and put it back in. Silver in the coins, we remember, all the coins out in circulation, they melted it down and put it back into circulation. All of the silver in photography, the same thing, and all of the silver in the dental offices were the same thing. These guys thought they had it covered and they did not. Of course, the bubble popped and they lost their shirts.

I ended up with a small loan to pay off when the Hunt brothers were wrong. It took me four years to learn. When you figure you have it all covered, you probably have not. What have I missed and what is it going to cost me? That is where I am with Muskrat Falls today.

Now, if Muskrat is the lowest-cost alternative, then I do not agree with the Minister of Natural Resources when he says that the increase in power costs will be very small. I think it will be significantly more than that. I have looked at the numbers. I have spoken with and listened to Nalcor executives. When I look around and see somebody like Gilbert Bennett in church on Sunday, and I am in the same church, I know that he means well and his heart is in the right place. He is probably technically very proficient. He can make a mistake too, and any of us can make a mistake.

My concerns are manifold with Muskrat, but it is not whether we need the power. We definitely will need the power and we will need even more power. In all likelihood, we probably have underestimated our requirements. However, another concern I have is if we bring on power in five or six years time and it is really expensive, this absolutely hammers people on a fixed income.

There is a lady in my district who will be eighty-nine on May 29. Today, she is living in her kitchen, bathroom, and a bedroom. All the rest is ‘plastic-ed' off because she cannot afford to pay more for electricity and heat. She is living at home. So if we drive up the cost on her, she might well say to me: How could you have done this to me, because now I have to go into a home, which is even more costly?

Mr. Speaker, there may be a way around that. We may be able to have a subsidy package into Muskrat, but then a subsidy is an overall cost for the program. However, it might be possible for us to look at the interest rate package. One of the positives is that the feds are on side and I would insist on nothing less than the 2 per cent guarantee. We do not want anything but the federal guarantee. We may be able to seek baseline sources of capital, the interest rates start off low and move up. We may be able to put together a financial package on Muskrat Falls. I say we, even though it is Nalcor, because Nalcor is our corporation. We may be able to structure the payment schedule and the interest schedule so that we start off low when interest rates are lower and when our costs are higher, and over a period of ten, fifteen, twenty, twenty-five years, actuarially we can run this out. We could match up the costs with the revenue in a little better manner so that the people who are supposed to benefit the most, who are on the fixed income, might have less of an abrupt increase.

In addition to the individuals on a fixed income, there are small businesses. Small businesses will not be able to take a hit in the order of 50 per cent or 60 per cent. I own two small businesses in addition to my law practice; I am already looking for air-to-air heat pumps in order to be able to move heat around because I have real concerns, if the cost goes up in five years as much as I think it may go up – and I have not even spoke of overruns yet; that is if they get it right, and we know the overruns may be underestimated.

So, I have real concerns with Muskrat Falls. We will need the electricity, hopefully we will need even more than is calculated. If we do Muskrat Falls, whether we do it or whether we do not, not doing it is not good enough; we must do something, because not doing it will be a decision as much as doing it will be a decision. The time never was better economically, because we are in a slump; there is less competition for labour, less competition for materials, less competition for capital. If we are going to do it, we need to do it, but it needs to be the right deal.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Member for Conception Bay East – Bell Island.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. BRAZIL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is an honour again to get up and speak to the amendment. I just want to outline that I left what I felt was a rewarding career in the civil service because I thought I could contribute to the political life. I think in a small way in the last eighteen months I have been able to do that and I have been very fortune to be part of an Administration that has added a lot to the lifestyle of people in this Province and has improved that dramatically.

I am normally considered fair-minded no nonsense type of individual who wants to jump right in, get into what the crux of the issue is and try to find ways of solving that. I know I am not the only one; I know from our Premier to the ministers in our Cabinet, to all of our caucus colleagues, and I would hope and assume all the same members who were elected in this House of Assembly feel the same way, that we want to move programs and services forward so that it improves the people in this Province.

Mr. Speaker, sometimes you run into some issues which frustrate you. I found it very frustrating in the last couple of weeks sitting here in the House, because too often there is innuendo from the Opposition, particularly members of the Third Party; there is sarcasm about what we do. There is distorting exactly what programs we are offering. It is throwing out a hint that we do not care about people, that we do not have a feel for what people are going through, that we actually are not legitimate when it comes to trying to find ways to improve people's lives. I take that to heart, Mr. Speaker, because I have spent twenty-six years of my life in the civil service hoping to try to improve that. I spent part of that as a volunteer in a number of organizations and I guess I must have done some good, because there are a few things on my wall that people acknowledged the few things that I was able to do.

I do understand, and it was said by one of the opposite members there earlier, that the Opposition by nature is to oppose, but you can oppose in a very diplomatic, a very professional way of doing it. You can outline facts and figures, outline ways you think we can improve it. I ask for open dialogue, and we are very open. This part of the House here has been very open.

I have been fortunate enough as Chair of the Resource Committee to see how ministers have responded to the Opposition when they ask questions. There is not one piece of information they are not willing to share. There is not one staff they are not willing to put at their disposal to look at what needs to be done. There is not one opportunity they are not giving to the Opposition to say you want to know what we are doing and if you have a way that we may be able to improve it, throw it out. We are more than open to looking at how we improve certain things there. We are not introverted that we work within our own little realm, we are extroverted. We want to know what people are doing here. We want to know what the colleagues in the House of Assembly think about things. We definitely want to know what people in this Province have been doing.

All of our programs are based on what the stakeholders have told us over the years are needed, and that is why they have been so effective. That is why nationally and internationally people want to draw on those. They want to take us in and say look, the people from the grassroots have told you how to do it. You have taken the programs, used your expertise in the civil service to make it work, used your political ability to put things in place, found the proper revenues to do it and made things work. That is why this Province, if you have seen, is second to none; the highest national growth in the last five years; the highest deduction on our debt; the highest improvement when it comes to education, health care, social inclusion, persons with disabilities, immigration strategies, all positive things that we have been able to do.

Mr. Speaker, last week I found myself in an awkward situation. I normally do not want to be embroiled in controversy, it is not who I am, it is not what I do. I am a diplomat. I am somebody who negotiates. I am a conciliator. That is what I do, that is what I am good at. Even in my political life, that is what I have been best known for; not getting up screaming and bawling and attacking. That is not what I do. I find ways to work with people to find the solutions. I was embroiled in a bit of controversy last week, Mr. Speaker, because I stood up and defended my hon. colleague, the Minister of Finance, and the civil service that works for him. Some members here took that out of context and questioned my integrity, particularly at a point of calling me a liar, which I took as an insult. I had looked forward to actually having to get up and defend what I had said. I never got that opportunity, Mr. Speaker, unfortunately. I never got that opportunity to get up and explain exactly why I support the civil service; why the Minister of Finance and his staff are very competent; why we are continuously moving things forward.

I do encourage anybody who has a question about what I say to them. I have no qualms on being able to defend what I say and what I stand for, and neither does anybody on this side of the House. I want to say that unequivocally.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. BRAZIL: Mr. Speaker, I found myself on On Point this past Friday having to also defend the decorum in the House of Assembly. We were getting the hits for it. We were getting that we were not following decorum in the House of Assembly. We have 80 per cent of the members here, but decorum in the House of Assembly has been fairly relevant and fairly positive over the last sittings of this House. It has only changed recently, and that is because certain things have changed on the other side.

I threw out on the Open Line show, I said if you are going to sling something at us, get ready because we will sling back. That is not normally our nature here, but if you are going to insult us, if you are going to question what we do as members, if you are going to question our integrity, you are going to have to take it back. We would prefer not to have to do that. We would prefer to be able to sit here and do what we are good at, governing. That is why we were elected. That is why we are putting things forward. That is what we do as a government. Pre-warning, if you want to throw something at us, we will it throw back. If you want to have an open dialogue and proper debate, we are willing to do that.

I would like to quote the hon. member on the other side, a colleague who was on that same show, the Member for Bay of Islands, the wannabe minister, he said: Why can't we just all get along to improve the Province? Truer words were not spoken, Sir, and that is what we want to do on this side, get along. Question us, challenge us, inquire as to why we are doing certain things, and we are open. Everybody here will share that type of information. Friendly bantering, there is nothing wrong with friendly bantering. It serves three good opportunities here: it gives the audience something to think about, it gives some good dialogue back and forth, and it opens up a different approach to how we do things.

Mr. Speaker, I do not want to spend too much time on that. I think I have gotten my point across here, that this side of the House are very professional. We follow decorum. We want to co-operate with the members on the opposite side, also with the member there, a very good decorum with him, but we also want to open up dialogue on the issues. Please, be respectful of what we are doing and understand why we are doing it. When you can do that, you will get a better opportunity to understand how we are hoping to move things forward.

I also want to talk about what was mentioned here, my good friend Don Johnson, who had passed away. It was mentioned by the Member for St. John's Centre when she said about his recreation. She did get a little sarcastic dig in there, and I do not mind saying that upsets me, about when he was in school there was school physical activities. Let me tell you, Don Johnson was a friend of mine. Only two weeks ago I spoke to Don Johnson, who was very respectful of what we were doing and very complimentary over here, particularly around and including young people into recreational activities, social sports, these kinds of things; very much so.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. BRAZIL: Mr. Speaker, I am just going to take an opportunity to go through some of the things that I have been fortunate enough as a civil servant to be involved in, but particularly now as a politician, and programs and services being offered by this government when it comes to social inclusion around recreation and physical activity. These are just a small portion of what we have. I will not even get a chance to get into the crux of some of the bigger things we are doing in this Budget, Mr. Speaker.

My hon. colleague here, the Minister of the Voluntary Sector, talked about the URock Awards. The URock Awards are the epitome of acknowledging what young people have done in this Province and how we engage them, and how they engage themselves and how they take a leadership role to be engaged in social recreation, physical activity, sports, and these types of things. You see the categories that were there and the quality of the recipients were second to none, and there is still another 500 below those who just did not make the cut because you cannot give everybody an award at a special award ceremony at this level.

I want to go back to a story I tell when we talk about engaging young people, particularly around social and physical activity. Some years ago, as we all know when we talked about the fishery, people might ask: What is your background in the fishery? Well, I was fortunate enough to manage a fish plant at one point, Mr. Speaker. Not that I was out in a boat, but managed a fish plant from a business point of view. So, I have an understanding of what it means when a fish plant closes within a community. A number of years ago when the fish plant in Harbour Breton closed, and it was devastating to the community, people were moving out in droves, particularly the young people, and there seemed to be no light at the end of the tunnel, the youth ministry organization down there through the Community Youth Network wanted to take stock of what it was doing and the young people came together. These were young people who were involved in physical activity and sports and these types of things and said we need something. We need a building where we can engage young people. Be it for physical activity, be it for education, be it for inclusion. They went to the town – and this is when everything else was closing, people were leaving, no business entities were willing to be buy into anything in Harbour Breton – and said we want to do something in that area. They came to government and said we want to build a new building. Between the town, our department, and the community we put a new building in place. That became the cornerstone, as you go into Harbour Breton, for what became as we know now a vibrant part of that whole area down there on the Connaigre Peninsula.

We then moved in supporting through Harbour YES, Youth Employment Strategies, in through our aquaculture investments that young people became engaged. Since then they have built basketball courts, floor hockey courts, and outdoor tracks for young people. Those are just certain things, how we started with one little small thing, one small community, that is now thriving when it comes to physical activity.

The nine Boys and Girls Clubs in this Province, we quadrupled their operating grants over the last number of years and supported them in every other indemnity possible through grants to youth organizations, through special programs and services that we have up and running that engages young people to be physically and socially active. To say that things were going back in the school days when we did stuff, second to none; we are not even into what we do in the school system yet. These are all things that we support to engage young people in physical activity.

To give you an example of Boys and Girls Club and what we invested – and it is unfortunate the Member for St. John's Centre is not here. Buckmaster's Circle – an elite club in this country, built specifically to engage young people in every activity possible from engaging them in physical activity to learning how to cook, to being socially conscious, to literacy programs. It is a joint project, Mr. Speaker, between the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, Suncor, the City of St. John's, and the business community here. Two million dollars went into that program there. Right now 700 kids on a daily basis are physically active down there. Then the City of St. John's co-operated with us and put another $1 million into a playground right next to it. Mr. Speaker, talk about being engaged, talk about physical activity for young people, second to none this Administration has taken the lead on it.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. BRAZIL: The Youth Services site, Mr. Speaker, down at Carter's Hill Place; it is about engaging young people partly in physical activity, but it is also in engaging them to be able to give the tools and the ability for themselves to move forward. Three million dollars has gone into that building, seventeen social workers there, fifteen employment counsellors, all kinds of other programs to assess academic needs to work with young people. There is a housing unit down there for them.

Then, recreation programs set in that – because we know you have to be well-rounded. To be able to engage in this society, you have to be well-rounded. One, it is great to be academically ready to do it, and one, it is great to be mentally ready to do it, but you also need to be physically. All encompassing programs and services down there, millions that we put in and still continue to fund, Mr. Speaker. Again, another site that is second to none in this country and that the rest of the country is looking to use us as the example as they move forward.

Jumpstart, Mr. Speaker, which is exactly all about physical activity, nothing else but physical activity. I will tell you the story of how we managed to engage that and how this Province is by far considered the leader when it comes to the Canadian Tire Jumpstart foundation program. Seven years ago I got a phone call, as part of my responsibilities, that there was some money that they wanted to put into Corner Brook for a recreation program – a very small amount of money to be put into Corner Brook for a recreation program. By the time we looked at how we would do it, you would hire a staffing person, overhead and this type of thing, you might have 5 per cent of it actually go into programming for young people.

I, at the time, was on the national board of the Boys and Girls Club and met up with the Jumpstart, the foundation, the CEO of Canadian Tire who sat down and said: We want to start this program. Our owner is very apt about wanting to engage young people into physical activity, what could we do? Come to Newfoundland. We can always partner with groups in some way, shape, or form, particularly groups at that level on an international basis. They came to Newfoundland and Labrador; we sat down and had meetings. From that meeting came their commitment that they would co-ordinate it, organize it, and put all the administrative money into it. They would set up nine chapters across the Province made up of all volunteers who have a stake in the recreation field or social inclusion of young people. We, in turn, went back – and I give credit to Minister Burke at the time – and invested at the time $250,000, added on to the $250,000 that they did with administration and money directly from the Canadian Tire Jumpstart Foundation. Every year we are putting through 3,000 young people who are engaged in everything from dance, to karate, to soccer, to hockey, and every sport known. Kids are given an opportunity to be engaged so they pick what they want, particularly those kids who cannot afford it; these are for kids who come from financially depressed families and need some extra supports. They are things we have been able to do. We do not just put the kid in for one year and let it go. The kid continues to stay until they grow further and further on in self-esteem and physical activity.

They are things we are doing. We have not touched the school system yet. We have not even gone near anything in the school system, and these are some of the things we have been doing.

KidSport is another super program that we fund through Minister Dalley's department.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

In order to depersonalize debate, we refer to members by their district and ministers by their portfolios. I would ask the hon. member to do that.

Thank you.

MR. BRAZIL: I apologize, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

I also want to talk about the school system itself. We have just put $800,000 into what is called the after-school initiative program. We have selected a number of sites where we work very closely –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: (Inaudible).

MR. BRAZIL: The member there knows. There is one in his district. We partner with the school system to be able to use the school itself for after-school programs. We either partner that we move the programs outside, or we partner and be able to bring the kids after school back into the school system through financial support for busing, support for extra equipment into communities, imparting that. Right now, we have potentially 16,000 young people who have access to programs and services than they never had before. This is after the school day ends, Mr. Speaker, another added thing we put in place.

Through Sport NL and Recreation NL we have put hundreds of thousands of dollars into supporting recreation programs and services for the people in this Province, particularly young people who want to be engaged. It is not all about competitive sports, but it is a very important part of what young people are engaged in. We want to make sure we foster that and support it where we can. It is also about recreation programs. Whatever young people want to be engaged in, whatever makes them feel happy, and whatever makes them feel physically active, we support that as part of what we do.

Now we get into high school. The high school sport federation; we support them, we engage them, and we do put programs, services, and full school supports there. We put programs and services in place there where they have access to grants, they have access to training for coaches, they have access to travel money, and all of these things that engage competitive varsity sports within the school system. It is very competitive, but at the same time building on that sportsmanship concept we have as part and parcel of our Province.

The Duke of Edinburgh's Award – we have directly increased money in the last four years so that young people who want to do the excursions, want to do the physical outings and these types of things, have that ability to do it. Not everybody is involved with physical sports when it comes to engaged team sports and such; they want to be able to do things at their own engagement. That gives them the physical activity, but it also gives them that opportunity to learn some additional skills for their own development as they go through life.

Mr. Speaker, recreation grants; as I have stated earlier, the minister gives out hundreds of thousands of dollars which are about engaging young people in our communities, giving the respective volunteer groups, the not-for-profits, an opportunity to find ways to make sure their citizens are physically active and are more engaged in what is happening in their respective communities. We have put hundreds of millions of dollars, Mr. Speaker, into recreation facilities. We know what we announced just recently last year. We have continued to do that over the last number of years.

Hundreds of millions of dollars, when you talk about what we have put into building gymnasiums in schools, what we have put into arenas, what we have put into swimming pools, what we have put into recreation facilities, what we have put into soccer fields and tracks – hundreds of millions of dollars to guarantee that our citizens have the ability at their leisure to be physically active, Mr. Speaker, big, big, big improvements in what we have done there.

We have invested in programs for training like HIGH FIVE, for example, a very important program to get people engaged in what we do. We have also been very involved in how we look at wellness coalitions. Wellness is not only about young people. I will talk about the general population now, wellness coalitions that we have in all of our regional parts of this Province, particularly working through the Department of Health.

We want to engage more citizens. We want all ages to be able to co-operate with each other; we want this inter-generational physical activity among people. You go to some of our communities, Mr. Speaker, and you can see seniors doing recreation programs for young people and vice versa, young people doing recreation programs for seniors, going into seniors homes and making sure that they are involved and engaged. Seniors who have had a past experience in a life, be it whatever sport it may be, coming to a school or coming to a recreation centre and going through physical activities with young people. It is that engagement there; those young people and seniors make a connection. That will move forward into the other aspects of their life and make it a positive thing for the Province.

Mr. Speaker, we have been very fortunate to have been multi-focused on what we have done. Infrastructure is not only about roads and water and hospitals; those are very important things, perhaps the primary ones. We also want to make sure that any citizen here is well-rounded and has all the benefits that they need to survive in this community and thrive, more importantly.

This community in this House of Assembly, and particularly this Administration, is about that: giving our citizens an opportunity to thrive, to be positive, to be healthier, to be more engaged, and to be very positively happy about where they are and what they do. They want to be proud of the community that they are into and know that they can be engaged and they can have an input as to what needs to be here to improve.

Mr. Speaker, unfortunately my time is getting down, but I just want to talk about a few things since I left the civil service. Since I left the civil service, I have come to a thing where the civil service are still very positive. I come in here now and I realize with my colleagues, why that is so. Because there is vision here, and that vision gets passed down to the staff within the line departments. The staff then give you that extra bit of energy that they want to know, because they know what they are saying is being listened to, and the programs and services are being dialogued up the ranks so that proper programs and services are put in place to service the people in this Province.

So, Mr. Speaker, I will end on that by just saying we have great engagement, we have great programs and services, we are open to dialogue from the Opposition, but please, keep it at a point where it is friendly dialogue, it is respectful, but it is also constructive, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. BRAZIL: I will close on that note, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Member for St. John's North.

MR. KIRBY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I had an opportunity to speak with a great number of my constituents since the events that transpired here in the House last week on Thursday, and on Friday, and on Saturday and yesterday in my district. I have to say, Mr. Speaker, my constituents are interested in substantive debate that takes place in this House of Assembly. They are not interested in the ‘Twitterverse' at all. As I have said to them, Mr. Speaker, I will never call into question the competence of our hard-working public servants. I never have, and I never well. I will tell you another thing, Mr. Speaker, I will never stand idly by, whether it is in this Assembly or outside of it, and have comments attributed to me that I did not make. I make that guarantee to the people who sit in this House.

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

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Government House Leader, on a point of order.

MR. KENNEDY: Yes, Mr. Speaker.

The hon. member stood up last week, or at least on Twitter, and indicated that he was going to bring forward a point of privilege on the very point that he is talking about now. We are still waiting for that point of privilege. Am I to understand from the member opposite that he will not be bringing forward a point of privilege and instead he is defending himself here? Is this what we are seeing? I just need clarification, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: There is no point of order.

The Member for St. John's North.

MR. KIRBY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

To continue, I will pick up where I left off in debate last week, and I would like to make some additional points about deficiencies in this Budget when it comes to early learning and child care.

As I said before, Mr. Speaker, the message of this Budget is one of don't worry, if you need affordable, accessible child care right now, don't worry, this government will have something in place for citizens of the Province by 2022. That is the year, 2022, around the time when your children will be getting ready to enter junior high school. As I said last week, this government has no reservations about sinking billions of dollars into Muskrat Falls, which is an uncertain investment at this point. While our party, provincially and federally, both support the loan guarantee from the federal government, it is for certain that we know that this Muskrat Falls deal has –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. KIRBY: - certainly not been clearly articulated to the people of the Province as a certain investment.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. KIRBY: There is absolutely no interest at all on the government side in a comprehensive system of early learning and child care, the type of program that we do know has a return on investment in other provinces and in other jurisdictions around the world, but we have lots of money to pour down over Muskrat Falls. As a member on the government side said last week, he used the word crumbs to describe elements of this Budget.

Yesterday, Sunday, May 13 being Mother's Day, I had a cause to reflect on the single moms living in poverty in my district and around the Province who are unable to work because child care costs in my district, and in the City of St. John's, now run upwards of $60 per day, per child, for a child under two. We should not be surprised when we learn that many mothers are trapped in a cycle of poverty that they are unable to escape from. They are discouraged and prevented from either entering the workforce or re-entering the workforce.

As members well know because I have pointed this out here in the past, we are fast falling behind the rest of Canada when it comes to the provision of early childhood education. We only need to look at what is happening in the rest of the country. Take a look at the Provinces of Ontario and Quebec, for example. As of last year, more than half of the two to four-year-old children in those provinces had an opportunity to regularly attend early childhood education. The national average is at 50 per cent and in this Province the proportion is about 30 per cent. Once again, we are well below the rest of the country on that metric. We have the lowest participation rate in early childhood education of all the provinces in the country.

This government likes to make a lot of promises, as I said last week. It likes to boast about its record in the area of inclusion. Well, there is no requirement right now in Newfoundland and Labrador for child care providers who receive public funds, who are the recipients of public funds of one form or another, to include children with special needs in their programs at all. There is no requirement, even though they are benefiting from public subsidies provided by the taxpayers in this Province.

In other provinces, if you take Manitoba for example and Prince Edward Island for example, all public funding for early childhood education is linked. It is contingent and conditional on those programs accommodating, accepting, and making a provision for children who have special needs. That has not happened here in Newfoundland.

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

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Minister of Child, Youth and Family Services, on a point of order.

MS JOHNSON: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would just like to raise, for clarification for the public listening, that we certainly do support including children with certain special needs and people who need that extra attention. In fact, we fund to the tune of 100 placements in our child care centres now.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

There is no point of order.

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

MR. KIRBY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am quite accustomed to being interrupted in this House when I am speaking. The last time I spoke in the Budget Debate, in fact, it was four times I was interrupted. We will see if the members on the opposite side can beat their record this time.

In any case, as I was saying, if you truly embrace the concept of inclusion as you espouse, then the government would truly support inclusion in Newfoundland and Labrador and would bring this policy in. It would bring it in without any further delay. There is no need to delay. Make all public funding for child care providers contingent on the inclusion of children with special education needs, or all of our children regardless of their unique needs and their unique abilities.

Another area that this government needs to work on as soon as possible is an early childhood education curriculum framework. Right now, there is no alignment of the early childhood education curricula with kindergarten program curricula. In fact, there are multiple curricula out there, countless curricula, in early childhood education. There is no alignment between these. Most Canadian jurisdictions have already gone there. They have already seen fit to do this work. There is some discussion of that; we will have to see what happens. Other provinces have developed a curriculum and this curriculum not only supports early childhood education itself; it builds quality in early childhood education itself, but it also helps to ease the transition for preschool children to kindergarten. That helps not only those children but their parents, their teachers, and all educators who are involved in the kindergarten to Grade 12 system.

Early childhood education has to be holistic. It has to be child centred. Certainly I would advocate a play-based approach to any early childhood education curriculum if we are to have a standardized curriculum across the Province. It has to be constructed around specific developmental goals for early childhood education for the system. We also need to provide early childhood education in a way that guarantees that there are quality outcomes, there are specific quality outcomes for early childhood education. We can do that by having proper training standards and proper training available to prospective early childhood educators.

In essence, the system of certification that we have right now is a very good one. The system has five levels of certification. The most basic level is called entry level and that level does not require any sort of post-secondary education or training at all. It is just an orientation course that you can do, self paced on your own time at home, if you like; that is all. The other four levels of certification for early childhood educators in this Province in some way involve certificates or diplomas that are gotten at private training institutions, or the College of the North Atlantic or similar colleges, or colleges across the country, or degree programs that they can do either here at Memorial University or at other universities. This is important, because when I hear the minister announcing and re-announcing the so-called Family Child Care Initiative – for years now the Association of Early Childhood Educators of Newfoundland and Labrador has been calling on government to increase the training qualifications for early childhood educators who provide infant care in home-based settings. That is something that these experts, the early childhood educators themselves, have told the minister in a brief, at least, that infant care itself is a specialized field. They have told her that care for children under the age of two years requires specific knowledge. It requires specialized knowledge. They have told the minister that the entry-level certification which is the current requirement is not sufficient, not for them. They have concerns and they have worries about it.

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

MR. SPEAKER (Kent): Order, please!

The hon. the Minister of Child, Youth and Family Services, on a point of order.

MS JOHNSON: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I have to stand and continue to correct the misinformation that the member is putting forward. There is an additional requirement if you are in an infant home; in fact, it is the Association of Early Childhood Educators that we provide the funding to, to provide that training to the people that operate the family child care homes. So, Mr. Speaker, it is obvious that the member does not know what he speaks, and I feel it is incumbent upon myself –

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS JOHNSON: – to correct that, to do a proper service to the people listening.

MR. SPEAKER: There is no point of order.

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

MR. KIRBY: Thanks, Mr. Speaker.

This comes directly out of the brief that was provided to the government by AECENL for the Ten-Year Child Care plan. Well, that is what it says. I am sorry, maybe the minister misunderstood what she read, I do not know.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. KIRBY: In any case, AECENL has told the minister that the training requirement for early childhood educators who provide care for children under the age of twenty-four months should be increased one level; it should be increased to what is called level one. This level of certification requires that early childhood educators complete a post-secondary-education-level certificate. That is a certificate they can do at College of the North Atlantic, another public college in the country, or elsewhere, or at one of the private training institutions. So, I suggest to the minister, perhaps the next time she re-announces the Family Child Care pilot project she actually listen to AECENL and increase the standard so that early childhood educators can be sure that –

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

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Minister of Child, Youth and Family Services, rising on a point of order.

MS JOHNSON: Mr. Speaker, if the member wants to talk about listening and understanding, perhaps he wants to refer back to the transcript from AECENL on the day of the Budget, when AECENL fully endorsed our Ten-Year Child Care Strategy –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS JOHNSON: – and that this is the first time ever that government listened over the past thirty years. Not only did we listen, but we addressed every single thing on their list, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

There is no point of order.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

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

MR. KIRBY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I do not remember –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

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

MR. KIRBY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I do not recall that anyone from AECENL was in this Legislature speaking on the day of the Budget or subsequent to the Budget. I did not see them in here; in fact, I do not think that they have a seat here in the Legislature.

I will move on to another area, Mr. Speaker, which is another standard that has been recommended by local, national, and international experts. That is the requirement that programs for children two-years-old to four-years-old have at least two-thirds of staff who have completed an early childhood education certification or a qualification. That is two-thirds of staff who have completed one of those five levels of certification that I mentioned earlier. There is really nothing extraordinary there; there is nothing out of the ordinary.

All of the early learning and care research, in fact, says that we need early childhood education staff who have the resources they need and who are valued for the work that they do. That is really no different than the kindergarten to Grade 12 system, really. You have to ask yourself why we would treat preschool teachers really much differently than teachers in the kindergarten or Grade 12 systems.

There are a lot of areas where the government could improve early childhood education. The Budget, the current plan at least, with its plan to make minor changes over the next decade, largely ignores these areas that I am mentioning. There is a lot of talk, but there is not a lot of talk about accountability. There is really little action on issues such as monitoring and accountability in early childhood education.

As we know, monitoring and accountability for the use of public resources for taxpayers' resources is essential. It is essential for supporting informed decision making. It is essential for making sure that taxpayers get quality for the funding that they provide for early childhood education programs and services. This is essential for seeing that the goals and objectives of public funding are reached – not only reached, but exceeded, for that matter, or for seeing whether or not the goals and objectives that government has put in place for any program, but particularly for early childhood education, that those goals are being met at all. That could very well be the case for that matter, but right now there is no requirement for official annual reports for the limited funding that is being provided for early childhood education.

There are no program standards, at least no standards to make sure there is a basic measure of assurance that there is program quality, that there is a basic level of quality for early childhood education programs. That is an important area that is going to need attention if we are going to have evidence-based policy making in the area of early childhood education, not just programs that are cobbled together, dressed up, trotted out and re-announced every few months. Of course, there is really no debate about early childhood education in a way – I could say there is no complete discussion that can be had about early childhood education without talking about the need for all-day kindergarten in Newfoundland and Labrador. Parents are asking this government to follow the lead of other Canadian provinces and expand kindergarten, expand access to early learning by offering all-day kindergarten for their children. Right now there are six Canadian jurisdictions, as I understand it, that have brought in all-day kindergarten. These things are relatively recent, by and large. I have spoken to a good number of parents across Newfoundland and Labrador since I became elected in the fall, who hope that we will soon catch up to the rest of the country in this regard.

I know members of government are often asking, when I talk about this, how can we afford to do it? How can we afford to provide full-day kindergarten for our children? I would say that we really should be asking not how we can, but how we cannot afford to go ahead with this. All of the research - and the Department of Education has this research - overwhelmingly shows that the returns on investment in all-day kindergarten are very high. The pay off is very significant. If this Budget is about responsible investments for a secure future, than I think the government really has missed the boat, depending on the need to have better transitions for students from pre-school to kindergarten and on to Grade 1.

I think I will stop there, Mr. Speaker. I will pick that up when I speak again on the Budget.

Thank you very much.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Minister of Municipal Affairs.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. O'BRIEN: Mr. Speaker, I would first like to address the issue in regard to getting interrupted in this House of Assembly when you are speaking, and speaking especially to the Budget. Normally speaking, nobody gets interrupted in this House unless they have misquoted or they have made statements that are not true to the Budget. I have heard a number of them over the last number of minutes, Mr. Speaker, in regard to putting information out there that they absolutely should know – I will say it this way, should know - is totally incorrect when it comes to the department in question.

I have heard the hon. member talk about certain things as being deficiencies; all he can see is deficiencies in the Budget. Mr. Speaker, what I have heard here today in regard to the past speech that I listened to, and I listened intently, was a Mother of Sorrows type speech. That is the only thing they can give, a Mother of Sorrows type speech, because you cannot find anything in the Budget. At the very least, the difference that I would say between the Third Party and the Opposition Party is that they actually do recognize the good things within the Budget. They try to, at the best of their ability, criticize the Budget in a way that is supportive and a way that is constructive.

All we hear from the other side of the House, in regard to the Third Party, is the Mother of Sorrows type speech. I have heard it time and time again in this House since we reopened the House, for the poor guy – I think I called him something else, the poor bugger – who shaved his head in good faith to get the House opened up and get the Third Party in here. The Third Party is making statements in regard to the running of government and the process of government, and this is all we hear. I ask the hon. members: Is that why we are here, to hear the Mother of Sorrows speeches all the time in regard to doom and gloom? I am sitting in a district in this Province that has seen nothing but growth. In the District of Gander, 140 or 150 houses were built per year for the last number of years and very positive things happening within the district.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. O'BRIEN: I will not speak for every district in here, but normally speaking, I go up to the hon. member's district in the Northern Peninsula. I hear the positive nature when I meet with municipalities in regard to this government and what we are doing. What we are doing, we are doing day in and day out.

I heard the statement as well that this Budget is all about promise. Absolutely, that is what budgets should be about, is promise and fortitude and vision in regard to seeing where we are going as a Province, because that was lacking in the past. There was no vision. There was nothing about promise. There was nothing about constructive budgets. There was nothing about running this Province in a financially supportive manner and being responsible in regard to this Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

I see the hon. member across the House, and I like the hon. member, I am just trying to think of the district that he is. Anyway, I will call him – and everybody will know him by this anyway and I do not think he will take exception to it, but he is the gas man.

AN HON. MEMBER: St. John's East, Sir.

MR. O'BRIEN: The hon. Member for St. John's East. We were talking about municipalities and he got up there – and I know he is doing it in a way that he thinks he is being constructive and whatever. He talked about enabling municipalities to build hydroelectric or electric generating facilities in their municipalities and put electricity into the grid. That sounds all well and do, but who pays for the infrastructure when we are hearing municipalities talk about wanting a new fiscal arrangement, wanting a new MOG formula, wanting new monies and more money in regard to Municipal Operating Grants and also new monies in regard to Municipal Capital Works and the whole shebang. Now they are going to be able to build facilities to put electricity into the grid. You cannot talk out of two sides of the mouth. You cannot do that in this House or anywhere and get anywhere with it. That is the way it is.

You cannot just put these things out for the sake of putting them out. You cannot do that. That is not the way it works I say to the hon. member. I listened to it carefully; you made some sense in regard to your speech. It certainly was not a belly flop like the one I just heard a few minutes ago because that was another belly flop in regard to a speech. I think he stood up and started talking about Twitter box on the first part of it and that kind of stuff and trying to do through the back door what he cannot do through the front door. He is afraid of doing it in regard to a point of privilege and that kind of stuff. Maybe he should be more aggressive in the House and talking out of God's gift, this mouth, our mouths instead of being more aggressive on Twitter box than he is in the House of Assembly and making a bit of sense when it comes down to the running of this Province. That is what it is, it is all about – and we boast. He said the word boast; that we boast about our record. You are damn right we boast about our record. We absolutely boast about our record.

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. O'BRIEN: Close, but not close enough I say to the hon. member across the House. We do boast about our record. We absolutely do because they have seen a government second to none in this Province since 2003. That is what this Province is seeing. They are seeing a government that was financially responsible, made the right decisions, made the right investments and driven this Province to what it is today, one of the have provinces in the country of Canada. That is what I say to the hon. members across the House. That is exactly what you see today. You see a Province that is the envy of other provinces and other jurisdictions in Canada – even in the world for that matter because you have New England governors sitting back and looking at how are they doing it in this Province that came from nowhere in 2003 to what it is today in 2012.

Let's talk about my own department, the Department of Municipal Affairs, and the responsibilities. I heard previous to the Budget Municipal Affairs is going to be criticized, it is going to be this and it is going to be that. Well, I was just out to the symposium in Gander this weekend past, and I met with a number of municipalities on Friday – as a matter of fact, probably twelve or fourteen of them. When I was there in the mezzanine of the Gander Hotel, I had numerous of them – I would not be able to count how many of them came up and spoke to me – and they all spoke about the positive things in regard to this Budget and the past Budgets of this provincial government. That is what they talked about. Yes, absolutely, do they have challenges? Yes, they do. Does this Province have challenges? Yes, we do. Does Canada have challenges? Yes, we do. We address those challenges, and we move forward in a positive manner. We do not go to the doom and gloom. We do not go to the Mother of Sorrows type speeches and everybody is ready to leave, and certainly nobody is willing to come and live in this fair Province of ours in regard to in-migration, if you would listen to the Third Party speak in the House of Assembly. God forbid if they have their TVs on at home or listening to this over the Internet or whatever way they do it, or by Twitter – I do not know if you can look at it on Twitter, but maybe you can. Tweet in or tweet out or whatever they do with the thing.

In the meantime, God forbid. It makes me really uneasy to have that kind of information out on the marketplace on a daily basis in a negative way which impacts this Province in a futuristic way, I say to the hon. members in this House. That is where I have an issue. I do not mind standing in this House on a daily basis, be it in Question Period, be it in Budget debate, and addressing issues that are real in regard to the Budget or whatever it may be, and whatever they want to ask of Municipal Affairs during the Estimates process, whatever, it does not matter; but, when you get up and all you want to do is sit down and try to write a speech that is all about doom and gloom, I wonder to myself in regard to the person attributed to that particular speech, exactly where their mind is to on a daily basis in regard to the negativity. I mean, do they run their family and do they run their household in that kind of a negative way? You cannot do that. It is the wrong way.

I will tell you that, and I do not mind saying, because I think you are in borrowed time, borrowed seats, and the rest will be evident in 2015 unless you can do something about it, I say to the hon. member. Maybe the hon. member should take some of my advice one of these days. I will not tell the audience that I had in regard to who was looking at this, in regard to the advice that I have given him. Hopefully he will, because the hon. member, my critic for St. John's East, is not a bad member with regard to this House; in the meantime, you have to think about exactly what you are trying to do in contributing, especially after you listen to the speech of doom and gloom that I just listened to from your colleague.

I can understand, I can actually understand the Official Opposition; there is a rumour around, I do not know if it is true or not, that they want to get some type of a grant and put up a permanent wall between the two sets of seats over there on the other side because they do not want the brain drain going or whatever it is. There is a rumour there.

I will say it again, and I do not mind saying it either; I do not mind saying that the hon. members do get up and they criticize and that kind of stuff. They get me hot under the collar every now and then, but they do recognize the achievements of this government, and that bodes very well for the reason why they were elected for this House of Assembly. That bodes very well. My message to the Third Party is to get off the Mother of Sorrows-type speeches and get into some positive thinking and positive suggestions to the House of Assembly. For that matter, if you going to get up and have doom and gloom each and every day, then maybe you are wasting your time with regard to the time that is allotted to each and every member of this House of Assembly.

I am trying to give you a bit of sound advice. I have been here for close on to nine years now and I intend to be here a long, long time to come, to tell the God's honest truth, because I like serving my district. I like serving the people of Newfoundland and Labrador. I think we are doing a great job in regard to the finances of this Province, the way we run things, and the decisions that are made by our Premier and the Cabinet and our caucus, all involved with regard to the process. I think I will be thinking about staying here for a nice while. As a matter of fact, I may very well run in St. John's yet and see whether we can get rid of those –

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. O'BRIEN: Yes, St. John's East.

Anyways, maybe the hon. member will take some of my wisdom and do some of the things.

You talk about boasting, with regard to our past Budgets. Well, listen, there is not too many provinces in this country of ours, Canada, that can boast six surpluses out of the last seven Budgets. Six surpluses, but more importantly, how do we deal with those surpluses? How do we deal? We invested and we invested wisely. We invested in infrastructure that economists say is not really going to your bottom line. It is not going to your debt because you are investing in your future and you are investing in important infrastructure. That is one thing we did.

Also, we had surpluses equalling about $5.5 billion, if I can remember the numbers right. I think we paid down our debt by about $4.1 billion, which is money in the pockets of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians right now and right away. More importantly, it is money into the pockets of our future, our children, and our children's children. That is where we have to get, Mr. Speaker. We have to pay down that debt. Our commitment in regard to the last campaign was exactly that. We set in place a plan to have that debt down to the national levels, below the national levels, or hopefully paid off in full in a period of time. I think that was the most important commitment that we could make to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

You know something? That is resonating on the people of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is resonating on the people of St. John's. It is resonating on the people of Gander. It is resonating on the people of rural Newfoundland and Labrador. That is where their future is, because if we do not do that, there will be no money in regard to infrastructure spending in those small municipalities that want to survive, Mr. Speaker, in rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

They are Newfoundland and Labrador. That is what we are all about. That is where I came from, a small community in rural Newfoundland and Labrador. I am proud of it, Mr. Speaker. I am absolutely proud of it.

We do not mind getting up here and boasting. As a matter of fact, I am sure that most governments across this land of Canada boast as well in regard to their records. You have to put it out there and let the people know. They deserve to know what we are doing, what we are doing best, and the decisions we are making for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

It is time for you fellows to listen up – listen up. Sure enough, I do not mind constructive criticism, not at all. This government invites questions. Do not get up on the doom and gloom. Do not go asking questions about things that ministers have already been dealing with. Do not go at that kind of thing in this House of Assembly as well, I say to the hon. members.

AN HON. MEMBER: Politicizing.

MR. O'BRIEN: Politicizing items, you cannot go at that. That is my advice today in regard to that.

We have done a lot of things in this Budget and budgets coming up in the near future in regard to this mandate that we have of four years. For me to get up here today and say that we make our minds up in regard to Budget decisions on that particular year: yes, absolutely, we do. Do you know something? It is all a part of a big, big strategy, a strategy that we have bought into over the last number of years, Mr. Speaker, and we have kept at that strategy. I have heard comments across the House in regard to the strategies, you are all about strategies, and you are all about this and that kind of stuff. Well, I am telling you right now I say to the hon. member, you cannot run a Province without a strategy. When you start running the Province without a strategy, you are in deep trouble; I say that to the hon. members across the House.

You cannot go just willy-nilly and say we are going to spend this and you have to do this, and get up in this House and say, well you cannot afford not to do it. Well, sometimes in a household, sometimes in a business, sometimes whatever you are doing, there comes a time that you just cannot do it. You have to wait, you have to strategize and make sure that you have the opportunity to do it in the future. You never lose sight of the ball, I say to the hon. members. I guarantee you the Third Party never had the sight on the ball in the first place. As a matter of fact, they have their sights on the Twitter box instead of on the real ball.

I want to talk about other minister's departments, but when look around this House – and I know in my own in regard to over $500 million worth of investment in municipal capital works in crucial infrastructure to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, to the municipalities and the people who live there, when I look at the investments that have been made in health care over the last number of years, but particularly this year in regard to the –

AN HON. MEMBER: Over a billion dollars of infrastructure.

MR. O'BRIEN: Yes, over a billion dollars worth of infrastructure.

I look down at the hon. Minister of Transportation and Works, over a quarter of a billion going into our provincial road systems each and every year. If you do the multiplication on that, that is $2.5 billion since 2008 gone into it. That will just prove to you the deficit that was there before we took government.

I say to the hon. member – he is speaking to one of his colleagues there and that kind of stuff – I was up on the Northern Peninsula before we took government. I do a lot of salmon fishing all over this Province, and I drove on cow paths. I drove on lots of cow paths. As a matter of fact, the main highway was a total cow path. Drive on it now from St. Anthony down to Deer Lake, I tell you, and then compare it – and be honest with yourself. Be honest when you drive that, and I know you have. Drive it – get up in the House of Assembly and acknowledge that. Yes, absolutely, have you got deficits in regard to roads within communities or wherever it may be? Well, that is the same for each and every district that is out here, but we will continue to invest. The minister will continue to drive that program forward. There is only so much work that can be done in one year, I say to the hon. member. So, you are no different than any of the other rural members over here, but they acknowledge the good work that is being done. You need to get up in that House of Assembly as well and acknowledge that. As a matter of fact, you will get more credibility by doing so I say to the hon. member. That is what you need to do.

I look around at the wise investments we are making in child care. The minister was out at a symposium and did a presentation I understand on Thursday night past that was well received. As a matter of fact, I spoke on Friday and one of the mayors came up so excited about this program they did not know anything about. They are going to incorporate it in their municipal building. That is what is going to happen. I am going to help them make that happen, Mr. Speaker, because that is important to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador and young families.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. O'BRIEN: Those are the kinds of things we are doing.

I look at the hon. Minister of Advanced Education and the wise investments that we are making there in post-secondary education at Memorial University, in residence, both here and on the Grenfell campus over in Corner Brook, enabling our children to get the great educations that put them out there, not only in Newfoundland and Labrador but to take such leadership roles in regard to other businesses all around the world. It is fascinating to see our children really not only take over our destiny as a Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, but actually take over the destiny of many companies worldwide, globally, Mr. Speaker. That is what we are doing.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. O'BRIEN: Then God forbid we will be criticized for educating our children to go out and take those global jobs. That is what they will do, the doom and gloom, a narrow vision.

By leave? Twenty minutes, Mr. Speaker –

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

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

MR. O'BRIEN: That is what I am saying, you cannot go into doom and gloom, you have to recognize –

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. O'BRIEN: – where you are, you have to recognize where you came from (inaudible) –

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

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

AN HON. MEMBER: By leave.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Municipal Affairs, by leave.

MR. O'BRIEN: Did you say twenty minutes, Mr. Speaker?

I will thank the good Member for the Bay of Islands for giving me leave, Mr. Speaker. I have heard some good criticism from the hon. member. I have heard him make reference to good investments in Newfoundland and Labrador by this government and I want that on the record, Mr. Speaker.

I am going to end here now pretty soon. I just wanted to point out some things to the Third Party. There was a lot of expectation in regard to the Third Party. I refer to the young gentleman who shaved his hair and all that kind of stuff, campaigned and kind of gear, to get the hon. members in the House. They were going to ask such important questions. They were going to take on such initiative and whatnot. What I have seen is a total belly flop, Mr. Speaker. The people of Newfoundland and Labrador are seeing that. The heyday of poor Jack Layton is over, Mulcair, in regard to his foray into the Province last week and that kind of stuff, are just not going to cut it in 2015. It is either you straighten up and get off the doom and gloom, get into some constructive politics, get into some constructive type and be optimistic in Newfoundland and Labrador.

All I will say to you in ending, Mr. Speaker, you are on borrowed seats.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Member for Bay of Islands.

MR. JOYCE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am just glad I have the opportunity to rise.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. JOYCE: I have always prided myself in being fair and tough. If there is something positive that does happen in Newfoundland and Labrador I will be the first one to stand up and say that.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JOYCE: I know the Member for Conception Bay East – Bell Island spoke about me earlier, about all getting along. I am sure we all have differences and sometimes we are a bit tough, but outside and inside we all have to work together. I practice what I preach, by the way.

I remember at the Justin Trudeau dinner when the Member for Mount Pearl was there, I went over and shook his hand. I practice what I preach. I get along pretty good with people, even on the Opposite side, I have to say.

The other thing the member said, and I am sure he really believes this, I am sure he really does, is that we all have something to contribute in Newfoundland and Labrador. I believe most people here feel that, that all of us members here have something to contribute. I said when I was deciding to run again, there were two or three things I am going to do. One is always correct things that are not fed that I feel are inaccurate, and also stand up for yourself and the people that you represent.

I just look at the jeerers today, this is something that really concerns me and I will explain why. This is the Premier's quote, "Mr. Speaker, I have said it time and time again in this House: to have these all-party committees requires some confidence in that the people opposite know what they are talking about". At the time we were talking about the fisheries. To me, Mr. Speaker, I take that personal. I will tell you why I take it personal. I feel sorry for the Minister of Fisheries, I honestly do, because I know the personal frustration he is going through down in his district in Burin because you know the people, I know the former minister also. When you know the people it becomes a lot more – the attachment, it is hard to say you can detach yourself, but it is hard.

I will tell you why I take exception to those comments. I remember when the FPI debate took place in this House. I challenge anybody on the opposite side, Mr. Speaker, yourself included, anybody to go back and check Hansard. I said at the time, and I warned everybody at the time, that if we do not strengthen that act, what we were doing, we were going to have fish plants - and I specifically said Marystown and I said Burin, and other plants are going to close. The minute the deal is up, the day the deal is up, and I know the Minister of Fisheries was not around at the time and I know he is inheriting those problems, but I stood in this House at that time - check anybody in Hansard, go check Hansard - and for the Premier to stand up here and say people need confidence, when she was one of the ones who voted for this here. I just cannot stand and not acknowledge that back when this debate happened I looked into the future, I seen what was going to happen in the future. If you are going to give everybody – when the Member for Conception Bay East – Bell Island said that, I really felt he meant it, I honestly do. We all have to be treated fairly. I am not going to be sitting here or standing here expecting someone to say that I do not have something to contribute when the past has shown that I have on many occasions.

Also, in response to the Budget, I heard the Premier: the Opposition do not know enough to ask. That tries to belittle, and I have always looked at it, is that if someone is trying to belittle me what are they hiding? Why are they doing it? If anybody here stood up and said something, I may disagree with what they are saying but I do not belittle them. I just do not think it is right. I look at the Member for Humber West; I dealt with him when he was the principal of a school. I coached four teams at his school. I had keys to the school, the combinations; he treated me like royalty, and he knows that. I said that publicly before. We may disagree on issues like the hospital and Grenfell College, but I do not belittle him because I always said he treated me good when I was up coaching sports, I could not ask for any better. That is just the way it is. I do not expect anybody to belittle me.

When you hear the Premier making those statements - now she is the Premier of the Province here and the Member for Conception Bay East – Bell Island was sincere in what he said, but when the Premier says that, I look back: Now what are you hiding? I look at the Premier, how about Abitibi, the $200 million boondoggle in Abitibi? Who was the minister? It was the Premier. All of a sudden if you think that I have nothing to contribute and then she turned around and tried to give the mill back to Abitibi. It was not the voting part, who was the minister.

Then you look at when they had the briefing from Nalcor, and I spoke to the former Member for Burgeo – La Poile and the Deputy Opposition House Leader, and I asked them. Nalcor gave them a briefing; Nalcor said no, this is not included, it is not included – but it was included.

This is why the Opposition should ask questions. This is a prime example of why we should ask questions. I do not think any member, on this side, the Third Party, or the Government, should be belittled by what they have to say, because I really feel that most people – all the people I know that I met in this House really are concerned to do best for their district, bar none. I may jibe at some, and I may sometimes make comments to some, but I really, truly feel that if you are in this House, you are trying to make a better place for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador and the people in your district. I give people that respect, and I just ask to get that respect back, because the people of Bay of Islands put me here, and I expect that I be treated fairly.

I have to say, Mr. Speaker – and I will say it – most of the members and the ministers that I have dealt with are honest and up front. You may not get what you want, but they are honest and up front, and that is fine; that is all you can ask for. So, I treat people with respect, and I ask to get it back. So I just ask now, from here on in, if the Premier is going to make statements like this, look at the past, look at the history, or treat us with the same respect, the same level. I tell you one thing, I am not going away; until the people of Bay of Islands say move on, I am not going away.

I heard the Minister of Municipal Affairs talking about her plan for the future. Now, I was part of that plan, and I will just give you a bit of it: Hibernia – where are a lot of the royalties coming from, oil royalties? Hibernia. Look at Voisey's Bay. When I stood over there on the debate, I heard many, many times that we could drive a Mack truck through it. Too bad it was a Dinky, Mr. Speaker. Too bad it was a Dinky.

Look at the employment we have down there now. Look at the employment we have because of that, Mr. Speaker. Look at White Rose and Terra Nova, just look at all those projects. There is no doubt – I am glad for this government; I am glad that the benefits are coming through. I knew they were, but when you look back years ago, when you talk about that there was no plan, there was definitely a plan. The plan was to get those projects in place. You reap the benefits; power to the government in place that is reaping the benefits, because if you reap the benefits, Newfoundlanders and Labradorians will reap the benefits. I say, congratulations, it is all a continuous process.

When people stand up and say, well, this party had no plan, when I was a part of it, when I look at all the benefits from just these projects – I can name many more of them, Mr. Speaker, I can name many more. So it is just continual. Now, you may say: Well, we have the money and we invested in different ways. That is fine. That is a philosophy that we speak, more so.

Then I hear all the members over opposite talking about how everything is great. There are a lot of good things going on in Newfoundland and Labrador. I would be the first to admit it. There are, but everything is not great. There are a lot of good things going on, but we have to look at some of the things we need to improve. This is what the Opposition is. People bring concerns to our attention. We, as the Opposition, bring it to government because we look at other things that can be done in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, or done in a different way. There are some times when our ideas are not accepted. Sometimes our ideas may not even fit into the scheme of government. That is fine, too, but it is our role to stand up and bring those concerns. I am sure that most people who deal with us understand that is our role.

I know the Minister of Natural Resources. I heard him, and I am glad he took back his statements a bit about having blackouts in 2015. I am glad you did because, to me, that does not add to the debate. That does not add anything to the debate. When you stand up and say we are going to have blackouts in 2015, my first thing is, if we are having blackouts in 2015, how good a job is Nalcor doing? You cannot have it both ways. You cannot stand up in this House publicly and say Nalcor are the top professionals in this world, bar none, yet we are going to have blackouts in two or three years. You just cannot have it. I am glad the minister now withdrew those statements. I heard him on Open Line first, actually. I am glad he is backtracking that now and saying Nalcor has something in place so we will not have blackouts in 2015 and that is going to continue.

Mr. Speaker, I look at the Member for Humber West and his speech. I know the hon. member, and as I said earlier, we always got along and we always will. When he said something about debt unpaid, I look at – this is what is being brought to my attention by the people in Corner Brook – the autonomy for Grenfell college. The Minister of Finance, every time I bring up something, I know he says: Not again. It was a commitment made.

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. JOYCE: It was not kept. There is no autonomy in Grenfell college.

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. JOYCE: There is just not autonomy. You know it and I know it.

The Minister of Advanced Education and Skills on fourteen different occasions in the media that I read said we are preparing the legislation in the House of Assembly. The former Minister of Education, the Minister of Fisheries, said that we are doing up legislation and bringing it to the House. It is just not done. Those are the kinds of things we are saying that people are bringing to my attention that were commitments made that should have been fulfilled. If they are not going to be fulfilled, stand up and say no, we have a change of direction; we have a change in policy. That is what we need to do. Because if the Minister of Finance, the Member for Humber East, is saying to me it is done, why did we need the legislation that was never brought forth? Why? Because we needed the legislation to give autonomy to Grenfell College, and it is not done Minister; you know it and I know it.

Then we look at the ferries built in Newfoundland and Labrador. From my understanding from the minister, those talks may have been moved a long a bit with Kiewit for Marystown. I hope and if we can get those talks to the point where that third ferry is going to be built in Marystown, I congratulate you if we are going to do that. I hope we do. I honestly hope we do get those talks straightened out, and I hope the third ferry is built in Marystown so we can continue on. Mr. Speaker, I am tired of every time I bring up ferries and try to push it, the Member for Conception Bay East – Bell Island is smiling, saying: Eddie, keep pushing it, keep pushing it. I will keep pushing it until every ferry is built and every one is built in Newfoundland and Labrador. I know we are all concerned because it is a region that needs this bit of help. If the minister is doing it, I say to the minister keep up the good work, Minister, and get it done.

Family caregiver – the new program for the family caregivers in the Province. I said this before and I will say it again, I am not sure of the members opposite, but I can tell you all the people I spoke to feel that the Premier made a commitment that family caregiving meant that people from your family who want to take care of your older dad or mom could get paid while they are doing it. Now, right or wrong, that is the perception made during the election to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, Mr. Speaker, and that perception is out there. Again, if we are not going to follow through, if the government is not going to follow through on that commitment and that promise, they should stand up and say no, here is what we meant. This is not what we meant, here is what we meant. Because I can tell you, and this may sound political because I am bringing it up every time I stand up and speak, a lot of people who are taking care of their moms or dads, or somebody in their family who needs that care is expecting it. Right or wrong, they are expecting it. You, as a government, and me, as the Opposition, have to say okay here is a commitment that was made during the election, let's do it because a lot of people are expecting it. If we are not going to do it, we have to push for it to get it done. If the government says no, that is not what we meant; we should stand up and say here is what we are planning on doing.

People are expecting it; I think people deserve it. I use Minnie Vallis, for example, who has been pushing this here for years over in Meadows – God bless her. She has been pushing that for years, upon years, upon years. She was so happy when the Premier announced that the family caregiving act is going to come in, that people in the family could go and take care of someone, the family member who needs it. She was so happy, so was I actually. I said great because as a former member back before – I dealt with a lot of people who needed family caregiving. I thought it was a great program. I thought it was a great announcement by the Premier to bring that forward. I just hope now that it is going to continue on and come through it.

I also talked about the Member for Humber West. I say to the Member for Humber West, I heard you speak about the new super school in Corner Brook. There are one or two statements that you made there, and me, personally, I do not think you need to make them; when you started out trying to criticize us, me, because I was in the government at the time. There was only $17,000 for the roof or something, or $117,000 that is the way it started out, that is what you said. I already checked Hansard before I am saying this. Then you said there is something like $117,000 –

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I remind the hon. member to direct his comments to the Speaker.

MR. JOYCE: Yes sir, Mr. Speaker, I am sorry.

The reason why there is no need for you to say that I say to the Member for Humber West, Mr. Speaker, is because you know you were part of negotiations. Then when that is done it is people like Eddie Buckle and the school board that pushed so hard at the time to get the school. It takes away from what they have done. When the election was done in 2003, there was already $17 million committed to the school. There is no doubt and I know the Member for Humber East said they are stopped and –

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. JOYCE: Guys, I can show you the announcement. I am just saying there is no need because the involvement that you had at the time was a valuable contribution. So were the other people on the school board like Eddie Buckle who pushed for two gyms, so were the school board members, the meetings over the years.

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. JOYCE: No, I know you never, but I am. I am because I know what contribution they made to development to have that super school. There is no doubt and I know the Member for Humber East at the time got involved and got a second portion done to it. I know that. That was all part of it and I acknowledge that, but we also have to acknowledge the work that the school board members did and the people at the school board. The minister knows this himself: it never started out as $117,000 roof job. When the minister took over in 2003, he knew that it was a $16 or $17 million project, but you stopped it because there was a problem, I think, with the arts part, one part they wanted an extra – then the minister got involved and got it. Then they changed that, and I acknowledge that.

You wanted to change it too, I say to the Member for Humber West. It was a major project. You cannot belittle the people in the school board, Mr. Speaker, because there is no need of it.

I heard the Member for Lewisporte up having his few words the other day and I really feel that what you were saying you really feel, but you cannot burden our future generations. I really feel you believe that, but if you believe that, what are you doing voting for Muskrat Falls?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. JOYCE: What are you doing? If you ever looked at the financial arrangement of Muskrat Falls, it is back-loaded. Who is going to pay for Muskrat Falls? It is our children and grandchildren. When you want to go up, either read Muskrat Falls or do not make those statements, if you really believe him. If you read Muskrat Falls, if you take someone with a financial background and ask them, then they will tell you, they will actually tell you that it is back-ended, and who is going to end up paying more is the children and grandchildren, I say to the member.

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. JOYCE: I say, Mr. Speaker, you hear the Member for Conception Bay East – Bell Island praising up the government. In one of the questions, he said, look at the forestry. Two mills shut down – I do not know if they have a forestry strategy and plan; I am not sure if we have a forestry strategy, because no one is aware of the forestry strategy, Mr. Speaker.

I know there are sensitive things going on in Corner Brook and I will not even bring that up whatsoever. I congratulate the ministers for being involved. Hopefully we can work something out. I know the Member for Humber West is on it also because we all have family and friends over there. Hopefully we are going to work it all out and get it done for the mill.

Mr. Speaker, another thing during the election that was a big issue for me was twenty-four-hour snow clearing. I know the minister has mentioned this. I asked before in the Estimates and I will ask it again –

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

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

MR. JOYCE: By leave?

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

AN HON. MEMBER: By leave.

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

MR. JOYCE: I know the minister is aware of it because I brought it up to him. If there is some way that we could go back to the on-call system, because I can assure you, one of these days there is going to be an accident. I know there are a lot of cars running off the road. If there is some way we could go back to the old system, Minister, I ask you to just look at it. If you come back and say it is not feasible or it is not reliable, that is fine.

The old system that was in, Mr. Speaker, is if there was a foreman on that night, he had the ability to call people to come in. If we get a weather forecast and there is snow, he can call in. I am not asking to have someone twenty-four hours sitting down day after day. I am saying give the foreman back the ability that if there is snow coming tonight, this foreman can call in five or six people to have the roads cleared for the morning. That is all I am saying. It is not to bring back all the people to have them just there. I am saying give the foreman the ability to call people in when need be.

So, Mr. Speaker, I thank you for the time. I thank the members for the leave. I will say it: There is not a member over there and not a minister over there that I could not deal with when it comes to the District of Bay of Islands or the Corner Brook area. I know there are a lot of ministers over there that I already dealt with and I can say we have been working together to try to get the issues resolved for the District of Bay of Islands and the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HEDDERSON: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am certainly glad to rise as we get closer to suppertime and have a few minutes to comment on the amendment – or the attempted amendment, I should say, Mr. Speaker – to Budget 2012. I would have to say that I am very, very proud to be part of a government that brought forth a Budget. This is the second Budget of our Premier, a remarkable Budget, a responsible Budget, and one that I could speak for hours as to the benefits it is going to bring to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador. I would as well thank our Minister of Finance, our Cabinet, and of course anyone who had any input into that Budget – very, very responsible.

Mr. Speaker, in response to the Member for Bay of Islands, I noticed he talked about fish plants, how fish plants are closing, and how he somehow could look into the future and talk about how things are going to happen. Mr. Speaker, he was part of the government that got us into the problems that we got into with fish plants. The hon. member –

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

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

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

MR. JOYCE: Once again, Mr. Speaker, I am going to clarify. I said when your government, which you were a part of, scrapped the FPI Act, that is what caused a lot of these closings here and we said it then, Mr. Speaker –

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

There is no point of order.

The hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.

MR. HEDDERSON: (Inaudible) I am saying if the member would give me a chance to finish, that in the 1990s the then Minister of Fisheries gave out fish plant licences like candy. Why, I ask the hon. member did he give it out? For political favours. Community after community accepted these plants, but now we are in a position and our current Minister of Fisheries is in a position to try to manage what was caused by what happened in the 1990s. Again I say to the hon. member, it is not about what is happening today, it is what happened in the 1990s and the reasons why there are so many over capacity of fish plants in this Province at this particular time.

As well, when we look at Abitibi – I heard him mention Abitibi and what are we doing with the forestry resources that we have. Well, at least we have them. At least this government stood up to Abitibi and made sure that the assets of Abitibi were secured so that we would have a forestry industry at this particular time.

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. HEDDERSON: Absolutely.

Mr. Speaker, the redevelopment of Herdman, the election prior to it, that government said we will do the redevelopment – I think it was $3.5 million – knowing full well that to do the redevelopment of that school would cost far in excess of $3.5 million. Am I hearing, Mr. Speaker, that it is not true? It is not true that prior, about days before the election was called, that the then Minister of Education went out and said that we are going to do Herdman Collegiate in the dying hours of that election – a promise, and they talk about us as a government not being able to make a commitment.

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

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

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

MR. JOYCE: What the minister – and I will bring in Hansard and I will bring in information that what you are saying is just factually incorrect. I am not –

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

There is no point of order.

The hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.

MR. HEDDERSON: I say to the hon. member over there you cannot kid a kidder, I was there. I was there in Opposition and the promises that that government made prior to us coming in government was just unbelievable. One of them was to redevelop, and I think that was a second or third announcement that at they made with regard to that.

I would say to the member opposite that at the time I know I was a Minister of Education and one of the people who gave the greatest input to that was the principal at the time. I think he is in the Chamber now, but he certainly spoke very highly and very passionately about what needed to be done in Corner Brook at that particular time. I would give him all the credit in the world.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HEDDERSON: What happened was through good consultation with the community, working with the school board, we were able to as a government put together what I considered to be one of the best schools in this Province, where we could redevelop an existing institution and to do it. I say to the hon. member opposite: I am not finished yet; there is still work to be done in that particular system.

I am just going down through some of the points here and I am just looking. Our Energy Plan that we have before us, which Muskrat Falls is very key to it. Let me tell you that the individual who was the architect of that plan sits in the seat right there in our Premier. I tell you she quarterbacked an Energy Plan that will stand up in any jurisdiction, not only in Canada but in the world because it is –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HEDDERSON: Talking about revenues coming from our oil wells – that is only fleeting. We know that we need to have visionaries if we are as a Province going to be self-reliant. We need an architect and we have an architect who was the minister who brought the plan forward. We have an architect now as Premier who is going to get this Province to where it should be.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HEDDERSON: It is not about idle promises. It is not about doing things, Mr. Speaker, for political gain. It is doing it for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador and it is the best thing.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HEDDERSON: Mr. Speaker, I would have to say that this Budget, in my fourteen years, is a Budget that I can be very, very proud of because it continues on the principles on which this government based its political future. That is making sure that there are no more giveaways, making sure that we are working for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, and doing what is in their best interests.

It really is amusing to see the Opposition, the Third Party, trying to find ways to downgrade this particular Budget. I remember Budgets that came down and I can tell you right now, Mr. Speaker, it was embarrassing because of the tremendous spending that it was putting forth without having the revenues to support it.

In 2003, coming in and finding an $11 billion long-term deficit is really, I suppose, at a point where we did not know where to go. Again, under the capable leadership of the PC government we are in a position right now that not only are we able to continue an infrastructure program, for example, right now, since 2003, we are up to about $7 billion, maybe to $8 billion of significant investment in this particular Province; that is roads, that is buildings, that is schools, that is hospitals, that is long-term care. This is about – I can go on and on. My colleague down in Municipal Affairs, again, consistent investments, making sure that we are putting in the hands of the people who need it to move it forward in such a way as to protect the interests of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Again, Mr. Speaker, I cannot say enough about what is happening. In my district alone, I have a generating plant. Let me tell you a little story about the Third Party and that generating plant. I remember going through Holyrood, doing what you do during an election, which is trying to get door-to-door to everyone. I came along by the entrance to then Hydro plant. There was a gathering there. I believe it was the late Jack Layton, I believe there was the current Leader of the Third Party, I believe it was the Liberal candidate at the time, and they were almost putting gestures towards me because I just drove by. I was not invited to be there, but they were talking about a government that was allowing this generating plant to spew up into the atmosphere millions of tons of waste and saying: Do something about it. You have to do something about it. This is an embarrassment. People could not hang out their clothes in Holyrood and the surrounding areas because it was turning black. They were saying this government has to do something about it.

Now on the floor is Muskrat Falls, because Muskrat Falls is going to make sure that the constituents in my district can breathe good air, and not only my constituents but all of Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HEDDERSON: Again, Mr. Speaker, you cannot have it both ways. You cannot use a platform one election: We have to get rid of Holyrood. I heard today, someone stood up today and said, well why don't we go to Holyrood to 2041? Just throw a few scrubbers in there. Do a little bit of an upgrade and that should be fine. Well, I tell you, Mr. Speaker, it is not fine. Here is one who is adamant that we move forward with the renewable energy, not only for this Province but indeed for all the world.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HEDDERSON: That is what we need to do. Again, I give credit where credit is due. Our Premier is making sure that she is not going to be sidetracked with all of this noise and nonsense that is going around. She is focused, because she knows, as we know, as most of the people in Newfoundland and Labrador know, Mr. Speaker, that this is the right thing to do, and not only is it the right thing to do but it is the right time to do it. If we do not take advantage of this window, I can only tell you that future generations will be looking back. They will not be looking back at us and saying you should have done it. They will be looking across the way there and saying to these people, the Opposition there, that you should have done it. Again, I say, Mr. Speaker, this Budget is just another indication of the path that we are on and how successful we can be as a Province if we work together, and working together as we should.

Mr. Speaker, we are getting very close – I am looking at –

MR. KENNEDY: Yes, adjourn the debate and we will come back at 7:00.

MR. HEDDERSON: Yes.

I say, Mr. Speaker, it is getting close, we are down, and if it suits the House, I would like to adjourn debate and come back at 7:00 o'clock to finish up. I still have about seven minutes left.

MR. SPEAKER: There is a motion on the floor that we adjourn debate, seconded by the Minister of Finance.

All those in favour, ‘aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Nay.

MR. SPEAKER: Motion carried.

The hon. the Government House Leader.

MR. KENNEDY: Yes, Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills, that we now adjourn until 7:00 o'clock.

MR. SPEAKER: I ask the hon. Government House Leader: It is our intention that the House will take a recess at this point and resume at 7:00 o'clock?

MR. KENNEDY: That is right.

MR. SPEAKER: Pursuant to Standing Order 9, the House now stands in recess until 7:00 p.m.


May 14, 2012                   HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS                   Vol. XLVII No. 31A


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

MR. SPEAKER (Wiseman): Order, please!

The hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HEDDERSON: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am certainly glad to continue on. The Member for Bay of Islands spurred me on to bringing back some memories of my time when I was in Opposition and times where – I would call them, I guess, the worst of times, as we are now in the best of times.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HEDDERSON: Best of times, I say. We are again moving forward in many different ways, Mr. Speaker. I have gone through some of those ways already. Again, I would just like to go back to my portfolio and talk a little bit about the tremendous investments that this government is making with regard to housing.

We hear often people jumping up and talking about the government doing absolutely nothing when it comes to housing; nothing, Mr. Speaker, could be further from the truth. As we can see in the Budget, the investment that we are making in the housing portfolio is tremendous. We are continuing to have a sustained investment and we are dealing with, in many cases, Mr. Speaker, the most vulnerable of people.

Since this government has taken over, we have put in place, for the first time in this Province's history, a strategy of secure foundations that is leading us in the right direction. That particular strategy, Mr. Speaker, is one which has given us the direction that we need in order for us to get to a place where this Province needs to be.

Mr. Speaker, in housing, again, we are looking at something this year, a sustained investment of close to $30 million. This investment has allowed us to come forward with a number of things. After decades of neglect, Mr. Speaker, with regard to our stock – which we have something like 5,500 units – this government has taken it upon itself to make sure that we have that stock up to a level that is adequate in order to meet the needs of the people that are looking for housing.

Just in a nutshell, Mr. Speaker, we are looking at some of our more successful programs, our Provincial Home Repair; as well, we have introduced some new funds, like the Homelessness Fund. Again, that is coming forward in this Budget. Our REEP, which allows people to upgrade the installation in their homes, is putting each year in the pockets of these people something like, on a yearly basis, up to $800.

Mr. Speaker, when it comes to some of the funds, when we look at some of the funding – and I will just go down through some of them. With our Home Repair program, we have doubled that Home Repair program; with regard to the rent supplement, we have doubled that as well. Importantly, as well, Mr. Speaker, with regard to our modernization funding, we have tripled that; and, of course, we have taken on the supportive living component funding, and that has been quadrupled. Mr. Speaker, when we look at housing, we understand how important it is that we would look at ways that we would continue.

Mr. Speaker, besides my portfolio, I would like to take a minute or two just to talk about my particular district. The historic District of Harbour Main is about 100 clicks outside of the capital city. I would like to take the time during this Budget to thank my constituents for returning me to office for a fourth term. Very pleased to report, Mr. Speaker, that through municipal grants, through some of our road work, we are getting forward in that particular district with regard to the infrastructure deficit that was present.

Mr. Speaker, one of the areas which this government is looking at is our seniors. It was only the other night, on Saturday night, that I was invited to a fifty-plus group down in the legion down in Brigus. Mr. Speaker, they are sixty strong. These individuals, fifty-plus, are coming together; they are being very, very active. Not only that, but they are very appreciative of the support that government gives them in the way of wellness grants, another indication of how important it is to make sure that we are looking after the needs of the people, those who find themselves a little bit vulnerable. We as a government are investing widely in people as this Budget has clearly indicated.

Mr. Speaker, as I come to the last couple of minutes of my rising to speak to the amendment, I cannot help but say that anyone on either side of the House who does not see the benefits that this government has put forth in their Budget plan is missing the point. We can understand, Mr. Speaker, and I think the people of Newfoundland and Labrador understand, that there is no way in any given year that government can do everything.

When you look at the amount of road work that is in the Province, Mr. Speaker, you are talking about 9,000 kilometres; you are talking about 800 bridges. Consistently every year, we are investing upwards of $200 million to try to make up for the infrastructure deficit in roads as we go by, our buildings. Mr. Speaker, we are investing in this Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. I compliment the Premier. I compliment the Minister of Finance, our Cabinet, and our MHAs for standing behind this government and putting forth a Budget that we believe is for the people. This is not about us, Mr. Speaker. It is not about the Opposition. This is about making sure we are listening to the needs of the people out there and strategically investing to make sure their needs are met. I encourage everyone on both sides of the House to look at the Budget, to rise when the time comes, and make sure they are supporting the tremendous investment we are making.

With those words, Mr. Speaker, I again welcome the opportunity to be able to stand and talk about what we are doing here tonight, which is voting down an amendment to perhaps one of the best Budgets that has ever come down in this Province.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I remind the member his time is up.

MR. HEDDERSON: Thank you very much.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

I am very pleased to stand this evening and have my opportunity to speak to the amendment of the main motion that is here on the floor of the House of Assembly.

There are a couple of things I want to do tonight. The first thing I want to do is –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

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

The first thing I want to do is to set the record straight, especially for the public who are watching us here tonight. We have a couple of people here in the House with us, but there are many people who watch on television. I am always pleased to find people who tell me they are watching. I want to set the record straight for those people, and I hope I will set it straight as well for my colleagues in the House, especially those in government, with regard to the position of this party on Muskrat Falls.

I am tired, Mr. Speaker, of hearing the government members of the House misinterpret the position of this party and the federal NDP.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS MICHAEL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I was really pleased –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS MICHAEL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I was extremely pleased when the NDP on a federal level was the first federal party to take a position with regard to the loan guarantee. The NDP understood what the role of a federal party is. The role of a federal party is to protect the interests of the provinces. When a province gets involved in a project like something like Muskrat Falls, the Province has a responsibility; its responsibility is to study that, to make sure that it is the best thing for the Province, and to do everything in its power, if it believes it is the best thing for the Province to do.

The role of the federal parties, and of the federal government in particular, is to help facilitate development in this country. So, they have a role to play, in this instance, with regard to a loan guarantee. I am delighted that the NDP federally was the first party to recognize that responsibility, to say that if the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador proves to itself that this is the project that they want, we would be there with a loan guarantee. They recognize their responsibility.

Today, the current Leader of the NDP federally actually put out a press release, just about the time I thought I was going to standing up this afternoon; we had to make a change in order, so it came out in time for me to be able to reference it. The current Leader of the NDP reiterated their support of the loan guarantee for Muskrat Falls.

However, the current Leader of the NDP federally also recognized in his press release today something that I recognize, and that is the hard work that we have to do here in the Province to make sure that we understand everything about this project and that we know what we are doing before we make our decision.

Mr. Speaker, that is what I do as the Leader of the Party provincially. I am making sure that we –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Speaker has recognized the Member for Signal Hill – Quidi Vidi, the Leader of the Third Party. I would ask members to pay attention to her comments.

Thank you.

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

It does make it easier when there is not too much noise, because one has to push one's voice through the noise.

The role that I have as Leader of my Party is to make sure that every question that we have, every question that we hear from the people who we represent here in this House – not all of whom are people who voted for us; lots of people come to me with their concerns who may not have voted for us, but when they bring concerns and questions, it is our responsibility to explore and to make sure that what we are doing in the Province with regard to Muskrat Falls is the best thing.

I remember over a year ago, a year-and-a-half ago, something that I was saying was: It is all moving too fast. Slow down; it moves too fast. Mr. Speaker, that was borne out. That has been borne out, because since we took the Opposition – and that is what our position was about, that we will support Muskrat Falls if it is economically viable, if it is environmentally sustainable –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS MICHAEL: – and if it is good for the people of the Province. We saw that we did not have answers to those three questions to satisfy us.

As we started pushing through asking the questions, all of a sudden all kinds of other people were asking the questions. Even though Manitoba Hydro International gets quoted here by the government on many occasions, Mr. Speaker, with regard to the study that they did, they always ignore the significant questions that Manitoba Hydro raised. Now, let us hope Manitoba Hydro, in the second round of being engaged by this government, might get the chance to try to get the answers to the questions they raised in their first analysis.

The point is that there is a lot of work still to be done. I am delighted that the work is being done. There has been a moving target when it comes to some of the deadlines that have been set; I do not mind that, because if the moving targets are going to mean that we are going to have the fullest debate we can have with all of the facts, then that is important.

What else has slowed down? Another thing that has slowed us down is the process in Nova Scotia. They have to go through their whole process with their own public utility board; it has a different name, but it is the equivalent of our utility board. They have to go through their whole process and that is going to take months more.

I was right when I was saying this is all moving too fast. There is a lot more information that has to be gathered. Mr. Speaker, I am delighted that I can do my job as the Leader of the NDP in this Province knowing that if we get to a point where we say Muskrat Falls should happen, the NDP federally was the first party to say a loan guarantee is what should be in place. They were the first federal party to say they would support the loan guarantee and they know that on the other side of the House, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS MICHAEL: My point is that where we should be, we are examining from all sides, and that is what should happen. What I am hoping, Mr. Speaker, is that by the time we have –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I remind members again that the Speaker has recognized the Leader of the Third Party. I would ask members for their attention and to respect the Speaker's acknowledgement of the member as she speaks and makes comments to the House.

The Leader of the Third Party.

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

I wanted to first of all, before going any further in the Budget Debate, make this point, and to make it clearly, Mr. Speaker, to try to make it clear to everybody who is listening, to everybody who is in this House, how we understand what we are doing. We know what we are doing. We are not stupid. We are well aware of what we are doing, and what we are doing provincially is what our job is provincially, and our federal party is doing what its job is federally. That is my first point today, Mr. Speaker, that I wanted to make.

The other thing, Mr. Speaker, that I want to talk about tonight is to talk about one of the implications of Muskrat Falls and supporting Muskrat Falls that concerns me. This is the whole thing around whether or not it is economically viable. I do not have the answer to that yet, and I am not going to be talking about it from the perspective of the dollars tonight. I am going to be talking about it from the perspective of can we afford it, and what are the implications if we cannot afford it?

In the Budget that has presented to us, the second section of the Budget talks about people and prosperity. Mr. Speaker, I have to question this whole section on people and prosperity. Yes, there is prosperity there for some people in our society right now, there is no doubt about it, but there are an awful lot of people for whom there is no prosperity, Mr. Speaker, an awful lot of people for whom there is no prosperity. This is what I want to talk about tonight. I want to talk about the reality of the lives of many people in this Province, and a reality that we cannot run away from, Mr. Speaker.

I want to ask the government side of this House to think about: Is it really prosperity for people who are living in poverty, who are on Income Support? They get an annual indexation of their Income Support, but the indexation is based on a poverty-level income, because Income Support keeps people below the poverty line. Is that prosperity for those people, Mr. Speaker, I ask? Right now, people who are standing in food lines in this Province, do they have prosperity, Mr. Speaker? We are being told continually that things are not getting any better when it comes to people who need food. No wonder, because if we have 30,000 people on Income Support and that is a poverty level, then they have to do something to feed themselves because they cannot take care of themselves. It is no wonder that we have growing numbers still in food bank lines. So, is there prosperity for those people? I would suggest no, Mr. Speaker, there is not. What about seniors who are choosing between heat and food, or seniors who are choosing between food and medicine? Is it people and prosperity for them? No, it is not, Mr. Speaker.

Just the other night I was sitting with a woman who said to me, I want you to think about the whole term middle class. She said, people look at me and they think I am middle class. She said my income per year, what I have to deal with, for everything, is $23,000 a year. I said, well no, you are not middle class. She said no I am not, but I am considered middle class because I am educated, because I write – and she is a writer - because I look okay. I am not middle class. I think these are the glasses we have to put on; the glasses of somebody like that who is considered middle class, whereas an income of $23,000 a year is a poverty level income. She is not considered to be living in poverty but she is. She has to count every penny, she has to be careful about where the heat goes, and she has to look at every cent that she spends.

We really have to be thinking about who is really benefiting. What does people and prosperity mean? For some people it is prosperity, and I am not denying that. Some people in Newfoundland and Labrador are doing really well because of our income from oil and gas, an awful lot, but an awful lot are not and we have to be looking at them. We cannot just be looking at one group.

It was really interesting to see how little was in this year's Budget with regard to the Poverty Reduction Strategy, one little section on page 20 of the Budget Speech. It is much, much less in the Poverty Reduction Strategy than, for example, the Budget of 2006, Mr. Speaker. I am asking this government to think about what they are doing.

In this Budget, we have $664 million going to Nalcor to be used in Nalcor's work with regard to Muskrat Falls. We do not even know if that work is going to begin in this fiscal year, the work that that $664 million is slated for, and we do not know what it is slated for because the project has not even been sanctioned yet. So that is that $664 million.

We also have in cash and short-term assets about $2.1 billion. Now we have over $3 billion of money, some of it will be given to Nalcor and some that is being held in case the government decides it wants to use it for its equity investment in Muskrat Fall. That is over $3 billion, and we already have at least half a billion dollars that Nalcor has already spent. So we are up to almost $4 billion of investment in a project that is not yet sanctioned, in a project that has a lot of people studying it right now asking all kinds of questions, both in this Province as well as in Nova Scotia. How can we continue spending that amount of money while at the same time we are not taking care of the needs of all the people in the Province right now?

We have a school in Charlottetown that children cannot go into in Labrador. The school in my district, the Virginia Park Elementary School, my predecessor was working with the people in that community, with the people in the school and with this government trying to get a new school in Virginia Park. I have been in my position for six years, my predecessor was working on it at least two years before I came in, eight years trying to get a new school in that area which is identified by both the school board and the Department of Education as needing replacement; yet, eight years down the road there is still nothing in place. We are still studying. We have another study now. Another six months we will have to wait before we get an answer.

How can we say it is all right to be putting almost $4 billion at this moment - with all the money that has been earmarked and used, how can we say that investment is all right when we are not even building long-term care facilities to meet the current need that we have in the Province? We have a wonderful new facility going up, the Hoyles Escasoni on Newfoundland Drive, again in my district; a beautiful building to look at from the outside. I think it is going to be quite wonderful, but it is already too small to meet the needs that we have right now in this area. It cannot meet the needs. We will still have a major waiting list even after that building goes up. Why? Why couldn't we have made a bigger investment in that long-term care facility to cover the greater needs that we have of people? The numbers are going to go up. The numbers of elderly people needing long-term care are going to go up. Of course, we could have fewer people in the facility if we had more people who are able to stay at home and a full home care program, but we do not have a complete home care program. We still have a home care program, Mr. Speaker, where people have to pass a means test, where the word of a health professional is not sufficient. They may be told they need so many hours of home care, then you have to pass a means test, and this in a Province which is holding and has spent almost $4 billion on this major project called Muskrat Falls, and there is more money to come.

Mr. Speaker, I used an example when I spoke to the sub-amendment last week and I am going to use – Mr. Speaker, a point of order. I called point of order, but you cannot see what was happening. There was a huge calculator being held up across the way.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: There was no point of order.

The Leader of the Third Party, please.

MS MICHAEL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am going to use the example that I used last week when I was speaking to the sub-amendment and that is the example of a family of a parent who has limited money, maybe middle class, real middle class, not $23,000 a year, and sees an opportunity for an investment. The investment could probably bring money in, in ten or fifteen years' time for the family.

MR. SPEAKER: Excuse me, please.

I remind members that it is inappropriate to use props in the House. I ask members to refrain from using them.

I acknowledge the Leader of the Third Party. Please continue with your comments.

MS MICHAEL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I was talking about the example I had used before in the House. You have a parent, middle income, has an opportunity, if they want, to make an investment, but they look at the investment and they are trying to convince the rest of the family to do the investment. They see that if they take a large sum of money and put into that investment, which will pay back in ten or fifteen years' time, they are not going to be able to keep their standard of living. They are not going to be able to feed their children as well as they should be able to. They are not going to be able to take care of the house that they are living in. They are not going to be able to give the children the kind of recreation that they should have to help keep them healthy. The answer to that parent would be: You cannot make that investment unless you can do the other things too.

Mr. Speaker, what I am saying to this government is: We know what we do not have right now because of our past, but we know what we have to do to build up programs and take care of people in the present and in the future. The question that is going to be facing us when we come not only with this Budget, but in the debate around Muskrat Falls is: Can we do both things? Can we make that investment and at the same time put in place the programs that we need in this Province, programs that exist everywhere else in Canada? Drug cards for all seniors exist everywhere else in Canada, but not here. A public home care program as part of the health care system exists in other provinces, but not here. A child care program that is part of early childhood education and child care under the Department of Education exists elsewhere, but not here.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I remind the member her time has expired.

MS MICHAEL: I will sum up if I may, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Does the member have leave to clue up?

AN HON. MEMBER: By leave.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. member, with leave.

MS MICHAEL: Thank you.

I just want to say right now I have many concerns and I expressed those concerns. I really look forward to the next time I have the opportunity to speak to the main motion, to bring my first two positions I have taken to a conclusion.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS BURKE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, there are some issues and topics I would like to speak on about the Department of Advanced Education and Skills. Before I do so, there are certainly some issues raised here earlier this evening that I would like to put some context around to try to see if I can understand what is being said.

It is interesting to note that the federal Leader of the Opposition, Thomas Mulcair, supports the Muskrat Falls –

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MS BURKE: No, federal Opposition. He supports the development of Muskrat Falls, and that is a very important development, and significant. It also echoes what we have heard from the former leader, the late Jack Layton, and also from our current MP who sits in Ottawa, who is a former Member of the House, Jack Harris. So, the federal NDP are squarely in support of Muskrat Falls. It was very interesting to see how the provincial NDP tried to wiggle under that here this evening and not be able to put forth their position. They are trying to split hairs, Mr. Speaker, and quite frankly it sounds a bit pathetic and amusing to see that happening. They are trying to align themselves with the federal party, yet tonight trying to separate themselves. Not only are they trying to imbed themselves now with the federal party, yet separate, they are doing the same thing on the municipal level as well, Mr. Speaker. They are trying apparently to run a slate and select a mayor. They had a fundraiser this weekend. The Leader of the federal Opposition, Thomas Mulcair, talked about their plans to run candidates in the municipal election. I think he let the cat out of the bag, not realizing the media was there. It is all reported.

It is also interesting to note this on two levels. One is the fact that they are trying to bring partisan politics into our municipal governments, which play a very important role in the Province. You wonder what the thought process would be behind that. What else is interesting in this whole process is the fact that they would support and set a slate in St. John's. So the question is: If St. John's is that important to the NDP that they need to run a slate of candidates, are the municipal governments that important in every other community of Newfoundland and Labrador, or is this a party, the Third Party, that supports primarily St. John's and St. John's issues? That is the question. We will see, Mr. Speaker, if they give the same attention to each and every municipal government and the election when it is called in this Province and if the same level of planning is going on. That will be very telling and that is something that I am going to be interested to see, if this extends only to the overpass. Because when you look at it, Mr. Speaker, most of the members in this House of Assembly go way beyond the overpass; however, it is not always the same for every party that sits here in the House of Assembly.

The Leader of the Third Party also talked about Muskrat Falls and is it economically viable. Well, my suggestion must be: It has to be for the NDP, especially on the federal side. If they are going to support a loan guarantee, wouldn't they feel confident that that is an economically viable project that they would support? Why would you do a loan guarantee for something that you did not think was economically viable? They have verbally given their support, whether it is the present leader or their former leader, and their MP who was a Member of this House of Assembly, have said that they support Muskrat Falls with this loan guarantee. No one in their right mind would support a loan guarantee for a project that is not economically viable.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS BURKE: Therefore, Mr. Speaker, if you can connect the dots, and logic will allow you to do it, it is not hard to realize that the NDP, provincially, will support Muskrat Falls because the federal side does. They feel that the loan guarantee must be something in place and it has to be economically viable; therefore, it will be interesting as we continue with that debate to see how they support.

Before I get into discussing the Department of Advanced Education and Skills, I also have to go back to some of the comments that we just heard from the Leader of the Third Party. The Leader of the Third Party indicated that she feels that the government, whatever party would be in power, needs to meet all the needs of all of the people in the Province. Now, Mr. Speaker, that would be Utopia and no one would say that we should not do it, but there is a reality. Sometimes we see a big calculator around the House of Assembly, around government, because we are trying to add up all of the numbers and the regular calculator just cannot handle the numbers that we are looking at.

Someone commented here earlier today about the Mother of Sorrows. I think we heard from the Mother of Sorrows from a speech perspective in the theme this evening, talking about people who are in poverty in this Province and the fact that this government is doing nothing. Well, I am going to point out a few things this government is doing with regard to a Poverty Reduction Strategy. With this Poverty Reduction Strategy, Mr. Speaker, this Province is recognized throughout Canada for taking a leading role in dealing with the issues of trying to reduce poverty. Everyone in Canada who is involved with poverty and anti-poverty understands what this Province is doing, with the exception of probably about five people in this Province who have no idea what is going on.

Mr. Speaker, for a Province the size of Newfoundland and Labrador and with a population of just over 500,000, we have a Poverty Reduction Strategy of $150 million annually, and that is targeted directly at initiatives to reduce or eliminate poverty in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The question was: Who is experiencing the prosperity of this Province? Mr. Speaker, let me ask some questions. Are the parents who no longer have to pay for textbooks for their students to attend high school, are they experiencing the prosperity of this Province? I think they are.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS BURKE: Not just the parents who have students in high school, the parents who have students in any grade in our K-12 system no longer pay school fees. Mr. Speaker, they are experiencing the prosperity of this Province as well.

Mr. Speaker, we also introduced a Prescription Drug Program so that prescription drugs were made affordable to people who needed it. At one point it was available for people only on Income Support, but we looked at a program where people now with an income up to $150,000 a year can access a drug card and will only pay a small portion of the amount of their drugs so that prescription drugs are affordable in this Province. Mr. Speaker, there are many, many families in Newfoundland and Labrador benefiting from just that one initiative in our Poverty Reduction Strategy.

Mr. Speaker, we have also eliminated the provincial portion of HST on the heating source into somebody's home. Every person in Newfoundland and Labrador, but in particular, Mr. Speaker, low-income people benefit the most from this particular initiative.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS BURKE: Mr. Speaker, we also introduced the Adult Dental Health Program because we understand that dental health is very important to everyone in this Province. It is unfortunate that some people are unable to take care of issues with regard to their own dental health. That is another initiative of this government, Mr. Speaker, something extremely important. It was in place for children but it is in place for adults as well right now, Mr. Speaker.

We have also increased the number of rental supplements that help people live in housing in this Province, Mr. Speaker, who are not living in our social housing units but are in other accommodations. This rental supplement offsets their rent month in and month out, Mr. Speaker. These people also prosper from the initiatives that we have under our Poverty Reduction Strategy.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS BURKE: Mr. Speaker, it was mentioned earlier in the House today, we also invest in the Jumpstart Program in partnership with the Canadian Tire Foundation for Families where we provide $350,000 a year, and that goes strictly to children who are living in poverty so they are able to access recreational activities in their own community. Mr. Speaker, it is about enabling the children of this Province to participate in the organized activities. We are not going to set up a separate program where we have all the poor children go to this program, or all the poor children go to this facility, so it is all written down that as you go here this is a program set up for you. What Jumpstart does, Mr. Speaker, it provides either the registration or the equipment to allow children to integrate with their peers to be able to participate fully in recreational activities without the stigma of living in poverty.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS BURKE: Mr. Speaker, I also want to comment about the initiatives we have to address some of the concerns right now on the Burin Peninsula. We had some questions today here in the House of Assembly, and the questions kind of went along the lines: Well, you know if a fish plant closes in the District of Signal Hill – Quidi Vidi, will you help us out? Yes, Mr. Speaker, we will.

What was interesting, and actually appalling today was that the Third Party has twelve minutes in Question Period – so there is thirty minutes in Question Period, and typically the Opposition uses almost all of it, but because I guess there is a split, that the numbers are closer than they have ever been in the House, that the Opposition, I would think very graciously and generously, allowed the Third Party to have a significant portion of Question Period. So the split goes now that it is eighteen minutes for the Opposition and it is twelve minutes for the Third Party. If we all wind back the clock and think about before the House of Assembly opened in this session, how much we heard from the Third Party, how they wanted this House open, how they wanted to hold government accountable, and how many important issues they wanted to bring up.

MR. JOYCE: What happened today?

MS BURKE: The Member for Bay of Islands is saying, well what happened today? I want to tell the people just in case they were busy today or they were at work and they were unable to watch the House of Assembly. It was the most amusing thing I think I ever saw in the House of Assembly. We had a party who could not come up with enough questions to cover twelve minutes in Question Period.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. SPEAKER: The Leader of the Third Party on a point of order.

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

What has just been said here in the House right now is a comment on how this party was conducting itself today during Question Period and to talk about whether or not we were -

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

There is no point of order.

I acknowledge the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills.

MS BURKE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is my time to comment in this Budget debate and I will also have another time as we get back to the main motion.

Mr. Speaker, just for the record, in case of the interruption just then, in case people missed what I said; what I said was the Third Party has twelve minutes in Question Period and for the first time since I have been a member of this House of Assembly, since 2003, for the first time and for a party that has urged us to open the House, that have said there are so many important issues they need to discuss and they need to bring up, they could not cover off twelve minutes in Question Period today.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS BURKE: Mr. Speaker, it went off into a question something like I had mentioned earlier, if a fish plant closes in St. John's are we going to help the community?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

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

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

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

MS MICHAEL: Yes, Mr. Speaker, a point of order.

If my colleague on the government side is going to talk about it, then speak what really happened. We covered our twelve minutes of Question Period, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

There is no point of order.

The hon. the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills.

MS BURKE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS BURKE: Mr. Speaker, I will just go back so I can close off what I was saying there. The last question in Question Period today, after we all saw the confusion and the fluster going on across the floor, was: If a fish plant closes in St. John's, will the government be there to help?

Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague, the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, said yes we would. We would help St. John's or Quidi Vidi, Signal Hill – Quidi Vidi, the district if they lost a fish plant. Well, if they opened one and then lost it, of course, we would be there to help them. I think that is admirable that we would do it. I think when you have twelve minutes and you have all the important issues covered, you have to get to that level because you have to cover off the fish plant in every district, and I think they tried to do that today.

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MS BURKE: Yes. Would we let the MHAs sit in on the committee if the fish plant closed in St. John's? I do not even know where it is yet, Mr. Speaker. It is something I am going to look up on Google tonight before I sit down.

Mr. Speaker, getting back to the Burin Peninsula and our response to communities, it is extremely important that we work with our communities when they experience a hardship, and this government will do exactly that. Unfortunately, I have experienced in working on the committees and working with the communities that experience hardship, Mr. Speaker, and it started back in 2005 when the mill closed in Stephenville. At that time we formed a ministerial committee and a community level committee and we worked very closely together. It brought about significant changes for the area and something that has propelled that district into where it is today, Mr. Speaker. There is a lot of gratitude in that district for this government and the initiatives that they took at that time.

Sometimes the tone of questions today was almost making it partisan, like: will we let the MHA be a part of this or will we not. Mr. Speaker, there is a good example right now of some issues in the district of Cartwright –L'Anse au Clair. The member for Cartwright – L'Anse au Clair is somebody who has no trouble pulling off the gloves in this House and having a very partisan speech when need be, but she is also somebody who understands the dynamics of the community, the district, working for the people, and what works best for the people in this Province. There will be nothing but co-operation between this government and any ministerial committee; I can guarantee the MHA for Cartwright – L'Anse au Clair will be part of it; she will be engaged in it.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS BURKE: There will be no partisan politics when it comes to dealing with the issues of the people, because everyone wants to work well together.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS BURKE: Mr. Speaker, that shows a seasoned politician, somebody who knows their job and knows it very well. We would not expect less from the member for Cartwright – L'Anse au Clair.

Mr. Speaker, what is laudable though is when anyone wants their district represented and wants to bring up their issues, but there has to be some real issues too. We can form ministerial committees and deal with fictitious fish plants that have not yet opened, and what are we going to do if they close, but that is not what we want to do.

Mr. Speaker, I know my time is not what it was when I started –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS BURKE: – but I do want to address some of the issues with the Department of Advanced Education and Skills. I guess I will also address that when I speak on the main motion as well.

This department was created by the government because it was felt that we needed to focus on the labour shortage that we are experiencing in the Province and that we are projected to experience over the next ten years. Mr. Speaker, we have said it over and over again, through our Outlook 2020, that over the next ten years there should be 70,000 job openings in Newfoundland and Labrador. That is prosperity like we have never seen before in this Province.

One of the initiatives that we have started since 2003 that positions us well today, but will continue, and continue to position us well, is the fact that we have maintained the tuition freeze at the College of the North Atlantic and Memorial University. In saying that, Mr. Speaker, what we have done is made post-secondary education accessible and affordable to the residents of Newfoundland and Labrador. Therefore, the residents of Newfoundland and Labrador are being able to look at the labour market, pick a course of study, and understand the results and the opportunities that they will experience when they leave school and as they try to map out their career in this Province.

Mr. Speaker, we also heard a few weeks back from the Member for St. John's North; he was questioning some of the programs within Advanced Education and Skills, because some people receive funding for skills development. The Member for St. John's North was standing up in Question Period and saying: Who determines what marketable skills are? Who does that? It was a very negative context around the question.

Today he stood up and said that he would never say anything negative or not support the workers of the public service of this government. Mr. Speaker, that is who determines what skills are marketable and who is eligible for skills funding. That is not a political decision in any way. That never comes to us. We have hundreds of staff in our career centres. They look at the skills and they counsel the people who apply for skills development. That is who makes that determination.

So you cannot say two things. You cannot stand up taking swipes at the workers and asking condescending questions, and then, when it comes back and there is feedback you hear over the weekend that people do not like your attitude, you have to stand up and correct it. It does not go two ways, Mr. Speaker. People also see the attitude that comes through when you ask the questions in the House of Assembly.

Mr. Speaker, again, I just want to talk about what we are doing in the new department with our Workforce Secretariat. There was a $200,000 investment from government this year to set up the Workforce Secretariat. That would be the think tank within the department, which will also guide government to help us look at the issues, whether we need to do things differently with our skills training or if we need to do things differently with our programs we offer to help people get attached to the labour market. It will also look at the research, the labour market surveys.

It will also help us determine where we are as a Province and what is working. A lot of the programs we have right now, Mr. Speaker, are programs that were set up when the economy was very different in a time when we did not have jobs for our people. We need to make sure our programs are updated, and the services we offer, so that we respond to the labour market as well, as a department and as a government, and provide the services for people.

Mr. Speaker, my time is running short. I will have an opportunity to speak again, but there is one thing I want to say as I clue up. This is very important, especially when we address some of the issues like we heard tonight from the Leader of the Third Party. Mr. Speaker, what I want to say is: I can be responsible for what I say, but I am not responsible for what they understand.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. A. PARSONS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for this opportunity to speak to the Budget again tonight.

As I have said on just about every occasion I have had the opportunity to rise, it is a pleasure and an honour to be able to stand here in this great House and talk. It is a bit unusual tonight, though, just to hear some of the comments from the other side. I have never heard us being called reasonable so many times in my life. Certainly we appreciate that the government is noticing the questions we are asking are reasonable and they are measured. We are asking questions because that is our job as an Opposition, to hold the government accountable, to ask the questions, and get answers to those so we can make sure this government and this Province is moving forward in the right direction.

Mr. Speaker, I have taken some notes on comments made by members on the other side, but a lot of what I am going to speak to as well are my experiences thus far in dealing with the Estimates Committees. I have had the opportunity to sit on four now. As I have said previously, Mr. Speaker, the opportunity to sit in Estimates is so great for somebody new, to sit down and be able to look at the Budget process, how our money is taken, how it is being spent, how it is being applied, and ask those questions: Why are we doing this? Why are we adding here or cutting there? I very much enjoy that and I have had the opportunity to do four.

One of them that I will speak to is the Advanced Education and Skills, which we did last week. The only issue I had with that Estimates Committee is that three hours simply was not enough time, Mr. Speaker. We sat down at 9:00 o'clock in the morning, and by 12:00 o'clock we had really just started getting into it. There is still so much left to cover. I think that is probably due to the fact that with this new department, it covers off so many important areas, whether it is higher education or Income Support. We are talking about Memorial and CNA. We are talking about adult literacy – just so many different things.

This is a new department. It was just created. I have said previously that this department was created with the right goals in mind. We have realized issues that are facing this Province but, like everything, we have to make sure it progresses in the right direction. It is one thing just to have good intentions, but it is another thing to make sure that things turn out the way they should. We have seen ideas in the past that started sounding like a good thing, and then it just did not pan out, or even government departments that started out good, and just did not pan out the way they should.

I am going to repeat myself, Mr. Speaker. As the critic for various departments, I get an opportunity to criticize or to ask questions, but at the same time I have made it known on numerous occasions that when something good happens, I think you should give credit where credit is due. I am just going to reference again – I think if you are known to do that, government is more likely to listen at the same time. If you complain about everything, then nothing is good enough so I am trying to move forward –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. A. PARSONS: I appreciate the support from the other side here, Mr. Speaker, but again I am just going to reference two things that the Minister of Advanced Education referenced tonight, just to show that there are ideas out there that I support and think are great. One of them that she mentioned was the dental plan that has just changed. Actually, I was at the dentist during the break and sat down with my dentist and he said: You will not believe how many people are coming in to take advantage of this, especially seniors, people who have never taken advantage of this. It is a great program, and government should be commended on that.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. A. PARSONS: Credit where it is due.

Another thing that was referenced actually by the minister and referenced by the Member for Conception Bay East – Bell Island is the Jumpstart program. As a former President of Minor Hockey, I saw first-hand how much Jumpstart contributes to the well-being of children, giving them the opportunity to take part in minor sports where maybe that opportunity did not exist previously. Again, Canadian Tire has played a large role, but again it is another good idea. It was started, it has been followed through on, and it works well.

I guess one of the things when it comes to this department is we have had a lot of talk about this department. Actually, we had the private member's resolution last week to deal with the apprenticeship issue in this Province. We have a huge amount of work going on. Again, we have a lot of job openings that need to be filled. I guess the purpose of that bill was to acknowledge that and say, look, government is going to acknowledge this issue, we have put some steps in place – and in fact, I was proud that the amendment I suggested was actually supported and voted in favour of, which is that further things can be done. I do not think anybody, any government, no matter what stripe, can sit back and say things are good enough. We have always got to strive to be better and strive to do better. We cannot stop; we have to continue on. Things can always be better for the people of this Province.

We talk about the number of job openings that are going to be there – 60,000 job openings; it is a huge number. I guess that is why it leads into a couple of things – like I mentioned earlier, I never had the opportunity to finish the rest of my questions in the Estimates because there simply was not enough time. So I am hoping that I will, before the end of the Estimates Committees, get an opportunity to sit down with the minister and the senior staff and ask the rest of these questions that we have – especially, we never touched on CNA.

As I have said before, the College of the North Atlantic is a great thing for this Province and has done great things for my district. It has been there for a long time, but we are at the point now, like I have mentioned, we have to do something to try to find a way to invest in that particular college so we can expand the infrastructure. It is just simply tapped out. That is a great thing when you have everything there, but we cannot expand it or change the configuration in any way to fit more people in. We need to fit more people in. We need to get more people into their welding programs. We need to get more people into their non-destructive testing. We need to get more skilled trades people out there into the workforce. One way to do that is to expand on the infrastructure and get more people in there.

I would suggest, just to clue up, in my comments towards the minister; she mentioned the fact that we have eighteen minutes in Question Period. If, at any point, the government is able to give us more time, we would certainly appreciate that because right here in the Official Opposition –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. A. PARSONS: We have a big pile of questions there that we are ready ask, so hopefully we will get that opportunity.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. A. PARSONS: Again, that is a great thing. We have so many issues we want to talk about and bring forward and get the answers for the people. If we can do that, we will continue working on that.

I just want to move forward here. Again, I have put that out there about the Advanced Education and Skills. One of the things we talk about, I guess the linkage part, about getting our apprentices in touch with the employers and vice versa. The good news is that I have read a number of articles on it. We had some forums last week. We had the one through technology – there were three forums on the go. I think the Minister of Health took part and the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and the Minister of Advanced Education. The good thing to hear out of that was that government has acknowledged there is work to do and, at the same time, saying we are listening to the people.

That is why I am happy to have the opportunity, when you stand up at a time like this, especially during the Budget where we can talk about so many things, to bring that forward. I have brought that forward. In fact, when we talk about that, another thing that is near and dear to my heart, falls under the same heading and that would be JCPs. I have mentioned that on numerous occasions how important this program is, especially in my district. We do well, but I am never am going to settle; I am going to continue on and I will fight and claw and scratch to get more for the district.

One of those places – I guess I am sort of going to shift here – is to the area of tourism. We all know the value of this industry to this Province. This is an industry that has grown; it continues to grow. I have mentioned this before: We have wonderful advertising that takes place, we have the best scenery in the world, we have the best people in the world, we have the product there, but we have to find ways to sort of facilitate or make things a bit easier. One of those is through the JCP program when we look at places like the Cape Ray Lighthouse and the Rose Blanche Lighthouse. These are two groups that were not successful in getting job creation programs for these areas.

What I am hoping again is that in the next round of funding that we are going to find a way to make this happen, but at the same time, the minister and I, we have talked about this and we have talked about it during Estimates; communication is key here. We all want the same thing. We want as great a tourism industry as we can have. We want all areas of the Province to do well and when one of those areas – again, it is going down Route 470 and that is the Granite Coast. We need to do what we can to make sure that tourism for this area is improved and strengthened upon. One of those again, we have lighthouse down in Rose Blanche, which is something that the numbers continue growing but we need to make sure that that first-hand experience is there for tourists that come off the boat, or coming across the Island or fly in, when they get down there, we have people there who can actually provide them with that experience. Whether it be interpreter or whether it be guides, we need those people there to provide that services. If not, we are not giving them the full experience, the full value that they should be receiving.

Again, I would move on, sort of in the same area when we talk about tourism. I have some things I want to talk about with CYFS, but I have not got there yet; I still have a few minutes. Under the same heading of tourism – and again this is something the government has heard tons about in this sitting of the House. The fact is that we need cellphone coverage. We need cellphone coverage on that route going down – tourists are getting off the boat, they are going down, we need to make sure that service is provided, so that is why I have written to the minister. I am not sure if there were any funds contributed or allotted to cover off this section, to cover off a strategy, because that is one of the great things, one of the next big things that we need to address in this Province is the cellphone coverage. It is something that has not always been there, but I think the fact that it is acknowledged now, there is no doubt that it is acknowledged, but it is a matter of finding what can we do to work with the CRTC, the federal government, the private providers. I guess that all goes hand in hand really; it all ties in together.

What I will do now, I will just continue on. I have covered off the tourism part that I wanted to have my little say on. I am just going to move on so that the minister does not feel left out; I am just going to talk about the Estimates that deal with the Department of Child, Youth and Family Services. I guess what I would say about this department and what I have learned in Estimates so far is that really this year it is hard to tell where things are, because there have been so many changes within that department. What I would say is that is one department that if we can get through an entire year without hearing anything about it, that is good for everybody in this Province. Again, we are dealing with our most precious resource, our children and our youth.

We want to make sure that is a department that functions properly, but with the big changeover with taking people in from the health authorities under their wing, I think next year is going to really tell the tale on the investment that has been made. That is one department, if I am correct, where there was actually a lot of money added to that department. There were no cuts – jobs, money put into that department, and that is good. So, next year I look forward to the opportunity to sit down at Estimates and say, okay, we know what we did in 2012, what is the plan for 2013? How did that money – we know it was invested, how did we fare out with that?

Now, one thing I will say, though, and the minister will agree with me here, is that there are some areas of concern that she has acknowledged – I know she is working on it – and one of them is foster care. We do have a shortage of foster care homes in this Province. It is there, we know it is there, and it is a matter of finding out how can we fix that. One of them, again Estimates – I cannot say enough good things about Estimates because it is an opportunity to sit down and ask questions and get answers, and you really are getting answers. There is no way to get away from not providing an answer. In this case we need to figure out, how can we get more people on board here? How can we get more homes?

I look at my hometown of Port aux Basques, there is a shortage there. A lot of kids who unfortunately have to avail of the service have to go outside. We know the issue is there, how do we fix it? One of them is imparting that knowledge upon others. Again, the department was good enough to explain: well, this is what we are doing, it is word of mouth. We are getting the word out to people. Especially people who are already involved in the system, how do we get more people there?

We need to get away from, we know about ALAs. That is something that nobody likes. They are there but it seems there is an active move toward decreasing, having any reliance whatsoever on that. That is a good thing because they are not the ideal situation. It is good to see an investment in that aspect, especially in the front line positions.

I have had the opportunity and the pleasure to have many dealings with social workers. These people, the job they have to do is difficult. It is a hard job to – it is one of those ones that it is hard not to take home with you everyday. So, to know these people are being cared about and invested in, that is a good step.

Now, I just wanted to move on very quickly, and I am trying to cover off a whole number of headings here. There are so many different things. I am talking about Estimates, but I am also talking about things that affect my district. One of them would fall under transportation and that would be the ferries. I am sure the minister has heard enough about ferries in the last little while. I believe the quote was that the ferry gods have not been smiling upon him.

AN HON. MEMBER: Ferry gods.

MR. A. PARSONS: I believe that might have been the quote. I have to speak to the ferry strategy and I am hoping that we can continue on, especially when we see the situation when it comes to Kiewit and getting ferries built, not only built so that they are in the water but built by people right here in this Province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. A. PARSONS: Down in my district, the ferry in La Poile has been a very, very troubled ferry; I believe it has been broken down a number of times. Just since Christmas, I get calls from the constituents who are in La Poile. This is something –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER (Verge): Order, please!

MR. A. PARSONS: This is something that was discussed a number of years ago. I believe people from the department went to La Poile and sat down and discussed the strategy with the people. Now we are just hoping that in the very near future this strategy is going to –

AN HON. MEMBER: We do not do (inaudible).

MR. A. PARSONS: There might be two done but neither one of those is in my district, so that is what I am waiting to see.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. A. PARSONS: These are people who have been promised a ferry. I am looking forward to working with the minister to help get this done because aren't we all, pardon the pun, in the same boat here. We are all working together here.

I will just say the ferry going to La Poile is not in the best shape. In fact, they have had a young fellow from Transportation and Works come down to La Poile to do some repairs. After being on that ferry and getting quite ill, I do not know if he plans on coming back any time soon.

One thing I feel I would be remiss if I did not mention very quickly if I had the opportunity, I have to just address a comment that was made earlier today during the debate, that was by the Member for Mount Pearl South. I heard him say that somebody across complained about interactive whiteboards. What I would say is that if me asking a question is complaining, well I guess I am just going to have to keep complaining. I hope I can get more time to complain every day if that means asking questions.

What I would say is that is one issue that was brought to me and the thing is, the government has made that significant investment into the technology. Nobody is disputing that, the whiteboards are there, but some of the teachers are saying that we need more opportunity to learn how to incorporate this technology into our curriculum. That is just an issue, and like I said before, when an issue comes forward my job is to raise it. I have asked a question, I have gotten an answer, and I will continue. We have the technology but we need to know how to use the technology to make sure we are getting the full value out of this.

I have used these whiteboards myself and they are kind of difficult. They are using it in Mount Pearl. The Member for Mount Pearl made sure that you incorporated it into their curriculum.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. A. PARSONS: There are a lot of communities out there, Mr. Speaker, and schools that are still working on that and they need to see it done. In fact, professional development is something that has been brought up by a lot of teachers. A lot of teachers told me this is a big concern to them. They are hoping to work with the government and work with the department to make sure this is something on a go-forward basis is addressed. The minister, I am sure, will get that opportunity to speak to the teachers about this.

Mr. Speaker, I will just clue up by saying that in relation to the Budget as a whole, it is a lot different than what we were originally anticipating. The word early on was that this was going to be, to co-opt the phrase, doom and gloom. It was going to be doom and gloom, but what happened at the end of the day was that it was not as bad. I do not know if that was an intentional spin or not. Who knows? As I have stated many times, my job is I can point out certain things that I do think are positive in the Budget. I do have some concerns, and I am sure I will get at least one more opportunity to speak to this.

In the interest of time, Mr. Speaker, I am going to clue up. I thank you for the opportunity.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Minister of Education.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is indeed a pleasure to get up and speak in the House this evening. I just want to comment on some of the things the Member for Burgeo - La Poile mentioned.

The other one is about the ferries. There were several of us who went down and saw the ferries when they were being rolled out of the Kiewit yard in Marystown, wonderful vessels. I remember one of my colleagues here speaking the other day and talking about the first ferries that were probably built in the Province since the previous Administration, and to see the success that we have had. Just think of it, these two ferries have been built and are out in the water working well.

Today, we hear the Premier make the comment, the issues of the overrun costs are being separated from the third ferry. Hopefully now, we will get on with the job of constructing that third ferry in Marystown. I know negotiations have got to take place, but hopefully those will prove fruitful and we will see the third ferry started.

Mr. Speaker, I was going to mention to the Member for Burgeo – La Poile, he talked about the questions, the number of questions that he wants to pose to government. Maybe we could offer him one suggestion. After we saw what happened in Question Period by the Third Party today, maybe he might want to say, maybe we should take that back, Mr. Speaker; we would like to have that back.

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

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

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

MS MICHAEL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS MICHAEL: Mr. Speaker, the time for the division of Question Period was a negotiated time between two parties, including the Speaker of the House. There was no giving or taking away. I insist on the correct language being used. There was a negotiated agreement.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

There is no point of order.

The hon. the Minister of Education.

MR. JACKMAN: Mr. Speaker, I listened to the Member for St. John's Centre today. He talked about literacy. He had been talking a fair bit about early childhood education.

AN HON. MEMBER: St. John's North.

MR. JACKMAN: St. John's North, I am sorry, Mr. Speaker.

I thought what I would do tonight is take a couple of quotes from some children's literature. This is one from Chicken Little. Here is how it goes: "This is the Voice of Doom speaking! Special bulletin! Flash! The sky is falling! A piece of it just hit you in the head! Now be calm. Don't get panicky. Run for your life".

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN: Mr. Speaker, I am going to explain why I used this quote. All of us in this House would know of Winnie the Pooh and Eeyore. Eeyore is having trouble with his tail, Mr. Speaker. Eeyore says: "Not much of a tail, but I am" … "attached to it". Christopher Robin says: "There now. Did I get your tail back on properly…". Here's Eeyore, he says: "No matter. Most likely lose it again anyway".

Mr. Speaker, I use Eeyore as an example because I have to be honest, and I am not joking about this; I am honest, I keep thinking whenever I hear the Leader of the Third Party get up and speak he always comes to my mind. There is always that overarching, poor, there is nothing right with the world, everything is wrong with the world. I have been listening to this and to be quite honest with you, Mr. Speaker, it is downright demoralizing. Mr. Speaker, if I had to operate in the world in which she operates in this House – I cannot say how she operates outside, but if I had to operate in the world in which she operates in this House - I would give it up. It is as simple as that: I would give it up.

AN HON. MEMBER: There are four of them like that.

MR. JACKMAN: Now, Mr. Speaker, my colleague mentioned the four of them. This is what I am leading to; I am starting to hear the same type of behaviour from the other members of her caucus. You do not operate in a world of negativity, Mr. Speaker, and hope to have success.

By the way, there was an interesting thing that happened here tonight when the Leader of the Third Party got up and spoke and she led off about Muskrat Falls. My first sense is she is trying to get to where some members of her federal party are, where some of her counterparts are. She is starting to see the light. The bulb is being turned on; the power is being generated and it is starting to flow. Mr. Speaker, it is almost saying to me that she is looking for a way out. Now maybe I am wrong, but we have to say that the folks federally have gone on. I am getting a reaction, Mr. Speaker, a good sign. For two years I did not get that on fish – did not get it.

Mr. Speaker, I am going to use a part of my speech tonight, because the Member for Terra Nova used it in his speech last week and I thought: you know something, this hits it right on; it goes right back to my Eeyore comment. Mr. Speaker, this quote garnered attention and respect from everyone across this country. I do not use it tonight politically. With all sincerity and genuineness I say that I do not use it for political bantering. Mr. Jack Layton, who acknowledged his own health issues, wrote this quote. I had it here somewhere. What did I do with it? I had it here, hang on. Anyway, Mr. Speaker, one of them will give me the quote.

I want to use it specifically because, more than anything else, it spoke to attitude. It really did and it spoke to inspiring people. In all of our roughest times and in all the political debate, Mr. Speaker, this is what we used as our moving forward. I have always used the model of this one; I can handle anything except health issues which I may not have control over. If someone becomes terminally ill, that is something that we have to work with, but for all other issues, we can. We can use that, Mr. Speaker; I can work with anyone to overcome.

Mr. Speaker, the interesting thing tonight that I saw on the Muskrat Falls one is that I saw the people in Opposition starting to smile about it. I think, Mr. Speaker, they sensed the shift from the Third Party as well, that there is a move more towards the types of things that they have been talking about.

Mr. Speaker, this is what Mr. Layton wrote: "My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we'll change the world." Mr. Speaker, as I have said, I am not using this for political bantering of the sort. All I am saying to you and to the people here tonight is: what a wonderful motto to operate under.

I will say, Mr. Speaker, myself and the Member for St. John's Centre attended a ceremony a little while ago. It was about inclusion. What it talked about was this school that won an award for inclusion. You could say inclusion just happened coincidentally, but it did not. Nothing of that ever happens like that; it is because people take leadership roles.

Mr. Speaker, I do not care who says what, the Department of Education has been a lead role in advancing the cause of including children with disabilities in the school. There is no doubt about that; there is absolutely no doubt.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN: Mr. Speaker, I am going to commend the Member for St. John's Centre, because she handed them out a framed document with a quote from Mr. Layton. It is a wonderful thing to hang in the school because it is a reminder of a very positive motto. I do not always hear that from the Leader of the Third Party.

My colleague before got up and she talked about some of the initiatives we put in place for seniors. Someone she spoke about found it a challenging situation. I spoke to someone this past weekend who said to me: I cannot believe the dental program that your government has brought in place. I cannot believe it; gone out and got your dentures covered and extractions covered. Then she talked about the heat rebate that she gets. These are the things that are real to these people on the ground.

Now, I will commend the Member for Burgeo – La Poile – I am going to have my chance for Bay of Islands, too – because he identified some of the things that we are doing that are positive. Will there be things that we can improve upon? Definitely, that is what movement is about. That is what progress is about, growing and expanding the programs you have in place. I will speak to some of these things that are in my department shortly.

Mr. Speaker, if I were to operate under the cloud of Eeyore that I hear so often from the Third Party, do you know what I would do? I would simply walk away from the Burin Peninsula right now in my district, because according to her, it is despair and desolation, but I cannot; nobody on this side, I can assure you, Mr. Speaker, is walking away from those people.

Our committee is in place. We will start the meetings with them. Do you know what, Mr. Speaker? Together we will find a way forward.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN: Mr. Speaker, like I said, the motto I operate on, that one of optimism, finding the answers, finding the way forward, and working jointly with people, is the way I have always operated in my life. That is the only way I can operate. To operate under her model, never in a day would I last there – just simply would not last there.

I want to speak now to a few things within the department. Mr. Speaker, the Member for St. John's North gets up and speaks and it seems that he is trying to soften his tone a little; maybe he has realized that in politics, both sides, while we have our roles, there is a respect that we have for each other. Maybe he is starting to realize that kind of stuff. Mr. Speaker, I can tell you one thing, in terms of ages zero to Grade 12, the man has a lot to learn yet. I would love to sit down someday and – no it would take two or three days; I would need to sit down with him for two or three days and run through some of the initiatives that we have brought in, in this department over the past couple of years.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN: We talk about, the Third Party again, talking about the needs of people. Well, my colleague from Stephenville spoke earlier and she talked about the free textbooks. I think I might have mentioned it in my last speech, but I will mention it again, because it is an important point; any of us who were school administrators or teachers will remember the Septembers and when it was the time to collect fees.

Mr. Speaker, I can tell you, I will tell you one specific example of a parent in one of my communities that had four children in school. At that particular time in September it was expected that you come up with the fees for your four children and you pay for the textbooks of your four children. She came in to see me and she said: I do not have all the money now; is there something that you can work out for me? Between her and I, we worked it out so that she paid it off over eight months. Mr. Speaker, she did not want to have to come in and confront me with that, but she had no choice.

Mr. Speaker, I would say to you there are parents that would face that same situation if our fees and free textbooks were not there today. Mr. Speaker, do not talk about initiatives, do not allow the Third Party to take away from the initiatives that we have brought in that have impacted so positively on the lives of parents and children. The removal of fees, the institution of free textbooks, Mr. Speaker, has been one of the best things that we as a government have done.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN: We have had the Member for St. John's North ask about autism. Well, Mr. Speaker, I met with a parent on Friday morning in my district who has an autistic child. If there is one thing, most of us would probably know someone who has an autistic child; I have a niece who is autistic and I know the challenges that are faced in raising an autistic child.

Mr. Speaker, we have worked diligently. Over the past couple of years we have put $1 million into autism supports for school. My colleague, the Minister of Health, through the ABA program – and I think I can say here now, that ABA program is expanded up to Grade 2. Mr. Speaker, this coming September, that ABA program will be expanded up to Grade 3.

AN HON. MEMBER: $2.9 million (inaudible).

MR. JACKMAN: How much?

AN HON. MEMBER: $2.9 million.

MR. JACKMAN: Two million and nine hundred thousand dollars to institute the ABA program support for the parents up to Grade 3, a wonderful initiative. Just a little while ago we had a renowned speaker, a renowned expert on autism in this Province; that in-service that he provided was attended by some seventy-four teachers. Those people are educators who work with autistic children.

These are initiatives that we put in place, Mr. Speaker. I can speak to teacher classroom sizes, caps on our classroom sizes. I can talk about our student-teacher ratio, the best amongst the Provinces in all of Canada.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN: Just think, Mr. Speaker, you tell me, and someone tell me, in this Province, when was it that we in this country were leading the provinces in terms of teacher-student ratio? Our infrastructure, the number of schools that we have constructed, the Phase I for another five for this coming September; these are not things that we just pull from our pocket.

I think the Liberals are acknowledging, you know what, government is doing a lot of things right here; they are acknowledging it. Unfortunately, sometimes, I have to say again, that Eeyore, that dark purple cloud that hangs over Eeyore hangs over this little group that is to my left here, Mr. Speaker. I really do believe that many of the people in the Province see that for what it is.

I think one of the frustrations – and I said the other four members seem to be moving towards their leader's dark cloud approach – is that, you know something? They have come into a realization since they come into government; they are facing the realities that many of us as MHAs have faced, I have faced now for nine years. I get the calls from someone who is trying to get their child into a drug treatment centre, and no matter what, when you are on this end of the phone listening to that parent plead and beg to get their child into a centre, it is a very, very difficult situation to find yourselves in. Mr. Speaker, we, as a government, the Minister of Health, has programs that work toward that. That is what it is about. That is what our treatment plans are about, Mr. Speaker. So, collectively I, as MHA, work with the minister and we try to find the best path forward for that parent and that child. I would contend that in many cases, very many cases, Mr. Speaker, we make major inroads and very positive influences on these people who we work with on a day-to-day basis, Mr. Speaker.

I could certainly get into more, in terms of the infrastructure, because I did want to speak on the numbers of investments that we have –

By leave, Mr. Speaker, to clue up?

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

Does the member have leave?

MR. JOYCE: Leave.

MR. SPEAKER: By leave.

MR. JACKMAN: I was going to give congratulations to the Member for Bay of Islands; I thought he was going to give me extended leave, Mr. Speaker.

I want to clue up, and my final comment is this: In anything that we do, if we are going to make progress, Mr. Speaker, it has to be not under the big, dark, purple cloud, it has to be under the guise of optimism and positive outlook.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Member for The Straits – White Bay North.

MR. MITCHELMORE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is a great opportunity to speak to the amendment on the Budget, People and Prosperity - Responsible Investments for a Secure Future.

As the youngest member of this House of Assembly, I am certainly looking into the future. In my training, I have been a past entrepreneur and somebody who has been a business advisor and helped people make investments, whether it is for-profit business or whether it is non-profit enterprises. They are very, very important pieces to make very secure investments as we deal with sustainable planning, both in an urban and rural setting. We are at a critical time right now in our history where we can really focus and build vibrant, resilient communities. Right now, we are at a point where we reaching peak oil. It is a time to get into diversification, to look at sustaining these communities.

So, I would like to have the opportunity to talk a little bit about the most important industry in my district, and in many places across the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, and that is in the fishery. The Budget of 2012 talks about how the Progressive Conservative government is growing the fishing industry, undaunted by challenges, and are determined – through co-operation and leadership – to put this industry on a strong, stable and sustainable footing heading deeper into the twenty-first century. That is not proving itself out very well right now with plant closure after plant closure, after plant closure after plant closure, after plant closure, with many, many more to come in predicting where things are going.

We, as a party, the New Democrats, have been bringing up the fishery quite a bit in this Legislature and even today talking about areas that have been hit. The region, the District of Signal Hill – Quidi Vidi has been hit in the past with the closure of a fish plant. That found a transitional place where it could turn into something else. It was utilized into what is now the Quidi Vidi Brewery. We have had the opportunity to create jobs there, to also look at microbreweries and where that can lead for tourism developments. We have celebrated the importance of the seal hunt there at the Seal of Approval Dinner just a couple of weeks ago, and I had the honour of being in attendance. We are talking about where we go forward; these are very progressive measures.

Mr. Speaker, there are some things, when we see plant closures and we hear members opposite talk about all the money that government has invested, they came to the rescue of AbitibiBowater both in Grand Falls-Windsor and Stephenville, and what they have done in terms of a ministerial committee and a community committee. These are great things, absolutely, and we need to make those investments to sustain these communities. It is not done alone and these communities are not just sustained because of these ministerial and community committees. A lot of the sustainability around those regions is still through Alberta and transient communities, so we still need to do more long-term planning around these regions.

For an area like Englee which has been completely abandoned by this government for the past eight years, there is no ministerial or community planning committee ongoing and certainly would like to see one reinstated. As well, letters have been written calling on a former plant that closed in Sandy Cove where there has not been a workers adjustment program or any community help to look at transitioning this region. In fact, more work certainly needs to be done and I am hoping to see a commitment from this government in that area.

What I would like to give some real advice on about growing the fishing industry in Newfoundland and Labrador, and you only have to look really to my district and on the northern tip, and you will see that seventeen communities came together in 1997 with a 3,000 metric ton quota of shrimp. Because of that, St. Anthony Basin Resources Incorporated for the past fifteen years has partnered with a large corporation and they have shared a tremendous amount of success and employment. Since 1997, they have invested $15.7 million in infrastructure in the communities they represent. They have put $212,000 back in scholarships in education to the people in my district. These are phenomenal things they have been doing.

Five hundred thousand dollars in cash has gone back into the communities to be invested in that region. They have employed hundreds of individuals and they have had millions and millions of dollars in payroll, which has stimulated and sustained the regional economy. This is because they have a community quota. They have control over that quota. That is significant. This model can certainly move forward and be looked at on a bigger regional level. They can absolutely be worked with and can be doing other things and other projects that can help further sustain their economy.

They have donated, as well, $270,000 to non-profit groups – very, very important – because they realize and recognize volunteers in the community. They have invested. They have picked up shortfalls in places like ski trails, in recreational clubs like broomball and places like that, where government investment has fallen short. It is about bridging and it is about making good investments. They made a good investment in my region, Mr. Speaker. This is absolutely important.

If we look at the diversification, they did not just take a 3,000 ton metric quota, Mr. Speaker. Unlike NOFTA, the North of Fifty-Thirty Association, they looked at really diversifying. With St. Anthony Cold Storage, despite all of the shrimp cuts that happened on the inshore last year and even having a poor mackerel season – there was very little mackerel, which had big impacts – that facility, the Cold Storage, was able to operate 30,000 operational hours. What they did was increase their pallet operations. So, they are manufacturing. They are looking at diversification. That is key and critical to success in economies, and we need to do it more.

We need to look at really sustaining our rural and urban economies by constant planning. It comes through co-operation with communities and with all stakeholders. This is where the SABRI model has been absolutely effective. I only hope that more people are paying attention to what is happening in my very district because the community has been very, very successful, and this region – absolutely.

If we look at the employees there at St. Anthony Seafoods, significant, a very regional level. They also have aquaculture going on. They have increased sales in aquaculture locally 59 per cent, a significant opportunity, a number of people employed at this facility. It is all managed by a volunteer board representing various interest groups from fishers, to plant workers, to communities, to local development representatives; very, very significant as we move forward.

The Budget talks about how government supports free enterprise and they are going to go out of their way to cut red tape and reduce taxes. We certainly did not see any tax reductions in this year's Budget, something that the NDP platform had called for a cut in the small business tax. Two thousand small businesses employ 40 per cent of the workforce. Reducing the small business tax by four, to 3 per cent is very progressive. It is something you would expect from a Progressive Conservative government.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. MITCHELMORE: They did not do it. It is $4 million and that money can help advance innovation, it can certainly help create additional jobs, it could be reinvestment to stimulate our rural and urban economies. This would not all be lost, this $4 million in revenues, it is certainly something that we could see.

This government in its Budget says it is cutting taxes to be among the lowest in Atlantic Canada. If you really want to make a difference, it is through the small business community that you really need to look at cutting tax. Other provinces in Atlantic Canada have a much lower tax. Prince Edward Island has a 1 per cent small business tax; Nova Scotia has a 3.5 per cent small business tax. These are about making good investments and keeping small business alive and well and grow so that we can create more jobs. As we see large megaprojects on the horizon and different things happening, we need to see small business help serve and do contracts, subcontracts, whether it is catering, whether it is other things. We need to create an environment that is going to help really sustain smaller enterprises.

One of the things about cutting red tape, and I see it all the time in my district, is around having the ability for a land use plan. Many economic developments are held up with Crown Lands and various levels of red tape because a number of people have lived on these areas for years, and years, and years, but they do not have title deed to it. I think there needs to be something done to help streamline the process when we look at being able to resell homes and areas so that the business opportunity is not lost.

We need to make sure that our municipalities have all the tools, because many of them are hurting when it comes to being financially able to meet its infrastructure needs. I could see that in communities that I represent, that are local service districts and municipalities that do not get the capital works that are certainly needed. There are areas where we have large facilities that do not have the fire truck capacity, if a fire took place, to even put them out. We are putting people in jeopardy and in danger, certainly. That is a significant cost.

When we are looking at also developments, there are areas about developing waste sites. In a commercial area such as Flower's Cove, it has a school, a hospital, a restaurant, a gas station, a personal care facility; it has all these developments that are apparently within 1.6 kilometres of a former dump site. This regulation is being strictly enforced and hindering future development because an environmental assessment needs to be done, but a dump site has not been there for several years, and many other developments have gone up, including a hospital that is currently being built. Is there no flexibility in these types of causes? We need to look at further reducing the red tape and the regulatory burdens that still exist out there. There is a ways to go.

We need to look at stimulating growth and diversification, and no further way can we do that without providing the absolute basic infrastructure. I have to say, government says in its Budget, and it touts, since 2003 it has increased high-speed Internet by 312 per cent. A phenomenal number if this actually speaks to not necessarily the population, because in 2003, 60 per cent of the population had access to broadband Internet. With $27 million from the provincial government, which levered an additional $90 million, we have seen an increase where a little over 80 per cent of the population has access to broadband Internet, but still another 200-plus communities, even more than that, actually, do not have access to broadband Internet.

We see business in rural areas continuously close. We see educational opportunities limited, because people do not have access to this absolutely critical service. Now we see that in the future a number of these people will not be able to apply for provincial government jobs because they are transitioning to online service. Many do not have access to public areas because there is no public transportation in many rural areas. This is something that really needs to be looked at, providing a means to look at public transportation in rural areas to allow people a system, whether it is through a non-profit enterprise, to look at helping people in rural areas get access to the basic services, such as banking, hospital appointments, and an ability to get to a grocery store. There are ways. There are positive solutions.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. MITCHELMORE: I know the government is listening to what I am saying. We really need to look at an advanced telecommunication strategy. It has been 111 years since the first wireless signal was sent transatlantic from Signal Hill right here in Newfoundland and Labrador. We are the worst Province in the country when it comes to having telecommunications, when it comes to our reach for broadband, when it comes to cellular coverage, when it comes to emergency services, and 911 service. This is absolutely atrocious. We are the only Province that does not have provincial 911. This is absolutely critical.

We are flush with cash, we have lots of money in the bank, and we are not putting in the basic service to advance our economy so that we can make and transition our communities into the future to develop and prosper. If we do not make these investments, we are setting ourselves up for failure, Mr. Speaker. We absolutely are. This is a true oversight when we see only $2 million invested in a Rural Broadband Initiative. This is something absolutely gone awry when we come to Budget 2012.

How can the Department of Innovation, Business and Rural Development constantly be promoting innovation and technology programs across the Province in very rural areas saying: We want you to come in and invest, and business investment funds, to come in and invest in rural areas, when you do not have cell coverage, when you do not have high-speed Internet? You cannot do business in economies that do not have those services. We are talking something that is absolutely atrocious.

The government also talks about a $2.6 million investment in Ocean Technology and intelligence program and hopes to grow the Ocean Technology Sector to a billion-dollar industry. With it, they are also including the offshore oil and gas developments and exploration around there. It is not just about the other opportunities that exist in the ocean and our ability to truly become the NASA of the North. Although many good investments have been made in the Marine Institute, I have to say that $2.6 million is not going to get us where we need to be.

When I look at the Research and Development Fund, which is committing $50 million today in growing opportunities and giving Newfoundland a reputation for excellence in ingenuity, I have to say that $19 million – we could be attributing a high amount of these funds for rural renewal. Rural and small urban planning is needed. MUN can be a facilitator for change. This is something that – a large section of this money is going in towards oil and gas developments, into large corporations that most likely could afford to do a significant amount of this research.

When we look at some of the investments that – I want to talk about how critical and how important the role of a RED Board, a Regional Economic Development Board, is in Newfoundland and Labrador. I have spoken to many of them throughout the Province. There are a lot of concerns out there, but they have been undertaken by performance-based management, and that is fabulous, because that holds them to account on the work that they are able to do. They are scoring well, especially in my district, with the initiatives that they have been doing and undertaking. They are looking at diversifying the economy and they are highly looking at our natural resources. If we look at something like government and what it has invested in the forestry sector in my district when it comes to pellet plants and looking at how we use biomass fuel for energy –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I ask all members for their co-operation, please.

The hon. the Member for The Straits – White Bay North.

MR. MITCHELMORE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The government has invested quite a significant amount of money when it comes to pellets and biomass in my district, which can produce up to 50,000 tonnes of pellets, which ultimately could displace 11,000 homes off the grid if they were able to convert.

Now, there are a number of commercial facilities going up in my district, such as the hospital that has been announced and re-announced a number of times. This could have been a facility that could have been using a pellet furnace with a hopper and using a very environmentally friendly sustainable resource, but it is not. We have the College of the North Atlantic that could be used as an innovation centre to demonstrate and teach people about the importance of biomass fuels and looking at how it can be a sustainable resource, and even heat it.

If the hospital in St. Anthony was converted, the payback would be within four years. We can be looking at creating our own local demand, but that is something that is always missed. It seems we have to export our resources. We have to ship our fish to China, we have to sell our seals and all this product and oil to China –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. MITCHELMORE: Mr. Speaker, as a young person here, and as somebody who sees a future in the Province, we need to look at doing more and more of our resources here in Newfoundland and Labrador and we need to build resilient communities. We really do. We need to look at building vibrant economies, and that is where it comes from: working together, finding co-operation, looking at our strengths, where they have been, and listening to people on the ground. Let us look at the grassroots, make good decisions and good investments for people of the Province throughout Newfoundland and Labrador so that we can move forward and continue to remain a have Province, and so that we can see areas that are truly succeeding.

In my district, we have communities that do not have clean drinking water and that have a pipe going from the pond on the road that freezes up in winter. With that, you have seniors who are hauling water from the pond by snowmobile and heating up water to take a bath and to clean their dishes. This is something that is completely unacceptable. This is not something where you are a have Province in a country like Canada. That is Third World developing nation. We can certainly do better than this, and I expect we do better than this. I look at the government to make better decisions and make better investments so we can truly build a secure future for young people of the Province.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Member for Humber West.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. GRANTER: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is indeed a great opportunity this evening to stand and speak again to the Budget, Mr. Speaker. As my colleagues have done today and tonight, I want to talk about many of the benefits and the positive things in the Budget. Before I do, I just want to speak for a few moments about some of the points that have been mentioned here this evening.

The issue of ferries in the Province has come up. We listen to the Open Line shows on a daily basis, Mr. Speaker, and we get people calling in and talking about the state of the ferries in the Province. I would ask the members of this House and the people of the public to actually go back and check the record on ferries in this Province, Mr. Speaker. Check the record on ferries with this government since 2003; what we have done: two ferries in the water at $27.5 million, and a number of ferries in the planning stages, compared to what was done in the previous Administrations of the past from the members opposite, Mr. Speaker.

There were some comforting words this evening by the Minister of Fisheries when he spoke about this government's commitment to the people of Burin and the Burin Peninsula, Mr. Speaker. This government, as I said last week, and as the Premier said in her speech on the Budget here last week, are committed to all parts of the Province and all regions of the Province. We are committed to regions of the Province that find themselves in despair. We are committed to regions in the Province, Mr. Speaker, that find themselves down on hard luck. This government will never leave behind any community in this Province. This government will never leave behind any region of the Province. It was comforting words tonight to hear that from the Minister of Fisheries for the people of the Burin Peninsula, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. GRANTER: Mr. Speaker, just one more comment before I get into the contents of my speech this evening. Just to reference the previous speaker, he talked about the Province flushed with cash. My fear is if the Third Party ever got in government, they would take the cash and they would flush it all right – flush it right down the toilet, Mr. Speaker, right down the toilet and out through the bay.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. GRANTER: Mr. Speaker, I am glad to stand and speak to this forward-looking Budget.

Mr. Speaker, good governance is about being responsive to the changing needs of the public it serves. It is about providing programs and services that are relevant, effective, citizen-oriented, and affordable. This is what I was saying last week when I spoke about the government's forward thinking. We are visionary, Mr. Speaker, and principled in all of our decisions.

Every time we hear the Third Party especially, Mr. Speaker, they are without a plan; especially one that they can cost; they are reactionary, and we see that every day here in the House, and immediate without though-out plans. That has been proven over the last number of weeks; it surely was proven during the election campaign, Mr. Speaker.

We have seen all kinds of examples from the other side of the House over the past few months and even during the election: no vision, no costing, just ask, ask, and ask it again today; we just hear it over and over again. I know that was the theme of my few words that I had last week, but I had to stand in the House and say the same thing over and over. The Third Party gets up on a daily basis and continues to say want, want, want, want, without any idea about who is going to pay for all of the wants, Mr. Speaker.

The people of the Province, Mr. Speaker, they know and understand better about all of these requests from the Third Party. The people watching at home can see through all of requests that they are asking. They know what they are up to, Mr. Speaker. The people of Newfoundland and Labrador know and understand that needs need to be met. We all understand that. We all understand the basic needs of the people of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador from community to community, from region to region, but it all cannot happen at once. It needs to be cost. Families understand it, this government understands it. The difference between us and the other side is that we have delivered on our promises, Mr. Speaker.

The Third Party cannot tell the people – except the 1 per cent cut across the board, how they would pay for all of the requests that I am sure, if taped together, would string from bay to bay to bay, from coast to coast to coast, throughout Newfoundland and Labrador, Mr. Speaker.

I would ask the Third Party: 1 per cent across the board – do you think all of the requests that you have asked for could be covered by a 1 per cent cut across the board? I think not, Mr. Speaker. The people of the Province will pay for all of the requests made by the Third Party and pay heavily for the indiscriminate requests that they have asked for.

This Budget, our Budget, is about balanced growth; it is about balanced spending, with reasonable expectations, Mr. Speaker. Even today, as I said a few minutes ago, the Third Party continues their many requests and asks. One day a member opposite will stand and ask for more of this, another day a member opposite will ask for more of that, and it continues on and on and on, Mr. Speaker.

The people of this Province, the reasonable, passionate people of this Province, realize the wonderful things that have been happening over the last number of years, Mr. Speaker, throughout all of the regions of Newfoundland and Labrador. They realize everything cannot be gained all at once. You cannot have it all. You cannot have it all at once, and that has been said over and over and over again in this House, but it is difficult for the Third Party to understand. They come into this House and day after day after day they request, they request, they request. Like families, Mr. Speaker, governments need to cost things out, and that is what sets us apart from the other parties. As well, without a plan we see the years of indiscriminant spending, as we saw in the years past, lead us into the $11 billion or $12 billion debt that we have, Mr. Speaker.

The people of this Province should be thankful that only a few seats were won by the Third Party because there is a deep fear that lingers in this Province, Mr. Speaker, by many in this Province for a massive debt that will occur, a debt never before seen in the history of this Province. I liken it to Greece and other countries, if we had to fulfill the promises made by the Third Party in this Province, Mr. Speaker. We know what has happened in other countries. There are countries of the world that are not as large geographically as Newfoundland and Labrador, but we have seen what has happened in other countries and the devastation that indiscriminant spending has taken on their economies, Mr. Speaker. We do not want to go down that road ever, ever again.

We have seen their ridiculous requests time and time again, Mr. Speaker. The people of this Province, as I said last week, do not forget those days. Ask the people what it was like to hear on the news about mass layoffs. Ask the people what it was like to hear on the news about rollbacks. Ask the people throughout the Province what it was like to have leaky roofs in their schools and in their hospitals. Ask the people what it was like to have obsolete medical equipment. Ask the people what it was like to have antiquated curriculum, no new schools, increased tuition year after year after year, reduction in student aid, Mr. Speaker, Budget after Budget of tax increases. Just ask the people of the Province what it was like. Ask them to go back ten, twelve, thirteen or fourteen years and what it was like to sit and listen to Budget after Budget after Budget with no promises. Lots of promises, nothing in their pockets, Mr. Speaker, and we have changed that around over the last number of years thanks to our government.

This government has taken a different approach than any in the past, Mr. Speaker. This approach has worked and continues to work. Our approach is based on sound principles and sound decision making. It was thought out and planned out, Mr. Speaker. It is grounded in the present, but protective of future generations. The people of Newfoundland and Labrador – and I have spoken to many over the years in my former life as an educator – realized that there were years and years and years of neglect from past governments, but we have invested heavily into infrastructure and programs over the past eight or nine years, and will continue to do so, Mr. Speaker, but we will do it prudently. We will do so because investing in infrastructure is the right thing to do, on many fronts, not the least – one that creates jobs and secures future generations.

Mr. Speaker, members opposite have sat in this House and have lived in this Province and have seen the incredible investments this government has made. The Official Opposition, they stand there and they question us, yet they will give good where good is deserved. The Third Party, Mr. Speaker, they cannot stand up and give credit and pay credit where credit is due. I say to the people of the Province: Is that the kind of negative attitude you want going out to bankers? Is that the kind of negative attitude, Mr. Speaker, that you want going out to investors? Is that the kind of negative attitude from the Third Party you want going out to our tourists who visit our Province year after year after year? I say no, and this government would say no to that, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I stood in this House a few days ago and articulated to the people of the Province – the great and beautiful Province of ours – the wonderful things that have been happening over the last number of years, and I want to do so in the next eight or ten minutes that I have, Mr. Speaker. We are investing in people – people are what make up this great Province of ours. Mr. Speaker, times today and the riches that we have, we have to invest in our people and we have to invest in our infrastructure; that is what we have done over the last eight or ten years. We are investing in social programs. If you listen to the Third Party, this government does not invest in social programs, but I can tell you we have invested heavily in social programs, Mr. Speaker. We are invested heavily in health care, housing, education, seniors' benefits, tax breaks, infrastructure in every region – and I say every region, Mr. Speaker, of this Province.

The people of this Province see the investments, students see the investments in their education, post-secondary students – collectively and individually, they have seen the investments that we made. Last week I spoke at Grenfell Campus of Memorial University to nursing graduates, and I spoke to students last Friday – other graduates who graduated from Memorial University at Grenfell Campus. The nurses who I spoke to, many of them have been offered positions throughout the Province. They see the individual and collective contributions that this government has made to them. Ask them – you do not have to ask them, they will tell you. Compare what we have done in this Province in post-secondary education. Ask the Canadian Federation of Students what we have done in this Province for post-secondary education and they will tell us no other government in this country has done for post-secondary education what the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador has done over the last little while, Mr. Speaker.

Seniors see the investments, Mr. Speaker, in dental, lower drug costs, home heat rebates, registration fees in this Budget, rebates, and the list goes on and on. Businesses see the investments. Boards of trade see the investments. School boards, police forces, and hospital boards see the investments. Again, as I said last week, the Liberal Party stands up and they can see the investments and where good is good, but the Third Party cannot stand up and say where good is good, Mr. Speaker.

This government will continue to deliver more this year and in the years to come, Mr. Speaker, but in the responsible, prudent manner, a sound, though-out manner based on principled decision making, which is what the Premier talked about last week here in this House. We will continue to build on the past nine years. We will continue program enhancement and infrastructure growth, Mr. Speaker. I keep saying that over and over again in every region of our Province. As the Minister of Fisheries said tonight, we will never forget the people in communities of this Province who find themselves in need. We will help them out. We will stand by them, day in and day out, until they have a promising future, Mr. Speaker. Again, the Premier reaffirmed that last week.

The oil-rich reserves off our coast that we have been benefiting from over the last number of years, Mr. Speaker, are not just for the people of the Avalon Peninsula. It is for all of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, and our investments have shown that. Minister after minister has stood in this House and member after member has stood in this House, Mr. Speaker, listing the investments. We are able to make those investments because of sound, prudent planning we made over the last ten years, but because of the riches of our resources we have had for years and years, Mr. Speaker.

I want to just say to the people of Corner Brook – I know the Member for Bay of Islands spoke about it today and brought up a couple of things when he spoke to the House this afternoon – any opportunity I ever get I will always stand in this House and talk about the good things that have been happening on the West Coast of the Province from the investments that have taken place over the last number of years. I will repeat them over and over again. I will say to the people of Corner Brook and I will say to the people of my District of Humber West, and I know the Minister of Finance and Treasury Board and Humber East will say the same thing: After next year, the year after, and the year after that, we hope to be able to add to the list of all of the good things that have been taking place on the West Coast, including a new hospital, Mr. Speaker, and advanced education in Corner Brook.

Mr. Speaker, principled leadership is the kind of leadership shown by this government, this Premier, and this Finance Minister. Principled leadership, Mr. Speaker, sets us apart from the two parties opposite. It is based on principle; it is based on sound advice, Mr. Speaker. We are not reactionary. Time and time again we have shown this over the past nine years, Mr. Speaker. Budget 2012 reaffirms what we have been doing over the last number of years.

The people of this Province supports a government that is visionary, a government that is forward thinking, a government with a plan, not just for the short term, Mr. Speaker, but for the long term. That is sound governance. Again, I will repeat that, that is sound governance, Mr. Speaker. That is why we see investments in a child strategy as well as a long-term sustainable energy plan, Mr. Speaker. I am pleased to be a part of a government that makes decisions based on principles, ones that are efficient and ones that are effective, Mr. Speaker.

I was on the Northern Peninsula this past weekend, and let me tell the members from the districts on the Peninsula, they do not want to return to the years of overburdened debt. Our government is not taking this Province down that road, Mr. Speaker.

I want to speak just for a few minutes about the roads; roads keep coming up in this House, in this Chamber time and time again. I have been travelling up Route 430 on the Northern Peninsula, although I am not from the Northern Peninsula. I worked for twenty-three or twenty-four years in Corner Brook, but I have been travelling Route 430 from Deer Lake to St. Barbe at least four, five or six times every year for the past twenty-four years, Mr. Speaker. I remember travelling down the Great Northern Peninsula and having to manoeuvre between the potholes and holes, ridges and ruts in the road and shoulders that are all falling away. Trucks towing their camper trailers would break off axles and struts and shocks. Time and time again you would see campers pulled into, especially at the time when there was a garage at St. Barbe before they would get on the ferry to go across to Labrador or keep their trailer on this side of the Province, getting repairs done to their trailers.

That was a time, Mr. Speaker - if you want to check the records - when the other parties had strong Cabinet ministers, who had Cabinet ministers that represented that particular region. They represented that region, what was the state of the roads like on the Northern Peninsula at the time? Things are not perfect, they are not perfect today, but I can tell you that Route 430 at least from Corner Brook to St. Barbe is in very good shape. I drove it this past weekend and again, I drive it five or six times a year.

There are roads perhaps on the Northern Peninsula, I know some members opposite can vouch for, that might be in some difficult shape, some of the side roads across the Island, but, Mr. Speaker, I can tell you that Route 430 is in great shape. We had better be careful when we stand in this House and we talk about this because people are listening, there are tourists listening. When we get on the Open Line shows and we talk about the condition of our roads, that has an impact, Mr. Speaker, when we are on the radio. We should get on and talk about the positive things that are happening in Newfoundland and Labrador. We should talk about the good things, the very good, positive sites for tourists to visit instead of getting on talking about the conditions of some of our roads in the Province.

Look at the work that we have done on our Trans-Canada Highway with cost-sharing with the federal government. Look east of Deer Lake last year, the black top that was put on the Trans-Canada Highway as an example, east of Deer Lake last year. Look at what is going to happen this summer, Mr. Speaker, this construction season. From Pasadena into Corner Brook and west of Corner Brook, both sides of the road, double lane, Mr. Speaker, at hundreds of thousands of dollars. That is the kind of stuff that we should be talking about, Mr. Speaker, when we get on the Open Line shows.

For the tourists who have not made up their minds, whether tourists who are homegrown here in Newfoundland and Labrador or the tourists who is going to get on the ferry coming across, they are going to make up their minds where they are going to go. If we are on the Open Line shows talking about the conditions of roads, say goodbye to some of the businesses that are on these peninsulas because tourists just will not go there, they will go somewhere else. It is important that we tell a reasonable story about the conditions of the roads so they will travel down the Northern Peninsula, so they will go down the other peninsulas that we have in the Province. That is important, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, when this government took power we were on the brink of disaster, there is no other way to describe it. We were nearly bankrupt, Mr. Speaker. If there was a softer word, I would say it softer. I do not know another word in the dictionary or the thesaurus that conjures up the image of what bankrupt really is, Mr. Speaker.

This Province was on the verge of bankruptcy when we took office in 2003, Mr. Speaker. Just think about the gut-wrenching feeling. I often think about what that feeling must have been like. The Premier spoke about it last week, the gut-wrenching feeling, the sweat, the pain. The anger that the Premier and the ministers at the time must have felt about looking into the books and finding out that we were on the brink of disaster. What it must have felt like.

Not only that, Mr. Speaker, how they would have to put their thoughts together and go to the media and go across Province-wide and say to the people of the Province, after years, and years, and years of governance in this Province we are on the verge of bankruptcy. That is basically what they had said. The cupboard is bare, Mr. Speaker.

AN HON. MEMBER: Zero and zero.

MR. GRANTER: Zero, zero. Look back at what we had for our people in the public service. I know what it was like because I had to live it. Look at the condition of our hospitals and the condition of our schools.

In the last few seconds, Mr. Speaker, I could go on, and on, and on, but I can just simply say that it is important for all of us on this side of the House and really important for all members of the House, non-partisan to get on our Open Line shows and talk to the people about the good things that have happened in the last number of years, Mr. Speaker. Yes, there is a way to go and together we will get there, Mr. Speaker, and we will not forget any individual in this Province, and we will not forget any particular group in the Province.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Member for Torngat Mountains.

MR. EDMUNDS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is good to have the opportunity to speak again to the Budget for this year. Mr. Speaker, I have heard many comments from both sides; some in defence and some who are against the Budget. It is good to see a healthy debate. The design of our government process allows for a healthy debate, it allows for the pros and the cons to be highlighted. Mr. Speaker, I have heard the concerns brought forward from this side, and the comments and questions put forward ensure a good debate.

Mr. Speaker, as I look around this great Province I see many positive things that are happening and ongoing since we became a Province. I am glad there are new initiatives in this Budget, especially new initiatives that will help out our seniors, Mr. Speaker. Our seniors have worked through times in the past that some of us could probably not even imagine. Many of our seniors have worked through the Depression years and at the mercy of trading and fishing merchants. These merchants did well financially off the toils of our elders. Many of these elders now live on limited income and are finding it increasingly difficult to make ends meet. All of this, Mr. Speaker, while the cost of living continues to rise for those people who have made great sacrifices so that we could be here today.

Mr. Speaker, we have all heard the stories from our elders about living on a fixed income. It was good to hear the Minister of Service Newfoundland and Labrador come out with exceptions with respect to registration fees and service fees for the seniors of our Province. The concerns that continue to come forward, Mr. Speaker, cover the necessities of life. One example that directly affects seniors in my district is the cost of home heating fuel. I cannot speak for every district, Mr. Speaker, but in Northern Labrador the cost of home heating fuel is $300 a barrel.

Mr. Speaker, in other areas throughout this Province there are other primary costs that chew into the fixed income of seniors making it equally as difficult to survive. In Northern Labrador, during the cold winter months of January to March, seniors can spend up to $600 and then more on home heating fuel. With a fixed income of approximately $1,000 per month, there is not much left at the end of the day to cover off the monthly expenses that our seniors are forced to live with. This is a reality, Mr. Speaker, and I believe unfair to those many individuals who have made enough sacrifices for us already so that we could be here.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to talk about our young people. Given the changes that the Department of Child, Youth and Family Services is going through, I am looking forward to following this new strategy. I am hopeful that this new strategy will address the many needs of the young people in our Province. Mr. Speaker, the future of our Province, through the progression of life, has changed and there are many negative impacts that our young people now live with. Some of these impacts are drug related and alcohol related, and our young people are placing a huge strain on our resources. I am certainly hopeful that this new direction will have a positive outcome on the young people of this Province.

Mr. Speaker, I look forward to foster needs being addressed.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. EDMUNDS: I look forward to changes being made for First Nations children in our Province, Mr. Speaker. I would like to go back to my own district where they are some many young people who are being shipped out of Northern Labrador to other regions of the Province, whereby they lose a lot of their cultural identity and a lot of their cultural training, Mr. Speaker. It is sad to see, and I certainly look forward to the changes in the mandatory assessments of some of the families who want to come forward.

I have talked to the Minister of Child, Youth and family Services and we did discuss some of the issues around bringing up initiatives that could allow families in my district to come to some agreement and make some adaptations where they are willing to take kids in, as opposed to sending them outside of their cultural area. I was in contact with many of the families in my district, after meeting with the minister, and I guess the bottom line: some people are afraid of what they do not know, in terms of any information that needs to be passed on. Sometimes they are unwilling to come forward, and I am hoping that the steering committee that is set up under the department will address this issue and, hopefully, there will be some training given to some of the members in the social services department in terms of cultural sensitivity. I look forward to hearing what the minister has to offer in terms of this new strategy. I look forward to it unfolding, and I hope, Mr. Speaker, that it will be a benefit to all regions, especially my district.

Mr. Speaker, it is sad to see so many fish plants closing in this Province. Fifty per cent of the fish plants in the last number of years, well over 100, and in many, many cases these fish plants were the major employer, not only to the community where the fish plant is located but many, many, many communities that surround the fish plant. This is evident in every area in our Province, including my own district, Mr. Speaker. Not only that, the hon. Minister of Fisheries has indicated that the trend will continue to some degree. What this shows me, Mr. Speaker, there is a shift in our economy of this Province, and it is a shift in the direction where many people are not sure. It is a direction that nobody seems to know a lot about. The consequences are devastating, and we are seeing that in the media and in the various districts around the Province. This Province has made a commercial living from the sea for well over 500 years. These resources are now becoming scarce and the impacts and the devastation on families is beginning to show, and it does not look very good.

Mr. Speaker, this is also evident in my district in terms of the fishery. Mr. Speaker, in the 1930s up to the mid-1980s, hundreds of schooners and, eventually, longliners would come up from the Island portion of our Province up to Labrador and fish cod during the summer months. The cod fishery around the community of Nain disappeared in the 1960s. That was a good many years before the cod fishery was closed – before the moratorium was put into effect. A little later, Mr. Speaker, in the Smokey and Makkovik areas, codfish disappeared in the mid-1980s. Mr. Speaker, these signs were coming from Northern Labrador many, many, many years before the moratorium. Unfortunately, people were not willing to listen and they did not take the hint until it was too late. The next sustainable industry in Labrador was the commercial salmon fishery. It was through declining stocks that this fishery closed, and led to closures of fish plants in my district as well. I think my point here, Mr. Speaker, is that the decline in our fishery is affecting all areas of this Province – every area from every corner.

I heard the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills talk about the battle against poverty in our Province, and unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, the area of Northern Labrador is one of the most economically depressed areas of our Province, and poverty is very much to the forefront. Mr. Speaker, it is good to hear the minister saying that this battle is ongoing, and I look forward to seeing some of the benefits, especially in Northern Labrador. I point it out to the Minister of Service Newfoundland and Labrador and to the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, Mr. Speaker, that extreme pricing is one of the major causes of poverty in Northern Labrador.

Mr. Speaker, I, too, see and I hear about the loss of industry in our Province, and how it affects the livelihood of so many. The shutdown of fish plants, as I just mentioned earlier, and the closure of the pulp and paper mills all play a role in the reduction of comfortable livelihoods in our Province. We have lived many years on our harvested resources from our oceans and from our land. I recognize that it makes it that much harder to fight poverty, Mr. Speaker, in our Province.

Mr. Speaker, the loss of resources in our Province puts more pressure on the need for other resources, puts increased effects on people who want to get into the workforce. There is no doubt that there needs to be action taken to address these almost-daily issues that are causing increases in the number of people slipping below the poverty line, and thereby causing more strain on our resources.

Mr. Speaker, even as this Budget is carried forward, there are new losses of employment happening almost on a daily basis. It is consistent and it certainly raises a level of caution.

Mr. Speaker, just in closing I just would like to point out that it is the job of this party on this side of the House to hold the government accountable. I believe that this party, Mr. Speaker, is doing a wonderful job and I do commend my hon. colleagues for a job well done.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Intergovernmental and Aboriginal Affairs.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. McGRATH: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is a pleasure to be able to rise here and speak to this Budget again. There is a lot of ground to cover and twenty minutes is not a lot of time, so I am going to try to do my best to get in as much as I want to say in that time. There are a couple of comments I would like to make; I have heard a lot of my colleagues get up tonight and comment on many of the comments that are coming, especially from the Third Party.

I have to reference the Member for The Straits – White Bay North. He talked about all his experience, his travels, and being an entrepreneur. My advice to him, because I have been an entrepreneur for many years: what I do with my skills that I have gathered over the thirty years I was in business is that I take it and I work with the people in my district to try and find ways to improve and innovative ways to make things happen.

It seems that everything from the Third Party, you need to have money, money, money. I very quickly realized that if you work with the people in your district and you work on social programs and find innovative ways to make things happen, then you get the trust of the people in your district and they learn to work with you. That is where you see reality kick in.

I also have to compliment the Opposition party. It seems they are finally starting to realize and wanting to work with us on this side. Over the course of the day, I am starting to wonder if the Member for Bay of Islands wants to be over here with us, because he seems to agree with everything we are doing.

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

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

MR. JOYCE: Mr. Speaker, I would just let the member know there is no way in the world I would ever cross, especially with some of the broken commitments that were made by the government.

Thank you.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

There is no point of order.

I recognize the hon. minister responsible for Intergovernmental and Aboriginal Affairs.

MR. McGRATH: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is nice to see. You talk about commitments and talk about working together. I think we are starting to see with a certain part of the members from the other side of the House that they are starting to try to work with us. That is where you will see results. This party is all about working together and getting things done.

The name of the Budget this year, People and Prosperity – those are our two main words, because our government is all about the people of the Province and we are all about the prosperity. I have seen it since 2003, when the Progressive Conservatives took over the power. We have seen the prosperity grow and we have seen things happening.

I was not here in 2003. I am new to the House. Going back to my experience in business, I saw the state that the Province was in back in the early part of the decade, and I see where we are today. Only eight or nine years later, we are starting to show a lot of prosperity. That is very important.

One of the most important things for me, being the Minister Responsible for Labrador Affairs and an MHA from Labrador, is to see what is happening in Labrador. I talked about it last week when I stood up. I talked about some of the improvements we have seen in Labrador, certainly in Labrador West, which as I mentioned is a very prosperous district. I am sure it is the envy of a lot of MHAs to have a district that is doing so prosperously. We do have our difficulties too, and this government worked with those.

One of the biggest issues I have in Labrador West now in my district that I have to hear about is housing. This government realized that crunch that was there for housing and they have worked with different organizations, such as the Housing and Homelessness Coalition, and just announced a $1.8 million investment into putting in new housing for low income. It is hard to believe, in a district where an average annual income is upwards of around $90,000 per person – and we have normally two people in every household working, so you have $180,000 annual income coming in, but we do have a housing issue, and we do have people who considered low income still in the district. It is very difficult for them to find housing. This government realized that. It made a commitment of $1.8 million to put up a new complex that is designated to-low income housing.

I guess the Trans-Labrador Highway is one of the biggest things in Labrador that we can talk about because it is one of the biggest infrastructural projects that the Province has taken on. That was started back in the in late 1990s when it came to discussion and development. Since this government has come in, just in Phase I alone we have seen an investment of over $250 million.

AN HON. MEMBER: How much?

MR. McGRATH: That is $250 million, and that is just Phase I from Labrador West, which is Labrador City and Wabush to Happy Valley-Goose Bay. This government is right on track as to where they said they would be with the Trans-Labrador Highway. They have the highway opened up right across Labrador. Phase I was scheduled to be finished in the late summer or fall of 2013. We just announced tenders for the last two tenders for the Phase I and that work will be completed in 2013, the summer of 2013, so that puts this government right on schedule where they said they would be with the Trans-Labrador Highway.

They are already looking at – I think one of the important things that the government realized is that rather than going through one season of building the Trans-Labrador Highway and then moving out the equipment, they are renewing the tenders early so that the people who are bidding on these tenders, if they have the equipment there, they keep the equipment there, because our season can be so short.

In my district on Friday, the schools had to close because of a snowstorm. That is scary to say in the middle of May, but that is the reality of living in Labrador. The government has realized that if they release the tenders early for these jobs then the ones that are successful in getting the tender can move forward and keep their equipment there; that lengthens the season for doing the construction work on the highway by probably six or seven weeks. That is a good thing about the highway.

I think another investment that is very important that this government made in this Budget was for the ambulance service on the Cartwright side of the Trans-Labrador Highway between Cartwright and Happy Valley-Goose Bay, and it is very important. That is almost a $300,000 investment that the government has made and committed to, to have that ambulance service there. It is an area of highway – you have to realize that the Trans-Labrador Highway, when going through, there is nothing in between the municipalities. When you leave one municipality, you may drive 200 kilometres or 250 kilometres before you reach another area. For example, to go from Labrador City to Churchill Falls is 260 kilometres; there is not so much as a gas station in between. We realize that these services are necessary, especially with the elements that you are dealing with in the winter months. So, having that ambulance service there is very important to us.

I talked about the college; I had the privilege of speaking at the new College of the North Atlantic in Labrador West last week. The facility is a state-of-the-art facility, and it is a facility that we put $25.7 million into in Labrador West. Next to that, right next door, we have gotten – and something that was desperately needed in Labrador West – the new health care facility. Labrador West is an industrial community. It is a community where the mines are our major contributors there to the workforce, and our hospital is, I guess, at a state of beyond repair. So, the government realized we needed a new health care facility there. You always hear about the size and things, and let's just build it. This government did not do that in Labrador West, what they did is they did research to make sure they put up a facility that was fiscally prudent, but it was also going to cover the needs of what people needed in Labrador West. Once that hospital is completed – and I should not say hospital because it is a medical centre – once that is completed, you will have an investment of over $90 million. I think that is a significant investment. That is a lot of money in just those two buildings, that is a lot of money to put into a municipality that has about 13,000 people, but this government realizes that it is a necessity. That is not something that is a social program because we want to give it to you; they realized the necessity of it and we have lived up to the commitments of putting those in there.

One of the other things that we had in Labrador West over the years, our residents, as they got older, unfortunately you get health problems, and kidney dialysis was one of the major issues that we had. Unfortunately, if you were living in Labrador West and you needed dialysis, you had no choice but to leave the area. You had to move away, as you do in many, many areas throughout the Province. Now you do not. Now our seniors are able to stay there. In Labrador West, they can stay because Labrador West is into fifth generation. I remember when I first went there, you never saw anybody with grey hair; I mean it was a young, vibrant community. Now you are into fifth generation. People, when they retire now, they are not leaving. At one time, you got your thirty years and you decided I have my thirty years in, I paid my dues, I have earned my retirement and now I am going to move back to my home. They moved back to Newfoundland, or Nova Scotia, or New Brunswick. Now they are staying in Labrador. They have made Labrador their home; they want to stay in Labrador. The health facilities there now, such as dialysis, are available to them, and that makes a huge difference.

MS SULLIVAN: More good planning.

MR. McGRATH: Again as the minister said: good planning. It was not just put it up and once we get a building up, we will decide what we are going to put in it. It was good fiscal planning.

A couple of years ago we ran into a situation, unfortunately, where we had a death. It was an industrial accident that caused the death. It was said that there was a possibility, it can never be proven, but there was a possibility that had there been a CAT scan, a CT scanner in Labrador West at the time, there was a possibility that particular incident could have had a different outcome. Perhaps he could have survived it, because the doctors would have been able to diagnose what internal injuries were caused through the accident.

This government listened to that; they listened to the people. You talk about partnerships. The government said okay, we realize that we need a CT scanner in Labrador West. Because of the environment that is there, it is a necessity, so this government said we will do that. It is no good to have a CT scanner if you do not have somewhere to house it. Through partnerships with the industries in Labrador West, rather than saying okay, we will put that CT scanner in the new medical facility when it opens; this government said no, they need that now. We agreed to put it there now, and through partnerships with industry we had somewhere to house it. I think that is very important, that this government realizes partnerships with industry go a long way.

Another thing in Labrador West – and we have heard so much about pharmacies here in the Province and we went through the issue with the pharmacies. In Labrador West, we have two individual private pharmacies, but we did not have a pharmacist in our hospital. We needed a pharmacist in the hospital because if we do not have a pharmacist in the hospital, then you are depending on an outside, external source to provide that medical care and the people who need that, do not have a choice; it has to be there. This government took almost $120,000 and put a position there for that. Now, we have a pharmacist in our hospital. I think that is very important. I look across the way and I look over here and I see pharmacists who are sitting here. I think you have to agree, that is a very good move there.

We talk about up on the North Coast – I was pleasantly surprised to hear some good compliments coming from the Member for Torngat, but there is one thing that the people at home need to hear because I often hear about the cost of living on the North Coast. I think anyone here realizes the cost of living in any remote area is more expensive, but I know that on the North Coast of Labrador, because of the terrain and its so difficult to get there, costs are exceeded even more. Our government realizes that; our government realizes that it is an isolated area in our Province. We are the only Province in Canada that still maintains an Air Foodlift Subsidy for areas such as the Torngat Mountains district.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Order, please!

MR. McGRATH: On top of that Air Foodlift Subsidy and when we ran into a situation where we had ice closing off the Straits, that subsidy kicked in immediately to get that food to the residents living on the Coast of Labrador. On top of that, you also have the nutrition Canada program, and that gives a subsidy, for some items, up to 100 per cent subsidy for the cost of getting it there.

I heard of Minister of Advanced Education say she can tell them what the right thing is to hear, but she cannot make them understand it. We can provide the subsidy, which we do –and as I said: the only Province in Canada that still provides that subsidy – but we cannot force the retailer who receives that subsidy, we cannot force him or her to pass it on to the consumer. So, if that retailer decides: I am going to take the subsidy and I am still going to charge $7 for a quart of milk, we have no control over that. As a government, we have shown due diligence, we have realized that there was an issue, and we have addressed that issue, but we cannot force the retailer.

I have been in business myself, and government does not have the right to come in and say to me, when I was in business: you can only charge 90 cents for a coffee. If I decide I am going to charge $2.50 for a coffee, that is my choice. We cannot force a retailer. We cannot force a retailer how they decide what they are going to do with that subsidy, but maybe it is something we can look at. I do know that this government, twice a year, will go up and they will do a food analysis where they will compare prices. So, that is a big issue that we need to address.

There has been quite a bit of talk about Child, Youth and Family Services in the House today. I have to compliment the Minister of Child, Youth and Family Services for addressing many of the issues that are happening, especially on the North Coast of Labrador. There was just a big shuffle between the Department of Health and Community Services and the Department of Child, Youth and Family Services; that shuffle was made especially to address a lot of the problems that we are having and facing in Labrador. We felt, as a government – and the minister pushed hard for this; she felt that it was important to get a lot of those people that were in the Health and Community Services Department into the Child, Youth and Family Services so they could focus more on the issues and problems on the North Coast. I have talked to a lot of people that are on the North Coast, especially a lot of the professionals that work in that field, and they feel this is a very good move.

This government has also made investments into housing and subsidised housing so that we can entice professionals to go into these areas. We need to get the professionals up there, because we realize – and I heard the member from the Torngats talk about the alcohol problems and the drug abuse problems – our government realizes those problems are there, and we have made investments in subsidies so that we can have the professionals on the ground to deal with and address those problems immediately.

I think we are being very proactive as to what is happening all throughout Labrador, and all the Province, certainly, but as the Minister Responsible for Labrador Affairs, I am very proud to be able to stand here today and say that this government – there has been more invested in the Labrador portion of the Province since 2004 than there was – and I stated this last week, and I am sure you will hear me state it many, many more times; there have been more investments in the Labrador portion of our Province since 2004 than there were since 1949 when we joined Confederation.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. McGRATH: I hear that every day from the people of Labrador. They believe in this government and they see what we are doing; they are pleased with what we are doing. I think that is proven when you look at the representatives that we have in the House of Assembly.

On that, Mr. Speaker, like I said, twenty minutes can go pretty fast. There is a lot more to say and I will get an opportunity to stand up again. It is a pleasure to stand up here and speak to this Budget. I thank you very much for giving me the opportunity.

Mr. Speaker, thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS ROGERS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Well, what a glorious night it has been –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS ROGERS: – hearing the government quoting Jack Layton, quoting Thomas Mulcair, quoting Jack Harris, and talking about all of us working together. They are finally listening and it is a good thing. Perhaps there is reason, Mr. Speaker –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS ROGERS: Perhaps there is reason for love, hope, and optimism. You know, by gosh, we are ready to work together and we are ready to sign up for our all-party legislative committees.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS ROGERS: I assume that is what they are referring to when they want us all to work together.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS ROGERS: Mr. Speaker, we are ready and it is time.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS ROGERS: I am so happy to be able to rise in the House this evening once again to speak to the amendment to the Budget: People and Prosperity. As a Newfoundlander, I am proud and I am excited; the future looks good. The potential is inspiring. It inspires hope, vision, and where we can go as Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. Now our task, Mr. Speaker, is to exploit every opportunity that there is to have the courage and the wisdom to chart our course for the next few years to ensure that every single citizen has the means to live and to participate to their fullest potential.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS ROGERS: Now, in the last decade we have seen economic growth and benefits, and we have seen a reduction in poverty on the one hand, and yet an increase on another hand, due to the rising cost of housing, the rising cost of food, the rising cost of living. We have seen increasing educational resources and opportunities, and exploiting our natural resources, but, Mr. Speaker, now is not the time to stop. With the success of some of the initiatives undertaken, some that were introduced in the past by the NDP platforms, like no school fees, and free textbooks –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS ROGERS: – it is more crucial now more than ever, Mr. Speaker, that we not stop, and that we not even slow down or simply hold our ground. This Budget stops us in our tracks, rather than moving us forward. Mr. Speaker, it is a time to move forward in a daring way. We must not stop at reducing poverty, but rather we must aim at the elimination of poverty altogether – because we know how expensive poverty is to our society. Now more than ever we must ensure that the resources that make us prosperous, that belong to every citizen in Newfoundland and Labrador – and with these resources we can dare to envision a more fair, just, and equitable society –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS ROGERS: – that in the long run means a more prosperous society where we all benefit.

What does prosperity look like? Well, for Tourism, Culture and Recreation, our award-winning world-class tourism ads promise a world-class experience. They promise our magnificent natural beauty and wonders, which we are so happy to share, which we are so proud of, and which are part of what makes us Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. They promise a society where everyone is taken care of, where everyone matters, whether we are young, whether we are old, a society where there are thriving communities. It promises world-class artists, musicians – and we have them; we have world-class musicians, we have leaders in the country in comedy, in storytelling. We have world-class visual artists who travel the world over with their work, but most of our artists and people working in the cultural industry are averaging wages around the poverty line. That is not world class, yet we have among the lowest per capita funding for our Arts Council in the whole country, even though we know that every dollar that is invested in the arts returns at times fourfold, generating income. We promise that culture and we promise that cultural experience, but it is on the backs of our artists who some, if paid at all, are paid well below what they are worth.

Our museums and our cultural sites, many of which we are so proud of, are run by volunteers for the most part, who plan through the off-season, who work, who are dedicated, who are experts and informed, but they have to wait until the eleventh hour to find out if they will get funding, the funding they need in order to run their museums or their cultural sites.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS ROGERS: Oftentimes, it is close to the time when it is almost too late for them to open their doors. This is not the time to stop. This is the time, when we are so successful, to invest even more.

In the area of housing –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS ROGERS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

In the area of housing, we have seen a successful uptake in the federal-provincial housing and homelessness initiative, an uptake that has been led by volunteers and the volunteer sector in our communities. These housing initiatives have developed some very important and very successful housing for seniors and for people with complex needs –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS ROGERS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

However, it does not address the overall housing strategy of the Province. We are one of the only provinces in the country that does not have a division of housing that answers the policy and strategy needs, overall needs, of housing for the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I appreciate the excitement that exists in the House when we sit at night, but the Chair is having difficulty hearing the hon. member. I would ask members for their co-operation and to try to contain their excitement.

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

MS ROGERS: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker

With our newfound prosperity and the future resource development, we need a division of housing that is responsible for the overall policy needs of a housing strategy for the whole Province. We need it now more than ever, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I, once again, ask members for their co-operation.

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

MS ROGERS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We need that now more than we ever needed it. We have not had any new social housing units built in years. When we look at what is happening in Labrador West, in Happy Valley-Goose Bay and the housing situations that they find there, raising the low income rates in Lab West to $65,000 does not address the very big problem that is experienced due to resource development. The issue of lack of housing is not solved, nor addressed, by raising the low income level. Rent supplements that we have addressed in this Budget are not new money; they are part of a two-year program that was started last year. We need a housing division like everywhere else in the country to address our housing policy, to be forward thinking, to plan, to strategize, to work with industry and to work with government departments. I am so surprised, Mr. Speaker, at why this government does not understand that, when that is best practices everywhere in the country.

With announcements of Hebron, the housing prices in Newfoundland and Labrador increased by 25 per cent. Now, with the talk of Muskrat Falls, we can even see that going up yet again. When we look at the housing needs of our seniors, our seniors Province-wide, many who cannot afford to keep their houses going, or those who I have met who live in fear of the next rent increase, it is a very real situation for them; their fear is not unfounded. We do not have any kind of rent control in our Province, so landlords can increase, as they wish, and seniors are terrified that their rents are going to be increased. If their rents are increased, there is simply nowhere for them to go.

Then, our whole issue of justice; we have seen a diminishing in our Department of Justice in terms of people's access and affordability for justice. Many people have been priced out of their basic right to have access to the justice system. The eligibility ceiling for legal aid is too low. Legal costs have increased over the years. People go bankrupt trying to be represented, or they have to remortgage their houses. Also when people have to appeal to the courts, when they have to use the justice system, it is when their cost of living increases for them. Mr. Speaker, this is not prosperity.

We look at our court facilities almost everywhere in the Province that are not physically accessible. Our court facilities should reflect the importance that justice plays in our society. We also do not have a drug court and a mental health court. We know that the issues of addictions have been increasing in our Province. This is part of our newfound prosperity and a problem that comes with it, and one that we have to address. The number of people who are incarcerated for drug offences or because of mental health issues has increased. Our prisons are bursting at the seams. It is estimated that 70 per cent to 80 per cent of our citizens who are incarcerated are due to drug offences and mental health problems. That is an inappropriate, an expensive, and fiscally irresponsible way to deal with drug problems and mental health problems. It does not help reduce recidivism, and it does not help make our communities safer.

We know that programming available in our jails and prisons has increased, but it is not enough. Staff are talking about the need for more programming, so again we can reduce recidivism rates – more and better programs. Dealing with these problems, through incarceration, is fiscally irresponsible. We need more wraparound services; we need to treat our people, not jail our people. This, in the long run, is economically feasible. Some of the key issues that are facing people who are incarcerated – these are our citizens; they are our brothers, our fathers, our uncles, our neighbours, our sisters, our mothers, who are incarcerated and not getting help. People come out and cannot find affordable housing. There are no wraparound services for ongoing counselling. There is not enough job training while they are incarcerated. That only means a failure in our justice system.

Mr. Speaker, with our newfound Department of Child, Youth and Family Services, the restructuring of the department has resulted in more social workers, which is a good thing. It has also resulted in an increase in child apprehensions. One has to wonder: why the increase? There is not an increase in dedication to resources to help families cope so that they are better able to parent and better able to keep children in the home, where possible.

There is still no universal, affordable, publicly funded and administered child care. Child care is one of the foundation pieces of a viable workforce. We know that industry worldwide is attracted to places that provide good, sound social programs. This is not a cost. This is not spending money. This is a good investment in our people, in our children, and in our labour force.

Our youth retention and attraction strategy – we are not yet the Province of choice. One of those reasons is because of the unbridled, escalating cost of housing, the cost of child care, the price of food, and the growing gap between the haves and the have-nots.

In her Throne Speech, we heard the Premier promise that we would be having a program that would assist in home ownership for low-income to moderate-income families, particularly looking at the needs of young working families who have student loans to pay, who have to pay the exorbitant costs for child care, and who could afford a mortgage but cannot afford the down payment. Mr. Speaker, in our Estimates, we found out that there is absolutely no funds allocated to this program. There is no timeline allocated to this program. There is no commitment for this program to actually happen.

Mr. Speaker, we know that our people are our greatest resources. Unless we take that seriously and look at ways of investing in them, it is a hollow – hollow – statement. It is mere words.

What will prosperity look like for us? Prosperity is where there is security of person, a safe, affordable home for everyone, a community for all people, people with disabilities who do not become isolated because they have no accessibility, or their incomes are too low. We are 500,000 people; we can afford to invest in our people.

Contrary to what has been repeated over and over and over again by the government side tonight, the sky is not falling. We have $2.2 billion stored away in a sock somewhere because they are afraid that maybe the sky is going to fall and that money cannot be spent and invested today in the people of the Province. There is money, but why is the government storing that away in a sock? Are they afraid that the sky is falling? Perhaps they are.

Well, Mr. Speaker, I would like to say that we have hope and optimism, that we feel the future looks good, so we can afford to invest that money in the people of the Province. This is a lacklustre Budget that does not take us forward, but keeps us standing in the same position; in doing so, standing in the same position at this point in our history actually makes us lose ground.

The NDP Platform was the only platform that was costed in the last election. The NDP believes in making life more affordable for working families. These are good investments for a secure future. This has proven to be, in other –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER (Wiseman): Order, please!

MS ROGERS: – jurisdictions where the NDP has been in government – we know how to spend in investing in our people. Mr. Speaker, it is time where no one should be left behind. In closing, Mr. Speaker, I would like to quote Jack Layton yet again tonight, as he has been quoted by the government; I would like to leave this House with some words from Mr. Jack Layton, because we can invest in our people. From Mr. Jack Layton: "Don't let them tell you it can't be done."

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I cannot tell you what a pleasure it is always to get up on this side of the House of Assembly and to be able a, to respond to some of what we have heard, and b, to be able to tell the people of Newfoundland and Labrador why it is they made the right choice when they elected this government and they put us over on this side of the House of Assembly.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: Mr. Speaker, as I listened to such things as: we should not have any money put aside in case there might be something that goes wrong, it just reinforces exactly what it is the people of Newfoundland and Labrador have been so aptly able to size up in deciding who ought to represent the government, who ought to represent their best interests.

To tell us, as I just heard, that there is no need to set money aside, Mr. Speaker, that we should just spend, spend, spend, is such an irresponsible statement that I was absolutely spellbound over here trying to listen to that. I cannot believe that somebody would say on the one hand our people are our best resource, our people are our most important resource, we need to invest in them and let us go spend every cent we have because that is the best way to invest, Mr. Speaker – unbelievable. Whatever kind of fiscal policy that is supposed to be trying to describe is certainly not one that we want to adhere to; it is certainly not any fiscal policy that this government is going to take a look at.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: Mr. Speaker, the people of Newfoundland and Labrador know the difference. The people of Newfoundland and Labrador wanted us to be fiscally responsible; they heard the platform that we put in place as we campaigned around this Province this summer. They saw the work that we had done over the last eight years, Mr. Speaker, and they decided accordingly. They understand the value of good fiscal responsibility.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: Mr. Speaker, when we sit down to do Budgets, it is the most onerous task I think I have ever undertaken in my life. When we sit down and we listen, first of all, to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, what their concerns are, what it is that they want to see, the direction in which they want to move; when we do that, we look at our fiscal forecast, we see where our expenditures are going to be, we see what our costs are going to be over the next little bit of time.

We try to make responsible decisions, Mr. Speaker, and we do that in concert with all of the groups that we engage with. When the Minister of Finance goes on the road, he does his Budget consultations, Mr. Speaker. This is a government that has been listening and has been trying to make a difference.

Mr. Speaker, let me tell you the phrase that comes up most often around the table as we are making our decisions about what it is that we want to do. What we want to do is, we want to serve the people of Newfoundland and Labrador; more importantly, we want to ensure that our children and our grandchildren are going to have a place on this Island that we call home.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: Never, Mr. Speaker, do we say: let us just go spend it all because that will make us look good today; let us just go do whatever it is that the Third Party thinks ought to happen, because that will make us look good today. Never, Mr. Speaker, is that a conversation that is held around the table.

Oftentimes, Mr. Speaker, we find ourselves saying: we would love to be able to do that, but really and truly, is that fiscally the responsible thing to do at this point in time? We know it is not, Mr. Speaker. We are honest with the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, and we say to them: we understand that is wanted; it is not what we can do right now, but hold on, because we are going to get there and we are going to get there because we are making the right (inaudible).

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: So, Mr. Speaker, that is something that I did not necessarily intend to speak about this evening when I stood, but I had to when I heard the comments from the Third Party over there this evening. You know, they talk to us about wanting to work with us, the Third Party. I heard the member from St. John's Centre stand and say she would like to be able to work with us. Mr. Speaker, within the same sentence I heard: but. Every single time the Third Party stands to speak, it goes to: we would do this, we would like to see that, but; there is always a but. There is never anything about, let us go with that optimism and let us find our way forward, let us work together from that perspective. It is not about that, it is about saying: you have not done it right; you do not understand it.

The sky is falling, from their perspective, Mr. Speaker, because that is what we hear day in, day out. Whenever we come to this House of Assembly, it is always about the sky is falling, there is nothing good enough, Mr. Speaker, but the people of Newfoundland and Labrador understand differently. They see things a whole lot differently.

Mr. Speaker, our fiscal policy has been heralded by economists from around this country, by rating agencies. Our credit rating right now is the highest it has ever been. Now, that did not just happen. That was not because this is 2012 and it was our turn. This is, again, the result of good fiscal management and good planning, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: Our economy, Mr. Speaker, is buoyant. We are doing well. We are decreasing debt. When it was $12 billion and people were sitting around the table and trying to make decisions as to what to do, those were difficult times. It is reduced now. We are down to $7.8 billion, and the commitment of this government is to take it down as far as we can possibly get it so that our people have a future. It is not simply about today. It is about today, it is about tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow. That tomorrow for us is going to be bright, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, as we sat around, though, and made decisions – I want to compliment the Premier because of one of the things that she said to us as we made decisions about this particular Budget, in a time when we knew we had to look at holding the line in some areas. One of the things that she very clearly said to us was: nothing trumps the people of Newfoundland and Labrador; nothing trumps health care and education in this Province. Those are areas where we need to continue to invest.

Mr. Speaker, invest we have done. I want to speak to the health care budget particularly. It was a budget of almost $3 billion; forty per cent of the whole Province's Budget we have continued to invest.

Mr. Speaker, the Third Party have said to me on a number of occasions when I have stood to speak in this House of Assembly, or when I have answered questions in this House of Assembly, that they do not want to hear any more about numbers. Mr. Speaker, of course they do not. They do not want to hear the good work that we have been doing on this side of the House in terms of investments in this Province, but the people of Newfoundland and Labrador deserve to hear how we are spending their money.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: Mr. Speaker, no matter how many times they say: we do not want to hear how much money you have spent, no matter how many times they roll their eyes when we tell them how much money we are spending, we will continue to do it, because the people want to know. The people deserve to know. It is the right thing to do, Mr. Speaker. We will always continue to do that.

Mr. Speaker, I am going to go down that road tonight. I am going to tell the people of Newfoundland and Labrador how we have made decisions around spending money in health care this year in this Budget.

Mr. Speaker, one of the pieces of work that we looked at this year is dialysis. When it comes to dialysis, this is not a matter of choice; this is a matter of saying if you had to dialysed, you have to be dialysed. We hear that, we understand that, and we have continued to invest.

When we came to government, there were less than seven sites in the Province where you could have dialysis. Right now, we have invested; we have fourteen sites in Newfoundland and Labrador where dialysis is performed, Mr. Speaker. Three hundred and forty patients was the capacity that we had at one point in time. We are now up to 531 patients. This year we continue to invest such that we are going to see expanded dialysis in Harbour Breton, we are going to see dialysis in Happy Valley – Goose Bay, more dialysis in Corner Brook, Carbonear, and so on, Mr. Speaker. We are not giving up that pledge to see to it that the people who need dialysis in this Province are going to be able to avail of that service and they are going to be able to avail of that service closer to home. That is what we call listening, Mr. Speaker. When people have told us that those are the needs and those are the concerns, we have said yes, we understand that, and we are prepared to listen.

Mr. Speaker, in terms of investments in cancer care in this Province, another area where we consulted, and consulted wisely, one of the ways that we consult is through the Cancer Advisory Committee that rests in my department and that is set up particularly to advise the minister. Mr. Speaker, I have had the great opportunity to meet with them on a couple of occasions now and to hear some of the concerns that they have brought to us.

Mr. Speaker, one of the concerns and one of the issues that we asked them to look at, and that they did look at, was around breast cancer and breast screening. They said to us: we believe it is time now to move the age from fifty down to include women who are forty to forty-nine. Mr. Speaker, we heard that, we listened to that, and we committed to doing that; just recently I was with my colleague, the Minister of Municipal Affairs, in his district in Gander, and we made that announcement: we invested.

Mr. Speaker, not only did we invest, but we committed then to listening to their concerns around how we do that. Once again this morning, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and I met with some of the physicians from Gander and we talked about: how do we do this now? What is the best way to do this?

AN HON. MEMBER: That is a responsive government. That is a responsive minister.

MS SULLIVAN: That is a responsive government. That is the way to do it and that again shows that what we are doing is not sitting around the table and making decisions that we think are the right decisions. We are making decisions based on what the people of this Province tell us to do, what they want us to do with their tax dollars, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, in 2008, $10.9 million was invested for twelve new mammograms. What we have done is we have continued to invest. In the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, I am happy to report that now in 2012 we have seventeen mammogram machines, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: A tremendous investment, again guided by what we heard from the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Mr. Speaker, we have invested as well in colorectal cancer screening programs, $3 million since 2010, and I am looking forward very soon to being able to get out and launch that program.

Once again, I make no apologies for putting the numbers out there. The dollars that we are spending, they are your dollars. Those of you who are watching at home: this is your money; we are accountable to you, we are telling you how we are spending your money, and we are also suggesting to you that we are spending the money based on what you have told us. Mr. Speaker, the Cancer Control Strategy that was set up in 2010 was invaluable in helping us to make some of these decisions as well.

Mr. Speaker, one of the other areas I heard about, as soon as I got to the department, had to do with our new cancer drugs. We know that we needed new drugs on the formulary. We talked; we consulted people in industry. This year, we committed to doing what people asked for – another $1.6 million for new cancer related drugs, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: A total of $4.4 million overall in new drugs added to the drug formulary this year.

Mr. Speaker, the Cameron inquiry is something that we should never forget in this Province. This is an area where we have learned much and where we have made commitments to see to it that the lessons learned are going to translate into some very positive actions. At this point in time, fifty-five of the sixty recommendations of Justice Cameron have been enacted, and we have spent, to this point in time, $43 million acting on the recommendations of Cameron.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: Mr. Speaker, another area that we focused on in this particular Budget had to do with the cost of prescription drugs for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. Again, an area where it was suggested to us that we needed to make investments, it is an area where we actually followed through and made those investments. Mr. Speaker, as a result of Budget 2012 we are now investing $155 million in the Prescription Drug Program in the Province – $155 million.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: Mr. Speaker, I think we have done one of the most progressive things in a long time in terms of our Prescription Drug Program in this Province, and that had to do with the changes to the generic drug policy. It was a piece of legislation that we debated in this House for quite some time, and we debated it outside of the House. Again, we made a decision that had to do with seeing to it that the best interests of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians were served.

Mr. Speaker, at this point in time, we can happily tell seniors who are part of our Newfoundland and Labrador Prescription Drug Program that they will not pay any more than $6 per prescription.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: Mr. Speaker, our seniors are important to us, and making that investment was something that we are very happy to do. Again, those are numbers that people need to know about. We invested $29 million to be able to do that, Mr. Speaker, which is $29 million well spent on the seniors of Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: Mr. Speaker, in doing that, we also made commitments to do some work in terms of investing in our rural pharmacies. We do not want to see pharmacies close in Newfoundland and Labrador, and we put our money exactly where it was our talk had been happening. We said to pharmacists: We hear what you are saying; we understand what your concerns are around rural pharmacies. Mr. Speaker, in this Budget, we invested $37 million in rural pharmacies.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: Again, Mr. Speaker, I think the people of Newfoundland and Labrador want to hear that number. I know the Third Party does not want to hear anything in terms of the numbers that we have to put out there, but this is the result of consultation. This is what we do when we talk about good fiscal management; these are the numbers that we put out there. As I hear my colleagues here saying, it is not about simply spending; it is spending where we can make a difference in the lives of every Newfoundlander and Labradorian.

Mr. Speaker, wait times – when we came to government one of the things that we heard in terms of our health care system was that we had some issues around wait times for various services in Newfoundland and Labrador, and we acknowledge that. We absolutely acknowledge that. We said all right, we need to set on a path now; we need to start the journey of reducing wait times. One of the best things that I think we have done in terms of setting out on that journey was to invest money in our clinical access and efficiency division over in my department, and we have seen huge differences. We have invested $144 million in reducing wait times for various services in Newfoundland and Labrador, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: Just recently, through Budget 2012, we invested $5 million – and I see people on the other side, the Third Party, going like this and shaking their heads; they do not want to hear any more, Mr. Speaker. I do not think they are tired tonight. They do not want to hear any more of this good news in terms of how we are spending our money.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: Mr. Speaker, if we can go to midnight, I can stand until midnight because I have pages and pages of investments that the people of Newfoundland and Labrador asked for that we are delivering on. I will continue to tell them, Mr. Speaker; they deserve to hear it.

Yes, we did spend $5 million in this Budget to do some work around wait times. One of them had to do with hip and knee joint replacement therapy, Mr. Speaker. We recognize we have an aging demographic. We realize the need for this. We heard it; we responded to it. So, for this year, we have spent $1.6 million, but that is just for this year. In terms of our wait times having to do with the emergency departments in Newfoundland and Labrador, we have invested $3.6 million this year, and we will continue to make these investments right across Newfoundland and Labrador as we get going. This is just the initial investment, Mr. Speaker, in reducing those wait times.

Now, Mr. Speaker, I want to talk about infrastructure improvements that this government has made in terms of health care. Because once again, the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, if they listen to the Third Party all they are going to hear about is we did not do this or we did not do that. Well, let me tell you about what we did do; let me tell you about the commitments that we are making. Since 2004, Mr. Speaker – and I want the people of Newfoundland and Labrador to hear this – since 2004 we have invested more than $1 billion in health care infrastructure.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: That is the taxpayers' money going to good use. That is the taxpayers' money making good use and providing good service right across this Province. In this Budget, Mr. Speaker, in Budget 2012, $230.5 million in capital infrastructure; $45 million for new equipment will be expended this year, Mr. Speaker. I am looking forward to going across this Province and announcing that money from community to community. I am also looking forward to the $26.6 million in terms of repairs and renos, Mr. Speaker, and I can hardly wait to get myself out to the Bay of Islands, Mr. Speaker –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS SULLIVAN: – to make some announcements out there. It will probably be my first stop, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS SULLIVAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are so excited about all these investments that I realize people are getting pretty excited, but I do not see much excitement happening on the Third Party.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I remind the member her time is expired.

MS SULLIVAN: I expect they are not very happy –

MR. SPEAKER: Does the member have leave?

AN HON. MEMBER: By leave.

MR. SPEAKER: By leave.

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

Mr. Speaker, just let me go down through a few of the investments that we are making, in terms of infrastructure – I cannot do them all because I have already ran through the twenty minutes and I am starting down another. Mr. Speaker, $25.7 million, construction of a new regional hospital in Lab West.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: An amazing facility that we are constructing in Lab West. Mr. Speaker, it is ahead of schedule – another good point that we need to be making. Sixteen million dollars for the continued construction of the Newfoundland and Labrador Genetics Centre at the Faculty of Medicine, Mr. Speaker; $15.5 million for the development of the youth treatment centres in Grand Falls-Windsor and Paradise, and an adult treatment centre in Harbour Grace. Now, I realize that the member who was stood just before me talked about the fact that we are not doing enough in terms of mental health and addictions, and I want to get at some point another full twenty minutes to address that, because we are doing a lot of good work in those areas, and there are people in Newfoundland and Labrador who will tell us daily: Thank you for what you have done. You have saved my life. You have made a difference.

Somehow that seems to get ignored completely when we are talking about it.

Mr. Speaker, $8.5 million has been allocated in this Budget for the continued redevelopment of the Central Newfoundland Regional Health Centre in Grand Falls-Windsor. Mr. Speaker, $30 million in total has been invested; $4.5 million for the PET scanner project at Eastern Health; $2.2 million for the redevelopment of the emergency department at St. Clare's Mercy Hospital; $1.3 million for the planning and construction of the Marystown North Clinic.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: Mr. Speaker, does it sound like the sky is falling? I do not think so; I think there is a lot of very good work happening out there. Finally, I get enough time to keep going and be able to talk about this, and to let the people of Newfoundland and Labrador know what is happening and how we are spending their money.

Mr. Speaker, this is just one small facet of what we are doing. We can do this in AES, we can do this in the Department of Education, and we can do this in Child, Youth and Family Services. We can go department by department, Municipal Affairs, we can go through all of our departments here and we can be talking about the kinds of investments that we are making and continue to make, that show the responsible leadership, the responsible government, that is happening on this side of the House of Assembly.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: Yes, Mr. Speaker, there is money in this Budget for the Corner Brook hospital. Yes, Mr. Speaker, it is there.

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

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

MR. JOYCE: Mr. Speaker, I heard the minister again say there is money for the hospital. Three times I asked: When will the hospital start?

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

There is no point of order.

MS SULLIVAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As you can see, I did not get very far through the numbers of investments and the dollar figures that this government has invested. Mr. Speaker, it is so important I think, though, for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador to have opportunity to hear this. I think it is something that they deserve to hear in terms of what we are doing and spending in here in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Mr. Speaker, the people of Newfoundland and Labrador have not made a mistake. When I first decided to get involved in politics, I do recall that there was a person who said to me when I was saying I am not sure if this is really the area for me to go, I am not sure that this can happen. The person said to me: You need to understand one thing. One is: You do not underestimate the electorate; they know what they are doing. Mr. Speaker, nothing has ever seemed any truer to me in my lifetime than that statement. The people of Newfoundland and Labrador knew what they were doing. This is an intelligent electorate; they made a decision to vote for prosperity, to vote for optimism, to vote for a government that has a vision for the future and will continue to invest in it.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. KENNEDY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I do move, seconded by the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, that this House do now adjourn.

MR. SPEAKER: It has been moved and seconded that this House do now adjourn.

Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

All those in favour, ‘aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

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

Motion carried.

This House now stands adjourned until 1:30 p.m. tomorrow.

On motion, the House at its rising adjourned until tomorrow, Tuesday, at 1:30 p.m.