May
4, 2015
HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS
Vol. XLVII No. 8
The
House met at 1:30 p.m.
MR. SPEAKER (Verge):
Order, please!
Admit strangers.
Statements by
Members
MR. SPEAKER:
Today we will hear
members' statements from the Members for the Districts of St. George's
Stephenville East, St. John's Centre, Carbonear Harbour Grace, Humber
Valley, Virginia Waters, and St. Barbe.
The
hon. the Member for St. George's Stephenville East.
MR. REID:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr.
Speaker, recently the Stephenville Rotary Club paid tribute to the late
Monique Rideout, a long-time volunteer with the Rotary Music Festival in
Stephenville.
Monique began her involvement in the festival as a singer at the age of
eight and she continued singing at the festival throughout her school years.
When she returned to Stephenville after being away at university, she
volunteered her time working as a secretary for the adjudicators of the
festival during the mid-1980s.
Monique continued to sing with many groups in the Bay St. George area such
as the Glee Club and the choirs at St. Stephen's Church.
She was also instrumental in planning the fiftieth anniversary of the
choral group which will take place in 2016.
She was a vibrant contributor to the music in the Stephenville area.
Monique worked on the Rotary Festival Syllabus, even as she was diagnosed
with cancer, and was a supporter and inspiration up until her untimely
passing at the age of forty-eight.
I
would like the House to recognize the work and dedication of Monique Rideout
and her contribution to the Stephenville Rotary Music Festival and also to
recognize the work of others on the Music Festival's Steering Committee who
continues the work that she was involved in.
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.
Last
night, activists and artists launched into Mental Health Week with a
brilliant idea executed with heart, talent, and humility.
Musicians and the fantastic staff of The Ship pub put on a show
organized by Amelia Curran to raise money for a night of live music for
patients at the Waterford Hospital, a show that left us spellbound.
Many in the audience renewed their conviction to help out in any way
they can.
Mr.
Speaker, while I am happy to commend those who are working on mental health
this week, last night made clear that in fact thanks to activists like
Co-Chairs Mark Gruchy and Meaghan Barnhill, and everyone in the Community
Coalition 4 Mental Health, this has been a mental health year.
I am
so proud to have played a role in calling the Community Coalition 4 Mental
Health together, as I see daily evidence that, thanks to their hard work and
expertise, they have raised our expectations of what is possible when we
work together. Their membership
numbers are growing daily. They
have reactivated citizen advocacy, and there is no stopping them.
They are bursting at the seams with hope and determination.
Bravo, Mr. Speaker, to the Community Coalition 4 Mental Health and its
hard-working members and all mental health activists.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Carbonear Harbour Grace.
MR. SLADE:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr.
Speaker, I rise in this hon. House today to congratulate Gina Colbourne of
Carbonear on being named the Red Cross Newfoundland and Labrador Young
Humanitarian of the Year. This
award recognizes young people in Newfoundland and Labrador who dedicate
their time and effort towards volunteerism, community involvement, and
humanitarian interests.
Gina
is a third-year medical student and was nominated for the award by her
classmates at Memorial University.
She was named valedictorian of her Bachelor of Nursing 2012 class.
Much of her volunteer work stems from MUN Medicine, where she is
deeply involved in the Monte Carlo Charity Gala, raising money for local
charities.
Gina
has dedicated a of her time to the Heart and Stroke Foundation, Canadian Red
Cross, Easter Seals, Single Parent Association, War Child Canada, the
Janeway Reading Program, and the Association for New Canadians.
Gina was also the runner-up for the title of Miss Newfoundland and
Labrador in 2013, and is a previous Miss Teen Trinity-Conception.
Mr.
Speaker, I ask all hon. members to join me in congratulating Gina on being
named the Red Cross Newfoundland and Labrador Young Humanitarian of the
Year, and wish her success in her medical studies.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Humber Valley.
MR. BALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I
rise in this House today to congratulate teams from the Deer Lake Minor
Hockey Association who won medals at the respective year-end provincial
tournaments.
Once
again players and coaches of the Deer Lake Minor Hockey Association are to
be congratulated for their high level of success.
Their hard work and determination are certainly reflected in the
achievements by all teams involved.
The
Deer Lake Atom team won the provincial C championship; the Pee Wee A team
won the provincial B tournament; and the Pee Wee B team won a bronze medal
at the mega tournament in Paradise.
The
Bantam team won silver at the Bantam A tier 3 division championships.
The Deer Lake under-12 girls captured gold in the C division
championship along with the Girls Under-15 team winning a silver medal at
the provincial tournament.
Minor hockey provides an opportunity for youth to engage in personal
physical, mental, and social development.
Through its team oriented structure, young athletes are able to
create memories that will last a lifetime.
I
ask all members of this House to join with me in congratulating the Deer
Lake Minor Hockey Association on their success at the respective provincial
tournaments.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Virginia Waters.
MS C. BENNETT:
Thank you, Mr.
Speaker.
I
rise in this hon. House today commemorating the 90th anniversary of women in
Newfoundland and Labrador earning the right to vote.
In
April 1925 women in our Province also won the right to run for public
office.
For
decades the campaign for women's suffrage fought to have the concerns of
women addressed in political life, giving women the opportunity to seek
elected office and to vote on issues including child welfare, education,
maternal health and domestic violence among others.
I am proud of the legacy left by these early pioneers of the women's
movement in our Province.
The
suffrage movement began in Newfoundland and Labrador in September 1890 when
a group of sixty women lobbied publicly and passionately for the right to
vote in municipal elections.
These women fought to be heard as equals in the decisions of government that
affect the lives of all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, not because we are
women, but because we see issues differently and care about different
things.
Better government results from diversity.
Mr.
Speaker, I ask all hon. members to join me in recognizing the unwavering
conviction of those brave women which have marked the path their legacy
continues in our work today.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
St. Barbe.
MR. J. BENNETT:
Thank you, Mr.
Speaker.
The
2014 Adrian Awards, held in New York City February 2015, saw the
Newfoundland and Labrador Find Yourself tourism marketing campaign win four
gold. Gros Morne Magic won gold
for TV Advertising and Gros Morne Online Campaign won gold for Web Ad
Series. These international
awards are presented by Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association
International.
Since 2006 Newfoundland and Labrador tourism marketing has won forty-seven
Adrian Awards, including five platinum.
Results show that between 2009 and 2014 non-resident visits increased
22 per cent.
As
stated, in Newfoundland and Labrador, especially in the Gros Morne National
Park region, there is no such thing as accidental tourism.
It takes planning and determined effort to visit, the challenge being
to lure people off the beaten track.
Gros Morne Magic and Gros Morne Online Campaign have been
instrumental in delivering results.
Newfoundland and Labrador, with Gros Morne National Park, has become a
tourism destination that others watch and imitate.
Mr.
Speaker, I ask all members of this hon. House to join me in congratulating
Gros Morne Magic and Gros Morne Online Campaign on winning gold at the 2014
Adrian Awards.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
Statements by Ministers.
Statements by
Ministers
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Service Newfoundland and Labrador.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. CRUMMELL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr.
Speaker, I rise in this hon. House to recognize May 3 to 9 as North American
Occupational Safety and Health Week.
The goal of NAOSH Week is to focus on the need to eliminate or
control workplace hazards, ensure all workplaces are safe, and to emphasize
that we all have a responsibility to promote safety.
Today, I was joined by my colleague, the Minister Responsible for the
Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission to participate in a
flag raising outside Confederation Building to mark the occasion.
We were joined by officials from the Workplace Health, Safety and
Compensation Commission, members of the local chapter of the Canadian
Society of Safety Engineering, as well as representatives from safety groups
and their employer and labour sector, and I thank them for their
participation.
This
year's theme is Make Safety a Habit For Your Career, which underlines the
need to remain vigilant about staying safe at work, at home, and in our
communities. Service NL
continues to work with employers and labour groups to enhance Newfoundland
and Labrador's safety culture.
Working collaboratively, we are enforcing strong safety standards,
increasing safety awareness, and ensuring adequate safety training is
delivered and used in workplaces across this Province.
Mr.
Speaker, the Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission
collaborates with the Occupational Health and Safety Branch of Service NL to
enhance safety in all workplaces.
Last year over 12,800 directives were issued to identify and correct
unsafe work practices, and more than 4,800 inspections were carried out
across the Province.
I
want to offer special thanks to the members of the local chapter of the
Canadian Society of Safety Engineering for one again volunteering their time
to plan and promote NAOSH Week.
This group spearheaded NAOSH Week here in Newfoundland and Labrador, and it
has grown to include the rest of Canada, the United States, and Mexico.
Mr.
Speaker, I encourage everyone to look for opportunities to enhance safety in
all aspects of our lives, so that we can return safe to our families and
friends at the end of every day.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Mount Pearl South.
MR. LANE:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I
thank the minister of an advance copy of his statement.
We, too, here in the Official Opposition want to recognize the
importance of North American Occupational Safety and Health Week and
certainly want to congratulate the members of the CSSE for organizing NAOSH
Week activities. They are
certainly a very committed group of individuals.
I know most of them very well, having been a safety practitioner
myself. Obviously, we want to
encourage all workplaces to ensure they are safe and people go home at the
end of the day the way they arrived.
Certainly, government has a very important role to play in occupational
health and safety in the workplace.
That is why we continue to encourage government, for example, in
Labrador West, to deal with the issues around silica dust, to deal with the
issues around not having inspectors there for the last three years, only fly
in, fly out.
We
want to encourage government to start upping inspections on fishing vessels
in the fishing industry, something that is sorely lacking.
As well, Mr. Speaker, we want to
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
I
remind the member his time has expired.
MR. LANE:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
St. John's East.
MR. MURPHY:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
We
also recognize NAOSH Week this week and all their efforts behind it.
It is readily apparent that we are also living in a dangerous world.
Sometimes occupational health and safety can be enhanced with
government action. Lone worker
legislation, for example, is sorely needed.
I think of taxi drivers, convenience store employees, and such that
could be covered and protected.
We
also just cannot depend on looking for an opportunity to enhance safety, Mr.
Speaker. Sometimes we have to
have the strength to see stronger legislation to ensure it.
Thank you very much.
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. KENT:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I
rise in this hon. House today to recognize May 4 to 10 as Mental Health
Week. This morning I had the
pleasure of joining members of the Newfoundland and Labrador Division of the
Canadian Mental Health Association for their annual Mental Health Week
conference, and to proclaim Mental Health Week in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Mental Health Week is an annual national event held by the Canadian Mental
Health Association to raise awareness of mental health across Canada.
It is a key opportunity to further the conversation around mental
health.
Mr.
Speaker, mental health is a key priority for the provincial government.
While these are challenging times and we have made some tough
decisions as a government in order to support our five-year plan for
sustainability, we remain committed to move forward with the replacement of
the Waterford Hospital when the Province's fiscal situation improves.
Meanwhile we are committed to ensuring youth and adults have access to the
programs and services they need.
Improving access to mental health and addictions services through the use of
innovative online technologies is one way we are accomplishing this goal.
During this morning's conference, I was proud to announce that we are
expanding Bridge the gApp, an existing mental health app for youth, to
include additional features and content.
A similar app is being developed for adults that will also offer
self-help information and self-referral to mental health and addiction
services.
Mr.
Speaker, as a government, we recognize the tremendous value of research in
advancing the way we deliver programs and services.
That is why we are investing in research funding for e-technologies
supporting mental health. An
investment of $50,000 will be provided to Memorial University's Counselling
Centre to test ways to deliver a number of offerings, ranging from brief
self-help online to tailored interventions with counsellors.
A second research grant of $50,000 will fund the Province's adoption
of the BreathingRoom Program an online self-management program that gives
young people between the ages of thirteen and twenty-four the tools to
manage stress, depression, and anxiety.
As
we recognize Mental Health Week, it is important that we also highlight the
continuing work of many groups and individuals throughout the Province who
are raising awareness, reducing stigma, and enhancing access to programs and
services.
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 the advance copy of his statement.
Mr. Speaker, I am happy to rise in this House today to recognize
Mental Health Week, and I want to quote the Canadian Mental Health
Association when they say, We all have mental health, just as we all have
physical health. I think it is
important to expand our thinking around mental health.
We are all vulnerable to mental health issues arising in our lives,
and we have to prioritize mental health promotion.
I do
find it sad to hear the minister say in the same breath that mental health
is a priority for a government that is delaying replacing the archaic
Waterford Hospital until the fiscal situation improves.
We also have to express concern around the focus on self-managing
mental health. While we
certainly believe in empowering people to become partners in caring for
their mental health, we have to question how valiant an effort it is to
actually increase access to mental health services.
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.
As
we celebrate Mental Health Week there are families across the Province who
are waiting months and months to get help for their children.
There are adults on year-long waiting lists desperately reaching out
for help, patients and staff working and living in an antiquated psychiatric
hospital, family doctors doing their best to try and help their patients,
citizens locked up in the most dilapidated prison in the country because
they have serious mental health problems they could not get help with.
Awareness and dialogue is not enough.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Transportation and Works.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. BRAZIL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr.
Speaker, I am pleased to rise in this hon. House to reiterate the importance
of providing learning opportunities to employees with the public service
that focus on safety and consistency in the delivery of services.
Newfoundland and Labrador has a professional and dedicated public service
working throughout the Province.
The Department of Transportation and Works has over 1,700 employees in a
variety of fields. They are
technicians, engineers, administrators, and policy analysts.
There are those who pilot ferries, those who fly and maintain
provincial aircraft, and those who maintain the over 10,000 kilometres of
provincial roads.
These public service employees are our neighbours; they are the people who
you see at your child's hockey practice or meet at the grocery store.
They take an active role in our communities, but they are also
dedicated to serving the residents of Newfoundland and Labrador in their
professional capacities within the department.
Both
as a government and as an employer, we are committed to providing employees
with opportunities to improve upon the skills they use to ensure that safety
and consistency are key components of every job, every day.
With
that in mind, a training program has been developed for Transportation and
Works department supervisors, specifically maintenance and engineering
project supervisors and operation supervisors.
It is anticipated that the first sessions will be conducted over four
days and will take place in late May.
This
in-house training will ensure that the department supervisors are working
with the most up-to-date information regarding the department's highest
standards for summer maintenance, winter maintenance, ice control, and
safety practices.
Topics will include: an orientation on the knowledge, skills and abilities
that are necessary to safely provide quality service to the public; the
importance of communications and consistency in operations across the
Province; and the continued focus on employee safety and public safety.
I
would like to express my support and encouragement to supervisors and
managers as they embark on the important and critical training to ensure the
safe and effective delivery of public services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
St. John's South.
MR. OSBORNE:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
In
light of the many stories in the media recently about road safety, I think
this announcement is timely. I
believe it is something that is important.
We
need to ensure that our employees and they are dedicated, they are
dedicated to the safety of the driving public have up-to-date information
about the standards in this Province.
When you see ruts and hydroplaning and issues like that on our
highways throughout the Province, Mr. Speaker, maybe it is the standards
themselves that need to be looked at.
I know the employees in this Province are dedicated.
They are people just like us.
They are driving the roads we are driving but they can only work with
the tools that they are given.
While these information sessions are absolutely essential and important to
those employees to ensure the safety of our driving public, the standards do
have to be looked at.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
St. John's East.
MR. MURPHY:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I
thank the minister for the advance copy of his statement here today.
Mr.
Speaker, culture and safety should also include an understanding by
ministers, deputy ministers, and upper management that certain conditions
also have to be followed. It is
not just about the employees. An
employee should be the final arbiter of safety on any job site, on land or
on the water. Sometimes that
fact is overlooked.
Congrats on the institution of the training program but let's undertake the
task in ensuring accountability if an accident or a dangerous occurrence
happens.
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.
Last week,
government decided to reach into everyone's pocket and increase HST in our
Province, but their own Budget documents tell a story of Japan's recent
sales tax hike. In that country,
consumption fell dramatically.
Their economy went stagnant, and further tax increases were postponed for
fear of prolonged economic difficulties.
The research is clear; an increase in HST is a job killer.
I ask the
Premier: Given that your own Budget documents point to the negative economic
impact, why are you hurting our economy by increasing HST?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of Finance and
President of Treasury Board.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. WISEMAN:
Mr. Speaker, this is several times I
have heard the Leader of the Opposition make a reference to our own
document, The Economy 2015, which is a really comprehensive overview of
the provincial economy but also sets a context of what is happening
globally.
When you cherry
pick a sentence or two out of any document you always run the risk of
distorting the picture. One of
the things that the Leader of the Official Opposition has failed to
acknowledge is the context in which that statement is read.
If you look at the economy of Japan for the last twenty or
twenty-five years, they have a debt there is about 225 per cent of GDP in
that country.
Any time you
make a comment about the impact of any fiscal decision it has to be made in
the context of a bigger picture, I say, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the Official
Opposition.
MR. BALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Well, maybe I
will shrink the picture down a little more, because in the same booklet that
the minister is talking about and after $25 billion in oil money in our
Province this government has really failed to diversify the economy.
Now, in that
same booklet he did not mention this but all provincial economic
indicators are pointing in the wrong direction.
In the booklet that the minister is talking about it says that GDP is
down, retail income, household income is down, retail sales is down, housing
starts are down,
employment down, population down, unemployment going up, and the Consumer
Price Index going up.
So I
ask the Premier: With all those provincial economic indicators pointing in
the wrong direction, why are you hurting the economy with this regressive
tax increase?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Finance and President of Treasury Board.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. WISEMAN:
Mr. Speaker, I am
delighted that the member opposite, the Leader of the Official Opposition,
has read the document because now he should fully understand some of the
reasons why we took this balanced approach to our Budget.
One of the things that I said last week in the Budget Speech
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR. WISEMAN:
was very clearly, we
are acknowledging the current circumstance that the Province finds itself
in, Mr. Speaker, and we had to make some very significant choices.
Budgets are about choices
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR. WISEMAN:
and we believe that we
have made the choices that provides a balance which positions Newfoundland
and Labrador in a better position than if we were to run out and amass huge
debt like the member of the Opposition is suggesting, or his other colleague
who is suggesting that we make massive cuts in the public service.
Either way would be too severe, I say, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
The
hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.
MR. BALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Well, I would suggest that the $2 billion in borrowing that the minister is
already talking about, the increase in HST, will slow the economy.
The minister should know that, given the experience that he has.
The HST increase, as an example, makes buying a new home in our
Province more difficult and out of reach for many in the Province.
Last
year, during the PC Leadership campaign, the Premier himself said he would
create a program to provide a down payment assistance for first-time
homebuyers.
So I
ask the Premier: Instead of making it easier, as you had promised, why did
you make it harder for people to buy their first home?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Finance.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. WISEMAN:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
We
are going to hear over the next two or three weeks, I suspect, Mr. Speaker,
a lot of cherry-picking on this Budget.
Members will stand up day after day, will ask questions in debate,
will highlight some particular aspect of this Budget that they do not like.
No doubt, it will always be about things that they do not like.
They
have never, ever you will not see them, Mr. Speaker the Member for
Virginia Waters will stand today and talk for several hours, but not once
will she talk about a balanced perspective, not once will she talk about the
big picture, not once will she talk about the future, not once will she talk
about how the strategic decisions being today are about making sure that we
make the right choices
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR. WISEMAN:
and we take a balanced
approach to work our way through the circumstance we find ourselves in, Mr.
Speaker, and that is what this Budget is about: balance and choices.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of
the Official Opposition.
MR. BALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Speaking of balance and choices: Will the Minister of Finance or the
Premier, as he mentioned in the leadership campaign, now agree that
increasing the HST will make it harder for the first-time homebuyer to
purchase that first house? It is
a simple question: Yes or no; is it more difficult today as a result of the
HST?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Finance.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. WISEMAN:
Mr. Speaker, here you go
again; taking one question, one issue, in isolation.
What I can tell the member opposite and tell the people of this
Province is this particular Budget
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR. WISEMAN:
makes some choices and,
on balance, the people of Newfoundland and Labrador will be better off as a
result of the decisions we made and announced in our Budget last week than
they will be and would have been had we made some very significant decisions
in other ways.
If
we do not have a balance between our revenue stream and our expense stream,
and looking at our fiscal capacity to borrow and what that outer limit might
be, if we do not take a balanced approach, not only will it be difficult for
people to buy their house for the first time, it will difficult for people
to hold onto the house they already have.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of
the Official Opposition.
MR. BALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
There is no question that is what increasing HST does: making it more
difficult for people to hold onto the money, that they paid for that that
takes money out of the hands of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, I say, Mr.
Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. BALL:
Government is borrowing
$2 billion, but transferring $760 million to Nalcor; $571 million is going
to the Muskrat Falls Project.
I
ask the Premier: How much total money will the people of Newfoundland and
Labrador have to borrow to fund Muskrat Falls?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Finance.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. WISEMAN:
Just think about Muskrat
Falls, Mr. Speaker. Let's put it
in context. Over a ten-year
period starting in 2008 and ending in 2018, this Province, this Government
of Newfoundland and Labrador, will invest in a company that is owned by the
people of Newfoundland and Labrador, some $3 billion in total over that
ten-year period. Guess what?
We are going to get every single cent of it back in eight years.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. WISEMAN:
In the following
seventeen years from that we are going to get $12 billion back on that
investment; and from there on, for the rest of our lives, $1 billion a year
in fact, in excess of $1 billion a year.
That is the kind of return the people's company is going to give to
Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of
the Official Opposition.
MR. BALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
My
question was: How much are we borrowing for the project at Muskrat Falls?
The Minister of Finance surely should have that number right now.
How
much are we borrowing to fund the project of Muskrat Falls?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Finance.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. WISEMAN:
Mr. Speaker, the member
opposite, with his vast business experience, would fully appreciate return
on investment. He understands
that concept, Mr. Speaker. He
would understand that concept quite well.
Just
let me repeat one more time. We
are putting in $3.1 billion over ten years.
We are getting it all back in eight years.
The following seventeen years we are getting back $12 billion more,
and then for the rest of our lives a little better than a billion dollars a
year forever and a day, I would say, Mr. Speaker.
Just
think about that for a moment.
When you start talking about borrowing money, when you start talking about
investing money, all you are concerned about or should be concerned about is
what is going to be a return on that?
How are we going to get our money back?
What value will it be for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador?
Fundamentally, Mr. Speaker, that is a great investment in our future.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of
the Official Opposition.
MR. BALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I
will remind the minister that the people of Newfoundland and Labrador are
paying every single cent for that project.
It is going to be on their electricity bills.
He knows it and the people of Newfoundland and Labrador know it.
Newfoundland Power is concerned that once the Holyrood station comes offline
there is considerable risk of prolonged transmission failures on the
Labrador to Island Link. They
went looking for detailed information from Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro
but they have been denied.
I
ask the Premier: Do you support Hydro withholding this information from
Newfoundland Power?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Municipal and Intergovernmental Affairs.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. HUTCHINGS:
Thank you, Mr.
Speaker.
There is no doubt, as we know here, a regulatory regime in place in this
Province, Mr. Speaker. In regard
to the specific question that the member asked, I am not familiar with it at
the moment but I will certainly take the information, provide it to the
House of Assembly
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR. HUTCHINGS:
and take it under advisement to make the information available to the hon.
member.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of
the Official Opposition.
MR. BALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I
thank the minister for that.
What is happening right now is we have Newfoundland Power that is looking
for information. This is public
knowledge. It was April 22 they
put in this request, and obviously this information that they want is being
withheld.
Up
until April 22, 2015, when asked questions in the House about the RFP for a
new Labrador Marine service, the minister gave no indication that it would
be cancelled on April 30, which was Budget day.
I
ask the Premier: When was a decision made to cancel the RFP for the Labrador
Marine service?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Transportation and Works.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. BRAZIL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
We
had a very extensive process in the RFP development, Mr. Speaker.
What we did was look at exactly how we could provide a service for
the people of Labrador. We had
to take into account our fiscal reality.
The fiscal reality was the costing that came in from the RFP was much
higher than we anticipated. As a
result, we are going to go back and deal with our stakeholders.
I have engaged opening up the Labrador communications process here.
I am going to bring stakeholders in.
We are going to determine exactly what service it is that is
sustainable and affordable for the taxpayers of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of
the Official Opposition.
MR. BALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
My
question about the RFP for the Labrador ferry system and ferry services was
when was the RFP cancelled? On
April 22 the minister stood in this House, April 30 was Budget day, so
somewhere in between that there was a decision made.
It was not reflected in the statements on April 22.
I
ask the minister: When was this decision made to cancel this RFP?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Transportation and Works.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. BRAZIL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
This
was an ongoing discussion through the Budget process, Mr. Speaker, an
ongoing where we went in, as it works with ministers, and we assess exactly
what our budget lines are in our own line departments.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR. BRAZIL:
What is it we can afford?
What is in the best interest of the taxpayers of Newfoundland and
Labrador, and if there are other ways we can do things that are more
sustainable and more affordable for the taxpayers.
Mr.
Speaker, when we assessed this, the costing was much higher than we were
able to fulfill within our budget lines.
So, Mr. Speaker, we are going to go back.
We are going to deal with the people of Labrador.
We are going to continue the service we have.
We are going to find ways to improve it.
Then we are going to engage, and then we are going to go back to the
market when the time is right and we know that the process in place will
guarantee we get something that is affordable and sustainable for the people
of Labrador.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of
the Official Opposition.
MR. BALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The
RFP was issued in December 2013 and it finally closed on June 16, 2014, and
there were two extensions. A
year and a half after it was issued, government now says they are going back
to consult with the people of Labrador on a new RFP process.
I
ask the Premier: It is clear that marine services are needed in the region,
so why a year-and-a-half later are you repeating steps and increasing the
cost of this process?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Transportation and Works.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. BRAZIL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
We
have as our objective here to continue to support the ferry service in
Labrador and improve on it. We
went through an RFP process. An
RFP process is fairly simple.
You go to the market. You say
this is the type of service we would like provided and we also ask the
proponents, can you also give us other alternatives.
They came back very intensive, the first time we went to market for
something of this magnitude.
They
came back with a number of alternatives.
They came back with some very in-depth information.
We assessed it, we asked for an extension.
We went back to the market.
We did a short list. We
went back again. When we got
back and realized what we had in front of us, the costing, Mr. Speaker, was
not in the best interest from a financial point of view where we are right
now to be able to deliver on that service.
Mr.
Speaker, what we have done is gone back.
We are going to work with the people of Labrador and find a service
that is useable for them and we can fit within our financial abilities.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
The
hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.
MR. BALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Well, I can assure you that the ferry service in Labrador is not adequate.
Your consultations with the people down there will be a waste of
time. They have told you over
and over again what is required on that service.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR. BALL:
The Premier and Minister
of Finance should know this; it has been repeated.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR. BALL:
Stop doing it over; give
the people of Labrador what they deserve.
Mr.
Speaker, the 2015 Budget Speech says that total investment for the purchase
of new ferries for Fogo-Change Islands and Bell Island is $126.7 million.
We know that the total cost of both vessels is $102 million.
I
ask the Premier: What is included in the other $24.7 million?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Transportation and Works.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. BRAZIL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I
want to make it clear to the hon. Leader of the Opposition that any time we
consult with the general public, regardless of what issue it is, it is never
a waste of time, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR. BRAZIL:
It is very important for
us, and particularly me, as a minister, to assess exactly what
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR. BRAZIL:
people think is the
type of service we can provide, and outline to them exactly what our
financial restrictions may be, or our challenges, and see if they can be
part of not only outlining what should be done, but how they can be partners
in that, Mr. Speaker.
So
when we open up dialogue as an open government, we engage the general public
to come in and that is how we will solve the problems in this Province and
engage people by having a better service for the people of Labrador and
every other service we offer in this Province.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of
the Official Opposition.
MR. BALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Well, the people of Labrador, in all due respect, they understand what is
going on here. This is a delay
tactic by this government right now.
This has nothing to do you should know, Minister, after a
year-and-a-half of this RFP closing, what is required on that service.
There has been extensive dialogue at every single meeting that we
have had down there. They have
explained it to me; they have explained it to you.
It is a delay tactic.
Tell it for what it is.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. BALL:
Now, Mr. Speaker, I will
go back to the ferries on the Fogo-Change Islands, which was at $126.7
million.
My
question was: What is included on the $24.7 million?
Will the Premier or the minister explain what the $24.7 million is?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Transportation and Works.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. BRAZIL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The
costing there is the contract with Damen Shipyards to build two
state-of-the-art vessels to provide service for the people of Fogo
Island-Change Islands and Bell Island, to add two very valuable assets to
the ferry service in this Province, and any other additional costs that are
relevant to delivering those ferries to the people of this Province.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of
the Official Opposition.
MR. BALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Well, I will ask the minister: Does any of this money that is in this Budget include
or exclude the tariff on those vessels?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. BRAZIL:
Mr. Speaker, this is a continued investment in supporting the people of our
Province, particularly those who live in isolated areas and need ferries as
their service.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR. BRAZIL:
Built into that are all of the costs that we feel may or may not be
necessary to get the ferries here and be delivered on time to do that.
Built into that is the tariffs that may be added.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR. BRAZIL:
We have engaged in a process with the federal government, Mr. Speaker, where
we have outlined exactly why we feel the tariffs should not be levied on
these vessels. As that process
unfolds, I will report back to the House of Assembly where we are with that.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the Official
Opposition.
MR. BALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Time and time
again the minister has stood in this House there were two options, of
course, two clear options that were available: one with the tariff and one
that would exclude the tariff.
Is there
anything that happened in terms of the dialogue or communication with the
federal government why you would put this in this year's Budget?
Have you heard back from the federal government?
Are they going to exclude the tariff or not?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Transportation and Works.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. BRAZIL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
First, I want
to clarify. When we assessed
which ferries we wanted to go with, which company we wanted to deal with, we
did not go with the least expensive; we did not go with the most expensive.
We went with something that was in the middle from a financial point
of view but was light years ahead of some of the other proponents based on
the principles of its professionalism, the type of asset we are going to
supply to the people of this Province, and the longevity we would get out of
that, Mr. Speaker. It was an
investment for the people of this Province.
What we have
done in this case, in our Budget line, is due diligence.
We want to build in to make sure that we are not caught off guard
with additional cost. We know
this was the best investment for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador,
and we have built that in.
Mr. Speaker,
after we go through the process on the tariffs, once we are successful on
that, then we will deal with the other ramifications around our ferry
services.
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR. BRAZIL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for Burgeo La
Poile.
MR. A. PARSONS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Budget 2015
announced consolidation of the administration of the four regional health
authorities and the Newfoundland and Labrador Centre for Health Information.
I ask the
minister: What is the anticipated cost savings of this consolidation?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of Health and
Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. KENT:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
We did announce
the consolidation of a number of back-office administrative functions within
our four regional health authorities and the Newfoundland and Labrador
Centre for Health Information.
The estimated savings is between $18 million and $26 million after five
years, not to mention the other efficiencies that such a consolidation will
create.
We
want to allow our regional health authorities to focus on what they are
mandated to do, Mr. Speaker, which is delivering quality health care
services to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Burgeo La Poile.
MR. A. PARSONS:
Mr. Speaker, this
government consolidated the administration of the regional health
authorities in 2005 to save money.
In 2007, the AG pointed out cost increased 16 per cent in the first
two years. Since that
consolidation the cost of administration and support has ballooned from 2005
at $371 million to $513 million in 2013, a 38 per cent increase.
I
ask the minister: How do you expect people to trust consolidation will not
waste money like it did the last time?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. KENT:
Mr. Speaker, we have a
five-year plan to achieve greater sustainability in the health care system
in our Province and part of that process involves us finding efficiencies,
finding better ways to do business.
We want to ensure that the regional health authorities can find
efficiency by being truly focused on what their core mandate is, delivering
health services and will consolidate those back office functions like
procurement, purchasing, information technology, information management,
human resources, finance, payroll, which will naturally create efficiencies,
Mr. Speaker.
We
have a Province of just over half a million people.
We have four regional health authorities for good reason, but we
believe we can find real savings by consolidating these functions.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Burgeo La Poile.
MR. A. PARSONS:
Mr. Speaker, the
school board consolidation was supposed to have savings, we have not seen
those. The last consolidation in
health was supposed to have savings, we did not see those, but I trust that
we will see them this time.
A
new standalone, shared service organization is being created to oversee the
administration of the health authorities and the Centre for Health
Information.
I
ask the minister: Where will this organization be physically located, and
how many positions will be cut in each of the regional health authorities?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. KENT:
Mr. Speaker, where exact
positions will be located is yet to be determined as we put the transition
plan in place. What I can tell
you is for each of the functions that I have previously mentioned there will
still be a need to have personnel working in the various regions of the
Province. That is going to be
important when you talk about finance or human resources or information
technology, just to give a few examples.
In
terms of potential savings in positons, a reduction between 180 and 230
full-time equivalent positions would be eliminated over the five-year
period, and we are going to do that largely through attrition, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Burgeo La Poile.
MR. A. PARSONS:
Mr. Speaker, the
Newfoundland and Labrador Centre for Health Information will now oversee
this new organization.
MR. KENT:
No, it will not.
MR. A. PARSONS:
It will not oversee,
the minister is saying.
This
centre was highlighted by the AG for ballooning salaries that went up 354
per cent over a five-year period, disregarding government policy around
hiring and compensation. Now
government let this go on for years without action, including the Minister
of Finance.
I
ask the minister: Have you gotten the centre to fall in line with the rest
of government on hiring and compensation after millions of taxpayer money
was misspent due to a lack of financial oversight by your government?
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. KENT:
Mr. Speaker, we have
taken steps in recent months to get salaries aligned at the Newfoundland and
Labrador Centre for Health Information.
I am pleased to report to this House that action has been taken and
progress continues.
In
terms of the efficiencies that will be created by this new organization, the
Centre for Health Information is not going to oversee this new entity, but
it will be a key part of the new shared services organization that we are
creating. Newfoundland and
Labrador Centre for Health Information is a valuable organization.
It will continue its focus on information management and analytics,
and it will continue to provide valuable support to the health system in
this Province.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Burgeo La Poile has time for a quick question Bay of Islands, I am
sorry.
The
hon. the Member for Bay of Islands, an even quicker question.
MR. JOYCE:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I
ask the minister: Will you specifically tell the people what the $9.6
million budgeted for the Corner Brook hospital will be used on this year?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Health and Community Services has time for a quick reply.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. KENT:
Mr. Speaker, I know I
only have a few seconds so I will tell you that those funds, the $9.6
million will be used exclusively towards the replacement of the hospital in
Corner Brook.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
The
hon. the Member for Signal Hill Quidi Vidi.
MS MICHAEL:
Thank you very much, Mr.
Speaker.
Government said last week that the fairest method of raising additional
revenue is through the HST because it is distributed across the entire
population. This is quite
different from government's decision to ease the tax burden on the highest
income earners between 2006 and 2010.
I
ask the Premier: Why raise the regressive HST now when it was not acceptable
to lower it when times were good?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Finance and President of Treasury Board.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. WISEMAN:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
One
of the things that the member would also recognize when she read the
document last week was that we have made a huge change as well in the
application of the rebate and the HST credit.
We have now taken the income threshold some $15,000 a year to $30,000
a year.
The
number of people who will now be eligible to apply for that credit has more
than doubled I say, Mr. Speaker.
That number has more than doubled.
The amount of the credit has changed significantly.
It has gone from $40 to $300, $60 for the second adult in the family,
and $60 for each child in that family.
The
transition we have made here is, not only have we made an increase in the
HST itself, but we have made sure that we have protected the most vulnerable
in society. So those individuals
who are on that lower income spectrum have been protected as a result and
shielded from this change.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Signal Hill Quidi Vidi.
MS MICHAEL:
Mr. Speaker, government
is trying to reduce its deficit on the backs of lower and middle income
people. We now have the highest
HST in the country and the third lowest income tax rate for high income
earners.
I
ask the Premier: Would he please explain the rationale for this upside down,
regressive, and unfair tax regime?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Finance.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. WISEMAN:
Mr. Speaker, just listen
to the member's comment. What
she has failed to point out in her preamble is as a result of indexation,
this year any single individual who is making close to $19,000 a year,
$18,800-and-some-odd I think it is, will not pay any personal income tax in
Newfoundland and Labrador at all.
Families who have a combined income of just a little over $30,000
will not pay any personal income tax in Newfoundland and Labrador this year.
So,
I say, Mr. Speaker, our commitment to maintain that program, only introduced
back in 2005, combine that with the change we just made in the dollar amount
and the income threshold for the HST credit is a huge impact on those people
in society who are on the lower income level.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
St. John's East.
MR. MURPHY:
Mr. Speaker, this
government went back on a promise to drop the tax on heat and light to
consumers in the Province that they made in the 2012 Budget.
Heat is a necessity of life and costly to low-income earners and
seniors.
I
would like to know, Mr. Speaker, we would like to know on this side of the
House: Why did government reinstate the tax on heat and light in this
Budget?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Finance.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. WISEMAN:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The
member opposite would fully recognize, as the oil and gas price guru in the
Province, that in 2011 when we implemented this credit it was at a time when
oil was at its peak. We wanted
to make sure we shielded Newfoundlanders and Labradorians from the continued
rising price of oil to heat their homes.
That circumstance is no longer valid today, Mr. Speaker.
It was introduced just a few short years ago in 2011.
The price of oil has changed today, so the policy decision to do it
back then and the rationale for it, that rationale no longer exists today.
That is why we have made the adjustment.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
St. John's East.
MR. MURPHY:
Mr. Speaker, the Finance
Minister already knows in his own projections for oil prices that oil is
going to be going up again. He
should never have done it.
Mr.
Speaker, the price of gas and diesel will also go up by about 2.5 cents a
litre this January.
How
does government expect to keep the economy strong if they keep chipping away
at consumers' disposable income?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Finance.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. WISEMAN:
Mr. Speaker, I just want
to point out for the member opposite and the people of Newfoundland and
Labrador, that we still have in place the rebate, the annual process of
making applications to the Province.
Attaching your oil bill or your utility bill to demonstrate that you
have had to heat your own home.
That program is still in place.
Some $65 million a year is invested in that program.
We
will continue to maintain that program for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians
because, Mr. Speaker, that particular program, and only that program,
protected and shielded the low-income families.
The other program, regardless of what your income was you got the
credit for that. So we believe
that those who are more vulnerable in society deserve the most attention and
the benefit of having the safety net protecting them, rather than the high
income earners.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
The
time for Oral Questions has expired.
Presenting Reports by Standing and Select Committees.
Tabling of Documents.
Notices of Motion.
Notices of Motion
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Humber Valley.
MR. BALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
BE
IT RESOLVED that the House of Assembly urge government to cancel intended
increase to the HST.
I
move this motion for Wednesday's PMR, and that is seconded by the Member for
Virginia Waters.
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Opposition
House Leader.
MR. A. PARSONS:
As per the Leader of
the Opposition, and pursuant to the Standing Orders, the motion just read
will be the one debated on Wednesday.
Thank you.
MR. SPEAKER:
Further notices of
motion?
Answers to Questions for Which Notice has been Given.
Petitions.
Petitions
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
St. George's Stephenville East.
MR. REID:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I
have a petition related to health care from residents of the Heatherton to
Highlands area.
To
the hon. House of Assembly of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador in
Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned humbly sheweth:
WHEREAS there has not been a permanent doctor in the clinic at Jeffrey's for
almost a year; and
WHEREAS the absence of a permanent doctor is seriously compromising the
health care of the people who live in the Heatherton to Highlands area and
causing them undue hardship; and
WHEREAS the absence of a doctor or nurse practitioner in the area leaves
seniors without a consistency and quality of care which is necessary for
continued good health;
WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly pray and call upon the
House of Assembly to urge the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to
take action which will result in a permanent doctor or other arrangements to
improve the health care services in the Heatherton to Highlands areas.
Mr.
Speaker, this petition is from the Heatherton to Highlands area, but it also
addresses a situation for the whole district.
I think it is fair to say there is a health care crisis in the St.
George's, Stephenville area.
The
community of Jeffrey's and communities from Heatherton to Highlands have not
had a doctor now for over a year, nearly a year-and-a-half, Mr. Speaker.
It is causing serious problems in terms of health care.
Elderly people have had to travel long distances to get to see a
doctor in Stephenville at the emergency there.
People have not been receiving their health tests on a regular basis,
blood work and things like that.
So there are some serious problems caused by this lack of a doctor.
Also, in St. George's a similar situation exists.
They have been without a doctor since November of last year, Mr.
Speaker. It is a situation that
continues to get worse in the area.
What is happening is the people who cannot get a doctor at their own
clinics are going to the outpatients in Stephenville which is causing a big
back up and longer wait times for people there.
It is not uncommon for people in that area to have to travel long
distances, wait all day in a waiting room to see a doctor, even for simple
things like to get a prescription refilled.
Mr.
Speaker, this is not a budgetary matter.
I am not asking and the people who signed this petition are not
asking for new money to put a doctor in place.
This is money that has been budgeted.
It is a recruiting issue.
I
have talked to the Minister of Health.
I have asked him to get personally involved in this situation.
I have talked to people at Western Health and asked them to get
personally involved in this situation as well.
The services are not good, it is a crisis situation, and I ask the
government to do something about this.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
St. John's East.
MR. MURPHY:
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 Tordon 101 contains the chemicals 2, 4-D and Picloram; and
WHEREAS the chemical Picloram is a known cancer causing carcinogen; and
WHEREAS the provincial government has banned the cosmetic use of the
pesticide 2, 4-D; and
WHEREAS safer alternatives are available to the provincial government for
brush clearing such as manual labour, alternative competitive seeding
methods, and/or the mechanical removal of brush; and
WHEREAS the provincial government is responsible for ensuring the safety and
well-being of its citizens;
WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly pray and call upon the
House of Assembly to urge government to cease the use of chemicals covered
under its own cosmetic pesticide ban and begin using safer methods of brush
clearance that will not place its citizens in harm's way.
As
in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.
Mr.
Speaker, I am pleased to present this petition in the House today.
Signatories come from St. John's, Paradise, and other areas of the
Province. I have to make special
note to government that rather than using chemicals and adding not only to
your environmental liabilities in this Province and there is still a
question as regards to how much environmental liabilities are actually
included within the Budget or not the question has to be asked upon
government right now if it is really prudent for them to be adding to the
health burdens in this Province by dumping carcinogenic chemicals that are
going to be damaging the environment and causing issues for us as well into
the environment and accounting for that on their own health care bottom
line.
Mr.
Speaker, it does not make any sense why we would take such a step.
Instead, what government should be doing right now is thinking about
this as well on an economic perspective a job creator too at the same
time. Times are hard.
We are in a recession, contrary to what the Finance Minister would
think. These are recessionary
times according to economists.
It is time to put people to work in this Province, particularly when it
comes to green programming.
It
is something that we can address right off the bat, Mr. Speaker.
We can add a level of taxation back to provincial coffers by
employing people, number one, to clear brush from the sides of the road.
Next to having safer highways, Mr. Speaker, this should also be
looked at as a job creator as well.
Mr.
Speaker, I am pleased to table this again.
Besides the known health concerns here, government should be looking
at this as an opportunity. I do
not see mechanical brush clearing within the Budget.
I have no doubt that government right now is strictly focused on
using chemicals to keep roadside brush down, but again they should
reconsider simply on an economic perspective.
Thank you very much.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Conception Bay South.
MR. HILLIER:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
A
petition 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 Town of Conception Bay South is the second largest municipality
in the Province; and
WHEREAS recent dangerous incidents on community streets have highlighted
concerns of high speed and inadequate traffic control in Conception Bay
South; and
WHEREAS residents, organized groups, and the town continue to raise
awareness about pedestrian safety along main streets and the lack of police
presence in the town; and
WHEREAS residents are increasingly concerned about safety in their community
and are feeling insecure in their streets and in their homes;
We,
the undersigned, petition the House of Assembly to urge government to review
the level of policing in Conception Bay South with an objective of
increasing policing services and improving public safety.
Mr.
Speaker, this is the second time I have brought this petition forward.
As I said before, in no way am I indicating that there is any concern
about the work that RNC officers do in the Town of Conception Bay South.
They continually present themselves in a very professional manner in
all the work that they do.
Mr.
Speaker, the concern here, and it seems to be the issue among residents, is
the degree of policing and the perception of residents and the visibility in
the community. The Premier is
fully aware of these issues in Conception Bay South as a former member of
the RNC. He was a ward
councillor in Conception Bay South, and I know that the Town of Conception
Bay South has kept him in the loop on these issues as time has gone on.
Mr.
Speaker, two issues that is involved in this issue of policing: one is the
feeling of insecurity in neighbourhoods and I pick this up as I go door to
door and, quite often, among the seniors in our community.
Some of them are very forthcoming and talk about not feeling
comfortable in their neighbourhoods; whereas others are not so forthcoming.
The other indicator of feelings of insecurity is the fact that any
number of homes in any number of neighbourhoods has the little sign on the
house or on the patio saying that it is being protected by a private
security firm. Mr. Speaker, that
is money that individual residents are paying to ensure their own security.
The
other issue, Mr. Speaker, is the issue of speed and unsafe driving in our
neighbourhoods. There is a major
concern in the district for speeding and dangerous driving: Route 60,
Foxtrap Access Road, our provincial highways through the town.
There are eight schools.
Mr.
Speaker, the Minister of Justice will tell us that the philosophy of our
local police (inaudible)
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
I
remind the member his time is expired.
MR. HILLIER:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER:
Orders of the Day.
Orders of the Day
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, to move that this House
approves in general the budgetary policy of the government: the Budget
Speech.
MR. SPEAKER:
We are debating Motion 1,
the Budget Speech.
The
hon. the Member for Virginia Waters.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MS C. BENNETT:
Thank you, Mr.
Speaker.
Mr.
Speaker, I listened to Question Period intensely today, as I always do, and
I just wanted to let the Minister of Finance know that I have no intention
of cherry-picking this Budget. I
have every intention of talking about every single line in this Budget.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MS C. BENNETT:
Mr. Speaker, last
Thursday the people of the Province and the hon. members of this House
witnessed the Minister of Finance stand in his place and admit to his
government's complete failure to manage the resources entrusted to them
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MS C. BENNETT:
by the people of
Newfoundland and Labrador. It
was a sad spectacle to sit here and listen to the litany of lost opportunity
and misplaced priorities that have set our Province back decades.
The
minister is fond of making references to the 1990s, pre-oil.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MS C. BENNETT:
Really, we have to
look even further back. Not
since the dark days of the 1920s and the 1930s have we seen a government in
Newfoundland and Labrador be such an abject failure at financial management,
a primary responsibility for any government.
Mr. Speaker, 14,000 words, perhaps one of the longest Budget Speeches
in our Province's history, for a minister and a government who like to hear
themselves talk, and who clearly have started to even believe their own
spin.
The
minister is spinning a yarn, a story of glory and riches in an attempt to
fool the people of Newfoundland and Labrador into believing two things:
First, that they, the government, have everything under control and have a
plan to deal with a crisis they created; and second, that they had no
control over the financial mess we find ourselves in, that we have all been
victims of a global economic downturn.
Mr. Speaker, nothing can be further from the truth.
Government has not done anything to demonstrate that they have the capacity
and the financial literacy to manage any financial plan, and certainly not
the one that government laid out in this Budget.
Despite the rhetoric, the essential problem of poor planning and
mismanagement, as identified by the Auditor General and others, remains.
Their solution? They want the
people of the Province to give them a free pass to deal with the crisis they
created. Mr. Speaker, I have
great confidence in the people of Newfoundland and Labrador to see this for
what it is: lack of economic and fiscal leadership.
Their plan is to take more from those who can afford it least.
Take more to fund their re-election campaign.
Take more good money after bad to be squandered and lost.
Mr.
Speaker, after seventeen straight months of job losses, this Budget does
nothing to help families, nothing to help the unemployed or seniors.
In fact, it makes them worse off.
During the time I have been given, I plan to expose the minister and the
government and demonstrate the truth about our Province's finances and this
government's role in creating this financial crisis and what it is that
needs to be done differently.
Government talks about the new Premier as having a renewed vision, that we
were ready to be bold and innovative.
Mr. Speaker, I would remind the members opposite that less than 350
people picked this Premier, and if now is the time they are going to be bold
and innovative, quite frankly, it is too little too late.
Now
they say they are ready to make the decisions.
Now they say they are ready to do the things that need to be done.
Well, Mr. Speaker, seven Finance ministers in four years; eight
ministers responsible for economic development in seven years; six ministers
for workforce development in seven years; seven Ministers of Transportation
and Works in seven years, and, Mr. Speaker, worst of all of this, fourteen
Health ministers, fourteen in twelve years.
Clearly, there is an absence of leadership in departments, which is
impacting not only their ability to plan and manage the affairs of the
Province but it is also impacting on the culture of the public service,
driving down morale, increasing stress, and lowering productivity of our
very, very valuable public sector.
We
will take lots of opportunity to speak about this Budget, and it is
important for people of the Province to understand the extent of this
financial mess. How Tories
mismanaged us into it, and, Mr. Speaker, what Liberals will do to get us out
of it. The Liberal solution goes
well beyond the scope of the Tories tunnel vision.
Mr.
Speaker, this government will let you believe there are only two options,
tax and borrow. That is what
this Budget is a reflection of.
It is a reflection of tax and borrow.
Liberals take a more strategic view because there is a need to reduce the
Tory waste and get our Province's finances under control.
We do not support an increase in HST.
This will only stunt our economy and make it more difficult for
people to build a life here, to raise their kids here, and it will leave the
people of this Province paying for the Tories mismanagement.
Liberals would better manage expenses and, most importantly, grow the
economy. If necessary, we would
borrow over increasing taxes so we do not risk the revenue side of the
ledger at a time when our economy is contracting.
Quite frankly, if the minister cannot understand that, then perhaps
he needs to brush up on his math skills after all.
Today, our economy is struggling.
All indicators are pointing in the wrong direction.
Mr. Speaker, the Province cannot risk another Tory misstep or do
over.
Economic analysts may have differing opinions about whether our Province is
in a recession or not, but there is one thing we know for sure, that this
side of the House and I believe that side of the House as well sees
every single day in our communities, and that is the effects economic change
is having on the people who are in our districts.
Whether it is the people in Lab West who lost their jobs as a result
of the mining commodity pricing, whether it is the people on the West Coast
who are struggling to find opportunities where this government has failed to
create any, or whether it is on the South Coast where a lack of
entrepreneurs unable to come in and replace retiring entrepreneurs and buy
their businesses creates a contraction in our economy.
This government has failed to recognize the struggles that people in
our Province are having as a result of the economy that their decisions are
part of creating.
Mr.
Speaker, led by the Leader of the Official Opposition, this team of Liberal
entrepreneurs, a team of energetic and passionate leaders in our Province
who are eager to get to work and roll up our sleeves and put our business
acumen to work to create opportunities for people across our Province, not
just in the oil industry but in every single industry that is important to
the growth of our economy.
Mr.
Speaker, some on the other side might assume that my tone today means that I
am not optimistic. Quite
frankly, that would not be the case.
I am very optimistic about the future of our Province, but first and
foremost, we must have our economic policy better managed to get there.
I am
so excited that the minister on the opposite side is excited that I am going
to have four hours to make this presentation.
I look forward to him sitting there for the whole time.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MS C. BENNETT:
Mr. Speaker, let me
say again, I am very optimistic about our future, but the importance of
clear and well-thought-out economic policy is critical at this time in our
history. Quite frankly, because
Liberals are more experienced managers, I think we can get Newfoundland and
Labrador through this 'Toryness.'
Here
is what good managers do, Mr. Speaker.
Good managers and good leaders start by executing on plans.
They do not just create the plans; they execute them.
They make those plans based on using accurate financial facts, and
they hold themselves accountable to delivering outcomes and getting results.
Mr.
Speaker, that is what has been missing. There
are lots and lots and lots of plans this government has started and I look
forward to listing them all in the next couple of hours.
Let's be clear; a plan is not worth the paper it is written on if it
is not based in fact, if it is not accepting the reality at the time the
plan is written, or more importantly, if we do not hold ourselves
accountable to delivering on targeted outcomes.
Mr.
Speaker, I sat in this House earlier last month as we were presented a
strategic plan for the Department of Industry I am sorry; I forget the
name of it now.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MS C. BENNETT:
The Department of
Business, Tourism, Culture and Rural Development oh sorry, not Justice and
Public Safety; Business, Tourism, Culture and Rural Development.
We
saw a strategic plan for the period of 2014-2017 presented in 2015.
Mr. Speaker, that does not speak to a planning process that is
founded in performance. Because,
quite frankly, without the outcomes and without holding ourselves to the
outcomes and planning, the risk is, right now during these economic times,
we just will not get it right.
We will continue to see a government that makes mistakes.
Mr.
Speaker, it is time for better management in the Province.
So we address the challenges we are facing today honestly and finally
finally reach our full potential.
In
the minister's Budget Speech, which I spent many hours over the last three
days reviewing, the minister spoke under the heading of strategic spending
and sustained growth. Please
indulge me, Mr. Speaker, as I quote from the Budget Speech, and I am going
to refer back to this.
The
minister began his speech by saying, Through wealth generated primarily by
our offshore oil sector
that is right; most of the revenue they have
had to deal with, to spend with, has come from the oil sector
Newfoundland and Labrador became a 'have' province for the first time since
Confederation. Applying these
new found revenues strategically to sustained investments in health care,
education, infrastructure, debt reduction and new opportunities, we have
built a rock-solid foundation sturdy enough to sustain growth for
generations to come. Mr.
Speaker, that was page 1 of his speech.
Mr.
Speaker, strategic: There has been no strategy, quite frankly, other than
spend. This Budget is a shell
game and it is designed to deceive the public into thinking that this
government has the fiscal crisis that they created under control.
Sustained: Well, let's talk about what really is sustained.
Historic deficits are not the definition of sustainable spending.
This government has presided over six deficits in twelve years and
are now forecasting three more.
Let
us talk about debt reduction. In
two short years the government has all but destroyed any benefits they may
have gained from debt reduction in previous years, debt reduction that only
came about because of unexpected windfalls from oil, not from any strategic
plan to reduce the Budget.
Sustained growth for generations to come that is what he said: sustained
growth. Clearly, the minister is
working from a different definition of growth than most of the western
world. How do you defend seven
years of decline as sustained growth?
Mr.
Speaker, one thing is clear from the feedback people are giving me; this
government is too busy with their own key message track, trying to spin a
yarn, rather than spending time working on creating meaningful solutions.
They want the people of the Province to believe that doing the same
thing over and over again will somehow yield different results.
Mr.
Speaker, later on in his speech the minister moves into a section where he
says the time has come to raise the pillars of economic durability enough to
weather any storm. Already, we
are weathering a storm that would be crushing us had we not made the choices
that transformed this Province over the past ten years.
Durable economy this government ignored the economy with a narrow-minded
focus on oil and gas while other industries faltered and failed.
Is the minister talking about the durability of the pulp industry?
He should speak to the former mill workers in Grand Falls.
He should speak to the former workers in Stephenville.
Is
he talking about the durability of the mining industry?
I beg him to speak to the out-of-work miners in Wabush; the single
mother who is trained to be a skilled tradesperson, she has four children,
she has lost her job, has a mortgage on her house, has a car payment, and is
terrified about what her future will bring, not only for her but, more
importantly, for her kids. What
pillars.
What
about the Corner Brook Pulp and Paper facility that has seen a continuing
shrinkage in their workforce?
Mr. Speaker, this government's single focus on one industry failed to
recognize the importance of all of the other industries in our Province.
That is what people told me last fall when I spent weeks travelling
this Province talking to people about what they are saying about our
economy. I can assure the
members opposite that every person who gave me feedback on what this
government did not do on our economy, I promised them I would say that in
this House of Assembly. I intend
to use every minute I have to make sure that those messages are heard.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MS C. BENNETT:
Mr. Speaker, the
minister referred to past choices.
What choices? The only
choice this government made, and the only choice they made in this Budget is
to tax and spend and borrow. In
this Budget they are asking permission from this House to continue on that
path, ignoring the need for any real plan to deal with our fiscal crisis.
Mr.
Speaker, the minister talked about in his speech the choices being what is
in the best interest of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.
Mr. Speaker, I can tell you that that lady in Lab West and the people
I spoke to at the doors in St. John's West this past Saturday, they do not
believe this government has made the decisions in the best interest of them.
Mr.
Speaker, the minister went on to say, on page two of the document, In this
first Budget of our new Premier's tenure, we also happen to be facing a
particular challenge that, a year ago, no one saw coming.
I believe he said, The precipitous, protracted and unpredictable
decline in the global market price of oil and the parallel drop in the
global market prices of mined commodities such as iron ore have shaken
economies from Canada to Australia.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MS C. BENNETT:
Mr. Speaker, when I
heard the minister say that on Thursday, I was dumbstruck.
I am not sure any financial analyst or financial planner would advise
anybody on that side of the House or anybody on this side of the House,
for that matter that oil price is a dependable number.
This government saw record oil prices.
If they had looked at the history of oil prices over decades they
would have realized the risk they were taking with money that was not theirs
to spend. That was money that
belonged to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.
The
minister said no one saw this coming.
Really? Because everyone
else did. If the Premier did not
and the minister did not, then we have a problem.
Quite frankly, we have a problem much more serious than lack of
planning if this government did not see the oil price coming.
Their own report in 2012 forecast the oil price that was happening
last year. Their own report that
they commissioned and paid for showed the oil price that is reflective in
this Budget, and reflective of the results of last year.
Mr.
Speaker, this is a crisis of bad management.
More than half of last year's deficit let's be clear on that.
More than half of the one billion dollar deficit from last year was
actually planned. It was not by
accident, it was not because commodity prices dropped.
It was planned. They came
into this House of Assembly last year, presented a Budget that planned for
60 per cent of the deficit they now have.
That is not a result of falling oil prices.
For
ten years we have listened to members opposite crow about all they have done
to bring the good times to Newfoundland and Labrador.
Mr. Speaker, they would have us believe that they actually put the
oil in the ground. I have to say
that I was sitting last night going over some of these documents and my son
said: mom, don't they know about geology?
Mr.
Speaker, the people of the Province know the difference.
They know the Tories did not put the oil in the ground.
Quite frankly, they were not the ones to take it out of there either.
If you believe their spin, the wealth that has been generated over
the past ten years is all their doing, and only their doing.
It
has nothing to do with the development agreements of previous Liberal
governments, nothing to do with work that previous Liberal Administrations
accomplished. It certainly
ignores, quite frankly, I think with great disrespect, that nothing would
have been done with the oil if there had not been investment from private
business and the expertise in that business and the expertise in the
industry.
Mr.
Speaker, I will go on to say that it is disrespectful to not acknowledge and
to continue to pontificate about their work without recognizing that
thousands of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians have been involved in this
industry, some who have given up their life to go work offshore.
Those are the drivers of the oil industry, the people who work in the
industry, the people who make the investments, and the people who had the
vision to create the development agreements in the first place.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MS C. BENNETT:
Mr. Speaker, it had
nothing to do with the fact that they forget Mother Nature incubating carbon
for an eternity; yet, oil is all their doing.
They spun the yarn Mr. Speaker, they spun the yarn.
AN HON. MEMBER:
(Inaudible).
MS C. BENNETT:
Mr. Speaker, I
understand that the Minister of Health on the opposite side is riveted by
the comments that I am making and I am certainly appreciative of the much
mentoring he has given me in this House over the last year and I look
forward to continuing to showing off those skills in the next four hours.
Mr.
Speaker, they spun this yarn so that we would believe that they and only
they had the right to determine how and where the revenue from that resource
was spent. Now the house of
cards has collapsed it is collapsed and they want us to believe that
they had nothing to do with it nothing to do with it.
Mr.
Speaker, I have to remind the members opposite that Newfoundland and
Labrador has been a commodities-driven economy since John Cabot.
Fishing, forestry, mining in every industry we have seen the impact
of fluctuating prices before.
In
the absence of real data, there should always be an understanding that a
certain amount of our revenues, that a certain amount of the critical
dollars that this Province brings in, would be at risk particularly in oil
and gas.
Mr.
Speaker, the failure of this government is not that it could not predict an
exact price of oil that is not the failure.
It is not their failure to predict the exact price of oil; it is
their failure to assess, to plan, and to manage the associated risk with oil
prices. That is this
government's failure. It is not
the failure of the people of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
It is not the failure of the people in this House of Assembly.
It is theirs and theirs alone.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MS C. BENNETT:
Mr. Speaker, the
media and others have made much of one particular line in the Budget, which
I think speaks volumes as to where this government's priorities lay.
The minister said, We certainly look forward to hearing the choices
of those who will inevitably criticize ours.
But it is not enough to simply criticize our budget choices as he
stomped his feet or criticize the financial position of the province.
Our detractors must outline their alternatives.
Mr.
Speaker, this line says a lot about government's purpose for this Budget.
It was not to put forward a comprehensive economic agenda to manage
the people's money. It is a pure
and simple political tool.
I
heard that at the doors when I went door to door for the next member of St.
John's West, Siobhan Coady. I
flag the minister, your constituents, the Minister of they move so much I
can hardly remember where they are.
The Minister of Environment and Conservation, I flag for him, this is
what his constituents are telling me.
They are fed up with the games of this government, the game that
these statements, quite frankly, expose.
At a
time when families are losing jobs, incomes are declining, seniors' expense
is growing, this government chose to neglect their responsibilities and turn
yet another critical obligation to set forth a responsible fiscal plan into
gamesmanship, just like they are doing today while they heckle me while I
reply to this Budget. That is
exactly what the member opposite is doing.
I
tell the minister, yes, sometimes it is enough to simply criticize because
sometimes that is all they deserve, but, Mr. Speaker, we will do more than
that.
MR. KING:
(Inaudible).
MS C. BENNETT:
You are right.
I remind the House Leader on the opposite side, you are absolutely
right. The people of the
Province deserve better. We have
for months put forward the ideas and the priorities of our party for this
Province. As a government, we
will build the financial plan needed to make those priorities a reality and
truly sustainable.
So
while the minister can continue to be concerned about his detractors, he may
want to step back and take a minute to think about his responsibility and
how as a minister he and his government have failed to meet their basic
responsibilities to the people of the Province.
Finally, Mr. Speaker, in the minister's opening preamble, the minister was
trying desperately to minimize the true nature of the mess they have
created, calling the challenges short-term.
The short-term challenges are just that short-term; temporary;
transitory; finite in duration.
That is a lot of words to define short-term.
We will get through them, just as we have gotten through the
challenges of the past. Recall
the global economic downturn of 2009.
We endured it, we survived it and we are stronger because of how we
managed it.
Mr.
Speaker, I found this statement to be particularly ridiculous.
In 2009 this government continues to refer to the global
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER (Littlejohn):
Order, please!
MS C. BENNETT:
Thank you.
Mr.
Speaker, this government continues to refer to the global economic crisis of
2009, and Newfoundland and Labrador magically, through what they say was
their good planning, riding out the economic downturn of 2009.
Well, Mr. Speaker, many businesses, many people in this Province, as
this government was talking about the Newfoundland and Labrador recession at
that time, people on the streets in certain parts of our Province were
saying what recession; government misread the statistics.
Quite frankly, Newfoundland and Labrador was one of the few
jurisdictions in North America that was experiencing an economic growth
because of oil. You rode the
boom, there was no management of any fiscal downturn, except for those who
are forgotten about in rural Newfoundland.
Short-term challenges: This is not a short-term challenge.
Seven years of deficit seven years of deficit?
Five years of GDP declines five years.
Seventeen months of job losses, with, I might add, five more years to
come. Five more years of job
losses to come; that is what this government is proud of?
Seven more years of unemployment over 12 per cent; that is what they
are proud of?
Mr.
Speaker, that is not short term.
That is not only a fiscal crisis in the management of government's money and
government's affairs, that is an economic issue that we as a Province have
to band together and deal with.
We cannot let Newfoundlanders and Labradorians suffer because of this
government's failure to recognize its own economic indicators.
Mr.
Speaker, the Minister of Finance spoke about eight long-term principles and
how those eight long-term principles were the keys to the visionary plan
that this government has. I
would like to spend the next few minutes speaking about those eight
long-term principles.
The
first one, We Will Cultivate a Culture of Cost Management.
They will cultivate.
Starting now they are going to cultivate a culture of cost management.
Twelve years, and now they are going to cultivate a culture of cost
management.
He
went on to say: our first new approach the first new thing they were going
to do is
launch a process to overhaul our existing program and service
delivery model in order to contain expenditure growth.
It is on page 3.
Mr.
Speaker, people of the Province are begging the question, what have you been
doing for twelve years if you have not been creating a culture of cost
management? The fact that the
words new approach were used that is a stunning admission from a
government that had the resources that this government had.
I
have news for the minister, this is nothing new.
There is nothing new about cost management.
Quite frankly, it is a concept that is long overdue.
It is a sad indictment on this government that after twelve years and
billions of dollars wasted
that they are only now even talking about cost management.
Mr. Speaker, I
thought for the members opposite I would remind them of just one example.
This past year the Auditor General reviewed the use of government
vehicles. Let's just hear what
the Auditor General had to say, The Department of Transportation and Works
(the Department) is responsible for monitoring and managing Government's
light vehicle fleet for all departments.
To fulfill this mandate, the Department created the Vehicle Fleet
Management Branch they created a branch, that is great, that sounds good
under the Highway Maintenance and Support Division.
The department
maintains an Equipment Management System, EMS it is called.
The Auditor General's review focused on six major departmental users
of the EMS system: Transportation and Works; Natural Resources; Justice and
Public Safety; Environment and Conservation; Service NL; and Fisheries and
Aquaculture.
What did the
Auditor General find about the use of government vehicles?
Well, the Vehicle Fleet Monitoring was reviewed and the branch was
not maintaining an accurate or up to date inventory of vehicles.
AN HON. MEMBER:
(Inaudible).
MS C. BENNETT:
No.
No inventory list. As a
result, inventory reports that were generated by the EMS were not completed
or accurate. It is amazing.
He went on to
say, if you look at fuel consumption related to the vehicles that were used.
No analysis is made of fuel consumption for Government vehicles by
the Branch. No analysis.
What he found was 8 instances of diesel fuel eight, diesel fuel
purchased for vehicles with gasoline engines.
For example, in one instance 1,320 litres of diesel was purchased for
$1,795 when records indicated that the vehicle was gasoline.
Now,
Mr. Speaker, let me be clear.
There may well be a good reason why a government employee needed to buy
diesel. They may have been
driving a pickup truck. Maybe
they were bringing diesel somewhere else.
Maybe they had tanks in the back of their car or the back of the
truck that they filled up with diesel.
There are logical reasons for this.
What the issue is, the Auditor General said nobody knew why, and that
is the problem. That is the
problem.
He
went on to say in Reporting and Accountability, The personal use of
Government vehicles is not monitored and reported in accordance with
policy. There is a policy in
place. Government has a policy,
but government does not have a process to monitor their own policy.
Now
I have to tell you, twelve years ago when Chief Justice Green came into this
House of Assembly to look at some things, there were definitely some control
issues that were identified. Mr.
Speaker, these are symptoms of those problems.
Government does not have a process in place to monitor whether a personal
benefit is being conferred on employees who are authorized to park a
Government vehicle at their personal residence.
The policy manual for this has not been updated since 2003.
An update was supposed to happen in 2006 but never was approved.
In
conclusion, the Auditor General went on to say specifically about the
Department of Justice and Public Safety that it had
the highest operating
cost as a percentage of capital cost at 40.2 %.
Just on the vehicles.
Mr.
Speaker, this new approach to cultivate a culture of cost management is an
expectation of the people of the Province.
People of the Province expect these items to be followed up on by
their government. They expect
policies and processes in place to protect those public sector employees who
want to follow the rules and to make sure that the taxpayers' money is well
stewarded. That is what they
expect twelve years, Mr. Speaker.
Then, Mr. Speaker, there is the infamous and well known throughout the
business community in Newfoundland and Labrador, it is referred to, it is
budgeted for, it is jokingly talked about by sales reps who are trying to
meet their sales quotas in their private businesses, and that is the
phenomenon commonly referred to as March madness.
It is not basketball; it is year-end.
That
March madness, this government has allowed that to be created.
Its symptom is based foundationally in a budgeting process.
If public sector employees were empowered and recognized, and I would
argue, rewarded for finding efficiencies, Mr. Speaker, they would be rushing
out to spend that money that they are afraid to lose in next year's Budget.
Part of the budgeting process, this part is a clear example of how
this government has failed for a decade to be a good steward of the public
purse. March madness is one of
those examples.
The
message to the people of the Province, quite frankly, the message from this
Budget, the message from this pillar, is really simple.
I think this government is saying we know we are inefficient and we
cannot manage it. So we need to
get consultants to come in and we need to redo things because we have not
been able to manage it after twelve years.
Mr.
Speaker, there is nothing more ironic than sitting in the lock-up the other
day and pulling this document out.
It was the document entitled
Solid Investments in Provincial Infrastructure.
There is nothing more blatant that demonstrates the lack of a culture
of cost management than this book.
Quite frankly, this document is a piece of political propaganda
designed to educate the uneducated electorate of the great value of the Tory
reign. It is interesting.
AN HON. MEMBER:
Say that again.
MS C. BENNETT:
Oh, absolutely.
The member opposite asked me to say it again.
This book is nothing more than a blatant attempt, a piece of
political propaganda, designed to educate the uneducated electorate their
words of the great value of the Tory reign.
Mr.
Speaker, this book outlines dozens of capital investments.
I do not see the Confederation Building in here.
AN HON. MEMBER:
Is the Corner Brook
hospital in there?
MS C. BENNETT:
The Corner Brook
hospital is not in here.
AN HON. MEMBER:
Is the Waterford in
there?
MS C. BENNETT:
The Waterford
Hospital is not in here; long-term care is not in here.
I am
going to come back to this book.
AN HON. MEMBER:
A new penitentiary?
MS C. BENNETT:
No new penitentiary.
I am
going to come back to that book because there are some really interesting
things about what government said they were going to do and then what they
actually did.
Mr.
Speaker, quite frankly, this government's paternalistic view is wearing very
thin with many people in our Province.
This government seems to forget government is not here to convince
people; it is here to represent people.
Government is not here to convince people; it is here to represent
people.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MS C. BENNETT:
The results will
speak for themselves.
Spending taxpayers' money to convince people is the most brazen example of
the lack of a culture of cost management there is.
Taxpayers' money printed that book.
The
current financial crisis facing the government is not the result of oil
prices. It is the result of a
failure to plan in the past.
They have done nothing to manage costs, even over last year.
When we talked about this in the lock-up, when we realized these
numbers, this is a stunning admission from a government who says they are
now going to have a new approach of cost management.
Mr. Speaker, this Budget actually budgets 1.7 per cent more money
than last year more money. Mr.
Speaker, this government has only been interested in redacting, not
reducing.
Mr.
Speaker, let's do the math; $20 billion in oil royalties, $5 billion in
Atlantic Accord money, and an increase in debt by $5 billion.
So that is twenty, plus five, plus five; that is thirty.
That is $30 billion, Mr. Speaker.
The minister has said in his own document that government spent $6
billion on infrastructure and $3.1 billion on Nalcor.
That is $9.1 billion; $30 billion and $9.1 billion, I ask the
minister: Where is the rest?
Now
they want you to forget about that and give them a free pass to deal with
the crisis they created. I have
a lot of confidence in the people of the Province to see this for what it
is: lack of economic and fiscal leadership.
Mr.
Speaker, the cancelled Labrador ferry contract is another example of how
their failure to plan is having a real impact on people.
As my colleague for Cartwright L'Anse au Clair noted last week:
After a full year of delays and broken promises, the contract for the new
Labrador ferry has been cancelled indefinitely, ignoring the expectations
and the needs of the people on the Coast of Labrador and leading them on
with false promises.
Mr.
Speaker, in December 2003, the minister announced that the RFP I add that
the minister at the time was the Member for Labrador West.
The Member for Labrador West stood in this House and said he was
announcing an RFP to secure a single contractor to provide comprehensive
marine services to Labrador over a fifteen-year term.
The deadline for receipt of the proposals was April 2014.
The
deadline was extended by this government by another thirty days.
In May, it was extended to June 16.
June 16, 2014 that RFP closed and it was not until November that a
proposed short list was made up of two bidders.
In
January of this year, my colleague asked the minister if there was a
violation of the agreement of the Labrador Lands Claims Agreement as a
result of the RFP.
Mr.
Speaker, in March of 2015, the minister contacted bidders of the RFP
requesting another extension until June of 2015.
Then, the minister indicated that the start-up date of 2016 no longer
seemed attainable. Well, do you
think? They spent several years
trying to figure out the RFP. Of
course, it is not going to be attainable.
Then, last week the minister announced that the RFP was no longer on the
table; that the ferry that the at-the-time minister, now the Member for Lab
West, had promised the people of Labrador was no longer on the table.
Mr. Speaker, all of the energy, all of the public sector resources,
all of the discussions around that decision and process speak to this
government's inability to understand the culture of cost management.
In a
2013 report, Newfoundland and Labrador ranked seventh, along with
Saskatchewan and Quebec. All of
them received D+ in terms of reporting practices for budgets and public
accounts. Newfoundland's main
issues at the time were that it presents multiple expenditure and revenue
categories in its Budget Estimates as opposed to a simple summary of
revenues and expenses.
Also, as I said before, it is not easy to compare the estimates to what
government plans to spend with the actuals report in public accounting.
When you factor in the number of times this government has changed
government responsibilities for ministers and moved buckets of money around
for accountability to ministers that makes the ability to be transparent
about the spending of the Province even more difficult.
Newfoundland and Labrador is the only jurisdiction in Canada to undershoot
its Budget Estimates over the past ten years.
Just think about that.
For ten years this government is the only government to undershoot its
Estimates. Now some would say,
well, that is a great job. They
must be wheeling back in the middle of the year and trying to look for some
savings.
The
reality is that in Estimate discussions year after year after year what we
realize the answers are is the government is not able to get the programs
running and get the money out the door.
It cannot deliver on the promises.
It is a systemic problem of not being able to execute the plans they
put in place, even their own Budget plans.
Now,
Mr. Speaker, they have deal fever and getting a deal done for Statoil.
People are truly worried about this government doing a deal because
of the crisis they created. It
is never a good time to negotiate the terms of a long-term contract when you
are in a crisis that this government has created for themselves.
People are worried that the deal will not be in the best interests of
the people of the Province.
Mr.
Speaker, we have spoken on this side of the House many times about the track
record of this government's attention to cost control.
We have asked questions repeatedly about this; $45 million in
business loans written off for businesses, spending hundreds of thousands of
dollars to collect almost the equivalent imagine, spent hundreds of
thousands of dollars to collect almost the equivalent in pension
overpayments from seventy and eighty-year-olds.
Where is the assessment of time value of money over there?
It is a failure to complete oil royalties, a failure to count the
pennies that the people of this Province are depending on to pay for health
and education. Money, by the
way, that comes from the manna this government says falls out of their
pockets instead of where it truly comes from.
Mr.
Speaker, let's talk about some of the other ones.
In December 2008, this government introduced legislation to
expropriate the AbitibiBowater assets in the Province.
In February 2010, government issued a news release that said: the
provincial government was assuming custody of the Grand Falls pulp and paper
mill. In April of 2010
February, March, April, three months later, twelve weeks later the Premier
had to stand in this House and admit they accidently expropriated the mill,
and in their rush to do it, they made mistakes.
The
cost of that mistake was half a million dollars; half a million, just the
cost associated with that mistake.
Not the liabilities. I
want to make sure everybody understands that.
Just the cost of the mistake alone was half a million dollars.
AN HON. MEMBER:
How much are the
liabilities? What are the
liabilities?
MS C. BENNETT:
Mr. Speaker, members
on this side of the House are asking, what are the liabilities?
Well, we have asked the question in the House.
We have repeatedly asked, what are the liabilities related to that
mistake. The minister either
does not know which is one problem if he does not know what the liability
is from something that his government expropriated back in 2008 or he does
not want to be honest with the people of the Province and tell people what
the liability is. Mr. Speaker,
they went through the same thing with Come By Chance.
They did not know the liability there.
Let's talk about another example.
Let's talk about the Department of Business, pet project of the
former Premier. It was announced
in 2004, $140 million for business attraction.
How much did they actually get out the door?
Does anybody have any idea?
One hundred and forty they budgeted, and they got $25 million out the
door; not even 20 per cent of what they budgeted.
They had money and they could not even give it away to grow the
economy.
Mr.
Speaker, let's talk about communications and promotions.
I mentioned earlier about Solid Investments in Provincial
Infrastructure pamphlet that was in the Budget documents.
Well, Mr. Speaker, there have been millions and millions of dollars
spent on public relations that have been designed to prop government up in
the polls and not designed to help anybody; not designed to help anybody
else.
We
saw examples of that last week.
Every pre-Budget announcement had the expensive banners, had all the bells
and whistles of some high-priced corporate launch.
At a time when our Province is facing a huge fiscal crisis and, more
importantly, people in our Province are hurting, and this government does
not want to see that.
Mr.
Speaker, let's talk for a minute about the Office of Public Engagement.
Let me be clear Mr. Speaker, do you know what?
Having hosted in my business life but, more importantly, in my
community work, many different varieties of stakeholder engagement sessions,
there is nothing more important for a government than to engage with the
people who are the stakeholders in the decision and listen to them.
Not listen to them, cancel a ferry, and come back and say you are
going to listen to them, but really truly listen to them.
I do
not know if the members opposite understand how the Office of Public
Engagement what kind of reputation is has, but here are some of the things
that people have told me at the door.
These are not my opinions.
I know there are lots of talented people working in the Department of
Public Engagement, but their direction comes from this government and how
that department functions comes from this government and the priorities from
this government comes from this government.
Mr.
Speaker, I was surprised when this office was announced, I think, back in
2012, the minister at the time actually, I think he showed up on Wikipedia
as the minister of Twitter. They
actually called him the minister of Twitter on Wikipedia, which is certainly
so far removed from what true engagement is.
Mr. Speaker, I can understand that is not government's intent.
Mr.
Speaker, one of our illustrious members, the Member for Bay of Islands, said
during Questions in this House of Assembly: The Office of Public Engagement
is a worthless PR exercise designed to provide cover to the most secretive
government in Canada. As it
turned out, he was right.
We
just spent last week debating Bill 1, turning around and repealing Bill 29
that this government brought in so it could hide and create veils of
secrecies about things that government needs to communicate to the people of
the Province. That action to
repeal cost the people of the Province over $1 million.
Mr.
Speaker, let me be clear; if there was real engagement, if this government
was serious about real engagement, the stakeholders would have been
consulted. People who work with
those struggling to make it from one pay period to another would have been
consulted. They would have told
this government that a 10 per cent increase in utility rates in January is
going to make it really, really difficult for seniors to eat because they
will pick heat over food.
Mr.
Speaker, if this government was really serious about real engagement, they
would have made sure that when they made the announcement about their
long-term care plan that the stakeholders, the important stakeholders,
unions and front-line workers were consulted as part of that decision-making
process.
Mr.
Speaker, as we continue to talk about the track record of cost control, how
about we have a party?
Government announced they were having a have party in November of 2008.
For the first time in our history as a Canadian Province we were a
have province and $175,000 was paid for a party this one which I think
everybody forgot about. The
partying continues: a party for CETA, the non-agreement the agreement that
has yet to happen.
This
one really struck me because I am going to talk a little bit about the cost
of full-day Kindergarten. This
government's own numbers say that full-day Kindergarten operations are going
to cost about $13 million a year.
Government paid $1 million to store tires in Dunville, Placentia
because they could not come up with a solution for the tires.
In 2007 the Auditor General reviewed the Department of Justice and
said that the Department of Justice, the department that is responsible for
making sure that the rules, legislation, and regulations are followed in our
Province did not comply with the Public Tender Act; $200,000 of goods and
services were not purchased correctly.
I
think all those examples speak to the values of this government.
It is the values of this government that the people are questioning
at the door.
Mr.
Speaker, the minister announced that they were going to appoint an external
consultant with the expertise to examine the structure of the provincial
government and its agencies for efficiency improvements.
Let me be clear; we welcome the appointment of an external
consultant, but I would like to remind you that the minister already has
one. He already has an external
consultant; it is called the Auditor General.
The
Auditor General is responsible for coming in and auditing government and
providing sage advice on places where government can act on the saving money
culture that they now talk about wanting to create.
We do not have to wait for an external auditor to take action.
There are things this government can do now.
There are actions this government can take today.
How
can you stand in this House and say costs are 45 per cent higher when you
are the ones responsible for managing the costs?
How do they do that? The
cost of consultants in 2013 was $84 million.
In 2014, it was $75 million.
There are at least a dozen departments that have used external
consultants and there are times when they are needed.
There are times. When there are
significant business processes and change management processes that have to
change, absolutely you have to bring in some expertise; but to show you
where to save money, that is government's responsibility.
That is the responsibility of the people in the House.
This government has the Auditor General who in 2008, 2009, 2010,
2011, and 2012 has made a total of 318 recommendations for better management
of money that this government has control over.
I
ask the minister: How many of those recommendations are actually completed,
and why is your government not acting expeditiously to save money?
The
Auditor General, since 2011, has made hundreds of recommendations to improve
financial accountability which would lead to better control of taxpayers'
dollars. What is the status on
the implementation of those recommendations?
Time
and time again the Auditor General has identified a lack of strong financial
oversight by this government, leading to waste of taxpayers' money.
In several cases, recommendations that would save large dollars
large dollars were implemented two years later.
Mr. Speaker, that does not speak to expeditious implementation of the
Auditor General's recommendations.
There are actually, in some cases, where government ministers not only take
two years to implement the AG's recommendations, but they refuse to act on
the recommendations. Why have a
government minister refuse to implement some of the Auditor General's
recommendations why? Either
the minister is saying the Auditor General is not providing the accurate
information, or there is some other reason.
It does not make any sense.
Oversight and control of spending is an issue.
Let me be more specific.
The Auditor General has found issues with oversight in our health care
system. Last year, he identified
that there was a lack of audit processes in place at Eastern Health.
They have a budget at Eastern Health of over $1 billion $1 billion.
The government's total budget is $8 billion $8 billion.
What exactly has this government done to provide management and
oversight to health care costs?
As I
said earlier, Mr. Speaker, sometimes when organizations undergo significant
organizational change, you do require a consultant.
To implement a culture of cost control, though, is an admission that
a foundational principle of spending and managing public money has not been
in place. External consultants
can provide huge value. When
used correctly, they support organizational shifts and process changes in
key business areas, but this government has a poor track record of actually
doing what consultants advise.
The
core mandate review a half million dollars on a report, a core mandate
review, and I would ask the government, I ask members opposite: What were
the results? What were the
results of the core mandate review?
What did you implement?
What did you actually do from the report?
This
government fails to provide oversight to huge organizational changes.
An example of that is the technology implementation under the Oracle
platform, the PeopleSoft technology.
This government budgeted, spent, $35 million on implementing new
technology that is supposed to introduce efficiencies into the benefits
management process for public sector employees, yet they failed to provide
oversight and key pieces of that implementation process, key pieces of
advice from not only internal experts, but also external experts the
consultants they paid were ignored.
So,
to bring in a consultant, the people of the Province have to ask the
question around creating a culture of cost it begs to be asked: Will you
listen to the consultant? You
have difficulty listening to the AG; will you listen to the consultant?
Mr.
Speaker, the second of the eight long-term priorities that the minister
spoke about in his speech last Thursday was We Will Refocus
they will
refocus refocus. I would
interpret that to be to put our focus back on.
We Will Refocus to Strengthen Health Services refocus.
Mr.
Speaker, he went on to say this is his quote; this is a quote from the
Budget Speech of the Minister of Finance of the Province of Newfoundland and
Labrador who has just spent in his Budget Speech an amount of time talking
about a culture of cost management.
He says, We know there are better, more efficient ways to deliver
health care service. They know
that.
There are choices we can make that will shift greater focus and attention
toward frontline health care services that people need.
So the idea, he goes on to say, is that they are going to
consolidate key administrative support services in the provincial health
care system to find efficiencies, economies of scale and better value for
our money.
He
says, very carefully, We do not intend to reduce the number of
authorities. I say he said that
very carefully because, as we discussed in Question Period, this government
has a track record of not delivering on the savings from consolidation.
I am sure the minister did not want to spook the general public.
The
regional health authorities each have their separate administrative services
he went on to say. By
consolidating administrative functions among regional health authorities
under the Newfoundland Centre for Health Management was what the document
said we will find greater efficiencies and promote better value for our
money.
Mr.
Speaker, quite frankly the people of the Province do not believe that change
management is this government's strong suit.
We witnessed it with the early amalgamation of the health boards.
We have seen it with the amalgamation of the school boards.
As a
matter of fact in 2008, the AG noted that the goal of amalgamation of the
health boards was to save $7 million $7 million.
In fact when the AG went back and looked at how this government
changed all of that since the integration, administration and support
expenditures for the authorities, since then, has increased increased to
$51.8 million by 2006-2007. It
was supposed to save $7 million and it increased costs by 51.8 per cent.
Mr.
Speaker, internal audit the AG, last year in 2014, recommended that an
internal audit committee be set up for Eastern Health.
Expenditures for Eastern Health have grown to $1.1 billion and the AG
says that he has found some significant financial issues.
They have incurred $83.2 million in budget overruns in the past five
years $83 million in five years.
Fiscal management is one of the integral roles and responsibilities
of the CEO.
Mr.
Speaker, the Auditor General went on to say, as he was reviewing the
financial results for Eastern Health he highlighted compensation and
recruitment as being areas where there needed to be better control.
We are standing here in the House of Assembly listening to the
government on the opposite side talk about their long-term care plans when
they still have a facility they built and spent taxpayers' money on with
beds not open. They have not
been able to manage and get people hired to get down to that facility and
work in Pleasantville.
Leave and overtime was identified by the AG as issues.
This is an interesting one.
Internal Controls: inadequate controls to prevent or detect fraud in
the areas of purchasing. There
were 103 employees who were not authorized to purchase who had the authority
to purchase. Tendering of Goods
and Services: purchases were not made in compliance with the Public Tender
Act and there was insufficient reporting on file.
Monitoring of Capital Assets,
no policy to conduct annual capital
asset inventory counts.
Mr.
Speaker, this is just another example of the government's failing to provide
proper oversight measures and have them in place to ensure that taxpayers'
money is being spent effectively and efficiently and that dollars are spent
on health care, not on waste and management.
We spend in our Province 35 per cent of our Budget on health care.
It is the most per capita on health care than any other province in
Canada. While geography and
population affect that to some extent, the focus must be in health care
outcomes, and improved service delivery.
Mr.
Speaker, the Fraser Institute Provincial Healthcare Index 2013 found that
overall Newfoundland has the worst bang for your buck in terms of health
care spending. We spend the most
per capita in Canada, yet outcomes do not reflect that.
This was the case back in 2008 as well.
Newfoundland and Labrador ranked tenth in overall performance.
They said it was perhaps the most glaring case of throwing good money
after bad in the Canadian health care system.
We
have the poorest health care outcomes in the country in many areas.
Heart attack, Newfoundland and Labrador has the highest rate in the
country. It is the leading cause
of illnesses and death in Newfoundland and Labrador.
High blood pressure, Newfoundland has the highest rate in Canada.
Diabetes, we have the highest rate in Canada.
Arthritis, we have the highest incident in Canada.
Obesity, Newfoundland and Labrador is the second most obese
population. Coronary artery
bypass surgery, we have the highest rate in the country.
Smoking, 23.2 per cent of our population smokes.
We have the highest rate of smoking in the Canadian provinces.
We
have to truly measure where we are putting our money and look at how
effectively that money is being spent.
However, this government is running health care like it does
everything else, knee-jerk reactions.
This is by far the most expensive way to run health care.
What needs to happen is planning and investments in prevention so we
will save money later.
Mr.
Speaker, last week this government announced their long-term care plan.
I quote, Long-term care and community support services are essential
components of our health care system.
They are going to engage with private and non-profit providers to
build long-term care facilities in Western and Central regions, as well as
on the Northeast Avalon.
Mr.
Speaker, the waiting lists are well over 270 people in the Province.
Quite frankly, the unions were misled.
They were hoodwinked into believing that government would not
privatize core professional services, which is what they have done and what
they plan to do.
We
are not just talking about infrastructure in their long-term care plan, the
privatization of bricks and mortar.
That might make sense, but not the services that are provided in
those facilities. I want to make
sure the Premier and the minister understand what we mean.
I think the minister and the Premier really do need to understand
what we mean by the various levels of long-term care, because I am not sure
they do.
I
watched these members on the opposite side of the House heckle the Leader of
the Official Opposition about his personal care homes.
Quite frankly, I was stunned.
Mr. Speaker, personal care homes are for those individuals who
require Level 1and Level 2 care.
Level 2 care: this individual maybe independently mobile with or without
medical aids, inclusive of a wheelchair.
They may need specialized aids for one person to assist in
transferring. They may need a
moderate amount of assistance with bathing, dressing, and grooming.
They may require a reminder and/or assistance with routine toileting
to avoid the frequent incontinence of bowel and/or bladder issues.
They may need occasional fleet enemas, as directed by physicians.
They may require nutritional monitoring of and/or assisting with
eating. They may have sensory
deficit which interferes with activities of daily living and requires
moderate assistance. Mr.
Speaker, that is Level 2.
What
is the description of Level 4?
Individuals, that when the life journey takes them there, have to enter a
long-term care facility. The
definition of Level 4, medical services.
Mr.
Speaker, this past December, after the Christmas holidays, my mom's sister
passed away. As a family we were
relieved that she had spent almost a year, a little less than a year, at a
long-term care facility. She had
been diagnosed with dementia.
For those of you here in this House I am sure you know dementia is a
terminal diagnosis. The doctors
and physicians will tell you.
Well, my aunt also spent almost thirty years of her life in a personal care
home because she needed a little bit of help.
When that little bit of help turned into medical services so she
could die comfortably in a place where she was feeling safe and supported by
core professional services, that is what long-term care is.
That is why, on this side of the House, we will not privatize core
professional services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MS C. BENNETT:
We will not put the
people of the Province at risk.
Mr.
Speaker, in the Budget Speech, besides refocusing, there was a renewed in
the words of the minister focus on primary health care; a renewed focus
that can help find ways to improve quality and assess the services while
reducing the cost of service delivery.
We will also examine why our costs for health care are higher than
other jurisdictions in Canada, and we will work to bring our costs down in
line with the rest of the country.
Mr.
Speaker, in 2003 this government had a framework for primary health care.
It was this government in 2006 that cut the Office of Primary Health
Care; therefore, gave up any leadership role on primary care that we may
have had at that time.
The
fastest aging population in Canada, the group of people in Canada who need
the most health care are in our Province, and this government gave up its
leadership role and primary health care.
Now today, they are saying they are going to renew their focus on
primary health care. Can we
blame the people of the Province for saying we are not sure we believe you?
We
absolutely need primary health care.
It is essential to our Province, and it has been essential since
2003.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MS C. BENNETT:
Mr. Speaker, a
Liberal government has committed to a real focus on primary health care
centres throughout the Province.
We have heard from health care professionals that it is not about spending
more money on health care, but spending those health care dollars more
wisely. The focus must be on
outcomes and working with health care professionals to ensure delivery of
services is optimal. Allowing
health care professionals to meet their own objectives and exceed their own
goals will result in a better system for everyone.
Mr.
Speaker, this Province needs to show national leadership in health.
It is our Province that has the fastest aging population in Canada.
We have the higher costs, and let me tell you, Mr. Speaker, we are
fortunate to have the Leader of the Official Opposition as the person who is
going to be the next Premier of this Province.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MS C. BENNETT:
Let me tell you, our
leader will bring his skills and his experience from both his professional
background and his years on the Board of Western Health, his national
experience from the Canadian Pharmaceutical Association, fighting big drug
companies.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MS C. BENNETT:
He will be the one to
better deal with the cost of medication and how he can ensure that the
people of Newfoundland and Labrador, the Canadians who live in Newfoundland
and Labrador, will get their fair share of the federal health transfers.
He is the best one to put at that table, and I have every confidence
he will get the job done, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MS C. BENNETT:
Mr. Speaker, this
Budget continues our focus, as the minister said, on creating a health care
system that supports better health outcomes, provides better care, and
produces better value for the money.
Because our health system is oversubscribed and failing to meet the
needs of people across Newfoundland and Labrador, we need to look at things
differently. We need to consider
the best service model for people at every stage of their life.
We
need to consider the challenging needs of our population and put actions
not talk, actions in place. We
need to get those actions done and consider the best service model for the
people of our Province at every stage of life.
We need to consider the changing needs of that population.
We have some of the highest rates, as I said earlier, of cancer,
diabetes, stroke, and heart disease of all Canada.
The exact same as it was ten years ago.
Nothing has changed with health outcomes.
This government has not focused health care spending on outcomes.
As I
said earlier, our rate of heart disease is the highest in Canada, rate of
obesity is the highest in Canada, rate of diabetes is the highest in Canada,
and cancer is the highest. The
value of the health care dollar is the lowest in Canada.
Now, ten years later, $25 billion of oil royalties, $5 billion worth
of Atlantic Accord money, and you guessed it, no change.
It is now common knowledge that there is a direct correlation between
the health of a population and the cost to health care.
The healthier the population, the less the per capita cost.
It is pretty basic.
What
should a long-term strategy entail?
It should entail a comprehensive plan for a healthier population.
In 2007 this government admitted as much.
They even offered to do something about it.
So what have they done?
Nothing; in fact, they made it worse.
Our
government will take a new approach under the leadership of the Leader of
the Official Opposition, Mr. Speaker.
In mental health, the minister in his speech last week said,
Throughout our province, awareness of the mental health and addictions
challenges people face is growing.
So the awareness is growing, and so are the struggles of the people
who are faced with mental health issues.
They said, As a government, we are committed to ensuring effective
programs and services are in place when people need them.
That is what the minister said last week.
Well, Mr. Speaker, when we talk about health, it is not just physical health
because mental health issues impact the lives of so many.
We are committed on this side of the House to a provincial mental
health strategy to address the growing need for appropriate services,
appropriate resources, and appropriate support.
This government is focused on reactive actions instead of a proactive
planning of strategy.
When
it comes to health care infrastructure, Mr. Speaker, the people of this
Province have lost confidence in this government's word.
The Corner Brook hospital, if this government had any intention of
building this hospital the people of Corner Brook and the West Coast would
be receiving medical care there now.
You have simply played politics with this one from day one.
Reiterating during every election and every by-election, and now once
again. I would ask the
government to stop playing the people of Corner Brook.
Stop making promises you will not keep.
In
2007, October, government commits to building a new West Coast hospital in
Corner Brook. In 2008, January,
government announces plans for site selection on planning for the new West
Coast hospital. In 2009,
September, government holds a news conference to announce that the site has
been selected. In 2010, May,
government commits $11.8 million for hospital construction.
In
2010, September, government confirms construction of the new hospital to
start in 2012, occupancy expected in 2016.
In 2012, April, government commits $1 million to plan for the new
acute care facility in Corner Brook.
That was back in 2012. In
2012, government confirms the hospital is in the pre-design phase.
Again, in April of 2012, MHA Tom Marshall says publicly the new
hospital will be completed in 2018.
In
2012, July, the Premier tells the media the cost of the new hospital could
not exceed $600 million or $700 million.
In 2012, December, the Health minister confirms that a second
engineering firm has been hired to review the pre-design work.
In February, 2013, the Health
Minister confirms a second engineering firm has been hired.
February of 2013, government documents confirm that the new hospital
is still not in the design phase.
What were they spending the money on?
Who was getting the money, it is still not in the design phase?
March of 2013, the Premier announces $227 million to design a new hospital;
anticipated total cost in the range of $500 million to $600 million.
March 2013, government confirms 260 beds in the new hospital and 100
dedicated to long-term care.
April of 2013, government confirms 138 acute care beds that seems like a
lower number and 260 beds for the new hospital.
I am getting confused just reading the sheet out.
May
2013, government receives two engineering reports on the design of the new
hospital. August of 2013,
government rejects the suggestion for a radiation unit, a PET and a CT
scanner and new diagnostic services in the new hospital.
It confirms the cost of the new hospital will be a half a billion
dollars.
Mr.
Speaker, in November of 2013 the Health Minister confirms that a radiation
unit will not be in the hospital.
In December of 2013, the Health Minister confirms ultrasounds will be
reduced from six to three. In
January of 2014, my colleague, the Member for Bay of Islands, and the Leader
of the Official Opposition, commit to a PET and CT scanner in the new West
Coast hospital in Corner Brook.
MR. JOYCE:
What was that?
MS C. BENNETT:
They committed to it.
They said they were going to do it, and that they were researching
the possibility of providing radiation services.
Guess what happened? All
of a sudden government saw the light.
Shortly after, the Health Minister refuses to attend a public meeting
on the new hospital in Corner Brook.
In
March of 2014, Budget 2014 committed $15 million for the design and program
planning of the new hospital, and a half million dollars was committed for a
study into Province-wide radiation services.
In April of 2014, the Member for Bay of Island and the Leader of the
Official Opposition committed to radiation services in the new hospital.
Can anybody predict what happened next?
Of course, government followed suit by committing to radiation
services and a room for PET and CT scanner.
Mr.
Speaker, in December 2014, government then confirmed that obstetrics beds
would be reduced from eleven to six in the new hospital.
December 2014, government refuses to release the functional plan for
the new hospital in Corner Brook.
Finally, in February 2015, government releases the Altus Planning
report on radiation therapy services.
AN HON. MEMBER:
(Inaudible).
MS C. BENNETT:
Mr. Speaker, I
understand the Minister of Child, Youth and Family Services is finding this
discussion really interesting on the opposite side.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MS C. BENNETT:
Mr. Speaker, the
people on the West Coast of this Province, they understand what is going on
with this hospital. They know
that this government is playing politics with their health care and they are
not going to take it any more.
Mr.
Speaker, the third of the eight long-term principles that the minister spoke
about last week was that
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
I
ask hon. members if they want to take their conversation to a sidebar
outside.
Thank you.
The
hon. the Member for Virginia Waters.
MS C. BENNETT:
Thank you, Mr.
Speaker.
I
appreciate the break, Mr. Speaker.
Number 3 of the eight long-term principles: We Will Ensure Trades Education
is Industry-Driven. He said in
his speech,
we will overhaul our approach to trades education by working
with College of the North Atlantic to develop a new strategic vision and
direction that is opportunity-driven and industry-driven.
Mr.
Speaker, he went on to say, No one would disagree that it would be reckless
to train people for jobs that do not exist or to fail to train people for
jobs that are about to open up.
That
is exactly what this government has done.
They have been reckless with training.
He went on to say, Thousands of people have been able to take
advantage of emerging opportunities thanks to the education, the workforce
skills training and the certifications they received on our watch.
Mr.
Speaker, I have to tell you, there were 170 words in that Budget Speech out
of 14,000 that were dedicated to education and training, and this
government's commitment to the long-term principle that this government had
170 words out of 14,000, to deal with our fiscal challenges.
It is imperative that we grow the economy.
To grow in a global economy, we must have a workforce that is
reflective of the jobs that need to be done today.
That continues to remain critical today.
When
I was elected last year I had the pleasure of getting to know members of my
district who live in the area of MacMorran Community Centre.
I had a chance to speak to many of the families there whose kids have
lots of optimism about their future, but equally, challenges.
The
most disturbing thing about my conversations with those families is when I
discovered that for years and years and years from that community the young
people who had gone to high school had completed high school, but not
graduated. These children went
through the education system and ended up with a completion certificate that
said they were in the seats, but that does not reflect a quality education
that we have a constitutional requirement to ensure that they get.
Mr.
Speaker, to prove that is a systemic issue you need only look at the
participation rates of June high school graduates from 2000 and 2013.
I think that is actually a full chunk of time in a child's life from
Kindergarten to Grade 12, a full lifetime for a student.
MR. J. BENNETT:
A full government for these guys.
MS C. BENNETT:
Absolutely, a full
government for this government.
Mr.
Speaker, eligibility requirements for our high school graduates who
graduate, only 50 per cent of them meet the entrance requirements for
Memorial University only 50 per cent.
Mr.
Speaker, I have to tell you that people will say to me, why did you enter
politics? There are some days in
this House, Mr. Speaker, when members opposite are heckling that I wonder
why, but every night when I go home and I talk to my kids about their day in
school and I understand the value of the education they are getting, I am
motivated to come in here and do my very best to represent the people of my
district and the people of this Province to make sure our kids are educated
in a way that we are constitutionally required to educate them.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MS C. BENNETT:
Mr. Speaker, that is
not a statistic to be proud of, 50 per cent of our children cannot meet the
entrance requirements for MUN.
Fifty percent of our kids cannot meet the eligibility requirements for MUN.
Mr.
Speaker, 170 words out of 14,000 and this government focused on industry
driven training. Well, I would
argue that this government has narrowly focused on a slice of industry.
It has not developed and trained the people and the young people that
we need to be working throughout our Province.
Mr.
Speaker, there is one thing that a government can do and it can do really
well, and that is ensure the workforce development matches the needs of the
economy at the time. That is a
responsibility of government.
They need to understand the future of the workforce and what skillsets we
will need for those industries.
Government must increase the relevancy of its programs, and it must be
relevant to the economy of the future.
We need to see greater linkages to industry, all industry.
When
a farmer cannot find a young farmer to sell their farm to because there is
no way that farmer can find any training, we have discounted the
agricultural industry in our Province, Mr. Speaker, and I just do not think
that is acceptable. We need more
entrepreneurship training. We
have to inspire our young people to figure out a way to come up with an
idea, employ other Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, and then sell that idea
globally so we can increase our share of the global market.
This
government believes that oil is the industry, or construction is the
industry. Quite frankly, we need
farmers. We need vets.
We long-term care employees that this government has been unable to
find. We need people working in
the logging industry. We need
saw millers. We need all kinds
of different jobs, and it is the responsibility of government to develop a
workforce that is reflective of the economy that is needed.
Mr.
Speaker, I have to tell you, when I was going through these numbers
yesterday and we had to check them several times I was stunned that
under the pillar of, We Will Ensure Trades Education is Industry-Driven
this Province's commitment to the apprenticeship and trade certification
just listen to this: the Province's commitment to apprenticeship and trade
certification has gone from $7 million to $5 million, a decrease of 32 per
cent.
The
fact that this government spent 170 words talking about workforce
development, cut $2 million out of the apprenticeship and trade
certification, and still is unable to understand the importance of education
at the right time so people know the skills for our economy, is shameful.
Government did mention a disability inclusion strategy my apologies but
there is no budget. This
government is the same government that has had a program under its own wing
called the Open Door Program, which is government's own program to support
persons with disabilities. That
has not been updated in a decade.
Aboriginal employment; this government had the opportunity with two to three
large-scale projects to provide opportunities for our Aboriginal communities
to be trained for jobs of the future.
What happened? The
training did not happen early enough.
There were missed opportunities on the large projects to encourage
workforce development in Aboriginal communities where there were real
transferable skills, skills that those workers could take into the jobs
after the large-scale projects were built.
Autism; recent studies indicate that one in sixty-eight children in our
Province are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder.
Children have to wait months to get diagnosed with a disorder and
then months again to receive the proper supports for such things as
language, speech language pathology, and physiotherapy.
Children can receive applied behaviour program in class supports up
until Grade 3, but children still need support after Grade 3.
As a matter of fact, Mr. Speaker, many members on the opposite side
of the House, and on this side of the House, understand that the ages
between zero and six are the most critical time for our young children to
ensure that their brains and their learning skills are developed in a way
that sets them up for success.
Mr.
Speaker, health care does not talk to education and education does not talk
to health care. This Province
needs an autism strategy. These
children cannot continue to be left behind, because regardless of what this
government wants to do today, we still have a moral obligation to support
them and their families as they grow up.
Don't we all want a child to be independent and self-sufficient
versus dependant on the state?
Literacy; less than 43 per cent of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians have a
level three literacy or higher.
Level three is the level required to cope in a modern society.
We are below the national average.
That is despite $20 billion of oil royalties and $5 billion of
Atlantic Accord. Our literacy
rates have actually declined since 2003.
Government has failed to deliver a strategic adult literacy plan it promised
in 2007. Literacy is a primary
determinant of health and well-being.
It is therefore fiscally and socially irresponsible for government to
place literacy on the back burner.
Immigration; the Premier spoke and the minister spoke about the increased
numbers that the Province now, after almost a decade with us having the
fastest growing population in Canada, the oldest population in Canada, after
a decade it finally sat down with the federal government and arranged
immigration numbers that were an increase over what we had before.
What did they do? Since
2011, the budget for the division of immigration was actually cut in half.
So how does this government plan to execute on those numbers?
Then
there is the Early Learning and Child Care Strategy.
Government talks about the most recent child care initiative which is
the volunteer operating grants that have been fanned out and communicated to
operators, especially on the Northeast Avalon.
The reality is the grant they are offering does not reflect the
realities of what it costs to operate a centre.
The minister said on Open Line that those grants actually will not
work outside of rural Newfoundland.
She said it.
MR. JOYCE:
Who said that?
MS C. BENNETT:
The Minister of
Education said that a program this government implemented to help increase
the number of child care spaces was flawed and discriminatory, quite
frankly, to children on the Northeast Avalon and their families.
Mr. Speaker, that is unacceptable.
They failed to consult with the sector and the information they are
relying on is out of date by several years.
AECENL has a position paper on it on their website and it is far,
far, far from an endorsement that the minister said she received from them.
The
provincial subsidy does not cover the full cost of expenses related to
placement. Mr. Speaker, I know
that many members in this House of Assembly as they are talking to their
constituents hear stories. I was
knocking on doors in one part of my district where the door opened and a
young mother who had twins who were a year old and a four-year-old wanted to
explain to me what the cost of her child care was going to be.
If you think about those ages, two babies at age one and one child at
age four, her total child care expenses would be $45,000.
She said: Why would I go back to work?
I cannot afford to go back to work.
I want to go back to work, but I have nowhere that I can afford to
send my kids.
Mr.
Speaker, one of the last items I will speak to is on education.
I mentioned earlier lots of people ask me why I ran for politics.
I get lots of heckling from the members of the opposite about my
career choice but I can tell them that I am very proud of the people who I
have worked with, the over 4,000, 5,000 young people in Newfoundland and
Labrador who I have had the opportunity to work with.
I
can tell you a young woman came to me after working with me for three years.
We had identified her as being somebody who we wanted to promote to a
management position. We were
prepared to do the training and we were prepared to put her through the
exact same training I had. We
sat her down in our manager's office and she opened up her training book and
she started to weep. I said:
Robyn, what is wrong? She said:
Cathy, I cannot read. I said:
What do you mean you cannot read?
You graduated from high school.
She said: No, I completed high school.
She
has a learning disability, Mr. Speaker.
She went all the way through high school and nobody figured out a way
to help her. Nobody figured out
a way to help that woman get one extra step ahead so that she could do some
things that would set her up for success.
I
will tell you, Mr. Speaker, Robyn's story is one of the reasons why I stand
in the House of Assembly today.
It is also one of the reasons why, as a business person, I stood up and
spoke about full-day Kindergarten.
It is why my colleague for the District of St. John's North has
spoken out repeatedly about full-day Kindergarten and we continue to put
pressure on this government to implement full-day Kindergarten.
Last
week in the Budget the minister said, Our government also remains committed
to the implementation of the full-day kindergarten program.
Budget 2015 will invest over $10.5
million now, did anybody happen to count up all those millions that I
mentioned earlier about waste? to ensure it is provincially implemented
beginning in September 2016.
Mr.
Speaker, full-day Kindergarten, I would argue, is a Liberal initiative, and
it is an investment that the Liberal caucus has been calling for for several
years. I say thankfully, as a
result of a by-election, this government was forced to take action last
year.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MS C. BENNETT:
Their reluctance to
see the value of the program when they had the ability to implement it both
financially and logistically when they had money, when oil was at $100
is another example of mismanagement and misplaced priorities, Mr. Speaker.
Implementing full-day Kindergarten must include proper consultation and
thorough planning. Rushing into
a program especially in times of fiscal crisis will only cost the
Province money in the long run.
The annual budget cost to operate full-day Kindergarten guess how much it
is going to cost, full-day Kindergarten?
AN HON. MEMBER:
How much?
MS C. BENNETT:
Thirteen million
dollars that is the operating costs.
Do you know what? Let's
pay a million dollars for tire storage instead of a kid's education a
million dollars. Let's pay a
million dollars to fix bad legislation instead of supporting our kids with
learning needs.
Mr.
Speaker, if done properly, full-day Kindergarten will pay dividends to
society through savings in daycare fees and redirecting that spending
elsewhere, easing the burden on parents who will also benefit children from
higher levels of education, who in the long run will be able to contribute
even more to our society.
It
is important to consult with the right stakeholders, like the NLTA,
teachers, and early childhood educators, and parents.
Full-day Kindergarten is an important social commitment which we are
committed to. It will grow a
better future for our children but also enhance and improve our economy and
our communities.
The
minister has gone on record to say that plans are still proceeding with
full-day Kindergarten, even though the Premier has said that everything was
on the table and possible cuts in next year's Budget may come.
We will still hold the government accountable to that commitment, but
also make sure that the process they implement is the right process and not
simply a rushed election promise.
Mr.
Speaker, last week the government spoke about its curriculum review and the
minister said, As we announced in this year's Throne Speech, we are
proceeding with a K-12 curriculum renewal in many areas, including English,
Language Arts, Science, Health, Social Studies and French programs.
We will develop a 21st-century curriculum, employing
methods that integrate innovative and research-driven teaching strategies,
modern learning technologies and relevant resources and contexts, and
focusing on learning skills that address the needs of a new generation of
students. We will also convene
of group of educational leaders to review Math performance.
Well, Mr. Speaker, our leader has announced that he would hold, when
elected, a Premier's task force to focus on improving educational outcomes
with sensible long-term improvements to our educational system.
Our education system is failing our students and it is failing our
teachers. Children are
underperforming but still pushed through under the PC's no-zero policy.
The result: less students qualifying for post-secondary education.
Changing that means providing strong curriculum, critical resources,
and enough support staff so teachers can do their jobs.
Early learning opportunities and full-day Kindergarten will also set
our kids up for success.
Mr.
Speaker, number 4 of the long-term principles, We Will Develop an Attrition
Plan. This will enable us to
strategically right-size our public service.
Currently, our province has a relatively large public service per
capita and in actual context.
The total number of employees in the entire public service, including core
government departments as well as agencies, boards and commissions, is over
46,000. This represents 19.3 per
cent of total employment of the province.
He
went on to say, The provincial government will use attrition as a tool to
minimize layoffs and manage the size of the public service, while at the
same time reducing negative consequences for our economy.
Our attrition plan, which I announced on April 27, will enable us to
reduce the size our public service in a gradual and measured way with
minimal disruption to our employees and without compromising the services
our government provides to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Mr.
Speaker, attrition is not a policy.
Attrition is an issue to be managed and government has not
demonstrated that it has a plan that will manage attrition.
It is not just attrition but, really, government is lacking a plan to
address the 9,500 retirements that are coming in the public sector.
For any government, including a Liberal government, attrition will
help with reducing the cost of government without negatively impacting the
economy for any government however, in the absence of a clear plan, we
are not convinced that it will not have an impact on the delivery of
service.
Government needs to put a plan in motion.
They continue to spend money on reviews but nothing comes of them.
The only plan right now that I heard the minister talk about last
week is ten go and eight are hired.
Well, I would ask the minister: If your planning on workforce
development for the public sector is so good, why can you not find an
Occupational Health and Safety Officer to be stationed in Labrador?
Why have you not trained and developed one person?
You could not find somebody in the Aboriginal community to train?
You could not find somebody in Labrador to train?
Mr.
Speaker, they spent half a billion dollars on the core mandate program
review and talk about a 10-Year Sustainability Plan, neither has seen the
light of day.
I
would ask him: Has the minister asked the officials to complete a critical
position analysis to see what critical skills are the most at risk from the
retirement and attrition plan?
Listen, nobody is going to argue.
There may be policy analysts and clerks that have the ability to move
between departments. As I said
earlier, Mr. Speaker, what about an occupational health and safety inspector
for Labrador or a provincial vet?
What are the critical skills that we need to provide service to the
people of the Province?
The
minister used this section to talk about consumer confidence.
He is worried about the 1,400 positons through attrition, but he said
nothing about the 6,500 people who lost their jobs last year and
government's own projections listen to this: 6,500 people lost their jobs
last year and your own report on the economy predicts a reduction of 12,000
people; 12,000 more people are going to move out of the workforce between
now and the end of 2018.
I
have to stop for a minute; 6,500 lost their jobs last year; 12,000 more
people are going to exit the workforce between now and 2018.
On top of that, this government's own figures show that unemployment
will be 13 per cent for the next three years.
Mr.
Speaker, number 5, We Will Adopt Longer-Range Infrastructure Planning.
The minister said, When we first came to government just over a
decade ago, the magnitude of the infrastructure deficit we inherited was
truly staggering. Having
invested nearly $6 billion in infrastructure projects over the past 11
years, we can afford to pull back a little until oil revenues have
rebounded. Even though we are
slowing the pace, we will still be investing heavily this year in priority
projects by allocating more than $660.8 million in infrastructure that will
strengthen communities, support economic activity and create long-term
prosperity for the province.
Mr.
Speaker, the document that was included in the Budget, there are four
projects that I will highlight.
Number one, Transportation and Works, the Placentia lift bridge, press
release March 2013. The
department has awarded a $40.6 million contact.
Guess how much it cost?
AN HON. MEMBER:
Forty-five million.
MS C. BENNETT:
It cost $51.9
million.
Mr.
Speaker, construction of the Team Gushue Highway was expected to cost half
$50 million. How much do you
think that one cost?
AN HON. MEMBER:
How much?
MS C. BENNETT:
Mr. Speaker, $61.3
million.
Number three, the Labrador West Health Centre; $25 million was the forecast.
Guess what it cost? It
cost $90 million.
AN HON. MEMBER:
How much?
MS C. BENNETT:
Mr. Speaker, $90
million, their own book $90 million.
MR. RUSSELL:
(Inaudible).
MS C. BENNETT:
Mr. Speaker, I hear
the Minister of Labrador and Aboriginal Affairs asking me across if I would
not have done the hospital. Do
you know what? That is not what
I am talking about. What I am
talking about is the first priority, the first principle, cost control.
If you are going to make a plan, you have to execute a plan and you
have to bring it in on budget.
You cannot throw out numbers and then years later come back and say that
there is a they tripled the cost of the project.
It is either poor planning or poor execution, one or the other.
Mr.
Speaker, what was curious was that in this document, what was the one
project they did not refer to?
What do you think was that one project they did not refer to?
Home for the MHAs; they did not include the Confederation Building.
The original quote or the original cost, and I read from the press
release, The total cost of the project is expected to exceed $20 million.
Does anybody have any idea what the costs have gone up to now?
AN HON. MEMBER:
Fifty million.
MS C. BENNETT:
It is $50 million.
So you missed one. Maybe
we should include the Confederation Building in that one.
Mr.
Speaker, this government has an abundance of assets that it is responsible
for managing on behalf of the people of the Province, but it has an absence
of a real estate portfolio management strategy.
This government has a huge asset in buildings and land that managed
better could get better value for the people of the Province.
You have not resourced people with skill sets and the accountability
to manage a very large real estate value.
Does
anybody know what the value of the provincial real estate portfolio is?
Does anybody know? Does
anybody on that side know? What
is it?
AN HON. MEMBER:
Almost $2 billion.
MS C. BENNETT:
Almost $2 billion is
the value of the real estate asset.
The
reason government does not know that is because they do not have control,
they do not have central control.
You can look at examples like the Hoyles Escasoni facility.
It has been vacant since the new long-term care facility opened last
September. The decision to build
the long-term care facility was done, how many years ago?
Three or four years ago, so it has taken government almost four years
and they still have not figured out what to do with it.
They
built a school in Carbonear and had to go back right away and add classrooms
because they built it too small.
Then, Mr. Speaker, do you want to know where some of the costs are with the
consolidation of the school boards?
Triple-A lease costs; the most expensive real estate in St. John's.
That is what the school board is paying for.
AN HON. MEMBER:
In Atlantic Place.
MS C. BENNETT:
In Atlantic Place.
Mr.
Speaker, what makes this example even more frustrating for the taxpayers, or
for the people of the Province, and certainly for those of us on this side
of the House in the Official Opposition, is that all of this goes on in the
absence of an infrastructure strategy.
The minister is keen to talk about very keen to talk about the $6
billion in infrastructure funding, but after promoting the need for an
infrastructure strategy there is not one.
At least the Auditor General could not find one.
The
Acting Auditor General at the time, in 2011, came in to government to find
the infamous infrastructure strategy, the $5 billion infrastructure
strategy, and they could not find it.
The AG contacted five departments which had the largest budget
expenditures. So Transportation
and Works, Health and Community Services, Education, Municipal Affairs, and
Justice, and it soon became apparent there was no strategic plan around
infrastructure.
Not
only that, but two departments expressed significant concern about providing
the information at all, and actually refused to provide it.
The AG at the time filed a complaint with the House of Assembly
citing denial of access. Sure,
it is no wonder they saw the light and wanted everything to be open.
At
the time, our leader, the Leader of the Official Opposition, responded by
saying it is outrageous that this government has refused to give the Auditor
General information about an infrastructure strategy that they now admit
cost the people of the Province over $6 billion.
The Auditor General said there was no formal strategy.
To make matters worse, they would not let the Auditor General have
access to information. Shameful,
Mr. Speaker, shameful.
Mr.
Speaker, number six of their eight long-term principles, We Will Focus on
Regional Clusters. The minister
said in his speech last week,
our approach moving forward will be to
promote regional clustering for the purposes of economic development and the
delivery of services.
Mr.
Speaker, I would ask the question, what are the objectives of this, and what
is new about a regional approach to economic development?
There is no detail. There
is no accountability. There are
already regional hubs happening organically.
We saw that when we went on the road last year for our Let's Connect
consultations. We saw it in the
communities. You could have done
so much more to develop these ideas.
What
did they do when they talked about regional clusters?
This is where they are going to talk about
unveiling this year is
the new Community Sustainability Partnership. sharing gas tax with our
municipalities and our Inuit community governments beginning in Budget 2015,
and providing partial rebates for portions of the HST to municipalities,
Inuit government communities and local service districts.
Mr.
Speaker, I have to say that when we came in the House on Thursday and I had
watched on Wednesday the reaction from Municipalities Newfoundland and
Labrador, the Member for Bay of Islands was at the press conference, I do
not think there is anybody in this House of Assembly who does not recognize
the need to support our important communities throughout this Province,
because there is a crisis looming in our communities that has to be
addressed. People deserve fresh
water, clean water, safe water, and they deserve the infrastructure in all
parts of the Province. There
should not be discrimination when it comes to those things.
Mr.
Speaker, what did this government do?
They made an announcement about the fiscal framework with
municipalities, celebrated the fact they were going to give them a rebate on
the HST, and what did they do the next day?
He giveth and he taketh away, all at the same time.
How is that possible? How
did you hoodwink MNL like that?
How
disrespectful to your partners, how disrespectful to those communities and
all of those volunteers who have worked so hard to create this fiscal
framework suggestion, and they lobbied both sides of this House.
We have all been talking to them.
Then you stand up and you celebrate the terms and conditions of your
fiscal framework and the next day you take it back, or a portion of it back.
Mr.
Speaker, I can tell you that on this side of the House we value
partnerships. We value them and
we will not throw them under the bus twenty-four hours before a Budget
Speech. The Member for Bay of
Islands said it right; we will do more for communities.
We will roll up our sleeves and we will work hard with our municipal
partners to make sure that those valuable volunteers are supported, not
trotted out at a press conference, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MS C. BENNETT:
Mr. Speaker, he also
announced a pilot project.
Three regional service boards will implement regional water and wastewater
operator services from October 1, 2015 to March 31, 2019 targeting a pilot
group of communities that meet certain criteria.
Through this investment of approximately $1 million over the 3.5-year
pilot, these operators will provide assistance and advice to help build
capacity in these communities.
Mr.
Speaker, we have 215 boil orders in this Province, and we are going to have
a pilot project; 215 boil water advisories.
It is interesting that the members on the opposite side of the House
know exactly how many water advisories there are, yet they still refuse to
do the work they need to do to take care of that.
The
seventh of their eight priorities was, We Will Implement a Strategic
Deficit Reduction Plan. In
order to take the edge off this year's Budget, government decided, well, we
cannot tell them about a one-year plan, we have to tell them about a
five-year plan because they have to wait for the oil.
This is the wait-and-hope Budget.
It is a wait and hope, eventually it will come back.
That is what they are all saying, just like a really good economic
policy, I am sure the oil will come back.
The
minister said,
we will abide by a multi-year plan to ratchet that deficit
down to zero, progressively, step by step.
He went on to say, We will set clear fiscal targets to measure our
performance. Through multi-year
planning of expenditures, we will be able to project the year that we will
return to balance. If borrowing
is required to cover programming expenditures, as it will be this year, then
we will present a plan to repay that borrowed funding in a reasonable period
of time
. They want more time.
Mr.
Speaker, this government last year ran a $1 billion deficit, 60 per cent of
it they planned. In this Budget
document they are planning for a $1.1 billion deficit.
They are planning for $2 billion of borrowing.
They have not been able to hold the line on spending.
Even in this Budget, which was supposed to be where they made the
tough decisions, they actually increased spending by 1.7 per cent, $110
million. They increased it by
$110 million.
Mr.
Speaker, the cost of borrowing will grow under this government to a billion
dollars a year. Just the
interest alone will be $2,000 a head; $2,000 for every man, woman, and child
in this Province. That is not
taking into account any potential risk to the bond ratings.
This Province's bond ratings, as was spoken about on Friday by some
of the bond rating agencies, are at risk.
So that billion dollars of expenses related to the interest is at
risk if the cost of borrowing goes up.
We
understand that this government has a difficult time managing risk.
They could not manage the risk of the oil prices and I do not believe
they can manage the risk associated with the interest rates, Mr. Speaker.
This government would like you to believe that they have two options:
to borrow or to tax. They want
you to believe it because those are the only two options they have.
Government has to manage its expenses first and grow the economy before they
look at borrowing, and if necessary, look at borrowing before you increase
taxes. Of $20 billion of oil
royalties, government admits they only spent a fraction, $6 billion, on
infrastructure. We have $3.1
billion that went to Nalcor. I
ask again: Where is the rest?
Mr.
Speaker, 32 per cent of the borrowing planned over the next few years is
related to Nalcor. Quite
frankly, this government sold the people of the Province on a plan and they
did not prepare their fiscal house to execute it.
Now they are expecting the people of the Province to pay for it.
Worse than that, they have not used the Muskrat Falls development to
leverage the local economy for economic development.
Mr.
Speaker, those are the eight priorities of this government.
Let's take a look at the economic performance that led them to these
eight priorities. Their own
documents say that real GDP was estimated to have contracted by 1.9 per
cent, driven by falling oil prices and mineral prices.
Provincial exports were estimated to have declined by about 6.6 per
cent in 2014 due primarily to lower oil and iron ore production and prices.
Mr.
Speaker, government says that all economic indicators are strong.
I would really like to know which indictor he is talking about.
Quite frankly, of the four key indicators that determines the health
of an economy: GDP, consumer price, unemployment, and price of oil; all of
those four indicators are a problem for us.
There is a lack of sound economic planning and the government is
taking a wait-and-see attitude when it comes to economic development.
Real
GDP has dropped. Household
income is planned to drop between now and 2018.
Housing starts are expected to drop.
The one thing that is going to stay the same is the unemployment rate
at 13 per cent. Mr. Speaker,
6,500 people were out of work last year and 12,000 are going to be moving
out of the workforce over the next number of years.
Mr.
Speaker, the one indicator that government spoke about at length, which by
the way is not an indicator of the strength of your economy, is retail
sales. Retail sales are driven
by consumer spending. The only
good indicator that this government showed last week, and spoke to, was the
2014 retail sales numbers. What
was government's response?
Government's response was to increase a value-added tax for the people of
the Province, to put their hands in the wallets of the people of the
Province to pay for the fiscal mismanagement of this government.
I would ask the minister: Has he considered the impact of an increase
of HST on consumer spending?
Mr.
Speaker, earlier today the Leader of the Official Opposition spoke about
government's economic outlook and he made a reference to the country of
Japan. Members opposite mocked
and heckled when the Leader of the Official Opposition asked a very, very
critical economic policy question.
Well, Mr. Speaker, let me read from the former director of the International
Monetary Fund's Asia and Pacific Department and the former chief economist
of the Institute of International Finance when he was speaking about the
economy in Japan. He said, Time
and again, history has shown that fiscal consolidation efforts in the
situation of a weak or declining economy are futile and could even have a
perverse effect on actual deficits. Japan
should first put its economy onto a stronger and sustained growth path
.
That
is why the Leader of the Official Opposition and the entire Liberal Party
has said we would not implement an HST increase at this time.
It is bad economic policy.
At a time when people are losing their jobs, and more jobs are to be
lost, this is not the time to react with an increase in consumption tax.
Just an interesting quote, Mr. Speaker, Winston Churchill said, We
contend that for a nation to tax itself into prosperity is like a man
standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.
Mr.
Speaker, let us look at some of the other economic performance indicators.
Employment and wages; the minister said, While Newfoundland and
Labrador was one of five provinces to record negative employment growth in
2014 and the provincial unemployment rate rose to 11.9 per cent, wages
continued to rise. Average weekly
earnings rose by 4.1 per cent in 2014 and, at $991, were the second highest
among provinces, after Alberta.
The increase in wages led to a 4.7 per cent gain in employee compensation
for 2014.
Mr.
Speaker, how could he publish any information about our economy and not
acknowledge seventeen months of straight job losses, and five more years?
We will have, in our Province, seven years of unemployment over 12
per cent. The wage gap is still
an issue. Not all have
benefitted from an increase in wages.
It is being concentrated on the Northeast Avalon and in other urban
areas.
When
we talk about the price of oil, Mr. Speaker, in October of 2012 government's
own report suggested that the low price of oil should be $60 from 2012 to
2025. Mr. Speaker, this
government had information to make financial decisions on and it chose to
ignore it. I cannot answer the
questions at the door when people ask me why they chose to ignore it, but no
doubt, members opposite will be asked the questions when they go to the
door.
Government has not taken into account all the risks associated with oil and
gas. It is not just the price
for the barrel. There are also
risks associated with the impacts of production changes during a period of
low priced oil. Risks associated
with exchange rates in volatile markets, and this one which this government
never talks about but actually was impacted by last year, and that is the
risk associated with lower demand as alternate energies grow.
Under forecast in good times, over forecast in bad; the one good light in
this Budget is they have likely hit the mark, finally, at least for this
year, but they continue to edge the future.
Their entire deficit reduction plan, their five-year plan is on
higher oil prices, repeating the mistakes of the past.
Mr.
Speaker, this is a significant concern for us.
We have a Province that now has as high as 32 per cent of our revenue
coming from offshore royalties.
That does not include the other direct and indirect benefits that come to
the Province such as higher corporate taxes and jobs for services.
The
current government failed to diversify our economy in a significant way.
They failed to plan for a rainy day, and I can tell the minister and
the Premier it is pouring rain right now.
Oil is a risky business.
They assumed that the price of oil would always stay high.
I
can tell you, Mr. Speaker, that under the leadership of the Leader of the
Official Opposition, when he is elected Premier by the people of
Newfoundland and Labrador, our team will plan for the future and anticipate
and measure the risks of the unexpected.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MS C. BENNETT:
You should be
planning for the best and worst case scenarios.
That is what effective managers do.
Oil is a non-renewable resource that we must leverage to ensure a
more stable and diverse economic future.
We must have the discipline to use oil to control our destiny, not
determine our fate.
Mr.
Speaker, there is a simple, simple premise with oil prices and commodity
prices that any financial analyst, any financial planner will tell you, and
it is a simple one: What goes up must come down.
This government has chased commodity prices and spent their way into
a fiscal mess that the people of the Province are now facing.
Mr.
Speaker, let's talk about the debt and the deficit.
In his speech the minister said: A year ago, Budget 2014 forecast a
deficit of $537.9 million for the 2014-15 fiscal year.
Since that time, lower projected gross expenses of $385 million were
not able to offset lower total revenues of $771 million, and the precipitous
decline in the price of Brent crude oil resulting in the forecast deficit
increasing to $924 million, and new debt for the year is projected to
increase by $1.17 billion.
Total revenue forecast for 2014, the minister went on to say, is $6.976
billion, with a reduction of $1.5 billion from the $8.5 billion estimated
from last year. Net debt was
projected to increase by $1.768 billion, and the borrowing requirements for
this year are expected to be $2 billion.
Listen to this: the borrowing is going to be in total the whole
plan is $4.85 billion in the next four years.
So when we get back to surplus, that is when we will have a plan in
place to deal with the debt.
MS PERRY:
(Inaudible).
MS C. BENNETT:
Mr. Speaker, it is
interesting; the Member for Fortune Bay Cape La Hune obviously has a
problem understanding two sides of the ledger because you have to worry
about the revenue and you have to worry about the expenses.
Until this government realizes that, they are going to continue to
think narrow and think that the only solutions they have are the limited
ones they have in this Budget plan.
I can assure you that this side of the House has a lot more ideas
than that side of the House.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MS C. BENNETT:
Mr. Speaker, the
deficit was not driven by oil alone.
Net debt has increased by over a billion dollars.
Government is paying close to a billion dollars a year in interest
payments.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER (Cross):
Order, please!
MS C. BENNETT:
Government
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MS C. BENNETT:
Will I wait, Mr.
Speaker?
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
The
member can continue.
MS C. BENNETT:
This is an
interesting number. Government
was claiming that its debt expense to revenue is lower than 2003 levels.
So what they do not say is that in the revenue number is the $20
billion worth of oil royalties that skews the number.
Of course it is. Take
into account those oil revenues that did not start flowing until 2003.
Likewise their claim that debt expenses to gross expenses is below
the 2003 levels because again their spending was too high.
Mr.
Speaker, a billion dollars a year to service our debt starting in 2017.
Even with last year's Budget, this government was unable to hold the
course on spending and increase spending some 1.7 per cent, $110 million.
This
government plans to spend on operations $8,274,000 and their revised budget
from last year was just over $7 million.
The people of the Province, and the people who I spoke to on the
doors last weekend, certainly have huge concerns about this government's
ability to manage its way out of this fiscal mess.
They do not have confidence and they have even less confidence when a
government talks about raising revenue in ways that are really going to put
people in harm's way, financially.
Let
me take the last few minutes before the House closes today to speak about
the Residential Energy Rebate.
The Residential Energy Rebate program was introduced in 2011, as the
minister said last week, to help residents offset the rising price of fuel
used to heat their homes. It
will be ending July 1. That
energy rebate will impact seniors as the cost of home heating increases.
Mr. Speaker, it is two-fold.
We will get an 8 per cent increase the first of July and another 2
per cent increase in January.
When
we were in the House last week for debate I was out in the foyer having some
conversations with some stakeholders.
One particular individual came up to me and he said: Cathy, this
government does not understand that there are thousands and thousands and
thousands and thousands of people in this Province who live from one pay
cheque to another, from one income stream to another, and even more as we
look at 6,500 people who lost their jobs last year and the 12,000 people who
are going to move out of the workforce over the next number of years.
Those people do not have the luxury of doing what this government should do.
Those people are already living in their homes and in their
communities in a culture of cost management.
They make sure that every single penny they spend on their groceries,
on their utility bill, on their clothing bill, is used in the best way they
can. They stretch every single
cent and every single dollar.
Quite frankly, I believe the people of the Province expect the government to
do the same.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MS C. BENNETT:
Mr. Speaker, I see by
the clock that it is just about before the House closes.
Given the hour of the day, I would move adjournment of debate.
I hope to continue my remarks tomorrow.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER (Verge):
Order, please!
The
motion is the debate on the Budget Speech be now adjourned.
All
those in favour, 'aye.'
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Aye.
MR. SPEAKER:
All those against, 'nay.'
Carried.
On
motion, debate on the Budget Speech adjourned.
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Government
House Leader.
MR. KING:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I
would like to remind members of the House that
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR. KING:
I realize they are
excited that I am on my feet, Mr. Speaker, but I will only take a minute.
I
would like to remind members that this afternoon the Social Services
Committee will meet in the House of Assembly at 6:00 p.m. to review the
Estimates of the Department of Seniors, Wellness and Social Development.
With
that, I move, seconded by the Minister of Health and Community Services,
that the House do now adjourn.
MR. SPEAKER:
The motion is that this
House do now adjourn.
All
those in favour, 'aye.'
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Aye.
MR. SPEAKER:
All those against, 'nay.'
Carried.
This
House stands adjourned until 1:30 o'clock tomorrow, Tuesday.
On
motion, the House at its rising adjourned until tomorrow, Tuesday, at 1:30
p.m.