MR. SPEAKER (Hodder): Order, please!

Admit strangers.

This afternoon we would like to welcome in the public galleries to my left, thirteen participants in the production of All The World's A Stage. These visitors are from the District of Carbonear-Harbour Grace and are accompanied by Mr. Don Inniss. Welcome to our House.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: This afternoon we have members' statements as follows: the hon. the Member for the District of Grand Bank; the hon. the Member for the District of Lake Melville; the hon. the Member for the District of Grand Falls-Buchans; and the hon. the Member for the District of Mount Pearl.

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

MS FOOTE: Mr. Speaker, I rise today to extend sincere congratulations to Lake Academy of Fortune in the District of Grand Bank for recently receiving the Kodaly Society of Canada Music Education Excellence Award.

The Kodaly Society of Canada is a non-profit, professional organization dedicated to fostering the growth of music education in Canada through the development of curriculum and methods, and promoting research testing and cultural exchanges for the advancement of quality music education for the children of Canada.

KSC president described Lake Academy's music program as embodying many of the characteristics of a quality music program, including specialized instruction in music for all students; music educators of specialized expertise in music and education; incorporation of quality, traditional and composed music into the program and at least sixty minutes of quality music per instructional cycle. Lake Academy offers 120 minutes of music instruction to all students from K to Grade 8, 120 minutes to the school band and sixty minutes to primary and elementary choirs.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all members of the House to join me in congratulating the teacher, Nancy Mugford, and the music students of Lake Academy.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HICKEY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House today to recognize the achievement of the Mealy Mountain Collegiate boys soccer team.

On the weekend of October 27-30, the boys took home the fifth provincial championship banner for the school. That is quite an amazing feat, when you consider the school is just three years old. The other provincial banners include three for cross-country running and now two in soccer.

Mr. Speaker, it is due in part to the commitment of the players and their coaches, Mr. Ed Turpin and Mr. Dave Winters, they were able to pull off such a great victory for their school. Labrador athletes are among some of the most elite in the entire Province and it gives me great pleasure today to recognize their accomplishments.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS THISTLE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to congratulate twenty-nine year old Brian Cooke, a Grand Falls-Windsor basketball coach who recently received the Newfoundland and Labrador Basketball Association's Achievement Award. This award is presented to an individual who has provided an outstanding contribution to the growth and development of basketball within his or her region. Might I add, that is only two of those awards given out in our Province.

Brian's involvement with the sport of basketball goes back to 1988. He started playing junior basketball with the former St. Francis Xavier team and then went on to St. Mike's. In high school he was selected to play with the Under-17 Juvenile Newfoundland basketball team and placed first in the Eastern Canadian Championship. He was also selected for the Under-19 team which went on to the nationals.

Mr. Speaker, Brian's nomination was signed by Dr. Bruce Doulton and the entire EVH Under-17 team. He has been recognized for the time and effort into basketball by coaching the boys Under-17 team, starting with the group when they were in Grade 8. He has also recently restarted a men's league in Grand Falls-Windsor. His hard working dedicated style of coaching has made noticeable strides for the children under his guidance.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all Members of this hon. House of Assembly to join with me in congratulating Brian Cooke on receiving the Newfoundland and Labrador Basketball Association's Achievement Award.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of Mount Pearl.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. DENINE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Today, Mr. Speaker, I would like to pay tribute to a very distinguished resident in Mount Pearl, Mr. Jerry Byrne.

Jerry is the President and CEO of D.F. Barnes Ltd. He just received Ernst & Young's Atlantic Turn-around Entrepreneur of the Year Award. This award recognizes business people who have demonstrated excellence and extraordinary success in areas such as innovation, risk taking, company development, financial performance, and personal commitment to their business and communities.

Mr. Speaker, this is the type of entrepreneurship that our Province needs to move the economy forward and create employment.

I ask this House to join with me in congratulating Mr. Jerry Byrne on this very prestigious award and wish him every success in his future endeavours.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Statements by Ministers.

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS BURKE: Mr. Speaker, this week, as incoming Chair of the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada, I had the honour of addressing over 200 leaders in post-secondary education at a National Dialogue on Higher Education. These meetings focused on the role of post-secondary education in Canada today.

This topic is of great interest to the Council of Ministers of Education. The CMEC recently reaffirmed its commitment to put education at the top of the national agenda. To this end, the ministers have agreed on three key priories for joint development in the coming years: literacy, Aboriginal education, and post-secondary capacity.

As you are aware, Mr. Speaker, the Council of the Federation - the Premiers of every province and territory in our country - have set post-secondary education as a priority. The COF has, in turn, tasked the Council of Ministers of Education to take the lead on issues related to post-secondary education - and with good reason.

There is a growing demand for post-secondary education, but our universities and colleges struggle to meet that demand. This is a direct result of operating cuts and federal transfers to the provinces and territories in the mid-1990s.

The resistance on the part of the federal government to transfer money for post-secondary education is a very real challenge. Although the rhetoric is one of partnership and good will, the experience over the last decade is quite different. The federal government often imposes programs on provinces without sufficient consultation. In many cases, federal sponsorship is for a limited period, then withdrawn and the provinces have to pick up the federal share.

Simply put, this level of participation is not enough. It is time now, Mr. Speaker, that the federal government recognize the tremendous role the provinces and territories play in educating our citizens for the benefit of the entire country.

Mr. Speaker, this government has implemented a tuition freeze and is investing $90 million over three years in operating grants and research. Our commitment to ensuring quality post-secondary education is also evident in the many other actions outlined in the White Paper. Other jurisdictions are undertaking similar reviews of their post-secondary education systems. However, as the incoming Chair of the CMEC, I believe it is time for the federal government to provide the financial support needed to ensure quality institutions and programs.

In keeping with direction from the Council of the Federation, Education Ministers will invite their federal colleagues to discuss the challenges in the post-secondary sector and to consider greater federal involvement. We will work together to see relations between the federal government and the provinces and territories improve over the coming years so that we all work together for the good of our students.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS THISTLE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would like to congratulate the Minister of Education on her upcoming challenge as being incoming Chair of the Council of Ministers of Education for Canada.

I find it a little ironic that the Premier, in his eleventh hour wish list to the Prime Minister yesterday, did not consult with the Minister of Education, and her being the incoming Chair, because there was no mention made of post-secondary education on that wish list, and the need to cut the cost of our students trying to get an education today.

She talks about literacy being one of the key issues. Well, I can say this government has dropped the ball on the literacy program in our Province. There has not been a word on literacy since they came into power over two years ago. This is the first time I heard her mention literacy.

When it comes to post-secondary capacity, what a joke! The central university committee spent $50,000 for a White Paper study that they presented, and they never got a single mention when the White Paper came out. Yet, our Premier blurted out a little while ago that he was going to make Grenfell College a free-standing university without ever consulting with the President, Axel Meisen.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS THISTLE: Then we go on to see the minister condemn the federal government for not consulting with the provinces on programs they bring in. What happened to this government when it came to the fishery?

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The member's allotted time has expired.

MS THISTLE: By leave?

MR. SPEAKER: By leave?

AN HON. MEMBER: No leave.

MR. SPEAKER: Leave has been denied.

The hon. the Member for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi.

MR. HARRIS: Perhaps I should ask for leave before I start, Mr. Speaker. Then they might not be upset at the right time.

Mr. Speaker, one of the greatest inequalities in our Province is the cost of post-secondary education to students who have to travel and pay for accommodation to attend. Students from St. John's or Corner Brook can go to Memorial University, for example, whereas a student from St. Anthony, the Burin Peninsula, Labrador or Port aux Basques has to pay transportation and accommodation costs. What we need are improvements in a needs-based grants program to level the playing field for those students who must travel and pay accommodation costs to get post-secondary education. We also need restored EI funding for training so that access is available.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The member's allotted time has expired.

MR. HARRIS: By leave, Mr. Speaker?

MR. SPEAKER: By leave?

AN HON. MEMBER: By leave.

MR. SPEAKER: Leave has been granted.

MR. HARRIS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank hon. members for granting leave to continue for a little, short period of time.

We have been very encouraged, Mr. Speaker, by the efforts of the NDP in Ottawa having achieved a $1.5 billion for post-secondary education and training in last May's Budget changes, and we look forward to increased funding coming from Ottawa for post-secondary education in this Province when the NDP go back to the House of Commons with a strengthened caucus and be able to ensure that these kind of priorities that are important to Newfoundland and Labrador will be part of any future government.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Further statements by ministers?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS DUNDERDALE: Mr. Speaker, I rise before the House today to draw hon. members' attention to a new ocean-related initiative of our government.

Through the Ireland Business Partnerships, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, in partnership with the Government of Ireland, has issued a request for proposals to develop a plan for providing seabed mapping services to international markets.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS DUNDERDALE: This initiative will provide a market study and business plan for a consortium of Irish and Newfoundland and Labrador organizations and companies to combine their knowledge and expertise in marine and geoscience services to develop a niche market in seabed mapping.

There is increasing interest by countries throughout the world in accurately mapping their offshore territories. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea is aimed at regulating all activities in the world's oceans and it is predicted that, ultimately, competing pressures for resources will result in the ocean's floor being divided into zones of national and international jurisdictions.

Good ocean mapping offers a number of economic benefits. Knowing the shape of the ocean floor can reduce losses of fishing nets and encourage environmentally friendly fishing practices. Oil and gas exploration is enhanced by improving seabed mapping, and marine safety can be improved with better charts, as many of our nautical charts are based on hydrographic surveys done decades, and sometimes centuries, ago.

Mr. Speaker, Ireland is one the world's foremost experts in seabed mapping having recently completed mapping of its own territorial seabed, an area ten times the size of Ireland's land size. We have, in our Province, a unique marine technology cluster, consisting of companies, institutions and agencies with impressive knowledge and expertise.

The marine technology is growing worldwide. Through the Department of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development and the department's Marine Technology Development Strategy we are building this sector to take advantage of exciting new opportunities. With our expertise and through our partnerships, we are poised to become a national, indeed a global, leader in this field.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS FOOTE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I want to thank the minister for an advance copy of her statement today.

I am so pleased to see that the government is carrying on with the tremendous initiatives that were started by the previous Liberal Administration with Ireland. This is, indeed, a really positive initiative and I am hoping that we will see many more take place. I know that when we started this whole initiative, it was one where we recognized a lot of similarities between Ireland and Newfoundland and Labrador.

This particular initiative is a good example of an area where we should, indeed, have a competitive advantage, given our historical attachment to the sea and our geographic location. Of course, the fact that we also have a wonderful institute like the Marine Institute, and what is happening in our post-secondary institutions with respect to research and equality and caliber research that is being carried out, not only in our post-secondary institutions in the Province but as well with the private sector.

It is a tremendous initiative and I would encourage the minister to continue to work with Ireland and also to recognize the opportunities there for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, by going to work in Ireland and, of course, the reverse happening as well

Thank you.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi.

MR. HARRIS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

This is, indeed, a positive initiative. We have shown in this Province that we do have the capacity to show world leadership in a number of high tech industrial developments and technologies, Mr. Speaker, with Nautical Data International, for example, in mapping. We have Consilient Technologies in communications, and Rutter industries in the area of black boxes for ships, I guess, is the simplest way to say it, that have world renown. It is a kind of initiative that I think can lead to a lot of positive things in the future. I commend the minister for taking this initiative and hope that she has many others like that, that can benefit the Province in the future.

MR. SPEAKER: Further statements by ministers?

Oral Questions.

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

MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

My questions are for the Minister of Fisheries.

Earlier this year, the government took a fish processing facility from James Doyle & Sons Limited of New Ferolle because that company defaulted on a loan guarantee. As a result, government became the owners of that facility.

I ask the minister: Why was there no public or advertised process for that facility, a process that would have given all fish companies in the Province the opportunity to put forth a proposal, as would normally happen with any government asset that government wants to dispose of?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SULLIVAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

There was currently a lease, a multi-year lease, by a current operator and government had to move and take control of the facility. There were significant amounts of money owed to the Province, up close to $1 million, in addition to some they had defaulted on previously, in excess of $1 million. So, we moved to take control of that facility to protect the public interest and the taxpayers' money. Now it is in the process of discussion there. There is no final decision on future operations made on that particular plant.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I know why you took the plant, Minister; I asked you why you did not go through a normal process of disposing of a facility that was owned by the government. Instead, you picked someone you wanted and never went through a normal process.

Mr. Speaker, the company that was hand-picked by the minister to operate the plant in New Ferolle this summer left people in that area, as well as other areas in the Province, without payment for their work in the plant, and without payment for the fish that was sold there.

I ask the minister: As your government selected this company without going through the proper process, what actions have you taken to ensure that those people get their money back that is owed them by that company?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SULLIVAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The company that was operating that facility leased it from James Doyle prior to James Doyle being taken by government. That company had entered into lease with a private company prior to that, and that lease is still ongoing. The period has not expired on that lease. The company that leased that owns property on the facility and have a structure on that facility that they own, and the land on that facility that is there.

Government has not made any final decision on that particular issue, Mr. Speaker. We have moved to protect the taxpayers' rights in a facility. We have been collecting, absolutely, not a penny of money for a number of years on a facility. Default on a $1.2 EML loan had close to $1 million outstanding to government. We moved on that. We allowed a lease to continue in that particular operation there, that was in place, upon consultation, and we have talked to legal advisers on that and worked with advice on that process to ensure that the interests of the taxpayers of this Province are protected, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. REID: Mr. Speaker, it appears the minister does not listen. I have said we understand why government took the company. It is because of a loan guarantee default. I asked you why you did not go through the normal process and what are you doing for those people who have not been paid yet by the company that you put into the plant.

Now, Mr. Speaker, last fall this minister, or the Minister of Fisheries, touted an independent about this great independent fish processing licence review board that he had set up. Why didn't he go through this board when selecting a new operator? Will you be reviewing the company's licence, the company that is currently in there, before you reissue it again this spring?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SULLIVAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I will speak on a part of that question. I will not talk about issuing licences and so on, just in the purvey of the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, but I will indicate that we took control of a facility that was owned by James Doyle & Sons, who had an outstanding lease still going on with the company that was there. That company now -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. SULLIVAN: Mr. Speaker, that company is leasing the facility from government now as opposed to from James Doyle. We have set a fee on that lease in line with an appropriate fee that - I am not sure what their specific arrangement may have been, but we have set a lease fee for that facility and we are still going through that period of that. Government will make an appropriate decision in due course on that in the best interest of the people of this Province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. REID: Mr. Speaker, I can understand why we call this Question Period because we certainly do not get any answers. I can tell you something else, Mr. Speaker, I do not know why the Minister of Finance is up answering questions today for the Minister of Fisheries when we know why the plant was taken by the government.

Mr. Speaker, let's switch to another topic. Maybe the Minister of Fisheries can answer this one. The Minister of Fisheries recently issued a call for proposals for a fish processing licence in the Canada Bay area on the Northern Peninsula.

I ask the minister a simple question: Is this a new licence or it is the licence that is currently held on the plant in Englee by Daley Brothers?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, and Minister Responsible for Aboriginal Affairs.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, I think the minister, my colleague, the former Minister of Fisheries, announced some months ago that the Daley licence in Englee had become inactive because it had not been operational for - I think two years is the policy. Therefore, Daley's had been notified that it would not be renewed and a call for public proposals was made for a licence in the Canada Bay area. Would that be a new licence? Would it be replacing the old licence in Englee? Will another one be issued or will the board recommend that we not do anything? That, Mr. Speaker, is before the board at this present time.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. REID: Mr. Speaker, the minister is confused. The previous minister, the member who represents the area said recently that he could not take the licence from Daley Brothers in Englee because it had not been inactive for two years. The people in the area want to know whether or not the licence is still on the plant in Englee. If it is, is the licence that is being advertised in the papers around the Province a new licence? That is the question I ask, because your minister, the previous minister, is on record as saying he could not take the licence from Daley Brothers because the plant had not been inactive for two years.

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, not because the Leader of the Opposition says something is a fact, makes it a fact. If the Leader of the Opposition told me that the sun was shining, Mr. Speaker, I would have to go to the window and have a look. I place no weight at all on what the Leader of the Opposition says is a fact.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, the issue of a licence in Canada Bay, Englee, Conche, Roddickton, wherever, is before the licensing board and the licensing board, in due course, will make a recommendation to the minister and when that happens, Mr. Speaker, the minister will then make a decision.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. REID: Mr. Speaker, the same tired, old political games I hear from this minister everyday, that if he does not know the answer to a question he attacks the person who is doing the questioning.

Mr. Speaker, I ask him a simple question. If he says the licence is cancelled in Englee to Daley Brothers, which I am quite certain it is not, has Daley Brothers or the Town of Englee been notified that they no longer have a licence in that community?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, the peekaboo minister, when he had some good news to peek his head out about, he poked his head up out of the sand. When he had bad news or no news, he kept his head covered, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, this minister has no trouble with carrying out his ministerial duties in a public way and defending that, Mr. Speaker, and that is exactly what I will do.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. JOYCE: Mr. Speaker, tomorrow is December 1. Winter is here; snow is possible any day. I have reports of only three trucks in Bay Roberts ready for the season. They usually have eight. The mechanics in Bay Roberts are not permitted to work overtime. There are operators, maintenance personnel and winter staff still not hired.

Can the minister confirm that the maintenance depot at Bay Roberts is full to capacity and there are three trucks in the yard waiting for repairs? I ask the minister: Is this your idea of being 100 per cent ready for winter?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, I would not dare confirm a word uttered by the hon. gentleman as being a fact. I would not dare!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. RIDEOUT: This is the hon. gentleman, Mr. Speaker, who holds the record in this House -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. RIDEOUT: - for the best research assistant ever to have come on the floor of the House. That is this minister.

Mr. Speaker, the details of the question I will take under advisement but I can say this: Overtime is never an impediment, or never was an impediment, in the Department of Transportation and Works when work needed to be done, and I do not suspect it ever will.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. JOYCE: Mr. Speaker, I say to the minister, my credibility was challenged before on my information until I produced the documents to prove that I was right. So, Minister, if you do not believe me, come over and read the documents.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JOYCE: Your own documents from your own department.

Mr. Speaker, the Premier stated yesterday, what we do in an election is not to get votes. How hypocritical. Look at the Blue Book and the promise to bring ferry rates in line with road transportation. This government raised the ferry rates by 25 per cent over three years, a broken election promise. This Premier, with his wish list to Ottawa, asked for a 15 per cent reduction in Marine Atlantic ferry rates.

Will the Premier show that he is serious about ferry rates and honour his commitments made during the election, and reduce ferry rates in this Province?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, this government inherited a financial mess from the hon. crowd on the other side of the House. We did not want to increase ferry rates but we had no other choice, because they left the cupboard bare. They left nothing in the cupboard for us to work with, and it was the leadership of this Premier and the hard work of this government that has turned that around, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Member for Bay of Islands.

MR. JOYCE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Before the election, with the former Auditor General in his caucus, I guess I can see now why you did not listen to her. You put her in the back benches because you did not want to hear what she had to say.

The Minister of Transportation and Works prides himself on releasing and acting upon reports his government views. Last year, the government commissioned the Harris Centre to do a study on marine services in Labrador. Later, they ignored all the recommendations. Then, they commissioned them to do a study on marine freight rates in Labrador. The report has been in government's hands since May and has not been acted upon. When are you going to release the study which indicates government is overcharging for marine freight services in Labrador?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, maybe the hon. gentleman, if he has the study, can go ahead and release it. He said it indicates that government is overcharging for marine services in Labrador. There was one incident brought to our attention, when I was the minister, by the hon. Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair, where there was a difference between a freight rate in Labrador and the same item on the Island. Mr. Speaker, I immediately corrected that anomaly based on her recommendation.

In terms of the report itself, Mr. Speaker, the report was commissioned by the government. The report is in the hands of the government, and when the government is finished doing due diligence in the analysis of that report, in our keeping with openness, honesty and transparency, it will be released.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister Responsible for the Status of Women.

The Provincial Advisory Council on the Status of Women just celebrated their twenty-fifth anniversary. Mr. Speaker, I was appalled that there was not even a Ministerial Statement in the House of Assembly, and even more so when I attended a dinner in which the minister brought greetings and then left the room and left the reception before the keynote speaker, Joyce Hancock, could even get up and speak.

Mr. Speaker, I have to question this minister's support for feminism in our Province, especially when she can tolerate the comments that have been expressed by her government, Mr. Speaker, towards the Status of Women President, Joyce Hancock, and so many other women in the civil service in this Province who have been shown the door without a word of defence.

On this anniversary, Mr. Speaker, which is so important to the women of our Province, I want to ask the minister if she will disclose the pre-Budget plan on funding for women centres in our Province like she did for education last week?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Education and the Minister Responsible for the Status of Women.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS BURKE: Mr. Speaker, the Provincial Advisory Council was set up twenty-five years ago and just recently are celebrating their twenty-fifth anniversary. Mr. Speaker, it was set up by a Tory government. It was set up under the leadership of former Premier Brian Peckford and, Mr. Speaker, I am very supportive of that movement.

Mr. Speaker, as we move policies forward in this government we do consult with the Advisory Council and we do take the feedback and the information they provide very seriously.

Mr. Speaker, for example, some of the input that we have received and some of the feedback recently that helps us shape public policy would include the input that they provided on a committee to set the family violence legislation.

Mr. Speaker, also, when we were in the process of consultation for the poverty reduction strategy we set up separate meetings specifically so the Advisory Council could meet with our consultants, so that they could provide information in an environment where there were no other stakeholders so that we could listen to their concerns.

Mr. Speaker, in addition to that, we have also consulted with the Advisory Council on how -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Chair asks questioners and ministers replying to keep their comments within the sixty seconds.

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

MS JONES: Mr. Speaker, this minister knows, or should know, that women centres in our Province, and women's councils are the strongest advocates for women that we have. They deal with women every day on housing issues, food issues, fuel issues, and as we see the growing need, the growing poverty levels, and the lack of employment in this Province, there are more and more demands being put on those centres.

I want to ask the minister today: Is she prepared to commit at least $100,000 per centre for each of the women centres in our Province?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Education and the Minister Responsible for the Status of Women.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS BURKE: Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for her question. I have to point out that under the previous Administration the women centres received $50,000 a year and had no increases. That was the amount, as a government, that we inherited when we came into government.

Mr. Speaker, despite the financial hardship and the restraint that we had to experience when we came on as a new government, we have been able to increase the budgets of the women centres in this Province. Mr. Speaker, it was set at $50,000. In the first year that we announced our budget, although we had restraints and we had to deal with difficult times, Mr. Speaker, we increased that budget from $50,000 to $55,000. Then, in the second year, the second budget, we increased it again by $10,000. They have, in essence, gone from $50,000 to $65,000.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS BURKE: Mr. Speaker, I acknowledge the work that is done by the women's centres and the fact that they are on the front lines and they deal with all communities in Newfoundland and Labrador, and I will continue, through the budget process, to advance the work of these centres.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

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

MS JONES: Mr. Speaker, I want to remind the minister that it was this administration and a Liberal Government that picked up the financial support for every women's centre in this Province when they were about to close.

Mr. Speaker, in September the minister went out and announced a six-year extension to the Violence Prevention Initiative plan. One problem: There was no money attached to that plan. I want to say to the minister today, that December 6 is the anniversary of the Montreal massacre. Minister, support the women in this Province, do the right thing and announce the six-year funding plan to go along with the Violence Prevention Initiative.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Education and Minister Responsible for the Status of Women.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS BURKE: Mr. Speaker, December 6 is coming in less than a week, and that was a very serious day in Canada for women and for the feminist movement, and the fact that many university students - and I happened to be a university at the time - were shot and killed for no reason other than being a woman. Mr. Speaker, it is not a political bed, nor is it a time that we try to make political points on the tragedy of many families and women in this country.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS BURKE: Mr. Speaker, the Violence Prevention Initiative remains an important initiative for this government and we have committed to a six-year plan. As we move through the budgeting process and we have monies confirmed, we will be making that announcement at the appropriate time.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Mr. Speaker, I say to the minister, that the Violence Prevention Initiative is an important issue. It is every bit as important as anything else that you will do in government and it doesn't matter what day you fund it as long as you fund it.

Let me say this, Mr. Speaker, there is obviously no money going to be announced on this anniversary for women's centres in our Province, but maybe the minister could tell me how much money her government paid out when they walk civil servants, women, out the door in this government, severance pay that went out because of people like Debbie Fry, Ann Marie Hann, Pamela Walsh and Florence Delaney, all who lost their jobs. How much did that cost, Minister?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Education and the Minister Responsible for the Status of Women.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS BURKE: Mr. Speaker, I find it very difficult that we would use December 6 as a day in any way to be making announcements or to get any political favors. As I said, it is a day of tragedy in Canada, it is the day that women were shot and killed; students in universities who were killed for no reason other than being women.

Mr. Speaker, I have no intentions of using that day for political gain in the women's community or in the community of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is a day of mourning that we need to respect, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS BURKE: Mr. Speaker, this government is committed to women and we are committed to having women in decision making and leadership positions. Mr. Speaker, we have made various appointments throughout our mandate where we do put women in positions where they are able to make decisions, they are able to take the leadership roles, and never have we ever let go of any person in the public service for the reason based on their gender. We make our decisions based on people's skills, their qualifications and, Mr. Speaker, when we can, we are able to put women in these positions.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Maybe I will direct my question to the Minister of Finance because the Minister for the Status of Women obviously does not want to answer.

Minister, how much money was paid out in severance for the women who were walked out the door in the upper ranks of the civil service?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SULLIVAN: Mr. Speaker, this government, the William's government has fully implemented all aspects of pay for everybody in this Province and any monies paid out is done regardless of gender. They might like to rise and raise gender issues. Absolutely, this government has treated women the same as men, no gender bias in this government, Mr. Speaker. Any amounts that are paid out are done on a consistent basis in this government and that member knows very well and she is trying to make a political issue out of something that this government has no way - as any affect. It is that government that discriminated on the basis of gender, that did not implement certain aspects there -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. SULLIVAN: - and we all know the story of that, what they did when they were in power. We have corrected that, we have moved forward and we are doing the right thing. Regardless of gender in this Province, we treat women the same as men.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi.

MR. HARRIS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

My question is for the Minister of Finance

Recently, the Minister of Finance announced that the additional $495 million that he got in extra revenues this year was going against the debt. He seems to be poised to take the advice of the Auditor General and take what is left of the $2 billion in Atlantic Accord money to pay it down on the Unfunded Pension Liability.

Will the minister not recognize that the unmet needs of our citizens are in the same category? That hungry children going to school, that a lack of adequate dental programs or drug programs, drug coverage for people with MS, Alzheimer's, diabetes, inadequate housing, that these problems will cost more to our system in the future if these needs are not met now, not to mention, of course, the positive improvements in people's lives that would result from tackling these problems now instead of waiting for them to get worse?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SULLIVAN: Yes, Mr. Speaker, absolutely, I agree with the member, and our Budget has reflected that. We have put $113 million into health care. We have increased the amount of money going in to deal with children in this Province. Through Child Welfare we have increased funding. We have hired counsellors in this Province. We have approved another $15 million to deal with boards to relieve a lot of these pressing issues. We are reviewing. We are even looking at the overall dental program.

There are many aspects of government that we have channelled out this year, I might add. We channelled out over $200 million in new expenditure to deal with many, many programs for children in this Province. Eight-hundred-and-forty-thousand dollars going into deal with women's issues in this Province. We are spending money. We are looking at Violence Prevention Initiative and we are looking at a poverty strategy to help all people in this Province, especially the people who are more disadvantaged. We are very conscious of that. We have a social conscience. It has shown up in our Budget.

Mr. Speaker, as I went around in this Province on pre-Budget, we were congratulated on pre-Budget by women's centres -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

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

MR. HARRIS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The minister spends an awful lot of his time trying to scare the people of this Province about our long-term debt consequences instead of offering long-term solutions.

Now, Mr. Speaker, we know that we have one of the highest rates of childhood obesity in the Province and that about 80 per cent of obese children grow into obese adults, with all the health problems that are a consequence to that.

I am going to ask the minister, if it is true, as it has been reported in Nova Scotia, that the comprehensive healthy living program for schools, for a whole school, would cost less than one operation for someone with a fatty liver, why are we not dealing with these unmet needs right now so that the system, down the road, will not have to deal with these problems, just like the unfunded pension liability? Why aren't we doing that and giving our kids a chance for the future instead of going on about the debt?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SULLIVAN: Thank you, Mr Speaker.

This government has an advanced agenda of dealing with people with dealing with those problems more than any other government in our history. We have looked at dealing with the school system in terms of proper eating, access to food, school lunch programs, for breakfast programs. We looked at $1 million in the physical education equipment to allow people, who may not be able to participate in regular streams of activity on teams, to be able to access equipment to help them in their efforts. We have looked at numerous aspects.

We are looking at, under the poverty strategy of this Province, that is under HRLE under the minister there, looking at dealing with all these concerns where people are disadvantaged, who are not able, to be able to compete and access some of the things that people can on higher incomes. We are dealing with that. We have looked at dealing with low income people by making them exempt from paying income tax at a certain level. We increased the supplement on income support and we doubled the fuel supplement to assist people with low incomes. We are doing everything we can to level the playing field in this Province, and, Mr. Speaker, we are going to do more. Stay tuned over the next while and you will see our efforts in this regard.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The time allocation for the Member for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi has expired.

The Chair recognizes the Member for Grand Falls-Buchans.

MS THISTLE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

According to an interview done by Craig Welsh in the February 15 Express, Bill Rowe was ready to take on the next assignment the Premier wanted done, but the next day Rowe resigned from his job as the provincial representative in Ottawa after just six months on the job. Government advertised the position shortly thereafter. In fact, I have a copy of it here. The closing date passed on March 18, 2005.

Can the Premier tell the House how many people applied for the job, if indeed interviews were conducted, and when will a replacement for Mr. Rowe be chosen?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER WILLIAMS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I cannot tell the hon. member the exact number of people who have applied because I do not have that information at hand, but I certainly am prepared to provide that information. I do know that there were several applicants, but because of the uncertainty in Ottawa with the possibility of an election back in the late spring and the early summer, and an election now, we basically put that on hold and tend to keep it on hold until this election is over. This is a very, very important position to the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, and on that basis, we are waiting to see what the lay of the land is before we make a final decision.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS THISTLE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is interesting that the ad says, the representative is based in Ottawa and plays a crucial role in representing the interests of the provincial government, although that role has been absent for almost nine months. Mr. Speaker, there is still office space being leased on Metcalfe Street in Ottawa and an administrative assistant hired last year is still answering the phones at a budgeted cost to the taxpayers of this Province of $350,000 a year.

Can the Premier tell the House why this government has been leasing office space and paying an administrative assistant to babysit a vacant position for the past eight months? Is this what the Minister of Finance calls proper appropriation of public funds? I would like to hear that answer.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER WILLIAMS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am surprised at the concern from the hon. member opposite, because they never supported this position in the first place. Now all of a sudden there is a new-found concern. Having said that - and they realize as well how crucial this position is - I can explain there is a lease in place. I am sure the hon. member opposite knows the legalities of entering into a lease. It was very different for Mr. Rowe to obtain suitable space when he was up there. He finally obtained space and he did subsequently lease it. We are actually minimizing the administrative costs there as well. When she improperly cites the amount of $350,000, that includes the salary of the person who is no longer there, so you might want to subtract that number from your numbers and get the right number.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The time allocated for Question Period has expired.

Presenting Reports by Standing and Special Committees. Tabling of Documents. Notices of Motion. Answers to Questions for which Notice has been Given. Petitions. Orders of the Day.

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

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

I know we are a little bit before 3 o'clock and Question Period is over, and now we are into Wednesday, Private Members' Day. I guess we will move straight forward to the Member for Gander, to Private Members' Day, and the issue that he has before the House for debate.

MR. SPEAKER: The Chair recognizes the Member for Gander.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. O'BRIEN: Mr. Speaker, today I rise in this House on a very important matter. Actually, it is a very important matter that affects my district, but it certainly affects, more so, all of Newfoundland and Labrador. I will not read into the record the total of the resolution. It is in the Orders of the Day, November 30, 2005, and it is in number 7 of Motions, in that category of the Orders of the Day.

The gist of that resolution, that private member's bill, Mr. Speaker, is to address the issue of the removal of the Gander weather office and the relocation of that weather office to Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. They left ten employees there, not forecasters because they do not forecast now, Mr. Speaker, from that location. They actually provide administrative work and whatnot. Mostly all of the forecasting is done from Dartmouth and other areas in the province.

Mr. Speaker, this resolution is not about jobs, this is not about federal jobs, this is about public safety. That is exactly what this is about. You know, the weather is so important to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, it affects all their lives in various aspects on a day-to-day basis. Yes, Mr. Speaker, jobs are involved. You need forecasters to write the weather. You need forecasters in the Province who look at the various models to write the weather. That requires people.

We heard in the House of Assembly on November 22, the hon. Minister Tom Marshall, the Minister Responsible for Intergovernmental Affairs, read a Ministerial Statement in this House of Assembly addressing the loss of federal jobs in this Province and the withdrawal of a federal presence here in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Recently, we had a letter that was drafted by our Premier and sent on to the various leaders, the four leaders in the upcoming election, the federal election, and one of the things that we addressed, or he addressed, and the government addressed, in that letter was the federal presence of jobs in this Province and, in particular, the Gander Weather Office.

As a government - there are several, I think, sixteen things in that letter that we addressed as priorities for this government - we will keep all of those priorities on the hotbed of this election, and certainly we will be keeping the one on the Gander Weather Office in the forefront of this election on commitment and on the order, I guess, and the commitments of the particular leaders in this election, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, we are a Province; we are a Province that is partly surrounded by water. The Island portion is surrounded by water, with 9,871.44 kilometres of coastline, Mr. Speaker. Then, we have the great land of Labrador with 8,172.2 kilometres of coastline. All of that coastline is in the North Atlantic. The North Atlantic, we all know what it does to weather patterns and whatnot, and the harshness of it.

We have all heard our ancestors talk about and give us stories about the harshness of the weather here in Newfoundland and Labrador, and what the North Atlantic does to it. It has profound effects on our everyday lives. It plays havoc on our plans and our lives in general as we pass through each day, especially in the winter months.

We have sudden changes in temperatures, Mr. Speaker. We have storms that brew within hours. We have storms that are forecast that do not happen at all. All of these things have a terrible effect on the aspects of our life.

Mr. Speaker, our lives depend on it. Our lives depend on accurate forecasting. That is what it is all about, accurate forecasting. We have forecasting - yes, absolutely, we have forecasting - but we do not have accurate forecasting; not in my opinion, anyway, and I do not think it is the opinion of very many in this Province this day across Newfoundland and Labrador.

Mr. Speaker, every morning, every single morning across Newfoundland and Labrador, especially in the winter months, vice-principals, principals like Mr. Max Rice of the academy out on New World Island, have to get up every morning and make a decision with regard to if students are going to get on buses to go to school that day. They have to make their decisions. Mr. Rice, in particular, has to make a decision for 500 students in twenty-one communities. You know, various things could be planned for that school day for those students, very important things in the lives of students and the educational process of our young, but every single day those principals and vice-principals to have get out of their beds and they have to take the safety of all those students on their shoulders and they have to base it on the forecast of that day. They have to depend on the accuracy of that forecast. We have seen time and time again over the last winter, and I have documented as we went along, inaccuracies in the weather in regard to halfway through the day we are getting up to five and twenty centimetres of snow when none was forecast. I will give you examples of that as we go along.

Health care: weather forecasting certainly affects our health care and our health care costs. It is not a pleasant thing when you are out on the highway on the way to an appointment, be it with a specialist or be it with a diagnostic test, be it in St. John's, be it in Gander, be it in Grand Falls, Corner Brook or wherever our health facilities are located, it is not nice to be out on the highway trying to get to an appointment and you encounter a storm that was not forecast and then, when you finally get to where you are going, you find out that your appointment has been cancelled due to weather.

Also, in regard to productivity in the health care system, you have in this Province very, very busy doctors. You have very, very busy hospitals that are trying to react to the needs of our citizens, and trying to react to the health care that is needed in this Province. When you have a storm, an unexpected storm that has not been forecast, it plays havoc on the productivity of those facilities and the specialists. They plan for months and months ahead. Doctors today know what they are doing three months and six months ahead of time, especially in the specialist areas. When you have accurate forecasting, they are able to rearrange their schedules and then they are busy on that particular day in regard to whatever they are doing. If they don't have accurate forecasting to come in, in the morning, they don't have anything to do, they have to create things to do, Mr. Speaker. That is costing precious dollars in our health care system - that is the bottom line of it - and precious time, more importantly the time, Mr. Speaker, unproductive time that we can ill-afford in this Province in regard to health care.

Tourism: It affects tourism on a day-to-day basis. Imagine if you had a forecast for rain and fog in Twillingate on any given day during the summer months, and you have cloud and sun on that particular day. Well, if it was forecast in the early morning, tourists who were located in Gander planning on going to Twillingate on that particular day, tourists who were located in Lewisporte and planning on going to Twillingate that day, they would not go, Mr. Speaker, because they are expecting the rain and the fog. Nothing to see, it is a poor day to be out there, so they would possibly go on to somewhere else and forget Twillingate. Mr. Speaker, those are precious dollars that are lost to the tourist industry in Twillingate, precious dollars that actually could spell failure or success for a particular business that might be affected by it. If that happens too often, the loss of dollars and the loss of revenue will certainly affect their bottom line at the end, because they have to make the money, to pun the words, as the sun shines. That is when they have to do it, when that tourist industry is at the utmost in this Province. That is when they have to make their money, Mr. Speaker. So they depend on accurate forecasts.

The fishery, Mr. Speaker, the men and women of our Province who go to sea and make their living, how important it is to have accurate forecasts. I was speaking to a fishermen only two or three weeks ago on the Southern Shore. I am originally from the Southern Shore, so he approached me in regard to the weather office. He had some really profound worries about the forecasting for last fall and last winter, and he mentioned to me that they are out there on the water and they don't know on a day-to-day basis if they are going to have accurate forecasting. Also, one of the things he mentioned to me was the ability, when Gander was up and running at full capacity, to pick up the phone and call the Gander weather office and get an update at any given time. Regardless if it was on an hourly basis or on a timely basis, they would phone and get an update on the weather. Mr. Speaker, they cannot do that anymore, that piece of comfort is gone. The updated weather is not there for them to have, and I will actually get to the updates in regard to the weather forecast in this Province a little later, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, that is where the problem lies. I think in the March 10 issue of The Telegram, Mr. Bill Callahan put it in perspective, in the way he put it in regards to what has happened with weather forecasting in this Province when it was relocated to Dartmouth from Gander. He said, and I quote: That weather forecasting now is approximately over 1,000 miles away and about half-a-dozen weather systems away. That is exactly what it is, Mr. Speaker.

You know, with the relocation of the Gander Weather Office, I believe, I may be corrected, but there were six supervisors who were relocated and taken out of weather forecasting from Gander to Dartmouth. As a matter of fact, I think they came out of the system completely. There was also another eight employees that were moved who accumulated fifteen years of experience. The six actually accumulated eighty years of experience and the eight accumulated fifteen years of experience, and they were moved to Dartmouth. They were moved to Dartmouth mainly to forecast weather for Newfoundland and Labrador. But, in saying that, the other things that I am hearing about from forecasters - and I have a few friends in the forecast industry, I guess - that they are spread too thin in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. When they were moved there, they were given other responsibilities. They were given other things to do than just reading the models and forecasting weather. They do a lot things. Yes, they do forecast and, yes, I would agree that there is an ability, I guess, to forecast from anywhere in Canada. You can drill it down to just one location but, the difference is accurate forecasting. There is the difference, Mr. Speaker.

You can take the models, you can read the models, you can write a forecast but, you know, the problem that we have in Newfoundland and Labrador, which is very, very important - especially, as I said, in the fishing industry, the tourist industry, to health care, to education and to all aspects of life - is the interpretation of the models, and the accuracy certainly depends on the interpretation of the models. Mr. Speaker, that comes with experience. That comes with the experience of being here, the experience of eighty years; eighty years of accumulated experience of weather forecasting in this region. That is where it is. In regards to being too thin and working on various other things within that industry, you do not have time. I am not questioning their ability to read the models but they have a lot of other things to do. They read the model, they write the forecast, they issue the forecast and then they go on to do other things. They do not have a whole lot of time. They do not have the same time frames that they had to read those models and write the forecast in regards to when it used to be in Gander.

There were more resources located in Gander. As a matter of fact, we are down to six people employed in Gander right now at this very moment, only six. Now, we are supposed to have ten but they are out trying to recruit four others; four others that probably will not have any experience at all in regards to reading the models and writing the forecast for Newfoundland and Labrador. But, I guess, as time goes on they will learn. Then, also, we have to take into account that they actually do not forecast, Mr. Speaker.

I will give you some examples, Mr. Speaker, because I think I am running out of time here, but I will have another little bit of time to come. I will give you some examples of inaccuracy in forecasting that I did a little kind of an overview of. On Christmas Day, the forecast for Gander, 5 cm, we actually got 15 cm; on January 7, the forecast for the East Coast, 15 to 20 cm, we got actually less than 5; January 28, the forecast for Gander, 2 cm, actually we got 15; January 29 forecast for Gander, 2 cm, we actually got another 15; March 4, the forecast for St. John's, 5 to 10 cm, we actually got 50 cm. It all started on the morning of March 4 and I do not think there was any update on the weather given to the schools in St. John's that we were into a major storm until about 2 o'clock in the afternoon.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The member's allotted time has expired.

MR. O'BRIEN: By leave, Mr. Speaker?

MR. SPEAKER: Leave has been requested.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: By leave.

MR. SPEAKER: Leave is granted.

MR. O'BRIEN: Mr. Speaker, March 15 to 16, there was a storm surge along the East Coast. There was no mention of any forecast, no mention at all, and that is not to mention the recent events of Stephenville when it forecast for 50, 60 or 75 millimetres of rain and we actually got 151. I think the Ryan's Commander was forecast for 40 to 50 knots of wind and we actually had seventy or seventy-five. These are the kinds of things that have happened time and time again, which are very, very important to this Province that we get accurate forecasting.

The other thing - and then I will stop - if I may, the forecasters actually lose the feel for forecasting, Mr. Speaker. They do not live the forecast. They have verification. They have no verification of their forecast, Mr. Speaker, and that is what you need.

I will stop at that, Mr. Speaker. I will refer to it and I will refer to the most recent petition that has been circulated in the Province. I will let somebody else, Mr. Speaker, now speak to the issue. I am sure that they will have all the same concerns as myself.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I stand to support the motion put forward by the Member for Gander - a petition or a motion - calling on the federal government to leave the Gander Weather Office open. Mr. Speaker, those of us on this side fully support the motion, I say.

I just recently had the opportunity to meet with the gentleman from Gander, I think, the Central region, who started the petition -

AN HON. MEMBER: Mr. Dwyer.

MR. REID: Mr. Dwyer, yes, thank you.

- who came in and met with us. He had a petition of over 100,000 names here from the Province, I believe, that he was going to present to the federal government, calling on the federal government to leave the Gander Weather Office open. We told him we certainly supported it, and I am sure that we all signed that petition, like the members opposite, I would assume, did as well.

Mr. Speaker, the Gander Weather Office is very important to my district, and I will talk about my district first. My district is composed of thirty-nine communities on four islands on the Northeast Coast of Newfoundland, just almost directly due east, or due northeast, of the Gander Weather Office and not very far from Gander at that. Ninety-five per cent of the people in my district prosecute the fishery, and there is nothing more important to fisherpeople and fish harvesters of this Province than having an accurate, up-to-date, weather forecast.

While it may be argued by the government and some meteorologists that you can predict and give a forecast for Newfoundland and Labrador from somewhere else in the country, I have found out from meteorologists that, while they can do that, they cannot do it with any great degree of accuracy, and let me tell you why. They can say there is a front or low coming in from the mainland, but what they cannot tell you is how fast it is travelling. Sometimes it stalls, and sometimes it comes faster than we think.

I can remember a couple years ago, Mr. Speaker, I had a prime example of that. I went to a meeting in Gander. It was a beautiful, hot August afternoon and I went in there about 1:00 o'clock practically in shorts and a T-shirt. I would say it was probably close to thirty degrees in Gander, as the temperature is apt to rise higher in Gander than it does in St. John's and on the Avalon. I came out of that meeting in less than an hour and there was a gale of northeast wind on, the sky was black, and it was enough to freeze you. On that afternoon, there was a boat from Fogo Island - Seldom, actually - that was out fishing. They knew there was a front moving in, but it was not predicted to happen until later on that evening or that night, and they were out fishing. It was a brand new boat, a sixty-five foot boat that was built in Glovertown.

On some of these boats, the windows in the front of them, up in the wheelhouse in the boat, if it gets really stormy, they often have the opportunity to get outside and put steel shutters on some of the windows so that the sea will not break them in. That afternoon, that storm overtook them so quickly that they did not have the opportunity to get out and put those shutters down over the window.

The reason for that is, like the meteorologist told me: If, for example, they make the projection somewhere on the mainland that the storm is coming, in the past when we had the weather office open in Gander, at least they had bodies on the ground and they could tell if the storm was moving faster or slower, because these are trained people we have at the Gander Weather Office, and they can normally tell by simply going outdoors, is the key, simply going outdoors, looking at the storm, feeling what is happening with the wind, judging the temperature, and they can tell then if the storm is moving faster or if it is moving slower. If they know that it is moving faster, they can get on the air immediately with an update to that forecast; but, by not having bodies in Gander, then obviously they are not able to do that.

For hours, they tell me, they could be putting out a forecast for Newfoundland and Labrador from the mainland that might be completely inaccurate - and we have all witnessed that, Mr. Speaker. I have been driving along in the car and they tell me it is supposed to be sunny and it is pouring rain. I have been driving along in the car when they tell there is a snowstorm on, and that I am in it, and it is sunny outside.

What we are saying is that, for the sake of the fisherpeople in this Province who go 200 miles offshore in vessels, basically, that we should not be permitting people to go so far afield in, simply because of another government regulation in DFO - and I would love to be able to speak to that one, because I could speak for days about that, how silly the boat regulations are that we have imposed on fisherpeople in this Province by DFO - but all I am saying is that, because it is so important to these people - and every single year, ladies and gentlemen, we know what happens in this Province. There is not a year that goes by that we do not lose precious lives in this Province on the water, and sometimes you can attribute that to bad forecasting. Not always, not always, but sometimes that can be attributed to bad forecasting.

The cost of keeping that weather office open, in the whole scheme of things, when you talk about a $36 billion surplus this year in the federal Budget, is very little. Besides that, Mr. Speaker, we all talk about the downgrading of services and the elimination of coveted federal service jobs in this Province. We all support more civil service jobs in the Province. We all support more federal government presence and more federal government services provided here. It is sad to see that, with the amount of money that the federal government now has, we see continuing decreases in the number of employees, and cuts to our services.

What I am saying from my perspective, as the MHA for the Twillingate & Fogo District, and New World Island and Change Islands, I would certainly like to see that weather office remain open, and I am sure those who ply the seas of the Province, especially in my district, would like to know that they are getting a more accurate weather forecast because that facility is to remain open in Gander.

Besides those in my district, I guess everybody in the Province feels the same way, if you are related to the fishery or if you are not; because, if you travel the highways in the Province and you know the distances between communities along the Trans-Canada Highway and in Labrador, a correct and accurate forecast is very important at certain times of the year, and we are coming into that time of the year right now. Even like for tomorrow, I am slated to go to Labrador tomorrow on a plane with the Premier. I am surprised he let me aboard of that one with him, by the way. My colleague, the Member for Cartwright, said she was going to buy me a parachute for my journey tomorrow because they might throw me out over The Straits, Mr. Speaker, but I will hold my own. I tell you one thing: If I go out, there is someone coming with me.

Anyway, getting off the track there a little. Even plane travel, is what I am trying to say, depends on an accurate forecast, because we are going to Nain tomorrow, a whole group from the House of Assembly, with reporters. The forecast looks good for tomorrow but, as you know, Mr. Speaker, forecasts change quickly. The importance of an accurate forecast is very important to the people of this Province.

I am not going to talk much longer. I think that everybody in the Province agrees, and would support the motion put forward by the member, that this Gander Weather Office remain right where it is for many, many, many years to come, where it should be, and not somewhere on the mainland where they are telling us things.

We have too much of that, Mr. Speaker, groups of people on the mainland telling us things. The fishery of this country or this Province is controlled by a bunch of bureaucrats who sit 2,000 miles away from here, in Ottawa, not close to a bit of salt water. They are probably 1,500 miles from a bit of salt water. I find that a bit repulsive, and I do not think that any of our services that affect us should be that far away from us.

With that, I say we have no problem supporting the member's motion as I am sure all of our side will today.

Thank you.

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

It gives me great pride today, Mr. Speaker, to get up and support my colleague, the Member for Gander, on his private member's motion here.

Mr. Speaker, I want to make a number of points today about this very, very important issue to the people and to communities across the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. There are a number of issues that I want to raise here today in this hon. House.

When we talk about the Gander Weather Office, Mr. Speaker, we talk about the opportunity to provide good weather forecasting across the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador to all sectors, and this is so important, Mr. Speaker, for a Province that sees so much different weather. I can tell you, even here in St. John's I have seen four seasons in one day. How we can operate from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, is just absolutely beyond me, how they would unanimously put the whole weather forecasting system for the Province in Nova Scotia.

Mr. Speaker, there is another very important point here, and now is the time - I want to reiterate and talk about the letter that the Premier sent to the Prime Minister just a couple of days ago. In that letter the Premier, quite eloquently I say, talked about federal presence in this Province. He talked about the fact that there has been a tremendous loss of federal jobs in this Province. Today, Mr. Speaker, there is not one department of the federal government with headquarters in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador and I say this is not acceptable to this Province and this is not acceptable to the members of this House.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HICKEY: The Premier made a number of points when he spoke about this issue to the Prime Minister. I want to quote particularly what he said to the Prime Minister in the letter of a couple of days ago. Statistics Canada, Mr. Speaker, shows that the federal government employment presence in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador has decreased by 39 per cent between 1990 and 2004, compared to a decrease by 18 per cent across all other provinces. Not acceptable, Mr. Speaker, not good enough for the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, and the federal government needs to address this issue and address it soon.

Beyond the federal government's employment levels, another concern is the number of federal senior level positions in the Province. While Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, Mr. Speaker, are passionate and proud Canadians, they are concerned by the continual withdrawal of federal government from this Province. We need to take a look at the recent Harris report from Memorial University which provides independent confirmation of these concerns.

The Premier has asked the Prime Minister, and the other leaders of the other two parties in Ottawa, Mr. Speaker: Does your party support immediate efforts to significantly increase the federal government's presence in the Province commencing with the immediate restoration of forecasting services at Gander Weather Office? We deserve more federal jobs in this Province and we deserve more of a federal presence in this Province. We have not been getting our fair share and it is about time the federal government recognized it and it is about time that we, as the Province, demanded it.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HICKEY: Now is the time to demand it, Mr. Speaker, in the course of a federal election.

Mr. Speaker, I want to talk about another issue that is obviously dear to my heart, and that is 5 Wing Goose Bay. Again, we see no federal commitment, long-term federal commitment by the Department of National Defence, to stay in this Province. We deserve better than that. I want to say that it is absolutely unacceptable that we see the federal department of Aboriginal affairs, headquarters for the Labrador Aboriginals, in Dartmouth or in Amherst or in some other part of the country. We have watched our fishery being taken from us by the federal government, we have watched our weather station at Gander being taken from us, we have watched the continual decline of federal jobs in this Province, Mr. Speaker, and it is not acceptable. It is not acceptable to the people of this Province. We deserve better, Madam Speaker. We deserve better.

I think this is the time for us to send a message to the federal government: We want that weather station relocated back in Gander. I support my colleague, the Member for Gander, in his efforts, and the people of Gander and the people across the Province and the 12,000 - or how many thousand? - 100,000 signatures that we have had in support of this particular issue. The time has come, and the time is now, for the federal government to make some major commitments in jobs, in opportunities, here in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

We have seen over the course of the last year, since we lost that - I have heard news reports - we have seen schools closed and the weather has been fine. We have seen schools working when they should have been closed. You know, with the fact that there are so many different weather systems around our Province, Madam Speaker, it is important that we see our forecasting done on the ground here in Newfoundland and Labrador, not in Nova Scotia-

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HICKEY: - not in New Brunswick, not in Ottawa, not in British Columbia, but right here, Madam Speaker, in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. I certainly support the efforts of the Member for Gander, and indeed the Premier, as we try to ensure and to press the toes of the federal government to ensure that we get our federal presence here in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

As I said previously, Madam Speaker, it is unacceptable, absolutely unacceptable, that we do not have one federal department with headquarters in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador; not a one! I can tell you, as a Province in this country, we deserve better treatment than that. I say to the federal government, and to those running in the upcoming federal election, it is time that this Province got its fair share of federal jobs and federal departments here in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Madam Speaker, this is a very, very important issue. It is an important issue for the whole of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is an important issue for all people. Whether it is the tourism industry, whether it is the transportation industry, whether it is the fishery, weather is a very, very important part of our lives. We need accuracy, Madam Speaker, in our weather forecasting. The only place that we can get the accuracy we deserve in weather forecasting is having it here in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, having it here, Madam Speaker, in the District of Gander where it was before.

I fully support the Premier in his initiatives and I fully support my colleague, the Member for Grander. We will continue to keep the federal government's toes to the fire on federal jobs and federal presence in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, very much.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MADAM SPEAKER(Osborne) : The hon. the Member for Grand Falls-Buchans.

MS THISTLE: Thank you, Madam Speaker.

I am pleased to be able to stand today and support the Member for Gander, his Private Member's Resolution, asking for a reversal of the federal government's decision to downsize the weather forecasting office in Gander.

I have to say, that as a region in Central Newfoundland, there is not an issue that comes out of Gander that we, in Grand Falls-Windsor and supporting towns, do not support. I think that is the reason why we have had such good strengths in Central Newfoundland in recent years because - even the airport itself in Gander, we look at that as being - not the Gander airport as such, but the airport that serves all of Central Newfoundland. Whenever there is an issue facing the Gander airport, we are the first among many in Central Newfoundland to jump onboard and support Gander. But, when you look at the weather forecasting office in Gander today, we are actually preaching to the converted because I do not believe that there is one individual in this Province who will not stand and support keeping Gander as the marine forecasting and the forecasting capabilities that it always had. Let it be reinstated just like it was.

In fact, Pat Dwyer, from PSAC in Gander, who is leading the charge in going across the Province and having people sign the petition list, he actually attended a meeting that we had in Grand Falls-Windsor during the summer. It was a meeting that the union and concerned citizens committee had organized regarding our mill situation in Grand Falls-Windsor. At the end of that meeting, Pat Dwyer came up to me and told me what he was doing there. He asked me if I would sign the petition. I said, absolutely! Give me a pen, I will sign it right away, and I did. I am glad to hear now that that petition has reached 127,000 names, one-third of our population, he and a lot of volunteer people who were able to reach out to. I know the MP for the riding, Scott Simms, supports this and he has presented to the House of Commons.

It is ironic that everybody is onboard in wanting that to happen, but to date, we do not have a commitment from the federal government. When you look at the fact that the Gander weather station has been around since 1938 and has a proven record of providing good marine and on-land forecasting to our residents, and still, we are looking at the fact of it being gone. It is gone! In fact, there is supposed to a crew of ten people actually man that weather office in Gander and now there are currently only six. So, you know, that is worrisome too because they are saying that it is hard to recruit these people. We had a trained group who were highly trained and congratulated all around the world because of us being right out there in the middle of the Atlantic and a lot of aircraft rely on our services day in and day out, and now they are distributed to different parts of Canada. Some of them, of course, being in Dartmouth.

I wanted to say that it is interesting how governments all over the country come up with an idea every now and again that they are going to look at a different way of doing things, whether it be within their province or within their country. Of course, the federal government moved to what they call Centres of Excellence. They wanted to have four Centres of Excellence across the country that would be able to forecast for the entire country, but they did make one exception you know. They did make one exception, and that was they maintained a Winnipeg office that would forecast for Manitoba. It is interesting that the Winnipeg office only covers 650,000 square kilometres. When you look at the area in Newfoundland and Labrador that has to be forecast, it is 1,700,000. So, the geography is 2.6 times the proposed Winnipeg area and we cannot have a full-fledged weather office in Gander. There is something wrong here.

My colleagues who spoke before me, they talked about the - where we are living here in the middle of the Atlantic and how sudden weather can change. When you look at the fact that over the past month we have had so many tragic events that have happened both on our highways and on our waters in this Province, you know, that alone is reason enough to have a proper forecast. Whether the weather contributed to those tragic events, we do not know. No doubt, it was a small factor perhaps, but it is still an important factor. Just these reasons alone would make us have a strong case to have a full-fledged forecasting centre in Gander.

It is interesting, Gander was always considered to be the crossroads of the world. I remember when I was growing up in Carbonear, at that particular time bandannas were very popular. Now, I suppose bandannas to the viewing audience out there, if they are young women, might say: What is a bandanna? Well, I remember one time someone in our household - I think it was my mother - had a bandanna and written all over it was: Gander, crossroads of the world. I do not know - it was a gift, I guess, a Christmas gift or something like that. I do not know if the Member for Gander ever saw one, a bandanna with: Gander, the crossroads of the world marked on it?

MR. O'BRIEN: Yes, I did.

MS THISTLE: But, actually, it would be -

MR. O'BRIEN: (Inaudible).

MS THISTLE: He just told me that he wears it occasionally. You are almost as bad as the Member for Mount Pearl who wanted to wear my suit last year.

In the meantime, this is a serious issue, and Gander, yes, it is still viewed by many as being the crossroads of the world, but I will never forgive John Crosbie when he took international status from Gander and moved it to St. John's. I believe that was the beginning of a downhill slope for Gander, and Gander has such a strategic location. They are hardly ever enveloped in fog. We never have to deal with fog in Gander. Generally, the weather is better there. They are almost in the center of the Province. When you look at putting an international airport there in Torbay, you know, it is really doubtful how many times your flight is actually going to get out on a bad day.

You know, this has been tried before, to actually downgrade the weather office in Gander. Actually, it has been tried four times in the past and it was reestablished again in 1997. But, you have to watch out because every now and again there will be a new wave of politicians who will think they have conquered the world and come up with a new way of doing things. It happens sometimes - it happens all the time, whether it be a school board, whether it be a hospital board, whether it be a provincial government or any entity like that, someone will come in and think that they have the answers to all the solutions. You can give better weather forecasting, say, somewhere out of Montreal or Nova Scotia.

I heard the other day that someone went to call Environment Canada on a paid phone line to get an up-to-date weather forecast and the first thing that person had to do was try to confirm and find out - let the person who answered the phone from Environment Canada, help him find out where he was located in Newfoundland. Now, that is awful! When you are going to pay for a telephone call, or even to call toll free to Environment Canada, and you want to find out what the forecast is going to be like on Random Island, and you have to talk to somebody who is, probably, in the Province of Quebec or another province and say, I am calling from Random Island, the first thing the person who answers the telephone will say is: Well, where is Random Island? Then you will have to go through an exercise, at your cost, paying the phone bill, trying to tell that person where Random Island is, and what is going to be the forecast for that day.

That is ridiculous, when you look at that aspect of it. If we had people in Gander, like we always had, they know where Random Island is. They know where Wreckhouse is. We certainly know what can happen over in Wreckhouse. A good many times trailers are tied up in Port aux Basques and in Stephenville because they cannot get through Wreckhouse. Do you think somebody in Quebec or Nova Scotia knows where Wreckhouse is? I doubt it. They do not.

We have to put forward a strong push. Even though it was an eleventh-hour request that was made by the Premier a couple of days ago, it is still a request, an important one that is front and centre, on the minds of everybody in this Province. We live from the sea and we look to the sea for our livelihood. You can ask any fisherman out there today; the first thing they do at 5:30 a.m. is tune into the broadcast. They want to know the marine weather.

Even ourselves - I bet you there are a good many people sitting around this House of Assembly who, the first thing they do before they are going on the road is turn on the weather channel. I have heard it said the weather channel is the most watched channel of any program or any station across Canada. I know that all of us who represent areas in rural Newfoundland and Labrador are on the highway pretty much every week. I am looking at my colleagues across the way, and they know that to be the fact. So, we rarely travel on the highway without first flicking over to the weather channel and seeing what the weather is going to be like.

It is interesting, too, that anyone who has a temperature gauge in their cars - I have a habit of watching the temperature gauge in my car, because I know that if that temperature drops to one or zero I had better watch out. It can happen pretty quick, that highways are going to be full of black ice and there are going to be freezing temperatures. Then I am on the lookout for the snow plows. When I see people off of the road and I do not see snow plows coming, it is a worrisome event.

Of course a lot has been said recently about snow tires, and that would be one of the better things that this government could bring in, a regulation saying that everybody has to have snow tires. I know for a fact, when I was in Cabinet and renting cars all the time, hurrying off to meetings here and there, every car that I rented in the winter, none of them had snow tires.

Somebody asked that question the other day on Open Line: Do rental agencies have snow tires on their vehicles? Well, I never did, out of all the rental cars that I rented, and I often asked. I said: I want snow tires on that vehicle; I am going over a bad road to a meeting. Very seldom, if ever, was there a snow tire on a rental vehicle. That is another this government should look at, making that a regulation, that anyone who is renting vehicles in this Province in November, whenever it is deemed to be the winter season, that snow tires be on vehicles to provide an extra measure of public safety.

I would like to say to my colleague, the Member for Gander who raised this private member's resolution, that everybody on this side of the House is in total support of your resolution. It is an important one. It has been dealt with many times in the past, but we do not have a full answer from the federal government now. Your government has been successful in attracting money from the Atlantic Accord during the last federal election, and I would suggest to you now that this is an opportune time that, if you are hoping to make inroads on having this decision reversed, it would be now or never.

When you talk about federal elections, I prefer a minority government. Having a minority government in this Province, or in this country, rather, over the past few months has been one of the best times for getting things done. We, as a Province, have gotten more out of the feds because they were in a minority position. I do not know what the end result will be in the future, what will come out of this next election, but it has been a good time in this Province.

In closing, Madam Speaker, I would like to say that everyone on this side of the House supports this resolution and I would suggest that the member opposite would give that support to his Premier from this House of Assembly today and address it to the Prime Minister as one of the most important requests coming out of this Province today, along with our fishery.

Thank you.

MADAM SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Bonavista North.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HARDING: Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Today, I am very pleased as well to be able to rise in this House and speak in support of the resolution put forward by my colleague from the District of Gander. The removal of this service in Gander, Madam Speaker, is just one of many that have occurred throughout this Province in the past number of years.

I would like to refer to the press release that was sent out by my colleague, the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, just a few days ago confirming something that we have been saying for a number of months now with respect to the downsizing of federal government employees and services in this Province.

I would like to point out the section where they say, from 1990 to 2004 the decline in federal employment in this Province was 39 per cent compared to only 18 per cent with other provinces in Canada. If we had only had 18 per cent reduction in federal government employees, Madam Speaker, it would have meant that more than 2,700 workers would still be working in this Province today. When we talk about people moving away from the Province, I do not know if we really understand and appreciate all the factors that are involved in lower employment levels.

Madam Speaker, the report that was done by Memorial University's Harris Centre confirmed what we have been saying, and it is clear that the federal government must, once again, make a stronger emphasis on their employees and the number of people that they keep in this Province. I think they can start with the reinstatement of the weather office in Gander, and also something just as important, if not more important, a federal government science centre for fisheries. Right now, Madam Speaker, we just have a few federal government fishery scientists in the Province, and, with all due respect to the quality of the work that they do, the numbers are just not there to even scratch the surface. We know little or nothing about the fisheries off our shore.

Madam Speaker, Gander has probably been harder hit than any other community in this Province in terms of reduction in federal government civil service. They had a fairly large base out there, an armed forces base, just a few years ago and that has been cut down now to a mere skeleton of what it used to be, the Ministry of Transport also had a large number of workers in Gander and that has pretty well been cut to nothing, and now we have the weather forecasting centre moved to Nova Scotia.

I do not know, Madam Speaker, if the Province, as a whole, or if the government of the day, really did whatever could be possibly done do help save some of these jobs and to help Gander in the situation that they were caught in. This time around, I must say that the Province has really come together in taking on the federal government with respect to the cuts at the weather service centre. I think a lot of the credit for that goes to one Mr. Pat Dwyer, and he has already been referred to earlier. Mr. Dwyer put an awful lot of time into getting this petition ready where he has accumulated more than 100,000 signatures. Now, we can say what we like about petitions, Madam Speaker. Sometimes people sign a petition just for the sake of signing, sometimes people sign petitions with no understanding of what they are signing, but in this particular case, we have to say that everyone knew what they were talking about when they signed a petition that was started by Mr. Dwyer in Gander with respect to weather forecasting. We have all experienced situations where we have canceled work assignments, where we have canceled medical appointments, where we have canceled meetings, based on a bad weather report only to find out that just the opposite occurred, and the same thing in reverse, that we have taken chances on doing things and going places only to find out that we got caught in very dangerous situations.

As pointed out by my Colleague from Gander in his resolution, Madam Speaker, he mentions the threat of the safety to our fishermen, and my district, certainly, is one where we have a large number of fishermen whose lives depend an awful lot on weather conditions and accurate reporting of weather. Not only fishermen today, Madam Speaker, but we also have many people involved in other marine activities offshore, with the many extra rigs coming on-stream and the offshore supply vessels.

The Member for Gander also points out the lost productivity in our educational system where we have seen school days canceled because of bad weather forecasting. We have also had situations where children had been caught on buses. I know last winter, in particular, a busload of children travelling from Greenspond to Wesleyville were caught in the middle of nowhere because of bad weather forecasting.

Madam Speaker, the point I want to make is that this resolution is very, very important, and I am glad to hear the Member for Grand Falls-Buchans point out that all of the members in the Opposition are fully in support of this resolution.

I wrote the federal Minister of Environment back in May of this year, complaining about taking the weather services out of Gander, and the reply that I received from the minister, Minister Dion, I think it was, several months ago, was that he was praising up the new technology that they have in the weather forecasting centre in Nova Scotia, and he was saying the location of that technology did not really matter.

Madam Speaker, you can have whatever technology you want, but that technology is only as good as the number of people you have available to monitor it and to operate the equipment.

I think, Madam Speaker, we saw a prime example of the inadequate numbers of people only recently in terms of the search and rescue effort for the crew on the Melina & Keith 11. Madam Speaker, with all due respect to the members of the Search and Rescue Squadron, they do an excellent job; but, if they do not have the workforce behind them, the number of people to do the job that really needs to be done, then the technology does not really matter. I think the same things applies to weather forecasting.

It is great to talk about new technology, and it is the thing of the future, no doubt about it, but here in Newfoundland and Labrador we are talking about an area of the country that has a very rugged terrain. We are talking about a Province that borders on the Atlantic Ocean and, with the Atlantic Ocean, as we all know, there are times of sudden climatic and atmospheric changes occurring on and above that water. I am still not convinced that having all of this new technology located so far away, in Nova Scotia, can do as accurate a job as if it were located in a place like Gander, that is immediately adjacent to the environmental elements.

I just want to conclude, Madam Speaker, in saying that I fully support the resolution as put forward by my friend and colleague from the District of Gander, and I know everyone on this side, including the Premier who has listed it among the questions that he has for the federal leaders coming up in the federal election in January. I would say to the leaders that, with this election campaign, it is a time now for them to really show how much they are concerned about the welfare, the safety and the well-being of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Thank you, Madam Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MADAM SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Gander.

If the member speaks now, he will close debate.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. O'BRIEN: Thank you, Madam Speaker.

I would like to thank all of the hon. members who spoke on this resolution. I would like to thank them for their support, and the acknowledgment of the importance of the Gander Weather Office, not only to Gander; because, I say again, this is not about federal jobs. This is about the safety of our citizens, the safety of our visitors to Newfoundland and Labrador, the safety of our fishermen. This is exactly what this is all about. This is about an accurate forecast. This is about forecasts that are not being amended in a timely fashion, and that is happening as well. We have forecasts that are written in the morning but are not being amended in a timely fashion, so we do not get the right forecast at the right time. It changes, and it is not amended as we go along through the day.

I am not going to say much now, Madam Speaker. In the meantime, in conclusion, I would also like to comment, number one, on the petition that was circulated by Pat Dwyer and supported by the Public Service Alliance of Canada, and the great job that he and the Public Service Alliance of Canada did in regard to that petition. They gathered some 127,000 names over just a few months. Actually, that reflects approximately 50 per cent of the voting population of this Province. That is what you are talking about, 127,00 people who are voters in this Province, who signed that petition, which reflects 50 per cent of the voter population of this Province.

Then we had the work that was done by council in regard to a committee that is chaired by our mayor. He has certainly been involved in this issue right from the beginning in regard to trying to stop the movement of that weather office and its employees to Dartmouth. He struck a committee and now they have worked diligently all the way along in regard to going to Ottawa, meeting with various officials, meeting with the minister responsible, the Department of Environment, trying to get this reversed. So, they have done a commendable job as well. As a matter of fact, they circulated a petition as well which gathered some 16,000 names over a number of months as well which was presented in the House of Commons at a time earlier than this. This one here, the most recent petition was supposed to be presented yesterday. I was supposed to be in Ottawa to that presentation but, as we all know, the government fell and we are into a new election and we are after a commitment from that government.

Again, this is about safety, Mr. Speaker. This is about the federal government and the Department of Environment making a mistake; a mistake to move the Gander Weather Office from Gander, from Newfoundland and Labrador. A mistake that, to this date, they have been reluctant to reverse, which they have to reverse. But, listen, we will see where the parties stand. We will see where our federal MPs stand. We will see where the particular candidates in this election stand in regards to this issue. We will make sure that it is in the forefront of this election. We need a decision, Mr. Speaker. We need a commitment to reverse the decision; the reinstatement of the Gander Weather Office in its full capacity and, Mr. Speaker, when I mean full capacity, I mean in forecasting. We need a weather office that forecasts weather. That is exactly what we need. We do not need a weather office there that they reinstate some of the employees and that kind of stuff, to bring it up to a level that might be acceptable in the federal job issue. This is about forecasting. This is about forecasting accurate weather. That is exactly what this is about. This is not about jobs. This is about the safety of Newfoundland and Labrador citizens of Newfoundland and Labrador. That is exactly what it is.

I will conclude with that, Mr. Speaker, and I would like to thank all the hon. members and their remarks and support on this resolution. We, and I would hope that all and each and everyone of us, will be talking to the particular candidates in our districts, wherever that may be, to get a commitment from them and to ask them point blank: Do they support, and will they have their leaders support, and will they have their leaders come out and guarantee that the Gander Weather Office will be reinstated to its full capacity of forecasting.

I thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Is the House ready for the question?

All those in favour of the resolution as put forward by the Member for Gander.

All those in agreement?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

MR. SPEAKER: All those against?

The resolution is adopted unanimously.

On motion, resolution carried.

MR. SPEAKER: This being Wednesday, and according to Article 9 of the Standing Orders, this House is now adjourned until tomorrow, Thursday at 1:30 of the clock in the afternoon.