May 29, 2014 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS Vol. XLVII No. 35
The House met at 1:30 p.m.
MR.
SPEAKER (Wiseman):
Order, please!
Admit strangers.
Before we start today's proceedings, I want to
acknowledge some special guests we have in the gallery today, a couple of young
gentlemen that I had the pleasure of meeting before the House opened.
We are very pleased today to have in our galleries Mr.
Guy Nash, who is the Principal of McCallum School in McCallum on the South
Coast. He is accompanied by two
young students, Cameron Feaver and Zachery Nash and these two young students are
two of an all-grade school of a total of eight students on the South Coast of
Newfoundland and Labrador and they were CBC celebrities last night.
Some of you may have seen them on the news last night.
They are here to visit some of our post-secondary institutions as they
explore their futures.
Welcome to the House of Assembly.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
Statements by Members
MR.
SPEAKER:
Today we will have members' statements from the District of Humber West, the
District of St. John's Centre, the District of Lake Melville, the District of
Carbonear Harbour Grace, the District of Lewisporte, and the District of
Humber Valley.
The hon. the Member for the District of Humber West.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
GRANTER:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I stand in this hon. House to congratulate
students in the LGBTQ Alliance at my former school, Corner Brook Regional High.
This school-based group promotes awareness of lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transsexual, and queer issues and was presented with a 2014 URock Volunteer
Award recently.
Formed in 2012, the group actively promoted and
participated in the Corner Brook Pride March and encouraged faculty and staff to
show their pride on Pink Day a day to promote anti-bullying awareness and
acceptance of all students. They
promote awareness building and have created a safe place for youth and their
allies. They also conducted
extensive outreach to regional schools and created a tool kit to assist student
groups in establishing their own gay straight alliance.
Recently, I had the opportunity to speak at the very
first provincial high school Gay-Straight Alliance Conference held at Corner
Brook Regional High with over 120 delegates attending this landmark event from
around the Province. For their
efforts they were presented with a URock award.
I ask all hon. members to join with me in
congratulating all members of this group, as well as teacher sponsors Gerard
Lowe and Stephanie Pennell, for their incredible and important LGBTQ awareness
work that they are doing in the Province.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for St. Johns Centre.
MS
ROGERS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
On Wednesday, June 4, incredible, courageous people
will gather at St. Teresa's Parish Hall in my district of St. John's Centre for
an open town hall on mental health.
This came about because people in my district were telling me about their
experiences and what they thought was needed in order to better help people with
mental health and addictions issues.
Some of the special guests who will share experiences
and thoughts about where we might go are Andy Jones and Mary-Lynn Bernard, Mary
Walsh, Mark Gruchy, Roger Baggs, and Paula Corcoran.
These are people who can speak from experience and are amazing activists
on mental health and addictions issues.
They are determined to make things better.
They bring expertise, passion, and hope to the table.
Along with their presentations, the general public will
have a chance to talk about solutions they think might work.
Together we will tackle tough issues, explore best practices, and develop
recommendations to bring to government.
Several community groups are also participating.
I look forward to listening to the people who are
willing to work together for the benefit of our community.
Who knows what may emerge from this gathering?
Mr. Speaker, this is citizens' engagement at its best.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for the District of Lake Melville.
MR.
RUSSELL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I rise today to recognize the Libra House and the
Mokami Status of Women organizations for the great work they do for Lake
Melville.
These organizations provide a service to our community
that help women in their times of need find support.
Through programs such as supportive living, idea sharing, and engagement
of other cultural and religious organizations, they help women in our community
find the ability and the strength to rebuild themselves.
The staff at these organizations should be commended
for the great work that do on a daily basis.
In fact, many of these employees treat their clients like they are a
member of their own family. It makes
for a comforting environment and a great experience whenever I have had the
pleasure to visit.
I ask all hon. members of this House to join me in
celebrating the great work of the staff of the Libra House and the Mokami Status
of Women.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for the District of Carbonear Harbour Grace.
MR.
SLADE:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in this hon. House today to
recognize Dr. Lonzel Button, a general practitioner in Harbour Grace.
Dr. Button will be retiring from his practice at the
end of June after thirty-eight years of service to the people of Harbour Grace
and the surrounding areas. It is
with a great deal of gratitude that I thank Dr. Button for his professional
service to the community and to the many patients he has seen over those
thirty-eight years.
Mr. Speaker, getting doctors to set up practice in
rural Newfoundland and Labrador has been a challenge for many governments for a
very long time. Having a doctor
provide medical service to rural communities for thirty-eight years shows
tremendous commitment worthy of praise and recognition.
Mr. Speaker, the residents of Harbour Grace and area
will miss Dr. Button, but I am confident that the general practitioners will
carry on the great practice that Dr. Button has established in the region.
Mr. Speaker, I ask all hon. members to join me in
thanking Dr. Lonzel Button for thirty-eight years of service to rural
Newfoundland and Labrador and wish him good health in his retirement.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for the District of Lewisporte.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
VERGE:
Mr.
Speaker, I rise today to convey my congratulations to the graduating classes of
Riverwood Academy and Lewisporte Collegiate.
I had the pleasure of attending both ceremonies, which
were held in Wings Point on May 9 and in Lewisporte on May 23.
Both ceremonies were professionally well planned and resulted in a
momentous and memorable celebration for all the graduates and their families.
I wish to thank all the parents, teachers, and other
community people who volunteered their time to ensure that the graduating
classes of 2014 had a safe and enjoyable weekend.
I would invite all members of this hon. House of
Assembly to join with me in extending our sincere congratulations and best
wishes to the graduates of Lewisporte Collegiate and Riverwood Academy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for the District of Humber Valley.
MR.
BALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I rise in this hon. House today to honour a close
friend of mine, Mrs. Jean Kelly of Howley, who recently passed away at the age
of seventy-eight.
Jean and her husband Ronald were married fifty-nine
years, a union that gave them five wonderful children.
Jean lived an amazing life and her love for Howley was evident in her
contribution to her hometown. She
spent twenty-five years as a municipal councillor with the town, an
accomplishment of which she was recently recognized.
Jean spent many decades volunteering for many community groups in her
community and throughout the Humber Valley region.
Jean also served on regional development boards
including: the Grand Lake Centre for Economic Development, the Humber Economic
Development Board, and the Great Humber Joint Council.
She was a passionate advocate for rural Newfoundland
and Labrador. Every day of Jean's
life was committed to fighting for issues and concerns that were dear to her
heart and her community.
Mr. Speaker, I ask all members of this hon. House today
to join me in acknowledging the tremendous life of Mrs. Jean Kelly of Howley.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
Before I acknowledge the ministers, I want to welcome some other guests to the
galleries as well. We have joining
us today Diane Molloy, who is the Executive Director of the Newfoundland and
Labrador Foster Families Association.
She has with her today the Board Chair, Ms Bev Walsh.
Welcome to the House of Assembly.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
Statements by Ministers.
Statements by Ministers
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Child, Youth and Family Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
JACKMAN:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I rise in this hon. House today to recognize the
Newfoundland and Labrador Foster Families Association as they prepare to host
foster parents from throughout the Province for their annual symposium in St.
John's this weekend.
This year's provincial symposium themed,
Touchstones of Fostering, is taking
place from May 30 to June 1 and will bring together foster parents, social
workers, representatives of foster care associations, and community partners
from across the Province to participate in workshops.
It will also be an opportunity for foster parents to network with their
peers, share experiences with one another, and celebrate being a foster parent.
The provincial government recognizes the vital role
that foster parents play in our Province's child protection system.
They offer a safe and supportive environment that nurtures the health and
development of children and youth in-care.
That is why, Mr. Speaker, we remain committed to supporting our
Province's foster families, as well as further strengthening our close working
relationship with the Newfoundland and Labrador Foster Families Association.
In Budget 2014:
Shared Prosperity, Fair Society, Balanced Outlook, our government invested
an additional $50,000 to the Newfoundland and Labrador Foster Families
Association bringing its total funding allocation to over $369,000.
This additional funding will help the association strengthen the capacity
and the role of local associations across the Province by providing enhanced
supports in such areas as networking, peer support, communications and
problem-solving in order to assist in the recruitment and retention of foster
families.
Mr. Speaker, it is important to note that through our
Foster a Future recruitment campaign, we are continuing to increase awareness
and recruit new foster parents. To
date, over ninety new foster homes have been approved which have created over
145 new placements for children and youth.
It was just last week that the campaign was recognized by the
International Association of Business Communicators with a Pinnacle Award of
Merit.
I ask all hon. members to join me in congratulating the
Newfoundland and Labrador Foster Families Association for planning this year's
symposium. I am certain the
symposium will be an incredible success for everyone involved and, Mr. Speaker,
I look forward to attending tomorrow evening.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for Burgeo La Poile.
MR.
A. PARSONS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I thank the minister for an advance copy of his
statement. On behalf of the Official
Opposition, I would like to welcome all delegates of the Foster Families
Association as they convene this weekend, and thank Ms Molloy for being here
with us today.
The annual symposium held by the Foster Families
Association provides a critical networking and peer support opportunities for
foster parents, social workers, and other stakeholders.
Foster families play a critical role in providing a safe space for
children in challenging home environments.
Many of these children have experienced significant trauma in witnessing
domestic violence and substance abuse, experiencing neglect, as well as
physical, emotional and sexual abuse.
The program for this weekend's symposium addresses some
very serious topics that foster parents often contend with as fallout from
trauma, from eating disorders to sexual behaviour in children and teens.
Government's Foster a Future campaign is a much needed
one, as foster families are key to the effective delivery of Child, Youth and
Family Services. I would also like
to say that I know a number of MHAs on both sides of this House have foster
children, and I congratulate them for doing this much needed service.
In closing, Mr. Speaker, I would like to wish all
delegates of the symposium the very best.
I want to say thank you for your hard work and dedication on behalf of
the children of this Province.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for St. John's Centre.
MS
ROGERS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I, too, thank the minister for an advance copy of his
statement. Congratulations to the
Newfoundland and Labrador Foster Families Association for a tremendously
successful year. I hope that this
annual symposium will once again be an outstanding event and, as in the past, be
informative, useful and yes, even fun.
Congratulations on bringing ninety new foster homes on
stream, placing 145 children. It is
so important for children who have gone through traumatic home events to be able
to stay in a family setting. I thank
and I celebrate the families who open their hearts and their homes to children.
Their generosity and commitment can save lives, providing support,
guidance, love and hope.
I wish the association the very best this year in their
enhanced role, providing support and services to foster families and local
associations across the Province.
You have done an incredible job.
Have a great symposium.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister Responsible for the Status of Women.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MS
SHEA:
Mr.
Speaker, I rise in this hon. House to recognize the work of the Atlantic
Provinces' Cybersafe Girl Initiative.
Mr. Speaker, the objective of the Cybersafe Girl
Initiative is to engage young girls and their parents or guardians on the issue
of cyber-violence and to highlight the seriousness of the issue and how to
address it. In addition, tips on how
to mediate violence against young girls being perpetrated on the Internet and
through other technologies are shared with the public.
It was developed as an education initiative targeting children, youth,
and parents or guardians on the associated risks and trends related to social
media.
Mr. Speaker, I had the opportunity to attend the
Atlantic Ministers Meeting earlier this week in Charlottetown, Prince Edward
Island, where Atlantic Ministers Responsible for the Status of Women met to
discuss regional approaches and developments in the social, economic, legal, and
cultural advancement of women in Atlantic Canada.
During the meeting, ministers discussed several topics
of importance, including women in leadership and gender-based analysis.
The second phase of the Cybersafe Girl Initiative was also launched which
focuses on the effects that hypersexualization can have on the self-esteem and
self-confidence of young girls.
Research indicates that in 2009, 87 per cent of
Canadians thought that advertising was too focused on young women being sexy and
not enough on their abilities and intelligence.
This second phase provides information on how hypersexual images can
affect young girl's perception of body image.
It also provides tips for girls and families on understanding how these
images can affect girls and ways to develop a positive and healthy body image.
Mr. Speaker, the Government of Newfoundland and
Labrador is committed to educating and raising awareness to combat
cyber-violence against young girls, and to reducing violence against all
populations in the Province through the Violence Prevention Initiative.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for the District of Cartwright L'Anse au Clair.
MS
DEMPSTER:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I thank the minister for the advance copy of her
statement. Technology progresses at
an ever-increasing rate and society must remain on their toes to keep up with
not only how these technologies are used, but abused as well.
It is estimated that roughly 80 per cent of North
Americans use the Internet, and its presence in many of our homes have added a
new dimension to bullying and other forms of violence against women.
The anonymity afforded by cyberspace makes exploiting women over the
Internet seemingly less consequential.
Not only do girls experience tremendous pressure from media to look and
act a certain way, girls pressure one another, and raising awareness of how the
Internet can be used to exploit women and girls is critical.
Mr. Speaker, I would be remiss if I did not point out
two major hypocrisies of this government when it comes to violence against
women. Number one, they cut the
Family Violence Intervention Court when anyone who knows anything about the
impacts of domestic violence, would tell you that girls who witness violence at
home often grow up to become victims in their own intimate relationships.
Number two, this government kept a record on sexual
exploitation secret and then chastised the media for covering it.
The former Minister Responsible for the Status of Women and violence
prevention said even to talk about the issue, would put people at risk.
This is a very dangerous message to convey around sexual violence, given
the role that silence plays in perpetuating it.
Is raising the awareness a good thing or a bad thing?
According to this government, it really depends on the day you ask.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for St. John's Centre.
MS
ROGERS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I too thank the minister for an advance copy of her
statement. I applaud the Atlantic
Provinces for working together on the Cybersafe Girl Initiative.
The statement talks about women in leadership and gender-based analysis.
Government can help to set examples like ensuring there
is gender balance on the boards that it appoints.
For instance, the Nalcor Energy board of directors has seven men and one
woman. Of the fifteen elected
trustee positions on the Newfoundland and Labrador English School District
board, only three are women. When we
look around this House the lack of representation of women is striking and
stark.
Government must support the advancement of women on all
levels in order to advance equality so women hold decision-making policies in
our society. I wonder, Mr. Speaker,
if the decision to close the Family Violence Intervention Court would have been
done had there been more women in this House.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Recreation.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
S. COLLINS:
Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, the Canadian Tire Jumpstart Program is a
community-based charitable initiative which helps financially disadvantaged
youth participate in organized sport and recreation.
Since 2005, this program has helped over 700,000 youth throughout Canada
get involved in sports such as hockey, swimming, soccer, and ballet, including
more than 34,000 youth right here in Newfoundland and Labrador.
The Jumpstart initiative has successfully developed a
network of over 3,100 community partners, including the Boys and Girls Clubs of
Canada, YMCA-YWCA, as well as local parks and recreation departments.
Through these partnerships, the program continues to provide financial
support to families with costs associated with registration, transportation and
equipment.
Jumpstart Day will take place this coming Saturday, May
31, and more than 250 Canadian Tire stores across the country will organize
events ranging from charity barbeques to hockey demonstrations to raise money
for their local Jumpstart chapter.
All customer donations to Jumpstart go directly back to the home community.
Last year, our government participated in the signing of a proclamation
to recognize the first Jumpstart Day in Newfoundland and Labrador, and $350,000
was provided to support this very worthwhile program.
We remain fully supportive of this initiative, and I am delighted that we
will provide $350,000 once again this year under our Poverty Reduction Strategy.
In fact, Mr. Speaker, our government was the first in the country to be
recognized as a key provincial partner with the Jumpstart Program.
Mr. Speaker, initiatives such as the Jumpstart Program
are essential in our continued efforts to increase accessibility to organized
sport and recreation programs in our Province.
The program complements the goals of the Province's recreation and sport
strategy Active, Healthy Newfoundland and Labrador which places great
emphasis on the value of sport and recreation in our communities.
I invite all residents of this Province and members of
this hon. House to recognize Jumpstart Day on May 31, and support the program in
its efforts to provide our youth with opportunities to enhance their lives
through sport and recreation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for the District of Bay of Islands.
MR.
JOYCE:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I thank the minister for an advance copy of the
Ministerial Statement. Mr. Speaker,
members on this side would like to congratulate all of the organizations and
groups that participate in this Jumpstart Program.
To the government for putting in $350,000, good job.
Anything that we can do to get our youth out moving and help some people
who would not participate any other way is a great initiative.
As we all know, obesity in youth is a major concern and
programs like this is what gets youth out and being active.
Diabetes is a major concern.
I even know the government is trying to facilitate speed skating in schools out
on the West Coast, which I think is a great initiative by government.
Anything that we can do to help the government promote youth and sports,
I say congratulations, good job.
Keep up the work because if we can keep our youth active it is going to make for
better seniors and better people.
Government, make sure that our youth are well taken
care of and through these types of programs they are.
Good job, keep up the work for the youth and I support anything that you
are going to do for youth in all the financial contributions you can make.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for St. John's Centre.
MS
ROGERS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I too thank the minister for an advance copy of his
statement. It is good to hear about
the success of the Jumpstart Program and that the Province is once again going
to support this initiative to allow children to get involved in sports.
It is great that traditional organized sports are not
the only activities that are supported.
For example, the St. John's R.E.A.L Program, which is a Jumpstart partner
that has been around for several decades, supports art and drama programs as
well as karate, fencing, and wall climbing.
So, there is something for everyone.
Despite these initiatives, we do have a serious problem
of inactivity among children and youth which has become a health issue.
I encourage the minister to work with his colleagues in health and in
education to get more physical education time back in our schools.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
Oral Questions.
Oral Questions
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.
MR.
BALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Earlier this week, government announced the signing of
the Impacts and Benefits Agreement with Alderon Iron Ore.
Strangely, it did not release the agreement.
I ask the Premier: After the signing ceremony just two
days ago, when will we expect the release of the final agreement?
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Natural Resources.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
DALLEY:
Mr.
Speaker, that is a fair question.
Certainly in line with our commitment for openness, Mr.
Speaker, we fully intend to make the agreement public, and will do so in just a
few days. There are a couple of
issues that the company has raised, that we are trying to work through, but
beyond that, Mr. Speaker, we are looking forward to making it fully public
because it is a great agreement for the people of the Province.
It builds on success and other benefits agreements, particularly around
apprentices, around gender and diversity, Mr. Speaker, adding forty child care
spaces for employees, as well as an education component within the agreement
that would help us build capacity hopefully in the mining industry as well.
So, it is a great agreement and we are certainly
looking forward to making it public.
It is just a matter of working through a couple of issues with the company.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.
MR.
BALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
We look forward to seeing that final agreement that was
signed just a few days ago. There
will be some questions, of course, that come out of it.
Ironically, this week government said that the Alderon
project would result in $18 billion to the provincial GDP and $2.6 billion in
the provincial taxes and royalties, but in the project description by Alderon it
says the project would contribute $26 billion to the provincial GDP and $4.6
billion in provincial taxes. That
was in the project description.
I ask the Premier: Why is there an $8 billion
difference between your numbers and what Alderon is saying?
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Natural Resources.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
DALLEY:
Mr.
Speaker, our involvement with the Kami Iron Ore Project has been extensive, and
quite a bit of discussion with the company, and not only try and support the
company in advancing this project but obviously recognizing our responsibility
to maximize the benefits for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.
Mr. Speaker, there may be some difference in numbers.
I would have to check in terms of exactly what numbers the Alderon
company is using, but I suspect it could very well be the fact that they are
looking at Phase II. Our numbers are
probably looking at Phase I. Phase
II would be an additional 8 million tons a year, and certainly would add
employment and revenue for the Province as well.
I will certainly check on it, the difference in the
numbers, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.
MR.
BALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Earlier this week we had asked the minister as a
matter of fact, we have asked the Minister of Fisheries a number of times now
about ice compensation for fish harvesters and plant workers who are without
income because of the delay of this year's fishing season.
So clearly the minister is not able to make any headway at all with the
federal government.
I ask the Premier: What are you going to do to bring
this critical issue facing Newfoundlanders and Labradorians to the federal
government?
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
HUTCHINGS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, indeed, back in 1999 and 2007 the federal
government stepped in when there were serious ice conditions in the Province.
Again this year, based on what we have seen in terms of ice conditions,
unusual ice conditions, actually, in terms of the amount on the South Coast of
Labrador, certainly the Northern Peninsula and Green Bay area.
Some of those fisheries have opened.
There are others that are still struggling in regard to getting open.
We made representation to the federal government.
It is under their jurisdiction.
I implored them to act now because we have some cases where there are
families all incomes coming from the fishing industry is a concern to us.
This morning I spoke to Minister Shea.
I said to her the importance of this.
We expect it to be acted on.
She said they are still reviewing it, but I said action needs to be happening
now. I did say as well that in
regard to particular fisheries they needed to be extended.
She said she would honour that and have those extended if the need is
there.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.
MR.
BALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
That really leads into my next question here.
The Premier and the minister often say, as we all understand, the fishery
in this particular case is a federal issue.
We have seen the Province get involved in federal issues in the past.
The minister says that he was talking to the minister again this morning.
I ask the minister: When would you expect to get an
answer for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador where this is the only source
of income and it is delayed? When
will we expect an answer for the provincial government to get involved?
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
HUTCHINGS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, there are a couple of issues we are
dealing with now; the ice compensation, and in regard to LIFO and our stand we
have taken in the all-party committee, and certainly the members on the other
side. We have taken a very active
role on that, a collective role in terms of one voice for Newfoundland and
Labrador. There are a few other
issues.
Based on that and some of the response we have, the
Premier has directed and we will be setting it up a request to the Prime
Minister to meet with the Prime Minister on a couple of couple issues that are
of extreme importance to this Province.
I and the Premier, at his instruction, will be requesting a meeting with
the Prime Minister to deal with these important issues that are extremely
important to Newfoundland and Labrador and extremely important to the fishery.
That is why we have been so active in advocating changes that the federal
government needs to make and step in, in areas like ice compensation.
It is their jurisdiction.
They need to step up and they need to step up now, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.
MR.
BALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Often in the past, we always know, this argument with
the federal government could go on for quite some time.
It is not unusual for the Province to step up and help disadvantaged
families in Newfoundland and Labrador.
My question is: Would you, the provincial government,
get involved to support the families who are in critical need of help right now?
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
HUTCHINGS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, we are on the record in the past in terms
of many of our fishery programs the plant worker adjustment program, over $10
million that we have helped in terms of reintegration, in terms of the
community, in terms of plant rationalization, in terms of other programs they
do, and in terms of assisting all those in the industry.
In regard to this particular case, we believe fundamentally that this is
an issue the federal government needs to deal with.
In regard to the EI fund, the amount that is in that
fund it is a robust fund. In the
past they used a duplicate process in terms of helping those involved with the
industry. As we go forward we know
it is a priority. We will continue
to monitor it. It is a federal
government issue. They need to step
up and they need to deal with it now.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for Burgeo La Poile.
MR.
A. PARSONS:
Mr.
Speaker, we have troubling news for this Province with the announcement by
Marine Atlantic that they will not be implementing a full summer schedule.
This means there is and will be a decline in traffic, bad news for both
the Province as a whole and for the many workers who will not be recalled this
summer. This is undoubtedly one of
the repercussions of the federal government decision to continue to provide
insufficient funding for what is essentially our highway to the mainland.
I ask the Premier: What has your government done to
lobby your federal counterparts to ensure that this constitutional service is
properly funded?
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Municipal and Intergovernmental Affairs.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
KENT:
Mr.
Speaker, our position as a government has been consistent, that the federal
government must meet its commitment under the Terms of Union.
We need a reliable, effective ferry service to meet the needs of
Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.
We will continue to lobby the federal government to
ensure that it lives up to its constitutional commitment.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for Burgeo La Poile.
MR.
A. PARSONS:
Mr.
Speaker, I am certainly glad to hear that.
This decision has drastic consequences for the entire
Province, whether it is the tourism sector, trucking industry, or displaced
Marine Atlantic employees. Marine
Atlantic service affects every single person in this Province.
I would also note that Marine Atlantic's current funding arrangement
expires next year.
I ask the Premier: Will you commit to sending a
provincial delegation to Ottawa to ensure the federal government not only
maintains the service but will improve it for the benefit of this Province and
for all those who wish to come here?
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
PREMIER MARSHALL:
Mr.
Speaker, as the minister said, we will make every effort to ensure that the
federal government lives up to its constitutional responsibilities to the people
of this Province.
The minister and the all-party committee, for example,
here in this House have met and have made representations to, I believe, the
House of Commons Standing Committee on Fisheries and to the Senate Standing
Committee on Fisheries.
The minister, again, spoke to the Minister of Fisheries
today and I will be seeking a meeting with the Prime Minister to discuss a
number of issues, especially the shrimp allocation quota, to discuss those
issues on a bilateral basis between the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador
and the Government of Canada.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for Cartwright L'Anse au Clair.
MS
DEMPSTER:
Mr.
Speaker, six weeks ago the Minister Responsible for Newfoundland and Labrador
Housing said it was too soon to say whether the vacant Paddon Home could be
converted to affordable housing in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, a community facing a
housing crisis. He said at that time
that an engineering evaluation would have to be completed.
I ask the minister: What is the status on the
engineering evaluation?
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
O'BRIEN:
Mr.
Speaker, the hon. member is only focusing on one solution.
We are looking at many solutions in regard to the action team.
There are various solutions in regard to that issue in Happy Valley-Goose
Bay.
I have had numerous conversations with the MHA for the
area as well. He certainly has
promoted the Paddon Home as a solution, but it is incumbent on me, as the
minister and also I asked Newfoundland and Labrador Housing to look at all
the options, the best options, to meet the needs of those particular people who
were displaced at Newman's.
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for Cartwright L'Anse au Clair.
MS
DEMPSTER:
Mr.
Speaker, Happy Valley-Goose Bay is in a housing crisis, yet the Paddon Home has
been sitting vacant for four years. This is shameful, Mr. Speaker.
I ask the minister I say to him, enough skirting the
issue when will you announce the plans for the Paddon Home?
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
O'BRIEN:
Mr.
Speaker, this is a real serious matter with regard to the displaced people from
Newman's. I had an action team on
the ground the very day that they were being displaced, when they were leaving,
that very morning. I had a heads-up
about a few hours before, and we had people on an aircraft and in the area.
They have been working through this process with all
the stakeholders in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, along with the MHA in the area, and
certainly we will find a long-term solution.
I am not at liberty to say today that we will be using the Paddon
building, but it is absolutely an option in going forward.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for The Straits White Bay North.
MR.
MITCHELMORE:
Mr.
Speaker, the Rural Broadband Initiative announced in this year's Budget had a
deadline of January, but that was extended to the end of February.
Given months have passed, telecommunication providers need approval to
get the job done on time and on budget.
I ask the minister: When will you announce the millions
of dollars dedicated to these projects so these communities desperately in need
of broadband and cellular coverage are serviced?
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
HUTCHINGS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is correct; it is millions
of dollars. We, as a government,
have certainly invested millions and millions of dollars in terms of the
broadband initiative. We have
leveraged well over another $100 million in terms of what we have put in as a
provincial government.
Right now, for example, in high speed, we are up over
95 per cent in the Province. We are
very committed to this project.
Again this year, there was a call made in regard to broadband; we received a
number of proposals. My
understanding is that they are being reviewed by the minister and her
department. Certainly, very shortly,
we will be in a position to announce those and move these initiatives along,
which is driving broadband in Newfoundland and Labrador, which we have been
committed to and certainly continue to be committed to in Newfoundland and
Labrador.
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for The Straits White Bay North.
MR.
MITCHELMORE:
Mr.
Speaker, the longer these projects are delayed, you are denying people vital
services.
Mr. Speaker, with nearly 200 communities unable to
access broadband and many geographical regions without cellular coverage, a
clear plan is needed to address these gaps.
I ask the minster to table in the House, as committed,
the communities in the Province served by broadband.
Will she table government's plan to address poor cellular service in the
Province, as committed?
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
HUTCHINGS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, our plan is to continue with the
initiatives we have, and the massive investment into telecommunications and the
broadband. As the hon. member knows,
this is certainly driven by the CRTC.
It is regulated by the CRTC and Industry Canada.
We could sit back and do nothing, but we have not chosen to do that.
We have chosen to be hands-on, and certainly work with those rural
communities in Newfoundland and Labrador.
For example, we are up to 95 per cent now in regard to high speed.
If we look at recent projects down on the South Coast,
we invested and partnered with Conne River, a couple of carriers, ourselves I
think it is something like $4.5 million project in that region on the South
Coast, another example of what we are doing and how we are investing.
We are going to continue to do that, Mr. Speaker,
because the people of Newfoundland and Labrador deserve that service, and we are
going to work with them to make sure they get it.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for St. John's North.
MR.
KIRBY:
Mr.
Speaker, the Department of Education has directed guidance counsellors not to
use new international standards for diagnosing learning disorders until the 2015
school year. The new broader DSM-5
standard for learning disorders is intended to ensure that fewer individuals go
unidentified.
I ask the minister: Isn't it unethical for your
department to block the use of this new diagnostic tool for learning disorders
and thereby expose students to preventable risks?
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Education.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
KING:
Mr.
Speaker, any time we bring in a new program or a new initiative in education,
there are multiple layers and multiple steps that have to be followed.
Probably one of the most important things we need to do is educate
teachers, provide proper and adequate professional development so they
understand the new program or the new curriculum.
The document the member references now is certainly
going to be a valuable tool for us in assessing children on a go-forward basis
and into the future; but one must remember that we are only at the first step of
making guidance counsellors, in particular, aware of that particular resource.
We also have a very strong responsibility as a government that when we
bring in a new program, we have to have the resources to fully resource the
program.
At this point in time, we are very much in the
awareness stage of making teachers and counsellors aware of the program.
We will move forward in due course with resourcing the program.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for St. John's North.
MR.
KIRBY:
Mr.
Speaker, school guidance counsellors and educational psychologists themselves
are governed by a code of ethics to provide the best possible standard of
practice. By blocking the use of the
DSM-5 diagnostic approach, this government is asking our counselling
professionals to provide an inferior standard of care to students.
I ask the minister: Why are you asking these
professionals to breach their ethical code and further compromising student
learning in the process?
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Education.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
KING:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The only breach in ethical code that would occur is
that if we brought in a new assessment to guidance counsellors and instructed
them to use it without providing them with adequate attention and information
around how to apply the tool, Mr. Speaker.
We have to ensure that guidance counsellors and educational psychologists
understand what this new program is about and are aware of how to apply that
assessment to children; otherwise, we certainly are encouraging them to be very
unethical.
At this point in time we are doing the education
process. We will continue to do
that. As a Department of Education
we have a responsibility to ensure all children in the Province are treated
fairly and equitably. That means
ensuring teachers, counsellors, and educational psychologists have the
appropriate resourcing of the system and professional development they require
to implement that program. When that
piece is done, Mr. Speaker, we will move forward with the next layer of that
program, which is resourcing it and applying it to the entire system.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for the District of St. Barbe.
MR.
J. BENNETT:
Mr.
Speaker, last week the World Trade Organization ruled to uphold the ban on the
import of Canadian seal products based upon moral grounds as set out in the EU
seal regime. The WTO decision points
out that the EU seal regime permits seals to be taken as part of a marine
resource management plan.
I ask the Minister of Justice: Has he made
representation to the federal Department of Justice to develop a legal framework
for a marine resource management plan similar to those of Sweden and Finland, so
we are able to effectively manage our seal population while complying with the
European seal regime?
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
HUTCHINGS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, we are still in the process the federal
government as well in regard to the WTO Appellate Body.
The ruling that was made is on the moral issue in regard to the GATT
trade rules.
The appellate mentioned that this was in contravention
of the GATT rules and an interesting application.
How the EU will continue with their ban now is interesting.
We will work with the federal government as we move forward.
In regard to seals the hon. member mentions it is a huge concern to
us in terms of the overall marine environment right now.
We are up to anywhere from 7 million or 8 million seals.
We have supported the industry over the past number of
years. Two years ago, 100 were
taken, but we need to realize there is a 400,000 total allowable catch for
seals. It is very important to the
ecosystem and we need to move forward with it, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you.
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for the District of St. Barbe.
MR.
J. BENNETT:
Mr.
Speaker, I am pleased to hear the Minister of Fisheries will work with the
federal government. I am wondering
about the justice side because of legalities.
Mr. Speaker, the harp seal is a top predator in the
marine food chain. It is estimated
that the harp seal population is rapidly approaching 10 million and that one
adult harp seal consumes 1.4 tons of seafood annually, and that starvation may
soon be a real possibility for many of them.
I ask the Minister of Justice: Will he commit to
immediately assemble a task force from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans,
our Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture, and the provincial and federal
Departments of Justice, to develop a sustainable marine management plan for
seals that complies with the European Union seal regime?
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
HUTCHINGS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Again, Mr. Speaker, the marine environment in regard to
those that are engaged in the sealing industry but not just the sealing
industry, the whole ecosystem, whether it is shrimp, crab, cod, other ground
fish, pelagics - the whole ecosystem is of huge concern in regard to how the
interaction exists.
We have worked with DFO, continue to work, and looked
at expanding markets, certainly looking at Asia and what is happening there.
We are having success in regard to those markets.
In North America, in northern domains, in terms of seal products and that
sort of the thing we are seeing an increase, and that bodes well for everybody
involved in the industry.
In regard to the hon. member, the marine system is
extremely important to us, obviously from an ecosystem point of view related to
seals. We continue to work and
continue to make sure that we make the decisions, and lobby the federal
government and make the best decisions for the whole ecosystem and for all those
industries that are affected by it, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for Torngat Mountains.
MR.
EDMUNDS:
Mr.
Speaker, with respect to the port of Cartwright, government's own press release
dated October 26, 2010 stated that in terms of acceptance, there would be no
change to current configuration of passenger and freight services provided by
the Northern Ranger out of Cartwright.
I ask the minister: Why are you not following your own
policies, and refusing to allow freight to the North and South Coast to be
shipped through Cartwright on the Northern
Ranger?
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
MCGRATH:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, as you know, a new RFP came out for the
fleet arrangement on the North Coast as well as the South Coast of Labrador.
Part of that strategy is to decide what way the freight will move along
the South and North Coast of Labrador.
In that RFP, we have new ships coming in.
We have a whole new management system coming in.
Until that is put in place, the RFP comes back and we
actually sit with the people who are actually awarded that tender we will sit
down with them then and we will decide the best management practice for the
South and North Coast; and if Cartwright is in that picture, then we will
certainly look at that.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for Torngat Mountains.
MR.
EDMUNDS:
I
am glad to hear that the minister is looking forward to revisiting that issue,
Mr. Speaker.
There is a considerable demand for freight movement
between the North and South Coast and logistics show that Cartwright would be a
natural fit, given it is already a port of call.
It would also mean significant shipping cost reductions for both business
and consumers.
I ask the minister again: Will you now start following
your own policies and reinstate Cartwright as a shipping port for the North and
South Coasts?
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
MCGRATH:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, we realize the importance of getting the
freight back and forth on the North Coast of Labrador and we also realize the
intricacies that are involved in that.
That is why we have an RFP out to make sure that we try to improve on the
system. With the new RFP, there is a
new fleet going to be in there.
There is a new management system, a new freight system, a new passenger system.
Once that RFP comes back, as I stated in my last
answer, we will sit down with the people who are awarded the tender and figure
out the best routes to take. If
Cartwright is in there, we will certainly look at that, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for St. John's South, for a quick question.
MR.
OSBORNE:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The exterior renovations to the Confederation Building
were supposed to cost $20 million.
It is 150 per cent over budget and two years behind.
The blue windows were supposed to stop light from coming in.
MR.
SPEAKER:
Please get to your question.
MR.
OSBORNE:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I ask the minister: The windows did not work properly;
you had to purchase blinds. What was
the cost of the blinds?
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
MCGRATH:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I am not sure if it is the colour of the
windows that he says is not working, but the purpose of the blinds is for energy
efficiency, as is the tint that is in it.
It is all in the package.
It is over $20 million, as we all know.
During Estimates, I shared photos with the hon. member so you would
realize why it is over.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Leader of the Third Party.
MS
MICHAEL:
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
Last year's $150 annual cap on adult dental care
effectively made the program useless to many, as evidenced by the $2.5 million
left in the program at that end of the year.
In Estimates, the minister referred shamelessly to this dismal result as
savings to the program.
I ask the Premier: Why, yet again, has this government
seen fit to save money on the backs of the Province's most vulnerable people?
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
DAVIS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The hon. member is quite aware that the dental program
that we introduced, it is the first of its kind in Canada.
When we introduced that, there was a significant uptake to this program.
Last year, what we brought in was a maximum allowable
benefit. Much like any type of
insurance program, anybody who purchases a private insurance program and the
Newfoundland and Labrador Prescription Drug Program is an insurance program for
certain members of the population, and it has allowable benefits from the
program.
We put an allowable benefit of $150 for dental care
last year. We have increased that to
$200 this year. As I have said
before, and I have said here in this House, we will evaluate and continue to
evaluate this new and groundbreaking program for Newfoundlanders and
Labradorians.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Leader of the Third Party.
MS
MICHAEL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Yesterday in Question Period the minister said that the
$750 funding allotment to seniors eligible for dentures was enough to allow a
senior citizen to have their upper teeth done one year, and their lower the
next. It is unbelievable.
I ask the minister: Does he understand that a person's
mouth just does not work that way?
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
DAVIS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
We are certainly getting an understanding of how her
mouth works, I will assure you of that, Mr. Speaker.
I can tell you, Mr. Speaker, there are people in this
Province who benefit from the seniors' denture program.
Three years ago, there was no such program for them.
The seniors had to completely bear the burden of dentures entirely on
their own.
Three years ago, we introduced a new denture program
for seniors in Newfoundland and Labrador.
It is a denture program that is used by many adults who are qualified for
that, who qualify under the guidelines of the program, and it is for seniors as
well. It is a new program.
It is a groundbreaking program.
We are evaluating that.
I can tell you that the entire budget is utilized on the denture program.
We are continuing to work with denturists throughout Newfoundland and
Labrador to ensure that this is in the best interest of their practice as well.
MR.
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Leader of the Third Party.
MS
MICHAEL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I invite the minister to speak to any dentist or
denturist who will tell him the obvious nonsense of what he said yesterday in
the House. The minister must know or
ought to know that the long-term savings to the health care system of providing
basic dental care to those who need it warrants the up-front cost.
I ask the minister: Given his government's concerns
regarding rising health care costs, how could
they
be so short-sighted when it comes
to dental care?
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
DAVIS:
Mr.
Speaker, dental programs and denture programs they are two separate programs
for people in Newfoundland and Labrador, especially those who cannot afford or
are challenged in obtaining those services themselves by their own means are
very important to the people. This
is a very, very important topic.
Mr. Speaker, when this program rolled out there was a
significant uptake in the first year.
We remember it. It was
discussed many times here in the House of Assembly.
There were many questions here in the House of Assembly about the uptake
on the program. One of the things
that we did hear from denturists and from their representatives was that it was
a challenge for laboratories, from their own labs here in the Province, to deal
with the demand.
What we have done now, and through this process, we are
approving about 200 applications per month.
This allows a steady flow of business through those programs.
We want to get the program out; we want people to get those services.
MR.
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for St. John's Centre.
MS
ROGERS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
We are in a housing crisis Province wide.
I have repeatedly asked the minister if he would consider a specialized
rental assistance program for seniors similar to the one in BC where the rent
supplement is portable and goes directly to the senior so they have a right to
choose the best location to live. It
makes total sense.
I ask the minister: Why will he not do this?
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
O'BRIEN:
Mr.
Speaker, I will answer quite simply.
It is because it does not make any sense, because it is not working in BC.
Newfoundland and Labrador Housing would not have the right to go in and
inspect the actual residence. Then
we would have an issue in regard to discrepancies and standards that would have
to be in place in regard to us providing the Rent Supplement to a senior.
I would like to have, as the minister responsible, the right to go in and
inspect before it is occupied, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for St. John's Centre.
MS
ROGERS:
Mr.
Speaker, seniors are adults who know how to make decisions on their own for
goodness sakes.
Mr. Speaker, the residential tenancy act review
consultations were completed in 2012.
On April 7, I asked the minister, when was he going to release the report
with all its recommendations?
Mr. Speaker, I ask the minister once again: Why is he
not releasing the report of the residential tenancy act review with all its
recommendations? Is he hiding
something?
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Service NL.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
CRUMMELL:
Mr.
Speaker, the hon. member across the way knows me well.
She knows that I would never hide anything from her.
Mr. Speaker, the report that is coming forward in the
next little while from my officials, I expect to see on my desk in short order.
I have asked that question as well.
As soon as it is on my desk and I have a chance to review it, I certainly
will take it into consideration in terms of what to do with the report after
that.
Mr. Speaker, I have not received that report myself is
the simple answer, and I am looking forward to seeing that.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for St. John's Centre for a quick question.
MS
ROGERS:
All
right, Mr. Speaker.
I ask the minister once again: Where is the report for
the housing and homelessness review that was completed seven months ago?
What is he hiding?
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
PREMIER MARSHALL:
Mr.
Speaker, I think the people of Newfoundland and Labrador will be pleased to know
that there is over $5 million in the Budget this year to help combat
homelessness. We increased the
amount by an additional half a million in this year's Budget.
The minister has gotten up from time to time to talk
about what we have done this year with rent sups, what we have done to help
people on low incomes, people with disabilities, to have their home readied for
energy efficiencies and more. We
have to deal with the federal government to have a couple of hundred new homes
done. Dealings with housing is very
important to this government, and we will
MR.
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
time for Question Period has expired.
The hon. the Member for St. John's East.
MR.
MURPHY:
On
a point of order.
MR.
SPEAKER:
On
a point of order, the hon. the Member for St. John's East.
MR.
MURPHY:
Mr.
Speaker, during Question Period, in answer to the Leader of the Third Party, a
comment was made by the Minister of Health that he understood how her mouth
works. It sounded a little bit
degrading to me. I would ask the
minister if he would withdraw his remarks.
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services, to the point of order.
MR.
DAVIS:
I
withdraw the comment, Mr. Speaker.
MR.
SPEAKER:
Presenting Reports by Standing and Select Committees.
Tabling of Documents.
Notices of Motion.
Notices of Motion
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Government House Leader.
MR.
KING:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I give notice under Standing Order 11 that
the House not adjourn at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, June 2, 2014.
I further give notice that the House not adjourn at
10:00 p.m. on Monday, June 2, 2014.
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Government House Leader, notices of motion?
MR.
KING:
Yes, further notices of motion.
Mr. Speaker, I give notice that I will ask leave to
introduce a bill entitled, An Act To Amend The Labour Relations Act, Bill 22.
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board.
MS
JOHNSON:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I give notice that I will move that the
House resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole to consider a resolution
relating to the raising of loans by the Province, Bill 23.
MR.
SPEAKER:
Further notices of motion?
Answers to Questions for which Notice has been Given.
Petitions.
Petitions
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for Mount Pearl South.
MR.
LANE:
To
the hon. House of Assembly of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador in
Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned residents humbly sheweth:
WHEREAS there are extreme overcrowding issues in St.
Peter's Elementary and Mount Pearl Senior High, a direct result of poor planning
by the Department of Education; and
WHEREAS the solution imposed by the English School
Board to deal with this now crisis situation will have a devastating impact on
many students, families and teachers in Mount Pearl Senior High, Mount Pearl
Intermediate, St. Peter's Elementary and Newtown Elementary; and
WHEREAS there are other less disruptive solutions which
can be introduced to alleviate this overcrowding issue including capital
investment as a preferred option as well as catchment area realignment; and
WHEREAS the English School Board was not provided with
the financial flexibility by the Minister of Education to explore other more
suitable options; and
WHEREAS the government has intervened in poor decisions
in the past such as in 2005 in Bishop's Falls, reversing the closure of Leo
Burke Academy.
WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly
pray and call upon the House of Assembly to urge the Government of Newfoundland
and Labrador to intervene in this matter, commit appropriate resources to the
English School Board and instruct them to develop more suitable options.
As in duty bound your petitioners will ever pray.
Mr. Speaker, I have now presented this, I cannot
remember how many times but several times to say the least.
I still have a stack of these petitions to present.
The recent ones came from a Grade 4 student of Newtown Elementary who
went door to door in his neighbourhood and collected petitions from people in
Mount Pearl in the Newtown area who have major concerns with the decision that
has been made. As indicated in the
past, this could have been avoided had there been proper planning done.
Of course, we know that proper planning is not something we see from
across the way too often in many categories, including education.
Mr. Speaker, it is unfortunate that I have to keep
presenting this. It is unfortunate
the minister has indicated that he will not intercede in this matter, even
though interestingly enough it has been done in the past when there was a
by-election on the go. I am not sure
what that would have had to do with anything.
I will let people judge that for themselves.
On behalf of the many families and students impacted by
this terrible decision, I will present this petition today and I will continue
to do so until the House is closed.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for St. John's Centre.
MS
ROGERS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
To the hon. House of Assembly of the Province of
Newfoundland and Labrador in Parliament assembled, the petition of the
undersigned residents of Newfoundland and Labrador humbly sheweth:
WHEREAS the Family Violence Intervention Court provided
a comprehensive approach to domestic violence in a court setting that fully
understood and dealt with the complex issues of domestic violence; and
WHEREAS domestic violence continues to be one of the
most serious issues facing our Province today, and the cost of the impact of
domestic violence is great both economically and in human suffering; and
WHEREAS the Family Violence Intervention Court was
welcomed and endorsed by all aspects of the justice system including the police,
the courts, prosecutors, defence counsel, Child, Youth and Family Services, as
well as victims, offenders, community agencies and women's groups; and
WHEREAS the recidivism rate for offenders going through
the court was 10 per cent compared to 40 per cent for those who did not; and
WHEREAS the budget for the court was only 0.2 per cent
of the entire budget of the Department of Justice;
WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly
pray and call upon the House of Assembly to urge government to reinstate the
Family Violence Intervention Court.
As in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.
Mr. Speaker, I plead with the Premier at this point in
his career, before he leaves this House of Assembly and a new Premier comes
onboard, I plead to him to heed and to listen to the women of the Province, to
women's shelters in this Province, to women's groups who work in the area of
Violence Against Women. I beg him to
listen to the police. I beg him to
listen to the courts. I beg him to
listen to Child, Youth and Family Services.
Mr. Speaker, I beg the Premier to stop and to listen to
the people who are saying that the Family Violence Intervention Court was one of
the most effective tools in working in the area and looking at the root causes
of domestic violence. I beg him to
speak to the judges. I beg him to
listen to the people who say that this court was effective, that this court
protected the women and children of this Province.
I beg him to do that before he steps down as Premier.
I beg him to listen and to reverse this decision.
I beg him to use his position of authority and power and to honour the
commitment that this government says that it has made in the area of violence
prevention and domestic violence. I
beg the Premier to listen to the people who are talking about this who are
experts. They are absolutely
experts.
They want it in Labrador.
They want it in Corner Brook.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh,
oh!
MR.
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MS
ROGERS:
They want it all over the Province.
The Premier knows that it can be spread all over the Province.
That it is possible. That it
does not cost a lot of money.
The women's groups in Labrador, the women's groups in
Corner Brook, the women's groups in Stephenville want this court as well.
The John Howard Society wants this court.
The Child, Youth and Family Services (inaudible)
MR.
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
The hon. the Member for St. John's East.
MR.
MURPHY:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh,
oh!
MR.
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR.
MURPHY:
To
the hon. House of Assembly of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador in
Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned residents humbly sheweth:
WHEREAS consumers and businesses in Newfoundland and
Labrador pay some of the highest automobile insurance rates in the country; and
WHEREAS part of recent increases in automobile
insurance is due to uninsured automobile coverage, which could increase by 329.3
per cent in 2014 for taxis and limousines insured by the Facility Association;
and
WHEREAS consumers may see an increase in taxi fares and
limousine rates as a result; and
WHEREAS consumers insured by the Facility Association
could see their own auto insurance rates increase partly due to uninsured
drivers;
WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly
pray and call upon the House of Assembly to urge government to establish a
procedure for insurance companies to co-ordinate with police, highway
enforcement officers, and the Motor Registration Division to remove unlicensed
and uninsured vehicles from our Province's highways.
As in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.
Mr. Speaker, it has been several times now that I have
risen in this House on this particular petition and addressed the simple fact of
uninsured drivers in this Province.
The other day was a really glaring example of what can happen with an uninsured
driver.
Here in the City of St. John's, up on Blackmarsh Road,
a lady's house happened to be struck by an uninsured vehicle.
She found out the hard way that her house was not covered through the
other vehicle's incident with their house and that their damages would not be
covered. Now they are left hanging
with a house here that has an untold dollar amount on it, probably in the
thousands to get their house repaired because there was no insurance on the
vehicle in question that hit their house.
So, now we have a consumer here who is left out hanging
in the wind with no way to get their house fixed, except by paying for it out of
their own pocket when they should not have to.
We all recognize that accidents are accidents, Mr. Speaker; but when
somebody is at fault and it can be proven, such as in this case, when they do
not have any insurance, well then the question has to be asked: How much are we
paying on our insurance rates right now whenever we are paying for uninsured
vehicles out there? We know it is a
serious problem.
We need to hear actions on the part of government to
correct the problem that is out there.
We know we have several mechanisms to do it.
We can do it through the police; we can do it through highway
enforcement.
All it takes is a little bit of co-ordination from the
insurance companies to find out about those people out there who do not have
current policies, or let their policies expire and for the obvious reasons that
people think they do not have to have it.
They think that they have a right not to have it on their vehicles when
we know that the opposite in case is the fact, that it is the law to have at
least some form of liability insurance on your vehicle.
The other day was a telling example of that.
When somebody's very residence gets hit by a car and that person has no
insurance, we know what the costs are, we have a glaring example out there now
in the media.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for The Straits White Bay North.
MR.
MITCHELMORE:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
To the hon. House of Assembly of the Province of
Newfoundland and Labrador in Parliament assembled, the petition of the
undersigned residents humbly sheweth:
WHEREAS there is no cell coverage in Trinity Bay South
from Heart's Content Barrens to Bay de Verde and this is not acceptable; and
WHEREAS the lack of cellphone services is unsafe for
everyone in the area; car accidents, volunteer firefighter requests, police
help, ambulance requests, and inshore fishing are just a few areas where access
to cellphone service could affect life or death; and
WHEREAS safety should be a number one priority; and
WHEREAS Trinity Bay South can never attract meaningful
business interests without cell coverage; and
WHEREAS tourism involving hiking, cycling, and many
other activities simply cannot thrive without cellular services;
WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly
pray and call upon the House of Assembly to urge the Government of Newfoundland
and Labrador to provide Trinity Bay South with cellular service immediately to
protect the safety, economic, and social well-being of the area and its people.
As in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.
Mr. Speaker, it is quite evident that there is a
significant opportunity for the CBN area to look at, with the population, to
provide adequate cell coverage to areas that are underserviced.
I think it is really a time for government to table its plan and to work
with the federal government and with Bell Mobility.
There was a wireless spectrum sale which Bell has a
plan to cover 97 per cent of the population across Canada with cellular
coverage. Let us get together, carve
out those plans so the economic benefits can be shared throughout the Province.
We look at strategic investment with the
Department of IBRD; make it happen for these areas.
I have been presenting and speaking of the issue on
behalf of my constituents on the Great Northern Peninsula, but as well there are
many other areas of the Province that need that type of attention.
The business case certainly can be made for it.
I present this petition because I think it is something that is so
important for the safety, well-being, and economic development of a region.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for the opportunity.
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for St. John's North.
MR.
KIRBY:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
To the hon. House of Assembly of the Province of
Newfoundland and Labrador in Parliament assembled, the petition of the
undersigned residents of Newfoundland and Labrador humbly sheweth:
WHEREAS current government regulations deny busing
services to students who live closer than 1.6 kilometres to school; and
WHEREAS parents have expressed concern that children
living within 1.6 kilometres of school face dangers in walking to school such as
congested streets and busy intersections, especially during winter weather
conditions; and
WHEREAS the $75,000 review of the school transportation
system completed by Deloitte recommended that the Department of Education
consider reducing the 1.6 kilometre eligibility zone for Kindergarten and
elementary students; and
WHEREAS the $75,000 report also noted that only 10 per
cent of those surveyed for the school transportation system review agree that
the 1.6 kilometre policy is reasonable for students and families; and
WHEREAS parents are continuing to demand more flexible
policies to meet the current needs of school children;
WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly
pray and call upon the House of Assembly to urge government to change the
outdated 1.6 kilometre eligibility policy in order to ensure safe travel to
school for primary and elementary school children in the Province.
As in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.
Mr. Speaker, I do not know how many times I have
presented this. It is quite a number
of times. I got an e-mail yesterday
that made me think I should present this here today.
It was from parents out in Paradise.
They are talking about how in that town they are getting busing provided
for Paradise Elementary students while there is construction going on, and they
talk about the need to consider safety of their children beyond this year when
the construction is going on.
I think this really legitimizes a lot of the things
that I have been talking about. They
say that their child has to cross Topsail Road, which is a feat for an adult,
let alone a child, must contend with four lanes of traffic; and they said that
their wife could walk to school with them, but she has a three-year-old at home
who would have to accompany them on their walk across to Paradise Elementary
1.4 kilometres. It says: a very busy
four-lane street, Topsail Road, and then also a busy four-lane street in Karwood
Drive.
It goes on to talk about our weather, how it is
actually not unpredictable, but very predictable, and you can predict that we
are going to have wet and cold and snowy and windy, and downright nasty weather
sometimes. To expect small children
to negotiate four lanes of traffic to get to school is simply unreasonable.
This parent goes on to say that not only is it not safe to walk, it is
often not safe to park because there is not a sufficient amount of parking, so
even driving their own kids is not an option.
Mr. Speaker, this really speaks to what we have been
raising.
MR.
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR.
KIRBY:
Thank you.
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for St. John's East.
MR.
MURPHY:
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
To the hon. House of Assembly of the Province of
Newfoundland and Labrador in Parliament assembled, the petition of the
undersigned residents of Newfoundland and Labrador humbly sheweth:
WHEREAS weather cameras are needed on the Burin
Peninsula Highway for safety of residents who are travelling during
unpredictable weather conditions.
We, the undersigned, petition the House of Assembly to
urge government to install weather cameras on the Burin Peninsula Highway.
As in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.
Mr. Speaker, I stood in the House of Assembly before on
this particular petition and this one, I guess.
When it comes to a seasonal basis, this one may sound like it is little
late in coming but it is not. There
is still snow in the forecast, I think as late as yesterday.
It is unbelievable how changeable our weather is.
When it comes to the Burin Peninsula Highway itself,
Mr. Speaker, I was down there about three weeks ago on an event.
I had to note the changeable weather conditions that were down there at
that particular time. Of note then,
of course, even since then, we had some accumulation of snow on our highways.
The people of the Burin Peninsula are asking, pretty
much they know there are cameras down there on the highway but they know there
is a need for a second camera down there.
They are in a particularly harsh area where the weather seems to be very,
very changeable. It may simply be a
case, Mr. Speaker, where they might be able to change the position of one of the
cameras down there, for example, and move it into the area where there is a high
degradation of temperature, a big swing in temperature where the road would
freeze more so than in others.
I am asking government to consider this move on the
part of the people of the Burin Peninsula.
Again, these signatories come anywhere from Marystown, Creston North, as
far down as Grand Bank. I will leave
it with government.
Again, a last thought on this is that even though there
is no technology that exists, for example, cellular service in some areas down
there is also spotty. That is
another issue we are dealing with.
We do know government has made good investments when it comes to cameras, for
example, underwater cameras in fisheries.
I think the minister, within the last three months, announced about a
$19,000 funding measure to put in an underwater camera system for some net
monitoring.
We know the technology out there exists.
We know the technology is available here in Newfoundland and Labrador.
We do know of a couple of companies that can come up with a system.
We think it can be done for less than $10,000.
Mr. Speaker, again, it is a pleasure to stand up in the
House and present this on behalf of the people of the Burin Peninsula.
We hope that government can address this situation.
Thank you very much.
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Government House Leader.
MR.
KING:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
As per Standing Order 32, I move, seconded by the
Minister of Environment and Conservation, that we move to Orders of the Day.
MR.
SPEAKER:
It
has been moved and seconded that we now move to Orders of the Day.
All those in favour, aye'.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Aye.
MR.
SPEAKER:
All
those against, nay'.
Motion carried.
Orders of the Day
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Government House Leader.
MR.
KING:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
First of all, Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order
11, I move that the House not adjourn today at 5:30 p.m. that is Thursday, May
29, 2014.
MR.
SPEAKER:
It
has been moved and seconded that this House do not adjourn at 5:30 p.m. on
Thursday, May 29, 2014.
All those in favour, aye'.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Aye.
MR.
SPEAKER:
All
those against, nay'.
Motion carried.
The hon. the Government House Leader.
MR.
KING:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Once again, pursuant to Standing Order 11, I move
motion 9 that the House not adjourn today at 5:30 p.m., May 29, 2014.
MR.
SPEAKER:
It
has been moved and seconded that this House do not adjourn at 10:00 p.m. on
Thursday, May 29, 2014.
All those in favour, aye'.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Aye.
MR.
SPEAKER:
All
those against
The hon. the Government House Leader.
MR.
KING:
Yes, I am not sure if I said the right thing.
They said I said 5:30 twice.
I intended the first motion to reflect 5:30 p.m., the second one to reflect
10:00 p.m.
MR.
SPEAKER:
Just to make sure we are fair here, let's repeat the motion.
MR.
KING:
Yes.
MR.
SPEAKER:
It
has been moved and seconded that the House do not adjourn at 10:00 p.m. on
Thursday, May 29, 2014.
All those in favour, aye'.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Aye.
MR.
SPEAKER:
All
those against, nay'.
Motion carried.
We do not want people getting out too early.
The hon. the Government House Leader.
MR.
KING:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
This time I ask leave, seconded by the Minister of
Health and Community Services, to introduce a bill entitled, An Act To Amend The
Dispensing Opticians Act, 2005, Bill 19, and that the said bill be now read the
first time.
MR.
SPEAKER:
It
has been moved and seconded that the hon. the Minister of Health and Community
Services shall have leave to introduce a bill, An Act To Amend The Dispensing
Opticians Act, 2005, Bill 19, and that the said bill be now read a first time.
Is it the pleasure of the House that the minister shall
have leave to introduce Bill 19?
The hon. the Government House Leader.
MR.
KING:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The said bill, seconded by the Minister of Environment
and Conservation. I apologize.
MR.
SPEAKER:
Thank you.
It has been moved and seconded that the Minister of
Health and Community Services shall have leave to introduce a bill, An Act To
Amend The Dispensing Opticians Act, 2005, Bill 19.
Is it the pleasure of the House that the minister shall
have leave to introduce Bill 19, and that the said bill be now read a first
time?
All those in favour, aye'.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Aye.
MR.
SPEAKER:
All
those against, nay'.
Carried.
Motion, the hon. the Minister of Health and Community
Services to introduce a bill, An Act To Amend The Dispensing Opticians Act,
2005, carried. (Bill 19)
CLERK:
A
bill, An Act To Amend The Dispensing Opticians Act, 2005.
(Bill 19)
MR.
SPEAKER:
This bill is now read a first time.
When shall the bill be read a second time?
MR.
KING:
On
tomorrow.
MR.
SPEAKER:
Tomorrow.
On motion, Bill 19 read a first time, ordered read a
second time on tomorrow.
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Government House Leader.
MR.
KING:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
At this time I call from the Order Paper, Order 1, and
I move, seconded by the Minister of Environment and Conservation, that An Act To
Amend Various Acts Of The Province Respecting The Publication Of A Summary Of A
Decision Or Order Of An Adjudication Tribunal, Bill 8, and the said bill be now
read a third time.
MR.
SPEAKER:
It
is moved and seconded that the said bill be now read a third time.
Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion
that Bill 8 shall be now read a third time?
All those in favour, aye'.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Aye.
MR.
SPEAKER:
All
those against, nay'.
Motion carried.
CLERK:
A
bill, An Act To Amend Various Acts Of The Province Respecting The Publication Of
A Summary Of A Decision Or Order Of An Adjudication Tribunal.
(Bill 8)
MR.
SPEAKER:
This bill is now read a third time and it is ordered that the bill do pass and
its title be as on the Order Paper.
On motion, a bill, An Act To Amend Various Acts Of The
Province Respecting The Publication Of A Summary Of A Decision Or Order Of An
Adjudication Tribunal, read third time, ordered passed and its title be as on
the Order Paper. (Bill 8)
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Government House Leader.
MR.
KING:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
At this time I call from the Order Paper, Motion 1,
that the House approves in general the budgetary policy of the government, the
Budget Speech.
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for St. John's East.
MR.
MURPHY:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I rise in my place again today to talk about the
Budget. Of course, as everybody
knows, there has been some time now since the Budget has been passed, and
knowing that I guess in some cases people may even forget that we did pass along
the motion to debate the Budget pretty much in March now.
It seems so long ago when it came out, that some people may even have
forgotten that it is still not passed yet.
Again, I take pleasure in rising in my place to talk about that.
Mr. Speaker, before I do, I would like to thank the
Members of the House of Assembly here for their support.
I know my own family has been getting a very harsh lesson when it comes
to what is happening in the health care system when you have somebody sick in
your family. I want to thank them,
first of all, for their hopes and their prayers.
The exposure we have had to the health care system, of
course, makes you all the more readily apparent of the problems that you see
within the health care system, too.
I want to say one comment with regard to the staffing who are in there.
I want to thank them wholeheartedly for their support and their tireless
efforts in working with our family, in particular, and with the families they
deal with on an everyday basis.
I know we have an aging population in this Province.
The challenges are going to be very many in the next coming years.
I just want to thank them for all the work and everything they are doing.
God love the nurses, is all I can say, Mr. Speaker, and that basically
includes everybody. God love the nurses for their toil that they do out there.
I cannot help but think of nurses in a whole different light having been
exposed to the health care system and what is happening.
Mr. Speaker, the Budget, like I said, was brought forth
about a month-and-a-half ago now it seems so long ago but I wanted to talk
to some issues to the Budget that I believe are very important to the Province.
Again, when I touch on the health care system, I want to talk about the
population challenge issues that we have in the Province here and how they can
be effective in the next couple of years by looking at the budget numbers that
are here in this book and comparing them again to what is going to be happening
down the road.
The first big issue when it comes to population, we
know there are going to be heavy demands on the health care system, as I just
chatted about, simply because we do have an aging demographic.
Along with an aging demographic and a declining birth rate because the
figures from Statistics Canada are not lying in this particular case; we have a
declining birth rate not only in this country, but particularly in this
Province, and that is going to affect the budget numbers in the Province, but we
are not talking about it. We are
really not talking about it in a way that we should be.
It would be my suggestion to government that we would have an all-party
standing committee that would be sitting and looking at the challenges as
regards population and what it is going to be doing to budgets in the future.
One of the more important things that I talked about
was that in the future, we are going to be dealing with a declining tax intake,
if you will, into the Province. This
year's budget numbers show, for example, that we are going to be taking in
approximately $1.1 billion in personal income taxes in this Province.
That is from working people.
That is from you and me. That is
from the people who are out there working the minimum wage jobs.
That is from the people who are out there driving their taxis or driving
their trucks, or people who are working in the office buildings here on Water
Street.
We have a tax rate right now that is based simply on
people who are working, or people who are making a lot of money that can
contribute to the system; but at the same time, whenever you get older, usually
what happens is that if you do not have a good nest egg put away, you tend to
fall back on pensions and pensions these days we know are not as valued the
same way as what they were before.
We do not get the same purchasing power and then. on top of that, sometimes we
do not draw out as much income tax from that.
If we are going to have an aging population, this
Province has a challenge right now of meeting workforce needs for example.
The government is saying that we have the challenge of getting about
70,000 workers into the workforce.
The skilled trades are one place that I can point to.
If we cannot get enough people who are going to get in here to support
the system and like I said, $1.1 billion in income tax is raised this year,
projected.
It would be my guess based on the declines in
population from Statistics Canada, that number could be anywhere from 30 per
cent to 35 per cent less in taxation collected to government twenty years down
the road. That is almost a $400
million shortfall in basic personal income taxes collected.
If we also have an aging demographic, Mr. Speaker, there is no doubt that
along with that declining birth rate, that retail sales, for example, may be
affected.
Now we have a problem here, an issue with money, and
twenty years down the road the answer cannot be royalty money from our resources
because we know right now, for example, that royalty monies from a declining
resource like oil are simply going to be less in twenty years' time.
So, now we have a double problem here.
We have a problem of declining population, if you will, and revenues that
are taken in from that; but, at the same time, we are also going to have the
issue of royalty monies from a declining resource, and we know that those monies
are going to drop. So, we do have
challenges coming up in the future.
Mr. Speaker, a couple of issues in my district and
going out door to door you talk to people and one of the big issues that a lot
of people out there in my district have are affordability issues.
In some places in my district people have fairly good incomes.
In other areas I have a lot of seniors, for example just to give
everybody a little sense of what they are feeling out there.
Government's policy and we all talk about it here as well, about
keeping people in their own homes.
We all want to keep people in their own homes and keep them healthy at the same
time, and it would be partially a health concern; but if we are talking about
the affordability of keeping people in their own homes, one of the
responsibilities that we have as legislators, is to make sure that the taxes
that they are paying are going to be the lowest that they can.
I talk about in this case, for example, the role of the
Department of Municipal Affairs when it comes to the funding formula.
If government was paying its way, for example, on the buildings that are
right down there in St. John's East alone, how much of a tax base increase an
increase to the tax base and an increase to the revenue that the City of St.
John's would be able to avail of and not to fall back on the taxpayer to
increase their municipal taxes. That
is kind of important. I see that
some of the government members are a little bit interested in this one.
If we keep municipal taxes low, we keep people in their own homes.
It is as plain and simple as that.
The second thing that we also do is we maintain revenue to the various
cities and towns across the Province that have provincial infrastructure.
So there is a responsibility here on the part of the
Province, as well, to make sure that municipal taxes are low.
How can they do that? A
couple of different ways; let me tell you about them.
If we know that the Province was paying its fair share, for example, on
provincial buildings on provincial buildings alone, we know that it would be
several thousand dollars in revenue, for example, per building that would be
back into the municipal coffers.
That is one way that a municipality, for example, can gain revenue.
The second way and let me give you an example of how
this can affect the general public out there too, and it is not talked about
enough here in this House here either is municipal transit.
Last week my comrade for St. John's Centre asked a question in the House.
She talked about the case where a couple of seniors wanted to visit their
brother who happened to be moved out to a home in Long Pond.
Mr. Speaker, as much as that does not sound like a big issue for a lot of
people, it was for these two seniors.
When you are talking about visiting from St. John's West going out to
Long Pond out in Manuels, you are probably talking about a $60 cab ride one way.
Everybody thinks that municipal transit has to make
money. The other reason why you have
municipal transit is to address an issue like this.
We know that the Town of CBS, for example I would imagine that they
would certainly love to have a foothold in on a municipal transit issue.
The Town of Paradise would want to get in on a municipal transit issue.
This is an everybody issue, Mr. Speaker, because you
are talking about the cost effectiveness of transportation.
We just do not have municipal transit for the sake of municipal transit.
We have municipal transit as a connector for people and a connector for
communities. More importantly in
this particular case when the Member for St. John's Centre talked about the two
ladies in St. John's West who wanted to visit their brother in CBS, it becomes
an affordable option to have somebody out in CBS in a case like this, if they
desire to go out in CBS, because they know they have a municipal transit system
that can probably help move people at the same time.
That discussion needs to happen.
Towns and cities benefit from a discussion like that.
A Province, for example, like ours with as much oil
revenue as it has coming in right now, could be giving the City of St. John's a
tax break, for example, on its purchases that it is making and keep some of the
money in provincial coffers. We know
that the CFIB earlier today, for example, came out with a report saying that the
City of St. John's was spending 50 per cent more over and above what it was a
few years ago in spite of only having an 8 per cent growth in area.
The real factor here is that we know the City of St.
John's is probably doing pretty good spending with that 50 per cent because of
aging infrastructure that it has.
There are challenges for cities, for example, even when you read the report from
the CFIB where the City of St. John's needs to be spending that 50 per cent
more. We have a responsibility as
legislators to protect our cities from there and hence to protect our citizenry
at the same time. That is something
about what I hear from my people in St. John's East.
The other thing I wanted to address was a rather unique
educational issue that I ran into in my district, and it seems like this one is
scattered in some schools. Perhaps
the minister might want to address this one or investigate this one.
In just talking to one of my school councils last week, one of the issues
I ran into, and it is starting to come up again, is the issue around some
electrical issues with some of the SMART Boards out there.
As much as government made a great investment, there is
a problem with the SMART Boards out there and the maintenance of.
In some cases the SMART Boards, the bulbs, for example, in them burn out
after about 400 hours use. These
things are used eight hours a day in the classroom now.
After roughly of about fifty days, you are looking at a school board that
has to go ahead and spend $400 for a bulb for one of these projectors.
In some of these schools, if you have twenty classrooms
you are talking about twenty bulbs over the run of 400 hours and you could be
talking upwards of $8,000. So I ask
government to have a look at that, to investigate that particular issue, but
like I said, the SMART Boards right now are a necessity.
Until we have better technology or a better way of replacing some of the
parts for some of these SMART Boards, it needs to be addressed.
Mr. Speaker, I want to speak about the people of
Chalker Place. I had the opportunity
as well to participate in a Chalker Place neighbourhood cleanup down there last
week. They are just super nice
people down there, and we had a great time down there.
The kids were really responsive to a cleanup in their area.
It is a funny thing about young people, they are more
responsive to environmental issues and environmental sensitivities sometimes
than adults are. We see that case
everyday of course when it comes to the discussion of some government policy
when it comes to industrial development.
We have to be very careful.
The environment belongs to our children out there.
Mr. Speaker, I want to say hats off to the people of Chalker Place who
responded last week to cleaning up their neighbourhood.
We just had a great bit of fun there the other day.
I want to talk about the amounts in royalties at the
same time. Last week well, I think
it was probably about three weeks ago now; we had an interesting set when it
came to the amount of money. We are
asking government from that day exactly where the money went?
About $14.7 billion in royalties were collected since 1997 from first oil
and I think everybody remembers not seeing that first dollar amount on the
cheque.
Some people in return, of course, are looking for
fairness in taxation in this Budget, and I do not think they really got it.
I do not think they really got it when you look at the numbers that were
in there. We wanted to see more
investment, for example, from the monies that were collected in this Budget.
One of the things we did not see, for example, was
something our party had asked for several years ago.
I think it was in 2011. In a
private member's motion we asked for diabetes test strips to be paid for by
government. At that particular time
government came forth and amended the resolution to the point where they said
when they have the money in the Budget to do so they will go ahead and start
paying for it. Well, guess what?
It is $14.7 billion since 1997 and we still cannot afford to take some
preventative steps when it comes to medicine and Medicare in this Province and
avoid some medical care spending here.
We did not see fit yet in this Budget, for example, to
pay for diabetes test strips. Like I
said, when government said they had the money they would do it.
Well, it is obvious they had the money this year.
They went out and borrowed another billion dollars.
They bet on the future that they were going to have the money in the
future as well to do it, but the time is now, Mr. Speaker, with an aging
population in this Province and the onset of diabetes and how much it has
increased in the past years. We did
not see government invest in preventative-type medicine to the degree that we
would have liked to have seen. That
is one instance.
Back to my constituency again.
I can talk about Lucentis injections.
The funny part about Lucentis injections is that this is the only
Province in Canada that subjects the people of Newfoundland and Labrador who are
facing macular degeneration and yes, it happens again with an older population
you get fifteen injections and they are capped.
There is a cap on them. Hats
off to government for looking at that cap, but they still do not see the basis
of removing that cap as other provinces have.
What Lucentis does, of course, if you have macular
degeneration you lose your eyesight.
That is fifteen injections over a lifetime not fifteen injections a month or a
year, anything like that, that is fifteen in a lifetime.
I ran into a constituent last week also who is starting to have problems
with their vision. They had started
losing it about three months before I even knew it, and they were already up to
five or six injections, I think it was.
Well, what do they do after they reach the cap?
Well, here is what happens, Mr. Speaker, here is what
happens. They are expected to if
they want to prevent losing their eyesight they have to reach into their pocket,
they have to reach into their retirement savings, they have to reach into their
RRSPS, if you will, and they have to haul out about $1,800 per injection in
order to save their eyesight. Now
that is a little bit ridiculous, Mr. Speaker.
If you are talking about not having to pay the expenses
of somebody losing their eyesight, it is absolutely preposterous to know that
government will not remove the cap on Lucentis injections.
They would expect that if somebody could not afford it, that person would
have to end up going blind and cost the medical system in training in Braille
education, or in Seeing Eye dogs, or in helpers in this particular case.
Two people I am dealing with right now, one is a
seventy-nine-year-old lady who happens to have her driver's licence.
Her husband is sick. She is
the only mode of transportation. If
she loses her eyesight, Mr. Speaker, what do they do?
What do they do if she is the only one in the household right now getting
them around? I can guarantee you,
the next step for them, if they do not go ahead and get the $1,800 a month for
Lucentis injections, they will have home care.
That is going to cost government, if government does not end up doing the
right thing by paying for Lucentis injections.
Mr. Speaker, like I said, that is not the only person in my constituency.
I would say to government right here and now in
Newfoundland and Labrador, we have an aging demographic in this Province and
according to the CNIB we have about 20,000 people in Newfoundland and Labrador
who are susceptible right now to have macular degeneration within the next few
years. While it is a slow build up
now, government is going to get hit with an extreme wave of people who are
experiencing problems with vision health.
Do you know what?
Vision health, Mr. Speaker, is one of the lesser paid attention to, if
you will, classes of health care. We
do not tend to look at vision care the same way as we do for home care or old
age care, if you will. This is one
place where government can actually avoid a problem in the next couple of years.
Remove the cap and make sure people are going to be insured of their eye
health so they will not have to be practicing an added expense to the health
care system later on.
Mr. Speaker, I can see my time is up.
I will just reflect on a couple of things very quickly as regards other
things in the Budget.
There is no plan from this government as regards roads
and bridges. There are no plans for
road maintenance programs that will be undergoing rotation.
We know the Auditor General has already said we are $800 million in the
hole. We know that government has
already said this year $81 million is a record.
We still have not heard from government in regard to how they are going
to be able to pick up from the amounts of money that they have missing.
MR.
SPEAKER (Verge):
Order, please!
I remind the member his time has expired.
MR.
MURPHY:
I
see my time is up, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much.
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for Baie Verte Springdale.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
POLLARD:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I am certainly privileged to speak on
Budget 2014: Shared Prosperity, Fair
Society, Balanced Outlook.
Before I get into the crux of the matter, I just want again to thank the people
of the District of Baie Verte Springdale for their ongoing support and for
placing me here. It is certainly
humbling and a tremendous educational experience.
On behalf of all of us here, I want to thank the people right across the
Province for placing us here, and we all try to do our best.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize, first of all,
the six high schools in my district that are carrying on graduations.
They are Indian River High of Springdale; Valmont Academy of King's
Point; Copper Ridge Academy, Baie Verte; St. Peter's Academy of Westport; and
Cape John Collegiate, La Scie. I
hope I did not forget anybody, Mr. Speaker the M.S.B Regional Academy of
Middle Arm. I have the privilege of
going, hopefully, next week, to the Baie Verte CNA graduation and also this
Friday night attending the St. Peter's Academy one.
One common theme or thread of all of these so far is
the outstanding speeches by the graduating students, youth, community support,
the huge commitment of teachers and the strong leadership that the graduating
students exhibited as I visit these schools.
In short, Mr. Speaker, I would just like to applaud the schools and the
graduates for the outstanding job that they are doing.
Mr. Speaker, this afternoon I will probably be in a
combative mood. If you ask me why,
it is simply because a couple of weeks ago the Leader of the Official Opposition
gave me a lot of food to chew on, of which I cannot digest and I find it very
distasteful. By extension, I assumed
all the members across the way believe the same viewpoint.
You might be wondering: Well, what is the problem?
What kind of phrases did he use in his speech about a couple of weeks ago
in a fundraising event? The phrase
that really got to me, irritated me, and perturbed me as a proud Newfoundlander
and Labradorian was the three words: lowest, worst and the last.
I said to myself: Well, what Province is he living in?
If he is referring to Newfoundland and Labrador, he is really completely
oblivious to the past ten years and what this government has done.
Is he referring to the lowest tuition fees in the country?
If he is, he is correct. If
he is referring to the lowest pupil-teacher ratio, he is correct.
If he is referring to the lowest unemployment rate since 1973, he is
correct. If he is referring to the
lowest small business corporate income tax ratio in Atlantic Canada, he is
indeed correct. If he is referring
to the lowest personal income tax rates in Atlantic Canada, he is indeed
correct.
Like I said earlier, I cannot share the same view, Mr.
Speaker. I take strong exception to
the official leader's characterization of our beloved Province.
He stated like I said earlier: least, lowest, worst, last.
I cannot share that same view.
Does he really believe that?
Why would he diminish our collective psyche?
Why would he discourage potential tourists and investors to visit our
Province by such negative comments?
Is it because of his quest for power?
I refuse to believe that we are least, last, and worst.
For the first time since Confederation, we as Newfoundlanders and
Labradorians believe in ourselves.
We are proud, we are confident, and we hold our heads up high.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
POLLARD:
We
are leaders; we are not followers.
No longer are we taking the brunt of one joke after another.
From the resilient, innovative, hard-working Newfoundlanders and
Labradorians to the huge, many, varied resources that we have in our Province,
Newfoundland and Labrador has become a model not only for this Nation but the
rest of the world.
My question is: Why paint such a dismal picture of our
beloved Province? I reject the
notion that we are least, last, and worst.
I refuse to believe it. It is
a gross misrepresentation of who we really are and where we are right now in
this particular time of our history.
The lust of power is so great it has attacked our
pride, our psyche, of which no amount of money is able to purchase.
Is that the image every leader wants to be projected to our school aged
children? Is this the image that we
want to project to potential investors, to potential business people?
Is this the image we want to project to our school-aged children, to our
children, to our grandchildren with these negative comments?
Will these negative comments instill vision in our people?
Will they instill pride in our people?
Absolutely not, Mr. Speaker.
Will these negative comments instill a can-do attitude?
Absolutely not. Why attempt
to tear down and destroy what we as a Province, ever since Confederation,
approximately sixty-five years, are striving to become proud, determined,
strong Newfoundland and Labradorians, able to stand on our own two feet for the
first time in our history
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
POLLARD:
Right now we are paying our own way.
We are no longer the poor cousins of Confederation.
We are now part of the golden era of opportunity, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
POLLARD:
Why
do we want to go back to the 1990s or the early 2000s in ones and twos and
threes, no vision, close to bankruptcy, a spirit of despondency and depression
and despair pervaded the entire Province, Mr. Speaker.
The people were so much in despair in that they could not hold their
heads up high. Their chins were
digging furrows in the sand in the ground; we were so low in our pride, Mr.
Speaker.
Away with negativism, away with doom and gloom, away
with this austerity in the past ten years, we have come out of it, Mr. Speaker;
what a metamorphosis, what a transformation this Province has seen in the last
ten years by this government. It is
absolutely irresponsible for anybody to get up and say that we are least and
worst, and lowest and last. It is a
pure condemnation of the people of the Province.
Mr. Speaker, look at our history since Confederation,
look at the highs and lows, where are the highs in the graph if you look at
them? It is under the PC government,
under the Tory government, the high peaks
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
POLLARD:
Where were the low peaks? It was
under the Liberal rule, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
POLLARD:
Under the Liberal rule. The Moores
Administration, the Peckford Administration, the Williams Administration, the
Dunderdale Administration and under this current government, you see high peaks
in economic performance, Mr. Speaker, high peaks in our pride and now they want
to get in power and bring the people down, down, down, with no vision.
It is absolutely irresponsible, Mr. Speaker.
Do you know what their energy plan was in the early
1990s? Exploit the dividends of
Newfoundland Hydro to pay for roads and bridges
AN
HON. MEMBER:
It
is shameful.
MR.
POLLARD:
It
is shameful, Mr. Speaker. It is
absolutely irresponsible. I cannot
go back there.
Mr. Speaker, I have to calm down a bit because
something rises in me when I hear these negative comments.
What did Michelle Obama say?
Just listen to this quote, One of the lessons that I grew up with was to always
stay true to yourself and never let what somebody else says distract you from
your goals. And so when I hear about
negative and false attacks, I really don't invest any energy in them, because I
know who I am.
Mr. Speaker, I know who I am.
The people of this Province know who they really are: proud, strong,
determined.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
POLLARD:
Mr.
Speaker, we are visionary, we are innovative and resilient people.
We are not going to tolerate somebody calling us worst, last, and least
anymore.
Just listen to this comment, Mr. Speaker.
It is another quote I got from Facebook.
My friend just put it there this morning.
I came across it: the waters of the sea cannot sink a ship unless it gets
inside. Likewise, negativity cannot
put you down unless you allow it to get inside of you.
Mr. Speaker, I refuse to let the waters get inside me
and sink my ship. This government
chooses to lead. This government
chooses to inspire. This government
chooses to uplift. This government
chooses to be positive. This
government chooses to be encouraging to the people.
This government chooses to look up.
This government chooses to look ahead.
This government chooses to look forward and not behind.
This government chooses a vision.
This government is staying on course.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
POLLARD:
Mr.
Speaker, this government is casting a vision of which we have never seen before.
We are not to be deterred; we are not to veer off course.
We are going to stay straight ahead with our vision.
We know we are on the right track in the past ten years from economic
performance and taking care of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, showing
that we care about the people of this great Province.
Mr. Speaker, in my former life as a teacher I never did
subscribe to the have not phrase that I heard over and over and over.
I believed in the people of Newfoundland
and Labrador and how resilient, strong, and innovative they really were.
I knew how many resources we had in this Province, but it was mismanaged,
it was not done right.
As a teacher I often wondered, how can we do better?
Do you know what? In the late
1990s, 2003 when we took power the vision was cast.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
POLLARD:
I
gravitated to that vision, Mr. Speaker.
I was hooked because the vision was clear.
I am proud to be part of this government today because I was looking for
someone to uplift me. I was looking
for someone to inspire me. I was
looking for someone to motivate me.
I was looking for someone to say the sun will shine and have not will be
no more.
I have news for everybody, especially over there, Mr.
Speaker. The sun is shining.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
POLLARD:
I
have news to believe, Mr. Speaker, the clouds are gone, the sun is shining, and
have not will be no more. It is
happening today just in case they do not know, Mr. Speaker.
They are completely oblivious to the present situation.
They are completely oblivious to the economic performance of the past ten
years of this government. Why?
Because the lust for power is so great that they are willing to down
trod, they are willing to tear down, they are willing to trod the psyche of our
people.
Mr. Speaker, it is shameful, it is irresponsible.
The people of Newfoundland and Labrador will hold them accountable in the
next general election.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
POLLARD:
Excuse me, Mr. Speaker, I have to calm down a bit.
I do get emotional.
I have a choice, we all have a choice.
Every day we get up in the morning, we can be positive or we can be
negative. Mr. Speaker, I choose to
be positive. This government chooses
to be positive. I choose to believe
there are more people working today than ever before in our history, since 1973.
I choose to believe to wear my glasses, Mr. Speaker.
This Province is leading the nation in health care wait times for cardiac
bypass, hip fracture repairs, and cardiac surgery.
Thank you, we share the same vision over here.
It keeps us focused, thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
POLLARD:
I
say thank you to the Member for Harbour Main, thank you.
I can even see better now.
Mr. Speaker, I choose to believe that we have the best
pupil-teacher ratio than any province in Canada.
I choose to believe we have the lowest tuition in the country.
I choose to believe that retail sales are strong, car sales are strong,
and there is a high level of consumer confidence.
We have low interest rates.
We have the highest average weekly wage in the country.
I choose to believe that second only to Alberta.
How can we not believe that this Province do I look good, Mr. Speaker,
with these glasses on?
I choose to believe that we are a have Province.
Alberta, BC and Saskatchewan we are in their league.
One time, they looked upon us with condensation a condescending
attitude. Yes, they wanted to rain
upon us too, on every parade that we had.
It is no more, no more, Mr. Speaker.
We believe in ourselves.
I believe that we have the highest level of employment
in the history of the Province, second only to Alberta.
We have the lowest annual unemployment rate in thirty-seven years, Mr.
Speaker. I choose to believe that
the housing starts are strong. I
choose to believe that Newfoundland and Labrador is leading Canada in economic
performance, outpacing every other province.
Just listen to this, Mr. Speaker, the Conference Board
of Canada issued its economic report card for the provinces, Using hard data,
they have ranked Newfoundland and Labrador, alongside Alberta and Saskatchewan,
as the top performers among all provinces.
In fact, with an A-plus rating, we were not only ahead of Ontario,
Quebec, BC, Manitoba and the Maritimes; we were also ahead of Canada's national
performance and ahead of the US, the UK, Australia, France, Germany and even
Norway.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
POLLARD:
This new report echoes the findings of Canada's five major banks and the bond
rating agencies. I have a question,
Mr. Speaker: Whose report are you going to believe?
I believe in the report of bond rating agencies.
I believe the report of Dr. Wade Locke.
I believe the report of the Conference Board of Canada.
I believe the report of major banks, Mr. Speaker.
Now, Mr. Speaker, I have a question: Is that the worst?
Is that the least? Is that
the lowest?
AN
HON. MEMBER:
No.
MR.
POLLARD:
Is
that the last?
AN
HON. MEMBER:
No.
MR.
POLLARD:
Tell me again, Mr. Speaker, I want to hear it loud and clear.
Is that the worst?
AN
HON. MEMBER:
No.
MR.
POLLARD:
Is
that the least?
AN
HON. MEMBER:
No.
MR.
POLLARD:
Is
that the last?
AN
HON. MEMBER:
No.
MR.
POLLARD:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. See that
information? See the thing work?
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
POLLARD:
Now, Mr. Speaker, we have an A+ grade for economic performance.
I have two more phrases. My
time is running out.
Just quickly, Mr. Speaker, a couple of years ago
spending $5 billion on infrastructure was considered by the Official Opposition
over there as frivolous spending. I
say it again, frivolous spending. In
fact, the other day he had the audacity to say that we squandered our oil money
and we left a legacy of lost opportunity, left nothing behind.
Mr. Speaker, that is totally appalling, shocking,
amazing, completely oblivious to the surroundings of what is happening in this
great Province of ours. What
newspaper is he reading, Mr. Speaker?
Nothing could be further from reality, Mr. Speaker.
Tell the people of Little Bay Islands and Long Island that the $27.5
million ferry is frivolous spending or squandered money.
Tell the people of Bell Island, my colleague here, the Member for Bell
Island I am sorry, there is someone else sitting there now.
The $50 million ferry and a fire hall, squandered
money, Mr. Speaker, just squandered.
Shameful! Tell the people of Baie
Verte the Copper Ridge Academy, $16.7 million is frivolous spending, squandered
money. They will not believe you,
Mr. Speaker. Tell the people of
Green Bay-White Bay that the investment in roadwork and Municipal Capital Works
is just squandered, frivolous spending.
Tell the people of Central Newfoundland that the five operating
state-of-the-art rooms in the hospital is frivolous spending and squandered
money.
Tell my son-in-law, Mr. Speaker, who had a baby boy
born, my grandson, last weekend, my daughter Danielle and Josh tell them that
the money is squandered, and tell the physicians that.
He came home raving about the beautiful, beautiful state-of-the-art
facility in which the baby was born.
Mr. Speaker, hats off to this Province and to this government for investing.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
POLLARD:
Tell the people who are receiving dialysis services, it went from seven to
fourteen; tell the people that is squandered money.
Shameful! Tell the people who
are in long-term care facilities.
Tell the people in Grand Falls who are receiving a building for a youth
addictions centre, and Paradise.
MR.
JOYCE:
How
about the hospital in Corner Brook?
MR.
POLLARD:
I
heard too much of that, Mr. Speaker.
Tell the people of this great Province that 383 per
cent spending in infrastructure is squandered.
It is shameful, Mr. Speaker, absolutely shameful!
Mr. Speaker, my time has run out.
Do you know what?
MR.
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
I remind the member his time
MR.
POLLARD:
We
are first, the best, we are leaders, we are highest, we are models, and we are
visionaries, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
The hon. the Member for Cartwright L'Anse au Clair.
MS
DEMPSTER:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, normally I have a pretty good stomach, but
you almost have to have Gravol to listen to something like that.
Does he really live in a bubble where he gets in his vehicle and drives
on a paved road in here and he really thinks that everything in the Province is
fine?
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh,
oh!
MR.
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MS
DEMPSTER:
Is
that really the situation? He gets
in his vehicle, he drives in on Sunday night or Monday morning and he thinks
everything is fine with the world.
Well, I am going to tell you, Mr. Speaker, when you talk about the shared
prosperity, fair society, and balanced outlook, it stops before you cross the
Strait of Belle Isle, and it stopped long before the ice blocked up the Strait
of Belle Isle this winter.
If he wants to talk about shared prosperity, I am going
to burst his bubble a little bit and talk about the poverty in my district;
poverty that is a stone's throw away from mega industrial projects, billions of
dollars, Mr. Speaker. It is not good
enough. It is time for the people of
Labrador to rise up and strike back against this.
Everybody knows where Labrador is when they are ready
to exploit, when they are ready to take, but when it comes to giving back, Mr.
Speaker. He can get up and talk about his
son, his grandson, and his daughter-in-law coming home.
Guess what is happening? All
of our young people are leaving, Mr. Speaker.
Billions of dollars of investment in their backyard but there are no jobs
for them. There is not even an
employment office, Mr. Speaker, for them to go to any more.
Two-hundred-and-twenty-six councillors in Newfoundland
and Labrador, their jobs were cut, Mr. Speaker.
Now they are coming to our offices.
Ever since I have been elected with so much on my desk and every day
there are people looking for work, apprentices, Mr. Speaker, qualified people.
If the member wants to know what life is like outside
this little House of Assembly and in your district, travel with me some weekend
home to Labrador. You will be
sitting on the plane next to people from outside the Province who are working at
Muskrat Falls. You will not be
sitting next to my people who are working at Muskrat Falls, Mr. Speaker, because
they are not able to get work there.
It really, really, turns my stomach when I hear people
talking about shared prosperity, fair society, and a balanced outlook because it
is just not happening in Labrador, Mr. Speaker.
It is not happening and it is time for people to stand up.
Yes, he mentioned the graduations when he stood up.
May is a month of graduations and our young people have so much
opportunity in front of them, they should, but they do not have it in Labrador,
Mr. Speaker. I went to six
MR.
POLLARD:
Stop putting down your district.
Talk about the positive stuff (inaudible).
MR.
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MS
DEMPSTER:
I
am going to tell what is positive in my district.
When you talked about the sun that is shining, we cannot see it in
Cartwright L'Anse au Clair, because we are either down in a pothole in one
half that is so deep you cannot see out, or
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh,
oh!
MR.
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
The hon. the Member for Cartwright L'Anse au Clair.
MS
DEMPSTER:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I am going to tell you another reason why we cannot see
that the sun is shining. It is
because we are in a cloud of dust.
We are choking on it. It is killing
us. That is what we are living in,
in Cartwright L'Anse au Clair while a couple of mornings ago I went to the
Atlantic Provinces Economic Council's Major Projects 2014.
I had a job to sit there, Mr. Speaker, and listen to the millions and
billions of dollars that is being invested in Labrador and to know what I drive
through every single weekend.
My story is the same as the people's story in the
district, Mr. Speaker. Vehicles two
and three years old are done, they are totalled.
I mentioned a while back our highway is like the Dalmatian highway.
There is more cold patch in it than there is pavement.
Yet, it is acceptable every single year for this government to send in a
bunch of people over Easter weekend, pay double time and everything else when
we have been going on a month about the desperate need and temporarily fix it
up.
If he wants to talk about planning and vision, I will
talk about planning and vision.
While everywhere else in the world is building tunnels, we are still building
ferries. Mr. Speaker, talk about
planning, there is $1 billion being spent on a subsea cable going across the
Straits for the Muskrat Falls Project.
If this government had the vision and the planning that the member just
talked about, it would be going through a tunnel and in the long-run money would
be saved.
He can talk about all the money they have spent, but he
did not mention, Mr. Speaker, $18.9 billion.
This government has had $18.9 billion in oil revenue.
No other government has had that.
They have done absolutely nothing with it to diversify the economy for
the long term nothing.
It is $7.5 billion, Mr. Speaker, is what this
government is working with in a Budget every year $7.5 billion, the cost of
the entire Muskrat Falls. That is
what they have every year, but we do not see the benefits of that, Mr. Speaker,
in Labrador. We are choking in
AN
HON. MEMBER:
No
schools.
MS
DEMPSTER:
Yes, we have a school. They love to
get all excited and talk about the school that we have.
Do you know why we have a school?
Because the children in that coastal community deserve to sit in an
environment that is clean, safe, and free from mould just like kids everywhere
else in the Province. Instead,
people think it is a big deal here in government that we are getting a new
school because most of the time we have been expected to sit in mould and
dilapidated buildings and learn like that, Mr. Speaker.
I want to talk about the Municipal Capital Works money,
Mr. Speaker, for a couple of minutes.
What a sad state of affairs.
I hope the communities do band together, rise up, and talk about some of their
frustrations and what they are doing.
AN
HON. MEMBER:
(Inaudible).
It is not funny, I say to the Minister of Municipal
Affairs.
They talk about shared prosperity and yet, right after
I was elected last year I took a look into the money that came into the district
last spring. I am going to talk
about shared prosperity; $65,000, Mr. Speaker, in Cartwright L'Anse au Clair,
the communities that are struggling, communities in 2014 that do not have clean
water to drink. That is what we are
talking about with a fair society, communities that do not have water to drink.
This government thought it was okay.
I cannot believe they can sleep at night.
They thought it was okay to extend one project that was ongoing $20,000
and another one $45,000 $65,000. I
met with the previous minister and I had really high hopes that this year things
were going to be a little bit better, Mr. Speaker.
We had I think just under $6 million in requests.
We got nothing last year. We
have one project announced this year and it is just unacceptable, Mr. Speaker
unacceptable.
When you hear the people of Labrador on Open Line
AN
HON. MEMBER:
(Inaudible) you will let them know.
MS
DEMPSTER:
There you go, Mr. Speaker. I am
being distracted a little bit by members across the way.
AN
HON. MEMBER:
It
is okay.
MS
DEMPSTER:
It
is not okay, Mr. Speaker.
MR.
KING:
Your speech is okay.
MS
DEMPSTER:
My
speech is okay. Well, I am happy to
hear the House Leader say my speech is okay.
I hope he recognizes that it is not fair the condition this Province is
in right now. You could have called
your Speech from the Throne anything but shared prosperity because we certainly
have not seen it where I live, Mr. Speaker.
I mentioned a week or so ago, on a flight, reading an
article from the board of trade, Mr. Speaker, and talking about the bright spot
in the Province, Labrador. Everybody
is focused on Labrador, but yet the people in its backyard are not benefitting
from it. People are going away; they
are training, and coming back with high expectations.
They are just not getting the work and it is not acceptable.
Ice compensation; right now I know it is a federal
issue but I think that the provincial minister has an obligation to be up
pounding down the door. We have
households of three and four people right now with no income.
It is a very, very sad situation.
They are certainly not feeling the benefits of shared prosperity or a
fair society, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker; there is so much room for improvement in
health care in our area and not even necessarily situations where we need to be
spending more money, but where we need to be spending smarter.
Areas like diabetes where we are always coming out and reacting, we are
never being preventative.
I want to speak for a minute in my critic area under
AES. I sat in Estimates a little
while ago. Budget 2014 Estimates;
zero accountability, Mr. Speaker, was what I observed or concluded after I left
that; zero accountability from a huge department like Advanced Education and
Skills. It was my first time going
through the Estimates process and I asked a lot of questions.
They were not quoting the same numbers from the Estimates 2013 document.
Mr. Speaker, every question that I did ask they blamed it on
restructuring.
Mr. Speaker, we are talking about $1 billion in
taxpayers' money. The people deserve
answers. Just to say that the
differences in the money from 2013 to 2014 were because of restructuring is not
good enough. We are talking about $1
billion in taxpayers' money.
Mr. Speaker, every day I hear from apprentices, what a
mess the system is in. Why can't we
be looking at models like what is happening in Ontario and Alberta, if the
people here who are managing it do not have the fortitude to know how to put a
system in place that works? We have
the staff at the Industrial Training Unit telling apprentices they are better
off going to Alberta to get their hours.
Yet, we are trying to grow the economy here.
We talk a lot about population growth.
People stand up on the other side and they talk about the lowest number
on Income Support, but nobody talks about the increase in the numbers of
outmigration, Mr. Speaker. The
member across the way got up and did a nice little sermon on the prosperity, but
yesterday morning when I sat at breakfast and listened to some presentations
from the major projects under the Atlantic report, what we heard at the Delta
yesterday morning was quite different.
We are not singing from the same hymn book because they
are not sharing the details, Mr. Speaker, I can tell you that.
Shame on them, I say, for hiding the truth from the people of
Newfoundland and Labrador, shame on you when you talk about honesty.
Mr. Speaker, Newfoundland and Labrador projects a
deficit of $538 million. There is
nobody talking about that. All the
prosperity, projecting here we were with over $18 billion in oil revenues
alone and we are projecting a deficit of $538 million in 2014-2015.
This represents $189 million increase over its revised deficit forecast.
Nobody is talking about that.
Mr. Speaker, nobody is talking about the program
expenses growing almost twice as fast as revenue.
That concerns me for places like my district where we are already being
shafted, left behind, and left in the cold.
When I read about program expenses growing almost twice as fast as
revenue, I know that when we get on the other side we are going to have quite a
mess to deal with, because they did not do the proper planning and the proper
vision, like they had a responsibility to do to the taxpayers of Newfoundland
and Labrador.
We are going to have mining tax and royalties that will
decline by $58 million, Mr. Speaker, due to lower nickel and copper production
and lower iron ore prices. We need
to be planning for that. We need to
be investing in places where we can get a return on the dollar.
I want to mention the Combined Councils because
something recently came across my desk.
The Combined Councils is a group that advocates for all of the towns in
Labrador. Every year I notice when
the Combined Councils sends in their resolutions, every year many of them are
the same. What does that tell you,
Mr. Speaker? The issues that they
are bringing forward on behalf of the towns in Labrador are not being addressed,
they are not being met. I say shame
on this government to leave an area so rich in resources that is contributing so
much to the provincial coffers, shame on them for leaving them behind in so many
areas.
Our broadband coverage, Mr. Speaker, is absolutely
terrible. Ten of the twenty-two
communities in my area have exceeded capacity, nobody else can join on.
The streamlining in some towns is very, very poor.
It is impacting students, it is impacting professionals who want to work
in that community, stay and study their thesis and things like that.
That is the flip side to the shared prosperity and the
fair society. Anybody who wants to
travel through the district and experience the bumps that I do every weekend are
very welcome to come, I will even put them up for the night, Mr. Speaker, just
so they can experience firsthand what it is that life is like in many of the
communities in Cartwright L'Anse au Clair.
Communities are trying very hard to move ahead with no help Municipal
Capital Works, communities requesting money for water and sewer.
It is very sad.
Mr. Speaker, I could hardly believe it, I still cannot
believe it. After what I was told
last year that we missed the boat, I had high expectation that this year the
communities would get something.
Once again we see they are left sadly behind.
They are not a part of the shared prosperity.
It must stop at the ferry terminal, Mr. Speaker, because we are not
experiencing it. It is very, very
unfortunate.
Mr. Speaker, the money they are saving by not giving
the communities the infrastructure they need for clean drinking water, do you
know what? They are going to pay it
in another way through health care, when people are sick because they are
drinking water from runoffs on the roads.
It is unimaginable when I stand here and talk about what life is like in
some of those coastal communities.
Yet people can stand here and get up on their soapbox and talk about the
wonderful, wonderful job that they are doing with shared prosperity.
They are definitely not in touch with reality, Mr. Speaker, I can tell
you that.
The Muskrat Falls Project: If they want to do something
to redeem them, I say right the ship.
Yes, we are too far in to turn back, but Nalcor is not meeting its
benefits. A Crown corporation that
is not living up to the responsibilities that it signed onto, and this
government is not doing anything not doing anything to see that they do
that, to right the wrong. If they
were, they would put in a more robust type of monitoring, Mr. Speaker.
When I sat down with people from Nalcor I said: What
are you doing to people who are submitting resumes with Labrador addresses; what
are you doing to check to see if they are actually people from Labrador? They
are doing nothing, Mr. Speaker. It
is very, very sad. That is why every
weekend I am sitting beside people on a plane who are going to work there, and
when I get home people are knocking on my door and giving me their resume.
The lives here in the House of Assembly, Mr. Speaker, everybody has a
nice income, nobody is being disrupted, but it is very sad every weekend when I
travel home to see the reality that is happening on the ground.
Businesses are seriously impacted, Mr. Speaker.
The price of gas in my district there is nowhere else in Newfoundland
and Labrador where you will drive eighty-five kilometres and the price of gas
increases by ten cents a litre.
There is something wrong with that, Mr. Speaker eighty-five kilometres from
one town to the next and the price of gas goes up by ten cents.
The truck leaves Goose Bay and travels to the Straits, and they buy it at
one price, and then it is trucked back down the coast and our businesses, our
people on the ground, pay an extra ten cents.
You want to talk about fairness?
I can talk all day about fairness.
The inadequacies and the injustices, time does not permit me today; they
abound on every hand.
I will continue, Mr. Speaker; the people who elected
me, they heard me many times speak out for the people oftentimes who do not have
a voice for themselves. I was
pleased just recently when they gave me another strong mandate to come back to
the House and I will continue to be a voice for those people.
Because what is happening, I can tell you it is morally and ethically
wrong. This is the people's House,
and that is the people's money, and the people in charge of the purse strings
have not done a good job in terms of sharing the prosperity.
They have not shared the prosperity.
It looks good on paper, but the reality that we live in $700,000 was
the cost of dust control, a calcium program for the whole of Newfoundland and
Labrador, the 192 kilometres of gravel road; $700,000 they could not keep in the
Budget to keep people healthy and not breathe in dust, but you have a contractor
that defaults on their contract and they get their full bid bond back, millions
of dollars, $19 million.
It absolutely boggles my mind that you could default on
a contract. I have at least five
businesses in my area, Mr. Speaker, they are owed $30,000, they are owed
$50,000, they are owed $80,000, and were not even aware of the mechanics' lien.
That is the shared prosperity and the fair society that is happening in
Cartwright, Labrador, and indeed, the whole of Labrador.
It saddens me, and I have every confidence that when we
move across the House there will be some vision and there will be some planning,
because what is happening right now is just not acceptable.
It is just not good enough.
Mr. Speaker, I will just conclude again I have been
up many times talking about the fixed link.
Before I sit down, I will mention it again.
The benefit that could come to the whole of the Province if this
government would just start the ball rolling by commissioning a study on the
benefits of the fixed link, a full feasibility study that could be carried out.
This will benefit the whole Province because we will
see the cost of goods and services go down everywhere 25 per cent to 30 per
cent. What is going to happen, Mr.
Speaker, just like everything else happens, with no planning, once Route 138 is
connected the government is going to be scrambling to catch up; when, if they
had foresight, vision, and planning they would have started that process right
now, Mr. Speaker.
We are not talking about one community cut off; we are
talking about the whole of Labrador and until we can find a way to move goods
and service in, we are not going to grow, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
The hon. the Member for Bonavista South.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
LITTLE:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
After the previous speaker, I tell you, I do not know
what part of the Province she is living in, or if she is actually listening to
what this side of the House is actually saying and acting on, on a regular
basis, but I listened to the Member for Baie Verte Springdale and what an
electrifying speech.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
LITTLE:
All
about the facts, all about positivity, and all about the plan of the future in
this Province. Then I hear a speaker
across the way get up and talk negative, negative, negative and say shame,
shame, shame and what a mess.
There is no mess, Mr. Speaker.
On this side of the House, the government of today, is certainly bringing
us into the prosperity and the future important prosperity that we are about to
see in many, many years to come. A
speaker who gets up and talks about shame there is no shame on this side of
the House. There is none.
I can actually hold my head high and speak on behalf of the programs and
the investments that the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador today is
putting out there in all regions of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
I am delighted to rise in this House today and speak,
especially after the previous speaker certainly I am.
I am going to talk about news about the provincial economy and how our
economy is growing. I will give
facts to back up what I am saying in this House again today.
The country's major banks and bond rating agencies have
noted the success of our economy. It
is noted all around the world, Mr. Speaker.
I am pleased to advise that the Conference Board of Canada named
Newfoundland and Labrador, this great Province, as one of the three provinces in
Canada to receive a grade A+, outperforming twenty-five other
jurisdictions in Canada and around the world.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
LITTLE:
With an A+ rating, our Province was not only ahead of Ontario,
Quebec, British Columbia, Manitoba, and the Maritime Provinces, but actually
ahead of the national performance and ahead of the United States, the UK,
Australia, France, Germany, and even Norway, Mr. Speaker.
How about that?
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
LITTLE:
Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Newfoundland and Labrador are A+
economies, something that we are all proud of to be part of this great
Confederation of Canada, Mr. Speaker.
Our government has made significant investments to strengthen the economy
and to encourage continued growth in our Province.
Since 2006, we have decreased taxes, putting hundreds
of millions of dollars back into the hands of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians,
Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
LITTLE:
There has been approximately $600 million savings to the people of Newfoundland
and Labrador. Our Province continues
to maintain the lowest personal income tax rates in Atlantic Canada.
What an accomplishment.
This government has made significant accomplishments
over the past few years, Mr. Speaker.
We will continue to grow the economy and make this place a better place
to live and a great place for people to actually come home.
I would like to speak on that because in my district a friend of mine
actually went away years ago when the Liberal government was in power.
He had to leave this Province looking for work.
Now he is after bringing home his wife and his child.
Hopefully his wife will get a job here in Newfoundland and Labrador.
He is working in one of the larger construction sites in Newfoundland and
Labrador. Hopefully his child will
grow up and this will be a better place to live.
I think that is what all of us want to see in this
great Province of Newfoundland and Labrador opportunities.
This is what this government is doing.
We do have a plan. We are
going to share the prosperity, all around the Province of Newfoundland and
Labrador. We are going to continue
to stay on the same road.
I question Opposition and what they plan on doing.
All I am hearing from the Opposition is criticism day after day after day
in this House of Assembly with no plan and no policy.
I am wondering what their plan would be.
I heard the Opposition talk about in health care the $3 billion budget.
We received in my district funding for a new bungalow-style health care
facility, a long-term care facility.
There was an announcement made and that particular building will open in October
month, this year.
When this government makes a commitment it delivers on
its commitments, Mr. Speaker. It is
proven over and over. Dialysis will
be open in Harbour Breton. This
government made a commitment. This
government acted on the commitment.
In this past Budget, this government made a commitment to have dialysis services
in Bonavista region. This government
will deliver on that commitment.
I am asking the Opposition: What are your plans?
If you are planning on reducing the $3 billion budget in health care,
what are your plans? Do you plan on
not delivering services in rural Newfoundland and Labrador?
That is the question. It is
time to come out and let the people of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador
know what your plan is.
That is shame, Mr. Speaker.
That is shame because there is no plan.
There is no plan of action.
No plan whatsoever, only criticize day after day after day, and negativity,
doom, doom, doom, doom, doom. That
is all I hear.
I can tell you we will act on our promises.
We will deliver on our commitments.
I am going to give some facts; since 2006, approximately $2 billion has
been put back to the taxpayers in the Province.
That is a fact. Effective
July 1, 2014, our government will decrease the small business corporate income
tax to 3 per cent. The Province's
small business tax rate will be tied with Nova Scotia for the lowest rate in
Atlantic Canada. What an
achievement, Mr. Speaker. This
government of today has made that achievement.
Newfoundland and Labrador has seen significant economic
growth. It is sad to say people
sitting opposite do not realize this, or they do not understand what is
happening in this wonderful Province today, the prosperity and the economic
growth. Over the past ten years we
led all other provinces in economic growth.
It is unbelievable. These are
the facts, Mr. Speaker.
More people are working than ever before in this
Province. The unemployment rate is
lower than any time since 1973. The
facts are the facts, Mr. Speaker.
For the first time in over forty years, Newfoundland and Labrador no longer has
the highest unemployment rate in Canada.
What an achievement. Our
economy continues to grow.
There are people from my beautiful historic District of
Bonavista South who are working on the major projects all over the Province.
Actually there are people moving from my district on a seasonal basis,
and sometimes on an annual basis to Western Labrador to the beautiful great
land, Labrador. Seriously, Mr.
Speaker, there are opportunities.
Opportunities like never before. The
sky is the limit.
This government will continue to look at growing the
economy into the future. We do have
a plan. We do have a vision.
We will act on our plan and our vision for the future.
We do care about people. We
do care about the economy. We will
make sure the economy grows in the future.
This is what this government is all about.
Budget 2014 provides strategic investment in the
Province's abundant resources such as hydro.
I heard the previous speaker talk about Muskrat Falls.
I am going to tell you I can stand on my feet and say that I certainly
support the project. I support the
project for a number of reasons because of employment opportunities, because in
the future we will have a renewable resource that will be around for years and
years and years and years to come.
My children and their children will benefit from the hydro resources in this
great Province, Mr. Speaker.
We certainly have an abundance of petroleum, minerals,
and agriculture. The fishery and
forestry industry will grow, Mr. Speaker, in this Province.
I am a firm believer of that.
All of those sectors will continue to grow.
In my District of Bonavista South, I have a number of people who are
working in our district in areas of forestry, agriculture, the fishery, the
tourism industry, the public sector, and I can go on and on and on.
One time the District of Bonavista South was mostly related to the
fishery, but we diversified. This
government helped my district, and helped the rural part of Newfoundland and
Labrador that I come from, to diversify.
There are great opportunities happening all over my district as you
travel to different parts of my district.
Jamestown Lumber was closed down for years and years.
Now a new company has moved in, Marwood lumber.
There are a number of people hired on in that facility.
It is a great opportunity for people.
It is a great opportunity for truckers and a great opportunity for small
businesses to grow and prosper. This
government actually worked with Marwood lumber to make sure that we secured a
deal to see future prosperity in rural Newfoundland and Labrador.
This is something that this government will continue to do, work with
different businesses and different industries to make sure that our economy
continues to grow.
Facts are facts over on this side of the House, Mr.
Speaker. The facts are the facts.
There is no shame over on this side of the House one on this side of
the House, in light of what the previous speaker said.
The fishery is still strong and powerful in my district.
Budget 2014 advances the fishery and the economy in relation to
development in the rural area that I come from.
Through sound, fiscal management and responsibility our government is
strengthening the business environment, encouraging the development of
innovative industries, and building a vibrant economy into the future.
Our government will continue to invest in the fishery,
Mr. Speaker. This is the first time
I actually got up to speak on the Budget since the Minister of Fisheries and
Aquaculture, the minister actually from Ferryland and I have to commend the
minister in showing leadership, the leadership role that he has taken in the
position that he is in, in relation to being active and collectively joining
people together in this House of Assembly, working together as one, one voice,
and going to meet with our counterparts in Ottawa to actually put forward our
frustrations and concerns in relation to the future fishery and LIFO and how it
ties into the future fishery.
Mr. Speaker, I am sure the committee, a large number of
members from all sides of this House, feels the same way about the fishery.
The fishery is a renewable resource, a resource that certainly ties into
a number of districts in Newfoundland and Labrador.
The Member for Fortune Bay Cape La Hune, actually aquaculture is big in
that part of the Province, and the fishery is so important to all of the
Province of Newfoundland and Labrador and important to not only the Province,
but to the country, to the international community, because of the large
abundance of seafood that we put into the world market.
Can we do more?
Yes. Will we do more?
Yes, we will. As a
government, we will definitely do more.
We are investing millions and millions of dollars into the fishery of the
future, Mr. Speaker.
I know fisherpeople from my district who actually are
continuing to invest in enterprises, enterprises that will help the economy grow
in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
We are not talking like small money when you invest in a licence or an
enterprise; you are talking like millions of dollars, Mr. Speaker.
You are talking about an enterprise that employs people.
It is like a business. That
fishery has evolved into many businesses.
This government has certainly worked with the industry and will continue
to work with the industry in the future, and the fishery is very important to
this government and very important to my district, the District of Bonavista
South.
Our government will continue to invest in different
areas and different departments of our government.
The tourism industry in my district is a growing industry.
There are people who are continually investing in business, and investing
with the help of the Department of Innovation, Business and Rural Development in
some cases. They are expanding their
businesses, and they are actually hiring people on, Mr. Speaker.
As we grow the economy and we are growing the economy
in different sectors; and this is what my speech was about today, how Budget
2014 ties into the future prosperity and the economy growth in the Province of
Newfoundland and Labrador. So there
are so many different sectors out in the rural parts of Newfoundland and
Labrador that are continually growing.
As the tourism industry grows, small business grows.
As the fishery grows, small business grows.
As the agriculture industry grows in my colleague's district
AN
HON. MEMBER:
Aquaculture.
MR.
LITTLE:
aquaculture, the Province's economy grows, Mr. Speaker.
Not only does this government look at the major parts
of this Province, the regional centres, we actually look at every rural part of
this Province. This government is
committed to working with business in the rural parts of this Province.
I identified, I gave facts, in some areas where this government supports
and continually will support business in rural Newfoundland and Labrador.
I would like to know because centralization, the name
came up what the plan is in relation to what the Opposition would do if they
were in power, besides criticize.
That is all I am hearing just criticize, criticize and saying shame.
There is no shame over on this side of the House.
I can stand up here and support what this government is doing.
This government has helped create and grow the economy in rural parts of
this Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
I gave fact after fact, Mr. Speaker, in relation to what we are doing as
a government.
We will continue to grow the economy, share the
prosperity, and have a fair society right throughout every community in
Newfoundland and Labrador, Mr. Speaker.
We will certainly continue to act on our commitments.
We do have a plan and it is all about being fair.
It is a balanced approach.
We will continue to share the prosperity to every part
of this Province. This government
will do that. That is the commitment
in Budget 2014. It is evident
because we are acting on what we have committed to do.
We will continue to grow the economy.
I would like to know what areas of the Budget the
Opposition will cut to do what they are saying they are going to do.
I would like to know. I would
like for somebody to stand up on their feet and start explaining that.
I have not heard the explanation to this point in time and I am waiting.
There is no plan, there is no action, but on this side of the government
we will continue to grow the economy.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, for giving me the
opportunity to speak here again today.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for St. Barbe.
MR.
J. BENNETT:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
That was an interesting twenty minutes, maybe not as
entertaining as the twenty minutes from the Member for Baie Verte Springdale,
but equally as interesting.
Mr. Speaker, if we were going to have a trial on the
gross fiscal mismanagement of this government, you would need to look no further
than Estimates 2014. It is all
contained in their own documents. It
is all something they cannot possibly defend.
It is probably something they cannot possibly explain.
That is why they keep going back to talking about how
much they have spent on different items and then pleading with the Opposition
and say, what would the Opposition do, as if they were looking for ideas.
They have one thing right; they should be looking for ideas because they
clearly do not have any of their own.
Mr. Speaker, I am going to run through some of the
Budget documents and sections in Estimates 2014.
I think they should be available to the members of the public who may
well be watching. I am going to
start with the Premier's Office. We
know that we have had unprecedented wealth in this Province for the last ten
years. We have had unprecedented
income for the last ten years.
Government keeps saying we cannot really predict the amount of income we are
going to have because we do not know the price of oil.
The price of oil keeps on going up and it has gone up quite a bit in the
ten or twelve years ago the price of oil was down in the low tens of dollars.
Since then it has gone to $100 or more.
The amount of revenue that government has had has been far more than it
could ever have expected.
This Administration has also benefited extensively from
all the revenue coming from the Voisey's Bay mine, something that they had no
input in whatsoever except to criticize it and say how awful it was, but they do
not mind cashing the royalty checks.
They do not seem to mind that at all.
The part that I would like to speak on, Mr. Speaker, is
the expense side. I think people
watching at home can understand the expense side.
You need to be able to manage your expenses.
Clearly you cannot blame government if the price of oil is higher than
they expected or lower than they expected, that is a world thing.
I think that people can realistically blame government if they can never
figure out how much they are going to spend.
The problem that this government has is a spending
problem. They do not know how to
budget properly; they do not know how to budget effectively.
By way of example, let us start first with the Premier's Office.
In our Budget Estimates we have three lines.
We have one line which says this is what we budgeted last year.
Actually, that is the amount that they came before the House last year
and the Minister of Finance put together the numbers and said this is what we
need to run this department for a year or that department for a year, this
secretariat for a year, some other organization for a year, this is how much we
need for the next twelve months.
We went through this Budget debate which we have and
then they ended up spending a figure.
Sometimes they had it right, sometimes they underspent, and sometimes
they overspent. Underspending
sometimes can be equally as bad as overspending.
That means that in a prior Budget government said we need this much money
to do such and such with and at the end of the year they had millions and
millions left over. It is reasonable
for Opposition to say what did you say you needed the money for a year ago and
then you did not do it? What roads
did you not pave? What hospitals did
you not build? What schools did you
not build? What investments did you
not make from over the last year when we took a chance on you and said yes, you
can have this much money?
Last year if you start at the top, the Salaries for the
Premier's Office were projected to be they asked for $1,607,300 and they went
through $2,030,000. Mr. Speaker,
that is a 25 per cent overrun in the cost of the salaries in the Premier's
Office and that is the year of one Premier.
This year is going to be the year of the three Premiers.
Unless we have an election in the fall, then it will likely be the year
of the four Premiers.
If they cannot get the salaries right in the Premier's
Office within 25 per cent of the money $400,000 overspending last year in the
Premier's Office compared to what they said they needed.
They only needed $500,000 for the Family Violence Intervention Court and
yet, they overspent salaries in the Premier's Office by $400,000 or 25 per cent
of what they asked for.
This year they are asking for $1.7 million.
I bet that number is going to be way overspent because we heard in the
media last week that they had a shuffle in the Premier's Office.
I thought you had a shuffle in the Cabinet not in the Premier's Office,
but that is how the media reported it.
They said there is a shuffle in the Premier's Office and twelve people
are moved.
How big is the Premier's Office that you can move
twelve people and have anybody left?
How big is the Premier's Office if you can shuffle twelve people late on a
Friday afternoon hoping nobody would pick it up?
At a time when you have a sitting interim Premier who is going to be gone
in five or six weeks' time and somebody who is going to be taking over the
Premier's Office who is not yet elected and we just had a shuffle for an
incoming Premier and we have to wait and see what he needs.
This, Mr. Speaker, indicates fiscal mismanagement for sure and it
continues. It continues throughout
the entire Budget document.
In this whole category that you see called the
Executive Council which includes the Premier's Office, you have a Cabinet
Secretariat. The Cabinet Secretariat
last year asked for $1,489,000 and at the end of the year they came in at $1.8
million. They overspent by more than
20 per cent of what they said they needed.
If you were running a home and you said this year I am
going to make $50,000 or $60,000 or $80,000, this is my mortgage, these are my
groceries, we would like a vacation, and put aside some money for the kids, and
if you overspent by 25 per cent or 30 per cent, you would be belly up.
You would be going down to one of the bankruptcy companies and file for
personal bankruptcy.
The government does not do that.
They just keep writing more cheques and taxing people more, or going
further and further and further in debt, this year more than $500 million going
backwards. To get to only $500
million going backwards, they have to borrow $1 billion.
Mr. Speaker, all families know you cannot live on your credit card
forever. It just shows poor
management and it is expensive money.
If you look at some of the categories, where did they
make the big blunders? Where did
they make the big mistakes? Under
Executive Support last year there was something called Professional Services.
People should know that generally speaking professional services are not
exposed to the Public Tender Act.
That means you can hire someone to do a professional service and we never know
what they are. It might be an
accountant, it might be public relations, it might be lawyers, it might be
whatever. Last year in the Cabinet
Secretariat, they said they needed $30,000 for Professional Services and at the
end of the year they had gone to $3.4 million.
AN
HON. MEMBER:
How
much?
MR.
J. BENNETT:
Three million and four hundred thousand dollars.
Mr. Speaker, for every dollar they asked for in Professional Services
last year they spent $11; $3.4 million was spent in Professional Services last
year when they asked for $30,000.
That is absolutely amazing.
We came and debated a Budget last year, the government
got a number. It seems almost as if
they say tell them anything you want and then do as you please.
That does not seem like prudent financial management to me whatsoever.
That is on page 2.4 in case any of the government members would like to
have a look at the document that they are so vigorously defending.
I wonder if any of them have actually read it.
Mr. Speaker, if you go to the end of Executive Council
and there are a bunch of pages that include all of these different offices,
including the Cabinet Secretariat for this, and the Cabinet Secretariat for
that, for all kinds of ways to spend money.
You get to the end of that line; last year they asked for $25,900,000 and
they spent $28,800,000. They
overspent by more than 10 per cent, or $3 million more overspending.
That is really important to government, how they
display themselves and how they run government supposedly, how they run the
Premier's office. If you compare
that to spending in other departments, where does it stack up to what we would
think was the most important departments of government versus the least
important departments of government?
Based on the amount of money they spent you would have
to conclude that Fisheries and Aquaculture is the least important department in
this government. Last year, they
went through $17.5 million in the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture and
$28 million in the Office of the Executive Council; almost $2 of overhead for
every $1 of investment in the fishery.
It is absolutely mindboggling.
They budgeted over $30 million, but they did not get the money out the
door for whatever reason. Who knows?
If you go on through their own document, Mr. Speaker
and I do not know if I can be criticized for criticizing the government, but I
am using their own numbers, their own documents.
If you look at the Human Resource Secretariat, I wonder what that does.
This is strategic human resource management.
That seems like a good idea, although government has been in ten years or
eleven years, you would think they would get it figured out sooner or later.
Obviously if they need more help figuring out this strategic human
resource management last year they asked for $4.8 million and they used $4.3
million. They underspent by
$500,000.
Did they not know what they needed the money for?
Did they not know how much they needed?
Or did they come before us last year and say we need $4.8 million and
they only used up $4.3 million, so they left a lot of work undone?
How much work did they leave undone for the $500,000 that they did not
use?
If you look at Payroll and Compensation Benefits, the
Salaries in that section, last year they asked for $2.48 million, or say $2.5
million. They went through $3.25
million. That again is 25 per cent
more than they asked for.
Mr. Speaker, how can the finances of the Province be on
a level footing if government cannot get its expenditures correct?
Never mind if it is too much or too little, they cannot even figure out
how much they are going to need from Budget to Budget.
It is like somebody living from paycheque to paycheque and not knowing
how much they are going to need for the next paycheque, so they just spend and
spend and spend.
Looking at Professional Services under the Benefits
Administration they said last year we do not really need anything for that.
They did not even put it in there, but they blew through $155,000.
I wonder who was hired for $155,000, and what did they do for something
that they did not know at the beginning of the year they were going to need any
money for?
If you look at Purchased Services, whatever that is,
they said we only need $700. They
revised it to $1,200. This year they
want $250,000 for it. If last year
they asked for $700 not $700,000, but $700 and they used up $1,200 and now
they want $250,000, if this is a government of restraint, you can see where the
enormous deficits are coming in good times.
Mr. Speaker, it goes on and on and on with this
government with what I say is the gross fiscal mismanagement of the government.
If you look in the Department of Finance in their own budget, page 3.3
under General Administration, Executive Support, last year they said for
Professional Services we need $7,000.
Okay, you need $7,000. The
budget was approved for $7,000. They
burned through $324,000 where they only needed $7,000.
What happened for $7,000 that they needed and they spent $324,000?
Should there not be some sort of accountability?
Mr. Speaker, if you had a business you would expect
some explanation halfway through, a quarter of the way through when we are
running through that kind of money which was never, ever approved by the House,
but they spent it anyway. If you
send a child to the store with a $20 bill and he came back with a pack of smokes
and an ice cream, you would give him a harder time than people are giving this
government over blowing through money in the hundreds of thousands, and even
hundreds of millions. It is just
disgraceful the way the finances of this Province are being mismanaged.
To continue on, in Finance there is a category which
says Financial Assistance and this is, Appropriations provide for promoting
business opportunities and financial support for departments and Crown agencies
for initiatives consistent with government's sustainability plan that sounds
good and investment objectives with relevant funding transferred to
departments during the year as required.
It sounds sort of fancy and whatever.
They say we need $4,498,000 for that initiative, $4.5
million. Well, it was approved.
It was given to them and they did not spend a penny, not a penny.
They were approved $4.5 million for something last year and did not spend
one red cent. You cannot even spend
it in a store anymore because we do not use the penny, but they did not spend
one penny. Mr. Speaker, shouldn't
somebody explain what happened? Why
did we approve $4.5 million last year under this line item, it is called Grants
and Subsidies, and you did not use any of it?
Government tends to provide us with budgets and
forecasts and then you get so far through the year and you get a fiscal update.
If the numbers are way out of whack, typically the response is: Well, the
price of oil was not what we thought, or the price of oil was fine but we did
not pump so much, so we did not get as much royalties, or there was a big strike
down in Voisey's Bay so we did not get any revenues out of that.
I can understand all of that.
I can accept all of that.
That may well be beyond their control, although they should not budget to the
last penny because if you budget to the last penny and spend to the last penny,
you have no safety zone left in case things go wrong.
What I cannot accept, Mr. Speaker, with this government is the fact that
they cannot get their expenses under control.
They cannot even forecast with any degree of reliability as to how much
they are going to go through in a twelve-month period.
Mr. Speaker, if you had a brand new government with no
experience, you would say: Well, they are just getting their feet underneath
them, the last government made some mistakes and they have to reorganize.
They have to do all kinds of stuff.
You might give them a year.
Well, to be generous you might give them a couple of years.
You might give them three or four years.
The people might give them another term and say: Well, that was only
their first term, give them a break; but, Mr. Speaker, this is a government that
has gone on for eleven years, elected to three majority governments, and the
Province is totally out of control on the spending side, totally out of control.
Some areas where they have underspent, which really
blows my mind is and this is also under Financial Administration, under Tax
Administration. Now, a lot of people
do not like paying taxes. I do not
really blame them in that respect, but we are entitled to their taxes.
Taxes are necessary to pay for all the benefits we receive and taxes have
to be collected.
There is a category last year, Tax Administration,
Appropriations provide for the administration, assessment, recording,
collection and audit of taxes and benefit programs, as well as assisting in the
collection of other Government receivables.
This should be straight cash in, cash out.
Government said, well we need $3,476,000 for salaries
for that part of the department, and the House of Assembly went ahead and said:
Yes, okay, we will give you the $3.5 million.
Then they underspent it by $500,000.
They underspent by roughly 15 per cent.
How many people did they not hire to go and collect the taxes we were
owed to keep the ship afloat, when they were approved $3.5 million and they
spent less than $3 million?
It should be no credit to government to say we need
this figure, $3.5 million, we only used $3 million, unless they can explain:
What taxes did you leave on the table?
What did you not collect? Is
it like the Fines Administration? Is
it tax in arrears? How much money
would the people that you did not hire for the $500,000 that you did not spend,
how much would they have collected and put into the government bank account to
cover the expenses to go against the half-a-billion dollar deficit that we are
going to have today? It is just not
working. Government is just not
working in this Province, and it is really shameful.
Mr. Speaker, I have not even gotten to some of the big
items, and almost twenty minutes gone.
You can go department by department and see the gross fiscal screw-ups.
You see Transportation and Works now roads affect everybody, some
better and some worse.
If you look at something called the Canada Strategic
Infrastructure Fund even though this government says they have all kinds of
issues with the federal government, in fact, they get a lot of money from the
federal government even without equalization.
This is, Appropriations provide for highway maintenance and
rehabilitation projects to be cost shared with the Federal Government.
For Salaries they budgeted $1.158 million so just
under $1,200,000 and they only used $200,000 in salaries.
You saved $1 million on salaries, on money that you were going to get
from the feds. What happened?
Why did you save that money?
Because when you go further down, you look at what they call Purchased Services,
they said we need $11.5 million to purchase something, and they only used $2
million. Mr. Speaker, there is $9.5
million left on the table last year on that part of the Budget, which makes
absolutely no sense to me whatsoever.
The next category says Canada/Newfoundland and Labrador
Infrastructure Framework Agreement.
In that area, overall in that package, the amount to be voted last year; we
voted almost $16.9 million, and they only used $3.6 million.
So, $13 million approved under that category last year did not get used.
That was for construction of roads and buildings, cost-shared with the
federal government, left on the table.
There is no wonder, Mr. Speaker, that our roads are
such a mess. If government comes
here with their plan and says, vote us the money, we vote them the money, they
do not spend it. They leave the
roads to go in rack and ruin.
The next category under Road Construction, Purchased
Services, $40,231,000, they only used up $32,845,000 $8 million left on the
table for roads there.
The next one: Improvement and Construction Provincial
Roads; Purchased Services, which is what that would be, approved $15,600,000.
They went through $7 million.
They spent less than half of the budget and this is for capital construction,
rehabilitation, upgrading and paving of provincial roads, bridges, and
causeways.
So what I ask is: Was this intentional last year that
they did not use the money last year so they could roll out the paving contracts
this year; or, did they have enough troubles last year that they just could not
get it done? Why would they have
$15,600,000 approved for this part of the road infrastructure and only go
through $7 million?
Mr. Speaker, there is so much more to talk about in
this Budget. I hope people will read
the document.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for Conception Bay East Bell Island.
MR.
BRAZIL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
It is indeed an honour to stand in this hon. House and
speak to the Budget. Again, a great
Budget that reflects what this Administration is all about.
This Administration is about some simple things, Mr. Speaker.
It is about: everybody matters everybody, from the newborns to those
seniors who have contributed to our society and are still very active.
That is what this Budget is all about; that is what this Administration
is all about.
I wish I was as articulate and as open when it comes to
being able to deliver a speech as my learned colleagues here for Baie Verte
Springdale and Bonavista South, but I am not.
That is not my talent. What
my talent is and I would think like everybody else over here is about we are
committed, committed to the people in this Province.
We are confident that the Budgets we put forward address the needs of the
people.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
BRAZIL:
Mr.
Speaker, I have had the privilege in my previous life, and obviously continuing
in politics, that I have followed the last thirty-two Budgets and I have
followed them almost very detailed.
Because of my past background as somebody responsible for the Crown Agency,
everything was relevant to how much money was going to be spent, the impact
education budgets would have, and health budgets would have, and infrastructure
budgets would have on my staff and the programs that we worked on.
I was very diligently paying attention over those years.
I remember sitting in the House before it was renovated
and John Collins was the Minister of Finance at the time in the Peckford
Administration, it was the first Budget I really got to analyze what the Budget
process was all about. I got a
better understanding of how complicated Budgets can be.
It is not just a simple process of adding up numbers; it is about making
decisions around what is in the best interest of the people of this Province.
How do you do that balance; how do you make sure that everybody is served
properly? How do you do what this
Administration has done, that everybody matters?
They do, Mr. Speaker. On this
side of the House, we know that.
That is why we have a plan to make sure that everybody
not only matters, but they are listened to and they are included.
We have been very articulately doing that over the last number of
Budgets.
We have had some things where Budgets I have analyzed
have come from very difficult to very positive ones, particularly in the last
ten to twelve years. There are all
kinds of different things that you have to deal when you look at financial and
social situations. You have to look
at the economics of the day and you have to be able to plan for the future.
You have to be able to build on the past, what worked and what did not
work.
That is why a good Minister of Finance, a good caucus,
and a good Cabinet looks at all those components and makes sure they all reflect
how we move forward. This
Administration, since it came into power in 2003, has all been about moving
forward. It was about first of all
dealing with an almost bankrupt Administration and being able to deal with that,
and making sure our civil servants were taken care of.
Even though we had to get them to negotiate with us and had to get them
to buy in to what we were doing that there had to be restraint for a number of
years. They did that.
Then we rewarded them because we value the work they do.
We rewarded them in the process of being able to invest
back into the economy. They are the
people who are going to drive this economy.
They are the people who stayed in this Province and they are the ones who
are driving what we do today.
There is a whole process here of a balance of financial
responsibility and proper investments and we have done that.
We have done it for the last thirteen Budgets.
I know we will continue to do it after the next election when we are the
government again.
Mr. Speaker, for people who do not know and I went
back over the years there are three real kinds of Budgets.
There are restraint Budgets.
Restraint Budgets pretty well are trying to reassess your priorities.
Trying to take the money that you have and either make some investments
so you get your better bang for your dollars, and in some cases you have to cut
out programs. In some cases you have
to make some really hard decisions that are in the best interest for the
longevity of any Province and being able to sustain programs and services.
Mr. Speaker, unfortunately last year was one of those
that we had to deal with. We dealt
with it analyzing what was in the best interest of the people here, and how we
could best still serve people but economically not hurt our rating
internationally, so that we did not pay more interest which meant less money to
go into social programs for people.
We did that.
There was no doubt some people were upset.
That is the balancing act you have to make.
We wanted to make it clear to people that everybody did matter.
Whatever was done was done in the best interest for the longevity of this
Province and longevity of our financial security and so this generation, the
next generation, and future generations will be taken care of.
We did that.
Mr. Speaker, then we get into where we are right now.
Then you get to status quo Budgets.
Status quo is pretty well a balanced Budget, where you know you can
balance out things. Things have been
working okay. You do not have
additional monies. You do not have
to cut back. You will not jeopardize
your status on the bond markets. You
will not jeopardize that you have to spend money that you cannot generate back.
The status quo works.
Every so often an Administration can go a couple of
years doing that type of process.
Most people do not get overly upset.
There are agencies there that then say we need increases; we need extra
supports. Or, there are new issues
that come up that were never thought of before and never budgeted for.
All of a sudden, you have to look at who do you now say
it is in the best interest of how we move the programs and services forward.
Status quo ones sound good from an administrative point of view, they are
easier to administer, but they do leave people out.
That is not what we are about.
This is an Administration about people mattering.
We want to make sure we address all the issues, the existing ones, ones
that now crop up and we want to start planning for future ones.
We want to be proactive instead of reactive, and that is what we have
done.
MR.
KENT:
It
is all about the people.
MR.
BRAZIL:
Yes, you are right, my colleague from Mount Pearl; it is all about the people,
because people matter. They matter
to this Administration and that is reflected in all of the Budgets that we have
put forth.
We also then have investment Budgets, surplus Budgets.
Surplus Budgets when we know we can do two key things: We can invest in
new programs and services that people have called for and they have called for
it because what this Administration has done for the last number of years is had
our consultations during the Budget process.
Contrary to the criticism we have gotten from the Opposition that they
mean nothing contrary, very contrary.
I have been part of that process where I have gone and presented as a
civil servant; I have gone and presented as a volunteer from a community
perspective and I know that the Finance Minister and I know it came back to
Cabinet and I know caucus discussed it, that these issues were dealt with
because now I see the programs and services.
They are not done overnight.
You cannot ask for something in November, October, or January and expect
it to happen; that is not how the Budget process works, but it gets on the
radar. It gets the civil servants
looking at which are the priority programs.
It gets the minister and the senior executive talking about what are the
priorities of that department. It
gets them bringing it to Cabinet and in caucus talking about: Is this the
message that we want to put out there?
These are the programs and services that we support, and that is what
happens.
Mr. Speaker, this Administration, and this
Administration only, has been the one that has been able to invest more in
Budgets and have more surpluses than any Administration in our history, and that
is a positive concept of how we plan and how we are fiscally responsible.
How we look at investing back in programs and also making sure our debt
load is taken care of, that gives us more freedom to be able to do things and
gives us a better opportunity to plan for the future, and that is what we have
been able to do.
Mr. Speaker, at no time in our history has there been
more organizations that get core funding from this Administration never in our
history. Before, I remember years
ago, thirty years ago when I worked for government there would be a handful;
twenty-five years ago, twenty years ago, fifteen years ago, even twelve,
thirteen years ago before this Administration fully took over and had a fiscal
framework in place that moved us forward, there would still only be twenty,
thirty, forty, fifty, 100 at best.
Now we have hundreds of agencies that represent the social sector.
They represent the health sectors.
They represent sports agencies, youth organizations, women's
organizations, seniors' organizations, and many more.
Every sector here has support from this Administration, and that again
goes back to our theme: everybody matters and everybody in this Province does
matter to this Administration. We
have been very successful at doing that.
We have a plan, we have a strategy, and we outline
them. We outline them in our Blue
Books. We outline them when we have
our strategies. We outline them when
we have our consultations, when the minister goes around having our
consultations. That says to the
people: Listen, we are listening to you guys.
Tell us what you need. Tell
us how we can do it. Tell us how we
can best invest it, and we will look at that process. It does not happen
overnight. Things in our Blue Book
start to move forward.
My colleague from St. John's realizes the education
investments that we have made. As an
educator he understands it. He got
up a couple of weeks ago and questioned some of the issues we have in Portugal
Cove St. Philips on overcrowding.
He failed to mention the fact that we are investing in a new Grade 5 to Grade 9
school, that we have built three modular classrooms onto that, and that we have
worked with the administration down there.
Nobody in this world would have planned or anticipated the growth that we
have had. That growth has come in
the last ten years, Mr. Speaker. Now
we are addressing those needs and we are moving things forward.
Our infrastructure is second to none.
It will address the needs of the people.
As new issues crop up, we will address them also.
That is what good planning is all about; good fiscal management.
Budgets are very complex and become very strategic.
Sometimes they are strategic around politics.
Sometimes you will hear members of Opposition get up and posture around
the generic things; let's talk health care, let's streamline heath care.
We know what streamlining means, cut health care.
They do not talk about what we have done in health
care, the $3 billion, and how we have changed a multitude of access to services
for people here. How we have
improved people's wait time. How we
have branched out our services to rural Newfoundland and Labrador.
How we have improved things around dialysis.
How we have improved things around the base investments.
How new clinics have been built, like in my learned colleague's district
here in Springdale. What was the
investment that we made?
MR.
POLLARD:
It
was $2 million.
MR.
BRAZIL:
It
was $2 million just in one part of health care in one rural section of this
Province. That shows how we commit
to the people of this Province, Mr. Speaker, very much so.
We need to address the needs of the masses and we do
that. Sometimes it is a small group
who have a particular need, and I will touch on some of those later.
Sometimes it is bigger groups, massive groups, things like student aid
reform where you have tens of thousands of people who are affected by it.
Not only affected by it immediately, but that is a long-term, that is a
strategic, that is an historic thing.
Things will move down the road so at the end of the day the next
generation will also benefit from this piece of policy.
We also want to look at the bigger picture here.
We also want to look at what we do immediately that has an impact.
Part of your Budget process is you have to be able to generate money.
You have to have a way to bring that revenue in.
We do that through our strategic planning; our partnerships that we
develop.
In the oil industry, the mineral industry, how we
partner with other entities out there, in the tourism industry, in
manufacturing, in our own tax bases here.
While we do that we see how do you have a good balance?
Sometimes you can earn more money by at times cutting your revenues.
In cases we did this, we cut the personal income tax.
Do you know what gave the personal income tax?
It gave more people more disposable income to put back into the economy.
It drew other people from other parts of the country to come here because
now, not only is our financial base better, but also our revenue generating
streams are better and their earnings potential is better.
Now we have more people coming here, earning more money, paying more
taxes, and contributing more to our economy.
In turn, more money comes back so those who need extra supports, those
people who need a hand up, not a hand out, get the supports.
We do that. We do it very
diligently and we do it very professionally.
We try to include everybody as we go through that process.
Mr. Speaker, there are a couple of things I want to
note as I go through this afternoon.
I just want to note on something, a comment that was made by a Member of the
House of Assembly. The quote was,
The people of our province deserve more than just a token approach to the
serious issues facing them
I could not
agree more nor could any one of colleagues on this side.
That statement was made by the Leader of the
Opposition. He noted in an interview
ten key things, a list of ten issues that government have put out to pasture and
refused to address. Let me take them
in order and then I will explain them.
Number ten, search and rescue.
Mr. Speaker, as anybody knows here the Minister of Municipal Affairs has
been very diligent lobbying the federal government, outlining what needs to be
done, working with his own department or division of Fire and Emergency
Services, and outlining what needs to be done.
The Minister of Fisheries, on a number of occasions, had made it clear
that the federal government needs to step up to the plate and improve search and
rescue here. The all-party
committee, that was struck by this Administration and led by the Minister of
Fisheries here, also called for that and got to lobby that.
AN
HON. MEMBER:
(Inaudible).
MR.
BRAZIL:
God
love him for it. I am just
explaining. Yes, now explaining.
It was a good point he made.
Now I am going to clarify that he was wrong on what we have not done because we
were doing all these things.
The Premier, Mr. Speaker, has spoken numerous times.
We have exchanged documentation back and forth with the federal
government saying that we want improvement with search and rescue.
We deserve it, the people of this Province deserve it.
Safety is paramount when it comes to this Administration and we have done
it.
I am glad to say the incoming Premier, Mr. Speaker, has
made it clear he made it clear when he spoke to Rotary, he made it clear on a
couple of Open Line shows that search and rescue is one of his priorities.
He will continue to lobby, as this Administration has, to make sure
improved search and rescue is here for the people of this Province.
One thing I want to clear from the Opposition Leader
here that we have already taken the lead.
This is not put out to pasture.
We are dealing with it on a daily basis.
We are moving things forward.
Number nine, family caregivers; put it out to pasture
he says, did not do anything about it.
He must have missed what went on.
We have a process here and we have a pilot project in place.
We want to make sure we do this right because we are the only people
doing it in this country. When we do
it, we want to do it right. We want
to make sure our investment is not only sound and gets the best bang for the
dollar, but it actually serves the people it is meant to serve.
This process is in place as we know.
It has been shared with the general public.
The stakeholders have been engaged and we are moving that forward.
There is another thing that was not put out to pasture, that is being
dealt with, and is in the works right now, Mr. Speaker.
An update on budget, number eight he noted; constantly,
the present Premier, who was the former Minister of Finance, has outlined that.
The present Minister of Finance has outlined our Budget lines every day.
We are not hiding anything.
We tell people what it is we are spending and where we are spending it.
Our process in Estimates has been very
open. Information that was not
directly there has been shared afterwards by line ministers back to the
Opposition for clarification.
Everything has been put there so very much an update on that.
Number seven, the school board act; put out to pasture
and not being deal with. The school
board act we have set out implemented, almost through year's end now.
I have talked to numerous administrators, it is a great process.
Obviously a few bumps in the road as you do anything with a new
transition coming in.
In the next year or so you will see the transition work
even more effectively, but you will see the savings, the $12 million a year that
are planned for our savings. It will
be reinvested back in our education system as we continue what we do here for
our education system. Something put
on the backburner, put out to pasture, it is not true.
It is very active, very efficient, and now accepted by administrators as
being a great move, very much so.
Number six, public procurement is something that we
noted in our Blue Book. The Minister
of Government Services outlined it is being done, legislation is being drafted
to be looked at. They have been
constantly working and looking at how we protect the public purse, looking at
the process we have in place to make sure that the public purse and the money
here is protected.
We have been doing that and we continue to do that.
He speaks to it constantly and there is legislation in the process.
Put out to pasture, no, by no stretch of the imagination.
Forgotten? No, dealt with on
a daily basis and open for discussion on it.
Number five, Mr. Speaker, in big bold letters;
whistleblower legislation. If you
say that is out to pasture or forgotten, somebody is wrong here.
It is done, legislation passed and supported.
I thank the Opposition. It is
supported by the Opposition.
It is a great piece of legislation, great work by our
minister here, and great work in getting it passed because it was something that
people had called for. Unions have
called for it, the people called for it.
We wanted to do it and we delivered again on our Blue Book.
Something put out to pasture, no.
Something forgotten, it did not happen.
Number four, fracking operations; and my good friend
from St. John's East here would know this.
Fracking operations and the Minister of Natural Resources only the
other day spoke to it. We are very,
very committed to the safety of our environment and the safety of our people in
this Province. That is paramount,
that is our first priority.
We have given no applications, no permits for anybody
for fracking. We have said if indeed
we ever discuss the fracking process; there will be an open engagement.
We will make sure that we have all the proper information.
We will get the professional information, we will engage people.
We will look at that.
We also have a commitment to look at financial
viability. If there is something
that is financially viable and can be done, that does not jeopardize, does not
even one iota do any damage to the environment or in any way be a safety issue
for any of our citizens, we will entertain that and look at it.
Primarily, our objective under fracking is to protect the integrity of
our environment and the safety of our people.
Looming job cuts and thoughts about what was going to
happen in the regional health authorities' realignment, Mr. Speaker, it was all
fear mongering. People screamed, the
Opposition screamed. The Leader of
the Opposition screamed all these cuts.
We have done our streamlining.
There are no cuts, no impacts on health care, and no mass demonstrations.
It was done very professionally and we hired professionally.
We have faith in our civil servants; we have faith in our executive
members to do it.
The Minister of Health worked very closely with the
health authorities to make sure this was done with little impact on the
employees, little impact on the patients, but particularly, would also
streamline how we better offer and better use the money to get a better bang
back for our dollar.
Screening for newborns for cystic fibrosis said, put
it on the back burner, not dealt with.
It is done, in the Budget, legislation now.
Parents can feel rest-assured that there is a process there for screening
for newborns, something that we always wanted to do.
It was timing. It was about
getting the professionals to move in place.
It was being able to invest that money.
We have done it, another thing that we delivered on, Mr. Speaker.
Not being heard, the number one.
This government people are not being heard.
As I said from the onset, this Administration is about people.
People matter. People matter
so much that when they say not being heard, put out to pasture, not being done,
it could not be further from the truth.
We have the ATIPPA.
Give credit, people said they were confused about it, they did not
understand it, they were not sure if it was the best piece of legislation.
What does the Premier today do?
Put a committee together, a neutral committee, an outside committee made
up of people not politically connected, particularly to our Party, to say we
want to assess this. We want to look
at, because we want to know if indeed there are some problems with this, and
what do people think about this.
That is where we are with it. So
talk about that and not being heard.
Then, what do we do?
We have an open government policy, an open government process, an Open
Government Initiative that the Minister of Municipal Affairs and the Premier
announced publicly. People now have
access to information. You do not
have to go look for information, it will be already posted.
Stuff that you should have at your fingertips, that you need to know
about, stuff that is in the best interest of the people, so that a business or
community group or an individual citizen can take and say, look, I can do
something in my community that is beneficial.
This will help me because now I have a better understanding of what
works.
When people say that people are not being heard by this
Administration as their number one thing, it could not be further from the
truth. I sit and talk to my people
in my district and they tell me, we are glad to see information is out there, we
are glad to see that it is constantly we are having a press conference, we are
putting information out.
Even when we sent about the Budget and we got
criticized from some members of the Opposition that this was
MR.
SPEAKER (Littlejohn):
I remind the hon. member, no props, please.
Thank you.
MR.
BRAZIL:
Sure, Mr. Speaker, I appreciate that.
I had to outline that every citizen got this and this
was so beneficial to them. Now they
know exactly what we invest in. They
know what health care means to this Administration.
They know what education means to this Administration, Mr. Speaker.
They know what we do for young children.
They know how we invest in the economy.
They know how we partner with the industrialized world here so that we
can benefit the people here.
The old days of being have not are gone, Mr. Speaker.
The days of not being proud to be Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are
totally gone. What we have now is an
Administration that is very proud of what they have accomplished, very proud of
what they are going to accomplish in the future, and very proud to be able to
say that everybody matters. That is
what this Administration is about.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for St. John's North.
MR.
KIRBY:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
It is a pleasure for me to have one more opportunity to
talk about this year's Budget. This
year's Budget, Mr. Speaker, is a testament.
It is a testament to the fiscal mismanagement, the fiscal
irresponsibility, the waste of this government, and the absence of any plan
whatsoever.
It is a testament to the fact that people in my
district and people all across this Province feel like we had an opportunity, we
were a have Province and we have gone from a have Province to a had Province.
It is a testament, Mr. Speaker, to the fact that people are going around
and saying to me, Dale, I voted PC but I cannot vote PC any more.
I cannot support the PCs anymore.
It is a testament that this government had to borrow $1 billion; a
billion dollars now put on the credit card of the next generation of
Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.
I will go in to a little bit of detail here because I
do not think people across the way are convinced.
Based on what I have heard here this afternoon I do not think they are
convinced. It is interesting, I
attended a fundraiser recently and I listened to some of the things that were
said about our provincial economy. I
thought the speaker made some really excellent points about the direction that
this government has taken us in. The
person was talking about how this government's claims about diversification of
the economy well nothing could be further from the truth.
Let us just take the forestry, for example, just
briefly, Mr. Speaker, and review this government's record.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh,
oh!
MR.
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR.
KIRBY:
Instead of building on our hundreds of years heritage in the forestry, instead
of building on opportunity looking for sustainable opportunities in the
forestry, government stood by and watched mills close in Grand Falls-Windsor and
in Stephenville. We know a lot of
those people now they more or less are supplying labour to Western Canada as a
result from those communities. Some
people moved on permanently, other people are reluctantly working on the
turnaround because they do not have any other option to feed their families.
Because of the inefficient way that government is
choosing to manage our natural resources, we have mills now in Central
Newfoundland that cannot get enough products to take them up to capacity.
If you look at my colleague, the Member for The Straits White Bay
North, he is always out there advocating for some action on the Roddickton
pellet plant, to get some jobs for people who work in the forest industry on the
Great Northern Peninsula. That
Roddickton pellet plant plan is still unrealized today despite government's
investment. It is cruel.
Despite all of these claims that government is making
that they are supporting innovation, that they are supporting entrepreneurs we
have only seen negligible improvement.
In fact, if you look at unemployment, if you look at some of the
indicators, and to truly be honest with yourself, you will see the opposite of
what they are saying is true.
Unemployment has actually risen outside of the
Northeast Avalon over the past five years. Unemployment
outside the Northeast Avalon has actually gone up over the past five years.
That is your record.
AN
HON. MEMBER:
Shameful.
MR.
KIRBY:
It
is a shameful record, exactly.
If we look at the Budget for this year, in the
documents government openly, openly admits that economic activity after 2015 is
going to be weak. It is going to be
much weaker than what we have seen.
That is why they are scrambling and trying to hang on, and putting a billion
dollars on the credit card of the next generation of Newfoundlanders and
Labradorians. They are trying to
hang on and trying to buy the people of this Province with the next generation's
opportunity, Mr. Speaker.
Beyond 2015 then, if you look at the indicators, if you
look at where the economy is going to go, we know it is going to contract.
The economy is going to contract after 2015.
Capital investment in the Province is going to go down by almost $5
billion. If you look at housing
starts, if you look at other indicators, you will see that they are going down.
There will be fewer people employed and housing starts
are going down, will decrease by 970.
Why is that? Because this
government has failed to diversify the economy, relied on royalties from
projects, most of them, the vast majority of them, that they had very little
role in developing. They sat and
they opposed them in fact. That is
all they did. All they did was
criticize, and now all we hear from them now is the past.
My colleague said to me today: you know, there is a
reason why the rear-view mirror is smaller than the dashboard, because you
should be looking forward; but this government is not looking forward, not
looking to the future. That is why
they are haphazardly putting a billion dollars on the credit card of the next
generation. Now that did not have to
be done.
They could have seized the opportunity in our historic
fisheries. They could have done
that, but instead they committed themselves to manage the decline of our
historic fisheries. The fishery that
sustained us for hundreds of years since the first settlers came here more than
500 years ago from Europe, and sustained our Aboriginal people for thousands of
years before. They failed to seize
that.
Instead, they have sat idly by and watched fish plants
close one by one by one. In Hant's
Harbour, Salvage, Jackson's Arm, Little Bay Islands, Port Union, Black Tickle,
St. Lewis, in Marystown, despite the fact that the member for that area said he
would buy it himself. He said: if I
have to buy it myself I will keep it open, and it closed.
The Premier at the time during that election campaign, she said: that
plant has a future, and it closed.
Then in Burin, the High Liner plant, to the shock of
everybody, closed. That was in some
ways the jewel in the crown, the last remaining significant piece, and that
closed. I think it is a shame that
all of this has gone by, that government has sat by and our proud rural and
outport heritage is washing away with closure after closure of plants and our
people are wondering whether they are going to be the last ones left to turn the
lights out in their communities.
Mr. Speaker, to date, as the Leader of the Official
Opposition, the Member for Humber Valley has said: Government has collected
almost $19 billion in oil royalties to date; $19 billion, and what do we have to
show for it? Well, debt is still
continuing to rise. Basically from
2010, I know this is hard to take, our debt is going from $10.2 billion to
nearly $13 billion in 2014, and per capita debt in this Province has risen to
$4,000 per person. To put that into
perspective, every single man, woman and child owes $4,000 each.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh,
oh!
MR.
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR.
KIRBY:
That is this government's record.
This Budget is a testimony to lumping that debt they say, oh no, we are not
increasing the debt. These Budget
documents prove otherwise. These are
the facts. I know they are hard to
take.
We have in this Province a great small business sector,
a small business sector that is more or less the engine of our economy.
It employs the most people, but there has been a major decline, a
significant decline in the small business sector in the past five years.
Small business now makes up just 20 per cent of the Province's gross
domestic product. That is the lowest
in the country. That is their
record, the lowest in the country.
That is why when our leader spoke some time ago he talked about how they are
taking us to the lowest of the pack in the country.
Again, it comes back to the failure to diversify the
economy. As I have said before, not
only has that happened, they failed to seize opportunities in the forestry, in
the fishery. They have also failed
to seize opportunities in shipbuilding and industrial fabrication.
Newfoundlanders and Labradorians have built ships and
had related industries in this Province for hundreds of years.
We built boats and there have been industrial workers working in this
sector for hundreds of years. We
could have had a chance to have people working in that sector for hundreds and
hundreds more if this government had not continued to fumble the ball, but that
is what happened.
Just take a few years ago.
A few years ago the federal government was putting out bids to the
National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy.
Remember, the Province of Nova Scotia invested and supported their
shipbuilding and industrial fabrication sector and helped to get a contract.
AN
HON. MEMBER:
(Inaudible).
MR.
KIRBY:
It
does not matter who is in power.
That is not my point. My point is
that we sat idly by. This government
sat idly by.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh,
oh!
MR.
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR.
KIRBY:
I
know they do not like it, Mr. Speaker.
They are getting worked up over there now, I know they are.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh,
oh!
MR.
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
The hon. the Member for St. John's North.
MR.
KIRBY:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
This government fumbled the ball, and here in
Newfoundland and Labrador this government stood down.
They did not stand up, they did not step up.
They stood down, that is what they did.
They did very little, if nothing, to attract a $25 billion multi-year
shipbuilding contract from the government.
Another province got that, and very little has been done since.
Instead of stepping up, our leaders have stood back.
They are standing back, Mr. Speaker.
This Budget is a testimony to that standing back.
I still cannot believe the day, listening to the
Premier at the time celebrating the fact that the third Hebron module was going
to be fabricated outside of this Province.
That was a great thing in her opinion.
The members opposite thought that was a great thing that this work was
going to be going offshore elsewhere.
Completely disregarding the fact that we would have massive, significant,
spinoff opportunities and investment for building the industrial fabrication
sector in this Province, building the shipbuilding industry in this Province.
Instead, that went somewhere else; and we, this Province, this
government, were willing to accept the consolation prize instead of going for
the prize itself.
Of course, this had a massive, massive, impact on our
population; despite the fact that this purportedly was something that government
had made a priority. They, in fact,
had a deputy minister I believe at one point who was responsible for population
growth. All sorts of talk about
population growth, but that has been a failure.
There has been no population growth.
There was no population growth in 2013.
Government, despite suggestions to the contrary, despite all of the
rhetoric to the contrary that is proven in the Budget documents.
This Budget document is a testament to the fact that there was no
population growth in 2013. It also
indicates that our population is now projected to decline.
By 2017, this government now projects that our
population is going to contract; it is going to drop by some 2,600 people, and
we have significant issues as a result of that.
Because of that, because of retirements, because the baby boom generation
is aging out of the workforce and many of them are choosing retirement, choosing
to leave their jobs, and we have a significantly low birth rate, and the
immigration strategy, if there was one, has not proved to have any effect of any
significance -we have a low birth rate - that means our labour force is going to
shrink. The labour force is going to
shrink by some 11,300 people by 2017.
I was speaking to a constituent just a short time ago
who said: I want to go and get
training. I have a bachelor of arts,
but now I want to get training. I
want to become an industrial electrician; I want to do that apprenticeship.
The person appealed to the Department of Advanced Education and Skills.
You would think with all the changes that we have seen over the years,
they would have been able to help this gentleman out because he was EI eligible.
A number of years ago, the government signed a Labour
Market Development Agreement with the federal government powers which, for
many years, we wished this provincial government had, that we wish we had at the
local level because we were sick and tired of being dealt in a ham-handed way by
the federal government. We wish we
had the power to determine those eligibility rules on our own to make sure that
we had the right, the power, and the means to ensure that our workers were
trained. All those responsibilities
were devolved down to the Province.
I am sad to say nothing has changed.
I have heard this before.
This person, despite the fact they are EI eligible, despite the fact of their
willingness to go and study an industrial trade in an area where they could
probably become employed in and stay in this Province with their family no,
not going to sponsor this person, not going to provide them with a training
allowance to allow them to study.
That is just an example of how government has
mismanaged opportunities, fumbled the ball, and continued to keep people back
and put up roadblocks that really prevent the economy, the business community,
from doing the job that they need to do if we are going to have economic
diversification and broaden the sources of income that the Province has.
Those are just a few examples of how instead of moving forward with
economic diversification and they talked a lot about business attraction.
Year after year, they put money aside for business attraction.
A lot of times they did not even spend it.
There is very little to show, very few jobs to show, very little new
business activity to show for the few dollars that they actually did decide to
spend.
There has been talk about a billion dollar ocean
technology industry. Lots of talk
about development in the Arctic, development in our marine industries.
Lots of talk; very little action.
They are just continuing to sit idly by, borrow millions and millions,
and tens of millions, and hundreds of millions of dollars, with a billion
dollars on the credit card of the next generation, sit idly by and just assume
that all of that work is going to get done on its own.
My point here is that this is the failed economic
record of this government, and I have only scratched the surface.
This is just the tip of the iceberg.
Because the implications of this are massive on the social side, and I
have not talked about any of those things.
I have not talked about the fact that Kelly's Brook Apartments in the
District of St. John's North, a refuge for seniors who are seeking housing, has
a wait-list that is about five years long.
We have significant, huge numbers of seniors looking for housing and
cannot find it. I have not talked
about the fact that my constituent just a week ago, a little over a week ago,
spent two days on a bed in a hallway at the Health Sciences Centre because there
was no bed for her and she was sick, and her privacy was violated.
That is a common experience of people in this Province.
I have not talked about the deficits in education, in
special education, all of the issues that are associated with this government's
failure
MR.
SPEAKER:
I
remind the hon. member his time has expired.
MR.
KIRBY:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Child, Youth and Family Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
JACKMAN:
Mr.
Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker I have to speak tomorrow night
at a graduation, a prom. There are
about 110 students who I have to speak to.
I thought, as I was listening to the member who just spoke, I am going to
have about twenty minutes tomorrow night.
So, I wondered what the reaction of those students would be if I got from
Hansard tomorrow and read out what that member just said.
I think the question that I would ask them at the end
of it would be: What province do you think he was speaking about?
Because he did not mention the name of our Province.
He did not refer to any names.
So, I could read that out to those students and say: Could you tell me
what province you think that member is speaking about?
Mr. Speaker, if, at the end of that, I said to those
students that member of our House of Assembly is speaking about our Province of
Newfoundland and Labrador, I think that they would say that this House and that
kind of commentary is a total disgrace, a total disrespect for this Assembly,
but a total disrespect for this Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
It would be a total disrespect.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh,
oh!
MR.
JACKMAN:
Mr.
Speaker, some of these members are going to start to heckle.
We sat over here; we listened to them.
I would ask for the same amount of respect.
This member cannot deny, and my colleague from
Springdale got up and said before, when you speak about this Province and we
have had two of the people in Opposition; one just gave a twenty minute
downgrading of our Province. We had
the Leader of the Opposition who has gone out and said that we are the worst,
the last, and the lowest. Mr.
Speaker, I am going out to speak to 110 students who are now going to make their
way in the world as of September, and I am thinking about the message that I am
going to deliver to them. I can tell
you one thing; the message that I am going to deliver to them is going to be a
heck of a lot more positive than what that member has just spewed out of him.
It is going to be a lot more positive.
Mr. Speaker, he talked about things I went and I
toured a facility in Marystown a couple of weeks ago, working on the Hebron
project. I thought there were 400
people working at that site. When I
go in, there are 700 people working.
Mr. Speaker, I am going to tell you another thing; they were not from out of
this Province.
I will tell you the other thing I noticed.
I toured that about a year ago.
The other thing that I noticed was that the hair was darker and the faces
were a lot younger. Mr. Speaker, the
youth of our Province are finding job opportunities in this Province and they
are working here.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
JACKMAN:
The
man talked about the future of the fisheries.
Mr. Speaker, for the first time in the history of this Province on a
large scale, because we have had some research capacity I can tell you one
thing, the commentary by Dr. George Rose here recently speaks to what research
is doing for this Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
The Minister of Fisheries and I had this conversation just yesterday.
We had it yesterday.
Do you know what this research is allowing us to do?
Dr. George Rose found that the age, the two, three, and four-year-old
codfish that are rebounding, we know we cannot catch them now.
We know that we will have the ability and they can be caught in three or
four years' time. Do you know what
that research is allowing us to do?
Now we can start to plan, Mr. Speaker, so that not all of a sudden it will be a
bust and boom fishery, and then we find ourselves in desperate situations again.
What that allows us to do is it allows us to plan the fishery that we see
that is evolving.
I am going to tell him another thing, Mr. Speaker.
The man's history is in Lord's Cove.
I swear to God, he drives down there, he walks out on the peat bog and he
says, well, maybe it is going, maybe it is not.
He gets aboard his car and drives right back down the Burin Peninsula,
right back into St. John's again.
Mr. Speaker, do not tell the people of rural
Newfoundland and Labrador that the fishery is dying.
Come and look come and look.
I have often used this example; fifteen years ago in Newfoundland and
Labrador it was not much trouble to go around and see a truck with a wooden box
on it. You will not see that now.
The fishery, Mr. Speaker, of the future and the
Member for Carbonear Harbour Grace, the man knows the fishery, he was a
fisher. He knows, I know, others
know, there are not going to be as many people in the fishery, but those if we
do it right who stay in it will have a wonderful future, and a successful
future. They will.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
JACKMAN:
They will, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I have to make a comment about the Member
for Cartwright L'Anse au Clair. I
really saw her for the first time and she seems exasperated.
I have to just go back.
Before she got in politics, myself and a couple of other ministers went into
Charlottetown to announce a new school.
I think there are forty-seven students there.
The school, when we finish, is about an $8.7 million project.
She spoke about the investments in her district.
While I was the minister I was pleased to announce the one in
Charlottetown. We opened a brand new
one, a $17 million school in Port Hope Simpson and Minister Shea went down and
opened up one previous to that. Mr.
Speaker, they accuse us of not spending in their districts.
Those are three schools in the space of about three or four years in her
district.
The other thing and I am not saying this to be
condescending, Mr. Speaker, but one of the things she relayed to me and the
other ministers was the pride that she took in her community, and that her
grandfather was one of the original settlers in Charlottetown.
It was through his tenacity and his spirit that he built that community.
I do not know if it is because of the House of Assembly, but she is
losing a lot of that spirit.
Mr. Speaker, I have to say you do not build your
community on being continuously negative and criticizing.
You work with the people who make your community.
We have worked with that community three schools and roadwork that they
needed to have done down there. I am
certain the Minister of Transportation and Works will work with them.
You operate from the premise of being positive as opposed to being
negative. You operate on that
different premise.
I have said time and time again, I have held down I
think it is five portfolios I cannot count them up now since I have been in
government. Mr. Speaker, I have to
say that sitting in this House, working and bringing initiatives forward is a
wonderful, wonderful thing for the Province.
I have seen the things that we have brought in that have been beneficial
to our youth. We have invested in
post-secondary.
Mr. Speaker, I will say to some of those students
tomorrow night, do not be afraid to explore, do not be afraid to venture to the
rest of the world. This is a
generation who has not lived without the Internet.
They have had the Internet all of their life.
They are more global, more knowledgeable than many of us.
They have seen more of the world through the Internet and through some of
their own travels than many of us in this House has seen.
They are not going to see obstacles, Mr. Speaker.
What they are going to see is opportunity.
It is opportunity internationally, it is opportunity nationally, and
there is opportunity provincially and locally.
It is there for them and I will relay that to them.
Mr. Speaker, anybody who knows me knows that I cannot
operate in a negative world. I just
cannot. I have to tell you if I had
to get up day in and day out and do something like the Member for St. John's
North just did, I would quit. I
would quit and I would walk away. I
would have to quit and walk away. I
could not for the life of me get up for twenty minutes and be negative.
I would not mind if he got up and were a little bit critical, but he gets
up from the start to the end and it is nothing but negativity.
MS
JOHNSON:
And
no suggestions.
MR.
JACKMAN:
It
is interesting you say that. The
Minister of Finance said no suggestions.
I have not seen his plan for what he calls diversification, Mr. Speaker.
I have not seen it, Mr. Speaker, I have not heard it.
It is so easy to get up day in and day out and criticize and say this is
not good and that. I have not heard
any suggestions from him. No suggestion at all.
The only thing I am hearing from them, Mr. Speaker, is we are the worst,
we are the last, and we are the lowest we are the worst, we are the last, and
we are the lowest.
AN
HON. MEMBER:
(Inaudible).
MR.
JACKMAN:
I
am going to, I can guarantee you.
What I am going to do is I am going to be asking this question of my
constituents. Mr. Speaker, I would
invite him to go out and ask his own constituents if we are the worst, the last,
and the lowest.
Mr. Speaker, we have moved from there to being the
best, the brightest, the sharpest, the leaders in Canada.
All we have to do is look through the other agencies who are out there
saying the same thing about us.
I am going to end now.
It is a bit early but I am going to end.
Tomorrow night I am going to deliver a message to 110 students, Mr.
Speaker. My message to them is to be
positive, get out there, and find your place.
Remember, Newfoundland and Labrador is your home, be proud of it.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER (Wiseman):
The hon. the Minister of Finance and President of
Treasury Board.
MS
JOHNSON:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
After that riveting speech I now adjourn debate.
I move, seconded by the Minister of Child, Youth and
Family Services, that we now do adjourn for today.
MR.
SPEAKER:
It
has been moved and seconded that the House do now adjourn.
All those in favour, aye'.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Aye.
MR.
SPEAKER:
All
those against, nay'.
Motion carried.
The House stands adjourned until 1:30 p.m. on Monday.
On motion, the House at its rising adjourned until
tomorrow, Monday, at 1:30 p.m.