October 27, 2021
HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS
Vol. L No. 28
The
House met at 10 a.m.
SPEAKER (Bennett):
Order, please!
Admit
strangers.
Orders of the Day
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Government House
Leader.
S. CROCKER:
Thank you, Speaker.
I call
from the Order Paper, Motion 1.
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Government House
Leader.
S. CROCKER:
WHEREAS section 7 of the House of Assembly Accountability, Integrity and Administration Act
prescribes that, upon nomination by the House of Assembly, the Sergeant-at-Arms
shall be appointed by Lieutenant-Governor in Council
by Commission under the Great Seal;
THEREFORE BE IT
RESOLVED that Mr. Robert Escott be appointed
Sergeant-at-Arms.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Premier.
PREMIER A. FUREY:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I'm
pleased to take a few moments to welcome Mr. Robert Escott or, as we all know
him, of course, Bob –
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
We need
a mover and a seconder for that motion, please.
The hon.
the Government House Leader.
S. CROCKER:
Sorry, my apologies, Mr.
Speaker. I think I had to do a redo last Wednesday morning so I guess I do
again. Wednesday mornings are not my time.
Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
That
motion would be moved by myself and seconded by the Premier.
SPEAKER:
Thank you.
The hon.
the Premier.
PREMIER A. FUREY:
Thank you again, Mr. Speaker.
I am
pleased to take a few moments to welcome Mr. Robert Escott, or as we all, of
course, know him affectionately as Bob, to the position of Sergeant-at-Arms in
the House of Assembly. The Sergeant-at-Arms is the officer responsible for, as
we know, the security in the Chamber, for protecting all of us as MHAs and the
custodian of the mace.
Mr.
Speaker, I know all of us are used to seeing Mr. Escott outside the Chamber as
director of security services for the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador,
and he has done a remarkable job.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
PREMIER A. FUREY:
Over the years he has done
such an exceptional job of overseeing the security team for all of our buildings
and assisting with special guests to the Confederation Building. Most recently,
he received glowing reviews about the great work he did in assisting the prime
minister's team on their recent visit to the province.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
PREMIER A. FUREY:
Mr. Escott's role as director
of security services also saw him work alongside the Sergeant-as-Arms and the
staff for the House of Assembly so that the Legislature remained a save, secure
and accessible environment, especially during these times of COVID-19; a very
fitting experience for this new role.
Mr.
Escott's history with the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary makes him the perfect
fit as well. During more than two decades with the police force, Mr. Escott has
many years of experience in the patrol division and was promoted to sergeant in
1989.
Mr.
Escott epitomizes the motto to protect and serve, and I know he's certainly up
to the challenge as Sergeant-at-Arms for the House of Assembly. We are very
fortunate to have someone of his calibre and credentials with us. On behalf of
the government caucus, I want to congratulate him and officially welcome him
here to the House of Assembly.
Well
done, Sir.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the
Official Opposition.
D. BRAZIL:
Speaker, thank you for this
opportunity.
I
congratulate Robert Hiscock – Escott. Sorry, Bob, I apologize for that.
I thank
the Government House Leader and the Premier for putting this forward. I've had
the privilege of knowing Bob, going back some 30 years, in my days when I rode
with the RNC and Bob was a young officer there. We crossed paths a number of
times and in sporting events and parts of his storied career with the RNC.
I had
more of an opportunity to get to know him a number of years ago when I had the
privilege of authorizing his hiring to come in here as part of the
administration and management of our security in the Confederation Building.
They were times when we were going through transitions around how we keep the
employees in this building safe, how we keep staff in the House of Assembly safe
and how we ensure that the MHAs are kept safe here, while at the same time
respecting the citizens of this provinces because it is their House and their
access to here. Finding ways that would be less intrusive for people to still be
able to be engaged in the Confederation Building, but, at the same time,
ensuring that everybody follows proper protocols.
With
Bob's knowledge and his background in security and police enforcement and
safety, he brought a new approach to things, a new knowledge. A very relaxed,
engaging ability to get the other staff and senior members of the bureaucracy to
make some changes that were in the best interests of everybody. Bob brings that
very engaging, easy set of skills that made this transition very easy.
We've
noticed how we've now changed to one point of entry into Confederation Building
where it's much easier for everyone to understand who's coming to the building,
who they're coming to see and the individuals coming in would know exactly their
roles and responsibilities as part of that. He brought that knowledge.
Now, we
elevate him to this level, as Sergeant-at-Arms for our security and for our
protection but, particularly, for the dignity that that role and that
responsibility brings to the House of Assembly. Bob, obviously, as a
professional all his life, brings that skill set, but brings that
acknowledgement that the House of Assembly is a place of importance for the
people of this province and should be seen and respected for that.
No
doubt, he made a decision to want to come to do that, coming into a role that he
was familiar with by seeing his former colleague partaking in that and taking
that responsibility on.
On
behalf of the PC caucus, I thank him for taking on that role. I thank him for
his career serving the people of this province. I thank him for his most recent
career in ensuring security in this building and for keeping all of us safe. But
I particularly thank him for taking on his new role. We look forward to him
helping guide us and keep us all safe as we go through the next number of years
sitting in the House of Assembly.
So
congratulations to Bob and welcome aboard.
Thank
you, Sir.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the
Third Party.
J. DINN:
Thank you, Speaker.
It's
certainly my honour to say a few words about Bob and my relationship with him
goes way back before yours, Leader of the Official Opposition. We're of the same
vintage: Went to Holy Cross and graduated from Brother Rice at the same time. So
we're both Crusaders and Celtics. That's going back to 1976, by the way, so
that'll give you the length of it.
But we
went our own different ways: teaching university, and Bob went into the RNC, and
he's had a fine career in the process. But we're connected in other ways – I'll
get back to that. I did have the pleasure of teaching his son Daniel. I worked
with Daniel and his wife to start a radio station at Holy Heart, basically
Daniel and Helen's project. I was just there as the – what do you even call it –
arm candy, because I basically found a room for them. So there's a long
connection. It's interesting how we come back now after this, so many years
later here we are, we're back sort of in this Chamber and it's interesting how
life works out.
However,
Bob has had an extremely interesting career, when you look at it, with the
Canadian Armed Forces, a lieutenant; attended the Atlantic Police Academy in
Holland College; the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary; security with the Marine
Institute of Memorial University of Newfoundland and here in government.
Certainly we do feel safe with him when he was with the security. Always
friendly, always personable, always professional and, as I said, the fact that
he's a former Celtic and a Crusader, even more so.
He's
heavily involved in volunteer activities with cadets. He's also a saxophone
player, as I understand, with the Church Lads' Brigade and a classically trained
pianist.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
J. DINN:
So this is a man who brings
to this job skill sets that are beyond the requirements, but it shows the depth
and breadth of his interest in education and so on and so forth. Always
approachable, always friendly and certainly when in walks in the door and says
“all rise,” there is no mistaking it. There's no confusing his “all rise” with
the Member for Mount Pearl - Southlands as well. But I'll say that he's outdone
that Member as well.
So
congratulations, a well-deserved promotion, and I'm sure we'll enjoy your time
here working together over the few months, years, whatever.
Thank
you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for Lake
Melville.
P. TRIMPER:
Thank you, Speaker.
I
certainly wanted to say a few words. My history doesn't go back as far as my
previous colleague's, but it has been an interesting six years. I would like to
personally thank this gentleman for his support both inside this very room,
inside the precinct and back in my district. There are all kinds of issues that
arise. I've always found Bob to be very approachable, very responsive and very
professional.
Security
is an issue and we all have to realize that – I think back to my own community
where, when I first moved there, we never locked our doors. Well, we do now.
Times have changed, but this man has demonstrated in the capacities I've known
him and hearing my colleagues speak about his illustrious career; he's obviously
done an extremely good job. I was very pleased to see this appointment.
On
behalf of my family and I, Sir, congratulations very much.
Thank
you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
Is the House ready for the
question?
Is it
the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?
All
those in favour, 'aye.'
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Aye.
SPEAKER:
All those against, 'nay.'
Carried.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Government House
Leader.
S. CROCKER:
Thank you very much, Mr.
Speaker.
I call
from the Order Paper, Order 10, second reading of Bill 12, An Act Respecting The
Renaming Of Red Indian Lake.
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Deputy
Government House Leader.
L. DEMPSTER:
Thank you, Speaker.
I'll
just take a few minutes here at the opening.
SPEAKER:
We need a mover and a
seconder, please
L. DEMPSTER:
I move, seconded by the
Government House Leader, that Bill 12 be now read a second time.
SPEAKER:
It is moved and seconded that
Bill 12, An Act Respecting The Renaming Of Indian Lake, be now read a second
time.
Motion,
second reading of a bill, “An Act Respecting The Renaming Of Red Indian Lake.”
(Bill 12)
SPEAKER:
The hon. Deputy Government
House Leader.
L. DEMPSTER:
Thank you.
We're
all having trouble on this Wednesday morning. That's three of us now, so maybe
that's it for the day.
I'd like
to take a few moments, Speaker, to speak to Bill 12, An Act Respecting the
Renaming of Red Indian Lake. This is an important piece of legislation for our
government, Indigenous peoples and I might say, Speaker, all residents of
Newfoundland and Labrador.
Renaming
Red Indian Lake is one several significant topics that we are discussing and
taking action on as a part of our journey towards reconciliation. I would like
to emphasize the point that reconciliation is not something we do for Indigenous
people. Reconciliation represents a belief in atoning for our past mistakes and
making good on our promise to listen, to learn and to do better. It is something
that every one of us must do.
Our
government, together with Indigenous leadership in this province, strongly
believe that conversations about history, places, discrimination and injustices
contribute to a greater understanding and awareness.
When we
commit to learning from our past and reflecting on having respectful
conversations, we are moving towards fulfilling our collective responsibility as
a people, and as a province to create, Speaker, a better future for everyone.
Speaker,
we are having those conversations with the Indigenous leadership in this
province. You've heard me say in this House on numerous occasions the Premier
and I meet weekly with the Indigenous leadership. We're extremely pleased with
the discussions that are taking place each and every week. We are sharing
information, learning from one another and gaining a greater understanding of
what it means to apply our efforts towards achieving reconciliation.
It was
during one of those meetings – with the passing of time they all blur together –
there was a discussion a few months ago where the topic of Red Indian Lake first
came up. We have been having conversations about options for coming up with a
respectful place for the remains of the two last known Beothuk in this province,
Demasduit and Nonosabasut. As a part of that process, many people discussed that
Central Newfoundland would be the ideal place for the final resting place.
Specifically, Speaker, the Red Indian Lake area.
The
reasoning for that is that the Beothuk inhabited several campsites on the shores
of that beautiful lake. I can say that with some first-hand experience after
visiting that area in May. It truly is a beautiful lake and a beautiful area.
Questions in that process around that time were raised about whether it is
proper to return the remains to a place which carries a name that is derogatory
and disrespectful to Indigenous people. The answer, Speaker, is a resounding no.
While we
continue to have discussions with Indigenous leadership on determining a resting
place for the Beothuk remains, our government is committed, together with
Indigenous leaders, to honour the legacy and history of a proud and resourceful
people.
With the
support of Indigenous leaders, earlier this year our government served notice in
the House of Assembly of plans to change the name of Red Indian Lake. I will
say, while our intentions were well meaning, we certainly came under criticism
and perhaps justifiably so, Speaker.
So we
returned to the table with Indigenous leaders. We heard the desire clearly for
consultation and there was a collective resolve to pause and reflect. Most here
would know that a joint statement from the Indigenous leaders and government
committed to a process where we would seek the views of interested organizations
and members of the general public who had an interest in the name of Red Indian
Lake.
Our
government carried out a consultation process to receive feedback and they were
comprised of a – there was a number of mechanisms whereby people were able to
have input. In-person public sessions were held back in May in the communities
of Buchans, Millertown and Buchans Junction. Myself, my deputy, my comms and a
number of people travelled out. The MHA for that area was present at all of
those sessions. A dedicated email address to receive written submissions was set
up. An online questionnaire was available from engageNL from May 18 to June 11.
I think
I'll share with the House a little bit, Speaker, of the feedback that we
received at that time. I will say, as I said earlier, I thoroughly enjoyed
travelling to those three communities, meeting with the people who live
alongside that lake. Although, I will confess, in hindsight, I probably would
not have gone in bare feet and sandals in May to spend several hours in a
stadium in Buchans. The next time I'll dress a little warmer.
Approximately 150 residents attended those four sessions over the two-day
period. So, clearly, there was a strong interest by the people who live in that
area. The lake is very important to the residents of that area and there is no
doubt that residents are attached to the name.
I can
appreciate that and I may have shared with some having a cottage of my own
that's on a lake where my grandfather put his first camp in 1936 and we built
next to it; we have an attachment. So I do respect peoples' attachment to a
place and a name.
There
were many residents, as the MHA would know, that had no interest in changing the
name of the lake, as it currently is now.
Our
goal, Speaker, with the consultation process was to ensure that everyone who had
a viewpoint on this question had an opportunity to share their thoughts. The
portal on the engageNL website provided that opportunity, and we did receive
more than 500 responses, so clearly there was a lot of interest in the topic.
So there
was, as I mentioned earlier, a lot of people that said: If it's not broken,
don't fix it; leave it as is. That was their view and we respect that, but a
considerable number of respondents also told us that the name Red Indian Lake is
colonial and carries racist overtones. They said the name represents negative
connotations for Indigenous peoples and that it is no longer acceptable.
Their
review was that a new name – if the name of the lake were to change – should
honour the Beothuk. Ranking second on the preference list of names was Beothuk
Lake and many also suggested Lake Beothuk, which I personally really like but
this was not about what I personally like. A range of other suggestions was also
received which linked the lake to the Beothuk in some form.
The next
step in our consultation process was to share the results of the feedback with
Indigenous leaders. I can tell you that the Premier and I, during more than one
meeting, has fulsome discussion with the Indigenous leaders. The Indigenous
leadership, in collaboration with government, carefully considered the number of
suggested names. There was an agreement among those folks that the name should
change. Some of the leaders were of the view that a name change was absolutely
necessary. Together, we arrived at the conclusion that Beothuk Lake should be
the new name for the lake.
Speaker,
this is the place where we have now arrived. Bill 12 proposes to rename Red
Indian Lake as Beothuk Lake.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
L. DEMPSTER:
Our government is not alone
in its pursuit to atone for past actions. We note that the professional football
team in Washington, Speaker, after considerable pressure from the public dropped
its name, Redskins. In Canada, the owners of a football team in Edmonton engaged
with Inuit governments and organizations and Inuk from Northern Canada and they
decided to part ways with the team's familiar, the Eskimos.
It is
important to state clearly that government and Indigenous leaders share the view
that Indigenous place names do contribute, Speaker, to reconciliation. Place
names are also integral to promoting diversity, inclusion, revitalization and
strengthening Indigenous histories, languages and cultures.
It is
important for everyone to understand that renaming the lake is part of a broader
commitment to work toward achieving reconciliation. I thought it would be
important that I take a couple of moments here this morning to outline some of
the other things, Speaker, for this House, what we are doing because this is not
just about let's go choose a lake and let's change a name.
Our
government is proceeding with plans to procure and erect a Beothuk statute. It
will be placed near the front entrance of Confederation Building, near the front
and a little to the right, if people want to spend time there and reflect, et
cetera.
We
announced a short time ago that we would observe a day for truth and
reconciliation. We've just had that day, Speaker, on September 30, where we
honoured survivors and we raised awareness about the terrible legacy of
residential schools in Canada, a legacy that is still being felt and impacted
and we see the effects of that even today.
In the
House of Assembly last week, we passed legislation to change the coat of arms.
We have rewritten the text of the centuries-old coat of arms to add Labrador to
the name and to remove the racist and disparaging references to savages.
Our
government is collaborating with Indigenous governments and organizations to
furnish a set of new murals for the lobby of Confederation Building. I will have
more to say on this later, but I'm excited. When I walk in now and I look up and
there are many panels that are just blank. We're working on a project with our
Indigenous leaders where the lobby is going to be much more inviting. When
Indigenous peoples visit this place, this seat of government, they will see
themselves when they come in.
We're
working in partnership again, Speaker, on this project. There's a lot of
dialogue happening between government and the Indigenous governments and
organizations. Each group will have their own mural out in the lobby.
I have a
great interest, Speaker, in the work that is under way to update the current
curriculum and devise new teachings on the culture, history and traditions of
Indigenous peoples in our province. I'll pause and say during my travels and
meetings around this province, it's been refreshing the number of non-Indigenous
people that have approached me and said: I want my children to learn, but
there's so little right now in the curriculum in a way of opportunity.
There's
a lot of work with this government. It's important, as my tone throughout, as
I've been speaking – I've tried – it's about educating people and it's only when
we understand some of the past that we can atone and move forward. There's a lot
of work that's happening around curriculum. Again, working closely with our
Indigenous peoples, governments and organizations.
We are
building on advances that have been made in describing the way of life of
Indigenous peoples in present-day Atlantic Canada, as well as exploring how
national policies, treaties and the Indian Act impacted the Indigenous peoples
of present-day Atlantic Canada.
In
keeping with Call 57, Speaker, of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission I am
working to develop and deliver training on Indigenous perspectives to elected
representatives, their staff and the public service. This will help again foster
deeper understanding and cultural awareness of the unique history and
perspectives of each community, and support the maintenance of respectful
relationships with Indigenous people in this province.
As my
colleagues sitting around me will know, First Light has already provided
training to Members on this side of the House. We had a wonderful day. It was
encouraging me to see my non-Indigenous colleagues very engaged and asking
questions and sometimes you could see revelations: I wasn't aware of that. So it
just drives home to me why so it's so important that we continue to build on the
work that we've already done in this area.
Chief
Joe – Saqamaw Misel Joe, recently, at one of our Cabinet meetings, began with a
prayer. Again, that was a first and just one of a number of initiatives that
we're going to embark on going forward.
An
interdepartmental committee made up of several departments of government is
reviewing historical monuments and observances. This comes from a belief that
all monuments and observances must be culturally appropriate, representative and
inclusive. If you follow the news at all, Speaker, not just this province but
across the country, we've heard much about statues and monuments and some that
have a very negative history attached and there's a lot of conversation
happening around that whole piece about: Do we remove them? Do we leave them
there? Do we add more information to the panels, et cetera?
An
example of this commitment can be found in the collaborative effort presently
under way and it's being led, Speaker, by The Rooms to change the name of the
Mary March Provincial Museum in Grand Falls-Windsor. Consultative discussions
will ensure that a new name is reflective of the content of the museum, its
history as a community museum and is respectful of efforts towards healing and
commemoration of Indigenous people's histories in this province.
Speaker,
this government not only wishes to advance reconciliation, but we intend to
combat and defeat racism in all its forms and manifestations. That is why this
government has established a Ministerial Committee on Anti-Racism. I'm very
pleased to sit on that committee, Mr. Speaker, along with my colleague, the
Minister of Justice and Public Safety, the Minister of Education sits on that
committee and also my minister of – I'm forgetting the name of his department.
The MHA for Corner Brook, since I can't say his name.
AN HON. MEMBER:
(Inaudible.)
L. DEMPSTER:
Yes, he's a fantastic guy, he
is.
We
recently introduced the work of that committee at the Premier's Indigenous
Leaders Roundtable, Speaker –
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
I remind
the minister to stay relevant to the bill, please.
L. DEMPSTER:
After the round table,
Speaker, the MHA for Corner Brook and myself met with Qalipu First Nation and
the Newfoundland Aboriginal Women's Network to discuss racism, and we are well
on the way with our plan to meet with each of the 13 governments and
organizations that participated in the round table. I also note we are in the
process of organizing with the Innu in Labrador. The first meeting of the Innu
government anti-racism working group.
As I
prepare, Speaker, to wrap up my remarks, it is my sincere hope that I have been
able to outline – I took some extra time because there's been some controversy,
there's been lots of dialogue and there's been lots of discussion since May. So
that's why I wanted to take a little bit of extra time upfront to outline the
rationale to establish Beothuk Lake as the new name for Red Indian Lake. This is
what we need to do and this is what we are doing.
If we
truly believe, Speaker, that we have a responsibility to respect Indigenous
histories and strengthen our understanding of Indigenous languages and cultures,
there can be no other conclusion than to embrace the name of Beothuk Lake.
I have a
lot of respect and admiration for Murray Sinclair and I've been reading about a
lot of his work over the last number of weeks. Murray Sinclair, as most here
would know, led the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. He continues to remind
us where we have come from, where we must go and how to get there.
I'd like
to recite a quote, as I always do when I'm speaking or closing, that was
published – and my colleague the Minister for Health says we know, but sometimes
I've seen him recently pick up and follow as well. It was published by CBC
during an informative and wide-ranging interview.
So this
was what Murray Sinclair said, and it's powerful. He said: I did say at the end
of the Truth and Reconciliation report that we will not achieve reconciliation
in my lifetime. We will probably not achieve it in the lifetime of my children.
We may not even achieve it in the lifetime of my grandchildren. But if we make a
concerted effort then, eventually, we will be able someday to wake up and, to
our surprise, find that we are treating each other in a way that was intended
when contact was first made.
Thank
you, Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the
Official Opposition.
D. BRAZIL:
Thank you, Speaker.
It's
indeed an honour to speak in this House again, particularly around an important
issue that's directly connected to reconciliation and acknowledging our
Indigenous communities.
An
important role that we all play in this Legislature but that every citizen in
this province plays in acknowledging our past, learning from it and ensuring
that we rectify things from the past and that we put the supports in place that
it can never be duplicated again. We have to ensure that all citizens in this
province are accepted as equals and all are respected for their culture, their
particular past, but particularly, that they are all equal when looking for a
prosperous future.
I want
to take a moment, this past week I have taken on a different role as the
Indigenous Affairs and Reconciliation critic, but I want to acknowledge our
former critic very diligently outlined to our caucus and to the House of
Assembly a number of issues relevant to Indigenous communities and around
reconciliation and what real reconciliation is all about.
As I
heard those stories and reflected on my minimal knowledge of what has happened
in the past in our province, what's still continuing to happen but, more
importantly, what we need to do, as a society, to ensure it doesn't continue
into the future. It made me realize that, while changing names and symbols is
very important, because it's important to acknowledge what in the past hasn't
been in the right respect for individuals, particularly Indigenous communities,
and was disrespectful of their culture and their heritage and them as the
original settlers of this great province of ours, it made me think it's
important to acknowledge that, but there is a bigger picture here. We've heard
it in this House of Assembly; we've heard it from our Indigenous leaders: we
need to take action.
It's one
to be respectful of what has happened; it's one to get an understanding; it's
another to educate everyone about it. But all of it means very little if we
don't take the appropriate action to address, to solve and to ensure that
there's a better quality of life for all involved. Particularly, as we look at
the Indigenous communities in our province and as we look towards
reconciliation.
I'm
happy to say that we're moving in the right direction. We've made small steps,
and that's what we've made, small steps, but I think significant steps. Changing
our coat of arms is a significant step in acknowledging that the past was out of
touch with what would be acceptable in today's society, or what should have been
acceptable in any society at the time; a better process of engaging with the
Indigenous leaders and the Indigenous communities, but a better understanding
that all that means very little if we don't take serious action. Serious action
is about addressing the particular needs in an Indigenous community here.
Changing
the name of a lake is acknowledgement that perhaps former generations, a
mentality wasn't were it should be in society and that there was disrespect and
injustice done to the first settlers of this great province of ours.
As we
move forward now, discussion has to be around what are the other things that we
need to do? What are things that are important in this process? To really make
any strides and to really show that this is an inclusive process and that we
need to make sure all Indigenous leaders, all Indigenous communities, all
Indigenous individuals and the rest of our society, all of those who live in the
same communities, all of those who work with them, all of them who are family
members feel they're one in the same and that their same objective should be to
make a better life for everybody in this province.
You
know, it's unfortunate that hundreds of years ago the Beothuk were in this
province and unfortunate that they were annihilated. We only know a small part
of the history. That's the unfortunate part, we only know a small part of the
history, their culture and what they contributed here; their own personal
beliefs, all of this.
We get
it from some of our particular parts of the research that's been done but it
doesn't really spell out the full story here and it's unfortunate. There's a gap
there to really understand what this culture was all about and the impact and
the importance to this great province of ours that the Beothuk individuals and
Indigenous peoples had.
My issue
becomes around, as I led into, we need to move forward in the right process. My
challenge with where we've gotten now is unfortunate. I just want to note this,
not to be in any way derogatory about how it was handled but to ensure again –
and my whole speech will be around we have to ensure that we don't cause more
havoc or more trouble when we're trying to do the right thing through
reconciliation and inclusion and acceptance in our society by not thinking what
is the best approach forward.
It's
unfortunate through the consultation process that it became a national
spectacle. It didn't need to be, had we thought it out a little bit more. I
understand the minister has accepted things didn't go the way – it didn't put in
play the way it should have at the beginning. I understand that and accept that.
Newfoundland and Labrador have too many good things for us to be embarrassed by
not handling this. I do think – no I don't think, I know – every Newfoundlander
and Labradorian feels the same way, that we're all one. We may have different
views on how we do it, we may support our own community over others but our
instinctive belief should be that everybody should be treated as equal as
possible and should have access to services and amenities and respect, more
importantly, equally across the board.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
D. BRAZIL:
I know that echoes in this
House of Assembly. Even when we debate and disagree on policy and procedures and
processes, at the end of the day, the intent here is to do what's best for the
people of this province.
Well, we
have an opportunity over the next coming years to do what's right for this
province in a number of ways, but particularly a segment of our society who've
been segregated, disrespected, not included, and that would be our Indigenous
communities here.
The best
way to do that is acknowledge that we've learned from the past. We've learned
from the historic past, but we need to learn from the immediate past on how we
dealt with this particular situation now.
Enforcing something on people or not including people in the proper manner will
only get you push back and will only cause more havoc. We've seen that in this
situation.
I'm glad
we've gotten to a point where there was more consultation, open dialogue, a more
respectful approach to all included. Because our society is not only about our
Indigenous communities, it's about our settlers here, too. We have to find the
mechanism; we have to ensure the mechanism is there, that we're all one in the
same, we're all treated equally and we're all respected as equals.
To do
that, we need to make sure there's a proper mechanism. To me, it's not beyond
the concept of designing a mechanism for everything that we would do. This may
have been the test case around – probably we were overzealous because everybody
wanted to do the right thing.
Reconciliation needed to be done. We wanted to show our Indigenous communities
that we support them, that we're starting to understand their plight in life. We
may never be able to really understand what some of these communities, some of
these individuals have gone through because we haven't lived it, but in true
reconciliation, to have the discussion around how we best approach and deal with
those situations. You do not want to put a wedge between any part of our society
and another part. You want to do the opposite.
It's
much harder to deal with this, than it is with this in life. So we need to find
ways where the holding of hands and the sharing of information and the education
and the understanding and the respect is the approach we take to ensure that our
society is one and the same and we address the issues.
When we
talk about – and I mentioned it earlier – symbols and names, it's important to
acknowledge where they are disrespectful for any individual. But, particularly,
in this case and we've seen examples nationally and internationally, where names
or symbols or statues of individuals or events were disrespectful for our
Indigenous communities. The fact that we're moving in the right direction gives
me a sense of hope that we will heal, this community will heal and we will stand
as one. We will ensure that all of our society understands the past, embraces
the present, but looks forward to a very inclusive future as one society.
I do
want to keep encouraging to ensure that we've learned. I know on this side we've
had our conversations about what we do and what we have to do that any mechanism
that we talk about, any issue that's in this province but particularly if it's
around reconciliation and our Indigenous communities or any disenfranchised
sector of our society, until we make all parts of our society equal and that the
mechanism is fair and transparent for all, we need to ensure that we just don't
do what we think is the best political thing because whatever time you think is
the best political thing ends up being the wrong thing. We've seen that too
often in our society.
As we
look at moving forward and as we look at understanding what reconciliation
really means, I mean, we can say it as individuals who haven't lived the life
that a number of our Indigenous friends and communities have, reconciliation has
to be a bigger picture. I think one of the biggest parts has to start with our
understanding of what's gone on, our acceptance that it was the wrong thing, our
education on how we address it, but particularly – and I'll stress this – our
actions to the future speak volumes.
Those
actions have to be inclusive for all of our society if they're to be effective
and get the desired result. The desired result is that we have a better society
and a better understanding of each part of our society and our cultures and a
more inclusive part so future issues like this don't surface. We've dealt with
the situations, we have an acceptance, we have an understanding, we're all as
part as equals and that works well.
We have
some work to do to catch up in Indigenous communities. We have a lot of work to
do to catch up. We know they've been marginalized, disenfranchised. They've
actually done without particular services and that. So we have to find a way to
engage that process.
I know
over the last number of years we've looked towards self-governance, which is a
great move forward. But as we do that, we also have to ensure that through
self-governance, the lines of communication are open. As identified issues are
put forward, as solutions are put forward, there isn't red tape and stumbling
blocks and delays, to ensure that our society moves to the next level and we've
done what we've tried to do in identifying how we improve the state of our
Indigenous people and how we improve the fact around reconciliation.
I do
want to say, at the end of the day, that while the process at the beginning
caused some dysfunctional, probably, division among people, I think since the
discussions and the approach changed after and opened more discussion among
settlers in particular regions – because people have a different attachment to
everything more than other people would have and we have to respect all the
people's understanding and their attachment to a particular situation, an event,
in this case, a lake and what it means for them. But I'm confident that people
now have a better understanding that we have a role to play in reconciliation, a
role to play in better education of our past and a role to play to make sure our
society is better. This is a first step towards that in looking at this process.
Since
after the dialogue, coming back and coming to a consensus – or at least a
discussion. We may never ever all come to a consensus on what we think is the
best name, or the best location or the best policy. But in this case, in
reflecting on it from my own personal view, I think from a respectful point of
view, from an engagement point of view and from a reconciliation point of view,
the renaming of Red Indian Lake to Beothuk Lake, I think, is in the proper modem
and the proper manner to start the next level of reconciliation, acknowledgement
and understanding in education about our past and how we rectify parts of the
past, but, more importantly, how we plan for the future.
So,
Speaker, I'm glad to say I will support the name change and I think Beothuk Lake
is respectful of the Beothuk culture and the Indigenous community, particularly
in Central and Western Newfoundland and Labrador. I look forward to hearing from
my colleagues on both sides of the House as we move this important issue forward
and as we look at the bigger picture of reconciliation and action to improve all
of our stake in our society, but particularly the services and needs of our
Indigenous communities.
Thank
you, Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for Grand
Falls-Windsor - Buchans.
C. TIBBS:
Thank you very much, Speaker.
It's a
great opportunity to speak on this today. Of course, Red Indian Lake is in my
district and the people up there they love it, and if anybody has never visited
I encourage you to do so. It's absolutely beautiful.
Speaker,
I'll give my opinion right now: Reconciliation, in my own opinion, recognizes
the injustice and wrongs of our past, addressing those injustices to both heal
and to ensure these mistakes never happen again. In my opinion, the Indigenous
people of our province represent a very important link to our past, as well as
they are a very important bridge to our future.
Speaker,
I attended all of the consultations just as the minister did. Sometimes I think
that there were different meetings taking place – we were attending different
meetings. I'll just go over a couple of things and I truly believe the process
was flawed from the beginning, but there was a part of the process flawed that
came about in Buchans-Millertown and in Buchans Junction as well.
These
are facts. These are not my opinions, but these are facts. Upon these
consultations, there were many people who were against this whole process,
against the name change of the lake at all. Former Liberal MHA Graham Flight
made it be known in no uncertain terms. Former Liberal MP Scott Simms, the same
thing. More importantly, Speaker, many Indigenous people around the lake said
the same thing. Again, these are facts; they are not my opinions. I'm just
putting the facts out there today.
When the
minister had these consultations with her team – and we thank them for coming
up. Of course, they were asked several times: Is the name of the lake changing
for sure? Unequivocally, they were told no, that's why they were there to do the
consultations to get the feedback to see where the public were going with this.
I argue
that the process that they used created so much conflict, confusion and
controversy that could have been avoided from the start. That's what we're
talking about here today, Speaker. If at that point somebody on the minister's
team had to have stood in their place and said: Absolutely, we feel as though it
is the right thing to do; we are changing the name of the lake for
reconciliation purposes. That conversation could have taken a different angle
right from that moment, and we could have went through this process much more
diligently than we have right up until even now.
I truly
believe that honesty should have been the best policy on that day for the
consultations. Why didn't they just stand and say: You know what? We are
changing the name of the lake, but we want to hear other recommendations. That
is not what the people that I represent were told on that day. They were told
decisions have not been made yet; that's why they were there.
Some
Mi'kmaq felt targeted from this process; the people that settled around the
lake, they felt slighted. They are the ones that have kept the Beothuk memory
alive, and we want to thank them for that because they have been doing it for
over 40 years on a volunteer basis.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
C. TIBBS:
Speaker, the minister this
morning talked about the plans for government when it comes to reconciliation. I
applaud that. But I'm going to talk about some more things that the government
hasn't done for reconciliation so far.
Up on
Red Indian Lake we have a point, it's a little isthmus; it's a beautiful point.
I encourage anybody to visit at any time. It's a National Historic Site
recognized by Parks Canada. It's the only site with mamateek replicas on the
land of the Beothuk winter home. Many real mamateeks were discovered there,
examined and those artifacts were taken to St. John's.
This
site has been washing away for years due to high-water levels and lack of
protection. It has been taken care of, again, by the Heritage Society there and
the people throughout Millertown and around Red Indian Lake. I have sent, about
a little over a year ago, a request for a special assistance grant to get some
simple ditching done that would save this point and the artifacts and what it
represents.
I helped
the people of Millertown form this together. We sent it off to government, a
simple ask to save this point – denied. Denied, Speaker, after 40 years of
trying to save it: denied.
When I
got the denial email back, I wrote – and I quote, this is from myself, Speaker:
“We were recently informed of the department's decision to deny a grant to fix
and maintain” the point on Red Indian Lake. This point in Millertown “is one of
the most influential places in Newfoundland and Labrador where Beothuk
civilization made their home. The history and artifacts collected from this
important landmark are extensive and extremely important to our history” here in
Newfoundland and Labrador. “The washouts that are happening here are also
washing away the prevalent history of our heritage. We were very disappointed to
learn of our denied request for a special assistance grant to help preserve the
culture of the Beothuk people which in turn will negatively affect the tourism
industry in Millertown.
“Could
you please provide me with a reason for denial, how much money is allocated for
these grants” –
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
I gave
the minister lenience on the issue and I'm giving the Member a little lenience,
too.
C. TIBBS:
I'd just like to say –
SPEAKER:
Continue.
C. TIBBS:
Thank you, Speaker.
Could
you please ensure a valuable reason why it was denied? Nothing back.
Indian
Point since then, just over a year ago, is more washed away again and who knows
what artifacts are still there.
One
other example – and it's an Indigenous business owner – Fred Thorne is a
card-carrying, proud Indigenous business owner who runs an outfitting business
around Red Indian Lake and his name is Red Indian Lake Outfitters. He has been
struggling to get help from this government for years and years and years to
help him and his business be successful – struggling, Speaker.
So if
we're going to stand up today and talk about the things that we want to do and
help the Indigenous people throughout this province, whether it be food security
on the North Coast or the mental health issues that afflict our Indigenous
communities that are still ongoing, let's focus on some real things.
I don't
oppose what we're doing for reconciliation, I'm just wondering why Red Indian
Lake, the name change, gets a lot of attention, gets a lot of resources, which
it should, but why not the point, which preserves these artifacts, which I have
tried, and the people of Millertown have tried to preserve? That's not going to
get a big clip on the national news, but it's going to help the Indigenous
people. It's going to help preserve the memory of the Beothuk people in Red
Indian Lake: denied.
Speaker,
this has been ongoing for some time now. We have heard we want to do the
reconciliation; we want to be champions for the reconciliation throughout this
country. I, too, want to be a champion for reconciliation throughout this
country. But we have many Indigenous groups and people throughout this province;
we need to listen to them as well.
I
applaud the minister and the Premier for getting on these weekly calls that they
applaud themselves for as well, but we have Indigenous people throughout the
whole province that have a voice as well. I want to ensure that they are heard.
The
name, Beothuk Lake, it's much better than what was first considered, but from
here out, I would ask the government to make better decisions in regards to the
process of reconciliation. Divide and conquer – which is exactly what was done
here in the past year in my district through non-consultation with the people
that we represent – is not good enough. I demand better and we should all demand
better when it comes to these processes.
I'm here
today, Speaker, to speak on behalf of the people I represent. But as 40 MHAs, we
represent all of Newfoundland and Labrador and reconciliation is very important
to all of us. I guarantee it's important to all 40 MHAs, this side and that
side, but the process by way of means that we are doing it through, it's not
right. It's flawed. It's completely flawed.
When the
minister and her team stood up in Buchans and Millertown, Buchans Junction,
sorry, and told the people that they were waiting to hear from: Nope, this is
not changing, we are here to hear from you. Again, if they had just been honest
– because nothing changed from then until now – and said: We are completely
changing this name. That conversation would have taken a total different
direction, which is the way it should.
So I'm
calling on government to be more honest with ourselves moving forward and be
honest with the people that we're looking to represent.
Beothuk
Lake – much better than what was first introduced. But I speak on behalf of all
Newfoundlanders and Labradorians when I say: Have better engagement. We can do
better. We're not here to represent ourselves. We're here to represent the
people, the other 530,000 people out there. That's what we need to do better. We
need to listen to them better. We need better interaction and we need to be more
in touch with these people.
So
Beothuk Lake, again, much better than what was first considered, but I ask that,
please, have more respect for the people that we represent, Indigenous and
non-Indigenous, have respect for those people.
We'll
stand here today, Mr. Speaker, and we'll vote on this and we'll all do our best
and we'll all work towards reconciliation. It's never a combative thing.
Reconciliation should always be 40 MHAs working towards the one goal, and I know
I'll do my part, Mr. Speaker.
I ask
the government: Do better with your process from here on out.
Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Exploits.
P. FORSEY:
Thank you, Speaker.
Again,
this morning, it's great to be in this House of Assembly and speaking on behalf
of the Exploits District. Being from the Exploits District, of course, it's a
place where the Beothuk called home. They combed the Exploits River, so this
gives me a great time this morning to certainly reconcile and reflect on the
past, especially on the Indigenous and the Beothuk people.
Mr.
Speaker – Speaker, sorry; I'll get used to it. We are proud of the heritage of
the Beothuks. They settled along the Exploits River system. Red Indian Lake, of
course, is the headwaters for the Exploits system and that's where the Beothuk
made their home in the wintertime. That's where they spent most of their time.
They started their villages there. During that time, Speaker, they built and
fished along the Exploits River system.
Not only
that, during the summer, they expanded. They travelled from the Red Indian Lake
area, from the interior, out towards the sea so they could fish the salt waters
and use that during the summer. They expanded from Green Bay right to Gander Bay
and beyond. Actually, it's proven, with regard to reconciliation, some has
probably been done in the past before our time here in the House of Assembly. I
know that over in the Baie Verte-Springdale district, they have the Beothuk
Trail which they adopted, which is great to reflect and reconcile part of the
Indigenous ways and the Beothuk people. It's great to see that they've
recognized Beothuks in that way.
Not only
that from down your way, Speaker, Lewisporte-Twillingate, they have the Beothuk
Interpretation Centre, which is another way of reconciliation of recognizing
those people. It's great that those initiatives are being done. It's something
that we need to do. We need to reconcile; we need to reflect. In those ways, we
can do that.
Of
course, renaming of Red Indian Lake now is becoming another process that we can
show some reconciliation on that. We are proud of the history again, Speaker, of
the Beothuks. We learned about it in our school system. When I went to school
anyway, we always learned about the Beothuks, how they travelled the Exploits
River, how they did things, right down as far as Exploits Bay, again, right out
into the Notre Dame Bay and those areas. Those people, we're proud to think back
on those places.
Really,
when it comes to renaming of the Red Indian Lake, the name should depict and
represent the Beothuk people. Again, like I said, they were the ones that
started the interior in regard to villages, in regard to Red Indian Lake on the
Exploits River so it should depict the heritage of the Beothuk people.
I've
heard basically the Beothuk Lake would be introduced as the name, and that is a
fitting name for the lake. If it has to be changed, that certainly would be a
fitting name. I did hear a couple of more names thrown in there, and the
minister did mention one, Lake Beothuk, of course. I've heard Red Ochre Lake
would be another one, whereas the Beothuk would use the red ochre that was
depicted in around the lake. The red ochre they used that for paint during their
celebrations or whatever they did, that's what they did for that part and that
was from the red ochre. So that was another name that was depicted. But most of
all I think Beothuk Lake would be fitting.
However,
again, as the Member for Grand Falls-Windsor - Buchans did allude to, it's the
process of renaming the lake. First of all, the first we heard about it, I know
both of us probably looked at each other the same time, because the first time
we heard about renaming of the lake was right here in the House of Assembly when
it was brought to the floor, you know, they were going to bring in legislation
to rename Red Indian Lake. We didn't hear about this before. We weren't
consulted. Nobody told us. We didn't know what was going on there. So that
probably was an insult to the people in the Central area that would've proud,
would've been really engaged in being a part of renaming their heritage, because
they are very proud of that heritage.
So the
process was wrong; there were no discussions with the Millertown area, with the
Buchans area or with the Exploits District area. I've heard it down in Botwood,
I've heard it in Bishop Falls, you know, on the streets and the gas station:
What are they doing to Red Indian Lake? What are they going to do? What are they
going to name it? B'y, I don't know right now. I can't tell you, we haven't had
any consultation. So the process there was flawed; it really was, because they
felt that they needed to be part of something that they'd been a part of for
years. They combed those woods and wilderness the same as the Beothuk did.
They're proud to stand on the same ground that the Beothuk stood on and they
are.
But the
process wasn't right, to not engage the people in that area of being able to be
a part of that process and want to have some initiative into what we name that
lake and how we proceed. All of us and everybody in the area believe in
reconciliation. They believe that everybody matters, not only every child
matters, but everybody matters. What was done in the past was wrong. There are
things we can do to change it, of course, and as we move along doing those
things of reconciliation, it will help us heal and we need to do that.
So,
Speaker, I just wanted to touch on the part of the Beothuks and why the Beothuk
name would be more fitting to that lake if it's got to be changed from Red
Indian Lake to another name. I think Beothuk Lake would be more fitting today.
Thank
you, Speaker, for having this time.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Labrador West.
J. BROWN:
Thank you, Speaker.
It's a
privilege to speak here today and it's very important that we do speak to this.
Like they say, reconciliation is not a word; it's a mindset. It's an important
mindset that we all have to have as Members of this Legislature because it's an
important thing. Historically, we see a lot of names, places and things that
were brought over here when the area was settled.
You see
it really a lot here on the Island, but especially in Labrador, as well. The
biggest example, the most glaring example, is the Churchill River. That name was
changed whenever or which way, I guess, the colonial wind blew. It was Hamilton
River; now it's Churchill River.
It was
always Grand River and there was a reason it was called Grand River, and I'm
sure the Member for Lake Melville (inaudible). It was the biggest river in the
area and Grand River was the loose English translation from Mishta-shipu, which
is the Innu word for it.
If we're
going to talk about reconciliation and setting rights of wrongs, you know, we
can even start in Labrador with the Churchill River. That was only changed on a
whim, on a personal want of a former premier.
We have
a lot of wrongs to right in this province. We have a lot of work to do. There
are a lot of things that we can all work towards as individuals, as people and
as Legislators to correct those things. Some people who don't understand may not
see why these things are wrong. It's important that we educate and support
because for Indigenous people it's a constant reminder of a lost culture, a lost
place, a lost piece of their heritage. It's important that we help them
rediscover it with them. It's a journey we all have to take together. It's going
to take all of us to do it. It's not going to be just one government, one
person, one individual; it's a collective of this entire province.
Growing
up in Lab West, when we had the Labrador school board, we were lucky in the
sense that our curriculum was a pan-Labrador curriculum. It did have a very
large emphasis on Labrador culture, Indigenous culture and that. I was lucky in
that sense. But when I would come, as a teenager, and visit my family on the
Island and I'd talk about something or anything like that, they used to tell me:
We didn't learn about that in school.
I always
found it very shocking that, while I'm growing up in Labrador, I was learning
about Indigenous culture, Labrador way of life, the importance of those kind of
things. On the Island, they weren't learning about that. I found it very
shocking that a huge chunk of this population's culture and heritage and the
richness that it is was not being taught to groups of children on the Island. I
always found that very shocking that I had the benefit to learn about Labrador's
way of life and culture and Indigenous people there but it wasn't being shared
to entire province.
I think
that's a good start that we also have to take is when we're talking about
reconciliation and finding lost culture and importance of bringing attention to
it, we also have to start with our school system. Start with teaching children
that we're not a monoculture place; we are a very rich fabric of different
cultures in this province.
We have
so much beauty and wonderful things here that we need to share with everybody so
we all understand each other. That's another thing, too. We all have to
understand where everyone is coming from. We have to understand why some
cultures do this and some other cultures do that. It's because of ways of life
that we all have passed down to us.
I was
also very lucky, too, in a sense, when I lived in Goose Bay. I met my wife. My
wife is an Inuit woman from Cartwright. I was just a kid from Lab City so it was
a bit of a culture clash that way, too, but I got lucky enough to be married
into an Indigenous family. I will tell you one thing, there are things that I
did not know, that I should have know. There were things that I wish I learned
earlier in life. I'm very luck that I had the opportunity to learn about the
Indigenous people of Labrador through their own eyes because it's not what it
seems.
There
are a lot of wrongs there. There were a lot of things that were done to the
Indigenous people of Labrador that people do not realize. They were denied
services, they were denied things that we all take for granted and they are only
recovering their culture now. We are very lucky that we are going to start down
this path but we have to stay on this path. We have to accept that it has to be
done and we have to accept, as a province, collectively, we did a lot of people
wrong and we have to make up those things.
Changing
the name of a lake is a good first step, but like the hon. Member that just
spoke and talked about the historic artifact site washing away: that is
something that needs to be corrected. Bringing services to Indigenous
communities in Labrador: that should be on the very, very top of the list
because that's a historical wrong that has been perpetuated far a very, very
long time. That is reconciliation.
That is
the very part of reconciliation, is bringing things to the people that were
denied it. We have a long road but it's an important road and we should all take
it together, collectively, and with the best intentions in our heart because we
must do this. We have no choice because, right now, we have to correct wrongs of
our past and accept those wrongs.
Just
look at the Truth and Reconciliation, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and
Girls, these are things that – lights are being shone in dark corners of our
past and now we must accept them, take them into our hearts and do the right
things and that's where we go, collectively.
I can't
stress it enough, we need to make sure that our children and our children's
children understand what happened and why it will never happen again and put in
the safeguards so it can never happen again.
We
always portray the friendly province, the province that is there, but there are
a lot of issues in our society. There's a lot of racism. There's a lot of
exclusion. We need to work together to address those things.
I do
applaud the minister on the task force. That's a good first step into
recognizing that we're not perfect. We have flaws. We have a lot of flaws but we
must take every effort, as a society, as a group, as a collective to address
those flaws and make sure that people understand other cultures, other peoples,
other ways of life, other religions so that way we can live in peace and
harmony. Everyone is included and everyone feels like they have a purpose and a
belonging to this place.
I've
been very privileged, Mr. Speaker, I have a lot of Filipinos living in my
district; wonderful people, very friendly. Very nice people who make excellent
food; they are so welcoming, so kind. If it wasn't for that recent group of
people immigrating to Lab West, it opened a lot of doors. It made people talk
and realize that some of their behaviours, some of the ways they speak, some of
the things that they did was not very kind. It wasn't very inclusive.
We've
learned and we grew as a group. I want to take that and encourage all corners of
this province to take a moment and realize maybe some of the things we say are
wrong, maybe some of the things we do are wrong. It doesn't mean you're a bad
person but it gives you an opportunity to grow and change as an individual.
That's
what I feel here today, we are going to do the right thing. Changing the name of
that lake, that's a right thing. It helps us all grow as a people, as a
Legislature, as a group of 40 here in the House of Assembly that we are
embarking on the right path, but we have to keep it up. We have to keep the
steady pace. We have to make sure that we talk to our Indigenous communities and
their leaders. Like the Member said there, even just everyday folk that are
members of those communities that may not engage 100 per cent with their own
community but they have an opinion or a recommendation or even an example or
something that maybe we missed.
This is
important and those other tasks are important. We all have to take it into our
hearts. It's not something we do; it's something we have to believe. We have to
believe in the right thing.
With
that, Speaker, thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the
Third Party.
J. DINN:
Thank you, Speaker.
I'll be
supporting this. It's interesting – I don't know if we've had the opportunity to
read Thomas King's The Truth About Stories,
or listen to the Massey lecture series where he spoke on this. But he did make a
note of the fact that the truth about stories is that that's all we are. In many
ways, that's what we are discussing here: the stories we tell. It is the facts
and then there's the narrative.
Another
Indigenous person said, something I don't think that occurs to settlers is that
Indigenous people already are living in a post-apocalyptic world. There are
plenty of series, books about a post-apocalyptic world that are out there as to
what civilization would be like after an apocalypse which devastates the society
that is present.
But even
framing it in that way, challenges the narrative, Speaker. I would say that for
many people, the westerns that were put out by Hollywood certainly created the
narrative of how the west was won.
In
Thomas King's book, he describes of how, as sort of the whole need to preserve
Indigenous culture because it was dying out. It wasn't. It was transforming; it
was changing. But it hadn't vanished. That was another narrative.
So here
we are looking at changing names, and names are important as well. Back on May
3, I wrote the minister at the time about the name change. At that time, it came
out on the news that they were looking at renaming it Peaceful Lake or Peaceful
Waters.
So I'll
just read a few ideas from that that I had said at that time. I do support the
idea; I did say it was a misstep to announce the renaming without adequate
consultation. But it's positive to see, at least now, that this will now take
place and that the Newfoundland and Labrador Geographical Names Board will have
an active role.
Consultation can be long and difficult, but I will tell you it makes for better
decisions – it makes for better decisions. The rationale for changing the name
has merit, but there are many other places too – Indian Arm Pond, Indian River –
where the rationale equally applies. Then there's Lake Michikamau – I think it's
Innu origin – which was absorbed into the Smallwood Reservoir. Obliterated in
name and in geographical formation. And then, as my colleague from Labrador West
said, the Churchill River. Then if it's about reconciliation, we're not stopping
with the renaming of Red Indian Lake, but we have other geographical areas as
well that we're going to look at.
I taught
English at the high school and was fortunate to have a Newfoundland curriculum
where I was able to teach about – very much my own choice there – the history of
the Beothuks and the culture and so on and so forth, and the literature around
that. So I did have access to Ken Pittman's
Finding Mary March, Peter Such's book
Riverrun and a number of other pieces of literature in the anthology
that was provided. It was important to me.
So, part
of reconciliation then, if we're looking at the curriculum, and maybe that needs
to be part of it throughout the curriculum about honouring the past and
recognizing the narratives and telling the story that needs to be told.
I also
believe that in renaming the lake it should at least recognize and pay homage to
the people who originally inhabited its shores. Now, as imperfect as the current
name is, it at least acknowledges the existence of the Beothuk people and their
tragic history as a result of their contact with European settlers. They are the
victims of that post-apocalyptic world.
That
existence in history – if we had named it Peaceful Lake, I do believe that it
would've erased that history, that existence. I think it's important not only in
remembering the people who lived there, but also the tragic consequences of that
contact with European settlers.
Now,
unfortunately, I would loved to see something of Beothuk language or a term, a
word but there is not much of the Beothuk vocabulary extant. Although some
research suggests that it's closely related to the Innu language. Still I think
and, at that time, I suggested it still would be more appropriate to rename it
something using a Beothuk term, even if it is called Lake of the Beothuk. Now I
hear the minister would prefer Lake Beothuk; I like to think maybe I had some
influence, or something similar. But I think the name Beothuk has got to be
there or some reference to the people who made their lives, lived, died, raised
their families there and vanished.
In
keeping with what my colleague from Grand Falls-Windsor pointed out, we have to
go beyond that. Shanawdithit, the last Beothuk, was buried on the south side of
St. John's; you'd be hard-pressed to find where it is right now. The site was
plowed under; I think there is a small plaque next to where the current
wastewater treatment plant exists. I'm thinking should we not make this a more
prominent monument, replete with historical storyboards in her memory and in
memory of the Beothuk people. A plaque does exist in Bannerman Park but
something near where she was buried might be more significant as well to honour.
I
suggest that at that time, for that matter, why not install a statue on the
grounds of the Confederation Building in honour of the Beothuk people. So, to
me, we've got to go beyond the name change. Changing the name, yes, it is time;
it is overdue some people would argue. But I think we also have to walk the talk
as well. So if there is a historical site where the Beothuk people lived and if
it is an important part of reconciliation, then we should put the resources into
preserving that as well to honour the people who occupied this land before we
came. We can do all the land acknowledgments we like, but I think we have an
opportunity to put something concrete, Speaker, not only in the historical sites
and preserving them but also making it a part of the curriculum. Not as an
option, as it was at my time. It was really up to me as a teacher.
I will
support this, but there's more to be done. My only comment or suggestion, since
we've been asked for suggestions, is make sure that we continue with an
intensive consultation process and that we look at ways – it will make for
better decisions. It will be longer, it will probably be more discussion, but I
think it will make for better decisions.
Secondly, let's look at the provincial curriculum and bring Indigenous peoples
into designing that curriculum for the province and make it a requirement, if
that's what we're serious about.
Finally,
if we have historical sites and people apply for funding to restore them or to
keep them from being eroded, I think that's a small price to pay – or a small
investment, I should say – in preserving those historical sites until we have
time to determine where else we're going with them. But preserve our history; do
more than change the name.
I will
support it. I applaud the fact that at least there was some consultation here,
but we've got more to do and a long road ahead of us in terms of
reconciliations. These are important first steps, but they are first steps.
Thank
you, Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for Mount
Pearl - Southlands.
P. LANE:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I'm just
going to take a few minutes to make some comments on this bill. Like every other
Member in this House of Assembly, I'm going to support it because it's,
obviously, the right thing to do.
I, too,
have some concerns. From what I've heard – I'm not as close to it, obviously, as
the Member from Grand-Falls - Buchans and the Member for Exploits, but I did
receive some feedback from people from that area who had some, I guess, issues
with the process.
I don't
want to beat a dead horse and beat up on the minister. I think we all understand
and all acknowledge, perhaps, that the process wasn't perhaps thought out the
way that it should have been and to come prematurely with a name without going
through the proper consultation process was, obviously, not a good idea. I think
we have to learn from that and do better in the future. That's all I'll say
about that.
It is
unfortunate, though, that – I think we need to be really sensitive about this on
all sides whenever we're doing these things because I think it's important that
as we're going down this road of reconciliation and we're making various changes
throughout the province, that we need to try to be very sensitive of the
feelings of all people involved. Obviously, our Indigenous people, they have to
be top priority, obviously.
But I
think it's also important that when we engage with other citizens who may be
impacted, in this case, citizens in the Millertown area, citizens who live in
the area of Red Indian Lake, volunteers who have volunteered over the years to
try to preserve the memory of the Beothuk people and so on, it's important that
we bear in mind that they have views and opinions and they're very passionate
about some of those issues. We have to be sensitive to ensuring that they are
included in the conversations, that their views are taken into account and that
they are truly educated as to exactly what the intention is from the outset of
the process and the reasons for it.
I don't
think it helps the cause of reconciliation when we get into a confrontation
where people feel, perhaps people who may or may not be part of the Indigenous
community but have a certain affiliation, a tie to a particular area or whatever
the case might be, I don't think it helps the process if we feel like we're
butting heads. That somehow their views are just being sort of shot down as
well, you're not being sensitive to the needs of the Indigenous community or
somehow you are racist and so on because you feel strongly about a particular
name. I don't think that helps. I really don't.
We must
recognize, we have a long history and somebody has said – I think it was my
colleague from Lab West, talked about the whole concept of how we all grow over
time as individuals in our views, as we become more informed, more educated.
I can
look back at, and I'm sure there are other Members here of my vintage, some
older, of a later vintage than I am and some younger but a lot of my vintage. I
know growing up myself, we never ever considered ourselves racist, like in a
mean-spirited kind of way. But let's face it; I grew up watching
All in the Family, as a lot of Members
here probably did. Nobody really thought of it that you're actually a racist
because you're watching it or you laughed at some of the jokes and everyone got
a good old charge out of Archie Bunker, whatever. People just thought in those
days that it was funny, it was whatever.
SPEAKER:
Order.
P. LANE:
It didn't mean –
SPEAKER:
Order.
Stay
relevant to the bill, please.
P. LANE:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker –
Speaker, sorry, not mister. I don't know if I'm ever going to get used to that
one. I'm trying.
But the
point is that was sort of those attitudes and so on that were there, it's what a
lot of people grew up with and how they were – when they were born these are
things that were exposed to. It was the way things happened in school and what
you saw on TV. Watching the sports teams that now have changed names, like the
Edmonton Eskimos, they were called, and the Washington Redskins, I never thought
of that as racist. I honestly didn't. Now, I see it now. I see that name as
being offensive to Indigenous people.
But all
my time growing up, and even in recent years, it never really occurred to me,
because it's like anything else, if you're something and that's sort of what
culturally you're used to and whatever the name might be and if someone doesn't
point it out to you sometimes and say this is offensive, whatever, then you
probably don't think any more of it than that, because perhaps it's not
impacting you directly and so on.
We grew
up watching cowboys and Indians, playing cowboys and Indians as kids. I never
thought anything – I never considered the term Indian as being racist, at the
time. I can see now why people would. As I say, as you grow as a person, as
people point it out to you and we see how society has shifted and so on.
But my
point is, I guess, that just because somebody, in this case, perhaps people in
the Red Indian Lake area and so on who had concerns, and if we go down this road
with other things, there will be probably other people who will have historical
attachments and so on to certain names.
I know
my family, certainly on my mother's side – I've said it in the House many times
– we're from Bonavista North, from Wesleyville. They call it New-Wes-Valley now,
but Indian Bay is right in that area. I was down in Indian Bay fishing actually
the spring because it's somewhere where we've always gone trout fishing and so
on. I never considered the name Indian Bay as being racist in any way; I just
didn't. Perhaps that name is going to have to be looked at and may change. I
don't know, perhaps it will. The same name as what's on Red Indian Lake.
If it
does, I'm sure there's going to be people who grew up or were raised there,
spent all their time there and whatever are going to have concerns about
changing that name as well. But it doesn't make them bad people and it doesn't
mean that they're all racist because they have a tie to a particular area.
That's my point. I think that's where the education piece really comes in.
So when
we're making these changes, I think it's very, very important we educate the
public. I think, as has been said, it's important that even in our schools and
so on we start teaching our children, get them young, start teaching them about
our history and what happened so that this will not be an issue. I know I look
at my daughters and the way they think about things; they correct me lots of
times on things that I say. Not meant in a harmful way or whatever, but perhaps
just not thinking or because of the way you were raised. Some words or
expressions you might use or whatever that we consider them just normal
expressions, Newfoundland expressions, but you always have to be catching
yourself on it.
That's
not just issues around race, but issues around gender and so on, or things that
can be considered offensive. I've always said my love, my ducky; I was probably
the most guilty person out there for saying that over the years. From time to
time, I still catch myself; I do. It's not right and I catch myself. It's not
meant in a negative way; it's just an expression. It's the way you've always
been taught and so on.
I guess
to bring it around, the point is that, as I said, I do support this and we need
to continue down this road but the point I'm trying to drive home is that we all
have lived experiences. There are going to be generational gaps and so on of
what you were taught and how you were raised. Some people are going to more
sensitive about these issues than others. I mean if somebody is outright racist,
obviously, we have to call that out for what it is, but I think it's also
important to realize that people, because of their lived experience and so on
and perhaps lack of education around some of these issues, that doesn't make
them bad people and it doesn't mean that they are racist. It is important, as we
make these changes, that we consult with people and we try to educate them into
the reason why we're doing these things, as opposed to just ramming it down
people's throat and creating any kind of a divide.
If we
want true reconciliation and we want us all to live together in harmony and
respect each other, I think it has to be respect on all sides, an understanding
on all sides and an education on all sides to make that transition really go
smoothly.
Now,
with that said, I also want to pick up on a point that my colleague from Grand
Falls-Windsor - Buchans brought up. That is the fact that it is one thing to
change a name, and we all recognize this is the right thing to do, but I think
we're being a little disingenuous if we're going to simply say we support
reconciliation; we support the Indigenous people because we changed the name of
the lake. But, by the same time that we did that, we're going to ignore the fact
– and I'm taking my colleague on his word. I'm only going by what he is saying
here now.
But if
there is indeed, I think he said, a peninsula or a point of land out there and
there is actual Beothuk artifacts there and it has been shown, it's recognized
and so on, and if indeed that is being destroyed by nature and there is simple
fixes that we can take, as he said, to put a trench in or whatever the case
might be, to preserve that piece of land where more artifacts may indeed be or
perhaps we may want to do something with that point of land to enhance it at
some point in time, I think it is disingenuous for us to sit here and say yeah,
we support our Indigenous people by changing that name, but we're going to allow
this area to be destroyed because somebody doesn't want to spend a few bucks to
put in a trench or a berm or whatever is required to deal with it.
We're
going to deny all those things. Forget about the history, forget about the
artifacts, forget about all that but we changed the name, b'ys; we support
reconciliation. So that is a very valid point and if indeed that is, as being
described by the Member, then I support him 100 per cent on that particular
point. Obviously, we have to factor in costs and everything else. I don't know
what the costs is involved with this or what's involved but if there is a
reasonable fix that we can make to preserve that, then I think it is important
that we do it.
And
then, when we talk about those things, I think that not just Red Indian Lake. I
think it's important that, as my colleague from St. John's Centre said, put our
money where our mouth is. I understand where we are financially as a province,
but the federal government certainly has a huge responsibility when it comes to
Indigenous affairs, Indigenous rights and so on. They have funding programs in
place to deal with these things. There's a department that deals with these
matters.
I think
that we need to be more aggressive, perhaps. We have two federal MPs now. Not
one, we have two. So if there are funding requirements to preserve some of these
Indigenous sites and so on, and artifacts or whatever and we need some funding
to do it, then if we don't have the cash – and I know we're strapped for cash –
then let's get after our two federal MPs now – our two federal ministers, I
should say – to get us some funding to make that happen.
Not just
with that site, but other areas where this type of thing needs to be done.
Again, this is a good start for reconciliation when we start making some of
these changes. It's all good to do and necessary to do, I would say. But it goes
much deeper, as Members have said here. It goes much deeper than this; simply
making a few changes, putting up a statue here, taking down a statue there, that
in itself is not enough. If we have Indigenous communities that are not being
provided with the appropriate resources and services and so on they require to
put us on par with everybody else, then that is a bigger problem and that's
something that we have to be prepared to tackle as well.
I want
to think in my heart that we all believe that. I know there are financial
challenges to it all. I get that. But somehow, somewhere along the way, if we're
truly committed we have to find ways of doing it. Again, perhaps the answer for
the funding for some of this stuff is going to come from Ottawa. If that's what
we need to do, then that's what we need to do.
But I
hear my colleague behind me all the time and she's always bringing up these
issues. I know that she's very sincere when she does bring these issues up. You
can see the passion; you can feel the passion when she speaks about these
issues. I know that a lot of people in her district in particular – and there
are other areas in the province as well, but in that area in particular – I'm
trying to get my head around and understand the issues that the people she
represents face. It's hard sometimes to do it. You're living here; I'm
representing Mount Pearl - Southlands. So I have the City of Mount Pearl and the
City of St. John's.
Sometimes I try to, when she speaks, get my head around some of the things she's
saying. It's not easy. Because I've not experienced it, I've never experienced
it. Unless you've experienced it, I guess, it's hard to really get your head
around some of this stuff. Perhaps your perspective is different. You have a
different perspective. That's why it's important that we have Members here from
Labrador and from all areas of the province to share these perspectives with us
all.
I'm sure
everything she's saying is correct and the stories that she's sharing. I think
it really needs to sink in sometimes, especially for us MHAs in the urban areas
and so on, in particular, that don't have these issues. We need to really try to
understand and listen. That's why it's important that we listen to what these
Members have to say and, more importantly, we have to work towards taking action
to resolve these issues, as best we can, under the financial situation that
we're in.
Again,
that has to be recognized as well. But if that requires more assistance from the
federal government to deal with these issues, then that's where we need to go
and we need to get that assistance. As I said, we have two ministers now and
it's important that they step up to the plate as well on behalf of the people
that they were supposed to be elected to represent.
Anyway,
with that said, Mr. Speaker, I will be supporting the name change.
Thank
you.
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Torngat Mountains.
L. EVANS:
Thank you, Speaker.
I'm just
going to talk on Bill 12, the renaming of Red Indian Lake, but before I actually
start talking on the bill, I want to thank the Member for Mount Pearl -
Southlands.
My
district is totally communities that are Indigenous communities. A lot of people
are looking to me to actually comment on Red Indian Lake because it's so
controversial, the renaming is so controversial.
I
listened in the House and I hear Members trying to put forward some of the
issues that their constituents have brought up but they're a bit nervous about
it. They're a bit nervous because they don't want to be negative or seen to be
prejudice or anything to do with something that will take away from the
Indigenous people and reconciliation.
I think,
right now, that's a reflection of a failure on the process of renaming Red
Indian Lake. We're creating divides where there weren't divides. We're creating
frustration and hurt and resentment on people closely affiliated with Red Indian
Lake because of the process of the name change. That needs to come out in this
House.
I have
an obligation to raise it because of people out there who aren't racist, aren't
prejudice, now resent the renaming of Red Indian Lake because of the way they
were consulted with, and that's a failure. In actual fact, the way things go
now, it could actually be creating racism, prejudice and discrimination and hurt
feelings towards Indigenous people. Really, what's happening is the reverse of
reconciliation is occurring. I feel an obligation to speak on that. It's very,
very important.
You
know, I keep talking about words – sometimes when some people in this House are
speaking, not out loud but in my mind I keep thinking: There are more words,
more words, beautiful, beautiful sounding words. But if you lived on the North
Coast in Labrador with the Inuit and the Innu, if you went down to around
Cartwright area where my fellow MHA's wife is from, you would say we can't eat
words. We can't eat words. We can't heat our house with words. We can't raise
our children. We can't get our children back from CSSD with just words.
Speaker,
I'm going to remain relevant in my topic. I'm not going to have anyone call me
on relevance to this bill. I'm going to follow what the minister actually said.
I'm going to respond to her speech.
First,
she mentioned atoning for past mistakes. That's a wonderful phrase. Let's atone
now. Let's atone for all the hurt and harm and damage we've done to Indigenous
people, to the First Nations, in our province, the two nations of the Mi'kmaq
people.
The
Beothuk, well, we're not going to be able to atone to them, personally. We're
going to have to atone to their memory because they're gone, wiped off the face
of the earth. Atonement. Have past mistakes.
I said,
what are the mistakes? People don't need to listen to what I'm saying, but I
wanted it recorded here in the House of Assembly. What's the past mistakes we're
going to atone for?
The
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls: Why do we have that? That's
what I said in a speech earlier. A lot of the missing and murdered disappeared
because they were searching for a place to get away from harsh living
conditions, issues that they faced every day that harmed them and their family,
from intergenerational trauma.
Let's
bring up Truth and Reconciliation – past wrongs, mistakes, a mistake. Truth and
Reconciliation don't call it a mistake. They call it genocide, which no federal
or provincial government wants to recognize – genocide.
There
are many forms of genocide, but in my district of the Indigenous people, the
genocide is creating such hardship that the generations coming next are harmed.
CSSD is a make-work project for the Northern Peninsula. You just Google it – and
I hope they never take it down – there's a CBC video up there recording of where
the mayor, honestly, without malice, without ill-intent, without prejudice talks
about, oh, the foster kids, that income saved our schools.
Those
little kids grow up –
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
L. EVANS:
– to go back home.
SPEAKER:
Order.
I remind
the Member to stay relevant to the bill.
L. EVANS:
Stay relevant.
Past
mistakes: Residential school is another one. In Newfoundland and Labrador – I
want to add some information here. Residential schools only existed in Nain,
Makkovik, North West River and across from Rigolet –
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
L. EVANS:
– the community of Cartwright.
SPEAKER:
Order.
I ask
the Member to stay relevant to the bill.
L. EVANS:
I'm just getting around to the –
SPEAKER:
I've been very lenient.
L. EVANS:
Yes.
I'm just
getting around to the minister's sentence where she said: Atoning for past
mistakes.
So what
I want to say is, I wouldn't call it mistakes, Speaker. I would refer to the
damaged lives, the cycles of trauma. Now, I'm not going to be forced to go off
topic, so I'm going to just continue on.
The
minister said we have to do better. So I always ask: How is this government
doing better? We're going to rename a lake, and the process was so flawed and so
disrespectful to the people to the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador that
they actually created resentment for Indigenous peoples and reconciliation. So
I'm going to stay relevant and I always ask: What's the government doing to do
better?
Now,
this minister, one of the ways they're doing better, she mentioned in her speech
– so staying relevant – and keeps referring to meet weekly with Indigenous
leaders. Keep saying that. How bad were things that we have to refer to weekly
meetings as a success? Because that's what it is. Because when I speak to the
Innu leaders, when I speak to the Inuit leaders about these weekly meetings,
they say they're frustrated. The Inuit hardly ever even go it is that tense. The
ministers in the Nunatsiavut Government talk about sending over emails they
don't even get a reply from. You know something? I thought I was the only one
that had that happen to, so I guess misery loves company.
When we
look at the Innu missing the meetings, you know, we just have to look at Muskrat
Falls rate mitigation and the RCMP policing in Natuashish. I got to say, I'm not
going to beat up the Minister of Justice. He actually helped me. I was in
Natuashish trying to address this thing about the failures that was coming out
about the changes of the policing, and I reached out to the minister and he did
help me. Actually, I was even able to talk with him, and it helped me prepare
for my meetings with the Innu and I was actually, I think in some ways, able to
help the Innu with this policing matter.
But when
I got to meet with DeAnna Hill, the RCMP commanding officer, I had to find a way
to gently and respectfully tell her: It was such a lack of respect towards the
Innu the way they handled it, so disrespectful. It wasn't only the Innu that saw
it as disrespectful. The Inuit in Northern Labrador also saw it as
disrespectful, and I told her that and I gave her some advice. I got to say they
were very receptive of it.
So I'm
going to say relevant now, looking at this bill, looking at the renaming
process. The minister talks about conversations for options. Then their
intentions were good, changing the name of Red Indian Lake. They were criticized
and, I think she even said, probably justifiably so. Then it talks about pause
and reflect, and then seek the views of those who had interest in a name. What
does that mean? They're going to consult, and they did.
But I
find the whole process irresponsible when it comes to true reconciliation –
irresponsible. They did reach out, 150 residents – I got the schedule there of
the consultations. We had a technical briefing. I think the Member for St.
John's Centre said he'd trust what the Opposition was saying in terms of the
numbers, but I trust it because the numbers that were given to us was through a
technical briefing from the deputy minister of Indigenous Affairs and
Reconciliation; 150 residents, a four-day process, very little interest in
changing the name. Basically, everybody who was actually consulted wanted to
keep the name the same.
There
also were some virtual opportunities for people across the province to
contribute. The majority of the people said they wanted to keep the name. There
was a lot of hurt; there was hurt from people who would say you know something,
I'm not racist – I'm not racist. There are companies out there that are going to
be harmed because of the name. The Official Opposition has brought that up; the
Member from the district brought that up. There's not going to be any help to
him in the rebranding. That's just another way of creating resentment, adding to
it.
Do you
know what I'm going to hear? They are going to be sick and tired of hearing
about reconciliation in the province. People are going to be tired of hearing
about it, and the biggest failure is nothing is going to be done before people
gets tired of it, then it's going to slip by the wayside. All the hurt and
outrage of those unmarked graves and those little bodies that were found in the
graves, all the hurt is going to be forgotten. Yet, the Indigenous people are
not going to be any further ahead. Not going to be any further ahead because it
is just words. I can sing it in my head: words, words, words, words, words.
I'm
sorry, but sometimes when people are talking in the House that's what I'm saying
in my head: words, words, words, so many words, good sounding words. We should
all just maybe leave and go and just be broadcasters reading off of
teleprompters: beautiful words. Yet, we have families who struggle to feed their
kids. I have people suffering from addictions and they don't know how to get
better; there is no hope for them.
I resent
the fact that this process is now going to hurt the Indigenous people of this
province. I can actually say it. I can say it. Do you know what the process was?
It was in the technical briefing. I have it written down. During the weekly
meeting, the minister and the Premier met with people who were considered
leaders of the Indigenous groups, very respected leaders, and they discussed the
name change.
They
decided to change the name of Red Indian Lake. They came up with the name change
and told the people of the province that's it, and people were hurt. People
weren't consulted with. People were angry. You should have seen the emails we
got. Over on this side, we all got emails. We got emails of people hurt and
upset. Not racist people – I say all the emails we received even with the anger
in them, it wasn't racist people.
Do you
want to know something? When you do consultation, it's a two-way street.
Indigenous leaders and the government needs to consult with the non-Indigenous
people about something as important as changing a name on a lake. Because if you
don't do that, people will be resentful. There are people out there who are
racist and they are using this to create more racism, and that's not right.
We even
got petitions. Then it goes back to pause and reflect. Yeah, let's pause and
reflect on that and let's come up with more nice words that we can say. The
government that exists since we joined Confederation has been a failure to the
Indigenous people; it really has.
To me,
it's difficult and I've been very tired. I get tired of this. I tell you, I get
hurt. I lose a lot of sleep. I actually even thought of resigning for my mental
health. You know what changes my mind every time my thoughts go there? I say I'm
not going to let them get away with that. I'm not going to let them get away
with that.
As I
said, my grandmother learned English when she went to school. We called it a
boarding school. How fancy is that? How fancy is that: boarding school? It was
residential school. I told the story in the House where my mother was so thirsty
at the age of six, she would sometimes pass out. But when she told us the story
she kind of laughed and say, you know, it was a good thing there was a lot of
frost on the window, because that's how she used to actually quench her thirst
was scratching the frost off that windowpane. Atonement for mistakes: Would you
call that a mistake? I never understood half the stories.
Do you
know when I found out? It was when my mother refused to take any money from that
class-action lawsuit. I said: Mom, you're old. Let the government pay for the
harms done, because if not, we are; we're your children. I'm sorry for what I
said to her, to encourage her to take the money. I think I actually forced her
because I thought she deserved it.
There
are people now that are dead. Some of them are old; some of them are very young.
But I will tell you something right now, if this government doesn't start taking
real action that helps people – symbolism is important, there's a lot of value
in that. I'm really glad when the game comes on and it's the not Edmonton
Eskimos. But, also, when I'm in my district and I'm talking to people who really
need help, who want help, who want to get their children back, who want their
children to succeed.
Do you
know something? Some of the children that are young adults that are committing
suicide, they're coming from what we would call good homes. Their house is warm.
There are meals on the table. We wonder: Where's this coming from? But if you
went back and you looked at intergenerational trauma and past harms, you'll find
the answers there.
I
totally support not having a lake called Red Indian. But in terms of real
consultation, we really have to start doing things.
I look
at all this now: Plans to erect a statue. We need to put a camera on it, because
that's the only way most of my people in the District of Torngat Mountains is
ever going to be able see that statue.
Observe
a day for truth and reconciliation: What's really being done about truth and
reconciliation? What came out of truth and reconciliation?
We're
going to furnish a new mural – I'm reading from the minister's statement in
terms of reference: Furnish a new mural for the lobby of Confederation Building.
A lot of people in my district struggle to buy furniture. They have money for
furniture; how are you going to get it? You're going to get it to the Coast.
These are very important things.
Update
the curriculum for Indigenous people to educate people: Well, Nunatsiavut has
already done that. Nunatsiavut has a textbook on the actual history. Nunatsiavut
Government and the Innu Nation are leading the way for reconciliation. They're
the ones that's actually taking the steps to educate the province.
It's
different for me, it's really different for me to sit here – and I hope people
are not offended when I said that when I'm listening to people speak, in my head
I'm just thinking: words, words, words. Oh, continue on to the chorus: empty
words, empty words.
This
government has to do things –
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
The
Member's time has expired.
L. EVANS:
Thank you, Speaker.
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Humber - Bay of Islands.
E. JOYCE:
Thank you, Speaker.
I'm just
going to have a few words, after that passionate speech, on this Bill 12, the
renaming of Red Indian Lake.
Of
course, we hear a lot about the process and about consultations with the
Aboriginal and Indigenous groups, Speaker. I just want to give a bit of history.
I hear the words and I hear the Member for Torngat Mountains talking about the
words, what words mean and you have to live up to your words.
I just
want to make it quite clear; my family is a part of the Qalipu on both sides. My
sister in Toronto did a lot of research on our family and we found out our
connections back 20 years ago. This whole process of renaming this, and then we
hear the words.
I have
to bring something up here. I heard the Minister Responsible for Labrador and
Aboriginal Affairs make a statement this morning, and going on the Member for
Torngat Mountains on words, her words were: injustices must be corrected. I have
to remind the minister you were a part of an injustice that happened in this
House and you have yet to reconcile. You know what I'm talking about. If you
don't know, ask me, I'll tell you right now. Here's your opportunity. So,
please, don't go getting out these words. Injustices should be reconciled. They
should be: I agree, but don't go making these blanket statements here because it
sounds good in the House of Assembly. You know what I'm talking about and if you
don't, stand on your feet and ask me and I will tell you. I didn't think you
would stand.
Mr.
Speaker, I'll just go on the whole process of this and listening to the points.
I know the Member from Grand Falls-Windsor - Buchans made a great speech on the
people in the area, and I know the Member for Exploits made a great speech on
the people in the area also.
I just
want to go back – and you want to talk about involvement with the Aboriginal
groups. I remember back in 1989, that's my first involvement when I went to my
first General Assembly with the Aboriginal groups. I know Mr. White was heavily
involved with it, and I know Judy White was heavily involved to fight for
recognition for the FNI at the time. I remember even going to Congress of
Aboriginal Peoples conferences in Gander to learn more about how we could help.
I remember even getting Clyde Wells meeting with all the groups and wanting to
get recognition and pushing for Aboriginal rights in Humber - Bay of Islands.
One of the biggest population of the Qalipu is Humber - Bay of Islands.
I go way
back in 1989 when I first start going and Brendan Sheppard – and I'll tell a
story about Garly Webb, when the premiers were going around and they were
meeting all across Canada. Garly Webb wanted a schedule so they could make a
presentation to the premiers across Canada. I remember getting permission to
give him that schedule to go across.
I
remember going out to a General Assembly in Gallants back in the '90s. There was
a lot of progress at the time because of collaboration. I remember housing was
an issue. I remember Dot George started up a housing group for the Aboriginals
in the Humber - Bay of Islands area, Benoit's Cove and Corner Brook, for
housing.
I
understand the issues, but the biggest part that I take from this whole process
is consultation. Consultation is the issue. I understand that we're all going to
move forward with this now and say we have this whole issue in place. We're
going to now change the name from Red Indian Lake to Beothuk Lake. I understand
that after the public outcry – and, yes, we received the emails. But the point,
and I know it was made here on numerous occasions here in this House of
Assembly, it was made on numerous occasions, is that consultation and process is
what causes so much anxiety with people.
I look
back at the time, again, when I worked for Clyde Wells and he had an open
process of listening to the Aboriginal groups. I go back and look at Bern White,
who passed away and I did a Member's statement here in this House, where he
fought. Mr. Sams is another one who fought to keep their Aboriginal rights.
Fought for their rights, fought to keep their culture, fought to be recognized
and they fought over many years and they finally got it.
I know
Brendan Mitchell who just got re-elected as the Qalipu chief and the great work
that he has done and his family has done going back years with his family. The
Sparks family who's involved with the Mitchell family. I remember all of that
and I remember my grandmother talking about Indigenous rights. I'm going back 60
years, 58, 59 years talking about that. What they all wanted was respect and to
be able to be consulted.
I hope
we all learned a lesson and not just government. Government is just one part of
this, but I hope we all in this House of Assembly learned a lesson on what
happened here. I hope we did. It's one thing to give rhetoric; it's another
thing to actually follow up on that rhetoric. I understand there are a lot of
issues that most of us in this House of Assembly – and I agree with the Member
for Mount Pearl - Southlands, a lot of us couldn't appreciate because we weren't
involved with that.
I
remember speaking to Randy Edmunds – and I know you know Randy, I say to the
Member for Torngat Mountains. I asked Randy: How do like the residential
schools? Here's how Randy explained it to me. He said you take your father and
your mother, what they gave to their families, and you take that whole set,
Speaker, you take that whole generation and put them through the abuses that
they had through the residential schools and then put them back in society, how
much further would you be if your parents went through that? When you look at
that, it's so true. Taking that whole generation, and the abuse and the
hardships they had to go through, now you expect the children to say, okay,
we're all fine. You should treat your children the same. This whole thing of
alcoholism, it's real. This whole thing of the issues that they face, it's real.
And when you look at that, I think about if my mother or father had to go
through that, it's sad – it's sad.
So this
is why I say the process is very much the focal point here now. I remember the
Member for Grand Falls-Windsor - Buchans stated that if we had to come out as a
government and as a people, come out and say, look, we're going to change the
lake, what's the good ideas, how can we chat about this; nine chances out of 10,
we'd be in here today and we would not be having such a great discussion because
everybody would have collaborated to come up with this.
I really
believe this, that when the Premier of the province came up and did this, I
don't think he understood the whole consequences of it. Because I don't think
the Premier of the province would try to insult the people, the Beothuk people.
I really feel that. But this is where we've got to learn from this process. We
really got to learn from this process.
If
there's anything that I would take from this here – and I say it to the
government and I say it to the people here: Remember, there's a lot of us who
are Aboriginal. There's a lot of us who can give guidance to the government.
There are a lot of us who went through this. Believe me, in the Humber - Bay of
Islands, there are a lot of people who had a lot of injustices done to them over
the years because of who they were and because they were supporting their
Aboriginal rights and trying to keep their heritage. Trust me on that.
Now, I
will be supporting this bill. I will be supporting this. But I call upon the
government, from here on in, let's do the proper consultation for anything we're
going to do for Aboriginals across the province and any group across the
province so that we can have an open and honest dialogue on this whole process.
Thank
you, Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for Lake
Melville.
P. TRIMPER:
Thank you, Speaker, and I thank all of my previous colleagues for their very
inspiring remarks. I think that while it's been a tough debate, I think it's
been a very helpful one for all of us here and hopefully the rest of the
province who are watching.
I've got
a few remarks. Most of us, I think, in this House are going to support this bill
today. What we're frustrated with is how we came to this point. As I was
preparing my remarks and thoughts and checking messages that are coming from the
good folks of Buchans, Buchans Junction and Millertown who are also feeding the
independence that's for sure, I thought what exactly is a successful
consultation.
I just
did some googling here to try and understand. Some of the basic concepts are:
should be sincere. It should be clear. It should be in advance by the way of any
decision-making. It should provide an opportunity for both sides to learn.
Whoever is coming forward as a proponent, whoever is being consulted, there
should be an incorporation of those views.
I was
listening very intently to the comments from my colleague from Grand
Falls-Windsor - Buchans and I just learned a little bit more this morning. I can
recall here in May when government very clearly stated when this bill was coming
forward, I wrote it down: It's a done deal. I wrote those words down.
I just
remembered it was that determination to push forward, thinking that this was the
right way and the appropriate way. I think that, particularly my colleague from
Torngat Mountains, has reflected very well how so many people feel. All of a
sudden, they feel they're in this awkward squeeze of anything they say and do is
now going to be questioned, and they may be accused of something that they
certainly are very respectful of and don't even want to go there. I just think
how wrong this has all been.
I
listened closely to the minister's remarks, and I thank the staff for the
briefing that the Opposition had a few days ago. What was overlooked in the
reflection – and the term Beothuk Lake was the most of those options that was
put forward; that was perhaps the most common name. But, in fact, the majority
of the comments from 72 emails from April to June, from another 86 emails, from
523 responses that came in through the portal, the vast majority – I don't need
to total them up. I can tell you the vast majority of the numbers I'm estimating
is something like 70 per cent said please leave it as it is.
I thank
the staff, and I think those of us who have had an opportunity to learn about so
many of the struggles of the Indigenous peoples of this country, and why this
name is here and debated in this Legislature today, understanding the
connotation of the term Indian, Red Indian and so many have identified, there's
really still a lot of education to do. I guess my point that I want to make,
Speaker, is that, in my opinion, the consultation needs to continue. There is a
lot of hurt and anxiety in the region. I'm hearing from the communities. I thank
the MHAs from Exploits and Grand Falls-Windsor - Buchans; they're certainly
speaking to it.
So I
have a few suggestions; one is: Please continue on with the consultation and the
education. I do feel and hear from some of the community leaders, including one
this morning, that believes that we need to move on with this. We need to get
going. However, there are a lot of hurt feelings. I think we need to – no I
think. We know we need to address that.
A second
item that's going to be very, very important for particularly the communities
there. The example of the outfitter – who I also happen to know – I believe
government needs to step forward with some financial support. Let's take a wrong
from the past, let's take an awkward consultation that's occurred and let's turn
this into something now where we can build. The marketing and branding of a very
proud group of residents in the Buchans, Buchans Junction and Millertown area,
we need to support them. Help them embrace the branding and the marketing. And
let's see what we can do.
Further
to the example of the isthmus, these kinds of examples, these are incredibly
important treasures. Again, I would urge government to go forward, please, with
some support in terms of expertise and financial support.
Two
final points: We've just gone through a naming exercise in Labrador. There have
also been some missteps on the naming of bridges. However, it's been done. The
advantage of the way that they were finally done in terms of recognizing five
elders – some of whom were good friends of mine; I had the pleasure of working
with. I knew them all. These bridges are now named in their honour. At least we
had the opportunity to speak to the Innu, speak to the Innu community, speak to
the Innu leadership, and say: What would you like to do?
The real
tragedy of this bill here today, of course, is we aren't able to speak to the
Beothuk. I think we're all realizing the importance of that and reflecting just
how good it would be to go back and correct history. As my colleague from
Torngat Mountains said, the atonement that is involved in here, we all
collectively need to really understand that word and really work with that word.
Finally,
I need to say that I also would like to encourage government to think about some
of the other names that have been changed. I'm going to go to one that's right
in the heart of my district, and that is this name: Churchill River. Its
original name was actually – and I thank my colleague from Labrador West from
reminding me, but it was actually Mishta-shipu. That's the name that the Innu
called it. It means Grand River. Shipu means big river. And there's
Mishta-shipu, -shipit and -shipish, meaning different-sized rivers. But
Mishta-shipu is the Grand River. It's the largest river in our province. Mr.
Smallwood and his team in 1965 said let's call it the Churchill River. The
settlers that had come prior to that time and since, working with the Innu and
so on, they used the concept Grand River.
There
are a lot of folks that would be looking for government to think about some of
these other mistakes. These are recent mistakes I would say. Not going back to
the time when we lost the Beothuk, but we've got a lot of mistakes to make up
for.
I'll
leave those thoughts with government and I thank you for your time, Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Government House
Leader.
S. CROCKER:
Thank you very much, Mr.
Speaker.
Mr.
Speaker, I move we adjourn debate on Bill 12.
SPEAKER:
In accordance with paragraph
9(1)(b) that this House now do recess until 2 p.m. this afternoon.
Recess
The
House resumed at 2 p.m.
SPEAKER (Bennett):
Admit strangers.
Order,
please!
Before
we begin, I would like to welcome a new face to our Table today, Evan Beazley.
Evan
recently joined our Office of the Clerk on a temporary assignment in a Clerk's
role, having served in Hansard since 2018.
Please
join me in welcoming Evan.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
Statements by
Members
SPEAKER:
Today, we will hear
statements from the hon. Members of the Districts of Exploits, Labrador West,
Harbour Main, St. John's Centre, Topsail - Paradise and Waterford Valley, with
leave.
The hon.
the Member for Exploits.
P. FORSEY:
Thank you, Speaker.
On
September 17, 1946, Gordon and Marie Lannon were married in Bishop's Falls, in
what was then the British colony of Newfoundland.
Speaker,
this September, Gordon and Marie celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary in
Bishop's Falls, their home for all those years.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
P. FORSEY:
A diamond anniversary and a rare occurrence. They still reside in the home where
they raised eight children and have 16 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren
– their great legacy.
Over the
years, Gordon worked 44 years with the Canadian National Railway and Marie was a
stay-at-home Mom and later worked part-time at the local library. They both have
been active in various church and community organizations.
Speaker,
I ask all Members in this House of Assembly to join me in congratulating Gordon
and Marie Lannon of Bishop's Falls on their 75th wedding anniversary.
Thank
you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Labrador West.
J. BROWN:
Thank you, Speaker.
I rise
today to acknowledge Dwayne Broomfield who completed the 535-kilometre bike ride
from Labrador City to Happy Valley-Goose Bay to raise awareness for a rare
medical condition their son was born with called VACTERL association. In
addition, they also aimed to raise money for a local charity called Toys for
Joys, a Labrador West charity that gives gifts to children at Christmas whose
families are struggling financially.
Dwayne
completed the 535-kilomtere ride in only three days and, in total, he raised
$7,060 for Toys for Joys.
Raising
awareness for VACTERL was important to Mr. Broomfield and his wife as the
condition is so uncommon. When their son was born and diagnosed they hadn't
heard of this condition, so if they could provide awareness to other parents
about what it is and how children with this condition can lead relatively normal
lives, maybe it wouldn't be so scary if they got this diagnosis.
Dwayne
isn't done yet. This summer he intends to ride from L'Anse au Clair to Happy
Valley-Goose Bay to continue his journey.
I ask
all Members to join me in thanking Dwayne Broomfield and his wife, Kelly
Nippard-Broomfield, for being strong advocates for their son, raising awareness
for VACTERL and donating to a charity that will help many families in Labrador
West this Christmas.
Thank
you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Harbour Main.
H. CONWAY OTTENHEIMER:
Thank you, Speaker.
I had
the privilege this past Friday to visit Mary Costigan of Harbour Main, who on
Monday of this week celebrated her 100th birthday.
Mary
Costigan, the third child of eight children of Patrick and Rachel Hawco, was
born in North Arm, Holyrood. In her younger years, Mary travelled the province
working at both the Argentia and Stephenville American bases in the mess halls.
She met her husband of 74 years, Cyril, who was a World War II veteran and a
recipient of the Queen's Jubilee Medal before his passing in 2017. Together they
had nine children, 10 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. Today, Mary
resides in the family home in Harbour Main with two of her sons.
Some
memorable moments in her life was meeting and having a great conversation with
Frank Sinatra. She recalls fondly how he insisted that she call him Frankie.
Another moment for Mary was as a young girl blueberry picking with friends in
Holyrood. She witnessed the Hindenburg
flying low overhead. She recalls them hiding in the woods with fear because, at
the time, they did not know what it was.
Speaker,
I ask all Members to join with me in celebrating Mary Costigan on her 100th
birthday.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for St.
John's Centre.
J. DINN:
Thank you, Speaker.
The
current St. Teresa's School opened in 2014. Like other schools, teachers and
staff seek to provide the best opportunities for their students and instill in
them a deep sense of community service.
A
$100,000 Indigo Love of Reading grant revitalized the school learning commons
and classroom libraries; a $10,000 Farm to School grant funded the construction
of six raised beds allowing teachers to engage students in hands-on learning
with a focus on sustainability, food security, healthy eating and outdoor
education; a provincial Active Schools, activate your outdoors grant purchased
materials to help integrate the curriculum in an outdoor classroom setting;
teacher and Juno award-winning member of The Swinging Belles, Erin Power,
participates in the RPM Challenge with her class; and teachers cook, prepare and
serve over 1,200 meals weekly as a part of the Kids Eat Smart breakfast club.
Over the
past two years teachers and students made stockings for seniors, valentine
treats for The Gathering Place, cookies and thank-you cards for city workers
after Snowmageddon, cleared walkways in neighbouring streets for residents,
painted canvases for residents of seniors homes and created videos and thank-you
cards for front-line workers.
Mr.
Speaker, St. Teresa's elementary is truly a community school.
Thank
you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Topsail - Paradise.
P. DINN:
Speaker, today, I would like
to pay tribute to a great friend of many and a true community ambassador who
passed away last week after a courageous fight with cancer.
Vince
Burton hailed from Shea Heights but settled in Paradise over 50 years ago with
the love of his life, Pat. They have two wonderful children, Vince Jr. and his
wife Nancy, and Michelle and her husband Chris and four grandchildren, of whom
Vince was so proud: Joey, Maggie, Lawson and Spencer.
Vince
spent many years as a labour leader with the carpenters and millwrights union
and from 2009 to 2017 served on the Paradise town council. Vince volunteered for
numerous organizations and community groups, giving generously of his time and
was a huge supporter of the CBS/Paradise Community Food Bank and the school
lunch program. He served on several committees of council and was a strong
advocate for the construction of the Paradise Double Ice Complex.
Vince
will certainly be missed.
I ask
all hon. Members to join me celebrating the life of Vincent Joseph Patrick
Burton. May he rest in peace.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Waterford Valley, with leave.
T. OSBORNE:
Thank you, Speaker.
I ask
leave of the House to present a private Member's statement.
AN HON. MEMBER:
Leave.
SPEAKER:
Leave is granted.
T. OSBORNE:
Thank you, Speaker.
Today I
acknowledge and congratulate Labatt Brewery on Leslie Street in my district. On
October 21, the brewery celebrated a remarkable accomplishment: Zero Lost-Time
Injuries over the past 10 years.
Lost-Time Injuries are the top recordable metric on the Occupational Health and
Safety pyramid. This metric is used across all industries to gauge how safe a
company is.
Labatt
Brewery, St. John's has 63 full-time employees and currently holds the record
for the longest period of time without a Lost-Time Injury. This record is across
every Labatt and AB InBev brewery in all of North America. This is truly an
amazing accomplishment.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
T. OSBORNE:
Labatt has an active
workplace occupational health and safety program, but this kind of safety record
does not happen without the buy-in and co-operation from all employees. This
accomplishment speaks to the commitment of every single employee, to ensure that
all safety protocols are followed and that new initiatives are identified to
keep people from being injured on the job.
Speaker,
I'd like to ask all Members of the hon. House to join me in congratulating
Labatt, St. John's and all of their employees on this outstanding achievement in
workplace safety.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
Statements by Ministers.
Statements by
Ministers
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Children, Seniors and Social Development.
J. ABBOTT:
Speaker, today I recognize
Foster Families Month, which is observed in October.
As the
Minister of Children, Seniors and Social Development, I want to acknowledge the
tremendous contributions of foster families in ensuring the safety and
well-being of the province's children and youth.
Throughout Newfoundland and Labrador, there are approximately 570 foster
families dedicated to providing safe, stable and supportive homes to help
children and youth navigate complex situations.
Whether
providing respite on weekends, daily care or a forever home, foster families
play a vital role in supporting the best interests of children or youth in care.
This
month is especially important to celebrate, appreciate and commend foster
families for their invaluable service.
I would
also like to take this moment to recognize the positive work of the Newfoundland
and Labrador Foster Families Association which supports foster parents
throughout the province collaboratively with the department, and I had the
opportunity to visit with them earlier in the month.
Speaker,
I invite everyone in this hon. House to join me in thanking foster families
throughout the province for their compassion, dedication and lasting impact on
the lives and futures of children and youth in care.
Thank
you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Placentia West - Bellevue.
J. DWYER:
Thank you, Speaker.
I thank
the minister for an advance copy of his statement.
On
behalf of the Official Opposition, I would like to also recognize this month,
October, as Foster Families Month. To the 570 foster families in this province
who provide caring and loving homes, I wish to extend my thanks and a genuine
appreciation.
Foster
families provide positive environments and role models for children and youth
who are in their care. They provide more than just shelter; they provide a space
where children and youth can be loved and can overcome any challenges they face.
I would
also like to take a moment to recognize the Newfoundland and Labrador Foster
Families Association for the role they play in supporting foster families and
their advocacy efforts. It is important to have strong association in this
province.
Finally,
Speaker, I do want to encourage any families who are considering foster care to
learn more and to get in touch with the Foster Families Association to see if
foster care is the right fit for their family.
Thank
you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the
Official Opposition – or the Leader of the Third Party.
J. DINN:
I haven't been promoted that
far yet.
SPEAKER:
A little bit of work yet.
J. DINN:
I'm good.
Thank
you, Speaker.
I thank
the minister for an advance copy of his statement. I will join him in saying
that foster parents do play a crucial role in shaping the leaders of tomorrow,
and I thank them for their work and they deserve our appreciation.
To the
children in care in this province, know that you are the future and that you are
part of the Newfoundland and Labrador family.
Today I
encourage the government to follow through on implementing culturally
appropriate supports, particularly as it relates to healing intergenerational
trauma.
Thank
you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Immigration, Population Growth and Skills.
G. BYRNE:
Speaker, it's important for
me to report to this House that, yesterday evening, a plane carrying 116 Afghan
refugees arrived in St. John's to begin a new life in a new country and under
very new circumstances. We look forward to the tremendous contribution that our
new residents will make to the province and to our country, but we must first
acknowledge the incredible contribution that they've already made.
As we
are aware, during the course of the war against tyranny in Afghanistan,
extremely brave and principled Afghan people chose to stand up and work
co-operatively with Canadian and NATO-led efforts to create security; to help
educate children, including girls; to build infrastructure to improve the
quality of life within Afghanistan; and to bring greater social justice to
everyone in that country. They did so knowing that this would place them in
direct harm's way from those who opposed those efforts.
The
people who arrived here last night are those very same leaders; those who stood
up and stood out. They and the families that accompany them deserve our
steadfast respect and support. We owe it to them as a country. Newfoundland and
Labrador is doing its part.
I would
further like to acknowledge that when the federal government took the decision
to direct this group of Afghans to St. John's under its government-sponsored
refugee program, they did so feeling very confident that they would be welcomed
with open arms by the people of Newfoundland and Labrador. This, Speaker, is the
first group of Afghans to land in Canada outside of Calgary or Toronto.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
G. BYRNE:
The federal government will
provide resettlement supports to all of these heroes for the next year and even
longer as required. They will work with their chosen settlement services
provider, the Association for New Canadians, to assist them and, with the help
of the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, to prepare to welcome newly
arriving children to schools and to support efforts to find housing for the
arriving families.
Speaker,
I would like to acknowledge the team efforts of professionals from the
Association for New Canadians; Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada;
Eastern Health; Health and Community Services; Children, Seniors and Social
Development; the Newfoundland and Labrador English School District; Newfoundland
and Labrador Housing Corporation, along with my own department staff of
Immigration, Population Growth and Skills who have been working together to
welcome these courageous heroes.
As these
individuals and families settle to life in Newfoundland and Labrador, I ask that
everyone be conscientious of their privacy. And for those who want to help, we
encourage you to please contact the Association for New Canadians who are
coordinating efforts for donations of personal effects and clothing.
Mr.
Speaker, this is a wonderful day for us all.
Thank
you very much.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for Grand
Falls-Windsor - Buchans.
C. TIBBS:
Thank you, Speaker.
I thank
the minister for an advance copy of his statement.
Speaker,
I rise today to join with the minister to acknowledge and welcome 116 Afghan
refugees that arrived in our province yesterday evening – the start of a new
life in Canada.
The
individuals and families that arrived here yesterday worked together with
Canadian- and NATO-led efforts, so now it's time for us to do our part by
opening our hearts and our communities.
Speaker,
we, as Canadians, pride ourselves on being welcoming and providing supports
where they are needed. As Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, we pride ourselves
even more so.
The
Official Opposition stands with the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador and
we are privileged to offer our support where we can to offer these brave souls a
new home.
Thank
you, Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the
Third Party.
J. DINN:
Thank you, Speaker, and I
thank the minister for an advance copy of his statement.
I
commend the minister and join him in welcoming the 116 Afghan refugees.
Diversity will be the future success of our province and the government must
recognize that there are two parts to an immigration attraction and retention
strategy.
I
encourage the minister to look at both sides of the strategy and focus on
retaining these people who come and put supports in place so that the 116
Afghans and other immigrants will stay and make Newfoundland and Labrador their
home.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
Are there any further
statements by ministers?
Oral
Questions.
Oral Questions
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the
Official Opposition.
D. BRAZIL:
Speaker, the Member for
Ferryland has been loud and clear raising the concerns for his constituents
regarding the lack of ambulance for the Trepassey area. Yesterday, we were told
that there was a red alert in the area for eight hours. Eight hours where an
entire region of the province was at the verge of disaster.
I ask
the Premier: Do you think an eight-hour red alert in rural Newfoundland is
acceptable?
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Health and Community Services.
J. HAGGIE:
Thank you very much, Speaker.
Ambulance response times are important as a benchmark. A red alert simply
describes the nature of the logo on the ambulance that responses to your 911
call. It simply indicates it will not be an Eastern Health vehicle. It could be
a private one; it could be a community ambulance.
The
important message for the people of this province is that there is an ambulance
ready to respond should you need it. Red alert simply describes the colour of
the logo on the vehicle.
Thank
you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the
Official Opposition.
D. BRAZIL:
Mr. Speaker, it's disturbing
for people when they wait eight minutes for a metro bus. Eight hours to get an
ambulance when you're in a health crisis, that's not acceptable in any part of
this province.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
D. BRAZIL:
Speaker, the Minister of
Health previously claimed it was the contractor's decision to remove the second
ambulance from the area, yet the department stated it had made the decision to
move the second ambulance and not the contractor, according to a media report.
I ask
the Premier: Which explanation should the people of this area believe, Eastern
Health or the Minister of Health?
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Health and Community Services.
J. HAGGIE:
Thank you very much, Mr.
Speaker.
I think
it's a bit misleading, really, to say that there was an eight-hour wait for an
ambulance. I'm sure that if the Member opposite had had that problem, given our
recent discussions, I would've heard about that, but, obviously, I'd be happy to
receive specifics of a particular case and investigate that.
The
decision about location of ambulances between a private contractor, the
department and Eastern Health is a collaborative one. It's made on workload
estimates. The issue is one end of the district has had a significant decline –
over 40 per cent, nearly 50 per cent – in their population and their calls. The
other end of the district has had a significant increase. Ambulances have been
repositioned. In the event one is deployed, there will be dynamic dispatching; a
second vehicle will be moved closer to cover it, Mr. Speaker.
I think
it's important to realize an ambulance will come should one be needed.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the
Official Opposition.
D. BRAZIL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
But an
eight-hour red alert is an eight-hour red alert, no matter where you live and no
matter how big your population is. If you need it, you need it.
Speaker,
the reality of this situation is the minister has tried to solve one problem by
creating another one elsewhere in the province. Shuffling deck chairs on a
sinking ship does not solve the health care crisis in Newfoundland and Labrador.
I ask
the Premier: Will you instruct your Minister of Health to listen to the concerns
from the people on the ground and reinstate the second ambulance to the
Trepassey area?
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Premier.
PREMIER A. FUREY:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and
thank you for the opportunity to address this question.
Look, we
know that medical transport is an issue for the province and the people who are
using it, most importantly the patients and those in need. We understand that.
That's why we've asked the Health Accord to look at that specific issue. It is a
local issue. I understand for someone who has waited eight hours that is
certainly a real and important issue for them and we're empathetic and
compassionate and sympathetic to them. We will look at solutions for sure.
But on
the grander scheme and what we've been tasked with here in this House is to come
up with system solutions so that this doesn't continue to happen time and time
again. We've been provided an opportunity of history here in this House and it's
incumbent upon all of us that we be the visionaries that's required to create a
sustainable system for the future of this province, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the
Official Opposition.
D. BRAZIL:
Thank you, Speaker.
Empathy
and compassion is important, but we need immediate interaction here. When people
have a health emergency, they need action immediately.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
D. BRAZIL:
Speaker, today we learned that nine physician positions for the recently
announced collaborative care team in the metro area are being advertised for
competition.
I ask
the Premier: While we support the creation of the new collaborative care teams
as noted in our Blue Book, will these nine positions be filled by new recruits
or will they come from rural Newfoundland and Labrador?
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Health and Community Services.
J. HAGGIE:
Thank you very much, Mr.
Speaker.
Eastern
Health's recruiting practices are very clear. They follow industry and health
standards. The fact is that there is such an interest in there; we are in the
luxurious position in Eastern of having ample number of interested physicians.
Competition is the fairest way to get the right person to provide the services
that Eastern Health and the people of metro need. I think it's an example of how
the appeal of these teams, these group practices is going to transform the
delivery of primary care so you get the right care from the right provider in
the right place at the time you need it.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the
Official Opposition.
D. BRAZIL:
Thank you, Speaker.
Our
concern is yet another reshuffling could be solving one problem here and causing
another problem there, as I think the minister just outlined.
I ask
the Premier: If these nine positions are filled by doctors from rural
Newfoundland and Labrador, what will happen to the patients they leave behind?
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Premier.
PREMIER A. FUREY:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
We are
trying to change the deck of cards not just continue to shuffle the same cards,
Mr. Speaker. We recognize that there are problems and we are looking at
long-term solutions with respect to changing the system including the
collaborative care clinics, including what the Health Accord is going to say,
Mr. Speaker.
These
are smart, dedicated, advanced people providing a collaborative approach moving
forward. I'm happy that the Opposition finally joined because we welcome their
voice. We welcome all voices at that table so we can create that system.
This is
not about taking one doctor to replace another one within the system, it's about
growing the system, growing the pie so that everyone, no matter where you live,
have access to people that are required during a time of need, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the
Official Opposition.
D. BRAZIL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
If you
want to have a good card game and shuffle the decks and play with a new deck,
you should get all the players at the table. I think you should start with the
Medical Association, getting them at the table, maybe it would solve some
problems.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
D. BRAZIL:
Speaker, this is getting at
the fundamental issues of government's approach to the health care crisis. The
Minister of Health may talk about $30 million attached to the collaborative team
announcement, but he doesn't mention that there is only $7 million in new money
within the $30 million.
Is the
minister and the Premier more interested in a good headline than actual
solutions to the health care crisis facing our province right now?
I ask
the Premier: Will you stop pitting one region of the province against another
and find a real solution to the health care crisis before us?
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Health and Community Services.
J. HAGGIE:
Thank you very much, Speaker.
The
arguing over sums here does not address the fundamental problem that the people
of this province have, which is their ability to get the care they need from the
right person at the right time.
Our
package last week starts to address that problem, concentrating initially on
metro and then with clinics in Central and Western. The medium- to long-term
strategy is about recruitment and retention. It is making graduates of the
Family Medicine Residency Program here, and elsewhere, look at Newfoundland in a
positive light.
We have
put $100,000, for example, for those who come to work here from wherever and
choose to join a collaborative clinic. I could go on, Speaker, but I see my time
is up.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Ferryland.
L. O'DRISCOLL:
Thank you, Speaker.
Yesterday the Portugal Cove South area was in red alert for eight hours – not
waiting, in red alert. The town is 2½ hours from the nearest emergency room.
During
the red alert, a woman having severe chest pains required an ambulance and one
was not available. The woman's spouse took her in a vehicle to meet the
ambulance from Cape Broyle, which was an hour away from Portugal Cove South, and
then transferred her to another ambulance on her way to St. John's, given her
condition. This situation could have ended in tragedy.
I ask
the minister again: Will he reposition a second ambulance to the local area
before it is too late?
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Health and Community Services.
J. HAGGIE:
Thank you very much, Mr.
Speaker.
Obviously stories such as this are of great concern. It is the first time that
I'm hearing this here and would be delighted for the Member opposite to provide
some detail so we can look into it.
Mutual
aid is something that has existed in the ambulance service here for maybe 40
years. What that means is in the event that one operator is committed others
stand ready and move to assist. In the case of the district under question, we
move ambulances from one location to another. Periodically, there is a need for
more skilled personnel to arrive and join the first team. That is not unusual
and that reflects our need to have more advanced care paramedics. We're working
with NAPE and with CNA to provide just that, Mr. Speaker.
Thank
you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Ferryland.
L. O'DRISCOLL:
Thank you, Speaker.
Well,
yesterday dynamic dispatching didn't work. It was still in Cape Broyle when they
made the call and it was in red alert when that happened. The last time I asked
the question on ambulances in the area, you accused me of fear mongering or I'm
not sure if it is going to be called rhetoric, but I am acting on the concern of
the constituents in the Trepassey and surrounding area.
Speaker,
the minister has numerous chances to fix this situation. The towns of the area
have pleaded with the minister to step in and fix the crisis, but are met with
silence from this government. If an ambulance is even to respond, it is an hour
away.
I ask
the minister yet again: Before we have a fatality, are you going to step in and
restore the second ambulance in the Trepassey region?
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Health and Community Services.
J. HAGGIE:
Thank you very much, Mr.
Speaker.
Obviously, if specifics are supplied, we will look into this. Response times are
the metric that we use. We are not as concerned about where the ambulance came
from or who provided it, as long as it gets there in a timely way. If the Member
has concerns, and obviously he has, we'd love to hear them.
I would
take a little bit of issue, though; we have discussed this across the floor of
the House. We have discussed this in sidebars, and I have had correspondence
back and to with the municipal leaders. So, Speaker, I would take a little bit
of issue with the fact that there has been silence from the department.
Thank
you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Placentia West - Bellevue.
J. DWYER:
Speaker, as the COVID-19
outbreak in the Marystown area continues, I want to take this opportunity to
thank Eastern Health and the entire Public Health team for their efforts to
mitigate the spread.
My
question is for the Minister of Education. With two schools closed to date,
other schools in the region are uneasy with the potential risk of spread.
I ask
the minister: Will you consider a circuit breaker for other schools in the
region and shift them to online learning, knowing the high risk of transmission
that remains in the area?
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Education.
T. OSBORNE:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I
thank the Member for his question.
This is
very important topic, no question. The attendance numbers on the Burin
Peninsula, Mr. Speaker, have been a little bit slower to rebound than we've seen
in other areas, such as Deer Lake and the South Coast last year. It is something
that the NLESD and the department are looking at closely.
We do
follow the advice of the chief medical officer of Health and Public Health on
when it's safe to have a school open or not open. But I also understand the
importance of education to the children. So it is a topic that we are looking
at.
I'd be
more than happy to discuss it with the Member.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Placentia West - Bellevue.
J. DWYER:
Thank you, Speaker.
And I
can appreciate that, Minister, but like I said, there are people that are very
scared. I want the people who are making these decisions to understand that
Sacred Heart is on the campus with MCHS, and Pearce is on the campus with DCJA.
So they are in very close proximity and sharing buses. A lot of their cohorts
and families and stuff like that – some families have kids in all four schools.
So I
appreciate the work of Public Health, I really do and their efforts to date, but
the minister has to be able to take some responsibility for his department and
its efforts to keep children safe.
I ask
the minister: Will you re-examine how decisions to close schools are made in the
event of future outbreaks in Newfoundland and Labrador?
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Education.
T. OSBORNE:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Again, I
take the education of the children in the area very seriously. We have to
operate on the guidance of Public Health, Mr. Speaker. I am more than happy to
discuss with Public Health how the area has been responded to, based on the low
attendance numbers.
But
Public Health, based on a variety of inputs, including contact tracing,
including the risk in the community, epidemiology, provide advice to the NLESD
on when it is safe for a school to open and when it's not.
However,
I do recognize that the attendance numbers have been a little bit slower in the
area to rebound. So it is something we are looking at.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Stephenville - Port au Port.
T. WAKEHAM:
Thank you, Speaker.
A few
minutes ago, in response to questioning from our leader, the Minister of Health
talked about a red alert and used two words: simply describes. Speaker, I would
say there is nothing simple about a red alert when you're a person who finds
yourself in one.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
T. WAKEHAM:
Speaker, the Newfoundland and
Labrador Medical Association stated in a press release on Tuesday that 99 per
cent of members supported walking away from the negotiation table and 94 per
cent say they should stay away unless government brings forward “meaningful
improvement” over the September 29 offer from government.
I ask
the Minister of Finance: What meaningful improvements will you bring to
kick-start these negotiations?
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Finance and President of Treasury Board.
S. COADY:
I thank the Member opposite
for the question.
I truly
believe we have many areas of true agreement with the NLMA and, as I've said in
this House on many occasions, we acknowledge and agree that there is a pay issue
with fee-for-service family physicians. We truly believe that there are
solutions to be found on this. I think that we have solutions towards a full
agreement and I look forward to working with the NLMA and to coming to a good
solution and finding those good solutions, Mr. Speaker.
Thank
you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Stephenville - Port au Port.
T. WAKEHAM:
Minister, the Newfoundland
and Labrador Medical Association stated publicly that government offered zero
new investment in the Physician Services' budget.
I ask
the minister once again: Will she return to the negotiations with no strings
attached?
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Finance and President of Treasury Board.
S. COADY:
Thank you very much, Speaker.
I will
say that we never left the negotiating table. We would welcome a conversation
and discussion –
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
S. COADY:
– negotiations with NLMA. I
believe that I'm available to speak at any time with the Newfoundland and
Labrador Medical Association.
As I
said earlier, I believe that there are solutions that can be found, I believe
that there is agreement on some aspects of what we need to discuss and we
acknowledge and respect the fact that we have fee-of-service family physicians
that do have a pay issue that we need to address. So I look forward to having
those conversations with the Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Stephenville - Port au Port.
T. WAKEHAM:
Speaker, I would say that if the minister is really true to what she just said
that she would take that issue about the zero new investment off the table and
come prepared to have open and frank discussions.
Speaker,
the Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association has set a deadline of November
4 for a formal vote on whether to accept or reject government's latest offer.
So I ask
the minister: What is government's backup plan, should doctors vote to withdraw
services in this province?
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Finance and President of Treasury Board.
S. COADY:
First of all, Speaker, I
haven't heard the NLMA say that they were moving toward any kind of job action
so I'll correct the Member opposite when he lays that on the floor of the House
of Assembly.
I will
say, again, that there are lots of issues and challenges to be discussed with
the Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association. I remain ready to speak to
them at any time.
Speaker,
I do think that there are solutions available towards a full agreement and I
look forward to reaching one.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Stephenville - Port au Port.
T. WAKEHAM:
Mr. Speaker, the NLMA has
publicly stated that November 4 is the deadline for a formal vote but I wouldn't
be waiting until then. Why hasn't the minister actually reached out again and
openly and honestly say we're prepared to sit down and discuss all options
without restrictions?
Here's a
question for the Minister of Health who led the last work interruption by the
NLMA back in 2002. At that time the minister stated: We're exhausted by the
effort it takes to get government to listen and act.
I ask
the minister: Why don't you practice what you preach?
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Finance and President of Treasury Board.
S. COADY:
Thank you, Speaker.
I will
say that I have reached out to the NLMA. I have encouraged them; I've written
them; I've spoken to them; I've encouraged them to continue discussions around
the important issues that we have. As I said, I truly believe that there are
solutions to be found.
I've
said in this House on multiple occasions that we acknowledge and respect that
there are challenges with pay for fee-for-service physicians. I have said we're
available at any time to have a conversation and I certainly will stand by that,
Speaker.
I would
say that there are solutions to be found for a full agreement.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Stephenville - Port au Port.
T. WAKEHAM:
Speaker, enough is enough.
This deadlock is not helping the close to 100,000 people in this province who
have no access to a family doctor. It's not helping the people who can't get a
referral to a specialist because they have no family doctor. It's not helping
solve the health care crisis in Newfoundland and Labrador.
I ask
the minister: When will you stop trying to legislate the demise of the NLMA and
finally bargain in good faith?
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Health and Community Services.
J. HAGGIE:
Thank you very much, Speaker.
The
issue around mandatory membership has been around for seven years. It's been on
the table with the Medical Association for two. It is an issue around freedom of
association. It is currently in a phase of consultation. There are 10 groups
that are affected by this including dentists, pharmacists, optometrists and
massage therapists, to mention the ones that I have seen or I'm scheduled to
see.
This is
an issue around freedom of association and those consultations are currently
ongoing at the moment, then a decision will be made about what to do as a
consequence of those.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Conception Bay South.
B. PETTEN:
Thank you, Speaker.
Speaker,
yet another group of residents are protesting over the condition of the
province's roads, this time are residents of Colinet – one being a 91-year-old
man – who are fed up with the deplorable conditions of Markland Road.
Speaker
– and I know the Member from Placentia - St. Mary's probably agrees – late
yesterday the grader did show up, and the cameras rolled. It reminds me of some
patchy work done on Bennett's Road over the summer, which I'm sure the minister
fondly recalls.
I ask
the minister: Why do you only take action when the cameras are rolling? Because
this is not a new issue.
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Transportation and Infrastructure.
E. LOVELESS:
Thank you, Speaker.
I'll
remind the Member about Bennett's Road – that was pure politics, nothing more.
In terms
of Colinet, the two Members do have emails that I have where our superintendent
of operations communicated with one person that was in that media story that the
work would be done on the road this week and due to wet conditions they could
not do it.
Another
important fact is the fact that the operations were centered around Hurricane
Larry, which took personnel to focus on other issues other than that dirt road.
But the work got done yesterday and that's the most important thing from my
perspective.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Conception Bay South.
B. PETTEN:
Thank you, Speaker.
I think
the minister should check his TRIM because Mr. Davis, who is a 91-year-old man,
has written numerous, numerous letters – and I mean numerous letters – and I
sent a couple in for him, actually, to the ministers. He's well aware of this
issue. It's long before Larry and it's long before the supervisor sent the email
out.
This is
not new. I repeat: It is not new. And I'm sick of hearing about Markland Road,
it's not even in my district.
The
residents out with shovels –
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
B. PETTEN:
– and one of them being – the Government House Leader was the minister of the
day – residents were out with shovels and wheelbarrows filling massive potholes
with gravel. The road has been compared to bubble wrap.
I ask
the minister: Why are you spending 300 per cent more on the roads in your own
district when 91-year-olds are out with shovels and have to do the job
themselves?
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Transportation and Infrastructure.
E. LOVELESS:
Let me make it clear, I will not apologize for the investment that was made in
Fortune Bay - Cape La Hune this year, thank you very much to the Member
opposite.
In terms
of the roads in this province, he knows full well as well, because he was
executive assistant to a minister of Transportation at one point. He knows the
challenges with roads in this province that we face. We have a lot of roads –
too many of them, actually – bearing the responsibility of our operational crew,
they do a good job but we just have too many and it's a difficult task, no doubt
about it.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Harbour Main.
H. CONWAY OTTENHEIMER:
Speaker, RCMP officers in this province have a large area to police. The RCMP is
continually being asked to do more with less. We are hearing from residents and
police themselves that detachments are short staffed or at risk of closing
because there are not enough resources given them by the government.
What is
the minister doing to make sure there isn't a shortage of RCMP officers in this
province?
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Justice and Public Safety.
J. HOGAN:
Thank you, Speaker, and thank
you for the question.
We are
continually reviewing our budget and expenditures as they relate to policing in
this province with both the RNC and the RCMP. As everyone in the province knows,
and certainly everyone in this House knows, there are fiscal pressures in this
province that we're trying to deal with. We can talk about whose fault that is
but so be it.
We do
work with the RCMP on an ongoing basis for resource allocation and if there are
emergency situations – there have been situations in the past where we have
provided one-time funding requests.
I will
note that the RCMP are trying to modernize as much as possible as they can and
come up with new policing solutions, such as one that was mentioned in this
House this morning – a fly-in, fly-out model in Natuashish.
Thank
you, Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the
Third Party.
J. DINN:
Thank you, Speaker.
If
encouraging vaccinations is important and given what we witnessed in schools in
the Marystown and surrounding area and a vaccine is available for those 12 to
18, I ask the Minister of Education: Why on earth are non-essential activities
for that age group exempted?
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Education.
T. OSBORNE:
Thank you, Speaker.
I would
say to the Member that, again, this is a decision or guidance by Public Health
on who should or should not be vaccinated. We are not about to start questioning
the guidance provided to us by Public Health. I do understand that children, Mr.
Speaker, who cannot make the decision for themselves on whether or not to be
vaccinated, should not be precluded from receiving an education or being
involved in activities within the school.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the
Third Party.
J. DINN:
Thank you, Speaker.
Is the
minister telling me that Public Health doesn't believe that requiring 12- to
18-year-olds to be vaccinated for what are non-essential activities is safer for
our school communities?
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Education.
T. OSBORNE:
Mr. Speaker, I welcome the
Member to write Public Health or the Chief Medical Officer of Health. I'm
certainly not going to try to put words in her mouth as the Member does.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the
Third Party.
J. DINN:
I don't think I was putting
words in anyone's mouth, I was asking a question, Speaker.
With
whom in education does Public Health consult when developing policies for
classrooms and schools and does that advisor have classroom experience?
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Health and Community Services.
J. HAGGIE:
Thank you, Speaker. I'm
getting there.
The
Public Health team, both provincial level with the CMOH and the regional medical
officers of health, have various links with the Department of Education.
Certainly, at the regional level those links are with the directors locally of
the school district, as well as the principals of any school involved. I don't
know a lot about Education, but I think principals do have classroom experience.
From the
point of view of the department, Speaker, the CMOH liaisons directly with the
Department of Education at the ADM and DM level.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the
Third Party.
J. DINN:
Thank you, Speaker.
The
Newfoundland and Labrador Volleyball Association has said no to spectators at
its events. If access to extracurriculars are so important for children, will
the minister consider a ban on spectators at extracurricular and varsity
activities to make them as safe as possible and to avoid potential
confrontations with unvaccinated members of the public?
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Education.
T. OSBORNE:
Thank you, Speaker.
Speaker,
I'd certainly welcome a discussion with Public Health, the chief medical officer
of health and the Volleyball Association. I will continue to take guidance from
Public Health, Mr. Speaker, on how schools operate when they're safe to operate,
when schools are open and when they're closed, or what events can take place in
schools.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for Mount
Pearl - Southlands.
P. LANE:
Speaker, last week I
presented a number of petitions in this hon. House calling on the government to
join the other provinces of Canada in adding Trikafta, a life-changing
medication for those living with cystic fibrosis, to the province's drug
formulary. I've since been advised through unofficial sources that our
government does in fact intend on adding it to the drug formulary in November.
I ask
the minister: Can you please confirm for this hon. House that this will indeed
be done?
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Health and Community Services.
J. HAGGIE:
Yes, Speaker, I can. By the
end of November the product listing agreement with the drug company should be
completed and the drug will be available.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for Mount
Pearl - Southlands.
P. LANE:
Great news. Thank you.
Speaker,
the province's Consumer Advocate has recently pointed out a flawed process
within the Public Utilities Board, which is allowing Newfoundland Power to
submit what he terms as an excessive capital budget request without a full
capital budget hearing. He further adds that there hasn't been a full capital
budget hearing in 17 years and that Newfoundland Power has, by default, become
self-regulating. This is obviously not in the best interests of the consumers
and flies in the face of the reasons for having a Public Utilities Board in the
first place.
I
therefore ask the minister: Will he bring forward the appropriate legislative
changes required to close this gap and protect the interests of consumers in
this province?
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Justice and Public Safety.
J. HOGAN:
Thank you, Speaker, and I
thank the Member for the question.
The PUB
is an independent regulator with respect to electricity pricing. I have met with
the Consumer Advocate in the past on this very issue and had discussions with
him. We're looking at any and all options we can, but right now the PUB does
stand as it is. It's an independent regulator with regard to electricity
pricing.
Thank
you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
Time for one quick question.
No preamble, please.
P. LANE:
I ask the minister: In the
interest of openness and transparency, will he bring in the appropriate
legislative changes to bring Nalcor and OilCo under ATIPPA and allow the
province's Privacy Commissioner to determine what information can and cannot be
shared with the public?
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Government House
Leader.
S. CROCKER:
Thank you very much, Mr.
Speaker.
I think
if you reckon back to the Finance Minister's budget back in this spring, we
talked about accountability for all government agencies as we go forward. I
think if the Member opposite were to look at the Order Paper, he will see a
piece of legislation coming this session when it comes to accountability for all
government money as it's spent.
Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The time for Question Period
has expired.
Presenting Reports by Standing and Select Committees.
Tabling
of Documents.
Tabling of
Documents
SPEAKER:
I do have one.
As
required under section 51 of the House of
Assembly Accountability, Integrity and Administration Act, I'm pleased to
table the annual report for the House of Assembly Management Commission for the
2019-2020 fiscal year.
Any
other tabling of documents?
Notices
of Motion.
Notices of Motion
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Government House
Leader.
S. CROCKER:
Thank you, Speaker.
I give
notice that I will on tomorrow move in accordance with Standing Order 11(1) that
this House not adjourn at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, October 28, 2021.
SPEAKER:
Any further notices of
motion?
Answers
to Question for which Notice has been Given.
Petitions.
Petitions
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Stephenville - Port au Port.
T. WAKEHAM:
Thank you, Speaker.
These
are the reasons for this petition: The long-term care facility in Bay St. George
in Stephenville Crossing is 45 years old. It is one of the oldest long-term care
facilities in our province. It was not designed for the level of care it is now
providing residents. The building has substandard bathrooms which cannot
accommodate lifts. The rooms are antiquated and small in size in terms of length
and width. There is a need for a new long-term care facility for the people of
Bay St. George region and its current residents.
Therefore we petition the hon. House of Assembly as follows: To urge the
Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to replace the Bay St. George long-term
care facility so our seniors can receive the care they deserve.
Speaker,
as I said in the preamble, this particular nursing home was built in the '70s.
It was built to accommodate level 1 and 2 residents; it now is accommodating
level 3 and level 4. There are cases where if you want to bring a lift into the
room, a resident's bed has to be moved into the corridor in order for that lift
to be able to go into the room.
There
are several other major issues and challenges with bathroom access. The fact is,
as I said, it was never designed for the type of care it's providing. That's not
in any way a reflection on the great work that's being done by the staff, but it
is time that this particular home be replaced.
My
colleague from St. George's - Humber, where the current home actually resides in
Stephenville Crossing, is well aware of the challenges of this particular
facility, as I'm sure the Premier is, in terms of the poor working conditions
and the inadequacy of the set-up for the current type of resident that it has in
that particular home; as I said level 3 and level 4.
I would
ask the government to start the process, start the planning process. Start it
with next year's budget and start talking about the planning for a new long-term
care facility in the Bay St. George region.
Thank
you, Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Exploits.
P. FORSEY:
Thank you, Speaker.
Route
350, 351A and 352 in the Exploits District are main highways for the travelling
public in the district.
We, the
undersigned, call upon the House of Assembly to urge the Government of
Newfoundland and Labrador that immediate attention to brush cutting is needed in
this area as trees are now growing alongside the highways and is causing safety
issues with increased moose-vehicle accidents in the area.
Speaker,
this past couple of years I've put in for brush cutting in those areas; I
haven't received anything. It's becoming a big issue. I get a lot of calls from
the area because of the brush cutting. The roads are in deplorable condition,
but the brush now is also creating havoc with regard to driving along those
areas. The brush is certainly thick and there are trees growing up alongside the
highway, Speaker, that are causing dangerous conditions in this area.
I did
talk to the department and they tell me there was some tendering being done, but
I am just wondering if we will see anything this year on those routes, because
definitely some attention needs to be taken before we come back in here
reporting other incidents rather than just brush.
Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Transportation and Infrastructure.
E. LOVELESS:
Thank you, Speaker.
In terms
of that route, like many routes in this province that I travelled over this
summer and even in my own district there is – I mean brush cutting is a grave
concern for the commuters on these routes and certainly a concern for all of us.
I am proud to say to the Member that tender has been called for Route 350 and
work to be done on it.
Thank
you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for Lake
Melville.
P. TRIMPER:
Thank you, Speaker.
I am
very pleased to present this petition.
A little
bit of background first of all: At this time of crisis in health care, the
government took four years to prepare to negotiate a new contract with
physicians and then came back to the table with no proposals to address the
long-standing physician recruitment and retention problem and zero investment in
the Physician Services' budget.
WHEREAS
most specialties have fallen below the Atlantic average and Newfoundland and
Labrador's family doctors are the lowest paid in the country; and
WHEREAS
the per capita spending on physicians in Newfoundland and Labrador is among the
lowest in the country; and
WHEREAS
99,000 people of the province do not have a family doctor;
THEREFORE we, the undersigned, call upon this House of Assembly to urge the
Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to show leadership in the negotiations
with NLMA, resolve this impasse and work to build a spirit of co-operation with
physicians to resolve long-standing physician recruitment and retention problems
for the people of this province.
Speaker,
this reminds me of a time, some 20 years ago, during the discussions and
negotiations around the Voisey's Bay project. A certain Premier Tobin, at the
time, decided that not one spoonful of ore was going to move out of Northern
Labrador. While it was commendable on his part to have such a strong position in
terms of supporting development of the province, the North Coast of Labrador
needed that support.
It was
myself leading the Chamber of Commerce and a group from Placentia that formed
what was called the Alliance for Responsible Nickel Development to actually
convince government to get back to the table and I find myself here again today.
I am
very pleased for the petitions I have received from medical doctors in Labrador
and other officials here on the Island to see what we can do to convince
government to stop with the hostile environment, to reach out to the NLMA, let's
get back to the table and take the debate out of this room and back to the
negotiating table.
Thank
you, Speaker.
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Finance and President of Treasury Board for response.
S. COADY:
Thank you very much, Mr.
Speaker.
I
appreciate the petition. I will again remind this House and remind the people of
the province that we have not left the negotiating table. I truly believe that
there are areas of agreement between ourselves and the NLMA. I have acknowledged
and recognized, again, because I think it is important and I think that a lot of
the discussion has been around fee-for-service family physicians that there is
an issue with pay there, and we're prepared to get back and talk about the
solutions to that and reach a full agreement. I'm available at any time for
discussion.
I have
reached out to the NLMA, both in written form and in a telephone conversation.
So I'm prepared for a conversation at any time, Speaker. I think it's important,
but I also want to reiterate that I think that there are ways for us to reach a
full agreement to address these concerns.
Thank
you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
We don't have time for
another petition. It's only a minute before we start our Private Members' Day.
Orders of the Day
Private Members'
Day
SPEAKER:
This being Wednesday, I call
upon the Member for Baie Verte - Green Bay to introduce the private Member's
resolution.
B. WARR:
Thank you, Speaker.
As I
mentioned two days ago, this resolution is being seconded by the Member for
Burin - Grand Bank. So I move the following resolution:
WHEREAS
2020 and 2021 have been incredibly difficult for the tourism and hospitality,
arts and cultural industries in Newfoundland and Labrador; and
WHEREAS
many individuals and groups are working hard to make 2022 a successful year; and
WHEREAS
planning for 2022 is important now in order to take full advantage of the
anticipated demand from people wishing to return or to visit our province; and
WHEREAS
the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the tourism industry and its important
position as a key employer and revenue generator throughout the province; and
WHEREAS
the desire of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians who reside outside the province
to visit their families and friends has increased because of many months of not
being able to travel; and
WHEREAS
the abundance of municipalities across the province have local or regional
events planned for the 2022 tourism season; and
WHEREAS
the Minister of Tourism, Culture, Arts and Recreation's mandate letter announced
government's intention to have 2022 as a Come Home Year event; and
WHEREAS
government will continue to support the very effective provincial tourism
marketing and branding efforts that have brought so many visitors to
Newfoundland and Labrador; and
WHEREAS
Newfoundland and Labrador is a remote working destination of choice; and
WHEREAS
there are plans to encourage and convince Newfoundlanders and Labradorians
living outside the province, as well as first-time visitors, to stay and make
Newfoundland and Labrador their home to live and work;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that this hon. House supports the government's plan to
make 2022 a provincial Come Home Year celebration in all areas of Newfoundland
and Labrador.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for Baie
Verte - Green Bay.
B. WARR:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr.
Speaker, I quote: Some things remain as remembered. In the heart and mind of
every man and woman who has ever left home, nostalgia prints a kindly picture of
the past. Old friends, old scenes and all the things which dreams are made of
take on a lustre enhanced by distance and the passing of time. So will it be for
those who revisit Newfoundland and Labrador. The basic and best features of the
old homeland retain their appeal despite the process of progress and change.
The
people: Newfoundlanders and Labradorians have vastly improved their lot since
the days when immigration was the only escape from hardship. They are better
dressed, better fed and better educated. They are still the honest, industrious,
God-fearing and friendly folk they've always been. Most of all, they are
hospitably ready to welcome returning friends and relatives to show them a
rousing good time.
The
places: The sea is still the only highway between many of the coastal
settlements, but for hundreds of others the rapidly spreading network of new
roads have ended centuries of isolation. Around our shores, the long-settled
little towns and villages retain their distinctive character and charm. The
well-kept homes cluster in the coves and bays, spattering the broad cliffs with
cheery patches of colour. The ageless oceans still washes in and around the
wharves and stages, and the salted cod soak up their sun on the flakes.
The way
of life: They still take time to live in Newfoundland and Labrador, still shake
the floor of the parish hall with the lively squares and lancers. Neighbours
still come by for a mug up and a yarn. Radio and TV are spreading, but the
marine forecast and the price of fish will bend more ears than the day's doings
at the United Nations. There's time to relax with a good pipe when the skiff is
on the collar and the day's work is done.
Speaker,
I took that excerpt from – and I will not use it as a prop, but I will tell you
that it's the brochure from the 1966 Come Home Year celebrations in
Newfoundland. My heart wouldn't let me to use just Newfoundland. I had to
include Labrador in it as well, Speaker. Basically, that's the province that I
am in and the province, certainly, that I love. I don't know why I was chosen or
why it was suggested that I would bring in this resolution today. Perhaps it's
because I'm only one of a few on my side that remembers the 1966 Come Home Year.
Anyway,
it's a pleasure, Mr. Speaker, to be able to speak to the PMR today. While there
are still concrete plans being put in place, I just thought I would offer some
suggestions on things that we need to be aware of as a government and as a
people of the province, and ideas that I think would ensure – we have ministers
of all departments within government here listening today. We need to make sure
that our 2022 Newfoundland and Labrador Come Home Year will be a resounding
success.
I think
we need to include the following, Mr. Speaker – and just a couple of highlights:
transportation reliability. You can go anywhere in the province today. To the
benefit of my colleague, the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure who
sits next to me in the House of Assembly, undoubtedly, the Trans-Canada Highway
in this province is probably in the best shape that it's ever been. It's a very
welcoming piece of highway that stretches across this vast province. Lots of
money has been put into this piece of infrastructure and I salute government for
the investment that they've made.
But, Mr.
Speaker, air travel, we have several places within the province and Labrador
that people can certainly fly into. We need to ensure that people are able to
come to this province in an economic way. We hear the cost of airfares
continuously, that people are finding it hard to afford airfare.
I'll
move from airfare to ferry services, Mr. Speaker. Certainly, our federal
colleagues in Ottawa are responsible for the passageway between North Sydney and
Port aux Basques and Argentia. We need to ensure, again, that if we're going to
be planning this Come Home Year that we need to ensure that ferry rates are
reasonable and not necessarily on a load-and-go basis, but the next thing to
that, we need to ensure that we can be able to accommodate these visitors to our
province.
Even
with the provincial ferries, Mr. Speaker, I'd certainly again talk to my
colleague next to me in discussing ways that we may be able to increase because
we want people to see all parts of our Island. Not just the mainland parts but
those that are certainly accessible by ferry and which the minister has many in
this own district, as I do.
Mr.
Speaker, it was only a little while ago that I've had colleagues of mine that
have flown into certain areas of the province and unable to rent a car. We need
to ensure that collaboration happens between all these service providers here
within the province. We need to ensure that these basic services are in place.
While I
mention the Trans-Canada Highway undoubtedly being in the best shape that it's
ever been, I think our signage – whether it be private signs or certainly
government signs – need to be updated. I get discouraged; I travel this Island
as much as anybody, Mr. Speaker. There may be a few truckers that travel a bit
more than I do, but I always look at the signs. I'm eager to go to different
places throughout the province and lots of times it's signage that takes me
there. So we need to make sure that we encourage as many of these people who own
signs to make sure that they're up to date.
The
other thing I wanted to speak about, Mr. Speaker, was accommodations and
encouraging the hotel and motel operators to ensure that their space is
welcoming as well to people who are visiting from away. Not only visiting from
away but people from our own province who want to be able to go back and forth
to other parts of the province, to be able to enjoy this celebration.
We talk
about B & Bs, Airbnbs, cottage rentals and campgrounds, Mr. Speaker, of which we
have many. I'm very proud of the campground operators within the province and,
in particular, my own district, Mr. Speaker, both serviced and unserviced lots.
We have campgrounds at Flatwater in the Baie Verte Peninsula; George Huxter
Memorial Park in Springdale; Blue Canoe just west of the Springdale Junction;
Crescent Lake down at Robert's Arm, Crescent Lake Park; Kona Beach; Maple Ridge
RV Park in Triton; King's Point RV Park; and Island Cove RV Park in La Scie.
I'm
looking across at the Member for Grand Falls-Windsor – Buchans. I will mention
Catamaran as well, Mr. Speaker. It is halfway between his district and mine but
I will take ownership as the owner comes from my community.
Mr.
Speaker, I just want to talk about our food, our music and our traditions, and
celebrating both our Indigenous and European culture as well. I think it is
important that we talk about family and making sure these celebrations are
directed towards family, especially children. I expect that a lot of these
people who will be coming home, Mr. Speaker, will be young families visiting the
province; maybe went away as a younger generation, now coming back to enjoy a
little bit of what they've missed all these years.
I
thought about unique ways to be able to visit the province and visit all parts
of the province. Something that has been really, with regard to tourism, a hot
topic over the last few years, especially here on the Island, Mr. Speaker, was
craft breweries. Again, a unique way to visit the province. A craft brewery tour
would ensure that you see and have a taste of all parts of this breathtaking and
scenic province.
I just
thought, Mr. Speaker, that I'd highlight some of the craft breweries: Iron Rock
Brewing Co. in Lab City; RagnaRöck Northern Brewing Company in St. Anthony;
Bumblebee Bight Brewery in my district in Pilley's Island; Split Rock Brewing
Co. in Twillingate; Crooked Feeder Brewing Co. in Cormack; Rough Waters Brewing
Company in Deer Lake; Western Newfoundland Brewing Co. in Pasadena; Secret Cove
Brewing Company in Port au Port; Bootleg Brewing Co. in Corner Brook; Boomstick
Brewing Co. in Corner Brook; Port Rexton Brewing Co. in Port Rexton; Dildo
Brewing Company; Baccalieu Trail Brewing Company in Bay Roberts; Brigus Brewing
Co. in Brigus; Quidi Vidi Brewery Co. in St. John's; Bannerman Brewing here in
town; Yellowbelly Brewery in town; Storm Brewing in Mount Pearl; Ninepenny
Brewing in CBS; and Landwash Brewery in Mount Pearl.
Opening
soon, Mr. Speaker: Little North Brewhouse in Baie Verte, Gander Brewery in
Gander and Union Electric Brewing Co. in Port Union. With the non-craft beer is
the Newfoundland Distillery Co. in Clarke's Beach and the Newfoundland Cider
Company in Milton.
Mr. Speaker, what better way to see the Province of Newfoundland and
Labrador and get a taste of each and every one of these lovely communities?
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
B. WARR:
The other thing that I just
wanted to highlight, Mr. Speaker, was the fact that adventure tourism is so
important to our province today. I certainly wanted to highlight probably some
of the better hiking trails, not all, but some of the more prestigious hiking
trails in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Certainly, Mr. Speaker, we have no other choice but start off with Gros
Morne. Beautiful Gros Morne in the Premier's district; the Skerwink Trail; the
famous and celebrated East Coast Trail including highlights such as La Manche
Village, Sugarloaf, the Spout, Cobblers Path, Mad Rock trail, Chance Cove
lobster trail, the Tablelands trail, Signal Hill, the Brigus lighthouse and,
certainly in my district again, Mr. Speaker, a trail that meets national
standards within the country is the Alexander Murray trail in King's Point.
Mr.
Speaker, I will continue to go on when I get an opportunity to speak a little
later, but I will leave it at that. I look forward to hearing some of the ideas
from my colleagues across the way and our own crowd on this side as we commence
to celebrate Come Home Year 2022.
Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Stephenville - Port au Port.
T. WAKEHAM:
Thank you, Speaker.
I don't
think anybody in this hon. House will disagree with this PMR. I thank the hon.
Member for bringing it forward. I suspect that your age wasn't probably the
reason you brought it forward, it might have been something you said about your
district and signage because everybody who drives down that highway has no
choice but to see the big sign: WELCOME TO SCENIC GREEN BAY. I think that's been
there for a long time. It's almost like a marker on the highway for you. So we
all look forward to that.
The PMR
WHEREASes were quite extensive and a number of them, so I'm not going to focus
on every WHEREAS, but I would like to pick out some words in each of the WHEREAS
statements, just to focus on them.
The
first one was the 2021 difficulties; it certainly was a difficult year and we
knew that. It was clearly highlighted in our economy notes in terms of the
significant impact that it had on our tourism sector. Again, to be able to try
to make that come back from what was a devastating year last year and to use
2022 as a way to move that forward would be really, really good.
For
2022, it talks about planning underway and we must plan now. I couldn't agree
more. It's so important because the Member opposite mentioned about the
adventure tourism. I want to talk about planning now because a lot of emphasis
is given to our summertime tourism, but, as the minister would know, we have a
great opportunity here in this province, especially on the West Coast in the
adventure tourism, winter adventure tourism business. That is a huge market.
It's not just about downhill skiing. It's about the snowmobiling and the
mountains. People tell me that, outside of going all the way to Alberta, there
was nowhere in between that you can access mountain trails for snowmobiling
without going through someone's private land in any other province except ours.
I think
there's a tremendous opportunity for us, but that needs to start now because
2022 is only a couple of months away. So it's going to be very critical that we
take advantage or start to capture that now.
Which
brings me again to the idea: Are we ready? Is our tourism apparatus already out
there? Are we getting ready to start? Are we ahead of the game? Have we taken
command of the digital space?
So those
are critical pieces. Let's not make it just about a Come Home Year from May to
September. Let's make sure that this is truly a Come Home Year.
One of
the other things that we talked about is towns' planning. I know there are towns
out there already now planning that have announced it: Middle Arm, Millertown,
Buchans, Green's Harbour, Botwood – they're all planning Come Home Years. So
let's make sure, whatever it is we're using for an advertising piece, that
there's a connectivity with all of that, so we're all part of that same thing.
The
Member talked about the travel piece of it and the air travel and the sea
travel. The air travel, obviously, I mean, the Greene report referred to the
fact that direct air links are critical for growth. That's going to be a
challenge with an industry that's trying to recover. But it's so critical for
us, because even in our own Economy document, we say that air travel generally
makes up the largest segment of provincial non-resident tourism, accounting for
72 per cent of non-resident visitors and 80 per cent of non-resident tourism
spending in 2019.
So,
again, getting those air links and working with our new federal ministers to
help establish that, it will be a challenge. Obviously, the industry is just
recovering.
But on
the sea route with Marine Atlantic – and if we're going to make 2022 our Come
Home Year, maybe we should be talking to our two newly minted federal ministers
about: let's take a model out of PEI for a year and let's look at the
possibility that maybe, just maybe, we could work out a structure or a plan that
somehow, with the involvement of the federal government, with the involvement of
our provincial government, that anyone travelling to Newfoundland in a passenger
car or a person coming to Newfoundland in 2022 on Marine Atlantic would have a
free trip over. They'd have to pay to get out, but –
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
T. WAKEHAM:
– we'll find a way to have
them come in free.
It's
like an outside the box – it's not putting all of our money into ads and it's
not for commercial, it's simply for individuals in their own cars or people
getting on the ferry. If we get them, we can keep them. I think there's a real
opportunity, especially if you get a lot of expats that want to come back home;
that's who we're after so let's focus on that.
The
WHEREAS clauses also referred to the remote working. A lot of people now are
working from home. We've seen some success in our province with people moving
here and starting to work here because their business may be located elsewhere
but they love the lifestyle that they have right here in our province.
So,
again, a Come Home Year gives us an opportunity, as the Member said, to promote
and, perhaps, increase the awareness of that opportunity. Because if we can get
them here, I think we have a tremendous opportunity to keep them. Promoting a
Come Home Year, inviting people to come, that would certainly give us that
opportunity.
The
WHEREASes talked about immigration. It was great to hear today about the
100-and-so people that have just moved here from Afghanistan and, again, another
opportunity, first-time visitors coming here to our province, an opportunity for
them maybe to say: Hey, I want to come back, I want to set up.
Let's
use 2022 as a Come Home Year to talk about people who want to come, other
professionals that may want to come and set up here when we start to market
ourselves as a destination and as a tourism haven to basically come to
Newfoundland and Labrador.
I think,
as I said before, there is no one that won't support Come Home Year 2022. The
challenges, of course, are around the – Come Home Year generally targets a
specific segment of the market: the expatriates. We all know that fellow
Newfoundlanders and Labradorians want to come home and welcome an opportunity to
come home; giving them an excuse or a reason to come home certainly will bring
them in.
Of
course, we know we love to socialize. So it's going to be critical, as a part of
2022, that when we're doing our modelling when it comes to this whole COVID
stuff that we factor in all of this into the equation so that we can find that
and make sure that we're strong and we're ready to go.
But,
again, we have to find a way to provide that support to all those operators and
getting the message out, because people like to plan in advance. They plan their
vacations well in advance, so we have to think about booking of the hotels, as
the Member mentioned, and all of those things and the accommodations. If there
is a way of coordinating somehow in a brochure of some kind so that we don't
wind up with one town competing with another on the same time of weekend. There
are so many places in this great province of ours for people to visit. We just
have to make sure that we're not all doing everything on the same weekend.
The
coordination from the minister's department will be critical to take the lead on
that, to make sure that that happens, so that we wind up with a Come Home Year
celebration that is province wide, focused on every single part of our province,
the far north to the far south and everywhere in between.
Like I
said, I think that it's critical that we start now and we start to think about
it as a 12-month Come Home Year and not just focus on a few summer months.
Thank
you, Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Municipal and Provincial Affairs.
K. HOWELL:
Thank you, Speaker.
I'm
pleased to have an opportunity today as a former town councillor and mayor of
St. Anthony and now the Minister of Municipal and Provincial Affairs. I know
that communities across the province will play a huge role in preparations for
Come Home Year 2022. A large part of the success will be accredited to the
communities that put off these great events.
Communities, their councils and their residents are really the boots on the
ground when it comes to getting initiatives planned and organized and bringing
them to reality. They've been doing this for years. They've done a great amount
of work; we've seen it. We've all attended festivals or community events or
anything that's planned and developed and then operationalized by our
communities. I would expect much of the same as we prepare for Come Home Year
2022.
I wasn't
around for the ultimate Come Home Year; I was but a twinkle in a my father's eye
in 1966. But, growing up, I have heard stories of what a fantastic experience it
was for people all over the province. At that time, there were many who came
home after being away for years. It truly was a come home get-together kind of
celebration.
Come
Home Year is not really a Newfoundland and Labrador creation; it's a Canadian
civic event for many towns. It encourages everybody to return to their hometown.
Clearly, it's recognized across the country as a means to draw generations home
to celebrate what has been, what they've accomplished, their families and the
lives that they've created. People who've moved away are encouraged to come home
and potentially stay
Since
1966, there's been several Come Home Years celebrated in our province. In 2000,
there was a provincial Come Home Year where many people came home to visit.
Individual towns have also celebrated Come Home Years over the past number of
years. In 2017, McIvers hosted a Come Home Year that temporarily tripled the
town's population, as did Rocky Harbour in 2017 and many other communities. Even
in my district, in 2019, St. Carols had a romping good time and they
accomplished a lot of great things for their community in the means of a Come
Home Year.
Speaker,
Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are very social. We love to come together and,
recently, it's been particularly difficult and even impossible since the
beginning of the pandemic. So our government has recognized the benefits of a
Come Home Year very early and made the following commitment in our Liberal
platform. Through the COVID-19 pandemic, we haven't been able to gather as we're
used to. We've gone a long time without seeing family and friends who live away.
As vaccines roll out, the Furey government will host Come Home Year 2022 to help
tourism and help reunite us all.
Come
Home Year is an excellent opportunity to attract tourism and to encourage
Newfoundlanders and Labradorians who've moved away to get back home. We know, as
I'm sure the hon. Members opposite see it, that many Newfoundlanders and
Labradorians around the globe are very anxious and ready to be home. And we need
to welcome them with open arms.
Speaker,
our communities always step up and they always show leadership. Let's face it;
this is an excellent opportunity for communities, residents, councils to
showcase their special piece of Newfoundland and Labrador. Communities will be
putting out the welcome mats for people travelling to the province, from
Newfoundlanders and Labradorians who are living away, all the way down to
first-time tourists who've come to the province to catch their very first
glimpse of Newfoundland and Labrador. We have so much to be proud of.
As the
Member opposite referenced, we have 12 months of awesome to put on display here,
and our communities will certainly be up for the task. They'll be preparing
their public places, their trails, their gardens, the tourist sites and they'll
be planning events like church teas, garden parties – I can't wait to get back
to Conche – and musical get-togethers, kitchen parties, shed parties. We will be
putting on a show.
With
that in mind, we've had significant discussions in our department – the
Department of Municipal and Provincial Affairs – on how we can engage
communities in this process. We see a huge potential here and it's an
opportunity to spice up our towns, get things in order and just add sparkle.
We
recognize how important our municipalities will be. To that end, I'm planning to
put together a budget within the department for next year to offer some
financial incentives and other support to towns as they get ready, because
company's coming. We want to make sure our communities are ready, as all of
these activities will leave a lasting memory. They'll provide us with the
opportunity to attract those who've moved away and hopefully remind them of how
special this place is and they'll want to stay.
Our
community leaders and residents, as they've done before, will pull out all the
stops and put their best face forward to welcome those returning and those
making their very first visits. We want to truly make them feel at home. We're
looking at ways that we can support our communities in their efforts to make
Come Home Year 2022 a success and keep a close eye out because I'll have more to
say about that in the future.
I can't
wait until the anticipation and the excitement starts to build. I mean you can
imagine how cool this is going to be when people start trekking back to the
Island. I encourage all Members of the House to support this private Member's
motion and work together to make Come Home Year 2022 a great success for all.
Thank
you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for Grand
Falls-Windsor - Buchans.
C. TIBBS:
Thank you very much, Speaker.
You know
we can banter all day long back and forth but this is a win, win, win for the
whole province. I want to compliment the government for bringing this forward. I
think it's important. I think it's a great PMR and again I compliment you. Great
job.
I think
that it's going to take a lot of hard work, obviously, a lot of planning.
Speaker, 2022 is not far away; it's right around the corner. I would suggest
that we set up some sort of a committee for ideas as well would be a great thing
to look at.
Speaker,
in 2000 when I was about 22, I moved to Ireland and I studied tourism. I know
that they triple their population each year. It was something that was deeply
close to my heart and I wanted to bring back my findings and apply them here in
Newfoundland and Labrador to complement our own tourism industry.
Even
back then I worked with somebody who is a pioneer for tourism here in
Newfoundland and Labrador and she should be commended, Ms. Brenda O'Reilly.
She's great and there are so many others like her. They just had the most
difficult year and a half in the province's history. So this PMR is actually
pretty emotional to some of us, to look forward to something that's going to be
absolutely fantastic. Again a win, win, win for everybody.
Come
Home Year 2022 for Newfoundland and Labrador, it's a unique opportunity. It's an
opportunity to showcase our heritage, our traditions and our history – our
history itself to what got us here today. That's something that we can all look
forward to and it comes from every sector of the province, both the Island and
the Big Land, to ensure that people come here and gives us an opportunity to
show them where we've come from.
It's a
bridge to where we're going but where we've come from; there are just so many
different dialects and so many different pieces of history. Newfoundland and
Labrador is one of the few places in the world you can travel 50 kilometres and
get completely different scenery, a completely different dialect when people
speak, and it's something that we have to offer the world. I hope everybody
shows up to visit it.
Many
great places here when we talk about our traditions and our history. The Viking
settlements that we have here – absolutely phenomenal. That's not something
that's everywhere in the world and it's something we're very proud of and we
look forward to showcasing that as well.
Many
Indigenous landmarks, we've talked about areas up my way, Buchans, Millertown,
Buchans Junction, this morning and the history that is there. It's the history
of a people that we are very proud of and, hopefully, gets the attention it
deserves as well.
The
outports throughout Newfoundland and Labrador, I mean, that's what we were first
built upon. It's something that there are less and less each year of people that
are in our outports but they are definitely a part of our history; a big part of
our history. We want to ensure that the world sees that as well.
The
architecture that's built across this province. You know, when we talk about
history, Speaker, it's a very small history when you compare it to places like
Europe and whatnot. But when we compare our history to North America, well by
God, we got some of the greatest entrenched history on this whole continent and
that's something to be very proud of, as well; I know I'm proud of it.
The
theatre world here in Newfoundland and Labrador: we have a great theatre world
here in Newfoundland and Labrador. The Queen Street Dinner Theatre in Grand
Falls-Windsor, that's been going on a very long time. I know people within this
House have seen it. It's a great dinner; it's a great show. I hope to see more
of them across the province here. They're a great thing for our youth, a great
community event and I look forward to seeing more of them across the province,
just like the Queen Street Dinner Theatre.
Of
course, one of my favourites, and the favourite of the Member sat behind me for
Cape St. Francis, the culinary. The culinary here in Newfoundland and Labrador
is great. We've talked about food quite a bit and we have some great culinary
experiences right here in Newfoundland and Labrador, from mom-and-pop fish and
chip places right up to some fine-dining cuisine. It's something to be very,
very proud of. I know I'm very proud of it and I look forward to go to different
areas of the province here.
We are
even getting more international, of course, with our cuisine and we have some
top-notch chefs right here in Newfoundland and Labrador that I'm very proud of.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
C. TIBBS:
Fishing and hunting: If anybody wants to come and do some fishing and hunting,
well guess what? There's no better place than Newfoundland and Labrador. Some of
my favourite times are on the Exploits River come the summer and it's an
absolutely fantastic experience to fly fish the Exploits River.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
C. TIBBS:
Yeah.
And do
you know what? I'm very proud also of – you see in many commercials from
Newfoundland and Labrador – I remember when I was flying back and forth to
Alberta. I was so proud to get on a West Jet flight or an Air Canada flight and
sit down in the seat there and on the back of the seat in front of you the first
thing we'd see is a provincial tourism commercial for Newfoundland and Labrador.
You're very proud to see it and everybody else is watching it. I'm very proud of
what they show in these commercials, you know, the oceans and the icebergs and
whatnot. It's definitely a big part of Newfoundland and Labrador.
We also
have another big part of Newfoundland and Labrador and that's our interior
waterways. Whether it be, again, throughout the Island or the Big Land there, we
have some lakes and rivers throughout Newfoundland and Labrador that are
absolutely world-renowned. I hope moving forward, we showcase some of this with
any of the literature we're putting out. I know in Grand Falls-Windsor there we
have river rafting on a Class III river and it's absolutely fantastic. They stop
on one of those islands and have a lunch. You get wet, you get some water
splashed on you and the guides are great. I hope to see that, as well, moving
forward.
We do
have some issues that need to be address when it comes to this, and this is not
political, by no means: a COVID plan. Of course, if we're going to have an
influx to this province we need to ensure that there is an intact, solid COVID
plan for if anything goes astray or goes wrong. We want to ensure that everybody
has a safe, happy and enjoyable experience when they come to Newfoundland and
Labrador. We, on this side, will do whatever it takes to help with that as well.
Gas
prices is another one. I would like to see something along the lines of if you
want to drive your car here – and, to me, that's the greatest way to experience
Newfoundland and Labrador. Yeah, you can fly here of course, but when you drive
across the Gulf and you get off, whether it be Port aux Basques or Argentia and
you make your way across the Island, that's what we truly want.
We want
everybody who's coming here to ensure that they see all of Newfoundland and
Labrador, from Gros Morne to Central Newfoundland, Twillingate, Avalon, St.
John's and many places in between. I'm sorry if I didn't mention anybody. But we
want you to drive across here. If you drive your own vehicle it would be great
to have a $50 or $75 destination card, gas card to anybody that's coming here
for the first time or whatnot that would like to experience the Island like it
should be experienced.
Cell
service is another one. Yeah, it's great and I encourage people to come here,
but we need to ensure that we have as much cell service, obviously, as we
possibly can. But also to let them know where there may not be cell service, and
that would come back to signage as well. If I'm going to go down a highway, sort
of thing, that I've never travelled before in Newfoundland and Labrador, I think
there should be signs there letting people know you may be losing cell service
for the next two hours. I think that's a very important strategy as we move
forward when it comes to people's safety and whatnot.
I'll end
on this one. When I studied tourism, you know, I gave guided tours around Dublin
for almost a year and it was a great experience. But one of the greatest things
that I've seen over there when it comes to tourism is information sharing. It's
a part that everybody has to be a part of, whether you are a restaurant or if
you're a hospitality unit. If you're entertaining somebody at your restaurant or
you have somebody staying there for the night, if you can't offer something, let
them know that it's two minutes down the road, the next community, 50 kilometres
away.
Somebody
is looking for some good Chinese food, for instance, or some good fish and chips
and it may not be in that area. We have to make sure that the people that are
addressing or welcoming our visitors know exactly – do you know what, the next
community over you're going to find the best fish and chips on the Island. Guess
what? They also have a heritage society there that shows the old railway going
across Newfoundland and Labrador. It might be of some interest to you.
I
suggest that we – literature, yes, for people that we want to come here, but I
hope that we have some training sessions as well for our own people that are
going to be entertaining the people that are going to be coming to our beautiful
province.
I just,
again, want to commend the government on bringing this forward. I am super,
super excited about it. I'm sure everybody is excited about it. It's an
opportunity for a couple of smiles after a year and a half of – it's been a
rough year and a half. It's a unique opportunity for us to come together now, 40
of us and the whole province, to welcome people to come here and let them know
that Newfoundland and Labrador: we are open for business.
Thank
you, Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER (Trimper):
Thank you.
Staying
on the theme of grand districts, the hon. the Member for Burin- Grand Bank.
P. PIKE:
Thank you for the opportunity
to speak to this motion.
Speaker,
the idea to celebrate Newfoundland and Labrador is indeed a wonderful
opportunity for family and friends to come home and once again immerse
themselves in our great culture and heritage.
The
first homecoming in 1966, actually I can remember that as well, I hate saying
that but I have to say it because my colleague over here admitted it. It was the
year of the orange licence plate, Come Home Year licence plate. I still have one
at home. They're quite valuable now as well.
Many
communities have had Come Home Year celebrations since that and there are
communities in this province that do them every four and five years. It's not
uncommon for the population of communities to double in size during this time.
It usually lasts one or two weeks in duration.
My
mother always complained that it's going to be two weeks in the kitchen because
everybody wants to come home and have the boiled dinners and all their favourite
meals – stuffed squid and things like that. It is a lot of fun and people just
love to come home.
There
are a number of communities, including my District of Burin - Grand Bank, in the
province that have already formalized their plans for Come Home Year. Volunteers
spend a lot of time putting plans in motion for all age groups, which are
designed to bring people together and enjoy the unique traditions of their towns
and communities.
The
activities range from sports activities to games, mug-ups, scoffs, beach
parties, family gatherings, parades and even mummering. Last Come Home Year I
was involved in, we had a Christmas in August day where people went mummering.
There was a mummer's parade, mummer's dance, prizes for the best mummer's
costume. It was a lot of fun. A lot of people don't get home at Christmastime
but still remember that great tradition of mummering.
Most
towns as well develop themes and have their activities around these themes. One
of the things that was mentioned here in the House already is theatre. Theatre
certainly plays an important part in Come Home Year celebrations. A few years
ago, I was involved with a group and we put off a play of a historic event in
our community. Very well attended, lots of good laughs, lots of fun practising
and this stuff brings communities together and that is so important. That's what
Come Home Years do; it brings people together.
Somebody
talked as well about people coming home. We had, on occasion, people come home
and while they were home, or shortly after, bought homes in the area for
retirement homes. So it does have that impact as well.
Not only
do people enjoy their communities, but they like to visit the attractions in the
area. In the District of Burin - Grand Bank, there are museums that capture the
rich culture and essence of each community. Everywhere in Newfoundland you have
beautiful walking trails; people love to walk. I know some communities even
close off streets in their town and have a community walkabouts; no vehicles but
people just walk back and forth and catch up on old times and so on.
One of
the things that we can offer down our way, too, is you can get a day trip, an
overnight trip or as long as you want trip to Saint-Pierre and Miquelon. A lot
of people in the region, a lot of people in this province go to Saint-Pierre. A
lot of us went over as students years ago for our French Immersion experience,
which became more than a French Immersion experience, in a lot of cases. Anyway,
this brings significant economic benefits to Newfoundland and Labrador.
Speaker,
as has been stated before, COVID has taken a toll on Newfoundlanders and
Labradorians that live in and outside this wonderful province. All too often
I've talked to people in my district and they've said: I haven't seen the
grandchildren in two years. If it wasn't for Skype, I wouldn't see them at all.
I haven't seen my son in two or three years. Since COVID, nobody has visited.
This is a wonderful opportunity for people. A wonderful opportunity for the
mental health of people as well.
I can't
imagine not being able to hold my grandchildren pretty much every second or
third day, but there are people who haven't been able to do that for a couple of
years now. Let's get them home.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
P. PIKE:
Families need to reunite. One
of the things about Come Home Year – and I won't spend too much more time – is
the fact that the key to a successful Come Home Year is a dedicated group of
individuals who are going to do all the legwork. Come Home Years, people try to
create a great experience for those that are coming back, and for their
communities. Local businesses and organizations need to take a degree of
ownership and work in conjunction with the committees and the communities.
Back in
1966 – I'll just make one more comment about that – Dick Nolan wrote a song
“Come Where We're At.” I don't know if you remember that. I played it today, by
the way. I was looking it up on the phone. I didn't realize, but I played a
little bit of it from my colleagues on this side. I don't know if you heard it
over there. But there are two lines in that that I'd like read out for you. The
lines are: “There's lots of fish and brewis and treats like that, so don't stay
where you're to, come where we're at.” That basically captures what we want to
do with Come Home Year.
Hopefully, Speaker, we'll be the good place this summer and our families and
friends can come back and celebrate this great Province of Newfoundland and
Labrador with us.
Thank
you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
Thank you very much.
The hon.
the Member for the District of Bonavista.
C. PARDY:
Thank you, Speaker.
It's a
great opportunity to have a few words on tourism, Come Home Year, on this PMR,
and especially from the District of Bonavista, which is a region that prides
itself in being a tourist attraction in the Province of Newfoundland and
Labrador. I think the stats would indicate such.
I often
state sometimes before I speak about those residents in the District of
Bonavista who are watching – and there a quite a few, Speaker, that do watch
these proceedings. More than what I initially had thought. I know that just
recently it was Daniel and Sadie Tucker in Bunyan's Cove who I met; that was
getting my second vaccination. And two of them were there waiting for their 15
minutes out in the car and two them had stated that they watch the House of
Assembly faithfully. And I'm sure they're watching today, as is Gil Bonnell in
Catalina.
Come
Home Year is a wonderful initiative. I think a lot of us thought that in 2021
we'd be back to normal or close to normal this year. I would sincerely hope –
and as the Member before me had spoke – that in 2022 people can feel comfortable
with travelling, and that won't be as much an impediment as what 2021 is.
I
mentioned tourism is big on the Bonavista Peninsula. It's big in the province.
Tourism accounts for $1.14 billion to our GDP in the province. People would say
that the fishery is the backbone of our province, and basically it's about the
same GDP. This year the fishery may be a larger portion of the GDP because of
the value of the product that we took out of the waters off the coast of
Newfoundland and Labrador this year. But tourism is significant when we're not
in a pandemic.
So if we
look at data for the past couple of years to 2019, our tourism numbers aren't
great. But that's not surprise to anybody. It is where we would expect them to
be. We have over 2,700 tourism-related businesses in the Province of
Newfoundland and Labrador. That's a significant number in a province of half a
million people. Big geography, but a decent number, 2,700 small businesses. Of
those, 78 per cent of them are small businesses. So the value and the importance
of small businesses to our economy is huge, in particular in tourism.
How many
are on the Bonavista Peninsula? I know that the viewers, Speaker, are anxious
now and figuring if I got that statistic, because in Bonavista it is big in the
district. Well, we have close to 300 small businesses associated with tourism in
the District of Bonavista. That is a significant number. In one region, one
district, 300 small businesses, knowing there are 2,700 in the province. We're
very proud of that and I would think as tourism increases we ought to see more
businesses start up in the province and in the district.
Those
businesses are in accommodations, food and beverage, transportation, recreation,
entertainment and travel services. But in 2021, there were 14,584 that were
employed, and that was a COVID year, an off year. Because in a normal year, we
would have about 20,000 people employed in tourism within our province. This
year in 2021, HNL expects it to be 17,642, is the figure, and how they were that
precise – but anyway that was the figure that they threw out. I really don't
know. But I'm doubtful that we're going to reach that figure in 2021. Again,
that's no surprise to anybody either. So I say with those numbers that we've got
and knowing that we're 2,400 less, Speaker, then we'll need to be patient on the
rebound.
One
little cautionary note is I would hope that by 2022 we're in a different place
than what we are in 2021. We all wish and hope that is the case. I think with
the vaccination schedule that we've got, but we certainly depend on
out-of-province visitors coming into the province. So what have we lost – and
maybe we'll hear some more accurate figures as we go, but I would assume that
we've lost between $400 million to $600 million due to COVID, to date. Again, if
I'm not mistaken, it was HNL that may be predicting that. I stand to be
corrected if it isn't. But, anyway, it's a significant loss.
One
thing that HNL did state is that if we have residents that travel the province,
and we do have many in the District of Bonavista that travel from the Avalon
region, then basically they generate $1 towards our GDP. Basically, their
expenditures are dollar for dollar. The non-residents that travel in our
province are valued at $2 of their spending. I guess it's new money. But
international, it's three times the amount. The international travellers are
noted to spend around $1,500 a day. That seems like a large amount of money. If
they're here for any length of time, I find that to be a large, large number,
but that is what – probably if it's an average, it's knowing the airfare.
When we
look at the airfare, the access to the province is probably one of the most
significant items that we would have when we want to increase tourism, it's
access. I'm sure it was mentioned before, we talked about, you travel to PEI on
the Confederation Bridge and there's no cost to get to PEI; you pay to leave
PEI, but to come home there's no cost going across to the Confederation Bridge.
I said
wouldn't that be something if we had Marine Atlantic – that we had visitors from
a country that didn't pay to come and only pay when they leave. As long as the
price when they left is similar to what we pay now and it's not doubled because
that would negate the whole thing.
I would
say what we do in lines of air access is very important. I remember I asked a
question in the last sitting of the House to the minister and we talked about an
air-access plan. The minister had stated that there is a plan developed and I
think it was probably embargoed, rightfully so, to the point that we don't
publish or promote the plan that we have to try to expand our air access. But it
would be sure nice to see some measures out there that we would see that would
make it much more affordable for people to come to our province; that's via air
or by Marine Atlantic.
When we
do comparisons on tourism, we said that the Province of Newfoundland and
Labrador is $1.14 billion, tourism; Iceland is $5 billion. We look at what
growth we can have, and we're moving. The only thing being is that the sky is
the limit, it often depends on what we put in there and what strategies and what
initiatives that we put in there.
So
someone would automatically say, well, here you are comparing a province within
a country to a country, that's true. But the similarities are great. Iceland and
Newfoundland and Labrador are northern bodies of land. We're similar; we're
northern climates. There are many people saying now in the world and after COVID
and with the climate change, cold is hot, signifying that people want to get
clear of the heat sometimes and to go to a colder destination is more
attractive.
Iceland,
while it's a country in and of itself, we often say and look at the population
that we have a mere half a million. Well, if I'm not mistaken, Iceland is less
than half a million. So there is a formidable comparison. They're based on
fishery and tourism. They don't have the mining – we have that, thankfully – but
tourism is an industry that I think we can really make some inroads and strides
on if we do have some aggressive strategies for doing so.
I think
that would be the challenge of all of us in the House, is to what strategies we
can put in place to make sure that we enhance the amount of tourists that come
to our province and maybe – maybe – get to the level of Iceland, with $5 million
towards our GDP.
A
previous speaker mentioned about the walking trails and the various parks that
we have on the Island. We have some wonderful walking trails in the Province of
Newfoundland and Labrador. We have some wonderful eateries. We have some
wonderful entertainment. Marketing – and it was said before in this House and
said many times – we have world-class marketing.
In my
Fisheries portfolio, I know that when they looked at Norway, Norway links their
tourism strategy with their export of fish products. I thought that is very
strategic and very neat. So if their market is Europe, and some part of Europe
in some big city that they know that that's where their fish products are going,
then on that plane when the fish products are going to that large centre, by
golly, they're investing in their strategy, that tourism, and people are going
back and forth while they've got their fish products being exported out.
That is
something that maybe we can pursue. I had a large fishing organization in
Newfoundland and Labrador that I sat down and met with and they had 14
international offices – you can probably guess which fish processing company
that would be, only one in Bonavista – that is the one.
I
immediately thought that if we're transporting or shipping or exporting our fish
products, then why not strategically look at having tourists come from those
locations and those big locations that would be in Asia and Europe that are
travelling on those flights. That would enable us to incentivize or strategize
in order to make it a little more affordable.
Then, we
would double down to make sure that our marketing campaign is in that populated
region of which our fish products are being exported to. I thought that was a
wonderful, novel idea. I don't think we're doing it but that might be a pursuit
that we can have a look at to say is there some kind of strategy? It may be in
our air access strategy now. We don't know because it's embargoed, but if it is,
that's a good pursuit.
Speaker,
I think I will end it there. I thank you very much for the opportunity to speak
on the Come Home Year. I commend my good friend who raised that and brought it
forth to the House as a private Member's resolution. I'm sure we're all in
support of a very good, well-attended Come Home Year 2022.
Thank
you, Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
Thank you.
I now
turn to the Member for St. John's Centre.
J. DINN:
Thank you, Speaker.
I was
seven in 1966. I don't know what exactly I remember, if anything, of Come Home
Year. I do remember the licence plates. I do remember my first introduction to
the communities outside of St. John's were the drives around the bay that we
would take.
Even
when the Trans-Canada went by there, dad usually packed us all into the station
wagon – no seat belts at that time; you sat anywhere – and we'd go to Conception
Bay, the highway. It used to be a source of consternation to us that he never
took the highway, which would be shorter. However, one of the games he used to
play was try to figure out what communities we were coming up to. Could never
figure that one out, could never keep them straight.
Dad grew
up and was from Carbonear; Mom was from Bay Roberts. That's where our family
hails from, Fitzpatricks and Dinns. But I learned many years later, when I
started to drive up and down the Southern Shore to work, exactly how he was able
to keep them all straight. He worked on the railway so his trip each day out
across the province would – out to Carbonear would bring him back and forth past
every community. Certainly, when I was driving up and down the shore for half my
teaching career on the Southern Shore, I could do the turns in the road in my
sleep after a while. I knew where every community was.
But we
do take things for granted in many ways. We live here and we take the wonders,
the beauty and the attractions we have to offer for granted. I think here in
Newfoundland, when I look at it, Signal Hill – it's a place I'll go to, anyone
who's coming here, or out to the most easterly point in North America, Cape
Spear; the Crow's Nest, if you want to go and look through a periscope from a
U-boat. It's small things like that, the paraphernalia and mementos from World
War II.
The Inn
of Olde: If you haven't tried that down in Quidi Vidi Village, it's worth the
cash. You'll have plenty of stories. Linda, I think it is who operates the place
– you'll get your share of stories.
I do
want to pick up here on one – my colleague from Grand Falls-Windsor - Buchans
talked about dialect. It's interesting; sometimes we tend to be ashamed of our
dialect. You go away and people will say, you don't have a Newfie dialect and
I'll say, it all depends where you come from, what part. There are many
Newfoundland and Labrador dialects, depending on where you're from.
The
Southern Shore – a very strong Irish-Catholic background, no two ways about it.
When I went up there, I didn't go berry picking, I went burry picking. If you do
a history of the English language, you'll realize that this is rich; this is
something to be proud of, to me, in many ways.
I no
longer look upon it, when you're growing up, as a source of shame or the Newfie
joke; this is something that we need to market. This is part of who we are, our
background and our heritage. The French Shore names, you name it, this is all
part of our history so promote that.
I will
say this: It wasn't until I was president of the NLTA that I really got to know
the province because then, as part of my job, I went around to visit just about
every school in the province that I could get to. I got to get to some beautiful
places. I was going to visit François and – now the name is escaping me – on the
South Coast.
AN HON. MEMBER:
Grey River.
J. DINN:
Grey River, yes. I had them all there – Grey River. I remember going over the
headlands in the helicopter because the ferry wasn't running that day. It gives
you a whole new perspective on the province when you're looking down at it and
being buffeted by winds.
The
Sandbanks Park – beautiful. Look at what they've done, when you look at it, in
Bonavista. We had Trinity – Trinity we knew about, but Bonavista built on that
and it's just growing in leaps and bounds. The Tablelands, the Dover Fault, Gros
Morne and the Irish Loop. We've done a tremendous amount of work when you look
at just what we have to offer here.
I will
say that it's probably because of my work with the NLTA that I developed a
long-last relationship with the Pinware River. Now, any of you who've been on it
you know, anyone who's been on it you have to be part billy goat to fish it.
It's probably the only reason I try to keep my legs in shape because there's
going to come a point, sooner than later, when I won't be able to scale the
cliffs, the 45-degree angles, to fish for salmon. But it is a river that
parallels many of them.
Vernon's
Antique Car Museum: Now, Swift Current. I used to drive by that when I was first
teaching in 1981-82 and that wasn't there. But if you go to that place in the
middle of – I guess some people might say the middle of nowhere, but in the
small community you have a world-class collection of some of the finest antique
cars you'll ever see. It's a multi-million dollar outfit. I think at the last
count, I believe it was 56, maybe over 60 antique cars. A mere, what is it, $8
to get in and I think the money is donated then to charitable organizations. If
you drive a bit further down the Burin Peninsula, you can actually get a taste
of Europe when you visit Saint-Pierre and Miquelon.
On the
Southern Shore where I spent most of my – well, at least half of my teaching
career, the Colony of Avalon. The Colony of Avalon is actually – and I used to
teach in St. Joseph's school, which is now the museum. I would watch that – that
was always something that they were just starting. Now that's grown into a major
tourist attraction.
Or the
Lighthouse Picnics, basically run by a former Student, Jill Curran. I mean, I
have a special spot in my heart for the Southern Shore; it's where I spent most
of my career. All opportunities were – and I look at Jill's enterprise of
integrating a very common activity, picnics, with the surroundings. If you
haven't had a chance, it's well worth the visit because you get to have a picnic
overlooking some of the finest scenery there. Breathtaking in many ways.
I do
remember with the cod moratorium, you look at how then we transitioned into boat
tours. People found ways to use their skills from the fishery and they
transitioned into something that was much more, maybe user friendly and
certainly that showed off the province to the people outside. Icebergs are taken
for granted, but I'll tell you for Mainlanders and come from aways, first time,
an iceberg is well worth the cash.
Craft
breweries have been mentioned. I like the idea of maybe a craft brewery tour. If
the Member is interested, we can try that next year. I'm only too happy. I'm
always happy if it involves beer; that brings us together.
I do
look at opportunities like ski slopes. It's interesting visiting Whistler, BC
years ago, what amazed me is that they had the ski slopes used in the
summertime. They were using them for downhill mountain biking. They used the ski
lifts to bring them up. I don't know if it would work here or not, but I often
thought what an opportunity here to use any of the ski slopes we have for the
summer as well as the winter.
Here's
my key point, I guess, a suggestion: This is going to bring people who have not
been home in years – and sometimes it will be their first time and sometimes
they'll bring family and friends who have never been to Newfoundland and
Labrador. I want to draw attention to roads and signs. I've said this before a
few times as a suggestion, too. I don't think I've ever seen this on other roads
but the washouts that are on the sides of the roads at times – we're not
talking, Speaker, minor; we're talking about they're almost caverns in some ways
or ravines.
I've
often thought that for the uninitiated or the unfamiliar pulling off in some of
these at night, could result in more than just simply a bump. It could cause
some serious injuries. I do think, on the main thoroughfares, these need to be
fixed up.
Secondly, my sister came home this summer and she's the one that brought it to
my attention. Two cars got off the ferry in Port aux Basques, got not even
halfway across in that section between Port aux Basques or maybe Stephenville
and hit on a pothole that blew out her tire and the tire of the car behind her,
at night. She's lucky she wasn't killed or hurt.
I do
believe here, for this, if we're going to encourage people from across this
province to return or people to come home who haven't been here for years and
may not have the familiarity because there have been changes, we need to look at
our roadways and make sure that they are the safest and user friendly as
possible. I understand, yes, we have a lot of roads in this place and the
Trans-Canada is a large undertaking to keep up.
The
other thing I might draw your attention to is signage, if we need to review
signage. I often think when I go up to the Pinware – I usually go up to Pinware
every July. I know where the ferry is, but I often think that the first time you
see the sign is near the beginning when you leave Deer Lake, and you drive on up
and there's a sign for the St. Barbe or the Labrador ferry, but you don't really
see any signs, or noticeable ones after that. So if it's your first time
driving, you say: Have I missed it? Did I happened to look away? I think it's
important to have signage like that for people. Not all the people coming are
livyers; some it may be their first time.
I'm
hoping, I would assume, that this is not only about bringing Newfoundlanders and
Labradorians back, but also bringing with them other people and maybe
first-timers and people who have no connection. But I'll guarantee you one
thing: The people who come here, people who've been with the Canadian Teachers'
Federation, people who come here, they love the place. They'll be back again.
They enjoy the culture, the food, the wit, the friendliness. All the things that
make Newfoundland and Labrador such a great place.
But from
my point of view, if anything else, when they get off the ferry, whether it's in
Argentia or in Port aux Basques, I think we need to make sure that if there's
any investment we can make – and it'll be a long-term investment for the people
of this province as well – it's to make sure that the Trans-Canada Highway is as
safe as possible, and any of the thoroughfares where we want to get them to
visit, that they are as equally user friendly.
Some of
them – and I remember driving down the Baie Verte Peninsula, and I remember
Roxie Snow, a teacher up there, saying: Jim, be careful – it was in the
wintertime. If you're not careful, you could drive off the road and they'd never
know where you were. I came up there at night and it wasn't until the next day
when I was driving back out in the daylight I said: Oh my God, I know what she
was talking about, because you could go down into a bank of snow and they'd
never know where you were.
So I
think many ways, bring people home; get them safely to and from. And I do like
the idea of having people come in free, but paying to get out.
Thank
you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER (Bennett):
The hon. the Minister of
Tourism, Culture, Arts and Recreation.
S. CROCKER:
Thank you, Speaker.
It's
absolutely a privilege this afternoon to have the opportunity to speak to this
private Member's resolution. As Minister of Tourism, Culture, Arts and
Recreation, I can tell you that as the lead department on Come Home Year 2022,
our department has been extremely busy and I can tell everybody and ensure
everybody in the House this afternoon that this is pretty much a take-note
debate. They are back in the office this afternoon listening to some of the
ideas here, and this is one of the reasons why I am so happy to see this as the
private Member's resolution today.
This
campaign, when first envisioned by the Premier and our government, was about
bringing our expatriates and expats and their families home, but it is also
about inviting others to come to see our province and to consider making it
their home.
This is
about reinvigorating Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. We all know the past
18-24 months that we've been through and we need to rejuvenate our tourism and
hospitality industry, and what better way to do it than celebrating our arts and
our culture and our history in this province.
I can
assure everybody in this House today that we will be launching Come Home Year
2022 in the very near future. Some of the things that I have heard today that I
do want to reflect on because I think they are very important. I see this Come
Home Year as an opportunity for our industry to rebuild, recover but like every
Newfoundlander and Labradorian, let's celebrate. Celebrating is how we can help
it recover.
By
making sure our expats and their families come next summer and they invite their
friends from other places to come in, we fill up that VFR market, but it is also
important next year. We will also maintain our non-resident campaign, because
there are two different campaigns here. There are our visiting friends and
relatives' campaign and our non-resident campaign. We certain realize that in
order to rebuild our tourism industry, we have to maintain our focus on our
non-resident campaign.
It was
mentioned by a couple of Members this afternoon and, most recently, the Member
for Bonavista when he talked about air access and the challenges around air
access. On Monday, I had the opportunity to attend the Atlantic Canada Airports
Association meeting, which was well attended. All airports in our province were
well represented at that meeting on Monday.
It was
interesting and encouraging to be there and listen to their rebuilding
strategies but, with that being said, there is much work to do. The rebuilding
of the air industry is going to take quite some time. As a government, I think
our commitment is clear; we will be there to help our airports rebuild. Our
airports, by the way, have been very resilient. They are doing as well or better
than many of their counterparts in Atlantic Canada. That is important, but we do
know that the strategy going forward is going to be tough. The air industry in
Canada rebuilt itself to about 52 per cent of 2019 this season. It's relaxing
back now. Hard to know what the fall is going to bring. September numbers were
strong but very important we get there.
Some of
our major airlines have really retired a lot of their capacity. That is
concerning. But I can assure this House that our department, other departments
and the Minister of Finance clearly said in her budget back in April – that's a
long time ago – and June –
AN HON. MEMBER:
(Inaudible.)
S. CROCKER:
Yeah. And the Minister for
IET, we're committed to working with our airports, our airlines and airline
partners to make sure we rebuild that capacity as fast as possible.
We've
been talking to groups regularly, like Hospitality Newfoundland and Labrador. I
know the Member for Grand Falls-Windsor - Buchans referenced Brenda O'Reilly and
her group and the tremendous work they do at getting us back to where we need to
be. A lot of work to do but as we plan Come Home Year, we will bring in those
stakeholders. Stakeholders like HNL, MNL, MusicNL, ArtsNL and Heritage NL. I can
go on and on but these are the people we want to bring in.
There's
such a role here for our municipalities, as the minister said in her remarks,
such an opportunity for them to be a part of this. I can tell the House that
there will be announcements in the coming days of ways that we want to partner.
We want to work with municipalities and other groups so that we can leverage
their Come Home Years and their willingness to bring people back to their towns
and to our province and how important that will be.
Interestingly enough, the Member for Burin - Grand Bank referenced the Dick
Nolan song. Before I came over today I watched the launch video from Come Home
Year 1966. If anybody gets an opportunity to watch it, it was quite interesting
that video.
The
Member for Bonavista also referenced in his remarks about the fishery and
tourism. I often say to industry when I'm talking to them, if you look at – no
disrespect to my urban colleagues – at rural Newfoundland and Labrador right
now, the number one employer in your town is either the fishery or tourism. They
are one and two, one and two, no matter where we go in this province.
If you
look at Bonavista, as an example, probably one of the strongest fishing regions
that this province had at one point in time. They've turned that, since the
moratorium, to become I think, certainly outside of the urban centres the most
successful tourism destination in the province. Our provincial historic sites in
Bonavista in a non-COVID year have some 35,000 visitors. There's so much there
to explore.
I would
be remiss if I didn't mention a gem in our provincial historic sites that's not
as highlighted as I feel it should, and that's the Heart's Content Cable
Station. One hundred and fifty years ago the first trans-Atlantic cable was
successfully landed in Heart's Content. Heart's Content is the Canadian nominee
for UNESCO in a partnership with Valentia, Ireland. We will find out in January
if Ireland brings Valentia as their nominee. If they do, we will have a joint
application to UNESCO to make Heart's Content the next UNESCO World Heritage
Site in Newfoundland and Labrador.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
S. CROCKER:
Our history is so important.
It was referenced by others about access through Marine Atlantic. I can assure
you we will be having conversations with Marine Atlantic. There are so many
things that we can do. I had the opportunity this summer to actually cross on
the ferry. I see opportunities I think that we would've had in the past that we
may not be leveraging today as we did in the past. Ambassadors, whether they're
on that side of the Gulf or on the ferry itself, there are opportunities here to
help support the industry.
I won't
take much more time because I know I have some more colleagues that want to
speak to this. But I would invite everybody here, for all of us to come together
in this campaign because this is about rebuilding an industry that is so
important to this province and been so devastated. There's no industry in this
province or in this world, I think, that was affected in the same way as tourism
and hospitality. That in itself means that the arts and cultural industries are
also impacted greatly, because it's our entertainers and it's our culture that
people come here to see. This is so important.
With
that being said, I will take my seat. But, again, I look forward to sharing with
this House and the people of Newfoundland and Labrador our plans for Come Home
Year 2022 in the very near future.
Also,
Mr. Speaker, before I do stop, I do want to thank the staff at Tourism, Culture,
Arts and Recreation and the staff in many other government departments. One
thing we've done with this is made it a whole-of-government approach. Whether
it's Municipal and Provincial Affairs or my colleagues in Population Growth
Strategy, there are so many important things we can do here.
L. DEMPSTER:
Indigenous.
S. CROCKER:
Indigenous: We'll work with
our Indigenous partners to deliver, because Indigenous tourism is something that
has untapped potential.
Anyway,
Mr. Speaker, with that said, and before I remember something else that I
should've said, I'll take my place.
Thank
you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Ferryland.
L. O'DRISCOLL:
Thank you, Speaker.
I won't
touch on this too long so someone else might get a chance to speak on it. I
wasn't going to speak but I couldn't let it go because, I'm going to say, the
district that I'm in and the tourism that's there and Come Home Year. I think
it's a great initiative. We had a Come Home Year – was it last year? Well, 2019
we had a Come Home Year in Bay Bulls. That was a great event. There was another
one in Ferryland that I attended the first year I was an MHA – another great
event.
I think
it's great, bringing people home. Again, to touch on what the minister just
said, for non-residents as well because – I'll use the boat tours that are in
Bay Bulls and along the coast. They mainly rely on non-residents. Speaking to a
couple of owners on the boat tours, they said, 5 per cent, maybe this year they
might've gotten to 10 per cent of their business from locals. They need
non-residents to get here. Flights are a big thing; it's certainly a big issue.
I'm not
here to beat anything down but that's something we certainly have to keep in
mind are the flights coming in. I guess just even people looking to go on
holidays this time of the year – and I know some people that have gone – they
have to do a test before they leave. They pay $150. They just went down to
Nashville. They paid $230 each to get back to do a test. That adds a lot to
their trip, so it's important somehow that we try to navigate around that – I'm
not going to say get around it, but it's important that we keep that in mind.
Cost is a factor for people coming home and it is a holiday for them as well.
It's just something to keep in mind.
Touching
on the tourism in the area, the Member for St. John's Centre touched on the
lighthouse tours in Ferryland. I've done that myself during the Come Home Year,
as a matter of fact, in Ferryland. I did the dinner theatre this year in
Ferryland; took my parents up and it was a great event. I'm sure, in all these
districts – Bonavista, I was down there last year and I was up the Northern
Peninsula five or six years ago to a dinner theatre. So all those events for
Come Home Year, if they could all coordinate together – and I know that's not
easy because it's a big province.
I'm
going to say every community has tourism of some sort, for sure, whatever that
may be. That's something we certainly should look at. I would say that when this
is getting organized – and there's a lot of work going in by the department,
according to the minister, and I'm sure there is – just nice to keep everybody
informed in here, where it's going and be able to put out information that we
all can use for our districts and for the whole province. Hopefully we all stay
engaged on this and I'm sure they will. So, certainly, it's something to look
forward to.
I will
touch on the road signs. I only drive a half an hour back and forth every day,
some days 35 minutes. I think I mentioned this before. I think something that we
should look at as a province – and, again, not here to beat anything down but I
do look at signs. It's just something that really bugs me, the signs that are –
I'm going to say – rotted out. I just think that we should go to a metal sign,
like you do down in Florida. You see the metal signs on the road. They don't rot
out once you do them, unless somebody sprays them and you can't control that.
But the metal signs I think would be, not a lifetime investment, but a lot
better than some of the wood.
If you
leave here and you followed me home this evening, you would see four or five
signs that are rotted out; it just looks bad to me and I'm looking at it from
the whole province point of view. I'm sure everybody has some somewhere that
they'd love to see replaced or done. You can't do everything but for tourism,
just these main signs. That'd be something that we certainly should look at I
think as well.
Again,
not to beat anything down because that's not the purpose of this, but that's
important when you come here. When you go somewhere else and you see these signs
– I use Florida as an example; they're always up over the top. The ones that are
on ours now on the Gushue Highway when I go home, they're good signs. They're
metal; they're up on top. There are some over there that have fallen down. It's
something that should be looked at. So anyway, that's part on that.
The
Member for St. John's Centre talked about dialect. Where I live in Bay Bulls –
and you go to Trepassey, they have a dialect. Some of these videos used some
people from these areas. Ferryland has a different dialect again; you go out to
Harbour Grace, a different dialect again. So all these areas have different
dialects. Most times I can meet somebody and say you're from Trepassey, I'm sure
you are. And I don't know if they are, but they end up being because you know
their dialect. So it's something that we should certainly be looking at and
putting in our videos as we're putting out.
Also, I
had the pleasure to go down to Petty Harbour this summer just to visit. There's
a business down there that takes people out jigging fish as a tourism attraction
and they have students hired there. It's pretty interesting I have to say. I was
trying to get the minister to go down – I don't know if he did after or not –
there and look at it. It was certainly a great event to go down. They fillet the
fish for you; they give the fish. They give you the cod tongues; they show you
how it's done. They split a fish for you. It was pretty interesting.
I'm
surprised – and probably because of rules on fishing – somebody hasn't tried to
open up, in the close area, cod trap tourism, something that you take people out
on a boat, you watch a fisherman haul a cod trap. It's something that's gone –
you might never see here, I'm sure. You're putting a cod trap out, you're
trapping the fish – and too many have been caught, but it's an event that I'm
not sure if all the people here have seen it. I grew up with it and fished for a
couple of years with my dad. Never got paid but I fished with him. I was a young
kid. There's lots of stuff to look at when you go back and look.
One
thing we didn't do back then and we didn't have back then were phones or
pictures to look at. Every time I see them now I see a science fair about 20
years ago that a kid had a video in school of a trap being hauled in St. Mary's
Bay somewhere and I had said, wow, and the trap was full. It was an unbelievable
experience to look at. Just some of that stuff as Come Home Year would be great.
I think
it's a great initiative. I won't take any more time but it's certainly a
pleasure to speak on this. The only thing I would say is that if I haven't
touched something in the area, it's certainly not intentional, but with the
restriction of time and giving everybody else a chance.
Thank
you so much, Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Environment and Climate Change.
B. DAVIS:
Thank you, Speaker.
I'm very
happy to get the opportunity to speak. I won't speak very long. Unlike my
learned colleague from Mount Pearl - Southlands, when I actually say a couple of
minutes I'm only going to be a couple of minutes.
I do
want to say how happy I am to be standing shoulder to shoulder with all
colleagues in this House of Assembly to support the Come Home Year 2022. I know
how important it is to an industry that has been affected quite heavily over
this time frame for the last two years. I know the minister has worked very,
very hard with the stakeholders to ensure that their needs and wants are going
to be brought forward with the initiatives in Come Home Year.
I think
it's all encompassing for all of us to do everything we can in our communities
to support the municipalities and the LSDs to get to a point where when we do
have our Come Home Year, get that information out to the public so we can all
enjoy the activities that are happening there. I will touch on a couple of
things that some of the Members had mentioned which I thought were really neat.
The
Member for Bonavista talked about the world-class internationally recognized
marketing campaigns that we do have in this province. That's a testament to the
staff that we have in the department, but also the agency of record that does
some fantastic work for us. I know that they're looking forward to the Come Home
Year marketing and the brand that's going to go along with that.
To
address one of the questions was the research that's been put in place to direct
those ads to where they have to be directed to. To get the best fruit of people
travelling to this province is based on exit surveys, it's based on the best
research that we have not just here in this province, but internationally and
nationally as well. I think it's important that we all push and share those on
social media and get it as far as we possibly can.
So much
to say and so little time but many people that travel to Newfoundland and
Labrador do so, not like you travel to Toronto or Montreal, it's a week or so
before or two weeks before you can say let's go to Montreal for the weekend.
Newfoundland and Labrador is a bucket-list destination so you have to plan for
that.
Talking
about air access like some of the Members have talked about is very important.
It's been a challenge that we've been facing for decades in this province. We've
worked with our stakeholders to ensure we could get as much as we possibly could
out of the airline industry to come here. I know that is an important piece and
it is something that we should all be working for. I encourage every one of us
to reach out to everyone we know to come back to this province to celebrate with
us because nobody celebrates as much as we do in this province and the way we
do.
The MHA
for Ferryland mentioned air access and I think it is a great point that he
makes. But one of the things I was hoping that he'd make a point on was Mistaken
Point. I know he is over there saying how great a spot it is. It is a fantastic
spot with fantastic staff that do amazing work up there and are dedicated to
their job. Anyone that hasn't had the pleasure to visit Mistaken Point, please
take the time to drive to the man's district and visit Mistaken Point –
D. BRAGG:
It won't be a mistake.
B. DAVIS:
It will not be a mistake,
that's for sure, as the hon. minister said.
Many of
the attractions that we talked about today I could go into in great depth, but I
just want to say how important it is for all of us to be together supporting
this initiative. I think it's great for the tourism industry that has been
embattled during this COVID-19 pandemic.
Without
any further ado, I'd just like to say thank you to them for showing patience to
walk this road with us. We're going to be there with them to help them come out
of this, but all of us together are going to make it a lot easier.
Thank
you very much, Mr. Speaker. I look forward to hearing the rest of the comments.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister
Responsible for Indigenous Affairs and Reconciliation.
L. DEMPSTER:
Thank you, Speaker.
I'll try
to be as brief as my colleague there: five minutes. I just couldn't let this
afternoon pass without saying a couple of words about a very beautiful part of
this province affectionately known as the Big Land and some of the Indigenous
talent and the tremendous untapped potential up in that part of the province,
Speaker.
My
grandfather, who many know came from Carbonear, went to Labrador in 1936; later
wrote and published 19 books with only a Grade 2 education, I might add. So if
you want to learn about some of the tremendous history of Labrador and the
Indigenous peoples, you can read some of those books,
Labrador by Choice being his first one.
Speaker,
I just have to start with this really quick story. A couple of summers ago I was
taking a walk in my hometown, down towards the shrimp processing facility and I
came across this really big, fancy motorhome. This elderly gentleman was down
changing a tire. I went and spoke to him for a minute and I said: You didn't
mind taking that fancy thing in here on the gravel road? He got up, he brushed
himself off and he said: Look at me – he started first by saying we had wanted
to see this part of the world for as long as I can remember. He said: Look at
me, I'm 83, my wife is 81; we're out of time. So they ventured on the gravel
road. That's just an indication of what's to come.
Speaker,
when you cross the border in the Labrador Straits, you come into a beautiful,
beautiful area, Point Amour Lighthouse – the tallest lighthouse in Atlantic
Canada, the second tallest in the country. You move on down and you've got Red
Bay UNESCO World Heritage Site; take a ferry from Mary's Harbour out to Battle
Harbour, a step back in time to when cod was king with all the amenities, just a
beautiful area. Everyone who goes there is never disappointed.
Come to
my hometown in Charlottetown, nestled up in St. Michaels Bay, we have 365
islands in our bay. You can visit one island for every day of the year.
Tremendous history around Cartwright and how that was started. Port Hope
Simpson, the logging and you come all the way down – we have a number of
festivals, Speaker. Volunteers, we should mention here today that make these
things happen; that make it interesting for people to come and visit, starting
with the bakeapple festival that's been around for 40 years. You've got the Crab
Festival, the partridgeberry festival and you move on up to Makkovik and Rigolet
and you've got the Salmon Festival, the Trout Festival – all of which I've been
privileged to have attended in past years.
Also,
Speaker, Indigenous tourism is the fastest growing tourism, I believe, maybe in
the country. When I travel through Labrador, the talent that's there in the
making of sealskin, knitting, hooked rugs. Just Friday at the airport my
colleague said to me – I was wearing a sealskin pin and she said: You always
have very interesting things. I didn't buy them away. They're always bought by
somebody that I've bumped into up in Labrador. Beautiful, beautiful trails – as
we're building up our infrastructure and our roads also, most of the communities
now have lovely trails with an incredible view.
Mr.
Speaker, myself and the Minister of Justice, we just got a quick tour up in
North West River, an extension of The Rooms; tremendous history of our First
Nation's groups, the Inuit. I would encourage anyone if you're going into Lake
Melville area, take a few minutes to get up to North West River and see some of
the tremendous history that's in that area.
Mr.
Speaker, I've no doubt that next summer is going to be a tremendous time as
folks gather here at the most easterly edge of Canada, a vast land, small in
population but the friendliest people that you will ever meet. Where I come
from, we always say there are no strangers here; there are only friends you've
not yet met. I can't wait to have some of my family from across the country
coming home and getting together. It's going to be a very positive, wonderful
thing.
Thank
you for the opportunity.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
Seeing no other speakers, the
Member for Baie Verte - Green Bay to close debate.
B. WARR:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I have a
new book written, Mr. Speaker, with that many notes that I've taken this
afternoon. I don't even know where to start, but I'll start by certainly
thanking each and every one of you.
Certainly the Member for Stephenville - Port au Port who talked about winter
tourism – an absolutely fabulous product. Talked about the timing of Come Home
Year, making sure that we make it a true Come Home Year, from January to
December. He talked about, as others did as well, travelling to the island the
same way we do to Prince Edward Island. You only pay to get off the island.
Talked about the immigration and the importance of showcasing our province to
the world, and I certainly believe that as well. And he talked about the
coordination of events and the fact that we're focusing Come Home Year 2022 on
every inch of this province.
I also
want to thank the Minister of Municipal and Provincial Affairs and the Member
for St. Barbe - L'Anse aux Meadows who recognized our event as a Canadian civic
event. She spoke to the many Newfoundland and Labrador communities that are
celebrating a Come Home Year and, in her own words, having a romping good time.
She talked about communities who put out the welcome mats and will certainly
step up their game. She talked about engaging communities by offering financial
incentives for towns to plan.
The
Member for Grand Falls-Windsor - Buchans, I thank him as well. He suggested
about setting up a committee to assist and, again, a unique opportunity to
showcase our history. He talked about outport Newfoundland and Labrador, which
is so important, and the world needs to see this. He talked about the
architecture here in Newfoundland and Labrador and it's amazing; his culinary
experiences that he shares with the other hon. Member sitting behind him, the
hon. Member for Cape St. Francis. From fish and chips to fine dining, we're very
proud here in Newfoundland and Labrador of our top-notch chefs.
Certainly something that's near and dear to most Newfoundlanders and
Labradorians and that's the hunting and fishing experiences. Not only are we
sharing that with the rest of Canada, we're sharing that with the world. And I
couldn't agree with you more – and the importance of in-land waterways. To the
Member for Cartwright - L'Anse au Clair, who just brought it up about all the
different islands that you can visit in her district as well, it's a very unique
experience and certainly I appreciate you bringing that up.
You
talked about strategies and issues, which, again, as the Member for Ferryland
had mentioned, its criticism and it's constructive, and that's the way it should
be that we need to make sure we have a COVID plan. You talked about the rising
gas prices and that's certainly important to all travellers. We talked about
cell service and that's something that not only is our government committed to,
as we all are here in this House of Assembly, I think we've got a commitment
from the federal government as well. I really like your point on information
sharing; I think that's so important. As we share that information in our
tourism bureaus, we certainly should be sharing that in all parts of our tourism
industry.
The
Member for Burin - Grand Bank, let's immerse ourselves in culture and history.
He talked about parades, beach parties, mummering and the importance of theatre
bringing people in communities together. He talked about a unique way to sell
real estate. While people are home, they take an opportunity to view an
investment that they may be able to come back and enjoy further down the road.
Again,
he talked about the opportunity to visit the French islands of Saint-Pierre and
Miquelon. I've been there and if you haven't, I encourage you to go. He talked
about families not being able to see their children or grandchildren in the last
20 months. I'm fortunate; I get a chance to see my grandchildren every weekend I
go home, or most weekends. But I can certainly put myself in the position of
grandparents, especially grandparents who haven't seen their grandchildren in
quite some time, only via Skype.
The
Member for Bonavista, and certainly a good friend of mine and from a very
touristy place on this Island, talked about the wonderful initiative that Come
Home Year 2022 offers. He talked about tourism and the $1.14 billion to the GDP
here in the province. He talked about tourism being a tremendous value to small
businesses and the dependency on out-of-province visitors and the importance of
access to the province as well. The attractions, he talked about the attractions
of a colder climate and I found that very interesting, and aggressive strategies
to enhance tourism.
The
Member for St. John's Centre took us on a family drive of CBS from back in the
'60s and talked about taking friends to the Crow's Nest, to Signal Hill, to Cape
Spear and the love and enjoyment of the different dialects within the province.
He got to know the province as president of the NLTA and the great experience.
He talked about the Dover Fault, the Irish Loop and the Tablelands, the pristine
and exciting Pinware River. He talked about Vernon's car museum. I've been there
as well. Again, I encourage people to visit that area if they can. He talked
about the major tourist attraction with the Colony of Avalon, and the use of ski
slopes for summer fun as well as winter. He also spoke, as I think most of us
did, about roads and signs and the investment and the upgrading needed.
The
Minister of Tourism, Culture, Arts and Recreation and the Member for Carbonear -
Trinity - Bay de Verde talked about reinvigorating Newfoundlanders and
Labradorians. He talked about the fact that his department is the lead on this
file and we can expect this to be launched in the very near future. He talked
about the importance of rebuilding and recovering. He talked about the two
different campaigns with regard to non-resident and resident.
He
talked about the tremendous relationship and collaboration that he's had with
different groups across the province, different organizations. And especially
his desire to have a really good working collaboration with HNL. He also talked
about the number one and number two economic sectors in the province right now
are tourism and fishery. He talked about Heart's Content and our nominee for
UNESCO. The sharing of plans, and I think we all will join him in thanking his
staff and the staff of different departments involved in this file throughout
government.
The
Member for Ferryland, I thank him his as well. He talked about the past
successes of Come Home Year events in his district. Again, constructive
criticism on signs and we need to make the investment. He talked about the use
of persons with unique dialect in our tourism videos, and I certainly agree with
him on that.
The
Minister of Environment and Climate Change and the Member for Virginia Waters -
Pleasantville encouraged everybody all to come home and back to celebrate with
us. I was a little bit distracted because we had a young visitor that visited
the House of Assembly as soon as you started to speak. Alexander sort of took
top shelf, so I apologize. But he did mention the fact that it was great to see
all the House supporting these Come Home initiatives.
The
Minister Responsible for Indigenous Affairs and Reconciliation and the Member
for Cartwright - L'Anse au Clair spoke about the Big Land. She talked about the
many books that she's proud of that were written by her grandfather about the
area. Spoke to the many scenic areas of her district, talked about the festivals
and the importance of volunteers. She talked about the talent involved in
Indigenous tourism. Again, like us all, she talked about the beautiful trails
and the tremendous history and the Indigenous roots.
Mr.
Speaker, I really don't even know where to go because there is so much that I
want to say in so little time. I thought about an idea as well and I wondered if
it would come up today and I just want to throw it out there. We talked about
the idea of an honorary patron for our provincial Come Home Year celebrations
and I throw this out, really, to the minister and his department. If you have an
idea and you want to share it with the minister, please do. I only use one for
an example and that was maybe someone like a Gordon Pinsent. Or if we take it a
step further, maybe each community can offer a name of a member of their own
town who would like to be recognized as their own honorary patron. But there are
thoughts there that I certainly encourage you to reach out.
I want
to talk about encouraging community spring cleanups. We cannot forget our
coastlines throughout – this is a very unique province. I live in a very unique
district; 40 of the 42 communities that I represent, we're touched by saltwater.
Many will come to walk our beaches, smell the salt air and feel the breeze of
the North Atlantic. I just think that we need to encourage our friends and
neighbours to don't walk past a piece of garbage or a bottle. Pick it up and
take it to the nearest trash can.
I wanted
to talk about encouraging traditional events or sporting events in traditional
areas of the province. For instance, maybe a reunion of sports teams, the St.
Lawrence Laurentians – probably one of the most storied soccer towns in the
province. Maybe to showcase Newfoundlanders and Labradorians that have made
their way to the NHL. Maybe, for the Member for St. John's West, a symbolic row
of the record-breaking crew of Outer Cove at this year's St. John's Regatta.
Maybe an
outdoor concert highlighting some of the best musicians past and present. Just
an opportunity to recognize these people. I think it was the Member for Grand
Falls-Windsor - Buchans who talked about the award-winning tourism and marketing
efforts made by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts and Recreation with
regard to Air Canada. These are award-winning marketing efforts and certainly we
tip our hat to them.
I guess,
where I started off with the brochure, I wanted to end on the brochure but,
before that, certainly things that we're known for, not only provincially but
across the country and around the world. We're known for our whales. We're known
for our icebergs. We're known for our unique culture. We're known for our
friendliness. I'm surprised that I didn't hear anyone say 911 and
Come From Away and the importance and
the respect that it's brought to this province. There's an amazing tourism
opportunity here as well.
Certainly our love of screech-ins – again, if the minister who's responsible for
NLC would look back at me, I'm putting her on notice that during this Come Home
Year we will not run out of Newfoundland Screech in 2022.
Anyway,
Speaker, before I close, I'd like to just read one more excerpt from this.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
B. WARR:
We give you ships and tides
and men,
Anchors
aweigh and windfilled sail.
We give
you back the sea again
In
sailors' songs and rousing tale.
And
inland where the dark hills rise
Between
you and the Salt-thick foam
You hear
the surf, the seagull cries
And
eastward turn your hearts toward home.
Mr.
Speaker, it's been a privilege to bring in this PMR. I certainly hope that we
get all 40 Members voting in favour of this.
With
that, Mr. Speaker, I'll turn it back to you.
Thank
you so much.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
Is it the pleasure of the
House to adopt the motion?
All
those in favour, 'aye.'
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Aye.
SPEAKER:
All those against, 'nay.'
Carried.
It being
Wednesday, in accordance with Standing Order 9(3), this House do stand adjourned
until 1:30 o'clock tomorrow.